man well it's great to be here tonight and I really enjoyed the singing I
especially enjoyed hearing all the children singing that was some of the
best thing that I've heard in a long time so good job kids and I'm looking
forward to singing that last song when the sermons over but before we get there
we got to get through this sermon so the title my sermon tonight is Jesus in the
book of Numbers Jesus in the book of Numbers I've identified seven powerful
pictures of the Lord Jesus Christ in the book of Numbers I'm gonna really
focus in on two of those tonight that I think are two of the most powerful
pictures of Christ in the Old Testament but first let's go to Numbers chapter 8
if you want to just flip back a few pages to Numbers chapter 8 you you know
the Bible says to him give all the prophets witness that through his name
whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins and so the whole
Bible is about Jesus the Old Testaments about Jesus all the prophets preached
about Jesus and of course when Jesus ran into those two disciples on the road to
Emmaus in the book of Luke the Bible says that he started with the law of
Moses and he went through the Psalms and the Old Testament and he preached unto
them all of the things concerning himself and you'll constantly see the
Apostles going back to books like Deuteronomy in order to preach the Lord
Jesus Christ and the book of Numbers is no exception to that every book in the
Old Testament teaches about Jesus and Numbers is no no exception to that one
thing I would point out I'm just gonna briefly touch this but in Numbers
chapter number 8 verse 1 the Bible reads and the Lord spake unto Moses saying
speak unto Aaron and say unto him when thou lightest the lamps the seven lamps
shall give light over against the candlestick and Aaron did so he lighted
the lamps thereof over against the candlestick as the Lord commanded Moses
now everything in the Old Testament law symbolizes something about the gospel
something about Jesus even something as simple as just the lighting in the
tabernacle he has these seven lamps that give their light well in the New
Testament in the book of Revelation the Bible talks about the seven lamps of
fire that burned before the throne of God and the Bible says those seven
lamps are the seven spirits of God and then not only that Jesus in Revelation
chapter 3 verse 1 said unto the angel of the church in Sardis right these things
saith he that hath the seven spirits of God and the seven stars so Jesus Christ
speaking of himself said that he has the seven spirits of God and that's what
these seven lamps symbolize so that's a small picture of Jesus in the book of
Numbers but secondly go to Numbers 20 and this is one of the ones I really
want to focus on in Numbers chapter 20 we have this story about the water that
gushed out of a rock okay now look down at your Bible there in Numbers chapter
20 verse 7 the Bible reads and the Lord spake unto Moses saying take the rod and
gather thou the assembly together thou and Aaron thy brother and speak ye unto
the rock before their eyes and it shall give forth his water and thou shalt
bring forth to them water out of the rock so thou shalt give the congregation
and their beasts drink now let me ask this what is it that Moses is being told
to do to this rock speak to the rock right he says speak to the rock and if
you speak to the rock the water is gonna come out you're gonna drink and so forth
look at verse 9 and Moses took the rod from before the Lord as he commanded him
verse 10 and Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the
rock and he said unto them here now ye rebels must we fetch you water out of
this rock and Moses lifted up his hand and with this rod he smote the rock
twice so he's not doing what God told him to do God said speak to the rock but
he loses his temper he gets angry and and later on he blames the children of
Israel and says you know you provoked me you made me mad and I screwed up and now
I don't get to go into the promised land because you made me mad okay because he
makes this error and it is such a serious error that God bans Moses and
Aaron from entering the promised land because of this right here so this is
pretty significant to God isn't it he says speak to the rock and instead of
speaking to the rock he smites the rock twice and watch what happens the Bible
says in verse 11 Moses lifted up his hand and with his rod he smote the rock
twice and the water came out abundantly and the congregation drank and their
beasts also so probably at first Moses thought that it was okay that he had
smitten the rock because the water came out you know should be fine right but
look what it says in verse number 12 and the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron and
said because ye believed me not to sanctify me in the eyes of the children
of Israel therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I
have given them this is the water of Meribah because the children of Israel
strove with the Lord and he was sanctified in them so up to this point
Moses is on track to enter the promised land Aaron is on track to enter the
promised land but because they disobeyed God smote the rock instead of speaking
to the rock they're missing out on that opportunity now why would God make such
a big deal out of this why is this so important well let's get a deeper
understanding this keep your finger in numbers and go back to Exodus 17 Exodus
chapter 17 and verse number 6 because this is not the first time that they've
been to this rock so while you're turning to Exodus I'm gonna read for you
from 1st Corinthians 10 the Bible says in 1st Corinthians 10 verse 1 moreover
brethren I would not that you should be ignorant how that all our fathers were
under the cloud and all passed through the sea and we're all baptized unto
Moses in the cloud and in the sea and did all eat the same spiritual meat and
did all drink the same spiritual drink for they drank of that spiritual rock
that followed them and that rock was Christ why was this such a big deal
because the rock was Christ they drank the spiritual drink they drank of the
rock that followed them the spiritual rock and the Bible says that rock was
Christ now of course we know that that rock was not literally Christ you know
we know that a rock is not literally Jesus but what he means is that that
rock symbolized or pictured the Lord Jesus Christ the water that gushed forth
out of the rock pictured eternal life because Jesus said if any man thirst let
him come to me and he said out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water
Jesus said to the woman at the well if thou knewest who it was that said of
thee give me to drink thou wouldest have asked of him and he would have given the
living water he said if you drink of the water of this well you'll thirst again
but if you drink of the water that I give you you will never thirst okay he
says it in John chapter 6 again of course in Revelation he says whosoever
will let him take the water of life freely that's the last time the Bible is
begging people to get saved when you get the very end of the Bible you're on the
last page there's one last plea to get saved and the Spirit and the bride say
come and let him that heareth say come and he that is the first let him come
and take the water of life freely so that water of life is salvation that
water of life is eternal life because you drink it one time and you never
thirst again right so this picture of the rock it's Jesus and the water is
everlasting life that's what the Bible clearly explains in the New Testament
first Corinthians 10 now with that in mind look down at your Bible there and
Exodus 17 verse 6 behold I will stand before thee there upon the rock in
Horeb this is much earlier this is shortly after they leave Egypt right
this is much earlier and it says I will stand before thee there upon the rock in
Horeb and thou shalt smite the rock so decades earlier when they come to the
rock they're told smite the rock and and folks if you don't know the the old
