["Pomp and Circumstance"]
you
Good evening and welcome to Veneratee Baptist Church. Let's go ahead and find our seats this evening
Find the seats and find a handle close to you and turn the page number 66
Saw number
66
Open the service with at Calvary saw number 66
Years, I spent in vanity and cries on the birth 66. Let's go ahead and sing it out on the first
Years, I spent in vanity
Oh
Number six six on the second
Oh
On the third
Down
Sing it out on the last
Me
There was a race was
Me
Amen great team welcome to Verity Baptist Church here on our Sunday evening service
We are glad to see everyone here this evening. Let's open the service with a word of prayer
Be heavenly father Lord. We come to you this evening or we thank you for everything you've done today
Thank you for the opportunity to be back to church this evening Lord
thank you for the people that are here that are gonna spend time Lord to sing praises to your name and
Listen to your words preach and learn from your word
Pray that you bless the service bless the singing and the preaching to come and love you and Jesus my pray
Amen our sound time for favorites where if you're selected we will sing a stanza
From the song that you pick but before I select the first one turn the page number
458
saw number
458 somebody requested this song last week
And I said that we were gonna learn it
Saw number
458 the church in the Wildwood if you guys don't know this song, let's learn it together
All right, sing it out on the first. There's a church in the valley by the
Spot
Oh
All right, who's the first Miss Casey guide
176
Saw number one seven six
Jesus loves the little children saw number 176
Sing it out
Abigail what was it?
65 saw number 65
Just over in the glory land saw number six
Where the saints abides you get out on the first
Oh
Miss Christine
216 saw number two one six
Milgram was I and a one drink number two one six
Oh
You go
210 amen
Good song saw number
This one you have to sing out with some passion or I see it out on the first
Oh
Jamie 310 310
310 footprints of Jesus
Oh
Sing one more song brother Salvador guide
81 on the last saw number 81 on the last this will be the last song for favorites
When we see Christ
I see
Oh
Amen all right I ran into the orchestra earlier, so don't worry about it sometimes
All right, let's go ahead and take our bulletins. I did run into I sorry Daniel. I ran into his stand there while he was playing
Let's take our bulletins look some announcements tonight
If you don't have a bulletin raise your hand one of our ushers can get one for you the verse this week Psalm
3723 the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord and he delighted in his way
That's a good verse there like that of course if you open up your Bible
You'll see our service time Sunday morning service 10 30 a.m.. And we had a wonderful service morning
We're glad you're back out of course tonight 6 p.m.. For the evening service
We do invite you to be back on Wednesday night for the Wednesday night Bible study
And we'll be back in the book of Galatians on Wednesday night
So we'd love for you to join us for that if you look at our sewing times our main sewing times on Saturday mornings at 10
A.m.. Then we have additional sewing times on Thursdays Fridays and Sundays if you are a soul winner
Don't forget to add your salvations on your communication card
And don't forget to return your maps if you did not finish your map clearly done mark
What was done and was not done and you could put it in the bin in the foyer?
And we'll get that recycled and if you're running late to our sewing time of course you can call us at the number there
916 868 9 0 8 0 let us know your plan on being there
But you're running late that way our team captain is gonna have a map for you and whatever you need
We are of course a family integrated church, but that means is that children and infants are is welcome in the service
We don't separate children from their parents for any reason we do have mother baby rooms
So if you have a child that's been distracting during the service
Please use those as needed if you need to be baptized
Please let us know on your communication card on the back
There's a place for you to check off that you'd like information about baptism
And we'll follow up with you and talk to you about that if you look at the
Announcements and upcoming events of course this coming Sunday is Mother's Day, so we've got the ladies tea on
Saturday May 13th at 3 p.m.. Make sure you don't forget about that, and then the next day is Mother's Day
You should have one of these cards in your bulletin and of course. We're gonna have special music from the children's choir
They'll be singing for Mother's Day
We'll have the ladies BBC t-shirts for all the ladies in attendance, and then of course
I'll be preaching a Mother's Day sermon and
We encourage you to be here of course for that and we encourage you to invite someone
Use this card as a tool and then the safety team appreciation dinner and training if you're part of our safety team
We just want to make sure that you
Sign up for this it's on Friday May 26 at 6 p.m.. And of course we want to appreciate you
But we also have some training to go over and if you are interested in joining the safety team
And you just like to learn more about that and get more information
Then you're welcome to sign up as well and come to the dinner and training as well
You must have or be working towards getting a California concealed weapons permit to be on our safety team obviously
It's for men only and then you have to have a CCW or you know you're planning on getting one or whatever
And I'm sure that the guys on the safety team will probably help you and direct you on
On those steps as well
So make sure you sign up for that if you're interested in that and then we also have a baby shower coming up for Miss
Ava Rodari on Saturday May 27th at 3 p.m.. And Miss Ava is having a boy
She's registered on Amazon. It is a potluck, so if you can please bring a dish to share and you can sign up on your
communication card tonight after the service and the
Fellowship hall is the last night of recordings for the choir
So just about 10 minutes after the service if you can head over the fellowship hall
We would appreciate that the children's choir practice this afternoon homeschool group. They've got PE class this Thursday May 11th
There's other things there for you to look at please don't forget to turn your cell phones off or place them on silent during the service
After not a distraction to anybody if you look at the back of the bulletin birthdays and anniversaries for the month this week
We have Joshua Castellum the second birthday on May 9th and Miss Jackie O2's birthday is on May 10th
Praise report money matters all those things are there for you to look at
And I think that's it for all of the announcements, so we're gonna go ahead and sing the chorus of the week
mansion over the hilltop
Let's go ahead and sing this up on the first
Oh
No permanent
Oh
We'll never
Oh
I'm not
Oh
We'll never
Oh
Amen good singing we'll have the guys
Top us with the offering at this time
And I do want to let the church family know that
We were able to follow up with all the men that were missing this morning
We have confirmed that they all have kovat and now don't worry probably only one of them actually has kovat the rest are lying
But I just be in prayer for them of course and
I'm sure they'll all be back on Wednesday, so let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer heavenly father lord
We do love you, and we thank you. We pray lord that you'd bless the offering we pray that you'd bless the time set aside
For the preaching of your word in Jesus name we pray amen
You
Please open mouths to numbers chapter 3
Numbers chapter number 3 if you'd like about what you put your hand up in a nutshell come I bring your Bible
Numbers chapter number 3
Just keep your head up, but she'll come by
Numbers 3 we read the entire chapter as our custom
Numbers 3 meaning verse number 1
these also are the generations of Aaron and Moses in the day that the Lord spake with Moses in Mount Sinai and
These are the names of the sons of Aaron nadab the firstborn and a by who a liaison in Ithamar
these are the names of the sons of Aaron the priests which were anointed whom he consecrated to minister in the priests office and
Nadeb and by who died before the Lord when they offered strange fire before the Lord in the wilderness of Sinai
And they had no children and the liaison Ithamar ministered in the priests office in the sight of Aaron their father
and the Lord spake unto Moses saying bring the tribe of Levi near and
Present them before Aaron the priest that they may minister unto him
And they shall keep his charge and the charge of the whole congregation before the tabernacle of the congregation
To do the service of the tabernacle
They shall keep all the instruments of the tabernacle of the congregation
And the charge of the children of Israel to do the service of the tabernacle
And thou shalt give the Levites unto Aaron and to his sons
They are wholly given unto him out of the children of Israel
Now shall appoint Aaron and his sons and they shall wait on their priests office and the stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death
And the Lord spake unto Moses saying and I behold I've taken the Levites from among the children of Israel instead of all the firstborn
That opened at the matrix among the children of Israel
Therefore the Levites shall be mine
Because all the firstborn are mine from the day that I smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt
I hallowed unto me all the firstborn in Israel both man and beast
Mine shall they be I am the Lord and the Lord has spake unto Moses in the wilderness of Sinai saying
Number the children of Levi after the house of their fathers by their families
every male from month old and upward shalt thou number them and
Moses number them according to the word of the Lord as he was commanded and these were the sons of Levi by their names
Gershon and Kohath and Mariah Mariah and these are the names of the sons of Gershon by their families
Libneh and Shimei and the sons of Kohath by their families Amram and Izzahart, Hebron and Uzziel
The sons of Mariah by their families
Mali and Mushi these are the families of the Levites according to the house of their fathers of
Gershon was the family of the Libnites and the family of the Shimei
These are the families of the Gershonites
Those that were numbered of them according to the number of all the males from a month old and upward
Even those that were numbered of them were seven thousand and five hundred
the families of the Gershonites shall pitch behind the tabernacle westward and
The chief of the house of the father of the Gershonites shall be Eliasaph the son of Lael
And the charge of the sons of Gershon and the tabernacle of the congregation shall be the tabernacle and the tent
