Numbers 1

It’s getting a little dry. We’re getting a little tired. We’ve been going at this for a while, and it looks like we have a ways to go. And the question comes to mind, "Are we going to make it?" We’ve been Christians for a while, many of us. We’ve seen God doing some wonderful things in our lives, in the lives of others. There have been times when we’ve known the presence of God so closely, so real. Those are great moments, seeing God work, knowing God near.

We just wish those moments happened more often. We wish we could live every day, all day, experiencing the presence of God, seeing His miraculous power at work. Now that would be an exciting life. We would really be eager to live as Christians if that was what the Christian life was like. Moving from one thrilling moment to another until we arrive home, beaming from an exhilarating life as a Christian.

But real life seems to be so much more normal. We’ll get the moments, here and there, like an oasis in the desert. There just seems to be more dry times than delightful times. There seems to be more ordinary than awesome. And as the ordinary days go by, we begin to plod. Time with God begins to be a drag. Prayers come slow and awkward. Temptations trip us up way too easily. Instead of watching where we’re going, we begin to lower our eyes and watch our feet. We begin to exist in our own world, not noticing anyone else around us, not noticing when someone stumbles and falls, not noticing when someone starts to wander off. We have enough to worry about to keep ourselves going, much less helping someone else to keep walking. We have this faint idea of where we’re going, this home that sounds so wonderful, this Promised Land called heaven. But that seems a long ways off now, and we’re getting a little dry.

But if we could look up for just a moment, if we could take a look around us and see who we’re walking with, what God is doing, where He is leading and how He’s protecting, we would get a surge of energy. The walk wouldn’t feel so tedious. There would be a spring in our step, as we walk through the desert on the way home.

This trip we’re on is found in the book of Numbers. And if our Christian life seems dry, this book might appear to make it even drier. Numbers. Besides accountants, who wants to read a book about numbers? But there’s so much more in the book of Numbers. There’s poisonous snakes, donkey’s talking, revolt and rebellion, hired assassins. This is a book about making our way home, and the way home is filled with hair-raising moments, if we just see them. And over the next few weeks, we’re going to take a trip through the desert in the book of Numbers, as we ourselves are walking on our way home.

But sometimes it’s hard to see what’s right in front of us. Like this census, here in chapter 1. What possible purpose could there be to have a list of numbers included in God’s word? How does it fit in the story of redemption that the tribe of Zebulun has 57,400 people in it? Why do we need to know this?

But all scripture is God-breathed, and profitable for teaching and encouraging. And God breathed this fact for our encouragement, to keep us walking through the dry desert. The people of Israel have been out in the desert a little over a year, fourteen months. Verse 1

And they need a pick-me-up. They’re running a little dry. So God commands the leaders to take a census. Not the pick-me-up we would have chosen, I don’t think. But actually, it’s very effective. As the people are begin counting, they start to notice something. As we see the crowd here in Numbers, we begin to lift up our eyes and look around us and notice who we’re walking with. That we’re not just walking on this journey all by ourselves, a bunch of individuals all trying to make it on their own. That we’re walking together as a family, a very large family, a family that’s not just getting pushed around and beaten up, but a family that is fighting against the enemies of God. That we’re a large fighting family living in the presence of God. And if we can see who we are and who we’re walking with, we’ll know that we’re going to make it home.

That’s why the book of Numbers, the journey through the desert, begins with a census. The Lord says, in verse 2:

This first chapter, that can be so boring to read through, is the people of Israel taking a look around them, noticing who’s going on the journey with them. And as they look around, they’re encouraged, because everywhere they look, they see family. Every one of these people has a common ancestor, Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham. Every one of these people is bound by blood.

Those names, the names of the tribes, those are family names. Reuben, Simeon, Judah, Issachar, those names are safe names. Those are names you can trust. Family looks out for family. Family doesn’t let family down. Family would do anything for you. Family has your back. This is one very large family reunion, because every where you look, there is family.

This is not just a little group of people wandering through the wilderness, stumbling from water hole to water hole. This is a massive multitude of people. The numbers in the book of Numbers are there for a purpose. The numbers in the book of Numbers have an effect on us. And these numbers are staggering. The leaders of the families are called together to give the number of men twenty years old or more. Moses and Aaron, in verse 18:

And as each tribe is listed, you start to feel a little better about the situation. When Elizur, from the tribe of Reuben, shouts out that there are 46,500 men over the age of twenty, you think, that’s pretty impressive. And when Shelumiel yells out, "We have 59,300 in the tribe of Simeon," and as each leader says each number, you start to realize, this is a huge, huge family. The total of men, 20 and older, comes to over 600,000. Now, add to that all the women, and all the children, and we’re looking at a group that is between 1 and 2 million people. The size of this number has actually made some scholars think that the Bible got it wrong. There couldn’t possibly be that many people. But there it is, in Numbers 1. There’s strength in numbers, and Numbers 1 says that there are a lot of people gathered together in God’s family.

