JESUS CHRIST IN THE BOOK OF NUMBERS 2/18/2025
JESUS CHRIST IN THE BOOK OF NUMBERS
Tuesday Morning Bible Study
2/18/2025 the Year of Our Lord
Pastor Carolyn Sissom
One of the purposes of numbering was to mobilize an orderly host for war. Each tribe was given its assigned place and task. In order to fulfill God’s Kingdom purpose for their nation, it would require FAITH and TRUST in God. It took 40 years of God’s providential miraculous care to bring forth an entire nation with the FAITH to obey God’s purpose.
Numbers covers a little less than 40 years (38), from Mount Sinai to Jordan. The date of the writing of Numbers varies from 1405-1401 B.C.
The purpose of Numbers is to give an account of the 40 years that Israel wandered in the wilderness. To the natural eye, the book of Numbers is one of wandering, but to the eye of faith, this book is one of Divine direction and testing in the wilderness.
Num. 9:20-23: …at the commandment of the LORD they rested in the tents, and at the commandment of the LORD they journeyed.
Rev. 7:17: For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters.
God numbers and aligns the tribes and the priests to record the two generations at the beginning and the ending of the 40 years (Two numberings at Sinai and Moab.)
After receiving the Law, as seen in Exodus and Leviticus, and being numbered at Mount Sinai, the old generation (Num. 1-14) came to Kadeshbarnea, gateway to the Promised Land. There they rejected through unbelief the land promised to them in the Abrahamic Covenant. Because of their sin of disobedience, they were caused to wander and perish in the wilderness.
Num. 14:33: Your children shall wander in the wilderness forty years, and bear your whoredoms, until your carcasses be wasted in the wilderness.
Heb. 3: 16-19: For some, when they had heard, did provoke…to whom swore He that they should not enter His rest…
Kadeshbarnea is the gateway out of the wilderness into the promise of God. We will all stand before God in our Kadeshbarnea. Will we have the faith to believe God as Caleb and Joshua did and inherit the promises of God; or will we die in the wilderness?
Jn. 15:2: Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, he purges it, that it may bring forth more fruit.
Under the leadership of Moses, Joshua, and Caleb, the new generation is raised up to enter Canaan.
Num. 32:7-15: Why will you discourage the heart of the children of Israel from going over into the land which the LORD has given them? Thus, your fathers did when I sent them away from Kadeshbarnea to see the land. For when they went up to the Valley of Eshcol and saw the land, they discouraged the heart of the children of Israel, so that they did not go into the land which the LORD had given them. None of the men who came up from Egypt, from twenty years old and above, shall see the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, because they have not wholly followed Me, except Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, the Kenizzite, and Joshua the son of Nun, for they have wholly followed the LORD. The Lord’s anger was aroused against Israel, and He made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until all the generation that had done evil in the sight of the LORD was gone…if you turn away from following Him, He will once again leave them in the wilderness, and you will destroy all these people.
In faithfulness to His Covenant, God raised up and numbered a New Generation of believers and prepared them for entering the land; and to prepare and equip them for war.
The history of Numbers begins where the book of Exodus left off. God’s people must all go through a wilderness experience; but not a wilderness wandering. Wilderness wanderings are the result of sin/disobedience.
Believe in the LORD your God, and you shall be established, believe His prophets, and you shall prosper.
Like the Israelites, even today Christians only believe what they can see with the natural eye, circumstances, and/or the voices of the majority.
Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Faith says God will do what He says He will do and He will supply all our needs according to his riches in Glory.
When God’s people fail to enter the promises of God, it is because of unbelief and disobedience.
Heb. 4: 1-6: …For we who have believed do enter into rest…it remains that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first preached did not enter in because of unbelief.
But God will always raise up a believing people.
Jesus Christ is seen in the Book of Numbers as:
1. The Tabernacle, the Sanctuary in the Wilderness (Jn. 1:14 Ez. 11:16).
2. The Passover Lamb. (1 Cor. 5:7; Num. 9:1-14)
3. The Fiery Bright Cloud (Num. 9: 15-23).
4. The Smitten Rock (Num. 20: 8-11).
5. The Son of Man lifted up as the Serpent of Brass (Num. 21:9; Jn. 3:14).
6. The Star out of Jacob. (Num. 24:17; Matt. 2:2)
2 Pet. 1: 10-11: Brethren give diligence to make your calling and elections sure, for if you do these things, you shall never fall; for so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
THE MESSAGE:
1. God’s people are redeemed to serve. We are saved to serve.
2. When God’s people fail to enter the promises of God, it is because of unbelief and disobedience. But God will always raise up a believing people.
