Hobab's Answer - Moses' Appeal

Well, good evening and welcome to our service. Once again, it's good to be with you. I'm glad to see you all here in good time after I try to persuade you this morning at the close of the service to be here for 6pm.

But I'd forgotten that you were half past 6. At least it wasn't 7pm, which was, of course, the appointed time for the evening service, I believe, in decades past.

So, we are here to worship God and before we sing to the praise of God, let's read from Ephesians chapter 3 as our call to worship the Lord.

Ephesians 3 · chapter mention

Ephesians 3 verse 20, the Apostle Paul writes,

Ephesians 3:20

Amen.

Well, let's sing to the glory of God.

Let's raise our voices as we sing Psalm 47.

The Sing Psalms rendering of Psalm 47 on page 62.

The tune is Walton.

All nations, clap your hands and shout.

Let joyful cries to God ring out.

How awesome is the Lord most high, great King who rules the earth throughout.

Let's stand and sing to the praise of God.

All nations, clap your hands and shout.

All nations, clap your hands and shout.

Let joyful cries to God ring out.

How awesome is the Lord most high, great King who rules the earth throughout.

He has such good beneath our feet.

The nations who are freeing our cause.

When blessings, who are freeing our efforts, who are freeing our efforts, who are freeing our efforts, who are freeing our efforts, who are freeing our efforts, who are freeing our efforts, who are freeing our efforts, who are freeing our efforts, who are freeing our efforts, who are freeing our efforts, who are freeing our efforts, who are freeing our efforts, who are freeing our efforts, who are freeing our efforts, who are freeing our efforts, who are freeing our efforts, who are freeing our efforts, who are freeing our efforts, who are freeing our efforts, who are freeing our efforts, who are freeing our efforts, who are freeing our efforts, who are freeing our efforts, who are freeing our efforts, who are freeing our efforts, who are freeing our efforts, who are freeing our efforts, who are freeing our efforts, who are freeing our efforts, who are freeing our efforts, who are freeing our efforts, who

