Where We've Been

Good morning everybody. Man, it is a joy to be

here this morning with you. I've got my two daughters,

Gemma and Savannah alongside this morning, and my wife Aaron,

who some of you know, and our son Malachi are

back home at Redemption. They have worked for Christ's responsibilities there,

but they send their love and their greeting and their

welcome to y'all. So it's a joy to be with

you and to be in God's Word this morning with you,

and we feel just a special Oh how do I

say this? We are just so grateful for y'all. Some

of you have been around for a while and know

us and and all that. Some of you are new,

but you should know that your Pastor Josh, and the

elders and the staff and this church have just meant

so much to me personally, to my family and to

our church as well. Like I can confidently say that

obviously it's the Lord's doing. Apart from the influence of

Josh and Trees and many others here in this church,

Redemption would not be where it is and who we

are apart from you all. And so we love the connectivity,

We love the partnership, and how that's even continuing on

as we look to plant more churches and raise up

other leaders through our collective efforts and the church leader

multiplier man. We are in a new, very fun season.

So all that to say, we're thrilled to be here

with you this morning in God's Word. So turn there

into numbers thirty three if you are not already there,

and as you're looking to it, let me also just

continue to give you a little backstory about myself because

recently in the Cushman family, at least in the extended

Cushman family, a new era has begun. For after forty

eight years at the Helm, my parents have recently sold

Cushman's Greenhouse, the family business. They started it with my

grandparents in nineteen seventy seven. And you probably haven't heard

of it because it's in southwest Wisconsin where I grew up.

But for forty eight years this has been a place,

you know, providing beauty through betting plants and vegetables and

other things to many many years. And now that it

has sold, a new era has begun in my extended family.

And you know, in those moments you get kind of reflective.

At least I do, maybe you don't, but I've been

reflecting on its influence in my life, and not merely

how God used it to be the source of my

livelihood as a child and from my family all these decades,

but really how God has used it to grow me

along the way, and many of the values and the

things that have shaped me along the way of valuing

quality over quantity, and hard work and personal responsibility, and

how the Lord has taught me how to work with

other people and how to serve in a humble way.

It's just a new era. And maybe even for you

in the house this morning, are on the brink of

a new season. Things are happening in your life, and

you're gearing up for like maybe marriage or parenthood, or

the seniors are gearing up for a new season in

adulthood and college life. And maybe you're beyond that, and

now you're preparing for an empty nest because all of

your kids have grown and gone. Or now you're in

a new place at work, new promotion, or even retirement

is on the horizon. But I say all of these

things to bring you also to where we find ourselves

in the Book of Numbers. The people of Israel are

on the brink of a new era in their own life,

the original generation that some forty years prior had been

released from their Egyptian slavery under the brutal conditions that

were there, and God miraculously would set them free through

those great and grievous judgments that we know as the

Ten Plagues, and then He would provide for them throughout

the wilderness wanderings. And they would sin grievously themselves, and

you know, God would be so so patient to provide

for them even as they would fear, as they would

fear the known obstacles in life of armies and giants

in the land, and fearing the unknowns of what awaits

them as they take God at his word. And even

though that original generation now has died off, they have

reaped the consequences for their sinfulness an entire generation. But

that didn't mean God went back on his word. He

would remain committed to being faithful to his We're to

this next generation, to those that really have only known

the wilderness in their whole life, who now are on

the brink, like I said, of a new era. They

can literally see before them the promised land across the

Jordan River, from where they encamp in the plains of

Moab across from Jericho. But before they move into a

new land, they must first reckon with their past where

they have been. And so we come to numbers thirty three,

and I'll just be straight with you, right from the Gecko,

it's kind of an unusual passage of scripture, right, as

Nate joked here, we get to passages like these and

are like yearly Bible reading. And what do we typically do,

like you can real talk. We're amongst family here, right, Yeah,

we just like fast forward and we get to all

these names that I'm going to stumble my way through

and try to pronounce for us as we read it.

But we just kind of get to it and we

move on to the next chapter. And yet I want

us to just pause this morning and to do the

hard work of under standing, Okay, God, what is it

that you are doing here and what is it that

you want for us today? Because when we take the

time to mine passages like this, oh, y'all, treasure awaits us.

Treasure awaits us, and so it reads like a travel itinery.

