The Book of Numbers
Israel's forty years in the wilderness reveal the cost of unbelief and the patience of God.
- Author
- Traditionally attributed to Moses
- Date
- Traditionally c. 1440โ1400 BC
- Chapters
- 36
- Genre
- Law
Summary
Numbers takes its name from the two censuses of Israel. It begins at Mount Sinai as the tribes are organized to march toward the promised land.
When the people refuse to enter Canaan out of fear, God sentences that generation to wander in the wilderness for forty years. The book records complaints, rebellions and judgments, but also God's provision of manna, water and protection. It ends with a new generation on the plains of Moab, ready to enter the land.
Outline
- Chapters 1โ10 โ Preparing to leave Sinai
- Chapters 11โ21 โ Rebellion and wandering in the wilderness
- Chapters 22โ36 โ A new generation on the plains of Moab
Key Themes
Key Verses
โโโThe Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace. โโ
โThe Lord is slow to anger, abounding in love and forgiving sin and rebellion. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.โ
Start reading NumbersGod is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?