Mt' Sinai

1
Mt. Sinai

• Gods powerful descent on Mt. Sinai
• Moses intercession
• The Law 10 Commandments
• Strange laws for a strange time
• The Sacrificial System
• You have stayed long enough at this mountain.
  Break camp and move on. (Deuteronomy 16,7 GN)

2
Numbers
3
Numbers

• On the twentieth day of the second month in the
  second year after the people left Egypt, the
  cloud over the Tent of the LORD's presence
  lifted, and the Israelites started on their
  journey out of the Sinai Desert. The cloud came
  to rest in the wilderness of Paran. They began to
  march at the command of the LORD through Moses
  (Numbers 1011-13 GN)

4
Numbers

• Census 603,550 men over 25
• Complaining and trouble
• 12 Spies
• 40 year wandering all over the age of 25 died
  (except Joshua and Caleb)
• Korahs rebellion
• Moses strikes the rock
• Nearing the promised land
• Balaam
• Census 601,730 men over 25
• There was not even one man left among those whom
  Moses and Aaron had listed in the first census in
  the Sinai Desert. The LORD had said that all of
  them would die in the wilderness, and except for
  Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun they
  all did. (Numbers 2664,65 GN)

5
Complaining and Trouble

• The people complain
• There is nothing at all to eat nothing but
  this manna day after day! (Numbers 116 GN)
• Moses complains
• Moses heard all the people complaining as they
  stood around in groups at the entrances of their
  tents. He was distressed because the LORD had
  become angry with them, and he said to the LORD,
  Why have you treated me so badly? Why are you
  displeased with me? Why have you given me the
  responsibility for all these people? I didn't
  create them or bring them to birth! Why should
  you ask me to act like a nurse and carry them in
  my arms like babies all the way to the land you
  promised to their ancestors? Where could I get
  enough meat for all these people? They keep
  whining and asking for meat. I cant be
  responsible for all these people by myself its
  too much for me! If you are going to treat me
  like this, have pity on me and kill me, so that I
  won't have to endure your cruelty any longer.
  (Numbers 1110-14 GN)

6
Complaining and Trouble

• God Now tell the people, Purify yourselves for
  tomorrow you will have meat to eat. The LORD has
  heard your whining and saying that you wished you
  had some meat and that you were better off in
  Egypt. Now the LORD will give you meat, and you
  will have to eat it. You will have to eat it not
  just for one or two days, or five, or ten, or
  even twenty days, but for a whole month, until it
  comes out of your ears, until you are sick of it.
  This will happen because you have rejected the
  LORD who is here among you and have complained to
  him that you should never have left Egypt.
• Moses Moses said to the LORD, Here I am leading
  600,000 people, and you say that you will give
  them enough meat for a month? Could enough cattle
  and sheep be killed to satisfy them? Are all the
  fish in the sea enough for them?
• God Is there a limit to my power? the LORD
  answered. You will soon see whether what I have
  said will happen or not! So Moses went out and
  told the people what the LORD had said. He
  assembled seventy of the leaders and placed them
  around the Tent. (Numbers 1118-24 - GN)

7
Complaining and Trouble

• Suddenly the LORD sent a wind that brought
  quails from the sea, flying three feet above the
  ground. They settled on the camp and all around
  it for miles and miles in every direction. So all
  that day, all night, and all the next day, the
  people worked catching quails no one gathered
  less than fifty bushels. They spread them out to
  dry all around the camp. While there was still
  plenty of meat for them to eat, the LORD became
  angry with the people and caused an epidemic to
  break out among them. That place was named
  Kibroth Hattaavah (which means Graves of
  Craving), because there they buried the people
  who had craved meat. (Numbers 1131-34)

