Table of Contents
Introductory Notes
3
How to Use this Booklet
14
1:1-4:49
Counting
16
5:1-10:10
Consecrating
21
2
Introductory Notes
Introductory Notes
I don't remember being in a church listening to a sermon series on the
book of Numbers.
 In my childhood years, most of the sermons I heard were textual
(based on one particular text rather than a passage) or topical.
 In my teenage years that changed. Many of the sermons I heard
were expository, where the preacher systematically worked
through book of the Bible – but I don't remember any of them
tackling Numbers.
 In my early married years, I heard a mixture of textual, topical and
expository sermons – but again I don't remember Numbers being
tackled.
 From then on, I've been largely responsible for the sermon series
preached and I haven't tackled Numbers.
What's the reason for that?
Is it that Numbers isn't really part of God's word? Is it that Numbers is a
less important part of God's word? Is Numbers perhaps no longer
relevant? Hopefully, the answers to those questions are obvious. Yet,
it's worth asking the questions – for I suspect that my experience in
hearing and preaching sermons also reflects the experience of many
Christians in actually reading Numbers. And if we aren't reading it,
then, in effect, we're treating it as if it isn't part of God's word to us.
And it seems to me that's a sub-Christian place to be (a nice way of
saying it's wrong).
Now, some parts of Numbers are quite well known – the narratives of
the 12 spies, the bronze serpent and of Balaam and his talking donkey.
They tend to make the Sunday School curricula. But much of the rest of
it is not well known. Yet, Paul writes of this period to the church in
Corinth (1 Corinthians 10:1-13):
For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers, that our
forefathers were all under the cloud and that they all passed
through the sea. They were all baptised into Moses in the cloud
and in the sea. They all ate the same spiritual food and drank the
same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that
3
Introductory Notes
accompanied them, and that rock was Christ. Nevertheless, God
was not pleased with most of them; their bodies were scattered
over the desert.
Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting
our hearts on evil things as they did. Do not be idolaters, as some
of them were; as it is written: "The people sat down to eat and
drink and got up to indulge in pagan revelry." We should not
commit sexual immorality, as some of them did – and in one day
twenty-three thousand of them died. We should not test the Lord,
as some of them did – and were killed by snakes. And do not
grumble, as some of them did – and were killed by the destroying
angel.
These things happened to them as examples and were written
down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has
come. So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you
don’t fall! No temptation has seized you except what is common
to man. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted
beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will
also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.
And the writer of Hebrews warns us (Hebrews 3:12-4:2):
See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart
that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another
daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be
hardened by sin's deceitfulness. We have come to share in Christ
if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first. As has
just been said:
"Today, if you hear His voice,
do not harden your hearts
as you did in the rebellion."
Who were they who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those
Moses led out of Egypt? And with whom was He angry for forty
years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the
desert? And to whom did God swear that they would never enter
His rest if not to those who disobeyed? So we see that they were
not able to enter, because of their unbelief.
Therefore, since the promise of entering His rest still stands, let us
be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it. For
4
Introductory Notes
we also have had the gospel preached to us, just as they did; but
the message they heard was of no value to them, because those
who heard did not combine it with faith.
They're serious warnings – and they relate very much to incidents in
Numbers. How will we understand the warnings properly if we don't
understand Numbers? And how will we ensure that we've appropriately
paid attention to the warnings if we don't really know what they're
about?
The Important Question
As we come to the book of 1 Samuel, there's a crucial question that we
need to consider. How do we read narrative texts in the Bible – the
stories that we find in the Old Testament, the gospels and the book of
Acts?
When we come to a statement in one of Paul's letters, such as:
Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to
the interests of others. Your attitude should be the same as that of
Christ Jesus. (Philippians 2:4-5)
it's relatively easy to understand what it means and to work out how it
applies in our modern-day situations. When we come to a story, it's
usually still relatively easy to understand the details of the story – but
how do we work out what the story was intended to teach both then and
now. The stories of the Bible are not like Aesop's Fables such that they
each conclude with a moral. Rather, they're records of historical events
that relate to us what happened in the past. Because they're part of God's
word, we rightly believe that they're also supposed to teach us something
that's relevant to our current lives – either in terms of how we think or
the way we live. Yet, how do we go about finding what that
"something" is?
