Chapter
4
Numbers
Our Failure and God’s
Faithfulness
If you read the Old Testament as nothing more than a history of
ancient events concerning people who lived a long, long time ago, it is just
about as boring as a textbook on mathematics. If you read it as nothing more
than a book of hidden prophetic mysteries, it may be more interesting, but it
is still a book with no meaning to you personally. However, if you read the Old
Testament as a picture of what is happening in your own life experience of redemption
and grace, it becomes lively and fascinating. If you see in the Old Testament
pictures of Christ and his great work of redemption, pictures of his love for
and grace to your soul, it becomes precious beyond description.
So, when we
read about and study the history of the nation of Israel in the Old Testament,
we must constantly remind ourselves that the Lord our God is not here giving us
the history of a quaint little nation in a remote part of the world. God’s
interest in and purpose for the nation of
The Pentateuch (the first five
books of the Bible) and the Book of Joshua symbolically display every
believer’s experience of grace and salvation in and by the Lord Jesus Christ.
In these first six Books of Inspiration we see how that the Lord our God brings
us from the bondage and curse of sin and death sin into “the glorious
liberty of the sons of God.” The whole Old Testament was written so that we
might see in vivid types and shadows and pictures what the New Testament
declares to be true. All those things that happened to
· Genesis, the Book of Beginnings, shows us our great need of redemption and grace.
· Exodus, the Book of Deliverance, displays our experience of grace in redemption.
· Leviticus, the Book of the Priesthood, typifies our atonement by Christ, which is the basis and effectual cause of deliverance.
· Numbers, the Book of Numbering, displays our (the believer’s) weakness, unbelief, and failure in this world.
· Deuteronomy, the Book of the Law, shows us God’s immutability and his faithfulness to his covenant people in the second giving of his law.
· Joshua, the Book of Deliverance, displays our entrance into and everlasting possession of all the blessings of grace and glory in eternal, resurrection glory with and by our Lord Jesus Christ.
The fourth Book of Moses is called
“Numbers” because it opens with the numbering of the children of
If you read through the first five Books
of the Bible at one sitting, it appears that Leviticus might be out of sync
with the others, because it interrupts the historic narrative. That is because
the Book of Leviticus is a parenthetical explanation of God’s work with his
people. Genesis shows us our great need of redemption and grace. Exodus
displays our experience of salvation in time. Leviticus shows us, in type and
picture, that God deals with us in grace upon the basis of Christ’s finished
work of atonement as our Substitute. Then, the Book of Numbers picks up the
historic narrative, a narrative portraying our struggles as believers in this
world with the world, the flesh, and the devil, assuring us that God still
continues to deal with his covenant people in grace upon the basis of Christ’s
finished work, not upon the basis of our experience.
The Book of Numbers covers most of the
period of
Those forty years in the wilderness were
the result of the nation’s unbelief, specifically their refusal to believe the
report of Joshua and Caleb after the twelve spies had spied out the
Our Unbelief
Now, let’s see what
the message of this Book of Numbers is. I don’t mean, let’s see what we can use
in Numbers to teach the Gospel of Christ. I mean, let’s see what the message of
the Book of Numbers is. How does God the Holy Spirit here teach us the Gospel?
In these thirty-five chapters we are
confronted with that which may be the most difficult thing for us to learn as
God’s people in this world. We are confronted head-on with that which causes us
more trouble than anything else in this life—our own unbelief! It is ever the
tendency of our fallen nature to lean unto our own understanding, if not our
own to someone else’s. The Book of Numbers teaches us that we must believe our
God, that we must trust and follow Christ in all things (Pro. 3:5-6), not human
reason, our own or someone else’s!
This is where I struggle most. I suspect
it is the same with you. How we dishonor our God by unbelief! We all foolishly
imagine that what we want to do and the way we want to do it is the right way.
Oh, we say, “The Lord knows best.” But rarely to we act like he does. Like
these ancient Jews, you and I must learn that God really does know best. He
knows what he is doing when he acts. He knows what he is talking about when he
speaks. What he tells us is the truth. All that he says, all that he does, and
all that he requires of us, is always for our good and his glory.
How I wish I could learn to live as a man
who really believes that! God’s way is always right. Our way is always wrong.
