In the wilderness

Ready, steady, go!

Numbers 10
09 January 2011
Introduction

Where are you currently located?

o Building St Cuthbert’s Church

o Address Stockport Road, Cheadle, Cheshire
o Postcode SK8 2DT
o Co-ordinates Latitude 53.3957 /Longitude 2.2046
o Grid SJ 864968 8796
o Time 18.52.30

That’s your geographical and temporal location, but how about your
spiritual location? This is far more important.

I want to suggest that, from one angle at least, all of us are located
somewhere ‘in the wilderness’ which happens to be the title, in the
Hebrew bible, of the Book of Numbers which is going to form the subject
of the majority of our evening sermons between now and Easter.

I have got to admit that it is not an immediately inspiring choice

c.f. Steve Mealand’s email

c.f. the comment of Origen quoted in Olson p.1

Numbers has, I believe, considerable relevance, for all of us live, to some
extent or other, ‘in the wilderness’

o as human beings living in what Christians believe to be a ‘miserable and

naughty world’ – that’s the way the BCP visitation of the sick describes
it - wilderness describing, at least from one angle, our experience of life

Olson quote p.2

o as Christians, the people of God, the wilderness image has a further

resonance. For we know that we are on a journey and that our ultimate
home is not in this world, though it is on this earth. In other words, we
are pilgrims and as such subject to trials and testings not dissimilar to
those we shall learn of in the forthcoming series.

Olson p.8

Where are we up to in the story, then, given that we are starting at

Numbers 10?

o The Pentateuch = first five books of the OT = this year’s theme

Numbers = Book 4

Genesis = beginning
Exodus = rescue from Egypt and new identity as the people of God
Leviticus = instructions about living
Numbers = preparations for and the journey to the land of Canaan
Deuteronomy = a reprise before the land is actually entered

By the Book of Numbers, Israel hasn’t travelled far from Egypt, hence
these are early days c.f. 1.1

o The book itself

Chs. 1-10.10 preparations for the journey that lies ahead

Chs. 10.11-25 (ish) describe the journey itself (40 years)
Chs. 26 (ish) - end give final instructions before entering the land
 I. Getting ready vv.1-10
1
The LORD said to Moses: 2 “Make two trumpets of hammered silver, and use them
for calling the community together and for having the camps set out. 3 When both
are sounded, the whole community is to assemble before you at the entrance to the
tent of meeting. 4 If only one is sounded, the leaders—the heads of the clans of Israel
—are to assemble before you. 5 When a trumpet blast is sounded, the tribes camping
on the east are to set out. 6 At the sounding of a second blast, the camps on the south
are to set out. The blast will be the signal for setting out. 7 To gather the assembly,
blow the trumpets, but not with the signal for setting out. 8 “The sons of Aaron, the
priests, are to blow the trumpets. This is to be a lasting ordinance for you and the
generations to come. 9 When you go into battle in your own land against an enemy
who is oppressing you, sound a blast on the trumpets. Then you will be remembered
by the LORD your God and rescued from your enemies. 10 Also at your times of
rejoicing—your appointed festivals and New Moon feasts—you are to sound the
trumpets over your burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, and they will be a
memorial for you before your God. I am the LORD your God.”

We would all agree that for any organisation, whether it be a family, a

sports team, a church, a business, an army, or a nation, communication is
all important. Without it nothing happens. Worse still, without it things
start to go awry. And the bigger the organisation the more difficult
communication becomes.

e.g. BOWMAN a classic of defence procurement

However, a more recent report by the Commons Public Accounts Committee was overwhelmingly
critical of the entire system and its procurement The report itself is split into four sections entitled:
"programme governance arrangements were not fit for purpose", "initial decisions were not well
informed", "through life costs were not rigorously assessed", and "operational benefits are limited".

= too heavy to carry!

= frequently doesn’t work e.g. climbing tree to get a signal
= better off with map and nokia

In the first part of Ch.10, we have

described for us the last element of
the people’s preparation before
setting off for the promised land,
that is, two silver trumpets
(previously we’d had described the
pillar of fire and cloud)
What did the trumpet blasts do?

a) they united the people v.1

Anyone who has read the census list in Ch.1, from which the book takes its
name, will be aware that when we are talking Israel in the wilderness, we
are talking a lot of people. And we think that this place is packed when we
have a baptism or a Lent Lunch! It was vital that all these people could be
brought together in an orderly fashion. Hence the purpose of the two,
short (?), trumpet blasts. Sadly, as we shall see in the succeeding
chapters, disunity was a common failing in the wilderness.

