Introduction to the book of Numbers

Studies in Numbers

INTRODUCTION

Michael Card has a song entitled, “In the Wilderness.” The lyric says, “In the wilderness, in the wilderness; he calls His sons and daughters to the wilderness, but He gives grace sufficient to survive any test, and that’s the painful purpose of the wilderness. In the wilderness we wander, in the wilderness we weep, in the wasteland of our wanting where the darkness seems so deep. We search for the beginning, for an exodus to hold; we find that those who follow Him must often walk alone. In the wilderness in the wilderness He calls His sons and daughters to the wilderness. But He gives grace sufficient to survive any test, and that’s the painful purpose of the wilderness.” In English we call this book Numbers because in the beginning and near the end there is a census, but the Hebrew title is bammidhbar, which is translated “In the Wilderness.” Thus, as Michael Card’s song suggests that Numbers is really the story of the Christian life portrayed in the experience of Israel. This means, of course, that there are some important lessons for life to be discovered here in this Old Testament book. In fact, we might say without fear of contradiction, that this book is intentionally aimed at giving us lessons for life. Also, since the book takes us from the Exodus, salvation and baptism to the entrance into the promised land, it is a compilation paralleling the entire Christian journey from regeneration to glory. In I Corinthians 10:1-11 the Apostle Paul draws this exact parallel. For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers and sisters, that our ancestors were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea. They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. They all ate the same spiritual food and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ. Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them; their bodies were scattered in the wilderness. Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did. Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written: “The people sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry.” We should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did—and in one day twenty-three thousand of them died. We should not test Christ, as some of them did—and were killed by snakes. And do not grumble, as some of them did—and were killed by the destroying angel. These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the culmination of the ages has come. We shall observe the character of the Christian life here under the headings of humility, holiness, hardship and hope.

I HUMILITY

The first message that comes through loud and clear is that God is the hero here, not Moses. Jahweh has rescued His people and chosen a leader who is the meekest of men. A Jewish author writes, “Acting at God’s behest, it is he who leads the Jews out of slavery, unleashes the Ten Plagues against Egypt, guides the freed slaves for forty years in the wilderness, carries down the law from Mount Sinai, and prepares the Jews to enter the land of Canaan. Without Moses, there would be little apart from laws to write about in the last four books of the Torah.” In the same vein Jews regarded Moses as their hero; however, in the sacred books the focus is on the Lord, and not Moses. Because of this adoration the author of Hebrews in 3:3-6, must remind the Jewish readers that Christ is greater than Moses, Jesus has been found worthy of greater honor than Moses, just as the builder of a house has greater honor than the house itself. For every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything. Moses was faithful as a servant in all God’s house,” bearing witness to what would be spoken by God in the future. But Christ is faithful as the Son over God’s house. And we are his house, if indeed we hold firmly to our confidence and the hope in which we glory. Moses was not allowed to enter the promised land because he took his attention off of God’s honor. Rabbi Kula suggests that Moses’ sin was that, when ten of the twelve spies returned from Canaan and gloomily predicted that the Hebrews would never be able to conquer the land, the Israelites railed against Moses and in response, he breaks down in Numbers 14:5: “Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembled congregation of the Israelites.” The two independent spies, Joshua and Caleb, both of whom rejected the majority report, took over “and exhorted the whole Israelite community”. Later, in Deuteronomy 1:34-38, when Moses delivers his final summing-up to the Israelites, he refers back to this episode: When the Lord heard your loud complaint, He was angry. He vowed: “Not one of these men, this evil generation, shall see the good land that I swore to give to your fathers, none except Caleb…. Because of you, the Lord was incensed with me too, and He said: You shall not enter it either. Joshua … who attends you, he shall enter it. The Christian life, likewise must be humble enough to place God’s honor above everything else.

