Sermon: "Looking Back"

Let's pray. Father in heaven, we do come before you today to worship you, to glorify your name.

We pray, Father God, that as we read your scriptures, we would see Jesus, that he would speak to our minds and hearts, that he would comfort us, that he would convict us, that he would take dominion over our lives and bring us safely into the promised land as he has promised.

Lord, we thank you for each and every word in your scriptures. I pray, Lord, that you would get me out of the way, that your spirit would take over and speak to your people.

It's in Jesus' name we pray. I'd ask that you be seated. This morning is going to be a little bit different, only because it's an extended verse, and I don't want you guys to fall asleep on your feet.

I'm going to be reading out of Numbers 33, verses 1 through 49. If you have a pew

Bible, it's page 179, so Numbers 33, verses 1 through 49.

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 the command of the Lord, and these are their stages according to their starting places.

They set out from Ramesses in the first month on the 15th 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 their firstborn, whom the Lord had struck down among them. On their gods also the

Lord executed judgments. So the people of Israel set out from Ramesses and camped at Sukkot, and then they set out from Sukkot and camped at Etham, which is on the edge of the wilderness.

And they set out from Etham and turned back to Pi -Ha -Hi -Roth, which is east of Baal -Zephon, and they camped before Migdal.

And they set out before Hi -Ha -Hi -Roth and passed through the midst of the sea into the wilderness. And they went a three -day journey in the wilderness of Etham and camped at Marah.

And they set out from Marah and came to Elim. At Elim there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees, and they camped there.

And they set out from Elim and camped by the Red Sea. And they set out from the Red Sea and camped by the wilderness of Sin.

And they set out from the wilderness of Sin and camped at Doth -ka. And they set out from Doth -ka and camped at Elush.

And they set out from Elush and camped at Rephidim, where there was no water for the people to drink. And they set out from Rephidim and camped at the wilderness of Sinai.

And they set out from the wilderness of Sinai and camped at Kibroth -ha -ta -Avah. And they set out from Kibroth -ha -ta -Avah and camped at Hazeroth.

And they set out from Hazeroth and camped at Rithmah. And they set out from Rithmah and camped at Rimon -per -ez. And they set out from Rimon -per -ez and camped at Libna.

And they set out from Libna and camped at Risa. And they set out from Risa and camped at Kehel -ethah.

And they set out from Kehel -ethah and camped at Mount Shepher. And they set out from Mount Shepher and camped at Haradah.

And they set out from Haradah and camped at Mach -haloth. And they set out from Mach -haloth and camped at Tahath. And they set out from Tahath and camped at Terah.

And they set out from Terah and camped at Mithgah. And they set out from Mithgah and camped at Hashmonah.

And they set out from Hashmonah and camped at Moseroth. And they set out from Moseroth and camped at Beni -jaykin.

And they set out from Beni -jaykin and camped at Hor -hagidah. And they set out from Hor -hagidah and camped at Joth -bethah.

And they set out from Joth -bethah and camped at Ebronah. And they set out from Ebronah and camped at Ezeon -geber.

And they set out from Ezeon -geber and camped in the wilderness of Zin, that is, Kadesh. And they set out from Kadesh and camped at Mount Hor on the edge of the land of Edom.

And Aaron the priest went up Mount Hor at the command of the Lord and died there in the 40th year after the people of Israel had not come out of the land of Egypt on the first day of the fifth month.

I'm sorry, after they had come out of the land of Egypt on the first day of the fifth month. And Aaron was 123 years old when he died on Mount Hor.

And the Canaanite, the king of Arad, who lived in Negeb in the land of Canaan, heard of the coming of the people of Israel.

And they set out from Mount Hor and camped at Zalmanah. And they set out from Zalmanah and camped at Punan. And they set out from Punan and camped at Oboth.

And they set out from Oboth and camped at Lyabarim in the territory of Moab. And they set out from Lyin and camped at Dibangad.

And they set out from Dibangad and camped at Alman Diblathin. And they set out from Alman Diblathin and camped in the mountains of Abarim before Nebo.