Some people read them as examples of teaching that's found elsewhere
in the Bible. For example, the story of David and Bathsheba (2 Samuel
11-12) shows us David acting as a bad example for us. David clearly
breaks the law – the law about adultery, the law about deception and the
law about murder. The consequences of his sin are that he suffers the
loss of the child and ongoing civil war in the rest of his family. The
5
Introductory Notes
moral is drawn: Don't be like David – sin doesn't pay (at least, it doesn't
pay good things). The story even has the prophet Nathan present to tell
us that David's done the wrong thing – just in case we hadn't realised
that for ourselves.
Yet, what do you do with a story like Ehud (Judges 3:12-30)? Here's a
guy who uses guile and deception to assassinate the leader of a nation
whom God was using to punish His people. Quite clearly, the story
presents Ehud as the hero. Yet, should we follow Ehud's example? Is it
all right to lie in certain circumstances? Is it OK to assassinate evil
rulers? The text of the story doesn't answer these questions because
that's not why the story has been put in the Bible. The story is about
God providing a saviour when His people cry to Him for relief.
While it is OK to see the Bible's stories as providing examples of godly
and ungodly behaviour, I think it's important to realise this is not their
main function.
 We have straightforward teaching about godliness and ungodliness (right and wrong) in other parts of the Bible – for example,
the Old Testament law and the New Testament letters. God's will
is declared clearly in those places.
 The stories, on the other hand, tell us what God's doing in the
world to achieve His purposes of salvation. That's their main
focus. They're part of how God gets from rebellion in the Garden
of Eden to His kingdom at the end of Revelation.
To simply read the stories as examples is to find their teaching elsewhere and to import that into the story.
Other people read the Bible's narratives as allegories. An allegory is
where each part of the story represents something else so that while the
story appears to be about wheat-seed and different types of soil it's really
about God's word and different types of people. Now, it's quite true that
there are stories with allegorical elements in the Bible. Nathan tells
David a story about a poor man with one little lamb (2 Samuel 12:1-12).
His story, however, is not really about sheep – it's an allegory. The real
point has to do with David and how he's treated Uriah. In this case, the
text of the Bible makes it quite plain that Nathan's story is an allegory.
6
Introductory Notes
There are those who treat all the stories of the Bible in this way. For
example, some treat the story of David and Goliath as a lesson on
Christian discipleship. Goliath represents the sinful struggles we have in
our lives – lust, pride, telling lies, anger, being unkind, etc. How do we
beat sin in our lives? We need the fives stones that David had for his
sling – obedience, service, Bible reading, prayer and fellowship. That's
how we can slay the various "Goliaths" that would destroy our
fellowship with God! The question is: how do you know that's what the
story is all about? There's nothing in the Bible's text to indicate that. It's
something that's brought in from outside the text – from the vivid
imagination of the reader. This method can be used to make a text say
anything that the reader wants it to say. It's not proper interpretation of
the Bible.
Are you beginning to get a feel for some of the difficulties? Gordon Fee
and Douglas Stuart, in their excellent book How to Read the Bible for all
its Worth, propose ten principles for interpreting narratives.
1. An Old Testament narrative usually does not directly teach a
doctrine.
2. An Old Testament narrative usually illustrates a doctrine or
doctrines taught propositionally elsewhere.
3. Narratives record what happened – not necessarily what should
have happened or what ought to happen every time. Therefore,
not every narrative has an individual identifiable moral of the
story.
4. What people do in narratives is not necessarily a good example
for us. Frequently, it is just the opposite.
5. Most of the characters in Old Testament narratives are far from
perfect and their actions are, too.
