Numbers Overview
Introduction
This lesson is the first of two on the book of Numbers, so named for the years Israel spent in the wilderness, and for taking a census for the rebellious generation and then their children who enter the Promised Land. It covers from the first census to Miriam’s death, including the “jealousy test” and a case of temporary mutiny. Please refer to these resources as well: this commentary, the NETS Bible, and this LXX Interlinear.
As with the lesson on Leviticus, this one will focus on overarching principles rather than minute details, which again can be found in Constable’s notes. Key events include the spineless treachery of Balaam, but the main point is that Israel’s wandering was the direct result of their unfaithfulness to God.
The Big Picture
The first 25 chapters center on the older generation and its eventual disqualification for entering the Promised Land, whle chapters 26-36 turn to the next generation. Notice how the Bible is defining generation here, which should not be confused with lifespan. A generation is defined by parents and children. The wandering was 40 years because that’s how long it took all the rebellious parents to die off, not because a generation must be 40 years.
This is why, in the study of Bible prophecy, many err in taking Jesus’ statement “this generation shall not pass away” as meaning “40 years after Israel is reestablished in the land” (or after Jerusalem is retaken). At best, Jesus meant that the generation of adults at that time would see the completion of the prophecies. If this is the case, the outside limit would be about 60 years after 1967, if people who were 20 yrs. old live to be 80, which brings us to 2027.
But whether we’re studying the past or the future, God will never break his promises, and that includes the perpetuation of Israel as a nation, per Jeremiah 31:35-37. That nation will endure as long as the earth and sky, no matter how far the people stray. Replacement- and Fulfillment-Theologists need to read that passage several times.
The first census was to determine the amount of land needed for each of the twelve tribes, as well as the size of the army to clean out the Promised Land. In those early chapters we also see that the tribes camped around the Tabernacle evenly, three on a side, though the Levites camped on all four sides closest to it. Notice that Joseph’s two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, make the Levites a 13th tribe in a sense, though one without land.
Of particular interest here is also the animals representing four of the tribes. Rev. 4:7 lists four creatures described as resembling a lion, a calf or ox, a human, and an eagle, which also match the four angelic beings of Ezekiel 1:10. The future city of the Lord in Ezk. 45-48 and the New Jerusalem in Rev. 21 have gates named after the twelve tribes as well, though the order is different. Such facts mitigate against the teaching that since Jesus came, God has dispensed with any physical nation of chosen people.
Now let’s look at the “jealousy test” of chapter 5, which was referenced in the study of Exodus when Moses threw soot into the air and it caused boils to break out on the Egyptians’ skin. This test, where a woman suspected of adultery was forced to drink water with dust from the Temple courtyard mixed in, would actually discourage false accusations of adultery by husbands against wives, since her proof of innocence would shame the man. And if the men of Israel wanted to use this one-sided test to show a husband’s authority, it also represented God’s authority― reminding them of their own unfaithfulness as the spiritual wife of God.
In any case, society considered women property, and God is simply regulating this practice. The explanation of the actual physical curse seems plausible: that the guilty woman’s body would be affected in such a way that she could bear no more children. Constable also contrasts this situation with one where they know the identity of the man who committed adultery with her, in which case both were to be executed, according to Lev. 20:10.
Constable notes as well that there was in fact no corresponding right of the wife to test an adulterous husband. Again, though God makes concessions and puts limits on human choices, he never intended the practice or attitude of humans ruling over other humans. But we must always remember that the injustices of this life will be compensated for in the next. People with any kind of entitlement mentality would do well to remember Jesus’ warning in Mat. 7:2: We will be judged the way we have judged others.
In chapter 9 God makes provisions for those who couldn’t celebrate the Passover due to defilement; they could celebrate it one month later. So again we see that God is not a hard legalist when there are good reasons for inability to follow his decrees. But we should be careful not to use such auxiliary feasts to confuse and obfuscate prophetic symbols.
Now when it comes to prophetic symbols, we cannot gloss over the two silver trumpets to signal Israel to break camp and then move out, and to do so in a controlled and orderly manner. These, not the as-yet unrevealed judgment trumpets of Revelation, were undoubtedly what was referred to in 1 Cor. 15:52 regarding the “last trump”.
