Search The Scriptures —Study 14 — Numbers 20

Study 14 From The Book of Numbers is: Numbers 20

1. Notice Moses and Aaron’s reaction to the people’s discontent (verse 6) . What did God desire to achieve through this incident? See verses 6, 8, 12. How did Moses and Aaron fail, and in what terms is their failure described?  See verses 10, 12, 24; Cf. 27:14; Dt. 32:51
2. God’s anger with Moses and Aaron may at first seem to us out of proportion to the extent of their failure. What ought we to learn from this? What ought we also to learn from the fact that even ‘meek’ (12:3) Moses ‘s spoke words that were rash’ (Ps. 106:33)?

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Search The Scriptures —Study 13 — Numbers 18:8-19:22

Study 13 From The Book of Numbers is: Numbers 18:8-19:22

1. What does 18:8-32 teach us about offerings which are holy and belong by right to God?
2. What are the special features of the sacrifice described in 19:1-10? Note the use to which the ashes were put (19:9, 12, 17-19). What are the ‘dead works’ from which we need to be purified?

Notes

1. 18:19. ‘A covenant of salt’: i.e., an indissoluble covenant. 2 Ch. 13:5.
2. 19:9, 12, 17-19. The cleansing virtue of the sacrifice already made was thus symbolically stored up and applied, as need arose, to the unclean. Heb. 9:13, 14; 1 Jn. 1:7-9.

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Search The Scriptures —Study 12 — Numbers 16:36 – 18:7

Study 12 From The Book of Numbers is: Numbers 16:36 – 18:7

1. How is the exclusive Aaronite priesthood strengthened and confirmed? What does the service of the priesthood involve? Notice especially 16:48, and compare the work of Christ as great High Priest. Cf. Heb. 5:1, 9, 10; 7:25-28; 9:11, 12, 26.
2. How could our service be transformed by thinking of it as a gift (18:7)? Cf. 1 Tim. 1:12-14; 2 Tim. 1:6.

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Search The Scriptures —Study 11 — Numbers 16:1-35

Study 11 From The Book of Numbers is: Numbers 16:1-35

 

1.      There is evidence here of a double revolt: one by Korah (a Levite) ‘and all his company’ against Moses and Aaron; and one by Dathan and Abiram (reubinites) against Moses. What was the ground of complaint in each case? See 16:3 and 16:13, 14.  To what extent was it justified? Cf. Heb. 5:4; 2 Cor. 10:18.

2.     What lay behind the revolts which made them serious enough to warrant so drastic a punishment and warning to the people? See especially verses 11, 19, 28, 30.

Note. Verse 1. That such men should lead and open revolt against the authority of Moses and Aaron meant that it was a very serious outbreak of discontent.

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Search The Scriptures —Study 10— Numbers 15. Religious Laws

Study 10 From The Book of Numbers is: Numbers 15 Religious Laws

1.      What do verses 1-21 teach us about making offerings which are pleasing to God?

2.     Why as there no way of atonement for the person who sinned ‘with a high hand’? What does this mean? Cf. Mk. 3:28, 29; Heb. 10:26-31, 39; Ps. 19:13.

3.     Notice by whom the deliberate law-breaker had to be dealt with and in what way.  Cf. Mt. 18:15-17; 1 Cor. 5; Heb. 12:15. Why is such church discipline so little practiced?

Note.  Verse 38. ‘Tassels’: these were made of twisted thread and attached by a blue ribbon to the robe, to remind the wearer of the commandment of the Lord, and of his obligation to keep them.

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Search The Scriptures —Study 9 — Numbers 14:10b-45

Study 9 From The Book of Numbers is: Numbers 14:10b-45

1.      What can we learn from Moses’s prayer, especially concerning governing motives and grounds of appeal to God?

2.     Although forgiven, the people suffered the consequences of their sin. How? In what way do they show themselves throughout this story (Nu. 14 and 14) to be typical of us?

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Search The Scriptures —Study 8 — Numbers 13:1-14:10a. The Spies Are Sent Into the Land

Study 8 From The Book of Numbers is: Numbers 13:1-14:10a. The Spies Are Sent Into the Land

1. To what places in Canaan did the spies go? Look up Hebron and the Valley of Eschol on a map. What were they commissioned to discover, and what report did they give?
2. What lay behind the opposing views expressed in 13:30 and 31? Were Caleb and Joshua being unrealistically optimistic and refusing to face facts? What was the outcome of the people’s fear and unbelief? Notice how few believed, and the frequent occurrence of the word ‘all’ in 14:1-10. Heb. 4:1, 2

Note. 13:32. ‘A land that devours its inhabitants’: this probably refers to the constant wars between its people, and their ferocity in internecine strife.

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