Oh, I promise. Hey man, I'll tell you I'm glad are you on the battlefield for the Lord? Hi, I'm pastor Darrell Bailey wanting you to come and join us at People's Valley Baptist Church. We're located at 68 Ledford Lane. Our hope is that through God's Word of Truth that we can build up lives into the kingdom of God. Come and help us make a difference. Come and be with us. And now let's get ready to go into the wonderful Word of God. Thank you class as We get ready for our lesson this morning. We're gonna be in the book of Numbers the book of Numbers As our series is entitled preparation for promise preparation for promise in the book of numbers numbers chapter 1 numbers chapter 1 verses 1 through 10 and Then we're going to read numbers chapter 9 verses 15 and 16 after that but right now as we look at our summary of the book of Numbers in preparation for the promise. God is always pointing us somewhere, but sometimes it isn't always clear where he's pointing us to. And as we wait for his direction, God will shape us and teach us how to trust him. But the danger of waiting is that during that time we can grow restless, frustrated and even disobedient. But the book of Numbers is a great reminder to keep our eyes focused on God while we wait in the wilderness for God to fulfill his promise. Now, here in our first lesson, God establishes the tabernacle at the center of the camp, which establishes worship as the center for the children of Israel. And if God is not the center of all that we do as men and women of God, we fail to worship Him as we're called to do. We must strive to take seriously God's expectation to worship Him fully. We've got to follow that pattern. God called Israel to make the tabernacle the prime focus of the camp. And the 11 tribes would be counted to know how many people there were to be able to address the needs of the camp. Now, that census would help establish a military or a guard, so to speak, but the Levites alone were exempt from this census. And so the Levites were not included in this census because it was concerned with establishing the number of fighting men. They had a different role, the Levites, that of transporting, that of erecting, that of guarding the tabernacle. They had to camp around the tabernacle to prevent ordinary laymen approaching it unprepared. And so this would unleash God's wrath against the people. And so the Levites had a different calling than the rest of the children of Israel. And so as we look and realize of the point here, that as they were going through this, there was a separate census that was taken just of the Levites. Along with Aaron and his family, the Levites would be set apart to do the work of the Lord as it related to the tabernacle. You see, God was all about worship. He was all about how he established the pattern. And so here we realize that it would become the responsibility of the Levites to lead Israel in all matters related to the worship of God. Sacrifices, teaching, moving, setting up the tabernacle. Whereas the previous census focused on men over the age of 20. The census for Levites included male infants, one month old and older. according to Numbers chapter 3 verse 15. And men ages 30 to 50 according to Numbers chapter 4 verse 3 and 23. And then in verse 30 and in verses 46 down to verse 49, with the intention of establishing God's priestly order. You see, according to the purpose of this census in Numbers chapter three, it was to check that the number of Levites tallied with a number of firstborn children among the other tribes. This was very important. Listen, I'll say it again. It was very important. It was found that in fact, the number of male Levites always fell short of the number of firstborn Israelites. And so these extra Israelites had to be redeemed in a different way by paying money. The census in chapter four served a quite different purpose, to distribute the work of dismantling, transporting, and erecting the tabernacle among the different Levitical clans. You see, this work was dangerous. because it involved handling sacred equipment and heavy things. And for these reasons, it was restricted to men who were most likely to be of sober outlook and physically strong, those aged between 30 and 50 years. And the entire nation of Israel was to be a kingdom of priests before God, according to Exodus chapter 19, verses five and six. And he appointed a special priesthood. to help his people obey his law and bear witness of his goodness. And the Levites were God's gift to the priest. Substitutes for the redeemed firstborn sons of Israel who already belonged to God. The Levites did for the Lord and the priest the service that the firstborn sons would have done. For the Levites ministered in their place that the firstborn sons would have done. And so God was intentional about how he would set the tone for worship in the camp of Israel. Israel would need to learn how to worship him to maintain favor and to keep their focus on him. And when they failed the focus on his expectations that had been established of the way the order of the tabernacle was to be presented, That true worship, Jesus taught this to a Samaritan woman at Jacob's well who struggled to make sense of her need to worship God faithfully. And so at its core, worship is accredited worth to God because God made us worship Him and the Bible gives various ways that this is accomplished, that there can be no denying that to worship God is part of who we are. And sometimes we have to relearn what that looks like because we know that every one of us as men and women of God, we