II HOLINESS

The next thing that is forced upon us in this book is the holiness of God. This had been apparent in Exodus and Leviticus, and continues to be vital. The camp of the Israelites is organized around the tabernacle which is the throne of God in their midst. The Levites are encamped on all sides of the tabernacle to prevent the unsolicited and life threatening contact of the citizens with the sacred precincts. Holiness is essentially, at its core, separation. In the case of God’s holiness it is separation from all that is unclean including diseases, foods, death, sin and sinners. That is why there is a multitude of ordinances constantly reminding Israel of the purity of God and His demands. These include cleansing rites, the extraordinary consecration for priestly service, the sin offering and a multitude of other sacrifices including even offerings for unintentional sins, the details of punishment and sanctions that fell upon offenders against the law, even the ceremonial law, and the precautions enjoined with regard to the ark and the sanctuary, all of which emphasize the sanctity of worship and the holiness of the unseen King. God’s holiness requires that everything be done exactly the way He has prescribed. An incident mentioned five times in Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers is instructive here. It is referred to in Numbers 3:2-4, The names of the sons of Aaron were Nadab the firstborn and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. Those were the names of Aaron’s sons, the anointed priests, who were ordained to serve as priests. Nadab and Abihu, however, fell dead before the Lord when they made an offering with unauthorized fire before him in the Desert of Sinai. They had no sons; so only Eleazar and Ithamar served as priests during the lifetime of their father Aaron. As a result The order appointed for the incense offering, and all other sacred duties, would thenceforth be rigidly observed. And the incident would be revived continually for the priests when they studied the Law. This must have had special significance because of their knowledge of the use and meaning of fire in idolatrous worship. The temptation was often felt, against which the fate of Nadab and Abihu set every priest on his guard, not to mingle the supposed virtue of other religious symbols with the sanctities of Jehovah. So add to humility, the holiness of God in the Christian life. Thus He is to be worshipped and served. God is separate and we are to be separate too.

III HARDSHIP

Michael Card wrote about the painful purpose of the wilderness. It is a fight against troubles on every side including hunger and thirst, and against their enemies whom they must expel from the land. The sojourn in the wilderness is a fight from beginning to the end, and so is the Christian life. In this fight the Israelites often fail as we do in our spiritual lives. The first thing that strikes us is that the census taken is a military muster. It identifies all of the men of fighting age. Psalm 80 starts with a description of Israel in the wilderness and we read in verses 1-3 Hear us, Shepherd of Israel, you who lead Joseph like a flock. You who sit enthroned between the cherubim, shine forth before Ephraim, Benjamin and Manasseh. Awaken your might; come and save us. Restore us, O God; make your face shine on us, that we may be saved. This is a prayer for God to be with the people as he was in the wilderness, and as He was leading them in battle. Ephraim, Benjamin and Manasseh were grouped together on one side of the tabernacle which was surrounded by the Levites. When the order to march was given they would proceed together immediately following the Levites and the tabernacle, which is the throne of God. The message is that they do not fight alone. God is with them, and so He is with us. We also learn towards the end of the book that their courage fails and, in spite of God’s promises and the assurances of Joshua and Caleb they refuse to enter the promised land. We can also fail to believe God’s promises and fail to do His will. We all need to hear the admonitions of Paul in the New Testament. In I Timothy 6:12 Paul advises Timothy, Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses. The Apostle also says in II Timothy 4, regarding himself, I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. In II Corinthians 10:4 Paul reminds the Church, The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. Regarding his ministry Paul writes in I Corinthians 9:24-27, Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize. The great missionary also gives this advice to Timothy in II Timothy 2:3-5, Join with me in suffering, like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No one serving as a soldier gets entangled in civilian affairs, but rather tries to please his commanding officer. Similarly, anyone who competes as an athlete does not receive the victor’s crown except by competing according to the rules. Above all we cannot forget the wisdom of Paul in Ephesians 6:10-12 where he says to all, Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. That should be sufficient to demonstrate that we, no less than Israel, are in a battle in this wilderness of sin.

IV HOPE

The last thing we learn here is that the Christian life, this life in the wilderness, is characterized by hope. We might also call this faith because faith is being sure of what we hope for and the evidence of what we have not seen. The Israelites in the wilderness could not see the promised land yet, but In Exodus 3:16 and 17 at the burning bush God said to Moses, Go, assemble the elders of Israel and say to them, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob—appeared to me and said: I have watched over you and have seen what has been done to you in Egypt. And I have promised to bring you up out of your misery in Egypt into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites—a land flowing with milk and honey. Thus, in the wilderness the Israelites had the promise of God. They had the very Word of God assuring them of their destination. We as Christians have no less because Jesus told His disciples that he was going before them to prepare a place for them. They also had the evidence before them that God keeps His Word. He had promised Abraham that they would be as numerous as the grains of sand along the shore or as the stars of heaven. That was obvious hyperbole, but the actual numbers are staggering. With over 600,000 fighting men, the total group in the wilderness must have been over 2 million. We, too, have seen God’s promises fulfilled over and over. Other men see only a hopeless end, but the Christian rejoices in an endless hope. Albert Stauderman said, “If I live long enough, I’d like to write a book on trials, because without them a person can know neither Scripture, nor faith, nor can he fear and love God. If he has never suffered, he cannot understand what hope is.“ As Paul says in Romans 5:2-4, And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. So it is that the authentic Christian life is a life of humility, holiness, hardship, and hope.