Never Left, Never Forsaken

Dannah Gresh: As we look to a new year, Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth reminds us of a comforting truth.

Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth: The presence of God never, ever leaves or forsakes His people. No matter what they do, God never leaves us. His presence is always with us.

Dannah: This is the Revive Our Hearts podcast with Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth, author of A Place of Quiet Rest, for December 30, 2024. I’m Dannah Gresh.

Who knows what 2025 is going to hold? Only God. But no matter what trials and hurdles you encounter, you can rest in the confidence of God’s guidance—His presence with you. 

The teaching you’re about to hear is a sneak peek of an upcoming audio and video series called “Wonder of the Word.” It will go live in 2027, if the Lord tarries. Nancy is planning to cover the whole Bible that year. She’s busy studying and recording that huge project right now. 

This message is from the book of Numbers. Let’s listen, and let’s be encouraged here at the end of this year.

Nancy: When it comes to these parts of the Old Testament, it can sometimes feel like we're trudging through. It's difficult territory. Let me share with you something that has been helpful to me, and I'm doing more of it as I'm teaching through the Bible, and that's listening to the Bible on audio. 

I'll do it sometimes as I'm going to sleep at night, sometimes during the night if I'm having a hard time sleeping, or this morning when I got up to record. As I was getting ready, I just pushed the audio app on my phone and was listening to some of what we're getting ready to talk about. I find that I hear things that I hadn't caught before when I was reading the text. It's just helpful to me. 

So that's another way to “read” the Bible—to listen to it. There are so many wonderful voices available to listen to. If you want to hear a different kind of voice or accent or language, it's so helpful to be able to do that. So, just a word of encouragement to you as we come today to Numbers 6–10. 

The Israelites have been at Mount Sinai for just about a year. They're preparing to head to the Promised Land. I want to give you first just a few snapshots and key takeaways from these chapters. Then I want to spend the rest of our time focusing on two passages that come in this section. I want to encourage you to follow along in your Bible scroll or in a paper Bible, if you possibly can. If you're driving, you're doing something else, and you can only listen, that's great. But I think you'll get even more out of it if you can follow along in your Bible and just mark things, make notes, write down questions, and engage with the text as much as you possibly can.

So chapter 6, I would encourage you as you read chapter 6 to highlight two words. In my translation they are “consecration” and “consecrated.” Those two words appear between them sixteen times in just twenty-one verses in this chapter. Look at verse 2. 

When a man or woman makes a special vow, and Nazirite vow, to consecrate himself to the LORD . . .

That’s the first appearance of that word, highlight it, underline it, circle it. You're going to see this concept of consecration. And in fact, that word Nazirite comes from the Hebrew word that means “to be separated, to be consecrated.” 

Now, this special Nazirite vow was not just for Levites, or priests, people who were in full-time ministry. This was a vow any one man or woman who wanted to express complete devotion and dedication to the Lord. It's a vow that required for a period of time certain kinds of self denial, separation from the world, being fully yielded to God, and being publicly identified as belonging to God. 

Now, we don't have that vow. We're not encouraged in the New Testament as New Testament believers to take that specific vow. This was for the Israelites in the Old Testament covenant. But there is a parallel in the New Testament that says this way of thinking should be a way of life for New Testament believers. And you find it in what is probably a familiar passage, Romans chapter 12, beginning in verse 1.

Therefore, brothers and sisters, in view of the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy [set apart] and pleasing to God; this is your true worship. Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. (vv. 1–2) 

So as you read that passage in Romans, think back to this picture in Numbers 6 of the Nazirite vow. It’s already planting seeds that those who follow God are to live set apart, consecrated lives, not like the world, different than the world, set apart from the world, consecrated to God. That's a way of life not just for a few people, but for all who follow Jesus Christ. 

Now, as we come to chapter 7, again, just a quick overview and a short take away from chapter 7. On the day the tabernacle was set up after a long time of instructions in preparation and making curtains and making pieces of furniture . . . The day the tabernacle was actually set up for the first time there at Mount Sinai, leaders representing the twelve tribes of Israel brought an offering and presented it to the Levites. Verse 5 of chapter 7 says this offering “was to be used in the work of the tent of meeting.” 

