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The Rebellion of the Exodus Generation
1:1 to 25:18

The first half of Numbers recounts the fate of the old generation of Israelites who have been eyewitnesses to the exodus out of Egypt and the covenant with God made on Mount Sinai. The birth of this first wilderness generation had been marked by a census list already back in the book of Exodus. The members of Jacob’s family who had come down from Egypt were recorded (see the commentary on Exodus, to see link click Ae – The Descendants of Jacob Numbered Seventy in All). The new census lists of the twelve tribes of Isra’el that appears in Numbers marks a major transition in the people’s wandering (see Ai – The First Census: The Old Generation of Rebellion). They had been liberated from the bondage of slavery; they had received the mitzvot of YHVH and entered into a covenant with Him at Sinai (see Exodus Dd – The Mosaic Covenant). Now, the exodus generation was ready to organize and begin its march in earnest toward the promised land of Canaan.9