We're going to kind of take the text as we

go instead of, like you know, our normal method of

reading the text and then commenting on it and preaching it.

But we're just going to take the journey as it

unfolds before us this morning. And so let's read the

opening two verses, verses one and two, and then we'll

continue our way through it. And you'll see what I

mean by these things. Come to God's Word now with me.

Numbers thirty three, one and two. These are the stages

of the people of Israel when they went out of

the land of Egypt by their companies under the leadership

of Moses and Aaron. Moses wrote down their starting places,

stage by stage, by command of the Lord, and these

are their stages according to their starting place. Now this

begins God's Word for God's people this morning. But I

want to stop here and kind of chart the journey

before us in this chapter. What we're going to encounter

as we go here are forty total campsites, plus a

starting place called Ramses in an ending place where they

are now in the plains of Moab. And as we go,

there's a few other things that are important to know.

There are sites that we know from the previous scriptures

that Israel camps at that don't get listed here. Okay,

if you just go to like even numbers twenty one

in the most recent history of where they've been, the

campsites and the cities that are recorded there aren't actually

listed in here curiously enough. Secondly, there are sites listed

in this chapter that are only mentioned here that don't

get any commentary or any mention in the previous travels.

They are only here. And lastly, you should know this,

any of these names in these places are mysterious to us.

Now we can only guesstimate us to really there a

general location. We don't know things like onyx, the app

there that US hunters love to use, like there's no

dropping pins in this valley, or anything that didn't exist

back then. The names are listed, but now several thousand

years later, we only kind of generally know where they are.

So why do I say all this? What does this

tell us here? Well, let me just say this. As

we go through this, it tells us that God's intention

for including this chapter here is not so much just

to lay out like a travel log. It's not a

vacation diary. But there's something much bigger than just like

an old map with clues to buried treasure. But when

we pause to reflect even why this chapter is included

not only in the scriptures, but in the place where

it is in the unfolding narrative of the Pentateuke, of

the earliest books of our Bible. We begin to see this,

and I want you to write it down here because

it's really the central point that before moving forward, you

must reckon with where you've been. And that's really extracted

the air from verses one and two. But also, like

I said, from the context here of where this fits

in the scripture, these people are literally about to move

into the promise land like they're days away, moments away,

and God would command Moses to stop and to write

these things down to teach them something before moving forward,

we must reckon with where we've been. By reckoning, I

really mean this, I mean that we intentionally look to

where God has been at work through things like where

can we see his providence, his strategic working in our

life for the fulfillment of his promises? Where can we

see God's provision in our moments of need? And where

can we see his presence, his nearness, his glory on display.

But let's be real for just a moment here, when

it comes to our past. What are our tendencies as

people just men and women, when when we think about

our past, we probably have one of two extremes, right,

and see if you can identify with any of these.

When when we're thinking about where we've been in our past,

oftentimes we just like ignore it all together or we

run from it, don't we. It's like, yeah, that's old me.

I don't even want to think about it. I'm not

going to talk about it. I got to I'm definitely

not going to bring it up a small group with

these people. But you know, like we can be on

that side, or we can also stay stuck in it, right,

we let our lives be defined by it. We live

like Uncle Rico and Napoleon Dynamite, you know, just where

we can't get beyond the our teenage athletic prowess. Right,

maybe maybe not, but we can stay stuck in it

and defined by it. Right, both in our achievements or

our perceived achievements, or even in our failures. Are hurt

or things that have pained us, and we can stay

stuck here. And yet the Lord doesn't necessarily want us

in either of these places. And so before we even

proceed into the text any further, Can I just impress

this upon you this morning, Crossway, that the only event

of the past that defines us is the life, death,

and resurrection of Jesus. The only thing that we stay

stuck in and that we stay defined by, is what

Jesus did for us, his life that was lived in

our place. He living the life that we were supposed

to live and didn't, and dying the death that we

deserve to die and didn't, so that we could live

and live eternally with him. Because of what Jesus did,

that's the good news, that's the gospel. And so when

we look back, we as Christians, as we want to

walk ahead with Christ, we look to what Christ has done,

and then the good news of that becomes the lens,

becomes the filter with which we look then at anything

else that God has sovereignly allowed in our lives. It

is the gospel, the good news that if we're going

to have life today, then what Christ has done is

what then propels us forward in walking with Christ. And

in much the same way for Israel, then this next generation,

if they were to faithfully carry out the commands of

God given to them, and as this chapter ends, they'll

have a very specific and gnarly command from the Lord.

