Numbers / Deuteronomy
Walking into the Wilderness
If you have your Bibles, we are going to do the unthinkable: we are going to cover the books of Numbers and Deuteronomy together. Fasten your seatbelts! This is the kind of message that is probably better taught at four-times speed, but I will try to slow it down for us.
Let me frame it with a little context before we dive into the book of Numbers, which in some ways is one of my favorite books in the Old Testament. When you consider where the people of Israel were, they were in captivity in Egypt. When we say “Egypt,” you and I probably picture pyramids or an awkward statue of a pharaoh. But I want you to think about the most fertile place in the known ancient world. Egypt and the Nile Delta region was the absolute place to be in terms of agriculture and produce. Remember that when famine hit the land back in Genesis, Abraham had no other option—there was no Plan B—so he went to Egypt. It was the best of the best; that was where the food was.
Now consider what God did. He called the people of Israel out of captivity in Egypt. But where did He call them to go?
There are three words in your Hebrew Bible used for the word desert: Tziah, Midbar, and Yeshimon. Yeshimon literally translates as “the nothing.” It means there is no food, no water, there is absolutely nothing there. And God says to them, “Follow Me, you slaves. You, My people whom I love, I want you to come with Me.”
“Where are we going?”
“We’re going to the nothing. We’re going to the Yeshimon. We’re going to the wilderness. Come with Me.”
And so they go. In the book of Numbers, they are going to learn a valuable lesson: that God is indeed the God of just enough. He is teaching them total dependence upon Him. They do not need the fertility gods of Egypt; they do not need the pantheon of Egypt. What they need is the one true God, and they have to learn to follow Him.
It was relatively easy for God to get the people out of Egypt, but the book of Numbers is about getting Egypt out of the people. Getting them locationally removed from Egypt was simple. Getting them culturally and spiritually transformed? That is the hard part.
There are two primary sections in Numbers. Chapters 1 through 25 focus on the old generation. I would love to tell you that the people who came out of Egypt—who saw the Red Sea part, who witnessed the plagues firsthand as adults—walked with God with resolute, galvanized obedience for the rest of their days. But the reality is, they were just like us. Not long after coming out of Egypt, they begin losing faith. Then, in chapter 26 and following, the next generation has to take over.
Order, Duty, and the First Steps (Numbers 1–10)
Chapters 1 through 10 describe their preparation. Remember, this is a massive group of people—several million strong. Some estimate it was a ten-mile-square mass of people moving together. So chapters 1 through 10 are about getting organized and ready to move. They had crossed the Red Sea, and now they receive their marching orders.
In chapters 2 and 3, God gives instructions on how the camp is arranged. The tabernacle—the tent structure where they worshiped God—was set directly in the center of the community. God had them camp very specifically around this central sanctuary: some tribes to the north, some to the east, some to the west, and a large group to the south. If you were to look down on the camp via satellite, the layout of the tribes around the tabernacle formed the shape of a cross.
In chapter 4, we see the priestly duties.
Numbers 4:3 (NASB)
from thirty years and upward, even to fifty years old, all who enter the service to do the work in the tent of meeting.
Notice that the priests began their active service at age thirty and concluded at fifty. It is almost as if God said, “I want to value the next generation and give them a chance to serve, and I don’t want those of a more seasoned vintage hoarding all the leadership.” So they started at thirty and stepped out of primary administrative duty at fifty. They did not retire completely; they transitioned into mentoring the next generation of priests. But God structured it so that older leaders would not hold onto power to the neglect of rising leaders.
When you look at the church today, that is often one of our primary challenges. If seasoned leaders continually hold all the seats, the next generation never has the opportunity or the requirement to step up. God built leadership transition right into the Levitical system.
In chapter 5, we see the sanctification of the people. In chapter 6, God outlines the Nazirite vow—a special vow of complete dedication to the Lord for those who wanted to go all-in with their devotion. We see biblical heroes like Samson, Samuel, and John the Baptist who operated under this vow.
In chapter 7, the tribal leaders present their offerings. The Levites are formally set apart in chapter 8. In chapter 9, they celebrate their first Passover since leaving Egypt. Then, in chapter 10, the cloud lifts, the silver trumpets sound, and the march begins.
The Anatomy of Grumbling (Numbers 11–25)
As soon as the march begins, chapters 11 through 14 reveal their disobedience. It does not take long for the complaining to start. The word grumble appears eleven different times in the book of Numbers. As early as chapter 11, verse 2, they begin to bicker and grumble against God and Moses.
They start saying things that sound absurd in hindsight: “Did you bring us out into the wilderness just to die? We remember the leeks, the onions, and the fish we had back in Egypt!” You want to shake them and say, “Are you crazy? You were slaves in Egypt!”
Yet don’t we do the exact same thing? God sets us free from an old life of bondage, and the moment things get difficult or uncomfortable, we find ourselves romantically longing for the familiarity of our past slavery.