the covering thereof and the hanging for the door of the tabernacle of the congregation and
The hangings of the court and the curtain for the door of the court
Which is by the tabernacle by the altar roundabout and the cords of it for all the service thereof
And if Kohath was a family of the Amramites and the family of the Isharites and the family of the Hebrew Knights and the family
Of the Ozielites, these are the family of the Kohathites and the number of all the males
From a month old and upward were eight thousand and six hundred
Keeping the charge of the sanctuary
the families of the sons of Kohath shall pitch on the side of the tabernacle southward and
The chief of the house of the father of the families of the Kohathites shall be Elizaphan the son of Oziel
And their charge shall be the ark and the table and the candlestick and the altars and the vessels of the sanctuary
Were with a minister and a hanging and all the service thereof
and Eliezer the son of Aaron the priest shall be chief over the chief of the Levites and
Have the oversight of them that keep the charge of the sanctuary
If Marari was the family of the Malites and the family of the Moshites
These are the families of Marari and those that were numbered of them
According to the number of all the males from a month old and upward were six thousand and two hundred and
The chief of the house of the father of the families of Marari was Uriel the son of Abihel
these shall pitch on the side of the tabernacle northward and
under the custody of in charge of the sons of Marari shall be the boards of the
Tabernacle and the bars thereof and the pillars thereof and the sockets thereof and all the vessels thereof and all that serve it there, too
And the pillars of the court round about and their sockets and their pins and their cords
But those that encamped before the tabernacle toward the east
Even before the tabernacle of the congregation eastward shall be Moses and Aaron and his sons
Keeping the charge of the sanctuary for the charge of the children of Israel
And the stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death
All that were numbered of the Levites which Moses and Aaron numbered at the commandment of the Lord
Throughout their families all the males from a month old and upward were twenty and two thousand
the Lord said unto Moses
Number all the firstborn of the males of the children of Israel from a month old and upward and take the number of their names
And thou shalt take the Levites for me
I am the Lord
instead of all the firstborn among the children of Israel and the cattle of the Levites instead of all the firstlings among the cattle of
the children of Israel and
Moses numbered as the Lord commanded him all the firstborn among the children of Israel
And all the firstborn males by the number of names
from a month old and upward of those that were numbered of them were twenty and two thousand two hundred and three score and
thirteen and the Lord spake unto Moses saying
Take the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the children of Israel and the cattle of the Levites instead of their instead of their
cattle and the Levites shall be mine
I am the Lord and for those that are to be redeemed of the two hundred and three score and thirteen of the firstborn of
the children of Israel which are more than the Levites
That shall even take five shekels of peace by the pole after the shekel of the sanctuary shall thou take them
The shekel is twenty gears and that shall give the money wherewith the odd number of them is to be redeemed unto
Aaron and to his sons and
Moses took the redemption money of them that were over and above them that were redeemed by the Levites of the firstborn of the
children of Israel took heed the money a
thousand three hundred and three score and five shekels after the shekel of the sanctuary and
Moses gave the money of them that were redeemed unto Aaron and to his sons
According to the word of the Lord as the Lord commanded Moses. Let's pray. Heavenly Father. Thank you for this evening
God, I thank you for your word for our church and for the book of Numbers God as they please meet with us tonight
I say be other pastors strengthen him and from the spirit. We love you and I just think pray. Amen
Amen
Alright, we're there in Numbers chapter number three. And of course we started several weeks ago a
Chapter by chapter study on Sunday nights in the book of Numbers. We're calling in wilderness wanderings and we are
finding ourselves tonight in
Numbers chapter number three and of course is a long long chapter 51
Verses and we're gonna cover the whole thing tonight Lord willing and
I want to just kind of give you a heads up in regards to how this chapter can be divided and
This chapter can be divided into three different sections and we're going to look at it in those three different sections
So these are kind of your three different points if you'd like to write these down
And of course, I always encourage you to take notes
Especially when we're going through a verse by verse study or chapter by chapter study the first section of this chapter
Can be divided between verses one through four and you could give it this title or this heading the priest the priest
And if you'd like you can put in parentheses
the sons of Aaron, so
The first section that covers verses one through four would be the priest parentheses the sons of Aaron
Then the next heading that we could divide this chapter into would cover verses five through thirty-nine
Versus five to thirty-nine and you could title that heading the Levites
the Levites and
If you'd like to add a parentheses to that we can call that the tribe of Aaron the tribe of Aaron
and then lastly the third section would go from verses 40 through 51 and
You could title that section if you'd like the firstborn the firstborn and if you'd like to add a
Parentheses to that title
You could add the price of Aaron
So we've got the priests the sons of Aaron the Levites the tribe of Aaron and then the firstborn
The price of Aaron and we're gonna look at this chapter tonight
There's a lot to cover and we'll go through it as quickly as we can under those headings
So we'll start here in verse number one under this heading of the priests the priests the sons of Aaron in
Numbers chapter 3 and verse 1 the Bible says this these also are the generations of Aaron and Moses
in the days that the Lord spake with Moses in Mount Sinai and
These are the names of the sons of Aaron
So notice that in these few verses we're going to see the sons of Aaron
Which of course are the priests the the priest in the Old Testament are the sons of Aaron and the descendants of the sons of?
Aaron the Bible tells us here that when they first started if you remember as we've gone through the book of Numbers this far
we've learned that there are about a year into their journeys a year in a month and
It's pretty early in the journeys. They have not yet left to wander in the wilderness if you will
There's spending time getting ready to go in their journey. They're supposed to go into the promised land
They're gonna fail to do that and end up wandering in the wilderness for 40 years
But the Bible tells us in verse 2 and these are the names of the sons of Aaron
so when they came out of Egypt the sons of Aaron were the following number one and nadab the firstborn and
number two Abihu number three Aliezer and number four if Ammar
Verse three says these are the names of the sons of Aaron the priests which were anointed whom he consecrated to minister in the priest
Office and I want you to notice that
Because we're gonna be talking about the priests
Talking about the Levites and I think if you're not familiar with the concept of the priests and the Levites
I want you to understand it the the the priest and the Levites are not the same thing
often we talk about the the Levitical priesthood, but the Levites are a tribe and
The priests are a family within that tribe
Aaron was of the tribe of Levi
but Aaron is a family and his sons and the descendants of his sons are a family within that tribe and
the the the descendants of Aaron the sons of Aaron are the priests within the tribe of Levi and
the rest that are not sons of Aaron but are in that tribe are
What we refer to as Levites and we're gonna look at it tonight in this chapter what those differences are and what that means
But I want you to understand there in verse three
We're told the priests which were anointed whom he consecrated to minister in the priests office
So the ones that were in the priests office are the sons of Aaron at this point in their history
It's Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, Ithamar, but of course, they will have children and their descendants
Will be the priests notice verse four and Nadab and Abihu
Died before the Lord if you're familiar with the story of Nadab and Abihu on the strange fire
It's not
Given in detail here. It's actually given in detail in the book of Leviticus
We're gonna go back there and look at that here in a minute
But the Bible tells us that of these four sons that Aaron had Nadab and Abihu died
The Bible says there in verse four Nadab and Abihu died before the Lord when they offered a strange fire
Before the Lord in the wilderness of Sinai and they had no children and Eleazar and Ithamar
Ministered in the priests office in the sight of Aaron their fathers
So we've got four sons that are the sons of Aaron who are to be the priests and two are killed off
pretty early in this thing
one month
into the first year of
their
Being in the wilderness. So the only two that were left were Eleazar and Ithamar
They ministered in the priests office and it is their descendants that continued on the priesthood
Now, let's just look at the story of Nadab and Abihu just real quickly. You're there in numbers
Obviously, that's our text for tonight
But go with me if you would to the book of Leviticus if you just go backwards one book from Numbers into Leviticus
Leviticus chapter number 10
And let's look at the story of the strange fire
The Bible says that Nadab and Abihu died before the Lord when they offered strange fire before the Lord
The reason that they died is because they offered strange fire the word strange in your King James Bible means foreign
So it's not strange like weird or odd, but it's strange in the sense that it's foreign. It was foreign fire
Leviticus chapter 10 in verse 1 notice what the Bible says and Nadab and Abihu the sons of Aaron took either of them his censor
Censor the censors where they were supposed to get
Have the fire and transfer the fire back and forth as it was needed. They took of them their censor and put fire there in
notice and put incense there on and
offered strange or
Foreign alien fire before the Lord which he commanded them not now
I want you to understand this because sometimes people look at the story and they think you know, what's the big deal?