The trumpet sound

Sing praise, sing praise

To God, most high

To God, our King

Let his abound

For God is King

Of all the earth

Sing sounds of praise

To them alone

For whose the nations

Come on high

He sits upon this holy throne

The leaders of the nations

Come to yield themselves

To the heavens God

To him belong

The shields of earth

Exalted with the is the Lord

Let's draw near to God

Let's unite our hearts

In prayer

Our heavenly Father

Our great God and King

We praise you for your faithfulness

For your goodness and grace

We give thanks that you have

Brought us together

Together

Again

Under your word

And as we

Recognize its supreme authority

So we pray that we

Would live by it

Grant us to immerse ourselves

In it

And to see our need

Of turning the pages

Of scripture day by day

Being led

By the inspired word of God

In every aspect of our lives

We praise you for the blessings

Of the Lord's day

We thank you for this

The first day of the week

The Christian Sabbath

We praise you for the empty tomb

We give thanks for how the words

Of the Lord Jesus

Resonate with us

I am the resurrection

And the life

And so we gather in the name of

Our living exalted savior

The one who lives

And whoever lives

We praise you that he

He abolished death

And brought life

And immortality to light

Through the gospel

We thank you this evening

That in Jesus Christ

We have a great high priest

Like no other

We thank you that we have

In Jesus Christ

An advocate with the Father

A mediator

We have a glorious redeemer

And we praise you

Our Father in heaven

That we can draw near to you

Through the son of your love

Even in this moment

So anew we pray

That you would still our hearts

Take from us any distracting thoughts

So that nothing will hinder us

From worshipping you

The only living and true God

We pray that you would take from us

Any anxious thoughts

We might have

For your word exhorts us

To be anxious over nothing

But in everything by prayer

And supplication

With thanksgiving

To bring our requests

Before your throne of grace

And how we praise you

For the peace of God

Of which we read of

On the pages of Scripture

As it transcends all understanding

Safeguarding

Protecting

The fragility of our hearts and minds

Through Christ Jesus

Our Lord

Take from us anything

That might come between us and you

For we confess our sins

And we pray that you would forgive us

For our many wrongdoings

Even in this very moment

Our thoughts can wander

We drift

Keep us

We pray

Anchored now

To your word

And as we sing your praises

Enable us to

Fully engage

In this act

Of worship

May your spirit

Lead us

As we

Read your word

And engage with it

Anew this evening

Grant your blessing

On the ministry of the gospel

Here

Within

This congregation

We pray that

Your blessing

Would be

Upon

All that is

Undertaken

Said and done

In your name

From week to week

We pray for the

Encouragement

Of

Calamurdo Smith

And for

The congregation's

Interim moderator

Colin McLeod

May you bless

Pastors

And people

Alike

And may there be

A felt

Sense of

Oneness

And togetherness

During these

Days of

Vacancy

May you

Draw near

And may you

Grant

Much

By way

Of encouragement

To all

Who long

To reach out

With the good news

Of the gospel

Bless

Every

Endeavor

We praise you

For

The

Children

Present

This morning

And for those

Who are present

This evening

And for every

Provision

For

Them

For every

Means

Through which

They have

And are given

An exposure

To the good news

Of the gospel

All of which

Revolves around

Jesus Christ

And him

Crucified

And so now

We pray your

Blessing on every

Home and family

Belonging to

And associated

With the

Congregation

We pray

That you

Would remember

This town

And the

Island

And grant

That as

In times

Past

You would

Come

With

Power

From

The very

Throne room

Of heaven

Itself

As

In decades

Past

As in

Ages

Past

When there

Were

Eras

Of

Spiritual

Awakening

Come

We pray

With

Reviving

Power

Across

Our

Highlands

And

Islands

And so

Now

We look

To you

Our

Great

God

And

Father

You

Are

Infinite

Eternal

You

Are

Unchangeable

In

You

We

Live

We

Move

And

We

Have

Our

Very

Existence

And

It

Is

Your

Presence

We

Crave

And

Long

For

Now

Watch

Over

Us

Forgive

Us

And

You

For

All

Of

Our

Sins

For

All

We

Ask

Is

In

Christ's

Name

And

For

His

Sake

Amen

Now

We're

Going

To

Read

God's

Word

Together

The

First

Of

Two

Scripture

Readings

Our

First

Bible

Reading

Is

From

The

New

Testament

Scriptures

From

The

Gospel

Of

Matthew

Matthew 16 · chapter mention

Chapter

16

And

At

Verse

24

On

Page

991

Matthew

16

And

At

Verse

24

Then

Jesus

Told

His

Disciples

If

Anyone

Would

Come

After

Me

Let

Him

Deny

Himself

And

Take

Up

His

Cross

And

Follow

Me

For

Whoever

Would

Save

His

Life

Will

Lose

It

But

Whoever

Loses

His

Life

For

My

Sake

Will

Find

It

For

What

Will

It

Profit

A

Man

If

He

Gains

The

Whole

World

And

Forfeits

His

Life

Or

What

Shall

A

Man

Give

In

Return

For

His

Life

For

The

Son

Of

Man

Is

Going

To

Come

With

His

Angels

And

The

Glory

Of

His

Father

And

Then

He

Will

Repay

Each

Person

According

To

What

He

Has

Done

Truly

I

Say

To

You

There

Are

Some

Standing

Here

Who

Will

Not

Taste

Death

Until

They

See

The

Son

Of

Man

Coming

In

His

Kingdom

And

There

Follows

The

Account

Of

The

Transfiguration

Amen

Let's

Sing

To

God's

Praise

Psalm

73

The

Scottish

Psalter

Version

Of

Psalm

73

On

Page

351

We're

Going

To

Sing

On

Page

316

Rather

From

Verse

23

To

26

And

The

Tune

Is

Weatherby

Nevertheless

Continually

O

Lord

I

Am

With

The

Thou

Dost

Me

Hold

By

My

Right

Hand

And

Still

Upholdest

Me

And

So

On

To

The

Praise

Of

God

B

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

That I groan near to groan, in groan I trust, that all my efforts I may be fair unto groan.

Our next scripture reading.

takes us to the very passage we read this morning, Numbers chapter 10.

Numbers 10 · chapter mention

Now we're going to read from verse 29 to 36, but just by way of context for the benefit of those

of you who were not present this morning, let me just read from verse 11. In the second year,

in the second month, on the 20th day of the month, the cloud lifted from over the tabernacle of the

testimony, and the people of Israel set out by stages from the wilderness of Sinai.