word smite it just means hit the rock that's all that means right strike it
hit it smite it so the first time they come to this rock Moses is told take
your rod and smite the rock so it says thou shalt smite the rock verse 6 and
there shall come water out of it that the people may drink and Moses did so in
the sight of the elders of Israel so the first time they were told smite the rock
but then the second time what are they told speak to the rock just simply speak
to the rock and water will come out and what does Moses do he disobeys he takes
his rod and instead of speaking to the rock he hits it twice and God punishes
him for that because he's ruining this beautiful picture of the Lord Jesus
Christ what's the picture of Christ it's that he died for us one time once he was
smitten once he was struck once okay now if you would flip over to Hebrews
chapter number nine in the New Testament Hebrews chapter number nine and while
you're turning there I'm gonna give you some scriptures about Jesus dying on the
cross where it calls that him being smitten okay in Isaiah 53 which is that
powerful passage prophesying the coming of Christ it says surely he had borne
our griefs and carried our sorrows yet we did a seam him stricken watch this
smitten of God and afflicted so the Bible says that Jesus was smitten by God
and afflicted when he died on the cross but then it follows that up with the
famous verse Isaiah 53 5 where it says but he was wounded for our transgress
he was bruised for our iniquities the chastisement of our peace was upon him
and with his stripes we are healed so Jesus dying on the cross for our sins
that was called him being smitten of God and afflicted and in fact Jesus said and
I in mark 14 he said all ye shall be offended of me this night for it is
written I will smite the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered so I'll
smite the Shepherd that's talking about Jesus the Good Shepherd being smitten
for our sins dying for our sins look what the Bible says in Hebrews 9 24 for
Christ has not entered into the holy places made with hands which are the
figures of the true but into heaven itself now to appear in the presence of
God for us nor yet that he should offer himself often as the high priest
enterth into the holy place every year with blood of others for then must he
often have suffered since the foundation of the world but now once in the end of
the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself and as
it is appointed unto men once to die but after this the judgment so Christ was
once offered to bear the sins of many and unto them that look for him shall he
appear the second time without sin unto salvation so the Bible is just hammering
the fact Jesus died once once and for all the sacrifice was made one time the
Bible says by the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the
body of Jesus Christ once for all so by smiting the rock a second time you know
what he's doing he's ruining that picture of Jesus Christ being smitten
once dying once for all a one-time sacrifice a one-time offering go back to
Hebrews chapter 6 just a few pages to the left Hebrews chapter 6 the Bible
talks about people who would figuratively crucify the Lord Jesus
Christ a second time right the Bible says in Hebrews 6 6 if they shall fall
away to renew them again into repentance seeing they crucify to themselves the
Son of God afresh and when it says crucify the Son of God afresh afresh is
another way of saying doing it again crucifying him afresh and watch what
that does to crucify the Son of God afresh put him to an open shame okay so
God wants us to understand that he was sacrificed once he died for our sins
once and Moses spoiled that picture by smiting the second time okay and then
what did God say to him back in Numbers chapter 20 he said you believed me not
you believe me not why because that pictures people not believing on Jesus
and basically crucifying him afresh putting him to an open shame now you say
well how does this apply who would do such a thing well did you know that the
Roman Catholic Church every single time they have mass you know what they say
about that mass they say oh it's the offering of Jesus they say he's being
offered again this is my body which is broken for you and they consider every
time they celebrate mass Jesus is being offered again and I you know I was
looking up some Catholic websites to try to figure out how they defend this or
how they back this up and here's what they said well if you go back to the
Greek when Jesus said this do in remembrance of me what he actually meant
was this offer in remembrance of me but you know what that word for do there
that Greek word it's basically I'm not gonna speak Greek to you it's just the
basic word for do it's the same word for do that you would typically use in Greek
it's just a normal word do it doesn't say offer but you know they're relying
on the fact that people don't know Greek so they'll just lie to them and this is
why you got to be aware of preachers taking you back to the Greek and back to
the Hebrew telling you stuff that you can't verify you don't know that stuff
you know you're not speaking Greek and there oh well you know in the Greek it
says offer really that's funny because in English it says do it says this do it
doesn't say offer it says this do in remembrance of me if I don't even know
if there's even a Bible version in the world that says offer there I think they
all say do because do means do this do and remembrance of me and look taking
the Lord suffer supper you're not offering the body of Jesus you're not
sacrificing the body of Jesus that's not a sacrifice all that is a memorial you
just when you take of that bread and drink of that cup you know what you're
doing you're just remembering you're just showing the Lord's death till he
come it's just an object lesson like when somebody gets baptized it's an
object lesson of the death burial and resurrection of Christ but you know what
Christ isn't being crucified again he's not being offered again he's not being
sacrificed again but the Roman Catholics what do they teach they say oh yeah you
know that bread that's literally Jesus it's called transubstantiation it's one
of the main doctrines of the Catholic Church they believe that they are
literally eating Jesus and then when they say they're hocus-pocus that that
bread literally would become Jesus and that that wine would literally become
the blood of Christ and that they're actually literally eating his body and
drink his blood that's that's as crazy as saying oh that rock that was
literally Jesus he's like a rock that moves around look folks it's figurative
it's symbolic just like when you get born again you don't enter the second
time in your mother's womb to be born right that's what the carnal mind thinks
they don't understand spiritual things they don't understand that being born
again is a spiritual thing the rock being Jesus that was a spiritual thing
okay the bread representing the body of Christ that's a spiritual thing okay
drinking of the fruit of the vine representing the blood it's spiritual
it's not literal folks and to sit there and say oh yeah Jesus being offered
Jesus being sacrificed every Sunday or every day at that mass you know what
they're doing they just keep smiting that rock and smiting that rock folks
that's not how you get to heaven you don't need to crucify the Son of God
afresh all you got to do is what just speak speak to the rock all you have to
do is say God be merciful to me a sinner all you have to do is confess with your
mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God is raising from the dead
and thou shalt be saved so all we have to do is call upon the name of the Lord
to be saved he doesn't have to be sacrificed again he died one time and you
know how many times you have to be saved one time he died once he was buried
once he resurrected once and you know how many times you have to drink of that
living water once you know how many times you have to be saved one time and
