The Chosen Key Word in this Book is “Keep” it comes from the Hebrew Word “shamar” which means “to guard, watch over, and protect.”
One book, thirty-six chapters, and forty years that did not have to happen. Numbers gets its name from the two censuses taken of Israel’s fighting men, but it is really the story of a generation who came so close to the promised land and then walked away from it. It is a book about a journey that becomes a wandering, and a God who stays faithful through every step of it. Welcome to Bible Life Basics Book Reviews. I am Chris and this is Numbers.
Numbers opens about a year after Israel left Egypt, still camped at Mount Sinai. God commands Moses to count every man twenty years old and able to go to war, tribe by tribe. Over six hundred thousand men are counted, not including the tribe of Levi, who are set apart for tabernacle service instead. Every tribe is given a specific place to camp around the tabernacle, three tribes on each side, north, south, east, and west, and a specific order to march in whenever the cloud lifts. The Levites themselves camp closest of all, forming a protective ring right around the tabernacle. God is not just numbering an army. He is organizing an entire nation around His own presence at the very center of the camp.
Chapters five and six cover a handful of specific laws, including the Nazarite vow, a voluntary promise of extra devotion to God involving special restrictions for a set period of time. Chapter six closes with Aaron’s priestly blessing, some of the most beautiful words in the whole Old Testament: “The LORD bless thee, and keep thee: The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.” The Hebrew word used here for “keep” is “shamar.” Shamar means “to guard, to watch over, and to protect,” the picture of a God who does not just bless His people and walk away, but stays close to guard them.
By chapter ten, the tabernacle has been set up for almost a year, and it is finally time to move. Silver trumpets sound, the cloud lifts from over the tabernacle, and Israel sets out from Sinai toward the promised land, tribe by tribe, in the exact order God arranged.
The journey does not stay smooth for long. In chapter eleven, the people complain about the manna and demand meat instead, so God sends enormous flocks of quail, more than enough, right along with a plague among those who craved it most. Moses himself grows so overwhelmed leading this many complaining people that God places His Spirit on seventy elders to help carry the weight of leadership alongside him.
In chapter twelve, even Moses’ own siblings turn against him. Miriam and Aaron criticize Moses over his marriage and challenge his unique role as God’s spokesman. God defends Moses directly and strikes Miriam with leprosy for a time. It is a reminder that jealousy can rise up even among family, and even among leaders.
Chapters thirteen and fourteen mark the real turning point of the whole book. Moses sends twelve spies, one from each tribe, into Canaan to scout the promised land for forty days. All twelve agree the land is rich, “flowing with milk and honey,” and even bring back a single cluster of grapes so large it has to be carried on a pole between two men. But ten of them focus on the giants and fortified cities and talk the whole nation out of going in, insisting they seemed like grasshoppers next to the people living there. Only Caleb and Joshua urge the people to trust God and take the land. The people side with the fearful majority, weep through the night, and some even want to choose a new leader and go back to Egypt. God’s judgment is severe. That entire generation, except Caleb and Joshua, will wander in the wilderness for forty years, one year for every day the spies explored the land, until they all pass away.
Chapter sixteen brings open rebellion. A man named Korah, along with over two hundred respected leaders, challenges Moses and Aaron’s leadership, claiming the whole congregation is holy and Moses has taken too much on himself. God settles the matter dramatically. The ground itself opens up beneath Korah and his family and swallows them alive, and fire consumes the rest of the rebels where they stand. Even after watching this, the people accuse Moses of killing them, and a plague breaks out until Aaron rushes into the crowd with incense to stop it. Right after, in chapter seventeen, God confirms Aaron’s priesthood one final time by causing his wooden staff, and his alone, to sprout blossoms and ripe almonds overnight among twelve identical staffs laid before the ark.
Chapter twenty jumps ahead to the end of the wilderness years. The people are thirsty and complaining again, this time at a place called Meribah. God tells Moses to speak to a rock so it will bring forth water. Instead, in frustration, Moses strikes the rock twice with his staff. Water still comes out, but God tells Moses that because he did not honor Him as holy in front of the people, he will not be the one to lead Israel into the promised land. Miriam and Aaron both die within this same chapter, closing out the generation that left Egypt.
In chapter twenty-one, the people complain once more, and this time venomous serpents are sent among them, and many die from the bites. When the people cry out for help, God tells Moses to make a bronze serpent and put it on a pole. Anyone who is bitten only has to look at it to live. It becomes one of the clearest pictures in the Old Testament of healing that comes simply through looking to what God provides, not through any effort of their own.
Chapters twenty-two through twenty-four tell one of the strangest stories in the Bible. A Moabite king named Balak grows afraid of Israel’s numbers and hires a prophet named Balaam to curse them for a hefty price. On the way, Balaam’s own donkey sees an angel blocking the road that Balaam cannot see, stops in the path, and speaks aloud to rebuke him for beating her. When Balaam finally reaches Balak and opens his mouth to curse Israel, blessings come out instead, not once but four separate times. He famously declares, “How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob, and thy tabernacles, O Israel!” Balak grows furious, but there is nothing he can do. God simply will not allow Israel to be cursed.
Chapter twenty-five records one of the lowest points in the whole wilderness journey. Israelite men are drawn into idolatry and immorality with the Moabites, and a deadly plague breaks out among the people. A priest named Phinehas acts decisively to stop it, and his zeal for God’s honor turns the plague away. Chapter twenty-six then takes a second census, counting the new generation that will actually enter the promised land.
The closing chapters cover practical matters for the new generation: the daughters of Zelophehad securing inheritance rights for women without brothers, Joshua being publicly appointed as Moses’ successor, war against Midian, and two and a half tribes choosing to settle east of the Jordan River. The book ends with Israel camped on the plains of Moab, right on the edge of the land God promised so long ago, finally ready to cross over.
Numbers is a hard book in places, full of complaining, rebellion, and consequences that stretch on for forty long years. But running underneath all of it is a God who never once abandons His people, even when they give Him every reason to. He feeds them daily, defends them from a hired curse, heals them through a simple act of looking, and keeps every single promise made to their parents at Sinai. He even carries a new generation, born and raised in the wilderness, all the way to the very edge of the land their parents were too afraid to enter. Numbers reminds us that unbelief can cost us more than we realize, but God’s faithfulness outlasts even our worst wandering.
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