But if they were to faithfully carry that out with

any kind of confidence, they needed to remember where they've

been and most importantly, what God had done at every stop.

For if you go and you consider all of Exodus,

Leviticus and even numbers every stage of the four forty

years of wandering, who has been with Israel at every step,

every season, every stop, and in every stage mine? Talk

to me like that's that's a softball, Like just hit down.

Talk to me, who has been with them at every stage? Y'all?

The Lord has been with them? Like write that, write

that down. Before moving forward, we must reckon with where

we've been. And the second is like the Lord then

has been with you and them in every stage. If

you believe that, look at your neighbor and tell them,

I believe the Lord has been with me in every stage.

Tell them, tell them, Okay, I pray that you do

believe it. And if you don't, let's let's journey through

the text now, and you're you're gonna begin to see

where the Lord has been in the different stages that

God is directing Moses here to point out and so

we're gonna read through some of these names. I'm gonna

stumble my way through, so you know, show me some grace,

show me some love. But then there are some details

that get dropped in here that are meant to alert

us by the Holy spiritism important things, and so we'll

have them here on the screen where the Lord was

with them. But let's jump to the text we left

off in verse two, and let's just kind of journey

through these names in verse picking up in verse three. Now,

they set out from Ramses in the first month. On

the fifteenth day of the first month, on the day

after the Passover, the people of Israel went out triumphantly

in the sight of all the Egyptians, while the Egyptians

were burying all their firstborn, whom the Lord had struck

down among them on their gods. Also, the Lord executed

judgments right from the get go. Y'all, they want to

remember that the Lord was with them at their salvation.

At their salvation, the Lord was with them. He was

the one who set them free from their Egyptian slavery.

He was the one who led them out triumphantly. It

was the Lord who was there that struck down all

the mighty gods of Egypt, and executed the judgments of

God on them. And in much the same way, in

much the same way, God was with you there when

you were saved. He was obviously Christ, as the son

of God was there at the cross. But as that

was applied to you and you repented and believed there,

it was God at work in your heart, in your mind,

the scales falling from your eyes as you beheld the

travesty of your sin and the beauty of Christ to

save you. It was the Lord at work, executing judgment

on the idols of your heart and showing you a

good and better way. The Lord was with him from

the beginning, at their rescue, at their salvation, but even

as they then set out in faith with the Lord.

Pick it up in verse five. So the people of

Israel set out from Ramses and camped at Sucath. And

they set out from Sucath and camped at Ethan, which

is on the edge of the wilderness. And they set

out from Ethan and turned back to pik haharathich is

east of bal Zafon. And they camped before Migdahl. And

they set out from before Haharath and passed through the

midst of the sea into the wilderness, and they won

a three days journey in the wilderness of Ethim and

camped at Mara. And they set out from Mara and

camped at Elim. And Elim there were twelve springs of

water and seventy palm trees, and they camped there. Now

is what is he drawing to our attention that the

Lord was with them in the good times, in the

in the good times. Now, mind you, there's it's estimated

that there was like two to three million Israelites here

journeying through men, women and children at this time. And

as they were wandering through the wilderness, they come to

this place where what is abundant water and some shade? Right,

water and some and here's this reminder, hey, as they

set off following the Lord God was there when the

water is abundant, and they had very few cares, when

His provision was evident and comfortable for them and for

some of us today, this may describe your life now.

Like business is good, it's profitable, you students' kids, you

live in your home and life is pretty good. Right,

you have things great for you. And you know if

this is the season of your life. Praise God for

this right. Praise God for his goodness, for his closeness,

his nearness when the water is plenty and the shade

is cool. But he's no less with them as they

continue on in their journey. Pick it up in verse ten.

And they set out from Elim and camped by the

Red Sea. And they set out from the Red Sea

and camped in the wilderness of Sin. No, even that name,

just like side notes, not like talking about because they

sind there. It's just the unfortunate name of this wilderness.

