Lessons from the first census in the desert
Text Numbers 1 Time 15/01/12 Place Childs Hill Baptist Church
I would like us this
evening to begin looking at the Book of Numbers, the fourth book of
the Bible. It is a little off putting as in Chapter 1 and other
places the main thing we find is a list of names and numbers or
something similar - hence the name – one writer suggests that it is
the name that puts people off. It also covers the
period when the Israelites were in the desert (one of its names in
Hebrew is “in the desert”) and that may put people off too.
I don't
think we should be put off, however. This is still part of
God's inspired and infallible Word and it has important lessons to
teach us about faith, holiness and commitment and
other matters too. This is the book that also includes many
famous stories such as the lifting up of the bronze serpent, Moses
raising his hands so that Joshua and the army below prevail over the
Amalekites and the story of Balaam and Balak.
Leviticus comes between but the Book of
Numbers takes up where the book of Exodus ends. Its other name in
Hebrew is “And he said” reminding us that it carries on with the
narrative. Exodus takes us from the birth of Moses in Egypt where the
people of God were in slavery to their miraculous exodus from that
place into the desert where they meet with God and receive his Law.
Numbers covers the period immediately after the receiving of these
commands at Sinai and the setting up of the tabernacle, where God was
to be worshipped in their midst. The book begins with the numbering
of the people and preparations for resuming their journey. The
journey then is begun but is marked by a series of complaints and
punishments. They arrive at the borders of Canaan and send in spies
but their pessimistic report results in a refusal to take possession
of Canaan and so they are condemned to death in the wilderness until
a new generation grows up to carry out the task. The book ends with
that new generation in the plain of Moab ready to cross the Jordan.
Some suggest it lacks structure but in his commentary John Currid
convincingly suggests that it contains a series of narratives and
laws with the references to the tabernacle at the centre in Chapter
16 and 17. With six sections before and six after that, the pattern
reflects the way Israel would camp around the tabernacle as noted in
Chapter 2.
So Chapter 1. Some of you will remember that earlier on last year the government
was taking a census, as it does every ten years. Remember the mauve
Household Questionnaire? It is not easy to organise such things and
it takes quite a bit of time and money. Governments find it useful,
however, to have accurate information on population and similar
matters in order to plan for the future. Now at the beginning of
Numbers we have a census. Unlike a UK census, this census is not
concerned to number every single person but one would guess that
there were about two million present. With smaller numbers and
everyone being in one place it was easier to conduct than ours are
but it would not have been that easy. What I want us to do this
evening is to look at it and what we are told about it and draw out a
number of lessons.
1. Learn
about the ways of God
The book begins with this statement
The LORD spoke to Moses in the Tent of Meeting in the Desert of Sinai
on the first day of the second month of the second year after the
Israelites came out of Egypt. He said: Take a census of the whole
Israelite community by their clans and families, listing every man by
name, one by one. You and Aaron are to number by their divisions all
the men in Israel twenty years old or more who are able to serve in
the army. One man from each tribe, each the head of his family, is to
help you. We are then given the
names of the heads of each of the tribes, those from each tribe who
helped Moses and Aaron (5-16). The tribes are given in order of the
sons of Israel – first Leah's sons then Rachel's then those of the
handmaidens. Gad moves place later on for some reason that is not
clear. There are at least three lessons to learn about God.
1.
Learn about God's sovereign power
We
were thinking a few weeks ago about the decree of Caesar Augustus
commanding a census in Syria around the time when Jesus was born.
Augustus was able to command a census because he was the sovereign
power over the Roman World. At the very least God's call for a census
of his people was a reminder of who was in control, who was the
sovereign power. It wasn't Moses. It wasn't one of the rebellious
groups of Israelites that rose up from time to time. It was God
himself.
The
sovereignty of God is one of those truths we need to keep coming back
to, reminding ourselves who is in control.
2.
Learn about God's love
God
is not just like a sovereign commanding his people to stand up and be
counted, he is also like a shepherd counting his sheep, like a mother
of father checking that everyone is present. This census speaks of
his love for his people as a company and as individuals. It reminds
us of the Book of Life itself where the name of all the elect are
found.
We
have spoken already today about the love of god. It is a fundamental
truth never to be forgotten.
3.