But
The the big deal has to do with the source of the fire
It's strange fire because it came from a wrong source. It came from a foreign source now again, we're preaching through numbers
I'm not preaching through Leviticus
We've already gone verse by verse through the book of Leviticus
But go back just to Leviticus chapter 9 and let me just remind you of this if you were with us
Or if you don't know this, let me help you understand this
if you remember
We the book of Exodus takes us from
The pretty much when they entered into the land of Egypt and it takes us into just one year outside of Egypt
so when they left Egypt where the book of Exodus ends is one year after the
they they came out of the bondage of Egypt and then if you remember where the book of Numbers begins is
one year and one month after and
Leviticus covers that one month
So Exodus takes us one year past the captivity of the bondage of Egypt
the book of Leviticus covers that one month in which they built the tabernacle and God gave them the
Instructions for the Levitical priesthood and the numbers picks up right as that month ends
One year and one month into their wilderness wanderings and takes us to through the next 40 years now in
Leviticus and the book of Leviticus really what it is. It's a manual for the priesthood
It's a book that pretty much tells them what sacrifices to do how to do them
All sorts of different things that they were supposed to do as Levitical priests and of course in it
We've got some stories in Leviticus chapter 9
We have the story of the fact that they built a tabernacle
remember God gave Moses a vision of what the tabernacle was supposed to be like and it was supposed to be
Pretty much just the same as the tabernacle up in heaven
God allowed Moses to see the tabernacle in heaven to see the layout and how it was
Configured and then Moses built that with the children of Israel on earth when they got done
Finishing when they finished that tabernacle God
pretty much gave his approval of the tabernacle by
bringing fire from heaven and
On to their sacrifice. So you're there in Leviticus 9 look at verse 24
Leviticus 9 24 and there came a fire out and I don't have time to go through all the verses
I'm just gonna give you just little snippets
You can study this out at a later time if you'd like Leviticus 9 24 and there came out there came a fire out
from before the Lord and
Consumed upon the altar the burnt offering and the fat which when all the people saw they shouted and fell on their faces
So I want you to get the picture. All right, they just got done building the tabernacle
Remember they took a special offering they brought they gave so much to the tabernacle that Moses had to tell the people to stop giving
Because they were giving so much they worked together. They raised the money. They got the stuff situated
everybody did their part and they built this tabernacle and then to
to celebrate and to
Get the tabernacle going they they have this sacrifice that is set up before the Lord
But instead of the the priests
burning the sacrifice the Bible says that the Lord sent fire from heaven and
Consumed that sacrifice and that was a picture to the children of Israel that God was pleased with his tabernacle
And that he had accepted it as the place of his dwelling
That's what we're reading there in Leviticus 9 24 and there came a fire out from before the Lord and consumed upon the altar
The burnt offering and the fat and when all the people saw they shouted and fell on their faces just a little FYI for you
Many many years later hundreds of years later when Solomon builds the temple, which is a building that
Replaces the tabernacle the same thing happens
they lay out the offerings and God sends fire down from heaven and
Consumes it as his way of showing that he approves of the temple and he approves the tabernacle
Now the reason I'm showing this to you is because
when this fire
Came down and could assume the sacrifice the source of the fire was heaven
The source of the fire was the Lord
The Bible says that the fire came out from before the Lord and then what they were
Commanded was to keep that fire burning
To not allow that fire to go out
That fire was the fire that they were to use every day if you remember they had a morning and an evening sacrifice
Every day multiple times a day
They were sacrificing and they were using fire and the fire that they were supposed to keep lit and keep burning and keep going
Was the fire that came from the Lord, but Nadab and Abihu
The Bible doesn't give us a lot of details, but either they let the fire go out
Or
They just decided that they didn't have to go all the way to where God's fire was and they decided to use their own fire
That's why the term is called strange fire
They were supposed to use the fire that the Lord had provided but instead they decided
The Bible tells us go back to Leviticus 10 and verse 1 and Nadab and Abihu
The sons of Aaron took either of them his censor and put fire there in the problem
The problem was that the fire was not from God's fire the fire that God provided and put incense there on and offered strange
or alien or foreign fire
Before the Lord now, maybe the fire of God was already burning
But maybe it was outside or they have to go somewhere and they said we don't need to go out there here
Just use my you just use my lighter. We'll just start this fire. We'll get the here use my matches
We'll just get the fire going. It doesn't really matter where the fire comes from
The point is this that they tried to use strange fire foreign fire
Alien fire in the sacrifices of God when they should have used the fire that came from the Lord
so I want you to understand when we're talking about strange fire and and oftentimes we
use the story and apply it in regards to making sure that we do not offer strange fire unto the Lord and we're using that
in a sense of
Like a spiritual illustration, but I think that sometimes people don't really understand
What does it mean to offer strange fire unto the Lord and one thing I want you to let me give you kind of two
Subpoints regarding that but we are offering strange fire unto the Lord when we choose to use
What God has not provided
You understand that?
God provided the fire
Nate I've been a my hooch said no, we've got better fire. We've got different fire. We've got fire from a different source
So strange fire if you're not sure what that term means they were using strange fire and today
You and I can quote-unquote
Use strange fire when we choose to use what God has not provided
But it's not just that
notice there Leviticus 10 and
verse 1 and look at the last part of the verse where it says and
Offered strange fire before the Lord notice this which he commanded them not
The he there is referring to the Lord which the Lord commanded them not so what can we learn from that?
Well, here's what we learned strange fire is when we choose to use
That which God has not provided but it is also when we choose to do
That which God has not come commanded
So we should not use that which God has not provided and we should not do
That which God has not commanded when it comes to our service to God when it comes to us
Serving God and working for God and offering unto the Lord. We should not use strange fire you say well
What does that mean?
It means don't use what God has not provided and don't do what God has not
Commanded because when you use what God has not provided and you do what God has not commanded
You are offering strange fire
You say well, how does that apply today? Well by God's grace it doesn't apply to Verity Baptist Church
But I can tell you right now that there are churches all across this country who held services today
And the Lord was not pleased because of the fact that they were offering strange fire
I
Say well, what do you mean? Well when a preacher gets up with a Bible version that's not the King James Bible and
Preaches out of the ESV or the NIV or the New King James
He is offering strange fire unto the Lord. Why because strange fire is when we choose to use what God has not provided
God provided the Bible for us in the English version in the English translation. It's called the King James Bible
But the ESV is strange fire
The NIV is strange fire
the the contemporary
Modern Bible translation of today. They're they're they're fire, but they're not fire that has come from God
Their source is not God. There's strange fire. They're foreign fire
How about preaching another gospel we've been learning about that in Galatians
God has provided a gospel the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ the message of salvation that we're saved by
Faith and not of works and once you receive that gift and call upon Christ in faith for salvation
You have it forever and you never lose it
But when somebody stands up and preaches another gospel what they're preaching and what they're offering is strange fire
They are choosing to use that which God has not provided. How about contemporary Christian music?
