Tag Archives: preaching series

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Our Final, Hope-filled Instructions: Preaching Through All Of Numbers

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What a sense of accomplishment!
Photo by Etienne Girardet on Unsplash

This post completes the series I enjoyed through the book of Numbers with our faith-family.

My preaching portion was 33:50–36:13. I know it’s a lot of text, but we were at the end of the series and these instructions were far from new to our congregants.

The structure is clear with the repeated or restated version of: “And the Lord spoke to Moses…” (cf. 33:50; 34:1, etc.). These instructions for God’s people to live successfully in the Land must somehow translated into instructions that help us in our faith-journey with the Lord.

Then, as always, we follow the narrative to identify the theology:

  1. Our ongoing fight against cultural idols is in vv. 33:50-56. The theology shines through the command to get rid of the temptations and the warning of what will happen if God’s people don’t. Our walk with God requires constantly putting sin to death in the power of His Spirit.
  2. Our secure piece of the Promised Land in vv. 34:1-29; 36:1-13. Every person receives their inheritance (cf. 36:8). The special case revolving around a command to give a piece of the Land to a man’s daughters makes it clear that everyone was entitled to enjoy the blessing of God. The same goes for genuine believers enjoying their spiritual inheritance (cf. Acts 20:32 “…and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified.”). As a good theologian, you will have to help them see why this inheritance means the world to God’s people.
  3. Our commitment to worship in vv. 35:1-8. This section centers on the implications of providing a place for the Levites in the Land. God’s people are surrounded by priests who will help them maintain a vital connection to their God.
  4. Finally, our commitment to value human life in vv. 35:9-34. Some of the strangest sections in the OT for me are those instructions concerning creating cities of refuge. Yet, because the presence of God made the Land and the people holy, it was crucial for human life to be taken seriously and the taking of human life to be taken seriously. In his commentary, Wenham speaks of “the most potent pollution of shed blood.” The same life-giving element that covered sins could also become destructive.

Anyway, I settled on these four hope-filled instructions from the final sections of Numbers. The book closes with:

“These are the commandments and the rules that the Lord commanded through Moses to the people of Israel in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho” (36:13).

And I know our Lord receives glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21) when the instructions are preached.

Randal

P.S. Next time I will try to share what I learn each time I complete a lengthy sermon series through books of the Bible, especially the OT.

P.P.S. For those who may be looking for a Christological reading of Numbers, look no further than 1 Corinthians 10:1-14.

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Preaching “the Lord’s vengeance”: Preaching Through Numbers

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God says, “Trust Me. Leave the vengeance to Me!”

When you decide to preach through Numbers, your listeners will learn a great deal of theology.

For instance, when you arrive at Numbers 31:1-54 you encounter a huge narrative that I titled:

“He will bring us into this land”: And That Includes One Day Avenging His People

God’s final assignment for Moses is in v. 2 “Avenge the people of Israel on the Midianites. Afterward you shall be gathered to your people.”) In v. 3 Moses says to the people that they are “to execute the Lord’s vengeance on Midian (emphasis added).”

Verses 1-6 help us come to grips with “the Lord’s vengeance.” As I’ve reminded our faith-family several times over the years, non-Christians will not tolerate a God of judgment. These narratives, like many in the Old Testament, force God’s people to consider the ramifications of God’s holiness–His judgment on all who oppose Him.

Verses 13-20 describe what’s at stake and provides a reason for such commands of God. Verse 16 says, “Behold, these, on Balaam’s advice caused the people of Israel to act treacherously against the Lord in the incident of Poor, and so the plague came among the congregation of the Lord.”

If there is any way we can understand these actions, we must at least attempt to explain how devastating it is to the Lord for His people to act treacherously against Him. All of this is the stuff of robust theologian/pastors.

Finally, verses 7-12 and 21-54 provide an opportunity to place ourselves in the camp of God’s people and relish in our resounding victory. Over and over again God defeats His enemies, including the final battle.

If someone were to ask about the relevance of all this I might talk about things like:

  1. Even though God’s people don’t carry out this instruction to Moses, God will one day, once again, judge all those who oppose Him.
  2. That should encourage us since God’s people have always faced the same thing our Lord faced when He was on earth. The world hated Him, remember (think John 17 stuff).
  3. This kind of God–our God–should scare us to death. We’ve seen throughout Numbers how God judged His own people. It’s no wonder a NT writer talked about judgment beginning in God’s house. I continue to define the fear of the Lord in the OT as our glad submission to the God who is not safe.

May you continue to mine the theological depths of Numbers and He will continue to receive glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21).

Randal

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One of the Perks of Preaching Through Numbers: Preaching the Aaronic Blessing

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You’re looking at a custom made stone containing the first two actions of God that begin the famous Aaronic Blessing of Numbers 6:22-27. The Blessing is extremely popular and has spawned tons of merchandise.

As you make your way through the book of Numbers you arrive at the end of chapter 6. This famous Blessing is sandwiched between laws of the Nazirite and the twelve days of sacrificing that dedicated the altar in the Tabernacle.

One of the keys of preaching the theology of Numbers is noting the placement of strategic teaching like this one: God’s blessing is experienced within the context of holiness and the forgiveness of our sins.

When you preach the Blessing, remember that there is a big difference between the ESV’s pronouncement: “The Lord bless you and keep you…” and the NLT’s prayer/wish: “May the Lord bless you and keep you…” Within the context I described in the above paragraph, yes, it can be a pronouncement. But the Hebrew form of the blessing and it’s meaning in this context reflects Aaron, the priests, and the Lord’s desire or wish for His people.

You might lead your listeners through the Blessing by noting…

  1. the source of God’s blessing. It’s easy for American Christians with all our individualism to miss the fact that Aaron and his sons pronounce this Blessing on God’s people. This will provide an easy link to our Savior in the third section of the sermon.
  2. the content of the Blessing. I can’t think of anything that should put a smile on our faces and thanksgiving on our lips than what the Lord wants to do to everyone one of His own! The poetry is beautiful and builds with each line.
  3. our reception of the blessing. Here’s where you can urge congregants to consider how they know they can experience this blessing that God wants to give them. It’s a good time to be Christ-focused, but also a good time to remind them of their need to respond in faith and obedience.

[Note: I assign this text as an assignment in my Advance Homiletics classes and v. 27 often gets neglected. The act of pronouncing the blessing is equal to putting God’s name on His people. Explaining this are sermon minutes well spent!]

Surely, our Lord receives glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (cf. Ephesians 3:21) as we preach this great passage in Numbers!

Randal

P.S. If you are interested in the intersection of hermeneutics and homiletics you might take a moment to consider why this Aaronic Blessing is much easier to preach then some other sections in Numbers.

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How Edwards Selected Future Sermons: What I’m Learning From Reading Jonathan Edwards’s Early Sermons

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I thought you might like to read about how Jonathan Edwards selected sermons to preach. In part 2 of his General Introduction to Edwards’s preaching is a chapter called, The Making of Sermons. I am enjoying Kimnach’s careful analysis as much as Edwards’s actual sermons.

I am a huge Edwards fan even though he did not preach through books of the Bible. There. I said it.

So, how did he plan sermons to preach?

First, he selected Scripture texts that stood out to him as needing to be preaching due to their subject matter.

Second, he at times matched the text to a time of year or holiday such as Thanksgiving.

Third, he listed potential Scriptures or subjects that would be appropriate for children, young people, or old men. You can see that he’s thinking about preaching to specific categories within his congregation.

Fourth, Edwards also took notes on certain subject matters such as:

“These things persons ought to seek after: That they may live to the glory of God. Their own comfort. That they may be blessings to others.” (p. 58)

One of the most insightful entries in one of Edwards’s sermon notebooks is: “I choose this time to treat on this subject [of people contending with their minister] because now there is no contention between me and my people.” (p. 64, an entry made in March or April of 1749).

That’s good practice when it comes to preaching on money: preach on it when you don’t need to ask for it.

Anyway, you can see that Edwards is constantly planning out sermons to preach, taking notes, even developing initial drafts of key statements and broad outline points.

I am better at planning which books to preach through. However, usually in between book studies I will preach mini-series. In addition to my own growing list of potential sermon series, I benefit from perusing the series of effective pastors such as James Emery White (Church&Culture blog).

Do you have a method for long-term sermon development?

May our Lord receive glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21) as you continue to plan future preaching/teaching series.

Randal

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More On Preaching Holiness: Preaching Through Numbers

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One huge benefit of preaching through Numbers is the emphasis on the holiness of God and His people. My current ministry setting is a very conservative faith-family that is used to such concepts and, yet, they still tell me how much being reminded of holiness is helping them. I have a colleague who preaches in a very different setting and he tells me how challenging it is to preach certain doctrines.

Well, frankly, you can’t preach through Numbers without spending time on the holiness of God. So much of the theology of Numbers 5:1–6:21 hinges on God’s own holiness. It’s the only way to explain the bizarre instructions on dealing with lepers, etc. (5:3 “…putting them outside the camp, that they may not defile their camp”), and with those who are “breaking faith with the Lord” (5:6, plus the strange way to handle jealousy in a marriage in vv. 12-31; watch for puzzled looks if you read that section aloud in church!), and the Nazirite vow (6:2ff.).

It all begins with the holiness of God. Then we can move to being a holy people.

Finally, the instructions–though often strange-to-us–provide direction for our desire to remain a holy people. So, there is actual removal (5:3, similar to the discipline prescribed in 1 Corinthians 5), confession and restitution/repentance (5:7-10).

What a great section of Scripture! What’s more important than the holiness of God and being holy because He is holy?!?

The difficulty, as you know, however, is trying to navigate through all the OT specifics that we do not directly apply to our situation. In a 45 minute sermon, for instance, you really have to stay focused providing only the details that are absolutely necessary to convey the theology about God’s holiness and ours.

If you do that, our Lord will receive glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21). You’ll be challenged, but, like every other through-the-Book series, it’s entirely worth it.

Randal

P.S. You may recall that the main title of this series is taken from 14:8 “he will bring us into this land.” Each Sunday titles look like this:

“he will bring us into this land”: (subtitle)

This one was:

“he will bring us into this land”: But We Must Separate Ourselves To God

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The Potentially Fatal Holiness Of God: Preaching Through Numbers

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I was pretty sure Numbers wasn’t represented on the list of top Bible verse about God’s holiness, but it certainly could be. One of the great things about preaching through the book of Numbers is that it provides opportunities to teach faith-families about God’s potentially fatal holiness.

Take, for instance, Numbers 3:1–4:49. God certainly will bring us into this land (from 14:8), but it involves navigating His fatal holiness. Before God’s people begin their trek, they must learn how important it is to have God in the center of their camp and how to keep from getting killed by holiness-at-close-range.

So, you can teach the seriousness of God’s presence (in vv. 3:7-10, 38; 4:15, 17-20). The Levites are assigned the task of guarding Aaron and the whole congregation. Priests and people must approach God on His terms. The threat of death is sprinkled throughout the section (cf. 4:15, 19-20). The “holy things” cannot be mishandled “lest [those who do] die” (4:15).

I probably don’t have to say that we don’t know much about the holiness of God to this degree!

You can also teach about the price to enter God’s presence (vv. 3:11-13, 40-51). In this section the Lord declares to Moses that He has taken the Levites “instead of the firstborn…among the people of Israel….for all the firstborn are mine….They shall be mine: I am the Lord” (3:12-13).

[Anyone interested in showing how the Christ-event makes Numbers function for the Church will want to show God providing His own Son to pay the steep price.]

Finally, you’ll want to consider some segment that provides an opportunity for congregants to respond to being able to enter God’s presence.

I practice faith-first application so before I get to the “be holy, for I am holy,” part, I will talk about Christ as outlined in brackets above. Then, once I’ve established that Christ makes His holiness available to all who believe, it’s time to make sure everyone in the house consecrates themselves by faith, in the power of Christ’s Spirit (cf. Lev. 11:44-45). God’s holiness demands and creates our holiness in those who believe.

I am finding that, in a day and age when many professing Christians profess faith, some haven’t connected their faith with actual holiness. The book of Numbers provides excellent theology to combat this spiritual disease.

I hope you’ll have an opportunity to preach Numbers so God receives glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21).

Randal

 

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Our Spiritual Warfare and Worship: Preaching Through the Book of Numbers

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When you start Numbers you encounter numbers in great numbers. Thankfully, there are some theological clues such as the repetition of the phrase, “able to go to war.” That is repeated over and over again in vv. 1-46. As Robert Alter points out in his new translation and commentary on the Hebrew Bible, it is clear from the repetition that Israel’s journey involves an extended military campaign.

So, my first major segment in the sermon or first main point was the presence of our enemies (vv. 1-46). I did give our folks a sneak peek at what the battle will look like in chapter 14:40-45. It’s a great way to remind us all of the spiritual battle we face each day. The brief glimpse forward teaches us that the battle is won or loss depending on whether God is among us in an active sense fighting for and with us (v. 42 “for the Lord is not among you…” and disastrous results!).

The second segment begins in v. 47 where we’re told: “But the Levites were not listed along with them…” Their duties are explained in terms of the tabernacle in vv. 47-51a. That holy place and space would house the visible, tangible presence of God. The defeat of chapter 14 already teaches us how important God’s presence is for our spiritual life.

But in point three we learn that God’s presence is also very dangerous. The threat of God’s presence is in vv. 51b-54. The approach of an outsider brought death (v. 51b) and the Levites guarded the tabernacle “so that there may be no wrath on the congregation…” (v. 53). What a great time to talk about what one author refers to as “the fatal holiness of God.”

And all of this is the start of preparing Israel and us for our journey from redemption to the Promised Land (for them) and new creation (for us).

Help your listeners journey successfully with this wonderful opening chapter about the fight we’re in and the assurance of victory through God’s powerful presence with a holy people.

He will receive glory–as a result–in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21).

Randal

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Preaching Through the Book of Numbers! I Know, Right?!?

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Along with posts devoted to gleaning insights from the preaching of Jonathan Edwards and from key homiletics authors, I will be suggesting a preaching strategy through the book of Numbers (see a similar approach through Chronicles).

Yup. That’s what I thought too.

But I love showing our faith-family how to read a book like Numbers so it functions for us as God intended.

When you select a title for the series, consider

Numbers 14:8 “…He will bring us into this land…”

That kind of title connects the Story to the saints. In many ways their journey from redemption from Egypt to the Promised Land mirrors our journey from our initial redemption to the new creation. And that’s why God can speak through Numbers to the Church.

The title also provides hope for our journey: we are going to make it because God is going to fulfill His promises to us. The examples, both bad (mainly the first generation of Israelites) and good (mainly the second generation), will teach us along the way.

As always, we will only go and do otherwise (bad examples) or go and do likewise (good examples) after an affirmation of faith in Christ who either was or did what God intended His people in the wilderness to either be or do. That’s faith-first or faith-driven application.

Then, notice in the image above that a sub-title is provided along with the Scripture. The one shown is from the famous Aaronic Blessing paragraph at the end of chapter 6. I’m only a few weeks into the series, but anticipate that each subtitle developed from each preaching portion will provide an angle that explains how we make our journey from redemption to new creation.

I realize you may not be in a series on Numbers, but I hope that these posts will show you a hermeneutical/homiletical strategy to handle such OT narratives…

So God receives glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21),

Randal

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What I Learned From Preaching Through Chronicles

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For my final post on preaching through First and Second Chronicles, I thought I would share what I learned from this process. I hope it helps you consider taking your faith-family through some OT books.

First, I preached 13 sermons in 1 Chronicles and 18 sermons in 2 Chronicles for a total of 31 sermons. If you know the length of these two books, then you realize that many of my preaching portions (pericopes) were large. I believe this is best if you are going to preach theology without getting bogged down in minutia (I use that term reverently when dealing with Scripture!). This also reflects my position on being careful as to how much repetition I imitate in OT narratives.

Second, I encourage you to break such series up into smaller chunks. In this case you might consider at least taking a break from the series between preaching First and Second Chronicles. It also helps if Christmas or Easter, for instance, falls somewhere in the lengthy series. These holy days provide opportunities to break away from the normal series for some weeks.

Third, I don’t know of anything like preaching through such books of the OT that will test your abilities as a theologian/pastor for your faith-family. Great sermons require great texts and not all pastors and parishioners consider every text a great text–especially in some places in Chronicles! The process of preaching through OT books will test your hermeneutic/homiletic like nothing else.

Fourth, preaching through Chronicles will give you new appreciation for the inspiration of Scripture. There are some exquisite texts in those two books, found nowhere else in the Bible. Your congregants will benefit greatly from your efforts and come away with a new appreciation for the canon of Scripture.

Fifth, preaching through books will force you to think about their theme and purpose or intention. Over the years of preaching through both Old and New Testament books, I have had to wrestle with selecting themes for the book (including an image like the Google Maps one above). For Chronicles I chose the wording of David’s prayer: Direct Our Hearts Toward You, Lord (with each pericope adding a different subtitle).

Sixth and finally, preaching through Chronicles will help you develop your Christo-centric instincts and method as you move from each pericope to the Gospel in order to show how Chronicles functions for the Church.

I hope you’ll consider preaching through books of the Bible so God receives glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21),

Randal

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Preaching the Hope-filled Conclusion to 2 Chronicles: Preaching Through Chronicles

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I took this photo shortly after arriving in Mount Joy, PA in 2003. I couldn’t believe my eyes. Here was a corn-stalk growing on (or, in?) a cement bridge! It’s a fitting image of God’s people receiving a major dose of hope at the end of 2 Chronicles 36.

You might make sense of the narrative like this:

First, redemption is reversed in vv. 1-14 and 16-21. All four kings in this section share the same fate: “trouble and exile” says Pratt. Because “All the officers of the priests and the people…were exceedingly unfaithful, following all the abominations of the nations” (v. 14) and because their rebellion got worse even after God sent them prophets (v. 16a), “the wrath of the Lord rose against his people, until their was no remedy” (v. 16b).

Second, thankfully compassion is extended in v. 15. I found it interesting that the Lord’s compassion matched the persistence of His people’s rebellion. Verse 15 reads, “The Lord, the God of their fathers, sent persistently to them…because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place.” There’s tons of theology in both of those phrases.

Finally, we arrive at our hope and mission in vv. 22-23. Verse 22 states, “the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia” and Cyrus issues an hope-filled invitation for any of God’s people: “Let him go up” and build God’s house in Jerusalem. The odds of that happening are about as good as the odds of a cornstalk growing on a cement bridge.

It can happen. It did happen. It does happen every time God’s people respond to Him in loving obedience.

And, if you’re interested in making a Christological connection, the wish of the last verse in 2 Chronicles, “may the Lord his God be with him,” is very soon, according to one Jewish order of Scripture to be experienced in our Emmanuel, God with us (Matt. 1:23).

Preach these OT books so God receives glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21),

Randal

N.B. One exegetical, contextual gem in this section is the mention of “the Chaldeans” in 2 Chronicles 36:17. The last time we read about these people was all the way back to Genesis 11:28. At the beginning of the narrative of God’s people, God calls Abram out of this land; at the end of the OT narrative of God’s people, God “brought up against them the king of the Chaldeans….He gave them all into his hand” (2 Chronicles 36:17). The story has come full circle, especially if you follow one Jewish rendering of the order of OT books (Chronicles coming last). Thankfully, the Story didn’t and doesn’t end there!