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Master, the tempest is raging, song number 136. We're gonna have to sing this one out with some passion, alright? Song number 136 on the first. Master, the tempest is raging The billows are tossing high The sky is o'ershadowed with blackness No shelter or help is nigh Carest thou not that we perish How canst thou lie asleep When instrument so madly is standing The graven in achy deep The winds and the rain shall obey My will, please be still Whether the wrath of the storms or sea Or demons or men or whatever we be No outer can swallow the shame where lies The master of ocean and earth and skies They all shall sweetly obey thy will Please be still, please be still They all shall sweetly obey my will Please, please be still Sing one more song, brother Graham. 202. Song number 202. This will be the last song for favorites. My Redeemer, song number 202. Take it out on the first. I will sing of my Redeemer And his wondrous love to me On that cross he suffered From the curse that set me free Sing, oh, sing of my Redeemer With his love he pushes me On that cross he sealed my pardon Gave the death and made me free Amen. We're singing. Amen. All right. Well, let's take our bulletins tonight. We'll look at some announcements quickly. If you do not have a bulletin, just raise your hand and one of our ushers can get one for you. If you need a bulletin, just put your hand up and we'll get one for you. The thief cometh not but for to steal and to kill and to destroy. I am come that they might have life, that they might have it more abundantly, and that's a good verse. If you open up your bulletins, you'll see our service time, Sunday morning service, 10.30 a.m. We had a wonderful service this morning. We're glad you're back out tonight for the evening service, of course. And we encourage you to be with us on Wednesday night for the Wednesday night Bible study at 7 p.m. If you look at our soul winning times, our main soul winning times on Saturday mornings at 10 a.m. And then we have additional soul winning times on Thursdays, Fridays, and Sundays at 2 p.m. If you are a soul winner, please don't forget to add your salvations on the communication card so that we can update the bulletin and also make sure you return the map. If you have a map that you did not finish, just mark what was done, what was not done, you can return it in the bin in the foyer. That way we can get it recycled and get it back out. And of course, if you're running late to one of our soul winning times, you can call us or text us at the number there, 916-868-9080. Let us know that you're planning on being there but you're running late. That way we can have a partner and a map and everything that you need. If you're a first time guest, if it's your first time here at Verity Baptist Church, we're glad you're with us. We have a gift we'd like to give you as you walk out of the building tonight. As you go out of our main foyer or our secondary foyer, you'll see a little table set up. And on that table you'll see these little gift bags. Please grab one on your way out as a gift from us to you. There are several resources in this bag that we'd like you to have. The one I'd like to highlight is this documentary that our church made. It's called Being Baptist. It's very well made, very interesting. We think you'll like it and want to give us just a gift. So please make sure you don't leave here tonight without grabbing one of those gift bags on your way out. And if you are a guest, we'd ask that you please take a moment to fill out the communication card which is inserted in your bulletin. And if you need a pen, just raise your hand. We can bring you by Verity Baptist Church pen. We'd love to have a record of your attendance and we'd like to send you something as well but we need your info to do that. So please take a moment to fill the card out. When we're done with the announcements, we're going to sing a song. And when we're done singing, we'll receive the offering. As the offering plate goes by, you can drop this card in the offering plate. If you look at the announcements there, of course, we're a family integrated church. Children and infants are always welcome in the service. We don't separate children from their parents for any reason. We do have mother-baby rooms and daddy rooms available for convenience. So please make sure you use those if needed. If you need to be baptized, you can let us know on your communication card as well from the Baptist Place if you check that off. And we'll follow up with you in regards to that. If you look at the announcements and upcoming events, of course, we have our series that we're going through tonight. We are in Chapter 2 of the Book of Numbers and I'm glad that you're here, of course, for that. And then, of course, we have the Ladies' Tea and Mother's Day coming up. All the ladies are invited to an afternoon tea in honor of Mother's Day. That's Saturday, May 13th. If you've not yet signed up, you can do that on your communication card and please do. And if you'd like to help with the Ladies' Tea, there are volunteer opportunities in the main foyer. There's a whole table set up with several different clipboards and you can help. We could use the help. My wife would use the help with all sorts of different things. Washing tea cups, decorating, serving tea, helping clean up after the event, baking baked goods, bringing baked goods and stuff like that. So if you could help us with that, please go by there and sign up. And then, of course, Mother's Day is the next day, Sunday, May 14th, 1030 a.m. We'll have the children's choir singing and we'll be giving out the t-shirts to all of the ladies. And then tonight is the choir recording. So make sure if you are part of the choir that you don't forget about this right after the service tonight, about 10 minutes after the service. Just don't get distracted and miss it because they need to get in there and in the fellowship hall, it's all set up and ready to go. You're going to record and this will happen three Sunday nights in a row. So this is the first Sunday night. So if you could help us with that, we'd appreciate it. Children's choir, of course, they have practice at 515. Homeschool group, they've got PE class this Thursday, April 27th. 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 so that they're not a distraction to anybody. If you look at the back of the bulletin, birthdays and anniversaries for the month of April. This week we have Miss Lindsey Johnson's birthday on April 25th. Brother Alan Courtney has a birthday on April 26th. Noah Sweeten has a birthday on April 28th. And Brother James and Miss April Villa have an anniversary on April 28th. 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 going to go ahead and sing the chorus of the week as we prepare to receive the offering tonight. And we'll sing, oh it is wonderful to be a Christian. Let's go ahead and sing it out on the first. Life has purpose now it never had before. There is meaning to each day and even more. For a joy and peace I can't explain is mine. Since I found new life in Christ my Lord be mine. Oh it is wonderful to be a Christian. Oh it is wonderful to be God's child. Oh it is wonderful to have your sins forgiven. To be redeemed, justified, forever reconciled. I can go directly to the Lord over here. He has told me I may boldly enter there. And he listens as his promises I give. I find mercy there and grace for every man. Oh it is wonderful to be a Christian. Oh it is wonderful to be God's child. Oh it is wonderful to have your sins forgiven. To be redeemed, justified, forever reconciled. Let's sing it out on the last. And I hope when heaven's glory fills my soul. Where I'll live with Christ forevermore I know. That is why the things of earth I lose to. I've eternal riches better more than you. Oh it is wonderful to be a Christian. Oh it is wonderful to be God's child. Oh it is wonderful to have your sins forgiven. Oh it is wonderful to be redeemed, justified, forever reconciled. Amen. Good singing. We'll have the guys come up and help us with the offering at this time. And let's go ahead and bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, Lord, we do thank you for allowing us to gather tonight. Lord, we pray that you'd bless the offering. We pray that you'd bless the time set aside for a study of your word. Lord, I pray that you'd help us to learn from Numbers chapter 2, to be encouraged by it. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Please open our eyes to Numbers chapter 2. Numbers chapter 2, if you need a Bible you can put your hand up and an extra group will come by and bring you a Bible. Numbers chapter 2, if you need a Bible keep your hand up and an extra group will come by. Numbers chapter 2, we'll read the entire chapter as our custom. Numbers 2, beginning in verse number 1. And the Lord spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying, Every man of the children of Israel shall pitch by his own standard, with the end sign of their father's house, far off about the tabernacle of the congregation shall they pitch. And on the east side, toward the rising of the sun, shall they of the standard of the camp of Judah pitch throughout their armies. A nation the son of Amittadab shall be captain of the children of Judah. And his host, and those that were numbered of them, were threescore and fourteen thousand and six hundred. And those that do pitch next unto him shall be the tribe of Issachar. And Nethaneel the son of Zuar shall be captain of the children of Issachar. And his host, and those that were numbered thereof, were fifty and four thousand and four hundred. And then the tribe of Zebulun, and Eli the son of Helan shall be captain of the children of Zebulun. And his host, and those that were numbered thereof, were fifty and seven thousand and four hundred. All that were numbered in the camp of Judah were one hundred thousand and fourscore thousand and six thousand and four hundred throughout their armies. These shall first set forth. On the south side shall be the standard of the camp of Reuben according to their armies. And the captain of the children of Reuben shall be Eliezer the son of Shaddiur. And his host, and those that were numbered thereof, were forty and six thousand and five hundred. And those which pitch by him shall be the