you see why this was serious where God tells Moses you're not going into the
promised land Aaron you're not going to the promised land you know why because
you struck the rock twice you were supposed to just speak unto it and that's
you know what that's a picture of that's a picture of the fact hey you better get
this right or you're not going to heaven you know if you don't call upon the name
of the Lord you're not going to heaven if you're going to crucify the Son of God
afresh if you're not going to put your faith in the finished work of Christ on
the cross that he died once for all is a picture of you're not going to make it
to heaven now obviously Moses and Aaron they made it to heaven but they didn't
make it to the promised land they're picturing and when he says you believe
me not obviously we know that they did believe on the Lord that they are in
heaven but in this particular instance they believed him not to sanctify him
and what they did instead was put him to an open shame okay now what does it mean
to sanctify the Lord go back to Numbers if you would Numbers chapter 20 this is
a powerful picture of salvation speak to the rock and thou shalt be saved right
because he's already been struck he's already been smitten he's already died
for you all you got to do is just call upon the name of the Lord to be saved
and boy wouldn't that have been a cool miracle if Moses would have just spoken
to the rock and water came out now it's already amazing that he hid it and and
the water came out but I think speaking to it is a more dramatic miracle you
know would have been a better miracle just to speak to the rock and see the
water gush out but because they corrupted this picture of salvation God
was trying to give a picture of salvation they ended up missing out on
the promised land as a result of doing that so the Bible says in verse number
12 and the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron because ye believed me not to
sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel therefore ye shall not bring
this congregation into the land which I have given them what does it mean to
sanctify it means to set apart or to make holy or declare something to be
holy so he's saying you know instead of exalting me and glorifying my holiness
and setting me apart instead you put me to an open shame you know by by
striking the rock twice that picture is crucifying the Son of God afresh you
know instead of it's it's like what the Catholics are doing and let me tell you
something what they're doing on a weekly basis is blasphemous by saying oh he's
being offered again offered again and you know what by the way that's why they
have Jesus hanging on the cross in their church they have a graven image of Jesus
hanging on the cross folks Jesus not on that cross up from the grave he arose
he is seated at the right hand of the Father in heaven but they just want to
keep striking that rock don't they and keep having that offering it's done it's
over once for all it's finished all we have to do is just believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ put our faith in what he already did and just call upon him once
for salvation now this next point kind of ties in with that same point and go to
numbers chapter 21 we're gonna look at the next great picture of Jesus in the
book of Numbers which is the brazen serpent and this is similar to the last
point but look at Numbers chapter 21 verse 4 now at first when people hear
this they might be a little surprised that a brazen serpent would represent
Jesus now right away you'd say wait a second a brazen serpent represents Jesus
and it'd be pretty hard to believe if Jesus hadn't have specifically said himself
that the brazen serpent represented Jesus because what did Jesus say in John 3 14 he said
as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness even so must the son of man be lifted up
that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have eternal life you know most people know
the verse John 3 16 because it's the most famous verse in the old bible for God so loved the world
that he gave his only begotten son and how does it end that whosoever believeth in him should not
perish but have everlasting life but what's interesting is that the sentence right before
that it ends the same but it starts differently it says for as Moses lifted up the serpent in the
wilderness even so must the son of man be lifted up that whosoever believeth in him should not
perish but have eternal life so it ends the same way but instead of talking about God so loving
the world that he gave his only begotten son it says and as Moses lifted up the serpent in the
wilderness even so must the son of man be lifted up so that's a pretty strong evidence here when
Jesus himself is telling you hey that serpent that was lifted up guess what that was a picture of the
son of man being lifted up now you say how in the world could a brazen serpent represent Jesus well
i'm going to explain that to you tonight but let's get into the story look at numbers 21 verse 4
and they journeyed from mount hor by the way of the red sea to compass the land of edom
and the soul of the people was much discouraged by because of the way and the people spake against
god and against moses wherefore have you brought us up out of egypt to die in the wilderness for
there's no bread neither is there any water and our soul loathest this light bread well a second
ago he said there is no bread now you're just whining this too light okay but he says in verse
26 or in verse 6 21 6 and the lord sent fiery serpents among the people and they bit the people
and much people of israel died now i'm not sure if these serpents were literally fiery probably
not i think when he says a fiery serpent he's referring to the fact that it's a poisonous or
venomous serpent and here's why i say that if you've ever been bit by something that's poisonous
it feels like you're on fire i mean it feels like fire when you get bit by a poisonous
spider or a poisonous snake or you get stung by a bee even or if you get struck by a scorpion
boy it's a burning sensation so that's probably what's referred to it could have been some kind
of a supernatural fiery serpents but i think it's more likely that these are poisonous venomous
serpents and that's why he's calling them fiery serpents and the bible says they bit the people
and much people of israel died okay so because they complained god sends them this plague where
they're all these fiery serpents among the people and they're biting people and people are dying
okay and i well i remember this story from when i was just a little kid in sunday school
this is one of my earliest memories of sunday school because you know this story stands out
to you when you're a kid when you're thinking you know and when you're seeing that flannel graph or
whatever of all the children of israel getting bit by all these poisonous stakes because they
they complain and whine it's all these fiery serpents are coming and biting them and it says
in verse 7 therefore the people came to moses and said we've sinned for we've spoken against the
lord and against thee pray unto the lord that he take away the serpents from us you know get these
snakes out of here please just pray that god will take away the serpents the snakes from us
and moses prayed for the people and the lord said unto moses make thee a fiery serpent and set it
upon a pole and it shall come to pass that everyone that is bitten when he look at the
pond shall live and moses made a serpent of brass and put it upon a pole and it came to pass that
if a serpent had bitten any man when he beheld beheld means looked at when he saw or beheld
the serpent of brass he lived this is the inspiration for the song look and live
my brother live look to jesus now and live right you look to jesus and live when he beheld
the serpent of brass he lived now the reason why this might be a shocking picture of jesus
is because you'd say man everything is wrong with this picture because number one it's a serpent and
