When I Survey the Wondrous Cross

2/12/23

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Sermon Transcript

Good afternoon. For those who are here this morning, let me apologize for keeping you in suspense all afternoon. But you know, when your competition is the Super Bowl, you have to bring out the big guns. Number seven is a big gun. And for those hoping to perhaps see part of the second half, let me assure you we’re not going to read the entire chapter.

I said this morning, number seven, and please open your Bible, so number seven, number seven may win the award for the strangest chapter in the Bible. Well why? Well as I said this morning, for starters it’s a very long chapter, 89 verses, and by number of verses it’s the second longest chapter in the Bible after Psalm 119. By number of words it’s the fourth longest chapter in the Bible with 1939 words and in fact number seven is longer than 16 entire books of the Bible longer than First Thessalonians, Second Thessalonians, Titus, Second Peter, Second Timothy, it’s a long chapter, but that’s not why it’s strange. If that, you know, if that was, if that made it strange, then Psalm 119 would be strange, and Psalm 119 isn’t strange at all.

So what makes number seven so strange? Well, the strangeness comes when you sit down and you read it. And as I said this morning, it comes in waves, 12 waves to be precise. Of the 89 verses, 72 of them are devoted to 12 almost identical lists of things offered to the Lord at the dedication of an altar over 12 days. Each of the 12 groups of six verses is almost word for word identical. As I said again this morning, no one who’s ever read this chapter can possibly fail to notice it.

It’s very odd. Let me just read the first group starting in verse 12. “And he that offered his offering the first day with Nashon the son of Amminadab of the tribe of Judah, and his offering was one silver charger, the weight thereof was a hundred and thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary. Both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a meat offering, one spoon of ten shekels of gold full of incense, one young bullock, one ram, one lamb of the first year for a burnt offering, one kid of the goats for a sin offering, and for a sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five he goats, five lambs of the first year. This was the offering of Nashon, the son of Aminadab.” And so it goes. Twelve days. day having almost an identical description of what went on, leaving any reader with the simple question, “Why?”

Why? Why did God place this imposing enigmatic megalith of a chapter here in the Bible, or anywhere in the Bible for that matter? Why didn’t God just give us a single list covering all the offerings, as some modern paraphrases do? Why repeat it all 12 times? What is the message of number seven?

Well right at the start we should note that number seven has been called by some the most boring chapter in the Bible. Now to anyone who loves the Bible the phrase most boring chapter in the Bible is kind of like the phrase the most affordable Van Gogh painting. There are no boring chapters in the Bible. And if some seem boring to us, that’s just because we haven’t studied them enough. And maybe we’re going to find tonight that number seven is a very good example of that. Perhaps we will find tonight that what some have called the most boring chapter in the Bible is really one of the most moving and beautiful chapters anywhere in Scripture.

So what is number seven all about? Well, number seven is devoted to the dedication of an altar. We see that in verse 10, “And the princes offered for dedicating on the altar in the day that it was anointed. Even the princes offered their offering before the altar.” We see that also at the end, at verse 88. “This was the dedication of the altar. After that, it was anointed.” So our question is, what altar is this? And we have two possibilities, I think, the altar of incense or the altar of burnt offering.

The altar of incense, it was made of wood, it was covered with gold, it stood before the veil of the Holy of Holies where the priest offered on it every day. This is the altar where the angel appeared to Zacharias in Luke chapter 1. And as that event confirms, ordinary people were not allowed before this altar of incense. It stood just outside the Holy of Holies and common people never saw it. That last fact tells me this altar here, number seven, is not the altar of incense. That is not the altar being dedicated here. How do we know that for sure? Well, verse 10 tells us the princes of the people stood before this altar. They could not have stood before the altar of incense. Stood just outside the Holy of Holies.