tribe of Simeon. And the captain of the children of Simeon shall be Shalumiel the son of Jerusalem. And his host, and those that were numbered thereof of them, were fifty and nine thousand and three hundred. And then the tribe of Gad, and the captain of the sons of Gad shall be Elisaph the son of Reul. And his host, and those that were numbered thereof of them, were forty and five thousand and six hundred and fifty. All that were numbered in the camp of Reuben were one hundred thousand and fifty and one thousand and four hundred and fifty throughout their armies. And they shall set forth in the second rank. Then the tabernacle of the congregation shall set forward with the camp of the Levites in the midst of the camp. As they in camp, so shall they set forward, every man in his place by their standards. On the west side shall be of the standard of the camp of Ephraim according to their armies. And the captain of the sons of Ephraim shall be Elisham the son of Amahud. And his host, and those that were numbered thereof of them, were forty thousand and five hundred. And by him shall be this tribe of Manasseh. And the captain of the children of Manasseh shall be Gamaliel the son of Perazor. And his host, and those that were numbered of them, were thirty and two thousand and two hundred. And then the tribe of Benjamin. And the captain of the sons of Benjamin shall be Abiden the son of Gideoni. And his host, and those that were numbered of them, were thirty and five thousand and four hundred. All that were numbered of the camp of Ephraim were one hundred thousand and eight thousand and one hundred. Throughout their armies, and they shall go forward in the third rank. The standard of the camp of Dan shall be on the north side by their armies. And the captain of the children of Dan shall be Ahizer the son of Amishadeh. And his host, and those that were numbered of them, were threescore and two thousand and seven hundred. And those that encamped by him shall be the tribe of Asher. And the captain of the children of Asher shall be Pagiel the son of Ochran. And his host, and those that were numbered of them, were forty and one thousand and five hundred. Then the tribe of Naphtali, and the captain of the children of Naphtali, shall be Ahire the son of Enon. And his host, and those that were numbered of them, were fifty and three thousand and four hundred. All they that were numbered in the camp of Dan were one hundred thousand and fifty and seven thousand and six hundred. They shall go hindmost with their standards. These are those which were numbered of the children of Israel by the house of their fathers. All those that were numbered of the camps throughout their hosts were six hundred thousand and three thousand and five hundred and fifty. But the Levites were not numbered among the children of Israel, as the Lord commanded Moses. And the children of Israel did according to all that the Lord commanded Moses. So they pitched by their standards, and so they set forward. Everyone after their families, according to the house of their fathers. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank you for this evening. Heavenly Father, thank you for this evening. God, I thank you for your word, and for our church, for everyone that's here. I ask that you please give us all a turn of hearts with a message tonight. I ask that you please be with our pastor to strengthen him and fill him with his spirit. Lord, we love you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. Alright, we're there in Numbers, chapter number two. And of course, last Sunday night we began a new sermon series, a Bible study, in the book of Numbers. And we are, of course, going to be in a few chapters that are kind of like this before we get into all of the stories. The book of Numbers has a lot of interesting stories and famous stories, but it's got some chapters dealing with the preparation of the children of Israel before they begin their process of walking through the wilderness and making their way to the Promised Land. And in this chapter, you'll notice that we deal with, if you're paying attention as we're reading, it deals with the arrangement of the camp of the children of Israel. In Numbers, chapter two and verse one, the Bible says, And the Lord spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying, Every man of the children of Israel shall pitch. And that word, pitch, is kind of like the idea to set up a tent, to set up or fix something. The children of Israel shall pitch by his own standard. I want you to notice that word there, standard. And when the Bible says that they were to pitch by his own standard, the word standard there is a reference to like a banner or a flag, something that was visual that would represent where they were supposed to be. So we're told here that every man of the children of Israel shall pitch by his own standard with the N sign. And I want you to notice that word N sign. And you'll notice that in that word N sign, you have this word sign, S-I-G-N. And the idea there is that this was like an emblem or a symbol that would be on the standard. So every man of the children of Israel shall pitch by his own standard with the N sign. So you have a flag or a banner, some sort of a visual thing that had a symbol or an emblem on it of their father's house far off about the tabernacle of the congregation shall they pitch. Now, what we see in this chapter, and I'm going to walk you through it, we see the arrangement of the camp. And what I'd like to do tonight is show you, first of all, the arrangement of the camp, of course. And then I want to give you some things to kind of think about, some interesting things that we can maybe study out regarding this chapter. And then, of course, I'll end with a couple of applications. But I want you to notice that the camp of the children of Israel, remember they are right now in the wilderness of Sinai. They are at the base of Mount Sinai. They are in the valley pretty much underneath this mountain. And the children of Israel are pretty much just encamped however they want. They've been there for about a year, and they've kind of just been scattered in whatever way they want. They've had their tents situated however they want. But God is now preparing them to begin to journey through the wilderness. And as they journey, they are to journey in a certain procession. They are to journey in a certain way, and God wants them to be organized in that way. And what I want you to understand as we kind of move through this chapter is that you've got the 12 tribes. Of course, there's actually 13 of them, if you remember, because the Levites are not counted as one of the 12 tribes. And if you remember, Joseph's two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, were divided into two tribes. So you have 12 tribes, but really there's 13 tribes, and they are going to be put into four different camps. Now, you'll notice that the first camp, and if you're taking notes or if you want to take notes, this is kind of maybe a little more of a difficult chapter to outline, but I'll give you an outline if you want it. You'll notice that first you see the east side of the camp on the east side of the tabernacle. And this is what's referred to as the camp of Judah. Now, notice there are numbers, chapter 2 and verse 3. And on the east side, toward the rising of the sun, shall they... Now, I want you to notice the word there, they. That's plural, meaning more than one. So it's not just one tribe on the east side. The Bible says, And on the east side, toward the rising of the sun, shall they of the standard of the camp of Judah. I want you to understand that everyone that is camped on this east side is in the camp that is known as the camp of Judah, but there is more than just the tribe of Judah in that camp. The Bible says, read it again, verse 3, And on the east side, toward the rising of the sun, shall they of the standard of the camp of Judah pitch throughout their armies, and Nahshon, the son of Amminadab, shall be captain of the children of Judah. And we saw that last week in chapter 1, that he was the head of that tribe. So we have on the east side, and I kind of want you to picture this. All of these camps are going to be surrounding the tabernacle. So just for you to kind of get a picture, imagine the tabernacle is right in the middle. Remember the book of Leviticus is all about the worship in the tabernacle, the work of the tabernacle. We talked about the fact that they spent one month building the tabernacle, and it is now built in the middle of the camps of Israel. Around the tabernacle, we don't see it in Numbers chapter 2, but we'll see it in Numbers chapter 3 that you actually have the tribe of Levi that is divided around the tabernacle. Their tribe has been divided in such a way that they are camped around the tabernacle. You have the family of Kohath on one side, the family of Gershon on one side, the family of Merari on one side, and then you have Moses, Aaron, and his sons encamped on the east side, which is the entrance into the tabernacle. So if you just kind of get this, imagine the tabernacle, and if you're imagining the east side, just for your own, if you can kind of see it in your mind's eye, if you can think of the four directions, you have north, east, south, west. Never eat shredded wheat, right? That's how you're supposed to remember it. And you've got the north side and the east side where the sun rises. The tabernacle would be situated in such a way where the entrance is facing the east side. There's only one entrance, only one way to come into the tabernacle, facing the east side. Moses and Aaron and their sons are camped right in front of the entrance of the tabernacle. The three different families that make up the tribe of Levi are camped around the tabernacle, Kohath, Gershon, and Merari. And then on the east side of that tabernacle, you have the children of Israel pitching their tent on, and it's the standard of the camp of Judah. And then in verse 3 again, on the east side, toward the rising of the sun, shall they of the standard of the camp of Judah pitch throughout their armies, and Nahshon the son of Amenadab shall be captain of the children of Israel. And his hosts and those that were numbered of them were threescore and 14,600. So we see the tribe of Judah, and we've got 74,600, just like we saw