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Introduction 

Growing up, I was a TV addict. I loved watching television. From morning to night, I'll watch all kinds of television programs, from Chinese to English to Indian, whatever there is available I will watch. But one of the favourite kinds would be Kung Fu shows, especially from Hong Kong and so on. And in Kung Fu shows, you always see people practice “Qing Gong”, you know, the levitating ability to jump and fly in the sky. I mean, that's amazing. I would also be fascinated when they are able to shoot out powers from their palms. And those things catch my attention. One other thing about Chinese Kung Fu shows in the past is that the pugilists, when they meet with great foes, they like to set up formations, and we call it “bai zhen”.(Pastor spoke in Mandarin meaning “formation”) One example would look something like this. Well, you “bai” (Pastor spoke in Mandarin meaning “form”) already, you look very formidable. No one dares to attack you. You will defeat all your enemies. Well, that “bai zhen”(Pastor spoke in Mandarin meaning “formation”) thing can become even more elaborate in wars. So there are formations to counter enemy attacks and so on. Well, I mentioned “formation” today because that's what we are reading in Numbers chapters one to four. Israel is not going to be randomly scattered, but Israel as a nation must set up formation and that formation would look something like this. We are not exactly clear. Is it really like this? But it would look something like this, and that's what we're going to look at today. The chapters before us describe the formation of Israel, and the formation of Israel describes spiritual truths for you and for me. So let's look at it first of all in these chapters. Then we're going to get to the application in the second half. 

Organization and Census of Israel

Chapter one is a census. A census is a gathering of population statistics. Chapter one is like National Service registration. God is saying, “Give me the number of people, of men twenty and above, who are able to go to war”. So this census is going to be taken from these twelve tribes of Israel. Now, Jacob has twelve sons. We have twelve tribes, but not all twelve sons are here. For example, Levi is not here. Levi is one of the sons of Jacob, but Levi is not counted here because as you have read, Levi and his descendants will become Priests and Levites, who will not fight the war, but they will take care of the tabernacle, which is the tent where the special dwelling place of God is. So you say how come there is twelve? Well, because one other son, his name is Joseph. He is not mentioned here, but Joseph's two sons are represented in Ephraim and Manasseh. So if you do your math correctly, you are back to twelve tribes of Israel. Levi is out. Joseph is out but Joseph's two sons are in so you have the twelve tribes of Israel. 

Now you begin to number them, and the Bible tells us the statistics here, and you will add all of them up. It's given to you by Moses, 603,550 men. Now that's a lot, and if you add on the women and the children. Conservatively, I think there are two to three million people at least in Israel. This is very significant because this shows God's hand of blessings upon Jacob. Since in Genesis 46, this is about two hundred and fifteen years before this, the entire household of Jacob was only seventy people. Singapore would love Jacob to migrate here, because he alone would solve our aging population problem. He is so fruitful. In two hundred and fifteen years, from about seventy people to three million people. Well, that's God's blessings on this land, on this people. 

Then we go into detail, because we see Judah stands out as the most populous tribe. Perhaps this is a hint or an indication of the prominence of this special tribe, because Jesus will come from the tribe of Judah many years down the road. That's why we call Jesus the “Lion of Judah”. Another tribe that is populous, or two tribes that is more populous, will be Ephraim and Manasseh, who are both the sons of Joseph, perhaps fulfilling the promise that is given, or the prophecy given in Genesis 49, “Joseph is a fruitful bough”.

Significance of the Levites and Their Roles

So you have these twelve tribes of Israel. And then in chapter one, second half, we going to read about the Levites. So chapter one forms a kind of summary and then chapters two, three, four will give further elaborations of what is said here. So we are now going to look at the Levites. The Levites are responsible for the ministry at the tent. This tent is a kind of tent-like structure in which there are various pieces of furniture, the priests would serve there. And it's significant because the tent represents the special presence of God. 