Contemporary Christian music is strange fire. It didn't come from God
It the source is not the Word of God the source is not the Holy Spirit the source is the world
And people today they'll look at church like ours today. What's the big deal? Why do you use these old hymn?
Why not just use contemporary music? I mean think about
contemporary Christian music
It's in the name. It's contemporary
Meaning it's of our time. It's of our culture and we're just taking
Music from our culture and maybe changing the words a little bit adding the name of Jesus and offering that to the Lord
The Lord is not pleased. It's strange fire
How about
alternatives to soul winning
Because remember strange fire is when we choose to use
That which God has not provided and when we choose to do that which God has not commanded
And you know God commanded us to go out soul-winning
Two by two from house to house to open our mouth boldly and to make known the mystery of the gospel
That's what God has commanded now. I'm not against in fact, we do this here at our church. We will do soul-winning
This is a soul-winning Church by God's grace. We have around a hundred people that go out soul-winning every week in our community
I'm not opposed to us doing soul-winning and doing other stuff on top of that just to help with
Media and and all of that look I'm not against mailers as long as you're soul-winning and doing mailers
But when your only outreach is mailers, you're offering strange fire
You are doing that which God did not command you to do when your only source of outreach is door hangers
You'll never knock the door
You'll never actually ask somebody about their salvation
You'll never open your mouth boldly and make known the mystery of the gospel. You say are you against putting flyers on doors?
I'm not against putting flowers or doors if we're putting flowers and doors as we're preaching the gospel
As we're out knocking on doors, nobody answers. Yes, please put a flyer on the door
But we're not gonna get a hundred people to go out and say don't ever talk to anybody don't preach the gospel anybody
Try not to make any eye contact with anybody. Just put flyers on doors. No
That's strange fire
How about alternatives to preaching?
the Bible says that God uses the foolishness of preaching and
Today you've got pastors that want to get up and say I'll do everything but preach
I'll sit on a stool and give you a talk. Hey, that's strange fire
Want to use a drama?
Want to bring up a bunch of drum actors and act things out. I mean churches today are so crazy
I've literally heard of churches where they'll have like a cooking show
Like on a Sunday morning where the pastors up there and his wife and instead of a pulpit
they just got like a table and they're like cooking and
Teaching people how to like make a lasagna or I don't know what they're doing
They're just and as it's like a cooking show and as they're cooking then they make some sort of spiritual application
I don't know what it's like this pasta reminds me of God. I don't know
But they all these silly weird things and all I say to that is it's strange fire
Because strange fire is when we choose to use what God has not provided and choose to do what God has not commanded
And you said does it upset God will it upset God enough to kill these two guys?
So we should be careful about strange fire make sure what we offer to the Lord has came from God
And has been commanded by God and that what we are doing is honoring to God
Go back to Numbers chapter number three
So we see this first section of the priests the sons of Aaron
We see it in verses 1 through 4 and the emphasis of course is on the two sons who failed made a van of I who?
They offered strange fire because they chose to use that which God had not provided and they chose to do that
Which God had not commanded
Then in the second section and this is the largest section of the book of the chapter excuse me
We see the Levites in the first section. We saw the priests the sons of Aaron in the second section. We see the Levites
the tribe of Aaron verses 5 through 39 and
in this section we see three different things about the Levites and
This will serve as an outline for this section first of all
We see the distinction of the Levites
verses 5 through 10
Notice in verse 5 the Bible says this and the Lord spake unto Moses saying
Bring the tribe of Levi near so now we're not talking about a family the family or the sons of Aaron
But we're talking about a tribe the tribe of Levi the tribe of Aaron
Bring the tribe of Levi near and present them before Aaron the priests that they may minister unto him
Notice that an entire tribe
Was given to Aaron that they would help Aaron and the priests Aaron the priests
the Bible says present them before Aaron the priests that they may minister unto him and they shall keep his charge and the charge of
The whole congregation before the tabernacle of the congregation to do the service of the tabernacle
I want you to notice that the tribe of Levi
Was given to Aaron now Aaron and his sons are a family within the tribe of Levi
But the tribe of Levi was then given to Aaron to help with the service of the tabernacle
look at verse 8 and they shall keep all the instruments of the
Tabernacle of the congregation and the charge of the children of Israel to do the service of the tabernacle and thou shalt give the Levite
Unto Aaron notice it thou shalt give the Levite unto Aaron and to his sons
The Levites were given to the priests Aaron his sons that
They are wholly given unto him out of the children of Israel and thou shalt appoint
Aaron and his sons and they shall wait on the priest's office and the stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death
So I want you to notice that the Levites were a tribe
That were
Assigned and given to Aaron and his sons the priests which were a family to help them in their ministry
You're there in numbers go to Acts real quickly Acts chapter 6 in the New Testament
You've got Matthew Mark Luke John Acts Acts chapter 6
Do me a favor when you get to Acts put a ribbon or a bookmark or something there because we're gonna leave it and we're
Gonna come back to it and I'd like you to be able to get there quickly Acts chapter 6. I
Want you to understand
the priest
Held an anointed office a position in which they did what we would maybe refer to today as spiritual work
Now their spiritual work was very physically laboring
I mean they were sacrificing animals, but if you read about how they sacrifice animals, I mean they were pretty much butchers
but they did the spiritual work of
Receiving sacrifices
Killing the sacrifice
butchering the sacrifice
burning certain parts
Offering certain parts. They did the spiritual work of the offering the
Levites
Were then given to the priest as assistance
to assist them in the work of the tabernacle and
the way you might think of it is that the
Priest did the spiritual work of the tabernacle and the Levites did the secular work and
And by secular what I mean is it wasn't spiritual their job was to maintain the tent
Their job as we'll see later on in this chapter was to take care of certain aspects of the tent
especially when you are reminded of the fact that they're about to journey through the wilderness and that tent is gonna have to be broken down and
Taken as they journey and then put back up
wherever they stop and and so the Levites had this job of taking care of
the physical work the interesting thing is that there is a
Resemblance of this in the New Testament as well to New Testament believers
we do not have priests and Levites, but what we have today is pastors and deacons and
the relationship between a
Priest and a Levite is very similar
It's like the Old Testament version of the relationship between a pastor and a deacon or in our church
We have a deacon brother Oliver, and then we've got other men that aren't deacons, but they're on staff and they help with
The the secular you might call it work of the ministry
Acts chapter 6 are you there? Let me just show this to you
You're familiar with these verses, but let's look at it
Acts after 6 verse 1 in those days when the number of the disciples was multiplied
There arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews because their widows were neglected in the daily administration
then the 12 called the multitude of disciples unto them and said it is not reason now the 12 are
Obviously apostles, but they're acting as pastors
And I've noticed that the 12 and keep in mind
This is a church that's growing when the number of disciples was multiplied and this is a huge church
I mean, they've got thousands of converts
So if you think you know, why do they have 12 pastors?
It's because they're they're ministering to you know
5,000 people and the Bible says here that the 12 acts chapter 6 verse 2
Then the 12 called the multitude of disciples unto them and said it is not reason and that phrase it is not reason
You and I might say it this way. It's not a good reason
That we should leave the Word of God and serve tables
Wherefore brethren look ye out among you seven men of honest report full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom
whom we may appoint over this business and we
Talk about the spiritual leadership
will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word and
the idea is this that look
In the Old Testament and keep your place in Acts, but you can go back to Numbers
the spiritual work was that of
Sacrificing the animals
But somebody had to get everything else ready to help them do that and and and and even in a church like ours
I mean our church
You know, we average somewhere between 200 and 225 people here on a Sunday morning. Obviously the evening services are less than that
But a church like ours, you know as a pastor
I obviously have to spend time in the word preparing sermons getting things ready
I spent time in the word doing counseling and and and things of that nature which we might call spiritual work
But the truth is that someone has to vacuum this building
You understand that?