8
Complaining and Trouble

• Aaron and Miriam complain
• Moses had married a Cushite woman, and Miriam
  and Aaron criticized him for it. They said, Has
  the LORD spoken only through Moses? Hasnt he
  also spoken through us? The LORD heard what they
  said. (Moses was a humble man, more humble than
  anyone else on earth.). Suddenly the LORD said to
  Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, I want the three of
  you to come out to the Tent of my presence. They
  went, and the LORD came down in a pillar of
  cloud, stood at the entrance of the Tent, and
  called out, Aaron! Miriam! The two of them
  stepped forward, and the LORD said (Numbers
  121-6 GN)
• Gods response
• Listen carefully to what Im telling you. If
  there is a prophet of God among you, I make
  myself known to him in visions, I speak to him in
  dreams. But I dont do it that way with my
  servant Moses he has the run of my entire house
  I speak to him intimately, in person, in plain
  talk without riddles He ponders the very form of
  God. So why did you show no reverence or respect
  in speaking against my servant, against Moses?
  (Numbers 126-8 The Message)

9
Contrast the attitude

• The people
• Aaron and Miriam
• Moses
• I cant be responsible for all these people by
  myself its too much for me! If you are going to
  treat me like this, have pity on me and kill me,
  so that I won't have to endure your cruelty any
  longer
• Here I am leading 600,000 people, and you say
  that you will give them enough meat for a month?
  Could enough cattle and sheep be killed to
  satisfy them? Are all the fish in the sea enough
  for them?
• God
• I speak to him intimately, in person, in plain
  talk without riddles He ponders the very form of
  God. So why did you show no reverence or respect
  in speaking against my servant, against Moses?

10
The 12 spies

• The LORD said to Moses, Choose one of the
  leaders from each of the twelve tribes and send
  them as spies to explore the land of Canaan,
  which I am giving to the Israelites. (Numbers
  131,2 GN)
• But the people who live there are powerful, and
  their cities are very large and well fortified.
  Even worse, we saw the descendants of giants
  there. (Numbers 1328 GN)
• Caleb silenced the people who were complaining
  against Moses, and said, We should attack now
  and take the land we are strong enough to
  conquer it. (Numbers 1330 GN)
• All night long the people cried out in distress.
  They complained against Moses and Aaron, and
  said, It would have been better to die in Egypt
  or even here in the wilderness. Why is the LORD
  taking us into that land? We will be killed in
  battle, and our wives and children will be
  captured. Wouldnt it be better to go back to
  Egypt? So they said to one another, Let's
  choose a leader and go back to Egypt! (Numbers
  141-4 GN)

11
The 12 spies

• Then Moses and Aaron bowed to the ground in
  front of all the people. And Joshua son of Nun
  and Caleb son of Jephunneh, two of the spies,
  tore their clothes in sorrow and said to the
  people, The land we explored is an excellent
  land. If the Lord is pleased with us, he will
  take us there and give us that rich and fertile
  land. Do not rebel against the Lord and don't be
  afraid of the people who live there. We will
  conquer them easily. The Lord is with us and has
  defeated the gods who protected them so don't be
  afraid. The whole community was threatening to
  stone them to death, but suddenly the people saw
  the dazzling light of the Lord's presence appear
  over the Tent. The Lord said to Moses, How much
  longer will these people reject me? How much
  longer will they refuse to trust in me, even
  though I have performed so many miracles among
  them? (Numbers 145-10 GN).

12
Do we need more miracles?

• If only I could see an undeniable miracle, then
  I would believe
• Did the people who built the tower of Babel
  believe in God?
• Did the people wandering through the desert
  believe in God?
• How much longer will they refuse to trust in me,
  even though I have performed so many miracles
  among them? (Numbers 1411 GN)
• Did the Pharisees believe in God?
• After the resurrection of Lazarus
• From that day on the Jewish authorities made
  plans to kill Jesus (John 1153 - GN).
• Even though he had performed all these miracles
  in their presence, they did not believe in him
  (John 1237 GN).
• Merely believing in God does us no good if we
  have a misconception of his true character

13
Do we need more miracles?

• The Wicked One will come with the power of Satan
  and perform all kinds of false miracles and
  wonders, and use every kind of wicked deceit on
  those who will perish. They will perish because
  they did not welcome and love the truth so as to
  be saved (2 Thessalonians 29,10 - GN).
• What truth?
• Whoever tells you good news that is different
  from the Good News we gave you should be
  condemned to hell, even if he is one of us or an
  angel from heaven (Galatians 18 GODS WORD).