a serpent represents the devil right i mean the devil is that serpent that deceives the whole
world right so when we think of a snake or a serpent we think of that which is evil that
which is sinful that which is of the devil right but then number two when you're making an animal
out of brass that's idolatry right and god specifically said thou shalt not make unto
thee any graven image thou shalt not make any molten image you know don't make an image of
any creature that creeps on the earth or that is in the sea or that flies in the air do not make
a molten brazen image of any animal right god made that clear in the commandments so number
one it's a serpent and number two it's an idol it's a graven image so how can this represent
jesus i'll tell you why this is a perfect picture of jesus because when jesus was on the cross
the bible says for he hath made him to be sin for us who knew no sin that we might be made
the righteousness of god in him think about this he made him to be sin for us and you know
i can't think of a better picture of sin than a molten image of a serpent i mean what could be
more sinful than an idol if you have some idol in your house and and what could be more sinful if
you're gonna have an idol than an idol of a serpent you know that'd be the idol that you'd
look at and say wow that's a really bad idol because not only have you made a graven image
here you've made it of a serpent of all the animals you made it of a serpent that's pretty
much about as sinful of an idol as you can imagine right and boy the hindus they have some serpents
that they worship don't they but let me tell you something they had to look to that serpent upon
the pole that brazen serpent why because he made him to be sin for us who knew no sin that we might
be made the righteousness of god in him so this is such a powerful picture of the fact that when
jesus was on the cross he bore in his own body the sins of us all he became sin for us and so this
picture is the fact that he who knew no sin became sin for us that we might be made the righteousness
of god in him and isn't it interesting that all they had to do to be saved was just to look at it
did they have to do any works did he tell them all right guys you're gonna have to quit drinking
you're gonna have to quit fornicating you're gonna have to uh you know clean up your life
you're gonna have to repent of all your sins turn over a new leaf uh and give up all your sins and
then you'll be saved no the picture is just look and live speak to the rock and thou shall be saved
then if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the lord jesus and shall believe in thine heart
that god is raising from the dead thou shalt be saved now here's where this ties in with the rock
and the water from the rock go to second kings chapter 18 second kings chapter number 18
now if we go to second kings chapter 18 we're getting into the reign of a king named hezekiah
now think about how much later this is folks this is hundreds and hundreds of years later
because of the fact that after the children of israel entered the promised land
they were under the judges for the space of about 400 years right so there's the 400 year
period of the judges then you've got kings like saul who reigned 40 years david reigned 40 years
salomon reigned 40 years then you've got rehoboam you've got abijah right you've got joharim and you
go down through the list of kings by the time you get to hezekiah many centuries have gone by
since that story in numbers right where where moses held up the brazen serpent on a pole
and they had to look and live and that was the only way they could survive that snake bite
and look what do those fiery serpents represent they represent the fact that we're all sinners
and we have that venom or that poison of sin in us and we're doomed to die but if we look to
jesus who became sin for us then that's the antidote that's the anti-venom for our sins
right is to look to jesus and be saved centuries went by and look at this interesting verse in
second kings chapter 18 verse 4 when hezekiah did that which was right in the side of the lord it
says he removed the high places and break the images images are the idols that they worship
the little statues and things like that and cut down the groves and break in pieces the brazen
serpent that moses had made so centuries later this brazen serpent's still around
and it says that hezekiah break in pieces the brazen serpent that moses had made for under those
days the children of israel did burn incense to it and he called it nahushtan so here we see
that the children of israel are worshiping a brazen serpent which is idolatry okay so they
took this picture that was supposed to be held up one time he didn't say all right everybody
you're gonna keep lifting up that brazen serpent every year every day every month everybody
we're gonna burn incense to it no no it was a one-time thing there was this one plague
the fiery serpents came through you lifted up one time whoever looks to that serpent will be healed
and it was a beautiful picture of jesus on the cross bearing the sins of the world but folks it
was a one-time thing but you know what they did they they hung on to that brazen serpent
they hung on to it and they kept pulling it out and worshiping it and bow serpent you know they're
not getting the picture folks they're not saying that the lord is who they're supposed to be
worshiping they're supposed to be worshiping jesus christ instead they're worshiping this hunk of
metal okay and nahushtan simply means made out of brass so basically he called it nahushtan
because he's saying it's made out of brass folks you're worshiping a hunk of metal this is not your
god this is not the lord this is an idol i'm gonna break it in pieces just like i broke every other
idol okay moses made it for a specific purpose but it's time for me to break this thing and destroy
it why because you're burning incense to it thou shalt worship the lord thy god and him only shalt
thou serve you know don't don't bow down to a carved image don't bow down to this brazen
serpent this thing is not god it's made out of brass and so it says under those days that the
children of israel burn incense to it folks it was to be held up one time and that's it it wasn't
something they were supposed to keep and you know again you know what this reminds me of the roman
catholics with that jesus still hanging on the cross folks jesus is not on the cross today he
was jesus has not made sin today he was made sin for us when he was on the cross but you know what
jesus is totally without sin right now in 2019 and he's not hanging on the cross he's not a little
baby in a manger right now he is at the right hand of the father in heaven he is seated at
god's right hand and so we need to get jesus off the cross folks and that idol that the catholics
have of bowing down to a picture of some long-haired hippie hanging on the cross that
guy's not even jesus that's a random dude that is a random dude that somebody painted over a thousand
years later or even if you're going to go with the orthodox picture of jesus over 500 years after
jesus walked and lived they just paint some random white guy with long hair
and oh this is your god nope sorry i don't know who that guy is that's a random dude
and jesus didn't have long hair it's a shame for a man to have long hair and jesus looked
like everybody else that's why judas had to kiss him in order for anybody to know that it was him
why didn't judas just say hey it's the guy with the long hair there get the get the long hair
no no he said it's the one i kiss why because jesus just looked like everybody else he was
just an ordinary man physically speaking he didn't look totally different than every other
human being he was made like in the likeness of men and so jesus christ died once he doesn't need
to be sacrificed and offered on a weekly basis like the catholics are doing and we don't need
