In the first three books of the Old Testament—Genesis, Exodus, and Leviticus—different types are used to portray Christ and the church, Christ’s redemption and God’s salvation, man’s condition and his need, and the believers’ proper living and service before God. From Numbers to the end of the Old Testament, various aspects of the history of the children of Israel are used to prefigure aspects of the history of the church on earth.
From Numbers to the end of the Old Testament, the various aspects of the history of the children of Israel can be divided generally into six stages.
After their exodus from Egypt, the children of Israel began a journey through the wilderness under the leading of God with the pillar of cloud in the day and the pillar of fire in the night. Furthermore, through their experiences of the tree which caused the bitter water to become sweet (Exo. 15:23-25), the twelve springs at Elim (v. 27), the manna from heaven (16:14-15, 31-32, 35), the living water flowing out of the cleft rock (17:6), and by their overcoming the Amalekites (vv. 8-16), they were brought to Mount Horeb, the mountain of God.
At Mount Horeb the children of Israel received God’s revelation and equipping. First, they received the enlightenment of the law to know God’s being. Then they received the revelation concerning the tabernacle and the priesthood, and thereby they participated in the building of the dwelling place of God on earth, knowing how to fellowship with God and serve God and how to be God’s holy people, living a sanctified life by the tabernacle, with the offerings, and through the priests. Lastly, they were built up and formed into a priestly army to journey on under the leading of God and to fight for Him.
After they were formed into an army, the children of Israel began their journey to the good land to possess it so that God could gain a place on the earth to build up His kingdom with His house.
After journeying for eleven days from Mount Horeb, they reached Kadesh-barnea at the border of the good land (Deut. 1:2). Even though God had gone before them in the fire by night and in the cloud by day, seeking out places for them to camp and showing them the way they should go (v. 33), the children of Israel disregarded God’s care for them in the wilderness because of the evil report brought back by ten of the twelve men who went to spy out the good land and because they forgot how He had carried them through the great and awesome wilderness (v. 31). Thus, they had an evil heart of unbelief, believing neither in God nor in His promise. They even murmured against God, saying that God brought them into the land to fall by the sword and for their wives and little ones to become a plunder (Num. 14:1-3). Hence, God swore in His wrath that not one of the unbelieving generation would see the good land which He had sworn to give to their fathers; only Caleb and Joshua were allowed to enter (Deut. 1:34-38). As for the rest of the people, their corpses fell in the wilderness, but the little ones, who the people said would become plunder, were brought into the land by God. The people and their children wandered in the wilderness forty years to bear their iniquities according to the number of days that the land had been spied out (a year for every day). Those who gave the evil report all died by a plague before Jehovah (Num. 14:26-38). This shows that it is a terrible thing not to believe in God. We need to be careful not to have an evil heart of unbelief.
After the failure of the children of Israel at Kadesh-barnea, God commanded them to leave. Therefore, they turned and set out for the wilderness by the way that led to the Red Sea. The time they spent in going from Kadesh-barnea until they crossed over the brook Zered was thirty-eight years (Deut. 2:1-14). Although Kadesh-barnea was the entry into the good land, the children of Israel were not allowed to enter in; rather, they wandered in the wilderness for thirty-eight years until everyone in the old generation had been consumed, with the exception of Joshua and Caleb.
Because of their evil deeds and unbelief, most of the children of Israel became those with whom God was not well pleased (1 Cor. 10:5). Eventually, in their wandering in the wilderness, all of the first generation, except Caleb and Joshua, fell dead in the wilderness, failing to reach the goal for which God led them out of Egypt.
The goal of God’s calling the children of Israel was that they would enter into the promised good land to enjoy its riches so that they might establish God’s kingdom and be God’s testimony on the earth. The all-inclusive Christ, typified by the good land, is the greatest blessing which God intends to give to His elect. To inherit the promised good land, a person should love God, fear God, care for God’s intention, and live in God’s presence. The old generation of the children of Israel fell away from the living God because of their evil heart of unbelief (Heb. 3:12); they repeatedly offended God and disobeyed Him to the point that they, being abhorred and rejected by God, fell in the wilderness and were not allowed to enter the promised good land.