Israel's Wilderness Experience

Numbers chapter 20 please. Numbers 20 verse 1. Then came the children of Israel, even the whole congregation, into the desert of Zin in the first month. And the people abode at Kadesh.

And Miriam died there and was buried there. Verse 28. Moses stripped Aaron of his garments, put them upon Eliezer his son, and Aaron died there on the top of the mount.

And Moses and Eliezer came down from the mount. Verse 2 of chapter 20. There was no water for the congregation and they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron.

The people chode with Moses and spake, saying, Would God that we had died when our brethren died before the Lord? Why have we brought up the congregation of the Lord into this wilderness, that we and our cattle should die there? Wherefore have we made us to come up out of Egypt to bring us unto this evil place? This is no place for seed, for figs, for vines, for pomegranates. Neither is there any water to drink. Verse 7. The Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Take the rod, gather thou the assembly together, thou and Aaron their brother, and speak unto the rock which is before their eyes.

That's the meaning. The rock which is before their eyes, and it shall give forth its water, and thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock. So thou shalt give the congregation and their beasts drink.

Chapter 21 please. I'll read a verse or two here. Verse 5. And the people spake against God, against Moses.

Wherefore have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? There's no bread, neither is any water. And our soul loathes this light bread. And the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, and much people of Israel died.

Now if you turn the page for a moment. Verse 17. Then Israel sang this song, spring up, oh well, dig ye unto it.

The princes dig the well, the nobles of the people dig dead by the direction of the lawgivers with their staves. And from the wilderness they went to Matanah. The Lord will bless the reading of this word.

There are three lines of truth that you find in the book of Numbers. Coming out of Egypt, in the wilderness, and in the tabernacle. Now the Lord has three distinct reasons why he kept the people in the wilderness.

First of all, to prove them. Secondly, to see what was in their heart. And thirdly, to humble them.

Brethren, Christian experience is taught in adversity, not when everything goes well. That's where character is formed. Now, against the belief of a lot of Christians, Israel was not in Egypt 430 plus years.

Surprise you? Go to Galatians chapter 3. Paul with a concise mind tells you that Israel was in Egypt only 215 years, not 430 years. Watch what the Lord says to Abraham. Abraham, in other words, your posterity will be in a land that is not theirs.

And in the fourth generation they shall hither again. Now this is interesting. Four generations.

How long is a scriptural generation? Matthew chapter 1 verse 17 will give the answer. And the average generation is approximately 48 years. According to Matthew, we have to be on scriptural grounds.

Four generations. Levi, Kohath, Amram, Moses. You get it, don't you? Four generations.

Now, if you talk to Jewish rabbis, now most of them aren't saved, of course, but some are students of history. Some of these rabbis will tell you that there were not two and a half million people that came out of Egypt, be it as it may. If you are a mathematician, you come possibly to a very near figure when you figure out approximately the birth rate and the death rate.

It took only one night, my dear brethren, to take Israel out of Egypt, but it took 40 years to take Egypt out of the hearts. Now, I would like to draw some parallels between what took place then as to what we face here. See Israel, by the way, and when you read the book of Numbers and many other books, you have generating questions.

For instance, the Israelites, where did they get the flour for their loaves, bread? I like to suggest that when they left Egypt, there were caravans, not necessarily of Jewish origin, and Egypt being the breadbasket of the Middle East, these caravans, usually by 30 camels plus a leader on a donkey, they went from Egypt all the way to Mesopotamia with various goods. Now, that's interesting. On their way from Egypt to the Far East, they had certain stops, and one of the stops was not far from Jerusalem in the Jordan Valley, Jericho.

A fortified cities with these caravans spent a night or two. Now, watch. Tell me, how did Rahab hear about the purposes of God long before the Israelites came near the city of Jericho? You see, these questions, they come up.

They must be answered. Very likely, this caravan from Egypt knew the existence of Israel who had just departed from Egypt. They likely, for the sake of companionship, they camped near the Israelitish camp, and that's where they learned some of God's purposes, and now they come to Jericho at night gathering the fire.

They didn't have these blackberries or blueberries, whatever telephones you call. So, they talked about the experiences. This explains, at least to me, why Rahab heard about the purpose of Israel.

It was through these caravans. See, these things have to be answered. One of the oldest books in the Bible, the book of Job.

Have you ever wondered why Job had 3,000 camels? I've been to many Middle Eastern restaurants. I've never seen a camel burger on the menu. I suppose it's quite tough, you know.

