Numbers Introduction
For some people, the title of Numbers alone is enough to make them not want to dive into this book! As we read over the next few weeks, this isn’t a math book, but a narrative of God’s people and God’s faithfulness to them.
God’s people have just received the Law at Sinai and now they are journeying to the Promised Land. While the book of Numbers begins with a census of Israel, the rest of the book has little to do with actual numbers. Numbers is about the journey towards the land flowing with milk and honey just east of the Mediterranean Sea. The people head to Kadesh and God leads them through a cloud by day and fire by night. When the cloud that covered the tent moved, the Israelites packed up camp and followed it. When the cloud stopped, the people stopped and set up camp again. God provided for his people giving them manna from heaven, which is bread, and quail. From there, there are stories of trust and disobedience, complaining and wandering. God’s promises hold true throughout.
The book of Numbers is in our Bible for a reason. Not only does it move the storyline of Scripture along, but it also points to the coming Savior. Amidst all of Israel’s failures, there was still hope. God’s wrath and judgment in this book might seem harsh, but we see God marked by both judgment and mercy in the Old Testament and New Testament. Look for yourself in the story.
Like the Israelites, when are you tempted to complain? When are you tempted to question God’s promises to you? In what ways are you acting in disobedience to the Word of God? Take a note on Moses’ leadership throughout Numbers. Where does he do well? Where does he fall short? What can we apply to our own lives? Don’t be afraid of the names you don’t know and the places you may be unfamiliar with–focus on the overall story!
Join us through the book of Numbers, as we see the unfolding of God’s big story and the rocky journey to the Promised Land!
Read Numbers 1
The Census
1 The Lord spoke to Moses in the tent of meeting in the Desert of Sinai on the first day of the second month of the second year after the Israelites came out of Egypt. He said: 2 “Take a census of the whole Israelite community by their clans and families, listing every man by name, one by one. 3 You and Aaron are to count according to their divisions all the men in Israel who are twenty years old or more and able to serve in the army. 4 One man from each tribe, each of them the head of his family, is to help you.5 These are the names of the men who are to assist you:
from Reuben, Elizur son of Shedeur;
6 from Simeon, Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai;
7 from Judah, Nahshon son of Amminadab;
8 from Issachar, Nethanel son of Zuar;
9 from Zebulun, Eliab son of Helon;
10 from the sons of Joseph:
from Ephraim, Elishama son of Ammihud;
from Manasseh, Gamaliel son of Pedahzur;
11 from Benjamin, Abidan son of Gideoni;
12 from Dan, Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai;
13 from Asher, Pagiel son of Okran;
14 from Gad, Eliasaph son of Deuel;
15 from Naphtali, Ahira son of Enan.”
16 These were the men appointed from the community, the leaders of their ancestral tribes. They were the heads of the clans of Israel.
17 Moses and Aaron took these men whose names had been specified,18 and they called the whole community together on the first day of the second month. The people registered their ancestry by their clans and families, and the men twenty years old or more were listed by name, one by one, 19 as the Lord commanded Moses. And so he counted them in the Desert of Sinai:
20 From the descendants of Reuben the firstborn son of Israel:
All the men twenty years old or more who were able to serve in the army were listed by name, one by one, according to the records of their clans and families. 21 The number from the tribe of Reuben was 46,500.
22 From the descendants of Simeon:
All the men twenty years old or more who were able to serve in the army were counted and listed by name, one by one, according to the records of their clans and families. 23 The number from the tribe of Simeon was 59,300.
24 From the descendants of Gad:
All the men twenty years old or more who were able to serve in the army were listed by name, according to the records of their clans and families. 25 The number from the tribe of Gad was 45,650.
26 From the descendants of Judah:
All the men twenty years old or more who were able to serve in the army were listed by name, according to the records of their clans and families. 27 The number from the tribe of Judah was 74,600.
28 From the descendants of Issachar:
All the men twenty years old or more who were able to serve in the army were listed by name, according to the records of their clans and families. 29 The number from the tribe of Issachar was 54,400.
30 From the descendants of Zebulun:
All the men twenty years old or more who were able to serve in the army were listed by name, according to the records of their clans and families. 31 The number from the tribe of Zebulun was 57,400.