6. We are not always told at the end of a narrative whether what
happened was good or bad. We are expected to be able to judge
that on the basis of what God has taught us directly and
categorically elsewhere in the Scripture.
7. All narratives are selective and incomplete. Not all the relevant
details are always given (cf. John 21:25). What does appear in the
narrative is everything that the inspired author thought important
for us to know.
7
Introductory Notes
8. Narratives are not written to answer all our theological questions.
They have particular, specific limited purposes and deal with
certain issues, leaving others to be dealt with elsewhere, in other
ways.
9. Narratives may teach either explicitly (by clearly stating
something) or implicitly (by clearly implying something without
actually stating it).
10. In the final analysis, God is the hero of all biblical narratives.1
After looking at a couple of examples, they conclude with the following
cautions.
Why is it that people so often find things in Bible narratives that are
not really there – read into the Bible their own notions rather than
read out of the Bible what God wants them to know? There are three
main reasons. First, they are desperate – desperate for information
that will help them, that will be of personal value, that will apply to
their own situation. Second, they are impatient; they want their
answers now, from this book from this chapter. Third, they wrongly
expect that everything in the Bible applies directly as instruction for
their own individual lives. The Bible is a great resource. It contains
all that a Christian really needs in terms of guidance from God for
living. But it does not always contain answers as specific and
personal as some people would wish, and it does not contain all its
information in every chapter of every book! Too impatient to find
God's will from the Bible as a whole, people make mistakes – they
allow themselves to misinterpret individual parts of the Scriptures.
So that you might avoid this tendency, we list here eight of the most
common errors of interpretation that people commit in looking for
answers from parts of the Bible. While all of these apply to
narratives, they are not limited to them.
1. Allegorizing. Instead of concentrating on the clear meaning,
people relegate the text to merely reflecting another meaning
beyond the text. There are allegorical portions of Scripture (eg,
Ezekiel 23 or parts of Revelation) but none of the scriptural
allegories is simple narrative.
1
G.D.Fee & D.Stuart, How to Read the Bible for all its Worth (Michigan: Zondervan, 1993) 83-84
8
Introductory Notes
2. Decontextualizing. Ignoring the full historical and literary
contexts, and often the individual narrative, people concentrate on
small units only and thus miss interpretational clues. If you
decontextualize enough, you can make almost any part of
Scripture say anything you want it to.
3. Selectivity. This is analogous to decontextualizing. It involves
picking and choosing specific words and phrases to concentrate
on, ignoring the others, and ignoring the overall sweep of the
passage being studied. Instead of balancing the parts and the
whole, it ignores some of the parts and the whole entirely.
4. False Combination. This approach combines elements from here
and there in a passage and makes a point out of their combination,
even though the elements themselves are not directly connected in
the passage itself. An extreme example of this all too common
interpretational error would be the conclusion that one's real
enemies are in the church rather than outside the church because
in Psalm 23 David says that he will dwell in God's house forever,
and that God has prepared him a table in the presence of his
enemies. (The enemies must therefore be in God's house along
with David, or else he could not be in their presence.)
5. Redefinition. When the plain meaning of the text leaves people
cold, producing no immediate spiritual delight or saying
something they do not want to hear, they are often tempted to
redefine it to mean something else. For example, they take Jesus'
words, "Woe to you who are rich ..." and '"Woe to you when all
people speak well of you ..." (Luke 6:24, 26) and redefine them
from their plain meaning to "Woe to you who love money so
much you have renounced your faith in God" and "Woe to you
who have become atheists in order to have cheap praise from
worldly infidels." That is, these sayings are redefined in such a
way that they are narrow enough no longer to be a threat to the
people doing the redefinition.
6. Extracanonical authority. By using some sort of special external
key to the Scriptures, usually a set of doctrines or a book that
claims to reveal scriptural truths not otherwise knowable, people
suppose that they can unlock the mysteries of the Bible. Cults
usually operate on the basis of an extracanonical authority,
9
Introductory Notes
treating the Bible somewhat like a series of riddles needing a
special knowledge to solve.