in Numbers chapter 1. Then in verse 5, the Bible says, and those that do pitch next unto him. I want you to notice this little phrase, that do pitch next unto him. And I'm going to bring that up later on in the sermon, so I want you to remember that we referenced that. And those that do pitch next unto him, referring to those who pitch next unto Judah, right? Because in verses 3 and 4, we saw the tribe of Judah. Those that do pitch next unto Judah shall be the tribe of Issachar, and Nathanael the son of Zuar shall be captain of the children of Israel, and his hosts and those that were numbered of them were 50 and 4,400. So we have the tribe of Judah on the east side, 74,600. And then pitching next to Judah, we have Issachar, 54,400. Then in verse 7, the Bible says, Then the tribe of Zebulun and Eliab the son of Helan shall be captain of the children of Zebulun, and his hosts and those that were numbered thereof were 50 and 7,400. And I want you to notice here, when we read about Zebulun, we are not told that they are pitching next to Judah. And I just want to highlight that for you. They are in the camp of Judah, but they're not pitching next to Judah. So then in verse 9, we kind of have a review of this first camp, the camp on the east side, which is the camp of Judah. Notice verse 9, So that number that you read there in verse 9 is a total of those three tribes. On the east side, you have the tribe of Judah, and then next to Judah you have Issachar, and then you have Zebulun. On the east side, which would be what we would consider the front side, they are stationed on the front of the tabernacle of Israel, or at the entrance of the tabernacle. And notice it again there in verse 9, all that were numbered there in the camp of Judah were in a hundred, and four score thousand and six thousand and four hundred. And notice it says, So when they begin to move through the wilderness, they will move in a progression where this camp of Judah will be leading the way. They will be pitching their tents up, you know, getting all their stuff together, and they'll be moving in this order. So we've got the east side. Then in verse 10, we see the south side, or the south camp. Notice there are numbers 2 and verse 10. So there we see the tribe of Reuben, forty-six thousand five hundred, just like we saw in Numbers chapter 1. We've got on the south side now the tribe of Reuben. Next to them, verse 12, and those that were numbered. So just kind of get this in your head. You have the tribe, you have the tabernacle. You have the Levites that are on the tabernacle. On the east side, you have the tribe of Reuben. On the east side, you have the tribe of Reuben. On the east side, you have the tribe of Reuben. On the east side, you have Judah and the camp of Judah. Then as we move to the south side, you have the tribe of Reuben. Then in verse 12, the Bible says, And those which pitch by him, those which pitch by who? By Reuben. They're pitching by Reuben, shall be of the tribe of Simeon. So you have Reuben, then Simeon, and the captain of the children of Simeon shall be Shelemiel the son of Zerusiah and his host, and those that were numbered of them were fifty and nine thousand and three hundred. So we have fifty-nine thousand three hundred in the tribe of Simeon, just like we saw in Numbers chapter number one. Then verse 14, the Bible says, Then the tribe of Gad. Again, I want you to notice that we're not told that Gad is pitching by Reuben. We're told that Simeon is pitching by Reuben, and then we're told about the tribe of Gad. Then the tribe of Gad and the captain of the sons of Gad shall be Eliaseph the son of Reul, and his host and those that were numbered of them were forty and five thousand and six hundred and fifty. And then in verse 16, we have a total of that south side camp, or the camp of Reuben. Verse 16, all that were numbered in the camp of Reuben. So I want you to notice, the camp has three tribes in it, Reuben, Simeon, and Gad, but it's known as the camp of Reuben, just like the east side had Judah, Isaacar, and Zebulun, but it's known as the camp of Judah. So here in verse 16 we're told, all these that were numbered in the camp of Reuben were in hundred thousand and fifty and one thousand and four hundred and fifty. That's one hundred and fifty, one thousand and four hundred and fifty. That's the sum total of those three tribes throughout their armies, and they shall set forth in the second rank. So when they begin to move through the wilderness, when they're going to travel through the wilderness, first the east side camp, the camp of Judah will begin to move, then the south side camp will begin to move behind them. This is the order or the progression in which they will go. Now in verse 17 we have a mention of the Levites. Notice verse 17, Then the tabernacle of the congregation shall step forward with the camp of the Levites in the midst of the camp. As they encamp, so shall they step forward, every man in his place by their standards. So keep this in mind, the tabernacle is in the middle, and the Levites are surrounding the tabernacle. Again, we'll see it in Numbers chapter 3, but you have the different families of the Levites, Kohath, Gershon, Merari, are surrounding the tabernacle, and Moses and Aaron and their sons are pitched in front of the entrance of the tabernacle. When they begin to move, think of the tabernacle right in the middle, you have the camp on the east, the camp of Judah, and then we've seen the camp on the south, we have the camp of Reuben. When they begin to move, Judah and his camp will begin to move and make their way through the wilderness. As they make their way, then the south camp will begin to move behind them. As they make their way, then verse 17 tells us that the Levites with the tabernacle will begin to move behind them. And then of course we're going to see that the other two camps will follow behind them. So as they travel through the wilderness, you'll have the twelve tribes divided into four divisions with the tabernacle and the Levites right in the center of them as they travel, and when they pitch, they are divided by the directions of north, south, east, and west, and you've got the Levites with the tabernacle pitched in the middle of them. That's what verse 17 is talking about. Then the tabernacle, the congregations, will step forward with the camp of the Levites, and in the midst of the camp, so shall they set forward every man by his place, by their standards. Then in verse 18, we read about the west side, and this is the west camp or the camp of Ephraim. Notice verse 18. On the west side shall be the standard or the banner or the flag of the camp of Ephraim. So we have the tabernacle in the middle, we've got the camp on the east or the camp of Judah, we've got the camp on the south or the camp of Reuben, we've got the camp on the west side or the camp of Ephraim. According to their armies, and the captains of the sons of Ephraim shall be Elishaimah, the son of Amahud, and his host, and those that were numbered of them were 40,500. So we have the tribe of Ephraim, 40,500, just like we saw in numbers chapter 1. Notice it again, verse 20. And by him, and by who? By Ephraim is Manasseh, and by him shall be the tribe of Manasseh, and the tribe of Manasseh shall be Gamaliel, the son of Perazor, and his host and those that were numbered of them were 30 and 2,200. So you have the tribe of Manasseh, 32,200 is by Ephraim, and then we're told that Benjamin, verse 22, then the tribe of Benjamin, and the captain of the sons of Benjamin shall be Abidon, the son of Gedioni. Notice that we are not told that Benjamin is by Ephraim, and I'm just highlighting these things for you just so you can be aware of them, and I'll talk about them here in a minute, verse 22. Then the tribe of Benjamin, and the captain of the sons of Benjamin shall be Abidon, the son of Gedioni, and his host and those that were numbered of them were 30 and 5,400. And then of course in verse 24, you have the total of the whole thing, and all that were numbered of the camp of Ephraim were 100,000, and 8,000, and 100, that's 108,000, 108,000, 100,000 throughout their armies, and they shall go forward in the ranks. And then in verse 25, of course, you have the north side. So you have the east side, the south side, the west side, and then you've got the north side, verse 25. The standard, again, the banner or flag, of the camp of Dan shall be on the north side by their armies, and the captain of the children of Dan shall be Ahazur, the son of Amishadeh and his host and those that were numbered of them were 3,000,000,000, 2,700. So you have the tribe of Dan, 62,700, just like we saw in Numbers chapter 1, verse 27, notice it again, and those that encamped by him, who's encamping by who, shall be the tribe of Asher. So the tribe of Asher is camping by the tribe of Dan, and those that encamped by him shall be of the tribe of Asher, and the captain of the children of Asher shall be Pagiel, the son of Akhran and his host, and those that were numbered in them were 41,500. Then in verse 29, we're told about the tribe of Naphtali, then the tribe of Naphtali, notice it, I'm just highlighting it for you to see it, we're not told that Naphtali is camped by Dan. We're only told that Asher is camped by Dan. Then we're told Naphtali, the tribe of Naphtali and the captain of the children of Naphtali shall be Ahara, the son of Enon, and his host and those that were numbered of them were 50 and 3,400. And then in verse 31 we get the totals of that camp, and they that were numbered in the camp of Dan were in 100,000 and 50 and 7,600. So 157,600 which is the sum of those three tribes, Dan, Asher and Naphtali, they shall go hindmost with their standards. So we're seeing not only the layout of the camp but we're seeing how they are to travel. You have the tabernacle with the Levites in the middle, you have the camp of Judah on the east, the camp of Reuben on the south, you have the camp of Ephraim on the west, and then you have the camp of Dan on the north. When they're pitching, when they're spending time there or spending the night there, that's how they are to be laid out. When they are moving, then the camp of Judah or the camp on the east side is to go first, then the camp on the south is to follow, then the tabernacle, then the camp on the west excuse me, then the camp on the