Numbers—Discipline and Wandering

Key Verses: Numbers 14:33-34; 32:13

Themes to Track: Complaining and disobedience, God’s character and activity

As much as I may not have wanted to admit it while growing up, my parents actually did know better than I did. They had much more life experience, wisdom, and knowledge than I could boast of from just thirteen short years of living. Nevertheless, the thirteen-year-old attitude inside of me tried to convince me that I needed to teach my parents a thing or two about what was okay and not okay. If only I had known then that the most beneficial thing I could have done was shut my mouth, trust them, and obey.

The second generation of Israelites, still wandering in the wilderness on their way to the Promised Land, have a LOT to learn from their parents. Thankfully, Moses took the time to write the book of Numbers for them in order to pass on some very valuable lessons they can learn from their parents’ generation, the first generation out of slavery in Egypt. The book covers the approximate forty years that the Israelites spent in the wilderness after leaving Mt. Sinai, where they were given the Mosaic Law and where God reestablished His covenant with them (see Exodus 33-34).

Numbers is a record of some very important historical information such as two different censuses and boundaries and divisions of the Promised Land. However, what stands out the most in Numbers is Moses’ intention of delivering a stark warning to the second generation to be different than their parents’ generation. It is Moses’ way of saying, “Hey, listen up! If you want things to go well with you and if you want to live in the blessings of God, take note of the mistakes your parents made in complaining against and disobeying God. It did not turn out well for them, and it will not turn out well for you if you do the same!”

After Moses records the results of the census and instructions for purifying the people in chapters 1-9, he begins to tell the story of the first generation’s failure to trust and obey a faithful and merciful God. Poor Moses! After all he had done to go back to Egypt and lead the Israelites out of their miserable slavery, he is now leading a bunch of whiners who show him absolutely no appreciation and who completely disregard the constant compassion the Lord has had on them in providing food, water, and protection. In fact, the Israelites were so mistrusting and ignorant of God that they began to wish they were back in Egypt under the cruel hands of the Egyptians!

Why in the world would they want to go back to such miserable lives? In chapter 11, the Israelites complain, “If only we had meat to eat! We remember the fish we used to eat in Egypt for nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic; but now our strength is dried up, and there is nothing at all but this manna to look at” (vv. 4b-6).

When the Israelites had come to a place in the desert where they could find no food to eat, the Lord had showered down manna from heaven to satisfy their hunger. Exodus 16:31 says the taste of manna was like wafers made with honey. The Israelites choose not to be thankful in the least bit for God’s provision. They had been promised a land “flowing with milk and honey” (Lev. 20:24), a land of bountiful harvest and only the best of the best food. But they’re not yet seeing this promise fulfilled, and it causes them to begin to doubt God’s power and faithfulness. They began to think back to their days in Egypt, when, despite living miserable lives of slavery, delicious and lip-smacking food was available to them.

They continue to complain, and finally, God has enough of it and decides that the first generation is going to face severe consequences. He tells Moses and Aaron,

How long shall this wicked congregation complain against me? I have heard the complaints of the Israelites, which they complain against me. Say to them, “As I live,” says the LORD, “I will do to you the very things I heard you say: your dead bodies shall fall in this very wilderness; and all your number, included in the census. From twenty years old and upward, who have complained against me, not one of you shall come into the land in which I swore to settle you, except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun.” —Numbers 16:26-30

Ouch.

Because of their disbelief towards God and constant complaining, the first generation is banned from ever entering the Promised Land. As a result, all the Israelites then have to wander in the wilderness for forty years so the first generation can die off. Even Moses becomes banned from the Promised Land after an event in chapter 20 in which his actions show a disbelief in God’s power.

While the Israelites are staying in a place called Shittim, they totally outdo themselves in rebellion and faithlessness to God, and go as far as having sexual relations with the women of Moab, and making sacrifices to their foreign gods! The consequence is the death of 24,000 of those who had yoked themselves to a foreign god.

In chapter 26, Moses starts things “afresh” and records a new census that was taken of the 2nd generation. It is now up to them to choose not to follow in the disobedient and ignorant footsteps of their parents and to live in a daily trust that they are being led by a Faithful Creator who will fulfill His promises to them if they obey Him. It is up to them to keep moving forward in what God has laid out for them, trusting that God Almighty carries them in the palm of His hand, even when they can’t feel it.

I think we could all agree that there are times in our lives when we feel as though we are wandering around in the wilderness, wondering if God is powerful, faithful, and loving as the Bible says He is. Dry times arise, and we begin to ask in desperation, Is He going to fulfill His plans for my life? Is he going to be faithful to me and bring me out of this pit? How do I know He’s still working when I can’t feel Him?

Furthermore, we all have little “Egypts” in our lives that we are so tempted to go back to sometimes when our flesh begins to doubt the sovereign work of God and the moving of His mighty hand.
What is your “Egypt”? Comfort? Knowing what tomorrow will bring? Control?

When we walk through a “wilderness” time in our lives, it is so important to keep moving forward with God. We may not know exactly what He is doing, where He is taking us, or how we’re going to get from one place to another, but no matter how we feel, God is still God. He is still at work, and He will be glorified when we live lives that exclaim, “I serve a FAITHFUL God, a LOVING God, a SOVEREIGN God, and a never-changing God. And because of that, I will move forward with Him. I will trust Him with every new day He gives me, knowing that His purposes cannot be thwarted!”