Photo by Uriel Soberanes on Unsplash
If you’re reading some of these posts, I hope you’re getting a sense that there are lots of great reasons for preaching through Numbers. If not, I’m failing miserably!
You could preach through Numbers if you knew for sure that the narrative was relevant. However I also believe that some simply are not sure about how to make sense of such narratives.
So, with Numbers 20 as an example, can you see the following?
First, that what is happening between Moses and the people represents certain testing in the life of the people of God. In this case I labeled vv. 1-6 as the test of “this evil place.”
Second, that what God does is something that He always does. He keeps His promise to His own children. No child of God will ever experience lacking any good thing God ordains for them, including, of course, life eternal when all things are made new. I labeled vv. 7-9 as a glimpse of how our Lord provides. Look at the raw power God has at His disposal to meet our needs!
Third, that my own carnality could get in the way and I could be guilty of unbelief. Verse 12 says the leadership didn’t believe in God and present Him as holy to the people. Extremely sad. This is an example of almost believing in Him (vv. 10-13). No one is exempt from God’s punishment due to rebellion against Him.
I chose to preach all this under the umbrella of: “He will bring us into this land”: But Our Faith Will Be Tested.
Now, there are certainly other ways to preach this section. That means there are other connections between this narrative and your listeners. Without such connections, this can’t preach beyond being a history lesson. With such connections instead of talking to your listeners about the Bible, you are talking to them about them from the Bible.
To the degree that we do that, God receives glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21).
Randal
This is an interesting way to block the text, Dr. Pelton. I would have blocked it as 1-5, 6-8, 9-11 and 12-13 as the logical thought blocks. The “Then” (NASB) that introduces verse 6 seems to be a logical break. Verses 6-8 is how the LORD spoke to Moses, verses 9-11 is Moses improper action following God’s command and verses 12-13 show how God responded to Moses’ disobedience.
Thanks for interacting, Tom. Many times I make a decision to group ideas within a narrative or poetic section rather than stick solely to the presented logic. I do that for didactic purposes, but knowing that I cannot violate the logic in such a way that skews the meaning. We’ll talk about that more in our residency days, Lord willing, in our workshop on Genesis 6.
How do you preach this section in a variety of ways without losing the essence/meaning of the passage?
Thanks for the question. Variety of preaching style should incorporate the same basic elements of meaning and application. We never allow the sermon to cloud the Text’s meaning and intention no matter what style of preaching we select.