some idol to look at and burn incense to like the children of israel still trying to burn incense
to that serpent on a pole and the catholics are burning their incense to an image of a carved
image of a christ on the cross no folks he died he was buried but the most important part is they
rose again and all we need to do is look to jesus and be saved and not look to idols but look to the
lord jesus christ through the eyes of faith not a physical looking at jesus but the bible says
faith is the substance of things hoped for faith is the evidence of things not seen we see christ
on the cross with the eyes of faith not with our literal eyes and we see him resurrected more than
anything and so we look to jesus to be saved we believe on the lord jesus christ to be saved we
call upon the name of the lord to be saved you know none of that is a work on our part
looking at him speaking to him calling upon him believing on him in our heart you know it's
interesting how none of that has to do with cleaning up your life none of that has to do
with joining a church or getting baptized or going through whatever the process of initiation into
that church or you know the good works or the cleaning up your life folks that's not salvation
salvation is all accomplished by christ once for all on the cross now what's interesting about this
image of the the serpent on a pole did you know that this is the symbol for the medical industry
in fact i i got a list here of medical organizations that use that symbol as their emblem
the american academy of physician assistants the american osteopathic association the american
medical association also known as the ama that's a big one american medical response american
academy of family physicians american college of occupational environmental medicine american
college of osteopathic internist american academy of psychiatry and the law american
hippocratic registry american medical student association american veterinary medical association
army medical department of the u.s army blue cross blue shield heritage college of osteopathic
medicine internal medicine corps medic alert michigan state medical society national athletic
trainers association you know throw in sports medicine amen stanford university school of
medicine kansas city university of medicine and biosciences pennsylvania department of health
student osteopathic medical association united states navy hospital corps united states air
force medical corps university of minnesota medical school and yale university school of
medicine and that's just in the united states this symbol is used all over the world it's used in
africa asia europe all over the world this symbol is used as a symbol of medicine and healing isn't
interesting how many things in our world come from the word of god they come from the word of
god in fact every time you see an ambulance 100 of the time it has like a blue symbol that's
like a six lines or three lines that make a little star and they have a serpent on a pole in the
middle every ambulance has a picture of a serpent on a pole isn't amazing how they're just things
that bear witness to christ everywhere you look you know christ left his stamp on this world
i mean it's everywhere that little pictures of the gospel everywhere and so many things in our
world so many expressions that we use and symbols that are out there they come from the word of god
but let me ask you this out of all those medical uh organizations that i read i wonder if they give
god the glory i wonder if they give jesus christ the glory and i wonder if they acknowledge
hey that symbol comes from the word of god that's a picture of jesus you know he's the great
physician you think that they give them the glory down at yale and stanford and and i said they
actually don't so if you actually look up where does that symbol come from you know what they'll
tell you oh well that's the rod of asclepius and asclepius is a greek god and they say that's you
know that's actually the rod of asclepius and it's a greek god and from about 300 bc onwards
the cult of asclepius grew very popular and pilgrims flocked to his healing temples to be
cured of their ills so uh the world will tell you hey this is a this is a greek god you know the
serpent on a pole and uh if you listen to different uh lectures on this they'll tell you hey it goes
back to the sixth century bc and it got really popular around 300 bc and onward but wait a minute
folks when was the book of numbers written the book of numbers was written around 1500 bc
the book of numbers that we're reading right now was written around 1500 bc that's around the time
that moses you'll hear sometimes people tell you oh the bible was written over the course of 1600
years it's because they're going from you know 1500 bc to around 100 ad as far as the new
testament being finished by 100 ad so that's where that 1600 figure comes from so it's easy to
remember that the books of moses were written around 1500 bc and look even christ rejecting
scholars who believe that the bible is not telling the truth and that it's just a book of fairy tales
or myths even they will tell you that the law of moses was written by a thousand bc at the latest
thousand bc is what they'll state but we know from the chronology of the word of god it was actually
written about 1500 bc it's written around 1500 years before christ but even if you took their
christ rejecting date that's long before asclepius right which is from like the sixth century bc
so look this came 900 years earlier folks now stop and think about this if the word of god
tells us about this serpent on a pole that was lifted up by moses and people would look and live
and jesus christ came along and said you know what just like that serpent was lifted up even so must
the son of man be lifted up that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have
eternal life what happened after that what did they do what did the children of israel do they
burned incense to it so they did what they worshipped it right so doesn't it make sense
that if the children of israel spent hundreds of years worshipping a brazen serpent on a pole
they did that for hundreds of years starting at 1500 bc in 1400 bc they're still doing it 1300
1200 1100 1000 bc still doing it right still worshipping the serpent on a pole around the
time of king david right around you know 1000 bc 900 bc 800 bc 700 bc well look doesn't it make
sense that some of their neighbors in the mediterranean would have picked up on this
this cult of worshipping the brazen serpent so obviously the greeks picked up on this because
they saw some israeli dude worshipping the serpent on a pole or talking about it and then next thing
you know the greeks have their own false religion why because the devil's false religions are
spin-offs of the true religion think about the false religions of our world they are spin-offs
from what the lord has given us that's why all the false religions of the world they have a flood
story you know the hindus they have their flood story why because of the fact that there was a
real biblical flood noah and his family were saved and the devil takes the truth and perverts it
he takes the truth and perverts it he takes the word of god and perverts it
so this brazen serpent that was supposed to be lifted up one time
as a picture of jesus the devil wanted to pervert that so he got the children of israel to keep
burning incense to that worshipping that next thing you know the greeks pick up on that and
by the time you get to 600 500 bc 300 bc now the greeks have got their own cult where they're
worshiping a serpent on a pole and saying oh man this thing can heal you right but where did it
really come from so that symbol they can try to tell you oh that's of this greek god and whatever
but you know what that symbol is actually supposed to represent the bible story the bible story right
and so hezekiah he eradicated it from israel but the greeks picked up on it and worshiped because
remember the greeks have all kinds of false gods you know they're worshiping all kinds of just
