“For all the people have seen my glory and my signs that I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and yet have tempted me now these ten times, and have not obeyed me, they will by no means see the land that I swore to their fathers, nor will any of them who despised me see it” (Numbers 14:22-23). 

Numbers contains the records of two generations, two censuses (numberings, chapters 1-4; 26), and two sets of instructions for enjoying the “rest” of experiencing God’s blessing in the land of promise. The book opens with Israel’s 11-day march from Sinai to Kadesh (Numbers 1:1) and ends almost 40 years later (Deuteronomy 1:3). Only a year has passed since the exodus of Egypt. In spite of God’s merciful and bountiful provision, the dissatisfied people murmur and complain (11:1). This attitude undermines their faith in the goodness of their God and leads to disbelief and disobedience (14:22-23). The descendants of Jacob had learned that they were God’s special people (Genesis); they had experienced the delivering power of their redeeming God (Exodus), and they had learned that He is a holy God (Leviticus).

Now, in a dramatic test within sight of the Promised Land, they will fail to trust Him enough to do what He says. Numbers, the book of missed opportunity due to disobedience, contrasts the faithfulness of God with the fickleness of His people. God will discipline the Exodus generation to purge their unbelief from His people (1-25). Then, He will return the new generation to their place of testing—poised once again at the doorstep of the Promised Land (26-36).  The account is selective according to Moses’ purpose “to compel obedience to Yahweh by member of the new community by reminding them of the wrath of God on their parents because of their breach of the covenant; to encourage them to trust in the ongoing promises of their lord as they follow him into their heritage in Canaan; and to provoke them to worship of God and to the enjoyment of their salvation.” (Ronald B. Allen, “Numbers,” in Genesis-Numbers, vol 2. of The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, p. 662)

Numbers is the book of wanderings. Two generations receive instructions on how to enjoy intimacy with God in the land He promised them. One mistrusts Him, disobeys, and does not enter the “rest” of the blessing of obedience. The next is told to learn from the 40-year object lesson of the discipline of their parents. The theme of Numbers is the correlated truths of grace and devotion: God makes covenants of grace with His people, but to experience the full blessings of His grace demands wholehearted devotion. The object lessons for God’s redeemed people of the church age are clear: The pattern of Israel’s frequent failures to trust and obey God is set at Kadesh. During times of trial and testing they complained and disobeyed—focusing on their circumstances rather than their God. Consequently God postponed the blessing. Most generations of Israel will never enjoy the benefits and blessing of God’s promises to His people:

Numbers is a map for God’s people of every generation to follow during the wilderness experiences of life.

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“For I am the Lord who brought you up from the land of Egypt to be your God,

and you are to be holy because I am holy” (Leviticus 11:45).

Leviticus records the teaching of God through Moses at the foot of Mount Sinai during the month between God’s occupation of the tabernacle (Exodus 40:16, 34-38) and the taking of the census at Sinai (Numbers 1:1-3). The descendants of Jacob had learned that they were God’s special people (Genesis), and they had experienced the delivering power of their redeeming God (Exodus). Now, in an intense one-month course on holiness, God will teach the Exodus generation about His holy character and how to relate to their holy God.  The account is selective according to Moses’ purpose to teach Israel how to fulfill the responsibility of the Mosaic Covenant by becoming a kingdom of priests and a holy nation (Exodus 19:6; Leviticus 26:5). (See Sailhamer, The Pentateuch as Narrative, p. 323)

Leviticus is God’s handbook for his newly redeemed people, instructing them how to worship and serve Him. Unlike the gods of Egypt or the gods of the pagan peoples they are set apart from, their God is holy. Relating to a holy God creates a problem—sin is a barrier to ongoing intimacy with a holy God. The chapters naturally divide into two sections. The first section (1-17) teaches how a sinful people are to approach a holy God—through the blood sacrifice that atones for their sin. The word atonement occurs 45 times in the book. The second section (18-27) shows them how to walk with a holy God—by trusting Him enough to do what He says. It’s called obedience.

The theme of Leviticus is holiness: “You are to be holy because I am holy (11:45; 19:2). The word holiness occurs 87 times in 27 chapters! The object lessons for God’s redeemed people of the church age are clear: Sin is horrible; God is holy. Those approaching a holy God need a sacrifice to cleanse them from sin (1 John 1:5-10). Those walking with a holy God need to worship Him through obedience (1 Peter 1:15-16; Romans 12:1-2):

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“Therefore, tell the Israelites, ‘I am the Lord. I will bring you out from your enslavement to the Egyptians, I will rescue you from the hard labor they impose, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments.’”

