Numbers 26:1-4 & 51-56, “After the
plague, the LORD said to Moses and to Eleazar the son of Aaron, the
priest, (2) "Take a census of all the congregation
of the people of Israel, from twenty years old and upward, by their fathers'
houses, all in Israel who are able to go to war." (3)
And Moses and Eleazar the priest spoke with them in the plains of Moab
by the Jordan at Jericho, saying, (4) "Take a census of the people, from
twenty years old and upward," as the LORD commanded Moses. The people of
Israel who came out of the land of Egypt were …. (51) “This was the list of the
people of Israel, 601,730. (52) The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, (53) "Among these the land shall be divided
for inheritance according to the number of names. (54)
To a large tribe you shall give a large inheritance, and to a small
tribe you shall give a small inheritance; every tribe shall be given its
inheritance in proportion to its list. (55) But the land shall be divided by lot.
According to the names of the tribes of their fathers they shall inherit. (56)
Their inheritance shall be divided according to lot between the larger
and the smaller."”
Numbers 1 recorded the first census for
us when Israel came out of Egypt. A number of years have passed, and a large
amount of Israelites have perished under God’s hand of just judgement. It would
be very easy for us to assume that the nation was wasting away, growing smaller
and smaller. Thus far we only ever seem to read about God disciplining the
nation and people dying in large numbers.
But Numbers 26 reassures us that this is
not the case. Yes, God has had to deal with rebellious and disobedient people
on a number of occasions. Yes, Numbers does record the deaths of tens of
thousands of Israelites. However, Numbers also records God consistent,
unfailing faithfulness towards His covenant promises and therefore to the
nation of Israel. God has continued to provide food, water, shelter and
protection for them. The pillar of cloud and fire is still present, leading
them each and every day. God is also upholding and building the nation so that
it will not die out, but go on to receive the promises God has made to them.
This is most visible when one compares the total numbers of the two censuses. The
difference is only slight, 603 550 and 601 730. God has faithfully kept,
prospered, and increased the nation of Israel. What makes this all the more
incredible is that this has happened in the midst of very difficult and adverse
circumstances, as well as God’s discipline of the nation.
For us as the readers of this book it
gives us hope. Israel still has a future, and it is one that has been given to
them by God, preserved by God and one into which God will bring them. God will
not utterly destroy them, even though they have given God sufficient reason to
do so. God will not allow them to be utterly wiped out by the harsh wilderness
or at the hands of their enemies. What God has promised, God will bring to
fulfilment, even in the midst of man’s constant and even extreme sinfulness and
rebellion.
In the world today it is easy for us to
grow discouraged quickly, whether by the rampant ungodliness and evil of
mankind, or the apathy of the Church. At times we can even despair, fearing the
complete collapse of the Church under the weight of worldliness. But what we
see with our eyes and feel with our hearts is not reality. For the people of
Israel, it would have been easy for them to grow discouraged by the constant
death of people, digging graves day after day. They could be led to think it was
all a vain task, what was the point of continuing on, when all it was going to
lead to was a slow and unpleasant death in the wilderness. For those growing up
and watching grandparents, parents, uncles and aunts die, they may have been
filled with despair that what they had been told would never come to pass.
Where was this so called “Promised Land”, did it actually exist, and would they
live to see it?
We can identify with this thinking and
feeling. We watch the older generation of the church, age and die, but it
appears that no one comes into the church, in their place, there is little sign
of the younger generation. We look around and see churches crumbling into
liberalism, or closing their doors and selling their buildings. The Bible is
now the object of scorn and mockery, and we are viewed as being ignorant and
narrow-minded, even foolish for having such a high regard for the Bible. Doors
that once were open to evangelism and Gospel-ministry are closing and closing
at an alarming rate, schools and hospitals are now tightly governed and
restricted. We have to be careful what we say and do in the work place, so that
we don’t create offence, attract unwanted criticism or even persecution. The
temptation to grow increasingly despondent and discouraged is great. The
temptation to give up enters our minds often. Heaven, eternal life in the
joy-filled, awesome presence of God, seems so far off and sounds a bit too good
to be true. We fear that what we have prayed for and hoped in will never come
to pass and that we will not enter into God’s promise.
Numbers 26, helps us to gain the right
perspective by reminding us that God is in control, He is at work in ways we
cannot see. It reminds us how quickly we become blind to God’s faithfulness,
presence and working. He is at work all the time, He is faithful, gracious,
merciful, generous, good and patient with us and all humanity all day, every
day. Most importantly, He is working all things out in accordance with His
purposes and promises. His works may not be visible to us right now, but He is
working and He cannot be hindered. He will do what He has promised. Thus we
need to often remind ourselves of passages such as this, so that instead of
looking down and feeling downcast, we are able to look up and rejoice in our
unfailing, faithful, sovereign and powerful God, whilst trusting Him for the
future. God doesn’t ask us to change the world, or to uphold it, nor does He
tell us we have to get ourselves to heaven. He changes the world, He upholds it
and us, and He keeps us for heaven and heaven for us. God asks us to be
faithful, following, trusting, obeying and loving Him as we wander through the
wilderness of this life, with the confident hope, expectation and joy that He
will bring us home to glory.
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