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How to Read Numbers

(Every time we begin a new book, I will post a short aide on How to Read that book that will hopefully help you get the most out of your reading)

Content: The Israelites’ long stay in the desert as they journey from Mount Sinai to the plains of Moab, with supplemental covenant laws.

Author & Historical Coverage: Tradition holds that Moses is the author.  The book covers forty years in the desert, while the generation that left Egypt dies off.

Emphases: Preparation for military conquest of the promised land; God’s covenant loyalty toward Israel with regard to the land; Israel’s repeated failure to keep covenant with God; God’s leadership of his people and affirmation of Moses’ leadership; preparations for entering and worshiping in the promised land; conquest and settlement of the land east of the Jordan River.

How to read Numbers:

Remember that the driving force behind this book is God’s promise to Abraham that his seed would inherit the land of Canaan.  God will fulfill that promise, even in the face of Israel’s reluctance and disobedience.  And God’s people do not come off well in Numbers.  They complain against God and his chosen leader, but God has great compassion on them.

Secondly, the conquest of the land will involve holy war.  This accounts for the two census lists of the men who can fight, as well as the narratives anticipating the conquest.

The focus of the laws is on the Israelites’ relationship with God.  The central role of the tabernacle and the priestly matters in Numbers focus on two concerns:  the presence of God in the midst of his people – both with them and guiding them – and the proper worship of God once they are settled in the land.

The failures of the people and the continued faithfulness of God are a testimony to the fact that this is God’s story, and that He is the hero.  He will continue to help them keep the covenant, even when they can not do it on their own.

Memory Verse – Numbers 23:19 - “God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?”

Much of this material is drawn from “How to Read the Bible Book by Book” by Gordon Fee and Douglas Stuart.

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