Skip to main content
Psalmlog Logo

Numbers 33

Israel’s recorded camps lead to the border of God’s gift, where possession carries commands and a grave warning against disobedience.

Moses records Israel’s camps from Egypt to the plains of Moab, across the Jordan from Jericho. The account begins the day after Passover, while Egypt buries its firstborn, and follows Israel through the wilderness to the edge of Canaan. Aaron’s death marks the fortieth year. At the Jordan, YHWH tells Moses to instruct Israel about driving out Canaan’s inhabitants, destroying their worship sites, and dividing the land. The closing warning places Israel itself under the threat of judgment.

sermon or Bible study notestemptation
Read
1These are the journeys of the children of Israel, when they went out of the land of Egypt by their armies under the hand of Moses and Aaron.
2Moses wrote the starting points of their journeys by the commandment of the LORD. These are their journeys according to their starting points.
3They traveled from Rameses in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month; on the next day after the Passover, the children of Israel went out with a high hand in the sight of all the Egyptians,
4while the Egyptians were burying all their firstborn, whom the LORD had struck among them. The LORD also executed judgments on their gods.
7They traveled from Etham, and turned back to Pihahiroth, which is before Baal Zephon, and they encamped before Migdol.
8They traveled from before Hahiroth, and crossed through the middle of the sea into the wilderness. They went three days’ journey in the wilderness of Etham, and encamped in Marah.
14They traveled from Alush, and encamped in Rephidim, where there was no water for the people to drink.
16They traveled from the wilderness of Sinai, and encamped in Kibroth Hattaavah.
31They traveled from Moseroth, and encamped in Bene Jaakan.
35They traveled from Abronah, and encamped in Ezion Geber.
36They traveled from Ezion Geber, and encamped at Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin.
37They traveled from Kadesh, and encamped in Mount Hor, in the edge of the land of Edom.
38Aaron the priest went up into Mount Hor at the commandment of the LORD and died there, in the fortieth year after the children of Israel had come out of the land of Egypt, in the fifth month, on the first day of the month.
46They traveled from Dibon Gad, and encamped in Almon Diblathaim.
47They traveled from Almon Diblathaim, and encamped in the mountains of Abarim, before Nebo.
48They traveled from the mountains of Abarim, and encamped in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho.
49They encamped by the Jordan, from Beth Jeshimoth even to Abel Shittim in the plains of Moab.
50The LORD spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, saying,
51Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them, “When you pass over the Jordan into the land of Canaan,
52then you shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, destroy all their stone idols, destroy all their molten images, and demolish all their high places.
53You shall take possession of the land, and dwell therein; for I have given the land to you to possess it.
54You shall inherit the land by lot according to your families; to the larger groups you shall give a larger inheritance, and to the smaller you shall give a smaller inheritance. Wherever the lot falls to any man, that shall be his. You shall inherit according to the tribes of your fathers.
55“But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then those you let remain of them will be like pricks in your eyes and thorns in your sides. They will harass you in the land in which you dwell.
56It shall happen that as I thought to do to them, so I will do to you.”
World English BibleRead in NIV in Psalmlog →Highlighted verses are the most connected.
Key verses
Numbers 33:55This warning describes the lasting harassment Israel will face if it leaves the inhabitants in the land.
Numbers 33:52The command joins the removal of Canaan’s inhabitants with the destruction of their idols and places of worship.
Numbers 33:54God directs the distribution of the land through lots, with inheritance sized to the groups receiving it.
Where this chapter reaches

Exodus recounts the departure from Egypt and wilderness stops listed here, while Deuteronomy shares commands concerning Canaan’s inhabitants and idols. Joshua describes the allocation of land by lot, and Judges records conflict with inhabitants who remained, echoing the warning at the chapter’s close.

Numbers 33's chapter linksAll strongest linksHover or tap a book
Notice

After reading the whole chapter

Which detail interrupts the repeated camp names for you, and what does it add to the account?

Write on this

How does the final warning shape your understanding of the land God gives Israel?

Write on this

Questions people ask about Numbers 33

Why does Numbers 33 list all the places Israel camped?

Verse 2 says Moses recorded Israel’s starting points at YHWH’s command. The list traces the route from departure out of Egypt to the plains of Moab. Brief details about Passover, water, and Aaron’s death connect the place names to events across those forty years.

Why does God command Israel to drive out the Canaanites in Numbers 33?

YHWH identifies Canaan as land he has given Israel to possess. His command includes driving out its inhabitants and destroying their idols and worship sites. The closing verses warn that those left will harass Israel, and that Israel itself will face the judgment God intended for them.

What do the pricks and thorns mean in Numbers 33:55?

The images describe the harm Israel will suffer from inhabitants it fails to drive out. The verse explains that those remaining will harass Israel in the land. Verse 56 then adds a further consequence: YHWH will bring upon Israel the judgment he intended for those inhabitants.

Read it. Now write it.

Start an entry on Numbers 33. Your words go beside the text, and you get one next step for the week.

Numbers · 36 chapters
123456789101112131415161718192021222324252627282930313233343536
What the Bible says about temptation →

Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).