REGISTERED AND COUNTED

Numbers 1:1-46 / Keywords 1:3

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.

 

1. Thirteen months after the LORD miraculously delivered the Israelites from bondage to the Egyptians, he commanded Moses and Aaron to take a census of the people. God had already given them the Law, established the priesthood, provided their daily needs, and revealed himself as holy and merciful. The time had come for his people to form an army and take the Promised Land.

 

2. The LORD appointed tribal leaders to help in this huge task. People registered by their clans and families. Excluding the Levites, 603,550 were counted to serve in Israel’s army, all physical and spiritual descendants of Jacob and Abraham. The census revealed how God was both fulfilling his promises to Abraham (Gn 15:5) and also looking forward to even greater fulfillment (Gn 22:17-18). How has God been fulfilling his promises to you? Are you trusting God to fulfill his promises to you in even greater ways?

 

3. Large or small, every tribe was counted and contributed to the army. There were no bystander tribes. The people served side-by-side for the LORD and for each other. Can you be counted upon to serve the LORD? May we each, by faith, also be “registered” and “counted” in our churches and fellowships in active service to the LORD.

 

Prayer Father, thank you for fulfilling your promises. Count me among those who serve you.

One Word Be counted