were made to worship. We can sense it at different times in our lives and in different places. Maybe it's at the end of a mall during the Christmas season or at that time when we woke up before the sunrise and we were awakened to something greater than just ourselves. And we asked, why? Why does this make me wonder about God? You see, we sense it and we know that there's more, a God who transcends us because this is so beautiful because we were created this way for a purpose. God gives us five senses to help us worship Him. The sights, the sounds, the smells, the textures, the tastes that testify to the diversity of God's gifts and to the depth of worship and God deserves every bit of it. that we would worship him the way that we should. And when Moses gave the Israelites instruction on worship, it was because they needed to see that they were made for it and God had a design in mind. And so I thank God, every one of us, when we look at this, We realize that God establishes the tabernacle at the center of the camp, thus establishing worship as the center for all of us today. And so I hope as we look at this and begin to realize that what the Lord is wanting to do in all of our lives here we begin to realize that uh... we see the picture the tabernacle that is in the wilderness amen and here as we begin to go and realize that the promised land is the great hope of every believer as the believer marches through this world He or she is to be ever pressing on to the promised land of God. What is the promised land? What is the great hope God has given to every born again believer? The promised land means at least two things. Number one, the promised land means conquest and rest. It means conquering. all of the enemies, all of the trials, I thank God, all of the temptations of this life. It means spiritual rest, learning to rest in God, to be free from all the guilt and anxiety, loneliness and emptiness, sin and shame in this world. And the promised land means conquest and rest. It means being victorious over all the enemies of life, possessing spiritual rest, the rest of God himself. And so, first of all, the promised land means conquest and rest, but secondly, the promised land means heaven itself, living forever in the eternal presence of God, hallelujah, in the new heaven and the new earth. Throughout life, the believer is to stay focused upon the promised land of heaven, and he or she is to march forth day by day, keeping his or her eyes focused upon the great hope God has given, but as he marches, or as we march, We must realize one fact, that we cannot march alone. And I'm gonna tell you, it does not, not a one of us live in a vacuum. And not a one of us is alone on earth because every one of us needs to walk side by side with other believers and believers must be mobilized as we walk together throughout this life. Life is filled with pitfalls, enemies, enemies that'll attack, destroy us unless we are mobilized and prepared to conquer them. And I thank God there are so many things that are out there that is coming against us today. And so the list could go on and on. of all the things. But the Bible tells us in Numbers chapter one, verse one, and the Lord spake unto Moses in the wilderness of Sinai in the tabernacle of the congregation on the first day of the second month in the second year after they came out of the land of Egypt saying, take ye the sum of all the congregation of the children of Israel after their families by the house of their families with the number of their names every male by their poles. Listen, as I said a while ago, from 20 years old and upward, all that are able to go forth to war in Israel, thou and Aaron, and Aaron shall number them by their armies." Notice, that was for men of war. And with you there shall be a man of every tribe, every one head of the house of his fathers. And these are the names of the men that shall stand with you of the tribe of Reuben, Elisur, the son of Shidir, of Simeon, Shemilel, the son of Zerusharah, of Judah, Nashon, the son of Ammonadad, of Ishkar, Nithel, the son of Zuor, the Zedlon, Elab, the son of Helon, of the children of Joseph, of Ephraim, Elashimim, the son of Amahud, of Manasseth Gamaliel, the son of Patasur, of Benjamin Abedin, the son of Gideoni, of Dan Ahasuer, the son of Amashai. As we pick up in verse 13, well, actually it's just to go down to verse 10. Let's stop and let's have a word of prayer. Father, I wanna thank you. because we realize, Lord, that every day, every day, Father, we are blessed. And, Lord, I pray that, Lord, as we go and start out every morning, help us to be stronger and more like you. Lord, help us to be able, in your presence, in your love, every day, as we sense your presence and love in our life, that Lord, that we continue to become whole and like you, to express the depth of our love by always obeying your commandments, to follow your instructions perfectly at all times, help us to worship you with our whole heart in a way that pleases you, that you're always, as the tabernacle was in the wilderness, and as the tabernacle was set up in the temple later on, that you're always in the center of our lives. as you were in the center of the camp. Father, may we be that priest and may we be that believer priest that we need to be as we go through life, looking and reaching the promised land that you have established for us from way back. Lord, may we speak the heart and speak your word to those that are around us, that Lord, that we would follow your plans and purpose, use our giftedness for your honor and glory, that