Numbers
Book Type
Book of Law (or Book of Moses); fourth book of the Old Testament; fourth book of the Bible; fourth book of the five-part Jewish collection known as the Torah.Introduction to the Book of Numbers
The book of Numbers is about Israel’s 40-year journey through the wilderness toward Canaan, the promised land—a place God had long ago promised to their forefather Abraham (Gen 12:1–3). Numbers begins in the Sinai Desert, shortly after Yahweh gave His law to Moses, the man who led the Israelites out of slavery (see Exodus). Numbers ends with the Israelites on the Plains of Moab, across the Jordan River from the promised land. The book contains narratives, laws, poetry, and census lists. The various genres create a holistic picture of the Israelites’ journey and their developing relationship with God.The book of Numbers tells the story of Israel in the wilderness, journeying toward the Promised Land from Mount Sinai. As Moses led Israel from Egypt to Canaan, God tested his people in the crucible of the wilderness to see if they would be faithful to him as a unified nation. Numbers documents their successes and failures. Israel’s disobedience resulted in the Lord’s judgment, always counterbalanced by his patient persistence in raising a new generation to fulfill his plan. With its many stories and the detailed exposition of God’s laws, Numbers gives us a dramatic account of the Lord’s nature, his covenant, and his plan for his people.The English title “Numbers” derives from the Septuagint name “Arithmoi,” based on the two military censuses in chapters 1 and 26. The Hebrew title, Bemidbar, “In the Wilderness,” describes the geographical setting of much of the book—from the Wilderness of Sinai to the arid Plains of Moab, across the Jordan River from JerichoTheme & Overview
Because the Israelites are unwilling to enter the land of Canaan, their entire generation is forced to wander in the Desert of Sinai for 38 years.This book is loaded with powerful stories. The NIV Quest Study Bible says it graphically illustrates what happens when people sin, but it also exemplifies hope for those who desire God’s mercy and want to experience his faithfulness. The book of Numbers reveals a God of devastating wrath who also holds his arms wide open for those who repent of their sin and turn to him. Within this book, you’ll find the Israelites’ repeated cycles of sin, judgment, and repentance. You’ll see not only human failure but also God’s patient and merciful response. This book shows the lengths to which God goes to love and rescue his people.Numbers focuses on God’s provision for the Israelites. In the process, it records detailed laws intended to create a society reflective of Yahweh’s holiness and justice. The narrative passages deal mostly with the Israelites’ failings, showing what happens when God’s people do not live according to His commands. Their mistakes result in calamity and Yahweh’s temporary judgment, issued so that He may preserve them from further evil.Despite Israel’s failure, Yahweh honors His promise to Abraham and prepares Israel for entering the promised land. But there is a problem: Terrifying foes inhabit the promised land, and the people see no chance for success against them in war (chs. 13–14). Although the older generation lacks the trust to let Yahweh overcome these foes and dies in the wilderness, the younger generation—plus two faithful men, Caleb and Joshua—have an opportunity to enter the land. This new generation, led by Joshua, is left with a choice: to follow Yahweh, or turn away like the previous generation (27:15–23). Although Numbers ends without fully resolving this dilemma, the closing chapters anticipate the people’s future in Canaan, the promised land (e.g., ch. 34).The wilderness journey presents challenges and blessings—all of which invite a faithful response. Numbers shows that trusting God is not merely a mental commitment; it involves action and bold risks. But Numbers emphasizes that a risk taken because of our faith in Yahweh is beautiful. It gives God the opportunity to demonstrate His protection, meet our needs, and be present among us. Numbers also shows us that God pursues us, despite our failings. In relationship with Yahweh—facilitated by our great warrior and advocate Jesus—we find all the direction we will ever need (Heb 3–4).The theme of Numbers is the gradual fulfillment of the promises to Abraham that his descendants would be the people of God and occupy the land of Canaan. The book shows the reality of God’s presence with Israel in the cloud of fire over the tabernacle, but the repeated displays of unbelief by Israel delay the entry into Canaan and cost many lives. Nevertheless, by the end of the book, Israel is poised to enter the land.Author
Moses is the traditional author of this book; Numbers is part of the "Law of Moses.Recipients
Moses wrote Numbers to the Jewish people during their 40-year wilderness journey in the Sinai Peninsula. Numbers addresses many issues which took place between the times the Jews received the law (the books of Exodus and Leviticus) and their preparation for entering the Promised Land (the book of Deuteronomy). The title Numbers is derived from its emphasis on counting the Jewish people in the early chapters of the book.Date
During the 40 years in the wilderness, approximately 1440–1400 BC.Background
