40 SOMETHINGS OF THE BIBLE

Victor M. Eskew

 

INTRODUCTION

 

A.   This is the 40^th Anniversary of the OceanSide church of Christ.

1.    Forty years of preaching the truth.

2.    Forty years of seeking the lost.

3.    Forty years of serving others.

4.    Forty years of edifying the brethren

5.    Forty years of Christian fellowship.

 

B.   The number 40 is an important number in Scripture.  There are several well-known, important events that involve this number.

1.    The first three kings of Israel, Saul, David, and Solomon, each served 40 years.

2.    Jesus remained on earth 40 days following His resurrection before ascending to heaven.

 

C.   In this lesson, we want to look at some “40 SOMETHINGS IN THE BIBLE” and make

Application of some lessons to our lives.

 

I.             NOAH:  FORTY DAYS AND NIGHTS OF CONDEMNATION

 

A.   Everyone is familiar with the story of Noah.  Once the rain started, it poured upon the earth for forty days and forty nights.

1.    Genesis 7:12

 

And rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights.

 

2.    Genesis 7:17

 

And the flood was forty days upon the earth…

 

B.   Recently, we went through a period of about two weeks of daily rain. 

1.    Water stood in places it had never stood before in some yards.

2.    Can you imagine continuous rain for forty days and nights? 

3.    The water came from two sources:  the fountains of the deep and from the opened windows of heaven.

 

C.   The forty days and nights of rain was God’s condemnation of an evil world (Gen. 6:5-7a).

 

And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.  And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.  And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth…

 

D.   This flood stands as a warning to all. 

1.    Jesus (Matt. 25:37-39)

 

But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.  For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating, and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, unto the day that Noe entered into the ark.  And knew not until the flood took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

 

2.    Peter (2 Pet. 2:5a)

 

And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly.

 

II.           ISRAEL:  FORTY YEARS OF TRANSITION

 

A.   The history of the nation of Israel also involves a period involving the number 40.

1.    It was not a period of forty days, but of 40 years.

2.    It, too, was punishment for disobedience.

a.    The spies entered the Promised Land for forty days.

b.    When they returned, ten of them gave an evil report of the land and discouraged the nation from entering into their inheritance.

c.    God, therefore, punished Israel.  They would march through the wilderness for forty years, a year for each day the spies were in the land.

1)    The event is recorded for us in Numbers 14:1-38.

2)    Psalm 95:10

 

Forty years long was I grieved with this generation, and said, It is a people that do err in their heart, and they have not known my ways.

 

B.   We have labeled this forty year period as “Forty Years of Transition.”

1.    There would be a transition from one generation to another.

a.    The present generation would fall in the wilderness (Num. 14:29).

 

Your carcases shall fall in this wilderness; and all that were numbered of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old and upward, which have murmured against me.

 

b.    Once that generation fell, God renewed His covenant with the second generation (Deut. 5:2-3).

 

The Lord our God made a covenant with us in Horeb.  The Lord made not this covenant with our fathers, but with us, even us, who are all of us here alive this day.

 

c.    The interesting thing about that generation who walked in the wilderness is that they were a type of us today (See 1 Cor. 10:6, 11).

 

Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples:  and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.

 

The question is:  “Will we learn from the mistakes of the Israelites?” (Heb. 3:12-14).

 

Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.  But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.  For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto the end.

 

2.    Too, there was a transition from their being 12 separate tribes to becoming one nation under the authority of God

a.    Exodus 19:5-6

 

Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people:  for all the earth is mine:  and ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation.  These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.

 

b.    It is interesting that Peter uses this same imagery to describe Christians and the church today (1 Pet. 2:9).

 

But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

 

III.         MOSES:  FORTY DAYS OF REVELATION

 

A.   Moses is called the lawgiver of Isael.

 

B.   Twice he went into Mount Sinai in order to receive the law of God.

1.    Exodus 24:18

2.    Exodus 34:28

 

And he was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights; he did neither eat bread, nor drink water.  And he wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant, the ten commandments.

 

C.   Moses received the Old Covenant and returned to Israel and delivered the statutes of God unto them.

1.    This revelation was the law that governed the people socially and religiously.

2.    This revelation was also what separated Israel from all of the other nations of the world (Eph. 2:14).

 

…the middle wall of partition…

 

D.   It is interesting that it is this law about which David wrote in Psalm 119.

 

E.   This lawgiver and his law became a type of a lawgiver and another law to come.

1.    John 1:17

 

For the law was given my Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.