What altar of number seven is the altar of burnt offering and that altar was very different from that altar of incense. First, there was no gold on the altar of burnt offering, it was made with wood covered by bronze. And second, this altar, this altar of burnt offering, it could be approached by the common people. It stood in the courtyard outside the tabernacle, that’s where the burnt offerings were offered daily and common people could go up to that altar. And unlike the golden altar of incense, this altar of burnt offering was very difficult to keep clean. Why? Because of the meat, the fat, the blood every day from the offerings that were placed upon it. The dedication of this altar of burnt offering is what we see here in number seven. And the description of the dedication of that altar is longer than 16 books of the Bible. Why? Why?

Well let’s start our investigation of that question by looking at the end of the chapter. Look at verse 89. “And when Moses was gone into the tabernacle of the congregation to speak with him, then he heard the voice of one speaking unto him from off the mercy seat that was upon the ark of testimony from between the two cherubim and he spake unto him.” Verse 89 and number seven is a fulfillment of a promise that God made to Moses in Exodus 25:21-22. “And thou shalt put the mercy seat above upon the ark, and in the ark thou shalt put the testimony that I give thee. And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim, which are on the ark of the testimony.” In Exodus 25, that promise was yet future. In Numbers 7:89, it is fulfilled. We see it happening. We see it happening.

What is the mercy seat? Well, the mercy seat, as the name suggests, was where the place of atonement, it was where atonement was made for sins, on the day of atonement. And verse 89 tells us that it was there that Moses heard God speaking. So the place of atonement and the place of closest communion with God were one in the same, the mercy seat, the mercy seat. But the people in number seven, the common people in number seven, they could not approach the mercy seat. Why? It was in the Holy of Holies. It was like the altar of incense. It could not be approached by the common people. They could not go up to it. They were cut off from that intimate communion with God that Moses was enjoying. The ordinary people could not have that, they could not approach that, but they could approach the altar of burnt offering, they could approach that one and they dedicate that altar in verses 1 through 88 of this chapter. Then in verse 89, God responds by speaking to Moses from the mercy seat, from the mercy seat.

What is the significance of this? Well, to answer that question we need to turn to another book, the book of Hebrews chapters 9 and 10. They tell us that the holy things under the Old Covenant were representations or shadows of the true spiritual realities in Christ in the New Covenant. Well, what is the New Testament spiritual reality that corresponds to the altar of burnt offering in the Old Covenant? What is the reality of that? What is the, that’s the shadow, what’s the reality of the altar of burnt offering? Isn’t it the cross? Where the perfect sacrifice was offered by God when Jesus laid down his life for us in John 10:17-18 telling us about that. The cross is the spiritual reality corresponding to the altar of burnt offering. The altar of burnt offering was the shadow, cross is the reality.

Well what is the New Testament reality that corresponds to the mercy seat? The place of closest communion with God, place of atonement. What is the spiritual reality that corresponds to that? Isn’t it also the cross? Where our perfect High Priest made the perfect atonement for the sins the people. In the Old Testament, the altar of burnt offering and the mercy seat were separate. The common people could approach one, they could not approach the other. But in the New Testament, Christ brought them together at the cross. And our perfect Lamb and our perfect High Priest brought together the altar of burnt offering and the mercy seat at the cross.

Verse 88 of number 7 mentions the altar of burnt offering. Verse 89 mentions the mercy seat. There was a curtain that stood between verse 88 and verse 89. It’s the same curtain we see in Mark 15:38, “and the veil of the temple was rent and twain from the top to the bottom.” Jesus forever opened the door to the mercy seat. And he did that at the cross.

But why do we have 88 verses leading up to verse 89? We still haven’t answered that one. To answer that question we need to go back to Mark 15 which we read from just a moment ago, but we need to look at two other verses in Mark 15:31-32. “Likewise, also the chief priests mocking said among themselves with the scribes he saved others himself he cannot say let Christ the King of Israel descend now from the cross that we may see and believe.” The chief priests and scribe of Israel in Mark 15 they did not honor the cross they did not honor the altar of of the cross. Instead, they mocked the altar and they mocked the perfect one who was giving himself on that altar to open up that curtain to the mercy seat.

