Beyond Today Bible Commentary: Numbers

Numbers doesn't sound like an interesting name for a book of the Bible. But don't let that fool you. The name of the book, translated from its title in the Greek Septuagint, comes from the first counting or numbering of Israel, which takes place 13 months after the Exodus from Egypt. "Take a census of all the congregation of all the children of Israel" (verse 2). Yet Numbers is not filled with endless genealogies, as one might expect. Quite the contrary, it contains a great deal of interesting information on the people of Israel as God leads them out into the "wilderness," i.e., a wild, uninhabited land. Indeed, the Hebrew name for the book is Bemidbar, taken from the first words in the book, translated into English as "In the Wilderness." Herein they are taught principles, lessons and even doctrine. Moreover, the book of Numbers reports on many of God's miraculous acts that are mentioned nowhere else. Furthermore, it is filled with many parallels, pictures or symbolic representations of Jesus Christ. The priesthood and tabernacle service anticipates His ministry.