In Constable’s notes you will find a nice little chart showing where and when the nation of Israel moved from one place to another, along with a simple map. But just when Israel seems to be getting its act together, they find an excuse to whine again and earn God’s punishment, as you can read starting in ch. 11. Some take those people as the non-Hebrews who left Egypt with them, which at least would explain where the whining started, though certainly it was picked up and amplified by the Hebrews. This is a lesson for us in not seeking the exciting, flashy, ever-changing trinkets the world offers― as well as when the churches offer the same things in the form of spiritual experiences.
After some more houskeeping regarding governing the day-to-day whining, the discontent reaches the point where even Aaron and Miriam became a problem. They had an issue with Moses marrying a non-Hebrew, though there is some disagreement over whether she was from Cush or Ethiopia, and they assume he married her after his first wife Zipporah died. At this time, God had only forbidden the Israelites to marry Canaanites, so there was no ethical reason for the complaint.
But what the text seems to emphasize is not the excuse for the complaint but the attitude: They wanted to have equal standing with Moses. Miriam, apparently as the main antagonist, is stricken with the same instant skin disease as Moses had been when he himself doubted God’s sanctioning of his leadership. But then Aaron pleads to Moses for her healing. He in turn prays to God, though she would have to stay alone outside of the camp for a week. And lest we point fingers at Miriam, how many of us would tolerate one of our siblings being chosen by God as our leader?
Now we come to the point where the people are to move north and begin battling against the people of Canaan. This is where we first read about the men sent to spy out the land so they could decide how best to attack. One was chosen from each tribe, but the two key names here are Caleb and Joshua, whose original name was changed by Moses from Hoshea.
When the report came back, the spies all agreed that it was a good land. But everyone except Caleb and Joshua was afraid of the people there, not only for the fortified cities but also for the Anakites, who in verse 33 are equated with the Nephilim. We remember from our study of Genesis that these were the hybrid offspring of fallen angels and humans who had super-human strength, and some of them were giants. Ten of the twelve spies had forgotten that it is always God, not themselves, who wins their battles.
Again the people whine to go back to Egypt, and they add to their sin by threatening to murder Joshua and Caleb for telling them to trust God to give them victory. On top of that, they decide to look for a new leader to take them back to Egypt! So again they bring God to the brink of wiping them out and starting over with Moses, who again intercedes for them and reminds God what the Egyptians would say if he did. For this wholesale rejection of God and complete lack of faith, the adults would never enter the Promised Land. God turns them away until they all die and are replaced by their children.
Meanwhile, and nobody’s sure exactly when, some of the sub-Levitical clan of Korah decide to do more than whine: They actually muster a small force to rebell against Moses. They blame him for failure to enter the Promised Land, in spite of the overwhelming evidence of their own guilt. Because of this, God needs to make it clear enough even for the Israelites to see that Moses is his chosen leader. He tells the people to separate themselves from the tents of the leaders of the rebellion, and then they and everything and everyone belonging to them are swallowed up by the earth. As Constable points out, let this be a lesson to anyone claiming authority that doesn’t belong to them― which is to say, anyone claiming that the authority of God or the Bible rests with them instead of the Holy Spirit.
After this, God also reconfirms Aaron as high priest by causing buds and even almonds to form on his staff, per ch. 17. So not only has God once-and-for-all put an end to questions over his choice of leaders, he also has them put Aaron’s staff into the Ark as a reminder, along with the jar of manna and stone tablets.
After details about priestly service in ch. 18-19, Miriam dies and is buried in the wilderness of Zin. But right away the people begin to whine about having no water, I guess because people with the memory of a goldfish need lots of water. So God tells Moses to assemble them in front of a rock that he is to speak to and make water come out. But instead of speaking, Moses strikes it twice with his staff. It works anyway, but because he struck it instead of only speaking, he and Aaron would be denied entry to the Promised Land. The ones who had been vindicated over and over were not above accountability, which is another lesson for us all.