These camels were the federal express of the Old Testament. Job lent them out by 30s, as I mentioned, and thus by international trade, in his day, he became a rich man. There are other questions at rise that have to be answered.

So here, let's look at these parallels. Israel at this time had just a few more moves. And by the way, why did Israelites move about 40 times in about 40 years? Their land wasn't like Iowa, you know.

The desert. Agriculture was a nearly impossibility. These young men had to go into the various areas to scout for water.

They moved many times. Why? For this very reason. They were just about to make another few moves, just a few moves.

And brethren, yet among the dear Israelites, there seems to be no recognition of the time element that their journey would almost be over. Unlike Daniel, who knew that the Babylonians' captivity would last 70s, where did he get it from? The prophet Jeremiah. Where did Jeremiah get it from? Leviticus 26.

That answers this question as well. They're just about to enter the Holy Land, there was no recognition of the very time element. And here we read in those last moves, they lost their best men and their best women, depends how you see them.

Miriam died, Aaron died. When I first came to this part of the country, I look around, brethren, and in those 30 plus years, a whole generation of brethren and sisters have gone into eternity. In the last four years, we have lost 22 of the Lord's servants.

They're gone. Oh, you see, brethren, we're losing people all the time, that is true. But the challenge is this to young men, come on now, who's taken the place of these dear men who lived for God and worked for God in local assembly fellowship.

I mentioned that yesterday, that's a great need. Oh, I know we're involved in a business, making a living, but tell me, my friend, in God's name, do you put God first in your life? Having meetings in Southern Ontario, this just flashes my mind. A lady from the assemblies in what we call the old country, not that England is older than America as far as geology is concerned.

She said to me, would you like to visit my daughter in the hospital? I've never seen the girl before. And what had taken place, she had come from what we call the Great Britain with a letter of commendation to a local assembly in Southern Ontario. She never went near there.

Rather than that, she acquired some unsaved companions, and on Sunday especially, they went horseback riding. Now, please, I'm not condemning horseback riding. I tried it once and I got so shook up, I'd rather walk.

The old mare. But you see, as the horse went over the bridge, you know these little drainage holes on the bridge? Her horse stepped in it, broke a slag, and threw her off, and her head made contact with the cement embankment, and she was brain dead. In a way, no use visiting the girl, but I did.

Every young lady in her late teens, and I looked at her attractive features, and I thought to myself, dear sister, had you only put God first, that wouldn't have happened to you. Get the point, don't you? Oh, we're engaged in work and labor, and our calling, secular calling, but dear young people, in God's name, put God first, not your business. We need young men and young women devoted to the things of God and local assembly.

It's training for raining. I had to learn this too, you know. My job after I was saved wasn't just too lucrative, so I looked at the papers, and there was an advertisement, I thought I was qualified to work as what we call in Canada, house father amongst the Eskimos and the Indians, way up north, and they never get summer, there's no year out.

I was attracted to the bonus pay, I was attracted to the benefits, and yet I did not realize, I was saved in the assembly then, that the nearest assembly was 200 miles to the south by train. So the job never worked out, and when I came back, oh dear elder brethren, they must have watched me in those days, you know, some brethren they do. They said, Fred, we are all united to pray that this job wouldn't work out for you.

I said, fine friends, you are. And they said, we believe that God has some better for you. And brethren, here I am.

See, young people, you have to recognize, we live in light of eternity. I know I have to make a living, but dear brethren, sister, being prosperous or not, put God first in the name of my God, and He will bless you, and give you such things as you need. Miriam died, and Aaron died, and we missed him.

Then there was a constant murmuring, Moses, why have you brought us up into this wilderness? No water, no bread. Today I have more sympathy for these dear Israelites than I had before I went to the, what you call, Bible lands. On the way from Israel to the Sinai Peninsula, we were on the wilderness Paran, and I said to the Egyptian driver by interpretation, will you please stop? He looked at me, why? There's one word every Arab in the Middle East will understand, that's dollar, dollar, dollar.

He said, why? I said, never mind. We had about 45, 48 Christians on board, and I said, now look now, we'll give you half an hour, just spread out into the wilderness, see what it is like. And so they did, for at least half an hour.

Would you like to watch the response as they came to the bus? They said, Fred, there's no Starbucks here, there's no Subway restaurant, there's nothing. Christians, by the grace of God, grumbling and murmuring. Look at the Israelites, they were there almost 40 years.

