Study questions

Life-Study of Numbers

1. An Introductory Word

  1. Present a brief word concerning the advancement of the divine revelation in the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers, as well as a brief comparison between Leviticus and Numbers.
  2. What is the central thought of the book of Numbers?

2. Being Formed Into an Army (1)

  1. How can we say that the picture portrayed in Numbers chapter 1 shows us the entire New Testament?
  2. What does the children of Israel being formed into an army signify? What is the significance of their being numbered by the families and their leaders?

3. Being Formed Into an Army (2)

  1. What does the children of Israel camping in array typify?
  2. What is the significance of all the children of Israel encamping "facing the tent of meeting"?

4. Being Formed Into an Army (3)

  1. What are the matters related to the holy service presented in this message and what is the significance of each?
  2. What is the basic principle of the holy service?

5. Being Formed Into an Army (4)

  1. What is the basic principle of God's New Testament economy and how is this related to God's move as seen in the tabernacle?
  2. What is the spiritual significance of the age requirements spoken of in the book of Numbers?

6. Being Formed Into an Army (5)

  1. Describe both the corporate and individual dealing with defilement.
  2. What is the relationship between the dealing with defilement and God's people being formed into an army?

7. Being Formed Into an Army (6)

  1. In Numbers 5:11-31 we have the dealing with a wife over whom her husband was jealous. What does this typify both in general and in detail?
  2. What is the significance of the portion concerning dealing with a wife over whom her husband was jealous following the portion on dealing with defilement?

8. Being Formed Into an Army (7)

  1. What does it mean to be a Nazarite?
  2. What is the significance of the Nazarites abstaining from wine and not shaving their head?

9. Being Formed Into an Army (8)

  1. What is the significance of the Nazarites needing to avoid the defilement of death?
  2. What were the Nazarites to do if they failed in their Nazarite vow?

10. Being Formed Into an Army (9)

  1. What are the four main things that a Nazarite needed to overcome? Who is the real Nazarite?
  2. What is the significance of the completion of the Nazarite's days of separation?

11. Being Formed Into an Army (10)

  1. How do we see the Divine Trinity in the blessing on the Nazarites?
  2. Compare the blessing in Numbers 6 with the blessing in 2 Corinthians 13:14.

12. Being Formed Into an Army (11)

  1. What does it mean to say that the Christian life is a life of daily touring the tabernacle?
  2. What is the significance of the anointing of the tabernacle with its furnishings and the altar with its utensils? What is the significance of the Triune God moving in a portable home in wagons drawn by oxen?

13. Being Formed Into an Army (12)

  1. What is the significance of the lighting of the lamps and the presenting of the Levites?
  2. Explain what it means to say that in Numbers we have a full type of the church service.

14. Being Formed Into an Army (13)

  1. What are the divine provisions seen in Numbers 6 through 9?
  2. What does it mean to enjoy Christ as the edible, drinkable, and enterable one?

15. Being Formed Into an Army (14)

  1. Based on the portion of Numbers covered in this message, what is the relationship between the Lord's table and God's move?
  2. What are the crucial points included in the Passover mentioned in this message?

16. Journeying (1)

  1. What is the significance of the children of Israel being guided from the heavens by the cloud? How does this apply to us today?
  2. What is the significance of the children of Israel being guided from the earth by the two trumpets? How does this apply to us today?

17. Journeying (2)

  1. What is the difference between leading and guiding, and why is it important that we not put our trust in man for our journey in our Christian life?
  2. What is the significance of Moses' word in Numbers 10:35-36?

18. Journeying (3)

  1. What are the failures of the children of Israel covered in this message?
  2. What are the characteristics of the manna mentioned in this portion of Numbers, and what do they signify?

19. Journeying (4)

  1. What can we learn concerning God's deputy authority from the case of Miriam and Aaron's slandering of Moses?
  2. What was one of the main germs within Miriam and Aaron that caused them to slander Moses? What was their excuse?

20. Journeying (5)

  1. Describe the failure of the children of Israel spoken of in this message. How does spying out a situation weaken our faith?
  2. What is the spiritual significance of the good land, the land of Canaan?

21. Journeying (6)

  1. What should we do and what should our attitude be if our faith is weak and small? What did the children of Israel do?
  2. How is faith related to caring for God and His interests?

22. Journeying (7)

  1. Why was Numbers 15 inserted immediately after the account of the children of Israel's unbelief and rebellion? What is the difference between an ordinance and a statute?
  2. Why do we need, in times of turmoil, to remember the ordinances concerning our offerings to God?

23. Journeying (8)

  1. What was the cause of the rebellion in Numbers 16?
  2. Where do we see the problem of the struggle for power in the New Testament and church history?

24. Journeying (9)

  1. What is God's threefold judgment seen in Numbers 16?
  2. Why did God forgive the sinning Israelites yet still punish them?

25. Journeying (10)

  1. What do we see in God's sparing the descendants of Korah?
  2. How did God vindicate Aaron and Moses, His deputy authorities?

26. Journeying (11)

  1. In what way are the two signs in Numbers 16-17 a reminder and a warning to us regarding our service to God?
  2. Describe the Levitical service and the Aaronic priesthood with their reward, as revealed in this portion of Numbers.

27. Journeying (12)

  1. Why is the tithe of the tithe called a heave offering?
  2. What is the reward for our service as seen in this portion of Numbers?