First of Aelve. And they set out from the wilderness

of Sin and camped at Dafkah. And they set out

from doffkaon camped at Alush. And they set out from

Alush and camped at Refedim, where there was no water

for the people to drink. Now, what does that detail

stand in contrast to the springs in the trees? Right,

alerting us to the fact here that hey, the Lord

was with you even in the trials, in the hard

times when there was no water. The Lord was with

them when the water was abundant, and when his provision

was obvious. He was no less with them when his

provision was seemingly scarce, where in the moment it was

difficult to see where God was at work. Have you

ever been in a moment like this, these trials where

you wonder things are hard, Life is pressing in your

thirsty maybe literally thirsty or thirsty of soul, and you're

just asking God, where are you? And there he is?

And sometimes you have to walk your way through it

to then turn around to see where you've been. And

then God's nearness and his provision become more obvious as

you look to see, Oh, God, you put me in

this church family, and not only in this family, but

you put these people in my life, in this family,

who maybe a decade before, had walked through something similar,

and so now they were able to comfort me in

my affliction out of their affliction. Thank you God. Or

you begin to see His provision through the challenges here

to where you can then be thankful for the circumstances

that God had connected them to, and they needed to

remember this. The Lord was with them in their salvation,

in the good times and in the trials where He

would take care of them. He would take care of

them as they continue on in the journey. The biggest

portion here to pick it up in verse fifteen. And

they set out from Refidiem and camped in the wilderness

of Sinai. And they set out from the wilderness of

Sinai and camped at Kibroth Hattava. And they set out

from Kidbroth Hattava and camped at Hasrath. And they set

out from Hawsarath and camped at Rythma. And they set

out from Rythma and camped at remen Perez. And they

set out from remen Perez and camped at Libna. And

they set out from Libna and camped at Rissa. And

they set out from Rissa and camped at Khila. That's

a tongue twister Khilath. As Scott Graham, he could probably

tell you how it'spris. And they set out from Kilhalatha

and camp to Mount Scheffer. And they set out for

Mount Scheffer and camp to Harada. And they set out

from Herada and camped at Makhalath. And they set out

from Mahalath and camped at Tahath. And they set out

from Tahath and camped at Tara. And they set out

from Tara and camped to Mikah and they set out

from Mikah and camped at Hashmona. And they set out

from Jushmona and camped to Mazarath. And they set out

from Mazarath and camped at Bene Ja Khan. And they

set out from ben At Jakhan and camped at jr Haagdad.

And they set out from jej Haagadad and camped at Japbathah.

And they set out from Japbatha and camped a Brona.

And they set out from a Brona and camped to

Ezion Geber. And they set out from Ezion Geber and

camped in the wilderness of Zin, that is Kaydish. And

they set out from Kidish and camped at Mount Horror,

on the edge of the land of Eden. And Aaron

the Priest went up Mount Horror at the command of

the Lord and died there in the fortieth year, after

the people of Israel had come out of the land

of Egypt on the first day of the fifth month.

And Aaron was one hundred and twenty three years old

when he died on Mount Horror. Now this covers a

large span, y'all, from their time at Sainai to Aaron's

death on Mount Horror as a means to remind them

that the Lord was with them in times of change,

in times of change, and this is the biggest bulk

of their of their travels. And really in the it's

it's kind of from the original generation. It covers to

the transition then to the next generation, the younger generation

that would actually enter into the Promised Land. And notice

how it then culminates here without any reference to Aaron's

sin in the same way in the Times of Trials,

it just says, you know, and there's no water. And

those are the moments when Israel had complained and tried

to go back to Egypt. They're like, we don't like

it here, there's no water. We want to go back

into our slavery. And they complain, and they even try

to uprise against Moses and the leadership, and even Aaron

here would it's there's no mention of his sin and

how we led the people at the you know, the

Golden Calf incident, or in his and Miriams their own

attempt to usurp Moses back in numbers twelve. But just

this fact here that even to the end of his days,

at his death. He obeyed the command of the Lord.

He just went up. He obeyed to the end, and

went up onto the mountain to die, hearkening our minds

even as we stand where we do now to Christ,

who to obey to the point of death. Philippians too

would tell us that Jesus would become obedient unto death,

even death on a cross. And here through times of change,

to the very end of his days. The Lord was

with Israel and Aarin through all these moments. And we too,

much of our life is through change, just changing seasons,

though we here in Central Texas have only really like

hot and hotter and hottest. But change happens all the

time around us, doesn't it. Changes happen at work, we

get new responsibilities, we get promotions. Sometimes they're good, sometimes

they're bad. There are changes that happen here in the church,

in our small group. There's changes in leadership and our life.