Somebody has to take the trash out
so I mean there's actual work and
Preparation that needs to be done and that's not just only the deacon or the staff
I mean, obviously they've got responsibilities and things that they do
But honestly
We should take that as a lesson for all of us because the Bible says that in the New Testament. We are all priests and
The idea is this that look you you might say well, I'm a neo-christian. I don't know the Bible
Maybe I can't be a spiritual type leader. I can't get up and preach. I'm a woman
They're not gonna let me preach right or I'm a man, you know
I just I don't think I'm ready to do spiritual work like that
But hey, how about being a Levi and just helping with some of the secular stuff?
Because there's always work to be done things that need to be bulletins need to be folded
You said I mean, so there's always things that have that are required
So there's this idea that you have the priests who are doing the spiritual work
But then you have this whole tribe of Levi's who were helping them accomplish that work
And the New Testament is the same thing. You may have a pastor that is lord willing doing spiritual work
but there should be a whole army of people helping do the rest of the things that need to be done if this ministry is
going to be
effective and successful
So we see the distinction of the Levi's
what made the Levi's different from the rest of the tribes of Israel and even from
The sons of Aaron and what made them different was that it was their task to be the assistance
It was their task to help with all the things that needed to be done so that the priests
Could do the work that he was called to do
So we see the distinction of the Levi's
verses 5 through 10 and
Then we see the division of the Levi's
verses 11 through 20
notice verse 11 and the Lord spake unto Moses saying
And I beheld that I've taken the Levi's from among the children of Israel instead of all the firstborn
That openeth the matrix amongst the children of Israel. Therefore the Levi's shall be mine
Because all the firstborn are mine for on the day that I smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt
I hallowed unto me all the firstborn in Israel both man and beast mine shall they be I am the Lord now verses 12 and 13
Are actually covered again at the end of the chapter
We're gonna cover that at that point look at verse 14 and the Lord spake unto Moses and the wilderness of Sinai saying
number the children of Levi
After the house of their fathers remember that in chapters in chapter 1 we had the census of the children of Israel
Remember they did the census of all 12 tribes
Now we had 12 tribes
But there was one tribe that was not counted and it was the tribe of Levi if you remember we still had 12 tribes
Because of the fact that Joseph's tribe was divided into two tribes the two sons of Joseph
Manasseh and Ephraim if you remember from Numbers chapter 1 that census was taken of all the men who were
20 years old and upward
Why because though it was a military census and they were counting how many fighting men they had because they're getting ready to go out
and
Conquer they're supposed to go and conquer the land of Canaan
The tribe of Levi was not part of that census because Levi had a spiritual work
So they were not to go out and fight
But here in chapter 3 they get their own census notice verse 15 numbers 3 15
number the children of Levi
After the house of their fathers by their families every male and notice their census is a little different because it's not a military census
Every male from a month old and upward shall thou number them
So they're not numbering every male 20 years old and up. They're numbering every male one month old and up
Now there's actually a reason for that and we're gonna come to that later on in the chapter
But I want you to notice that they're having a special census for the Levites
Since they were not numbered in the military census and their census is for males that are one month old and up
Look at verse 16 and Moses numbered them
According to the word of the Lord as he was commanded and
These were the sons of Levi by their names. I want you to notice that the tribe of Levi
Aside from Aaron and his sons
Moses and Aaron and Aaron sons is divided into three different families
So the tribe of Levi is made up by three different families and it's a division of the tribe of Levi
look at verse 17 and these were the sons of Levi by their names Gershon and
Kohath and Marari, so you have three families
That make up the tribe of Levi
Gershon the family of Gershon the family of Kohath the family of Marari later on in the book of Numbers. We will see that
Korah
rises up
against Moses and he is of the family of Kohath look at verse 18 and
These are the names of the sons of Gershon by their families Libni and Shemiai
and verse 19 the sons of Kohath by their families Amram and
Izehar Hebron and Uzziel verse 20 and the sons of Marari by their families
Mali and Mushi these are the families of the Levi's according to the house of their fathers
Okay, so I want you to get this we're talking about the division of the Levi's
You've got the tribe of Levi that is divided into three families
The sons of Gershon the sons of Kohath and the sons of
Marari so we see the distinction of the Levi's in verses 5 through 10
We see the division of the Levi's in verses 11 through 20
And then we see the duty of the Levi's in verses 21 through 39
the duty of the Levi's or you could say the description of the Levi's I
Like to alliterate my sermon so you can tell that I spend time working on them
I'm not spending my week golfing
the duty of the Levi's versus 21 through 39 and
What we have is these this breakdown of the families of Gershon
And here's what of the fact of the three families of the Levi's and and here's what we're gonna see
We're gonna have a breakdown of each one of these families and we're gonna be given information about each family. It's the same information
Obviously, it's different for each of the families, but here's what we're gonna get
Okay, their number how many of them there are because remember there's a census
So we're gonna we're gonna be given the number of how many males one month old and upward there are we're gonna be told their location
meaning where they're going to camp because we remember in Numbers chapter 2
We made the book of Numbers made a big deal about where the camps were supposed to be
Remember that we have three tribes on the east and three tribes on the west and three tribes on the north and three tribes on
The south but the Levi's have not been dispersed yet
So we're not only gonna be told how many there are
We're gonna be told where they're going to camp and then we're gonna be told their responsibility
What was their job to do? All right
So first comes the family of Gershon
Look at verse 21 of Gershon was the family of the Lib nights the family of the Shimeites
These are the families of the Gershonites verse 22 here we get their number those that were numbered of them
according to the number of all males from a month old and upward even those that were numbered of them were
7,500 now I realize that these are numbers and you might think is not that it's not that interesting
But there's actually something very interesting about these numbers when we get to the end of the chapter
So I want you to pay attention to this when it comes to the family of Gershon
We're looking at the three families that made up the tribe of Levi
When it comes to the family of Gershon, we're told at the end of verse 22 that there are
7,500 so seven thousand five hundred males that were one month old and upward in verse 23
We're told their location the families of the Gershonites shall pitch behind the tabernacle westward
so if you remember when we talked about it in Numbers chapter 2 you have the
Tabernacle and the tabernacle has one entrance and that entrance always faced the east that was the front
Then you had the north the south and the west and the west would be the back of the tabernacle
And what we're told in verse 23 is that the families of the Gershonites shall pitch behind or in the rear in the back
behind the tabernacle
westward
So they were supposed to pitch behind the tabernacle on the west side, what does that mean now if you remember on
the west side we have the tribe of Ephraim or the camp of Ephraim remember that and
what the Bible is telling us is that between the tabernacle and the camp of Ephraim was to be the Levites and
Specifically the family of Gershon that was like a buffer
Between
the camp of Ephraim and the tabernacle now something that you see over and over in this chapter is that they keep forgetting they
Keep being told that if somebody walks up to the tabernacle. They were supposed to be put to death killed
Because the children of Israel were not just allowed to walk up into the tabernacle whenever they wanted
Even the priests were only given access to a certain part of it and only once a year
One priest after he'd done certain things was allowed to enter into the Holy of Holies
So these Levites are gonna surround the tabernacle as a buffer and as a protector
to just keep the children of Israel from just kind of wandering into the tabernacle and if they can't stop them from
Wanting to enter the tabernacle then they were supposed to put them to death
So we see there in verse 23 that you have the family of Gershon on the west side
Camp between the tabernacle and the and the camp of Ephraim now notice in verse 24
we're told their responsibilities and the chief of the house of the fathers of the Gershonites shall be Eliezab the son of Lael and
the charge of the sons of Gershon in the tabernacle of the congregation shall be the tabernacle and
notice the tent and
the coverings thereof and the hangings for the door of
the tabernacle of the congregation and the hangings of the court and
the curtains for the door of the court which is by the
Tabernacle and by the altar roundabout and the courts of it for all the service there are
So I want you to notice that the family of the Gershonites or the family of Gershon
were given the charge or the responsibility of the
Tempt the coverings thereof the hangings for the doors the hangings of the court and the curtain of the door
What does that mean?
