Numbers 01

 Numbers

Numbers
● The Hebrew title for this book comes from the first verse and is translated: “In the Wilderness of.” Our English title for this book comes more directly from the Greek Septuagint title which is Arithmoi meaning “Numbers” as well as from the Latin Vulgate which titles this book Liber Numeri: “Book of Numbers.”
 The English title is taken from the two censuses that were taken in Numbers 1 and Numbers 26. There is also a quite long account of the gifts given by each tribe. These lists may seem long and tedious to us but they have immense meaning and significance to us today, as we will soon see!
● The author of this book is undoubtedly Moses, just like the previous three books we have studied in this series. It seems odd to many 20th century readers that Moses would refer to himself in the third person rather than the first in his own writings, however, this is the typical style of many ancient writings.
● Major themes
 The most important theme in this book is that the people must walk by faith. Not faith in themselves, not faith in their luck, not faith in nature, not faith in the Egyptian gods that they left, but faith in the One true God. This is the only faith that counts!
 Another major theme of this book is purification through the desert wanderings. The Israelites showed lack of faith in God and his ability to give theme the land, so this book tells the story of a new generation of Israelites that grew up in the dessert. They did not remember slavery in Egypt. They were tougher, more hardened and more willing to depend on God because there is no other way that the nation of Israel would have survived this long desert period.
 The great providence of God comes through in this book as he shows the Israelites time and time again that it is He who saves, He who provides, and they would have less reason than ever to try to go back to the Egyptian gods that they may have been taught about before.

The Old Generation (Numbers 1:1-10:10)
● The Organization of Israel (Numbers 1 – Numbers 4)
 The first Chapter of the book of Numbers is a painstaking record of the census of the people of Israelites. This can be quite difficult to the modern reader but it teaches us quite a bit about the character of God.
■ God is a list keeper, a name recorder and nothing slips through the cracks. If your name is written in the book of life there is no chance that your faith will go unnoticed. No deed done in faith and love will go unrewarded, because God does not forget the details.
 The second through the fourth chapters of Numbers teaches the Israelites how they are to move the camp when the Lord leads them. The Lord did not leave them to have to guess about how to move the camp, but gave them order and stability, even going so far as to say which tribes will carry the different parts of the tabernacle. The Lord doesn't just give lofty advice and leave us to work out the practical aspects of life, but rather gives steps to work through potentially difficult situations.
● The Sanctification of Israel (Numbers 5 – Numbers 10:10)
 In Chapter five the Lord reiterates the need for constant and daily holiness. 
■ Verses 11-31 lay out a rather intense test to find out if someones wife has been cheating on him. This is a spiritual test that the Lord lays out because marriage is such a holy and sacred bond between a man and a woman. The truth of any relationship is that it can take a long time to build up the loving and the trusting relationship which the Lord made marriage to be, but it only takes suspicion (not evidence) to destroy that love and trust. The Lord would not allow a marriage to be broken up on suspicion. This test would allow the marriage to be restored to that place of love and trust by proving beyond all doubt that no one had gone outside of the marriage.
 Chapter six lays out the procedure for someone who wishes to dedicate himself to God with a Nazirite vow. The Nazirite vow was a short term vow that one could make to draw closer to the Lord, in love and dedication. During the time of the Nazirite vow we find that the man or woman who is dedicating them self to the Lord must let his or her hair grow long and not cut it, he or she must not eat grapes or drink any fruit of the vine (grape juice or wine) and must be careful to keep away from anything that would make him unclean by the Law. When the vow is over the hair is cut and offered to the Lord.
 Chapter six also gives us the beautiful blessing that the Levitical Priests were to bestow upon the people:
The LORD bless you and keep you;
The LORD make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you;
The Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.
Numbers 6:24-26
■ The word “peace” here translates the Hebrew word shalom it does not simply mean absence from conflict or ward, but rather means a deeper wholeness, peace and wellbeing that only God can provide.
 Chapters seven through nine tell about the offerings that each tribe gave. Each tribe gave exactly the same amount, regardless of the size of the tribe. 
■ While it may seem tedious to us to write out each individually rather than simply writing: “Each of the tribes gave such and such.” The individual recounting of the giving shows us that God counts these gifts individually and doesn't just see mankind as a lump sum of people.
■ It also shows us that no tribe had a special “We gave the most” stake in the Lord's plans and promises. Each tribe contributed equally to the work of the Lord
 Numbers 9:15-23 tells about how God led the Israelites by filling the tabernacle with a cloud. In Scripture we see the Lord's presence manifested in this way a number of times. By day His presence appeared as a cloud and by night His presence appeared as a pillar of fire. 
■ The nation of Israel was not to move until the Lord moved, and when the Lord led them then they would go. Often times they would remain in the same place for some time before the Lord led them forward. They were not given a great deal of explanation regarding this, but they were to follow the Lord's leading faithfully, trusting that his way was right.



Take Home
The book of Numbers is an account of people walking through the desert. They are led by God through a hard and difficult road. This difficult road had a purpose. The Israelites went into this desert as a rag-tag band of escaped slaves. Through the Lord's constant and miraculous provision the Israelites were transformed from a faithless band of slaves to a nation of people who had faith that the Lord would make good on all of his promises. The kind of people who would follow the Lord, faithfully going where he told them to go and doing what he told them to do, even when it made little or no sense to them. Numbers is a great book to read in times of difficulty. God still uses those trials and sufferings to refine and shape his beloved people.

In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith -of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire – may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.
1 Peter 1: 6-7

Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given to us.
Romans 5:3-5