Theme of Book of Numbers

The book of Genesis reveals God’s promises, Exodus God’s mercy, and Leviticus God’s holiness. Numbers reveals God’s wrathful disposition toward sin. To achieve reverence and respect for Jehovah the Lord identifies sin and its consequences to Israel. Sin is identified as being unclean.The book of Numbers records a multitude of examples of times when Israel’s sin found them out. God’s wrath consumed the wicked complainers at Numbers 11:1 by fire and plague at 11:33. Miriam was struck with leprosy at Numbers 12:9. When the ten spies came back with an evil report about Canaan ,God determined to kill the whole congregation as one man (Numb. 14:8ff). Numbers 14:26ff reveals God’s wrath in that He caused the wicked to wander in the wilderness for forty years until their dead bodies littered the land. During this time of wandering Korah and many of the Reubenites rebelled against God and the Lord opened the earth to swallow them up.

Furthermore He caused fire to rain down from heaven to consume 250 princes that had been involved in the sin of Korah (Numb. 16:29-35). Again, Israel complained at Numbers 16:43-46 and 14,700 people died by plague. The people again complain about the manna at Numbers 21:4-6 and God killed them with snakes.

Numbers 25:1-5 reveals Israel joining themselves to Baal-peor and thereby God killed 24,000 by plague (Numb. 25:9). Time and time again Israel exercised a spirit of rebellion against the sovereign will of God and they paid a high price (cf. Numb. 14:8-9; 17:10; 20:10). God continued to press them with plague, fire, and death for their error.

” (Numb. 5:2; 8:21 / Lev. 16:16, 30), “defiled” (Numb. 5:3, 27 / Lev. 18:30), guilty of “trespassing against Jehovah” (Numb. 5:6), and being impure (Numb. 8:21). The message of the book of Numbers is that man will not go unpunished for sin. Moses warned Israel that if they would not follow God’s instructions regarding the taking of Canaan then “ye have sinned against Jehovah; and be sure your sin will find you out” (Numb. 32:23).