The Title and Purpose of the Book of Numbers
It is appropriate that the word "Numbers" (Hebrew bamidbar) is the title since such a focus is placed on the various censuses and lists taken by God's people of God's people (Num 1:1-3:4; 26:1-27:11).
The word "Numbers" can also refer to being "in the wilderness" which is appropriate since that is where the Book takes place. The word "wilderness" appears 48x in the Book of Numbers and is sometimes referred to "the wilderness of Paran" (Num 12:16; 13:3, 26), "the wilderness of Zin" (Num 13:21; 20:1) or "the plains of Moab." The entire Book of Numbers, unlike Exodus, is entirely about the Hebrews wandering around the wilderness. The trip from Egypt to the Jordan River should have taken only a few months for these millions of Hebrews, but the trip took 40 years, due to their continual disobedience and grumbling(s).
The purpose of the Book of Numbers was to prove that God meant what He said in the law about blessing obedience and cursing disobedience (Lev 26). The wanderings were a test for God's people. Their wanderings around this land are a result of both obedience and disobedience. In fact, because we know that 1st generation of Hebrews died in the wilderness because of their disobedience, some have called the Book of Numbers "the longest funeral march in history."
Surveying the Book of Numbers
Obedience (Num 1:1-10:10) – The 1st Generation of Hebrews
Each tribe is given a number among them for the census and Numbers 1:46 tells us that the number of men were 603,550. And because it is men only (men over 20), we would also assume women and children were not counted, which is where we get the number of roughly 2 million Hebrews wandering in the wilderness being led by Moses and Aaron.
It is in Numbers 6 where we get our first reference and teaching to a special kind of holy living - the Nazarite vow. The Nazarite vow was taken by men like Samson, Samuel, and John the Baptist. The Nazarite vow was taken to show a special dedication to God. In fact, the word "Nazarite" has a root meaning of "to be separate" or "to consecrate." The Nazarite vow was one way the people should show their commitment to obedience and the reception of God's blessing.
Another invitation for God's blessing comes with the high priestly prayer offered by Aaron and beloved by so many – "The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace" (Num 6:24-26).
Disobedience (Num 10:11-25:18) – The 1st Generation's Death and the 2nd Generation's Birth
This portion of Numbers covers about 38 years of their 40 years journey!And this section of Numbers shows the massive amount of rebellion and sin against God. The optimism of Numbers 10 is shattered by the stubborn rebellion of Numbers 11-25. These people would complain about the sand in their sandals as they walked on dry ground in the Red Sea or the temperature of the water that flowed from the rock!
This 1st generation of Israel would not make it to the Promised Land because of their grumblings, disobedience and idolatry in the wilderness (Num 14:29-30). If none of that 1st generation would enter the Promised Land, that is a lot of death happening. It would be about 8 deaths per day, which would make the wilderness a massive graveyard. And yet throughout all of this, God continues to be faithful in keeping His covenant and Israel continues to show itself unfaithful.
Tucked into this narrative is the story of a false prophet named Balaam and his talking donkey.Balaam was a prophet-for-hire who claimed to be able to talk to any god someone hired him for. Balaam came to pronounce a curse against those oppressing Israel. Yet, Balaam was powerless in his prophecies since they were not from God but from Balak – the Moabite king.The Israelites were to enter Canaan and King Balak was not happy about losing his land to them. So, he paid Balaam a large sum of money to curse Israel and masquerade himself as a prophet.
Balaam did one thing right: he feared the judgment of God for cursing Israel in this manner when God did not tell him to do so. Even Balaam's donkey knew this was foolish! So, each time Balaam tried to curse Israel – as he was paid to do – he ended up blessing them!So, Balaam devised a plan to get God to curse Israel. He told the Moabite women to seduce the Israelite men and get them to worship false gods. Then God would punish the Israelites for their idolatry and immorality. And this plan worked – God judged the people by killing them…including Balaam.
Scripture refers to him as a false prophet (II Pet 2:15-16; Jude 11). However, God used Balaam as a mouthpiece to speak His truth.
Obedience Again (Num 26-36) – The 2nd Generation of Hebrews
Because of the sin Moses committed in the wilderness that we discussed earlier, Moses was forbidden from completing the mission of leading the people into the Promised Land. Instead, that duty would fall to Joshua (Num 27:12-23).
And at this point in the Book of Numbers, Moses reminds the people and, maybe more importantly, the leader-elect of some primary legislation to follow – daily offerings, Sabbath offerings, monthly offerings, Passover offerings, Feast of Weeks, Feast of Trumpets, Day of Atonement, Feast of booths, laws on making vows, etc. (Num 28-33) it is likely Moses knew that Joshua needed time to memorize these laws, meditate on them, and ask questions about their enforcement before he would take over as the Hebrews leader.
Is Jesus in the Book of Numbers? Any threads of redemption?
The most significant reference to Christ comes in Numbers 21 when the people of Israel were to look upon a pole for healing from snake bites sent as God's judgment for their impatience. It foreshadowed the type of belief man must possess for genuine salvation. John 3:14 – "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up."
Jesus was lifted on the cross as a remedy for our spiritual snake bites – sin. The idea of looking to Christ for salvation was a theme that saved Charles Spurgeon, when on a snowy Sunday morning, he stumbled into a little church as a young man and heard the preacher exhorting his congregation to "look and live" (Isa 45:22).
Final Thoughts
When I think about the narrative of the Book of Numbers, I think about the disturbing nature of sin and how it can wreck and ruin your life and the lives of others. There were, no doubt, faithful and obedient Hebrews who loved God and loved His law, but they were victims of the groups that rebelled, grumbled, and complained. They lived together, ate together, met together and were judged together.
But God loved them just the same. He loved this community of saints and didn't allow their sinful choices and thoughts thwart His plan for them. Their lives were messy and disobedient, but God loved them wonderfully and radically transformed their future by giving them a land flowing with milk and honey.
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