UNROLL
First light over a vast, empty wilderness of stony plains and low bare ridges; far off on the plain, tiny, the camp of Israel in ordered blocks of dark tents, a soft pale column of cloud resting low over its center, and a faint track leading north toward distant hills.

The Book of

Numbers Intro

Counted at Sinai, tested in the wilderness, brought to the edge of the promise: forty years with a faithful God.

Before chapter 1≈ 2 min36 chapters

Images are artistic interpretations.

In 30 seconds

God counts His people and sets His tent in their middle.

They march out, and soon they grumble.

At the edge of the land, they refuse to go in.

For forty years a generation dies in the wilderness,

and God brings their children to the Jordan.

Tap to go deeper: meaning, history and related Scripture

Who wrote it

Moses

The servant faithful in all God’s house

  • Moses wrote down the stages of the journey at the LORD’s command.Numbers 33:2
  • Again and again: the LORD said to Moses.Numbers 1:1
  • Jesus spoke of Moses lifting up the snake in the wilderness.John 3:14
  • From the second year after the exodus to the fortieth, ending on the plains of Moab.Numbers 36:13

How it’s built

Five stages, two generations

Ready atSinai1–10 · counted andorderedGrumbling11–14 · to Kadeshand refusalForty years15–21 · rebellionand mercyBalaam22–25 · a curseturned to blessingA newgeneration26–36 · ready for theland

Whiteboard

The first generation is counted and lost; the second is counted and made ready.

Reading Numbers

Its lists show a real people, ordered around God.

Its laws were for Israel on the road; Christ fulfills them.

Its judgments are real, and so is God’s mercy.

Paul says it was written down as a warning for us.

Where it happens

Mount SinaiWilderness of ParanPlains of MoabEgyptRed SeaSeir (Edom)RamesesKadeshJericho

Stylised map · locations approximate

On the map

Forty years in the wilderness

From Mount Sinai north through the wilderness of Paran to Kadesh, at the edge of Canaan. Then forty years, and the long way around Edom to the plains of Moab, across the Jordan from Jericho. Sinai’s site is uncertain.

Big themes

Four threads to follow

Meet the cast

Five people to know

Watch for

God is not a man, that He should lie, or a son of man, that He should change His mind.

Numbers 23:19

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Question

Quick question

The English name and the Hebrew name tell two sides of the same book.

What does the book’s Hebrew title mean?

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