Numbers 7/8/9 Bible Study (Offerings/Seven Lamps/Cleansing/Passover/Cloud) | Pastor Daniel Batarseh

Father, we're thankful for the word of God tonight, and we come as we open these pages. At the same time, we ask that you would open our hearts, Lord, to receive what you have to say. Lord, there are people in here that are going through different things, and you know those things. But, Lord, in this moment, we ask that everything would be clouded, everything would be eclipsed by the wisdom of God, by the love of God, by the fear of God. Lord, all of those things that might be bothering us or troubling us would simply disappear in light of the glory found in this text.

We pray, God, that you would give us the attentiveness. We pray that you would give us whatever is necessary for this not to just go in one ear and out the other, but that it would brand be branded on our hearts tonight. Lord, only by the spirit. And so we call upon the spirit. Help us tonight.

In Jesus name we pray. Amen. You may be seated. Book of Numbers is a special book because it is really taking thirty eight years of this infant nation and putting it into one book. And really, up to this point, if you've been following us in numbers, we're still in one location.

We are still in the wilderness of Sinai, and God is still giving his people the necessary instructions for them not to just complete this wilderness journey successfully, but that when they get to the promised land, they would be sustained in that place of blessing. And so we're still in the same place. We're walking this journey with them and we're parked in the wilderness of Sinai. We're still there. And God still has some things to say.

And really in the back of our minds up to this point as we're reading this text, up to this point in chapter seven, it's, Lord, what is your prescription for us to move forward in your will for our lives? That's what really this is about. There are principles here. You know, if you're if you're here for the first time, there's a reason why we're going through the Old Testament on Friday nights. We've been going through Genesis, Exodus, and Numbers.

And I'm sure there are many reasons, but here are three main main reasons that come to mind. Number one, we wanna see Jesus. We wanna see Jesus in the Old Testament. We wanna see his cross. We wanna see that this is all pointing to one thing, and that is the gospel.

The Old Testament, more than anything, shows us the need for the gospel. Two, we wanna see how the new covenant is better than the old covenant. There are many new covenant believers that are living in an old covenant mindset. If you don't believe that's possible, you have to read the book of Galatians because they were new covenant believers, but they were living under this old covenant understanding of what it means to walk with Jesus. Paul says, woah.

You have to understand here. You're in a better covenant. And thirdly, we can use and a lot of people go to the Old Testament to back up doctrine and defend truths of the Trinity and of different things. And that's that's wonderful. That's a great thing.

But the Bible tells us clearly that there are practical implications from these texts. And more than anything, this Bible study is to see those practical things. So that when you go through the Old Testament, you can say, oh, this is what God's heart is like. Oh, this is what he expects of me as a human. Oh, this is what it reveals to me as a human.

Oh, this is what it reveals to me about God. And so we come to Numbers chapter seven. If you were here last week, we talked about how you can't hide anything from God. Numbers chapter six tells us plain and clear that nothing that is hidden can stay hidden. In Luke chapter 12, Jesus says it even in greater detail.

He says, listen. Whatever you do in secret is gonna come out. Whatever you say in the dark is gonna come out to the light. And sometimes we just think that it's the big things that God will expose, not necessarily. Anything that has to do with our sin in the background away from the people, from what they see.

If it's especially done to another person, eventually it's gonna come out. Anything that affects community whether it's one person or a group of people, and you think that you can do it in secret, and I think that we can do it in secret, it's gonna come out one way or another. It's going to happen. Please believe it. It's going to happen.

Last week there was enough of that, so I'll stop right there. It's going to happen. Here's a good principle when it comes to confession. If it's a private sin, confess it privately. If it's a public sin, there might be a need to confess it publicly.

That's a whole another thing. I'm so tempted to just take part two of Numbers chapter six and go on it with it tonight, but we won't. Numbers chapter seven. This is where we're at. What's happening here?

Well, let's read in verse one. On the day when Moses had finished setting up the tabernacle and had anointed and consecrated it with all its furnishings, and had anointed and consecrated the altar with all its utensils, the chiefs of Israel's heads of the father's houses, who were the chiefs of the tribes who were over those who were listed, approached and brought their offerings before the Lord. Six wagons and 12 oxen, a wagon for every two of the chiefs and for each one an ox. They brought them before the tabernacle. Stop there.

What's going on here? So visualize this. All these instructions about what's gonna happen and how they have to do this, all these different things. Leviticus, we went through all of Leviticus and all those offerings and all those nitty gritty details of what needs to be about the people and the priests and all that. Now we come to the place where we have the tabernacle erected.

It's all set up now, and the anointing has taken place. They take the oil, they consecrated everything, and it's there. They all see it now. They're all beholding what they've seen in just a blueprint. Now it's it's there manifest, and and they're going, okay.

This is the real thing. And and then all of a sudden, the chief that represents the different nations are bringing offerings. Now why is that interesting in your reading of this from verse one to three? Does anybody have an idea why this is especially special? Just even think back about the instructions that God had given about offerings.

Yes. The Levites, yes. The the priests are supposed to give the offerings on the altar and different sacrifices. The priests, yes. This is this is not a wrong thing that they're doing, but it's just something that reveals about their heart, the people of Israel.

From verse one and three, why? Why is this special? On top of what was commanded. Right? Absolutely.

There is nothing given as instruction for the people to do this. This is completely spontaneous. This is completely out of a heart of gratitude and worship. They've come to a place where they are so in awe, so thankful for what God is doing in the midst that they are provoked to give. They are provoked to make an offering.

They are stirred, and God didn't tell them to do it. You know, this is true in the Old Testament and the New Testament. That's the kind of heart that God looks for in His people. This is an amazing picture here that no arms being twisted. It would be right if they just obeyed a command, but there is no command given about this.

This is just something that's springing forth out of a wellspring of love and desire to show their gratitude to the Lord and say, we just wanna give. What what do you need? We just wanna do it. That's what they're doing. And so they come and they bring these offerings, and this is so important because I can't help but think about if this is true in the old covenant, how much more in the new covenant?

I am fully aware of the perversion and the pressure that many leaders in the in Christendom are placing them on people when it comes to giving. I'm fully aware of that. I'm fully aware of that. And I'm a firm believer that when it comes to giving to any ministry, nobody needs to beg anybody. If God is a part of a ministry, God will hold the ministry.