7. Moralizing. This is the assumption that principles for living can
be derived from all passages. The moralizing reader in effect asks
the question, "What is the moral of this story?" at the end of every
individual narrative. An example would be, "What can we learn
about handling adversity from how the Israelites endured their
years as slaves in Egypt?" The fallacy of this approach is that it
ignores the fact that the narratives were written to show the
progress of God's history of redemption, not to illustrate
principles.
They are historical narratives, not illustrative
narratives.
8. Personalizing. Also known as individualizing, this is reading
Scripture in a way that supposes that any or all parts apply to you
or your group in a way that they do not apply to everyone else.
People tend to be self-centred, even when reading the Bible.
When the big picture of God's redemptive history fails to satisfy,
they may fall prey to the temptation to look for something that
will satisfy their personal needs, cravings, or problems. They can
forget that all parts of the Bible are intended for everyone, not just
them. Examples of personalizing would be, "The story of
Balaam's talking donkey reminds me that I talk too much." Or,
"The story of the building of the temple is God's way of telling us
that we have to construct a new church building."
Perhaps the single most useful bit of caution we can give you about
reading and learning from narratives is this: Do not be a monkey-seemonkey-do reader of the Bible. No Bible narrative was written
specifically about you. The Joseph narrative is about Joseph,
specifically how God did things through him – it is not a narrative
directly about you. The Ruth narrative glorifies God's protection and
benefit for Ruth and the Bethlehemites – not you. You can always
learn a great deal from these narratives, and from all the Bible's
narratives, but you can never assume that God expects you to do
exactly the same thing that Bible characters did, or to have the same
things happen to you that happened to them. For further discussion
on this point, see chapter 6.
10
Introductory Notes
Bible characters are sometimes good, sometimes evil, sometimes
wise, and sometimes foolish. They are sometimes punished,
sometimes shown mercy, sometimes well off, and sometimes
miserable.
Your task is to learn God's word from the narratives about them, not
to try to do everything that was done in the Bible. Just because
someone in a Bible story did something, that does not mean that you
have either permission or obligation to do it too.
What you can and should do is to obey what God actually calls you
to do in the Scripture. Narratives are precious to us because they so
vividly demonstrate God's involvement in the world and illustrate his
principles and calling. They thus teach us a lot – but what they
directly teach us does not systematically include personal ethics. For
that area of life, we must turn elsewhere in the Scriptures, to the
various places where personal ethics are actually taught categorically
and explicitly. The richness and variety of the Scriptures must be
understood as our ally – a welcome resource, never a complicated
burden.2
More positively, we can highlight five elements of Hebrew narrative that
may help us come to an understanding of what the Bible teaches us
through these Old Testament stories. The first element is the plot. Each
story has an orientation (the setting of the story), a complication (a
problem that arises – without this there would be no real story) and a
resolution (how the problem is solved). The Bible's overall story-line
can be summarised as follows:
 Orientation: the creation of humanity to rule over this world under
God's direction.
 Complication: humanity's declaration of independence – refusal to
rule under God's direction.
 Resolution: the kingdom of God where humanity is seen both
living and ruling under God's direction.
The same thing can be done with each of the stories in the Bible.
Sometimes plots become complex (as with the overall story-line of the
2
G.D.Fee & D.Stuart, How to Read the Bible for all its Worth (Michigan: Zondervan, 1993) 90-93
11
Introductory Notes
Bible) because further complications arise in the process of resolving the
first complication.
The second element is characters. If a story is to unfold, it needs
characters to drive it. It's the characters who work towards the
resolution of the plot. In our Western novels, we tend to find an
emphasis on detailed characterisation and an encouragement to learn
from novels in terms of psychoanalysing the various characters. On
most occasions, that's not the purpose of the Bible's stories – though it
should be noted that some people still treat them that way (that's part of
our culture – not the Bible's). In reading Biblical narratives, it should be
noted that God is usually one of the characters involved in the story.
