Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - Who Does God Want You To Be? | Torah | Numbers 1:1-10:10

Episode Date: August 22, 2022

Are you in a hurry to get somewhere in life? Do you trust what God is doing in your life? In today's episode, Keith kicks off the book of Numbers and shares God's promises to his people. Your support makes TMBT possible. Ten Minute Bible Talks is a crowd-funded project. Join the TMBTeam to reach more people with the Bible. Give now. Like this content? Make sure to leave us a rating and share it with others, so others can find it too. Use #asktmbt to connect with us, ask questions, and suggest topics. We'd love to hear from you! To learn more, visit our website and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter @TenMinuteBibleTalks. Don't forget to subscribe to the TMBT Newsletter here. Passages: Numbers 1:1-10:10

Welcome to 10-minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life in the time it takes to get to work. We're starting the book of Numbers today on TMBT. Numbers is the fourth book of the Old Testament, and to be honest, the name is kind of weird. Numbers? Really? It's interesting that in the Hebrew Bible, it has a different name, but before I tell you that name, let me tell you where the title Numbers comes from. There are two genealogies in the book that count or number the Israelites. So the title Numbers is based on that. But in the Hebrew Bible, it's called Into the Wilderness, which makes a lot more sense because that's what the book is about. Much of the book of Exodus is about Israel's journey from Egypt to Mount Sinai where they

receive the law. They're at Sinai for about a year. Numbers is about the journey from Sinai through the wilderness to the edge of the promised land. That's a journey that should have taken about two weeks if you're just trying to get from point A to point B. But God had a bigger plan than that. He had things he wanted to do in Israel, things he wanted to teach the Israelites in the wilderness, and that's why it took 40 years to make that trip happen. The road to becoming who God wants you to be is longer and harder than you might expect. After Mount Sinai, the people were ready to start the second part of the

journey to the promised land. But the story takes a while to get going. Ten chapters of numbers pass until the Israelites begin to travel. What was taking so long to get going? What was slowing down the story? Before they get moving, God tells them to take a census. So this is Numbers chapter one starting in verse two. Take a census of the whole Israelite community by their clans and families, listing every man by name, one by one. You and Aaron are to count according to their divisions, all the men in Israel who are 20 years old or more and able to serve in the army. One man from each tribe, of them, the head of his family, is to help you. So after the census, God tells them to arrange their camp around the tabernacle.

Each tribe had a certain place in the camp, but the big takeaway is that the tabernacle, which remember is the place God dwells, the tabernacle was in the center of the camp. Then there's a long description about the role the Levites play. Remember, the Levites were the tribe of priests. Only after all that does the journey begin. Numbers doesn't mention almost 38 of the first. 40 years in the wilderness. It's important to remember that the Bible doesn't record every event.

It doesn't record something just because it happened. The Bible records things that teach us about God and ourselves. One thing we're supposed to learn from the first 10 chapters of numbers is that God is supposed to be at the center of all we do. He should be at the center of our personal lives and also our community. In the census, God counts every single person. He is saying everyone matters to him. Everyone has a place.

Everyone has a role to play. We don't just keep him at the center of our individual lives, but also the center of our community. Now, I want to think a little bit more about the Hebrew title of this book, Into the Wilderness. That's where the bulk of numbers takes place. The only way to the promised land is through the wilderness. Like I said earlier, that could have taken as little as two weeks, but the quickest way isn't always the best way because it's not God's way. That's true of your life too. I know that you have in your mind the short way, the easy way to happiness, but the short way

isn't the best way if it's not God's way. And God's way often takes us down a long and winding road. Are you at a point where you can say, I want God's way, even if it's not the short way? Even if it's a long, hard way, I want God's way because I know that's the best way in my life. Abraham followed God to the promised land only to find a famine. Joseph spent a decade in prison. Moses was called to serve only after spending 40 years in the desert. David was called to be the king, but then spent seven years on the run from Saul.