I believe that 100%. If God doesn't want the ministry to go down to to go on, then let it go down. But if God is in it, you don't need to depend on people. I love George Muller. George Muller had a motto in life, and this was his motto.

I will never make my needs known among men. Never. I'll make them known to the God, and God will make it known to men. He'll put it in their hearts, but I'm not gonna go around begging people, I wanna live by faith. And by God's grace, I read, you know, a life like George Mio say, Lord, help me do that.

Help me live by faith. It's not easy, but when it happens and when God answers, oh, it's worth it. It is so worth it. They're stirred. They're stirred to give.

Now turn your Bibles quickly to the New Testament because we wanna see the New Covenant lens. In second Corinthians chapter eight, the Macedonian church became an example in the New Testament of a church who knew how to give. And we'll just read this. This is Bible study, so we're gonna read a lot of Bible. We want you to know brothers in verse one about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia.

For For in the in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. For they gave according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means of their own accord, this verse, when I read it, so convicted me. Look at verse four, begging us earnestly for the favor of taking part in the relief of the saints. Think about that. The Macedonian church was in mass poverty.

They were, they were afflicted, and Paul is commenting on their giving. He says, not only did they give, they went beyond. And this is the part that's that's just so convicting. In our day, what do we see? We see many people begging people to give.

The Macedonian church, you know what they were doing? They were begging to give. Read verse four again. Begging us earnestly for the favor of taking part in the relief of the saints. They were begging Paul.

Hey. We know that we don't have everything going on right now. We know that it could be better, but we wanna be a part of this. We wanna give. What?

Are you serious? They've come to a place where they so understood the relationship with possessions, that their possessions didn't possess them. And they so came to a place where they understood the principle and the blessing of giving that when there was an opportunity to do it, you couldn't hold them back from doing it. I read something like that. I go, Lord, we see a lot of people begging people to give.

I'm not a fan of that. But Lord, bring me to a place where I I wanna beg to give. How do I get to that place? It's Acts twenty thirty five where Jesus said, It is more blessed to give than to receive. Now let's be honest with ourselves.

How how many of us really think it's more blessed to receive than to give? But you know the Holy Spirit can do such a work in your heart and mind that we actually, with full confidence and without lying to ourselves or to anybody else, we can actually come to a place where we think it's better to give. And there's more thrill in giving, there's more joy and more satisfaction in offering than actually receiving. I wanna get there. I wanna get there.

I wanna get there. Let's take it even a degree further. I wanna get to the place where not only do I find it joyful to give, not only do I find opportunities to invest in the kingdom of God and giving, but that I would do it where nobody else knows that I'm doing it. That's a whole another thing. Because, you know, you can give, and it's like, hey.

Look. I'm giving. It's more blessed to give than to receive. But Jesus says don't let your one hand know what the other one's doing. Never mind your neighbor.

Don't let your hands know what they're doing. Don't let your right hand see what your left hand is doing. You give, and don't let half of your body know it. I wanna come to that place. Not on a compulsion.

And this is just this is just heart to heart. Lord, what does it mean to to find more blessing in giving than receiving? I'm not talking about a ministry. I'm talking about all life, in all manners, in all relationships. We rewire my brain.

Bring me to a place where I know in the depths of who I am that in life I'm not trying to take. I wanna find opportunities to give. That's a holy spirit work that needs to be done in our hearts, and God's willing to do it. And so we come here back to Numbers chapter seven, and they are so stirred. Now what's the purpose of giving?

Look at verse four of Numbers chapter seven. Then the Lord said to Moses, accept these from them that they may be used in the service of the tent of meeting and give them to the Levites to each man according to his service. Any any type of giving in any type of ministry should be to invest in the service of the Lord, not to buy another jet. I'm sorry. It just came out, but that's okay.

To advance and sustain the service of the Lord. That's what this is all about. And so the Lord says, accept these from them. Take it from them. This is okay.

The Lord sees their hearts, and he's ready to receive it from them. That's a beautiful thing. You know, when it comes to missionary work, I heard it said this way, that you're you're you're either doing one or the other when it comes to missionary work, when it comes to advancing the gospel. You're either the person that's going down the well to reach those people, or you're the person on the top of the well holding the rope. But every believer has the opportunity to serve at a capacity, and it could be in support or it can be in service.

And this is an important thing to understand when it comes to God's work. He's not dependent upon resources, but God does use resources. He does. Now there's another thing to look at here. Remember, we're trying to get application out of this.

Verse six of Numbers chapter seven. So Moses took the wagons and the oxen and gave them to the Levites. Now how many were there? How many wagons were there? Six.

How many oxen? 12. So let's see what's gonna happen. Right? We have the tribe of Levi that's in charge of the service of the tabernacle, transporting it, dismantling it, protecting it.

So you would think that it's gonna be divided evenly. So Moses took the wagons and the oxen amongst Gershon, Merari, and Kohath. Remember the three groups under Levi. Verse seven. Two wagons and four oxen he gave to the sons of Gershon according to their service.

And four wagons and eight oxen he gave to the sons of Merari according to their service under the direction of Ithamar, the son of Aaron the priest. But to the sons of Kohath, he gave none because they were charged with the service of the holy things that had to be carried on the shoulders. There's a point we can go with this, but I wanna say this first. This is a wonderful display of the wisdom and the compassion of God. Now we learned a couple chapters before this that these groups were called each to a specific service.

What was that service? Gershon was in charge of taking specific articles of the tabernacle. Merari was in charge of the bases and the frames. Gershon, the curtains and the coverings. And then who?

The the Kohats had to take the holy things and put them on their shoulders. Now think about this. They were called to that service, but here we see that there is a supply for strength for that service. Because they're supposed to transport that, and God in his wisdom gave them the necessary assistance for them to complete that work. This is the in this is the the application from this short little verse that whatever God calls you to, He will supply the strength necessary for you to be able to do it effectively.

Realize that. So imagine the minds of these groups when they were called two chapters earlier where he says, you're gonna take all these things, you're gonna take them apart, and you're gonna bring them from one location to the other. It might take days for you to do that. It might be a a half a day journey, but it's going to be your responsibility to carry these things. Thank you, Lord.

And then you're looking at all of this. You're saying, how are we gonna do this? And God says in two chapters later, here's what you need. And it's a wonderful display of how God, when he calls a man to serve him at any capacity, he will also provide the necessary assistance for them to carry the burden always. That's a wonderful truth.

