Introduction to the Book of Numbers

Updated
2001-05-26; 14:32:41utc

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The New Unger's Bible Dictionary says about the title: "The LXX title Arithmoi (numbers) was rendered Liber Numeri in the Vulg., which appears in English as the book of Numbers or simply Numbers. The book is so designated because it makes a double reference to taking a census of the Jewish people (chaps. 1-3 and chap. 26). As was usual, the Jews named the book from its opening word wayyedabber ('and He [Jehovah] said'), or more often from the fifth word bemidbar ('in the wilderness')."

Synopsis of the book:

We quote again from The New Unger's Bible Dictionary: "The fourth book of the Pentateuch, continuing the redemptive history of Israel where Exodus leaves off. As Genesis is the book of origins, Exodus the book of redemption, and Leviticus the book of worship and fellowship, Numbers is the book of the service and walk of God's redeemed people."

Yet, the book of Numbers is basically a book of failure; failure of the people to reach the goal God had set with them; failure to be what they ought to have been and failure to be where God wanted them to be. It is the book in which we read how a great nation that left Egypt as a triumphant army, is reduced to a bunch of roaming Bedouins, condemned to trek around in the desert for forty years until every single one of them has died. The greatest failure was the failure to take seriously God's revelation of Himself and God's promises for them.

The book starts out with God's speaking to His people in the desert and preparing them for the conquest, both militarily and spiritually. The numbering of the people, from which the book received its name in our English versions, is for recruitment in the army and for the service and care of the tabernacle.

The people, however, are unwilling to pay a price for their freedom and dignity. They cast their vote in favor of the slavery from which they had been delivered, because of the fish they ate and the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic. They argue that this food was free, conveniently forgetting that they paid for it with back breaking slave labor and that it was at the cost of their male babies, who were drowned in the river Nile, that they ate those things. A rebellion starts in Moses' own family, initiated by his sister Miriam and brother Aaron. And later a large scale rebellion is started by Korah, a Levite and certain Reubenites: Dathan and Abiram, who challenge Moses' authority. But the greatest failure occurs when the twelve spies, who had penetrated the promised land, return with the report that the land devours those living in it, that Israel does not have a change to conquer it and that the enemy they will face are "Nephilim." This is a reference to the cryptic account of the creatures that inhabited the earth in the period before the flood.[ 1 ] One of the saddest accounts is the one in which Moses and Aaron lose their temper and fail to give glory to God, when Moses strikes the rock instead of speaking to it.[ 2 ] This personal failure of the greatest man in the Old Testament makes us realize how great the damage is that sin has incurred upon the human race. From a human viewpoint there is no hope for man. "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."[ 3 ] Disobedience has robbed life of man of its value and purpose. For forty years Israel roamed about in the desert, with nothing to hope for but death. Moses gave expression to this spirit of hopelessness in his beautiful psalm:

"You turn men back to dust, saying, 'Return to dust, O sons of men.'

For a thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night.

You sweep men away in the sleep of death; they are like the new grass of the morning--

though in the morning it springs up new, by evening it is dry and withered.

We are consumed by your anger and terrified by your indignation.

You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your presence.

All our days pass away under your wrath; we finish our years with a moan.

The length of our days is seventy years-- or eighty, if we have the strength; yet their span is but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away.

Who knows the power of your anger? For your wrath is as great as the fear that is due you.

Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

Relent, O LORD! How long will it be? Have compassion on your servants."[ 4 ]

But, although this tragedy occupies the center of this book, it is not its only message. The last ten chapters, which open with a new census of the younger generation, most of whom were not born yet when their parents left Egypt, is prepared to enter the land of promise. The disobedience of one man does not annul the promises of God. God remains faithful to Himself and to His Word and everyone who puts his trust in Him will not be put to shame. Quotes from commentaries:

In his PREFACE TO THE BOOK OF NUMBERS, Adam Clarke writes: "This, which is the fourth book in order of the Pentateuch, has been called NUMBERS, from its containing an account of the numbering and marshalling the Israelites in their journey through the wilderness to the Promised Land. Its ENGLISH name is derived from the title it bears in the VULGATE Latin, Numeri, which is a literal translation of the Greek word Arithmoi, its title in the SEPTUAGINT; and from both, our SAXON ancestors called it 'numeration.' Why? 'because in this the children of Israel were numbered,' This title, however, does not properly apply to more than the first three chapters, and the 26th chapter. This book, like the preceding, takes its name among the HEBREWS from a distinguishing word in the commencement. It is frequently called WAYªDABEER, 'and he spoke,' from its initial word; but in most Hebrew Bibles its running title is BªMIDBAR 'in the wilderness,' which is the fifth word in the first verse."

