Experiencing the Power, Presence, and Purpose of God

Steven W. Schenewerk

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Numbers 6:22-27

You might be surprised to find that Roseburg is on a list of the worst places to live in Oregon. A website, Moneyinc.com, compiled a list and ranked Roseburg as 17th on the list. Here’s what there website had to say:

Amongst the reasons that Roseburg is considered one of Oregon’s most undesirable locations is the lack of safety.

FBI data shows that this city is the eighth-most dangerous place to live overall and has the third most property crimes.

Employment opportunities are also an area of concern in this location.

On the upside, the public schools are highly-rated, transport links are good, and there is a decent range of activities to enjoy.

https://moneyinc.com/worst-places-live-oregon/, accessed on 6/16/22

The same website writes that the Eastmoreland neighborhod in southeast Portland is the number one place to live. Here’s what the website writes about this neighborhood:

The residents are friendly and family-oriented”, “Lots of great places within walking distance boutiques, great pubs, and excellent food,”…so say the reviews on Niche,

painting quite the picture of what exactly makes Eastmoreland the very best place in Oregon to live.

Combine these positive reviews with a median household income of $107,803, a low crime rate, and excellent public services, and the picture is complete.

One interesting observation however:

the ability of people to flourish, to thrive, to live at peace with themselves and their neighbors had nothing to do with median household income, the accessibility of pubs and eateries.

One group of authors, having studied children who grew up in poverty, drug-infested areas, poor schools, and low community support have found

Sizable numbers of disadvantaged children consistently achieved normative developmental milestones.

As adults they were able to experience healthy social relationships, for example, and to function competently in their jobs and in many other domains of normal adult life.

Bonanno, George A.. The End of Trauma (p. 42). Basic Books. Kindle Edition.

We don’t have time to dive into all the reasons many of these children do so well. We can, though, turn to God’s Word and discover some general direction for creating a community in which everyone can grow into all God has for them.

Numbers 6:22–27 HCSB

The Lord spoke to Moses: “Tell Aaron and his sons how you are to bless the Israelites. Say to them: May Yahweh bless you and protect you; may Yahweh make His face shine on you and be gracious to you; may Yahweh look with favor on you and give you peace. In this way they will pronounce My name over the Israelites, and I will bless them.”

There are three specific results of living under God’s blessing. Today we will examine the first, Protection. Next week, Grace, and on July 3, Peace.

THE PROTECTION OF GOD’S PRESENCE

Vs. 22, 27 are like bookends, supporting the specific advantages of being known as the people of God.

For ancient Israel the spoken word was thought to be an unbreakable bond. Once spoken there was no way to ‘take back’ what was said.

John Calvin, the theologian to whom we owe so much explains,

Commentary on the Old Testament (Spiritual Organization of the Congregation of Israel.—Ch. 5 and 6)

“The blessing of God is the goodness of God in action, by which a supply of all good pours down to us from His good favour as from their only fountain;

then follows, secondly, the prayer that He would keep the people, which signifies that He alone is the defender of the Church, and that it is He who preserves it with His guardian care”

The blessing of God, then specifically spoken over God’s people then is our assurance of God’s protection.

There are several important aspects of God’s protection:

God Keeps His Own

God’s word often challenges His people to ‘keep’ His laws, to carefully observe His commandments and so on.

What we hear in this blessing is that God’s promise to us is that He ‘keeps’ us.

First, it means that God sees all that is going on around us.

We often suffer from ‘myopia.’ Many of us in this room suffer this physical ailment. It means ‘nearsighted.’ We can see objects close up well, but anything farther away tends to get fuzzy.

I suggest we also struggle with spiritual myopia. We can see what’s happening near us, but we tend to not look very far into the future.

I have wanted to learn to play chess for years. But my myopia makes it difficult -0 no not my physical challenge, but mentally. To play chess well one needs to be able to see several moves ahead. I get stuck on the move I need to make and fail to think carefully about the next three or four moves.

Looking over our lives can you see how God had positioned people in your life long before as circumstance occured?

When we are living God’s best life for us we that He sees the full scope of our lives - from the moment of conception to the moment we take our last breath. Moses prayed,

“Teach us to number our days carefully so that we may develop wisdom in our hearts.” (Psalm 90:12, HCSB)

God Defends His People

God’s people throughout the OT find themselves surrounded by enemies - by those who seek to destroy and annihilate them.

So too believers today are threatened by the enemy - who like a roaring lion seeks those whom he can devour.

There are two responses made - both illustrated in the OT and NT.

First, many people when aware of the danger run and hide. You recall the account of David and Goliath. Day after day Goliath challenged Israel to send one brave man. Day after day the entire Israelite army cowers in fear until David steps us and offers - in the name of God - to face down the giant.

Recall the disciples being swamped in a storm as they crossed the Sea of Galilee while Jesus slept. Their cries of fear finally awakened Jesus, who rebuked the storm and asked them, Why are you people of such little faith?

