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The Outline of the Book of Numbers

Introduction of Numbers from a Messianic Jewish Perspective (Ac)

Glossary (Ad)

Grains of Sand, Stars of Heaven, and the Promises of God (Ae)

Why Read Numbers (Af)

I. The Rebellion of the Exodus Generation – 1:1 to 25:18 (Ag)

II. Isra’el at Sinai: The Preparation for the Departure – 1:1 to 10:10 (Ah)

A. The First Census – 1:1-54 (Ai)

1. The Command to Number – 1:1-19 (Aj)

2. Numbering the Tribes – 1:20-46 (Ak)

3. The Status of the Levites – 1:47-54 (Al)

B. The Camp of the Twelve Tribes of Isra’el – 2:1-34 (Am)

C. The Levitical Census – 3:1 to 4:49 (An)

1. The Levites – 3:1-4 (Ao)

2. Redeeming the Firstborn – 3:5-13 (Ap)

3. The First Numbering of the Levites – 3:14-20 (Aq)

4. The Four Camps of Levites – 3:21-39 (Ar)

5. The Census and the Redemption of the Firstborn – 3:40-51 (As)

6. The Clan of Kohath – 4:1-20 (At)

7. The Clan of Gershom – 4:21-28 (Au)

8. The Clan of Merari – 4:29-49 (Av)

D. Preparing for the Triumphal March – 5:1 to 10:10 (Aw)

1. The Purification of the Camp – 5:1-4 (Ax)

2. Restitution and Repentance – 5:5-10 (Ay)

3. The Suspected Adulteress – 5:11-31 (Az)

4. The Nazirite Vow – 6:1-21 (Ba)

5. The Aaronic Blessing – 6:22-27 (Bb)

6. The Offerings at the Dedication of the Tabernacle 7:1-89 (Bc)

a. Carts and Oxen for the Levites – 7:1-9 (Bd)

b. Gifts of the Twelve Tribes – 7:10-88 (Be)

7. The Voice of God – 7:89 (Bf)

8. The Menorah – 8:1-4 (Bg)

9. The Separation of the Levites – 8:5-26 (Bh)

10. Pesach in the Wilderness – 9:1-14 (Bi)

11. The Preparation for the Departure – 9:15 to 10:10 (Bj)

a. The Pillar of Cloud and Fire – 9:15-23 (Bk)

b. Two Silver Trumpets – 10:1-10 (Bl)

