Numbers: Into the Wilderness
I am looking forward to our study of Numbers, but I should warn you on the front-end it is not a book for the feint of heart. The Old Testament Law is a section filled with great stories, but also large stretches of Law code…hence the name “Law.” It reminds me of the time Brandy and I were at Central Baptist in North Little Rock, and the pastor began a series on Exodus. Everything was going great until chapter 21. It was at that point the pastor decided to end the Sunday morning series and continue studying Exodus on Wednesdays during the prayer meeting. A few more chapters in, he asked me how I thought it was going, and I responded, “I’m enjoying it, but I think you’re discovering why so many people struggle to read their Bibles cover to cover.”
If you happen to have a career that is not a lawyer or something similar, it can be daunting to read through the codes. To help, I want to offer a few tips.
First, don’t lose sight of the woods looking at trees. Numbers includes lots of little details, and some matter more than others. If this is your first time reading Numbers, try to not get distracted by the Hebrew names, the lists of numbers, and the laws that, as Christians, we aren’t held to.
Second, keep in mind the themes of Numbers. We will look at them in a bit, but when you find a spot that is troubling, ask, “What does this teach us about God? What does it teach about holiness?”
And this point is connected to the last tip. When we approach Scripture and how to interpret it, we tend to look at it from a 21st century perspective. The problem with this approach is that the Bible was written thousands of years ago. Literature, culture, and societal norms have changed. The Word of God endures, and will endure, forever, but our understanding of it will always be clouded by the baggage of the here and now. To help clear the way, I want to offer an ancient way of reading Scripture.
Up until the Modern Era (i.e. post-Enlightenment), theologians typically acknowledged four senses to a Scripture’s meaning.
Literal Meaning - what the words actually say and mean
Allegorical Meaning - the symbolism of the words
Tropological Meaning - the moral implications of the words
Anagogical Meaning - How the words draw you higher to heaven
Nicholas of Lyra (AD 1270-1349) wrote this poem (it rhymes in Latin) to help:
The letter teaches events,
Allegory, what you should believe;
Tropology, what you should do;
Anagogy, where you should aim
As we walk through Numbers together, if we focus solely on the literal, we will miss the grand story of Scripture in which Numbers plays a part. Of course, if we focus on allegory, we will symbolize everything to where nothing actually makes sense. If we over focus on the moral implications, Numbers (as well as all the Bible) becomes mere moralizing, and we lose sight of the God who designed the morality.
A more lofty goal is asking how the text can draw us closer to God and more heavenly minded. This last sense has to do with looking ahead. How does the text draw us closer to Christ’s Return and the restoration of all things? We cannot get there, however, without all four senses. And so, putting those questions together, we have:
What does the text say?
What does the text teach us about God?
What does it teach us about holiness?
What does it tell us about what God is doing?
An Overview of Numbers
At first glance, it would Numbers is simply a record book with lots of data. The first chapter certainly helps solidify this caricature. A better title is actually the Hebrew one, Bemidbar, “in the wilderness.” The story of Numbers is the story of the Israelites after they left Egypt, but were forbidden from entering the Promised Land. This generation is left to wander the wilderness because of their sin.
Place in the canon
It is book four of the Pentateuch and sits between Leviticus, the Law Code for the new nation, and Deuteronomy, the retelling of the story of the Israelites’ history as they enter the Promised Land. Narratively, it doesn’t have much of a beginning nor an ending. The wilderness journey is a narrative detour for the Israelites because of their rebellion against God.
The story of Numbers reminds us the call toward holiness and the consequences of sin.
The people were saved from Egypt, but they would not enter the Promised Land because they refused to follow the Lord in obedience. This call of holiness is a dominant theme in Numbers, and there are others.
Themes of the book
Drawing closer to the Lord requires removal of sin and holiness.
Consider the levitical code, the purification laws, and cleanliness rituals.
God is actively at work in this world through His people.
A unified community occurs when the people are faithful to the Lord.
Rebellion against God, and the things of God, will be punished.
God’s promises will be fulfilled, even if it takes another generation and despite rebellious people.