What did they bring? They first brought carts and oxen that would be used for transporting the tabernacle through the wilderness. Then they brought specific items that would be used in the worship in the tabernacle. Each day for the next twelve days, the leader of a different tribe would bring an offering and present it at the altar. And all twelve days, these twelve different leaders brought the identical same offering; they brought the same thing. 

Scripture doesn't just tell us once. Say that on day one, this leader brought this and so on and so on, on the following days. It gives us the exact same repeated description of what each one brought. What did they bring? 

• A silver dish, a silver basin, each filled with a grain offering. 
• A gold bowl filled with incense. 
• Then a total of twenty-one bulls, rams, lambs, and goats for specific offerings. 

I just gave you the short version of that. But if you read that, you see it not once, but twelve times in this chapter. It is the third longest chapter in the Bible and extremely repetitive. You can read a chapter like this, and you can think, Why did God go to the trouble to repeat all of these details? My Bible is already heavy enough; it's got enough verses? Why would He repeat this? 

Well, I can't speak for why God does things, but I know this is a reminder that worship is not just for a few spiritual people. It's not just for Levites and priests. It's for all the people of God. And generosity to the work of God is not just for the wealthy. Every tribe, every family, every person was invited and expected to participate in this offering.

 

I love it that every gift mattered to God and that God tracks the giving of His people. I don't know if Moses and Aaron had been writing this book without the inspiration of the Holy Spirit that they would have taken the time to spell out all these details. I probably wouldn't have. But God tracks the giving of His people. And He deemed it right to inspire this detailed report of each and every offering that was brought. 

It makes me think, What if one tribe hadn't participated? It also makes me wonder, What if the giving of each person and family in your church or mine was posted publicly written out like this? Are there some names, families, people that would be missing? Or would everyone be included? You see, God calls us all to give to support His kingdom work. 

That's chapter 7. Chapter 8, the Levites were chosen by God to serve in the tabernacle, and now they were being officially consecrated for their work. This had two parts. First of all, they were purified or ceremonially washed. And secondly, they were presented as an offering before the Lord. Purified and then presented. And then verse 22 of chapter 8 tells us, “After that . . .” After what? After being purified, after being presented as an offering. 

“After that, the Levites came to do their work at the tent of meeting.” 

Now, we were seeing in these chapters that the Levites had mostly menial tasks. The priests were the ones doing the offerings, the sacrifices, but the Levites were doing menial work. They were carrying things, cleaning things, moving things, packing things—things, things, things. But this was a holy calling, and they had to be prepared to serve their holy God.

I have a sign on the wall in my study that reads in part, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord,” from Luke 1. It's an important reminder. As I said about my work, and before we tackle whatever work or tasks God has given us to do, it's a reminder that first we need to have our hearts washed in His Word, and our lives offered up to Him. And when we do common, everyday work that all of us have to do, becomes holy, becomes acceptable to God. It becomes a blessing to others.

That's chapter 8. Now chapter 9 of Numbers. They observed the second Passover. The first Passover had been a year earlier the night before they left Egypt. We see in this chapter just one little point I want to make, another glimpse of God's grace. In verse 14 we see that provision was made for non-Israelites who lived among the people of Israel where they too could observe the Passover. I believe this foreshadows how the grace of God would one day be extended beyond the Jews to the Gentiles through Christ. 

So that's just a quick walk through chapters 6, 7, 8, and 9. Now I want to focus on two passages in this section that I think will be especially meaningful, and just park there a little bit more. First, in Numbers chapter 6, beginning in verse 22 is the priestly blessing, the priestly benediction on God's people. It’s sometimes called the Aaronic blessing because Aaron, the first high priest, was the one who was instructed to give this blessing. We read in verse 22: 

The LORD spoke to Moses: “Tell Aaron and his sons,
‘This is how you are to bless the Israelites. You should say to them, [and here's the blessing]
“May the LORD bless you, and protect you; 

May the LORD make his face shine on you
and be gracious to you; 

may the LORD look with favor on you
and give you peace.”’

In this way, they will pronounce my name over the Israelites, and I will bless them.” (vv. 22–27)

First of all, God said to the priests, “You are to bless the people. And then I will bless the people.”

And we know that the Israelites would face a ton of hardships all their trek through the wilderness, and even once they got into Canaan. They could not survive that journey without God's protection, His provision, His presence. Can you just imagine how this blessing brought them encouragement and hope as they faced those hard days. 