And at verse 29, and Moses said to Hobab, the son of Reuel, the Midianite, Moses's father-in-law,

what we are setting out for the place of which the Lord said, I will give it to you. Come with us,

and we will do good to you. For the Lord has promised good to Israel, but he said to him,

I will not go. I will depart to my own land and to my kindred. And he said,

please do not leave us, for you know where we should camp in the wilderness,

and you will serve as eyes for us. And if you do go with us, whatever good the Lord will do to us,

the same will we do to you. So they set out from the mount of the Lord for three days' journey,

and the ark of the covenant of the Lord went before them for three days' journey

to seek out a resting place for them. And the cloud of the Lord was over them by day,

whenever they set out from the camp. And whenever the ark set out, Moses said, Arise, O Lord,

and let your enemies be scattered, and let those who hate you flee before you. And when it rested,

he said, Return, O Lord, to the ten thousand thousands of Israel. Amen.

And we know God will add his blessing to the reading of his own holy word.

We'll now sing to the praise of God the words of Psalm 51 from St. Sam's verses 1 to 12.

This great psalm of confession.

Oh, my God, have mercy on me. In your steadfast love, I pray. In your infinite compassion,

my transgressions wipe away. Cleanse me from iniquity. Wash my sin away from me.

Let's sing these words prayerfully to God's praise.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Oh, my God, have mercy on me. In your steadfast love, I pray.

For you, my God, have mercy on you. In your infinite compassion, my transgressions wipe away.

Cleanse me from iniquity. Wash my sin away from me.

For I know my own transgressions, I can see my sinful life.

You, you, only I've all been lived, and an evil in your sight.

So your words are verified, and your word is justified.

From my birth I have been sinful, such an angel I receive.

Sinful from my first beginning, in my mother's womb conceived.

Truth, dear, and fall in my heart, wisdom to me you impart.

Men's witness of purifying me, I'll be whiter than the snow.

Let the bones you crush be joyful, may I joy and gladness know.

From my failure I endure face, out of my wickedness.

Lord, create a pure heart in me, and a steadfast mind for you.

Do not take your spirit from me, cast me not away from you.

Carry back the joy I have, keep my willing spirit glad.

And the melody there, incidentally, was Ottawa, which I omitted to mention.

Well, turn with me, if you will, for a short time this evening to the passage we read together from the book of Numbers, chapter 10.

Numbers 10 · chapter mention

Numbers 10, the words of Moses to Hobab in verse 29,

Come with us, and we will do good to you.

For the Lord has promised good to Israel.

But he said to him, I will not go.

I will depart to my own land and to my kindred, and so on.

A man named Hobab.

Now, this morning we considered verse 29 under two headings.

Hobab asked, Hobab assured.

So just to recap, the Israelites, in verse 12 of this chapter, they set out in order to begin the conquest of Canaan.

We see them here, assembled, mobilized into orderly ranks with standards and banners lifted up.

It is destination Canaan.

They are good to go, and they are now looking forward to the first leg of their journey towards the promised land.

But our interest, as we highlighted this morning, is in the very personal element to this narrative.

It revolves around Hobab, Moses' Midianite brother-in-law.

He is asked here to join the people of Israel, to enroll, to sign up, to subscribe, to accompany them through the wilderness,

and play a crucial part, a meaningful part, in assisting Israel in navigating their way to Canaan.

But as we noted this morning, Hobab is not merely being called upon as a navigator, as a route finder, as a tracker.

There is so much more to this.

Moses' invitation goes much deeper.

This is a personal invitation with a powerful gospel dynamic to it.

Walk with us, Moses says.

Journey with us.

We will treat you well, should you do so.

In fact, you will share in our inheritance, in the inheritance of God's goodness.

And this is his assurance, should he come along.

It's compelling.

Multiple blessings await Hobab, a promised land flowing with milk and honey, a better country, better by far.

So the question we're going to address tonight is, how will Hobab respond?

Similar to this morning, two headings, we're going to look at Hobab's answer, and we conclude by looking at Moses' appeal.

So what are we to make of Hobab's answer to the invitation of Moses?

When I ministered in Barvis, I would sometimes watch very experienced surfers surf very large Atlantic waves just beyond the Barvis Macher.

It was not for the faint-hearted.

I was once invited by a local surfer to give it a go.

Come with us, he said.

