Numbers
Memory Verse: I am the Lord your God who brought you out of
I am the Lord your
God. Num. 15:41
Fun Facts
Author: Moses
Main
Subjects: Preparing for the Journey, First approach to
the Promised Land,
Wandering in the
Wilderness, Second approach to the Promised Land.
Location: Old Testament
Purpose: To tell the story of how
they sinned and were
punished, and how they prepared to try again.
When: This was written 1450 – 1410 B.C.
Overview
Lesson
#1: Numbers 1:1- 3:50 Preparing for the Journey Part 1
Lesson
#2 Numbers 4:1- 10:10 Preparing
for the Journey Part 2 and
Start of Journey
Lesson
#3 Numbers 10:11-14:45 First
Approach to the Promised Land
Lesson
#4 Numbers 15:1-21:35 Wandering in the Wilderness
Lesson#5 Numbers 22:1-36:13 Second
Approach to the Promised Land
Lesson #1: Preparing for the Journey. Read Numbers
1:1-3:50 Part 1
“It was on the fifteenth day
of April of the second year after the Israelis left
So all these instructions of
the Lord to Moses were put into effect.
The Lord gave further
instructions to Moses and Aaron: “Each tribe will have its own tent area, with
its flagpole and tribal banner, and at the center of these tribal compounds
will be the Tabernacle.
In summary, the armies of
The role of the Levites was
to follow Aaron’s instructions and perform the sacred duties at the Tabernacle
on behalf of all the people of
Questions:
1. Why did God tell Moses to
take a census? ( The 1st
organized the people into
marching units to better defend themselves, the
second prepared them to conquer
the country east of
2. Why was it necessary for a
census of men 20 years and older to be taken?
(In case
they were needed to go to war while moving toward
the Promised Land. Remember
these people didn’t know what was ahead of them.)
3. What tribe was exempted from
the census. (The tribe of Levi.)
4. What was their special
job. (They were assigned for work
connected with the Tabernacle and its transportation.)
5. What would happen if someone other than a
Levite worked with the Tabernacle?
(They would be executed.)
6. How many were in the armies
of
7. Can
you imagine moving that many people across the wilderness?
8. How
would we do this today? Discuss the
magnitude of doing this huge move of people, animals, household goods,
etc. The importance of organization is
to train people to be effective in great movements. It is always wise to count the cost before
setting out on some great undertaking.
When we are aware of the obstacles before us we can more easily avoid
the pitfalls which lie ahead. In God’s
work, we must remove any obstacles which may hinder our relationships with
others so that our effectiveness is not diminished.
Summary: God gave specific instructions on how He
wanted everyone to fit into the
march. Everyone had a job
and a place. They were expected to obey.
Lesson #2 Preparing for the Journey Part 2 and Start of
Journey. Read Numbers 4:1-10-10
“The Lord gave Moses
specific directions for the tribe of
When Aaron and his sons had
finished packing the sanctuary and all the utensils, the clan of Kohath shall
come and carry the units to wherever the camp is traveling; but they must not
touch the holy items, lest they die. He
gave instruction for everyone to obey.
These included purity in the camp, being faithful to husband and wife
and consecration themselves to the Lord in a special way.
Now the Lord said to Moses,
‘Tell Aaron and his sons that they are to give this special blessing to the
people of
Next came the dedication of
the Tabernacle. Moses anointed and
sanctified each part of the Tabernacle, including the altar and its utensils,
on the day he finished setting it up.
Then the leaders of
The second Passover was on
the Sinai peninsula, during the first month of the second year after leaving
The Lord lead
His people with a pillar of cloud in the day and fire by night.”
Questions:
1. The tribe of
2. What was unusual about the way
the Tabernacle was moved? (The Lord told them in the exact order how to take
down the Tabernacle. Remind the children
the outside of the Tabernacle was a tent, not a permanent building.)
3. What would happen to anyone
who touched the holy items? (They would die.)
4. Talk about the carrying
poles and the rings. The rings being on
the holy items and the poles were very long.
It would take many men to carry these poles. Remember they must not touch any of the holy
items. The poles slid into the rings,
they did not place them through the rings by hand.