Why is number seven so long? Because when the the leaders of Israel honored the altar of burnt offering and number seven, they were honoring the cross of Christ in advance. That lengthy dedication of the first altar in number seven is God’s way of providing in advance the honor due to his son. On that cross. Each tribe in number seven participates in the dedication, each tribe is shown separately, each takes their time in honoring the altar. God does not want any reader of number seven to miss the significance of what is going on here. That’s why it’s so long. As they honor the altar of burnt offering over 12 days, they are honoring the cross of Christ in advance. Why did they do it in advance? Because God knew that when his son would be on that cross, most of the people of Israel would not be honoring it, but would be mocking it.

Think for a moment about the differences between that Jewish altar of burnt offering and the cross of Christ. The altar of burnt offering, we read about it in the old law, it’s carefully shaped, it’s carefully prepared, carefully cared for by God’s people. Cross of Christ, roughly prepared by Roman soldiers. The shadow is beautiful. The cross was not, at least not by human standards. The altar that could not save was honored, but the saving cross of Christ was not. by those who were crucified, the Son of God. So God in his perfect wisdom and in his perfect love provided the honor for that cross in advance. That honor is what we see here in number seven. Beautiful, beautiful chapter.

You know a message that rings with clarity throughout the entire Bible is that God’s Son will be honored by all mankind. Not should be, not must be, but will be, will be. Philippians 2:9-11, “Wherefore God also has highly exalted him and given him a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow.” Things in heaven, things in earth, things under the earth that every tongue should that Jesus Christ is Lord of the glory of God the Father, someday every knee will bow, every knee will bow. But for so many, that honor will come too late.

The theme of the Bible, I think, is reconciliation with God, and that reconciliation happens at the cross of Christ. Few chapters in the Bible give us a better glimpse of the cross than does number seven. It’s prophecy, it’s purpose, it’s glory, it’s honor in the plan of God. The cross is a place of sacrifice, the cross is a place of reconciliation, and those two things come together beautifully in Numbers chapter seven.

How do people today see the cross of Christ? Where do people today place the cross of Christ? Far be it for me to boast except in what? For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and what? How do we fill in those blanks? We know how Paul filled them in, Galatians 6:14, “But God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. By which by whom the world is crucified and to me and I into the world.” First Corinthians 2:2, “For I determined not to know anything among you, say Jesus Christ and him crucified.” Christ’s death on the cross is at the core, is the core, the gospel, Christian message. First Corinthians 15:3-4, “For I delivered to you as a first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scripture. He was buried, he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scripture.”

Would man ever, ever have conceived of a symbol like the cross? Ever. Isn’t the cross powerful testimony to the divine origin? on Scripture and the plan of God. First Corinthians 2:8-9, “None of the rulers of this age understood this, the mystery of the gospel, for if they had they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.” None of them understood it. The choice of a cross as a symbol is even more surprising when we we remember the horror with which it was regarded in the ancient world. The revulsion. It was invented by barbarians at the edge of the known world. It was adopted by the Greeks and then by the Romans. Its purpose was to delay death until the maximum amount of torture had been inflicted. Death could take days. Our word excruciating comes from the Latin word for cross. Cicero called it a most cruel and disgusting punishment. He also said that the very word cross should be removed not only from the person of a Roman citizen but from his thoughts and from his eyes and from his ears. Indeed the mere mention of the word cross he said was unworthy of a Roman citizen and of a free man and it was that symbol it It was that simple that Christianity moved front and center. It was that simple. The Romans never even wanted to think about it, and Paul boasted in nothing but the cross.

You know, there are many people today who are like those ancient Romans. don’t want to see the cross at all. Why do so many today want to avoid seeing the cross? Because it reminds them of things they don’t want to think about, reminds them of death, blood, suffering, sin. In fact, the cross reminds us, I think, that suffering is an inescapable part of life. And the cross goes even further than that doesn’t it because the cross invites us to share in that suffering but I think people also don’t want to think about the cross because the cross is an offense to the wisdom of modern man the cross cuts across all of those vain philosophies of this world the cross proclaims that we’re not saved by the wisdom of man because the wisdom of man would never have conceived of something like a cross.

