Bon Voyage!
Think of life as a long trip. You have a good start, but you still have a long way to go. Along the way you have some big choices to make. A detour may take you years out of the way or even keep you from reaching your goal.
That’s something the Israelites discovered. Numbers tells about their journey toward the promised land. It tells about choices they made, especially one particular choice that led to 38 years of wandering before God got them back on track. God didn’t desert his people in the wilderness, and he won’t desert you either. But life will be a lot better if you stay on the right road.
Cloud Leads the Way
• Story in Numbers 9:15–23
Israel: No, No, We Won’t Go!
• Scared Israelites rebel, see Numbers 14
Some People Never Learn
• Sudden deaths stun Israelites, Numbers 16
Spells Cast Against Israel Fail
• Read about them in Numbers 22–24
Sisters Get Moses’ Attention
• Women challenge inheritance laws, Numbers 36
Preview
• The name “Numbers” comes from a census taken at Mount Sinai.
• Numbers has three parts: Preparing for the journey (Numbers 1–9), detoured in the wilderness (Numbers 10–20), and back on track.
As the Israelites wander in the wilderness from 1440–1400 B.C., inscriptions are written on “oracle bones” in China. • Female musicians entertain at banquets in Thebes. • In Scandinavia, people are just learning to work bronze.