That's something that we can rejoice in. This is God who has this strategy when a man is called to a specific service. There's nothing to fear. So whether it's preaching, He'll provide the necessary strength. Whether it's carrying equipment, He'll provide the necessary strength.

God never calls a man and leaves him to do it in his own wisdom and strength. Now a man can choose to do that. He can. But here we see a people that are dependent and God comes to assist. Notice the Lord didn't say, I'm gonna carry the burden for you.

The Lord will not carry our burdens for us necessarily. He won't do the work that he's called us to do. No. He will give you the power to do it. He'll give you everything you need to be able to accomplish it.

Whereas we might want to do it on our own. That's a terrible idea. But here we see in the Old Testament, in a little snapshot, God's saying, I'm here for you. I'm here for you. I take great comfort in that.

To know that whatever assignment that God has for my life or yours, don't look to yourself. Look to what God will supply. He'll do it. There's another lesson here. There's another lesson here with the Kohath, I believe.

But to the sons of Kohath, he gave none, verse nine, because they were charged with the service of the holy things that had to be carried on the shoulder. Now I look at something like that, and I have a question. Because when the offerings were brought, there was enough to split it even between all of them. No? You could have had two oxen, or rather, let's do the math here.

Two wagons each, four oxen each. Right? But instead, it was it was uneven. And if you were a member of the co ops, you're gonna be like, well, Lord, it would have made more sense if you just gave us a couple of those and a few of those, and it would have been easier for all of us. Why do we have to carry this on our shoulders?

And God doesn't really give a reason why. He just says, I want you to carry it on your shoulders. If If you're gonna be a part of the coals, you're gonna have to take extra care. It's gonna require extra diligence, it's gonna burn more energy. It takes a lot more energy to put something on your shoulders than to carry it with a car.

But because of these things, I want you to do it the way I called you to do it. And listen, when it comes to obeying God, there are some tasks that he gives us. All believers prescribed in scripture, That though it seems unnatural, though it seems even somewhere where our logic can obstruct these principles, we have to trust in God's wisdom. We have to trust in God's wisdom. The temptation is to look at something in the scripture, and to let our reason, and let our intellect, and let our understanding how things work interfere with the simplicity and the wisdom that God has given us in his word.

So you have people that say pray. Why pray? There's so much more things we can do in that time of prayer. Why give so much time to prayer? You're relying on your wisdom.

You're relying on your own strength. You're you're relying on your own reason. Preach. Preach. Preaching isn't for today.

Preaching isn't attractive. Preaching isn't gonna bring people to Christ. We need something more calm and collected. I remember sitting in multiple, I'll take that back, a few q and a's in ministry settings where people would stand up and ask ministers that were sitting on the platform. Our generation has short attention spans.

Why do we have such long services? And why is preaching so long? And then we need different things to grab their attention. I remember sitting in I remember sitting in one q and a session where somebody got up and says, my kids don't like coming to church because there's twenty five minutes of worship and a forty something minute message. What can we do to change?

And I didn't say this in a judgmental way. I just whisper underneath my breath. I said, get him saved. This is not about us changing the way things work, the way God prescribed things to happen, to appeal to them because it makes more sense. God has ordained certain things to go the way they're supposed to go, and we're supposed to just carry the burden and trust that it's going to be effective.

And so we see here that at one point, unfortunately, they didn't obey this. Do you remember this? And we've touched on this story so many times throughout our Old Testament journey. You know exactly where we're going with this. Where are we going?

Uzzah. So we're all familiar with the story. Right? One of these pieces of furniture, the Ark of the Covenant after many years, where actually they come into the promised land, and because of their sin, the Philistines take away this Ark. And after David comes into rain, he goes, I want that Ark back.

And so they go to fetch the ark because the Philistines are freaking out because they brought this ark and all these plagues and tumors are breaking out. They're saying, get rid of this thing. So they put it on a cart. The Philistines didn't know any better. So they put it on a new cart with two milk cows, and they said, okay.

Okay. If this is God, if this is God, then these milk cows who've never had a yoke on them are gonna be led back to Israel, and we're gonna know that this is God. If they go back to their babies because they were new mommies, then this is not God, this is just coincidence. And guess what? They go.

And it comes to a place called Beth Shemesh, and they land there. And they slaughter the cows. The Israel slaughter the clowns clouds. The cows, they take the wood, they make a fire, they have a sacrifice. And David says, I want it.

I want the Ark of the Covenant back into the holy city. And so they go. And what does David do? This man who who wrote so much about the the law and how he loved the law. He puts it on a cart.

He puts it on a cart, and he has two guys that were not supposed to drive it, drive the cart, and the ark stumbles from that cow, and who's touches it, he dies. We know the story. We know the story. And that's really the temptation especially in a ministry context to look at something like that and say, you know, it's just easier to do it this way. It's just easier to do it this way.

How much more time can we save if we just do it on a cart? How much more attractive will the ark be if we just put it on a new cart? Not an old cart, a new cart. How much more manpower will we have if we have less people carrying it on their shoulders and having them do different ministries if we just let the cows do all the work? How much more ground can we take over?

See see we allow these things to come and God says, no. I've called you to put it on your shoulders. And where did they get that idea in the first place? From the Philistines. From the Philistines.

Right? They saw the Philistines bring it on a new cart, and it looked like it worked. And so they looked at each other says, hey, guess what? It worked for the Philistines. Surely, it will work for us.

Get a new cart and put it on there. And here's the danger. Here's the principle. When we look at the methods of the world and we try to implement them in the church, Very dangerous. When we look at how people are being drawn by entertainment, we go, well, if it's drawn people through entertainment in that way, we can draw people with entertainment in this way.

You're putting it on a cart. And we look at businesses and how much money they make. Right? And all the marketing and the presentations, and it becomes a business model. Well, look how much money they're making.

So let's take the business model and bring it in the church. You're putting it on an ark, on a cart. Be careful. God says, I want you to put it on your shoulders even if it's well, it's so heavy. Well, yeah.

But it works. It takes so much out of us. Yeah. But it works. We need to get old school again.

Prayer and fasting and relying on the power of God in our meetings. That's what we need. But be be careful. You see all these carts around and you go, it looks like it works for them. The reason why I worked for the Philistines because they were in ignorance, And God used it for the Philistines to see that he was in control.

He was the one that was doing all that was happening. So obedience over convenience. Obedience over convenience. And beware of this. Beware of this, how it can interfere with God's wisdom.