The school years change. We have different teachers and new

subjects and new things that the Lord puts before us.

And who is with us in every moment of change

crossway Lord, the Lord is with us through the change.

We have only to keep obeying his commandments to the end.

Of that season and definitely to the end of our life,

even if we are feeling unsettled or uncertain or any

of the you know, the angs that comes with the

unknowns or the knowns of faith. For it is in

times of change and when we choose to follow the

Lord and take him at his word that in it's

in these moments where timt increases, where faith often gets tested.

Look here at verse forty in this very interesting little mention.

Here in the Canaanite, the king of a Rod, who

lived in the Negeb, in the land of Canaan, heard

of the coming of the people of Israel. And here's

how I say. The Lord is with him, and he's

reminding Israel here and us now as we're taking in

God's word this morning, that the Lord is with us

in times of temptation, in times of testing. And it's

a fascinating little note here. The Negev is the southern

part of Israel. If you've ever been there, it's you know,

it's actually quite fascinating because the southern Israel looks a

lot like the Texas Hill country if you go there.

I went. I visited Israel back in two thousand and seven,

and then moved here to Texas in two thousand and eight,

and it was almost like, wait, they are very similar.

It's very arid, rocky soil, hardly in the top soil,

short trees and all that, and it looks but that's

the Negev and just kind of like in general, the

topography and geography of Israel. The northern part references Galilee,

the central section there as the day in wilderness. It's

more hilly, that's what Jerusalem is. And then the southern

part the Negev is just very arid, and you know,

and like the Texas hill country. Right. But here this king,

the Canaanites, who they are coming, We're going to see

this as number thirty three ends here, we're just alerted

that they know they're coming. The Canaanites know that Israel

is coming. That what God had said would happened back

in Exodus as he carried out those great and grievous judgments,

says the mightier, the supposedly mighty gods of Egypt were

struck down by the God of Israel, by Yahweh, and

this formidable army was rendered, you know, gone in the

Red Sea. Now that was meant that the reputation would

proceed Israel as they would wander, that they would know, Oh,

the Lord Yahweh is with these people, do not mess

with them. And that had been happening as you read

through the Pentateuch, you know that that is happening, and

we know that this is no self attack, that this

king knows that they are coming and coming for their land.

And it's an interesting little note but again to you know,

to remind us, like in a spiritual sense, when we

choose to follow the Lord and we get active in

our faith, the enemy takes note of that as well.

For the enemy has no you know, worries about lazy,

apathetic believers, just kind of sitting over here, not doing anything,

you know, for the Lord, not witnessing, not being a light,

not being salt in the world. But when we get

active with our faith, when we are following Jesus and

being a light in our workplaces, in our schools, in

our neighborhoods, that it is then that the enemy takes

note of us. And it is then that temptation when testing,

when when these things come into our lives, and it's

a reminder that even in these moments, who's with us

crossway the Lord, as Paul would tell us in First

Corinthians ten, just as a paraphrase, that when temptation and

trials come, what does the Lord provide? He provides a

way of escape. Here's the way to follow me. You

don't have to you don't have to stay there, you

don't have to say yes to that. You can just

follow me this way. It's the Lord who is with

them in these moments, in times of temptation, in times

of change, in times of trial and good times, and

at our salvation. But you know what is most profound

about this whole like travel itinerary to me, is that

the vast majority of stops are uneventful. You know, we've

extracted the unusual details here in the in the things

that were meant to a but but let's just finish

the travel log here in verse forty one, and you'll

see what I mean here. And they set out from

Mount Hore and camped at Zelmuna. And they set out

from Zelmona and camped at Punan. And they set out

from Punan and camped at Obath. And they set out

from Obath and camped at i Abarum. And the territory

of Moab, and they set out from Aim and camped

at dimon Gad. And they set out from Dibingad and

camped at Almond Diblethane. And they set out from Almond

Diblethane and camped in the mountains of Abraim before Nebo.

And they set out from the mountains of Abram and

camped in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho.