The second response is illustrated as well. God’s people can advance against the enemy knowing that God Himself is with them. Numerous times in both the OT and NT God’s people advance against enemies and experience victory because, as the Psalmist said,

“Sing a new song to the Lord, for He has performed wonders; His right hand and holy arm have won Him victory.” (Psalm 98:1, HCSB)

With God as our defender, there is no foe, no enemy, no circumstance that He cannot overcome.

God Preserves His People

One of the most important observations Peter, the one who denied Jesus on the night prior to Jesus’ crucifixion, shared is in his first letter to believers scattered around the world:

“Praise the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. According to His great mercy, He has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead

and into an inheritance that is imperishable, uncorrupted, and unfading, kept in heaven for you.

You are being protected by God’s power through faith for a salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.” (1 Peter 1:3–5, HCSB)

That which God has in store for us is being kept by God for you!

There is nothing that can happen to us in this world that thwarts what God has for you and for His people.

In the fourteenth century, as the Black Death decimated Europe’s population, Julian of Norwich thought she was lying on her deathbed.

In this time of little hope and much fear, this remarkable woman wrote, “It has always been a comfort to me that I chose Jesus for my heaven, through his grace, in all this time of suffering and sorrow.

And that has been a lesson to me, that I should do so for evermore, choosing Jesus alone for my heaven in good and bad times.”

Thomas, Gary. Pure Pleasure (p. 209). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.

Experiencing God’s Protection

This priestly blessing was to cover God’s people as they moved forward.

Just a few chapters in Numbers later we are told that when given the opportunity to take God’s promise His people chose rather to disobey God. As a matter of record Numbers records that the leaders of the congregation - those who were living under the blessing of God made this statement:

“Why is the Lord bringing us into this land to die by the sword? Our wives and little children will become plunder. Wouldn’t it be better for us to go back to Egypt?” So they said to one another, “Let’s appoint a leader and go back to Egypt.”” (Numbers 14:3–4, HCSB)

Having experienced God’s deliverance from the Egyptian army - not by anything Israel did - the fear of the unknown kept them from advancing into the future God had promised them.

God’s response is almost exactly the opposite of His promised blessing:

“Tell them: As surely as I live,” this is the Lord’s declaration, “I will do to you exactly as I heard you say.” (Numbers 14:28, HCSB)

“I swear that none of you will enter the land I promised to settle you in, except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun.

I will bring your children whom you said would become plunder into the land you rejected, and they will enjoy it.” (Numbers 14:30–31, HCSB)

“Your children will be shepherds in the wilderness for 40 years and bear the penalty for your acts of unfaithfulness until all your corpses lie scattered in the wilderness.

You will bear the consequences of your sins 40 years based on the number of the 40 days that you scouted the land, a year for each day. You will know My displeasure.” (Numbers 14:33–34, HCSB)

Experiencing God’s blessing - as promised in Numbers 6 - and fulfilled in Jesus requires that we not simply sit and soak in the promises of God.

To fully experience God’s protection we can choose to advance into all God has for us - as individuals, and as a church.

There will be battles, there will be challenges, there is an adversary, but we have God’s protection.

This is not a call for foolishness and foolhardiness. Rather living under the blessing of God is making choices to advance His kingdom, making choices to follow His where He is already working, to step out in faith knowing that our God is able to do

“ above and beyond all that we ask or think according to the power that works in us—” (Ephesians 3:20, HCSB)

As people who have confessed Jesus as Lord and believe that God raised Him from the dead,

do our choices reflect confidence in God’s power to keep us? To see beyond the day to day challenges we experience?

do our actions as believers reflect an overwhelming confidence that God is able to defend us - against every enemy.

In the 1920’s a writer named John Shedd shared this line:

A ship in harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for. A ship in port is safe; but that is not what ships are built for.

God did not create a people for Himself to live in bondage in Egypt, He did not deliver them to live in the wilderness, but He called and equipped them to live in the Promised Land.

You and I were not called from sin to be lumps on a log, but to advance the Kingdom of God as we make disciples -

Adoniram Judson has often been an inspiration. Judson was the first evangelical Christian missionary to Burma - now known as Myanmar.

He and his first wife immersed themselves in the language and culture. He preached for 6 years before anyone professed Jesus as Lord.

During his almost 40 years overseas (1812-1850), he suffered the loss of most of his children and his first two wives.

He battled constant sickness and physical ailments. He was imprisoned for almost two years and endured daily torture because of the erroneous assumption he was a British spy.

Through all his struggles, he remained committed to the missionary task to which God had called him.

Nathan A. Finn, Until All Burma Worships the Eternal God: Adoniram Judson, 1812-1850 in Adoniram Judson: A Bicentennial Appreciation of The Pioneer American Missionary, Jason G Duesing, Studies in Baptist Life and Thought (Nashville: B&H Academic, 2012), 87.