Learn about God's faithfulness
The
census was also a reminder of God's covenant faithfulness. God had
made his covenant with Abraham and then with Isaac and Jacob. When
Jacob went down into Egypt they numbered about 70. They weren't a
nation or people just a rather large family. Now some 400 or so years
later they were a people a nation about two million strong. It was a
testimony to God's faithfulness over the years. They were once not a
people but now they were the people of God. That faithfulness
continues to this very day and is something we can always count on.
He will never fail his people. He keeps all his promises.
2.
Learn about walking with God
We
are then told from verse 17 about the carrying out of the census.
Moses and Aaron
took these men whose names had been given, and they called the whole
community together on the first day of the second month. The people
indicated their ancestry by their clans and families, and the men
twenty years old or more were listed by name, one by one, as the LORD
commanded Moses. And so he counted them in the Desert of Sinai.
We
are not told how long it took but it must have been less than 20 days
as they left then (10:11). They soon they had the numbers anyway
(20-43) for each of the tribes All the men twenty years old
or more who were able to serve in the army were listed by name, one
by one, according to the records of their clans and families.
21 The
number from the tribe of Reuben was 46,500.
23 The
number from the tribe of Simeon was 59,300.
25 The
number from the tribe of Gad was 45,650
27 The
number from the tribe of Judah was 74,600
29 The
number from the tribe of Issachar was 54,400
31 The
number from the tribe of Zebulun was 57,400
33 The
number from the tribe of Ephraim was 40,500.
35 The
number from the tribe of Manasseh was 32,200
37 The
number from the tribe of Benjamin was 35,400.
39 The
number from the tribe of Dan was 62,700
41 The
number from the tribe of Asher was 41,500.
43
The number from the tribe of Naphtali was 53,400.
Then
in verses 44-46 Moses sums up These
were the men counted by Moses and Aaron and the twelve leaders of
Israel, each one representing his family. All the Israelites twenty
years old or more who were able to serve in Israel's army were
counted according to their families. The total number was 603,550.
Again there are lessons to learn, lessons we may say about walking
with God. The lessons are these
1. Recognise that there is fighting to be done
You
notice that not everyone is counted in this census but only the
men twenty years old or more who were able to serve in the army. In
the Ancient Near East 20 was a typical military age. There was fighting to be
done. The Canaanites were not simply going to stand a side as Israel
marched in and took their land. They would need to fight and even in
this book we read about fighting, although the real fight begins in
Joshua and Judges. Now, of course, today God's nation does not
advance by means of physical fighting. However, there are spiritual
battles to be fought and the New Testament often takes up that
picture to speak about living the Christian life. Paul urges us in
Ephesians 6 to put on the whole armour of God which he carefully
describes and speaks of fighting the good fight of faith or using
weapons that are not the weapons of this world but that can demolish
arguments and pretensions and so on.
So here is another important reminder. We are in a war and we need
to be ready to fight. The Christian life is not a picnic it is a
battleground. Be on guard. Quit yourselves as men.
2. Recognise God's providential blessing
There is probably something to be learned from these numbers too.
You notice that they range from as few as 32, 300 to as many as 74,
600. The sheer variation is reminder of God's providence. A single
couple may produce many grandchildren and great grand children, etc,
or they may produce very few or none. The main factor here is God's
providence in ability to conceive, live birth and later longevity.
The biggest tribe is Judah, which is no surprise to those of us who
know that was Jesus's tribe and the tribe of whom Jacob had said
(Genesis 49:8-10)
Judah, your brothers
will praise you; your hand will be on the neck of your enemies; your
father's sons will bow down to you. You are a lion's cub, O Judah;
you return from the prey, my son. Like a lion he crouches and lies
down, like a lioness - who dares to rouse him? The sceptre will not
depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet,
until he comes to whom it belongs and the obedience of the nations
is his.
The next tribe in size is Dan (63, 700) but we should remember that
Ephraim and Manasseh both spring from Joseph and so if you combine
their relatively low totals (40,500 and 32,200) you get 72, 700. As
Jacob had seen Joseph was to prove a fruitful vine.
So
here are some reminders of God's providence and some hints of how
God works in history so that certain people and certain families are
more of a blessing than others.