They camped by the Jordan from Beth Joshamath as far

as able shoot him in the plains of Moab. See

here's just the final moment. So the Lord is with

us in the ordinary days as much as he is

in the eventful days and the highs and lows of life.

Here is just this reminder all throughout this log of

God's nearness and his provision and his protection, and just

the average days of life, and the peanut butter and

jelly days of life, not the steak dinners, are the

rotten days, just the you know, the normal days of parenting,

the nine to fives of work, the days that you

know don't get hardly any record in our journals, the

let alone like mentions on our Instagram feeds. Right there,

it is the Lord with you. So you disciple your kids,

as you love your spouse, as you try to just

to live faithfully in the ordinary days of life, there's

the Lord in those moments as well. And so crossway,

let me just ask you this question. When's the last

time that you took some intentional time to recount where

you've been, to see intentionally the work of God in

your life, to just, you know, in a very stategic

or thoughtful way with the Lord, to just recount the

stages of your life with the purpose of seeing God

at work. Maybe you've had to do this, maybe in

like a counseling session or something like that, that they

included some things to you know, put your past in

its place, or you know, maybe your pastors have recommended

some resources as you work through some things. And you know,

I personally, I love to journal as a way I

record prayers and meet with the Lord and talk through

him through things with him. And I love even just

now going back and seeing where I was in years

and decades ago and now seeing God's answer to prayers

that seemed so impossible so long ago, especially when it

comes to like church planting and things and praying for

God like I don't know how you're going to do

this and now five six, seven, eight years later, just

like only the Lord can get credit for things like that.

And here's why I would commend this to you, because

when you do so, you begin to see sovereignty of

God over every stage to you. You begin to see

the nearness of God in every season, even when in

the moment you couldn't see Him through the fog of

what was around you. And when we do so, you

begin to grasp the love of God for you at

every step, just like the Psalmist would say in Psalm

one hundred and thirty six, as he just like records

this little thing, and we were slaves in Egypt. But

his steadfast love endures forever, and he is good. I'm

always good. His steadfast love and durers forever. I know

I butchered that, but it's like you just go and

read it, and every stage there is His love and beloved.

When we reckon with this, that the Lord is with

us at every stage, let me just say it is

meant to boost us. It is meant to move us forward.

We don't do these things just merely for like a

trip down memory lane or for some nostalgic walk in

the past, but we do so, and when we do

it like this, it's meant to be a boost to

our obedience are booze to walking faithfully now, in the

present and in the future. And that's really why I

think this itinerary is here for us. That's why he

includes this because of the way now that the chapter ends,

right we reckon with our past to see that God

has been with us, and write this down lastly, Therefore,

you can't obey with confidence in the here and now,

in whatever it is that lays before you. And that's

why God would tell, hey, Moses, write these things down

for the people of God, then, because I have a

command for them. And so come to verse fifty and

let's close out the chapter. And the Lord spoke to

Moses and the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, saying,

speak to the people of Israel, and say to them,

when you pass over the Jordan into the land of Canaan,

then you shall drive out all the inhabitants of the

land from before you, and destroy all their figured stones,

and destroy all their metal images, and demolish all their

high places. And you shall take possession of the land

and subtle in it. For I have given the land

to you to possess it. You shall inherit the land

by lot according to your clans. To a large tribe,

you shall give a large inheritance. To a small tribe,

you shall give a small inheritance wherever the lot falls,

for anyone that shall be his. According to the tribes

of your fathers, you shall inherit you. But if you

do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from

before you, then those of them whom you let remain

shall be as barbs in your eyes and thorns in

your sides, and they shall trouble you in the land

where you dwell. And I will do to you as

I thought to do to them. Now this concludes God's

word for God's people this morning. But see you see

here as I read this, what this text is intended for.

Do you see here like this isn't just merely a

travel itein or as I just made claim from early on,

but it culminates in a specific command from the Lord

to drive out the Canaanites from the land, and to

do what destruction right. Destroy all these idols, demolish all

their false religion. Here it's a tall order from the Lord,

and it's a tall one, but it's also an ancient

order from the Lord. This isn't just like some random

like battle plan. They're like, hey, God's like, hey, yeah,

do this, but you know, go ahead. Now, this hearkens

all the way back to Genesis nine. That's where this originates.