32 From the sons of Joseph:
From the descendants of Ephraim:
All the men twenty years old or more who were able to serve in the army were listed by name, according to the records of their clans and families. 33 The number from the tribe of Ephraim was 40,500.
34 From the descendants of Manasseh:
All the men twenty years old or more who were able to serve in the army were listed by name, according to the records of their clans and families. 35 The number from the tribe of Manasseh was 32,200.
36 From the descendants of Benjamin:
All the men twenty years old or more who were able to serve in the army were listed by name, according to the records of their clans and families. 37 The number from the tribe of Benjamin was 35,400.
38 From the descendants of Dan:
All the men twenty years old or more who were able to serve in the army were listed by name, according to the records of their clans and families. 39 The number from the tribe of Dan was 62,700.
40 From the descendants of Asher:
All the men twenty years old or more who were able to serve in the army were listed by name, according to the records of their clans and families. 41 The number from the tribe of Asher was 41,500.
42 From the descendants of Naphtali:
All the men twenty years old or more who were able to serve in the army were listed by name, according to the records of their clans and families. 43 The number from the tribe of Naphtali was 53,400.
44 These were the men counted by Moses and Aaron and the twelve leaders of Israel, each one representing his family. 45 All the Israelites twenty years old or more who were able to serve in Israel’s army were counted according to their families. 46 The total number was 603,550.
47 The ancestral tribe of the Levites, however, was not counted along with the others. 48 The Lord had said to Moses: 49 “You must not count the tribe of Levi or include them in the census of the other Israelites. 50 Instead, appoint the Levites to be in charge of the tabernacle of the covenant law—over all its furnishings and everything belonging to it. They are to carry the tabernacle and all its furnishings; they are to take care of it and encamp around it. 51 Whenever the tabernacle is to move, the Levites are to take it down, and whenever the tabernacle is to be set up, the Levites shall do it.Anyone else who approaches it is to be put to death. 52 The Israelites are to set up their tents by divisions, each of them in their own camp under their standard. 53 The Levites, however, are to set up their tents around the tabernacle of the covenant law so that my wrath will not fall on the Israelite community. The Levites are to be responsible for the care of the tabernacle of the covenant law.”
54 The Israelites did all this just as the Lord commanded Moses.
Go Deeper
The book of Numbers begins with a census. There are two censuses that take place in Numbers, one at the beginning of the book and one at the end. This census is for men over twenty who can go to war, which is why women weren’t included. Note the Levites were not included because they were chosen as the priestly tribe. Moses and Aaron divide the people into their tribes and appoint leaders for each one, to prepare to journey towards the Promised Land. Most of us look at these chapters in the Bible and are tempted to skip over them. However, this is more than just a list of names. There is so much we can learn! In this chapter, there are three main takeaways.
The first thing we see is that God is dwelling with His people. The book begins saying, “The Lord spoke to Moses in the tent of meeting in the Wilderness of Sinai, on the first day of the second month of the second year after Israel’s departure from the land of Egypt” (v. 1). Exodus ended with Moses outside the tent of meeting where God’s presence dwelt, and now Numbers begins with Moses inside the tent of meeting talking to God. Why is this important? It means that the book of Leviticus worked! The problem we see at the beginning of Leviticus is how a holy in God could dwell with a sinful people. This is solved through sacrifices, feasts, and the priests. It also shows us that from the beginning, God desires to be with His people.
The second thing we see is that God keeps His promises. We see the unfolding of God’s promises through this first chapter in Numbers. In Genesis 12, God promised Abraham: land, seed (descendants), and blessing. This is known as the Abrahamic Covenant. God tells Abraham that “all the nations of the earth will be blessed by [his] offspring.” Already in the book of Numbers we see God coming through. They were heading towards the Promised Land, their numbers were many as we see through the census, and God’s blessing was upon them. What started with Abraham and Sarah is now generations of Israelites. God is faithful!
