Go and teach all nations
The Old Testament Book of Numbers
What does this book teach us about God?
This book teaches us some very important things about God.
1. God is with us always, if we are his people. He guides and protects us.
God guided the Israelites by means of a cloud (Numbers 9:15-23). They carried the Ark with them wherever they went. The Ark showed them that God was with them always. He protected them from their enemies (Numbers 10:33-36).
2. God wants us to trust him.
God had chosen Moses as the Israelites’ leader. But they opposed Moses many times. They complained about the food in the desert (Numbers 11:4-6). They refused to enter the Promised Land. They believed that the people there were stronger than them. They did not trust God to help them (Numbers chapters 13 and 14).
God loved them. But he had to discipline them (to teach or to control, sometimes by means of a punishment) (Numbers 14:26-35). God disciplines those people whom he loves (Hebrews 12:6).
3. There is only one real God. We must worship him only.
God never allowed the Israelites to worship false gods (Numbers chapter 25).
4. God always keeps his promises.
God had promised to give to the Israelites their own land. He rescued them from the Egyptians. He guided them through the desert. They arrived at the Promised Land. But they were afraid to enter it.
However, God did not take back his promise. Instead, he gave the Promised Land to their children.
5. God is holy.
God is different from people, whom he made. He is good completely. But all people are sinful. Sin is like dirt because it spoils our lives. Sin makes us dirty inside, in our hearts and minds. In other words, it ruins our thoughts, our attitudes and our behavior.
The Israelites washed themselves in special ways before they worshipped God. They made their bodies clean. They offered sacrifices. They believed that the blood from these sacrifices washed their sins away. So they felt clean inside their hearts. There were many special rules about how to worship God. All these rules showed that God is holy.
But we do not need to follow these special rules still. We do not need to kill animals as sacrifices. God has given us a new way to come to him. That way is by means of his son, that is, Jesus Christ. When people killed Jesus on a cross, he became the sacrifice for our sins. This sacrifice was for all people, for all time. Jesus’ blood washes our sins away. When we believe in Jesus, God forgives our sins. Jesus suffered the punishment for our sins.
Jesus is holy. When we believe in Jesus, God considers us holy, too. We can come to God at any time, in any place. God is our friend because of what Jesus did.
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Text from the EasyEnglish Bible Version and Commentary - used with permission - © 2009, Wycliffe Associates (UK) - For more information about EasyEnglish Publications, visit their website: www.easyenglish.info.
Go and teach all nations