As the name suggests, Numbers is definitely about counting. Counting all the first born sons over age twenty to build an army. Counting all the first born sons older than one month to establish how much of an offering must be brought to God. And then, after some time, another census of adult males to form an army again. God is moving the Israelite's to the promised land and no one will stop them.
But, Numbers is about more than just taking a census.
Numbers is the story of the Israelite's continued journey to the promised land. Unfortunately, the Israelite's are kind of whiny and this frequently makes God mad. The pattern seems to be simple. People complain. God gets mad and punishes them. Moses steps in to ask forgiveness. God stops whatever he was doing to punish the complainers. Repeat.
For example...
The people complain they are tired and this journey is too hard. God is angry and sends fire to burn throughout the camp. Moses prays to God and the fires stop, but only after the outskirts of the camp were burned.
God provides food every day in the form of manna and the Israelite's complain they don't have meat to eat. They are sick of manna! They want meat! (Ironically, there is meat around. There are regular animal sacrifices that Aaron and his family get to eat.) The complaining makes God mad. Moses tries to reason with God, doubting that God can bring meat to the people in the abundance needed. So, God sends more quail than the people can possibly need and while they are eating, God sends a plague to kill all the people as they take their first bite. If you didn't eat the meat, you were saved.
An exploration party is sent out to see what is in Canaan. They see many strong people who already live there and become afraid. They want to stay where they are or go back to Egypt. (How soon they forget they were slaves in Egypt.) God is frustrated and wants to kill them all. Moses talks Him down and so God sends the complainers to the wilderness saying they will never see the promised land. He strikes them down with a plague and now the wait begins before God will move the surviving people to the new lands.
God even gets angry at Aaron and Moses for not giving God credit for making water flow from a rock, so God tells them both they will never see the promised land either. There are many more examples of God's frustration and punishments, but I won't review them all here. Suffice to say, the Israelite's have a tough time obeying, believing, and not complaining despite all that God does to and for them.
The Israelite's go to war.
On the way to Canaan, there is much destruction. God's people are ruthless. They take everything in their way. Destruction is rampant. God divides the future land of Canaan to all the people of Israel by tribe. (Interestingly, He did agree that the daughters of Zelophehad would be allotted a share of the land since there were no first born sons. There were stipulations, of course, but they were acknowledged.)
As I read this, I thought that the God of Numbers was not the God I know.
I picture God as a loving father, guiding his children, forgiving mistakes, and helping them to make good choices. He is someone we come to in times of need. But this Old Testament God gives detailed rules and expects them to be followed to the letter. He doesn't like being questioned. He gets angry and is scary.
What gives?
It helps if I picture God as a new father with young children. He has to set strict rules and make sure they are obeyed or his children may be hurt. The children are easily distracted. The Israelite's are like young children. They are new to this worship of one God. They are learning the rules and pushing them. God has to put his foot down, again and again. But, typically, as children get older, they start to need less rules and more guidance. The father can be a little more relaxed in how he handles mistakes as he sees his children grow and remember. He is a little tired, but still present. He hopes his children will want to follow his example and be good people, but he can't lead their lives for them. Maybe that is why Jesus came when he did.
For now, though, God's people still need to follow his instructions to the letter, or else.
On to Deuteronomy...
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