can expect to hear the trumpet as the signal to cross over the Jordan into the land They have to drive out the enemy, but success is assured, for their God has said, “I will give it [the land] to you” (10:29) The ve books of Moses (Pentateuch), as noted earlier, constitute a whole Numbers, as the fourth part of that whole, makes its indispensable contribution This may be seen in the following comparisons: I PREPARATION FOR STUDY Acquaint yourself with the geography of the Numbers narrative See Map F, studied earlier It is very helpful to visualize location as you study action in any historical account As indicated earlier, the story of Numbers moves from Mount Sinai to the plains of Moab, opposite Jericho Review the accounts of Exodus and Leviticus, which are the antecedents of the book of Numbers Be prepared to read about many supernatural worka of God in behalf of the Israelites These are a continuation of His mighty deeds recorded in Exodus Do you know why God performed so many miracles in Old Testament times? Be thinking of what the extent of the average Jew’s acquaintance was with God at the beginning of the journey of Numbers II BACKGROUND A TITLE This fourth book of Moses has had various titles (e.g., “Book of Journeyings,” “Book of Murmurings”) According to the Hebrew custom of deriving its title from the rst word of the Hebrew text, it has been called Wayyedabber, meaning simply, “And he said.” When the Septuagint translators a xed a title to the book, they chose the Greek word Arithmoi, meaning “Numbers,” the word being suggested by the two numberings, or censuses, of the people as recorded in the book (Num and 26) The Latin Vulgate named it Liber Numeri (“Book of Numbers”), which was carried over into the English versions It must be true that not a few readers and students of the Bible have passed by the fourth book of Moses because of the “dry” connotation of this title But it is both an exciting and inspiring story, and all who spend time studying it receive much benefit B AUTHOR External and internal evidences point conclusively to Mosaic authorship of all ve books of the Pentateuch, which includes Numbers Moses certainly was a logical choice of God to write Numbers, since he was the chief eyewitness of its events C DATE Moses wrote Numbers when he was at Moab with his people, toward the end of his life at the close of the fifteenth century B.C III SURVEY Begin your survey study by scanning the thirty-six chapters of Numbers Record on paper chapter titles similar to the ones shown on Chart 24 Note on Chart 24 where the two main censuses are recorded in the book The second census involves a di erent generation from the rst To understand the ... indicated earlier, the story of Numbers moves from Mount Sinai to the plains of Moab, opposite Jericho Review the accounts of Exodus and Leviticus, which are the antecedents of the book of Numbers Be... toward the end of his life at the close of the fifteenth century B.C III SURVEY Begin your survey study by scanning the thirty-six chapters of Numbers Record on paper chapter titles similar to the. .. title to the book, they chose the Greek word Arithmoi, meaning “Numbers,” the word being suggested by the two numberings, or censuses, of the people as recorded in the book (Num and 26) The Latin