west yes, and then the camp on the north. That is the order or the progression by which they are going. Now, I want to just kind of spend some time and explain just some interesting things that I think about this chapter and I'll just go ahead and say this up front that what I'm about to just kind of talk to you about is not there's nothing dogmatic about this and it's just kind of more opinion and just things that I think are interesting. I am going to give you some things that are dogmatic at the end when I get to the application. So what I'm saying is from now until the application, you don't have to agree with me and if you want to argue with me, just talk to the staff, guys. But I just think it's interesting and you know, it's just kind of some interesting things to consider when you look at this chapter and you know, what else am I supposed to preach out at Numbers chapter two? I mean, we're pretty much done with the whole thing. But let me just give you some things to consider. There's some debate as to the layout of the children of Israel. I would say controversy but it's not really a controversy, just questions that people have regarding how they were laid out. And there are pretty much two ways to kind of think about it and I'll give you my opinion and it really is not worth arguing with anybody about and it doesn't really matter but I just think it's kind of an interesting thing. Some people believe, and I don't lean in this direction, I don't think this, that the children of Israel, if you would have seen them, if you would have had an aerial view of the children of Israel, you would have seen the tabernacle in the middle and then you would have seen these flagship tribes, right? You would have seen Judah, Reuben, it would have been Judah, Reuben, Ephraim, and Dan on the east, south, west, and north and then you would have seen the tribes next to them. So what I'm trying to say is you would have seen like, for example, let's say the tribe of Judah is right here, if you can kind of imagine this. This is the one time where I think the liberals got us beat, where like a screen would be really nice right now that I can just kind of lay this out for you, but you have to use your imagination, alright? But if you think of like the tribe of Judah, you know, you got the tabernacle here, okay, who's following me at all? Alright, you got the tabernacle here, then you have the tribe of Judah, right? Well some people believe that the other two tribes, so you have Issachar and Zebulun, are next to Judah. And if you would have seen the children of Israel encamped around, it would have looked like a Rubik's cube, with like the children of Israel all next to each other. Other people believe that they were encamped in lines or rows. And when I first was studying this out and kind of looking at this, obviously I didn't really care or have an opinion on it, but I thought, you know, it's interesting and we don't really know for sure, but based off the text itself, I tend to agree that they were lined up in a row, meaning if you have the tabernacle with the Levites surrounding it, then you have the tribe of Judah, but instead of having Issachar and Zebulun like this, it would have been Judah with Issachar and Zebulun like this. More in a row. Now that makes sense for a couple of reasons. Number one, this is how they're traveling. So it makes more sense that they're traveling in a row, where they're kind of lined up one right after the other. But the reason that I kind of just came to this conclusion, again this is my opinion, is because God, I don't think God puts anything in the Bible just for fluff. Everything's in the Bible for a reason. And you'll notice as I highlighted to you as we read verses 5 and 12 and 20 and 27, that the Holy Spirit was very careful to tell us that this tribe was by this tribe. That you have, you know, Issachar by Judah, but it doesn't tell us Zebulun is by Judah. That you have Simeon by Reuben, but it doesn't tell us that Gad is by Reuben. That you have Manasseh by Ephraim, but you don't have Benjamin by Ephraim. That you have Asher by Dan, but you don't have Naphtali by Dan. And I think that would make sense if you consider the fact that they were in a row, because if you have on the east side, if you have Judah, and then we're told Issachar is by Judah, and then we're told and then Zebulun, but we're not told Zebulun is by Judah, that would make sense that they're in a row because Zebulun this kind of line is not by Judah. Does that make sense? Where if it was, you know, Issachar was by Judah, and Zebulun was over here, then Zebulun would have also been by Judah. So it is my opinion that they're laid out, you know, north, south, east, west, but they are laid out in rows. So you have Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, you have Dan, Asher, Naphtali, you have Reuben, Simeon, Ad, you have Ephraim, Manasseh, Benjamin, they're laid out in these rows, which again would make sense because this is how they're going to move through the wilderness, so they're moving in a line in order. Now, none of that matters, and it's not worth arguing, and please don't, if you're listening to this online and you don't agree, please don't send me the email, okay? It doesn't really matter. The only reason that I even bring it up, or the only reason that I think it's an interesting thing is because the Bible, and we're going to get to it later on in the book of Numbers, like you, do me a favor, remember this 30 weeks from now? When we're like in, towards the end of the book of Numbers? Because if you remember, there's a very famous story in the book of Numbers about a guy named Balaam. And Balaam, if you remember, was paid to go up on a mountain, and to look down upon the children of Israel, and to put a curse upon them. Now if you remember in the story, he's not able to do it, God makes him bless the children of Israel, not curse it. But one thing that Balaam does when he gets up on that mountain, and he looks down upon the children of Israel, is that he makes a comment in regards to how beautifully the camp is set up. He talks about the fact that the camp of Israel is beautifully organized and set up. And it's just interesting to me that if you were to consider the fact that you have the tabernacle on, in the middle, and then you have Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun in a line, consider the fact that Judah is bigger than these other tribes, so this line would have gone further. And then you've got on the south side, Dan, Asher, Naphtali. Then you have on the east side, excuse me, on the west side, you have Ephraim, Manasseh, Benjamin. And then on the north side, Reuben, Simeon, and Gad. If that's the case, which I believe the Bible seems to indicate that that's the order they're in, then what Balaam would have been looking down on would have been the children of Israel, the tribes of Israel, organized around the tabernacle in the shape of a cross. And it's just kind of interesting to me that Balaam would go up there, look down upon the children of Israel, see this million, I mean there's probably two million people that are organized in these camps in the shape of a cross, and then he says, that's a beautiful sight. So, not that it means anything, not that it matters anything, but I just think it's interesting and something for you to consider. And if you've got a better outline for Numbers chapter 2, then hand it over. I'll preach that as well. Number two, kind of a second thing to consider that I think is interesting. People often make a big deal about these standards and these end signs. Notice in Numbers chapter 2 and verse 2, every man of the children of Israel shall pitch, again, the idea is like pitching their tent, setting up or fixing something, by his own standard. The standard, if you study that word out throughout the Bible, it's very clear it's like a banner or a flag. In fact, the Hebrew word, standard here, is translated in other portions of the Old Testament as the word banner. So it's some sort of a flag or banner that represents this camp. So every camp, you have these four camps, and every camp has their own banner. And the Bible says, by his own standard, with an end sign. Which again, an end sign is like an emblem or a symbol. Today we would call it maybe like a logo for that camp. Now here's what we know. We know that they were divided into four camps. We know that every camp had its own standard or banner or flag. And we know that every flag had an end sign, some sort of a symbol on it. It says there in verse 2, every man of the children of Israel shall pitch by his own standard with the end sign of their father's house far off about the tabernacle of the congregation shall they pitch. All that we do know for sure they had. Now keep your place there in numbers if you'd like. Obviously that's our text for tonight. But go with me if you would to the book of Revelation. Revelation chapter 4. Last book in the New Testament should be fairly easy to find. Revelation chapter 4. People often, and this is a very popular view, people will often make the assumption, and look, I hate assumptions. I don't think we should have tried, we shouldn't assume anything. We should know what the Bible says and all that. We shouldn't assume anything in any situation. But people will make the assumption that these four banners with these four end signs had the images or the end signs or the symbolism of these four well-known beasts that surround the throne of God. Let me just show it to you real quickly. Revelation chapter 4. Look at verse 6. Revelation 4.6. And before the throne there was a sea of glass. This is the throne of God in heaven. We're getting a vision of the throne of God in heaven. And before the throne there was a sea of glass like under crystals and in the midst of the throne and right about the throne were four beasts full of eyes before and behind. So we have these four beasts, these cherubims and the Bible tells us that they had different faces. Look at verse 7. And the first beast was like a lion. And the second beast like a calf. And the third beast had a face as a man and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle. So we have these four beasts that are surrounding the throne of God in heaven. They're cherubims but each one has a different face. The first had a face of a lion, the