It has been said that it took God only one night to get Israel out of Egypt, but it took forty years to get Egypt out of Israel. In Exodus, Israel is redeemed and established as a kingdom of priests and a holy nation; and in Leviticus Israel is taught how to fulfill their priestly call. They have been led from the land of bondage in Exodus and into the refuge of God in Leviticus. They move from deliverance to dedication; we can also think of it as being delivered to serve.Numbers is the Book of wanderings. Most of the Book describes Israel’s experiences in the wilderness. The Hebrew name for the Book is translated ‘in the desert’. This is a fitting description of God’s Story, since it describes the nation’s experience during forty years in the desert. Our English name comes from the Greek, which is somewhat inappropriate because ‘Numbers’ actually describes only a few of its chapters. There are two numberings of the Israelites: at Mt. Sinai (ch. 1) and on the plains of Moab (ch. 26).
Leviticus covers only one month, but Numbers stretches over almost thirty-nine years, when the nation goes through the painful process of rebellion and irresponsible decisions. Numbers records Israel’s movement from the last twenty days at Mt. Sinai (recorded in Leviticus), the wanderings round Kadesh Barnea, and finally the arrival in the plains of Moab in the fortieth year.
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| Locate Kadesh Barnea |
God’s Story related in Numbers easily falls into three main sections: Mt. Sinai Encampment (chs. 1-10); Sinai Wilderness Journey (chs. 11-21); Moab Plains Encampment (chs. 22-36). It begins with the old generation (1:1-10:10), moves through a transitional period (10:11-25:18), and ends with the new generation at the entrance to the land of Canaan (chs. 26-36).
God’s Story in Numbers is more than a warning against unbelief and disobedience, however. Throughout it testifies to the grace and mercy of God. The divine presence and guidance is seen in the daily provision of manna for food and in the rock which provided water for the people to drink. A clear illustration of divine mercy is seen in the provision of the bronze serpent as the means of healing those who had been bitten by poisonous snakes (Numbers 21:4-9).
What kind of God is this that balances His relationship with people with judgment and mercy?
Sharing:
- The spies entered Canaan and found giant men and giant grapes! They focused on the bad rather than the good. They did not believe they could conquer the land with the number of people they had. Their disbelief was actually directed toward God.
- Spies were sent into enemy territory as a good military strategy.
- God knows how to balance justice and mercy. He knows how to administer discipline without mistakes.
- If God were like us, He would kill everyone who disbelieved. God deals justly while still showing mercy.
- God is a God of privilege and accountability – all we need to do is obey, which is our responsibility.
- God’s attributes of longsuffering and patience is demonstrated toward His unbelieving nation.
- Our view of God determines our lifestyle. We create God in our own image, and design Him in our minds. Then our lives reflect this wrong view.
- We fail to believe because we suppress the truth.
- We think that God has abandoned us if we have trouble; it should be seen as a test of faith.
- Joshua and Caleb received rewards because of their belief.
There is a break of one month between the erection of the tabernacle, at the end of Exodus, and the census at the beginning of Numbers. The Leviticus instructions came in between these two events.
Moses was instructed to take a census of all Israelite males from twenty years old and over. Thirty-eight years later the second census was taken. The first took place before they ever saw the border of Canaan, and the last took place after Aaron’s death. The first census took place at Mt. Sinai, three months before their arrival at Kadesh-barnea. There were 603,550 fighting men. Their second census took place on the plains of Moab (across the River Jordan from Jericho). There were 601,730 fighting men. In bondage in Egypt they increased in number; in rebellion and freedom they decreased!
Genesis 35:23-26 reminds us who gave birth to each of Jacob’s twelve sons:
- Leah: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Dinah (daughter)
- Rachel’s maid, Bilhah: Dan, Naphtali
- Leah’s maid, Zilpah: Gad, Asher
- Rachel: Joseph, Benjamin
Israel’s sons became the patriarchs of the tribes of Israel (Genesis 49:28). As the tribe of Levi spread throughout the whole nation, Joseph’s sons Ephraim and Manasseh were tribal patriarchs, so maintaining the number ‘twelve’.