The title, Numbers, refers to two censuses taken to count the members of Israel’s tribes—one at Mount Sinai (Num 1–4) and one in Moab (ch. 26). The Bible often includes records like these to provide a snapshot of the Hebrew people at significant turning points in their history. This time of wandering likely dates to the 15th or 13th centuries BC.According to Jewish and Christian traditions, Moses wrote Numbers along with the rest of the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Bible). However, the books of the Pentateuch do not explicitly name Moses as their author and may have been compiled over a long period (see the “Introduction to Genesis”). However, Numbers provides the basis for the traditions crediting Moses as author of the Pentateuch. In Numbers 33:1–2, God commands Moses to record the Israelites’ movements during their wanderings between Egypt and the promised land—and the book may have begun as that account. Numbers also mentions additional literary sources (such as the Book of the Wars of Yahweh, in 21:14); references like this suggest that an editor was involved in shaping the book’s final form.After leaving Egypt, the Israelites journeyed to Mount Sinai, where God gave them the law (see Exodus). They remained at Sinai for a year before traveling through the wilderness into Transjordan (the region east of the Jordan River) to camp on the plains of Moab. God tested Israel in the wilderness as the generation that made the Exodus from Egypt passed away and a new generation prepared to enter the Promised Land. The book of Numbers instructed the new generation camped on the plains of Moab to obey the Lord.Israel was shaped and purified during this wilderness sojourn. Through Moses’ literary efforts (and those of later scribes and editors), Numbers enabled successive generations to hear that story. It thus became a vital component of Hebrew memory. Numbers was written so that those who learned from history need not repeat mistakes from the past.The Purpose & Audience (Reasons for the letter)
Numbers explains how God provided for his people’s needs, and it documents the repeated disobedience that marred this period as they rebelled against the Lord’s commands. The Israelites did not wander in the wilderness for forty years because they were lost, but because of their faithlessness and rebellion.Numbers highlights Israel’s struggle with God. As often as God called the Israelites to strictly adhere to the law, they disobeyed him. The Israelites could count on God’s provision for their physical necessities and for guidance and instruction through their chosen leaders. Yet God’s constant purpose was often met with lack of faith. Numbers illustrates the swift judgment of a holy God while teaching that the Lord is faithful, patient, holy, and just. These characteristics were held in tension, but there was no doubt about the outcome when Israel was disobedient.As in ancient Israel, all communities of believers still need unwavering leadership, and Numbers still warns those who too easily forget God’s holy nature. In Rom 15:4, Paul says that the OT narratives were written for our benefit. Specific episodes from Numbers are used in the NT as powerful object lessons: • In 1 Cor 10:1–11, the apostle Paul warns his readers to avoid idolatry, immorality, and grumbling so that they will not perish like the Israelites in the wilderness. God is not pleased with such behavior, and Christians must not put God to the test (10:9). • The author of Hebrews identifies repeated instances of Israel’s hardhearted and disobedient spirit and says that God responded to this waywardness with swift and certain wrath (Heb 3:7–4:11). These verses, which draw heavily on the language of Ps 95, are saturated with terms that reflect God’s judgment of Israel’s sin. • Jude 1:5 summarizes Numbers to educate Christians based on the past.The same God who liberated his people from Egypt destroyed that rebellious generation because they did not believe. Like ancient Israel, Christians should learn from the mistakes of the past and live in faith and obedience to their Lord.SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD: The principal character in the book of Numbers is Yahweh, the God of Israel. He is sovereign over the affairs of all peoples from all nations. Even Balaam, a sorcerer opposed to the ways of God, was made into an instrument for accomplishing his purposes. God accomplished his will even when his people rebelled, as in the rejection of the promised land in chaps. 13–14; in the end he kept his promise to Abraham by achieving this goal in the next generation of Israelites.PRESENCE OF GOD: God’s presence is exemplified in the pillar of fire by night and the pillar of cloud by day, by the ark of the covenant that represents the throne of his presence among humanity, and by the mobile sanctuary, which demonstrates that the God of Israel cannot be confined to a territory, region, or city, much less a sanctuary of any kind.PURITY AND HOLINESS OF GOD: God is holy and pure, and he requires such behavior from those who claim him as their God. This is a central theme of the Pentateuch and the book of Numbers.GOD AND REVELATION: The revelatory terminology of “the LORD spoke to Moses” provides the framework for the structure of the book. Moses is the primary human agent of revelation. Numbers presents God as one able to accomplish his revelatory will even through a donkey or pagan diviner.PROMISE AND FULFILLMENT: God promised Abram that he would produce a great nation through him (Gn 12:2) and give his descendants the land of the Canaanites and Amorites (Gn 15:1, 8–21; 17:8). The two censuses show God’s fulfillment of the first promise. The granting of territory to two and one-half tribes in Transjordan is the beginning of the land fulfillment. God proved himself faithful to that second promise by bringing it to fruition for the second generation (Nm 15:1–21; 27:1–23; 36:1–12).UNIQUENESS AND EXCLUSIVITY OF GOD: The God of Israel is the one true God; therefore, he is worthy of humanity’s exclusive devotion. He cannot tolerate the worship of other deities, the elements, and forces of his creation. He is beyond human reason to comprehend and incomparable to human character (23:19). All images of deity were forbidden by Israelite law along with unauthorized worship centers, cultic instruments, and certain worship styles. All such forms of idolatry were to be removed from the land, lest Israel lapse into transgression and suffer punishment.CELEBRATION IN WORSHIP: The dual themes of celebration and worship are delineated beginning in the initial chapters of Numbers, which depict Israel in harmonious devotion to the Lord (chaps. 