You sympathize with their grumbling, and their murmurings, and their physical needs? Yeah. You see, the child of God, then and today, brethren, we are exposed to two magnetic powers. One is the world, oh, they pull back to the dollar, back to the business, back to the attraction, young people, come on now.

Tremendous attraction. And my dearly beloved saints, we are losing a lot of young people on that account. On the other hand, there's a magnetic pull towards spiritual things in heaven itself.

We aren't there yet, but we recognize and sense its beauty, and its glory, and its majesty. But we are not there yet. Tremendous pull on either side.

And if you read in verse 7 and 8, they complained that this is no country for pomegranates, vines, and such thing. I'm not a horticulturalist, but I know that it takes five years, at least, for these trees to produce, and the wilderness is not the place. That simply means that these dear people, they try to settle down.

Settle down. Now, my dear brethren, I know physically we have to live in this country. We have to make a living.

All right? But you know, basically what the Scripture teaches you, if you know the New Testament, we don't belong here. We belong to the Lord. We are heavenly people.

Oh yes. Until He comes, we have to work, we have to live, we bury our dead, and we see souls saved. But basically, we don't belong here.

And you'll always after the leaders among God's people. Satan has watched what the Savior said concerning Moses. He is the, maybe the meekest man on the face of the earth, and the devil heard that.

I gather that Satan doesn't know what I think, but he knows what I say. And Satan dogged Moses' footsteps until the number 20's got him. And he proved to God.

Now, see this man down here? He lost his cool. God said, he's one of the meekest men. Strength harnessed.

He lost his cool. But brethren, please understand, Moses acted on the provocation. The difference.

Tremendous thirst. Tremendous thirst. Tell me please, does Christ satisfy? Come on, young people.

Come on now. Does the Savior really satisfy you? We mentioned that yesterday. If you go back to the elements in the sphere that God called us out from, we give a certificate that Christianity doesn't satisfy.

Hmm? If you go back to the elements. Tremendous thirst. And then you know the story.

On that account, the unnecessary murmuring and the complaining, God sent fiery serpents among them. And I'd like to translate it to our day and age. Dear brother in Ontario, an elder businessman, he said to me, Fred, I just don't have time even to study the Bible to contribute to the weeknight Bible reading.

I'm just too busy. Until he got a heart attack. He said, Fred, God laid me aside for six weeks and had plenty of time.

I learned my lesson. You get the point, don't you? Oh, we can be too busy for the service of the Lord, dear brother. I remember Mr. Amos Gooding.

I knew him a bit personally. And one day he said at the conference platform, he said, I rather wish that my son would only be a street sweeper and be valuable to God than the president of a company, that Mr. Gooding, godly man. Hmm? That's what he said.

He said certain things you never forget. In these formative early years, when he upheld the truth like a sponge. I remember things that the brethren preached in the open air, and that's 50 years ago.

My goodness, I'm old, getting old. 50 years ago. Eight brethren each five minutes.

Eight sisters. They didn't preach, of course, you know. But I watched them.

And especially one sister, she was in her 40s then, twice my age. I thought to myself, as she handed me a gospel paper, I do not know you. I do not know where you live.

I don't even know your name, but you have something that I need. Brethren, what a testimony for sisters she never preached. Does your face know you belong to Christ? Come on, brother.

Hmm? Christian character should shape your facial expressions. Some folks, their scowl just like a Boston Bulldog. And some are very open.

This lady attracted me just by her countenance. I took a funeral some time ago. She's gone home to be with the Lord.

I say this to encourage you, dear sisters. Now finally, for the first time in Israel's wonderings, Israel said, we have sent a proper recognition of who they were. Question.

Another question. Why did the Savior not come in Abraham's day when faith is well developed? Faith supreme. Abraham believed God, counting for righteousness.

Why did the Savior not come in Abraham's time? I'll let you work that out. I'm not going to tell you everything, you know. Yeah, there's of course a reason.

We have sinned. And then we read this very encouraging. Water, water, water, and thirst, and thirst, and thirst.

Now we read that the nobles dig the wells by the direction of the law givers. It could become a conference and be fed. But tell me, young brother and sister, do you gather spiritual strength, comfort, consolation, divine instruction from studying the Word of God yourself? Yes, they said, we have sinned.

But then Israel sang this song, and they begin to dig for themselves, and they never thirst again.