Christ in Numbers: Lessons from the Wilderness
The Book of Numbers continues the story of the Israelites’ journey to the Promised Land. The Israelites had just come out of Egypt, walked through the Red Sea, and were led into the wilderness. Their journey should have taken eleven days, but instead, it took forty years because of their unbelief and disobedience. Numbers takes place in the wilderness, where God tested the Israelites, and they failed. None of the disobedient generation made it to the Promised Land except for two faithful Israelites. The Israelites’ plight shows us that when people repeatedly choose unbelief, they will not receive God’s promises (Hebrews 3:19). When people choose to disobey God, they are left to wander around aimlessly without purpose in the wilderness called life and will not enter the blessings of God’s promises. Within the pages of Numbers, we find hints of the coming Messiah. Not only can we find types of Jesus in persons like Moses, we see types in events such as the Exodus and articles such as Aaron’s rod. Here, we will explore Jesus in the Book of Numbers and discover how, through these hints, truths about our Messiah are revealed. We will see Jesus in the Israelite’s wanderings in the wilderness, Aaron’s Rod, the Red Heifer, the Brazen Serpent, and in Balaam. Wilderness Wanderings We see Christ in the Israelites’ journey to the promised land. Like the Israelites, Jesus came out of Egypt (Matt. 2:15), through the waters of baptism (Matt. 3:16), and was led into the wilderness (Matt. 4:1), where Satan tested Him for forty days. But where the Israelites failed in their testing in the wilderness, and a generation was denied access to the promised land, Jesus succeeded and opened the promised land to all who would follow Him. Aaron’s Staff (Rod) (Numbers 17) During the Israelites’ time in the wilderness, Korah, a Levite, and his followers thought Moses and Aaron had too much power and conspired against Moses. Because of their rebellion, God caused the earth to open and swallow them. However, God’s warning did not put an end to the rebellion. Other tribal leaders joined in. In response, God sent a plague that killed 14,700 of the Israelites. But this didn’t stop the rebellion either. Finally, God ended the unrest by using Aaron’s staff to confirm Israel’s leader. Moses took a staff from each of the leaders of the twelve tribes of Israel. Each leader’s name was written on a staff, Aaron’s on the staff of the tribe of Levi. The staffs were placed in the Tabernacle in front of the ark of the covenant and left there overnight. God instructed Moses that “the staff belonging to the man I choose will sprout, and I will rid myself of this constant grumbling against you by the Israelites” (Numbers 17:5). The next day, upon examination of Aaron’s staff, Moses saw that “it had not only sprouted but had budded, blossomed and produced almonds” (Numbers 17:8). The grumblings against Moses and Aaron stopped. Ways Aaron’s Staff Revealed Truths About Christ Like Aaron’s staff, Jesus Christ was also a living branch that sprouted from a root that appeared dead (Isaiah 11:1 and Isaiah 53:2). After the Babylonians took the Israelites captive, the Davidic branch appeared dead. But Isaiah prophesied that “a shoot will come up from the branch of Jesse; from his roots, a Branch will bear fruit” (Isaiah 11:1). This Branch was Jesus Christ. In the same way Aaron’s staff was cut off from a living tree, God’s Son, Jesus, was also cut off. He was killed. But like Aaron’s rod that sprouted life, Jesus defied all laws of nature and was resurrected. The resurrection of Aaron’s rod declared who God had chosen. Likewise, the resurrection of Jesus settled any dispute of whether Jesus was God’s chosen one. Lastly, after the staff budded, it was placed in the presence of the Lord. Similarly, after Jesus was resurrected, He returned to His Father’s presence. Red Heifer (Numbers 19 ) A red heifer was part of a purification ritual to make clean those who had come into contact with the dead and allow them back in the presence of God. A Priest would take a red heifer without blemish who had never been under a yoke and slaughter it outside of camp and then burn it. The red heifer’s ashes would be used in the cleansing water. The red heifer and Christ have three main similarities. First, both were without blemish. Second, both were sacrificed outside of camp. Christ was crucified outside of Jerusalem (Hebrews 13:11-12). As the ashes of the red heifer cleansed people from the contamination of death, the blood of Christ saves us from the penalty and corruption of death and enables us to be in the presence of God. (Hebrews 9:13-14). Brazen Serpent (Numbers 21:4-9) As the Israelites traveled through the wilderness, they constantly grumbled and complained. Despite repeated warnings and punishment for complaining against God and Moses (Numbers 11:1, Numbers 14:2), God finally had enough. He sent venomous snakes among the Israelites, and many died (Numbers 21:6). God’s judgment and mercy are inseparable. When you see one, you will find the other. Although God sent the snakes as a judgment against Israel, He also gave them a way out. He told Moses, “Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live.” So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then, when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, they lived (Numbers 21:8-9). Because God is holy, He must deal with our sin (judgment). Because He is love, he chooses to offer us mercy. Ways the Brazen Serpent Revealed Truths About Christ “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.” John 3:14-15 First, both the serpent and Jesus were lifted up. The Israelites looked to a snake on a pole for healing from poisonous venom, just like we look to the Savior on a cross to heal us from the poison of sin. Secondly, the Israelites were given a way to escape from immediate physical death, just like we