A third element is scene – the place/s where the action of the story takes
place. Each story will have one or more scenes. The scene changes
when the location changes or when the characters change. Noting and
analysing the various scenes in a story can help the reader focus on the
way the plot develops. A shift in scene indicates the development of the
next stage of the plot. In the Bible's narratives, we do not usually get
detailed descriptions of the scene – that's not important to why the Bible
writers tell the story.
Dialogue is the fourth element. In the Bible's stories, dialogue very
often functions to develop the story – both in terms of showing us the
characters and moving the plot forward. Sometimes dialogue is used to
introduce the story's complication. It should be noted that prayer is also
a form of dialogue.
The final element is the narrator. This is the person who tells the story.
He/she controls and shapes the story world that is before us. The
narrator tells us what he/she wants us to know. Sometimes a narrator
can speak from within the story (for example, parts of Nehemiah are told
in the first person); more often in the Bible the narrator speaks from
outside the story and the story is told in the third person. Since the
narrator has chosen to tell the story and has shaped the narrative towards
a specific purpose, in trying to understand the story we are concerned
with the narrator's point of view. Thus, we should pay particular
attention to any direct comments that the narrator intrudes into the story.
12
Introductory Notes
Having identified these five elements and realising that we can analyse
each of them separately, it's important to state that our final goal is to
understand the story as a whole. These various elements need to be
brought together in an effort to understand the story as it now stands
before us.
Now, that's been a fairly lengthy and somewhat complex introduction.
At this point you may be feeling somewhat daunted. Indeed, you may
now be too scared to read the Bible's narratives – perhaps you've decided
to stick to the plain teaching of the New Testament letters! Yet, the
narratives are a big part of God's word. It's not right that we ignore them
– or that we put them in the too-hard basket.
Some take the approach of allowing everyone to find their own Spiritled interpretation of the Bible's stories. "That's what you think the story
means – I think it means this other thing – I guess God's using that one
story to teach us different and even opposing things." That sounds very
tolerant and it fits in very nicely with our post-modern age – perhaps it
even sounds spiritual – but ultimately it turns the Bible to plasticine (it
can be shaped whatever way I want to shape it!).
God's word does have objective meaning. Our job is to get as close to
that meaning as we can – and to conform our lives to it. This
introduction is designed to help you understand why people come up
with different interpretations of these stories – namely, because they
have different approaches to how they try to interpret them. This
introduction is also designed to help you towards a proper approach
towards the interpretation of the Bible's narratives.
13
Introductory Notes
How to Use this Booklet
During these next two terms, as a church, we will be studying Numbers.
The sermons on Sunday mornings will cover a section at a time – taking
ten talks to cover these chapters (the sermons will alternate with sermons
on Mark 1-8). This booklet has been produced to help us with our
understanding of this part of the Bible.
The layout of this booklet tries to reflect the nature of narrative material.
There are not daily readings and daily questions. One of the reasons for
this is that the stories need to be understood as a whole – not broken up
into little parts which are not intended to make sense on their own. You
will still be encouraged to analyse the different parts of each story
(including the different scenes), but not in a way where you'll be looking
for a personal application from each little section.
There are three parts to each study:
 Some explanatory notes – these notes explain matters in the text
that are not immediately obvious to modern readers (for example,
geographical elements, differences in customs and culture,
relevant matters from earlier parts of the Bible's story).
Sometimes, attention is drawn to matters that are debated by some
within the church. Sometimes there are clues about the direction
the story's headed (sorry, I couldn't help myself!). Remember that
these notes do not carry the authority of the Bible.
 Analysing the story – these are questions that draw attention to the
five main elements of narrative mentioned above. You are asked
to analyse the story in terms of those elements. The questions in
this section remain basically the same for each study (sorry to
those who insist on variety).