You see that this blessing was initiated by God, even though the priests were the ones to pronounce it. He says, “May the Lord bless you.” We learn that God is the ultimate source, the foundation of all blessings. He wants to bless His people, remember that. And we see that this blessing flowed from God, to His people, through the priests. So when the priests blessed the people, they were acting as channels, as instruments of God's blessing.

Scripture teaches us that believers are priests to God and one of the greatest gifts we can bestow on others—on mates. children, friends, neighbors, coworkers—one of the greatest gifts we can give them is the blessing of God as we receive God's blessing. We will become a channel to pass that blessing on to them. 

And notice, too, that this blessing was for the entire community of God's people. God says, “Bless the Israelites, and I will bless them.” That's plural. But there's also a personal blessing for each individual within that community. So first, the corporate blessing, “bless them,” and then His personal blessing. Because the pronouns in verses 24 through 26 are singular. “May the Lord bless you; may the Lord protect you; may he make his face shine on you.” 

So we have the corporate blessing for the whole community, and then we have this very personal blessing. As we put this into a New Testament lens, we're reminded that God wants to bless His entire Church worldwide, but He also wants to bless you and me. He knows who you are; He knows what blessing you need. 

Now, in this blessing, it doesn't anywhere promise a pain-free life or good health or comfort or ease. The blessings pronounced here are far more essential than those things. If you have the things in this blessing, these pronouncements, then you can be blessed and content, even in the absence of some other blessings you might wish that you had, temporal blessings. So let's look here at the blessings that are promised in this passage in Number 6. 

First of all, the blessing of protection. “May the Lord bless you and protect you.” That word “protect” means “to keep safe, to guard, to preserve, to hedge around something, to watch over someone." And we learn that God protects His people from evil from the evil one and from every enemy that would attempt to harm our covenant relationship with Him. 

The Lord is the protector. He is the keeper of His people. Not only does He protect, but He is their protector. He's always attentive. He's always on duty. Psalm 121 tells us: 

The Protector of Israel does not slumber or sleep. (v. 4) 

He never goes off duty. 

The LORD will protect your coming and going both now and forever. (v. 8) 

He’s always watching, always protecting, always caring. And then in John 17, you remember how Jesus prayed for His disciples: 

Holy Father, protect them by your name . . . protect them from the evil one. (vv. 11, 15) 

And 1 Peter 1: 

You are being guarded [protected, kept] by God's power. (v. 5) 

So one of the pronouncements here is the blessing of protection, “The Lord bless you and protect you.” And then there's a pronouncement of the presence of God. Verse 25, "May the Lord make his face to shine upon you." Face as it is used here has to do with a person's appearance or their presence. In fact, you read the same Hebrew word in Genesis 3, where it says: 

The man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD. (v. 8) 

They hid from the face of God. When you see someone's face, you know they're there. They know you know. They can see you; you can see them. And this blessing here is, “May the Lord make his face to shine upon you.” May He assure you of His presence. There is no greater blessing than to experience and enjoy the presence of God.

At the same time, the face of God can also be terrifying. Think about that verse in Psalm 90, verse 8: 

“You have set our iniquities before You, our secret sins in the light of Your countenance [the light of your face].” (NKJV)

Sometimes when the light goes on, we see the darkness, and the light of God's face shines on us through Christ as we see Him in His Word. The light shines and we go, “Oh, there's stuff there. I had no idea, sins, that can be terrifying,” which is why we need his grace. And that's the next pronouncement. 

Not only the protection of God, not only His presence, His face, but also pardoned from sin. “May the Lord be gracious to you.” This is undeserved grace that flows out of His love, flows out of His covenant promises, flows out of His faithfulness, pardon from sin. 

And then another blessing, another pronouncement, His pleasure. “May the Lord look with favor on you.” Your translation may say, “May the Lord lift up His countenance upon you” or “lift up his face to you.” Favor, face, countenance again. It's the Lord looking at us but not just seeing us, but being pleased with us, with favor showing grace to us. 

He's attentive to us. This word has the concept of taking pleasure in the one that you're looking at. As a mother smiles on her newborn child, she adores this child; she looks with pleasure. Proverbs 16 says it this way in verse 15: 

When a king's face lights up, there is life; his favor is like a cloud with spring rain. 