The cross is also an offense to the pride of humans, modern man. To accept the cross is to accept that I’m lost. To accept the cross is to accept that there’s something I need that I can’t provide for myself. In fact, the very presence of the Son of God on this earth is an utter, absolute condemnation to each of us. Why? because Christ came to this world because of my sin, because of your sin. That’s why he came to die. The cross points to our failure, points to our sin. It leaves no room for human pride. It’s also an offense to the values of modern man. The cross reminds man that there is only one way to God. Only one. John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth and the life. No man cometh unto the Father except by me.” There is only one way to God, only one Jesus Christ. There is no other way. The cross makes that same statement, how? Because if there is another way to God, apart from the cross, if there is another way, that means Christ died for no reason. That’s what it means if there is another way. And for those today who say, “Oh, there are many ways to God,” that’s what they’re saying, that Christ died for no reason. Modern politically correct man recoiled at the idea, recoiled at the idea that Christianity is true and all other religions are false. to say otherwise, to call Jesus a liar and is to empty the cross of its power. Many today refuse to look at the cross because it confronts and refutes their earthly wisdom, their earthly pride, and their earthly values.

But you know not all refuse to look at the cross. Some of them look at the cross but they fail to see the cross in truth. Some people see it as foolishness, foolishness. 1 Corinthians 1:18, “for the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing.” 1 Corinthians 1:23, “but we preach Christ crucified a stumbling block to the Jews and folly to the Gentiles,” foolishness to those who are perishing. And that attitude remains today. There are many, many today who mock, ridicule the cross, Christ. They see it all as foolishness. And that number is growing, isn’t it?

Some see the cross as a stumbling block. We just read the verse, 1 Corinthians 1:23, “We preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to the Jews.” 1 Peter 2:8, “A stone of stumbling, a rock of offense, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient.” The Jews were revolted by the idea of a cross. Much of that revulsion came from the curse in Deuteronomy 21:23. “He that is hanged is accursed of God.” But of course Paul told us the meaning of that curse when it comes to the cross of Christ. Galatians 3:13, "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us. For it is written, “Curse is everyone who is hanged on a tree.” Christ became that curse because of us and for us. That’s what he did for us. He took that on himself. That was our curse. That curse was a huge stumbling block to the Jewish mind when it came to the cross. Many of them could not grasp the idea that the Messiah would come and die. And die on a cross. But they should have known that, shouldn’t they? Psalm 22, Isaiah 53, both point to the suffering of the Messiah. In fact, Psalm 22 paints an incredibly accurate picture of a crucifixion, a century before there was such a thing as a crucifixion.

Others see the cross as an enemy. Philippians 3:18, “for many of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ.” They are hostile, they are actively opposed to the cross of Christ, wherever the cross is raised, wherever it is raised, many will gather to fight against it. And don’t we see that group today? Aren’t they becoming larger, aren’t they becoming more militant in this country? They see the cross as an enemy. Others see the cross as an accident. There wasn’t really part of the plan of God, it just happened. Unfortunate, but it happened. How long has the cross been a part of God’s plan? From the very beginning. From the very beginning. Genesis 3:15, “I will put enmity between thee and the woman, between thy seed and her seed. It shall bruise thy head, Thou shalt bruise his heel.” Revelation 13:8, “and all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him whose names are not written in the book of the life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” Jesus’s mission was to come and die on that cross and to redeem mankind. That was not an accident. The cross was not a surprise. It was part of the plan of God and the foundation of the world.

You know some see the cross as a talisman. Talisman. You see the cross a lot today don’t you? Necklaces, wall, t-shirts, bumper stickers, tattoos. You know maybe I’m the only one who’s noticed it but it seems like when you see the very worst criminals of the day being let off. They’ve got a giant cross tattooed somewhere. Why? You know, I suspect they view the cross as a talisman. I’m thinking that perhaps someday they’re going to think, “I can point to that, maybe on my last day.” They look. That’s not the cross of Christ. The cross of Christ is not a good luck charm. The cross of Christ is not some ward against evil. The cross of Christ demands obedience to Christ. The cross of Christ is a reminder of our disobedience and what it caused, the price that was paid. We are commanded not to wear a cross, we are commanded to pick up our cross and follow Christ. That’s the cross of Christ. And for those enemies of the cross who live in disobedience to God, that tattooed cross will provide them no protection. Instead it will bring them only condemnation.