5. The Lord gave Moses further instructions for
everyone to obey. What were they?
(purity in camp, faithfulness of husband and wife
and concentration themselves to the Lord.)
Discuss meaning of purity. The
condition of being pure, cleanness, innocence.
6. Did you recognize the
special blessing the Lord gave to Moses to give to the people?
(The Lord bless and keep you, The Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to
you; The Lord lift His countenance on
you, and give you peace.)
Have you heard that blessing in any of our services?
7. How did the Lord lead His
people of their journey? (A pillar of
smoke by day and
fire by night?
Talk about all of the preparation it took to move
that large amount of people. Rules were
set up and duties assigned. Was this a
good thing or not?
Summary: God’s rules and duties to performed on the
journey to the Promised Land.
Everyone had a duty to be
completed.
Lesson #3: First Approach to the Promised Land. Read Numbers 10:11-14:45
“The Cloud lifted from above
the Tabernacle and the journey began.
The Israelites left the Sinai wilderness and followed the Cloud until it
stopped in the wilderness of Paran.
This was their first journey
after having received the Lord’s travel instructions to Moses. The people were soon complaining about all
their misfortunes, and the Lore heard them.. His anger flared out against them
because of their complaints, so the fire of the Lord began destroying those at
the far end of the camp. They screamed
to Moses for help, and when he prayed for them the fire stopped. (God responded positively to Moses when he
complained and negatively to the rest of the people. Why? The people complained to each other but Moses
took his complaint directly to God who could solve the problem.)
Always go to the one in
charge when you have a complaint.
The complaints
continued. First about the lack of food.
God answered by sending quail. They were
tired of Manna. The manna was the size of
small seeds, whitish yellow in color.
The people gathered it from the ground and pounded it into flour, then
boiled it, and then made pancakes from it- they tasted like pancakes fried in
vegetable oil. The manna fell with the
dew during the night.
Jehovah now instructed
Moses, “Send spies into the
So the spies went into the
land and did as the Lord had told Moses they were to do. After forty days of exploration they returned
from their tour. They made their report to Moses, Aaron and all the people of
This was their
report. ‘We arrived in the land you sent
us to see, and it is indeed a magnificent country – a land ‘flowing wit milk and honey.’ Here is some fruit we have brought as
proof. BUT the people living there are
powerful, and their cities are fortified and very large; and what’s more, we
saw Anakim giants there! The majority of
the report of the spies was negative.
The people were afraid to go into the Land. Moses prayed for the rebellious people. The
Lord said,” I will pardon them as you have requested. But I vow by my own name that just as it is
true that all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord, so it is
true that not one of the men who has seen my glory and the miracles I did both
in Egypt and in the wilderness – and ten times refused to trust me and obey me,
shall even see the land I promised to this people’s ancestors. Some of the
people tried to enter on their own but were chased back.”
Questions:
1. How did the Israelites know
it was time to move? (The cloud lifted
above the
Tabernacle.)
2. Why did the people start to complain? (They were tired of manna and wanted meat
meat to eat.)
Talk about where our focus is when we become dissatisfied. We think
about what we don’t have and not about what we
have. Are we grateful for the things God
has given us, or are we always thinking about new things we would like to have?
We should not allow our unfulfilled desires to cause
us to forget God’s gifts of life, food, health, school and friends.
3. What did God provide for them and did this
make them happy? (God provided quail
(a bird) for them.
They still found reasons to complain.)
4. How did they prepare manna? (They ground the seed into flour, boiled it
and made
it into pancakes.)
See if any of the group can relate this to the American Indians
making tortillas from the acorn.?
5. They reach the
were they to look for? (1. See what the land was like, 2. See what
the people were
like, 3. was the land fertile 4. Were the
cities villages or fortified cities, 5. Bring back
samples of crops.)
6. The
spies came back and what was their report?
(It is a land of milk and honey, BUT
the cites are large and well fortified and the
people are giants!)
7. How
did the Israelites respond to this news?
(They were afraid to enter the city.)