3. Recognise our need of God's grace
The
other thing to note here perhaps is that these 603,550 represent
about two million. Some scoff at these large numbers and point out
that Sinai is a desert area anyway. It is impossible they claim
first that so many people could have come from just twelve men and
try to explain it by saying that the figures are wrong or that
thousand just means “unit” (eg of 500). They also raise
questions over how many could be sustained in such a place. But they
are forgetting the power of God and the miraculous way he provided
the water and quails and manna that the people were enjoying at that
time. They forget that, as Calvin says, “the
intention of the Spirit is to represent to our eyes the incredible
power of God in a conspicuous and signal miracle”.
If we forget that not only will we get nothing from this passage but
we will also fail to live by faith as we are expected too. Israel's
problem was that they found it so hard to simply depend on God. We
find it hard too but it is our only hope.
3.
Learn about worshipping God
In verse 47ff we learn that The
families of the tribe of Levi, however, were not counted along with
the others. Rather The
LORD had said to Moses: You must not count the tribe of Levi or
include them in the census of the other Israelites. Instead, appoint
the Levites to be in charge of the tabernacle of the Testimony
(tabernacle means place of
dwelling ie where God dwelled; testimony refers to the 10
Commandments in the ark in the tabernacle) - over all its
furnishings and everything belonging to it. They are to carry the
tabernacle and all its furnishings; they are to take care of it and
encamp round it. That was their
work. They were not involved in the ordinary fighting but they were
required to encamp around the tabernacle and guard it. Whenever they
would move it was the Levites job to take down the tabernacle, to
carry it and then to re-erect to wherever they came next. No-one else
must do it on pain of death, no outsider or unauthorised person.
Verses 52 and 53 explain further
The Israelites are to set up their tents by divisions, each man in
his own camp under his own standard. The Levites, however, are to set
up their tents round the tabernacle of the Testimony so that wrath
will not fall on the Israelite community. The Levites are to be
responsible for the care of the tabernacle of the Testimony.
Again
it is all a very long time ago in a very different setting but again
there are lessons we can learn
1.
Remember the presence of God
The
tabernacle served to very visibly remind the people that the holy God
was in their midst. Again much has changed since then but the
tabernacle was always intended to point forward to Jesus Christ,
Emmanuel or God with us, the one who is among us this very night by
his Spirit. Just as they had to be very careful how they conducted
themselves so do we for God is holy and a God of wrath and he must be
worshipped as he demands not as we may happen to think he ought to be
worshipped.
2.
Remember the need for mediation
The
very existence of a priesthood was a reminder of the need of
mediation. Yes, God desired their worship but they could only draw
near in the ways he had set down and through the High Priest Aaron
and the help of the Levitical priesthood. Now just as the tabernacle
is fulfilled in Christ so the priesthood is fulfilled chiefly in
Christ. He is the One Mediator between man and God. The only way to
the Father is through the Son. At the same time whereas in Israel the
priests came from only one tribe not all twelve in Christ every
believe, man or woman, boy or girl, is his own priest and can come to
god through Christ himself. Further we all benefit from those who
minister the Word to us in Christ (those who guard the worship and
serve, those who in Paul's words Romans 15:20 – engage in the
priestly duty of proclaiming the gospel of God)
for which we should be thankful.
3.
Remember the humbling nature of worship
Perhaps
we can also note the history of the tribe of Levi. You may remember
that it was Levi and Simeon who in an attempt to avenge their sister
committed a bloodthirsty claim against the Shechemites. This had led
to the prophecy that they would be scattered in Israel. In Simeon's
case that was fulfilled in Israel in that their towns were scattered
throughout Judah. As for Levi, it was perhaps because they rallied to
Moses at Sinai when Israel was in rebellion that they were made
priests. Certainly they were made the priestly tribe (rather the
eldest in each house being priest) which is a great privilege but
later involved being scattered in Israel as they had to live in
priestly towns all over the country. Even her their taking care of
the tabernacle is spoken of as ministry that is serving or
ministering. And so though there was some pride, perhaps, in being a
Levite, there was some humiliation too, given the history. Being a
Christian is like that too. Being a Christian is a little like that.
Yes, it is a glorious thing but it begins by confessing your sin and
humbling yourself before God.
4.
Learn about obedience to God
Don't
miss that final verse 54 The Israelites did all this just
as the LORD commanded Moses. They
did it without hesitation or reservation. Obedience to God is always
a good thing and here we have an example of it, one that is to be
followed. For us it is not taking a census but many other equally
mundane and sometimes challenging things. Let's do as we are
commanded.
