Monday Evening, May 12, 1975 — Richmond, Virginia
Ministry given through Brother Stephen Kaung
We are not going to read all the names of the places in this chapter. We will just read the first two verses.
These are the journeys of the children of Israel, who went forth out of the land of Egypt according to their armies, under the hand of Moses and Aaron.
And Moses wrote their goings out according to their journeys by the commandment of the Lord: and these are their journeys according to their goings out.
We have been sharing together on the Book of Numbers, and I think this chapter shall serve as a concluding note to our consideration.
This is a very unique chapter because, in this chapter, we know that the children of Israel had come out of Egypt. They had crossed the wilderness. The wandering was ended. They were now on the plain of Moab, ready to enter into the promised land.
And then it is as if the Holy Spirit took a backward look and gave a review of their journeys.
In other words, this is history. Things had already happened. These places they had already covered. It was history for the children of Israel.
And yet the Holy Spirit saw fit to reveal the history, because when Moses recorded these journeys, it says definitely that it was by the commandment of the Lord. God commanded this, to give the children of Israel a review of their journeys.
Now, what is the value of history? I think history has at least two values.
First, history tells us of a background, a foundation, upon which we can build. You know, our life with the Lord needs a history. The longer the history, the deeper the history, the better.
God cannot use a person who has no history with Him. If you read the Bible, you will find that those people who are used by God all have a secret, or even sometimes an open, history with the Lord.
History serves as a kind of background, a foundation, upon which God can build. So, in giving a review of the history of their journeys, God is telling us that this is a people that has had a history with Him. And with that rich history with Him, He is able to do something far better than they have ever known.
We need to be grounded and rooted in love. And if we are grounded, then we can develop. In Ephesians 3, we are told to be grounded and rooted in love. Then, in Colossians 2, we are told to be rooted and built up in Christ.
Second, history has the value of teaching us good lessons. As we look back into history, God wants us to learn something from history.
In 1 Corinthians 10, we are told that all the things that happened to the children of Israel are types, and they are given to us to admonish us, to encourage us, and to help us in the Lord.
So, in going back to history, this is the second value: we can learn from history. And if we do not learn from history, then we have to repeat and repeat all the time. If we learn from history, then many things we can avoid. We do not need to go over the same thing again and again.
Now, this chapter recalls the history of the journeys of the children of Israel.
There are a few thoughts I would like to share with you, brothers and sisters. The first thing is this: our life with the Lord is like a journey. It is always going on.
Our God is not static at all. Our God is always moving onward. Therefore, our life with Him is always a going on. Whenever we stay put, whenever we do not go on, something is wrong.
In the New Testament, you find on two occasions our Lord Jesus going on. Once you find it in Mark 6. You remember, after our Lord Jesus had distributed five loaves and two fishes and fed five thousand men, they wanted to make Him king.
First He compelled His disciples to go away. Then He sent the people away. He went up to the mountain to pray, and He saw the disciples rowing the boat with difficulty in the sea.
You remember how our Lord Jesus walked on the sea toward them. Yet, when He almost reached their boat, He looked as if He would pass them. He was going on. They had to call Him back. Why? Because our Lord always goes on.
Then again, you find in Luke 24 another instance after the resurrection of our Lord Jesus. There were two disciples on their way to Emmaus, and our Lord Jesus walked with them and talked with them until they arrived at Emmaus. It was dark, and yet our Lord Jesus seemed to be still going on. They had to ask Him, “Stay with us.”
In these two instances, we are given the thought that, so far as our Lord is concerned, He is always going on. He never stays in a fixed position, but He is going on and on and on.
And if we want to follow the Lord, this is the way we have to follow Him. We have to go on and on and on with Him.
Naturally, there is the law of inertia. We like to stay put because we like to be in an environment with which we are familiar. We feel a sense of security there.
But oftentimes you find the way of the Lord is higher than ours. When we feel very secure, He will break up our nest, as it were, and lead us on.
Oftentimes in our Christian life, we go on with the Lord, and then we begin to feel, “Now, that should be enough. We have arrived. This is the end.” We all have that kind of feeling.
