Welcome to the Lansdale Life Church podcast.
If you're seeking a closer relationship with Jesus Christ, this podcast is for you.
Thank you for joining us today.
Well, I have to say when I first read this chapter last week, I'm there...
We're gonna teach on here. We've got a bunch of names.
Pretty much almost all the chapter was names.
spend some time
Praying and thinking on it and just kind of working through some stuff. So here we go, right?
So
In Numbers 26, we're
We're right up here
On the plains of Moab. It's just it's just east of the Jordan River
And you can see here kind of this is the the plate that the Israelites took. This is where they kind of
Circled around the middle of nowhere for for 40 years and then made their way up here
But this is kind of where they're they're hanging out and they're and they're
making their way
Into into the promised land
So by by this time all of all of the previous generation that had had come out of exodus the rebellious generation
Has died off and this new generation
They're on the brink of entering into the promise and that's got to be
exciting and terrifying for them all at the same time Joshua is going to be
The the leader as they go in because because Moses was not not crossing over
And this is the second said this whole book is about the census
It's the second census if you remember if you work for those of you that were here the first census was in the beginning
of numbers at Mount Sinai and
That had been about and I know it's only one chapter, but believe it or not. It was about
38 years
Previous before before the last and and that first census was about one year
That they had come out of out of Egypt just to give a little perspective and a little little context to
to where they were so
How how and why
Were they were they doing?
The census a lot of reasons and we're going to get into that
Basically how they went to you know, you got to ask yourself, okay, there's you know
Two million some odd people here. How do you how do you go about counting, you know, two million some odd odd people?
so they were they gathered the tribes the twelve tribes and the various clan leaders and
Over a period of days probably more like weeks or even even more
families
came came forward, you know tribe by tribe and
Each man that was
20-plus years old
You know how to declare his name and his genealogy. So it would be you know, I am Jamie
son of Earl of the clan of
Alabach and
And that's how they would they would present themselves and they each paid a half a shekel of silver
Okay, they would call it as a as a ransom and this went this went into
Into the Treasury and the officials would would count this and record them
So at the end there was about
601 well, it was exactly according to the word
601,730,000 fighting men
So if you do some rough math, so they didn't count women and children
the elderly
So if you do some do some rough math, there was about two to two and a half million
Israelites at this point all together including women. So
One of the reasons one of the ways that they they approached this was you know
You had you know this continuity from Abraham Isaac Jacob and then the 12
tribes that were there and then from there they had the clans and the households and
Some of the tribes shrank and some of the tribes grew due to
Obedience and disobedience. So for example
Simeon shrank dramatically
Due to the judgment related to the bail peeler incident from the previous chapter
So if you remember there was about 24,000 Israelites that were killed the tribe of
Mansaiah and
As well as others they grew in God's favor because they were they were obedient
So you had this kind of ebbing and flowing
You know when you think about we've talked about this before that, you know, God is kind of
instituting this this order this order of society and
You know every you know, every functioning society has has these things. So, you know, you could say yeah, this is a
census but
Really in part it was, you know, partly tax collection. It was partly
kind of a public
registration, you know to identify, you know, who was who and where they were
The whole chapter kind of almost reads a bit like a
legal document
So to speak and and that's because that's kind of kind of what it was. It was an official
roll call for
for the Israelites on the eve of
On the brink of when they're going into the Promised Land to wage wage war
So that that kind of sets
sets the context for things
and this will be
This will be the first time at least that I'm doing that. I'm not really going to go through verse by verse
We're gonna kind of look at it more
In an outline form and kind of in you know in a bigger idea of what what it was
so verses one through five
Basically covers off on God's commands to Moses and laser who was Aaron's
Son and now the high priest to take a census of all the males 20 years older who were able to go to war
Versus 52 through 56 and that was the majority the majority of the chapter by the way 52 through 56
gives instructions for how the Promised Land will be
apportioned so they're already they haven't even gone in and you know and and and and
basically
Beat up the cane I checked because they're already like thinking how we're gonna divide how we're gonna divide this land
So big part of this is how it's gonna be apportioned, you know by lots, you know, you know God's sovereign choice
How it's gonna go by tribe some tribes were larger some tribes were smaller we're gonna talk a bit about that 57 through 62
There was a separate census
Taking for the tribe of Levi the Levites who were the priests and they did not receive
territory, which we'll talk about again, and then the second the closing note emphasizes
That none of the people counted in the first sense except for Caleb and Joshua are still alive
God's word of judgment was fulfilled
Exactly. So let's talk a little bit about why why was the census, you know needed so
basically
I
This is the first
you know first generation out of the out of the wilderness and
This is the second generation. It came in the first generation basically, you know died off
this chapter is immediately after
the plague that took
24,000 lives
So this kind of marks the end, you know of a generation and a significant move forward
So really there's there's a head count needed because you know when you have that many people you've just got to know
Know what's going on and it basically, you know, they knew they were heading into war
So one of it was for military readiness. So they were about to wage a holy war on Canaan
knowing they needed to know exactly what their military might was and their capability and
You know, this is this is this is kind of an unusual way for
For us to look at it as a society, but God was really kind of their commander in chief, right?