 The meaning of the story – these questions are designed to help
you express your understanding of what the story teaches us and
how that's relevant for us today. It's important not to jump to this
section before you've analysed the story. Sometimes, questions
are included that reflect meanings that have been "discovered" in
the text by other readers – and you are asked to consider whether
these "discoveries" are legitimate. One aim of this study is to get
14
Introductory Notes
you thinking about how you read the Bible – and how others read
it.
How you use the studies is up to you. You may find it helpful to set
aside a couple of hours to complete the study in one go. On the other
hand, you may find it helpful to spread it out over several sessions (for
example, one session to read and meditate on the passage, a second
session to do the questions dealing with the analysis of the passage, a
third session to look at the explanatory note alongside the Bible's text,
and a fourth session to think about the meaning of the text). You can
probably come up with other possible permutations. There's no one
right or wrong way. The important thing is to study and understand the
Bible.
There are no questions specifically for the group. If everyone's done the
study before the group meets, the analysis type questions could be dealt
with fairly quickly and most group time spent on the questions dealing
with meaning and application. I would expect that sometimes there will
be questions arising from personal study that people will wish to bring to
the group. Each group will decide what works best for them in helping
each person come to a greater under-standing of this part of the Bible.
As you do these studies, ask that God will give you an understanding of
His message in Numbers – and how He works out His purposes in the
world. Even more than that, ask that God will grant you the grace to
enable your life to conform to what He reveals about His purposes in
this part of His word.
15
Numbers 1:1-4:49
Counting
Numbers 1:1-4:49
Summarising Some Aspects of the Text
Some people will find it helpful to have some of the material in these
four chapters put in table form. In chapters 1 and 2, we find lists of
tribes. The order they're listed is different each time.
Chapter 1
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Reuben
Reuben
Judah
Simeon
Simeon
Issachar
Judah
Gad
Zebulun
Issachar
Judah
Reuben
Zebulun
Issachar
Simeon
Ephraim
Zebulun
Gad
Manasseh
Ephraim
Ephraim
Benjamin
Manasseh
Manasseh
Dan
Benjamin
Benjamin
Asher
Dan
Dan
Gad
Asher
Asher
Naphtali
Naphtali
Naphtali
We also find names of leaders within each tribe. The leaders listed are
the same.
Leader (chapter 2)
Tribe
Census Helper
Reuben
Elizur
Elizur (10)
Simeon
Shelumiel
Shelumiel (12)
Judah
Nahshon
Nahshon (3)
Issachar
Nethanel
Nethanel (5)
Zebulun
Eliab
Eliab (7)
Ephraim
Elishama
Elishama (18)
Manasseh
Gamaliel
Gamaliel (20)
Benjamin
Abidan
Abidan (22)
Dan
Ahiezer
Ahiezer (25)
Asher
Pagiel
Pagiel (27)
Gad
Eliasaph
Eliasaph (14)
Naphtali
Ahira
Ahira (29)
16
Numbers 1:1-4:49
The census figures for each tribe (men aged 20 and over) are also the
same in each chapter, although they're organised in different ways to suit
the purpose of the chapters:
Tribe
No.
Tribe
No.
Reuben
46,500
Judah
74,600
Simeon
59,300
Issachar
54,400
Gad
45,650
Zebulun
57,400
Judah
74,600
186,400
Issachar
54,400
Reuben
46,500
Zebulun
57,400
Simeon
59,300
Ephraim
40,500
Gad
45,650
Manasseh
32,200
151,450
Benjamin
35,400
Ephraim
40,500
Dan
62,700
Manasseh
32,200
Asher
41,500
Benjamin
35,400
Naphtali
53,400
108,100
603,550
Dan
62,700
Asher
41,500
Naphtali
53,400
157,600
603,550
The following diagram shows the organisation of the camp:3
3
Gordon Wenham, Numbers (Tyndale; Leicester: IVP, 1981) 67.