fake mythical pagan gods so what happened was there's a guy named hippocrates okay and
hippocrates is known as the father of modern medicine who's heard of the hippocratic oath
before so when doctors become a doctor they still take this thing called the hippocratic oath
because hippocrates the father of modern medicine well hippocrates he was into this asclepius thing
he was into some of this cult with the serpent on a pole and so that's how that symbol made it into
the medical industry that's why all your medical industry has that serpent on a pole so they have
it for the wrong reason but you know what it is actually a picture of the lord jesus christ you
know you could actually use this as a witnessing opportunity because you could actually point to
an ambulance to your buddy at work or to your relatives or to your friends or family and you
could point to an ambulance or point to an emt's jacket or something and say hey do you know what
that symbol means that serpent on a pole and i'll bet you they probably won't even know
and you could tell them that bible story don't tell them about that stupid greek god and
asclepius and hippocrates leave that junk out right hey i would just point to that serpent
on a pole and say you know where that symbol comes from that's a bible story and then you
could begin to tell them this bible story and you know what it's a pretty cool story you know
the fiery serpents come in and then moses prays for the people and they end up making this
brazen serpent on a pole and lifting it up and then you could quote them that verse
as moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness even so must the son of man be lifted up that
whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have eternal life and you know what you've just
done you've just rolled into the gospel right there and then you can explain how that serpent
pictured jesus because jesus who knew no sin became sin for us that we might be made the right
sense of god in him and we could give god the glory and you know these are things that we could
use and even if the devil uses these things for evil and wants to burn incense to it you know
god can use these things for good you know just like the the in and out burger cup on the bottom
john 316 boom that's a chance to share the gospel with somebody hey have you ever seen that and
then that leads into the gospel you could show them that emt picture you could show them that
badge on a on a paramedic that symbol is everywhere folks you know now that i've mentioned it you'll
start seeing it everywhere you know on hospitals and medical clinics you see it everywhere you
know use that to preach the gospel amen don't worship it don't burn incense to it but use it
as a picture of christ because that that's what it was supposed to be in the first place it was
supposed to be a picture of jesus so let's keep it that way now there are a few other pictures
of jesus in the book of numbers those were the two that i really wanted to focus in on because
those are two of the most powerful images the the rock from which water gushed forth and the brazen
serpent so those are the two that i really want you to remember tonight okay but there are a
couple of other mentions of jesus or pictures of jesus in the book of numbers and i'm just
going to quickly show you what those are flip over if you would to numbers chapter 24 numbers
chapter 24 so we saw number one the seven lamps of fire in numbers that pictures the seven spirits of
god and jesus said that he had the seven spirits of god right number two the spiritual rock that
gave forth water number three the brazen serpent these are places that we find jesus in the book of
numbers but number four jesus is the star that came out of jacob now what's interesting about
this one is that this is actually a prophecy that balaam prophesies now balaam was not a good guy
balaam is used as a bad example of a false prophet or a wicked person but what's interesting is that
the bible says in numbers 24 verse 2 and balaam lifted up his eyes and he saw israel abiding in
his tents according to their tribes and the spirit of god came upon him so what balaam preaches in in
numbers 24 even though he was a bad guy who was in the ministry for the love of money god actually
still used him to give this message the spirit of lord came upon him now some people believe that
balaam was saved and some people believe that balaam was unsaved i personally believe that
balaam was unsaved because of the if you study all the teachings on balaam in the bible he's
put in a list with people like kane and korra and he's also called a soothsayer which a soothsayer
is somebody who's really not preaching the word of god but they're like a diviner or into witchcraft
and things like that but you know it's possible that he was saved i don't believe he was saved
i strongly believe that he was unsafe but whether he was saved or unsaved the spirit of lord came
upon him and he gave this message now you say how could the spirit lord come upon a an unsafe person
well there's a guy named caiaphas in the new testament he was the high priest and he did not
believe in jesus but yet the bible says because he was the high priest the god's spirit actually
prompted him to speak god's word and caiaphas actually said you know nothing at all and i don't
have it memorized so i'm going to just quote it the best i can he said you don't you know nothing
at all and you don't realize that it's expedient that one man should die for the nation so caiaphas
actually prophesied that jesus would die for the nation of israel that he would die for the people's
sins and it said that he didn't speak that of himself but because he was high priest he spake
it by the spirit of god so there's an example of an unbeliever where god still actually allowed him
to speak truth also cyrus the great was probably an unbeliever and god's spirit moved him to make
a proclamation concerning the temple and so forth but anyway whether or not you believe that balaam
was saved is not the issue because in this moment the spirit of god came upon him and he made this
prophecy and look what he says in verse 17 i shall see him but not now i shall behold him but not nigh
so he's saying look whoever he's talking about he's not near nigh means near and i'm not going
to see him now and it's nothing near why because he's speaking many centuries before christ would
come he's speaking about 1500 years before christ so he's off in the distance looking way off into
the distance into the future he says there shall come a star out of jacob and a scepter shall rise
out of israel and shall smite the corners of moab and destroy all the children of sheth this is a
picture of jesus christ that will rule with a rod of iron and you say well is jesus ever called a
star well the bible says in revelation 22 i jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these
things in the churches i'm the root and the offspring of david and the bright and morning star
so jesus christ is called the bright and morning star so i believe that this is a reference to
jesus the star that would long off in the distance come out of jacob the scepter that would rise out
of israel and would smite the corners of moab and destroy all the children of sheth some people say
it's a picture of david i think it's more likely a picture of jesus christ the son of david who is
that bright and morning star so anyway that's another one but let's go to the next one numbers
25 we're talking about pictures of jesus why because the whole bible is about jesus even a
book like numbers about jesus so we see jesus when we see the seven lamps of fire we know that's the
seven spirits of god we see jesus when we look at the water gushing out of the rock we see jesus
when we look at that serpent upon a pole we see jesus when we see the star that's going to rise
out of jacob and the scepter out of israel but also there's a guy in the bible in numbers 25
that pictures jesus and that's phinehas the priest the bible says of the high priest or who would