second of a calf, the third of a man, and the fourth of a flying eagle. And of course these four beasts are crying out day and night, holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty and they are praising God in the throne room of God. Now people will make the assumption that these four enzymes, these four banners for these four camps that had these symbols on them, here's what we know. There were four standards, I should say four standards, there were four standards and each standard had an end sign. We know that for sure. People assume that these four beasts were on that end sign. Now let me just be clear about that. As far as I can tell, and I spent some time looking through Scripture to see if I could find it, as far as I can tell and if you know something different, please let me know, there is no biblical evidence to prove that those four end signs were the images of a lion, a calf, a man or an eagle. As far as I can control it, I'm never going to lie to you and tell you there's something in the Bible that's not in the Bible because I can't find that. I can't find a verse or anything that even alludes to that. Now I'm not saying that those images weren't on those signs. I don't know. I don't think anybody knows. The Bible, as far as I can tell, it doesn't tell us. However, what I do think, because when I started looking at this and I thought, I wonder if that's true, I began to study it out and as I was studying it out and looking at these four different beasts, I began to see a lot of different connections that they do have with the tribes of Israel. And though I'm not going to stand up here and tell you that these four banners had these four symbols on them because I don't know that and I can't find a verse that proves that, what I can tell you is that these, first of all, these four beasts are very prominent. You may not have really noticed them, but they are prominent throughout the Bible. And I do think that these four camps could be an illustration or a picture of these four beasts. So I just want to be clear about what I'm saying. I'm not saying that these banners had the symbols of these four beasts. They may have, I know they had some sort of insight. I don't know what that was. I can't find anything the Bible tells us and I don't think anybody can because I did a lot of research on it and I can't find anybody that other than just saying like some old rabbi said, you know, said something which obviously I don't trust. So we don't know what was on there, but what I do want to kind of point out to you is that I do believe that there is a connection or a representation between these four camps and these four beasts. Now let me just kind of highlight that for you because you'll notice the Bible oftentimes emphasizes numbers and it's pretty consistent in those emphasis. For example, like, if you think of the number three in the Bible, what would you think of? Not a trick or a question. I'm not trying to make you look dumb. The Trinity, right? I mean, and consistently when you see three throughout the Bible, it's usually a reference to the Trinity. If you see the number six throughout the Bible, it's consistently a number. It's called the number of man because it consistently represents mankind. First of all, of course, 666, the number of the Antichrist, but also man, human beings were created on the sixth day. When you see the number 40, you often see this idea of judgment or preparation or preparation for a minister to receive something. Obviously, we have Moses going up to the mountain for 40 days, 40 nights. We have Elijah going up to the mountains 40 days, 40 nights. We have Jesus fasting 40 days, 40 nights in the wilderness. So what I'm saying is you often, when you see a number in the Bible, it's usually pretty consistent. Moses fasted 40 days, 40 nights. Elijah fasted 40 days, 40 nights. Jesus fasted 40 days, right? So it's usually pretty consistent. You don't go from like, it means the Trinity here, it means the Trinity here, it means the Trinity here, and then it's something random over here. It's usually pretty consistent. So the number four is often associated with these four beasts. Now I just want you to look at it again, Revelation chapter 4 verse 7. And the first beast was like a lion, and the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle. That's in the New Testament. Let's look at it in the Old Testament. Go to the book of Ezekiel, if you would. Ezekiel chapter 1. If you go towards the end of the Old Testament, you have the major prophets, you have Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, those big books towards the end, then of course you have the book of Ezekiel. Ezekiel chapter 1. Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, then you have the book of Daniel. Ezekiel chapter 1. Ezekiel chapter 1 and verse 10, we have Ezekiel seeing a vision of the throne room of God, just like John saw in Revelation 4.7 when he described the lion and the calf and the face of a man and a flying eagle. Ezekiel is also getting a view into the throne room of God, and I want you to notice what he describes. Now obviously Ezekiel describes a lot. We're not going to go through all of it. I just want to highlight the beast for you. Ezekiel chapter 1 verse 10. Notice what he says. As for the likeness of their faces, they four had, notice what he describes. Number one, a face of a man, and number two, the face of a lion, and on the right side, and they had number three, the face of an ox on the left side, and they four also had number four, the face of an eagle. So here Ezekiel is telling us that he saw these beasts, and they four had the face of a man and the face of a lion on the right side, and they four had the face of an ox on the left side, and they also had the face of an eagle. So I want you to notice what Ezekiel describes is four beasts with four faces on one head. Each beast had a face that was facing in a different direction. You understand what I'm saying? One had the face of a man and the face of a lion on one side, the face of an ox, and the face of an eagle. In Revelation, we're told that the first beast had a face of a lion, the second beast had a face of a calf, the third beast had a face of a man, the fourth beast was like a flying eagle. In Revelation, it seems to indicate that you have four beasts with four different faces. Ezekiel is describing more of four beasts that each have four faces. Now is that a contradiction? I don't think it's a contradiction. Obviously, God could have made two different types of the same thing, just like he made humans that look different. You know, I look good, you know, whatever. Or, I don't know, or maybe John was just looking at them from one direction and he said, you know, lion, calf, man, eagle, and if he would have went the other way, it would have been like, oh, lion, you know, I don't know. But obviously, you have these four coming up. And it's the same beast, it's the same animal. The lion, the man, the eagle, and then I also want to point out for you that Ezekiel describes one as an ox and then John describes one as a calf. But obviously, the calf that he describes is the calf of an ox. It's referring to the same animal. And then it's brought up again in Ezekiel chapter 10 and verse 14. Look at that. Ezekiel 10 14. And everyone had four faces. Ezekiel 10 14. And everyone had four faces. The first face was the face of a cherub, and the second face was the face of a man, and the third face of a lion, and the fourth face of an eagle. So here we have the face of a cherub, the face of a man, the face of a lion, the face of an eagle. So again, we see the same faces, the lion, the eagle, and the man. I do want you to notice here, one is described as a cherub, which in Ezekiel 110 was described as an ox, which in Revelation was described as a calf, and I just believe these are all talking about the same thing. And if you say, why is he saying it's the face of a cherub, I just would believe that cherubs have a face that looks like an ox. Which, if you think about that, and I don't want to go off on this rabbit's trail, but if you think about that, Satan was a cherub, and heathen religions all throughout history have worshipped cows and oxen and things of that nature. So the point is, we're seeing these four different beasts, right? And I think however you want to cut it, we can agree that there's a lion, there's an ox, there's a man, there's an eagle. We see that in Revelation, we see that in Ezekiel. Now here's what's interesting, is that these four beasts all correlate, because remember, the number four comes up, right? When you see numbers in the Bible, and I'm not one of these numerology guys that says, you know, take a chapter and divide it by twelve, and then divide it by three, and then divide it by six, and then add a remainder, and if you do that on, you know, whatever. And then it spells the Jews, or something. That sounds ridiculous. But obviously, you can't read the Bible and not realize that some numbers are emphasized. I mean, three, six, forty, seven, the number of completion. Every time you see seven, something is being complete. The heavens and the earth were created in seven days. You see that all throughout the Bible. So think about the number four. The number four, we see it obviously come up with these beasts surrounding the throne of God, the lion, the calf, the man, the eagle. Obviously, we see the twelve tribes divided into four camps, so we're going to see if there's a connection there with these four beasts. But let's think about another section of the Bible that maybe would be correlated with the number four, and maybe you're thinking about this, maybe you're not, but I'll go ahead and give you the answer. How about the four gospels? The four gospels, which are the bread and butter of the Word of God, the entire Old Testament is leading us up to the gospels. Everything after the gospels is pointing us back to the gospels, and the gospels are the focus of the Word of God. Why? Because Jesus is the focus of the Word of God, and the gospels are about Christ. Now we have four gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John. Sometimes people ask the question, why did God give us four gospels? Well, He gave us four gospels for a lot of different reasons, but let me just explain this. One of the reasons for the four gospels