And they set out from the mountains of Abarim and camped in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho. And they camped by the

Jordan from Beth Jeshimoth as far as Ebel Shittim in the plains of Moab. The reading of God's word.

Now you see why I prayed before I read? All right. I had you sit down, rest a little.

So what we just read was Israel's itinerary after they came out of the land of Egypt.

And they wandered around the desert for 40 years. And now they're right at the precipice of entering into the promised land.

They haven't entered into it yet, but they're right there. The generation of the people that was delivered out of Egypt and from Pharaoh and then disobeyed is now dead.

God said that they wouldn't enter the land because of their disbelief, their unbelief. And he wouldn't let them enter the promised land that he promised them because of their unbelief.

And now the next generation who God promised would enter the promised land and have been counted, they've been numbered and are ready to enter.

It's been a long, long journey. They're eager to enter the land of promise, but it's here that God hits the pause button.

He wants them to stop. He wants to give them a time of reflection, a time to assess where they've been, a time to recall a number of certain things that God wants them to remember, to look back at as God was the one who commanded

Moses to write each and every one of these stages down. Have you ever gone on a vacation that turned into a long journey, longer than you might've expected?

You know, maybe didn't go quite as you planned. All right, I'm a planner. Anytime I go away with my family,

I like to plan things out. I plan when we wake up. I plan where and when we're gonna eat.

That's important to me. I map out if we're going to an amusement park, a park, I map out every single ride and know what ride we're going on, when we're going and how long it's gonna take me to get there.

I like to be specific. I like to make the best use of the time. I absolutely hate getting lost and I hate standing on lines, right?

Now, my kids, they love the detailed planning because they know they're gonna hit every ride that I planned we're gonna hit and we're gonna get on and off quickly, right?

So my kids love the detailed planning. My wife, not so much. But even with the best plans, things can still go wrong.

So along the way, I like to take lots and lots of pictures, tons of pictures. They serve to capture the moment.

They serve to show us where we've been, what we've experienced and they make for great memories.

I like to put the music to them, make photo montages, capture the moment. Again, my kids love the pictures.

My wife, not so much. In a similar way, this list of places or stages, as Moses calls them in Numbers 33, serves as a roadmap of memories for the

Israelites. Now, we at Hope Reformed Baptist Church know that God is not random.

He doesn't do things flippantly. So this is not just a random collection of city names that God had

Moses remember and jot down. It's designed for a purpose. It's a list designed to shape

Israel's life. To shape Israel's outlook. To better focus her perspective on the wanderings in the wilderness and to get her mind ready for the entrance into the promised land.

This list will serve as a reminder to them and also has significance for their future generations as well as us, who like Israel, are pilgrims and strangers making our way through the wilderness of this world.

In proper context, this list of places can help us in the situations that we are facing today.

So out of all of these cities, all of these places that are mentioned, they can all be categorized into three different groups.

First, there's the places that God manifested his sovereign power and faithfulness on display for all to see.

Second are the places where Israel sinned against God and grumbled and complained about him.

And then third are the places where apparently nothing of significance happened. They were just stops along the way.

So let's look at the first group. In the first category of places, the places where God shows his faithfulness.

Moses reminds us of the Lord's faithfulness to his people. These are the places and names on the list that has specific added commentary by Moses that the other locations don't get.

So he's highlighting them. It's in these places that Moses decides to bring greater attention to.

So he adds details about them. Again, to draw their attention to what

God wants them to remember. So we read that Israel started out from Ramesses, right?

Big deal. Yes, it was a big deal. This is where the Lord had brought judgment on Pharaoh and on the gods of the

Egyptians so that God's people could exit Egypt unharmed and celebrate a broad daylight before all of them.

It's here where all of the firstborn of the Egyptians were struck down while the

Israelites were spared and God's people were miraculously delivered from their bondage.

This opening scene marked the Israelites first Passover, an incredible, miraculous start to their journey.

So they start off in God's power. He's powerful. He means business.

Verses three and four say, 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. So they triumphantly celebrated that God delivered and rescued them.

Broad daylight. Incidentally, the name Ramesses means dissolving evil. God was dissolving evil.