In chapter 11, they grumble because they want meat. They are sick of eating manna—the miraculous bread God rained down from heaven every morning. They said, “We want meat!” So God responded, “You want meat? I will give you meat until it comes out of your nostrils.”
Numbers 11:20 (NASB)
but a whole month, until it comes out of your nostrils and becomes loathsome to you; because you have rejected the LORD who is among you and have wept before Him, saying, ‘Why did we ever leave Egypt?’‘’
In chapter 12, we see sibling rivalry at the highest level of leadership. Miriam and Aaron, Moses’ own brother and sister, complain in pride and try to usurp Moses’ authority. God steps in immediately. Miriam is struck with leprosy, and though God graciously heals her after Moses intercedes, God makes it clear that Moses is His chosen mediator.
By chapter 13, they arrive at the border of the Promised Land. Moses sends twelve spies to scout it out. They do not just peek over the border fence; they travel the entire length of the land all the way north near Lebanon. They come back and acknowledge that the land is flowing with milk and honey, but ten of the spies bring back a fearful, bad report.
Numbers 13:32 (NASB)
So they gave out to the sons of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, ’The land through which we have gone, in spying it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants; and all the people whom we saw in it are men of [great] size.
They tell the people, “There are giants in the land! We look like grasshoppers in our own eyes! We can never conquer it!” The entire congregation panics and chooses fear over faith. Only two men—Joshua and Caleb—stand up and say, “If the Lord delights in us, He will bring us into this land. Let’s go take it!”
Because the nation chose unbelief, God declared that the old generation would wander in the wilderness for forty years until every adult aged twenty and older passed away. That works out mathematically to roughly one funeral every twenty minutes for forty straight years. They were up to their eyeballs in mourning in the desert.
Yet, right in the middle of judgment, chapter 15 displays God’s relentless faithfulness.
Numbers 15:2 (NASB)
’Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ’When you enter the land where you are to live, which I am giving you,
Notice the phrase God uses: “When you come into the land.” Not if, but when. God was still going to give them the land because He had already sworn an unconditional covenant to Abraham back in Genesis 12.
In chapter 16, a leader named Korah rebels against Moses and Aaron, asking, “Why do you exalt yourselves? Aren’t we all holy? Why can’t we all approach God however we want?” The earth literally opens up and swallows Korah and his household, and fire consumes his followers. A solemn lesson on sin: your sin never affects just you. It always brings collateral damage to the people around you.
In chapter 17, God confirms Aaron’s priesthood once and for all by causing Aaron’s dead wooden staff to sprout buds, blossom, and produce almonds overnight. That staff was placed inside the Ark of the Covenant alongside a jar of manna and the Ten Commandments.
In chapter 20, we encounter one of the saddest moments in the Old Testament: the failure of Moses. The people complain for water again. God tells Moses to go speak to the rock. But Moses, furious with the rebellious people, yells at them and strikes the rock twice with his staff. Water pours out, but God tells Moses, “Because you did not trust Me enough to honor Me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not lead this community into the land.”
Moses poured out his entire life for these people, but in a moment of anger, he misrepresented God’s character. He would only be permitted to view the land from the top of Mount Nebo before dying.
In chapter 21, the people grumble again, and venomous serpents enter the camp. When they repent, God instructs Moses to make a bronze serpent and set it high on a pole.
Numbers 21:8-9 (NASB)
Then the LORD said to Moses, ‘Make a fiery [serpent], and set it on a standard; and it shall come about, that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, he will live.’ And Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on the standard; and it came about, that if a serpent bit any man, when he looked to the bronze serpent, he lived.
Anyone who looked at the bronze serpent on the pole was healed and lived—the very picture Jesus later used in John 3 to describe His own crucifixion.
Chapters 22 through 25 tell the bizarre story of King Balak of Moab hiring a pagan prophet named Balaam to place a curse on Israel. Every time Balaam opens his mouth to curse them, God forces him to pronounce a blessing instead. When Balaam realizes he cannot curse what God has blessed, he advises the Moabite king to seduce the men of Israel through sexual immorality and idolatry with the women of Moab. Israel falls into sin at Baal-Peor until a priest named Phinehas acts with holy zeal to stop the plague.
The Second Law for a New Generation (Numbers 26–Deuteronomy)
In Numbers 26, a brand-new census is taken. The old generation has died out, and a new generation is standing on the edge of the Jordan River. Moses commissions Joshua to take his place as the leader.
Numbers 27:18-23 (NASB)
So the LORD said to Moses, ’Take Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the Spirit, and lay your hand on him; and have him stand before Eleazar the priest and before all the congregation, and commission him in their sight. ’You shall put some of your authority on him, in order that all the congregation of the sons of Israel may obey [him]. ‘Moreover, he shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall inquire for him by the judgment of the Urim before the LORD. At his command they shall go out and at his command they shall come in, [both] he and the sons of Israel with him, even all the congregation.’ Moses did just as the LORD commanded him; and he took Joshua and set him before Eleazar the priest and before all the congregation. Then he laid his hands on him and commissioned him, just as the LORD had spoken through Moses.