III. The Journey from Mount Sinai to Kadesh Barnea – 10:11 to 12:16 (Bm)

A. Leaving Sinai – 10:11-36 (Bn)

B. The Abrupt Slide into Rebellion (Bo)

C. Complaining at Tav’erah – 11:1-3 (Bp)

D. Graves of Greediness – 11:4-35 (Bq)

1. Quail and Manna from ADONAI – 11:4-9 (Br)

2. Moshe’s Complaint about the People – 11:10-15 (Bs)

3. ADONAI’s Response – 11:16-35 (Bt)

4. The Rebellion of Miryam and Aaron – 12:1-16 (Bu)

IV. The Sin of Kadesh-barnea – 13:1 to 14:45 (Bv)

A. The Selection of the Spies – 13:1-16 (Bw)

B. Spying Out the Land – 13:17-25 (Bx)

C. The Report of the Spies – 13:26-33 (By)

D. Faith and Obedience – 14:1-4 (Bz)

E. Moses Intercedes – 14:5-20 (Ca)

F. God’s Response – 14:20-38 (Cb)

G. Defeat by the Canaanites and Amalekites – 14:39-45 (Cc)

H. Theological Reflections on the Spy Story (Cd)

V. Isra’el’s Wilderness Wanderings – 15:1 to 22:1 (Ce)

A. The Interconnections between Numbers 11-14 and Numbers 15 (Cf)

B. A Whisper of Hope – 15:1-41 (Cg)

1. Grain and Drink Offerings – 15:1-16 (Ch)

2. The Challah – 15:17-21 (Ci)

3. Unintentional Sin – 15:22-31 (Cj)

4. The Sabbath-Breaker – 15:32-36 (Ck)

5. Tzit-tzit and Blue Thread – 15:37-41 (Cl)

C. The Interconnections between Numbers 15 and Number 16 (Cm)

D. Korah’s Rebellion – 16:1-50 (Cn)

1. The Rebellion of Korah – 16:1-3 (Co)

2. The Response of Moshe – 16:4-11 (Cp)

3. The Rebellion of Dathan and Abiram – 16:12-17 (Cq)

4. The Response of God – 16:18-40 (Cr)

5. The Rebellion of All the People – 16:41-50 (Cs)

6. Echoes Elsewhere in Numbers (Ct)

E. Aaron’s Staff Budded – 17:1-13 (Cu)

F. Mutual Obligations – 18:1-32 (Cv)

1. The Duties of the Priests and the Levites – 18:1-7 (Cw)

2. The Salt Covenant – 18:8-20 (Cx)

3. The Portion for the Levites – 18:21-24 (Cy)

4. A Tenth of the Tithe – 18:25-32 (Cz)

G. The Red Heifer – 19:1-22 (Da)

H. The Death of Isra’el’s Leaders – 20:1-29 (Db)

1. The Death of Miryam – 20:1 (Dc)

2. The Sin of Moses and Aaron – 20:2-13 (Dd)

3. The Resistance of Edom – 20:14-21 (De)

4. The Death of Aaron – 20:22-29 (Df)

I. The Journey from Kadesh-barnea to the Plains of Mo’av 21:1 to 22:1 (Dg)

J. Signs of Hope and Faith (Dh)

1. The Healing Snake – 21:1-9 (Di)

2. The Book of the Wars of the LORD – 21:10-20 (Dj)

3. The Defeat of Sihon of Heshbon – 21:21-32 (Dk)

4. The Defeat of Og of Basham – 21:33 to 22:1 (Dl)

VI. The Story of Balaam – 22:2 to 24:25 (Dm)

A. Balaam’s Three Encounters with God – 22:2-40 (Dn)

1. Balak’s dilemma – 22:2-6 (Do)

2. Balaam’s First Encounter with God – 22:7-14 (Dp)

3. Balaam’s Second Encounter with God – 22:15-20 (Dq)

4. Balaam and the Donkey – 22:21-40 (Dr)

B. Balaam’s Seven Oracles – 22:41 to 24:24 (Ds)

1. Balaam’s First Oracle – 22:41 to 23:12 (Dt)

2. Balaam’s Second Oracle – 23:13-26 (Du)

3. Balaam’s Third Oracle – 23:27 to 24:14 (Dv)

4. Balaam’s Fourth Oracle – 24:15-19 (Dw)

5. Balaam’s Fifth Oracle – 24:20 (Dx)

6. Balaam’s Sixth Oracle – 24:21-22 (Dy)

7. Balaam’s Seventh Oracle – 24:23-25 (Dz)

8. Taking a Stand for God – 25:1-9 (Ea)

C. God’s Eternal Covenant with Phinehas – 25:10-18 (Eb)

VII. The Second Census: The New Generation of Hope – 26:1-65 (Ec)

