NUMB IN NUMBERS?

When is the last time you had your personal devotions from the book of Numbers? When was the last time you heard any pastor speak from this book? This is not one of those books we look at very often; and once you begin reading it, you probably understand why. There are lots of details, numbers, laws, and other things we don't normally find very exciting. But, if we can keep in mind that being excited is not the highest priority for our Bible reading; and that there is great benefit to all of God's Word
(II Timothy 3:16,17), then we can stay alert and engaged rather than getting numb.

Allow me to share some introductory words, from commentator Eugene H. Merrill. As I read what he believed to be the purpose of Numbers, it was an encouragement to me, and helped me to get prepared to work through this book. Hopefully, it will be a help to you as well.

"The Book of Numbers seems to be an instruction manual to Israel. The "manual" deals with three areas: (a) how the nation was to order itself in its journeyings, (b) how the priests and Levites were to function in the condition of mobility which lay ahead, and (c) how they were to prepare themselves for the conquest of Canaan and their settled lives there.

The narrative sections, of which there are many, demonstrate the successes and failures of the Lord's people as they conformed and did not conform to the requirements in the book. The fact that the book covers the nearly 40 year period from the giving of the Law at Sinai till the eve of the Conquest points to its character as history. But it is more than a recording of history. It is history with the purpose of describing the Lord's expectations and Israel's reactions in a unique period, an era when the nation had God's promise of the land but had not yet experienced its fulfillment."