28. Journeying (13)

  1. What is the significance of the water for impurity?
  2. Describe the atmosphere that remained among the children of Israel after the rebellion of Korah. How is the water for impurity related to this?

29. Journeying (14)

  1. Why was God not angry at the children of Israel when they contended in Numbers 20?
  2. Describe in detail Moses' failure in this portion of Numbers. Why was this failure so serious in the eyes of God?

30. Journeying (15)

  1. Describe in detail the significance of the types related to the water of life in Numbers 20.
  2. According to this message, what is the reason for problems between us and others and between us and God? How can the problems in the church life be solved? In addition, what does it mean to know God in His nature, especially in relation to His people? Why is this important?

31. Journeying (16)

  1. What is the significance of the type of the bronze serpent?
  2. What is the significance of the record of the forty-two stations not mentioning anything about the failures of the people?

32. Fighting (1)

  1. What are the two features of the land of Canaan? What does this typify and what is the relationship between the two?
  2. What does the children of Israel's fighting against the three gate guards of the land of Canaan typify?

33. Fighting (2)

  1. How do we see Balaam's self-deception in Numbers 22? How does this apply to us today?
  2. What is the valuable lesson contained in Numbers 22 that we need to learn today?

34. Fighting (3)

  1. What is the significance of Balaam's first parable?
  2. What is the significance of Balaam's second parable? How does this relate to what our attitude toward the church should be today?

35. Fighting (4)

  1. What is the significance of Balaam's third parable?
  2. What is the significance of Balaam's fourth parable?

36. Fighting (5)

  1. Based on this message, present a review of the crucial matters, the intrinsic elements, in chapters 20–24 of Numbers. What are the aspects of Christ and the church seen in Balaam's parables?
  2. What is the significance of the children of Israel's fall into fornication and idolatry? How does this apply to the church?

37. Fighting (6)

  1. What does the mixture among the children of Israel typify?
  2. Why did the children of Israel need to be renumbered? What is the significance of this renumbering?

38. Fighting (7)

  1. What is the basic concept in the typology in Numbers 27?
  2. What is the significance of the request made by the daughters of Zelophehad and Jehovah's granting them their request?

39. Fighting (8)

  1. How do we see that at the end of his life Moses' concern was not for himself or his situation but for God's people?
  2. How was Joshua, Moses' successor, to receive guidance from God? What is the spiritual significance of this for us today in the church life?

40. Fighting (9)

  1. Describe the wonderful picture at the end of Numbers 27.
  2. What is the crucial matter in Numbers 28?

41. Fighting (10)

  1. What is the double application of the feast of propitiation?
  2. What are the three things that God's food is related to? What is God's food?

42. Fighting (11)

  1. What is the difference between the offerings and the vows?
  2. What is the spiritual significance of the vow made by a woman while in her youth, by a married woman, and by a widow or a divorced woman?

43. Fighting (12)

  1. What do the Midianites typify?
  2. What was Moses' strategy in dealing with the Midianites? How does this apply to the church life today?

44. Fighting (13)

  1. What does the purging and purifying of the captives and the spoil show us?
  2. What does the distribution of the spoil show us?

45. Fighting (14)

  1. What can we learn from the request of the two tribes, Reuben and Gad?
  2. What two things does self-choice come from?

46. Fighting (15)

  1. What is the condition that we must fulfill in order to have the enjoyment of Christ?
  2. What is the significance of the children of Israel inheriting the land by lot according to their families, and what is the significance of the good land being surrounded by two seas?

47. Fighting (16)

  1. What is the significance of the Levites being given forty-eight cities to dwell in?
  2. What is the significance of the cities of refuge?

48. Fighting (17)

  1. What is the important, dispensational difference in the significance of the refuge cities for the Old Testament saints and for us today?
  2. How can we say that the statute in Numbers 36 was actually ordained by God for Christ's incarnation?

49. A Vital Sketch of the Divine Revelation in the Books of Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers Concerning God's Economy with His Chosen and Redeemed People (1)

  1. What are the four slogans we may use to summarize certain aspects of the vital sketch of the divine revelation in the books of Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers?
  2. Describe the need of God's chosen and redeemed people to receive the divine revelation concerning God Himself and His economy for their traning and building up as His testimony.

50. A Vital Sketch of the Divine Revelation in the Books of Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers Concerning God's Economy with His Chosen and Redeemed People (2)

  1. Based upon this message, present a bird's-eye view of the book of Numbers.
  2. How does God's chosen and redeemed people fighting as a priestly army together with God and for God show us that the church life is actually for God and not mainly for us?

51. A Vital Sketch of the Divine Revelation in the Books of Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers Concerning God's Economy with His Chosen and Redeemed People (3)

  1. List the frustrations suffered by God's chosen and redeemed people on their journey to the God-promised good land.
  2. How did God use the turmoils among His people to sift, purge, purify, and humble them? How does this apply to the Lord's recovery today?

52. A Vital Sketch of the Divine Revelation in the Books of Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers Concerning God's Economy with His Chosen and Redeemed People (4)

  1. Describe the way in which the God-chosen and God-redeemed people were ready to take possession of the God-promised good land.
  2. How did the younger generation among the children of Israel benefit from the experience of the older generation? How does this relate to the Body life among us today?

53. A Vital Sketch of the Divine Revelation in the Books of Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers Concerning God's Economy with His Chosen and Redeemed People (5)

  1. Describe the full type of the church in the books of Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers.
  2. Describe the aspects of the all-inclusive Christ revealed in the books of Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers.