Wilderness Journey (3): Wilderness of Sinai to Hazeroth
Wilderness Journey • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Scripture reading: Numbers 33:15-17
Scripture reading: Numbers 33:15-17
And they set out from Rephidim and camped in the wilderness of Sinai. And they set out from the wilderness of Sinai and camped at Kibroth-hattaavah. And they set out from Kibroth-hattaavah and camped at Hazeroth.
Campsite 11: Wilderness of Sinai
Campsite 11: Wilderness of Sinai
On the third new moon after the people of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt, on that day they came into the wilderness of Sinai. They set out from Rephidim and came into the wilderness of Sinai, and they encamped in the wilderness. There Israel encamped before the mountain,
The Israelites arrived on the third new moon. Who here knows the moon cycle? It takes 14 days to go from a new moon to full moon, and then 14 days to go from full moon to new moon. So one cycle takes 28 days in total. But the word for ‘new moon’ is Hodesh, and it means both ‘new moon’ and ‘month.’ The Israelites used a lunar calendar, which means that the new moon was the first day of the month. So when did they arrive? On the first day of the third month.
And five major events happened here at Sinai.
God gave the Law and the Ten Commandments
The Israelites worshiped the golden calf
The Levites killed the idol worshipers
The Israelites built the Tabernacle.
The Israelites did a headcount (census)
Who knows what’s a tabernacle? It’s like a temple, but you can pack it up and take it around. It’s portable.
How many times did Moses go up Mt. Sinai? 8 times. And which of these 8 times did he receive the Ten Commandments? The 6th time. All the previous times, Moses only went up and down quickly. But this time Moses goes up the mountain and stays there for 40 days.
Moses entered the cloud and went up on the mountain. And Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.
So while God is giving Moses the Ten Commandments and the instructions on how to built the tabernacle, what happens at the bottom of Mt. Sinai?
The Israelites worshiped the golden calf
The Israelites worshiped the golden calf
Exodus 32:1–6 (ESV)
When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered themselves together to Aaron and said to him, “Up, make us gods who shall go before us. As for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.” So Aaron said to them, “Take off the rings of gold that are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.”
So all the people took off the rings of gold that were in their ears and brought them to Aaron. And he received the gold from their hand and fashioned it with a graving tool and made a golden calf. And they said, “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!” When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it. And Aaron made a proclamation and said, “Tomorrow shall be a feast to the Lord.”
And they rose up early the next day and offered burnt offerings and brought peace offerings. And the people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.
The golden calf was one of the Egyptian cow gods. There’s Hathor, Isis, Menwer, and the Apis bull.
So while Moses was at the top of Mt. Sinai receiving God’s Word, the Israelites below Mt. Sinai were committing idolatry. I pray that we will have a faith that’s on top of Mt. Sinai, instead of being at the bottom.
Now Moses comes down from Mt. Sinai after 40 days, and he has the two stone tablets of the Ten Commandments. And he sees the Israelites worshiping the golden calf. You can imagine them dancing around holding hands in a big circle around the cow statue. And what does he do? Two things. He smashes the stone tablets of the Ten Commandments. And second, he calls out for all who are on the Lord’s side to gather to him.
And as soon as he came near the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, Moses’ anger burned hot, and he threw the tablets out of his hands and broke them at the foot of the mountain.
The Levites kill the idol worshipers
The Levites kill the idol worshipers
And then he calls all who are on the Lord’s side, and he commands them to kill the idol worshipers. And the Levites gather round and start killing those who worshiped the golden calf.
Exodus 32:25–28 (ESV)
And when Moses saw that the people had broken loose (for Aaron had let them break loose, to the derision of their enemies), then Moses stood in the gate of the camp and said, “Who is on the Lord’s side? Come to me.” And all the sons of Levi gathered around him.
And he said to them, “Thus says the Lord God of Israel, ‘Put your sword on your side each of you, and go to and fro from gate to gate throughout the camp, and each of you kill his brother and his companion and his neighbor.’ ” And the sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses. And that day about three thousand men of the people fell.
So what happened as a result of this? The Levites were set apart for the Lord.
And Moses said, “Today you have been ordained for the service of the Lord, each one at the cost of his son and of his brother, so that he might bestow a blessing upon you this day.”
The Israelites built the Tabernacle
The Israelites built the Tabernacle
After this, they built the Tabernacle according to the pattern that Moses received from God.
Exactly as I show you concerning the pattern of the tabernacle, and of all its furniture, so you shall make it.
Why does it say ‘pattern’? The Hebrew word is tabnit, which means pattern or likeness.
beware lest you act corruptly by making a carved image for yourselves, in the form of any figure, the likeness of male or female,
So the question is, in whose likeness is the Tabernacle based on?
Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?” But he was speaking about the temple of his body.
The Tabernacle was in the likeness of Jesus Christ, who is the true temple. Why? What’s the Tabernacle for? It’s the presence of God dwelling among His people. That’s why the apostle John says that the Word of God tabernacled among us.
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
The Israelites did their first headcount.
The Israelites did their first headcount.
So all those listed of the people of Israel, by their fathers’ houses, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war in Israel— all those listed were 603,550.
But there was one tribe that wasn’t included in the headcount. They had the special position of looking after the tabernacle.
But the Levites were not listed along with them by their ancestral tribe. For the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Only the tribe of Levi you shall not list, and you shall not take a census of them among the people of Israel. But appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of the testimony, and over all its furnishings, and over all that belongs to it. They are to carry the tabernacle and all its furnishings, and they shall take care of it and shall camp around the tabernacle.
Why did the Israelites worship the golden calf?
Moses took 40 days to return. Imagine this. You guys are the Israelites. Your leader who brought you out of Egypt has gone up the mountain, but it’s been a week. Now it’s two weeks. Three, four, five weeks. What would you do? You’d start to wonder if he tripped and fell of the mountain or something. Maybe he died and he’s just decomposing up there. So what do the Israelites do?
Which tribe wasn’t included in the headcount at Sinai?
What are the five major events that happened at Sinai?
God gave the law.
The Israelites worshiped the golden calf
The Levites killed the idol worshipers
The Israelites built the Tabernacle.
The Israelites did a headcount.
Campsite 12: Kibroth-hattaavah (grave of the greedy)
Campsite 12: Kibroth-hattaavah (grave of the greedy)
Now they leave Sinai. Where is Sinai? It’s all the way at the south. Now they leave and they go about 30km northeast to this place called Kibroth-hattaavah. It’s a compound word made of qabar, which means ‘to bury’ and ‘awa’ which means ‘desire’ or ‘covet.’ So Kibroth-hattaavah means grave of the greedy. Doesn’t that sound like a nice cozy place?
So on the way to Kibroth-hattaavah, an incident happens. The Israelites are passing through a place called Taberah, when all of a sudden they started grumbling and complaining.
And the people complained in the hearing of the Lord about their misfortunes, and when the Lord heard it, his anger was kindled, and the fire of the Lord burned among them and consumed some outlying parts of the camp. Then the people cried out to Moses, and Moses prayed to the Lord, and the fire died down. So the name of that place was called Taberah, because the fire of the Lord burned among them.
Now the rabble that was among them had a strong craving. And the people of Israel also wept again and said, “Oh that we had meat to eat! We remember the fish we ate in Egypt that cost nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic. But now our strength is dried up, and there is nothing at all but this manna to look at.”
So what counts as being greedy? Greediness is a state of being unsatisfied with present circumstances and seeking to fulfill one’s own desires. So what did the Israelites grumble about? “Oh the meat back in Egypt!” “Oh the fish we ate in Egypt!” “The cucumbers!” How desperate must you be to miss cucumbers that much? So what was the fuel for their greed? Two things.
They didn’t give thanks for what they had
They kept comparing their wilderness life with their Egypt life.
So you wouldn’t hear them saying “Oh God, thank You for giving me the chance to worship You on Saturdays, Sundays, and Wednesdays!” They were sick of manna. And we saw this last week. Manna represents the Word of God. So they were basically saying “Oh man, another bible study? I’m sick of this. I want to go back to Egypt.”
So what does God do in response to their grumblings? He gives them what they want.
Numbers 11:31–34 (ESV)
Then a wind from the Lord sprang up, and it brought quail from the sea and let them fall beside the camp, about a day’s journey on this side and a day’s journey on the other side, around the camp, and about two cubits above the ground. And the people rose all that day and all night and all the next day, and gathered the quail. Those who gathered least gathered ten homers. And they spread them out for themselves all around the camp.
While the meat was yet between their teeth, before it was consumed, the anger of the Lord was kindled against the people, and the Lord struck down the people with a very great plague. Therefore the name of that place was called Kibroth-hattaavah, because there they buried the people who had the craving.
So God gives them quail to eat, they eat it, and they die. Now here’s the question: What do they die of? It’s not quail poisoning. What does it say? It says that they were struck with a plague. Who struck them? God did.
Now, who else did God strike with plagues? The whole land of Egypt. So can you see the pattern here? Where you go says a lot about who you are. So if your heart constantly goes to Egypt, then it doesn’t matter that you are in the wilderness.
You can be in the church, but your heart might be longing for something else in the world. That’s greed. That’s saying that God isn’t enough for you.
Kibroth-hattaavah is the grave of the greedy. So how can we deal with our greed? If you want to stop thinking about giraffes, you don’t keep telling yourself “Don’t think about giraffes, don’t think about giraffes!” You need to think about hippos instead right?
In the same way, we need to direct our thoughts to the heavenly things.
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.
I pray that we will bury our greed for the things of this world. How? By a constant longing for the promised land.
So who caused the Israelites to grumble? It was the rabble.
The rabble caused the Israelites to grumble.
The rabble caused the Israelites to grumble.
Now the rabble that was among them had a strong craving. And the people of Israel also wept again and said, “Oh that we had meat to eat!
Who are these rabble? They were the mixed multitude who went together with the Israelites during the exodus.
A mixed multitude also went up with them, and very much livestock, both flocks and herds.
So what can we say about the rabble? There are rabble in churches too. They are the ones who are forever visitors and spectators, who only use their mouths to complain about the church while their hands remain idle. And these rabble spread negative things about the church and cause other people to become darkened and discouraged. So for us, we need to pay attention to our words. Don’t point at others and say “This one’s a rabble, that one’s a rabble.” Let’s watch ourselves instead okay? If we talk about other people like that, that’s also grumbling. Give thanks, not grumblings.
What does Kibroth-hattaavah mean?
What’s the lesson to be learned from Kibroth-hattaavah?
Who instigated the grumbling at Kibroth-hattaavah?
Campsite 13: Hazeroth (enclosure, village, settlement)
Campsite 13: Hazeroth (enclosure, village, settlement)
From Kibroth-hattaavah the people journeyed to Hazeroth, and they remained at Hazeroth.
So now the Israelites move further to the northeast. Previously they were all the way in the south at Mt. Sinai. Then they went northeast to Kibroth-hattaavah, and now they’re even further northeast at Hazeroth.
So what happens here? Three things.
Moses marries a Cushite woman.
Miriam and Aaron grumble against Moses.
Miriam gets leprosy.
And the story of Hazeroth has a lot to do with the meaning of Hazeroth. What does it mean? It means enclosure, village, or settlement. It comes from the word hasar, which means ‘To draw a border’ or ‘to surround with fences.’
Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married, for he had married a Cushite woman. And they said, “Has the Lord indeed spoken only through Moses? Has he not spoken through us also?” And the Lord heard it.
So what’s a Cushite? They were the Ethiopians at the time. So they were dark skinned. Miriam and Aaron didn’t like that Moses married someone of a different race, and so they grumbled about it. And what does God do?
Numbers 12:4–8 (ESV)
And suddenly the Lord said to Moses and to Aaron and Miriam, “Come out, you three, to the tent of meeting.” And the three of them came out. And the Lord came down in a pillar of cloud and stood at the entrance of the tent and called Aaron and Miriam, and they both came forward.
