Numbers related passages

Within the Bible

• Previous: Leviticus gives the laws of holiness for the people among whom God dwells; Numbers sets that holy people in motion, mustering them at Sinai and marching them toward the land, testing in the wilderness whether they will live by the trust that holiness requires.
• Next: Deuteronomy takes up the story on the plains of Moab where Numbers ends, as Moses preaches the law afresh to the new generation before they cross the Jordan, urging them not to repeat their fathers’ unbelief.
• Thematic Connections:
  • Psalms 95, 106, and 78 - Poetic retellings of the wilderness rebellions as warnings to later generations.
  • 1 Corinthians 10 - Paul’s direct application of the wilderness events as examples written for the church.
  • Hebrews 3-4 - The great New Testament exposition of Numbers 14, urging believers to enter God’s rest by faith.

Cross-Testament Connections

Numbers supplies the New Testament with some of its most important images and warnings:

• The bronze serpent: Lifted up so the dying might look and live, fulfilled in the Son of Man lifted up on the cross (John 3:14-15).
• The rock and the water: “The Rock was Christ,” from whom living water flows (1 Corinthians 10:4).
• The wilderness generation: A sustained warning against unbelief and grumbling, “written down for our instruction” (1 Corinthians 10:6-11; Hebrews 3:7-4:11).
• The star out of Jacob: Balaam’s prophecy of the coming King, echoed at Bethlehem and in Christ, “the bright morning star” (Numbers 24:17; Matthew 2:2; Revelation 22:16).
• The red heifer: Its ashes purified the flesh; the blood of Christ purifies the conscience (Numbers 19; Hebrews 9:13-14).
• The cities of refuge: A picture of fleeing to Christ for refuge, released by the death of the High Priest (Numbers 35; Hebrews 6:18).
• The priestly blessing: The face of God shining in grace and peace, fulfilled in the face of Christ (Numbers 6:24-26; 2 Corinthians 4:6).