Things are no different in our own day. Christians are equally summoned
to unity in Christ.

All One in Christ Jesus.

o This applies at the congregational level (c.f. the meaning of church)

= Sunday worship, Houseparty, Safari Supper etc.

o It applies at the small group level

= midweek study, soup lunch, Church Café etc

o It applies at the denominational and ecumenical level

= Deanery, Diocese, Church of England, Anglican Communion

= relationship with other non-Anglican churches

Without a real and tangible sense of unity we are in big trouble

c.f. Simon Barnes on England in The Times

 b) they summoned the leaders v.4

Two trumpet sounds summoned the people. The sound of a single trumpet
summoned the leaders. Everybody had their part to play, but some had
special responsibilities.

c.f. 1.4-16; 2.1-32; 7.10-83; 10.11-28

Further study of the Book of Numbers will reveal that both those who led
and those who were led did not necessarily find that a particularly easy
thing

Another challenge, then, for us all. Maybe St Cuthbert’s doesn’t number

c. 600,000 men of fighting age, but it does take a great deal of organisation
and leadership!

c.f. the Church Manual

o Are we thankful for our leaders and do we pray for them?

At St Cuthbert’s, thank God, there are so many.

o Are we understanding towards out leaders and forgiving of their faults?

Back to what Simon Barnes had to say about England.

o Are we praying that new leaders will be raised up? Why more?
Because leaders grow old or move on, more because there are tasks
awaiting us that we cannot carry out because we don’t have the leaders.

o Are we willing to be a leader ourselves, whether here or elsewhere?

 c) they mobilised the travellers vv.2, 5 & 6

It seems that different notes were played on the trumpets or at least there
was some way of varying the sound, hence the ‘blast’, which was the
signal for setting out. A reminder, if we needed one, that these were
people on a journey, in fact, at this point, they are just about to re-
commence it after a few months of delay

10.11 c.f. 1.1 c.f. Exodus 19.1

Quote Olson p.35

That journey, as I have already noted, was to take a great deal longer than
anticipated 

Here we return to the theme of pilgrimage that I mentioned at the start. It

is not enough to assert our unity as a church or to appoint the right leaders.
There needs to be purpose about our being together. Like Israel in the
Book of Numbers, we too are on a journey – actually, it is the same one –
travelling into God’s future. So let’s keep blowing the trumpet and
pushing on forward!

Noel Proctor story

c.f. audit
 d) they strengthened the troops v.9

It is easy to forget that when bogged down in much of the detail of the
Pentateuch, that Israel was a people at war, or at least potentially so (c.f.
Numbers 1.3). They had only escaped Egypt by virtue of the destruction of
Pharaoh’s army at the Red Sea. They would only occupy the land of
Canaan by virtue of a number of notable military victories. In v.9 we have
a reminder of this by virtue of another blast of the trumpet, this time by
which those who go into battle might be encouraged.

Fighting men (and women) never say ‘no’ to a prayer (and I should know)

Sir Jacob Astley : O Lord! thou knowest how busy I must be this day: if I forget thee,
do not thou forget me

Of course, it wasn’t the sound of the trumpets as such which provided the
assurance, it was the belief that the Lord heard them and ‘remembered’
that was the key to their encouragement. In other words, the trumpets
acted as a form of prayer or intercession.

As Christians we too are called to warfare, albeit of a spiritual nature.

c.f. Ephesians 6.10-12

The same assurance is ours that God is with us, but prayer, individual and
corporate, is the essential means to realising His power and promise. Let
those of us who are able to, blow the trumpets tomorrow lunchtime at our
midday prayer meeting! And if not there, then wherever we may be on a
regular basis.

c.f. John 15
 e) they gathered the worshippers v.10

The trumpets were, finally, used to summon the people for times of
worship – a bit like the church bell (s) in days gone by. Again this must
have been a different sort of a sound (c.f. articles on trumpets)

Here is another reminder of the essentially spiritual nature of the project on

which the people of Israel were embarked. In order to keep themselves on
track, they needed the discipline of regular worship, hence the prescribed
festivals e.g.