With regard to all things, Solomon’s word is true, no matter what friends,
family, the world, and our own proud flesh may think to the contrary. "There
is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of
death" (Pro.
Here
we have a picture of a people It is
a picture of people who have come out of
How much like them we are! We
believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. We trust him for the forgiveness of our sins.
We have seen Satan cast out and our sins drowned beneath the blood of Christ.
We are moving toward heavenly glory. But we have great trouble trusting our
Savior to provide for, protect, and guide us in our daily lives and through our
daily struggles.
Our Faithful
God
But,
blessed be his name, our God is faithful still! His faithfulness, his mercy,
his grace, his provision is never altered by our experience. He deals with us
upon the basis of his covenant and the accomplished redemption of our souls by
the sacrifice of his dear Son (Tim. 2:13, 19: Ps. 103:8-14; Isa. 43:1-7). Let
every ransomed soul proclaim with Jeremiah, “Great is thy faithfulness!”
We
see this fact of God’s faithfulness, faithfulness in spite of our horrid
unbelief, when we get to the latter part of the Book of Numbers (chapters
21-35). Here we see
The Book of Numbers tells us, in the
clearest terms God himself can find, that though we are disobedient, though we
are rebellious, though we are so full of unbelief and sin, though we live, it
seems, in utter barrenness and emptiness of soul year after year after year in
this waste and howling wilderness, our great God will never leave us nor
forsake us (Heb. 13:5). Even in the midst of our weakness, he is our Strength.
Even when we fall, he protects us, lifts us up, and holds us in the hands of
his omnipotent mercy and immutable grace!
Pictures of
Christ
There are four
distinct and direct pictures of our Lord Jesus Christ in this Book. Aaron’s rod
that budded (17:1-13) was a picture of life out of death by which God
identified Aaron as his servant. As Aaron was, by the budding of his rod,
publicly declared to be God’s servant and priest, the Lord Jesus Christ was
publicly owned as and declared to be the Son of God with power by his resurrection
from the dead (Rom. 1:3-4).
The water that
flowed from the smitten rock (20:1-13 and 1 Cor. 10:4) was a vivid picture of
Christ and our salvation by him. As the rock brought forth water, only after it
was smitten by Moses, so the Son of God yields the water of life to chosen
sinners only by being smitten to death, to the full satisfaction of divine
justice, by the rod of God’s holy law.
The brazen
serpent (21:1-9) was another clear type and picture of our great Savior (John
Gospel
preachers are like the pole to which Moses fastened the brazen serpent. Our
only function is to hold up Christ crucified before sinners. The gospel we
preach is Jesus Christ. We do not merely preach a Christ centered gospel.
Christ is the gospel we preach. There is a huge difference.
Pastor Roger Ellsworth, in his excellent
book, The Guide, suggests that the brazen serpent (God’s remedy for
Israel’s ruin) typified the Lord Jesus in six ways. He wrote…
1. The remedy was not Moses’ idea but God’s. Salvation from sin is not produced by men, but only by God.
2. The remedy consisted of Moses making a serpent in the form of the poisonous serpents. The Lord Jesus Christ was made in the form of sinful men (Phil. 2:8).
3. As the serpent of brass had no venom, so Christ had no sin (2 Cor. 5:21).
4. As the serpent of brass was lifted up on a pole, so Christ was lifted up on the cross (John 3:14).
5. All that was necessary for the people to be healed was to look at the brass serpent, and all that is necessary for healing of sin is to look at Christ.
6. As there was only one remedy for the people of Israel, the serpent on the pole, so there is only one way of eternal salvation, Jesus Christ.
Many other
important points of similarity between Christ and the brazen serpent have been
made by others. (John Gill, in his commentaries on Numbers and John, gave many
excellent comparisons.) There is one other comparison that must be added. It is
very important, but often overlooked. – All who looked upon the brazen serpent
were immediately healed of their plague, and every sinner who looks to Christ
by faith is immediately made whole.