I can't recall if he said, we will do you good.

But my response was, no.

I'm not doing it.

Go on, he said.

And I simply borrowed Hobab's reply to Moses, and I said firmly, no.

I will not go.

You see, Hobab declines Moses' invitation to associate himself with Israel here.

And it's a firm no.

In no uncertain terms, he makes it very clear to Moses that he is not prepared to sever his personal tie

with his own property and his own indigenous people.

He kind of digs his heels in, doesn't he?

When he says no, you get the impression that he means no.

As if to say, with all due respect, Moses, I'm not going.

No ambiguity.

No hesitation.

This appears to be a resolute no.

I will not go.

Now, three things hinder Hobab.

Note here, when he says, I will now depart to my own land and kindred,

it's clear that, yes, three things hinder him.

He's preoccupied with land, livestock, the two overlap, and loved ones.

Land, livestock, and loved ones.

That resonates with us, doesn't it?

We are a crofting community, essentially.

The land, livestock, and loved ones, all three, go deep.

You see, there is much to sacrifice here for Hobab.

And he's just not prepared to let go.

Because to follow, he must forsake.

So he resolves not to go.

He may be apprehensive, afraid about letting go,

because his attachment to the land is strong.

But Moses is saying,

there's a better land.

There's a better country.

Come with us.

But Hobab has duties.

He has responsibilities.

He has personal family ties.

He can't just walk away and leave everything behind.

He may also be concerned about his personal and professional reputation.

What will his Midianite family and community think of him?

Should he now associate himself with the people of Israel?

What will people say?

What will people think of me?

After all, the Midianites and the Israelites

had a frosty relationship.

It wasn't without friction.

So at best, they coexist at this time.

So it seems that the cost implications are just too great for Hobab here.

So I want to ask at this point,

if perhaps some of us here tonight

feel a measure of sympathy for Hobab.

Do you feel his pain?

Do his personal circumstances here reflect your own?

Perhaps for those of us who are Christians here tonight,

we can reflect on a time

when perhaps we were first challenged

with the invitation of the gospel.

That moment when we perhaps heard the words of Numbers 10 29.

And you too initially responded with a firm,

I will not go.

It's not happening.

You heard the gospel anthem of the church,

come with us.

We will do you good.

And yet you responded by saying,

no, I will not go.

Why not?

Well, perhaps if some of us are prepared to reflect,

maybe it had a lot to do with our attachments and ties at that time.

You see, there's much to walk away from

when you become a follower of Jesus Christ.

There's much to sever and to sacrifice.

What will my family and friends say?

You see, Numbers 10 reminds us of this great truth

that we see across the landscape of the four gospels

as Jesus calls his followers.

To follow, one must forsake.

And this is a recurring emphasis on the pages of the Bible.

It's no different here.

Hobab is being invited to walk by faith.

What is faith in Jesus Christ?

Look at that word and break it down into five elements.

F-A-I-T-H.

You've probably heard it before, but we'll say it again.

Forsaking all.

I trust him.

This is what is being asked of Hobab.

How will Hobab respond?

When you're reading through Matthew's gospel,

we read a little from Matthew's gospel tonight from chapter 16.

We'll come back to a number of key reference points there in a moment.

But if you begin in Matthew chapter 4,

Matthew 4 · chapter mention

as Jesus commences his ministry,

he calls, in the first instance, Peter and Andrew,

just as they're casting their nets on the Sea of Galilee.

Come, follow me, Jesus says to them.

To follow Jesus,

they must forsake their ties to the Sea of Galilee.

And that attachment is strong.

They are fishermen.

And they did.

At once, Matthew tells us,

indeed, with immediate effect,

they left their nets and followed Jesus.

But let's go from the positive to the negative.

Because when we come to Matthew chapter 19,

Matthew 19 · chapter mention

we realize that this is not always the case.

There's a Hobab in the mix.

In the form of a self-righteous, rich, young ruler

who struggles to forsake his ties to an affluent lifestyle

in order to follow Jesus.

Come, follow me,

Jesus says to this rich young man.

But Matthew tells us

that he went away sad

because he had great wealth.

He does a Hobab.

He says to Jesus,

No,

I will not go.

You see,

Christian discipleship is best summed up

in the words of the Lord Jesus

in the passage we read from Matthew chapter 16,

Matthew 16:24

verse 24.

