Introduction

• The book of Numbers gets its name from the two censuses that are taken and recorded in the book.
• Exodus 19:1-2 – Israel camped in front of Mt. Sinai for about eleven months.
• Numbers 10:11

Numbers 1

• Numbers 1:1 – Year 2, month 2, day 1
  • Numbers 10:1 – Year 2, month 2, day 20
  • Hebrews 9:11-12, 23-24
  • Nehemiah 9:20
• Numbers 1:46 – Total military-age men: 603,550.
• Numbers 1:47-54 – The Levites were set apart for the work of the tabernacle.

Numbers 2

• Exodus 25:1-9
• The tabernacle was the center of everything, both when camped and when moving.
• Exodus 40:33-38
• Numbers 5:3; 16:9 – God was dwelling in the camp with them.
  • I Corinthians 3:16 – Christians are the temple of God. God’s word dwells in us.

Numbers 3

• Numbers 3:5-10 – The priests would be from the lineage of Aaron and his sons.
• Numbers 3:11-14 – The firstborn belong to God!
• Numbers 3:39, 43 – The firstborn of Levi and the rest of Israel are counted. God declares that the firstborn belong to Him. God makes an exchange – the firstborn of Levi for the firstborn of the rest of Israel.

I Corinthians 16

• I Corinthians 16:1-4 – Collections for the needy saints
  • To whom was this money going?
    • Acts 2:44-45
    • Acts 4:32-35
    • Acts 6:1-6
    • Acts 11:27-29
    • Romans 15:25-32
    • II Corinthians 8:4
    • II Corinthians 9:1
    • I Timothy 5:5-16
    • To the needy saints!
  • What was to be the method of collecting this money?
    • Weekly collections on the first day of the week.
  • What was to be the method of delivering the money to Jerusalem?
    • The money was carried by hand by trusted men.
  • What was each individual’s responsibility?
    • I Corinthians 16:2 – Set aside and save as he has prospered.
  • What amount was to be given?
    • No set amount or percentage was specified.
• I Corinthians 16:5-9 – See Acts 19:1-23. Paul stayed in Ephesus for quite a while (about three years).
• I Corinthians 16:10-11 – Paul wanted them to encourage Timothy.
• I Corinthians 16:12 – Apollos evidently had done good work in Corinth.
• I Corinthians 16:13-14 – Be brave, courageous, and strong!
• I Corinthians 16:19-20
  • Aquila and Priscilla (Prisca) were in Ephesus at this time. They apparently had a church meeting in their house.
  • Greeting each other with a kiss was a common practice at that time. In I Corinthians 16:20, Paul seems to be regulating a cultural practice that was already in use. Greet one another in a holy way. We should cherish our time with our fellow Christians and be close.
• I Corinthians 16:22 – Maranatha means, “our Lord, come.”

Introduction

• Philemon 1:8-9
• Psalms 71:9, 15, 5

Older people are vital and useful.

• Psalms 92:12-15
• Luke 1:36; 2:36-38
• Leviticus 19:32
• Titus 2:2-3
• God has work for older people to do!
• I Timothy 3:6
• What would Benchley be like without older people?

Older people are still fighting the devil.

• I Timothy 5:1-2
• II Chronicles 26:3, 16
• Different temptations can arise in old age.
• Philippians 3:17

We should honor older people.

• Proverbs 20:29
• I Timothy 5:3, 9-10
• Ecclesiastes 12:1-5 – The effects of old age.
• II Corinthians 4:16

One objection to the Exodus

• Could not have happened
  • Describes Moses as having written Exodus accounts (Exodus 34:27; et al)
  • Describes the Law written by God’s own finger (Exodus 31:18)
  • Archaeologists and historians denied existence of written Hebrew language that early

Written communication

• Three main types of written communications:
  • Syllabary – language dependent, symbols expressing sounds
  • Pictograms – symbols independent of language, depict things, ideas
  • Alphabets – language dependent, make sounds of the language
• Dr. Miles R. Jones, former professor of education at Texas A&M University) – The Writing of God
  • Purports that written ancient Hebrew is the first alphabet in history