1–7), and continuing to the promise of an abundance of crops in the land, which would be brought to the Lord in sacrifices and offerings when the people inherited their tribal territories (15:1–21; 28:1–29:40). Interspersed throughout the book are several songs, including the “Song of the Cloud” (9:17–23) and the “Battle Song of the Ark” (10:35–36). The parameters of faithful worship for the sojourning Israelites are also delineated through several negative circumstances, including their failure to keep the Passover (9:13), the breaking of the Sabbath (15:32–41), and the judgment against unfaithful priests or their supporters (chaps. 16–17). Worship and celebration of the God of Israel are not limited to Israelites. Several passages state that there is one law for the Israelites and resident aliens. Aliens could celebrate the Passover if they wanted to identify with Israel in its devotion to the Lord, the one true God, but they had to abide by his instructions and precepts (9:14).CONTRIBUTION TO THE BIBLENumbers shows us how God responded to the unbelief of the Israelites. There are consequences to our disobedience, but God’s grace remains and his redemptive plan and desire for us will not be stopped. The book of Numbers underscores for us the importance of obedience in the life of a Christian, and Paul reminded us of the value of learning from the way God has worked in the past (Rm 15:4; 1Co 10:6, 11).Key Verses (ESV)
Numbers 6:24–26: "The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace." Numbers 12:6–8: "And he said, 'Hear my words: If there is a prophet among you, I the Lord make myself known to him in a vision; I speak with him in a dream. Not so with my servant Moses. He is faithful in all my house. With him I speak mouth to mouth, clearly, and not in riddles, and he beholds the form of the Lord. Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?'"Numbers 14:30–34: "Not one shall come into the land where I swore that I would make you dwell, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun. But your little ones, who you said would become a prey, I will bring in, and they shall know the land that you have rejected. But as for you, your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness. And your children shall be shepherds in the wilderness forty years and shall suffer for your faithlessness, until the last of your dead bodies lies in the wilderness. According to the number of the days in which you spied out the land, forty days, a year for each day, you shall bear your iniquity forty years, and you shall know my displeasure."Key Passages (NLT)
Num 1:1 A year after Israel’s departure from Egypt, the Lord spoke to Moses in the Tabernacle in the wilderness of Sinai. On the first day of the second month of that year he said,Structure & Outline 1
StructureNumbers can be divided into three sections. The first and third sections, which are set 40 years apart, each begin with a census and report the Israelites’ preparations for a major move. In the first section (chs. 1–10), the move involves departing from Sinai (10:11–12); in the third section (chs. 26–36), the move involves crossing the Jordan River from Moab into the promised land (an event described in Joshua 3). The intervening section (Num 11–25) is a collection of stories and laws from the 40-year period between these moves. The book can also be outlined according to the major geographical locations it mentions.Outline • Preparing to leave Sinai (1:1–10:10) • Journey to Kadesh Barnea (10:11–12:16) • Wilderness wanderings (13:1–20:21) • Journey to Moab (20:22–22:1) • On the Plains of Moab (22:2–36:13)Outline 2
This book consists of 36 chapters in two general sections. The first 25 chapters address the account of the Jews who came out of Egypt with Moses. The remaining chapters address the younger generation, which has been largely raised in the wilderness years as they anticipated and prepared for entering the Promised Land. For the older generation of Israel, the first 10 chapters address the organization and orientation of the Jews around the Lord's tabernacle. Each tribe had its own place and responsibilities related to the tabernacle and its items. The tabernacle represented the place where the Lord's presence remained. Every Israelite tribe had an important role to play in relation to its movement.Beginning in chapter 11, Numbers records many of the ways Israel disobeyed the Lord in the wilderness. First, they repeatedly complained to God, despite His daily, miraculous provisions (Numbers 11:1—12:16).Second, Israel rebelled against the Lord (Numbers 13–19). One of these incidents involved a group of men, led by Korah, who rejected the authority of Moses and demanded equal status. As punishment, God destroyed Korah and his family. In another failure, Israel's fearful resistance to God at Kadesh including both Moses and Aaron, was especially devastating (Numbers 20). Because of these rebellions, none of this generation—those 40 years old or older—would enter the Promised Land except Joshua and Caleb.Third, the complaining continued yet again during the journey (Numbers 21). This incident is particularly important, since it serves as foreshadowing of Jesus Christ. God sends serpents into the camp, and only those who look at a specially-made bronze serpent are healed from their bites. This salvation by faith, in something "lifted up" for the people, reflect the message and ministry of Jesus many centuries later (John 3:14–15). Along the way, Balaam blessed Israel repeatedly when called to curse them (Numbers 22:2—24:25). Chapter 25 then records a final rebellion by the Israelites with the false god Baal.For the younger generation of Jews, a renewal was expected before entering the Promised Land. This began with many preparations before entering the land described in chapters 26—32.In chapter 33, a review of the wilderness journey is presented by Moses. It includes their locations and major activities as a way of remembering the Lord's goodness and provision during the wilderness years. From 33:50 through the end of Numbers, the remaining text focuses on God's instructions for taking the Promised Land.