https://esv.literalword.com/?q=numbers+1
Observations from today’s readings and today’s S-WOD, Monday, 17 March 2025:
Note: Here is a short video overview of Numbers: https://thebibleproject.com/explore/numbers/
Number 1:2, 2:2,3 2:34 — Take a census of all the congregation of the people of Israel, by clans, by fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, every male, head by head. From twenty years old and upward, all in Israel who are able to go to war, you and Aaron shall list them, company by company…. The people of Israel shall camp each by his own standard, with the banners of their fathers’ houses. They shall camp facing the tent of meeting on every side…. According to all that the Lord commanded Moses, so they camped by their standards, and so they set out, each one in his clan, according to his fathers’ house.
“…according to the number of names, every male, head by head…. list them, company by company….”
God commanded His people to prepare for war, which was the practical reality of what would happen when they encountered ungodly nations. He commanded them to count their troops, not so He would know how many there were, but so they would know and be able to plan accordingly, developing training, logistics, strategies, tactics, etc. He commanded His people to organize them by companies, a standard military organizational unit to facilitate order, tactical movement, and tactical employment. He also organized them by family, ensuring cohesiveness, camaraderie, implicit command and control, and fighting spirit. Preparing for likely contingencies is a biblical principle.
Being unprepared for war or crisis isn’t a way to avoid it, neither is preparing for war or conflict a way to ensure it. God has always expected His people to be ready to defend themselves against hostility or natural disasters of various sorts. David said, “Blessed be the Lord, my rock, who trains my hands for war, and my fingers for battle….” However, David put forth the effort to train consistently. He prayed for God’s protection, but He also prepared, making the most of the opportunity God had given him before conflict. Likewise, God calls us to be a people of prayer but also a people of preparation. Have faith and confidence in the Lord, but be ready for conflict and crisis which are common and expected.
God built his nation on families with fathers leading their families and taking responsibility for their families. God started from scratch with Abram (Abraham) and slowly built from him 12 tribes, now 603,550 fighting men (not counting woman, children, elderly, and Levites). The nation organized in families, clans, and tribes, with the senior father (elder) maintaining responsibility for their tribe which would number in the tens of thousands (fighting men). What united the families, clans, and tribes was their faith and commitment to God. The “tent of meeting” was at the center and was where all business occurred. I believe this is a model for the Kingdom of God on earth. We need to rebuild families in the church, and Christian families should be united in effort and action by their faith and commitment to the Great Commandment and Great Commission. We need revival among fathers to return to positions of leadership within their homes, and we need to reestablish in them a sense of generational responsibility and accountability. How many men today lead their families with a vision of building a clan or tribe, organized to glorify God with great effect on earth?
The family unit is the foundation of society, the place where character is established and competencies are taught from which culture and society are established. Strong faith and fidelity make strong families. Strong families make a strong nation. Weak faith and infidelity create weak families. Weak families make a weak nation. God’s most important institution is marriage, from which strong families are established and character and competence are passed from generation to generation. As the family goes, so goes the nation.
- Malachi 2:13-16 – “You cover the Lord’s altar with tears, with weeping and groaning because he no longer regards the offering or accepts it with favor from your hand. But you say, ‘Why does he not?’ Because the Lord was witness between you and the wife of your youth, to whom you have been faithless, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant. Did He not make them one, with a portion of the Spirit in their union? And what was the one God seeking? Godly offspring. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and let none of you be faithless to the wife of your youth. ‘For the man who does not love his wife but divorces her, says the Lord, the God of Israel, covers his garment with violence, says the Lord of hosts. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and do not be faithless.’”
Numbers 1:46 — All those listed were 603,550.
Throughout the Bible, we see that God expects His leaders to keep accountability of every person for which they have been given responsibility, to know their condition and to have a plan for them. Today, our readings deal with accountability of the warriors. In places like Ezra chapter 2, and Nehemiah chapter 7, the people of Israel are counted by families down to the individual. God cares about every person individually, knowing every hair on every person’s head. God has given us the mission of loving others, caring for them as He does. God has placed people in your family, in your church, in your community, in your life intentionally and has entrusted you to care for them. Do you have accountability of all the people God has intentionally placed in your life so that you could care for them? Are you fulfilling your responsibility for them?
The Bible says that God has also placed you intentionally within a body of believers with each member of that body fulfilling a very specific role, much like the parts of a human body serve specific purposes and work in unison. But what does it mean when one part of a body is hurting and the rest of the body doesn’t feel that hurt? What would it mean if your foot was broken but you couldn’t feel it? That would be the symptom of a very serious, life-threatening disease. But how often have we lost sensitivity to the pains of those who God has intentionally connected with us? What does that say about our condition? Recommit today to become intimately connected to the other members of your church, to feel what they feel, to rejoice with those who are rejoicing, to grieve with those who are grieving, to pray for everyone by name, and to pray that God will show you knew ways to serve your body.
Numbers 1:1-54 – When the tabernacle is to set out, the Levites shall take it down, and when the tabernacle is to be pitched, the Levites shall set it up…..
God prepared His people for action rather than stagnation.
“Cross” Fit S-WOD (Spiritual Workout of the Day) – 17 March 2025: If you haven’t already done so, make a list of those God has intentionally placed in your life and make the commitment to begin praying for them weekly by name. Yes, your list will likely be in the hundreds and will take some serious thought. But start with an inside-out approach. Start with your immediate family, then your extended family, then your church family, your neighbors, your friends, etc. Keep accountability of your relationships, and as you commit to pray for people individually, you will begin to increase or revive your sensitivity to their needs, and you will grow in love for them.
Defenders Bible Reading Plan 