Whenever we have that kind of feeling, we are not moving on with the Lord. The result is that we are left behind.
So, brothers and sisters, in giving us a review of the journeys of the children of Israel, first of all, it gives us the thought of moving on—that we shall never come to a place where we are just fixed and dead.
There is always something more in the Lord. As a matter of fact, even in eternity you will find we are still growing into Christ. There is no limit in Him. He is infinite.
Of course, in eternity the process of learning will be much faster than today. We do not know how much faster it will be, but it is always moving on, always moving on.
So I think we should be ready for that. The Lord will lead us on for a while. He will give us some rest at a station. You move from station to station, you know.
He will lead us on for a while, and then we come to a station and encamp. We do not know how long He will allow us to encamp there. Sometimes, the next day, the pillar of cloud and of fire begins to move. Another time, they stay there for a long time, to consolidate that which we have attained by His grace.
But after we have, as it were, consolidated, then you find another moving. And that is Christian life.
Second, as you read Numbers 33, you will find the emphasis is not on the encampment. The emphasis is on the goings out.
Here you find, “These are the journeys of the children of Israel, who went forth out.” The very word journey means removing, departures. And these are their journeys according to their goings out.
It is not measured by arrival; it is measured by departures. Now, how many goings out do we have in our life with the Lord?
How many times will the Lord lead us to depart, to move out, to go out in Him? Every time of moving out is a milestone.
So, brothers and sisters, you find the whole emphasis is on the goings out. They had to go out again and again and again, many times. But every time they went out, they went on a little bit more.
That should represent our Christian life. So do not try to count how many stations you have arrived at. If you start to count how many stations you have arrived at, probably you will become complacent. Probably you will become proud of yourself.
But if you are to be measured by how many times you have gone out, then you will find there are many goings out yet to come.
They went out of Egypt, and then they had to go out of the wilderness. They had to go out—going out, going out all the time—until finally they entered into the promised land.
As we look back into our life with the Lord, how many goings out do we have? We go out of the world, typified by Egypt. But have we gone out of our flesh, typified by the wilderness? Or have we even been delivered from the law? We are not under the law, but under grace. These should measure our spiritual growth.
Third, as they undertook these journeys, they did not just go out to anywhere they liked. No. You find that, though they were going out, all their journeys were under the hand of Moses and Aaron.
Of course, we know Moses and Aaron were only representatives. It was actually the pillar of fire and the pillar of cloud that led the way.
In our natural life, there are two opposite laws, and these are basic physical laws: the law of inertia and the law of momentum. We will stay put and do not want to move; but sometimes, once we are moving, we do not want to stop. That momentum will just push us on and on and on, in whatever direction we go.
So again, here you find that you do not go on by momentum. You are led by the pillar of fire and cloud, and under the hand of Moses and Aaron. Moses was the king; Aaron, the priest.
All our movings are under the direction of our Lord and of His Holy Spirit.
As you read these journeys, you will find that some of the stations were led by the Lord, in a sense, directly; others, indirectly. In other words, you find God’s direct will in their journeys, but you also find God’s permissive will in their journey.
When they came out of Egypt, the easy way, the short way, would be overland. If they came out of Egypt, they could cross the land of the Philistines and arrive at Canaan.
But instead of leading them in that direct way, God led them around through the Red Sea. Why? It was because of God’s consideration of their condition.
So far as God was concerned, of course He could lead them from Egypt through the land of the Philistines into the land of Canaan. But when God considered the condition of the children of Israel, He knew too well that if He should lead them that way, when they met war, they would be discouraged and return to Egypt.
For this reason, the Lord led them around through the Red Sea, so that after they had crossed the Red Sea, there was no way back.
Now, do you call this the direct will of God or the permissive will of God? It is true they covered a distance, they journeyed, and God led them. But that leading was in consideration of their weakness.
If there were not such weakness in them, probably God would have led them by the direct way. Oftentimes you find the same thing with us. Sometimes you find God leads us in a way that we say is not that straight. But God knows us. He knows that that is the only way He can lead us.