Do you think the Israelites needed to be reminded of who was behind this whole event, delivering them, rescuing them, being that they were about to enter the promised land and have to drive out the inhabitants of that land?

You think it was important that they know that their God was more powerful than the other so -called gods that they were going to face?

Next we're told that the Israelites passed through the Red Sea at Hieroth in verse eight and that they found 12 springs and 70 palm trees at Elim and an oasis in the thirsty desert.

Now, first we know it doesn't say it here but in other scriptures, we know that the Israelites passed through on dry land. That's miraculous in and of itself.

But here then we're told that God gives them shade and drink in the middle of the desert.

12 springs of water, one for every tribe. And in the desert, no less, where there is no water or seven 11s.

The name of the city Elim means to strengthen or mighty ones. So we go from dissolving evil to strengthening them.

Do you think the Israelites needed to be reminded of who was their strength and who was behind them, of who quenched their thirst in the hot dry desert and then shaded them?

Yes. As we continue reading the next verse, Moses offers commentary on his verse 40.

And here we're reintroduced to the King of Arad, the Canaanite king over whom the Israelites were victorious over back in Numbers 21.

In Numbers 21, we read, Israel vowed a vow to the Lord and said, if you will indeed give this people into my hand, then

I will devote their cities to destruction. And the Lord heeded the voice of Israel and gave over the

Canaanites and they devoted them and their cities to destruction. Canaan was the first city

Israel conquered, the first fruits of that land. And it was here that God answered the prayer of the

Israelites and makes good on his promise to defeat their enemies and give them the land.

Incidentally, the name Arad means wild donkey. And in other commentaries, it's a little bit more explicit, right?

Do you think that the Israelites needed to be reminded of who defeated their wild donkey enemies and who kept his promise in an answer to their prayers?

Absolutely. Each of these places or stages and all of the others stood as a reminder, a testimony, a snapshot of the journey that was to be framed, to display the faithfulness of God, to care for and provide for his people along the way.

It's like the pictures you take on your vacation that turn into the eight by 10s, right? These are the events like the pictures you take when you're in front of the castle at Disney, right?

To show everyone that you were really there. You know, anyone who goes to Disney has to take that shot. Why? Because it's memorable.

The whole park is revolved around that castle. So when you look back, you don't wanna forget it.

In fact, it's so memorable that they have painted circles on the floor where the people who are getting the pictures taken should stand and a circle painted on the floor where the person taking the picture should take it.

They know everybody wants this picture. When God shows up in faithfulness, these are the pictures

Moses and God wants us to remember. Because God knows our propensity to forget, to forget who he really is and to fear and cling to idols.

So we need to be reminded regularly of God, of who he is and of his faithfulness and of his power and of his steadfast covenant love to his people every step of the journey.

The Israelites needed to take time to reflect on all the ways in which God's faithfulness was evidenced in their lives.

Because like us, they forget way too easily and are quickly led astray.

Lest they think they got there on their own power. To be honest, during this

COVID pandemic thing, again, I'm a planner. So I was really struggling with this.

I'm trying to look forward to see what's gonna happen, to see how I'm gonna handle it, to see what the economy's gonna be like, to see how the government's gonna handle this.

I wanna see how we can plan in our church how to handle this. And I was shook.

I was shook by this. And I realized, as I'm reading my scriptures every day,

I'm holding on to things that could be shaken. So if you don't wanna be shook, let go of those things.

We live in a kingdom that cannot be shaken. And once I let go of those things, got a better perspective.

This is God's kingdom. This is God's plan. And sometimes, instead of looking forward like me, like a planner wants to, we need to look backwards to the past to remember and to better understand and trust who brought us to where we are now, to look back and see who held our past and who holds our future, and recognize that he has sustained us each and every day up until now.

Man makes plans and God laughs, right? Psalm 115, if you go to my

Bible study, you better know what's coming. What can God do? Whatever he pleases. I drill that into everyone's head.

What can God do? Whatever he pleases. I'm reminded of Isaiah 46 .8.

Remember this and be assured, recall it to mind, you transgressors. Remember the former things, long past, for I am

God and there is no other. I am God and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning, from ancient times, things which have not been done.

