Why The Old Testament Matters: Lessons from Numbers

With a title like Numbers, the fourth book of the Bible doesn’t sound like a page-turner. When we open to the first page of the book, we find a multi-chapter census record of the rebellious generation that God rescued from Egypt. From there, we turn to detailed instructions for how the Israelites were to arrange their camp and laws they were to follow as they traveled to the Promised Land. Finally, several chapters in, the action starts to pick up, and we see the people of God set out on their journey and, sadly, start making mistake after mistake. Despite Israel’s rebellion and unfaithfulness during their 40 years in the wilderness, God continued to provide for their needs and remained faithful to His promises. 

But for those of us who aren’t fond of math or details, the thought of reading large portions of the book of Numbers (namely, the censuses and the laws) sounds more like the annual obligation of filing our taxes than an enriching spiritual experience. And yet, the book of Numbers has been passed along for over 3,500 years; its content was relevant to God’s people long ago and continues to matter to us today. We may no longer make sacrifices or travel as tribes, but we can still learn a lot of lessons from Numbers. 

Through Israel’s successes and failures, we learn about the Lord’s nature and His plan for His people. We also see God’s judgment, but it is balanced with patience and grace. Numbers underlines God’s role as a mediator, while highlighting the gradual fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham from back in Genesis 12. (As a quick refresher, God promised to bless Abraham and make his descendants into a great nation, if he left everything behind to go to the land God would show him—the Promised Land.) All of these themes are worth studying, but for now, we will focus on Israel’s rebellion, God’s response, and how the New Testament revisits them both.

Let’s take a look at Numbers 14: The scene opens with all of Israel weeping, complaining, and wishing they could go back to slavery in Egypt or simply die in the wilderness. Moses had recently sent twelve men to the Promised Land as scouts, and they had just returned with their report. There was good news, and there was bad news—and the bad news had sparked a downward spiral among the people. Yes, the Promised Land was filled with wonderful things; it was “an extremely good land,” a land “flowing with milk and honey” (see Numbers 14:7–8).  But, unfortunately, it was also a land filled with strong, intimidating citizens and large, fortified cities. The scouts had returned from their journey feeling weak and uncertain—or in their words, “like grasshoppers” (see Numbers 13:33). And this uncertainty had rubbed off on the rest of the community, resulting in widespread grumbling, fear, and turmoil.

To counter this negative reaction, two of the scouts—Joshua and Caleb—stepped forward. They tried to encourage Israel, telling them that they didn’t need to be afraid of the people in the Promised Land because the Lord would be with them. Alas, the people didn’t appreciate that message. Instead, they threatened to stone Joshua and Caleb. At this moment, the Lord showed up and asked Moses, “How long will these people despise me?” (see Numbers 14:11). The Lord told Moses that He was going to send a plague to destroy Israel, but Moses interceded for His people, and the Lord pardoned them. 

However, as a punishment for testing Him “ten times” and not obeying, God decided that He would not allow the unfaithful Israelites to enter the Promised Land. He asked Moses to give this message to the grumbling people: “I will do to you exactly as you say. Your corpses will fall in this wilderness…because you have complained about me” (see Numbers 14:29). After hearing these words, the rebellious Israelites grieved. But their grief was short-lived, and they soon decided to try to take the Promised Land on their own. Since God was not with them, they were attacked and routed by the strong and intimidating citizens we heard about earlier, and they ended up even further away from their goal. 

Ultimately, the book of Numbers was written so God’s people could learn from history and not repeat their past mistakes.

In the midst of this dramatic and sobering chapter, we find a glimmer of hope—though the rebellious Israelites faced punishment, their children would still get to enter the Promised Land and enjoy it. Despite the Israelites’ unfaithfulness and foolishness, we see that the Lord still kept the promise He made to Abraham. He decided to give His people yet another chance by leading a new generation into the Promised Land. Toward the end of the book of Numbers, there is a second census which shows that this new generation was virtually the same size as the rebellious generation. Though they spent many years wandering in the wilderness, the Lord provided for this new generation and eventually led them into the Promised Land.

This idea of God preserving a faithful few (or remnant) of His people is one of the main ideas of the whole Bible, and we see it repeated time after time. In 1 Kings 19, God preserved 7,000 soldiers who did not bow down to an idol. And in Isaiah 10, the Lord gives this promise to His people: “the remnant will return.” In the New Testament, Jesus brought up a similar idea when He said, “narrow is the gate and difficult the road that leads to life, and few find it” (see Matthew 7:13–14). This idea of a remnant pops up one final time in the book of Revelation, as Christ’s followers persist in the face of persecution (see Revelation 12:17). When we study books like Numbers, we get to see overarching patterns like this one develop—and those patterns help us grow in our understanding of who God is. 

Ultimately, the book of Numbers was written so God’s people could learn from history and not repeat their past mistakes. There are many lessons we can learn from Numbers, and the author of Hebrews sums up one of them very well. Referencing the chapter we discussed earlier, he says, “Today, if you hear [God’s] voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion” but “encourage each other daily” and “hold firmly to the reality that we had at the start” (see Hebrews 3:8, 13–14; Psalm 95:7–11). We will all face challenges and wrestle with our faith, but the book of Numbers shows us what happens when God’s people abandon His promises and how the Lord responds with patience and faithfulness in the midst of it all.
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