And so they go, and we come now down to verse 10. And the chiefs offered sacrifices, rather offerings for the dedication of the altar on the day was anointed. And the chiefs offered their offering before the altar. And the Lord said to Moses, they shall offer their offerings one chief each day for the dedication of the altar. So you have one chief representing each tribe of the nation of Israel.

And every single day for twelve days, you have a different chief coming up and giving a specific offering for the dedication of the altar in the tabernacle. If you've read Numbers chapter seven, you've noticed something, especially if you read read it slowly. What did you notice? If anybody here has has read this chapter and saw the different offerings, what came to mind?

They're all the same.

They're all the same. Did anybody else notice that? If you've read this very carefully, you will notice that every single chief came with the very same offering to bring as a dedication. And this is the the same thing. Look at verse 19 of chapter seven.

He offered for his offering one silver plate whose weight was a 130 shekels, one silver basin of 70 shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of flour mixed with oil for a grain offering. So you got a silver plate and you got here a a basin, 130 shekels weighed and 70 shekels filled with fine flour and oil for a grain offering. One golden dish of 10 shekels full of incense. One bull from the herd, one ram, one male lamb a year old for a burnt offering, verse 22. One male goat for a sin offering and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old.

This was the offering of Nathano the son of Zuar. And it goes on to repeat the exact same thing with every single tribe. And here's a healthy question you can ask, because Revelation comes when you ask the Bible questions. I look at a chapter like this and I go, Lord, why did your holy spirit find it necessary to record the very same thing over and over over again when you could have just summarized that every single tribe gave this amount and it totaled to this. Because when you come later on, look at verse 84.

This was the dedication offering for the altar on the day which it was anointed from the chiefs of Israel, and it goes on to give the sum total of all that they gave. I look at that. I go, well, we could have saved so much room there. So something else could have been inserted there. No?

Why do you think the Lord wanted to give us this? It says something about the Lord. Definitely.

I don't know if it's right or not, but he wants us to know that even though you're getting the same, it should be noticed.

Yes. Absolutely. What you see here is that though these offerings were the same, God, in his appreciation, in His encouragement, as a response to the offerings of His people, wants to let Him know that every single thing that you give is noticed and treasured by me. That's the heart of God. That he sees these things and he wants to let the readers know, I see every single thing that you give and I recognize it.

And not only that, we know in the New Testament that not only is it recognized, it will be rewarded. That's what he's trying to show here. That even if it's the same, I still this is what the Lord is showing here. I still see your heart and I see every single act as an act of worship and I recognize you for I did not not see it. What a wonderful thing.

Who cares who sees it? Who cares who recognizes you or me as a giver? When God records it, I believe many Christians will be stunned when they stand at the judgment seat of Christ. In light of this, I believe there's gonna be wonderful things at the judgment seat. I think there's gonna be things that make people cry of joy and cry of sorrow.

I believe that with my whole heart. That's true. Why why do you think that reference in Revelation says that he will wipe away every tear from their eye? He's talking about believers. Why are they crying if they're saved?

I believe he says that some of them are gonna cry out of regret. When they're standing before glory, I believe many believers are gonna think, man, I wish I prayed more. Man, I wish I was more radical for Christ. Man, I wish I I gave myself more to the kingdom. I wish I utilized.

I believe that with my whole heart. But I believe too that at the judgment seat, many people are gonna stand before the Lord, and they're gonna be absolutely shocked. Why? Because they're gonna see how God had recorded every single act of kindness and offering. Was it not Jesus who says, even if you gave a glass of water to one of these because they are my disciples, your reward will not go unnoticed?

Jesus said that. And I believe many believers will stand before Christ say, Lord, you recognize that? Lord, you saw that? He goes, yeah. Not only did I see it, but here's your reward for it.

I believe we have no idea what we're stepping into when we come to the judgment seat of Christ. But I see an example here in the Old Testament where God saw it and he found it necessary to record it and let people know thousands of years later when you give, when you offer, not just money, not just no. Your time, your what I see it and I treasure it. It's a wonderful picture here. Now we come to verse 89 of chapter seven.

And when Moses went into the tent of meeting to speak with the Lord, he heard the voice speaking to him from above the mercy seat that was on the ark of the testimony from between the two cherubim, and it spoke to him. King James says he spoke to him. And it seems like a random insertion here, but really what's happening is after all these offerings were made, Moses, what does he do? He just goes back to receive more instruction from the Lord. Okay, Lord.

We've we've done what we have to do up to this point. What's next? What's next? And it seems like because Moses in his position as a mediator has this all access pass to the presence of God. That he has the ability and the freedom to come before the Lord and to hear from the Lord and to commune from the Lord.

Not even the priest had that opportunity. The high priest had to come once a year to come before this. But see Moses had this special position as a mediator, as a representative of God. He needed to hear from God, and so this is what he's doing. Which tells me something so wonderful about the new covenant that what was temporary for them is permanent for us.

What was what was a visitation for them could be an indwelling and a reality and a consistent truth in your life and mine. I don't have to just tip my toe into that Holy of Holies. I can stay in there, and I can receive from the Lord. And that's the difference. We know this.

We know this. That the new covenant and the old covenant is different than this. That what was a privilege for Moses is a privilege for all believers. To know God, to hear from God, to have God living inside of me. Every time I I see a verse like that or sing something like that, it just sobers me.

God living inside of me. There was a man who was studying different religions, and he came to Christianity, and a man gave him a Bible to to, and he asked him this, what is the most fascinating thing about what you read in this book? And after the man read through many weeks, he came by and says, let me tell you the most fascinating thing. I've read this book and this religion that, but there's something so amazing about this book. And the man who gave it, the Christian who gave it to him to figure out his conclusion thought that he would talk about the crucifixion or the resurrection.

And those are wonderful truths. I'm not dismissing that. But this is what this man said. He says, the most fascinating truth about your book is that you claim to believe that your God lives inside of you. What does that mean that God lives inside of me?

I don't know, but I wanna know what it feels like and knows like and how it manifests in my life. I don't wanna know what year. I don't wanna memorize scripture. Lord, let me know it and experience. So he comes and he speaks with God.

And although there are differences in new covenant and old, there is one thing that is the same. The voice speaking to him from above the mercy seat. God's voice, God's speaking, God's instructions, God's command is always from the place of mercy. He spoke from the mercy seat and today he speaks with mercy. That every command, everything he does is for our good, it's for our blessing, it's for our joy.