17
Numbers 1:1-4:49
The numbers of the Levite males listed in chapters 3 and 4 are:
Clan
Over 1 mth
30-50
Kohathites
7,500
2,750
Gershonites
8,600
2,630
Merarites
6,200
3,200
22,300
8,580
The following diagram summarises the work of the different Levite
clans:4
Analysing the Narrative
Where does this narrative fit in the Bible's overall story-line? How does
this narrative relate to Exodus and Leviticus (note they arrived in the
Desert of Sinai in Exodus 19:1)?
How would you analyse the scenes of Numbers 1-4? Identify the
different scenes that form part of this narrative. How do these scenes
relate to one another? How does the narrator shape the story?
4
Gordon Wenham, Numbers (Tyndale; Leicester: IVP, 1981) 72.
18
Numbers 1:1-4:49
Who are the main characters in the narrative? What do we know about
each of them? How important is each to the development of the
narrative? Does the text encourage you to psychoanalyse any of the
characters?
What's the narrative's plot? What is the main complication? How do
you know this is the main complication? How is this complication
resolved? Are there any further complications that are introduced on the
way?
How many tribes are in Israel?
The Meaning of the Narrative
What do you think is the main point of this narrative? What did the
narrator intend to teach Israel through this narrative? How is this lesson
relevant to Christians today?
What's the purpose of the census at this time (1:1-4)? What do you
therefore expect to come next? How does this relate to the fulfilment of
God's promises?
Why aren't the Levites counted in the initial census? What role does
God give them? Why does this preclude them from the upcoming role
of the other tribes?
 What does this tell us about God?
 Does this remain relevant for us today?
What order are the tribes listed in chapter 1? Is there any significance to
the tribes being listed in a different order in chapter 2?
 Who's given the prominent place in chapter 1?
 Who's given the prominent place in chapter 2?
Why does the narrator refer to Nadab and Abihu in 3:2-4? Are they
directly relevant to what follows? What point does he wish to drive
home by referring to them?
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Numbers 1:1-4:49
What's the purpose for counting the Levites in chapter 3 (refer especially 3:11-13 and Exodus 12-13)? Why was this important? Does it
have any ongoing relevance?
Why were people who approached the sanctuary to be put to death
(3:38)? What message did this give Israel? What relevance does this
have for you?
The heading for 4:4-20 is the work of the Kohathites. Yet, much of
what's described is actually done by the priests. What's the significance
of this?
 Why could the Kohathites not touch certain things?
 Why could they not look at certain things?
What did this teach Israel? Do we need to learn the same lesson? If so,
how is it driven home to us today?
Note the conclusion of each section – 1:54; 2:34; 3:39, 42, 49-51 and
4:49. What is driven home again and again? Why does the narrator
consider this important? What implications does it have for us?
What do these chapters teach us about Jesus?
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Numbers 5:1-10:10
Consecrating
Numbers 5:1-10:10
Some Aspects of the Text
It's worth noting several things as we come to this section.
 First, although we've broken these opening ten chapters into two
different studies, they all take place at the one location – the
Desert of Sinai (1:1). The people don't move camp until 10:11.
So, it could be argued that this material should be covered in one
study.
 Secondly, it would make total sense to move straight from the
census to the journey to Canaan. The army is counted. The order
is established. Surely the next step is for the army to march on
Canaan. Why is this other material inserted here?
 Thirdly, not everything is in chronological order in these chapters.
1:1 is the first day of the second month. 7:1 is the consecration of
the tabernacle – which is the first day of the first month (Exodus
40:2). This suggests Moses grouped some things together for
other reasons. What are those reasons? What clues can we
discover that may reveal those reasons?
At first glance, these chapters appear somewhat haphazard. We find a
mixture of moral laws, various rituals, strange-sounding ordeals and
other things. You may even have the impression that they're a bunch of
bits that Moses didn't know what to do with and so he shoved them all in
here (which may be easy to do when you cut-and-paste on a computer,
but not so easy to do when you write on a scroll. The leftover bits would
go at the end!). The assumption should be that they've been put here for
a purpose. And so the question is: Why have they been arranged
together? How do they fit in the narrative (assuming they are part of a
narrative)?
