The Book of Numbers, Chapter by Chapter

We want to take you through the book of Numbers chapter by chapter. This is the fourth study in our series on the books of Moses. If you have not read our studies on Genesis, Exodus and Leviticus we suggest you start there. Because Numbers picks up right where Leviticus leaves off. Leviticus ended with Israel camped at Mount Sinai. Numbers starts in the same place. But this time Israel is getting ready to leave. We will tell you what each chapter is about and how it fits into the message of the book. And how it points us to the one God that is revealed in Jesus Christ.

Numbers covers almost 40 years. It should have been a short trip from Sinai to the promised land. Deuteronomy tells us it was 11 days journey (Deuteronomy 1:2). But it took 40 years. Because the people did not believe God. Paul tells us “these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted” (1 Corinthians 10:6). Numbers is written for the church.

There are three things we want you to take away from this study. Numbers is about faithfulness. God was faithful even when his people were not. Numbers is about unbelief. A whole generation died in the wilderness because they would not trust God. And Numbers points to Jesus Christ. The serpent on the pole. The rock in the wilderness. The star out of Jacob. We will explain these points as we go through the book. But we want you to keep them in mind as we begin.

In Hebrew the book is called Bemidbar. Which means “in the wilderness.” It comes from the first verse. “And the LORD spake unto Moses in the wilderness of Sinai” (1:1). The name Numbers comes from the Greek Old Testament. Because the book starts with Israel being counted.¹ We like the Hebrew name better. Because this is a book about what happened in the wilderness.

The book has two censuses. One in chapter 1 and one in chapter 26. The first counts the generation that came out of Egypt. The second counts their children. By the second census every man from the first one was dead except Caleb and Joshua (26:64–65). So the book is really about two generations. The old generation that died in unbelief. And the new generation that would go into the land.²

We will break it down by where Israel is. Preparing to leave Sinai (1:1–10:10). From Sinai to Kadesh (10:11–12:16). Rebellion at Kadesh (13–14). Wandering in the wilderness (15–19). The road to Moab (20–21). Balaam (22–25). And the new generation on the plains of Moab (26–36). We will follow this outline as we go through each chapter.

Just like in our other studies we will be using the KJV for our scripture quotations. When we use Hebrew words we will transliterate them and give a brief explanation. We will also let you know where you can find the work of the scholars we reference. If they disagree with what we believe we will tell you what they think and why we disagree.

Numbers 1: The First Census

On the first day of the second month of the second year God told Moses to count the men of Israel (v.1). Every man 20 years old and up who could go to war (v.3). The total was 603,550 (v.46). This is the same number we saw in Exodus 38:26. God was turning a group of slaves into an army. The Levites were not counted with the others. They were set apart to take care of the tabernacle (vv.47–53).

Some have a hard time with the size of these numbers. 603,550 men means 2 million people or more. Some say the Hebrew word eleph (“thousand”) can also mean a clan or a unit of soldiers. And so the numbers should be much smaller.³ We will not go into that here. But we see no reason to read it any other way than the KJV gives it. God told Abraham his seed would be like the stars (Genesis 15:5). And he kept his word.

Numbers 2: The Camp Around the Tabernacle

God told each tribe where to camp. Three tribes on each side. Judah was on the east at the front (v.3). The tabernacle was right in the middle with the Levites around it (v.17). Notice what this tells us. God was at the center of everything. Every tent faced the tabernacle. “And the children of Israel did according to all that the LORD commanded Moses” (v.34).

Numbers 3: The Levites in Place of the Firstborn

We saw in Exodus 13 that every firstborn belonged to God because he spared them in Egypt. Now God says “I have taken the Levites from among the children of Israel instead of all the firstborn” (v.12). There were 22,000 Levites (v.39). And there were 22,273 firstborn (v.43). So the extra 273 had to be redeemed with 5 shekels each (vv.46–47). Every firstborn was covered. None were left out. Peter tells us we were not redeemed “with corruptible things, as silver and gold” but “with the precious blood of Christ” (1 Peter 1:18–19).