And he said, “Hear my words: If there is a prophet among you, I the Lord make myself known to him in a vision; I speak with him in a dream. Not so with my servant Moses. He is faithful in all my house. With him I speak mouth to mouth, clearly, and not in riddles, and he beholds the form of the Lord. Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?”
Numbers 12:10–15 (ESV)
When the cloud removed from over the tent, behold, Miriam was leprous, like snow. And Aaron turned toward Miriam, and behold, she was leprous. And Aaron said to Moses, “Oh, my lord, do not punish us because we have done foolishly and have sinned. Let her not be as one dead, whose flesh is half eaten away when he comes out of his mother’s womb.”
And Moses cried to the Lord, “O God, please heal her—please.” But the Lord said to Moses, “If her father had but spit in her face, should she not be shamed seven days? Let her be shut outside the camp seven days, and after that she may be brought in again.” So Miriam was shut outside the camp seven days, and the people did not set out on the march till Miriam was brought in again.
So Moses marries a black Cushite woman. Miriam and Aaron grumble. God gives Miriam leprosy, and the Israelites are delayed for seven days while waiting for her to be healed.
Miriam and Aaron had the attitude that said they can do what Moses does. Their attitude was ‘God can speak through us also, so why does Moses think he’s so special?’ But here’s the thing. God appoints each person their own role in the kingdom. You have your role, I have mine.
Miriam’s role was to be a praise leader. Aaron’s role was to be a high priest. Moses’ role was to be the one who delivers God’s Word.
And it’s the same in the church too. You all have your unique roles to play, and so do I. That’s why the church is described as one body with different parts.
If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body.
I serve in the praise team in different ways. Sometimes I’m leading worship, sometimes I’m playing keys, guitar, or bass. But when I’m not leading worship, so many times I overstep my boundary and tell the praise leader how a song should be done. So not only do I cause the praise team practice to take longer, but I also cause the praise leader to have a hard time.
So when someone like Miriam breaks rank and tries to do another role, that’s called leprosy. What is leprosy? Leprosy is the disease whereby the body slowly crumbles and falls apart. People with leprosy have missing fingers, toes, nose, and so one. Leprosy first attacks the nerves, which causes the person to lose sensation of pain. The extremities such as fingers and toes are usually lost due to unnoticed wounds and infections.
Miriam had her role. She was a praise leader, and Moses’ assistant. But she wanted to do her own thing instead. That’s like spiritual leprosy. It causes you to do things that aren’t for you to do. That’s overstepping your boundary.
God saw that spiritual leprosy within her, and made it physical. Is this just me talking nonsense? She’s not the only case in the Bible.
King Uzziah did a good job in ruling the nation of Judah for many years. But he became proud one day and decided to do the priestly duty himself. Look what happened.
2 Chronicles 26:16–20 (ESV)
But when he was strong, he grew proud, to his destruction. For he was unfaithful to the Lord his God and entered the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense. But Azariah the priest went in after him, with eighty priests of the Lord who were men of valor, and they withstood King Uzziah and said to him, “It is not for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the Lord, but for the priests, the sons of Aaron, who are consecrated to burn incense. Go out of the sanctuary, for you have done wrong, and it will bring you no honor from the Lord God.”
Then Uzziah was angry. Now he had a censer in his hand to burn incense, and when he became angry with the priests, leprosy broke out on his forehead in the presence of the priests in the house of the Lord, by the altar of incense. And Azariah the chief priest and all the priests looked at him, and behold, he was leprous in his forehead! And they rushed him out quickly, and he himself hurried to go out, because the Lord had struck him.
So in this same way, Miriam and King Uzziah are similar. Both of them had this pride about themselves that caused them to think and act apart from the body. God saw the spiritual leprosy in their heart, and He made it physical.
And so what happens at Hazeroth has a lot to do with the meaning of Hazeroth. Hazeroth comes from the word hasar which means ‘to draw a border.’ It’s about the boundaries that God has set for us, and the roles that He has appointed for us in the church. So let’s take our roles seriously and respect the roles that God has appointed for others as well.
What did Aaron and Miriam grumble about at Hazeroth?
Why did Miriam get leprosy at Hazeroth?