The Levites and the priests will be organized in this way. The priests will always be at the East end, because that's the entrance to the Tabernacle. The priests will be there, Moses, Aaron, priests. Then the other Levites will be structured as such. The Merarites will be always at the North. The Gershonites will always be at the West, and the Kohathites will always be at the South, and they are in this formation to protect Israel from trespassing and incurring wrath upon them. So they form a kind of buffered zone no one is going to trespass. They are like the security guards for the tabernacle, because God is holy and people are not, and there needs to be this safety margin created by the Levites. 

So here we have the first census of Israel, chapter one. Then we go to chapter two, and chapter two is where we see the organization of the camp. We have numbered the people. Now let's see how they are to be structured. Again let's start with the tabernacle or the temple or the tent, because this is the central focus of Israel.

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Organization of the Camp and the 12 Tribes

Around them will be the Levites and the priests as mentioned. Always, the priests, Moses, Aaron and his sons on the East, Merarites at the North, Gershonites at the West, and Kohathites in the South. And around them, you now have the twelve tribes of Israel. You now have Judah, the most prominent tribe at the most prominent direction, East. And together with Judah, you have Issachar, Zebulun. In the South, you have Reuben, Simeon and Gad. At the West, you have Benjamin, Manasseh and Ephraim. And then in the North you have Naphtali, Asher, Dan. So these are the twelve tribes of Israel. Now I know this diagram is not so clear, because looks fancy, but not so clear. So let me give you another diagram, not so fancy, but clearer. So at the tent, we will have that buffered zone, safety margin provided by the priests and Levites, and then orientating around this will be the twelve tribes of Israel. And the interesting thing that is given in the account here is that every one of them is to face the Tent of Meeting. So every single tribe, every single camp is to look towards the center, the tabernacle of God. Obvious point, Israel is to always behold their God, who is in their midst. You're starting to get the picture here, isn't it? And not only when they are set up, is God Central, even when they move off, because they are going to be a nomadic, migratory people until they reach the Promised Land. When they move off, there is also order and structure. It will always be in this order. Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, first pack. Reuben's pack, second, Ephraim, third, and then fourth, this order. But front and center of this procession is always going to be God, because right at front will be the Ark, together with Moses, Aaron and the sons, and right in the middle will be the Gershonites, Merarites, Kohathites with the tabernacle and the holy things, the furniture. So this will always be the organization of Israel. Like I said, chapter one is the overview. Chapter two, three, four, kind of give you further elaborations. Chapter two talks more about the organization of the people. Chapter three and four will be about the priests and Levites. 

Roles and Responsibilities of the Levites

So let's look at chapter three, the roles and responsibilities of the priests and the Levites. They again, are structured as such, and we need to know a little bit about the Levites here from their family tree. Levi is a son of Jacob, very good, and Levi himself will have three sons. Who are his three sons? Three sons are Merari, not Ferrari but Merari, Gershon and don't know how to pronounce, a lot of us, Kohath. Okay? Gershon, Kohath, Merari, the three sons of Levi. Out of this, Kohath will be most significant. Now, you probably won't know the four sons of Kohath, but they are Amram, Izhar, Hebron, Uzziel. And out of this, Amram is highlighted. Why? Because Amram is the father of Tan Ah Gao, Tan Ah Beng? You know, sometimes we don't bother about these things, but eh this one a bit important, because Kohath’s son is Amram and Amram's son is, or sons are Moses and Aaron. So who is Moses’s parents? Amram and Jochebed. That's his mom's name. So Amram has two sons, Aaron and Moses, and one more child, who is? Miriam, the sister. All right, so you kind of know about Moses in Exodus. We know Amram is the father of Aaron and Moses, and Aaron himself will have four sons. And the four sons are Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. Now, why is Nadab and Abihu in grey? Because they died. Remember in Leviticus, we read of how they sinned against God by offering “strange fire” and God struck them dead. So poor Aaron is now left only with two sons. Actually not too bad, two sons easier to handle. He has Eleazar and Ithamar. And God said, “All right, Aaron. You and your sons will be priests.” The priests will be the ones who will handle the sacrifices and the worship procedures in the tabernacle. Only the priests, only the sons of Aaron can do that. And then God said, “I will give all the sons of Levi to assist you and they will be called the Levites.” The Levites will help Aaron and his sons administrate the necessary routines in the tabernacle. So that's how the Levites will be organized. 

