Numbers might well have the title, “Rebellion in the Wilderness.” But where Israel’s sin increases, God’s patience and mercy increase all the more. Even though Israel refuses to go into the land, Yahweh promises to give them what He’s promised. But the Israel that gets to enter the land will not be the old Israel, the Israel that rebelled in the “garden” at Kadesh. It will be a new Israel. During the nearly forty years in the wilderness, the old Israel gradually dies off, and a new Israel takes its place. This is why there is a second counting of the people at the end of the book. And the
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