Numbers: and more numbers and more numbers

The Greek Jews who translated this book of the Torah from the Hebrew called it "Numbers" because of all its lists of people. The Hebrew Bible title would be "In the Desert," which may be a more apt description.

Numbers is about the wandering about of the Jews in the desert, after the Exodus, and before they entered Canaan. It centers on Moses, and Aaron to a lesser extent, as they tried their best to lead the ornery Israelites.

I think my favorite part is abotu Balak and Balaam. Balak was a king of Moab, and he wanted to keep the Israelites from tramping over his land. He sent work to Balaam, who was some weird sort of mercenary prophet. Balak wanted Balaam to come and curse the Israelites. Balaam held out--perhaps for larger fees--but with the excuse that Yahweh wouldn't let him curse His people. Eventually, Balaam was given permission by God to go see Balak. But not before Balaam's donkey had to speak out loud to warn him against crossing God's will. See Numbers 22:21-34. Great stuff.

The story continues that Balaam ends up blessing Israel (take that, Balak!). But later on, it turns out that he urged the Moabite women to lure the Israelite men into sinful behavior, bringing on God's great wrath.

There are some great stories about Moses, too. One of the most bewildering is in 20:1-13. Here, the people are dying of thirst. God tells Moses to "speak to the rock" for water. Moses gets super-annoyed with the whining Israelites and smacks the rock with his staff. Water comes out of the rock, but God informs Moses that because he didn't speak to the rock as instructed, Moses will not be allowed to enter the Promised Land. I know God wants absolute obedience; that's the lesson here. But I bet I'm not the only one who thinks that was a little harsh.

One other great Moses passage. In Numbers 11:10-15, Moses gets reeeaaallly tired of hearing the Israelites gripe, wail and moan. He finally voices his complaint to God--at some length--ending with "I cannot carry all these people by myself; the burden is too heavy for me. If this is how you are going to treat me, put me to death right now."

If you have ever been in a leadership position, I'm sure you can relate to this!

The last point about Numbers. If you are reading it, and find yourself skimming over the lists and lists and lists, rest assured you're not the only one who has skimmed it.