later become the high priest phinehas in verse 10 the lord spake unto moses saying phinehas
the son of eliezer the son of erin the priest had turned my wrath away from the children of israel
while he was zealous for my sake among them that i consumed not the children of israel in my
jealousy wherefore say behold i give unto him my covenant of peace and he shall have it and his
seed after him even the covenant of an everlasting priesthood because he was zealous for his god and
made an atonement for the children of israel boy it's pretty easy to see how this guy pictures
jesus why because jesus is the one who has that everlasting priesthood after the order of
melchizedek jesus is the one who turned away god's wrath from us the bible says that we have peace
with god through our lord jesus christ therefore being justified by faith we have peace with god
through our lord jesus christ right and the bible says that we're saved from wrath through him
so just as phinehas turned away god's wrath from the children of israel
jesus christ turns away god's wrath from us jesus christ is the one who has a covenant of peace
with us right we've made peace with god through our lord jesus christ and watch this verse 13 at
the end he made an atonement for the children of israel we know of course that jesus christ is the
one who made an atonement for our sins so that's a powerful picture of jesus who the bible calls
our high priest in hebrews chapter 4 jesus the high priest the next picture is in numbers 27
go to numbers 27 and we have joshua mentioned in the book of numbers not only does phinehas the
high priest represent jesus but joshua represents jesus now what's interesting is that joshua and
jesus both have the same name they both have the same name and and the proof of that is that in
acts chapter 7 and in fact turn there if you would keep your finger in numbers 27
and go to acts chapter 7 with your other finger
but have you noticed how in the new testament names change when they go from the old testament
to the new testament so for example you got elijah in the old testament in the new testament elijah
is called elias elias okay elisha in the old testament becomes elisius in the new testament
okay old testament noah becomes in the new testament noe n-o-e okay and then you've got
in the old testament hosea and in the new testament he becomes ozi okay in the old testament you have
judah in the new testament judah is called judas okay uh hezekiah becomes easy kayas manassa
becomes menasses right so these names change a little bit because they go from hebrew into greek
so they change a little bit right like for example my name is steven but in mexico i would go by
esteban okay i don't tell people down there my name is steven okay because they wouldn't even
be able to pronounce they'd say esteven they put a little a on the beginning right they they can't
really pronounce it with that american pronunciation okay if i went to germany i tell them that my name
is stephan i go by stephan when i go to germany and when i go to hungary i go by ishtvan now my
father-in-law is hungarian so he calls me pishti because my name is ishtvan and hungarian and the
affectionate way or the diminutive way that you would talk to somebody whose name is
ishtvan sort of like you go from john to johnny you know you know you have like a more affectionate
you you don't you don't call them maybe rebecca you might say becca or becky right the shorter
version well in hungarian my name ishtvan he calls me pishti okay so you know don't call me
pishti all right call me pastor anderson but you know when my father-in-law calls me pishti that's
appropriate because he's my elder he's my father-in-law and so he refers to me affectionately
he he sees me as his son i see him as my father and he calls me pishti okay so what i'm saying is
your name can change you know when you go to different places because it adapts to that
language right so that's why these names change well here's what's fascinating the name joshua
from the old testament changes to jesus in the new testament so just like elijah becomes elias
joshua becomes jesus that's why you'll see there are other people in the new testament named jesus
right there there and then there's a guy named bar jesus you know that was a name back then
and hispanics for some bizarre reason still name their kids jesus i wish they would just kind of
reserve that for jesus but you know i don't know why they do that i think they're literally the
only people in the world who do that you know i don't understand it and then they name their boy
sometimes they'll even give him maria as a middle name when they're really catholic you know
you're a little too into mary when you're naming your son mary okay you know name your daughter
mary but for crying out loud don't name your son mary all right so anyway look down at acts
chapter 7 verse 44 the bible says our fathers had the tabernacle of witness in the wilderness
as he had appointed speaking unto moses that he should make it according to the fashion that he
had seen verse 45 which also our fathers that came after brought in they brought in the tabernacle
with jesus they brought in the tabernacle with jesus into the possession of the gentiles whom
god drove out before the face of our fathers under the days of david the person being referred to here
is actually joshua he's actually saying you know they brought the tabernacle into the promised land
with joshua but joshua in the new testament is called jesus okay because that's how his name
adapts into the greek language okay also in hebrews chapter 4 joshua is called jesus again
in hebrew chapter 4 so two places so go back to numbers chapter 27 and we see that joshua
is a picture of jesus now this makes perfect sense why because the law was given by moses
but grace and truth came by jesus christ and what's interesting is that who is the one who
follows moses it's g it's joshua right when moses dies then they go with joshua into the promised
land that's a picture of the fact that moses represents the old testament jesus represents
the new testament okay jesus is the one who took them into the promised land right so it's it's
jesus who takes us to heaven you know so anyway and i don't want to preach that sermon because
that's going to be saved for a future sermon called jesus in the book of joshua right so i
don't want to spoil that tonight that's going to be a future message called jesus in the book of
joshua so i don't want to steal my own thunder but i do want to touch on it because joshua is
mentioned in numbers so he is mentioned here look at uh verse 15 he represents jesus moses
spake unto the lord saying let the lord the god of the spirits of all flesh set a man over the
congregation which congregation is the same exact word as church in the new testament congregation
and christ is the head of the church just as joshua was the head of the congregation right
so it says set a man over the congregation and by the way jesus is a man
he's always been a man and he always will be a man and by the way he's always been the son of god
and he always will be the son of god okay but that's another sermon that shall be preached
at another time so the bible says here set a man over the congregation which may go out before them
and which may go in before them and which may lead them out and which may bring them in that
the congregation of the lord be not as sheep which have no shepherd so jesus is the good shepherd he
said i'm the good shepherd and joshua was known as what a shepherd unto the children of israel the
leader of the congregation the man over the congregation christ is the head of the church
verse 18 and the lord said unto moses take thee joshua the son of none a man in whom is the spirit
and lay thine hand upon him and set him before eliezer the priest and before all the congregation
and give him a charge in their sight and thou shall put some of thine honor upon him that all
the congregation of the children of israel may be obedient and he shall stand before eliezer the