14
What is the Good News?

• But I reckon my own life to be worth nothing to
  me I only want to complete my mission and finish
  the work that the Lord Jesus gave me to do, which
  is to declare the Good News about the grace of
  GodAnd now I commend you to the care of God and
  the message of his grace, which is able to build
  you up and give you the blessings God has for all
  his people (Acts 2024,32).
• For I am not ashamed of the gospel it is the
  power of God for salvation to every one who has
  faith, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
  For in it the righteousness of God is revealed
  through faith for faith as it is written, He
  who through faith is righteous shall live
  (Romans 117,18, NRSV).

15
Do we need more miracles?

• Above all else, we need to be settled into the
  Good News about the character of God, not that he
  has power
• Spectacular signs and wonders may convince people
  that there is a God
• But
• This is not helpful if one has a false picture of
  Gods character
• Is it good to convince an atheist that God exists?

16
Do we present a consistent and believable picture
of God to the world?

• Jesus is God
• If youve seen me, youve seen the Father
• I am gentle and humble in spirit
• God washes the dirty feet of his betrayer
• God wants our love and friendship
• BUT..God is also just
• Worship me or Ill burn you (forever, or for as
  long as you deserve)
• God wrath must be appeased by sacrifice
• Infraction against the just demands of the law
  must be appeased for God to be just

17
Do we come to the world with miracles, or with
the truth about God?

• Mark Twain
• False picture of God based on the Bible
• It aint the parts of the Bible that I cant
  understand that bother me, it is the parts that I
  do understand
• The two Testaments are interesting, each in its
  own way. The Old one gives us a picture of these
  peoples Deity as he was before he got religion,
  the other one gives us a picture of him as he
  appeared afterward
• Our Bible reveals to us the character of our god
  with minute and remorseless exactnessIt is
  perhaps the most damnatory biography that exists
  in print anywhere. It makes Nero an angel of
  light and leading by contrast
• If there is a God, he is a malign thug
• who mouths justice, and invented hellmouths
  mercy, and invented hellmouths Golden Rules and
  forgiveness multiplies by seventy times seven,
  and invented hell who mouths morals to other
  people, and has none himself
• God, so atrocious in the Old Testament, so
  attractive in the New - - the Jekyl and Hyde of
  sacred romance

18
Do we come to the world with miracles, or with
the truth about God?

• Mark Twain
• False picture of God from those who claim to
  believe in him
• There has been only one Christian. They caught
  him and crucified him - - early
• One of the proofs of the immortality of the soul
  is that myriads have believed in it. They have
  also believed the world was flat
• Man is the religious animal. He is the only
  religious animal. He is the only animal that has
  the True Religion several of them. He is the
  only animal that loves his neighbor as himself
  and cuts his throat if his theology isnt
  straight. He has made a graveyard of the globe in
  trying his honest best to smooth his brothers
  path to happiness and heaven

19
Do we come to the world with miracles, or with
the truth about God?

• Would proof of Gods existence have been Good
  News to Mr. Twain?
• How would he have changed, based on the evidence
  of God by miracle?
• Forced obedience in order to avoid punishment
• Obedience from fear turns ones character into
  that of a rebel

20
Do we come to the world with miracles, or with
the truth about God?

• Creation evolution debate
• Scientific evidence for the existence of God
• The danger exists that we bring people to believe
  in the existence of a false picture of God
• Youre hopeless, you religion scholars and
  Pharisees! Frauds! You go halfway around the
  world to make a convert, but once you get him you
  make him into a replica of yourselves,
  double-damned. (Matthew 2315 The Message)
• Those who killed Christ Commandment keepers,
  church goers, tithe payers, faithful Bible
  readers, Sabbath keepers

