Field Guide to Numbers

• Numbers is the story of Israel’s journey through the wilderness to the Promised Land.
• A hike that should have taken two weeks ended up taking forty years.
• It includes lots of lists and stats, so the book was called ‘Numbers’.

Numbers begins with a census to count the total number of Israelites camping at Mount Sinai. God’s people then set off into the wilderness, led by a holy cloud and fed by miracle food called manna. But the Israelites grumble and complain. When they hear about giants living in the Promised Land, they rebel against God. As a punishment, they end up wandering in the wilderness for forty years. Numbers warns us to stay true to God and not waste our lives wandering around.