We're promised that God, the King of the universe, takes pleasure in His people. We're so prone to box ourselves into shame and hiding and guilt and fear, and we forget that the Lord takes pleasure in His loved ones, those who've been forgiven and cleansed by the blood of Jesus have His pleasure.

And then a fifth part of this blessing in verse 26. “May the Lord give you peace.” Protection, the presence of God, pardon from sin, the pleasure of God. and then peace. Shalom is the word. It’s not peace that we think about as the absence of storms or problems, but spiritual health, well-being, a tranquil heart, contentment, this kind of peace. 

Shalom is the fruit of being in a covenant relationship with God, and it affects every area of our lives: our relationship with God, our relationships with others, even our relationships with our enemies. The Scripture says God makes even a man's enemies to be at peace with him. There can be shalom, well-being, and this whole thing of peace, grace, favor is a thread that runs all through the Scripture. 

You think of how many greetings in Paul's letters in the New Testament echo this priestly blessing. Romans 1 for example: 

Grace to you [the favor of the Lord] and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. (v. 7) 

You see this priestly benediction, this priestly blessing, foreshadows the blessing of Christ on His people. This blessing is fulfilled in Christ, who is our Great High Priest, who came to bless us, who keeps us, who brought grace to us, who has shown the face of God's glory on us, and who is our Prince of Peace. 

Here's something else I love about this blessing: the blessing and the promises of Numbers 6 give us a glimpse of the final state of God's people. In Revelation chapter 22, verse 3, we read: 

There will no longer be any curse [but blessing] . . . his servants . . . will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. (vv. 3–4) 

God said, “This blessing is how you will put My name on My people.” And now it says in Revelation, His name will be on our foreheads. 

Night will be no more; people will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, because the Lord God will give them light. (v. 5)

And what will be the light? The light of His face, the light of His presence. Now, we don't have to wait until then to receive God's blessing. We can have it now. But that blessing that God puts upon us is not supposed to end with us. We're not just blessed to be blessed. We've been blessed, and we are blessed, to be a blessing to others.

Jesus, our high priest blesses you, and He wants you as a priest too, as believers are to bless others, as you have been blessed. So here's the blessing to our hearts, and through us to others, may the Lord bless you, and protect you. And the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord look with favor on you and give you peace. That's a blessing in Numbers 6. 

Now, if you take just a few moments here and turn to Numbers chapter 9, the people of God in Israel had God's blessing, and now they were finally ready to leave Mount Sinai and head to the Promised Land. 

They had never been this way before. They had no idea what obstacles, what enemies, what problems lay ahead. How would they know where to go? Well, God made provision for this too. Look at verse 15 of Numbers chapter 9. 

On the day the tabernacle was set up, the cloud covered the tabernacle [We read about this in Exodus. What is that cloud? It's the glory of God, the presence of God. The cloud covered the tabernacle], the tent of the testimony, and it appeared like fire above the tabernacle from evening until morning. [So the cloud by day, the appearance of fire by night.] It remained that way continuously. (vv. 15–16) 

I love that word. It reminds us that the presence of God never ever leaves or forsakes His people no matter what they do. God never leaves us. His presence is always with us. Look at verse 17 of Numbers 9: 

Whenever the cloud was lifted up above the tent, the Israelites would set out; at the place where the cloud stopped there, the Israelites camped. At the LORD's command the Israelites set out, and at the LORD's command they camped. As long as the cloud stayed over the tabernacle, they camped. Even when the clouds stayed over the tabernacle many days, the Israelites carried out the LORD's requirements and did not set out. . . . Whether it was two days, a month, or longer, the Israelites camped and did not set out as long as the clouds stayed over the tabernacle. But when it was lifted, they set out.” (vv. 17–19, 22) 

Finally, it was time for them to set out after eleven months at Mount Sinai. It was time to set out as a camp and head toward the Promised Land. Look at chapter 10, verse 11:

During the second year, in the second month on the twentieth day of the month, the cloud was lifted up above the tabernacle of the testimony. 