(Exodus 6:6)

Exodus begins where Genesis left off. Seventy descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are living as aliens in Egypt under the protection of Pharaoh who favored Joseph (Genesis 46:27; Exodus 1:5). But soon after recounting the unprecedented growth of just a handful to a nation within a nation, Moses (Mark 7:10) explains the necessity of the Exodus with the foreboding words, “Then a new kind, who did not know about Joseph, came to power over Egypt” (Exodus 1:8). The account is selective according to Moses’ purpose to encourage the Israelites assembled on the Plains of Moab (Exodus 16:35) by celebrating God’s great and gracious deliverance of His people from Egyptian slavery to the freedom of living in covenant relationship and intimacy with Him.

The events Moses records in Exodus cover a period of about 400 years from the arrival of Jacob and his family in Egypt to the erection of the tabernacle in the wilderness. The chapters naturally divide into two sections. The first section (1-18) documents the dreadful plight of Israel in Egypt and their dramatic deliverance from slavery. The second section (19-40) deals with God preparing His people to worship Him intimately.

Most of the book (chapters 3-40) focuses on only two of those 400 years—the year before and the year after the Exodus from Egypt. The Exodus is obviously the central event of the second book of the Pentateuch. Exodus is the most cited book in the rest of the Old Testament, and only the books of Psalms and Isaiah are referred to more than Exodus in the New Testament.

The two-fold theme of Exodus is redemption and relationship:

Redemption means liberation because of a payment made. The Passover is the greatest picture of redemption in the Old Testament. The story of the birth of Israel illustrates the three basic ideas of biblical redemption. (1) People are redeemed from something—slavery in Egypt. (2) People are redeemed by something—the blood of the Passover lamb. (3) People are redeemed to something—freedom to serve God through the obedience that comes from continued trust.

Relationship with God carries the glorious opportunity to dwell with Him intimately. The God of Israel clearly states what this intimate relationship with Him involves. As they learn to trust and obey Him, He will dwell among them and they will be His people:

Exodus dramatically contrasts God’s gracious choice to bless Israel with deliverance, adoption, and His abiding presence with Israel’s consistent ingratitude and rebellion.

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If you were to survey 100 people, including a lot of people calling themselves Christians who claim to speak for God and ask the question, “What must I do to have a relationship with God?” Most of the answers you would receive would go something like this:

If you want to have a relationship with God, you have to begin by making some changes. Stop sinning, or at least sin less (meaning sin about the same amount that I sin), get your life together, be more holy, go to church more, care more for the poor, be more compassionate, care more for justice in the world. And then, once you’ve turned your life around, once you’ve decided to be better and do better for God, then you can think about having a relationship with God.

I want to demonstrate from the book of Exodus why this is wrong, terribly wrong; in fact, it’s absolutely backwards to say, “Change your life and then maybe you can have a relationship with God.” It’s never been that way with the God of the Bible. From the very beginning it’s been the other way around: “God will change you by liberating you from slavery, then, and only then are you set free to enjoy a relationship with Him.”

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“Then Abram believed the Lord, and the Lord considered his response of faith

 as proof of genuine loyalty (evidence of steadfast commitment, righteousness).” (Genesis 15:6) 

Genesis provides the historical foundation for the entire Bible and the basis for the Pentateuch. Moses, the author (Matthew 19:8; Mark 7:10), traces the history of the universe from God’s perspective. The account is selective according to Moses’ purpose to encourage the Israelites assembled on the Plains of Moab to trust in their faithful and omnipotent God enough to conquer the Promised Land.

The events Moses records in Genesis take the reader from Eden to Egypt and cover thousands of years from Creation to Abram’s family (1-11) and then the 300 years from Abram’s covenant with God to the death of Joseph (12-50).

Moses moves the story forward through the phrase “the generations of” (toledot in Hebew, and translated “the account” or “record). It divides the book 10 times (36:9 repeats 36:1) beginning with the person named, who may not be the primary character of the section, and closes with that persons death (2:4; 5:1; 6:9; 10:1; 11:10; 11:27; 25:12; 25:19; 36:1; 37:1).