Summarising Some Aspects of the Text
Gordon Wenham helpfully summarises the events that are recorded in
these two months of the second year after the exodus:5
5
Wenham, 91.
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Numbers 5:1-10:10
Month 1
Day 1
Day 8
Day 12
Day 14
Month 2
Day 1
Day 14
Day 20
Tabernacle erected
Laws from tabernacle begin
Ordination of priests begins
Offerings for altar begin
Ordination completed
Death of Nadab and Abihu
Blasphemer dies
Offerings for altar end
Appointment of Levites
Celebrate the Passover
Ex.40:2; Num.7:1
Lev.1:1
Lev.8:1
Num.7:3
Lev.9:1
Lev.10:1-3
Lev.24:10-23
Num.7:78
Num.8:5
Num.9:2
Census begins
Delayed Passover
Israelites move
Num.1:1
Num.9:11
Num.10:11
Ronald Allen summarises the gifts presented by the leader of each tribe
(these are the same leaders as recorded in chapters 1 and 2 and appear in
the order of chapter 2) at the dedication of the altar (Numbers 7):6
 one silver platter weighing about 1.5 kilograms
 one silver sprinkling bowl weighing about 0.8 kilogram
 one gold ladle weighing about 110 grams
 the plate and bowl contained flour mixed with oil for a grain
offering
 the ladle was filled with incense
 one young bull, one ram, and one male lamb for a burnt offering
 one buck goat for a sin offering
 two oxen, five rams, five buck goats, and five male lambs for a
fellowship offering
Analysing the Narrative
Where does this narrative fit in the Bible's overall story-line? How does
this narrative relate to Numbers 1-4?
6
Ronald B.Allen, "Numbers", Expositor's Bible Commentary, electronic version.
22
Numbers 5:1-10:10
How would you analyse the scenes of Numbers 5:1-10:10? Identify the
different scenes that form part of this narrative. How do these scenes
relate to one another? How does the narrator shape the story?
Who are the main characters in the narrative? What do we know about
each of them? How important is each to the development of the
narrative? Does the text encourage you to psychoanalyse any of the
characters?
What's the narrative's plot? What is the main complication? How do
you know this is the main complication? How is this complication
resolved? Are there any further complications that are introduced on the
way?
The Meaning of the Narrative
What do you think is the main point of this narrative? What did the
narrator intend to teach Israel through this narrative? How is this lesson
relevant to Christians today?
The first four topics in these chapters are introduced in the same way:
The LORD said to Moses: Say to the Israelites.
 5:1
 5:5
 5:11
 6:1
Does this suggest these four topics belong together? What do they have
in common? Why are these things important at this stage in Israel's
journey? Are these things also important for Christians today? Are
other topics in these chapters also introduced in the same way?
What's the purpose of "the test for an unfaithful wife"? Do you think
this is fair? Why is it in God's word? Does it have any relevance for
Christians?
What's the purpose of the Nazirite vow? Is it fair that the person must
start again if someone dies in their presence? Why was a sin offering
23
Numbers 5:1-10:10
required in this case? Do you think God is being unreasonable in this?
If so, what does this tell you about yourself? Does the Nazirite vow
have any relevance for Christians today?
Why do we get so much repetition in chapter 7? What lessons are being
driven home? Why do we react against this repetition?
Compare the consecration of the Levites with that of the priests
(Leviticus 8).
 What things are similar?
 What things are different?
Why was it important to have a public ceremony?
What was the significance of celebrating the Passover (refer also to
Exodus 12:1-30, 43-49)?
Some are unclean at the time of the Passover and are thus excluded.
Provision is made for them to celebrate one month later (9:11-12). Why
can a person not simply make their own choice to celebrate it at this later
time (9:13)? Why is this considered sin?
What does it mean for God to remember His people (10:9)?
Someone has suggested summarising these chapters:
 cleansing;
 committing; and
 celebrating.
Do you agree?
What do these chapters teach about the relationship between God and
His people?
What do these chapters teach us about Jesus?
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