Consider not just the next generation at the end, but also Balaam’s inability to curse the people.
Faith is a journey with only a general map to guide us.
The people knew their destination, but not how they would get there.
Numbers continues the story of the Pentateuch that began with God calling Abraham out of Ur.
Faithfulness in the journey requires avoiding temptation from the outside (the Midianites) and the inside (Korah’s Rebellion).
So, let’s begin our journey with the Israelites through the wilderness.
The Census | Numbers 1
The Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the tent of meeting, on the first day of the second month, in the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt, saying, “Take a census of all the congregation of the people of Israel, by clans, by fathers' houses, according to the number of names, every male, head by head. From twenty years old and upward, all in Israel who are able to go to war, you and Aaron shall list them, company by company. And there shall be with you a man from each tribe, each man being the head of the house of his fathers.
Numbers 1:1-4
The book opens with a loaded phrase, “The Lord spoke.” In Hebrew, it is one word, veyaddabar. It occurs 61 times and is also an indicator for a new section. More than a literary device, however, the phrase reminds us the commands come from the Lord Himself. The same God who called them out of Egypt now calls them to organize and begin this new nation. The people had experienced God’s power to save them from Egypt, and now they will experience His provision as they go through the wilderness. If they are faithful, they will experience life with Him in the Promised Land. He saves them for a purpose. Their obedience (or lack of it) will determine whether they experience that purpose.
God has a purpose for our salvation, and He will guide us in that purpose through our lives.
The next section is the census itself. Each tribe is counted beginning with the 12 chiefs and listing males 20 years and older. The grand total counted is 603,550 men.
The problem with the numbers in the census is is 5-fold. The number of males listed would give a total population in the range of 2 to 2 1/2 million people.
Sustaining that many people in the wilderness would warrant daily miraculous intervention, but the text suggests such miracles were outside the norm.
Estimates of Pharaoh’s army would be around 20,000 men. Even without weapons, the Israelite millions could easily outmatch Egypt.
Estimates of Canaan during the Exodus put the population below 3 million. Exodus 23:29 and Deuteronomy 7:7, 17, 22 state the Israelites were outnumbered by the Canaanites.
Exodus 1:15 states two midwives were able to service all the Hebrews, the entire number could gather around the tent o meeting to hear Moses, and the whole group marched around Jericho seven times a day with enough time on the last day to fight a battle.
According to Numbers 3:40-43, the number of firstborn males was 22,273 out of a population of 600,000 adult males. That means each firstborn male would have on average 26 brothers, not to mention sisters.
Such a massive group would have taken up considerable space, especially with their animals.
Scholars across the theological spectrum have admitted these problems. Some have offered suggestions, but frankly, each solution only invites more problems. The most reasonable conclusion for those who believe in the inerrancy of the Bible is to conclude the numbers are based on some system lost to the modern world. While this phenomenon is a “problem” for the modern world, it actually is evidence to the faithfulness of the transmission of the text. Whatever information is needed was lost as early as the 5th or 4th century BC because the Masoretic Text follows both the Septuagint and the Samaritan Pentateuch.
When we compare this set of numbers with the rest of the story, though, we find this problem to be something fairly trivial. It doesn’t change God’s provision for His people in the wilderness. It doesn’t change their escape from Egyptian slavery. It doesn’t change the Promised Land that was awaiting them. And most importantly for us today, it doesn’t change the salvation that was accomplished through Christ 1500 years later from these events.
Now, there is another solution that I have not seen discussed. It may be the numbers are absolutely correct. The reason miraculous intervention was not needed daily, and the reason we don’t have a large number of artifacts in the area is simply because of how many died on the journey. As we go through Numbers, we will see many instances of the people’s sin and rebellion being punished by death. Numbers is a call to holiness. It is a reminder of the weight of sin and its consequences. Judgement is swift in Numbers because the Lord is calling a nation unto Himself, and this nation is called to holiness. Half-hearted allegiance is not wanted.
Regardless how we reconcile the issue, these types of interpretative problems remind us:
The Bible is meant to be studied, not just read, and its challenges help us grow into a mature disciple.
