Class Member Study Guide: Lesson 15
Numbers 11 Numbers 12
Numbers 13 Numbers 14
Numbers 21
The Book of Numbers
The Book of Numbers covers the Israelites 39 years spent in the wilderness between Sinai and Canaan.
Included are accounts of
Miracles
Rebellion
War
Sin
Triumph
Lessons Taught:
Following Living Prophets
Relationship between Mercy and Justice
Keeping One's Covenants
Trusting the Lord
Numbers Divides into 3 Parts:
Numbers 1-10 Preparation to Depart Sinai after 1 Year/ Ends with 1st Passover after Egypt
Numbers 10-21 Events of Next 39 Years
Numbers 22-26 Highlight of Stay at Plains of Moab/Preparing to Enter Canaan
(from Jehovah the World of the Old Testament. Holzapfel, et al.)
Looking Back But Refusing to Move Forward
Negev Wilderness: This semiarid region south of the land of Canaan is one of the area that Israel travels through while being tested in the Wilderness
from Jehovah the World of the Old Testament. Holzapfel, et al.
Satellite Image of Mideast
Notice the Fertile Nile River and Delta and the Fertile Green of Canaan
The Red Lines Approximate the Israelites 40 Years in Wilderness.
Let Us Return to Egypt
4 And they said one to
another, Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt.
What was the response of the Israelites
when they were:
Trapped between the Egyptians and the
Red Sea?
10 And
when Pharaoh drew nigh, the children of Israel lifted up their eyes, and,
behold, the Egyptians marched after them; and they were sore afraid: and the
children of Israel cried out unto the Lord.
11 And
they said unto Moses, Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us
away to die in the wilderness? wherefore hast thou dealt thus with us, to
carry us forth out of Egypt?
12 Is
not this the word that we did tell thee in Egypt, saying, Let us alone, that we
may serve the Egyptians? For it had been better for us to serve the
Egyptians, than that we should die in the wilderness.
Given nothing to eat but manna?
4 And
the mixed multitude that was among them fell a lusting: and the children of
Israel also wept again, and said, Who shall give us flesh to eat?
5 We
remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely; the cucumbers, and the
melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlick:
6 But
now our soul is dried away: there is nothing at all, beside this manna, before
our eyes.
18 And
say thou unto the people, Sanctify yourselves against tomorrow, and ye shall
eat flesh: for ye have wept in the ears of the Lord, saying, Who shall give us
flesh to eat? for it was well with us in Egypt: therefore the Lord will give
you flesh, and ye shall eat.
19 Ye
shall not eat one day, nor two days, nor five days, neither ten days, nor
twenty days;
20 But
even a whole month, until it come out at your nostrils, and it be loathsome
unto you: because that ye have despised the Lord which is among you, and have
wept befor him, saying, Why came we forth out of Egypt?
Challenged with the task of conquering
the land of Canaan?
1 And
all the congregation lifted up their voice, and cried; and the people wept that
night.
2 And
all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron: and the
whole congregation said unto them, Would God that we had died in the land of
Egypt! or would God we had died in this wilderness!
3 And
wherefore hath the Lord brought us unto this land, to fall by the sword, that
our wives and our children should be a prey? were it not better for us to
return into Egypt?
4 And
they said one to another, Let us make a captain, and let us return unto
Egypt.
Discouraged by the difficult journey in
the wilderness?
4 And
they journeyed from mount Hor by the way of the Red sea, to compass the land of
Edom: and the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way.
5 And
the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought
us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither
is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread.
Look to the Prophet
Look to the Promised Land--for us the Celestial Kingdom
Look to the Savior Numbers 21:4–9
Elder Boyd K.
Packer likewise drew upon this incident to teach us why we should heed the
words of the living prophets.
“They
are given divine authority. Not one of them aspired to the office he holds, nor
did he call himself, for ‘in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,
one takes the place to which one is duly called,’ said President Clark, ‘which
place one neither seeks nor declines.’ (Improvement Era, June 1951,
p. 412.)
“‘Ye
have not chosen me,’ said the Lord, ‘but I have chosen you, and ordained you.’
(John 15:16.)
“We
don’t have to listen to them or pay heed to them—we have our agency. But there
is a lesson in scripture to consider.
“The
children of Israel entered the land of Edom. It was infested with serpents and
snakes, the bite of which was so painful and so dangerous that they called them
fiery, flying serpents. They cried for deliverance.
“‘… And
Moses prayed for the people.
“‘And
the Lord said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole:
and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon
it, shall live.
“‘And
Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass,
that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he
lived.’ (Num. 21:7–9.)
“‘How
silly,’ some must have said. ‘How can such a thing cure me? I’ll not show my
stupidity by paying any attention,’ and some would not look. …
“And today many say, ‘How silly! How
could accepting Christ save me?’ They will not turn their heads to look nor
incline their ears to hear. They ignore the great witness that comes from these
conferences. We ought to, indeed we must, heed the counsel of these men, for
the Lord said, ‘What I the Lord have spoken, I have spoken, and I excuse not
myself; and though the heavens and the earth pass away, my word shall not pass
away, but shall all be fulfilled, whether by mine own voice or by the voice of
my servants, it is the same.’” (In Conference Report, Oct. 1968,
pp. 75–76.)