They were in charge of the tent the coverings the draperies the curtains that type of thing. They were in charge of
So when it was time to go their job was to take the tent down
To take all the curtains down to take all the draperies down to to to take all the coverings down and you know
Obviously they have to fold them up. I'm sure and maybe had
Containers or places by in which they traveled they probably have to clean them
But their responsibility was when it came to the tabernacle. They were in charge of the tent
because it was an actual just a tent and
The curtains and the draperies and the coverings. I'm sure that if something got
Ruined they were to hem it or they were to to fix it. These were their responsibilities
Then in verse 27, we have the family of Kohab look at verse 27 and if Kohab was the family of the Amorites and the family
of the
Isaiah rights and the family of the Hebrew Knights and the family of the Azaleaites
These are the families of the Kohites look at verse 28 and the number of and in the number of all males
from one mode one month old and upward were
8,600 keeping the charge of the sanctuary so we get their number the number of the kothites
eight thousand six hundred males one month old and upward notice their location verse 29 and the families of the sons of Kohab
Shall pitch on the side of the tabernacle southward
So they were if you think of the tabernacle facing the east the entrance we had Gershon on
The west on the backside and then we have the kohathites on the south side
they are between the tabernacle and
The
camp of Dan is
the family of
the kohathites
Then in verse 30
We were told their responsibilities and the chief of the house of the fathers of the families of the kohathites shall be
Elazaphan the son of Uzziel and their charge shall be the ark and the
table and the candlesticks and the altars and the vessels of the sanctuary wherewith they
They minister and the hangings and all the service thereof and Eliezer the son of Aaron the priest shall be chief over the chief
of the Levites and have the oversight of them that keep the charge of the sanctuary
So I want you to notice that this family the kohathites their responsibility was the furniture of the tabernacle
So you have the Gershonites when it's time to pack up and go
Their job is to take down the tent take down the curtains take down the draperies take down the coverings
fold them up get them ready to move when they get to where they're going their job was to hang it all back up the
kohathites had the responsibility of the furniture in the tabernacle because the
Tabernacle had furniture inside of it that was used the ark the table the candlestick the altars the vessels
So the kohathites their job was to take care of the furniture. They have to pack it all up
I don't know. Maybe they bubble wrapped it. Maybe they put it in you know boxes
I don't know what they did
but they got it all all the furniture out of the tabernacle took care of it carried it where need to go and then they
Set it up when they got where they had to go
Then in verse 33 we have the final family the family of Marari
Look at verse 33 of Marari was the family of the male lights and the family of the mooshites
these are the family of Marari in verse 34 were told their number and those that were
Numbered of them according to the number of all the males from a month old and upward or six thousand and two hundred
So we have six thousand two hundred
males one month old and upward in the family of Marari
their location is in verse 35 and the chief of the house of the fathers of the families of Marari was
Zuriel the son of Abba Hale these shall pitch on the side of the tabernacle
Northward. All right. So remember we have the the tabernacle facing the east on the west side
We have Gershon on the south side. We have Kohath and then on the north side. We have
Marari Marari is on the north side
between the tabernacle and the camp of Reuben
Remember when we talked about this at numbers two, we talked about the four sides and how they represented
the four Gospels and the four beasts and and you know
We talked about all those things and if you weren't here for that you can you know, check out the sermons on our website
Then in verses 36 to 37 we see their responsibility and under the custody and charge of the sons of Marari
shall be the boards of the tabernacle and the bars thereof and the
Pillars thereof and the sockets thereof and all the vessels thereof and all that serveth thereto and the pillars of the court roundabout
And their sockets and their pins and their court
So what were they in charge of the bars the pillars the sockets the boards the vessels the pins
What what is the cords? What does this mean? They were in charge of the frame and structure
So you have the Gershonites in charge of the tents the draperies the curtains
The Kohathites in charge of the furniture inside and then the the family of Marari
They were in charge of the actual structure because remember this was like if you think about going camping
You know you set up a tent you got a structure then you got the actual covering
They were in charge of the structure the frame and the structure the boards the bars the pillars of sockets the vessels
You know and look sometimes people read the Bible and they're just gone right in the Bible
And it's like I don't know what's going on here, but if you actually look at the words
You realize like hey these people are doing different things
You know some of them are taking care of the tents some are taking care of the furniture
Some are taking care of the structure the frame
They're taking down the poles they're taking and then their job was when they got back to wherever they were going
They had to set that frame back up. They had to set the structure back up
They have to put the frame up before the other family could put the tent on and put the draperies on and put the curtains
On and they have to put the tent on the curtains on before the other family could bring the furniture in and set it all
Up so notice these people have jobs
that they are doing and
Then because we only have three families on three sides right the West the North the South in
Verses 30 in verse 38
We find out about Moses and Aaron and his sons to remember Moses and Aaron and their sons the sons of Aaron are the priests
In verse 38 were told their location
But those that in camp before the tabernacle toward the east because remember the east is the front of the tabernacle
Before the tabernacle toward the east even before the tabernacle the congregation eastward shall be Moses and Aaron and his sons
So Moses and Aaron and his sons they pitch their tent right at the entrance of the tabernacle
Between the entrance of the tabernacle and the camp of Judah
So they're right at the front of the tabernacle obviously a location of prominence because it's Moses
Because it's Aaron because it's the priest the sons of Aaron keeping the charge of the sanctuary
For the charge of the throne of Israel and the stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death
Now notice verse 39
All that were numbered of the Levites which Moses and Aaron numbered at the commandments of the Lord
Throughout their families all the males from a month old and upward shall be twenty and two
Thousand now we're gonna get into that number of twenty and two thousand here in one minute
But let me just give you real quickly a spiritual application
And go to the book of 1st Corinthians in the New Testament if you would 1st Corinthians if you kept your place in Acts
Right after actually have Romans in the the book of 1st Corinthians
What's an application that we could learn from this organization that God gives?
Because you have the tribe of Levi and
The tribe of Levi is divided into three families, but really there's four families
There's Aaron and his sons who are the priests. They're the only ones that perform sacrifices and that
Enter the tabernacle and do those things
Then you have the tribe of Gershon the other three families were given to Aaron
To help with the service of the tabernacle
Then you have the tribe of Gershon. What was their job to take down the tents the curtains the day of the the
draperies the
The coverings that was their job. You had the coethite their job was to remove the furniture
What was then you have the the the murites their job was the frame and the structure what can we learn from this?
there's also a
New Testament
Application to this or a New Testament picture of this and the application is this that in the work of God?
There's room for everyone
There's something for everyone to do you say I might not be a priest
Yeah, but you know you might be able to take the tent down
Or you might be able to take the frame down or you might be able to carry the furniture out in the work of
God there's different things that need to be done and there's a place for everyone to participate in the work of God and
This is there's the there's an equivalence to this in the New Testament first Corinthians chapter 12
Are you there look at verse 12 in first Corinthians 12 12 the Apostle Paul is talking about the local church
Notice what he says first Corinthians chapter 12 verse 12 for as the body is one and have many members and all members of that
One body being many are one body. So also is Christ look at verse 14 for the body is not one member
But many you understand that a church is not one path just a pastor and his wife. That's a church
No, that's just one member. That's just two members in the congregation
For the body is not one member
But many if the foot shall say because I'm not the hand I'm not of the body
Is it therefore not of the body and if the ear shall say because I'm not the eye
I'm not of the body. Is it therefore not of the body if the whole body were an eye?
Where were they hearing if the whole body were?
Hearing where were the smelling but now have God set these
The members every one of them in the body as it has pleased him and if they were all one member
Where were the body?
But now are they many members?
