We now enter upon the study of the fourth grand division of the Pentateuch, or five books of Moses; and we shall find the leading characteristic of this book quite as strongly marked as that of any of the three books which have already engaged our attention. In the book of Genesis, after the record of creation, the deluge, and the Babel dispersion, we have God’s election of the seed of Abraham; in the book of Exodus, we have redemption; Leviticus gives us priestly worship and communion; in Numbers, we have the walk and warfare of the wilderness. Such are the prominent subjects of these most precious sections of inspiration, while, as might be expected, many other points of deepest interest are collaterally introduced. The Lord, in His great mercy, has led us through the study of Genesis, Exodus, and Leviticus; and we can reckon on Him with confidence to conduct us through the book of Numbers. May His Spirit lead the thoughts and guide the pen, so that not a sentence may be committed to writing that is not in strict accordance with His holy mind. May every page and every paragraph bear the stamp of His approval, and be at once conducive to His glory and the permanent profit of the reader.
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“And the Lord spake unto Moses _in the wilderness_ of Sinai, in the tabernacle of the congregation, on the first day of the second month, in the second year after they were come out of the land of Egypt, saying, ‘Take ye the sum of all the congregation of the children of Israel, after their families, by the house of their fathers, with the number of their names, every male by their polls; from twenty years old and upward, all that are _able to go forth to war_ in Israel; thou and Aaron shall number them by their armies.’” (Chap. i. 1-3.)
Here we find ourselves at once “in the wilderness,” where those only are to be taken account of who are “able to go forth to war.” This is strongly marked. In the book of Genesis, the seed of Israel were in the loins of their father Abraham; in the book of Exodus, they were in the brick-kilns of Egypt; in Leviticus, they were gathered around the tabernacle of the congregation; in Numbers, they are seen in the wilderness. Then, again, in full keeping with the above, and in confirmation thereof, in Genesis, we hearken to the call of God in election; in Exodus, we gaze upon the blood of the lamb in redemption; in Leviticus, we are almost entirely occupied with the worship and service of the sanctuary; but no sooner have we opened the book of Numbers than we read of men of war, of armies, of standards, of camps, and trumpets sounding alarm.
All this is highly characteristic, and marks off the book on which we are now entering as one of special interest, value, and importance to the Christian. Each book of the Bible, each section of the inspired canon, has its own distinct place and object: each has its own niche assigned to it by its divine Author. We must not entertain for a moment the thought of instituting any comparison in point of intrinsic value, interest, and importance. All is divine, and therefore perfect. The Christian reader fully and heartily believes this. He reverently sets his seal to the truth of the plenary inspiration of holy Scripture—of all Scripture, and of the Pentateuch amongst the rest; nor is he to be moved one hair’s breadth from this by the bold and impious attacks of infidels, ancient, mediæval, or modern. Infidels and rationalists may traffic in their unhallowed reasonings; they may exhibit their enmity against the book and its Author; but the pious Christian rests, notwithstanding all, in the simple and happy belief that “all Scripture is given by inspiration of God.”
But while we must utterly reject the idea of any comparison as to authority and value, we may, with very much profit, compare the contents, design, and scope of the various books of the Bible. And the more profoundly we meditate upon these, the more forcibly shall we be struck with the exquisite beauty, infinite wisdom, and wonderful precision of the volume as a whole, and of each distinct division thereof. The inspired writer never swerves from the direct object of the book, whatever that object may be. You will never find aught in any one book of the Bible which is not in the most perfect harmony with the main design of that book. To prove and illustrate this statement would lead us through the entire canon of holy Scripture, and hence we shall not attempt it. The intelligent Christian does not need the proof, however much he might be interested in the illustration. He takes his stand upon the great fact that the book as a whole, and in all its parts, is from God; and his heart reposes in the conclusion that in that whole, and in each of those parts, there is not a jot or a tittle which is not in every way worthy of the divine Author.