He's not speaking out of a place of condemnation. He's not giving you instructions and me instructions waiting for you to slip so you can say, I told you you couldn't do it. No. Always from a place of mercy. Is that how you hear God's voice when you read this book?

How do you hear his voice? What's the tone of God's voice when you understand his voice towards you? Is it mercy? Is it compassion? Is it invitation?

Is it love? Or do you hear a policeman waiting to give you a ticket? Many Christians are like that. They think God is just waiting for them to slip. In fact, not just waiting for them to slip, sometimes he puts out his foot and makes them slip.

James one says, no temptation comes from God. How do you hear his voice? What's God like to you? That's an important thing to understand. What you think about God, what you believe about God is the most important thing in life.

And I see Moses here hearing from a God, the God, the only true God who's speaking from the place of mercy. And that should be true for you and me. And even the hard text, if you don't sense the love of God, you don't understand God. You haven't got there yet. Out of all the things Jesus says you can address God as, he says you address God as Father.

Father. The model prayer, he says, call him Father. What an honor and what a privilege. I can come before the King of glory and say, father, I need you. And he's not an abusive father.

He's not an ignorant father. He's not negligent. He's not moody. He's not one day on and one day off. Many people have that observation of God too.

They think they have it at least. That one day God is really happy with me, and and He's there, He's cheering me on, and the other day He's just in a bad mood and He shoos me away. Wrong perspective. From the mercy seat. Always from the mercy seat.

These commands are coming from there. Every single thing that you read in this book concerning your life and how it should be adjusted and transformed for his glory comes from mercy. Love and compassion and invitation. Numbers chapter eight. We see something so interesting here.

Come down to verse five with me, would you please? This chapter is dedicated to preparing not the tabernacle, but the Levites now. So the tabernacle is a building that's set up. It's ready. It's there.

It's set up. It's anointed. It's all prepped. And now the next step is we gotta get the ministers to flow in there, and we gotta get the ministers to work in this place. And so this entire chapter is dedicated to the cleansing of the Levites to be able to now work in it.

Now we're if you if you if you notice, we're getting really close to these guys getting up and leaving Sinai. Getting really close now.

But he goes, hold on.

We gotta still cleanse the Levites. Now we talked about something very similar in Leviticus chapter eight where there was an ordination for Aaron and the sons. This is not the same thing. This is the cleansing of the Levites. Why is this important?

We gotta make a distinction here. The Levites and the priests are not the same. Many people believe that the Levites are all priests. The tribe of Levi that's not necessarily true. Pay attention here.

This could be kind of a mind twister. Every priest is a Levite, but not every Levite is a priest. That make sense? There is a distinction here, and so this is a different type of ordination. And so what's the difference between the priest who are Levites and the Levites who are not priests?

Does anybody know what's the difference between their service? So the priest who are Levites remember, the tribe of Levi was set apart from all the other tribes that from them, Aaron under the Levites and his descendants would be priests. And their main service the the the Aaron and his descendants, their main service is that they are in charge of the offerings. They are in charge of maintaining and renewing and doing all the things with the furnishings, all the activity of the furniture, the sons of Aaron are in charge of. The Levites are not in charge of those things.

Go back to Numbers chapter three just to see the difference, and the distinction is important. Look at Numbers chapter three verse five. And the Lord spoke to Moses saying, bring the tribe of Levi near and set them before Aaron the priest that they may minister to him. Okay. So Aaron and his sons are priests.

They are in charge of the altar, the offerings, the incense, only Aaron. In fact, whenever the tabernacle would be transported before Kohath and the other guys, Merari and Gershon, would take the instruments and take the furnishings, Kohath mainly. Aaron and his sons had to go in and cover all the furnishings. But Levites were in charge of assisting the priests. Verse seven.

They shall keep guard over him and over the whole congregation before the tent of meeting as they minister at the tabernacle. They shall guard all the furnishings of the tent of meeting and keep guard over the people of Israel as they minister at the tabernacle. So what do you have here? You have you have Aaron and his sons which are priests. They are Levites.

But then you have Levites who are not priests. These guys are in charge of assisting the priests. What are they doing? They're in charge of guarding it, protecting it. In fact, later on we read that in first Chronicles, even in Nehemiah, that the Levites walk into a calling where they teach the people of Israel the law.

So they become teachers even. So this distinction is important because you might read something in a gospel account like the Good Samaritan story. Who are the three that walked over the Samaritan? He's a Levite. He had a Levite?

And who is before that? Get a priest. So a priest walked first and then a Levi walked by. Those are two different things. And you see those distinctions everywhere in scripture.

So not all Levites are priests, but all priests are Levites. Yes.

Is that right to say not every Israeli is Jewish?

You would have to elaborate on that. What do you mean by that?

I'm trying to, like, understand what you're trying to say. Like, not not every Israeli is from the tribe of Judah put it that way.

Is that correct? Well, we have different tribes that represent the Jewish nation. Yeah.

So that doesn't make them Jewish. Right? It could be Israeli, but not necessarily Jewish. Am I right or am I

Well, I think I think that not it's not all down to one tribe. Whatever tribe in this context, whatever tribe you come from, you are a Jew in a sense. And Jew is not necessarily a name that was given at this time. It was a name that was given after their exile into Babylon. And so that was a title that was given to them after their exile into Babylon, given by outsiders to them.

But if you were in any tribe, you were a Jew, you were an Israeli. Yes. Absolutely. But you have 12 tribes. You have the Levites.

They're set apart from all the other 11. This tribe, you have Aaron and his sons. They are all priests. Then you have all these other Levites. They are assistants to the priests.

That clear? They are still ministers. And I want us to look at this in light of them being ministers. Now it is true that all believers in Christ are called to be a royal priesthood, but even within that priesthood, there's a specific section, a particular service that could be known as the priesthood as well, and that is full time ministry. Say how?

You can turn there if you want. I think it's a fabulous verse to back that up in Romans fifteen sixteen. In Romans fifteen sixteen, look at the language that Paul gives his calling in Romans fifteen sixteen. Look how Paul describes himself. Romans fifteen sixteen, as he's describing his ministry before the Romans, to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles in the priestly service of the gospel of God, so that the offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.