everything about us is been created within us for a desire to worship you. We were made in all of our senses to worship you. And so Father, help us this morning to bring across the word of God in Jesus' marvelous, mighty name, amen. Now, this first lesson talks about how that Jehovah leads. You see, God leads his people according to his will and purposes. Now, how many times have children been in the back seat going on a trip and one of the first things they're going to say is, hey, are we there yet? Every parent knows what it is to hear the question from the backseat of a car when children say, hey, they're voicing something that is true of all of us. We are all by nature impatient to get to our destination. And I'm gonna tell you, the destination of our journey, as we're all about the promised land, we're all about getting to our final stages in life of reaching and being with our Lord and Savior for every day and every bit of our rest of our life. Every day, God led the nation in the form of a pillar of cloud, and the journey, not just the destination, has important things to tell us. about God and ourselves. And so here, one of the first things that we read in Numbers chapter 1 verses 1 down to verse 10, Numbers begins with an account of a census and a description of Israel's encampment policies. The census was surprising because later the Israelites regarded the taking of a census as a sin and David brought great suffering on the people when they ordered a census to be taken in 2 Samuel chapter 24. A census is a tool for controlling the people. For any government, knowledge is power. And this was not an issue in numbers since God ordered the census. He's the one that ordered it. But later on, David ordered it, not God, in 2 Samuel. And so there was a sin involved then. But the census is followed by a series of laws covering ritual defilement, a right for dealing with suspicious adultery, laws on the Nazarite vow, and the the Aaronic Blessing. These laws reflect the fact that God dwelt among them in the tent of meeting, the tabernacle, and they had to remain pure to avoid defiling it. Similarly, immediately prior to their departure from Mount Sinai, they carried out a series of ritual acts in Numbers chapter seven, all the way down to Numbers chapter nine. All was done to prepare Israel for its journey from Sinai to Canaan, with God in their camp. Man, you ought to look around class and say, God's in the camp. God's in the tabernacle. God is coming down, hallelujah. Thank God, I want to tell you, wouldn't it wonderful to know that he was with them all of the way, because all of this time, we begin to realize that he was in the form of a pillar of cloud, And he was in the fire at night as well. And so he gave them a covering. And so God is sovereign over all people and nations. God is present among his people. He leads them according to his will and purposes. And he's faithful to the covenant with his people that keeps his promises, amen. And so I thank God, each and every one of us, when we look and begin to realize of what it's trying to tell us here, that we continue on he tells us as we look on ahead uh... to uh... numbers uh... chapter nine numbers chapter nine verses fifteen and sixteen that we look and realize of what he's trying to tell us here he says in verse fifteen he says listen and on the day that the tabernacle was reared up the cloud covered the tabernacle namely the ten of the testimony and at even there was upon the tabernacle as were the appearance of fire until the morning man that's that shakana glory praise his name and on the day that the tabernacle was reared up the cloud covered the tabernacle namely the ten of the testimony and at even there was upon the tabernacle as it were the appearance of fire until the morning, but verse 16, so it was always the cloud covered it by day and the appearance of fire by night. Man, if that ain't good. First of all, one of the first things that we see, we see the presence of Jehovah. We see the presence of Jehovah. boy I thank God because here as Numbers chapter 9 verses 15-16 tells us of the tabernacle that was covered by the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night God was present with his people and it turns out that these verses are quite The beauty of it all, because in Genesis chapter 15, Abraham foresaw in a vision how God would lead Israel by a pillar of fire and of a cloud. God had promised that Abraham would father a great nation in Genesis chapter 12. But Abraham, after going years without having children, began to despair. in Genesis chapter 15, to reassure Abraham, God made a covenant with him. And he had Abraham sacrifice animals, cut the carcasses in half, and lay out the halves in such a way that there was a path between the halves. This set up a covenant ceremony. Whoever walked the path between the animal halves was making a solemn promise, implying that what happened to the animals should happen to him should he fail to keep his word. And so I thank God. You can read about that over in Jeremiah chapter 34 verse 18. But Abraham did not walk between the pieces. Instead, he went into a trance and he received a revelation that his offspring would be enslaved for many years, but that God would redeem them. And about the divided animal carcasses. The Bible says that when the sun went down, it was dark and behold a smoking furnace and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces. According to Genesis chapter 15, and the smoke and the torch represented the pillar of cloud and pillar of fire that would lead Israel from