Numbers

Meaning

In Exodus 25:8 God instructed Moses, "Then have them make a sanctuary for me, and I will dwell among them." Some commentators find Christian significance in every detail of the tabernacle construction. This approach should not be overdone, lest we miss the main point: the Lord's presence. The New Testament applies this image of God's presence in the tabernacle to Jesus' presence with His first disciples: "The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us" (John 1:14).

The Book of Hebrews often applies the image of the priest serving in the tabernacle to Christ's saving work (Heb. 6:19-20; 8:2; 9:24; 10:19-20). Because Christ died for us and lives to intercede for us, Christians have access to the presence of God. In the Old Testament only priests could enter the tabernacle building. Lay worshipers had to remain outside the outer fence unless they were allowed to bring their sacrifices as far as the altar just inside. The tabernacle helps us to appreciate the free access Christ provides for us to the Father (Heb. 10:19-20). (See "The Sacrificial System" and "The Temple.")

The blessing Moses taught Aaron and the priests captures the very essence of what it means for Israel to be the people of Yahweh—a source of blessing that makes God's gracious presence known.

A Dwelling for God (7:1-8:26; 9:15). The tribal leaders of the respective twelve tribes brought their own gifts of tribute to the Lord at the tabernacle, thereby recognizing His sovereignty over all political as well as religious affairs. Day by day the tribes came in succession, bringing silver and gold vessels and a great number of sacrificial animals. More important than even these lavish gifts, however, was Israel's giving of itself to the Lord. They separated and dedicated the Levites to Yahweh as His own special treasure. This had already been commanded (3:5-10), but now it actually took place.

Celebrating Passover (9:1-10:10). Appropriately Israel's move from Sinai to Canaan followed celebration of the Passover, the same festival that preceded the exodus from Egypt. Likewise, just as that first exodus was marked by the appearance of the glory of God, who led them by fire and cloud, so the wilderness journey followed His leadership in the same form. The movement and settlement of Israel was determined by the movement and settlement of Yahweh as represented in the symbols of His glorious presence. The signal for that movement and for other occasions in which the Lord would lead His people would be the blowing of silver trumpets, an audible witness to His presence among them.

A little more than a year after the exodus and after nearly a year at Sinai (Exod. 19:1), Israel pressed on to the land of promise, mobilized for conquest. Taking their cue from the movement of the cloud of glory, the camp set out in the manner previously commanded. Preceding the whole camp was the ark of God, the symbol of His guiding and protecting presence.

Longing for Egypt (11:1-35). No sooner had the journey commenced, however, than the people began to complain and murmur. The result was judgment by fire, a visitation of God halted only by Moses' urgent intercession. The major complaint seems to have been dissatisfaction with the manna God had miraculously provided (Exod. 16:13-20) and a longing for the delicacies of Egypt. So intense was the agitation that Moses seemed crushed under the load of leadership. Graciously, therefore, the Lord provided him with seventy Spirit-filled leaders who could assist him in these matters. He followed this with the provision of low-flying quail, which the people consumed with such gluttonous lust that the Lord once more inflicted them with His judgment.

Rejecting God's Prophet (12:1-15). The selection of seventy elders of Israel to assist Moses infuriated his own sister Miriam and brother Aaron. They sensed in this a decrease in their own prestige and leadership. Miriam, a prophetess, had played a leading role in the exodus (see Exod. 15:20-21); whereas Aaron, of course, was the great high priest. Under the pretense of criticizing Moses for having married outside the covenant people, they registered their true feelings by challenging his prophetic authority. The result was Yahweh's severe chastening of them and His reminder that Moses, the covenant mediator, was unique among all of God's servants: God spoke to Moses openly and not in visions and dreams. The sign of that special relationship was in Moses' very ability to restore his stricken sister to ritual cleanliness.

Rejecting God's Gift (13:1-14:45). Somewhere in the northern Negev, close to Canaan, the Lord commanded Moses to send out spies who could ascertain the strengths and weaknesses of its inhabitants and prescribe a course of action in regard to conquest (12:16-13:2). The twelve, including Joshua and Caleb, traveled the length of Canaan and returned with a divided report. The land was rich and fertile, they said, but the majority argued it could not be taken because of the superior might of its citizens. Caleb's affirmations of the Lord's presence and power notwithstanding, the people listened to the majority report and refused to press forward. The people rejected God's gift of the promised land.

Once more Moses' leadership was at stake. In fact, the people demanded that he step down in favor of someone who would guide them back to Egypt. His striking response to them—and to the Lord who tested him by threatening to destroy them—is remarkable. If Israel failed to enter Canaan, he said, the whole world would view Yahweh as unreliable. He had to pardon His people for His own name's sake if not for theirs.

Moved by this intercession, the Lord relented but announced to Moses and the people that they would not live to see the land of promise. Instead, they would die in the wilderness, leaving the promises of God to be enjoyed by their children. Only Joshua and Caleb, who had trusted God for victory and conquest, would see for themselves the land of milk and honey.