So he he titles his own ministry as a preacher of the gospel. Hey. I'm in the priestly service of God here. And so, yes, all believers, if you're a Christian, you name the name of Christ, you're a priest, you're a royal priesthood. But there's even within that priesthood, there's a specific calling, and it's a priestly calling according to Paul of preaching the gospel, of being in the ministry full time.

And I want us to look at numbers chapter eight with that lens because there are wonderful lessons in here about ministers and their call into that, and how even the people who are not called to that are involved with that. Okay? So here's the cleansing of the Levites. We need some ministers in the tabernacle, and what happens? Well, there's this cleansing process which is very familiar from verse six down.

So they are to wash and cleanse their garments, sprinkle water of purification upon them, and let a razor go over all their body. But then you come here. There's this beautiful picture. Right? Because now you have the whole nation surrounding these Levites, and here's the tabernacle.

It's a it's a massive site. And then look here in verse 10. When you bring the Levites before the Lord, the people of Israel shall lay their hands on the Levites. And Aaron shall offer the Levites before the Lord as a wave offering from the people of Israel, that they may do the service of the Lord. It would make more sense to say that as they come, it's probable that the chief of each tribe came and lay hands.

But just picture that sight. You have this group of ministers, and you have these laymen surrounding them. And it comes to the point where as they're presented before the Lord, they lay their hands on them. And why? Well, it's a picture of presenting them before the Lord.

There's a sense of unity. There is an act of worship there, and it's almost saying, Lord, from our heart to yours do we present these ministers to you. And I read something like that even in Numbers chapter eight, and I look at my own life. I say, Lord, how do I regard and how do I treat the leaders that you've placed in my life? There's there's a picture of support.

There's a picture of of of unity and love, and we're here for you. And, Lord, we bring these men before you as an offering. Would you recognize them and bless them? I think to myself in my own life, lord, do I do the same with people that I know that are serving you full time? Do I bring them before you and say, lord, see them and bless them?

Because they're serving you at that capacity. Take them, Lord, and do what you want with them. I think sometimes when it comes to those that we know that are in ministry, we assume that that doesn't need to be done. We don't realize that it's so much needs to be done on our part. There's almost this disconnect, but here we see this melting and this merging.

That though they were called to a specific office, you had the people and the priests coming together. And what a sight that looks like. You don't see that today and unfortunately you hear some crazy stuff that instead of people laying hands, their people are doing this, beating up their preachers and beating up these different people. But no, you see this uplifting, you see this support system, you see this act of worship, this act of, Lord, see it and bless them. I think that's a beautiful picture here.

Then you come to verse 14 here. Thus you shall separate the Levites from among the people of Israel, and the Levites shall be mine. Now there's a separation to the call. There's something here in which a person who is called to full time ministry needs to understand that they are not their own. They are not their own.

There's a complete consecration right here in this specific order. A Levite's life was totally dedicated to the service of the Lord. Completely. So it was more than just preparing a message once a week. No.

No. No. The Levite, because he was called, walked with God, sought his God, worshiped his God, studied his God twenty four hours a day, seven days a week. It's a it's a it's a disposition of the heart saying this isn't just something that I'm doing, this is something who I am. Now if we had that kind of attitude in ministry, we'd have a different quality and caliber of ministers.

If they didn't just see that something that I gotta do, and I gotta just no. No. No. No. It was so evident here that they were supposed to be completely separate onto God that God even told the Levites, you can't have any land.

That's what the scriptures say. Let me read it to you. You could turn it, but I'm gonna just read it to you in Deuteronomy 10 verse eight. At that time, the Lord set apart the tribe of Levi to carry the ark of the covenant of the Lord, to stand before the Lord, to minister to him, and to bless in his name to this day. Therefore, Levi has no portion or inheritance with his brothers.

The Lord is his inheritance as the Lord your God said to him. So the idea there is that his attention, his energy, his focus, his time is set apart to ministering unto the Lord and for the Lord. That's a very powerful calling. It's just something that they lived. It wasn't something they just did on specific feasts and things.

No. No. No. No. No.

It was in them. Ministry is not a job. It's not a job. It's a call, and it's a wonderful call. It's a blessed call.

And it comes with this, that though, again, all believers are called to be priests, those in this specific calling of full time vocation must live in a way in which whatever happens here is the overflow what happens in the dark and in private. It's a powerful truth. If you're aspiring to be a minister, especially full time, know this, that you belong to him. Your time, your energy, your activities belongs to the Lord.

Saying, oh, what is that? That doesn't sound too fun. You have no idea.

It's a joy. It's an honor. It's a privilege. It doesn't mean that those who serve at this capacity have a greater experience of God than those. No.

Not necessarily at all. But those who are called to this, a different role, a different service must embrace it in this way I believe it. Paul said it in Romans 15. I have a priestly call. I'm consecrated unto God.

Whatever he tells me to do, I do it. I love that verse where Jesus says, I have not come to do my will, but the will of him who sent me. I'm possessed by this pursuit. Lord, what do you wanna do? This is your life.

This is your time. This is your energy. Like I said, let me say it again. I don't say with a judgmental spirit. I say with a broken heart.

Believe me, I do. That if every person who pursued full time ministry had that kind of attitude, we would have different churches. We'd have different sermons. We'd have different missionaries. I believe it with everything in my being.

But because it's just, nah. No. They're called to be set apart unto God, and they belong to him. Now we come down in verse 19. Look at the significance of these guys.

Look how God calls them and categorizes them. And I've given the Levites as a gift to Aaron and his sons from among the people of Israel to do the service for the people of Israel at the tent of meeting and to make atonement for the people of Israel. God calls these men a gift. He goes, these guys that are set apart and called unto me, these faithful men late right. Listen, he rebukes these these priests later on in their compromising state, and he gives them it hard.

But in this initial state of obedience, he goes, these men are gifts unto you. I give them to a gift to you, Aaron. I think in my own life the spiritual men that I know that have been called by God to live that set apart call. And I think, Lord, do I see them as a gift? God can give many gifts.

God can give gifts in healing. God can give gifts in provision. God can give gifts in miraculous intervention. But God says here that these men that are set apart for God are gifts. They're blessings.

They're an expression of his love. This is a fascinating verse concerning King Solomon. Go to first Kings chapter 10, and we're wrapping up very quickly here. Go to first Kings chapter 10 Verse nine. Look what the Queen of Sheba says about Solomon.