Egypt to Canaan, hallelujah. And in other words, it was God himself who passed between the pieces making a solemn pledge that Abraham would have many descendants and that God would take this multitude and make them into his, listen, chosen nation. And so God in fulfillment of his promise was traveling with his people. Hallelujah. We see the presence of Jehovah, and in the course of time, this is precisely what happened. God redeemed Israel from Egypt, and at Sinai, He made a covenant with them, and they sinned by making the golden calf. And God almost pulled away from them, but Moses interceded for Israel, and God relented and agreed to stay with them and lead them into Canaan, hallelujah. and Egypt chapter 32 all the way down to Egypt, excuse me, Exodus chapter 32 to Exodus chapter 34. And since God was going to be with them, he provided them with the tabernacle, the tent of the testimony, a movable sanctuary where God could abide while on the move with his people. Look around and say, God's on the move. God's on the move. I tell you, hallelujah. Man, in Exodus chapter 35 all the way down to Exodus chapter 40, he tells us how the Israelites made the tent, made the altars, made the priestly vestments according to the instructions God had given of the pattern and how that they had sanctified the tent and its furnishing. And if God had remained unwilling to go with them, then there would have been no point in making the tent. But God did accept Moses' intercession and the tent was built and placed in the center of God's encampment and God thus began to sojourn with Israel and Exodus ends at, hallelujah, Exodus 40 verses 36 down to verse 38 and we see a kind of resumption of the story from the book of Exodus chapter 40 with Leviticus and numbers, hallelujah, as we look. Boy, I thank God. As we look at this, as I said again, in Numbers 9, verses 15 and 16, and on the day that the tabernacle was reared up, the cloud covered the tabernacle, namely the ten of the testimony, and that even there was upon the tabernacle, as it were, the appearance of fire until the morning, and so it was always. The cloud covered it by day and the appearance of fire by night. God, in fulfillment of His promise, was traveling with His people. And I'll say it again, the presence of Jehovah, hallelujah. And so we look and we begin to realize that out of this interlude describing the series of laws, amen, concerning the priesthood and tent and the senses of the people, of the Levites, the main point of this, God in fulfillment of his promise was traveling with his people. He had shown Abraham that he would lead Israel in the form of fire and cloud, and he did so. and he encamped in the center of the camp among his people in the tent sanctuary. Now I'm going to tell you, hey does your church, listen, does our church have that type of testimony about how God has been present with us? Because if we can sense the presence of God among the people of the church, man, we've got something. Man, I'm gonna tell you, these churches you go into and you can ice skate it down the middle of the aisle going up to the altar. It's so cold. Why, man, it's so cold, there ain't nothing that's even there. Why, man, you'd be better if you stay outside the church on the porch. I'm gonna tell you, we begin to realize that when we read Numbers chapter 1, down to verse 1 to 10, that it talked about the importance that not only that they would number those among the children of Israel for war, that would be 20 years and up, but the most important thing was that they would number those ones that would be priests. And it was very, very, very important. because I thank God they started at a younger age looking at those ones that could fulfill the priesthood for those firstborn among the nation of Israel that's how important it was and so I thank God when we get on down to Numbers chapter 9 I thank God He tells us about the practice of Jehovah. We said earlier about the presence of Jehovah, amen? But now we look at the practice of Jehovah because he tells us in Numbers chapter 9, verses 17, all the way down to verse 22, hallelujah, that he begins to tell us, he says, and when the cloud was taken up from the tabernacle, Then after that, the children of Israel journeyed, and in the place where the cloud abode, there the children of Israel pitched their tents. At the commandment of the Lord, the children of Israel journeyed, and at the commandment of the Lord, they pitched. And as long as the cloud abode upon the tabernacle, they rested in their tents. And when the cloud tarried long upon the tabernacle many days, did the children of Israel kept the charge of the Lord and journeyed not let me go on down to verse 22 and so it was when the cloud was a few days upon the tabernacle according to the commandment of the Lord they abode in their tents according to the commandment of the Lord they journeyed in verse 21 and so it was when the cloud abode from even under the morning and that the cloud was taken up in the morning, then they journeyed whether it was by day or by night that the cloud was taken up, they journeyed. Sometimes the cloud remained only from evening and the morning and they moved on as soon as the cloud lifted. Whenever the cloud lifted, they moved on. But lastly, it says in verse 22 that whether it was two days a month, Year or longer as long as the cloud remained over the tent They did not move on but when it lifted they moved now the practice of the Israelite Encampment was to follow God's lead. Amen. Ain't that what it is today? We're supposed to be following