Old Testament
Numbers
Numbers follows Israel through long years in the wilderness, a story of grumbling and grace on the way to the promised land. Tucked inside it is one of the oldest and most beautiful blessings ever spoken over God's people.
Numbers 6
Passages discussed across 316Quotes
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- Numbers 6:1-21
The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them: ‘When either man or woman shall make a special vow, the vow of a Nazirite, to separate himself to the LORD, he shall separate himself from wine and strong drink. He shall drink no vinegar of wine, or vinegar of fermented drink, neither shall he drink any juice of grapes, nor eat fresh grapes or dried. All the days of his separation he shall eat nothing that is made of the grapevine, from the seeds even to the skins. “‘All the days of his vow of separation no razor shall come on his head, until the days are fulfilled in which he separates himself to the LORD. He shall be holy. He shall let the locks of the hair of his head grow long. “‘All the days that he separates himself to the LORD he shall not go near a dead body. He shall not make himself unclean for his father, or for his mother, for his brother, or for his sister, when they die, because his separation to God is on his head. All the days of his separation he is holy to the LORD. “‘If any man dies very suddenly beside him, and he defiles the head of his separation, then he shall shave his head in the day of his cleansing. On the seventh day he shall shave it. On the eighth day he shall bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons to the priest, to the door of the Tent of Meeting. The priest shall offer one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering, and make atonement for him, because he sinned by reason of the dead, and shall make his head holy that same day. He shall separate to the LORD the days of his separation, and shall bring a male lamb a year old for a trespass offering; but the former days shall be void, because his separation was defiled. “‘This is the law of the Nazirite: when the days of his separation are fulfilled, he shall be brought to the door of the Tent of Meeting, and he shall offer his offering to the LORD: one male lamb a year old without defect for a burnt offering, one ewe lamb a year old without defect for a sin offering, one ram without defect for peace offerings, a basket of unleavened bread, cakes of fine flour mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers anointed with oil with their meal offering and their drink offerings. The priest shall present them before the LORD, and shall offer his sin offering and his burnt offering. He shall offer the ram for a sacrifice of peace offerings to the LORD, with the basket of unleavened bread. The priest shall offer also its meal offering and its drink offering. The Nazirite shall shave the head of his separation at the door of the Tent of Meeting, take the hair of the head of his separation, and put it on the fire which is under the sacrifice of peace offerings. The priest shall take the boiled shoulder of the ram, one unleavened cake out of the basket, and one unleavened wafer, and shall put them on the hands of the Nazirite after he has shaved the head of his separation; and the priest shall wave them for a wave offering before the LORD. They are holy for the priest, together with the breast that is waved and the thigh that is offered. After that the Nazirite may drink wine. “‘This is the law of the Nazirite who vows and of his offering to the LORD for his separation, in addition to that which he is able to afford. According to his vow which he vows, so he must do after the law of his separation.’”
Discussed in: - Numbers 6:24-26
‘The LORD bless you, and keep you. The LORD make his face to shine on you, and be gracious to you. The LORD lift up his face towards you, and give you peace.’
Read the passage article - Numbers 6:26
The LORD lift up his face towards you, and give you peace.’
Read the passage article - Numbers 6:27
“So they shall put my name on the children of Israel; and I will bless them.”
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Numbers 7
Passages discussed across 316Quotes
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- Numbers 7:1
On the day that Moses had finished setting up the tabernacle, and had anointed it and sanctified it with all its furniture, and the altar with all its vessels, and had anointed and sanctified them;
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Numbers 11
Passages discussed across 316Quotes
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- Numbers 11:5-6
We remember the fish, which we ate in Egypt for nothing; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic; but now we have lost our appetite. There is nothing at all except this manna to look at.”
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Numbers 13
Passages discussed across 316Quotes
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- Numbers 13:30
Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, “Let’s go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it!”
Discussed in: - Numbers 13:33
There we saw the Nephilim, the sons of Anak, who come from the Nephilim. We were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.”
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Numbers 14
Passages discussed across 316Quotes
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- Numbers 14:1-4
All the congregation lifted up their voice, and cried; and the people wept that night. All the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron. The whole congregation said to them, “We wish that we had died in the land of Egypt, or that we had died in this wilderness! Why does the LORD bring us to this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will be captured or killed! Wouldn’t it be better for us to return into Egypt?” They said to one another, “Let’s choose a leader, and let’s return into Egypt.”
Discussed in: - Numbers 14:6-9
Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, who were of those who spied out the land, tore their clothes. They spoke to all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying, “The land, which we passed through to spy it out, is an exceedingly good land. If the LORD delights in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it to us: a land which flows with milk and honey. Only don’t rebel against the LORD, neither fear the people of the land; for they are bread for us. Their defence is removed from over them, and the LORD is with us. Don’t fear them.”
Discussed in: - Numbers 14:22-23
because all those men who have seen my glory and my signs, which I worked in Egypt and in the wilderness, yet have tempted me these ten times, and have not listened to my voice; surely they shall not see the land which I swore to their fathers, neither shall any of those who despised me see it.
Discussed in: - Numbers 14:29-35
Your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness; and all who were counted of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old and upward, who have complained against me, surely you shall not come into the land concerning which I swore that I would make you dwell therein, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun. But I will bring in your little ones that you said should be captured or killed, and they shall know the land which you have rejected. But as for you, your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness. Your children shall be wanderers in the wilderness forty years, and shall bear your prostitution, until your dead bodies are consumed in the wilderness. After the number of the days in which you spied out the land, even forty days, for every day a year, you will bear your iniquities, even forty years, and you will know my alienation.’ I, the LORD, have spoken. I will surely do this to all this evil congregation who are gathered together against me. In this wilderness they shall be consumed, and there they shall die.”