is that the four gospels represent, or I shouldn't say represent, I should say present to us the Lord Jesus Christ in four different lights, or with four different themes. And I want you to consider the fact that these four themes coincide and correlate with these four B's. Let me explain to you. Let's begin with the Gospel of Matthew, right? The first gospel. The Gospel of Matthew, and I'm not going to have you run any verses because we'll be here all night. You can just study this out on your own if you'd like. And I'm just going to give you just a few things to consider. There's so much more that could be said. I just don't have time to do that. The Gospel of Matthew presents for us the Lord Jesus Christ as the King of the Jews. This would correlate, when we're looking at these four B's, lion, ox, man, eagle, this would correlate with the lion. Because a lion is awfully associated with a kingdom or with a king. We even refer to the lion as the king of the jungle. So the lion is a reference to the king. Jesus is king because he's from the tribe of Judah, and we're told that he is the, in the book of Revelation, we're told that he is the lion of the tribe of Judah. So the book of Matthew presents for us, or portrays for us, Jesus as the king of the Jews. Let me just give you some things to consider regarding the Gospel of Matthew and why that would be. First of all, the book of Matthew gives us a lineage of the Lord Jesus Christ. That lineage, however, is not the lineage of his mother, which is given in Luke, which is the lineage that you would think that we would get, but it's the lineage of his stepfather, Joseph, and it's the lineage that gives him the kingly right. If you look at the lineage in Matthew, and I, years and years and years ago, I preached through the Gospel of Matthew, and we pointed this out when we did it, you'll notice that the lineage given to us in the Gospel of Matthew is meant to show us and to prove to us that Jesus is the king of the Jews. You'll notice that that lineage goes through David, which was the king, and is the right to Jesus as king because Jesus will be on the throne of David. And then it goes through David. What does that prove? That Jesus is the king. And then it goes to Abraham. What does that prove? That Jesus is the king of the Jews, or the Hebrews, but obviously at the time that Jesus was alive, the other tribes were dispersed, and it was of the tribe of Judah, so he'd be the king of the Jews. The lineage, right at the beginning of the Gospel, shows that to us. When you study the Gospel of Matthew, you'll notice that a theme in the Gospel of Matthew is that it's constantly quoting Old Testament prophecies. We're constantly reading in the book of Matthew as it is written, and then it'll quote some Old Testament prophecy, and usually those prophecies have to do with Jesus as his position of king, or his position of Messiah, his position as the anointed one. The word kingdom is used 56 times in the Gospel of Matthew. So it's pretty well understood and documented and pretty much nobody argues the fact that the Gospel of Matthew represents, or sheds light on the fact, or portrays the fact that Jesus is the king of the Jews. Why? Because he is the lion of the tribe of Judah. That's literally in the Bible. So we see how the book of Matthew correlates with that beast of the lion that represents kingdoms, and all throughout history lions have represented kingdoms. Then we have the next Gospel, the Gospel of Mark. What does that represent? Well, Mark represents for us, or portrays for us, or I should say presents for us the Lord Jesus Christ as a servant. In the Old Testament, Isaiah represented him, or presented him as the suffering servant. Mark does the same. You'll notice that in the Gospel of Mark, there is no lineage. Why? Because a servant doesn't need a lineage. A servant doesn't need to prove his pedigree. He's simply a servant. The book of Mark is a book that focuses on the actions of Christ. At Verity Baptist Church, over the last 12 years, we've preached through, I don't know, probably close to 50% of the Bible. We've gone verse by verse through it. And we've done the Gospel of Matthew, the Gospel of John, the Gospel of Luke. The one Gospel we've not done yet is the Gospel of Mark, and we will do that at some point over the next 10 years, I'm sure, before we finish the Bible. But one thing I want you to notice is that the Gospel of Mark focuses on the actions of Jesus. There's not a lot of dialogue. There's not a lot of conversations. There's no, like, sermons that are, you know, like the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew, or conversations that Jesus had. It focuses on the actions of Jesus and the things that He did. Why? Because it is showing Him or presenting Him as a servant. If you'll notice, the Gospel of Mark, it's a short book, 16 chapters, in comparison to some of the other Gospels, but it's a fast-moving book. You ever notice that when you read the Book of Mark? There's lots. There's a lot going on in every chapter. It's a fast-moving book. It focuses on the actions and the service of Christ. It moves quickly. Throughout the Book of Mark, you'll see these words come up over and over again, straight way. You'll see the word straight way used time and time again. Nineteen times in the Gospel of Mark is the word straight way used. Seventeen times is the word immediately used. So when you're reading the Gospel of Mark, you're kind of like catching your breath as you're reading it, because it's just a fast-moving book. It's just telling you, first He did this, then He did this, straight way they went there, immediately they did that, and it's showing the action and the service of Jesus because it represents or it presents Jesus for us as a servant. That correlates with the ox because the ox throughout history has been known as a beast of burden, an animal that is meant to serve, an animal that is used in work and in labor, and that's what we see in Mark. So you have these four beasts surrounding the throne room of God. A lion, an ox, one that has the face of a man, and then an eagle. And those correlate with the Gospels. You have Matthew that presents Jesus as king, lion. You have Mark that presents Jesus as a servant, an ox. Then you have Luke. We just got done with the Gospel of Luke. So this should be pretty familiar to you. What does Luke represent? Luke presents for us the humanity of Christ. It represents and it portrays and it presents to us Jesus as a man, as a human being. That correlates when you look at our four beasts, lion, ox, and then the face of a man is the Gospel of Luke where it shows Jesus as a man. Remember the lineage in the Gospel of Luke? The lineage of Luke does not go through David. It goes back to Solomon and it goes back to that family but it does not go through David. But then it continues all the way to Adam. You say, why would his lineage go all the way to Adam? Because it's not highlighting that it's a king, that he's a king, though he is a king, it is highlighting that he's a man. That he's a descendant of Adam. That he's a human being. So the lineage in Luke pushes us back and takes us all the way back to Adam to show us, to portray for us, to present for us the Lord Jesus Christ as a human being. The term Son of Man is used 26 times in the Gospel of Luke. Luke, of course, if you remember, we studied Luke, I mean we just finished it a little while ago, and Luke was a physician. He was a doctor. And for that reason the Gospel of Luke gives us more physical and bodily descriptions of Jesus than any other Gospel. Luke is the one that tells us that Jesus told them touch my body, look at my, you know, I have bones and I have flesh, I'm not a spirit. Luke is the one that gives us all these descriptions, these physical descriptions of Jesus when he heals people and different things that he did. Why? Because Luke is a physician, but because of the fact that the Gospel of Luke is representing Jesus as a man. So you have Matthew representing Jesus as a king. That correlates with the lion. You have Mark represents Jesus as a servant. That correlates with the ox. You have Luke representing Jesus as a man. That correlates with the face of a man. And then the fourth Gospel is the Gospel of John. That correlates with the eagle. You say, what is the Gospel of John? John is different than the other three Gospels. The other three Gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke are known as the synoptic Gospels. And they're known as the synoptic Gospels because you get snippets of a lot of the same stories. They kind of follow a similar outline. Where John is divided, the Gospel of John is not divided chronologically, although none of the books are really chronological in the way that you and I would think, but the Gospel of John is really divided. If you study the Gospel of John, you'll notice that when it's divided, it's outlined by seven different statements that Jesus made. The seven I am statements in the book of John. Where Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and life. Where Jesus said, I am the resurrection. Where Jesus said, I am the bread of life. Where Jesus said, I am the door. Where Jesus said, I am the good shepherd. Those seven statements are actually the outline of the Gospel of June, and what do those seven statements represent, or what do we learn from Jesus saying, I am. What we learn is of the deity of Christ. Luke highlights the humanity of Christ. John highlights the deity of Christ. This is where we read the term over and over, the Son of God. This is where we have the most famous verse in the Bible. John 3, 16, For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. If you notice the lineage of John, if you go to John chapter 1 and verse 1, you don't have a lineage that takes you back through David to Abraham, like Matthew did, proving that Jesus was a king. You don't have a lineage that takes you back to Adam, like Luke did, proving that Jesus was a man, but you have a lineage that says this, In the beginning was the Word. And the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Why? Because the Gospel of John highlights and portrays for us, and represents for us, and presents for us the Lord Jesus Christ as the Son of God, as God in the flesh. And that correlates with the eagle because of the fact that the eagle