Answers – To Difficult Questions (Numbers)

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Numbers 1:1—How could Moses have written Numbers when critics claim it was written centuries after his death?

Numbers 1:1–4:49—How accurate is this census of the tribes of Israel?

Numbers 1:46—Was this census made here or earlier?

Numbers 3:12—If God commanded that firstborn sons from all the tribes be given Him, why was the tribe of Levi given instead?

Numbers 4:3—How can the age for Levitical service be 30, when Numbers 8:24 says 25, and Ezra 3:8 says 20?

Numbers 4:6—Were the staves to remain in the Ark or to be removed?

Numbers 5:13–22—Doesn’t the Bible condone a superstition here?

Numbers 6:5—Does the vow of the Nazarite contradict Paul’s prohibition against long hair?

Numbers 10:31—If God lead Israel by a cloud then why was Hobab needed as a guide?

Numbers 10:33—Was the Ark placed in the middle of the camp or in front of it?

Numbers 11:8—Did the manna taste like a honey wafer or like fresh oil?

Numbers 11:24—Was the tabernacle outside the camp of Israel or inside it?

Numbers 11:31–34—How could God bring judgment on the people for eating the quail that He provided?

Numbers 12:3—How can this statement have been written by Moses?

Numbers 13:16—How can this passage say that Moses called Hoshea by the name Joshua since he was called Joshua in Exodus 17:9?

Numbers 13:32—How could the ten spies report that the land devoured its inhabitants?

Numbers 14:25—Did the Amalekites live in the mountain or in the valley?

Numbers 14:29—If nearly all the men from twenty years up died in the wilderness, why have none of their graves been discovered?

Numbers 15:24—Are there two kinds of sin offerings, or only one?

Numbers 16:31—Was Korah swallowed by the earth or burned?

Numbers 16:32—Were all Korah’s family killed with him or only some?

Numbers 20:1—Was Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin or in Paran?

Numbers 20:21—How could this verse say that Israel went around Edom when Deuteronomy 2:4 says they passed through it?

Numbers 21:9—Wasn’t making this bronze serpent a form of idolatry?

Numbers 22:33—Why did the angel of the Lord try to kill Balaam, since God had given him permission to go to the plains of Moab?

Numbers 24:7—How could this oracle refer to Agag when he lived much later, in the time of Saul?

Numbers 25:9—Why does this verse say that 24,000 died when 1 Corinthians 10:8 offers a different number?

Numbers 31—How can it be morally right for the Israelites to totally destroy the Midianites?

Numbers 33:44–49—Why is the list of places Israel stopped different here from the ones stated earlier (in Numbers 21)?

Numbers 35:19—Why did God permit avenging blood and yet forbid murder?

Numbers 35:30—Does the need for two witnesses mean that it is wrong to condemn someone on other evidence?