Numbers 4: Carrying the Tabernacle

The three families of Levi were given different jobs. The Kohathites carried the holy things. The Gershonites carried the curtains. And the Merarites carried the boards and pillars. But the Kohathites could not touch the holy things or even look at them while they were being covered. “They shall not touch any holy thing, lest they die” (v.15). Later David moved the ark on a cart and Uzzah touched it and died (2 Samuel 6:6–7). God had already told them how to carry it.

Numbers 5: Keeping the Camp Clean

Anyone who was unclean had to go outside the camp. “That they defile not their camps, in the midst whereof I dwell” (v.3). A man who wronged his neighbor had to confess and pay it back with a fifth added (vv.6–7). Just like Leviticus 6. The rest of the chapter gives a test for a wife whose husband suspected her of being unfaithful (vv.11–31). We will not go into that here. But notice the reason for all of it. God lived in the middle of the camp.

Numbers 6: The Nazarite and the Blessing

Any man or woman could make a vow to be a Nazarite. The word comes from nazir. Which means separated. They could not drink wine or eat anything from the grape (v.3). They could not cut their hair (v.5). And they could not go near a dead body (v.6). Not even their father or mother. Samson was a Nazarite from birth (Judges 13:5). And the angel told Zacharias that John the Baptist would “drink neither wine nor strong drink” (Luke 1:15).

Then God gives Aaron the words to bless the people.

Trinitarians will say that the name LORD is used three times because there are three persons in the Godhead. But notice what verse 27 says. “They shall put my name upon the children of Israel; and I will bless them.” One name. And one “I” who blesses. Repeating something three times was the Hebrew way of making it strong. Just like the seraphims cried “Holy, holy, holy” (Isaiah 6:3). And Jeremiah said “O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the LORD” (Jeremiah 22:29). Nobody thinks there are three earths.⁴

Also notice that the blessing came by putting God’s name on the people. In the New Testament the name of God is put on his people in baptism. “Be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ” (Acts 2:38). And in the end the saints “shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads” (Revelation 22:4).⁵

Numbers 7: The Offerings of the Princes

This is the longest chapter in the Pentateuch. The 12 princes of the tribes each brought an offering for the altar. One a day for 12 days. And every offering was exactly the same. Moses lists all 12 of them in full. It may seem like wasted space. But God took notice of every tribe. None of them was forgotten.

Notice the end of the chapter. Moses went in to speak with God. And he heard “the voice of one speaking unto him.” One voice. One speaker. Singular. This is what God promised in Exodus 25:22.

Numbers 8: The Lamps and the Levites

Aaron lit the seven lamps so they would give light in front of the candlestick (vv.2–3). Then the Levites were cleansed. They were sprinkled with water and shaved and washed their clothes (v.7). Then they were offered to God like an offering. “For they are wholly given unto me from among the children of Israel” (v.16). They served from 25 years old to 50 (vv.24–25).

Numbers 9: The Passover and the Cloud

Israel kept the Passover in the wilderness a year after they left Egypt (v.5). But some men were unclean because they touched a dead body. So they could not keep it. God gave them a second chance. They could keep it a month later (vv.10–11). God made a way for those who could not come the first time.

Then we are told how Israel traveled. When the cloud lifted off the tabernacle they moved. When the cloud stayed they stayed. It did not matter if it was 2 days or a month or a year (v.22). “At the commandment of the LORD they rested in the tents, and at the commandment of the LORD they journeyed” (v.23). They did not plan their own trip. They followed God.

Numbers 10:1–10: The Silver Trumpets

God told Moses to make two silver trumpets. They were used to call the people together and to tell the camps when to move. They were also blown in war and on feast days. “That ye may be remembered before the LORD your God” (v.9). Paul tells us that “the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible” (1 Corinthians 15:52).