 

2.    In Hebrews 3:1-6, the inspired writer contrasts Jesus and Moses.

a.    “For this man was counted worthy of more glory than Moses…” (v. 3).

b.    “And Moses verily was faithful in all his house as a servant…But Christ as a son over his own house…” (vs. 4-5).

3.    The law was of vital importance to Israel.  However, the divine revelation of Jesus Christ is of more glory and more importance than the Law of Moses (2 Cor. 3:9).

 

For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory.

 

a.    Is it possible we do not truly understand what we possess?

b.    It is possible we do not value the New Testament as we should?

c.    It is possible we neglect to study it and obey it the way God intends?

 

IV.         JONAH:  FORTY DAYS OF REFORMATION

 

A.   The story of Jonah is another familiar Old Testament narrative.

B.   The prophet was finally convinced by God to go to the capital city of Assyria and preach unto it.  The message was simple (Jonah 3:4).

 

And Jonah began to enter into the city a day’s journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be destroyed.

 

1.    A time limit for forty days was put upon the inhabitants of Nineveh.

2.    They were commanded by God to repent.

a.    Definition:  a change of mind that leads to a change of action that results in a reformation of life

b.    Jonah 3:5

 

So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, form the greatest of them even to the least.

 

c.    Even the king of Nineveh was impacted by Jonah’s preaching.  He, too, commanded for all the people to the covered with sackcloth.  He also commanded, saying:  “…let them turn every one from his evil way, and the violence that is in their hands” (Jonah 3:8).

 

C.   God still wants individuals to reform their lives by repentance today (Acts 17:30).

 

And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent.

 

1.    This is another spiritual component that we do not understand and appreciate enough.

2.    We want to make gradual change when God demands a radical reformation.

a.    We want to hold to the world and attempt to heed God’s Word at the same time.

b.    God wants us to turn from our wicked way, but we like to try to walk in two directions at the same time.

c.    We want to live partially with our sins, but God commands us to die to them.

d.    NOTE:  Growth in Christ is gradual.  Repentance is an immediate action.

John told the Pharisees and Sadducees to “bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance” (Matt. 3:8).

 

V.           JESUS:  FORTY DAYS CONNECTED TO TEMPTATION

 

A.   Matthew 4:1-3

 

Then was Jesus led of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.  And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungered.  And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.

 

1.    The purpose of Jesus’ going into the wilderness was to be tested.

2.    The fast was lengthy, forty days and nights.

3.    The result is made clear.  “He was afterward an hungered.”

a.    Hunger weakens the body.

b.    Hunger weakens the mind.

c.    Hunger weakens the defenses.

4.    Hunger is a natural desire.

5.    The tempter took a natural desire and exploited it.

B.   Jesus refused to follow the lead of Satan.  Instead, He turned to the Scripture to overcome the evil one (Matt. 4:4).

 

But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

 

1.    There are other things God can use to sustain life other than bread.

2.    Question:  Had God commanded Jesus to fast on this occasion?

a.    If so, God had not authorized the end of the fast. 

b.    Satan was attempting to take the place of the Father.

c.    Jesus told Satan that He would abide by God’s Word instead of the words of the adversary.

d.    When the devil departed from Him, Jesus would eat at the Father’s command (Matt. 4:11).

 

Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.

 

C.   Satan often tempts our natural desires just as he did those of Jesus.

1.    It is easy to yield to natural desires because it appears as if no sin is being committed.

2.    It was hunger for Jesus. 

a.    Tired is a natural feeling.

b.    Love for family is a natural feeling.

c.    Feeling somewhat achy is a natural feeling.

3.    The question is not whether it is right to fulfill a natural desire.  The question is:  What it is that God wants me to do on a given occasion?”

 

CONCLUSION

 

A.   We have looked several “40 Somethings in the Bible.”

1.    Noah:  Forty days and night of condemnation.

2.    Israel:  Forty years of transition.

3.    Moses:  Forty days of revelation.

4.    Jonah:  Forty days of reformation.

5.    Jesus:  Forty days connected to temptation.

 

B.   We are at 40 years here at OceanSide. 

1.    The past is behind us.

2.    The future is ahead of us.

 

C.   May God bless this congregation with many more terms of forty years to come.