priest who shall ask counsel for him after the judgment of your in before the lord at his word
shall they go out and at his word they shall come in both he and all the children of israel with him
even all the congregation and moses did as the lord commanded him and he took joshua and set him
before eliezer the priest and before all the congregation and he laid his hands upon him and
gave him a charge as the lord commanded by the hand of moses so we see jesus christ the fulfillment
of the law of moses as the lord commanded moses jesus christ fulfilled that just as joshua was the
culmination or fulfillment of these commands of moses joshua does all that moses to all the things
that moses commanded joshua fulfilled those things he did those things he went into the promised land
he obeyed the command and that's a picture of jesus christ of course who fulfilled the law of moses
became the head of the church and on and on so joshua pictures the lord jesus christ then lastly
in numbers chapter 35 we have the city of refuge the cities of refuge a place where the guilty could
flee when they had uh unwittingly slain someone they did not do a premeditated murder but they
had committed a crime of passion or was an accident or they got in a fight and they
accidentally killed somebody because they just got too rough in their fighting or whatever all the
different reasons why a person could flee into that city of refuge to be safe jesus pictures that
city of refuge and remember they were to flee to the city of refuge until the death of the high
priest and of course jesus is the one who is our high priest who died for us and basically so that's
picture with the death of the high priest that's when they were then liberated and could basically
be free thereafter so what you know why preach a sermon like this why talk about jesus in the book
of numbers well what i'm trying to teach you tonight is the right way to read the bible the
right way to read the bible you know how do we read genesis how do we read exodus how do we read
leviticus how do we read numbers how do we read deuteronomy well look as new testament christians
we should always be looking for jesus in the bible he's on every page he's in the bible and
as we study our bibles if we're looking for jesus we'll never think that certain books of the bible
are not relevant how many people today think oh leviticus are you serious you preach out of the
book of numbers you preach out of deuteronomy i mean look people scoff at this but let me tell
you something all scripture is given by inspiration of god and is profitable for doctrine for reproof
for correction for instruction in righteousness and so all scripture not was profitable is
profitable right now we can instruct righteousness through the book of numbers you know when we see
them mouthing off and complaining and god sends the fiery serpents boy the instruction in
righteousness there is quit complaining quit complaining that the bride the bread is too light
or you don't have enough onions or leeks or what you know whining about your food you know obviously
we can learn how to be a godly christian because god's laws instruct us in righteousness bible
stories instruct us in righteous in fact these exact stories if you wouldn't i'm going to close
on this go to first corinthians 10 these exact stories are written for us now let me tell you
something the law of moses was a great teaching tool and preaching tool in the time of king david
i mean david he preached the law he loved the law of moses and obviously in the days of hezekiah
centuries later boy the law of moses was still a great book to teach and to preach and so look
ever since god's word came out it's been useful it's been profitable it's been instructive but
did you know that it's it's even more for us than it was for them it's even more for us than
it was for them look at first corinthians chapter 10 the bible says in verse 3 we already talked
about they did all eat the same spiritual meat they did all drink the same spiritual drink for
they drank of that spiritual rock that followed them that rock was christ we know that's from
exodus and numbers right but look what it says in verse number 11 now all these things happened
unto them for and samples or examples and they are written for our admonition upon whom the ends
of the world are come so who's it written for oh that was just written for them back then i mean
you're going to quote leviticus to me you're going to quote exodus numbers preach me something
relevant give me a relevant message the bible says that those stories all of them he said all
those things were written for our admonition upon whom the ends of the world are come folks those of
us that are living closer to the end of the world the bible is more relevant to us than it's ever
been numbers deuteronomy they're more relevant than they've ever been in the history of mankind
in 2019 they are more relevant not less relevant so what am i trying to say read the whole bible
don't just only read the new testament don't just only read the sweetness and light portions
read the whole bible and when you read the bible be instructed in righteousness
learn how to live right learn what you should do and what you should not do
but be looking for jesus because the whole bible is about jesus and you know if you take jesus out
of genesis genesis makes no sense the book of genesis if you take out a messiah if you take
out the anointed if you take out jesus christ if you take out the savior of genesis you know what
it becomes meaningless if you take jesus out of exodus and leviticus all those animal sacrifices
become meaningless it's just it's just one barbecue after another we're just reading about
a series of barbecues where a whole bunch of meat is being chopped up and cooked and prepared and
eaten folks the bible isn't just some barbecue bash that just goes on and on and on folks it's
about jesus but everything loses its meaning folks you take jesus off that emt symbol and it
just becomes some superstitious greek cult meaningless boy but when you have jesus in
that symbol it becomes a powerful opportunity to share the gospel it becomes the greatest story
ever told when you look at that little blue symbol with that serpent on a pole it becomes the
greatest story ever told instead of just being oh yeah some superstitious cult they thought of
a snake bit them they'll be healed folks the snake bite is what kills you and it's jesus that healed
them and so i'm trying to show you how profitable the word of god is how relevant the word of god
is and even in the books where people would expect jesus the least the book of numbers they're not
necessarily expecting it to be the gospel of jesus christ but the gospel is there the gospels
in deuteronomy the gospels in joshua the gospels in judges the gospels in ruth to him give all the
prophets witness the bible is about jesus and the book of numbers points us to the lord jesus christ
let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer father we thank you so much for the entire bible
lord 66 glorious books and lord tonight we want to specifically thank you for the book of numbers
lord thank you for this powerful teaching about the rock and the water from the rock lord thank
you for that powerful teaching so that we can know how easy it is to be saved it's as easy as
just saying the word confessing the lord jesus drinking the water of life lord i pray if anyone's
not saved today that they would look and live that they would take up the water of life freely
and stop trusting in their own works stop trusting in good deeds or the works of the law or
some kind of a weekly sacrifice down at the catholic church lord i pray that they would put
their faith in your finished work on the cross and lord i pray that every christian here today
would read the entire bible including the book of numbers and that their heart would burn within
them as they read the greatest story ever told in jesus name we pray amen