Yeah, but one body
Do you see how that's similar to what we see with the Levi's?
because if
The Gershon I had said well we take down, you know
Everyone wants to take down the tents once take down the curtains one take down the draperies
well, then who's gonna take the furniture down and
Who's gonna take the structure down?
and everyone sees the structure down who's gonna take the furniture down and and and the coverings and if everybody wants to take the
furniture down I
Want to help take care of the ark out. Well, then who's gonna take down the structure?
There's something for everyone to do and the house of God is the same one
Wait, if the foot shall say because I'm not the hand I'm not of the body. Is it therefore not of the body?
Look you and I have different roles and my role might be different than your role and your role might be different than my role
But we should not sit here and judge and say well, I what when do I get to preach?
Probably never
I mean, there's gonna be honestly only a few people that I trust to preach
Behind the point. I don't mean probably that I mean, you know, I try to help guys get opportunities to people
What I'm saying is this you can do something in the house of God. There's something for everyone to do
And with the Levites everyone had a job everyone had a task
Everyone has something responsible for and they were all working together like a body
like a team
So there's an application there about teamwork now go back to Numbers chapter
3 and look at verse 39 again
Now the next section we're gonna look at and we'll finish up with this section is the last section verses 40 through 51
Which is the firstborn we saw verses 1 through 4 the priests the sons of Aaron. Remember we learned about Nate Abba
Who we saw versus 5 through 39 the Levites the tribe of Aaron
We saw the distinction of the Levites the division of the Levites the duty of the Levites
Then in this last section verses 40 through 51, we see the firstborn or the price of Aaron
But before we get into this last section, I want you to look at verse 39 again Numbers chapter 3 verse 39
These were the numbered
Excuse me, all that were numbered of the Levites which Moses and Aaron numbered at the commandment of the Lord
Throughout their families all the males from a month old and upward were
20 and
2,000
now there's a problem in this verse and
The problem with this verse is that the numbers do not add up
because if you look at the numbers that were given of
the family of the Gershonites we were told there was
7,500 of the family of Kohath we were told there was
8,600 of the family of Marari we were told there were
6,200 if you do the math you realize that the number is actually
22,300 so when you take the numbers that we've been given and add them up some of you're taking your phone already
Plus
plus
You can do it check it
Twenty two thousand three hundred is the number but the Bible
the Word of God a
verse in the Word of God says twenty and two thousand
Now I didn't spend a lot of time looking into
Different
explanations for this because honestly I
Saw the discrepancy and I asked God to just kind of help me to understand it and just in my own study of the chapter
I feel like I was able to figure out why that was so I really I don't know what all the different
If there are different or what the different things that people say out there
I quickly just just looked at one commentary because I just looked up numbers 339 and
Looked at one real quick just to see what they said and here's here's what they said
They said that this was a scribal error
So they just said well the problem the reason that it says twenty two thousand is because the scribe messed up
He should have said he should have said twenty in two thousand and three hundred
but you know, he just got sloppy and
Didn't add the three hundred and and that's the the problem
So, you know, I just I just looked at one commentary and it said scribal error, but honestly
Probably all the commentaries say scribal error because whatever somebody people come up with an issue like this
That's what they always say all the scribe messed up
Now I have a problem with that. I have two problems with that
My first problem is that I'm an independent formal Baptist and I'm King James only and I believe the Word of God is
Inspired and preserved and has no error. It's inerrant
There's no problems in our King James Bible. So I'm not the person who's just gonna say
Okay scribal error no
I've got a problem with that philosophy that says when you don't understand something the Bible just blame it on a scribe
Because the Bible is inerrant, it's the Word of God, but let me say this
if
the numbers chapter 3 and verse
the the chapter of
numbers 3 if
It ended at verse 39 if it was just like verse 39 was the last verse in the in the chapter
Period and then we are we're off to chapter 4 then I could kind of see where they're coming from
You understand what I'm saying? If it was just the last verse in the chapter, then I might
Kind of think like okay
Yeah, I don't believe that but I see what you're saying
Maybe they just forgot to add and 300 I could I could see that
If it was the last verse in the chapter, the problem is it's not the last verse in the chapter and there's actually
You know 11 other verses or 12 other verses in this chapter and
When you read the rest of this chapter you realize there's no way this was a scribal error
there's no way that it could have been and I'll just see it look at verse 40 and
the Lord said unto Moses
Because remember we just got done reading that they numbered all the men
that were the males that were one month old and upward of the tribe of Levi and
Then in verse 40 the Bible says and the Lord said unto Moses
Number all the firstborn of the males of the children of Israel
So now God wants them to number all the firstborn
What does that mean the firstborn child of the entire nation of Israel
from a month old and upward because remember
they were numbering 20 years old and upward for the
census the military census
but now he's saying I want you to number all the males that are that are the firstborn and
And
They don't have to be 20 years old. They can be one month old and upward
Look at verse 40 and take the number of their names and thou shalt take the Levites for me
I am the Lord
Instead of all the firstborn among the children of Israel and the cattle of the Levites instead of all the first
lings among the cattle of the children of Israel
Now what's going on here remember there was a couple of verses we skipped earlier
Look at him real quickly
numbers chapter 3 and look at verses 12 and 13 and
I behold I have taken the Levites from among the children of Israel
Notice this word instead of all the firstborn that
Openeth the matrix among the children of Israel. Therefore the Levites shall be mine
The reason that the Levites were not counted as one of the 12 tribes is because God took the Levites as his own
Why did he take them instead of the firstborn?
Why verse 13 because all the firstborn are mine for on the day that I smoke all the
Firstborn in the land of Egypt. I hallowed unto me all the firstborn in Israel both man and beast mine shall be
I am the Lord if you remember in this context for the children of Israel
A year ago not that long ago a year and a month ago
God delivered them out of Egypt through what we now referred to as the Passover
where he told him that the sacrifice of lamb and put blood on the doorpost and the angel the Lord would come through Egypt and
He would kill the firstborn son of every house
but if he saw the blood he would pass over the house and
As a result of that event God said from now on going forward the firstborn son and the firstborn the
firstling even the firstborn of cattle even the first
10% of the harvest were to be given unto the Lord
But because God does not want human sacrifice
He said I'm not gonna take the first son of every family in the nation of Israel
He said instead what I'm gonna do is I'm just gonna take the entire tribe of Levi and they're gonna be mine
Do you understand that's what's going on here now? Here's why this can't be a scribal error
Because the Bible says in verse 32 and Moses numbered of the Lord as the Lord commanded him
All the firstborn among the children of Israel and all the firstborn males
By the number of names from a month old and upward of those that were numbered of them
This is the number not of the Levi's but the number of all the firstborn of the children of Israel
So I want you to understand this. We're gonna look at two numbers. One is the number of all the firstborn of
the children of Israel
males
The other is the number of all the males not just the firstborn all the males in
the one tribe of Levi because God is saying I'm gonna take this tribe instead of
All these firstborn. Are you tracking with me?
Just look like you're interested. Okay, we're almost done
Verse 43 and all the firstborn males by the number of names from a month old and upward of those that were numbered of them
were twenty and
2,200
three score and 13
What is that?
22,273
Okay, so we numbered the Levi's
There was two thousand three hundred of them
But for some reason God chose to write down don't write two thousand three hundred scribe
It wasn't an error God the Holy Spirit of God told the scribe write two thousand
two to twenty two thousand even
not twenty two thousand three hundred
Then they count because they're counting how many Levi's are they going to receive?
instead of the firstborn children of Israel then they count the firstborn children of Israel and it's
22,273 now doesn't twenty two thousand two hundred seventy three and twenty two thousand three hundred sound like they're pretty close
But there's a difference
But remember they they they only counted twenty two thousand they didn't count for three hundred. That's our scribal error
supposedly
So what happens next look at verse 44?
and the Lord spake unto Moses saying take the Levi's instead of all the firstborn among the children of Israel and
The cattle are the Levi's instead of their cattle and the Levi's shall be mine. I am the Lord. You see what's going on here
He says number the Levi's
They numbered them. It should have been twenty two thousand three hundred, but they said twenty two thousand even
He said number the firstborns
And they numbered them. It was twenty two thousand two hundred seventy three
and
then God says in verse 45 take the Levi's instead of all the firstborn among the children of Israel and
The cattle of the Levi's instead of their cattle and the Levi's shall be mine. I am the Lord
Now in verses 46 through 51 we see why this could not have been a scribal error verse 46 and
for those
That are to be redeemed of the two hundred and three score and thirteen of the firstborn
I
Say what's going on here? Because remember the scribal error supposedly gave us twenty a number of twenty two thousand
When they counted the firstborn it was twenty two thousand two hundred seventy six
We know that the actual number was twenty two thousand three hundred
But the number we're going with the one that God told him to go off of was twenty two thousand
even
There's a difference between these two numbers the supposed wrong number twenty two thousand even and the twenty two thousand
273 now we know the real number is twenty two thousand three hundred
But we're not going with that number. God chose to reject that number said just count twenty two thousand
There's a difference of two hundred and seventy three you understand that
What do they do verse 46 and for those that are to be redeemed of the two hundred and three score and thirteen of the firstborn?