Having refused the opportunity to enter Canaan with the Lord, the people now perversely determined to do so without Him. Leaving the ark in the camp, they pushed north, only to be confronted and defeated by the Amalekites and Canaanites of the southern hill country. Thus began their forty years of aimless wandering in the wilderness.

With striking irony the Lord, who had just sentenced the people of Israel to death in the wilderness, outlined immediately the principles of sacrifice and service to be followed by their descendants in the land of Canaan. These generally agree with the procedures of Leviticus 1-7, though there are certain amendments appropriate to a settled rather than nomadic life. Particular attention is focused on the sin offerings, for sin would always be a problem even in the land of promise.

As though to illustrate this fact, the brief narrative of a Sabbath breaker appears after the instruction concerning willful sin. His death by stoning underlined the seriousness of such sin and gave rise to the reemphasis on Israel's need to remember who they were and what the Lord required of them.

Rejecting God's Priest (16:1-50). A second illustration of the continuing problem of sin follows in the story of the rebellion of Korah against Aaron's priestly authority. Korah was a Levite, but not a priest. He resented this exclusion and challenged the claim of Aaron and his sons to hold sole rights as mediators before God. Moses, therefore, arranged for Korah and his followers to appear at the sanctuary, where they and Aaron would offer incense before the Lord. He whose offering was accepted would stand vindicated.

When the moment of truth came, the Lord appeared in His glory, threatening to destroy not only Korah and his collaborators but the entire congregation. Only the intercession of Moses and Aaron prevented this. Korah, with his friends and family, was swallowed up in a great crevice in the earth. Thus the rebellion of competing priests was put down.

God's judgment did not end the murmuring of the people. Again the Lord threatened them with annihilation. Only the faithful mediation of Moses saved them once more, though several thousand of them died of the plague.

Vindicating God's Priest (17:1-13). The congregation again challenged God's choice of leaders. When Aaron's rod (the symbol of the tribe of Levi) budded and bloomed, it was clear that the priestly line lay in him and his family and nowhere else.

Priests, Levites, and Purity (18:1-19:22). Once this crisis was over, it was necessary once more to spell out the duties and privileges of the priests and Levites. This led naturally to a discussion of other cultic matters, especially purification. This required such things as the slaughter of a red heifer as a sin offering and was applicable to uncleanness incurred by touching a dead body and a tent made unclean by someone's dying therein.

Failing to Trust God's Word (20:1-13). The narrative of the journey continues with the account of Israel's arrival at Kadesh Barnea, the center of Israel's desert wanderings for thirty-eight years. In and near Kadesh, Miriam and Aaron died (20:1,28), underscoring the serious consequences of the rebellion of the first wilderness generation. There once again the people rebelled against Moses because of the lack of water. This time, burning with rage, Moses struck the rock rather than speaking as the Lord had instructed him. Numbers later describes Moses' sin as a failure to respect God's holiness (27:14). Moses' rash act resulted in a blessing for Israel—abundant water—but a curse for Moses—rebuke and exclusion from the promised land. According to Psalm 106:32, Moses suffered for the people's sin: "Trouble came to Moses because of them."

Journeying to Moab (20:14-22:1). Faithful to his commission, nonetheless, Moses made plans to continue the journey on to Canaan. He first sought permission from the king of Edom to pass through that land on the King's High-way—a petition that was refused. Moses then engaged the Canaanites of Arad in a skirmish that ended in a solid Israelite victory. Encouraged, Israel pressed on. Though persisting in rebellion from time to time, they eventually reached Moab. Their arrival caused great concern to Israel's enemies. Sihon, king of the Amorites, tried to stem the advance of God's people but was unsuccessful. Og of Bashan likewise suffered defeat at Israel's hands. Thus Moses and his followers found themselves at last on the plains of Moab, directly east of the land which the Lord had promised to give them.

The defeat of the Amorites and Bashanites suggested the way was clear for Israel's conquest of the promised land. Before entering the land, Israel would, however, face obstacles to God's promise of land. The first obstacle was external—the threat of curse from Balaam; the second, inter-nal—the threat of compromise to the sexual standards of the Moabites.

External Threat (22:2-24:25). Balak, the king of Moab, concluded that his nation would be next to fall to Israel. He therefore engaged the services of Balaam, a famous Mesopotamian seer. The Lord warned him not to collaborate with Balak, for it was fruitless to attempt to curse a people whom God had blessed. Balaam went on to Moab, hoping to satisfy the request of Balak but having learned that he could say only what the God of Israel would permit.

Once at Moab, Balaam commenced a series of curses that were converted by the Lord into magnificent blessings for His people. He first predicted the innumerable host of Israel, then the faithfulness of the Lord to His people, their prosperity and success, and the rise of an Israelite ruler who would subdue Israel's neighbors. Thus Balak's diabolical plan to curse Israel resulted in just the oppo-site—a magnificent outpouring of God's blessing upon His people and, through them, upon the whole world.