God's lead. Amen. And when God moved They moved did you hear that? When he stayed, they stayed. The account is straightforward. But what does it say to every one of us when we look at the practice of Jehovah moving and staying? There are two fundamental human responses to any situation. Either we get up and do something or we sit tight and we wait for further developments. But doing something can Depending on the situation involved any number of things, we might try to fix the problem, or fight the problem, or we might run away. Sitting and waiting can be a positive or negative. Waiting may involve patience and humility, knowing that sometimes we simply have to let matters develop, trust God, and not try to make decisions for other people. or it may be that we are too lazy or too fearful to deal with a situation and so we do nothing. Sometimes we procrastinate simply because we do not know what to do. And so here, neither doing something nor waiting is always the right response. Neither doing something nor waiting is always the right response. Often, we should sit quietly, trust God, be patient, and look for wisdom about how to deal with a situation. Especially in relationships, we're often inclined to be impatient, try to fix things ourselves, and not give another person space and time to work through the matters. And there's times that we should not only sit tight, but also keep our mouth shut. Psalms 130 verse 5 says, I wait for the Lord, my soul doeth wait, and in his word do I hope. You see, on the other hand, sometimes we have a duty that we need to carry out, but we delay because of fear, laziness, or discouragement. And in those cases, the right thing to do is to get up and act After King Saul's failure, Samuel was distraught and idle. At last God said to Samuel, how long will thou mourn for Saul's sin? I have rejected him from reigning over Israel. Fill thy horn with oil. Oh man, listen, fill thy horn with oil. And he told him, he said, go and I will send thee to Jesse the Bethlehemite for I have provided me a king among his sons. I thank God that talks about that over in first Samuel chapter 16. As a result of that, David became king. And so, as I read verses 20 down to verse 22 a while ago, when Israel was in the wilderness, there were times that God had them sit. And there were times that God had them move. For the most part, they probably did not know why they had to sit and wait for three days or a month. but then at other times they had to move every day for a week or a month. God knew the condition of every person in the camp and he knew when there was dangers along the way. He knew what was before them and what was behind them and in a sufficient way to say that he had his reasons for having them move or not move and for them and for us the challenge is to be ready to move and act when God says to act and be ready to sit still when God says to sit still and I thank God each is right in its own time what we do not need to know I thank God What we do not need to know is why God directs one way or the other at any given time. Because we do not have a pillar of cloud or fire to direct us. Instead, the admonition to be faithful in prayer. Yeah, that prayer time, that directs you, yes. That worship, it directs you when you're in tune with God. That Bible reading, it directs you, yes, when you're in tune in a relationship with God, hallelujah. And so it serves us well when facing a crisis, when we want to know what we should do, it's not necessary. because God will respond telepathically to our prayers saying, you need to do this. You need to sit tight and you need to wait. But prayer and Bible reading as well as faithful attendance in Christian instruction gives us the spiritual resources that we need to navigate difficult problems. Do you hear me this morning? Huh? The Bible gives us principles. It builds our character. It enables us with discernment what is right and what is wrong. A prayer for life makes the soul healthy and also gives us sensitivity to the spirit's wonderful, gentle nudges. And when the time comes, we will know what to do, when to do it, how to do it, and with the strength and the plan and the purpose of how to do it. I thank God as we look and realize that what have I talked about? Well, first of all, I was trying to tell you, each and every one of you, that as we look at our lesson about Jehovah leads, that God leads his people according to his will and purposes, I've talked to you about the presence of Jehovah and God in fulfillment of his promise was traveling with his people. I've talked about how the practice of Jehovah neither doing something or waiting is always the right response and then we see now the principle of Jehovah because in Numbers chapter 9 verse 23 I thank God that here he begins to tell us a little bit more he says at the commandment of the Lord they rested in the tents and at the commandment of the Lord they journeyed they kept the charge of the Lord at the commandment of the Lord by the hand of Moses you see They set up camp. and broke camp in obedience to the commands which the Lord gave them through Moses. Moses was that leadership. And so the Israelites followed a simple principle, obey God. Moses was the intermediary or the mediator between God and the people, but the movement of the pillars of fire and cloud made it clear that God, not Moses, was in charge. And so when we look at the principle, We look at the principles of what was shown to us, because first of all, the wilderness sojourn illustrates the principle that God's leadership must be truly a