Numbers 13

• Numbers 13:2 – Compare Genesis 12:7. God is fulfilling the promise He gave to Abraham. God repeated the promise in Genesis 15:18; 17:8; Exodus 3:8; 12:25.
• Numbers 13:4-16 – The spies are chosen.
• Numbers 13:17-24 – It is estimated the spies walked 350-500 miles over forty days – 9-14 miles a day.
• Numbers 13:25-33 – The spies give their report. Most of the spies give a bad report, saying that giants live in fortified cities that they wouldn’t be able to take. Caleb spoke against them, joined by Joshua in the next chapter.
  • Numbers 13:33 – Note that the spies said they seemed like grasshoppers to themselves.

Numbers 14

• Numbers 14:1-5 – The Israelites grumble and want to return to Egypt.
• Numbers 14:6-10 – Caleb and Joshua try to encourage the people, but the people want to stone them.
  • Compare Acts 20:29. This internal strife can happen in the church also.
• Numbers 14:11-12 – God wants to disinherit the people and make a new nation from Moses.
• Numbers 14:13-19 – Moses intercedes with God on behalf of the people.
• Numbers 14:20-25 – God listens to Moses and doesn’t destroy the people, but sends them back into the wilderness to wander until the current generation dies off.
  • See Joshua 4:19. This is within five days of being exactly forty years from Exodus 12:29-41, the Exodus from Egypt.
• Numbers 14:39-45 – Some try to go fight in Canaan anyway, but God is not with them and they are defeated.

• Matthew 18:1-6
• I Corinthians 6:9-11
• Scotty’s House
• One in six high school students under 18 reported sexual abuse in their lifetime.

Introduction

• Psalms 127:3

God loves you, and you should love Him back.

• Romans 5:6
• Genesis 1:26-27
• James 3:9
• I John 4:19
• Matthew 22:37

Do what is right because it is right.

• Proverbs 3:11
• God gets to define what is right and wrong because He is the Creator.
• I John 5:3
• We must teach our children discipline. What are we communicating about discipline?
• Hebrews 12:7-12
• Don’t give in to kids that whine and complain.
• Ephesians 6:1-2
• Don’t teach them to do right only to avoid punishment.

Life is hard. Get tough.

• Judges 2:16-3:2 – The new generation needed to learn war.
• I Corinthians 10:13
• God allows us to struggle but prevents us from being overwhelmed.
• James 4:4, 7; 5:10; 1:2

You are not the center of the world. God is.

• Proverbs 3:5-7
• Matthew 22:37
• Ephesians 5:23; 6:4 – Husbands, lead your families!
• Philippians 2:3

Conclusion

• Take courage! Don’t let the world sway you!

Numbers 10

• Timeline:

• Five sections of Numbers:
  • Wilderness of Sinai – Numbers 1-10
  • Travel – Numbers 10-12
  • Wilderness of Paran – Numbers 13-19
  • Travel – Numbers 20-21
  • Wilderness of Moab – Numbers 22-36
• Numbers 10:13-28 – They marched out in the specified order.
• Numbers 10:29-32 – Moses convinces his brother-in-law Hobab to travel with them.
• Numbers 10:35-36 – Moses prayed for their safety in travel.

Numbers 11

• Numbers 11:1-3 – Three days in to the journey, they already start complaining and God punishes them.
• Numbers 11:4-9 – The people complain about only having manna to eat.
  • Exodus 16:14-15, 31-34 – Manna is first introduced. God wanted them to remember that He had provided for them.
  • Joshua 5:11-12
  • Deuteronomy 8:1-6, 16
• Numbers 11:10-15 – Moses despairs because of the grumbling of the people.
• Numbers 11:16-25 – God relieves Moses’ burden by setting up seventy men to share the load. Perhaps God was waiting for Moses to realize he couldn’t do it all alone.
• Numbers 11:31-35 – God gives the people quail to eat, along with a plague to punish their greediness.
  • Exodus 16:16-20 – Compare the rules for gathering manna.
  • It seems they were trying to greedily horde the quail rather than trusting God to provide.
  • Psalms 78:8-32, 40
  • Deuteronomy 9:22

Numbers 12

• Numbers 12:1-2 – Miriam and Aaron speak against Moses, apparently because of his marriage to a Cushite woman. We don’t know anything else about the Cushite woman.
• Numbers 12:3-16 – Miriam is struck with leprosy and must stay outside the camp for seven days.

Introduction

• Acts 7:58 – First mention of Paul.
• Acts 8:1-3 – Paul persecutes Christians.
• Acts 9:1-6, 9, 11 – Jesus appears to Paul on the road to Damascus.
• Acts 9:18-22 – Paul was converted and began teaching Christ.

Paul confessed his sins completely.

• I Corinthians 15:8
• I John 1:10
• I Timothy 1:12-16

Paul learned how to truly love people.

• The old Paul:
  • Acts 26:10-11 – Paul was violent against Christians!
• The new Paul:
  • II Corinthians 7:3; 12:15; Philippians 1:8 – He helped and encouraged them to repent like he did.
• I Corinthians 9:19, 22; 8:9, 13
• It must have been difficult for Paul to love those who were less zealous in their beliefs than he was, yet he did that with the Corinthians.
• I Corinthians 9:20
• Philippians 3:5-6
• Acts 26:15-18 – Paul was a Pharisee sent to the Gentiles.
• Galatians 3:28
• Ephesians 3:1, 6

Paul defended every inch of God’s truth.

• Acts 15
• Acts 26:25
• Don’t overreact to error and swing too far the other way!
• Psalms 119:1-2