A. The Numbering of the Soldiers – 26:1-4 (Ed)

1. The Tribe of Reuben – 26:5-11 (Ee)

2. The Tribe of Simeon – 26:12-14 (Ef)

3. The Tribe of Gad – 26:15-18 (Eg)

4. The Tribe of Judah – 26:19-22 (Eh)

5. The Tribe of Issachar – 26:23-25 (Ei)

6. The Tribe of Zebulun – 26:26-27 (Ej)

7. The Tribe of Joseph – 26:28-37 (Ek)

8. The Tribe of Benjamin – 26:38-41 (El)

9. The Tribe of Dan – 26:42-43 (Em)

10. The Tribe of Asher – 26:44-47 (En)

11. The Tribe of Naphtali – 26:48-50 (Eo)

12. The Numbering of the Eleven Tribes – 26:51 (Ep)

B. The Division of Land – 26:52-56 (Eq)

C. The Second Numbering of the Levites – 26:57-62 (Er)

D. The Wilderness Generation – 26:63-65 (Es)

VIII. Change in Isra’el – 27:1-23 (Et)

A. The Daughters of Zelophehad – 27:1-11 (Eu)

B. The Successor to Moshe – 27:12-23 (Ev)

IX. God’s Ordering of Time and Space – 28:1 to 29:40 (Ew)

A. Tamid: From Start to Finish – 28:1-8 (Ex)

B. The Sabbath Offerings – 28:9-10 (Ey)

C. The New Moon Offerings – 28:11-15 (Ez)

D. The Festival Offerings – 28:16 to 29:40 (Fa)

1. The Pesach Offering – 28:16 (Fb)

2. The Hag ha’Matzah Offering – 28:17-25 (Fc)

3. The Shavu’ot Offering – 28:26-31 (Fd)

4. The Rosh ha’Shanah Offering – 29:1-6 (Fe)

5. The Yom Kippur Offering – 29:7-11 (Ff)

6. The Sukkot Offering – 29:12-34 (Fg)

7. The Eighth Day Assembly – 29:35-40 and 30:1 (Fh)

X. The Fulfillment of Vows – 30:2-16 (Fi)

A. The Male Vow – 30:2 (Fj) 

B. The Single Female Vow – 30:3-5 (Fk)

C. The Betrothed Female Vow – 30:6-8 (Fl)

D. The Vows of a Widow or Divorced Woman – 30:9 (Fm)

E. The Vows of a Married Woman – 30:10-15 (Fn)

F. The General Principle of Vows – 30:16 (Fo)

XI. The War Against Midian – 31:1-54 (Fp)

A. Report of the Battle – 31:1-12 (Fq)

B. The Destruction of Women and Boys – 31:13-18 (Fr)

C. The Purification of the Soldiers and the Spoil – 31:19-24 (Fs)

D. Excursus: Hand Washing – Luke 11:37-41 and Mark 7:1-5 (Ft)

E. The Division of the Spoils of War – 31:25-54 (Fu) 

1. The Division of the Soils for the Soldiers – 31:25-41 (Fv)

2. The Division of the Spoils for the People – 31:42-47 (Fw)

3. The Extra Share for ADONAI – 31:48-54 (Fx)

XII. Reuben and Gad in the Transjordan – 32:1-42 (Fy)

A. Reuben and Gad Request Land – 32:1-15 (Fz)

B. The Promise of Reuben and Gad – 32:16-24 (Ga)

C. The Divisions of the Transjordan – 32:25-42 (Gb) 

XIII. Isra’el’s Travel Log – 33:1-49 (Gc) 

A. The Departure from Egypt – 33:1-4 (Gd)

B. From Egypt to Mount Hor – 33:5-37 (Ge)

C. From Mount Hor to the Plains of Mo’ab – 33:38-49 (Gf)

XIV. Words of Warning and Encouragement to the Second Gen – 33:50 to 36:13 (Gg)

A. The Destruction of the Canaanites – 33:50-56 (Gh)

B. The Boundaries of the Promised Land – 34:1-29 (Gi)

C. Cities for the Levites – 35:1-8 (Gj)

D. Cities of Refuge – 35:9-34 (Gk)

1. Taking a Life in the Cities of Refuge – 35:9-21 (Gl)

2. Cases to be Decided Concerning Taking a Life in Cities of Refuge – 35:22-34 (Gm)

E. A Review of the Inheritance of Women – 36:1-13 (Gn)

F. Concluding Reflections of Numbers 26 to 36 (Go)

End Notes (Gp)

Bibliography (Gq)