Numbers Overview: In The Wilderness

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A book of counting: of each tribe, years of wanderings, the Tabernacle , camp, marveling in a certain order; God leading His chosen people through the wilderness and Egypt to the promised land:

(1) Means: Numbering; title from the Latin Vulgate: Numri; Jews called: "In The Wilderness"

(2) Writer: Moses, 1442 BC-1403 BC; events after the Exodus:

Numbers 33:2-3 "...Now Moses wrote down the starting points of their journeys at the command of the Lord. And these are their journeys according to their starting points: They departed from Rameses in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month; on the day of the Passover the children of Israel went out with boldness in the sight of all the Egyptians..."

The First Census of Israel

Numbers 1:1, "...Now the Lord spoke to Moses in the Wilderness of Sinai, in the tabermacle 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:..."

Numbers 3:44, 6:1, 8:1, 9:1 "...Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:..."

Numbers 8

Arangement of the Lamps

Aaron the Priest: The Cleansing and Dedication of the Levites

Numbers 9

The Second Passover

The Cloud and the Fire

Numbers 10

Two Silver Trumpets

Departure from Sinai

Functioning of the Tabernacle

Christ verifys Moses wrote the Book of Numbers

The Bronze Serpent

Numbers 21:9 "...So Moses made a bronze serpent, and put it on a pole; and so it was, if a serpent had bitten anyone, when he looked at the bronze sepent, he lived..."

John 3:14-15 "...And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life..."

(3) Theme: Following and Serving God

Numbers 1:4 "...And with you there shall be a man from every tribe, each one the head of his father's house..."

Numbers 1:17-18 "...Then Moses and Aaron took these men who had been mentioned by name, and they assembled all the congregation together on the first day of the second month; and they recited their ancestry by families, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and above, each one individually..."

Numbers 1:50 "...but you shall appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of the Testimony over all its furnishings, and over all things that belong to it; they shall carry the tabernacle and all its furnishings; they shall attend to it and camp around the tabernacle..." (Assigning responsibilities)

Numbers 1:52 "...The children of Israel shall pitch their tents, everyone by his own camp, everyone by his own standard, according to their armies;..."

Ephesians 4:16 "...from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love..."

POSITIONS

The Tribes and Leaders by Armies

Numbers 2:1-3 "...And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying: "Everyone of the children of Israel shall camp by his own standard, beside the emblems of his father's house; they shall camp some distance from the tabernacle of meeting. On the east side, toward the rising of the sun, those of the standard of the forces with Judah shall camp according to their armies; and Nashon the son of Amminadab shall be the leader of the children of Judah..."

1 Corinthians 12:18 "...But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased..."

Numbers 3:6-7 "...Bring the tribe of Levi near, and present them before Aaron the priest, that they may serve him. And they shall attend to his needs and the needs of the whole congregation before the tabernacle of meeting, to do the work of the taberancle..."

Numbers 3:17 "...These are the sons of Levi by their names: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari..."

Numbers 3:25 "...The duties of the children of Gershon in the tabernacle of meeting included the tabernacle, the tent with its covering, the screen for the door of the tabernacle of meeting..."

Numbers 3:31-32 "...Their duty included the ark, the table, the lampstand, the altars, the utensils of the sanctuary with which they ministered, the screen, and all the work relating to them. And Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest was to be chief over the leaders of the Levites, with oversight of those who kept charge of the sanctuary..." (Assignments)

How to be Pure and Clean

Numbers 5:1-2 "..,And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: "Command the children of Israel that they put out of the camp every leper, everyone who has a discharge, and whoever becomes defiled by a dead body..."

Hebrews 10:22 "...Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water..." (All can be set apart for the sevice of God)

The Law of the Nazirite

Numbers 6:1-2 "...Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, "Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: When either a man or a woman consecrates an offering to take the vow of a Nazirite, to separate himself to the Lord..."

Jude 1 "...Jude, a sevant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to those who are called, sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ:..."

2 Timothy 2:21 "...Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful fot the Master, prepared for every good work..."

(4) Purpose

A. Shows God led Israel in the wilderness

Numbers 9:15-16 "...And on the day that the tabernacle was raised up, the cloud covered the tabernacle, the tent of the Testimony; from evening until morning it was above the tabernacle like the appearance of fire. So it was always: the cloud covered it by day, and the appearance of fire by night..." (Spiritual wilderness today)

B. Shows God demands obedience from His people

Moses Intercedes for the People

Numbers 14:11-12 "...And the Lord said to Moses: "How long will these people reject Me? And how long will they not believe Me, with all the signs which I have performed among them? I will strike them with the pestilence and disinherit them, and I will make of you a nation greater and mightier than they..."