Saying my purpose will be established and I will accomplish all my good pleasure.

Calling a bird of prey from the beast, the man of my purpose from a far country. Truly I have spoken, truly

I will bring it to pass. As I have planned it, surely I will do it.

We need to remember who our God is. I need to remember that God is a planner too and he plans much better than I do.

In fact, we sang about God's faithfulness this morning, several times. We sang the hymn,

O Thou Fount of Every Blessing. It was written by Robert Robinson in 1758.

And we get to that phrase, here I raise my Ebenezer. It's an

Ebenezer. It's in the beginning of the second verse of the hymn. Did you ever wonder why?

I know I did. Robinson chose the phrase, here I raise my Ebenezer because also in the reading this morning that Brother Warren read, 1

Samuel 7, verse 12, because it reminded the Israelites of how God delivered

Israel from danger, from their enemies. In 1 Samuel 7, after winning a battle with the

Philistines, the Israelites set up a stone of remembrance that they named Ebenezer, which means stone of help.

The stone of help saying, till now the Lord has helped us. It was to be a reminder, a permanent reminder to them of God's faithfulness every time they walked past it.

Do you think the Israelites needed to be reminded of who their help was on a continual basis?

Do you think that we maybe need to be reminded of this right now as we continue in this year called 2020?

We need to be raising and remembering our own Ebenezers, our stones of remembrance, the mental markers of the

Lord's past faithfulness in our life, like a photo album of our vacation where we look and remember.

You know, some people like to journal. Pastor Jensen tells us of how him and Ginger journal things and when they read back on it, it's an amazement.

They see the progress in their lives and what God was doing, right? I encourage you to journal, do it whatever way you want to.

The point is this, to remember God's faithfulness towards his people and have our own hearts refreshed in the thankfulness and faith as we revisit our own personal

Ramesses where God's dissolved evil and the Elims where God's strengthened us and water us.

We need to be reminded of who delivered us, of who fed us, of who protected us, of who is in complete control and accomplishing all his good pleasure right now.

Stones of remembrance. Does anyone know what happened June 16th, 1996? Some of you probably know, right?

June 16th, 1996 was the day Hope Reform Baptist Church held its first church service in Suffolk County, comprised of all the families that wanted a

Reform Baptist Church in Suffolk County. And that church started over 25 years ago, is still here today and thriving because God is sustaining it in his mercy and his grace according to his good pleasure.

Stone of remembrance. Anyone know what happened May 15th, 2001? Probably not.

It was important to me. That was the day Jesus went on a mission, Mercy, and found me in the basement of a guy I barely knew who offered to answer a question

I had about God. It was that night that Jesus entered that basement, delivered me out of Egypt, placed my feet in the kingdom, out of the world, and changed my life forever, set me on a different course.

Amen. Anyone remember what happened December 2nd, 2018? A little closer.

You should. It was the first day we worshiped together as a church body in this sanctuary, in this beautiful building that God in his grace provided to us.

Stone of remembrance. Anyone know what happened March 10th, 2019? I know some of you do.

We were blessed by God to have Pastor Chris installed as the second elder of Hope Performed Baptist Church, God providing sound leadership to us.

Stone of remembrance. And there's so, so many more. These events in these stages serve to remind the

Israelites and us of the places where God manifested his power and his faithfulness that we need to be continually reminded of.

So that was the first category or stage of events that were recorded for us that demonstrated

God's manifestation of his power in a visible way. Second are the places where Israel sinned against God and grumbled against him.

And third are the places where nothing of any significance happened. So let's take a look at the second category.

These are the stages in which the Israelites rebelled and grumbled against the God who delivered them and who strengthened them and who answered their prayers.

The first one is Marah in verse eight. And the full account of that is recorded in Exodus chapter 15, verses 23 and 24, which read, when they came to Marah, they could not drink the water of Marah because it was bitter.

Therefore it was named Marah. And the people grumbled against Moses saying, what shall we drink? And he cried to the

Lord and the Lord showed him a log and he threw it into the water and the water became sweet. There the Lord made for them a statute and a rule.