is a heavenly creature. It's a creature that is in the air. So you have the eagle up in the air, and of course, what are eagles known for? They are known for ascending and descending. This is what the Son of God did. He descended down to the earth, and then of course we know that He ascended back up into heaven. So here's what I want you to understand. These four B's are correlated to the four Gospels. Lion, ox, man, eagle, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John. Matthew represents Jesus as a king, the lion. Mark represents Jesus as a servant, the ox. Luke represents Jesus as a man, the face of a man. John represents Jesus as the Son of God, or as deity, or as God in the flesh, the eagle. Now let's talk about these four camps. You forgot about numbers, too. We have these four camps, right? Judah, Reuben, Ephraim, Dam. Are there any connections between these four camps? Well, I've already told you one. Go back to Revelation if you would. For sake of time, I'm not going to take you to everything because I just don't have the time to do that, but let's run a few verses and I'll give you some things. The camp on the east side is the camp of Judah. This should be fairly easy to figure out. Judah correlates with Matthew and the lion. Revelation 5 5. And one of the elders saith unto me, weep not. Behold, the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, have prevailed to open the book and to lose the seven seals thereof. So here we are told that the connection to Jesus being a king is the fact that he is of the tribe of Judah. He is of the lineage of David, but he's called the lion of the tribe of Judah. So that's very easy to see how that connects with the lion, the four beasts around the throne room of God. We see the lion and the lion is connected with Judah, but that's not the only connection. Let me show you another connection. Go to Genesis chapter 49. Genesis chapter number 49. In Genesis 49, if you remember, Jacob, who's now called Israel by this time, is getting ready to die. And he calls his twelve sons and he's gonna just give them some final words. And really, Jacob, you know, it's a touching scene where he's giving them some final words, but he's also kind of telling them off, some of them. He's like getting some things off his chest right before he dies. It's just kind of interesting, you know. And I want you to notice what Jacob or Israel says to Judah. So Israel's on his deathbed. Notice what he says to his son Judah. Genesis 49 verse 3. Judah, thou art he thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise. Thy hand shall be in the neck of thine enemies. Thy father's children shall bow down before thee. Now why does Jacob tell Judah that Judah's father's children, Jacob's children are gonna bow down to Judah? Why? Because the king will come from Judah. So they're gonna bow down to the king in Judah. Notice the connection to the lion. Verse 9. Judah is a lion's whelp. From the prey my son, thou art gone up, he stooped down. Notice, he couched as a lion and as an old lion, who shall rouse him up? So notice that there is a connection which cannot be denied between the king being connected to Judah and the lion being connected to Judah. So we see that there's a connection with this east camp, the camp of Judah. It's connected to the Gospel of Matthew. It's connected to the beast at the throne room of God, which is a lion. Why? Because Judah is associated with the lion, the lion of the tribe of Judah. Make sense? Then we have Reuben. When we get to Reuben, of course, we have Judah on the east, and then we have Reuben on the... Excuse me, I'm gonna look at my notes here. I'm gonna get all confused. Reuben is on the north. Now here's the interesting thing about Reuben. Reuben is actually the firstborn son of Jacob. And we talked about this last week. He loses his birthright because he went into his father's bed and went to bed with one of his father's wives. So as a result, he's demoted. But Reuben is actually the firstborn. Now let's see if we can find a connection between Reuben and an ox. And again, this is just, none of this is doctrinal or dogmatic. None of this is gonna affect your salvation. If you don't agree with me, it's fine. It doesn't matter. I just needed to preach something. Genesis 49, and I think it's interesting. Genesis 49, look at verse 3. This is Israel speaking to his son Reuben. Genesis 49 3. Reuben, thou art my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength, the excellency of dignity and the excellency of power. So Jacob says to Reuben, you're my firstborn son. And he says, because you're my firstborn son, you are my might and the beginning of my strength. He says, you picture my strength as you're my firstborn son, the first son that I had in my youth. So you picture my strength. Now let's see, is there a connection between Reuben and an ox? We'll go to Proverbs. Real quickly, Proverbs chapter 14. From the center of your Bibles, you have the book of Psalms. Right after Psalms, you have the book of Proverbs. Because what we're told about Reuben is that he represents the strength of Jacob. Reuben, thou art my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength. Now remember, an ox or an oxen are beasts of burdens. And throughout the Bible, they are represented as symbols of strength. Let me just give you an example of that. Proverbs 14, 4. Where no oxen are, the crib is clean. But much increase is by the strength of the ox. So notice that the ox pictures strength. Jacob told his son Reuben, you are my might and the beginning of my strength. So we can see how Reuben on the north side could picture that ox. So we have Judah on the east. We have picturing a lion. We have Reuben on the north picturing an ox. Then let's talk about the tribe of Ephraim or the camp of Ephraim on the west. Now if you're following the gospel, the order of the gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, or if you're following the order of the beast described in Revelation, the lion, the calf, the face of a man, and the flying eagle, when we get to the west to Ephraim, what we should be seeing here is a camp that pictures a man. Right? The gospel of Luke portrays Jesus as a man. The beast himself at this point has the face of a man. So we got to ask the question, does this west side camp, the camp of Ephraim, Ephraim, Manasseh, Benjamin, does it represent a man? Well here's what's interesting. Is that Ephraim and Manasseh and Benjamin are actually all connected to one man. Because when you talk about the tribes of Judah, or the sons of Judah, Judah had 12 sons. But keep this in mind because I think people sometimes they make assumptions and they get bad thoughts because of their assumptions. So I've heard people say like, well in the Bible you had all these people and they had all these kids, right? Look, I'm all for big families. I want you to be fruitful and multiply. I'm not preaching that I actually preach that that's a good thing. But let me tell you something, you don't really see like the Duggars in the Bible. Do you understand what I'm saying? Where like one woman gives birth to 18 or 19 children? And you know, if you ask me like, pastor do you recommend us having 20 children? I would say no. Well look at how the Duggars turned out. Like those kids turned out really bad. Almost virtually all of them. So, and what people will say to me is like, well Jacob had 12 sons and one daughter. Yes he did. From four wives. You understand that? It wasn't just one woman popping out 12 kids or 18 kids. So you know, just don't make these assumptions like well Jacob had 12 kids. Do you have four wives? Because don't make that same assumption. But here's what I want you to understand that Jacob has four wives that produced 12 sons and one daughter. These 12 sons of Israel are not all full brothers. Because they have different mothers. They have the same father but a lot of them have different mothers. What's interesting about the west camp of Ephraim, Manasseh and Benjamin is that they're all connected to one man. Because of the fact that Ephraim and Manasseh are two sons of Joseph. So Joseph has two sons and they're actually Manasseh and Ephraim are full brothers. Their father for both of them is Joseph and they both share the same mother. So they're full brothers and they're sons of Joseph and then you have Benjamin. What's Benjamin? The brother of Joseph. You say but aren't they all brothers of Joseph? But the difference with Benjamin is that he's the only full brother of Joseph. He's the full brother of Joseph because of the fact that they're the only two that were born of Rachel. So this camp on the west side there's three tribes, Ephraim, Manasseh and Benjamin but they all have an intimate relationship to one man, Joseph. Manasseh and Ephraim are the sons, the full sons of Joseph and Benjamin is the only full brother of Joseph. Here's what's also interesting. Joseph in the Old Testament is a type of Jesus. And I don't have time to get into all that. We could preach a whole series on the life of Joseph but let me just give you some food for thought. Both Joseph and Jesus were sold and betrayed by their brethren. Both paid for sins that they had not committed. Both were taken out of the prison or the pit and ascended to be sitting on the right hand of the throne. So Joseph and there's other stuff we could talk about. I'm not going to take the time to do it. But Joseph is definitely a type of the Lord Jesus Christ. So we have Judah on the west pictures the lion. Reuben on the north pictures the ox. Ephraim on the west I'm sorry, did I say Judah on the west? Judah's on the east. Ephraim on the west pictures the man. The beast that has the face of a man but also the tribes are connected to one man and that one man is also a very well known type of Christ. So we see how that tribe could picture or represent the man. And then the last thing, the last tribe the southern tribe or the southern camp is the camp of Dan. Now are you there in Genesis 49? Look at what Jacob says about his son Dan. Genesis 49 verse 16. Dan shall judge his people as one of the tribes of Israel. Dan is connected to judgment. Dan is connected to judgment and this is not the only time, I won't take the time to have you go there, but when Dan is born his mother calls him Dan and she references the fact that God has judged her and