C. Beginning to give Israel the land under Moses

Canaanites Defeated at Hormah

Numbers 21:1-4 "...When the king of Arad, the Canaanite, who dwelt in the South, heard that Israel was coming on the road to Atharim, then he fought against Israel and took some of them prisoners. So Israel made a vow to the Lord, and said, "If You will inded deliver this people into my hand, then I will utterly destroy their cities. And the Lord listened to the voice of Israel and delivered up the Canaanites, and they utterly destroyed them and their cities. So the name of that place was called Hormah (utter destruction). Then they journeyed from Mount Hor by the Way of the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom; and the soul of the people became very discouraged on the way..." (Land to inherit on both sides of the Jordan)

5. Organization

Preparing to leave the Sinai

Numbers 1-10:10 "...The First Census of Israel; The Tribes and Leaders by Armies; The Sons of Aaron; The Levites Serve in the Tabernacle; Census of the Levites Commanded; Levites Dedicated Instead of the First Born; Duties of the Sons of Kohath; Duties of the Sons of Gershon; Duties of the Sons of Merari; Census of the Levites; Ceremonially Unclean Persons Isolated; Confession and Restitution; Concerning Unfaithful Wives; The Law of the Nazirite; The Priestly Blessing; Offerings of the Leaders; Arrangement of the Lamps; Cleansing and Dedication of the Levites; The Second Passover; The Cloud and the Fire; Two Silver Trumpets..."...Also in the day of your gladness, in your appointed feasts, and at the beginning of your months, you shall blow the trumpets over our burnt offerings and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings; and they shall be a memorial for you before your God: I am the Lord your God..." (Then they rebel and are rejected from going into the promised land)

Numbers 15-20 "...(During the 38 years): Laws of Grain and Drink Offerings; Laws Concerning Unintentional Sin; Law Concerning Presumptuous Sin; Penalty for Violating the Sabbath; Tassels on Garments;

Rebellion Against Moses and Aaron

Murmuring of the People; The Budding of Aaron's Rod; Duties of Priests and Levites; Offerings for Support of the Priests; Tithes for Support of the Levites; The Tithe of the Levite; Laws of Purification; Moses Error at Kadesh; Passage Through Edom Refused; Death of Aaron..."

Deuteronomy 2:14 "...And the time we took to come from Kadesh Barnea until we crossed over the Valley of the Zered was thirty-eight years, until all the generations of the men of war was consumed from the midst of the camp, just as the Lord had sworn to them..."

Numbers 21-26 "...Canaanites Defeated at Hormah; The Bronze Serpent; From Mount Hor to Moab; King Sihon Defeated; King Og Defeated

Balak Sends for Balaam

Balaam, the Donkey, and the Angel

Balaam's First Prophecy; Balaam's Second Prophecy; Balaam's Third Prophecy; Balaam's Fourth Prophecy; Israel's Harlotry in Moab; The Second Census of Israel..."

Inheritance Laws

Numbers 27-30, 36 "...Joshua the Next Leader of Israel; Daily Offerings; Sabbath Offerings; Monthly Offerings; Offerings at Passover; Offerings of the Feast of Weeks; Offerings of the Feast of Trumpets; Offerings on the Day of Atonement; Offerings at the Feast of Tabernacles; The Law Concerning Vow..."

Marriage of Female Heirs

Numbers 31-35 "...(Preparation to Posess the Land)... Vengeance on the Midianites; Return from the War; Division of the Plunder; The Tribes Settling East of the Jordan; Israel's Journey from Egypt Reviewed; Instruction for the Conquest of Canaan; The Appointed Boundaries of Cannaan; Cities for the Levites; Cities of Refuge..."

6. Chronology

Exodus 40:17 "...And it came to pass in the first month of the second year, on the first day of the month, that the tabernacle was raised up..." (1442 B. C.; first day of the month)

Numbers 1:1-3 "...Now the Lord spoke to Moses in the Wilderness of Sinai, in the tabernacle of meeting, on the first day of the second month, in the second year after they had come out of the land of Egpt, saying: "Take a census of all the congregation of the children of Israel, by their families, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of names, every male individually, from twenty years old and above--all who are able to go to war in Israel. You and Aaron shall number them by their armies..." (Numbers 1:1; the second year; the second month, started recording)

Numbers 10:11, 33 "...Departure from Sinai... Now it came to pass on the twentieth day of the second month, in the second year, that the cloud was taken up from above the tabernacle of the Testimony...(Left Mount Sinai; third month first year before Pentacost, arrived at Mount Sinai); So they departed from the mountain of the Lord on a journey of three days; and the ark of the covenant of the Lord went before them for the three days' journey, to search out a resting place for them..."

