The Book of Numbers is often overlooked, partly because it has a boring name in our English translations.  However, the literal name for the book is much more intriguing.  The literal Hebrew name is: “In the Wilderness.”  The book describes the grueling and arduous journey that the Israelites make from Egypt to the Land of Canaan.  Sometimes the journey of our own lives can seem just as arduous and grueling.  Sickness, heartache, divorce, loneliness, separation, disappointment, fear, and so much more may loom in our journey through this life.  These are feelings and experiences that are parallel to those of the people of Israel wandering in the wilderness.  However, in the midst of the shame and disappointment from those experiences, the LORD reminds the Israelites often of His faithfulness to them and shows them that He is surely present in their sufferings as the Giver of grace.  Jesus too, once wandered in the wilderness, taking on trials and temptations that all sons and daughters of Adam and Eve experience.  He overcame them by depending and trusting upon His Father, and He calls us into the faith that He gives freely, in order that we may trust the Triune God all the days of our journeys.