Sharing:
- Moses was fleeing for his life because of his murder of an Egyptian, when he first met Jethro.
It takes
No talent,
No self-denial,
No brains,
No character,
To set up the grumbling business.
“What’s the use of grumbling?
It never makes a heavy burden light.
It never subtracts from ills.
Instead it always adds to them”
(Henrietta C. Mears).
Numbers could be called the “grumblings of a nation” because it is filled with the spirit of rebellion against God. It is one long, sad story of complaining and discontentment. But it is also one long, story exalting God’s faithfulness to His promises made as far back as Abraham. Moses, Joshua, and Caleb were three men who survived to the end of the Book. And Joshua and Caleb were the only two men of their generation to enter the Promised Land. Rebellion is costly; ask Moses and ask an entire generation of Hebrews! For an entire generation to be eliminated in thirty-eight years, it took thirty-eight years of funerals!
Murmuring – grumbling, complaining – invites divine judgment. Israel was testing God, which means they disbelieved Him. They saw God’s works among them and responded with rebellion. Their hearts went astray. C. H. Barrett said: “The Israelites had an irritable refusal to accept conditions which God had laid down for their own good.” Not only does murmuring invite God’s divine judgment; it leads to uselessness. Look how it led to thirty-eight years of uselessness for the nation of Israel! A Chinese proverb describes it this way: “Man who beef too much find himself in stew.”
Remember the song by Johnny Mercer and Harold Arlen, ‘Ac-cent-tchu-ate the Positive’: “You gotta accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative, latch on to the affirmative, and don’t mess with Mr. In-Between.”
What kind of God is it that continually relates to a nation of grumblers? What kind of people are we that we so easily fail to remember a faithful God when we encounter hardships?
God prepared His nation for their journey with a promise in Leviticus 26:45: “’But for their sake I will remember the covenant of their ancestors, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations, that I might be their God: I am the Lord.’”
Numbers opens with the children of Israel in the Sinai wilderness:
- The covenant with Moses and Israel was on hand – they knew what their faithful God required for them to uphold the covenant.
- God’s dwelling place was erected – they had God in their presence.
- Worship instructions were made plain to them - God would receive their offerings.
- The priests were assigned to their service – their sins could be dealt with through sacrifices of repentance.
God now prepares His people to serve Him. As you continue reading God’s Story, think this way:
- In Genesis we see humankind ruined.
- In Exodus, humankind redeemed.
- In Leviticus, humankind worshiping.
- In Numbers, humankind serving.
God readied them for worship and service. They responded with grumblings! It was one thing for them to accept God’s promises; it was quite another thing to take responsibilities for their obedience! There are two kinds of people: givers and takers! Those who give receive God’s promises and respond in service. Those who take receive God’s promises and respond with murmurs. Here is what God’s care looks like, and what Israel’s response looks like:
Provision | Numbers | Response | Numbers |
Food | 11:6-9 | Wept (‘moaned’) | 11:10 |
Meat | 11:31-33 | Craved (‘greed’) | 11:34 |
Water | 20:8 | Contended (‘quarreled’) | 20:13 |
Leaders | 1:1,3-4 | Cried (‘shrieked’) | 11:2 |
Promised Land | 14:7-8 | Cried, wept, complained, rebelled (‘to break with God’), feared, rejected (‘disdained the one who showed favor’), and disbelieved | 14:1,2,9,11 |
Grumbling as an invitation to God’s judgment is found in Numbers 11:1: ‘Now when the people complained, it displeased the Lord; for the Lord heard it, and His anger was aroused. So the fire of the Lord burned among them, and consumed some in the outskirts of the camp.’ After the people cried out to Moses, and Moses prayed to Yahweh, the fire ended. But then the ‘mixed multitude’ (Numbers 11:4) craved meat, fish, cucumbers, leeks, onions, and garlic like they had in Egypt, and the children of Israel ‘wept again’. Then Yahweh’s anger was once again ‘greatly aroused’ (Numbers 11:10), Moses pleaded with God to kill him there and then, so that he does not see his own wretchedness (Numbers 11:15). Mercifully, God responded by resting the ‘Spirit’ (Numbers 11:17) that was upon Moses on the seventy elders of Israel. This taught Moses and the nation that “the Lord’s arm” (Numbers 11:23) was not shortened – His power was not limited. God was fulfilling His promise!