And there he tested them saying, if you will diligently listen to the voice of the Lord, your God, and do that which is right in his eyes and give ear to his commandments and keep all his statutes,

I will put none of the diseases on you that I put on the Egyptians. For I am the Lord, your healer.

It was right after this that God in his mercy and grace led them to Elam to strengthen them.

Yet they were grumbling against him. The next one is in the desert of Sin in verse 11.

And we find this account in Exodus 16. It says that they set out from Elam and all the congregation of the people of Israel came to the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elam and Sinai on the 15th day of the second month after they had departed from the land of Egypt.

And the whole congregation of the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness and said, would that we had died by the hand of the

Lord in the land of Egypt. When we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full, if you have brought us out to the wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.

Then the Lord said to Moses, behold, I'm about to rain down bread on them from heaven and the people shall go out and gather a day's portion every day that I may test them, whether they will walk on my law or not.

So right on the heels of complaining that they had no water and then being strengthened by the

Lord at Elam, the Israelites begin to rebel and grumble again to the point of wishing that they were dead rather than being delivered by God.

Thank goodness that God is slow to anger as the persistent sinfulness of mankind rears its ugly head again and again.

We need to recognize the pervasive depravity of man and the graciousness and long suffering of our

God. So next we move on to Rephidim in verse 14.

And it says, and again, the Israelites complained about not having water. All the congregation of the people of Israel moved on from the wilderness of sin by stages according to the commandment of the

Lord and camped at Rephidim. But there was no water for the people to drink. Therefore, the people quarreled with Moses and said, give us water to drink.

And Moses said, why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the Lord? But the people thirsted there for water and the people grumbled against Moses and said, why did you bring us up out of Egypt to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?

So Moses cried out to the Lord, what shall I do with these people? They're almost ready to stone me. The Lord said to Moses, pass on before the people, taking with you some of the elders of Israel and taking your hand the staff, which you struck the

Nile and go. Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb and you shall strike the rock and water shall come out of it and the people will drink.

Once again, God in his mercy and faithfulness provides water in the desert for his people even after they complain to him.

How does he do it? By striking a rock. In verse 16, then they move on to Kibberoth Haravah.

This is recounted for us in Numbers 11. And it says, and the people complained in the hearing of the

Lord about their misfortunes. And when the Lord heard it, his anger was kindled. Now the rabble that was among them had a strong craving.

And the people of Israel also wept again and said, oh, that we had meat to eat. We remember the fish we ate in Egypt that cost us nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions and the garlic.

By now our strength is dried up and there's nothing at all but this manna to look at. In verse 31, then a wind from the

Lord sprang up and it brought quail from the sea and let them fall beside the camp about a day's journey on the side and a day's journey on the other side around the camp, about two cubits above the ground.

And the people rose all that day and night and the next day and gathered the quail. Those who gathered least gathered 10 homers and they spread them out for themselves all around the camp.

While the meat was yet between their teeth before it was consumed, the anger of the Lord was kindled against the people and the

Lord struck down the people with a very great plague. Therefore, the name of that place was called Kibberoth -Hadda -Avah because there they buried the people who had the craving.

There comes a point in time in which the rebellion against the Lord will result in a dire consequence.

We must not test the Lord. God is slow to anger, thankfully, but he also will not be mocked.

He will by no means let the guilty go unpunished. Rebellion is sin and no unclean thing will enter the kingdom of God.

But God has also promised to bring a people into the land. So his name is on the line.

So last, in this particular category of places that we're going through, we get to the desert of Zin in verse 36.

This account is found in Numbers chapter 20, two and three. Now there was no water for the congregation and they assembled themselves against Moses and against Aaron.

And the people quarreled with Moses and said, would that we had perished when our brothers perished before the

Lord? Why have you brought the assembly of the Lord into this wilderness that we should die here, both we and our cattle?

And why have you made us to come up out of Egypt to bring us to this evil place? It is no place for grain or figs or vines or pomegranates and there's no water to drink.

