Numbers 1-2 | Welcome to the Wilderness

Listen to this week’s sermon, Welcome to the Wilderness, preached by Rev. Benjamin Kandt from Numbers 1-2.

Episode Transcript

Rev. Benjamin Kandt (00:06):
Hello everyone.
This is Pastor Benjamin.
You're listening to the sermonaudio from New City, Orlando.
At New City, we long to see ourFather answer the Lord's prayer
.
For more resources, visit ourwebsite at newcityorlandocom.

Evan Pederson (00:20):
Pray with me, heavenly Father.
May your word be a lamp to ourfeet and a light to our path,
through Jesus Christ, our Lord,amen.
Today's scripture is taken fromsections of numbers one and two
.
Please remain standing, if youare able.
The Lord spoke to Moses in thewilderness of Sinai, in the tent

(00:44):
of meeting on the first day ofthe second month in the second
year, after they had come out ofthe land of Egypt, saying take
a census of all the congregationof the people of Israel, by
clans, by father's houses,according to the number of names
.
Every male, head by head, from20 years old and upward, names

(01:06):
every male, head by head, from20 years old and upward, all in
Israel who are able to go to war.
You and Aaron shall list themcompany by company, and there
shall be with you a man fromeach tribe, each man being the
head of the house of his fathers.
Moses and Aaron took these menwho had been named and on the
first day of the second month,they assembled the whole
congregation together, whoregistered themselves by clans,

(01:27):
by fathers' houses, according tothe number of names, from 20
years old and upward, head byhead, as the Lord commanded
Moses.
So he listed them in thewilderness of Sinai.
But the Levites were not listedamong them by their ancestral
tribe.
For the Lord spoke to Moses,saying when the tabernacle is
set out, the Levites shall takeit down, and when the tabernacle

(01:50):
is to be pitched, the Levitesshall set it up, and if any
outsider comes near he shall beput to death.
But the Levites shall camparound the tabernacle of the
testimony so that there may beno wrath on the congregation of
the people of Israel, and theLevites shall keep guard over
the tabernacle of the testimony.
The Lord spoke to Moses andAaron, saying the people of

(02:13):
Israel shall camp, each by hisown standard, with the banners
of their fathers' houses.
They shall camp facing the tentof meeting on every side.
This is God's word.
You may be seated.

Rev. Benjamin Kandt (02:30):
Well, good morning and welcome to Worship
with New City.
My name is Benjamin, I'm apastor here with New City and
today we're jumping into thebook of Numbers.
Since 2019, new City has beenjourneying through the Torah
book by book, the first fivebooks of the Bible.
We started with three years inthe book of Genesis, two years
in Exodus, one year in Leviticusand now Numbers.

(02:54):
Some of you are looking around.
You're like, hey, we need tomake some more space in here and
I'm saying, listen, I'mpreaching Leviticus and Numbers
Like I'm trying to do my bestbut it's not working.
Okay, obviously, I'm saying,listen, I'm preaching Leviticus
and Numbers Like I'm trying todo my best, but it's not working
.
Okay, obviously, I'm kidding.
You see the Torah, the firstfive books of the Bible.
One of the primary purposes ofwhat are called the books of

(03:16):
Moses is to teach us that mandoes not live by bread alone,
but by every word that proceedsfrom the mouth of God, every
word which means a healthychurch is going to have a
substantive diet of OldTestament and New Testament
poetry and prophecies, gospelsand epistles.

(03:36):
We need it all because everyword is breathed out by God, and
so let's start the book ofNumbers together.
We jump into the book whereBible reading plans go to die.
I understand, but in Numbers1.1, very first verse of this
entire book, it says this theLord spoke, the Lord spoke.

(03:59):
Now this the Lord didn't speakto us in this book, but he spoke
for us in this book.
He spoke to Moses and Israel ina specific time and place.
But the Lord knew thousands ofyears later that we would be
gathering in a place like thisto take up the book of Numbers,
so that we, in our time andplace, could follow him in the

(04:23):
wilderness.
That's why the book of numbersexists, and so it's really
important to be clear here OurGod is a speaking God.
God is loquacious, he is thereand he is not silent, and so
let's lean in, open our ears andlisten to the book of numbers
together.
I have a main point, which isalso my three points, which is

(04:44):
this In the wilderness, godassembles his camp and dwells at
the center.
That's it.
In the wilderness, godassembles his camp and dwells at
the center.
If you have a Bible or a deviceor the worship guide, go ahead
and get Numbers, chapter one,verse one, in front of you so we
can look at it together.
This is what it says of you, sowe can look at it together.