Numbers 11:20 "...but for a whole month, until it comes out of your nostrils and become loathsome to you, because you have despised the Lord who is among you, and have wept before Him, saying, "Why did we ever come up out of Egypt..." (33 days)

Numbers 13:25 "...And they returned from spying out the land after forty days..." (Approx. 3 months)

Numbers 20:1 "...Moses Error at Kadesh... Then the children of Israel, the whole congregation, came into the Wilderness of Zin in the first month, and the people stayed in Kadesh; and Miriam died there and was buried there..." (End of the 38 and half years)

Numbers 33:36 "...They moved from Kadesh and camped in the Wilderness of Zin, which is Kadesh..."

Deuteronomy 34:5-8 "...So Moses the servant of the Lord died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the Lord. And He buried him in a valley in the land of Moab, opposite Beth Peor; but no one knows his grave to this day. Moses was one hundred and twenty years old when he died. His eyes were not dim nor his natural vigor abated. And the children of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days. So the days of weeping and mourning for Moses ended..." (In the 40th year, 1404 B,C)

Joshua 4:19 "...Now the people came up from the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and they camped in Gilgal on the east border of Jericho..."

Joshua 5:12 "...Now the manna ceased on the day after they had eaten the produce of the land; and the children of Israel no longer had manna, but they ate the food of the land of Canaan that year..."

Joshua 5:10 "...So the children of Israel camped in Gilgal, and kept the Passover on the fourteen day of the month at twilight on the plains of Jericho..."

Joshua 6 "...The Destruction of Jericho..." (During the Feast of Unleavened Bread)

Time Spans

(1) Land of Canaan Given to Israel

Numbers 32:7-11 "...Now why will you discourage the heart of the children of Israel from going over into the land which the lord has given them? Thus your fathers did when I sent them away from Kadesh Barnea to see the land. For when they went up to the Valley of Eshcol and saw the land, they discouraged the heart of the children of Israel, so they did not go into the land which the Lord had given them. So the Lord's anger was aroused on that day, and He swore an oath, saying, "Surely none of the men who came up from Egypt, from twenty years old and above, shall see the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, because they have not wholy followed Me..."

(2) To be a Holy Land

Numbers 35:34 "...Therefore do not defile the land which you inhabit, in the midst of which I dwell; for I the Lord dwell among the children of Israel..."

(3) A Permanent Possession

Genesis 13:15; 17:8 "...For all the land which you see I give to you and your descendants forever...Also I give to you and your descendants after you the land in which you are a sranger, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession; and I will be their God..."

(8) Numbering

Numbers 1:1-3, 46 "...Now the Lord spoke to Moses in the Wilderness of Sinai, in the tabernacle of meeting, on the first day of the second month, in the second year after they had come out of the land of Egpt, saying: "Take a census of all the congregation of the children of Israel, by their families, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of names, every male individually, from twenty years old and above--all who are able to go to war in Israel. You and Aaron shall number them by their armies ...All who were numbered were six hundred and three thousand five hundred and fifty..." (Numbers 1:1; the second year; the second month, started recording)

Numbers 26:1-2; 51 "...And it came to pass, after the plague, that the Lord spoke to Moses and Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest, saying: "Take a census of all the congregation of the children of Israel from twenty years old and above, by their father's houses, all who are able to go to war in Israel... (More than two million 40 years later) These are those who were numbered of the children of Israel: six hundred and one thousand seven hundred and thirty..."

Tribe of Simeon

Numbers 1:22-23 "...From the children of Simeon, their genealogies by their families, by their fathers' house, of those who were numbered, accordng to the number of names, every male individually, from twenty years old and above, all who were able to go to war: those who were numbered of the tribe of Simeon were fifty-nine thousand three hundred..."

Numbers 26:12-14 "...The sons of Simeon according to their families were: of Nemuel, the family of the Nemuelites; of Jamin, the family of the Jaminites; of Jachin, the family of the Jachinites; of Zerah, the family of the Zarhites; of Shaul, the family of the Shaulites. These are the families of the Simeonites: twenty-two thousand two hundred..." (After 40 years, less than one-half remained)

Tribe of Manasseh

Numbers 1:34-35 "...From the children of Manasseh, their genealogies by their families, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and above, all who were able to go to war; those who were numbered of the tribe of Manasseh were thirty-two thousand two hundred..."