8. How
did God respond to this disobedience? (Not one of these men who have seen
my glory shall even see the land I
promised to this people.) Remember there
are
consequences when we disobey. God’s rules, mom’s and dad’s rules or our
teacher’s
rules. In our
next lesson we will learn about the consequences for this disobedience of
God.
Summary: God gave these people every opportunity to
enter the Promised Land, all they had to do was obey. The results of disobedience can be harsh.
Lesson #4: Wandering in the Wilderness. Read Numbers
15:1-21:35
After their disobedience and
unsuccessful attempt to enter the Promised Land, the Israelites are condemned
to wander forty years in the desert.
Even in the midst of this punishment, the people continued to rebel and
thus God continued to punish them. But
the hearts of the people remained hard and rebellious. Hard hearts toward God may bring similar
calamity to us.
God added additional
regulations for them to follow. The
first was concerning the burnt offerings for their sins and the next was for
anyone breaking the Sabbath. God also had given specific rules concerning their
clothing.
Many leaders rebel against
Moses. They didn’t like the fact that
Moses was close to God and they weren’t. Remember Moses is the only man that
ever spoke face to face with God. Moses
became angry with the people. God was
going to instantly destroy them. Moses
and Aaron asked God to have mercy on the very people who rebelled against
them. They prayed for those with whom
they were most angry and frustrated. God destroyed the men who despised the
Lord, not everyone. Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘to stop the question of
authority of Aaron’s leadership have all of the tribal chiefs bring a wooden
rod with his name inscribed upon it. Put these rods in the inner room of the
Tabernacle where I meet with you, in front of the
God set the rules for the
priest and Levites. There was a stiff
penalty for any one who didn‘t obey.
The people complained that
they didn’t have enough water. God told
Moses to speak to the rock and tell it to pour out its water. So Moses took the rod from the place it was
kept before the Lord. He lifted the rod
and struck the rock twice, and water gushed out; the people and their cattle
drank.
The Lord said to Moses, ‘because
you did not believe me and did not sanctify me in the eyes of the people you
shall not bring them into the land I have promised them!’
The people continued to
grumble.”
Questions:
1. Why were the people forced
to wander in the desert so long? (They
didn’t follow
God’s commands and some even tried to enter the
Promised Land by themselves.)
2. God gave the people further
regulations to follow. What were some of them?
(One
was concerning burnt offerings, another was about
breaking the Sabbath and there
was another about clothing for the priests. We do not have burnt offerings or special
clothing for our pastors, but in what ways do we keep the Sabbath?)
3. Why don’t we have to follow
these commands today? (Jesus was the sin offering for
us. One offering for all sins for those who believe
in Him. We labor for six days and rest on the seventh, the Sabbath by going to
church, spending time in family activities. Let them tell about ways their
families spend the Sabbath. )
4. The leaders of the tribes
rebelled against Moses. What’s was God’s
solution for this? All leaders were to
bring wooden rods with their names carved on the rods to Moses.
He put them in the inner room of the Tabernacle. The
chosen leader’s rod would have
growth on it. This is called budded.)
5. Did this miracle happen? What was on the budded rod, and whose rod was
it? (The
rod belonged to Aaron. It had blossoms on it and almonds hanging
from it.)
6. The last complaint we will
talk about today is the miracle of Moses getting water
from the rock. How did God tell Moses to do
this? (Moses was to speak to the rock
and the rock would gush forth water.)
7. What did Moses do? (He took the rod from the inner room and hit
it twice on the
rock.
8. Because Moses didn’t obey
God, what was his punishment? (He would
never enter the Promised Land.) This
seems like a harsh punishment after all Moses had gone
Through, but God is a fair and just God. All of us must expect the consequences for
our disobedience. We must all obey our parents,
teachers, God and anyone who is
in charge of us. Talk about some of their
punishments and how they have felt about
the fairness.
Summary: Hardships continued to follow the people and
they continued to disobey. Moses
disobeyed God’s command. He received a
very serious punishment. He wasn’t allowed to enter the Promised Land.
