Numbers 27

Smitten Rock

And the LORD said unto Moses, Get thee up into this mount Abarim, and see the land which I have given unto the children of Israel. Numbers 27:12–14

Jehovah reminds Moses of Meribah, where Moses struck the rock instead of speaking to it and failed to honor the LORD before the people. Paul taught that the Rock that gave Israel water was Christ, so this memory touches the type of the Savior as the source of living water.

How we know: another scripture interprets it of Him · a footnote points to Him · a traditional type, cited

• the same event in Numbers 20:8-12 — The account of Moses smiting the rock at Meribah.
• interpreted by 1 Corinthians 10:4 — That spiritual Rock that followed them was Christ.

Good Shepherd

Let the LORD, the God of the spirits of all flesh, set a man over the congregation, Numbers 27:16–17

Moses asks the LORD for a leader who goes in and out before the people, so they will not be like sheep without a shepherd. Jesus later looked on the crowds with compassion because they were "as sheep having no shepherd," and He is the Good Shepherd by whom the sheep "go in and out."

How we know: the verse itself names Him · a footnote points to Him · a Church study aid lists it · a traditional type, cited

• alluded to by Matthew 9:36 — Jesus was moved with compassion because the multitudes were as sheep having no shepherd.
• alluded to by Mark 6:34 — The same phrase before Jesus teaches and feeds the five thousand.
• a type of what is in John 10:9-11 — "By me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out"; "I am the good shepherd."

Joshua (type)

Joshua (Yehoshua) — "Jehovah is salvation"; the same Hebrew name rendered Jesus in Greek

And the LORD said unto Moses, Take thee Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the spirit, and lay thine hand upon him; Numbers 27:18–23

Joshua, filled with the Spirit and set apart by the laying on of hands, becomes the shepherd who leads Israel into the promised land, something Moses (the law) could not do. His name is the very name Jesus, and he prefigures the Savior, who brings God's people into their eternal inheritance.

How we know: a traditional type, cited

• the same title in Hebrews 4:8 — In the KJV, Joshua is called "Jesus": "if Jesus had given them rest."
• the same title in Acts 7:45 — In the KJV, Stephen calls Joshua "Jesus", who brought the tabernacle into the land.