Overview of the Book of Numbers

So the overview of the week for this Sunday is the fourth book of Moses, the book of Numbers.

The book of Numbers tells the story of the wanderings of the children of Israel in the wilderness.

And it's called Numbers because it begins with a census.

The children of Israel are being numbered.

So the children of Israel at this point, they've been delivered from Egypt, led by Moses, in covenant with

God, having his law.

And the Israelites are now in the wilderness, being guided by the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of

fire by night.

And really, they should have marched right into the promised land by faith.

But because of their constant hardness of heart, the anger of the Lord was

aroused.

And because they refused to enter into the land of Canaan, God determined

that generation would perish in the wilderness.

So Numbers is a unique book.

It includes poetry, prophecy, historical narrative, law,

genealogies, and of course, the census by which it gets its name.

Memorable stories in Numbers include Korah's rebellion, Aaron's rod that budded,

the death of Aaron, the false prophet Balaam, and perhaps the most significant of

all, the account of the brazen serpent.

Why is that maybe the most significant?

Because it is a picture of salvation by faith alone in Christ.

How so?

Well, what happened is this.

The people started grumbling and complaining against God and against Moses.

So the Lord sent a judgment of fiery serpents, which bit the people, and

many died.

That led them to repentance, and they cried out to God, and they asked Moses to intercede on their

behalf.

So what the Lord did, this curious account, the Lord instructed Moses to make a

serpent out of brass, put it on the top of a pole, and stick it in

the ground so that anyone who is bit by one of these fiery serpents, if they would simply look

up at this snake on a pole, on a stick, they would

be delivered.

They would live.

And this serves as a picture of the gospel.

The serpent represents Christ who became sin for us,

so that if sinners would confess their guilt and look up and look to Jesus in the

cross, they would be saved.

Jesus said this much in John 3, 14 and 15.

And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man

be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have

eternal life.