Now, why did God choose the Levites, you say? It's actually given in an account in Numbers 3. But in short, it has to do with the ten plagues of Israel. God inflicted ten plagues on Egypt so that Egypt will let Israel go, so that Pharaoh would finally relent and let Israel go. Out of the ten plagues, the last one, the tenth one, is the most probably severe one. At the tenth plague, God said, “All the firstborn in Egypt will die”. But for Israel, God said, “I will save your firstborn. All you guys need to do is to get a spotless lamb, kill that lamb, take that blood, smear that blood on the door posts of your homes and hide there for tonight because when the angel of death comes, when the angel sees the blood on the door, the angel will pass over, skip over and not kill the firstborn in the family”. And thereby, God saved all the firstborn of Israel whilst they were in Egypt. 

So after they were saved, God now says, “All your firstborn I saved belongs to me. But okay, I will not take all your firstborn from each and every tribe and family. Instead of doing that, I will just take one whole tribe, the people of Levi”. So God chose Levites to serve Him. And there's a little detail there, because if you number all the Levites, it's 22,000. But if you number all the firstborn, it's 22,273. So got “zao” (Pastor spoke in Hokkien meaning “leftover”). You pay money, you still got change. You got 273. How to account? So God says,“Okay, I can't make you give birth to another 273 Levites, but pay five shackles for each shortfall, and we will call it done”. So now the Levites, the sons of Levi - Gershon, Merari and Kohath, they will all be given to assist Aaron and his sons in the tabernacle services. 

Now, what are they supposed to do? They are R and R. Their roles and responsibilities are very clear. There is no cross coverage. Sometimes in office, we help one another, but in the Levitical priesthood, there is no helping one another. The Merarites, Gershonites, Kohathites will be responsible for specific things. I know your eyes must be straining here, so let me blow it up and you will see that the Merarities will be in charge of the frames, pillars, bases, sockets, cords and so on,

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the structural things, if I may say. Then the Gershonites will be in charge of the soft furnishings, the hangings, the curtains, the screens. And then the Kohathites will be responsible for the furniture, the altar table, lamp stand, golden altar, veil and Ark. These are the things that each one of them will be responsible for. So God is super-organized. God is super-specific. Nothing is left to your own imagination or choices. These are the roles and responsibilities of the priests. 

Finally, chapter four and chapter four, I'm not going to speak much, except to say that there is another census. But chapter three census or population of Levites is for the adults, oh sorry, from those who are one month and above. Chapter four, the census will be those who are adults, those who are already ready to serve, 30 to 50 years old. And Chapter four is mostly concerned with the responsibilities when they move from place to place. There are very specific instructions, how to tear down, how to cover the furniture with blue cloth, with badgers’ skin, with all kinds of cloth so that it is exactly the way God wants it to be. You remember someone touch the Ark of the Covenant when they carried it wrongly? What happened to the person? “Ma Keo, Si Keo Keo”(Pastor speaks in Hokkien word meaning died). Died because they did not obey God in what he said that they are to do. So these are very specific rules, but don't get lost in all the details. I think those details will come in later on, but let's not be lost in all the details. I know, if you're new with us today, this is like, wow, what in the world is happening? Did I just come to? So I know this is not easy, but let's get to the big picture. 

The big picture in Numbers is that there is a people ready for war, and God is organizing them in such a way that Israel will be very clear that God is orientating the whole nation around Himself. God is saying, “I am the bull's eye of your nation. I am the central focus of Israel. If you guys are to enter the Promised Land, your focus has to be on me because I am the One who will lead you into the Promised Land, who will conquer the enemies.” So I think the big idea in Numbers one to four is that this is a picture of God-centeredness. All these words we read, paint a picture and the picture is God-centeredness. And I'm going to spend the second half of this time looking at what it means to be God-centered and how that is true for Israel and how that is true for us. 