The third thing we see through this chapter is that God’s Word is reliable. This book is not a fairytale that took place thousands of years ago. These are real people with real stories. It says their total number was 603,5oo people (v. 46). This implies a total population of about 2.4 million! Census’ shows us the reliability of Scripture and the historical accuracy of what took place. The Bible is the Word of God (2 Timothy 3:16), and it has been preserved unlike any other text. Let this census remind you that God’s Word is trustworthy and true. It is authoritative and sufficient. We can and should depend on it.
Questions
What stands out to you about this chapter?
Numbers 1 begins with the Lord speaking to Moses and giving him clear instructions for the census. What does this show you about the character of God? What does this show you about the character of Moses?
This census likely would have been tedious and taken a long time. When is a time you have been obedient to the Lord, even when it was tedious or burdensome?
Watch This
Check out this video overview of the book of Numbers from The Bible Project!
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6 thoughts on “Numbers 1 + Introduction”
In the Wilderness
READ 1 COR.10:1 – 11
“You see all of these events that Paul listed are found WRITTEN DOWN in the Torah, in the book of Numbers to be specific. Paul saw what we would see: that the book of Numbers while a record of history is also prophetic. We will see the Messiah in the book of Numbers, and we will see Him operating BEFORE He became a man.
Numbers is not actually the Hebrew name for this, the 4th of the 5 books of Torah. Numbers is merely the English translation of the Greek name given to this book……Arithmoi…..from which we also get the word arithmetic. And the Greeks gave this name to it because in the early chapters the Lord orders a census taken of the Israelites, and the results are recorded. In Hebrew the name for this book is B’midbar ; and it means “In the Wilderness”. It is in the book of B’midbar where we find the story of the 40 years that Israel spent wandering in the wilderness of the Negev, the Sinai, and probably for a short time the Arabian Peninsula. Numbers is really a misnomer and the amount of actual “numbers” and lists is quite small. The vast bulk of this book consists of stories and narratives of those formative 40 years that our Lord apparently thought important for us to know about (as Paul forcefully points out to his readers)” Tom Bradford The Torah Class.
Although we may not need to do the “ritual sacrafices” any longer, but to remember and to teach them is to remind us of God’s principles, of His laws and commands, of how it is better to live our lives with Him than without. The “laws of God” are not a checklist or a recipe to follow. All of this is not for the “non” believer but for the redeemed in Christ. We are free and He can only give what we choose to recieve.
We are free to choose because of God. We can only recieve what He can give because WE CHOOSE.
God thank You for freedom of choice. God I choose You. I choose Jesus Christ. I choose for the Holy Spirit to indwell and help me with life. God thank You for guiding my life to/with/for Your glory. God help me with coming against, overcoming those desires to do what I dont want to do. God thank You for the triumphs of victory over doing what is right to Your glory. Thank You for these minutes of this day to see, say and do all of my best that is worthy and pleasing to You in Jesus name amen
WOOHOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
What stands out to me in this opening chapter is that what God required he established a specific order/way to accomplish it. In his kindness he issued a command and the way to carry it out. What could have been a daunting task was given specificity to complete. In taking the census he instructed Moses, “One man from each tribe, each of them the head of his family, is to help you” (v4). From creation to the Levitical law, to now the book of Numbers, we see God to continue usher in his divine order.
1 “He said: 2 “Take a census of the whole Israelite community by their clans and families, listing every man by name, one by one.”
From Leviticus and now Numbers, I see that it was important from the outset for God to set out the rules and now get people organized. These are critical components of God’s plan for us. Chaos is not part of God’s character!
Three takeaways from this chapter:
we see that God is dwelling with His people.
we see that God keeps His promises.
we see that God’s Word is reliable.
These are truths that are depicted through chapter 1 showing God’s faithfulness to many people. I am looking forward to continuing to read this chapter as I read it from the perspective of the time it was written and to whom it was written.
54 The Israelites did all this just as the Lord commanded Moses. In actuality, they did not.
All order and unity start with God being first. He is the first in priority, authority, and in absolute preeminence. Let us be encouraged to follow God and trust His good plan.
Wow! Thats a a lot of people. It’s crazy how they even moved all thru the desert together…
It’s cool to see how levitiucs helped them move forward with gods plan and understanding his expectations.