Numbers 10:11–36: Leaving Sinai

“And it came to pass on the twentieth day of the second month, in the second year, that the cloud was taken up from off the tabernacle of the testimony” (v.11). Israel had been at Sinai for almost a year. Now they finally left. Each tribe moved out in order. Moses asked his brother in law Hobab to go with them and be their eyes in the wilderness (v.31). But the ark went before them to find them a place to rest (v.33).

When the ark moved Moses said “Rise up, LORD, and let thine enemies be scattered; and let them that hate thee flee before thee” (v.35). And when it rested he said “Return, O LORD, unto the many thousands of Israel” (v.36). David used these words in Psalm 68:1. Everything is ready. The camp is in order. The priests are in place. God is leading. But the very next chapter is a disaster.

Numbers 11: Complaining in the Camp

Only 3 days after they left Sinai the people complained. And fire from the LORD burned the edges of the camp (v.1). They called the place Taberah. Which means burning. Then the mixed multitude started craving food. “We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely; the cucumbers, and the melons” (v.5). They forgot the slavery again. Now they hated the manna. “There is nothing at all, beside this manna, before our eyes” (v.6).

Moses could not take it anymore. He told God that he could not carry all these people by himself. “If thou deal thus with me, kill me, I pray thee” (v.15). So God told him to gather 70 elders. “And the LORD came down in a cloud, and spake unto him, and took of the spirit that was upon him, and gave it unto the seventy elders: and it came to pass, that, when the spirit rested upon them, they prophesied” (v.25). Two of the men, Eldad and Medad, stayed in the camp and still prophesied. Joshua wanted Moses to stop them. But Moses said “would God that all the LORD’s people were prophets, and that the LORD would put his spirit upon them!” (v.29).

Moses got his wish on the day of Pentecost. Peter stood up and quoted Joel. “I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy” (Acts 2:17). The Spirit was not just for a few leaders anymore. “For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off” (Acts 2:39).

God also sent quail. So much that it was 2 cubits deep around the camp (v.31). But while the meat was still in their teeth God struck them with a plague (v.33). The place was called Kibrothhattaavah. The graves of craving. Psalm 106:15 says “he gave them their request; but sent leanness into their soul.”

Numbers 12: Miriam and Aaron

Now the complaining came from Moses’ own family. Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman he married (v.1). But the real problem was jealousy. “Hath the LORD indeed spoken only by Moses? hath he not spoken also by us?” (v.2). Then we are told “the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth” (v.3). Moses did not defend himself. God did.

God said that he speaks to prophets in visions and dreams. “My servant Moses is not so, who is faithful in all mine house. With him will I speak mouth to mouth, even apparently, and not in dark speeches; and the similitude of the LORD shall he behold” (vv.7–8). Miriam became leprous and was shut out of the camp 7 days. Moses prayed for her. Hebrews 3:5–6 picks up this verse. “Moses verily was faithful in all his house, as a servant … But Christ as a son over his own house.” Moses was a servant in the house. Jesus is the Son who owns it.

Numbers 13: The Twelve Spies

Israel came to Kadesh at the edge of the promised land. God told Moses to send one man from each tribe to search the land. Notice one small detail. “And Moses called Oshea the son of Nun Jehoshua” (v.16). Moses changed his name. Oshea means salvation. Jehoshua means the LORD is salvation. In Greek this name is Iesous. The same name as Jesus. That is why the KJV says in Hebrews 4:8 “For if Jesus had given them rest.” It is talking about Joshua.⁶ Joshua would lead Israel into the land. But the one who gives us true rest is the LORD himself who came as our salvation. “Thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21).

The spies were gone 40 days (v.25). They came back with a cluster of grapes so big that two men carried it on a staff (v.23). The land was good. “Surely it floweth with milk and honey” (v.27). But 10 of the spies said the people were too strong. The cities were walled. And there were giants. “We were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight” (v.33). Caleb said “Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it” (v.30). Same land. Same giants. Different faith.