They had never seen this happen before. It’s just amazing watching them. How far did that camp extend with two-and-a-half or three million people camped around that tabernacle. So from close and from afar, they're looking up as the cloud starts to lift. And so what did they do? Verse 12:

The Israelites traveled on from the Wilderness of Sinai, moving from one place to the next until the cloud stopped. 

You see, the Lord didn't expect His people to figure out where to go on their own. He went with them continuously. He guided them continuously; He led them continuously with His presence. And His presence was symbolized by two things. Look at verse 33: 

They set out from the mountain of the LORD on a three-day journey.”

This is the first time leaving Sinai with the Ark of the Lord's covenant. The presence of the Lord dwelt over the Ark, traveling ahead of them for those three days to seek a resting place for them. God is a shepherd, He's going ahead of His people. It is symbolized by that Ark, to find a resting place for His people. Verse 34: 

Meanwhile, the cloud of the Lord was over them by day when they set out from the camp. 

Anytime they moved, the ark of the Lord's presence went with them, the cloud went with them. The Israelites would not have thought of moving out without God. Sometimes that meant waiting, when they were eager to get going. And sometimes it meant moving on, when they were just getting settled in and tired of moving. You go with the cloud. If you want to stay with the presence of the Lord, you don't want to be out there in that wilderness. 

Without the cloud, without the presence of the Lord, they would have gotten lost. They would have gotten destroyed. They would have been wrecked. They would have been attacked by enemies. They would have been destroyed by the elements. They would have had no food. They had to stay with the cloud and the Ark. It's a reminder that we are helpless without the presence of God. 

His presence leads His people, as He leads us to places of rest. He scattered His enemies who flee from His presence. The presence of God dwells with and among His people, even in the wilderness, and all through the wilderness.

Now, when we're in the wilderness, we're looking for direction. We're trying to figure out how to get from one place to another, what to do next. We may wish that we could have visible signs—like the cloud and the fire and the Ark to lead us. But I want to assure you that God still guides His people.

We see this all through Scripture. Psalm 31: “You lead and guide me for your namesake (v. 3). “His Word is a light on my path” (Psalm 119:105). He guides me through His Word and His Holy Spirit within us. The New Testament talks about walking in the Spirit, living by the Spirit, keeping in step with the Spirit, being led by the Spirit.

I got a text this week from a woman who was asking for some counsel about a man who was pursuing her for marriage. They're both older, and she was asking for any input as to how God might be leading her in this situation. I said to her, I texted back, “May the Lord continue to guide your steps with the cloud and the fire of His Holy Spirit.” That's what He does. We can't see it visibly, physically, but He's so real in us.

What are you facing today that you need his guidance for? His Holy Spirit in you will be the cloud and the fire to lead you every step of the way, continuously. In fact, Exodus 40, the end of the book of Exodus says that the cloud by day and in the fire by night led God's people throughout all the stages of their journey. I love that phrase: throughout all the stages of their journey. 

They had no idea we know, because we're reading the book of Numbers, and we're gonna be reading Deuteronomy. They had no idea how many stages they were about to go through or what that would entail, what that would look like, but God knew. He sent His presence to guide them throughout all the stages of their journey. 

That's why Fanny Crosby in 1875 wrote that great gospel song, “All the Way My Savior Leads Me.” That's why William Williams wrote in 1745 another great hymn, “Guide me O Thou Great Jehovah, pilgrim through this barren land.” He will guide you if you will let Him, but you’ve got to keep your eye in His Word. You’ve got to keep your heart tender and sensitive to the leading of His Holy Spirit through His Word and through His people. 

And so, Lord, we pray that You would bless us, that You would protect us, that You would guide us in this wilderness. We pray, Lord, that You would make your face shine on us and You would be gracious to us and that You would look with favor on us and give Your people peace. For Jesus’ sake we pray it, amen.

Dannah: Amen, thank you, Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth. 

If it feels like you’re wandering through the wilderness of life, it’s so comforting to remember God is with you, each step of the way. 

That teaching is really a glimpse into the future. Lord willing, we’ll embark on the year-long series “Wonder of the Word” at the beginning of 2027. I know that's a long way off, but I hope you’ll join us for that. 

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We can all know one thing for sure: 2025 is bound to have some ups and some downs. But it will also be full of opportunity to grow. Nancy will talk about that tomorrow. Please be back for Revive Our Hearts.

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