Then Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly of the entrance of the tent of meeting and fell on their faces. And the glory of the

Lord appeared to them. And Lord spoke to Moses saying, take the staff and assemble the congregation, you and Aaron, your brother, and tell the rock before their eyes to yield this water.

So you shall bring water out of the rock for them and give drink to the congregation and for the cattle. And Moses took the staff from before the

Lord as he commanded him. The Israelites sin against God continues.

And now it's not only directed at God, it's directed at Moses and Aaron. And the

Israelites actually wish themselves dead again. And it's here that we see

Moses's frustration. As he was told to speak to the rock to give them the water, but instead he strikes it twice.

This actually becomes the incident that keeps Moses from entering the promised land. Showing that sin is pervasive and leadership is not immune to it either.

All of us suffer from sin. We can see the depravity of man in action in the midst of the

Israelites at each of these stages. But if we didn't have the other scriptures to fill in the details and describe what they said and did each of these times, and we only had the travel itinerary of Numbers 33, we would never know what took place.

We would never know the extent of their sin and rebellion. What is conspicuously absent in this recalling of events in Numbers 33, what is noticeably missing from the list of all these stages, 49 verses, is a description of the sin and rebellion of the

Israelites. Moses offers no commentary or gives specifics of what happened, of what they did.

God passes in complete silence over their unfaithfulness. Why? Is it because sin doesn't matter?

No, sin matters. It's because this plan is going to happen because of the ability of God, the power of God, and not the ability or inability of man.

This is to show the power and purpose of a God who does all that he pleases. My purpose will be established and I will accomplish all my good pleasure.

Truly, I have spoken. Truly, I will bring it to pass as I have planned it. Surely, I will do it. And part of God's plan includes the forgiveness of sin through Jesus, the

Messiah. We need to remember who our God is and just how gracious he is towards us in Christ.

Ian Duggan says it best. He says, God doesn't keep a record of our wrongs filed away, ready to use them against us at an opportune moment.

If that were the case, none of us would ever make it to the end of the journey. On the contrary, the

Lord shows mercy to whom he calls his people, Psalm 130. Second Corinthians 5 .17

says, If anyone is in Christ, he's a new creation. The old is gone to be remembered no more.

And the new has come. In Christ, our sin is done away with. It's nailed to the cross, buried in the tomb with Christ and forgotten by God forever.

As the psalmist puts it, as far as the East is from the West, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.

Praise God. If you're keeping an album of the pictures of your vacation, these are the pictures that are intentionally left out of that book.

These are the ones you don't want to see in your album. Last year, I had the privilege of accompanying

Pastor Jensen to help settle a church dispute. Actually, two churches were disputing.

And I got to see him counsel in action, which is amazing. Now the meeting went very, very well, better than we expected.

And both parties asked each other for forgiveness. And then both parties forgave each other.

And Pastor took a moment to explain exactly what that meant. When you forgive someone, it means that you don't bring up that offense again.

First, you don't bring it up to the other person. Second, you don't bring it up to yourself to remind yourself about it.

And finally, third, you don't bring it up before God. When the offense is forgiven, it's never to be used as leverage against someone else.

It's forgotten. In Numbers 33, God does not bring up their sin against them.

Instead, he doesn't even mention it. Do you think the Israelites needed to be reminded that our

God is one who forgives iniquity, sin and transgressions in Messiah? Oh yeah, oh yeah.

So, so far we've looked at the places where God has manifested his power and faithfulness and the places where Israel sinned greatly against God and grumbled about him.

Now we turn to the last stage, the third stage of places where nothing of significance happened.

Aside from the more prominent events that stick out, the events in our past that stick out, there are also the daily events of life that seem mundane, but also serve to magnify

God's sustaining presence in our lives. Do you think 40 years in the desert was miracles and ice cream all day long?

No, most of it was mundane, tough, laborious, breaking down the camp, setting up the camp, moving the camp, getting the cattle, getting the kids.

I have a hard enough time getting them in the car to church. Think about going to the next city. So these last stages are actually the most numerous out of all of the other stages in Numbers 33.

Again, Ian Duggan tells us, their inclusion in the list is a reminder that life is more than simply a collection of high points and low points.