Whoever wants to be my disciple

must deny themselves,

take up the cross,

and follow me.

Now,

it's fair to say,

is it not,

that Hobab

seems to have an issue

with self-denial.

And it's something

that you and I

often struggle with

if we're honest with ourselves.

There was once

a preacher,

an author,

his name was Henry Drummond,

and he said this,

The entrance fee

into the kingdom of heaven

is nothing,

but the annual subscription

is everything.

And this is where we see Hobab.

Moses is saying to him,

Hobab,

there is so much to gain.

Hobab is saying to Moses,

Ah,

but there's everything to lose,

is there not?

This is Hobab's challenge,

and perhaps it's yours tonight.

So let's move on.

Let's come to Moses' appeal.

Because this really takes us

to the nitty-gritty

of what is unfolding.

Credit to Moses

in verse 31.

You will notice that he is not one

for taking no for an answer.

What are we to make

of his appeal

in verse 31?

What does he say to Hobab?

Hobab,

please do not leave us,

for you know

where we should camp

in the wilderness,

and you will serve

as eyes for us.

Please, Hobab,

I beg you,

don't abandon us

at this critical juncture.

He pleads with him

not to walk away,

not to depart,

not to detach himself,

not to go back.

There's something

distinctly missional

about Moses

in this instance,

isn't there?

You see,

missional outreach

is reaching out

to someone

with the gospel.

It's as simple as that,

and we see it here.

Moses leads by example

here in Numbers 10.31.

Notice how he reaches out

to Hobab,

and his appeal,

as we've just read,

it's personal,

but it's incredibly persuasive.

Notice, too,

that it's intentional,

it's purposeful,

and it is passionate.

This is one-to-one evangelism

at its very best,

and no,

we're not on the pages

of the New Testament.

This is Numbers chapter 10,

Numbers 10 · chapter mention

and it's bulging

with the gospel,

isn't it?

Notice, too,

that Moses,

here in verse 31,

calls Hobab

to serve.

Now, this is crucial

to our understanding

of Christian discipleship

throughout the Bible.

The Lord Jesus himself

sets the sacrificial bar

of service.

The Son of Man,

he says,

came not to be served,

but to serve,

and to give his life

as a ransom for many.

Now, when you think of Hobab,

it's important for us

to think of someone

who is distinguished.

He's a prominent figure

in the Midianite community.

He's a man of standing,

and yet,

his commission

is to serve.

Service,

not status.

No platform,

no pedestal,

no superiority,

no standing,

no pomp,

no ceremony.

Hobab's,

Moses' appeal

to Hobab

is

to serve.

And that word

in this verse

really is important.

You see,

a servant,

generally speaking

throughout the Scriptures,

is by definition

devoted

to another

to the disregard

of his own interests.

It's the vocabulary

of slavery.

And who is the ultimate

bond-servant

in the narrative here?

It is, of course,

Moses,

the servant

of God himself.

Moses is the one

addressing Hobab

to serve.

Moses is indeed

one who is owned

and dedicated

to serve

his Lord

and his Master,

the Holy One

of Israel.

Now,

it's important

for us

to recognize

the importance

of this little

but significant

word,

serve.

You will serve

as eyes

for us.

Because,

you see,

this kind

of vocabulary

really goes

against the grain

of contemporary

thinking these days,

doesn't it?

A self-orientated,

self-focused,

self-centered,

self-elevating,

21st century

take on life.

Shameless,

self-promotion

dominates just about

every social media

platform these days.

it's at the core

of our individualistic

culture where there's

a constant striving

for self-fulfillment.

And yet,

when you turn

the pages of

Matthew,

Mark,

Luke,

and John,

what is it

that strikes you

immediately?

Serving Jesus Christ

is central

to the gospel

narratives.

You see,

discipleship begins

as it does

in Matthew chapter 4.

Matthew 4 · chapter mention

We referenced it earlier.

It begins with

follow me

and continues

with the same

discipleship

dynamic

throughout.

Follow me,

serve me,

live for me

from the beginning

of your Christian life

to the very end.

It struck me

recently

reading

Paul's letter

to Titus.

Paul is an old man.

The sun

is setting

fast

over

his days.

It's now

65 AD.

He writes

to Titus,

the great

apostle Paul.

And he begins

this letter,

yes,

in the evening

of his years.