(05:06):
This is what it says Numbers1.1.
The Lord spoke to Moses in thewilderness of Sinai.
Now, many of us are familiarwith the Greek name for this
book, which is Numbers, and thatcomes from the fact that in the
first two chapters, godcommands a census to number the
people of Israel.
So that's where the book ofNumbers comes from.
But the Hebrew name for thisbook is Ba Midbar, which means

(05:27):
in the wilderness.
It comes from that first, thefirst word in Hebrew, which is
in the wilderness of Sinai, andI actually think, if I think
that's way better PR for thisbook.
To be honest, like I think, ifthis book was called in the
wilderness, more of us wouldprobably take it up, because it
actually does have an incredibleassortment of incidences

(05:48):
traveling through the wildernesstogether as the people of God.
But the first few chapters arethis census and it gets
distracting for us, for many ofus.
So they're in the wilderness ofSinai.
What's going on there?
Well, there's an image of whatMount Sinai probably looked like
, something like this, to giveyou a picture of where the
people of Israel have beencamped for about an entire year.

(06:11):
Now that was.
Some of y'all are like yeah,dude, I know that, but I didn't
realize that until reallydigging into the book of Numbers
that Israel has been posted upin the same place since Exodus
19.
It up in the same place sinceExodus 19.
Exodus 19,.
The rest of Exodus, all ofLeviticus and the first 10
chapters of Numbers.

(06:32):
They've been posted up forabout 11 months at the foot of
Mount Sinai.
Israel has not moved.
So what have they been doingthat whole time?
Well, this is a recap of thelast few years here at New City.
This is what they've been doingGod descends in fire on Sinai,
gives the Ten Commandments,enters into covenant, eats with
the elders, gives blueprints forthe tabernacle.
Israel cheats on the Lord witha golden calf.

(06:53):
Moses intercedes.
They build the tabernacle, theyget a user manual called
Leviticus and finally they countup the tribes and assemble them
into a camp.
That's where we've been for thelast few years here at New City
.
Now, with all that being said,that summarizes 51 chapters of
scripture, over 11 months ofIsrael being stationed at the

(07:13):
wilderness of Sinai.
But all of that was toaccomplish one single cosmic
changing goal.
Look with me at verse one again, it says this the Lord spoke to
Moses in the wilderness ofSinai in the tent of meeting.
That word in it's a little wordbut it's a big deal.

(07:37):
If you have a Bible you canflip back if you want to, but at
the end of Exodus 40, can flipback if you want to, but at the
end of Exodus 40, verse 35, itsays this Moses was not able to
enter the tent of meeting.
Why?
Because the glory of the Lordfilled the tabernacle.
So if God is in the room, mosescouldn't be.
That's a problem.

(07:59):
And in fact at the beginning ofLeviticus, leviticus 1.1 says
this the Lord called Moses andspoke to him from the tent of
meeting.
Now, what does that mean?
It means that if the Lord isinside the tent, moses cannot be
.
And so much for a tent ofmeeting.
Right, if that's the name ofthis place, a meeting place for

(08:21):
God and man.
But Moses can't go in there.
And if he can't go in there,what hope is there for you and
me or the average Israelite?
But then we get to Numbers 1.1and it says this the Lord spoke
to Moses in the wilderness ofSinai in the tent of meeting.
Do you see what that means.
It means that Leviticus was asmashing success.

(08:43):
What that means?
It means that Leviticus was asmashing success.
It means that Moses can enterin where before he could not.
So that word in, like I said,it's a little word, it's a big
deal.
But what's going on here?
Well, listen, you couldsummarize the entire Bible, from
Genesis to Revelation, bysaying the Lord wants to dwell
with his people.
That's what God's after, that'shis grand aim in the world.