Of course, it is more evident in the wilderness. From Mount Sinai to the promised land, it was only an eleven days’ journey straight ahead. But instead of doing that, you find God had to lead them from station to station over forty years. Why? It was because of their unbelief.
That is God’s permissive will, not God’s direct will. And how often you find we learn more in God’s permissive will than in God’s direct will. That was the case with the children of Israel.
More time was spent in God’s permissive will. God still led them. God was leading them. God did not forsake them. Yet you find it was God’s permissive will. More time was spent in that way; more stations were covered in that way.
How much better, brothers and sisters, if we can live in God’s direct will and not His permissive will? Thank God, He still leads us, even in His permissive will.
And you find that, so far as God’s eternal purpose is concerned, it is not a waste. It is necessary because of us, not because of God. It is necessary for us to cover all these places and all this distance.
So, in the final analysis, thank God nothing is wasted. All these things will be taken up by God in His grace for us to enter into the promised land, the fullness of Christ.
Fourth, as they covered these journeys, they did not cover them as individuals. It is the journeys of the children of Israel, who went forth out of the land of Egypt according to their armies, under the hand of Moses and Aaron.
It was not the journey of an individual, neither was it the journeys of many individuals. You find it was the journey of the children of Israel as the armies of the Lord. They covered these places together. It is the history of the children of Israel.
Applying this to us today, we know it is the journeys of the church of God. There is a place for each individual, and a responsibility to each individual, to go on with the Lord as a responsible individual.
But again, you find that in God’s eyes we are not just going on alone. Oftentimes in our spiritual experience, we think that we are alone, that we are all alone. Yet we are not.
In God’s plan, you find that He has the whole church going on together, from one end to the other end—from the first century, the day of Pentecost, on and on until the time of the marriage feast of the Lamb.
It is the church that is going on, going on. Sometimes it goes forward; other times, it goes roundabout or even backward. Sometimes you find the same place is covered twice. Yet all the time the Lord is leading the whole army, all the children of Israel. The Lord is leading them gradually to the final goal.
And how did they arrive there? A new generation, with the spirit of Joshua and Caleb.
The old generation, because of their unbelief, fell in the wilderness. Yet you find the people were still going on, going out as one people. Gradually, you find the spirit was different. It was a new generation under Joshua and Caleb.
Joshua and Caleb had an excellent spirit. They followed the Lord wholly, and they helped the new generation, as it were building up the new generation, so that they might enter into the promised land.
Here you find the spirit of the overcomers. In the persons of Joshua and Caleb, you have the spirit of the overcomers. When the rest of the children of Israel seemed to fail, God took hold of two lives. Gradually, under their spirit, a new generation was able to enter into the promised land.
That is what the overcomers are for. God is looking for overcomers.
The church, generally speaking, has failed in the testimony of Jesus. The church is a lampstand to hold the light, which is the testimony of Jesus. Yet, so far as the church in general is concerned, it has failed.
What God is doing with us now is that He is looking for overcomers—those who will respond to His call, those who will maintain that testimony. Because of the overcomers, the whole church will be brought into the fullness of Christ.
So it is a journey of all the children of Israel. It is not just for one or two, but it is the journey of all the children of Israel. They go into the promised land as one people.
Fifth, how many stations do you find in this chapter? How many places did they cover from Egypt to the plains of Moab, ready to enter the Jordan?
Now, I do not know if I have counted them correctly. I hope you will do some verification. If I am correct, there are forty-two stations, starting from Rameses in Egypt until they arrived and encamped by the Jordan in the plains of Moab.
When you notice these forty-two stations, you will find that roughly they are divided into four parts.
In Egypt, they covered four stations. Verse 3 says that they journeyed from Rameses in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month. On the morrow after the Passover, the children of Israel went out with a high hand in the sight of all the Egyptians.
The children of Israel removed from Rameses and encamped in Succoth. They removed from Succoth and encamped in Etham, which is at the end of the wilderness. They removed from Etham and turned back to Pi-hahiroth, which is before Baal-zephon; and they encamped before Migdol. From there they passed through the Red Sea.