Genesis introduces the Abrahamic Covenant (Genesis 12:1-3) as God’s solution to a self-destructing humanity bent on devastating destruction. The first eleven chapters surface the desperate need of the Covenant. The remaining chapters unfold the outworking of the covenant through the lives of the four Patriarchs of the Hebrew faith—Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph.

God is the luminary of Genesis as the narrative reveals His place in the origin of the universe and the birth and life of the believing community He powerfully and faithfully delivers. Of His own choice and due only to His love and mercy, He established Israel as the means of blessing the undeserving families of the earth in response to Abrahams’ faith.

Imagine the impact this view of history had on the children of the generation that refused to believe God at Kadesh-barnea (Numbers 14). Far more than a gaggle of slaves slinking back home. Moses wanted them to see themselves as the chosen people of the living God with a glorious and eternal destiny! Genesis, the book of beginnings, has encouraged believers since the post-Exodus generation by providing God’s exciting perspective on their role in history:

Genesis is a theological presentation of selected facts and stories from history to expose humanity’s disastrous revolt against our Creator and His merciful response.

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We just finished the Book of Genesis in our series, bible.cod, “Give us two years and we’ll give you the Bible. Every time I read the first 50 chapters of the Bible, I’m jarred by the stuff God puts up with in the life of the Patriarchs of Israel—Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph

Abraham and Isaac told their wives to lie to kings to save their skin. “Tell him you’re only my sister, and sleep with him if you have to.” Jacob was a trickster and a manipulator from the beginning. Joseph seemed insensitive to the feelings of his brothers, bragging about a dream that proved they would all serve him someday.

So, why didn’t God just go out and start over with a new family? Why did God insist on moving His purposes forward through these losers? And then God’s Spirit reminds me of another loser God’s using in spite of his failures. Me!

When I consider my own life and all the ways I’ve failed Jesus and how undeserving I am, I look again at the Book of Genesis. Paul said that Abraham is the father of our faith, not because of his performance for God but because of the promise God made to Him when he believed (Genesis 15:6; Galatians 3:6).

The entire storyline of Genesis hinges on God’s response to Abraham’s faith. God made a covenant with Abraham based solely upon his faith. God promised to make Abraham a great nation in a special land that would bless the nations of the earth (Genesis 12:1-3; 15).

Jesus made a covenant promise to me personally when I trusted in Him. He said that He would give me eternal life, and nothing would ever change that (John 6:47). In the forty-some years since I believed, my performance has been up and down. But His promise has never wavered.

Question: Have you claimed God’s promise to give all who believe in His Son eternal life, or are you still trying to perform for Him? 

“For everything that was written in former times was written for our instruction,

 so that through endurance and through the encouragement of the scriptures

 we may have hope” (Romans 15:4).

We’re all born with questions in our heart that the two most basic sources of human knowledge—reason and experience—cannot answer: Who am I? Why am I here? Does anyone care about me, I mean really? History seems out of control, where is this world headed?

God in His grace has provided another source of knowledge—revelation—to answer the questions of humanity concerning meaning and significance in life. The Bible claims to be God’s special revelation to the beloved centerpiece of His creation—men and women, boys and girls.

Though God demonstrates that He’s there through the general revelation of His creation (Psalm 19:1-6) and has given every human heart the knowledge that He exists (Romans 1:18), His special revelation is His more direct communication to humanity. This may involve dreams, angels, and visions, but we receive special revelation primarily and most clearly through His Son, Jesus Christ (Hebrews 1:1-2) and in the written words, paragraphs, and stories in the 66 Books of the Bible.

Many people, even sincere Christians, struggle as we read through the Bible. We may be familiar with a few of the stories and we may have heard sermons about a number of passages. But we find it difficult to put the pieces of the Bible together and feel lost when we’re trying to read through an entire Book of the Bible.

What we need is the big picture of the Bible—a broader understanding of how the Bible is put together and how the events, people, and places connect. This is what Bible students call a synthetic study of the Scriptures. We’re dedicating two years to a synthetic study of the Word of God—all 66 Books. And it begins today with this overarching sentence on the Bible:

The Bible contains 66 Books, 39 of those comprise the Old Testament, which begins with the 5 Books of the Pentateuch:

I. The Old Testament was written to instruct us and give us enduring and encouraging hope (Romans 15:4).

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Every Word: For Spiritual People

Do you remember the first time you read your Bible after you believed in Christ?

I do. It was like it suddenly made sense. “Man, it makes sense now,” I told the friend who was discipling me.