Paul spent time in prison. Everyone spends time in the wilderness. There are no shortcuts. When you're in the wilderness, you have to believe that God knows what's best, even when you don't know what he's doing and your life doesn't make any sense to you. whatever God is doing in your life now, do you believe it's the best? I'm not asking you if you like it. I'm not asking you if it's your first choice or second choice for that matter.

I'm just asking if you believe that God's way is the best way, whether or not you understand it. Sometimes you end up in the wilderness because of your own sinful choices. Sometimes you end up in the wilderness because you're obeying God, but you never end up in the wilderness by accident. Many of you have stories about how you're in the wilderness or how God, has taken you on some long, winding road that seems to be in the wrong direction. Life doesn't usually go according to our plans. You thought you'd be somewhere different by now. You didn't plan on being a single mom or dad.

You didn't think you'd be in the same job. Your plan was to have kids or to be married or to be retired or to be recovered from this addiction, but that hasn't happened yet. God leads you into the wilderness. He leads you into difficulty and trials and hardships. Now, some people don't like to hear that, but if God doesn't lead you there, who does? The Bible says that on the long, difficult winding road that God takes us on, you can learn holiness. You learn to obey God.

You learn to depend on Him and to persevere in your faith and to serve others and to be more like Jesus who went into the wilderness himself. So when you find yourself in the wilderness, how do you walk through it? Well, God gives you his promises and his presence. God promised Abraham and his descendants that he would give them land. Hebrews 11 says, By faith, Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went even though he did not know where he was going.

When you're in the wilderness, you live by faith in the promises of God. So what kind of promises does God make to you when you find yourself in the wilderness? Well, he promises that he cares about you. He really cares about everything that you are going through. He also promises that in your greatest weakness, that is where he is most present. He is nearest to you when you are at your wits end. He promises that the suffering we experience in this life is temporary, and compared to the eternal joy of heaven, it seems light and momentary.

Will all the suffering be worth it? Well, when we see Jesus, we'll consider our sufferings here a small price to pay. And then, of course, he promises that he will bring our hardship, our suffering, our trials to an end, that we will make it to the promised land, not because of our strength, not because of our commitment, but because we put our faith in his promises. But God doesn't just give you his promises. He also gives you his presence. God promised to go with them into the wilderness, and his presence was mediated either by a cloud or by fire.

Here's how it sounds in Numbers 9. That is how it continued to be. The cloud covered it, and at night it looked like fire. Whenever the cloud lifted from above the tent, the Israelites set out. Wherever the cloud settled, the Israelites encamped. At the Lord's command they encamped and at the Lord's command they set out. They obeyed the Lord's order. in accordance with his command through Moses.

So whenever they were in the wilderness, there would be a fire by night or a cloud by day that would appear above the tabernacle, the tent of meeting, and that cloud, that fire, God's presence, would lead them. It was a reminder that God was always with them. You see, God doesn't give you an itinerary for your life, but instead he promises his presence. Life doesn't go according to your calendar.

God doesn't give you a preview of what is to come. He just says that no matter what happens, he will be with you. God doesn't answer all the questions we have about our life. He doesn't give us the answers we so desperately crave, but instead he gives us something better. He gives us himself. Psalm 23, even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me. You are with me, God. Thomas Merton was a Catholic monk and priest, and he wrote a book called Thoughts in Solitude. And this came to be known as the Merton Prayer. Here it goes.

I think it might be helpful if you use this in your prayer life. Thomas Merton writes, My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will, does not mean that I'm actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope that I have that desire in all that I am doing. And I know that if I do this,

you will lead me by the right road, though I may know nothing about it. Therefore, I will trust you always, though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone. That's a prayer for the wilderness, a prayer that reminds you that God has made promises to you, that God is present with you. Hey, thanks for listening. If you want to go deeper, sign up for the 10-minute Bible Talk newsletter. You'll get a short email once a week. It'll challenge you to grow in your faith, give you interesting background on today's passage, and a lot, lot more. Just click the link in the show notes to sign up. It'll help you deepen your journey with Jesus.