Blessed be the Lord your God who has delighted in you, he's talking to Solomon, and set you on the throne of Israel. Because the Lord loved Israel forever, he has made you a king. Do you see that? Because God loved Israel, he made Solomon their ruler. That's a precious verse right there.

So Solomon being placed with all that wisdom and everything else, at least in his initial state, as he was set up to be the leader of the people, it was an expression of God's love to the nation. Here's a gift. And I said, Lord, help me see those that I know that speak into my life, that serve in that capacity, and are doing it well, not perfectly, but well, faithfully to see them as a gift. You know, there's a dangerous thing about idolizing preachers and pastors and ministers. It can be so tricky of making that distinction and and understanding how you appreciate someone.

But I even heard a leader say this in a q and a, and I thought to myself, that that is that that makes sense. That the scripture says how beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news. That there's this there's a sense of beauty and attractiveness to somebody who declares the word of God faithfully. And you go, yeah. And you gotta be careful, obviously.

But there is this sense of, you know, God calls men. God sets men apart. And when they do what they have been called to do faithfully, it is an expression of God's gift to people. That's powerful. It goes on.

There's still more principles here. Verse twenty one and twenty two. The cost of the service. The Levites purify themselves from sin and wash their clothes. Now look at verse 22.

And after that, the Levites went into the service in the tent of the meeting before Aaron and his sons. What came before that? A willingness to shut off sin. A willingness to shut off habitual habits and practices that would stand a contradiction to the service. And so before these men were to come into the tent of meeting, they had to make a decision.

I'm willing to leave behind filthy garments. It's just a basic principle in all service for the Lord. That if you want to go in and do his work good and do his work faithfully, it requires that prerequisite, a divorce from sin. But look at verse twenty three and twenty five. You know God had a retirement plan for the Levites?

And the Lord spoke to Moses saying, this applies to the Levites. From 25 years old and upward, they shall come to do the duty in the service of the tent of meeting, and from the age of 50 years they shall withdraw from the duty of the service and serve no more. They minister to their brothers in the tent of meeting by keeping guard, but they shall not do service. Thus shall you do to the Levites in assigning their duties. So here's the rule.

From 25 to 50, you are going to serve as a Levi. And what are you doing? You're carrying, you're dismantling, you're building, you're protecting. But when you reach the point of 50 and you move after that, you're just observing and you're a security guard. And what's the practical wisdom here in God's instruction?

Your body's gonna wear down. Body's gonna wear down. Your energy's not gonna be as available as it was when you were 25. You're not gonna be able to give that same energy and that same focus and that same diligence when you're older, which is a wonderful truth, is it not, when it comes to serving God? Listen.

After 50, they were still serving God. They were serving God by observing, by guarding, by being that oversight, but it wasn't the same that between 25 and 50 when they were serving God. And it's a picture of this because, you know, many people even as believers are thinking about serving God later in life. They just kinda wanna chill, you know, just wanna have my own life. That's cool.

You can chill all you want. And God can use you later on in life, but it's not the same in your younger years. It's not the same when you are the prime of life, when you're in that place where you have availability, and you have flexibility, and you have energy, and you have the mind, and you have all these things that are there in this window of opportunity of your youth. So if you have that mentality, you know, I just want to one, if you see laboring for God as a burden, that's a problem. Bearing fruit for the kingdom of God, that's one of the greatest thrills in life.

But if you see that as a as something that you want to reserve later on, you might not have what you have now. And my prayer, I hope it's your prayers was, Lord, maximize my youth. Maximize my mind. Maximize my freedom. Maximize my flexibility.

Maximize this season. God wants to do that. He's just waiting on us. And and you know what? When you come to that place, it's gonna be different.

It's going to be different. But here we know that the major demographic is this window of opportunity that we're talking about, and it's not limited to 50. There are 50 year olds that are serving God with great energy. But the principle is there. Is that don't wait till that point.

Don't jump in at 45. Do it now. Do it now. In fact, this change for them. In first Chronicles 23 you don't have to turn there.

Just listen to this. First Chronicles twenty three twenty five, for David said, the Lord the God of Israel has given rest to his people, and he dwells in Jerusalem forever. And so the Levites no longer need to carry the tabernacle or any of the things for its service, for by the last words of David, the sons of Levi were numbered from 20 years old and upward. So when they came from this place in the wilderness where they were taking this tent and doing all this and walking, That required much more vigor and strength. But once they came to Jerusalem and they settled and they built the temple, they weren't transporting as much so they brought the age limit lower.

It's a wonderful truth in Numbers chapter eight. Finally, we come to Numbers chapter nine as we close. The Israelites are on a roll in their obedience. They're on a roll. And now they come to where the Lord in the midst of all this busyness of planning and anointing and preparing men and all these different things.

He goes, hold on. You guys realize what month it is. Right? You need to prepare the Passover. You need to come and celebrate this.

Don't forget this. And so they celebrate the Passover. They do it faithfully, but we come to verse six. And it says that there were certain men in chapter nine who were unclean through touching a dead body so that they could not keep the Passover on that day. And they came before Moses and Aaron on that day, and those men said to them, we are unclean through touching a dead body.

Why are we kept from bringing the Lord's offering in its appointed time among the people of Israel? So here's the issue. They're celebrating this feast, and there is this group of men. Apparently, somebody died at an inconvenient time where they had to do what they had to do. Maybe a family member or friend, they had to come into contact with a dead body, and they were ceremonially unclean.

And so they came before Moses, hey, we wanna celebrate with them. We wanna do this Passover with them. Why weren't you what's going on here? And here was the solution. Look at verse nine.

The Lord spoke to Moses saying, speak to the people of Israel saying if any one of your your descendants is unclean through your touching a dead body or is on a long journey, he shall still keep the Passover of the Lord. And what's the instruction there? You gotta do it. You gotta recognize it. You gotta celebrate it.

And here's the difference though. So if there's anybody on a long journey who can't keep it on this date or anybody who's touched a dead body, here's the solution. Verse 11. In the second month, on the fourteenth day at twilight, they shall keep it. So what's the difference there?

When's the Passover celebrated? Come on my scholars. What month in the Jewish calendar? Uh-huh. Which one is that?

Yes. Which day? Fourteenth day. So he's just saying celebrate the next month. On the second month, on the fourteenth day, that's when you're gonna celebrate the Passover.