It anchors back there a post flood where Noah and

his sons and their daughters come off the arc and

the son Ham. You can go and read this in

your time with the Lord. This week, Ham commits a

grievous sin against his dad such that his name is

like blot it out from record, and we're just like

Canaan was his son, and Canaan. The consequences then come

on Canaan and the rest of these descendants, as they

not only committed this grievous sin, but have like turned

from the Lord and become the Lord's enemies. And they're

now occupying this land. And so now, in just God's

wise sovereignty, in his providence, he's bringing Israel in to

drive these people out into for the consequences to come

at their hands. And so as God is blessing his

people he's also enacting his judgment. And the Lord knows

the difficulty of the task ahead of them. They know

that they're coming. And not only does he know the

you know, the physical challenge and the cost of what

he's commanding, he also knows the hearts of the people

of Israel and those internal questions and fears that that

just like come out of nowhere sometimes or drive us unnecessarily.

And so what does the Lord do to boost their

confidence and their obedience to follow this command? What He's

done for forty nine verses, he says, Hey, remember remember

your travels over just the recent history of forty years.

And it's God's way to say, hey, whatever awaits you

is nothing new. And guess who will be with you?

I will I mean not me, but you know the Lord.

The Lord will be with them. I will be with

you and whatever awaits you as you follow me, as

you obey this command, you can do so with confidence

that one I will be with you. And as is

typical of the Lord, when he gives the command, there's

promise of blessing for obedience and warnings for consequences of disobedience. Right,

if you do this, you will inherit the land, and

it will be distributed fairly and equitably amongst the larger

more land, amongst the smaller less land. And if you

don't do it, barbs in your eyes, thorns in your sides,

they'll trouble you. And not only will they be your

enemies and just obnoxious about it, who else will be

against them? Lord? You choose to disobey the Lord. You're

choosing a life and a pathway of pain, and yet

the Lord calls them to obedience. And in similar fashion here,

I think we can think of our own life and

whatever circumstances are on the horizon of your life, the

things we've already talked about. Maybe there's some family dynamics

that are just difficult, and you're trying to navigate a

way forward faithfully and obediently according to the word of God.

Maybe you've just received a treatment plan from the doctor.

In your wonder like, is this the way we should gould?

Should we follow this? Is there somewhere else something else

that we can do to steward this body into walk forward.

Maybe you're already thinking about the new school you're and

all the things that await you, or career things or

whatever it might be let the word of God this

morning remind you that you can trust and obey God's

commands with confidence. Because has the Lord ever led us

astray crossway? No? Never, of course, not right. He has

never left our side. We can trust him with confidence.

We can look to Jesus, who is God with us Emmanuel.

We can rely on the Spirit who resides within us,

leading us, guiding us, convicting us, convincing us, and comforting

us in every stage. And so, whatever era you are in,

whatever stage of life you are in, whatever season you

find yourself in, whether it's an era that is a

new beginning or it's just another ordinary day in your life,

whether your eyes are on where you've been or where

you are going crossway. Who is it that is leading us?

Who is it that loves us? It's Christ? It's Christ.

Would you pray with me? And let's ask for his help.

The band come up and we'll sing in response, But

would you just pray with me? Now, God in heaven,

here we are here, we are because we know you

are here. You love to dwell as your people, lift

high your name and open your word and pray and

proclaim the gospel. And so we're here because you are here.

And likewise, Lord, we're here and we're grateful. We're grateful

for your nearness. We're grateful for this church family, we're

grateful for your word. And so we just think now

to pray Lord, that you would be with us in

every season. Lord, if you're drawing someone to yourself, if

you a spirit, are doing that regenerative work, would you

turn their eyes to Christ, that they would see the

penalty has been paid. They now have new power to

live saying, noticing and yes to righteousness. Lord. For those

in the good times, would you help them to see

your kindness and generosity and that they've not built this

in themselves. But for those and trials and hard times,

would you comfort them? Would you show give them a

glimpse of the good things that you are doing. For

those in the midst of change, would you be steadfast

for them? God, for the ordinary days of life, would

you just give us eyes to see your goodness? Lord?

Where would we be apart from you, Jesus? Literally, we

can do nothing apart from you, And so we want

to worship you. We want to follow you by faith

because Christ, of what you have done, and so we

worship you now we pray all these things in Christ's name,

and all crossway, said amen.