Altogether, you find there were four stations in Egypt. Then, after they crossed the Red Sea, eight stations until they arrived at Mount Sinai. From Mount Sinai they moved on until they came to Mount Hor: twenty-two stations. From Mount Hor to the plains of Moab, another eight stations. Altogether, forty-two stations.
Four stations were needed to get out of Egypt. You know, brothers and sisters, to get out of the world, we need to go out from one place to another.
Lots of God’s people today are saved. They have the Passover. Yet you find a lot of God’s people, even though they have the Passover, never leave Rameses. They never leave Egypt.
How many do you find among God’s people who are really saved? They know the Lord Jesus as their Passover Lamb. They know the preciousness of the blood of the Lord Jesus. They are redeemed, and yet they never come out of Egypt.
I am, of course, speaking of experience. So far as God’s redemption is concerned, the moment you are redeemed, you are out. And the moment you are out, you are in. You are in Canaan already.
But so far as our experience is concerned, you find many of God’s people have never moved out of Egypt. Not only have they never moved out of Egypt; they have never moved a little further and further out of Egypt. They stay where they were before, in Rameses, and never move.
But here you find the children of Israel. God led them to go out of Rameses. They came to Succoth. Succoth was still in Egypt. So God moved them on again to Etham. But Etham was still in Egypt.
Egypt was not that small that you could leave it in one day. Then from Etham God moved them to the Red Sea, to Pi-hahiroth, by the side of the Red Sea. After they removed from Pi-hahiroth, they crossed the Red Sea, and Egypt was behind them.
So, dear brothers and sisters, in our history with the Lord, you find the same thing. Until we are redeemed, it is as if the Spirit of God is moving us around in the world. But as He moves us around, we are gradually getting out and out, until we cross the Red Sea. Then the world is behind us.
Especially with young people, after they are saved, their greatest problem is the world. The Lord has to deal with them in this area.
In the beginning, the world probably is just composed of certain things. Just as in 1 John 2, you find, “Love not the world.” If you love the world, the love of the Father is not in you. What is the world? The world and the things of the world.
To young believers, you find the world is composed of things—just things. Things that satisfy the lust of the eyes, things that have an attraction to the lust of the flesh, things that have a hold through the pride of life. Things, nevertheless.
It is as if you were in Rameses, and now God wants to move you through Succoth. You discover there are certain things that seem to have a hold upon you, and these things are the world to you. They are your world.
Unless you are willing to allow the Lord to deal with you in these things, you remain in Egypt; you remain in the world. Sometimes it may be just a little thing that you love. God has to put His hand upon things.
What is the world? The world is composed of things, but these things take away the love of the Father. Now, that is the world.
The things are different with different people. To you, certain things may become your world because these things take away the love of the Father in you. To others, there might be other things—or even a person.
We know the Holy Spirit will begin to put His hand upon us. He will deliver us from things, one thing after another. Gradually, by dealing with us in these things, we step out of the world that has such a hold upon us.
As you grow in Christ, you find the world is not only things. The world is a mould, a fashion.
In Romans 12, we are told, “Be not conformed to this world.” To conform to things, there is a mould there; there is a fashion there. Because there is a mould there, you can be conformed to that mould.
The world is not only composed of things, but there is a mould there, a fashion. In the original, “do not be conformed” has the sense, “Do not squeeze yourself into that mould.” You are too big for that. We who are the Lord’s are too big for the fashion of this world.
So do not try to squeeze yourself, trying to be conformed to the world. Naturally, within us—especially young people—there is a desire to belong. They do not want to be left out. They want to be popular, to be fashionable. They are afraid to be looked upon as backward.
This is the world. There is a mould there. We are too big for that. God would deal with us until we know that we are not to be conformed to the world, but we want to prove what is the perfect will of God.
As you go on a little more with the Lord, you find the world is not only a mould, but it is a spirit. There is a spirit of the world.
You may be delivered from things. These things may no longer have a hold upon you. You may be delivered from the mould of this world; you are not following the world. Yet you may still be under the spirit of the world.