Numbers 26:29, 34 "...The sons of Manasseh: of Machir, the family of the Machirites; and Machir begot Gilead; of Gilead, the family of the Gileadites...These are the families of Manasseh; and those who were numbered of them were fifty-two thousand seven hundred..." (This tribe grew by the greatest percentage, 40% or better)

(9) How God Sanctified the Nation

1 Corinthians 10:1-6 "...Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea, all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that Spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ. But with most of them God was not well pleased, for their bodies were scattered in the wilderness. Now these things became our examples, to the intent that we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted..."

The Cloud for Guidence

The Cloud and the Fire

Numbers 9:15-23 "...And on the day that the tabernacle was raised up, the cloud covered the tabernacle, the tent of the Testimony; from evening until morning it was above the tabernacle like the appearance of fire. So it was always: the cloud covered it by day, and the appearance of fire by night. Whenever the cloud was taken up from above the tabernacle, after that the children of Israel would journey; and in the place where the cloud settled, there the children of Israel would pitch their tents.

At the command of the Lord the children of Israel would jouney , and at the command of the Lord they would camp; as long as the cloud stayed above the tabernacle they would remained encamped. Even when the cloud continued long, many days above the tabernacle, the children of Israel kept the charge of the Lord and did not journey. So it was, when the cloud was above the tabernacle a few days: according to the command of the Lord they would remain enamped, and according to the command of the Lord they would journey.

So it was, when the cloud remained only from evening until mornng: when the cloud was taken up in the morning, then they would journey; whether by day or by night, whenever the cloud was taken up, they would journey. Whether it was two days, a month, or a year that the cloud remained above the tabernacle, the children of Israel would remain encamped and not journey; but when it was taken up, they would journey. At the command of the Lord they remained encamped, and at the command of the Lord they journyed; they kept the charge of the Lord, at the command of the Lord by the hand of Moses..."

Moses Anoints Joshua

The Calling

John 16:13 "...However, when He, the Spirit of Truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come..." (A setting-apart process)

1 Corinthians 10 "...(Old Testament Examples; Flee from Idolatry; All to the Glory of God)..."

Exodus 14:19-31 "...(The guidence of the cloud and fire, the Lord overthrows the Egyptians in the midst of the Red Sea)

Acts 2:38 "...Then Peter said to them, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit..." (For us; led, baptized, and fed manna or Spiritual food)..."

Numbers 11:4-9 "...Now the mixed multitude who were among them yielded to intense craving; so the children of Israel also wept again and said: "Who will give us meat to eat? We remember the fish which we ate freely in Egypt, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic; but now our whole being is dried up; there is nothing at all except this manna before our eyes!" Now the manna was like coriander seed, and its color like the color of bdellium (white, like pearls) The people went about and gathered it, ground it on millstones or beat it in the mortar, cooked it in pans, and made cakes of it; and its taste was like the taste of pastry prepared with oil. And when the dew fell on the camp in the night, the manna fell on it..."

Matthew 4:4 "...But He answered and said, "It is written, (Deuteronomy 8:3 "...So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord..."

John 6:57 "...As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me..."

(10) Types of Saints, Set Aside

Exodus 19:5-6 "...Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine. And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words which you shall speak to the childrenof Israel..."

1 Peter 2:9-10 "...But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. Who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy..."

Congregation In The Wilderness

(Church

(Moses a type of (Christ):

Acts 7:38 "...This is he who was in the congregation in the wilderness with the Angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our fathers, the one who received the living oracles to give to us..."

(Prophet)

Deuteronomy 18:15-19 "...The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your midst, from your brethren. Him you shall hear, according to all you desired of the Lord your God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, sayng, 'Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God, nor let me see this great fire anymore, list I die.' And the Lord said to me: "What they have spoken is good. I will raise up for them a Prophet like you from among their brethren, and will put My words in His mouth, and He shall speak to them all that I command Him. And it shall be that whoever will not hear My words, which He speaks in My name, I will require it of him..."

(Priest)

Aaron and his sons Consecrated Leviticus 8

Exodus 18 (Jethro's Advice)

Matthew 2:15 "...and was there until the death of Herod, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, "Out of Egypt I have called My Son..."

Numbers 24:8 "...God brings him out of Egypt; he has strength like a wild ox; he shall consume the nations, his enemies; he shall break their bones and pierce them with his arrows..." (Prophecy of Israel and the Messiah)

God's Continuing Love for Israel

Hosea 11:1 "...When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called My son..."

God says: "I will bless those who bless My son, and curse those who curse Israel"

This concludes the Overview of Numbers. Until we meet again with the Overview of The 5th Book of the Law, Deuteronomy, God bless!

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