given her Dan. So the name of Dan is connected to judgment in one shape or another. And then of course the eagle is a picture of the deity of Christ. Now go to Deuteronomy 28 if you would, real quickly, Deuteronomy 28 we're going to be done in like a few minutes okay. Actually we're not, I still have to give you the applications I don't know why I said that. We'll be done soon. Deuteronomy 28 The eagle throughout the Bible is also associated with judgment. Just real quickly, Deuteronomy 28 49 The Lord shall bring a nation against thee from far Deuteronomy 28 49 from the ends of the earth. Notice what it says As swift as the eagle fieth, a nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand. So throughout the Bible we see that this eagle often we see an eagle in prophecy and prophetically and it is often time associated with judgment. And if you consider the fact that the eagle represents the deity of Christ and the fact that he's coming in the clouds remember eagles ascend and they descend when Jesus comes back remember he's coming in his glorified body and he's coming back to do what? Because the first time he came he came to die but the second time he comes with a rod of iron. What is he coming to do? To judge the earth. So we see that Dan is associated with judgment and we see that the eagle is often associated with judgment so we see that these four camps not only do they literally picture a cross if we're correct if I'm correct on the way we're kind of understanding that but we also see that each camp is representing one of these beasts who are representing a facet of the Lord Jesus Christ the lion, the ox, the man the eagle. So let's kind of finish this up. Go back to Numbers. Here's a couple things. The tabernacle the tabernacle houses the ark of God. We haven't really talked about it. We talked about it a lot in Leviticus and I'm sure we'll get into it in the book of Numbers as well. But the tabernacle represents God. It's not God but it represents the presence of God. It represents the fact that God is dwelling with His people. That's why they would do the sacrifices at the tabernacle. That's why Moses would go to the tabernacle to meet with God or to speak with God. The tabernacle represents God. So think about this. In the throne room in heaven you have God sitting on His throne and around Him are these four beasts a lion, one with the face of a lion, one with the face of a man one with the face of an eagle, one with the face of a calf or an ox and they are praising God. Holy, holy, holy Lord God Almighty which was and is and is to come. And then down on the valley of Mount Sinai at this time in history you have the nation of Israel surrounding the tabernacle which is a picture and an image of God and the presence of God. And around this tabernacle you have these four camps that also represent these four beasts as worshipping and glorifying God on the throne. So it's just a very beautiful and interesting thought when you consider that if you were to get an aerial view like Balaam did and you would look down you would not only see a picture of the cross but you'd see a picture of the throne. The throne room of God and the fact that these four different camps represent these four different beasts and they are surrounding the tabernacle which represents the presence of God. Numbers chapter 2 look at verse 32. These are those which were numbered of the children of Israel by the house of their fathers. All those that were numbered of the camps throughout their host were 600,000, 300, and 550. That's 603, 550,000. That's what we saw in the previous chapter. But the Levites were not numbered. Next week we're going to talk all about the Levites in chapter 3. Among the children of Israel as the Lord commanded Moses and the children of Israel did according to all that the Lord commanded Moses so they pitched by their standards and so they were set forward, everyone after their families according to the house of their fathers. Now real quickly, let me give you two applications. If you didn't agree with any of that, that's fine. You don't have to listen to any of that if you don't want. But you do have to listen to this. This is not up for debate. This is the word of God. Two takes away from the book of Numbers, chapter 2. Real quickly, don't turn anywhere. I'll just read this for you. Takeaway number one, everything should be done decently and in order. The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 14, 40, let all things be done decently and in order. And we see that this is just the character of God. God wants things done right. God wants things done well. And we see that God takes this congregation that is pretty much just encamped however they want and he puts them in order. He says, no, these three tribes on the east side and these three tribes on the south side and these three tribes on the west side and these three tribes on the north side and when we begin to move, we're going to move in a certain direction and procession. Let all things be done decently and in order. And you know, in your life, you should try to live a life of decency and order. Everything should be done decently in order. But then number two take away is this, that everything in our lives should revolve around God. Colossians 3, 4 says this, when Christ, I love this little phrase, who is our life shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him glory. And the fact that you see these twelve tribes organized into four camps and they're all organized to always be surrounding the presence of God, the tabernacle. When they're pitched, they surround it on the east side, on the west side, on the north side, on the south side. When they begin to move, you have the first tribe on the east go, the second tribe on the south go, the tabernacle go, then the tribe on the west, then the tribe on the north. Even as they're moving, they've got the presence of God in their midst. As they are pitched, they have the presence of God in their midst. And you know, the application for you and I today is that our lives should revolve around God. We should not be these people who are Christians on Sunday and then like everyone else, Monday through Saturday, no. My life should revolve God and revolve around God and revolve around God's word and revolve around God's people. Hey, we should be a Christian all the time. And our lives should be surrounding God and should be revolving around the presence of God. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, Lord, thank you for this chapter. And Lord, I realize that some of these things that we talked about are not dogmatic and I think maybe just interesting and things to talk about. But help us to take away the actual takeaways that we should live lives of decency and order. Let everything be done decently and in order. And that we should live lives that are surrounded, that are revolving around God and God's word. And Lord, we thank you for it. In the matchless name of Christ, we pray. Amen. Alright, we're going to have brother RJ come up and lead us in a final song. Just want to give you a couple reminders. First of all, don't forget or I want to encourage you to be back on Wednesday night. We started the Book of Galatians last week. We're going to finish chapter 1 on Wednesday night and we're going to be looking at the testimony of Paul. Paul begins to give his personal testimony and there's some really interesting things and cool things that we can learn from that. So make sure you're here tonight. We'd love for you to be a part of that. Also, I want to remind you for the ladies that if you could go by the ladies' tea sign-up sheets that are in the foyer. We've got clipboards and you can volunteer for different things. Please go by there and volunteer for something or help with something. We would appreciate that. And if you don't mind just looking around your area, kind of picking up your mess or whatever, putting the hymn book back and all those things decently and in order. We want to live lives with decency and in order. And if you can help us kind of get organized it helps the cleaning crew on Monday. If there's anything we can do for you, please let us know. We'll have brother RJ come up and lead us in a final song. Now let's grab our songbooks and turn to page number 304. Song number 304. Nothing between my soul and the Savior. Song number 304. Sing it out on the first. Nothing between my soul and the Savior. Not of this world's elusive dream. I have renounced the sins of pleasure. Jesus is mine. There's nothing between nothing between my soul and the Savior, so that His merciful face may be seen. Nothing preventing the least of His cable. Keep the way clear and nothing between. Nothing between my worthy pleasure. Habits of life go harmlessly seen. He must have my heart from Him ever severe. He is my own. There's nothing between nothing between my soul and the Savior. So that His face may be seen. Nothing preventing the least of His cable. Keep the way clear and nothing between. Like pride or like station, self or friend shall not intervene. Though it may cost me but tribulation, I am resolved. There's nothing between nothing between my soul and the Savior. So that His placid face may be seen. Nothing preventing the least of His cable. Keep the way clear and nothing between. Sing it out on the last. Nothing between and many hard trials. Though the world of death be complete. Watching with prayer and myself denied. I'll triumph at last with nothing between. Nothing between my soul and the Savior. So that His face may be seen. Nothing preventing the least of His cable. Keep the way clear and nothing between. Amen. Great singing. If anyone here has questions about salvation, baptism, or church membership, pastor will be at the door. He would love to talk to you or the director who's trained to do that as well. And if you're in choir, we're going to start recording around 7.50, so if you could make your way to the Fellowship Hall around 7.50, we would appreciate that. Brother Graham, would you dismiss us with a word of prayer? Father God, thank you for this day for this message. Thank you for all of the chapters of this Bible that give us edification. Please bless us the rest of this week and bring us back safely on Wednesday night. In the name of Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen. Amen. Amen.