What is the spirit of the world? Pride, rebellion. That is the spirit of the world. Unless we are delivered from that kind of spirit—the spirit of pride, that self—the result is always rebellion.
The world is full of the spirit of rebellion because the world is under the evil one, who is the rebellious person, and his spirit works in people.
To get out of the world is not just one step. So far as our experience goes, you find it takes those stations. You go from station to station, as it were, until you come over.
In the first stage, what did they learn? They learned that the Lord is their Savior. The Lord saved them not only out of death and out of sin, but even out of the world.
This is something we know in the first stage of following the Lord. We learn our Lord Jesus as our Savior—not just saving us from death and from sin, but also saving us from this perverse generation, from this world system.
After they crossed the Red Sea, you find there were eight stations from the Red Sea to Mount Sinai, where they received the law.
If you study the journey, I do believe that every place has a spiritual significance. I do not know the spiritual significance of every station, but I do believe that every station has a special significance.
Even if we do not know the details, when you see the journeys they covered, the stations they covered, you know that there are certain lessons there. Tonight, probably, I will just give the general lesson. In the Book of Exodus, you find more details, and you can see that every station, every place, has a spiritual lesson for us to learn.
In the second stage of their journeys, from the farther side of the Red Sea to Mount Sinai, there were eight stations. In these eight stations, you know what happened.
As they journeyed, they could not find any water. When they came to Marah, the water was bitter. They could not drink the water, so they complained. God showed Moses a tree. He cut a tree and threw it into the water, and the water became sweet. Then they drank, and God gave them ordinances and statutes for them to keep.
After that, they came to Elim, full of water and palm trees. There they enjoyed the provisions of the Lord. But they were not allowed to stay forever. From Elim they moved on, and again there was no water, no water, and no food.
They ate up all the food they had brought out of Egypt, and God gave manna to be their food. God commanded Moses to smite the rock, and water was supplied to them. He even gave them meat.
When the Amalekites came to fight against them, Moses went to the mountain, lifted up his hand, and prayed. Joshua overcame Amalek.
So, in that section from the Red Sea to Mount Sinai, they were going out, going out, going out, until they came to Mount Sinai. During this stage, what did they learn? They knew God as their Shepherd.
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
Is it not true, brothers and sisters, in our going out and going on with the Lord? In the initial stage, we know our Lord Jesus as our Savior. But as we grow a little and follow Him a little farther, we begin to know that He is really our Shepherd.
Oh, how tender, how loving He is to us. How He provides for our every need. Of course, there are lessons we need to learn. Sometimes He allows us to come to our extremities in order that we may know Him as our Shepherd, as our Provider, as our Supplier.
But you find He never fails. He never did. He always gives us everything that we need: our food, our drink, and even our victory. You really see that He is our Shepherd.
If you read Psalm 23 and combine it with that stage of the journey, you will find it is so true; it is so real. This is what we need to learn.
Sometimes the Lord seems to lead us to a place where the water is bitter. We find that life is bitter. Oftentimes we think that after we believe in the Lord Jesus, everything will be smooth sailing, rosy, all sugar and no bitterness.
But now you find that there is still bitterness in life. By experience, we cannot take it. Thank God for the tree—the cross. The Lord shows us His cross, and when we accept His cross, the bitterness turns into sweetness. That is His creation.
But life is not always bitterness. He knows we cannot stand it. So the next station is Elim. You have twelve springs and seventy palm trees. You have not only water, but shade. You enter into abundance.
Oftentimes in our spiritual life, you find this is the case. Especially in the early stage of our life with the Lord, it seems that there are more Elims than Marahs. You can stay in Elim longer, and your stay in Marah will be very short.
That seems to be the case in God’s dealing with us. So far as that time is concerned, He is a Shepherd, the Good Shepherd—so sympathetic, so good.
Then the third stage is from Mount Sinai to Mount Hor. That covered twenty-two stations. That is the longest stage.
During that time, after they had received the law and began to travel toward the promised land, you find that they were still as childish as before. But God would not allow them to remain childish.
Their childishness may have been funny to them, but to God it was not funny. God began to deal with them. Because of their unbelief, God ordered them to go back. During that period, they were under the training of the Lord.