Internal Threat (25:1-18). What Balaam could not do, however, Israel's own base inner impulses could and did do. While in the plains of Moab, they came upon the licentious cult of Baal at Peor and soon were attracted to its allurements. Only the zeal of Phinehas, son of the high priest Eleazar, prevented wholesale apostasy. With his spear in hand, he slew the ringleaders of the affair. Thus he brought atonement, but not before thousands of his fellow Israelites perished in a plague sent by God.

Having now cleared the way for the crossing of the Jordan and the conquest of Canaan, the Lord gave instructions concerning those matters. He first ordered a new census of the tribes and outlined some principles of land inheritance in families where there were no sons. The earnest desire of the daughters of Zelophehad to share in God's gift of land contrasts sharply with the earlier generation's spurning of the gift.

Moses' Successor (27:1-23). God revealed His will concerning a successor to Moses, someone who would become covenant mediator in the land of Canaan, which Moses could not enter. This successor was Joshua, the faithful servant of the Lord, upon whom the honor of Moses was bestowed.

Anticipating Worship (28:1-30:16). The conditions of settled life dictated adjustment in religious life and practice. Therefore the Lord revealed new regulations regarding sacrifices and holy days and reiterated, with some refinements, laws pertaining to the making and terminating of vows.

Keeping Israel Pure (31:1-54). There was also the unfinished matter of the Midianites. They had drawn Israel into the degrading debauchery of Baal Peor (25:16-17) and therefore had to suffer God's awful judgment. Twelve thousand men of Israel were tapped for the assignment. Having slain Balaam and all the kings and men of Midian, they returned in triumph to the camp. Since the rebellion at Baal Peor involved sexual immorality, Moses demanded that those Midianite women who were not virgins also be slain.

Turning Back Again (32:1-42). Canaan proper was the land promised to the patriarchs. Yet some of the Israelites, namely, Reuben, Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh, pleaded with Moses that they be allowed to take their inheritance in the Transjordan, right where they were. These tribes, like the previous generation, seemed ready to reject the land God had promised to give. Moses reluctantly granted their request but only on condition that they help their kindred in the conquest of Canaan and that they forever after be faithful to the Lord.

Remembering and Anticipating (33:1-36:13). The recital of Israel's itinerary since Egypt serves as a reminder of God's care through the wilderness years. Moses' final instructions about conquest and the tribal allocations anticipate the fulfillment of God's promise of land recorded in the Book of Joshua. Instructions concerning the Levitical cities and cities of refuge were to safeguard the promised land from pollution caused by shedding innocent blood. The final narrative in Numbers highlights the desire of the daughters of Zelophehad to share in the inheritance in the land. God rewarded their desire for His promises by providing laws of inheritance for families that had no male heirs. All was now ready for the final statement of covenant embodied in the Book of Deuteronomy and for the conquest of Canaan related in the Book of Joshua.

Contemporary Significance. God desired the very best for the ancient Israelites—to give them a beautiful land as their home. God likewise desires the best for people today. People, however, are free to choose—either to accept God's gifts of love or else to spurn God's promises. The Israelites who left Egypt rejected God's gift of land and suffered death in the wilderness. Likewise those today who reject God's free gift of salvation in Christ do so at their own peril.

The story of the pilgrimage of Israel from Sinai, the place of initial commitment to God, to the plains of Moab, where Israel stood ready to realize all God's promises, sheds light on the Christian experience. Clearly Israel, like today's believers, experienced times of abysmal failure. Israel's frequent murmuring against Moses (and God) illustrates how God's people then and now are not satisfied with what should be our highest pleasure—to experience God's care and guidance in our lives. Israel's longing for good times in Egypt illustrates that the pleasures of sin remain attractive even to those whom God has redeemed. Then and now rebellion against God has dire consequences. Judgment is not, however, God's final word; those who cling tenaciously to God's promises find themselves rewarded.

Ethical Value. Israel's response to the leadership of Moses and Aaron and to the covenant requirements in general dictated the degree of success or failure that characterized their wilderness sojourn. The principle is crystal clear: whenever there was unqualified obedience, there was unmitigated success. Whenever there was obstinate rebellion, there was failure. The demand for commitment to God is no less real and necessary today.

The strong ethical message that comes through loud and clear in Numbers is that God has a plan that leads to blessing. But that plan is built around principles and practices of behavior that cannot be compromised or negotiated. God desires to bless His own, but that blessing is predicated upon submission to God's rule. Success in life depends not only on doing the will of God but on doing it in the manner He prescribes.

Honeycutt, Roy L. Jr., Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy. Nashville: Broadman, 1979.

Jensen, Irving L. Numbers: Journey to God's Rest-Land. Chicago: Moody, 1964.

Wenham, Gordon J. Numbers: An Introduction and Commentary. Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 1981.