Ch. 9 – the Passover

Ch. 28 – Passover, Feast of Weeks, Day of atonement, Feast of
Tabernacles

Although we are no longer living in the OT and, as a consequence, are free

from specific patterns of worship which we are obligated to follow – other,
that is, than the Lord’s Supper – it nevertheless remains the case that
Christians, have generally adopted some sort of pattern of worship to aid
them in their discipleship. In fact, without them, we soon fall by the
wayside.

For this reason, it seems to me that the spiritual disciplines are very much
back in vogue! And not just in the church. What goes around comes
around 

c.f. Trinity Grace – use of BCP

c.f. Redeemer NYC - Pattern for prayer (item on the Net)
c.f. HTB - Bible in a Year with three daily readings
 II. Getting going vv.11-36

The start of any new venture or activity is always one of the more tricky
passages

o London Marathon – 30,000 on Greenwich Common

o London Triathlon – 450 in the water
o Abney 5K – not so difficult, though we do have a hooter
o Grand National – failure of the tapes

In 10.11f we see the first movement of the people of Israel since they
stopped at Mount Sinai
 a) willing obedience vv.11-28
11
On the twentieth day of the second month of the second year, the cloud lifted from
above the tabernacle of the covenant law. 12 Then the Israelites set out from the
Desert of Sinai and travelled from place to place until the cloud came to rest in the
Desert of Paran. 13 They set out, this first time, at the LORD’s command through
Moses.
14
The divisions of the camp of Judah went first, under their standard. Nahshon son
of Amminadab was in command. 15 Nethanel son of Zuar was over the division of the
tribe of Issachar, 16 and Eliab son of Helon was over the division of the tribe of
Zebulun. 17 Then the tabernacle was taken down, and the Gershonites and Merarites,
who carried it, set out.
18
The divisions of the camp of Reuben went next, under their standard. Elizur son of
Shedeur was in command. 19 Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai was over the division of
the tribe of Simeon, 20 and Eliasaph son of Deuel was over the division of the tribe of
Gad. 21 Then the Kohathites set out, carrying the holy things. The tabernacle was to
be set up before they arrived.
22
The divisions of the camp of Ephraim went next, under their standard. Elishama
son of Ammihud was in command. 23 Gamaliel son of Pedahzur was over the division
of the tribe of Manasseh, 24 and Abidan son of Gideoni was over the division of the
tribe of Benjamin.
25
Finally, as the rear guard for all the units, the divisions of the camp of Dan set out
under their standard. Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai was in command. 26 Pagiel son of
Okran was over the division of the tribe of Asher, 27 and Ahira son of Enan was over
the division of the tribe of Naphtali. 28 This was the order of march for the Israelite
divisions as they set out.

v.12 is very instructive.

Things get off to a good start

Although throughout this section the people’s obedience is highlighted,

though, as the keen student will observe, there are hints of what is to come
scattered around the chapters.
 b) faith and good sense vv.29-32
29
Now Moses said to Hobab son of Reuel the Midianite, Moses’ father-in-law, “We
are setting out for the place about which the LORD said, ‘I will give it to you.’ Come
with us and we will treat you well, for the LORD has promised good things to
Israel.”
30
He answered, “No, I will not go; I am going back to my own land and my own
people.”
31
But Moses said, “Please do not leave us. You know where we should camp in the
wilderness, and you can be our eyes. 32 If you come with us, we will share with you
whatever good things the LORD gives us.”

Some view this development negatively. Others, and I agree with them,
view it positively. I say that, not least because Moses’ request was
couched in terms of faith

c.f. v.29
 c) God at work vv. 33-36
33
So they set out from the mountain of the LORD and travelled for three days. The
ark of the covenant of the LORD went before them during those three days to find
them a place to rest. 34 The cloud of the LORD was over them by day when they set
out from the camp.
35
Whenever the ark set out, Moses said,

“Rise up, LORD!

May your enemies be scattered;
may your foes flee before you.”
36
Whenever it came to rest, he said,

“Return, LORD,
to the countless thousands of Israel.”

The people knew that God was with them, a thought that is developed in
Psalm 68 which is based on this passage. In the same way He has
promised to be with us, not to defeat our enemies, as he promised Israel of
old, but to make us instruments in the service of the His church and His
world.