It's also what happens in between. So when we describe a vacation, we usually talk about the high points.

We went on this ride at Disney, we saw the castle, and then the low points, the plane was late, the car was late, we didn't get there on time.

We talk about the things we loved and the things we hated, but we rarely talk about the times in between, the routine things, the insignificant things that make up the time between the highs and the lows.

So it makes me ask a question. Is there anything really insignificant in God's economy?

Did you ever do something day in, day out without ever really thinking about it? Like it just becomes so routine, you don't give it a second thought, like me driving to work.

Sometimes I don't even know how I got to my office. I'm like, I don't even remember being on 347, you just make the right, left, go, and I'm here and I'm listening to,

I don't even remember how I got there because it becomes so routine. I blink and I'm there.

But then one day you have a near miss driving to work or you're in the kitchen, let's say you're cooking something, you drop a knife that just misses your foot.

What do you say? Thank you, Lord, you protected me. It's only then that you realize that the mindless routine isn't mindless to God.

Anyone know what happened September 10th, 2001? If I asked you what happened

September 11th, 2001, you'd all know, right? What happened September 10th?

Probably an insignificant day for you. It's probably insignificant to most of you, but not to me.

The day before September 11th, I was in New York City walking a couple of blocks past the

World Trade Center, shopping for an engagement ring for my wife. If I was there one day later,

I could have been caught in that whole mess. What was a day that I thought was insignificant was made very significant a day later when those towers fell.

When something of greater significance happens, it gives deeper meaning to our insignificant days.

They take on a different value. If God wasn't in the middle of my insignificant day, sustaining every second of my life,

I wouldn't be alive. I wouldn't have married my wife. I wouldn't have had those two kids.

I wouldn't have had the privilege of standing before you preaching today. I wouldn't have had the privilege and blessing to be part of this church.

Although seemingly insignificant to me, there are no insignificant days to God. Unfortunately, we live life so routinely every day that we forget just how easy in a split second everything can change.

And I was thinking of my sister, Joelle, how split second everything can change. We can take for granted

God's sovereign control over everything such that when something happens outside of the normal routine, it's only then that we're jolted.

And we remember that it's him who upholds us. He upholds the entire universe by the word of his power.

These are the moments that never enter our mind when putting together our photo album, because we never even thought of taking a picture of them.

We took them for granted. Instead of saying God protected me from a near miss as I was going to work that day,

I should say that God protects me every day that I get to work safely. Our being alive every day, our every breath is a testimony to his sovereign control and purpose in all things.

Do we acknowledge, can we even fathom the infinite number of moments, tiny stones of remembrance, just to get us to this point in our lives?

It's only if the Lord wills that we live and do this or that. What if tomorrow was judgment day?

What value would you put on today if you knew that? What would our, what will our insignificant days look like the day after judgment day?

I think what we do today would be very significant if we knew tomorrow was judgment day. The value of all of our days will be measured in light of the last day, the day of the

Lord, in light of his plan and his purpose. There are no insignificant days in God's economy.

They are all valuable and serve God's purpose. Do you think the Israelites needed to be reminded that even in the mundane, insignificant days, that God was with them, sustaining them, bringing them to their next location?

So in these 49 verses, the Israelites look back on the places where God manifested his sovereign power and faithfulness.

They look back at the places where Israel sinned against God and he didn't bring it up to them. And finally, they look back at the places where seemingly nothing of significance happened, but God was in the midst of it.

We too need to be ever mindful of God's faithfulness in our lives, not just the memorable moments, but the insignificance moments.

As well as his faithfulness, we also need to be reminded of God's forgetfulness towards our sin, those ugly moments.

And finally, we need to be reminded of God's presence in our insignificant, mundane moments too.

By including this list of stages and names in Numbers 33 and having Moses write it down, the

Lord was ensuring that it would be read publicly in the community of believers. It was inscripturated forever so that everyone could hear and remember and look back at what

God has done. Another thing to keep in mind as Israel traces its tracks through the desert is that this isn't just an individual reminder.

This list encompassed the whole community of believers. There were some personal achievements in there, but this was a corporate journey.