You know and he is ordering the census and you know, there there's all kinds of scripture, you know Exodus 15 3
Says that the Lord is a man of war
The Lord is his name Isaiah 42 13 says the Lord goes forth like a warrior
He stirs up his zeal like a man of war
Psalm 24 8
The Lord strong and mighty the Lord mighty in battle and Cefaniah
3 17 the Lord your God a warrior who gives victory
so that's
How God portrayed himself and that's how many of the Israelites saw God now
You know, we we see God a bit different
We know in in a Thessian 6 says that our our battle is not
against flesh and blood anymore
But our battle is a spiritual is a spiritual battle
So sometimes things like that when you say, okay, God was basically their commander in chief and taking them into war
It's a very foreign foreign concept to us because we we've you got a bit different than now
but God is
Leading getting ready to lead his people into battle and he wants them to be organized under his command
So the military readiness and responsiveness was a big part of this
Census they needed to know
What what what what military assets they had had in front of them
Another big part was the land distribution
think about
The William Penn land grant
Right, okay. This is kind of you know
on a much grander scale
now they're calling it the the inheritance, but
they're basically taking a census of people to try to
Understand how they're gonna divide this land because there had to be a level of organization to it again
You've got two million plus people. You're not just gonna say hey everybody kind of you know
It's not gonna be like the Wild West was here where it's like, okay
Just go and you know, take what you want as far as land
There was a level of organization that had to be in place and this was a bit very much looked at as an inheritance
But as you'll see not all things were were created equal in some ways
So that the land was promised to Abraham back back in Genesis
So this was this was a promise
That was made to Abraham and it was about to be fulfilled and there the census was providing
Some data for this as to how it was going to be divided. So
There we go, I got it back
So the land is to be bought divided by tribe
So the larger tribes received a larger portion the smaller tribes received
smaller now the boundaries of the land like like like where it was and who was going up against who was was chosen by
a lot, okay, so so basically in essence, you know
God is deciding if you're calling it by you know by chance and this would present prevent
favoritism so I don't know if I don't know if many of you know this but you know in my
you know my my my I come I come from the Anabaptists or Mennonites and
Even up till I think up until the 60s
They used to choose their pastor by lot
So
If you were the lucky one you you drew the straw and you you won. In fact, I have a
a
Great great uncle
Christian alabak who was part of the Rock Hill
Mennonite and
I don't know all the details surrounding it
but he kind of
Left there and went to tell Menson because he didn't want to be part of that and then it tell Menson
He was selected as the pastor anyway
And he was very gifted gifted pastor from from what I understand
So they used to choose a pastor by lot and how they looked at it was they were putting it into the hands of God
so that's what they're saying here is is that the boundaries and who's next to who and who's bordering who was all
Decided by a lot which would be God's, you know God's providence. So
When you think about land, you know, I think we look at we look at land a little bit different
Okay, we have a land and we have our house and just kind of is what it is
but you know, they looked at it as kind of an identity thing a
Livelihood they lived off the land they used the land to to build a
Burial place for their their ancestors a future for their family. So there was a lot
built into land and the idea of land if you didn't have land you had no future no name no
Inheritance for your children and that's a biblical tin. It's written in Ruth. It's written in Jeremiah
So land was very very very important to them
Now, you know, we know
From from from writings in the New Testament, you know by by Paul mostly that we as believers are
our
Abraham's seed and co-heirs
to the promise
Galatians 3
29 says if you belong to Christ
Then you are Abraham's seed and heirs
according to the promise
So we are heirs according to that inheritance
Hebrews 11 9
9 to 10
Recently went through this on Sunday by faith. He made his home in the promised land
Talking about Abraham like a stranger in a foreign country. He lived in tents as did Isaac and Jacob
Who were heirs with him of the same promise for he was?