Joshua had been Moses’ faithful assistant for forty years. If you want to be a leader, remember this principle: you cannot be a Moses until you have first been a faithful Joshua. Joshua learned in the shadow of Moses, watching, taking notes, and serving faithfully.
This brings us to the book of Deuteronomy. The name Deuteronomy comes from two Greek words meaning “second law.” When you read Deuteronomy, you might think, I’ve read this before in Exodus. You have! Exodus was the giving of the law to the old generation. Deuteronomy is the preaching of the law to the new generation.
Imagine you are a parent in that wilderness camp. You know you are disqualified from entering the Promised Land because of your past unbelief, but your children are going to enter. How would you spend your remaining days? You would spend every breath pouring into your kids, telling them, “Learn from our mistakes. Trust the Lord. Obey His voice. Love Him with everything you have.”
In Deuteronomy chapters 1 through 11, Moses reviews their history and God’s faithfulness. In chapters 12 through 25, he reviews the specific laws of the covenant. In chapters 27 and 28, Moses sets before them the choice between blessings and curses. He places half the tribes on Mount Gerizim to shout the blessings of obedience, and the other half on Mount Ebal to shout the curses of disobedience.
In Deuteronomy 32, Moses sings a prophetic song recounting Israel’s past and looking forward to their future redemption. In chapter 33, he pronounces a final blessing over the tribes. Finally, in chapter 34, Moses climbs Mount Nebo, looks across the Jordan into the Promised Land, and dies in the presence of the Lord.
Deuteronomy 34:6 (NASB)
And He buried him in the valley in the land of Moab, opposite Beth-peor; but no man knows his burial place to this day.
God Himself buried Moses in an undisclosed location. What an honor for a faithful servant, and what wisdom from God to prevent Israel from turning Moses’ tomb into an idol.
The Greatest Commandment
What is the big takeaway from all of this? We have covered two massive books packed with narrative, genealogy, laws, and history. What is the heartbeat of it all?
In Matthew 22, the religious leaders approached Jesus to test Him. They asked, “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?”
Matthew 22:37-39 (NASB)
And He said to him, ’‘YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.’ ’This is the great and foremost commandment. ’The second is like it, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’
Jesus did not invent a new command on the spot. He quoted Deuteronomy chapter 6.
Deuteronomy 6:4-9 (NASB)
’Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one! ’You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. ’These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. ’You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. ’You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
Deuteronomy 6:4 is known as the Shema—from the Hebrew word meaning “to hear” or “to listen and obey.”
“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.” There is no pantheon. There are no rival gods. He alone is God. Therefore, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might. Total devotion. Everything you have.
Then Moses tells them how this love is lived out: “These words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise up.”
Whose primary job is it to disciple the children in our church? It is your job as parents. The two children I am primarily responsible for training in the Lord are Peyton and Kendall. My first pastoral assignment is my own home.
We live in a culture that outsources everything. If your car breaks down, you take it to a mechanic. If your pipe bursts, you call a plumber. If your back hurts, you visit a chiropractor. But when it comes to the spiritual formation of our children, God never told us to outsource it to the church. The church is here to partner with you, but the home is the primary discipleship center.
Moses says to talk about God’s Word when you sit in your house, when you walk along the way, when you go to bed, and when you wake up. In Hebraic thought, that simply means all the time, everywhere. Let the Word of God be the natural soundtrack of your family life. You do not need to be a seminary professor. Just ask simple questions at the dinner table: What did you read today? What is God showing you? What questions do you have about the Bible?
In verse 8, Moses says to bind these words on your hands and between your eyes, and write them on your doorposts. Even today, Orthodox Jewish believers wear tefillin (phylacteries) containing Scripture during prayer and place mezuzot on their doorframes as physical reminders that their homes belong exclusively to the Lord.
Loving God with Everything
The central message of Numbers and Deuteronomy is this: love God with everything you are. Let your entire life be marked by an authentic, unwavering devotion to Him.
God brought Israel into the wilderness to strip away Egypt’s false securities and teach them that He alone is enough. Before they could ever fight the physical battles in Canaan, they had to win the spiritual battle of wholehearted allegiance to Yahweh.
Is your life marked by that kind of exclusive love for God? Are your home and your daily conversations shaped by His Word? May we be a people who do not wander in grumbling unbelief, but who love the Lord our God with all our heart, all our soul, and all our strength.
Let’s pray.
Father, as we worship You today, we thank You for who You are. As we read the book of Numbers, we see the grumbling of the people, and we are reminded that we are so often just like them. We are quick to complain, quick to get frustrated, and slow to recognize all the ways You provide for us each day.
Help us to have grateful hearts. Teach us what it truly means to love You with everything we have—heart, soul, mind, and strength. Give us grace to disciple our children and make Your Word the natural center of our homes. May our lives reflect an undivided devotion to You and You alone. We pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.