We get there together. Everyone took part in this trip and in the remembrance of it.

And in that way, they and us in unity can stir one another up to gratitude and renewed faith, seeing

God's hand in each and every circumstance. And so too, we need to remind ourselves and one another of the

Lord's faithfulness in our lives. Every Wednesday when we come together and pray, we start off by asking any praises, any answers to prayer, anything where God showed himself strong and showed his faithfulness.

And we get to listen to how God is answering our prayers and seeing him work in the lives of other believers.

I encourage you to come and hear them. We begin by reminding ourselves of some of the specific ways in which the

Lord has been faithful to us in the past. We can't go based on the future. We look to the past and we read the scriptures knowing the future is in his hands.

These remembrances of the Lord's faithfulness will serve to stimulate our praise, encourage us to pray and offer up more petitions.

To strengthen our faith for the trials of the journey, we sometimes need to look backward, remembering step -by -step where we have come from and who has brought us safely through the trials and tribulations we've been through.

And we get to the end of verse 49, that ends the travelogue. And the

Israelites are standing at the door to the promised land and just about to enter it. And now they're told to fight.

They had to drive the inhabitants now out of the land. And what? They needed to remember the power of God who made the promise to them in the first place.

The God who was with them and for them and behind them. They needed to see his power and presence throughout that whole journey.

And we too like them need to remember the very same things. We need to reflect on God's past faithfulness in our own lives and in the lives of our brothers and sisters in Christ.

And remember that he will accomplish all that he pleases. God is faithful to his covenant and he will not leave us or forsake us.

Be not afraid. No matter what the medical situation, no matter what the economic situation, no matter what the political situation, spiritual situation or personal situation, it's all part of his picture album that we will look back on and marvel at.

He sustained us every moment of every day to get to this very moment right now.

We sang this morning, O thou fount of every blessing, tune my heart to sing thy grace, streams of mercy never ceasing, call for songs of loudest praise.

Teach me ever to adore thee, may I still thy goodness prove while the hope of endless glory fills my heart with joy and love.

Here I raise my Ebenezer, hither by thy help I've come and I hope by thy good pleasure, safely to arrive at home.

Now most importantly, we need to remember that God has been so good to us in the past and so gracious to us in the present, so steadfast in his love for us that he sent one who would be the ultimate stone of remembers,

Jesus, our rock, the stone that the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.

We need to remember our ultimate Ebenezer, our rock is Christ and we need to remember his words of encouragement to his people.

I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. Fear not little flock for it's your father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

My peace I leave you, my peace I give you, not as the world gives do I give. Let your hearts not be troubled, neither let them be afraid.

I'm so glad that I take lots of pictures on my vacations and I map everything out because when

I look back at those pictures and recall what we did and where we went, I'm flooded with great memories.

I'm flooded with funny moments, angry moments, embarrassing moments, tender moments.

They all serve to knit together and shape the life and the family that God has blessed me with.

Friends, this Bible is the testimony of Jesus. It's his album of how our

God, our Savior, Lord entered into creation to save us and is leading us to disciple the nations and take dominion.

This Bible serves as our photo album, showing us what our God did and how our spiritual ancestors acted and what he is doing in and through us right now.

If you're a Christian, this is your family photo album. You will one day reminisce with the saints of old and recount how

God rescued you, sustained you and brought you home. What a journey. If you're not a

Christian, this is your photo album. Only you will not reminisce with the saints of old.

You will be exiled from God. You will live in eternal shame and hatred toward him for all eternity, remembering that he punishes his enemies for their sins.

I urge you, repent, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and be rescued from your sins.

Let's pray. Father in heaven, you are good. You begin a good work in us and you're faithful to complete it.

You are with us every second of every day. Let us always be mindful of that lest we think that we are doing this in our own power.

Help us to be ever dependent on you. Show us our sinfulness, Lord. Grant us repentance that we would trust you more.

Father, you are God in the big moments. You are God in the ugly moments. You are God in our insignificant moments.

Father, be glorified, be magnified in our presence today and in our fellowship. We love you, we thank you and we praise you in Jesus name.