The Book of Numbers

We just finished our journey through Matthew’s gospel. We saw how the leaders of the day had multiplied God’s laws and added extra burdens to His people. The Israelites were ripe for their Messiah, but they failed to see him through their expectations. Now, we go back in time to the beginning of the nation. The book of Numbers starts one month after the book of Exodus ends. Amazingly, the Israelites only required this one month to accomplish the building of their tabernacle and dedication of their priests. With the book of Numbers, God begins the business of creating a nation. Ironically, this is a country with no permanent residency at the time of its inception. They have no kingdom, and yet their have a king: God Himself. Deuteronomy 33:5 says, “Thus the Lord became king of Jeshurun, when the heads of the people were gathered, all the tribes of Israel together.” (Jeshurun being another name for Israel which means ‘upright one’.)

Why do the lives of these wandering Hebrews matter to us so many thousands of years later? Do we only look back with a thankful heart that our Savior descended from their lineage? The more we study these people and their remarkable experiences, the more we will understand ourselves. We are not that different from these men and women of old. We face the same struggles, even if they come in different forms. We too belong to a kingdom with no earthly residence. Hebrews 13:14 says, “For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city which is to come.” Also, Philippians 3:20 says, “But our citizenship is in heaven.” We will learn from their mistakes and their triumphs what it means to declare God our king and the ruler of our lives when we live in a foreign and often hostile land.

This world is not our home. Like the Israelites, we are wandering in a moral desert. Like these ancient travelers, we sometimes follow directions and sometimes completely rebel. We do well to learn from those who have gone before us. May the lessons their successes and failures offer teach us so we can copy the good and avoid the bad.

(Written by Keegan Harkins.)