Sunday School 02OCT2025
Numbers
Core Facts
Name: The English name “Numbers” is the transliteration of Greek (LXX) title for “arithmoi” and the Vulgate’s Liber Numberi.” The Hebrew name is “In the Wilderness” from chapter 1.
Authorship: Moses
Date Written: 11445-1406 BC. According to 1:1, the events begin in the second month of the second year after the exodus and conclude at the end of the forty years of wanderings before crossing the Jordan into Canaan.
Theme: God’s discipline, direction, and provision for his people
Purpose: To trace the transition from the generation delivered from Egypt but refused because of unbelief to enter Canaan.
Key Verse: Numbers 6:24-26
Outline
I. Israel at Sinai (1:1 – 10:10)
II. Journey from Sinai to Kadesh-Barnea (10:11 – 14:45)
III. Period of Wilderness Wandering (15:1 – 21:35)
IV. Story of Balaam (22:1 – 24:25)
V. Israel on the Plains of Moab (25:1 – 36:13)
Redemptive Revelation Themes
- God will not be pleased with unbelief (Numb. 13-14; Ps. 95:8-11, Heb. 4:2; 11:6)
- God’s provision for his people
- Prophetic and priestly offices; THWH was king
Special Problems of Interpretation
- Census Numbers–the name of the book derives its name from the two censuses Moses took to determine the number of men over the age of twenty (Numb. 1;26). There is a net loss after the wilderness wandering. But these numbers only represent the males over 20. The total population would be between 2-2.5 million people.
- Balaam (Num. 22-24)–God used Balaam to declare remarkable truths, even though Balaam was a pagan.