Lesson #5: Second Approach to the Promised Land. Numbers 22:1-36:13
Now the old generation has
died and a new generation stands poised at the border, ready to enter the
Promised Land. God assured
Balaam
was a sorcerer, one called upon to place curses on others. Belief in curses and blessings was common in
the Old Testament times, sorcerers were thought to have power with the gods. Thus the king of
God uses a donkey to help
Balaam see his situation. The donkey
saved Balaam’s live but made him look foolish in the process. So Balaam lashed out at the donkey to satisfy
his anger and wounded pride. We
sometimes strike out at blameless people who get in our way because we are embarrassed
or our pride is hurt. Lashing out at
others can be a sign that something is wrong in our heart.
The Israelites fall back
into their old pattern of behavior.
While they were camped at Acacia, some of the young men began going to
wild parties with the local Moabite girls.
These girls also invited them to attend the sacrifices to their gods,
and soon the men were not only attending the feasts, but were freely in the
worship of Baal, the god of Moab; and the anger of the Lord was hot against his
people. God caused a plague to effect the people. It was stopped by a man named Phinehas, but
only after 24,000 people had died.
After the plague had ended,
Jehovah said to Moses and to Elazar,(son of Aaron the priest), take a census of
all the men of
Not one person in this
entire census had been counted in the previous census taken in the wilderness
of Sinai! For all who had been counted
then had died, as the Lord had decreed when he said of them, “They shall die in
the wilderness.” The only exceptions were Caleb and Joshua.
Moses did not want to leave
his work without making sure a new leader was ready to replace him. First he asked God to help him find a
replacement. Then, when Joshua was
selected, Moses gave him a variety of tasks to ease him into his new job. Moses told the people Joshua had the
authority and the ability to handle the job of leading the nation.
Offerings had to be brought
regularly and carried out a certain way under the supervision of the
priests. The people had to undergo a
period of preparation to insure that their hearts were ready for worship. By spending this much time and preparation in
worshipping God, they gave idolatry little time to influence their lives.”
God is pleased today when we allow nothing to come
between him and us. He also is delighted
by hearts that are prepared to receive his guidance.
The book
of Numbers covers 39 years and closes with the Israelites poised near the Banks
of the
wilderness
had come to an end, and the people were preparing for their next big –
move,
the conquest of the land. The Apostle
Paul said that the events in Numbers
are
examples that warn Christians and help them avoid the same mistakes. From
the
Israelites’ experiences we learn that unbelief is disastrous. We also learn not to long for the sinful
pleasures of the past, to avoid complaining, and to stay away from all forms of
compromise. If we choose to let God lead our lives we should not ignore the
book of Numbers.
Questions:
1. Where were the people and
what did assure them? (They were at the
border of the Promised Land. God assured
them their enemy was already conquered.)
2. We need to talk about
Balaam. Who was he? ( A sorcerer)
3. What is a sorcerer in our
words? ( a magician)
4. What did King Moab want
Balaam to do? (King Moab wanted Balaam
to use his power with God of Israel, hoping his magic would turn Jehovah
against His people.
5. How did God use Balaam? (God used Balaam to bless, not curse
friends that try to convince you to do something you
know is wrong? Do you go along with
them?
6
What animal did God use with Balaam and what was Balaam’s
reaction? (God used a donkey. This embarrassed Balaam and he lashed out at
the donkey.)
7
The Israelites went back to their normal pattern of sinning. How did
God punish them this time? (God sent a plague to them. Many died.)
8
Moses picked a new leader. Who
was he and why did Moses pick him before he died? (Joshua would be the new leader. A new leader needs to know how to do the
job. Moses taught him what he needed to
know.)
9
What pleases God about us? (We
don’t allow anything to come between Him and us. Our hearts are in the right place. Talk about areas in their lives they need to
be cautious about; following the crowd, sneaking things, cheating in school,
not doing homework, talking back to parents, teachers etc)
Summary: The Israelites got to the border of the
Promised Land again. They continued
to disobey God. God punishes them with a plague. Many die.
A new leader,
Joshua is selected. Now they will soon cross into the Promised
Land.
*All
scripture for this unit was taken from “Life Application Bible, The Living
Bible”. (1988). Tyndale House
Publishers, Inc: Youth For Christ/USA.
Posted 5/09