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Numbers 16
Passages discussed across 316Quotes
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- Numbers 16:49
Now those who died by the plague were fourteen thousand and seven hundred, in addition to those who died about the matter of Korah.
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Numbers 18
Passages discussed across 316Quotes
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- Numbers 18:20
The LORD said to Aaron, “You shall have no inheritance in their land, neither shall you have any portion amongst them. I am your portion and your inheritance amongst the children of Israel.
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Numbers 21
Passages discussed across 316Quotes
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- Numbers 21:6
The LORD sent venomous snakes amongst the people, and they bit the people. Many people of Israel died.
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Numbers 24
Passages discussed across 316Quotes
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- Numbers 24:17
I see him, but not now. I see him, but not near. A star will come out of Jacob. A sceptre will rise out of Israel, and shall strike through the corners of Moab, and crush all the sons of Sheth.
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Numbers 27
Passages discussed across 316Quotes
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- Numbers 27:1-11
Then the daughters of Zelophehad, the son of Hepher, the son of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, of the families of Manasseh the son of Joseph came near. These are the names of his daughters: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. They stood before Moses, before Eleazar the priest, and before the princes and all the congregation, at the door of the Tent of Meeting, saying, “Our father died in the wilderness. He was not amongst the company of those who gathered themselves together against the LORD in the company of Korah, but he died in his own sin. He had no sons. Why should the name of our father be taken away from amongst his family, because he had no son? Give to us a possession amongst the brothers of our father.” Moses brought their cause before the LORD. The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “The daughters of Zelophehad speak right. You shall surely give them a possession of an inheritance amongst their father’s brothers. You shall cause the inheritance of their father to pass to them. You shall speak to the children of Israel, saying, ‘If a man dies, and has no son, then you shall cause his inheritance to pass to his daughter. If he has no daughter, then you shall give his inheritance to his brothers. If he has no brothers, then you shall give his inheritance to his father’s brothers. If his father has no brothers, then you shall give his inheritance to his kinsman who is next to him of his family, and he shall possess it. This shall be a statute and ordinance for the children of Israel, as the LORD commanded Moses.’”
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Numbers 31
Passages discussed across 316Quotes
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- Numbers 31:8
They killed the kings of Midian with the rest of their slain: Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba, the five kings of Midian. They also killed Balaam the son of Beor with the sword.
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Numbers 35
Passages discussed across 316Quotes
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- Numbers 35:25
The congregation shall deliver the man slayer out of the hand of the avenger of blood, and the congregation shall restore him to his city of refuge, where he had fled. He shall dwell therein until the death of the high priest, who was anointed with the holy oil.
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More about Numbers
Numbers is one of those books people skip, and we understand why. It opens with a census, which is where the English name comes from, and it can feel like a long catalogue of wandering and grumbling. But stay with it and a real story emerges: a people on the edge of the promised land who lose their nerve, turn back, and spend a generation in the wilderness as a result. It is a book about the long middle of the journey, the part between the rescue and the arrival, where most of life is actually lived.
The honesty of Numbers is bracing. The people complain about food, about leadership, about the road itself. They romanticise the slavery they were freed from. They doubt that God can do what he promised. And yet grace keeps showing up alongside the failure. God provides, God forgives, God keeps the promise alive even when the people seem determined to forfeit it. If you have ever wondered whether your own wobbling faith disqualifies you, Numbers is strangely comforting. The wilderness generation was a mess, and God did not let go.
Tucked into all of this is one of the oldest and most beautiful blessings ever written. In Numbers 6:24 to 26, the priests are told how to bless the people: may the Lord bless you and keep you, make his face shine on you, and give you peace. Those words have been spoken over congregations, babies, and the dying for thousands of years, and they have lost none of their warmth. In a book so full of human failure, God hands his people language for kindness. It tells you where his heart actually is.
So if you come to Numbers, do not feel you must absorb every list and law. Read the stories, sit with the blessing, and notice the shape of the thing. A whole generation does not reach the land, and that is sobering. But the promise does not die with them; it carries on to their children. God's faithfulness outlasts our faithlessness, and the journey, however long and unglamorous, is still going somewhere. That is a hopeful word for anyone stuck in the long middle of their own road.
Questions about Numbers
- Why is the book called Numbers?
- The name comes from the two censuses that frame the book, one near the start and one near the end, counting the people of Israel. The older Hebrew title is closer to 'in the wilderness', which honestly captures the book far better, because most of it is about the long years of wandering rather than the counting. So do not let the name put you off. It is less a book of statistics than a book about a people learning, slowly and painfully, to trust God on a hard road.
- What is the blessing in Numbers 6?
- Numbers 6:24 to 26 records the words God gave the priests to bless the people: that the Lord would bless and keep them, make his face shine on them and be gracious, and turn his face towards them and give them peace. It is often called the Aaronic blessing, and it is among the oldest prayers still in regular use. Churches speak it at the end of services, and families say it over children. In a book full of grumbling and failure, it is a tender reminder of how God longs to relate to his people.
- What can I learn from Israel's time in the wilderness?
- The wilderness in Numbers is the long stretch between being rescued and arriving home, and that is where a lot of real faith is forged. The people complained, doubted and failed, and there were genuine consequences. Yet God kept providing and kept the promise alive, even passing it on to the next generation. If you feel stuck in an in-between season, Numbers offers honest company. It does not pretend the middle is easy, but it insists that God stays faithful through it, and that the journey is still heading somewhere good.
Topics in Numbers
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