Looking forward to the city with foundations whose architect
Art and builder is God
So they looked forward to this promise
They never they never saw it and they looked forward to it and we the Israelites were getting ready to step into this promise
But we are living
In that promise now, we are living in that inheritance
Let your head wrap around that for a second we're living in that inheritance right now
And
And what this represented
To them and I know what it represents to me is this kind of renewal this new life
After failure or after death
This renewal so the whole nation
Kind of gets a reboot
You know all of this all of this stuff that went wrong
along the way all of the failures all of the rebellion all of the stuff that just
You know we've read and read and read about it it's all in the past now
And this is this is kind of a reboot and what it says and we know this to be true
As followers of Jesus that past failures do not cancel out
future promises that God makes to us and I'm thankful for that so we
They embraced it we can embrace it this fresh this fresh start a new season a
Redeemed life a redeemed identity and living in this in this promise
So land distribution was a big piece of why they were taking this census
Another reason
You know and again this this seems a bit odd odd to us because you know
I think you know we we try to you know
You know we want to be a people of humility, but this was about
purity and identity of the covenant people of the
Chosen people of God so God was building this this holy
Nation and precise records to preserve
this line
for the coming Messiah
Was imperative
You know in other words protecting this messianic bloodline that was going to come and and
And this is how they looked at themselves. They looked at themselves as you know we are a special people
We are different than the Egyptians. We are different than you know the canines
We are different than all of these other people because we are chosen by God
And that's a special thing so they were the promised seed the son of David
So these were some of the some of the some of the some of the tones
You'll hear through scripture the promised seed the son of David the Messiah all paving the way for for Jesus
Who was to come through this traceable line all the way back to this to the census so?
mixed marriages and lost
Genealogies and all this stuff would would break you know break that that that chain
And we know that both Matthew and and Luke and the Gospels they were they would trace the the
Genealogy back from Jesus all the way back
So the census was God's way of keeping the record straight
so that in the centuries later
In in Gospels and in the word and even through mostly you know as they would talk about it
You know preserving this that Jesus the son of David the son of Abraham as it said in
Matthew in Matthew 1 so keeping that record and and you know I know I know I've talked about this before is
You know when I
You know when I would come to
Chapters like this. I would just like
Blow through I wouldn't even read I wouldn't even read that stuff same same thing in like Matthew
You know I'm not even reading through the genealogy because it's just like
It's too much, but it is super super important
to the Jews
It was very very very important who you were and where you came from in the genealogy
And the lineage behind it
So God is preserving that
so
This idea of holiness of this of this covenant community Israel was called to be a holy nation
You know so all of these things were
You know they had to keep that that purity so precise tribal and clan registration made it very clear
You know who belonged where who could marry whom?
Preventing you know what they would call you know spiritual
Contamination that would destroy you know and eventually would destroy some of the kingdoms as we'll find out as we get through
like two Kings and all of that so
This really was you know some foreshadowing here in the book of revelations that
Repeatedly speaks about those names that are written
In the book of life from the foundation of of the world so not the same
kind of
Census and genealogy, but kind of a foreshadowing of what was to come you know Paul calls the church
The Israel of God
Galatians 6 and says believers are enrolled in a heavenly registry in Hebrews 12
23 and Philippians 4 3 and Luke 10 20 so God has always kept this this precise list of
Who are his?