God-Centeredness and Dependence on God

Very quickly, God-centeredness involves number one, God dependence. I think this must be the idea that the Israelites must walk away with. We are a people who must be entirely dependent on God if we are to enter the Promised Land. Because every day we are, we are thinking about war. This census, this numbering is for war, and all of us are to look towards the tent. God is the central focus. And when we march off, God is the one who will lead us, who is in the middle of us. And certainly that's the case. Fast forward, forty years later, when they are about to conquer Jericho, God said, “This is the plan. You walk around Jericho”. This is no military campaign because there's no fighting here. This is a spiritual campaign. This is saying God is the one who will tear down the walls of Jericho. The Ark, that special box that symbolizes the special dwelling of God, is what is the focus. The priest will blow the trumpets drawing attention to the Ark. God is who we depend on to tear down the walls of Jericho. So this is a picture of God-dependence. This is true for Israel and I think this is true for both the church and for each of us as individuals. 

The church today is called to the Gospel Mission to make disciples of all people. But let's be reminded today, the central person in the fulfillment of the Great Commission is not you nor me, not your pastor, not anyone here, but Jesus Christ Himself. And if we are to be faithful to the mission, if we are to finish the mission, we need to depend on God, because Jesus Himself said, “I will build my church”. Notice this, it's not your pastor who will build the church. It's not you who will build the church. It's Jesus. I find that in ministry, we do not need to be overwhelmed with feelings of stress and anxiety, if we just understand, God is the one who builds His church. He tells us to go and make disciples. This is what we need to focus on. This is what we need to do, no question. But at the same time, he also says, “I am with you always to the end of the age, depend on me”. That's the idea. So as a church, let us learn to depend on God. Yes, we preach, we pray, we disciple. But at the end of it all, we realize life change comes from God. Increase comes from God. Salvation comes from God. Spiritual growth comes from God. So in your CGs, in your DGs, in your word ministries, as you're serving children, you know you can serve with joy and freedom. You don't have to be stressed. You really don't have to.  All you need to be concerned about is, am I doing what God wants me to do? Am I faithful? Am I obedient? Because Jesus is the One who builds this church. 

I've been in ministry for close to two decades now, and if I include the years of serving before I came on full time, it's been a long while. But I think “on this rock I will build my church”, it's a wonderful reminder to me to keep me from stress, anxieties and fears and feelings of inadequacy. So let us learn to trust Him. Salvation is of the Lord, whether it's your kids, your loved ones. Yes, we preach. Yes, we tell them the gospel. I tell my kids the gospel. But I made very aware over these years that even though I can, I think, explain the gospel clearly to them, that's not the secret to their salvation. If they are to be saved, I need to depend on God, and God alone. He is the only One who can save. So this is true for us as a church, but I think it's also true for us as Christians. 

Obedience and Diligence in Faith

The Bible tells us that God is the one who ultimately preserves you and guards you and safeguards you until the day of final salvation. Sometimes we forget that. We think it's about me persevering. There is reality, truth to the fact that I need to keep on believing to the end, because they who endure to the end shall be saved. But let's not forget that decisive ability to keep us to the end comes from God. Verses like Philippians 1 tells us “He, that is God, who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ”. The final salvation for you and for me is a work of God. We see also in Romans 8, that God is the one who predestines, calls, justifies, glorifies. Who does this? He, He, He, He, He does this. When you get on the bus, actually, before this, there's those who are foreordained. When you get on the bus of foreordination, you will pass through these few stops - predestination, call, justify, glorify. And no one gets off the bus, because God is the One who makes sure you get on this bus and you go through all the five stops. God is the One who ensures His elect, those who are foreordained, will be glorified. He won't fail. He won't let anyone off the bus. And how about 1 Peter, where it says, “You who by God's power, are being guarded through faith”. This is a loaded statement. We are guarded by God's power. We depend on God for that final salvation revealed in the last time. Of course, Peter balances it for the requirement of faith on our end, we keep on believing. But it is God who safeguards us through faith for that final

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salvation at the very end. What is a God-centered church? God-centered church is one where we realize we depend on God for life change, for salvation of souls, for sanctification of sins. And a God-centered person realizes it is ultimately God who saves my soul from the beginning to the end, and we praise and thank God for His mercy. 