(09:07):
The Lord wants to dwell withhis people.
The divine declaration we heardit in our words of assurance
goes like this I will be yourGod, you will be my people, I
will dwell in your midst.
That's what God's been aboutsince the Garden of Eden is that
he would be able to dwell withhis people.
Now, the most amazing thing isthat this Emmanuel formula with

(09:31):
these three parts I will be aGod, you will be my people, I
will dwell in your midst.
It's repeated on the regularthroughout the story of
Scripture, because this is theheart of God, like maybe the
most amazing thing I know aboutthe heart of God is that God
wants to be with people like youand me.
That's what you get when youread the whole storyline of

(09:51):
Scripture, and so God's greataim, from Genesis to Revelation,
is what Exodus 25, 8 says,which is that God rescued his
people from slavery in Egypt.
Quote that I may dwell in theirmidst.
But to do this, in Exodus theyhad to build the dwelling place
for God.

(10:12):
In Leviticus they had toconsecrate that place as a tent
of meeting, and now in Numbersthey set up camp around it.
That's where we find ourselvesin the book of Numbers.
You see, it's not since Edenthat God has made his dwelling
place with man.
Say that differently.
Not until Numbers could God sayI will dwell in your midst.

(10:36):
Numbers is a big deal in thestory of scripture.
This is a significant momentbecause in the wilderness God
assembles his camp and dwells atthe center.
That's my second point.
Look with me at verse two.
It says this take a census ofall the congregation of the
people of Israel, by clans, byfathers' houses, according to

(10:58):
the number of names, every male,head by head, from 20 years old
and upward.
All in Israel who are able togo to war.
That's a significant phrase.
All in Israel who are able togo to war.
You and Aaron shall list them,company by company.
Now again, I made the joke thatthis census is where Bible

(11:19):
reading plans go to die.
We often read this and we thinkhow is this relevant to my life?
What does this actually meanfor me?
And in fact it's a goodquestion.
Like, if you were the HolySpirit, would you waste space on
your papyri to list a bunch ofrandom people's names who, most
of whom, don't show up anymorein the Bible after this?

(11:40):
Would you waste the space?
And yet a core conviction of adisciple of Jesus is that the
Holy Spirit doesn't waste hisbreath.
And so why?
What is going on here?
Well, verse three says that thecensus is of all in Israel who
are able to go to war.
You see, in Genesis 12, god madea promise to Abram.

(12:02):
He says I will make you a greatnation.
The census proves that.
As they number all of thesepeople, the census is proving
God has kept his promise toAbram.
But it doesn't just say that.
It also says and I will giveyou a land.
That hasn't happened yet.
So as Israel is reading throughthese first chapters of Numbers
, they're growing in faith asthey see the faithfulness of God

(12:26):
to Abram in Genesis 12 to makethem a great nation, the very
faith they need in order to goand conquer the promised land in
Canaan.
That's the significance of thistext here, and the apostle Paul
goes as far as to say in 1Corinthians 10, these things
were written down for ourinstruction.

(12:47):
He says that about the book ofNumbers in particular written
down for our instruction.
So you got to ask the questionhow is this instructive for us?
Well, because Israel, like us,lives in the in-between.
Numbers calls that place thewilderness.

(13:10):
They live between the alreadyand the not yet, between Egypt
and Canaan, between what hasbeen promised and what has been
realized.
That's the very place we findourselves.
To be more clear about that,israel was delivered from
slavery, but they've not yetbeen set free in their own land
yet.
In a similar way, if you belongto Jesus, you've been delivered

(13:31):
from the penalty of sin, butyou've not been set free from
the presence of sin yet.
And all who know their ownflesh say oh, lord, have mercy.
And so we live in thisin-between, like Israel, in the
wilderness, and we long to bedelivered.
Jesus, in Luke 9, he actuallyspoke of his cross as his exodus

(13:54):
.
You see, the cross of Jesussets us free, just like the
exodus from Egypt, set them free, and your redemption costs you
nothing.
But conquest of the promisedland often costs us everything.
Often costs us everything.