You know he says he says that our names are written in his hand in the palm in the palm of his hands
So wrote the numbers 26 that we're going through is really an early picture of what an eternal reality is
So this was proof as
They documented this this was proof of God's judgment and his grace
so when you
compare
The two senses that were you know roughly 40 years apart
They they're almost
They're almost the same
And when I first looked at them, I'm there how's that possible if these guys are
Wandering in the in the desert for 40 years, you know million some odd people. They're gonna be multiplying
And
It has to do with you know, the various
forms of
Rebellion and how they were basically basically, you know killed killed off. So
God keeps his word when it comes to judgment, but he also keeps his word when it comes to grace and mercy so both
Judgment on unbelief and mercy on preserving the people for for himself
Is noted here and documented here
So the leave lights were counted separately
There was a separate census and they did not receive
land inheritance
Why you may ask
Because the Lord is their inheritance
Deuteronomy 10 9
says
Says that that is why the Levites had no share or inheritance among their fellow
Israelites the Lord is their inheritance as the Lord your God told them so
They weren't to own land and things like the others did Joshua 13 33
But to the tribe of Lehi Levi Moses has given no inheritance
The Lord the God of Israel is their inheritance as he promised them
so purity and identity of the covenant people was
Basically in the hands of the priests and we went through this in a lot of detail
You know before before the book of the numbers
So the Levites, you know were the priests and they were set apart
For service and worship and they were set apart to lead the nation
To God. So this really shows how God puts a priority
On holiness and worship and service because their reward
Is much like our reward right? What does God say, you know, we are we are storing up, you know our
reward in heaven
Spiritual rewards so
Not all blessings are land and wealth right we know that very well spiritual inheritance
Is its own reward? So, you know gang God is building this holy nation
So, you know, they were you know, they were part of this but they were not part of of the covenant. So
Let's kind of recap
You know a couple a couple things here
These were a couple things I always kind of like to take a step back and say okay
What were the things that God really spoke to me here about?
You know God God works with a remnant, right?
So so these this was this was was there was a lot of people that
That were that were lost along the way and the original generation
Did not make it into the Promised Land
Including Moses so, you know God will work with an remnant
There's an entire generation that was wiped out yet. God did not abandon his promise
He held true to his promise no matter how corrupt
Or how wayward the generation went
He kept circling back with mercy and grace and there was judgment along with that
He would always preserve
The
Reminent of the faithful that were in there
so this new census is this picture of
Resurrection that comes from you know, we talked a little bit about this
You know at our in our in our life group on on Monday, you know from from Chris's sermon on
On Sunday of how how God can bring, you know life from death
So this new generation that is going in to the Promised Land is a remnant of of life
That came from death a new people ready to inherit
What the old forfeited through their through their unbelief
Another thing that that really stuck out to me and I kind of put this in the title is that every name matters
to God
Yeah, when I read through this my eyes kind of glaze over
But God took the time to write every name down
Thousands of incredibly hard to pronounce names
Show that God knows every individual and that he cares
Even in a military census. No one is just a number to God
God is faithful to his promises
This is six hundred and eighty-five years after he promised this to Abraham
Six hundred and eighty-five years
They waited and God waited and God was faithful to this in how we say that
You know God's timing is not our timing. Well, I
Don't know
685 years might be a little bit of a challenge for me
Another thing that I drew out of this is inheritances by grace
So the land that God was giving them it was not earned by them
It was not deserved by them, but it was freely given
by God
And lastly
God's priority on holiness and and worship, you know the Levites
You know their inheritance was was God
they they their inheritance was
serving him and
you know how how true is that in our in our lives as
We serve
You know, we think about all of the stuff, you know, you know in our lives and things that we have and
the wealth that we have
But the fulfillment that comes out of serving God
Is that a completely different level and it's a completely
different level of
Fulfillment that God that God gives to us. So when we serve it when we're worshipping God
And God's presence is just all around us
That's not something that we can earn
That's not something that you can put on, you know, the same level as you know
Hey, look at my house. Look at my car. Look at this stuff
That's a different level and that's you know, that's what God was communicating
Through through the tribe of Levi's is that these guys are getting so much more
And I believe and I know that that is true
True for us that God puts a high calling on worship and service
And serving others
So numbers 26
This is this is God's meticulous roll call, you know for the second generation of Israel
And it really is such a testimony that that
Unbelief and all of this stuff that they went through and that they did
you know
Doesn't define
Who they are and where God can take them God was taking them
To to a completely different place and his covenant and promises are are unbreakable
And his people are known by name
All of us are known by name to God. That's an awesome awesome thing, isn't it?
And you know, I know for me I'm gonna look at this stuff a little bit different
I'm gonna look at like censuses and genealogies, you know a little bit a little bit different
From here from more of a you know, okay, this is how you know, God restores
Mercifully, this is how God, you know looks at us, you know
He knows he knows every single person, you know by name and he has has redeemed us
To a place into a promise of of inheritance
So I have some handouts that you guys have and I think there's there's a lot of stuff we could we can talk through
in groups
Thanks for joining us at Lansdale Life Church as we praise God and discuss his word
Don't forget to join us for worship lives Sunday mornings at 10 a.m. Eastern on YouTube
Be blessed and have a great day