Numbers gets its name from the numberings of Israel’s men of war. The old generation was numbered at Mount Sinai (chaps. 1–4) and the new in the plains of Moab (chaps. 26–27). This is a book of transition. God set aside the old generation because of their unbelief (chaps. 1–20) and then prepared a new generation to inherit the promised land (chaps. 21–36).
It is a book of wanderings, for God made His people wander in the wilderness for forty years until the old generation, twenty years and older, died off. They did not believe God, and their unbelief cost them the inheritance. The New Testament commentary on this event is the book of Hebrews. Unless by faith you enter into your spiritual inheritance in Christ (Ephesians 1:3), you will “wander” in unbelief and rob yourself of the blessings God has planned for you (Ephesians 2:10).
Bible geography is instructive. Israel in Egypt pictures our lost condition of bondage to the world. Israel in Canaan illustrates our claiming our inheritance by faith and enjoying the fullness of God’s provision. Israel in the wilderness pictures carnal Christians whose unbelief and disobedience prevent them from entering into all that God has for them.
Genesis pictures God’s people as pilgrims and strangers, looking for their inheritance. Exodus and Leviticus depict Israel as a holy nation of priests, worshiping the Lord. The book of Numbers emphasizes God’s people as warriors, overcoming the enemy and claiming the promised inheritance.
They counted the men, twenty years and older, who were able to go to war. They did not ask for volunteers. When you enter the family of God by faith in Jesus Christ, you automatically become one of His soldiers (2 Timothy 2:3–4). Every believer is a soldier, either a good one or a bad one.
The army was organized, each tribe with its leaders and its standard. There was unity in diversity. Perhaps the camp of Israel pictures the church. There are different “tribes” and standards, with their different leaders, but it is one army, following one Commander and fighting one enemy: “And this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.” (1 John 5:4).