Paul,

a servant

of God

and

an apostle

of Jesus Christ.

As we read

this narrative

tonight,

I want us

to ask ourselves

soul-searching

questions.

What,

who

are we

living for?

What is

your great

goal in life?

is it

self-gratification

or self-denial?

Is it

higher status

or higher

service?

Hobab,

Moses says,

you know

where we should

camp in the wilderness

and you can

serve

as our

eyes.

Notice

something else

that Moses

does.

focus on

and

he focuses

on Hobab's

knowledge

and awareness

and experience

all of which

makes him a

resourceful and

effective person

to have.

In other words,

his gifts

can be put

to good use

within the

fellowship

of Israel.

Service

and gifts

overlap

in the

Christian

life

and both

are to

be

not for

our

benefit

but for

the glory

of God.

You see,

Hobab can

input

and assist

as few

can.

That's the

point here.

He can

act as

the very

eyes of

Israel

and play

an active

part in

this journey.

So what is

Moses saying

to him?

Well,

again,

come,

not as a

passenger,

but come

as an

active

participant,

Hobab.

Again,

this is

vital

to our

understanding

of discipleship

as we

read this

narrative in

Numbers 10

in parallel

with the

Gospels of

Matthew,

Mark,

Luke,

and John.

You see,

the kingdom

always requires

of you and

I a

hands-on

approach.

Folded

hands are

of no

use in

the kingdom.

Proactive,

not inactive.

Doing,

not dithering.

Hands to

the plow,

no looking

back.

And so

Hobab is

given every

encouragement

by Moses

here to

enroll,

to sign

up,

and to

accompany

Moses and

the people

of Israel

through this

wilderness

journey ahead

and play

a strategic,

meaningful,

vital,

key part

in assisting

Moses and

the people

of Israel

and to

give of

his insight

and knowledge

and experience

to the

glory of

God.

God.

But let me

just say

what I

said this

morning

very briefly.

Moses'

appeal

goes

so much

deeper

than just

having

Hobab

on board

as someone

who would

be useful

to have.

As we

said,

this points

us firmly

to a

very powerful

moving

gospel

invitation.

You see,

Hobab is

personally

asked to

step

forward,

to come

forward,

and associate

himself now

with God's

people,

to follow

the ark

of the

covenant,

to follow

the pillar

of cloud,

to follow

not just

the people

of God

but the

Lord God

himself.

And he's

assured here

too that

God has

a purpose,

for him.

Listen to

what Moses

says in

verse 32,

Hobab,

should you

come,

and can

you hear

the decibels

rising in

Moses'

voice?

Hobab,

should you

come with

us,

then you

too will

be a

recipient

of blessing

as much

as every

other

Israelite

you see

around you

here.

You will

not be

excluded

should you

come

with us.

We will

treat you

well.

Indeed,

you will

be grafted

in,

you will

be adopted

into the

family of

God,

Hobab.

What's

ours will

be yours,

the same

inheritance,

no less.

That's what

Moses is

saying in

verse 32,

just as

that little

word serve

is so

significant

in verse

31,

the word

same carries

tremendous

weight in

verse 32.

Now isn't

Moses a

great evangelist?

He's

persistent,

isn't he?

He reaches

out to

Hobab

once again,

and with

urgency he

makes his

appeal to

him to

commit once

and for

all.

You see,

the Israelites,

well,

they're good

to go.

They're

ready to

depart.

They await

the signal

from Moses,

but Moses

will not

lift his

hand until

he's finished

with Hobab,

and he's

not finished

with him

yet.

This

incident,

again,

I say it,

it's bulging

with the

gospel,

isn't it?

You see,

this call,

this appeal

to Hobab

to take

to the

path of

discipleship

is powerful,

but it's

also

ponyant.

There's

an urgency

to this.

There's

tension

in the

air.

Why?

Because it's

like standing

in the

last chance

saloon.

The clock

is ticking.

It's time

to go,

and there

is no

more time

to lose.

This is

it.

Decision

time,

Hobab.

Now,

can I

stop there

and ask

as we

read this,

if you

have not

as yet

resolved

to trust

in Jesus

Christ,

will you

resolve

to do

that now?

Will you

resolve

to live

for Jesus?

