Num 1:1-3, Then the Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the tent of meeting, on the first of the second month, in the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt, saying, "Take a census of all the congregation of the sons of Israel, by their families, by their fathers' households, according to the number of names, every male, head by head from twenty years old and upward, whoever is able to go out to war in Israel, you and Aaron shall number them by their armies. 
We are at the beginning of our reading of the Book of Numbers. In preparation for our time in this Book of the Bible, I was greatly concerned as to how to deal with it. In what I see as a complete answer to prayer, I began reading the Expositor’s Bible Commentary, edited by Frank E. Gaebelein. The author of the section dealing with Numbers is Dr. Ronald B. Allen. We are in the process of doing something that we do not usually do and that is to share together a large segment of quotations from Dr. Allen as he introduces the Book of Numbers. He expresses a great love for what the Lord has to say in this Book of the Bible. I mention this so that I can freely quote and give credit to Dr. Allen through the course of this introductionary material and our time in this Book of Numbers.
I do so, because I was greatly blessed and my heart was caused to embrace this Book of the Bible after I gained a better understanding of what it involved. It is very important to thank the Lord for the manner in which He used Dr. Allen to make this Book all the more accessible and wonderful. Again, for the course of this endeavor, I hope you will bear with me so that we can all learn to more fully appreciate this Book as vital in the Word of God.
	We will continue forward with an extended quotation dealing with the historical background and purpose of this Book of the Bible. Quote, The Book of Numbers contains much material that is similar to the books of Exodus and Leviticus in terms of legislation for the people and particularly materials dealing with the rights and regulations of the Levites and the priests. The dramatic narrative of the book is most significant. It is in the Book of Numbers that we read of the murmuring and rebellions of the people of God against His grace and their subsequent judgment. Those whom God had redeemed from slavery in Egypt and to whom He had displayed His grace at Mount Sinai responded with indifference, ingratitude, and repeated acts of rebellion. The community of the redeemed was punished by the Lord by being forbidden to enter the Promised Land. They were made to live out their lives in the Desert of Sinai; only their children would enjoy the promise that was originally to be theirs.
	Since the Book of Numbers presents the story of the rebellion of the people of Israel in the Desert of Sinai, there is a sense in which the book stands in the middle of the salvation experience of the people of God. The generation that was delivered from slavery in Egypt did not continue to respond to the Lord with faith and gratitude. Instead, they forfeited their part in the Land of Promise. Only their children would experience the blessing of conquest...
	Provisionally, we may state that the original recipients of the book were the people of Israel in the second generation from the Exodus, awaiting the command of God to cross the Jordan to conquer the land of Canaan. The book describes the affairs of the people of the first generation, but its teaching is for the children who are now mature and are about to enter Canaan.
	We may also venture the purpose of the book in this manner: To compel obedience to Yahweh by members of the new community by reminding them of the wrath of God on their parents because of their breach of covenant; to encourage them to trust in the ongoing promises of their Lord as they follow Him into their heritage in Canaan; and to provoke them to the worship of God and to the enjoyment of their salvation. Thus the book that describes the “Desert Years” is designed to encourage spiritual confidence on the part of the people who are about to leave the desert. Despite its sorry record of blemish, betrayal, and benighted living, the Book of Numbers as a whole portrays a confident life of faith in the fear of Yahweh. Further, this confident living, this triumphalism, becomes a major element in the worship of Yahweh. End quote.
	This brings us back to one of the major elements that we hope to gain in our reading of this and of all Scripture. We want to learn what it means to truly worship God, how we can be more accurate in our worship for the sake of blessing God for Who He is and what He has done. That is one of the reasons that I am now so thrilled to be dealing with this Book of the Bible. It will, Lord willing, cause us to desire to honor God all the more as we gather together to read it. 
	In the section dealing with the authorship of this book, Dr. Allen makes a very interesting statement. Quote, We may reckon that one of the good things that came out of the ghastly waste of life and energy of the condemned, rebellious first generation of the Hebrew people was the opportunity the desert experiences afforded Moses, prince and prophet of God, to write the books that are associated so strongly with his name. 
If Moses was the principal writer of the Book of Numbers, then we may assert that he would have written these accounts over a lengthy period that included the stay of Israel in the Desert of Sinai as well as on their encampments enroute to the plains of Moab. Much of the unevenness of style may be occasioned by the periodic nature of the writing. But the unity of the book overrides its uneven style. The Book of Numbers may be regarded as The Memoirs of Moses in the Desert Years. End quote. 
	It would very much be indicative of the manner in which God would turn that which was a disaster into the foundational opportunity for the writing of the first five books of the Bible. The time needed to write was given to Moses as the people wandered the desert regions. It very much brings to mind the manner in which the Apostle Paul had to be imprisoned in order to write all those letters which comprise so much of the New Testament. Time was needed for the Holy Spirit to cause these wonderful books and letters to be inspired and put into writing.  
	The problems of the unity and organization of the Book of Numbers is dealt with by Dr. Allen in referring to another commentator’s approach. So many have tried to make it a matter of fitting the geography or the timeframes of the various dates or locations, forcing it into the Exodus-Leviticus-Numbers mold on a geographic basis, causing Numbers to be more a filler document than a stand alone book. 
