After forty years in the wilderness Moses is within sight of the Promised Land. But, tragically, it is here, within sight of his life’s goal, Moses reaches his breaking point and is barred from entering Canaan

What has been at the root of all Israel’s troubles has been a habit of defiance, and in Numbers 16-17 we see that the answer to that habit isn’t more legislation, but a priest – a mediator who can stand in the gap and made peace. In these chapters we see,

Numbers 15 inserts a groups of laws into the aftermath of Israel’s refusal to enter the promised land. But there’s nothing random about them – they are designed to introduce into Israel’s daily life over the next forty years three truths:

There comes a point in some stories – indeed, in some lives – where everything changes. It becomes the definining moment of that story or of that life. In the life of the newly born nation of Israel that defining moment is described in Numbers 13-14. Their moment of truth results in a spiral of…

As Israel are on their way – quite literally – to the promised land, they stumble over the same thing that so often causes us to stumble … the things we crave. The thing we crave can destroy us, or lead us to salvation.

In Numbers 9:15-10:36 Israel are finally ready to leave Mount Sinai. The time for preparation has ended and their final directions relate how they are to come and go as they travel. This is unfolded in: The Cloud The Trumpets The Invitation

It’s one thing to set people free, but how do they stay free? Numbers seems to present the Passover in Numbers 9 as the answer, that the way they’ll stay free is by remembering how they were delivered. The regulations given here highlight: The Importance of Remembrance The Indispensability of Remembrance The Universality of Remembrance

Numbers 8 presents, rather unexpectedly, specific instructions for one item of furniture in the Tabernacle – the lampstand. It is clear that, with the dedication of the Tabernacle, the privilege of being able to walk in its light has profound significance. This is only underscored by the fact that the next thing narrated is the…

Having focused on how God numbered the Israelites In the Wilderness, arranging them around his Tent – the Tabernacle – the way an army encamps around their general, in Numbers 7 we go back in time a month to see how that Tabernacle was prepared. And it becomes clear that it wasn’t just the priests…

Numbers is punctuated by five sections detailing the laws under which Israel was to live. The first, in chapters 5-6, responds the fact that God is Among Them, his Tabernacle is in the heart of the camp. The camp must therefore be clean. These chapters outline: Three things which defile the camp Two things which…