Because there's not enough to do a one-for-one swap
There's
Only twenty two thousand on this side
So there's 273 extra the Bible says of the children of Israel which are more than the Levites
You see the last part of verse 46 which are more than the Levites thou shall even take five shackles apiece
By the pole after the shackle of the sanctuary
Shall thou take them the shackle is twenty Giras and thou shalt give the money
Wherewith the odd number of them is to be redeemed unto Aaron and to his sons and
Moses took the redemption money of them that were over and above
them that were redeemed of the Levites and of the firstborn of the children of Israel took he the money a
thousand three hundred and three score and five shackles
So here's what happens. God is gonna take the tribe of Levi instead of the firstborn. He counts the firstborn
Twenty two thousand two hundred seventy six. He counts the Levites
It's actually twenty two thousand three hundred which is more but he decides to only take
22,000 of them which gives you a difference of
276 there's a one-for-one swap means that you've got
276 extra that needs to be redeemed
So again because God does not desire to take a firstborn child out of his home away from his mother
He says for everything that was above and be over and above verse 49
You can just give an offering of five shekels for each one of those
That's what we see in verse 50 of the firstborn of the children of Israel took he the money a thousand three hundred
And three score and five shekels
So you have two hundred and seventy three extra persons at five shekels a person comes out to one thousand three hundred sixty-five shekels
So
the nation of Israel not only had to give the tribe of Levi to God but because there was
276 more in
Israel than there were in the twenty two thousand. They also had to give
1365 shekels five shekels for each one of the two hundred and seventy three persons
Now here's why I say this cannot be a scribal error
Because this scribal error cost them
1300 shekels
You mean to tell me that no, you know, you mean tell me that a bunch of Jews paid a bunch of money
They didn't have to pay because somebody you know, and I know they weren't called Jews back then
That's that's their later on the timeline. They're Hebrews, but you understand what I'm saying
They had to pay
1365 shekels you don't think any of the thousands of people there. Nobody said
Wait a minute. I think you missed something here
It wasn't a scribal error
These people knew what they were doing. They're not stupid
You say well then why?
when there was
22,300 and
There was twenty two thousand two hundred seventy six. Why did instead of taking the twenty two thousand three hundred?
God actually only took twenty two thousand even and made them pay the difference of two hundred seventy six. Why?
Why did that happen?
What was the purpose of that?
It's not a scribal error. This is what God did on purpose because here's what I want you to understand
if
God would have taken the
22,300 which was the actual number of the Levites as a payment for the firstborns
God would have taken an extra 27 persons
You understand what I'm saying?
Because there was twenty two thousand two hundred seventy six
But there was twenty two thousand three hundred if he would have taken
Twenty two thousand three hundred God would have taken an extra twenty seven persons
Meaning that God would have then owed them money
But because God is never gonna be in a position where he owes you money or me money
He says instead of taking the twenty two thousand three hundred which would cause me to owe you
27 souls instead I'll take twenty two thousand even and you just pay the difference of the
276
This was not something that was done by mistake. It was done on purpose and the fact that the people paid
1365 shekels shows you that it was very done on purpose
You say well, I don't understand. Here's what you need to understand. God will never be in your debt
God is never gonna issue you and I owe you
And look there's a spiritual application and the spiritual application is this that God will never
Put himself in a position where he owes you anything
God look God is not gonna put himself and he will be fair. He will be just he will do right by us
He will never put himself in a position where he owes us anything and if anything we owe him
So
This so-called scribal discrepancy is not a scribal discrepancy
There's no way it could be this is why I say if verse 39 was the last verse in the chapter that I could understand
That it was a mistake
But it can't be a mistake because then the whole rest of the chapter
makes the children of Israel pay God
based on that number and
You can't tell me that nobody thought
Maybe let's double check the number here because I think the guy's off a little bit
We don't have to pay 276
Five shekels for 276 people there's 300 they knew that they wouldn't have paid all that money
They chose to only God chose to only take
22,000 of the Levite and then he said since there's 276 more than 22,000 you pay me the difference
But I'm never gonna owe you anything
You
Say what's the spiritual application? Here's the spiritual application for you? I don't care how much you show up to church. I
Mean, I'm preaching to the crowd to the choir right you're here on a Sunday night. God bless you. I'm glad you're here
Let me explain something to you you show up to church Sunday morning Sunday night Wednesday night you tied you serve you do all these things
I'm happy with you. Praise God for you. I'm thankful for you. I'm talking about as a pastor. I'm thankful for you
I appreciate you, but God doesn't owe you anything
You have done your duty
Don't ever walk away thinking. I'm pretty I'm pretty hot stuff. God must owe me. God don't owe you anything
You do you and I deserve to die and go to hell. That's what we deserved and the reason for these numbers
It's the paint a picture
God's not gonna take 22,300 when you only needed
22,000
276 God's never going to take more from us than he should take and he's never going to owe us anything
So he says
Just take 22,000 even
Because I'm not gonna take more from them and they can just pay me the difference for the 276. It's not a scribal error
If it's a scribal error, then that means that everyone in the nation of Israel. Nobody could do math
Because the next 11 verses is all about this financial transaction based off that number that is supposedly a scribal error
It's not a scribal error. It was done on purpose
to make the point that
God doesn't owe me anything
But I owe
him
everything
Inspire heads in that word of prayer. Tell me father
Thank you Lord for your word. Thank you for the Bible
Thank you for these chapters in the Word of God I
Realize that numbers chapter 3 is not the most exciting chapter in the Bible
But all scripture is given by inspiration of God and it's profitable
We can learn from it. We can understand things from it
What I pray that you would help us to continue to learn and grow and apply these things
Help us to be mindful to not offer strange fire
To not offer to God what he has not provided and to not do for God what he has not commanded
You pray Lord that you would help us to realize that in the work of God. There's a place for everyone
There's something for everyone to do
And Lord I pray you'd help us to realize that you are good to us. You are just to us
And you do not owe us anything, but we owe you everything
Lord I pray you'd help these truths to resonate in our minds and our hearts and to worship you as a result in Jesus name
We pray
Amen
All right, we're gonna have brother RJ come up and lead us in a final song
Just want to remind you of course this Saturday is the ladies tea and then Sunday is Mother's Day
If you would not mind if you haven't done so already ladies
You can go buy the clipboards in the foyer there and sign up
To help
With the ladies tea, we've got different opportunities there for you
And of course Mother's Day want to encourage you to be here on Mother's Day
On a Sunday for the children's choir and the t-shirts for the ladies if there's anything that we can do for you
Please let us know if you would not mind looking around your area and kind of cleaning it up and putting everything back where it
Should go we would appreciate that it helps the cleaners in the morning if you need anything, please let us know
We'll have our RJ come up and lead us in a final song
If you need anything, please let us know we'll have our RJ come up and lead us in a final song
Now scar by some books and turn to page number 174
My Jesus I love these number 174 on the first
I
Oh
My
Amen great singing brother Scott, would you dismiss us with the word of prayer?
You