Second “D”, a God-centered person, or church, is one who is directed by God. You see, God-centeredness is not just, oh, I depend on God, and I'm passive and inactive, and I lace my way through. No. A God-centered, God-centered man, God-centered church is both dependent and obedient. We follow God's commands as directed by him. Israel, as a nation, the way they are organized, the way they set up the services, is precisely the way God wanted them to do, right? They obeyed God in all that He said, that's the end of chapter one. So we as a church, need to be reminded that whilst we depend on God for the gospel work, we must be faithful in making disciples, preaching, teaching, praying. So my question to you is, are we? Are we faithful? Are we obedient, or do we just go through the motions of churchianity? Come to church, attend a service. But the great commission is not at all in our minds, because right after service, you will be thinking about, what to eat? Where to go? How's my job? How's my sales? How's my business project? How's my career advancement? 

Well, I think a God-centered church is one where we are passionate and committed and focused on God's purpose for us, fulfill the Great Commission of making disciples. But let me also apply this personally. I mentioned about salvation and how God preserves our salvation. But a good Christian man, a God-centered man, does not take it for granted. He follows, for example, the exaltations given by the author in the book of Hebrews to pay much closer attention to what we have heard. So yes, God saves me, God preserves me. But that doesn't mean I'm going to take this for granted. I'm going to be diligent and serious about hearing the Word of God. Every time I open the Scriptures, I'm serious about it because I know faith is essential to persevering to the end. Not only should I pay careful attention, I need to be aware, sober, vigilant, because if I'm complacent, there may be an evil and unbelieving heart in me that leads me to fall away from God. I'm not going to be complacent. I'm going to be alert and guard against an evil heart of unbelief that indulges in sin. Or the author would go on to say, don't just do that, but also exhort one another every day. Be in a ministry, in an environment where you are speaking God's word, one to another. Saturate yourself in the scriptures. This is no joke, because if you don't, you may allow sin into your life. And sin is deceitful. It will harden you against God. So you either inoculate yourself properly against sin or sin will harden you against God. Have to be diligent in these things. And then we read in Hebrews 10, we are to hold fast, hold tight. Don't give up on the faith. Instead, we are to stir up one another, provoke one another, poke one another. Don't live in sin, but live in love and good works. Don't forget, don't neglect to meet together. I'm afraid many people are already neglecting to meet together. You probably think to yourself, I've been a Christian for a long time. I've attended church. I've gone through many sermons. I'm A-okay, I believe in Jesus. I said a sinner’s prayer, just let me cruise. No need to come church, because so far, because car park always jam, because very hot from block 128 to walk to here. So let me stay at home, or better still, forget about the sermon. Forget about the service. I can read my Bible on my own. Well, if you can read your Bible on your own and feed yourself, I think that's great. But the problem is we just push it, push it, push it, push it until we don't even read the Bible on our own, and soon enough, sin creeps in. Your heart is hardened and you will one day fall away from God if you're not careful. There is no scope or place for complacency whatsoever. “But we should encourage one another, and all the more, as you see the day drawing near”, because after these verses, verse 26 he says, “For if we go on sinning deliberately”, so if you don't do what is said in verses 23 to 25 that's what you end up in. You live in sin and you'll fall away. And it's a scary thing if you do fall away, because on the last day when Jesus comes, He might just say, “I never knew you”. So God-centered man depends on God. But he is not passive and inactive, but he obeys God as is directed by God.

Delighting in God and Fearing God

Number three, he delights in God. Now this is important to grasp, because if you remember right in the beginning of the Bible, Adam and Eve sinned against God, and what happened? God evicted them from the garden, placed cherubims with flaming swords, saying, in effect, no more entry into God's presence. So man is cut off from God since the Garden of Eden. So when we read now in Israel's history that God is going to dwell in the middle of them, this is a tremendous privilege out of grace and mercy. It's a delight that the God of all the universe will be with us and we can be with Him. A God-centered man realizes this privilege and delights and indeed accesses the throne of grace. Hebrews 4 tells us to draw near in prayer that we can draw near to God, because Jesus has opened up this new and living way. We can draw near to God and no more call him a terrible judge, a scary judge, but that we can call him Abba, Father. So we can delight in God today and one day in a new heaven and new earth with no barriers whatsoever, no death, no fear whatsoever, draw near to Him.