1 Corinthians 2:13 explains why it suddenly made sense to me:

“And we speak about these things, not with words taught to us by human wisdom, but with those taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual things to spiritual people” (NET Bible)

Paul goes on to clearly state that “the unbeliever does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him. And he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned” (2:14).

This leads me to three critical observations in the way we approach the people in our world with biblical truth:

1. If they’re not yet a believer, we shouldn’t try to pound them over the head with the Bible. Instead, we should focus on the Gospel of Christ–Christ died for our sins and arose. Jesus Himself promised that His Spirit is testifying of Him (John 15:26). Don’t argue with them; love them as you make the Gospel of Christ clear.
2. If they are a believer, we should know that they can understand the Bible. Encourage them to read it claiming 1 Corinthians 2:13. I always tell new believers that God will make sure they understand whatever it is that He knows they need to understand.
3. If they are a maturing believer, we should encourage them to begin studying the Bible in earnest in community (meaning in a local church that is committed to the Bible and discipleship). Just knowing that the Spirit will make the Bible clear isn’t enough. We all need to read the words the Spirit will make clear to us.

Question: Were you aware of this stark contrast between an unbeliever and a believer’s capacity to understand the Bible?

…But reading the Bible matters more.

The challenge of finding the best translation of the Bible is a relatively new one, and it is an embarrassment in the English-speaking world where you have a smorgasbord of choices.

In that world, it’s clearly important to make a wise choice. But the best way to move forward as a disciple of Christ is simply to choose one to read and apply. After all, reading and applying the Word of God is what matters most, if we’re looking at the translation controversy from Jesus’ perspective.

But Christians have discovered that after translation number three or four there remains the need to actually read what you’ve chosen. Suddenly, you realize that you have to stop debating translation theory and starting trusting a few good translations.

What an insight! The Spirit is rewarding those who read the Scriptures honestly and openly, whatever the transition. He’s rewarding Christians who give Him access to their heart through the words He inspired. None of this is measured by the “correctness” of the choice of translations.

Billy Graham doesn’t read a better Bible than yours. Neither does Beth Moore. Finding the perfect translation is a silly question, just as finding the perfect church is a nonsensical quest. Instead of debating the nuances of translation theory, it might pay to devote your time reading and praying about what you’ve read.

Question: Am I the only one tired of all the “controversies” like what is the best translation? dominating the Christian landscape today? 

I’m asked that question a lot. Whether it’s a student at a Bible college, a young pastor I’m discipling, a brand new Christian, or a wounded lifetime church-goer, most people want to know, “Which translation of the Bible is best?”

I have a simple answer to that question, but it’s important to give you the background to the answer. There are three primary types of translations of the Bible:

1) Formal Translations (Word-for-Word).

These are the translations dedicated to giving the reader the “exact words” from the Old Testament Hebrew and the New Testament Greek texts. This is the type of translation I prefer for serious study. Formal translations attempt to translate the words from one language to another—word-for-word or formal equivalence. Their strength is that they are the least interpretive not only in vocabulary but also in form. The formal translators are concerned with both meaning and grammatical form. Their weakness is that they are sometimes hard to understand since they keep the historical distance from the modern reader intact, making them more difficult to read. Since the reader must interpret the word, the “literal translation” offers what it cannot deliver

The New American Standard is the most literal, but it’s so literal that it sometimes makes it hard to read in. The New King James Version, the ESV and the NET Bible are also formal. You can’t go wrong with any of these translations. My favorite is the NET Bible.

2) Dynamic Equivalence (Idea-for-Idea).

More dynamic translations strive to offer the reader an accurate representation of the ideas of the text rather than the literal wording. These attempt to capture the original text in precise modern equivalents—phrase-for-phrase. Their strength is the balance they strike between interpretation and accuracy. Since these translators are concerned primarily with meaning their sentences and paragraphs are more readable to the English reader. The corresponding weakness is that they can be highly interpretive because of choices concerning form and language. They too offer what they cannot deliver because accuracy is necessarily compromised.

The NIV is the most popular dynamic translation in the world today. I prefer the New Living Translation.

2) Paraphrase (Story-for-Story).

A paraphrase is the most readable because it doesn’t claim or strive to be accurate in the details. It’s the most interpretive and the most readable. My personal favorite is TheMessage.

So, which translation is best?

I think it’s important to use all three for Bible study. But as you read through the Bible with us over the next two years in our bible.cod series, the best translation is…

The one you’ll read!

Questions: What is your favorite translation and why?