21

• Back to the rebels in the desert

22
What did God do to these people?

• Then Moses and Aaron bowed to the ground in
  front of all the people. And Joshua son of Nun
  and Caleb son of Jephunneh, two of the spies,
  tore their clothes in sorrow and said to the
  people, The land we explored is an excellent
  land. If the Lord is pleased with us, he will
  take us there and give us that rich and fertile
  land. Do not rebel against the Lord and don't be
  afraid of the people who live there. We will
  conquer them easily. The Lord is with us and has
  defeated the gods who protected them so don't be
  afraid. The whole community was threatening to
  stone them to death, but suddenly the people saw
  the dazzling light of the Lord's presence appear
  over the Tent. The Lord said to Moses, How much
  longer will these people reject me? How much
  longer will they refuse to trust in me, even
  though I have performed so many miracles among
  them? (Numbers 145-10 GN).

23
Forgiveness

• What did God do to these people who rebelled and
  did not trust in him?
• The Lord answered, I will forgive them, as you
  have asked. But I promise that as surely as I
  live and as surely as my presence fills the
  earth, none of these people will live to enter
  that land. They have seen the dazzling light of
  my presence and the miracles that I performed in
  Egypt and in the wilderness, but they have tried
  my patience over and over again and have refused
  to obey me. They will never enter the land which
  I promised to their ancestors. None of those who
  have rejected me will ever enter it (Numbers
  1420-23).

24
Forgiveness

• Were they forgiven?
• How many of these forgiven people entered the
  promised land?
• How many of these forgiven people will arrive in
  heaven?
• Wouldnt the fact that they were forgiven
  indicate a proper adjustment of their legal
  standing?
• What does God want? What is the requirement for
  salvation?

25
Forgiveness

• Must we be forgiven to be saved?
• Are some forgiven, and others not forgiven?
• Does God not forgive some people?
• Must we ask for forgiveness to be saved?
• What happens when God forgives?
• Does God forgive everyone?
• If you are forgiven by God, are you saved?
• Why does God forgive? What is the purpose?

26
Forgiveness

• As Stephen was stoned to death
• And he fell to his knees, shouting, Lord, dont
  charge them with this sin! And with that, he
  died. (Acts 760 - NLT).
• Is Stephen more forgiving than God?
• Was he influenced by Jesus?
• Jesus
• Forgive them, Father! (Luke 2334 - GN).
• The Father, who is in complete harmony with the
  Son, also forgave those rebels.
• Will these forgiven people who tortured Jesus at
  the foot of the cross be in heaven?
• Maybe some were won to God
• The thief on the cross
• The Roman Centurion
• When the captain there saw what happened, he
  honored God This man was innocent! A good man,
  and innocent! All who had come around as
  spectators to watch the show, when they saw what
  actually happened, were overcome with grief and
  headed home. (Luke 2347,48 The Message)

27
Forgiveness

• What is the purpose? What is the mechanism?
• Is it for Gods benefit or for our benefit?
• Or perhaps you despise his great kindness,
  tolerance, and patience. Surely you know that God
  is kind, because he is trying to lead you to
  repent. (Romans 24 GN)
• And now God can always point to us as examples
  of how very, very rich his kindness is, as shown
  in all he has done for us through Jesus Christ.
  Because of his kindness you have been saved
  through trusting God (Ephesians 27,8 Living
  Bible).
• It is virtue and love from God that stimulates
  genuine repentance in us. Forgiveness is not
  something God needs to do before he can accept
  us. He offers forgiveness as a means of bringing
  us to him.
• To accept Gods forgiveness is to appreciate,
  recognize, and to gratefully receive his kindness
  and graciousness. This changes us, not God.

28
Character traits of God

• Kind
• Gentle
• Humble
• Gracious
• Forgiveness personified

29
Korahs rebellion

• Korah son of Izhar, from the Levite clan of
  Kohath, rebelled against the leadership of Moses.
  He was joined by three members of the tribe of
  ReubenDathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and
  On son of Pelethand by 250 other Israelites,
  well-known leaders chosen by the community. They
  assembled before Moses and Aaron and said to
  them, You have gone too far! All the members of
  the community belong to the Lord, and the Lord is
  with all of us. Why, then, Moses, do you set
  yourself above the Lords community? When Moses
  heard this, he threw himself on the ground and
  prayed. Then he said to Korah and his followers,
  Tomorrow morning the Lord will show us who
  belongs to him he will let the one who belongs
  to him, that is, the one he has chosen, approach
  him at the altar. Tomorrow morning you and your
  followers take firepans, put live coals and
  incense on them, and take them to the altar. Then
  we will see which of us the Lord has chosen. You
  Levites are the ones who have gone too far!
  (Numbers 161-7 GN)

