Study Low Down

Here is a synopsis for the Thursday night Bible study I'm joining. It was written by Nina, our discussion organizer. There will be around seven of us meeting to discuss the book of Number, from the Jewish Pentetauch (1st 5 books of the Bible), on Thursday evenings.

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This fall (2005), we will be studying the book of Numbers. Why Numbers? Numbers is part of God's word that's been given to us. So if God speaks to us through the Bible, we shouldn't be afraid to study it.
Second, I have received remarks about how Numbers may be boring because it gives the results of a census (actually 2). While the book does include hard-to-pronounce names, there is so much more to Numbers than just a census. The Hebrew name of the book, bemidbar, means "in the desert" because it is the story of the Israelites' time between Egypt and the Promised Land. (We get the name, Numbers, from the Septuagint translation of the Greek "arithomoi.")
Third, the archetypical themes in Numbers are ones that echo throughout the Bible and are important for us in understanding the Bible as a whole. The story of God's people leaving Egypt, wandering in the desert, and entering the Promised Land is a lesson in history about our journey out of a place of sin (Egypt), preparing ourselves to meet our Maker as we go through life (wandering the desert), and someday, being with God and having our relationship with Him restored (Promised Land). Numbers, being the part about being "in the desert," is parallel to where we are now.