Skip down with me to verse 47, because here we see the first division of the people that is not bound to family lines. The Levites are separated from the people, and not listed, because they will serve a special purpose in the new nation.
But the Levites were not listed along with them by their ancestral tribe. For the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Only the tribe of Levi you shall not list, and you shall not take a census of them among the people of Israel. But appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of the testimony, and over all its furnishings, and over all that belongs to it. They are to carry the tabernacle and all its furnishings, and they shall take care of it and shall camp around the tabernacle. When the tabernacle is to set out, the Levites shall take it down, and when the tabernacle is to be pitched, the Levites shall set it up. And if any outsider comes near, he shall be put to death. The people of Israel shall pitch their tents by their companies, each man in his own camp and each man by his own standard. But the Levites shall camp around the tabernacle of the testimony, so that there may be no wrath on the congregation of the people of Israel. And the Levites shall keep guard over the tabernacle of the testimony.” Thus did the people of Israel; they did according to all that the Lord commanded Moses.
Numbers 1:47-54
The Levites will act as a barrier between the tabernacle and the people of Israel. In our day, it seems rather elitist the priests would not allow the people access to the holy tabernacle, but it is not about guarding the tabernacle from the people, it’s about guarding the people from the tabernacle.
The tabernacle is a holy place. God’s presence resides there, and without proper cleansing of sin, the people will die if they approach. Keep in mind, during the Exodus, the priests were told to build the Ark of the Covenant, and anyone who touched the ark would die. One poor priest saw the ark stumble. He reached to steady the ark from falling and fell dead. These commands and phenomenon that we see in Exodus and Numbers remind us sin is not just a moral problem.
The laws and consequences of sin in Numbers remind us the problem of sin is deeper than mere morality in that sin is a spiritual disease that destroys us when we attempt to approach God.
As we close today, l want to return to our questions.
“What does the text teach us about God?”
Well, we see the Lord is orderly. 1 Corinthians 14:33 says,
For God is not a God of confusion but of peace.
1 Corinthians 14:33
The people are not left to wander about aimlessly. They gather in their families, and these family tribes will one day take their place in the Promised Land. They will do so together. There is a place for everything. The holy tabernacle and its furnishings are at the center so that every tribe is within its view and influence. Each person has a place and a role in the nation.
“What does it teach us about holiness?”
Second, the Lord is a holy God. We cannot approach Him on our own merit. In fact, doing so will only bring death. For the Israelites of Numbers, they have laws and rituals to protect them and priests to intercede on their behalf. Most importantly, they have Moses who is able to stand before the Lord and hear directly what God has for them.
Today, we have someone greater than Moses. Jesus Christ came to bridge the gap between God and Man, as well as cleanse us from the sin that destroys us. When we take stock of our own lives, especially as we approach the many laws that govern purification, we would be foolish to believe we could uphold such a standard. We don’t uphold it now.
Jesus paid the price for our sin and offers the double cure. When we trust in Him, He will cleanse us of sin and make us ready to approach the throne of God. When we look back to Numbers and the Law of the Old Testament, it should make us grateful for Christ, but also remind us to never treat our salvation flippantly.
“What does it tell us about what God is doing?”
We see God is building a nation here that will one day give us the Messiah. The people certainly don’t understand it at the time, but they are playing a part in the saga God is unfolding in time.
Today, we are in our own place and time in this Great Saga. Perhaps you do feel like you are wandering in a wilderness of your own making. Or, you could be like the children of this first generation. You are paying the price for the sins of your parents. In either case, there is still Good News.
God is up to something.
He is remaking this world building a new Kingdom. It is a Kingdom not of earth, but one that will last into eternity. We can take part of this kingdom when we turn to Jesus, ask for cleansing of our own sin, and have Him lead us in this life and the next. There is a Promised Land coming. There is a new Heaven and new Earth that will come on the Day Jesus returns to us. Until that day comes, you have a purpose in your wandering. The Lord desires to use you to build His Kingdom in ways that you can’t imagine.