30
Korahs rebellion

• Moses continued to speak to Korah. Listen, you
  Levites! Do you consider it a small matter that
  the God of Israel has set you apart from the rest
  of the community, so that you can approach him,
  perform your service in the LORD's Tent, and
  minister to the community and serve them? He has
  let you and all the other Levites have this
  honor---and now you are trying to get the
  priesthood too! When you complain against Aaron,
  it is really against the LORD that you and your
  followers are rebelling. Then Moses sent for
  Dathan and Abiram, but they said, We will not
  come! Isnt it enough that you have brought us
  out of the fertile land of Egypt to kill us here
  in the wilderness? Do you also have to lord it
  over us? You certainly have not brought us into a
  fertile land or given us fields and vineyards as
  our possession, and now you are trying to deceive
  us. We will not come! Moses became angry and
  said to the LORD, Do not accept any offerings
  these men bring. I have not wronged any of them
  I have not even taken one of their donkeys.
  Moses said to Korah, Tomorrow you and your 250
  followers must come to the Tent of the LORD's
  presence Aaron will also be there. Each of you
  will take his fire pan, put incense on it, and
  then present it at the altar.

31
Korahs rebellion

• So they each took their fire pans, put live
  coals and incense on them, and stood at the
  entrance of the Tent with Moses and Aaron. Then
  Korah gathered the whole community, and they
  stood facing Moses and Aaron at the entrance of
  the Tent. Suddenly the dazzling light of the
  LORD's presence appeared to the whole community,
  and the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, Move back
  from these people, and I will destroy them
  immediately. But Moses and Aaron bowed down with
  their faces to the ground and said, O God, you
  are the source of all life. When one of us sins,
  do you become angry with the whole community?
  (Numbers 168-22 GN)

32
Korahs rebellion

• The LORD said to Moses, Tell the people to move
  away from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and
  Abiram. Then Moses, accompanied by the leaders
  of Israel, went to Dathan and Abiram. He said to
  the people, Get away from the tents of these
  wicked men and dont touch anything that belongs
  to them. Otherwise, you will be wiped out with
  them for all their sins. So they moved away from
  the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. Dathan
  and Abiram had come out and were standing at the
  entrance of their tents, with their wives and
  children. Moses said to the people, This is how
  you will know that the LORD has sent me to do all
  these things and that it is not by my own choice
  that I have done them. If these men die a natural
  death without some punishment from God, then the
  LORD did not send me. But if the LORD does
  something unheard of, and the earth opens up and
  swallows them with all they own, so that they go
  down alive to the world of the dead, you will
  know that these men have rejected the LORD.

33
Korahs rebellion

• As soon as he had finished speaking, the ground
  under Dathan and Abiram split open and swallowed
  them and their families, together with all of
  Korah's followers and their possessions. So they
  went down alive to the world of the dead, with
  their possessions. The earth closed over them,
  and they vanished. All the people of Israel who
  were there fled when they heard their cry. They
  shouted, Run! The earth might swallow us too!
  Then the LORD sent a fire that blazed out and
  burned up the 250 men who had presented the
  incense. (Numbers 1623-35 - GN)

34
Korahs rebellion

• God asked for only the 250 leaders to come
• Korah brought the entire community (which would
  indicate that they were in agreement with him)
• Moses spoke for God to indicate that they must
  separate themselves from Korah and his rebellion
• Moses suggested that the earth would open up
• What was the response of the rebellious people?

35
Korahs rebellion

• The next day the whole community complained
  against Moses and Aaron and said, You have
  killed some of the LORD's people. (Numbers
  1641 GN)

36
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