3. Acceptable service is an act of worship. Order is a must to service.
4. Each tribe was given its assigned place and task (1 Co. 12; Ro. 12).
5. There were seven occasions for murmuring:
a. They complained about the way. (11: 1-3).
b. About the food (11: 4-6).
c. About the giants (13: 31-41:2).
d. About the leaders (16:3).
e. The divine judgments (16:41).
f. The desert (20: 2-5).
g. And the manna. (21:5).
The first numbering took place at Sinai. This census showed 603,550 males above the age of 20, exclusive of Levites. Another census 38 years later showed 601,730. This mobilized the nation for war.
Chapter 2 deals with the arrangement of the camp. This is the principle of placement. God was the center of Israel’s religious, civil, and military life. The Tabernacle in the midst points to Jesus. The CLOUD of God’s Presence honored this Divine order. God, through his man, Moses, appointed every man his PLACE (no confusion).
The Levites were excluded from being numbered and prepared for war because they maintained the Tabernacle. “the Levites shall camp around the tabernacle of the Testimony, that there may be no wrath on the congregation of the children of Israel.” The Levites prefigured Christ, who stands between the presence of the Holy God and His people. The typological pictures of redemption in this chapter deserve a whole sermon. I don’t have a prepared message on chapter 3.
The Levites are numbered and placed in from infancy (a month old). The Levites were substituted for the 22, 273 of the first-born of the other tribes.
Num. 3:12-13: Therefore, the Levites shall be Mine because all the first-born are Mine. On the day that I struck all the first-born in the land of Egypt, I sanctified to Myself all the first-born in Israel, both man and beast. They shall be Mine; I am the LORD.” This is a clear picture of representation and substitution of the Priesthood of Jesus Christ. He is the true and eternal firstborn of God, and He is the true and eternal High Priest.
There were three Levitical families:
1. Kohathites – their service was the furniture of the tabernacle (4: 1-20).
2. Gershonites – (curtains, coverings, hangings, excepting the vail). (4: 21-28).
3. Merarites (boards, bars, pillars, sockets, pins, and cords) (4: 29-33).
The reference to the redemption money in Num. 3: 44-50 is also linked to the work of Christ. In Num. 18:14-16, we are again told the precise ransom price for the first-born. The redemption money typified the fact that redemption is costly.
Chapter 5 is the principle of the sanctity of the camp. Separation from those who are unclean: the leper, those who had an issue, and those who touched the dead.
Chapter 6 is the principle of the Nazarite Vow. It is a Kingdom concept for the word is found twelves times.
1. The vow of the Nazarite (6: 1-8) (Samson, Samuel, John, and Jesus).
a. It was voluntary (6:2). This could be a man or a woman.
b. It involved abstaining from wine and grapes (6: 3-4).
c. It involved long hair (no razor) (6:5). This was normally a reproach for men. A Nazirite was to be totally subjected to the LORD.
d. It involved separation from family (6:7) (Matt. 10:32-42).
e. It involved separation from dead bodies (6:6) (2 Co. 6: 14-16).
2. The cleansing and sacrifices of the Nazirite (6: 9-21); his hair ended up in the fire (6:18). (Peace Offering).
3. The Priestly blessing of a cleansed and consecrated people is in verses 27-28.
Chapter 7 is the offerings of the Princes of the tribes of Israel. Each offered one silver charger, one silver bowl (both full of fine flour mingled with oil for a Meal Offering. One gold spoon full of incense; one young bullock and one ram and one lamb for a Burnt Offering; one goat for the sin offering; two oxen, five rams, five he goats and give lambs for the peace offerings (all typology of Jesus Christ).
Chapter 9 is the observance of the Passover and the supernatural guidance of the CLOUD.
Chapter 10 is the blowing of the trumpets and the departure from Sinai on the 20th day of the 2nd month in the 2nd year. God was in front of His people (CLOUD) as well as in the midst of His people (Ark).
As soon as Israel left Sinai, the people complained.