Syllabary

• Sound from combinations of consonant and vowel
  • Ca, Ce, Ci, Co, Cu
  • Da, De, Di, Do, Du, etc.
• Cuneiform was a type of syllabary
• Syllabary requires about 200 symbols
• Communication is language dependent
• Neither writing nor pictures, but symbols
  • Made with stylus
  • Makes wedged imprints on clay
  • Not carved in stone
  • Cumbersome in writing and preserving

Pictograms

• Symbols express things, ideas, or states of being
• Not language dependent
• Requires huge number of symbols
• Dynamic lexicon

Hieroglyphics

• Type of pictogram
• Symbols of things and ideas
• Borrowed by Hebrews
  • Hebrews borrowed symbols to depict sounds in Hebrew language
    • Took symbols for items beginning with a sound
    • Used that symbol to express that sound
  • When did they do this?
    • Some time in the 2nd millennium B.C.
  • When did Joseph’s family come to Egypt?
    • Early in the 2nd millennium B.C. – approximately 1850 B.C.

“A” is for cow

• In Hebrew, Aleph means Cattle or Oxen
  • Hieroglyph is a cow’s head
  • Symbol of cow’s head used for the “A” sound
  • Symbol evolved into a sideways “A”
• The Hebrews took 22 symbols from Egyptian hieroglyphs
  • One for each of the sounds in the Hebrew language
  • The symbols were for the sounds, not the things or ideas
  • Established a 22-letter alphabet
  • By the Exodus, the symbol for cow had morphed into a sideways “A”

Hebrew experience with writing

• Abraham – cuneiform
• Joseph – cuneiform, hieroglyphics
• Moses – cuneiform, hieroglyphics, alphabet

The term “alphabet”

• Taken from the first two letters
• Greek?
• Hebrew?
• You decide

Archaeological evidence

• El Arish inscription
  • Dates from 325 B.C.
  • Problem?
• Ipuwer papyrus
• Mernepta Stele
  • Presence of Israelites
  • When?
• Four-room houses
  • Typical of Hebrew houses
  • Found in both Egypt (pre-1440 B.C.)
  • And in Canaan (post-1500 B.C.)

Effect of archaeology

• Can’t probe the Exodus
• Much of it puzzle pieces
• Wide range of interpretations
• Will always be a matter of faith

Where was Mount Horeb?

• Also called Mount Sinai
• Traditional – Sinai Peninsula
• Bible – Midian – Exodus 3:1, 12

Introduction

• James 2:21-23 – Abraham was called a friend of God.
• Abraham was justified by an active faith – his works. Works here are works of obedience – not works that earn one salvation.

Sacrifice

• Hebrews 11
  • Nouns (faith, belief)
  • Verbs (prepared, offered, etc.)
• I John
  • Walking, confessing, keeping, loving, abiding, practicing, guarding, purifying
  • If we say we have faith in God, we prove it by what we do!
• James 2
  • “Faith was completed by his works.”
• Chronology of God’s promises to Abraham
  • Genesis 12:1-3 – 75 years old when promised a seed/offering
  • Genesis 16:15-16 – 86 years old when Ishmael (not the promised offspring) is born
  • Genesis 17:1-19 – 99 years old when he and Sarah would have a son named Isaac
  • Genesis 18:9-14 – 99 years old – in one year Sarah to give birth to Isaac
  • Genesis 21:1-5 – 100 years old when the promised son Isaac is born
  • Genesis 22:1-2 – Age unknown – God tells Abraham to offer Isaac.
• Did Abraham actually sacrifice Isaac?
• James 2:21
• God got the sacrifice He wanted: He wanted Abraham.

Abraham the friend of God sacrificed his logic

• II Kings 5:9-12 – Naaman didn’t think Elisha’s instructions made any sense!
• Baptism may not make sense to us from a human standpoint.

Abraham the friend of God sacrificed his emotions

• Matthew 10:34-38

Abraham the friend of God sacrificed his will

• Matthew 16:24 – We must deny ourselves.