Under a hard master? No, under a loving Father. In the third stage, from Mount Sinai to Mount Hor, they began to know God as the heavenly Father.
You know, brothers and sisters, Father in the Scripture is related to discipline. The Father in the Scripture is not only related to supply, but also to chastening. That is Hebrews 12.
He is our Father. He is not only our Shepherd, but He is our Father. Because He is our Father, He wants us to grow into sonship. He is so anxious for our maturity that He has to chasten us, train us, and discipline us in order to mature us.
That is the meaning of Father. That stage takes the longest time and covers more stations. Why? Because they did not learn.
God tells them something, and, as it were, they go out. They should have learned a lesson, but they have not learned. They have to come back to the same place again the second time and learn it.
But thank God, even though it took more than thirty-eight years and covered twenty-two stations—and some stations were covered twice—finally they got out. They got out of Mount Hor, knowing God as Father.
Dear brothers and sisters, how true this is with our journey. First, we know Christ as our Savior. Then we begin to know Him as our Good Shepherd. Then we begin to know Him as our Father.
Knowing God as our Father is a higher degree of growth. We know His chastening, and His chastening is for our good. During the time of being chastened, it is not pleasant at all. But afterward, it produces the peaceable fruit of righteousness, that we may be made partakers of His divine nature.
I believe this is the third stage, and, of course, every station is something to study.
Then from Mount Hor to the plains of Moab, Aaron died on Mount Hor. God called him up to Mount Hor. His high-priestly robe was taken off, and his son Eleazar was clothed with it. Then Aaron died.
From Mount Hor, God continued to lead them to the land of Moab—another eight stations. In those eight stations, you find something different from what it was before.
The disciplining was still there, and yet you find God defended them before their enemies. In spite of their weakness, God took their side before their enemies.
When Balak desired to curse the children of Israel, Balaam could find no iniquity in Israel, and God would not allow the curse. God defended the children of Israel.
Not only that, but you find that they overcame the two kings of the Amorites. They became conquerors.
So, in the final stage, they came to know God as their Defender.
Brothers and sisters, as we go with the Lord, we begin to know Him as our Father and how He begins to discipline us. As we are disciplined by the Lord and grow in the Lord, we enter into spiritual conflict.
The enemy is trying to find some weak point in us, because the enemy knows that we have grown. There is one thing that he is afraid of. Why? Because when we are fully matured, that is his downfall.
The sons of God, the mature sons of God, destroy the enemy and his kingdom. So you find that you still have many weaknesses in you, and yet you enter into some kind of spiritual conflict. You are beginning to see that there are enemies. There will be wars, both hidden and open.
Yet all the time, you find the Lord is your Defender. In spite of your weakness, the Lord covers. We are more than conquerors in Christ Jesus.
You begin to know the Lord a little bit more, a little bit more. That will take eight stations. It grows from station to station. Finally, at last, the two kings of the Amorites were conquered, and they spread out in the land of Moab, ready to enter into the promised land, the fullness of Christ.
So, dear brothers and sisters, here you find this unique chapter, Chapter 33. Everything seemed to have been done, and then the Holy Spirit looked back over the whole period of their journey—forty years—and gave a review of it in order to show them what a God they had. God had brought them thus far.
As we go on with the Lord, on and on and on, we begin to realize what a Lord, what a Christ, we have. He is our Savior. He is our Shepherd. He is our Father. He is our Defender.
May the Lord use these journeys to encourage us in our going out and going on with the Lord. Shall we pray?
Our heavenly Father, we know that in Thy Word Thou hast something very precious for us to learn. We do desire to learn from history.
O Lord, we pray that, as we fellowship, may Thy Holy Spirit enlighten us, that we may learn the lessons Thou hast shown us in the journeys of the children of Israel.
O Lord, we do desire to move on with Thee. Do not allow us to stay put. As a people, Lord, we want to follow Thee whithersoever Thou goest. Where Thou goest, we will go; where Thou stayest, we will stay.
So, Lord, do lead us on. We commit ourselves to Thee, in the name of our Lord Jesus.