Book of Numbers and Foreshadows of Jesus Christ

Tis the season of bunnies and eggs, and blessed baskets and the holiday of Easter. For some it is also the end of the time of giving up something for lent. Many of the activities around this time have evolved from traditional practices and ceremonies, some from extending from the Old Testament and many from the effect of melding a mixture of non-Biblical cultural influences.

In the Word of God, there is exquisite fulfillment of the shadowy projections of the Old Testament surrounding this time of the year. Looking closely at the 'last week' in Jesus Christ's life or more appropriately the week leading up to the resurrection, one cannot dig too deeply to find magnificent diamonds of reassurance and truth about who Jesus Christ is.

In Numbers Jesus Christ is spoken about in Numbers 24:17

I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not nigh: there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel,

The Israelites were looking forward in expectation of a 'Messiah'. There are other foreshadowings of Jesus Christ in Numbers. God met their physical needs in the Old Testament.  In the New Testament God provides for the spiritual needs of believers through Jesus Christ:

Bread of Life: 

7 And the manna was as coriander seed, and the colour thereof as the colour of bdellium.
8 And the people went about, and gathered it, and ground it in mills, or beat it in a mortar, and baked it in pans, and made cakes of it: and the taste of it was as the taste of fresh oil.
9 And when the dew fell upon the camp in the night, the manna fell upon it. (Number 11:7-9)

31 Our fathers did eat manna in the desert; as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat. 32 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world. 34 Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread. 35 And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: (John 6:31-35)

Deliverance and Salvation:

And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived. (Numbers 21:9)

14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:15 That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life (John 3:14-15)

Water of Life:

11 And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice: and the water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their beasts also. (Numbers 20:11)

10 Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water. 11 The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water? 12 Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle? 13 Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: 14 But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. John 4:10-14