(14:17):
Salvation is, by grace alone,zero earning, but our ultimate
fulfillment and culminationrequires a good bit of effort on
our part.
Israel was set free from slaveryin Egypt and in Exodus it says
you don't have to fight foryourself, just be still, the
Lord will fight for you.
That's true for us too, becauseof Christ and his cross.
But then the Lord is assemblinghis camp, he's mustering the

(14:39):
soldiers.
Why?
Because they need to make war.
They need to make war and so,like Israel, we need to make war
.
Now.
We don't make war.
Our enemies are not theAmalekites, the Canaanites, the
Moabites.
Our enemy, our enemies are theworld, the flesh and the devil.

(15:00):
Historically, christians havetaught that that Christians are
living embroiled in a spiritualbattle, or you're not a
Christian, full stop.
Jc Ryle says it like this themark of a true Christian is
inner peace and inner war.
Inner war because we know whatit's like to war against that

(15:24):
part of us that still rebelsagainst God, that we long to put
to death by the power of theHoly Spirit.
Inner war, inner peace, becausewe know what it's like to have
our consciences set free fromthe guilt that our sin deserves
and to live before the face ofGod with a sense of freedom and
joy.
Inner peace.

(15:45):
The true Christian lives withthis conundrum of inner war and
inner peace.
But it's not just war againstour flesh.
It's also war, a wrestling, astruggling against what the
scriptures called the world.
Now it's important to name theworld here is.
It's essentially a socialconstruct made by people who are

(16:10):
trying to define for themselveswhat good and evil looks like.
That's the world.
To say it differently, davidWells' famous definition of
worldliness is that worldlinessis whatever makes righteousness
look strange and sin look normal.
That's the world.
It's a culture of rebellionagainst God and it transcends

(16:32):
any nation or culture or peoplegroup.
It is this reality that everyChristian, in all times and
places, has to contend with.
But it's not just the flesh,it's not just the world, it's
also the devil.
I wish I could spend more timeon spiritual warfare, but
there's really just two tacticsof the evil, one Simple, on

(16:53):
spiritual warfare.
But there's really just twotactics of the evil, one Simple,
really effective.
The two tactics are thistemptation and accusation.
He's working that move in yourlife all the time, tempting you
to draw away from God and thenaccusing you for being drawn
away from God.
And some of us in this roomhave just we've come out of a
week of temptation and even inthis very moment you're in this

(17:16):
room and you're hearingsomething to the effect of this.
Isn't?
Real for you.
This isn't true.
You don't have any stake inthis.
Brother, sister, listen, that'sgot a forked tongue taste to it
.
It smells like hell.
That voice is the voice of theone who comes to kill and steal

(17:39):
and destroy.
Say no to it in Jesus's name.
Claim the cross of Christ thatsets you free from Egypt You're
not a slave anymore and claimthe power of Jesus to conquer
the world, the flesh and thedevil.
That's the invitation ofnumbers for those of us who
follow Jesus.
And so in our world I get it themilitary metaphor doesn't go

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well.
That's because of the crusadesin the past and the culture wars
in the present.
But it's a biblical motif, sowe will not jettison it.
Instead, we're not going todiscard it because of our
culture.
We're going to define it basedon Scripture.
And in Scripture, in Ephesians6, paul makes it really clear we

(18:24):
do not wrestle against fleshand blood.
What does that mean?
That means that your neighbor,regardless of beliefs, race,
sexual orientation or politicalparty, is not your enemy.
What it means is your enemy isfar more personal than that.
It's you.
It's your very own flesh.

(18:47):
Your enemy is far more powerfulthan that.
It's the devil, a potentpersonal evil.
Your enemy is far morepervasive than that.
It's the world, a culture ofrebellion.
And so listen, if you belong toChrist, he is your captain.
The battle is the Lord's, andwe see that actually in the very

(19:10):
organization of the militarycamp.
Look at verse 17 here it saysthis Moses and Aaron took these
men who had been named, and onthe first day of the second
month, they assembled the wholecongregation together.
What would that have lookedlike?
Well, here's another image thatgives you some sort of a
picture of what we're talkingabout.