What is it about us that causes us to complain to God about hardships? What is it about God that He responds in mercy, even when judgment is necessary?
Sharing:
- Why didn’t the people just leave Moses and return to Egypt, instead of complaining? Maybe they were afraid of Pharaoh.
God’s claim to the “firstborn” (Numbers 3:12-13) goes back to the night of the Passover (Exodus 12). Now God accepts the Levites instead of the firstborn of all Israel. The Levities who were a month old and above, numbered 22,000 (Numbers 3:39). The firstborn of the children of Israel who were a month and above, numbered 22,273 (Numbers 3:43). The extra 273 were redeemed, and their redemption money was given to Aaron and his sons.
The Lord instructed Moses to take a census of the Levities between twenty and fifty years of age (eligible for the service of the tabernacle). The sons of Kohath were responsible for carrying the sacred objects of the tabernacle once the priests dismantled and covered them. Under Ithamar’s supervision the sons of Gershon were in charge of transporting the curtains and coverings of the tabernacle and forecourt. The sons of Merari were to look after and transport the framework – pillars, pegs, and cords – also under Ithamar’s supervision. The sons of Gershon and Merari were provided with wagons drawn by a yoke of oxen.
Sharing:
- We need to remember the provision God made for the vast number of people in the desert. It wasn’t just a little bit of drinking water that was needed for two to three million people, and their livestock.
- Why do we struggle to believe?
- We just want the ‘good’ blessings and not the ‘hard’ ones.
- We fail to see that going through hardships is an opportunity for God to come through.
- If we ‘really’ believe, we don’t need to struggle.
- If we truly know God we would not so readily doubt.
God’s arrangements for numbering and organizing the camp of Israel gathered the nation around His presence. When they went into battle as the army of the Lord, He would give them victory over their enemies.
The people were divided into four camps, of three tribes each, located some distance from the tabernacle on the north, south, east and west. The twelve tribes guarded the tabernacle. The Levites encamped directly around the court. Moses and Aaron and the priests guarded the entrance to the approach to God. God stretched over them in a cloud by day and a fire by night (Numbers 9:15-23). He was their day shade and night lamp! There were no reasons to grumble!
The significance of the layout of the camp kept the nation aware of God’s presence and provision:
- Two to three million people were being organized in order to worship the God who was in their midst. To move such a large number of people in enemy territory and through adverse wilderness required tremendous organization and efficiency! God prepared them for His faithful provision and protection.
- The camp had a circumference of about 12 miles square – truly an intimidating sight to any enemy, yet God did not use this so much for their protection as He did to prove His power and sufficiency.
- The sons of Joseph, Ephraim, and Manasseh, are recognized as two separate tribes (cf. Genesis 48:5-7), thus keeping twelve tribes. Joseph received his eldest brother’s (Reuben) rights of the firstborn son of Jacob, and the double portion through Jacob’s adoption and elevation of his sons to the status of founding fathers among Israel’s twelve tribes. All this because Reuben had defiled his father’s bed (Genesis 35:22; 49:4). Sin is costly!
God gave special laws for preserving the purity and holiness in the fellowship of the camp, especially in the case of secret sins and hidden evil, “that they may not defile their camps in the midst of which I dwell” (Numbers 5:3). The “vow of the Nazirite” (“the separated one”) was provided for those who desired to make a special vow of separation (Numbers 6:1-21). There is no indication given how or when the Nazirite vow originated. The character of this vow was separation from the natural joys and sorrows of life which were legitimate for others. It was normally taken for a limited time to a high-priestly sort of life, ending with a special ceremony (Numbers 6:13-21).