Will you

resolve

to sever

any ties

you have

tonight

that might

be holding

you back

from trusting

in the

Lord Jesus

Christ

as your

personal

savior?

Will you

come into

the fellowship

of the gospel

with God's

people?

Will you

say,

the world

behind me,

the cross

before me,

no turning

back?

Because when

all is said

and done,

there remains

one important

question.

Who asks

that question?

It is,

of course,

the Lord

Jesus

himself.

The question

that is put

in the passage

we read

from Matthew

Matthew 16:26

16,

verse 26,

6,

what will

it profit

a man

if he gains

the whole

world

and forfeits

his own

soul?

We can

paraphrase

that ever

so slightly

because in

this verse

that I've

quoted from

Matthew

16,

26,

Jesus

turns the

word

good

in Numbers

10,

29

on its

head.

As if

to say,

what good

will it

be for

someone to

gain the

whole world

yet forfeit

their soul?

Does that

paint a

picture of

you tonight?

It certainly

paints a

picture of

Hobab.

So,

to be

or not

to be?

That is

the question.

What did

Hobab do?

How did

he respond?

What is

the outcome?

Well,

let's look

at verse

33

because it

sheds

some light

on how

all of

this

concludes.

So,

they

set out

from the

mountain

of the

Lord.

The

ark of

the

covenant

of the

Lord

went

before

them

to

seek

out

a

resting

place

for

them.

The

cloud

of the

Lord

was

over

them

when

they

set

out

from

the

camp.

What

is so

significant

about the

pronouns

we come

across

from verse

33?

Well,

do the

pronouns

they

and them

not include

Hobab?

Well,

I'm

persuaded

that all

five

pronouns

do

just that.

he

has

come

forward.

He's

in.

He

has

taken

that

next

step.

He's

in the

fellowship

of

Israel.

Had

he

not,

then

surely

the

passage

would

have

spelt

this

out

for

us.

If

there

had

been

a

parting

of

the

ways

at

this

decisive

point,

then

this

would

in

all

probability

be

highlighted.

But we

mustn't

stop

there

because

we need

to go

beyond

the

law

of

probability,

don't

we?

And the

Bible

does.

There

are

two

further

references

to

Hobab,

or at

least

Hobab

is being

alluded

to.

So if

you've

got your

Bible

in front

of you,

just

turn,

if you

will,

a few

books

forward

to

the

book

of

Judges.

Judges

Judges 1:16

chapter

1

verse

16.

Now,

we're

turning

to the

book

of

Judges

because

the

book

of

Judges

provides

more

compelling

evidence

to

support

our

conclusion.

Judges

1

16,

as I

said a

moment

ago,

alludes

to

Hobab.

Let's

just get

a handle

on the

historical

context.

We are

in the

realm

of the

ongoing

conquest

of

Canaan,

so we're

some

40 to

60

years

on

from

the

events

that are

unfolding

in

Numbers

10

at

Mount

Sinai.

What

do we

read

in

verse

16?

And

the

descendants

of

the

Canaanite,

Moses'

father-in-law,

went up

with the

people of

Judah

from the

city of

Palms

into the

wilderness

of

Judah.

Now,

this

speaks

of

Hobab's

kindred,

of

Hobab's

people.

The

Canaanites

were a

subgroup

of the

Midianites.

And

this would

strongly

suggest

that

his

whole

family

have

followed

in

his

footsteps.

But

we're

not

done

yet.

There's

one

further

reference

and

you

only

have

to

turn

a

page

or

two.

We

come

to

chapter

4

verse

11

and

you

will

see

there

that

Hobab

is

actually

mentioned.

You

will

notice

that

more

specifically

it

refers

to

the

descendants

of

Hobab

Moses'

brother

in

law.

Now

Heber,

the

Canaanites,

had

separated

from the

Canaanites

the

descendants

of

Hobab,

the

father-in-law

of Moses

and so

on.

Now,

again,

this is

years

later.

Here we

are

in

Canaan

during the

leadership

of the

judge,

prophet,

and

mother in

Israel,

Deborah.

Two very

significant

reference

points,

all of

which take

us back

to Numbers

Numbers 10 · chapter mention

chapter 10.

So,

had

Hobab

not

followed

and his

line and

his people,

his

immediate

and extended

family,

then

he would

not be

mentioned.

So,

we conclude

that Hobab

indeed,