(19:32):
This is what this assembly ofthe whole nation together, this
whole congregation, would havelooked like.
Now, notice this.
Some people point out thestructure, that there's a
foreshadowing of its cross shape.
But there's somethingsignificant about this this way
in which the camp would havebeen organized, with the Levites

(19:52):
at the center, with thetabernacle as the epicenter,
because all of our warfare flowsfrom our worship of the true
and living God, and so if thepresence of God is in the church
, the church will draw the worldin.
If the presence of God is notin the church, the world will

(20:13):
draw the church out.
It's why we need to be apresence-centered people, like
the camp of Israel.
Because in the wilderness, godassembles his camp and dwells at
the center.
So what does that look like?
What does it look like for usto resist the world, the flesh
and the devil by re-centeringour lives around God?

(20:35):
This is my third and finalpoint that God dwells at the
center.
Look at verse 47.
But the Levites were not listedalong with them by their
ancestral tribe.
When the tabernacle is to setout this is verse 51, when the
tabernacle is to set out, theLevites shall take it down.
And when the tabernacle is tobe pitched, the Levites shall

(20:57):
set it up, and if any outsidercomes near, he shall be put to
death.
Again, I said you couldsummarize the whole Bible by
saying the Lord wants to dwellwith his people.
So when the Lord assembles hiscamp, he dwells at the center.
That was his.
But why God's ordering andorganizing and patterning his

(21:20):
people in a certain way so thatIsrael can host the presence of
God?
What is he up to here?
Well, the commentary that I'mgoing to be reading through this
whole series is by a guy namedL Michael Morales, and he puts
it really simple.
He says Israel's new role isthe entourage of the Shekinah.
I just want to be clear firsttime we're announcing this.

(21:41):
But we're changing our namefrom New City to the Entourage
of the Shekinah, because no, notreally, but that term is fire,
like literally, it's fire.
Okay, when the Shekinah gloryof God comes down, there's fire

(22:01):
in the center of the people ofGod.
That's super important.
It's important because lookwith me at verse 53.
Verse 53 says but the Levitesshall camp around the tabernacle
of the testimony so that theremay be no wrath.
When God comes, he comes as aconsuming fire, so that there

(22:23):
may be no wrath on thecongregation of the people of
Israel, and the Levites shallkeep guard over the tabernacle
of the testimony.
You see, here, when we drawnear before the Lord, there's a
danger.
There's a real danger, becausethe appearance of the glory of
the Lord, also known as theShekinah, is a devouring fire.

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It's a devouring fire, and so,in order to move forward, I got
to clear up some false notionsabout God.
There's a saying that goessomething like this God can't
stand to be in the presence ofsin, and it sounds biblical, but
it's backwards.
In fact, it's not God thatcan't stand to be in the

(23:06):
presence of sin, but sin thatcan't stand to be in the
presence of God.
One theologian put it like thisto say that God can't stand in
the presence of sin makes himout to be like the person who
can't stand the presence of aspider and demands that someone
else deal with it.
You see, if you say that Godcan't stand to be in the
presence of sin, you're givingsin leverage over God.

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So what's the danger here?
Well, every human, every human,except for one notable exception
, is a sinner, and so to waltzinto the presence of God has an
inherent danger.
For us, what bleaches tobacteria, or light is to

(23:52):
darkness, god's holiness, is tohuman sinfulness.
It's not a fire's fault that itincinerates dry leaves, it's
the deadness of the leaves.
You see, there's a conundrumhere, though, for us, because,
like a sunflower chasing the sun, our gaze is drawn to the

(24:14):
presence of God.
We want to draw near to God,and at the same time, coming
close results in destruction.
A moth is drawn to the light ofa flame, but the closer it gets
, the greater the risk of beingconsumed by the fire.
So God's holiness exposes sin,and his wrath opposes sin.

(24:36):
Sin cannot approach God and Godcannot tolerate sin.
Do you feel the double bind.
Do you feel the double bindthat sin separates.
So you should draw near, butdrawing near obliterates.
So beware, what are we going todo if the desire of God is to
dwell at the center of hispeople, his sinful people?

(25:00):
Well, god in his mercy, putsverse 53 here but the Levites
shall camp around the tabernacleof the testimony, so that
here's the purpose clause, sothat there may be no wrath on
the congregation.
You see, to be the entourage ofthe Shekinah.
God's people always need amediator.