11: 1-3: They complained about the way (10:29-36) that the LORD led them. This displeased the LORD; and the LORD heard it, and his anger was kindled; and the fire of the LORD burnt among them and consumed them that were in the uttermost parts of the camp. The people cried unto Moses; and when Moses prayed unto the LORD, the fire was quenched. He called the name of the place Taberah because the fire of the LORD burnt among them.
11: 4-9: They complained about the Food: This started among the mixed multitude who fell a lusting; and the children of Israel also wept again, and said, Who shall give us flesh to eat? We remember the fish, which we freely ate in Egypt, the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic. But now our soul is dried away; there is nothing at all, besides this manna, before our eyes.
Moses lost his patience and pushed the anger button. He exaggerated his responsibilities, losing sight of His God-given enablement. Since being called as a Pastor, I often pray before the LORD to not let me commit the sin of Moses by losing my patience or thinking the LORD has put more on me than He is able to handle. Moses was complaining to the LORD.
11: 10-15: Moses said to the LORD, Why have you afflicted your servant? and why have I not found favor in your sight, that you lay the burden of all these people up on me? Have I conceived all these people? Have I begotten them, that you should say to me, carry them in your bosom, as a nursing father bears the sucking child, unto the land which you swore unto their fathers? …I am not able to bear all this people alone, because it is too heavy for me. If you deal thus with me, kill me, I pray thee, out of hand if I have found favor in your sight, and let me not see my wretchedness.
11: 16-30: The LORD said to Moses, Gather unto me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people, and officers over them; and bring them unto the tabernacle of the congregation, that they may stand there with you. I will come down and talk with you there; and I will take of the Spirit which is upon you and will put it upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with you, that you do not have to bear it alone.
The appointment of the 70 elders who received the spirit of Moses, the spirit of prophecy came upon the 70 elders.
11: 31-35: God sent quails and a plague. A wind went forth from the LORD, and brought quail from the sea, and let them fall by the camp, as it were a day’s journey on this side, and a day’s journey on the other side, round about the camp, and it was two cubits high upon the face of the earth. The people stood up all that day and all that night, and all the next day. They gathered the quails. He that gathered least gathered ten homers; and they spread them all abroad for themselves round about the camp. While the flesh was yet between their teeth, ere it was chewed, the wrath of the LORD was kindled against the people, and the LORD smote the people with a very great plague. He called the name of that place Kibrothhattaavah; because there they buried the people that lusted.
In chapter 12, they continued to murmur through the rebellion of Miriam, which caused the CLOUD to depart until that situation was healed. Miriam instigated the rebellion. She was smitten with leprosy. Miriam suffered the stigma of Divine displeasure by religious and social excommunication for seven days. Aaron repented and Moses interceded. Numb 12:13d; Moses cried unto the LORD, saying, Heal her now, O God, I beseech thee. The camp did not move ahead until Miriam’s punishment was dealt with.
Chapter 13 is a turning point of the Book of Numbers. The 12 spies were sent at the request of the people. They returned after 40 days. Forty is the number of trial. They brought back the grapes (firstfruits of Eshcol). Verses 26-33 reveals the evil report of unbelief of the 10 spies.
Faith was vocal in Caleb but general fear and doubt drowned out his voice.
The reaction of the people to the evil report (Ch. 14:37) demonstrates the infectious blindness and unreasonableness of unbelief.
The response of faith by Caleb and Joshua reveal two realms:
1. The earthly – looking at the circumstances (13:33)
2. The heavenly – looking down upon the same from God’s provision. (14:9).
The people wanted to stone the voice of faith.
There was great power in Moses’ intercession. 14: 11-25. He asked God to defend His great name and His great power to deliver the Israelites even in their failures. To show His name great among the nations, “let the power of my LORD be great, according as you have spoken, saying, The LORD is longsuffering, and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression, and by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation.
We see the divine sentence in 14: 26-39. There was to be death in the wilderness wanders. A year for every day they spied out the land was the penalty. To kill that many people would later require 100 funerals per day. Israel’s failure here is an awesome warning. Their children would bear their sin until the old generation perished.
In chapter 15, God continued to give directions for the promised land even though it would now be 40 years in the future.
Ch. 16 - Korah and his company were an influential group of ambitious and envious men. They challenged the authority of Moses and accused him for that which they themselves were guilty and blamed him for the consequences of their own unbelief. God vindicated His appointed servants.