Quote, Dennis T. Olson was one of the first to break from this tradition of the geographical approach and to develop the Book of Numbers as an independent book with structural integrity of its own. The book assuredly has its place in the larger Torah, but it is truly a book in its own merit with a coherent beginning, middle, and ending…the tendency of many readers is to rush through the numbers to get to the heart of the book. The importance of the “numbers” in Numbers has simply not been understood. Since the Book of Numbers begins with the “numbers” so shall we.
	Olson argues that the two census listings in the book are its framing principles; these lists serve as “the overarching literacy and theological structure of the book of Numbers”... The first census, of course, describes the first generation of the Hebrews who left Egypt in the Exodus. The second census describes the second generation of the Hebrews who left Egypt. The first generation rebelled against the Lord and was consigned to living out their lives in the desert. The second generation was given the opportunity of God to recapture the promises first given to their parents, to move into the Land of Promise, and to receive their proper inheritance. Olson characterizes this pattern as “the death of the old and the birth of the new”…
	So Olson begins with the census lists in chapters 1 and 26, chapters that some commentators rush by to get to the “meat” of the text. Olson finds these chapters to be essentially important in establishing the correct approach to the book… The first major unit concerns the experiences of the first generation of the Exodus and their failure to act in obedience to the Lord to claim their inheritance in the land of Canaan. Hence the text moves resolutely to a presentation of the word of God for the second generation…The reason for the second census list, of course, is because the first census listing became irrelevant for the new generation. The first listing was of their parents. The new listing was for the people of their own day. 
	This observation led Olson to propose an outline that has two unequal sections, 1:1 – 25:18 and 26:1 – 36:13. In the first section the focus is on the first generation of the people of God in their march in the desert; the second section presents the new generation being prepared to enter the Promised Land. In the first section there are two major subdivisions, the preparation for the march (1:1 – 10:36), a subsection that presents the hope of conquest in a positive manner, followed by the cycle of rebellion (11:1 – 25:18), in which there is a mixture of hope and failure. The second section has two “parts” as well, one stated and the other implied. The stated subsection (26:1 – 36:13) is the preparation for the people to enter the land, a section that roughly parallels the first part of the book and is positive in nature. The book ends in an implied question: Will the new generation be faithful to God, or will they rebel as did their parents? End quote.
	The division of the Book of Numbers between the old and the new generations gives a greater depth to what we read. There will be that established theme of “the death of the old and the birth of the new” which is the very course of our spiritual life in Jesus Christ. As we come to Him, we are transferred from our old nature, having it put to death, and our receipt of a completely new nature, His very nature as our own.
	We also see the following, sobering reality as detailed by Dr. Allen, quote: The Book of Numbers presents the concept of the chastening wrath of God on His own disobedient people. Yet in His wrath Yahweh remembers mercy; a new generation will arise to inherit the land. The association of the Lord’s wrath and mercy, His anger and His love – no matter how strange it may seem to us – is a marked feature of the teaching of the Torah and the Prophets.
	An entire generation that had formed a holy community; a people related to God by the sovereignty of grace and the cultic rites of the sacrifice of Passover; a nation delivered from their formidable foes by the direct intervention of His powerful right hand in the exodus from Egypt; a community entrusted with His Torah, graced with His word, and allowed to participate in His holy worship – this people lost their right of the enjoyment of the Promised Land, their true heritage in the Lord. Of all the nations of the earth, the word of God had come only to the descendants of Jacob… Of all the nations of the earth, the right hand of the Lord had reached out only to them in their deliverance… Of all the peoples of the earth, only they were the family of God… But even on them His heavy hand came. 
	Because of their rebellion against God’s grace and disbelief in His power to deliver them to the uttermost, the people of Israel were in breach of covenant. Those who were caught in the breach comprised an entire generation (all persons over the age of twenty). These included women and men, mighty and lowly, godly and profane. Miriam and Aaron, yes, and even Moses, the great prophet and servant of the Lord were not exempt from God’s wrath when they disobeyed Him or resisted His will. End quote.
	So often, we tend to think that we can do anything and everything now that we are saved. We think that we can ignore the words of Scripture which God has given directly to us and disobey Him without punity. The book of Numbers stands as a solemn reminder that we are not exempt from the need to honor and to obey God with all our heart and mind and thoughts and being. 
We need to obey Him as He directs us. He cannot be unfaithful to the fact that He is holy and righteous altogether. Sin, no matter how seemingly small or insignificant to us, is still sin and cannot be in the presence of the Almighty, Holy God. We are covered in Christ’s righteousness, but our lives are not our own to do with as we will. We are purchased unto God for His plan and for His purposes of glory on this earth. 
As we read this book together, as we read all of scripture together, it should speak to our hearts and remind us of the Sovereignty as well as the mercy of God to such as ourselves. We are to learn to honor Him above all else! So be it!

This morning’s benediction is Num 6:24-26. The Lord bless you, and keep you; The Lord make His face shine on you, And be gracious to you; The Lord lift up His countenance on you, And give you peace.' Amen.