The
book of Numbers takes its name from the two censuses taken in the
beginning and end of the book, but the Jewish scribes called it “In
the wilderness”. The book details the 40 years of wandering the
nation endured before God would allow them to enter the Promised
Land. God desired for the nation of Israel to enter the Promised
Land. The time in the wilderness was a time of surviving, but they
were to live to the fullest in the Land. In our lives, many of us
have a time of preparation to receive God’s will in our lives, and
throughout the book we may recognize our own wilderness experience.
God continues to provide, protect and instruct His beloved people
even in their rebellion, He does not reject them. The book gives us
hope when we are “stiff-necked” that God will receive our
repentance because He is faithful.
Numbers
begins, “On
the first day of the second month of the second year after the
Israelites came out of Egypt… Take a census of the whole Israelite
community by their clans and families“.
Interesting, Exodus covered a year, Leviticus covered a month. It
seems like God does His part to set us free and give us His Word,
then it is up to us to determine how long we will wander before we
accept the invitation to enter into the promised land of salvation.
Moses is instructed to count “All
the men twenty years or more who are able to serve in the army“.
They were counted by their tribe (remember Jacob, later called
Israel, had twelve sons each of these family units were called
tribes). Another interesting note, in this census, God does some
wonderful math. He counts the two sons of Joseph (Ephraim and
Manasseh) as tribes, but dose not count the tribe of Levi. “You
must not count the tribe of Levi in the census… instead appoint the
Levites to be in charge of the Tabernacle“.
As God organized His army, note that He reserves the Levites to
fight the spiritual battle. Too often we fail to remember, “Our
struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers,
against the authorities, against the powers of the dark world and
against the spiritual forces of evil”
(Ephesians 6:12).
We
are given the number of men by each tribe and we read, “the
total number was 603,550“.
This means the total population including women and children was
probably more than 2 million. We also read, “The
Israelites are to set up their tents by divisions, each man in his
own camp under his own standard. The Levites are to set up their
tents around the Tabernacle“.
There are no tents set up alone, in a battle that is not a good
place to be. If you feel alone, please recall Jesus’ promise to His
followers in John chapter 14, “I
will not leave you alone“.
Jesus tells them and us too, “I
will ask the Father and He will send another Helper that He will be
with you forever: that is the Spirit of Truth“.
If you are tired of wandering, it is time to enter into the promise
of salvation. The chapter ends, “The
Israelites did all that the Lord commanded Moses“.