Ch. 17 confirms God’s choice of Aaron’s appointment (Ps. 106:16). The usurpers attempted to intrude into the Priestly Office. Each tribe leader was to present an Almond rod inscribed with his name on the rod. All the tribal heads brought dead rods. The Lord caused life to spring up within Aaron’s rod, a type of Jesus in His resurrection, acknowledged and exalted by God to be High Priest. Aaron’s rod was then placed in the ARK of the covenant as a Memorial of the uprising of Korah. The glory of the Lord appeared and dealt with the three ringleaders who were swallowed by an earthquake and went down alive into Sheol.
There seems to be a gap between Numbers 19 and 20. After 38 years of wandering, they found themselves in the same place (Kedesh), no nearer to the promised land (20:1). Sin is a serious matter and has to be dealt with.
Chapter 20 opens with the death of Miriam and closes with the death of Aaron and tells of the failure of Moses in between. Death and failure are connected with wilderness wandering. (Amos 5: 25-26),
Moses’ sin is found in smiting the rock twice in his anger. Numbers 20: 7-13.
The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, Take the rod; you and your brother Aaron gather the congregation together. Speak to the rock before their eyes, and it will yield its water, thus you shall bring water for them out of the rock and give drink to the congregation and the animals. So, Moses took the rod from the LORD as He commanded him. Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock; and he said to them, “Hear now you rebels! Must we bring water for you out of this rock?” Then Moses lifted his hand struck the rock twice with his rod; and water came out abundantly, and the congregation and their animals drank. Then the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not believe Me, to hallow Me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.” This was the water of Miribah because the children of Israel contended with the LORD, and He was hallowed.
Miribah (pleading, contention, strife, quarrel).
Moses spoke in the heat of his spirit as though he was the primary object of their murmurings. Moses sought the vindication of himself as the servant of God and not the vindication of God. Since Moses smote the rock in anger and self-will instead of speaking to it in faith and obedience, God was compelled to vindicate Himself by using Moses as an example instead of an instrument.
We will be given many opportunities to take on Kingdom controversy as personal. All rejection, complaining, murmuring, rebellion, etc. against the words, ways and ministry of God is against Him, not His servant instruments.
We do not have to vindicate ourselves when people interject us into their controversies with God. Don’t get pulled into the trap. Especially ministries who are under the exclusive covenantal authority of God.
Ch. 21 – The serpent of Brass.
Ch. 22-25 – Balaam
Ch. 26 – Second numbering
Ch. 27 – Moses’ successor – The death of Moses was announced and the reason for it.
Num. 27: 12-18: The Lord said to Moses, go up into this Mount Abarim, and the see the land which I have given to the children of Israel. When you have seen it, you also shall be gathered to your people, as aaron your brother was gathered. For in the Wilderness of Zin, during the strife of the congregation, you rebelled against My command to hallow Me at the waters before their eyes.” (These are the waters of Meribah, at Kadesh in the Wilderness of zin.)
This is serious business. All foolish playing around must come to an end.
Num. 27: 15-17: Then Moses spoke to the LORD, saying: “Let the LORD, the God of the spirits of all flesh, set a man over the congregation, who may go out before them and go in before them, who may lead them out and bring them in, that the congregation of the LORD may not be like sheep which have no shepherd.
Num. 27:18- The LORD said to Moses: “Take Joshua the son of Nun with you, a man in whom is the Spirit, and lay your hand on him; set him before Eleazar the priest and before all the congregation, and inaugurate him in their sign. You shall give some of your authority to him, that all the congregation of the children of Israel may be obedient. He shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall inquire before the LORD for him by the judgment of the Urim. At his word they shall go out, and at his word they shall come in, he and all the children of Israel with him ---all the congregation.
The murmuring in chapter 29: 2-6 is significant in this is the first recorded trial and failure of the new generation, showing that they were no better than their fathers.
The closing chapters of Numbers cover legislation concerning vows, defeating the Midianites, the request of Reuben, Gad, and ½ tribe of Manasseh to settle east of the Jordan River. A summary of the journeys of Israel. Directions to exterminate the Canaanites; division and allotment of the land among the tribes; provision for the Levitical cities; provisions for the cities of refuge; legislation concerning female inheritance.
Carolyn Sissom, Pastor
Eastgate Ministries Church, 10115 West Hidden Lakes Lane, Richmond, TX.
Scripture from K.J.V. – I entered into the labors of Principles of Present Truth by: Kelly Varner. Comments and conclusions are my own and not meant to reflect the views of those who I entered into their labor.