The cities of
refuge (35:9-34) were also typical of our Lord Jesus Christ, the refuge of our
souls, the refuge of salvation. Believers are men and
women who have fled for refuge unto him, like the man-slayer in the Old
Testament fled for refuge to one of the cities of refuge. Even the names of the
cities were typically significant and instructive (Ex. 21:13; Num. 35:6, 11,
14; Deut. 21:2, 9; Jos. 20:1-9). – Kedesh
means, "holy." Christ is holy, both as God and man, and is our
holiness before God, that “holiness without which no man shall see the Lord.”
– Shechem means,
"the shoulder." Christ not only bore our sins in his own body on the
tree, he bears and carries their persons; and the government of his church and
kingdom is on his shoulders. There, on his omnipotent shoulders, we are safe
and secure. – Hebron
means, "fellowship." Believers have fellowship with Christ and with
the Father in him; and in him we have fellowship with one another. – Bezer means, "a fortified
place." Christ is our stronghold, our high tower, and our place of
defense. To him we run; and in him we are safe. – Ramoth means, "exaltations.” Our Lord Jesus Christ is
exalted at God's right hand, and in due time he will exalt those that trust in
him. – Golan means
"manifested." Christ is God “manifest in the flesh.” The Son
of God was manifest to take away our sins and destroy the works of the devil;
and he will be gloriously manifest and revealed at the last day.
In addition to these types, our Lord Jesus
Christ is clearly spoken of prophetically by the false prophet Balaam (24:17-19
- Compare John 11:47-52). So great is our God that he uses both Balaam’s ass
and false prophets like Balaam (men far beneath Balaam’s ass) to deliver his
message when he is pleased to do so. Christ is that Star coming out of Judah
and that Scepter (Law Giver) out of Israel. His birth was announced by a star
put in the sky by God’s hand (Matt. 2:2). He is called “the Bright and Morning
Star” (Rev. 22:16). And he is the Deliverer (the Scepter) who comes out of
Zion for the salvation of his people (Rom. 11:26).
The Lessons
Now, let me show
you some of the lessons the Spirit of God would have us learn from this Book. First,
There is nothing so dishonoring to our God and so harmful to us in this world
as unbelief. We see this clearly in the major theme of the Book of Numbers. God
sent Israel in to spy out the land of Canaan, but they believed not God
(chapters 13 and 14). Therefore, the Lord God sent upon them forty years of judgment,
forty years (one year for every day the spies were in the land of Canaan) of
wandering from place to place in the wilderness.
I have emphasized the fact that God’s
favor is never determined by our experience. Divine favor is altogether
gracious, free, and unconditional. Yet, as God judged Israel for their
unbelief, he chastens us for ours, to teach us to believe him. That is a great
blessing. Still, the Word of God is crystal clear. We rob ourselves of much
blessedness in this world by our unbelief (Isa. 48:17-19; John 11:40; Matt.
23:37-38).
Second,
God almighty demands that those who speak for him be heard and obeyed
(11:1-17:13). The lessons of God’s judgment upon the sons of Korah need to be
learned. God’s ambassadors are God’s ambassadors. Hear them, and you hear God.
Refuse and disobey them, and you refuse and disobey God.
Third, multitudes,
like the sons of Korah and the mixed multitude in Israel, have a barren
familiarity with the things of God. J. C. Ryle wrote, “Nothing so hardens the hearts
of men as a barren familiarity with the things of God.” A barren familiarity
with Christ and his gospel is damning to the souls of men, and will ultimately
bring God’s most severe wrath in hell.
Fourth, the
most deadly thing in this world is the error of Balaam (Jude 11:14). What was
Balaam’s error? He served God (or pretended to) for hire (Num. 22:7). He was a
man motivated by covetousness. Being such a man, Balaam taught Israel to mix
the worship of God with the worship of idols (Num. 25:1-3). He did not teach
them to abandon the worship of God, or even to alter it. He simply taught them
that the way to get along with the heathen, among whom they sojourned, was to
compromise with them, accepting their gods as God. That is idolatry of the
worst kind.
Fifth, there is but one remedy for
human sin, but one way of salvation and eternal life. The only way Israel could
be saved from the fiery serpents was by looking to that brazen serpent Moses
lifted up before them. And the only way you and I can be saved is by looking to
Christ, our crucified Savior (John 12:32; 14:6; Isa. 45:20-22).