The outward marks of consecration to God were:
- Avoidance of ceremonial defilement, especially from touching a dead body, since death is the penalty of sin, making it unfit for God’s presence (Numbers 6:6-7, cf. Leviticus 21:1).
- Abstinence from wine and drink or food (e.g. raisin-cakes) made from grapes, as a source of physical pleasure (Numbers 6:3-4, cf. Leviticus 10:9-10)
- No cutting of their hair, as an abstinence from human adornment (Numbers 6:5).
- “Nazirites are to be disciplined in their appetites, distinctive in their appearance, discreet in their associations” (Handbook on the Pentateuch, by Victor P. Hamilton).
An example of what could defile marriage comes in the story when Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘If a man’s wife goes astray and behaves unfaithfully toward him, and a man lies with her carnally… the man shall bring his wife to the priest’” (Numbers 5:11, 12, 13, 15). God’s standards for marriage continue from Genesis 2:24-25! God hates unfaithfulness among those He loves! He does not tolerate it in the marriage relationship. Any suspected adultery must somehow be brought to light to vindicate the one who is offended.
Only the women were subjected to the ordeal; men were not tested to see whether they had been unfaithful. Yahweh had others ways of exposing adulterous husbands. This attitude to women is also found in other parts of the social and legal system of ancient Israel. It should be noted that the ordeal prescribed here is a relatively mild one, compared to those imposed in other cultures at the time, which were far more likely to produce a guilty verdict. All that the woman had to do was drink a mixture of dust and water, and if she were innocent, this would have no effect on her. Her husband’s jealousy would also be alleviated, making for a more peaceful home life.
It is important to remember that the story is describing something that is required within the context of the ancient Near East, with many details left out. We must not make the text say something it is not, just because the description of the trial by ordeal is contrary to our society. The use of water and dust should not allow us to think magic is involved when the woman partakes of it. The whole of the ritual is God’s revelation: ‘The Lord spoke…’ (Numbers 5:11). The woman is brought to God, and it is God who delivers the punishment to the guilty. God is central to this drama and none of it takes place without Him. God determines who is guilty, and contact between that which is holy and that which is unclean brings disaster to the guilty one. It is God’s grace that the punishment on the unclean woman is limited when there is guilt.
What attributes of God are evident in such incidents in the story?
“Let the children of Israel keep the Passover at its appointed time” (Numbers 9:2). Israel’s second Passover, and the first observed in the wilderness, was celebrated just before their departure from Sinai. New regulations were added to make provision for members of the congregation who could not observe the Passover at the regular time. No one was excused from observing the Passover.
God’s guidance in the wilderness was a clear and visible reality. Cloud by day and fire by night marked His presence at the tabernacle, which was in their midst – He “tabernacled” among His people. To get the congregation’s attention whenever necessary – for movement, offerings, sacrifices, significant days, war – the Lord instructed Moses to make two silver trumpets the priests would blow at the appropriate times.
Numbers 10:11 gives the actual time that the cloud was taken up from the tabernacle – the twentieth day of the second month in the second year (almost 14 months after their exodus from Egypt). This instruction to move is also recorded in Exodus 33:1. It was time for the children of Israel to move on, this time with the tabernacle and all the instructions before them on how to worship and serve the God who dwelt in their midst, but that did not stop their rebellious disbelief!
Why is it that seems so easy to receive God’s instructions and assurance of His presence, yet we struggle with unbelief? What attributes of God are evident in spite of human disbelief?
Sharing:
- God’s Story in Numbers is full of His attributes of longsuffering, patience, and mercy.
- God is always assuring us that He is the Lord (in control of everything), and we find that hard to understand. He has the power to accomplish what He has promised.
In preparation for our next session, read Numbers 11-36 and think about God’s faithfulness to His grumbling nation in their wilderness wanderings.
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