Nelson's Bible Dictionary gives the following outline of the book: Part One: The Preparation of the Old Generation to Inherit the Promised Land (1:1-10:10)

I. The Organization of Israel 1:1-4:49

A. Organization of the People 1:1-2:34

B. Organization of the Priests 3:1-4:49

II. Sanctification of Israel 5:1-10:10

A. Sanctification through Separation 5:1-31

B. Sanctification through the Nazirite Vow 6:1-27

C. Sanctification through Worship 7:1-9:14

D. Sanctification through Divine Guidance 9:15-10:10 Part Two: The Failure of the Old Generation to Inherit the Promised Land (10:11-25:18)

I. The Failure of Israel En Route to Kadesh 10:11-12:16

A. Israel Departs Mount Sinai 10:11-36

B. Failure of the People 11:1-9

C. Failure of Moses 11:10-15

D. God Provides for Moses 11:16-30

E. God Provides for the People 11:31-35

F. Failure of Miriam and Aaron 12:1-16

II. The Climactic Failure of Israel at Kadesh 13:1-14:45

A. Investigation of the Promised Land 13:1-33

B. Israel Rebels against God 14:1-10

C. Moses Intercedes 14:11-19

D. God Judges Israel 14:20-38

E. Israel Rebels against the Judgment of God 14:39-45

III. The Failure of Israel in the Wilderness 15:1-19:22

A. Review of the Offerings 15:1-41

B. Rebellion of Korah 16:1-40

C. Rebellion of Israel against Moses and Aaron 16:41-50

D. Role of the Priesthood 17:1-19:22

IV. The Failure of Israel En Route to Moab 20:1-25:18

A. Miriam Dies 20:1

B. Moses and Aaron Fail 20:2-13

C. Edom Refuses Passage 20:14-21

D. Aaron Dies 20:22-29

E. Israel's Victory over the Canaanites 21:1-3

F. The Failure of Israel 21:4-9

G. Journey to Moab 21:10-20

H. Israel's Victory over Sihon 21:21-32

I. Israel's Victory over Bashan 21:33-35

J. Failure with the Moabites 22:1-25:18

Part Three: The Preparation of the New Generation (26:1-36:13)

I. The Reorganization of Israel 26:1-27:23

A. The Second Census 26:1-51

B. Method for Dividing the Land 26:52-56

C. Exceptions for Dividing the Land 26:57-27:11

D. Appointment for Israel's New Leader 27:12-23

II. The Regulations of Offerings and Vows 28:1-30:16

A. The Regulations of Sacrifices 28:1-29:40

B. The Regulations of Vows 30:1-16

III. The Conquest and Division of Israel 31:1-36:13

A. Victory over Midian 31:1-54

B. Division of the Land East of Jordan 32:1-42

C. The Summary of Israel's Journeys 33:1-49

D. Division of the Land West of Jordan 33:50-34:29

E. Special Cities in Canaan 35:1-34

F. Special Problems of Inheritance in Canaan 36:1-13

Unger's New Bible Dictionary says, basically, the same in its introduction to the book of Numbers, as Adam Clarke's Commentary. The book continues "the redemptive history of Israel where Exodus leaves off. As Genesis is the book of origins, Exodus the book of redemption, and Leviticus the book of worship and fellowship, Numbers is the book of the service and walk of God's redeemed people." As for the purpose of the book, Unger says: "Numbers continues the journey commenced in the book of Exodus, beginning with the events of the second month of the second year <Num. 10:11> and ending with the eleventh month of the fortieth year <Deut. 1:3>. The thirty-eight years of wandering deal with the failure of the redeemed people in the face of every divine provision for their welfare and success. The book is typically significant in warning against the dangers of unbelief. The people disobeyed at Kadesh-barnea <Num. 14> and suffered repeated defeat and eventual death in the desert (20:1-33:49)." An interesting observation on the way Higher Criticism approaches the book, reads: "Critics who deny Mosaic authorship divide Numbers into P (Priestly Code) and JE (Jehovistic-Elohistic narrative). Chapters 1:1-10:28 are supposedly a long extract from P, while JE is interwoven in the book. This criticism of Numbers, of a piece with Pentateuchal higher criticism in general, is based upon the same erroneous philosophic, literary, and religious presuppositions. It is a product of rationalistic skepticism that attempted to reconcile prevailing modes of thinking of the nineteenth century with the testimony of the Mosaic books."

[ 1 ] See Gen.6:1-4

[ 2 ] ch. 20:1-13

[ 3 ] Rom. 3:23

[ 4 ] Ps. 90:3-13