Numbers 14: Forty Years

The people cried all night. They wanted to go back. “Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt” (v.4). Joshua and Caleb tore their clothes and begged them. “Only rebel not ye against the LORD, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for us: their defence is departed from them, and the LORD is with us: fear them not” (v.9). The people wanted to stone them. Then the glory of the LORD appeared.

God told Moses he would destroy them and make a greater nation out of Moses (v.12). Just like at the golden calf. And just like before Moses prayed for them. He reminded God of what he said on the mountain. “The LORD is longsuffering, and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression, and by no means clearing the guilty” (v.18). This is Exodus 34:6–7. Moses was praying God’s name back to him. And God said “I have pardoned according to thy word: But as truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD” (vv.20–21).

But forgiveness did not mean there were no consequences. Everyone 20 years and older would die in the wilderness except Caleb and Joshua (vv.29–30). Caleb “had another spirit with him, and hath followed me fully” (v.24). They would wander one year for every day the spies were in the land. 40 years (v.34). The 10 spies died by a plague (v.37). Then the people decided to go up and fight anyway. Moses told them the LORD was not with them. They went and were beaten at Hormah (v.45).

Hebrews 3 and 4 use this chapter to warn the church. “So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief” (Hebrews 3:19). They saw the plagues. They crossed the sea. They ate the manna. And they still did not believe. “Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief” (Hebrews 4:11).

Numbers 15: When Ye Come Into the Land

Right after Israel is told they will die in the wilderness God starts talking about what they will do “when ye be come into the land” (v.2). God had not given up on his promise. Their children would go in. Then God separates two kinds of sin. Sin through ignorance could be atoned for (vv.27–28). But the soul that sinned “presumptuously” would be cut off (v.30). In Hebrew it is “with a high hand.” Meaning on purpose and in the open. A man was found gathering sticks on the sabbath and he was stoned (vv.32–36).

Then God told the people to put fringes on the borders of their garments with a ribband of blue (v.38). “That ye may look upon it, and remember all the commandments of the LORD, and do them” (v.39). Matthew tells us the woman with the issue of blood “touched the hem of his garment” (Matthew 9:20). Jesus wore these fringes. And the woman reached for the very thing that was supposed to remind Israel of God’s word.⁷

Numbers 16: Korah’s Rebellion

Korah the Levite and Dathan and Abiram from Reuben led 250 princes against Moses and Aaron. “Ye take too much upon you, seeing all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the LORD is among them” (v.3). It sounded spiritual. But Korah already had a ministry as a Levite. He wanted the priesthood too (v.10). Moses told them to bring censers and let God choose. The ground opened and swallowed Dathan and Abiram and their houses (vv.31–33). And fire came from the LORD and burned up the 250 men (v.35). Jude warns about those who “perished in the gainsaying of Core” (Jude 11).

The very next day the whole congregation blamed Moses and Aaron. “Ye have killed the people of the LORD” (v.41). God sent a plague. And Aaron ran into the middle of the people with his censer. “And he stood between the dead and the living; and the plague was stayed” (v.48). The high priest that Korah rejected was the one who saved them. Jesus stands between us and death.

Numbers 17: Aaron’s Rod

To settle it once and for all each tribe brought a rod with its leader’s name on it. They were put in the tabernacle overnight. “The rod of Aaron for the house of Levi was budded, and brought forth buds, and bloomed blossoms, and yielded almonds” (v.8). A dead stick came to life. God chose Aaron. The rod was kept in front of the ark as a sign (v.10). Hebrews 9:4 tells us it was kept in the ark. The priesthood God chooses is the one that brings life out of death.

Numbers 18: The Priests and Levites

God gave the priests and Levites their duties and their pay. They would not get any land. “I am thy part and thine inheritance among the children of Israel” (v.20). The Levites got the tithes of Israel (v.21). And they gave a tithe of the tithe to the priests (v.26). Those who serve God are provided for by God.