work of God and not of man. God's leadership of Israel was direct and visible, unlike anything the nations experienced with their gods. Deuteronomy chapter 32 verse 12 says, of Israel in the wilderness, so the Lord alone did lead him, and there was no strange god with him. And for the nations, the only visible manifestation of their gods was their idols. These would be secreted within the temples, but occasionally brought out and paraded around the city to give the people visible proof that their gods were with them. But idols were only wood, brass, and stone. And they moved about only because the priests carried them. Somebody had to bring them out. They weren't like our God that's omnipresent and omniscient and all-knowing. They spoke only because the priests made pronouncements on their behalf. God's leadership of Israel, it was very, very unique. I thank God when we look and realize that as we see what Jehovah leads is all about. Here, as every one of us, the tabernacle held no idol, but it was a visible manifestation of God's presence. A pillar of fire or of cloud was in the middle of their camp. The Israelites could rightly proclaim that God was with them, and the great work of God dwelling among us is Jesus Christ, to whom Isaiah chapter seven, verse 14, gives the title Emmanuel, meaning God with us. Because John chapter 1 verse 14 says that, And the word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. And so I thank God, every one of us. God dwelt and attend among the Israelites. Jesus went about healing the sick, giving sight to the blind, even raising the dead, and he was among the people. He lived as they did. He taught them. He gave them the perfect example of a righteous life. Oh, I thank God. Hallelujah. The incarnation of Christ was the true revelation from God, and it was not of any whatsoever human origin. And so I thank God we look and we begin to realize that the wilderness sojourn illustrate the principle that God's leadership must be truly at work of God and not of man. But secondly, we see the wilderness sojourn illustrates the principle that a legitimate and righteous theocracy involves direct leadership by God, not leadership by a person who claims to speak for God because neither Moses nor Aaron had any control over when the pillar of cloud lifted, it was entirely a work of God. And they, like all other Israelites, were subject to God's direct commands. These directives from God were visible and impossible to fake. And everybody could see the pillar of cloud, and they could all see when it lifted. And so I thank God. Everybody practiced the rule by God. I thank God each and every one of us. These people were subject to what they saw. And I thank God, every one of us, when we realize that many churches and denominations today, Baptists included, have a congressional form of church leadership and they hold to the principle of solely the scriptures alone. and the local church power to govern the rest of the congregation. I believe that is exactly how that it ought to be scripturally. Amen. And so we too, as leaders, need to invest and claim that same leadership that we go forward. Because Paul had this to say about religious leaders. He says, for this sort are they which creep into houses and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with diver's lust, ever learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. We rightly show respect to leaders in the church and take their words seriously, but we must not surrender our souls to any man, no evangelist, no pastor, no deacon, no Sunday school teacher, no, uh-uh, no, not to any man. But indeed, a godly pastor, a church leader, will flee in horror from any hint that they should be put on a pedestal or treated as somebody that's infallible. Because we may not have a visible pillar of cloud to indicate when God is issuing a command, but each of us has a responsibility to distinguish human leadership, even sanctioned and legitimate leadership from the word of God. And so thirdly, the wilderness sojourn illustrates the principle that God does lead those who are doing his work. Because in numbers, the work of God was to get Israel from Egypt and slavery to the promised land and freedom. And today, the work of God involves drawing people from every nation into his kingdom. The book of Acts tells us of several turning points in the ministry of Paul. His missionary career, it began at Antioch. and they ministered to the Lord and fasted and the Holy Ghost said separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them and initially their work was confined to Asia or Asia Minor or Turkey but then God decisively changed their plans now when they had gone throughout Phrygia and the region of Galatia and were forbidden of the Holy Ghost to preach the word in Asia after they will come to Mysia. They assayed to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit suffered them not. And they, passing by Mysia, came down to Troas, and a vision appeared to Paul in the night. And there stood a man of Macedonia and prayed him saying, come over into Macedonia and help us. And this class is what brought Paul. This is what brought him to where he needed to be because his work came on that account. led by God, simply not following his own strategy. Christians, we engage in the work of missions and evangelism, and it must be sensitive to the prompting of God concerning where they should go and on whom they should focus their efforts. I'm gonna tell you, there ain't nothing that I'm more focused on than these times that we're in now. about doing