Numbers 11-30: Are we there yet? The journey which reveals.

This section of Numbers is a challenging portion to read - not only in terms of its literary features but also in terms of the literal frustrations depicted! After the year long boot camp at Mount Sinai, you would think that the sons of Israel would be all pumped-up to march on to claim and conquer the promised land but they end up being conquered instead - not by external enemies but by internal opposition. The worst type of threat any leadership can face is that which comes from within because a house divided against itself will not be able to stand (Mark 3:25). 

As you read through Numbers 11-30 this week, be on the lookout for the "twin test" of leadership challenges faced by Moses in the form of complaining followers and comparing rivals. You can almost feel Moses being "sandwiched" between the people he leads and the people leading together with him. The burden of leadership was so heavy that Yahweh summoned 70 elders to share this leadership load with Moses (Num 11:16-17). The phrase "tent of meeting" appears 56 times in the book of Numbers - indicating the numerous times Moses and the leadership needed to come before Yahweh's presence in prayer even as the wilderness journey becomes more challenging.

Connecting the dots
To help you connect the dots, the Bible Project provides free overview illustrated downloads for each book of the Bible (click here for Numbers) - this is a great aid for you to navigate through the book even as the Israelites navigate through the wilderness!

In reading through Numbers, bear in mind the 3 geographical locations interspersed with 2 road trips.

  • Location 1: The preparations at Mount Sinai (Num 1-10)
  • Road trip 1: The complain and comparing (Num 11-12)
  • Location 2: The wilderness of Paran (Num 13-19)
  • Road trip 2: More complaining and judgment (Num 20-21)
  • Location 3: Plains of Moab (Num 22-36)
Because this is such an emotionally intense journey through the wilderness, filled with the drama of human conflict and divine interventions, it is helpful to supplement the prose reading of Numbers with the poetry writings of Psalms. For example, Psalm 78 gives you a heartfelt rendition of the emotional churnings of the wilderness journey both from the people's perspective and also the Lord's angle as well. Ps 78:8 describes the people as "a generation that did not prepare its heart, and whose spirit was not faithful to God." Consider the grace of Yahweh as He continues to guide His people in spite of their unfaithfulness because He is a covenant-keeping God.

Activity idea
For those who are in ministry, serving and leading the people of God, there are surely burdens they bear constantly. Some of those burdens may even be caused by internal misunderstanding and conflict. As you go to into your own "tent of meeting" or prayer closet this week, pray for God to give you a sensitive heart to be keenly aware of the burdens faced by your leaders - it can be lonely at the top where people expect you to have it all together.

Perhaps you can discuss as a family how you can help to alleviate the burden of those whom God has placed over you as leaders and shepherds (Heb 13:16-17). It could be an encouraging text, a casual phone call, a thoughtful gift or a grateful conversation. One regular emotional challenge for leaders is the emotion of discouragement and we as followers should do well to encourage them regularly - especially in seasons of wilderness wanderings.

Christ in Scripture
In Numbers 21, the people again got discouraged, and in their unbelief they murmured against Moses for bringing them into the wilderness. They had already forgotten that it was their own sin that caused them to be there, and they tried to blame Moses for it. As a judgment against the people for their sin, God sent poisonous serpents into the camp, and people began to die. This showed the people that they were the ones in sin, and they came to Moses to confess that sin and ask for God’s mercy. When Moses prayed for the people, God instructed him to make a bronze serpent and put it on a pole so the people could be healed by looking at it (Numbers 21:5-7).

The next reference we find in the Bible to this serpent is in John 3:14. Jesus indicated that this bronze serpent was a foreshadowing of Him. The serpent, a symbol of sin and judgment, was lifted up from the earth and put on a tree, which was a symbol of a curse (Galatians 3:13). The serpent lifted up and cursed symbolized Jesus, who takes away sin from everyone who would look to Him in faith, just like the Israelites had to look to the upraised symbol in the wilderness. Paul is reminding the Galatians that Jesus became a curse for us, although He was blameless and sinless—the spotless Lamb of God. “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21). Ref: https://www.gotquestions.org/bronze-serpent.htm

What a marvelous symbol of God's mercy even in the midst of judgment. 

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