Numbers for Everyone

The third release in a major new series of guides to the books of the Old Testament written in an accessible and anecdotal style. The series is suitable for personal or group use and the format is also appropriate for daily study. Who are the people of God? Cowardly, contemptuous, distrustful, whining ingrates? Are those the words that spring to mind when you think of a people set apart and named holy by God? Hardly. And yet that is what the book of Numbers shows the people of God to be. Even so, God continues to be faithful to the unfaithful. He chastens them, protects them and continues to invest in them, allowing them to mature, over a period of forty years, into a hardy, trusting, courageous community of warriors ready to take the land he's promised them. The sermons of Deuteronomy are preached on the eve of a confident and holy Israel's entry into the Promised Land. Moses reminds God's people of what they have been through, what's expected of them, what they can expect of God and what will happen in the future, depending on the choices they make. Most of all, he exhorts Israel to love and serve the Lord their God with all their heart, soul and strength, so that they will not only survive but thrive in their land. Using personal anecdote, a witty and lively style, and drawing on his considerable theological knowledge, John Goldingay takes us deep into the unfolding story of the Old Testament. And, as he guides us in our understanding of these time-honoured words and the ancient world they describe, he helps us to apply what we read to our lives. I am wary of interpreting the Bible in a way designed to make sense to me as a Western person, because I assume that my western assumptions are sometimes wrong” (Genesis, p. 92). No doubt he will offend both those who deem his approach insufficiently respectful and those who see these as irredeemably oppressive texts. To more generous readers, new perspectives will open and new insights arise as Goldingay shares his own, often intensely moving, struggles with word and life.