Numbers 19: The Red Heifer

After Korah’s rebellion thousands of people had died. Everyone who touched a dead body was unclean. So God gave a way to be cleaned from it. A red heifer without blemish was killed outside the camp and burned completely. Its ashes were mixed with running water. Anyone who touched a dead body was sprinkled with this water on the 3rd day and the 7th day (v.12).⁸ Hebrews 9:13–14 says “if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: How much more shall the blood of Christ … purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God.”

Numbers 20: Moses Strikes the Rock

Chapter 20 jumps ahead almost 40 years. Miriam died at Kadesh (v.1). And again there was no water. The new generation sounded just like their parents. “Would God that we had died when our brethren died before the LORD!” (v.3). God told Moses to take the rod and “speak ye unto the rock before their eyes” (v.8). But Moses said “Hear now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock?” (v.10). And he struck the rock twice. Water still came out. But God said “Because ye believed me not, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them” (v.12).

This seems harsh to many people. There are different views on what exactly Moses did wrong.⁹ But notice what God says. “Ye believed me not.” Moses did not do what God said. He spoke in anger. And he said “must we” as if he and Aaron were bringing the water. Also notice the picture. Paul tells us “that Rock was Christ” (1 Corinthians 10:4). In Exodus 17 the rock was struck once. Christ was struck once for our sins. “Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many” (Hebrews 9:28). After that we only have to speak to him.

Then Edom would not let Israel pass through their land (vv.14–21). Edom came from Esau. Jacob’s brother. Then Aaron died on Mount Hor. Moses took Aaron’s garments and put them on his son Eleazar (v.28). The old generation was passing away. Even their leaders.

Numbers 21: The Serpent of Brass

God gave Israel a victory over the king of Arad (vv.1–3). But then they went around Edom and got discouraged. They complained about God and Moses again. “Our soul loatheth this light bread” (v.5). So God sent fiery serpents and many people died. The people came to Moses and said “We have sinned” (v.7). Moses prayed.

Notice that God did not take the serpents away. He gave them a cure. And all they had to do was look. In Hebrew the word for serpent is nachash. And the word for brass is nechosheth. The two words sound alike.¹⁰ The thing that was killing them was lifted up on a pole. Jesus told Nicodemus “as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:14–15). Jesus was made “to be sin for us, who knew no sin” (2 Corinthians 5:21). Later Israel started burning incense to this serpent. Hezekiah broke it in pieces and called it Nehushtan (2 Kings 18:4). A thing God used can become an idol when we worship it instead of God.

The rest of the chapter tells us of Israel’s travels and their victories over Sihon king of the Amorites and Og king of Bashan (vv.21–35). They even sang a song when God gave them water at a well (vv.17–18). The new generation was winning battles. Something the old generation never did.

Numbers 22: Balaam and the Donkey

Israel camped on the plains of Moab across the Jordan from Jericho. Balak the king of Moab was afraid. So he sent for Balaam. A prophet from the east who was known for blessing and cursing. God told Balaam not to go. But when Balak offered more money Balaam asked again. God let him go but said “the word which I shall say unto thee, that shalt thou do” (v.20).¹¹

On the way the angel of the LORD stood in the road with a sword. Balaam’s donkey saw the angel and turned aside three times. Balaam beat her. Then “the LORD opened the mouth of the ass” (v.28). Then God opened Balaam’s eyes and he saw the angel. The angel said “only the word that I shall speak unto thee, that thou shalt speak” (v.35). Notice that the angel speaks the same way God spoke in verse 20. Just like we saw in Genesis and Exodus. The angel of the LORD speaks as God himself. Balaam told Balak “the word that God putteth in my mouth, that shall I speak” (v.38).

Numbers 23: God Is Not a Man

Balak took Balaam up high to look down on Israel. Balaam built 7 altars and offered. But every time he opened his mouth to curse he blessed. “How shall I curse, whom God hath not cursed?” (v.8). Balak took him to another place and tried again.

Notice that this blessing came at the end of 40 years of failure. Israel had complained and rebelled over and over. But God did not change his mind about his promise to Abraham. “He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob … the LORD his God is with him, and the shout of a king is among them” (v.21). God was going to bless them because he said he would. Not because they earned it.

Numbers 24: A Star Out of Jacob

The third time Balaam did not even look for omens. “The spirit of God came upon him” (v.2). And he blessed Israel again. “Blessed is he that blesseth thee, and cursed is he that curseth thee” (v.9). This is Genesis 12:3. Balak was furious. But Balaam gave one more prophecy. Without being asked.

The sceptre goes back to Genesis 49:10. “The sceptre shall not depart from Judah.” This points first to David who defeated Moab (2 Samuel 8:2). But it points beyond David to the Messiah.¹² Wise men came from the east following a star asking “Where is he that is born King of the Jews?” (Matthew 2:2). And Jesus calls himself “the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star” (Revelation 22:16).

Numbers 25: Sin at Baalpeor

Balaam could not curse Israel. But Israel could still bring a curse on themselves. The men of Israel committed whoredom with the women of Moab and bowed down to their gods. “And Israel joined himself unto Baalpeor: and the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel” (v.3). Later we find out that this was Balaam’s idea (31:16). Revelation 2:14 tells us Balaam “taught Balac to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel.” Phinehas the grandson of Aaron killed an Israelite man and a Midianite woman in the act and the plague stopped. 24,000 died (v.9).

Critics will say this contradicts 1 Corinthians 10:8 where Paul says 23,000 fell. But notice that Paul says “in one day.” Numbers gives the total number of those who died in the plague.¹³ God made a covenant of peace with Phinehas and his family “because he was zealous for his God” (v.13).

Numbers 26: The Second Census

After the plague God told Moses to count the people again. The total was 601,730 (v.51). Almost the same as the first census. A whole generation had died. But God had raised up another one just as big. “But among these there was not a man of them whom Moses and Aaron the priest numbered” in the wilderness of Sinai (v.64). “There was not left a man of them, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun” (v.65). Everything God said in chapter 14 came true.

Numbers 27: Zelophehad’s Daughters and Joshua

Five sisters came to Moses. Their father died in the wilderness with no sons. They asked for their father’s inheritance in the land. Moses brought their case to God. And God said “The daughters of Zelophehad speak right” (v.7). Notice their faith. Israel had not even crossed the Jordan yet. But they were already asking for their share of the land.

Then God told Moses to go up the mountain and see the land. Moses asked God for one thing. That God would set a man over the people “that the congregation of the LORD be not as sheep which have no shepherd” (v.17). God said “Take thee Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the spirit, and lay thine hand upon him” (v.18). Matthew tells us Jesus saw the multitudes “as sheep having no shepherd” (Matthew 9:36). Jesus is the good shepherd (John 10:11).

Numbers 28–29: The Offerings and Feasts

We will cover these chapters together. They tell Israel what to offer every day and every sabbath and every month and at every feast. We covered the feasts in our study on Leviticus 23. We will not go into them again but the same principles apply. Notice that the new generation was being taught how to worship before they went into the land. The morning and evening offering was to be “continual” (28:3). Worship was not something they did once in a while. It was every day.

Numbers 30: Vows

“If a man vow a vow unto the LORD … he shall not break his word, he shall do according to all that proceedeth out of his mouth” (v.2). The rest of the chapter tells when a father or husband could cancel a vow a woman made. God takes our words seriously. Jesus said “let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay” (Matthew 5:37).

Numbers 31: War Against Midian

God told Moses to fight against Midian for what they did at Baalpeor. This was the last thing Moses would do before he died (v.2). Israel won. And Balaam was killed with the kings of Midian (v.8). He wanted the money Balak offered and it cost him his life. Peter tells us Balaam “loved the wages of unrighteousness” (2 Peter 2:15). Not one man of Israel died in the battle (v.49).

Numbers 32: Reuben and Gad

The tribes of Reuben and Gad had a lot of cattle. And the land east of the Jordan was good for cattle. So they asked to stay there. Moses was angry. He thought they were doing what the 10 spies did. Discouraging the rest of Israel (vv.7–9). They promised to cross over and fight with their brothers until the land was taken. Moses agreed but warned them. “But if ye will not do so, behold, ye have sinned against the LORD: and be sure your sin will find you out” (v.23). Half the tribe of Manasseh stayed east too (v.33).

Numbers 33: The Journey Remembered

“And Moses wrote their goings out according to their journeys by the commandment of the LORD” (v.2). This chapter lists every place Israel camped from Egypt to the plains of Moab. Every stop was written down. God remembered every step. Then God told them to drive out the people of the land and destroy their idols. “But if ye will not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you; then it shall come to pass, that those which ye let remain of them shall be pricks in your eyes, and thorns in your sides” (v.55). The book of Judges shows us that this is exactly what happened.

Numbers 34: The Borders of the Land

God gave Israel the borders of the land. North and south and east and west. And he named the men who would divide it among the tribes. They had not gone in yet. But God talked about it as if it was already theirs. Because it was.

Numbers 35: Cities of Refuge

The Levites were given 48 cities to live in (v.7). 6 of them were cities of refuge (v.6). If a man killed someone by accident he could run to one of these cities and be safe from the avenger of blood. But he had to stay there “unto the death of the high priest” (v.25). When the high priest died he could go home free (v.28).¹⁴ Hebrews 6:18 tells us that we “have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us.” And our freedom came through the death of our high priest. Jesus died so we can go free. But unlike Aaron he rose again and “ever liveth to make intercession” for us (Hebrews 7:25).

Numbers 36: The Inheritance Stays

The book ends where chapter 27 started. The daughters of Zelophehad. The leaders of their tribe were worried that if the daughters married men from another tribe the land would move to that tribe. So God said they could marry whoever they wanted as long as it was within their own tribe (v.6). And they did. “These are the commandments and the judgments, which the LORD commanded by the hand of Moses unto the children of Israel in the plains of Moab by Jordan near Jericho” (v.13).

We have gone through Numbers chapter by chapter. Here is what we can conclude. First Numbers is about the faithfulness of God. The people complained in chapter 11. Rebelled in chapter 14. Followed Korah in chapter 16. And fell into idolatry in chapter 25. But God still fed them and led them and gave them water from the rock. And when a prophet was paid to curse them God made him bless them. “God is not a man, that he should lie” (23:19). What he promised to Abraham he did.

Second Numbers is about unbelief. A whole generation saw the plagues and the sea and the manna. And they still died in the wilderness. Not because God could not bring them in. But because they would not believe him. “So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief” (Hebrews 3:19). Hebrews tells us this is a warning for us. The same God who saved us calls us to keep trusting him all the way in.

Third Numbers is monotheistic. Moses heard “the voice of one speaking” from the mercy seat (7:89). The threefold blessing puts one name on the people and one “I” blesses them (6:27). The angel of the LORD speaks the word of God as God (22:35). And Numbers points us to the one God who came to save us. Joshua was given a name that means the LORD is salvation (13:16). The serpent was lifted up so whoever looked could live (21:8–9; John 3:14). And a star would come out of Jacob (24:17). These all point to Jesus Christ. God himself come in the flesh to be our salvation.

Numbers starts with the old generation camped at Mount Sinai. It ends with the new generation camped on the plains of Moab. Looking across the Jordan at the land. Moses is about to die. And before he does he has one more thing to say to them. That is where Deuteronomy begins.