Good morning, for the next two weeks we will read the fourth book of the Bible, Numbers. Today, we focus on the first two chapters.
Know the requirements
There were three thoughts which stood out to me as I read the details of the census that God told Moses to conduct.
It is important to God, who dwells within your community. By having them count their males, it is possible to determine the needs of a community.
It is impossible to calculate how many public resources will be required when a country does not have sovereign borders.
City planners have formulas to help them predict traffic flow. The calculations are based on current population but factor in a reasonable amount of organic and inorganic growth.
They have to speculate on how many jobs a new company will create when they come to an area. This will also require supporting jobs to provide services to those people. It will affect how they forecast the need to widen roads, or create new flow patterns.
With that much growth, will the electric grid hold up? What about water? I live in a desert and knowing if the water we can access will be adequate is crucial.
Controlled growth
To know they will have enough tax revenue, they want a sustainable amount of growth.
Getting companies that offer higher income jobs will enhance that tax base and enhance the local economy.
This will mean new stores, restaurants, service providers, etc.
While these are positive influences, they still need to be planned for and controlled.
Flip that and calculate an influx of lower paid, perhaps even unemployed workers.
Impacts on community
Just as with the growth we mentioned, they will have an impact. Their children will need schools, doctors, and public services.
Will there be an increase in crime? More need for fire and ambulance services?
How will the government provide these expensive services if those migrating in are not as proficient at adding tax revenue?
These genuine problems require planning and constant change.
Therefore, it becomes important to know how many people you have to care for, and how many can serve.
Controlled reduction
You need the same calculus when removing people from a community. Those people required food, they used resources; they provided tax revenue.
It is very possible that removing them will decrease the tax burden and allow the resources to be spread over a smaller group. There will still be fewer people eating in restaurants, less money spent on groceries, less collected in sales tax, etc.
Which businesses will prosper, and which businesses will suffer? How will you adjust and is there a way for those affected to adapt?
God knows each of us
Then I noticed God knew the actual names and told Moses who to assign to count.
I am sure The Lord had equipped these men from each tribe to do this task. God had given them talents and skills. They had integrity. God was familiar with their identities and recognized their capabilities.
God knows each of the stars by name (see Isa 40:26).
We may think we can get away with things. No one is around. We are in the privacy of our own homes, in the middle of nowhere. But, God is omnipresent. He is omniscient. Our actions are known by Him. Every thought we have, and our full potential, whether good or bad.
There were two to three million people in the tribe of Israel, and God calls out this small group by name. We should all live our lives knowing He knows us.
Judah first
My last observation was in verse 2:3. God knows Jesus will come from the line of Judah. He knows that the sun rises in the east. Therefore, He sets Judah to the east.
They will be first to see the sun rise.
When Jesus returns, others will comprehend that something is happening. They will be searching and looking around, trying to figure out what is going on.
Those who belong to the Lord will already know. He will gather us to Himself in the air. (1 Thes 4:17)
From then on, we will be with Him forever.
Those which are not counted in that number will go through such horrific tribulations that God will not require His children to be part of.
I encourage you to live with this thought.
Dealing with tragedy
Last week, two airplanes crashed. The crashes claimed nearly one hundred lives.
A friend at church spoke of how people were at the airport waiting to pick up a loved one who would never arrive.
I posed the question: how many Christians who knew those people had “planned” to tell them about Jesus? Perhaps they had moved forward in doing so.
Maybe they invited them to lunch, and were about to witness to them, but the phone rang. Or their friend told them about a personal crisis. Figuring the time was just not right, they waited for the next opportunity.
That opportunity never came. It never will.
We must all seize the moments we have because one day, whether through rapture or the inevitable end of each of our lives, we will no longer have those chances.