evangelism and missions as well. And I'm gonna tell you, right now, more than anything else, of being a pastor. My number one agenda is about doing the Great Commission. And so I hope and pray that as we look at this and realize that all of us have a job to do. Now, as we've talked about Jehovah leads, and we've talked about how that all of us, we begin to get ready because God uses us. God, in the book of Numbers, is a preparation for a promise. He was getting them prepared for the promised land. Amen and today God in the book of Numbers even though it's an Old Testament is just as powerful is he's getting us ready for heaven He's getting us ready for eternity Hallelujah, if that ain't powerful praise God and so what have I talked to you about when I was mentioning to you in Numbers chapter 1 verses 1 through 10 We begin to talk about how we saw the presence of Jehovah and his fulfillment of his promise was traveling with the people. That they would be a fire by night and a cloud by day. And I thank God. Then we read Numbers chapter nine, verses 17 through 22. And we saw the practice of Jehovah, that he showed the people, neither doing something nor waiting is always the right response. You need to be obedient. And when God begins to give you the response, pick up and draw out the stakes of the tent and pack it up and let's travel and let's go to the next place because God is all about worship he's all about giving himself worship and then we read in Numbers chapter 9 verse 23 we saw the principle of Jehovah and that principle he said that it was all about that God's leadership was truly a work of God and not of man And that I thank God that here we begin to realize that the principle is that legitimate and righteous involves a direct leadership of God, not leadership by a person, amen, that claims to speak for God. And then I thank God that that leadership illustrates that principle that God does lead those who are doing his work because those that are in tune in prayer and the word of God and that are following in their close relationship are right in tune because they're seeing the pillar of fire by night and the cloud by day because that's exactly what our relationship with our prayer life is doing each and every day is born again men and women of God because here we see that that's exactly what we got to focus our attention on amen and so every one of us we realize that the direct attention uh to what god wants us to do each and every one of us as we go through life that he says i want you to be able to do this I want you to be able to do the right thing, amen, as I am doing the right thing. And it's all about us following that leadership, amen. And so thank God each and every one of us when we go through life of what he talked about, that he told us that it's all about the cloud of God's presence that hovered and settled and rested and dwelled among the tabernacle. and the hebrew word is uh... shaikhan or sakhan that's the hebrew word what is it it means shaikhan of glory the very glory of God dwelling in the midst of his people and it was the Shekinah glory that was the cloud that symbolized God's holy presence and it was the very cloud that had guided Israel out of Egypt and it was the rest upon the tabernacle as long as his people remained totally obedient to him and the Shekinah glory also rested above the mercy seat in the most holy place of the tabernacle, praise God, And the scripture describes the Shekinah glory of the Lord like a consuming fire and like a pillar of fire that radiates with light, praise His name, and like a fiery furnace, hallelujah, a light that radiates splendor, a light that is so full of splendor that Peter called it the excellent glory, hallelujah, in 2 Peter 1, verse 17. And it was a light that was so glorious and brilliant that there was no need, hallelujah, for the sun. Because I thank God, that's what Revelation 21 verse 11 and verse 23 tells us at the end of the book, hallelujah. That the glory of the Lord is a light so brilliant that no man can approach it, hallelujah. And 1 Timothy 6.16 that he talks about this, and praise God, that is exactly what we're talking about. Because when you take the Jehovah lead, how God leads his people according to his will and purpose, Preachers, pastors, that's how it ought to be every time you get in the pulpit. Sunday school teacher, that ought to be every time you get behind the lesson plan and begin to do it. Jehovah leads because it's according to his will and his purpose for all of our lives today. Father, I want to thank you for Jehovah leads. I want to thank you father that you have given us the wonderful blessing that we know that it is the presence of Jehovah that makes all the difference in the world for each and every one of our lives. Lord, you're the best father. I thank you because of that presence. Thank you for the practice of Jehovah. Thank you for the principle of Jehovah and Lord. I asked you that Lord that as we need you every day in our life, as we go before your mercy. and your mercies are new every morning when we wake up. Thank you that you're that faithful to love us unconditionally, to help us remember that because of your mercy and love, that all that I need and all that I can refuse to feel is because of the presence of the future, that you have taken away all of my sins and you've washed me whiter than snow. And so Father, as you told us, through the Lord's mercies, we're not consumed because your compassions fail not. And they're new every morning. Great is your faithfulness. In Jesus's marvelous mighty name.