And that's great. That's great for us to understand if we were Israelites, but there's something here about Moses' response to this situation that draws my heart to Moses and more importantly to the character that he had. Look at verse eight. When they brought the situation, Moses said to them, wait that I may hear what the Lord will command concerning you. I smiled when I read that.

Here's this man of God, called by God, supposed to know the word of God, did miracles. And somebody brought up a question. He didn't know the answer. And you know what Moses didn't do? Perhaps this is another piece of evidence that he surely was the meekest man on the earth.

Yeah. I think, you guys can still do it. Yeah. You're good. You're good.

Just wait a couple hours and do this washing thing. It's good. Are you sure? Yeah. Yeah.

I'm sure. Go ahead. No. He didn't know the answer, and he admitted it. And he said, let me get back to you on that.

I don't know about you. As much as the splitting of the Red Sea and all that, this impresses me a lot. Here's a man who should have probably known to some degree, but this scenario has never been brought up before. And with humility and with transparency, he says, wait. I don't have an answer.

Let me get back to you on that. There's something attractive of that kind of attitude and that humility. You know, because it's better to have a delay delayed answer that's right than a quick answer that's wrong. Isn't it true? I remember when I first got saved that was, you know, when you could first get saved.

And they don't know much about this, still don't know much about this. The more you read this Bible, the more you realize you don't know this Bible. And I remember coming to the place where I wanted to just witness and just share. And I remember this is just like fresh, fresh out of the oven. So I came up to a certain group of people that were living upstairs and I said, I I gotta tell you about Jesus.

Just tell him about the Lord, sitting with them as they're sitting on the couch. And the first question she that one lady brought up, she said, are gays going to hell? Well, homosexuality is a sin. What kind of shirt are you wearing? I don't know.

Is it mixed fabric? I think so. Well, your same Bible that tells you in that same chapter that, gays are not supposed to do what they're doing is telling you not to wear that kind of shirt. Do you eat seafood? I love seafood.

What kind of seafood do you eat? Why? Well, the bible tells you can't eat this. I remember sitting there going, okay. And I have to make a choice in that moment and just have to say, let me get back to you on that.

I don't know the answer. And this is so important to understand. Even in evangelism and different things, whenever you have that opportunity and you're faced with a situation like that, it is okay to say, I don't know. It's okay to do that. In fact, don't be discouraged.

Don't be discouraged if you've ever come to a place where you don't know the answer to something, especially to something like this. It's something that you never faced before. I found out that the greatest learning lessons for me in the scriptures has been in times where I was faced with something I didn't know the answer to. And it pushed me and it drove me to get into the Bible and to just study and compare and and look up and all these different things. I see a wonderful example of a leader here.

He wasn't afraid to admit that he didn't have the answer to something. And this is probably a secret to the longevity of Moses' life to a certain degree. And I hope that we can have that kind of same attitude. The worst thing about trying to be a spiritual person is that you want to be more spiritual than other people. Sometimes when it comes to our praying for holiness and praying to be set apart and praying for the presence of the power of God, our motive behind all of that is so that when people compare me to all the other Christians, they know I'm the most spiritual.

It's not good. But to be real and honest, that's what it means to walk in the light. To be honest before God. To be honest before man. It's not an excuse to be undisciplined, but it is a beautiful picture here of a man who is real.

And you can be real and spiritual. I hope we can absorb that in our own lives, especially as we walk together that it's okay to come to a place where we say, I don't know. And you know what Moses does? He goes and he seeks God. Here's here's a wonderful thing too, that there's wonderful wisdom.

Oh, how we need wisdom. There's wonderful wisdom in not giving answers quickly and just simply waiting. Not just to doctrinal questions. In all principle of life, that it's so important to be able to know how to wait before you jump to make a decision, and wait before you jump to make a response. There is so much safety in waiting.

There's so much protection in waiting. And this is a principle not just in Moses' life and all of scripture. Even when there was an incident, the Levites had to investigate in a certain city if there was rumors of idolatry. Nobody just jumped and made decisions right away. No.

No. No. No. No. Wait.

You in life hear me very carefully. You in life will hear different things about different people. Learn how to wait. Learn how to observe. Don't even let your heart come to a place where you make a judgment on somebody based on something you heard.

That's just one. We can talk about different things of how waiting is so important. Moses here exemplifies that. What happens? Well, the cloud comes on the tabernacle.

We'll wait for that for next week. But so many things have been said, and I want us to just bow our heads and just say, lord, out of all the things that we've heard in number seven and nine, help me absorb it. Father, tonight, we thank you for your word. Lord, sometimes, oftentimes, we are overwhelmed by how you can speak through some things that we can totally miss. And, Lord, it humbles us.

It humbles us, but it also reminds us that you are an amazing author and that your word is living. God, we just ask right now that you would give us the heart to receive. Lord, there are so many different things. It was almost like a shotgun being shot with different bullets going different directions. But, Lord, that is the nature of this bible study.

Help us be able to receive at least one thing in the midst of all things. Lord, help us know what it means to be givers and that being a greater blessing than receiving. Lord, help us to know how to be in unity, whether people are in full time ministry or not, that there would be that hand in hand partnership. Lord, help us to believe that there is strength waiting for us whenever there's an assignment laid before us. Father, we pray that you would help us believe that there is an attractiveness to humility, and, Lord, that can be displayed in so many ways.

Protect us from false humility, Lord. Let it be true humility. Lord, we pray that you would help us see the seriousness of ministry, that even the the principles in the Old Testament are somewhat applicable today, though not in service, but in in principle and posture. Yes. Lord, there's so many things.

There's so many things. Lord, we pray by the spirit. Help us retain it. Help us retain what we heard from these things. And we pray, oh, God.

We pray that we would be a people that would obey, not just here. Lord, we wanna worship you tonight in song, Lord, in song for the the the vast depths of your scriptures. And we pray, Lord, that it would be pure and true unto you. Lord, we do not wanna put your ark on the cart in this place, but we pray that this place would do it the way you've prescribed us to do it. And, Lord, we wanna do it old school if it needs to be.

We wanna do it the way you've intended it to be done, and we pray, oh, God, that it would be your glory that would attract people to this place. It would be the word of God and the spirit of God that would bring people to wanting to know you more in this house. Protect us from things, even our own logic and reason, that would sabotage the will of God in this place. Lord, this is your house. This is your ministry.

We are your people, and we ask, Lord, keep us. Keep us. Keep us on this narrow path, faithful and true unto you. In Jesus' name, we pray.