Israel wanders in the wilderness.
After escaping from slavery in Egypt and traveling to Mount Sinai to receive the Law from God (Ex. 19:1), the Israelites made their way to Canaan’s southern boundary. At Kadesh Barnea (see the map at Kadesh’s profile at Num. 13:26), God intended for His people to enter the land He had promised to Abraham (Gen. 15:12–21). As the nation readied an attack, Moses counted the adult men of fighting age, a census that gives the Book of Numbers its name.
In early times the book was sometimes known by one of its first words, bemidbar, meaning “in the desert” or “in the wilderness” (Num. 1:1), a name that hints at the tragedy that occurred at Kadesh: Scouts found that Canaan was “flowing with milk and honey” just as God had said, but it was also well-fortified and inhabited by giants (13:27–33). Unconvinced of God’s ability to help them capture the land, the people rebelled against the Lord and refused to enter. In response, God condemned them to wander in the wilderness and die there (14:32–35).
This image of the Israelites wandering across desert sands for the next forty years sums up their spiritual condition. Having lost faith in God, they drifted aimlessly through life. When they should have been enjoying the fruit of a bountiful land, they subsisted on manna. When they should have been delighting in trees and grass and flowers, they lived and died in a desert wasteland. God released these stubborn sinners to their own foolish wills and raised up a new generation to complete His plan. He allowed Caleb and Joshua, two faithful men, to enter the Promised Land because they held fast to His promises while the rest of the Israelites succumbed to fear.
We should read Numbers alongside Psalm 90, a song composed by Moses perhaps during this period. As the great leader watched the nation fall to the dust, he prayed, “So teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom” (Ps. 90:12). We read Numbers to witness what happens when people disbelieve and disobey God. The apostle Paul told Christians to pay special attention to this book and heed its warnings (1 Cor. 10:11).
Numbers is the fourth of Moses’ books (Num. 1:1; see also Moses’ profile at Ex. 2:10). His narrative of the Israelites’ physical and spiritual journey through the Wilderness of Sinai (see the maps at “Mount Sinai and the Wilderness of Sinai” at Ex. 19:1, 20 and “The Journeys of Israel” at Num. 33:1) ends with the nation camped in the plains of Moab, east of the Jordan River (36:13). These events likely took place sometime around 1400 B.C.
Key People in Numbers
• Eleazar, the third son of Aaron and his successor as high priest (Num. 3:32).
• The congregation, the entire population of Israel (Num. 10:2, 3).
• The mixed multitude, a group that fled Egypt with the Israelites, possibly gladly expelled by the Egyptians (Num. 11:4).
• Miriam, the older sister of Aaron and Moses (Num. 12:1).
• Moses’ Ethiopian wife, whose ethnicity may have contributed to a leadership conflict between Moses and his siblings (Num. 12:1–3).
• Korah, a rebel whose challenge of Moses’ and Aaron’s authority was dramatically judged (Num. 16:1).
• Balaam, a soothsayer hired to curse God’s people but who instead blessed them (Num. 22:5).
• Phinehas, a man whose integrity and passion for God elevated him to leadership (Num. 25:7).
• The daughters of Zelophehad, sisters who were guaranteed territory in the Promised Land after appealing to Moses for fair treatment (Num. 27:1–11).
Key Events in Numbers
• Aaron and Miriam challenge Moses’ leadership (Num. 12).
• Spies bring a bad report of Canaan and the people rebel (Num. 13–14).
• Korah leads a rebellion (Num. 16).
• Aaron’s rod buds (Num. 17).
• Moses strikes a rock and is denied entry into the Promised Land (Num. 20:2–13).
• Balaam’s donkey speaks (Num. 22:28–35).
• God defines the boundaries of the Promised Land (Num. 34:1–12).
• The Lord establishes cities of refuge (Num. 35).