The Almost Done Census

Hey, hey, good morning, good morning. Welcome to Coffee and Devotions. This is where every day you and I, we get together, we have a little bit of coffee, we get into God's Word, and we grow in our love for the Lord together. And this year, 2024, Lord willing, we'll make it through Numbers, Deuteronomy, and through the book of Hebrews also. Glad to be with you today. Let's have some coffee, we'll pray, and we'll get into God's Word.
Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for this day. We thank you for your word. Please father, help us to read it. Please help us to understand it. And father, we pray that you would not just let it teach us in our minds, but also instruct us in our lives. Teach us to love you in Jesus's name. Amen. Okay. So we are finishing up the book of Numbers chapter two, chapter two, not the book of Numbers, but Numbers chapter two. Here we go.
These are the ones who were numbered of the children of Israel by their fathers' houses, all who were numbered according to their armies, of the forces were six hundred and three thousand five hundred fifty. But the Levites were not numbered among the children of Israel, just as the Lord commanded Moses. Thus the children of Israel did according to all that the Lord had commanded Moses. So they camped by their standards, and so they broke camp, each one by his family, according to their father's houses." So here they obeyed, right? The Lord told them to do a census, to camp by their tribes. And the Lord did this, and the numbers are massive, right? Now, I could get why people say, oh, this causes problems, right? The numbers are so big, and there's textual problems with this.
Maybe thousands just meant troops, something like that, or units. And I understand that. I'm just not convinced of it, because it seems to be a very clear historical document. But I understand why people would have sensitivities towards that. All that to say, there are some interesting things here, right? Number one, that they obey, right? I think this is a historical truth. This is not just a fanciful story. I don't think it's just myth.
And so, God gives this to us, to the people of Israel through Moses, and they obey, right? That's a miracle in and of itself, that they obey. And it's interesting, too, right? Some of the rabbis think that when it says that they were underneath their standards, it's possible that the standards were different colors.
Maybe they have an emblem on them. I don't know. Maybe they had a writing on them, you know, Camp of Dan or something. I don't know. But some rabbis think that the colors matched the different stones that were going to be in Aaron's breastplate, right? That had the 12 different stones on it. We don't know that for certain, but that's what some of the rabbis think maybe that could have been. And sure, it could have been. Who knows what was on these standards, but it was clear they knew what army they were a part of, what tribe they were a part of, and who they were going to be with.
The point here is, right, God commanded, Israel obeyed, God made a covenant with Abraham all the way back, right? Go all the way back to Genesis chapter 12, Genesis chapter 15, Genesis chapter 17. God made a covenant and God made it good. He hadn't forgotten and now there's 603,000 fighting men. Even if you just take this as these are tribes, right? You still got tens of thousands of fighting people ready for war. Lord is good.
He remembers his covenant, redeemed his people. And now he is in the heart of his people. He's in the midst of them. As they're encamped around the center, around the tabernacle, around the tent of meeting, there that God's presence is with them. As they march, God marches with them. He's never going to leave them. He's never going to forsake them. He's fighting for them as their covenant King. And so we have to ask ourselves, are we? Are we part of His people? Has He numbered us? Has He adopted us? Has He elected us? Has He chosen us to be with Him? is he in our midst today.
I hope that's true of your life. I hope you live your life in the same type of obedience that the people had here being numbered by Moses for this first census of the fighting men. Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for the presence you have promised us and the presence you have given us. Lord, we pray that we would walk knowing that you are with us, that our entire lives would be lived in the light of your promise of who you are as our covenant king. and that we would walk in the ways that you have shown us. We pray these things in Jesus's name. Amen. Well, may God bless you. May you take enjoyment in your God and in bringing God glory in your life.
I'll see you next time. Thanks for listening to this week's message from God's Word for You, a ministry of Sharon R.P. Church in rural southeast Iowa. We pray that the message would be used by God to transform your faith and your life this week. If you'd like to get more information about us, feel free to go to the website, SharonRPC.org. We'd love to invite you to worship with us. Our worship time is 10 a.m. every Sunday at 25204 160th Avenue. Morning Sun, Iowa, 52640. May God richly bless you this week.