So I like to usually talk about three things, but today I need to add a fourth one, because the text does offer that perspective of the dread of God. A God-centered man is dependent, is directed, is delighting in God, and he also fears God. He knows what it means to live in the fear of God, the dread of God. See, God is not Santa Claus. God is not an old grandpa who is very indulging. God is holy. And this passage in Numbers reminds us of His Holiness. C.S. Lewis, he used the lion Aslan in Chronicles of Narnia to describe Jesus, the lion Aslan. And in that story, he wrote “Who said anything about Aslan being safe? Of course, he isn't safe, but he's good. He's the King, I tell you.” So C S Lewis, in this story, is sharing, is communicating that Aslan, Jesus, as God, is good God. He's good and gracious and merciful, but at the same time, He is not safe because He is holy and I am not. See, drawing near to God is both a sweet and scary thing at the same time, because God is both terrific and terrifying. You get that? It is just the way it is. We can draw near to God because we need God, we are made for God. But at the same time, we fear God because we are sinful, and yet He is holy. So the Bible tells us this is why Numbers is structured the way it is. The Levites have to be a kind of safety zone, buffer zone,

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so that they will not incur the wrath of God. We read about how Nadab and Abihu died because they offered “strange fire”. We read in chapter 3 verse 10, that “if anyone trespasses, he shall be put to death. Or if any of the sons of Kohath touch the holy things which they are not supposed to, they will die”. And again, in (chapter 4) verse 20, “they shall not go in to look into the holy things even for a moment, lest they die”. As mentioned already, Uzziah, when he touched the Ark of the Covenant, he was dropped dead. So throughout Numbers in these four chapters, there is always this looming threat of death, because God is holy and you are not. In the New Testament, let us offer to God acceptable worship with reverence and awe, fear God. I am saddened when people take God too flippantly or casually. Yes, we have that confidence because of Jesus, we can draw near to God. But at the same time, there is also, I think, a place and a necessity for a proper awe and reverence and fear of God in the way we relate with Him. 

Conclusion and Call to Action

We love God and we fear God. That both things are equally true for the Christian life. Do you fear God? Do you serve Him with reverence and awe, because He is holy, and because if you do not, you may end up discovering you are a hypocrite, and you will face the fearsome judgment of God if so.

Israel, in Numbers, is a nation preparing for war, preparing to enter the Promised Land. How are they to prepare themselves? Sharpening their knives, training up their muscles, being updated about military tactics? No, the number one lesson they have to learn is that God is the center of us all. The only way we can conquer Canaan is when we are a God-centered people. Will we be dependent? Will we be directed? Will we delight in him? Will we have the dread of God in our lives? That's the key. And for you today, for us today as a church, may we be a God-centered church, dependent, directed, delighting and fearing God.

Let's bow for a word of prayer together. If you're here today for the first time, I understand how this can be so difficult and complicated, but let me just say, the core, the centralness of the Christian faith, is God Himself. It's not man trying to earn his way to God, but that God, in His mercy, sent his Son Jesus Christ, to die and rise again to pay for your sins. So let me invite you to the core of Christianity. Let me invite you to the centrality of Christianity. It's God and the gift of His Son to save you from your sin. Jesus did it all. You can depend on Him. Jesus did it all, and He commands you today to repent and to believe. Jesus did it all. Let us delight in His saving work. Jesus did it all so let us fear Him and obey Him and follow Him. I invite you. Indeed. I urge you. I beg you to turn from sin and to believe in Jesus. And for all gospel lighters, I pray these four chapters would burn a vivid picture of God centeredness in our lives and in our souls, that we all will not be complacent that as we look to Him for the salvation of our souls, we will be faithful to Him to the end, and may we then, as a church, depend on Him and obey Him in the work of the Great Commission. Let us not be about our own agenda, of our own little kingdoms, our own little careers, our own little pleasures. Let us behold our God and let us serve Him with awe and reverence. So Father, bless your people, bless each one. May we be faithful to you. Thank you for the reminder you are to be the center of our lives and our church for your glory. We pray in Jesus name, Amen.