Now others see the cross as a tool, something to be used. You know when we see that most often? Early November on Election Day. We see politicians who cling to that cross, who wrap the flag around that cross to get more votes or to rally more people to their secular cause. I don’t know about you, but it seems to me that the worse the person, the more they try to wrap themselves around the cross. Those are all false views of the cross. What is the true view of the cross? How should the cross be seen? Romans 1:16, “I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ.” It’s the power of God and to salvation. All who believe, Jew first and also to the Greek. You know, That was written at a time when the cross was seen as something to be ashamed of, something not even to speak the word. Paul says, I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. It is the power of God, the power of God. 1 Corinthians 1:18, “for the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is what it is, the power of God.” 1 Corinthians 1:23-24, “but we preach Christ crucified a stumbling block to the Jews and folly to the Gentiles but to those who are called both Jew and Greek Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.” Cross is the power of God the cross is the wisdom of God not the wisdom of man not the power of man, the power of Almighty God.

No one can remain neutral when it comes to the cross of Christ. The cross has always divided mankind. It’s either an offense to us or it is the power of God, one or the other. We’re either clinging to the cross of Christ or we are enemies of the cross of Christ, one or the other. There And we are to glory in the cross. The Romans wouldn’t even talk about it. They wouldn’t even mention it. We are to glory in it. Galatians 6:14, “But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.” We’re not just to admire it. We’re not just to praise it. We’re not just to believe in it. We’re not just to kind of intellectually accept it. We are to boast in it and to glory in it and in it alone. The cross by whom the world is crucified unto me and I unto the world, the cross of Christ.

The cross of Christ points the world back to the most important event that ever occurred that could ever occur. As the song says, we must survey the Wonders Cross. Not just a casual glance, not just an occasional meditation. We must gaze upon it. We must survey it from every angle. It must be in our thoughts. It must guide us. It must point us in the right direction. It must be our motivation to live the lives that God wants us to live. The cross must be ever before us. I mean, we’re carrying a cross if we’re children of God.

Well, so far we’ve looked at how ancient Israel saw the cross even before there was a cross. And we’ve looked at how the scribes and the Pharisees saw the cross when they were crucifying the Son of God. We’ve looked at how modern man views the cross and we’ve looked at how God wants us all to see the cross. But we’re left with one final question, or maybe I should rephrase that. I am left with one final question. How do I see the cross of Christ? That’s the question for me, and that’s the question for you. Jesus Christ forever changed the meaning of a cross. What it meant before Christ is nothing like what it means today. Jesus Christ forever changed the meaning of that cross when He touched that cross. He gave Himself on that cross. He turned that ancient symbol of death into the most wondrous symbol of life. And you know what? That’s what happens when the author of life touches something. And the good news is that Christ can change you today as well. You can be changed forever in the waters of baptism.

Listen as Paul describes baptism in terms of Christ’s death on the cross. Romans 6:3-7, “Know you not that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death, that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall also be in the likeness of his resurrection, knowing this, that our old man is what is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.” Those who belittle baptism today, and there are many who do that, they are belittling the cross of Christ. There is no other way to read Romans 6. It is in the waters of baptism that we share in the death of Christ. It is in the waters of baptism that we share in the resurrection of Christ. When we enter those waters, we are dead, dead, dead. That’s why we’re being buried. But after that burial, we come out of that water a new and living creature raised to walk in newness of life. Why does that happen? How does that happen? When does that happen? The answer is the same to each question, the cross of Christ. And to us which are saved, the cross is the power of God. Is that how you see the cross of Christ? If not, the waters of baptism await. Jesus invites you to join Him in death that you may be raised to walk in newness of life. We can help in any way. Please come while we stand and while we sing.