The book of Numbers

Main theme

God remains faithful to his unfaithful people: unbelief condemns one generation to die in the wilderness, but the LORD leads, feeds, disciplines and prepares the next generation to enter the promised land.

Outline

1. Numbers 1-10 — Preparations at Sinai

   Census, order of the camp, Levites, Nazirite vow, priestly blessing and departure guided by the cloud.

2. Numbers 11-14 — Grumbling and failure at Kadesh

   Quail, jealousy of Miriam and Aaron, the spies’ report and the sentence of forty years of wandering.

3. Numbers 15-25 — The years of wandering

   Korah’s rebellion, Aaron’s rod, the waters of Meribah, the bronze serpent, Balaam’s oracles and the fall at Baal-peor.

4. Numbers 26-36 — A new generation in the plains of Moab

   Second census, Joshua’s succession, victory over Midian and preparation for dividing the land.

Key points

• Israel camps around the tabernacle and marches at the pace of the cloud: God is at the center and he leads (2:2; 9:17).
• The priestly blessing reveals the heart of God: to keep, to show grace, to give peace (6:24-26).
• At Kadesh, the unbelief of ten spies costs a whole generation forty years in the wilderness (14:34).
• Joshua and Caleb, who had “another spirit,” are the only adults from Sinai to enter the land (14:24, 30).
• Aaron’s rod that blossoms confirms that God himself chooses his servants (17:8).
• Even Moses is denied Canaan for striking the rock instead of speaking to it (20:8-12).
• The bronze serpent: it is enough to look in faith in order to live (21:8-9; John 3:14-15).
• Balaam cannot curse the one whom God has blessed, and announces the star that comes out of Jacob (23:8; 24:17).

Jesus in Numbers

Jesus himself compares his cross to the bronze serpent: “as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up” (John 3:14-15). He is the rock that gives water (1 Cor 10:4), the star that came out of Jacob (24:17; Rev 22:16) and the true bread that the Israelites despised. The cities of refuge, where the manslayer lived until the death of the high priest (35:25), foreshadow the shelter we find in Christ, our great high priest.

Did you know?

• The bronze serpent was kept for more than seven centuries; having become an object of worship under the name Nehushtan, it was broken up by King Hezekiah (2 Kgs 18:4).
• Aaron died at 123 on Mount Hor, in the fortieth year after the exodus from Egypt (33:38-39).
• Between the two censuses, the number of fighting men dropped slightly, from 603,550 to 601,730 (1:46; 26:51), even though an entire generation had been replaced.