(25:20):
To be the entourage of theShekinah.
God's people always need amediator there.
And then Israel had Moses,aaron and the Levites.
Here and now we have JesusChrist.
The reality is, verse 51 saysand if any outsider comes near,
he shall be put to death.
If you were an Israelite, ifyou were any Israelite but a

(25:42):
Levite, except for Levites, youcould not draw near.
And in fact, even if you were aLevite but not a priest, you
could not get too close.
But we long for proximity tothe presence of God, and God
wants that too.
And so if that's the case, ifGod made us to walk with him in
the presence of God, in the coolof the garden, what is God

(26:06):
going to do?
Well, god sends his son, theultimate insider, to tabernacle
to dwell among us.
And Jesus Christ, although heis the ultimate insider, was
crucified.
And Hebrews 13 says he wascrucified, quote outside the
camp.

(26:26):
You see the significance ofthat language now, because God,
in the wilderness, he assembleshis camp and dwells at the
center, and Jesus Christ iscrucified outside the camp.
Not welcome, jesus was sent outso you could be welcomed in.
You see, what we see here isthat to draw near to God.

(26:47):
You will not encounter a Levitewith an Uzi.
You'll encounter a lover withwelcome saying enter, come on in
.
And so all men, women andchildren everywhere are called
to draw near to God through themediator, jesus Christ.
He has come to give us hisaccess to God.

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I said this a moment ago.
There's few things I know thatare more amazing about who God
is than the fact that he wantsto dwell with you.
He wants to be with you just asyou are, right here right now.
How is that possible in lightof God's holiness and our

(27:30):
sinfulness?
Well, only if a true insider,jesus Christ, comes outside in
order to tell us you're welcome,you're welcome to come near,
draw near through me, I willgive you my access to the Father
.
And so this is the primary thingthat makes Israel Israel.
You see, israel was notprimarily distinguished by their

(27:53):
law, their cultural customs,their food or dress codes, their
moral obedience or their socialidentity markers, although
those things are important, it'snot the primary thing.
What set them apart was God'spresence dwelling among them.
The presence of God in the lifeof his people is not an
optional add-on, it's the vitalcenter of our very existence for

(28:16):
eternity.
And so, in light of that, newCity wants to be a
Christ-centered church.
I got one last slide for youthat you've seen for the last
three weeks.
This is why Jesus is centered,because we want to be a
Christ-centered church.
And if we are, I think numberstwo, one and two will be true of

(28:38):
us.
Look the last part of the texthere as we close.
It says the Lord spoke to Mosesand Aaron saying the people of
Israel shall camp, each by hisown standard, with the banners
of their father's houses.
They shall camp facing the tentof meeting on every side.
You see, at New City we wannacenter ourselves not on programs

(29:00):
or personality or place, oreven a people, but on the person
of jesus christ dwelling in ourmidst.
We want his nearness to be thecentral reality of our existence
and if we have that, noticeboth the diversity and unity in
numbers two.
Two, it says the diversity isthat each one is flying the flag

(29:21):
of their own family.
It's great because they're allunified.
It says in verse 2b each flagis facing the center the
presence of the living God.
One of the hallmarks of New Cityin the time I've been here, for
over a decade now, has been ourunity.
I think it's actually maybe oneof the defining marks of the

(29:45):
presence of the Spirit of God inour midst.
I thank God for it regularly.
And that unity, if it's goingto be sustained, must come from
a constant recentering of ourpreferences and priorities on
the living Christ dwelling withus.
It will come.
It will happen in no other wayBecause New City listen in the

(30:08):
wilderness, god is assembling us, his people, as his camp so
that he might dwell at thecenter.
Let's pray.
Thank you, father.
Thank you that you, that youraim, your desire is actually to
be with us, that you've removedall obstacles between a sinful

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person and the presence of theliving god, jesus christ.
You yourself are our verymediator.
It's because we are united toyou by faith that we have access
into the very life of God.
Thank you, jesus.
Holy Spirit, would you come bepleased to dwell in our midst, a
sinful people but a sanctifiedpeople nonetheless, because we

(30:56):
want to be an entourage of theShekinah glory in our city, we
pray for your beautiful namesake, jesus, amen.