And these numbers are to be used for a purpose. There’s a reason they were counting the men over twenty, because these were the people who were going to be fighting. This huge group of family was going to move into a land that was oozing with sin, and this huge family was going to take it back for God. They were going to be a light in a dark place, exposing evil and eradicating it. They had a purpose, and they couldn’t be held back. Nothing was going to stop them.

But here’s where we might run into trouble. As we look around and see our family, our huge family, our huge, ready-for-battle family, we might think that it’s our numbers and it’s our heritage that keeps us safe, that makes us able to move forward into this world. When the Israelites put their hope in numbers, at the battle of Ai, in Joshua 7, they found out really quick, and harshly, that they couldn’t succeed just because they were big. They lose when they trust in themselves. They found real fast that their strength was in the Lord.

We hear this already in the census in Numbers 1. In the middle of the family, in the center of the masses, we find the tabernacle, with the Levites encamped around it. God is the center of this family. God is the strength of this army. It’s God who is directing these millions of people in the same direction. It’s God who is providing water and food and clothing for all of these cousins. It’s God who loves these people of God.

And yet, at the same time He’s loving the people of Israel, they can’t come close to that love. His love is a pure love, a holy love, and these people are not a pure people. They are not a holy people. Bringing impurity and unholiness into close proximity to God’s holy burning love can be deadly.

So, because God loves His people, and doesn’t want them to get hurt, He puts up a shield between Him and His people. All the tribes have been counted into the army, all the tribes except one, the Levites. And it’s the Levites who act as this shield for the people’s protection. Verse 53:

The Levites were the door between the people of Israel and the Lord God Almighty. The people came to the Lord through the Levites, and God spoke back to His people through them.

And in this way, the people of God made their way home. They had been freed from captivity in Egypt, and they were looking forward to arriving at that home where everything was right, a land flowing with milk and honey, the land that God was giving them.

And while they weren’t there yet, while the going was rough at times, while life got dry and moments of miracles were separated by miles of monotony, they were walking with family, a very big family, a family willing and able to fight side by side, with God at the center of their lives.

Which is exactly where we find ourselves, walking, walking home. We have been freed from slavery, our bondage to sin has been broken. When Jesus died on that cross and walked out of that grave, sin lost it’s grip on us, and we were free. And the joy of knowing Jesus as our Savior and our Lord was enough to make us break into song, which is what we’ve been doing this morning, singing praise for our release.

But it’s a long walk between that first moment of knowing Jesus as Savior, and arriving home. There’s many opportunities for us to go wandering off, falling into temptation, losing our direction, forgetting where we’re heading. It’s easy to get slower and slower until we’re just happy to set up home right where we are, settle right down in the middle of the desert and call this home. We settle for a dry Christian life, withered times of devotion, stale acts of service, weak resistance to our enemies.

Until we look around. And we see who we’re walking with. Look. We’re walking with family. Yes, you may be biologically related to people in this room, but you’re spiritually related to a whole lot more. We are brothers and sisters here in this room. There’s nothing we wouldn’t do for each other. We love each other. We cry when a sister is crying. We hurt when a brother is hurting. We’re all in trouble when one of us in trouble. We are family.

And there’s a lot of us. Our family is not just the 150 of us here. And our family is not just the quarter of a million Christian Reformed members worshipping. Our family is huge. Our family lives in every corner of the world. Our family, our brothers and sisters outnumber any other religion in the world. We are everywhere.

And we’re moving. Our family, this huge family, isn’t just sitting around, waiting around until Jesus shows up. We’re doing things. We’re fighting. We’re fighting poverty. We’re fighting abuse of women and children. We’re fighting racial prejudice and prejudice against the poor. We’re fighting back to back. We’re not fighting face to face, against each other. We’re fighting, from Ephesians 6:12

And nothing can stop us. The gates of Hades cannot stand against us.

But not because we’re family, and not because there’s so many of us, but because the Lord God Almighty is among us, moving us to where He wants us to be working, pointing out the enemies, giving us strength to fight, fighting the battle for us. He’s here, at our center. He’s in the middle of our lives. Everything we do is centered on Him.

And going between us and Him is our Savior, Jesus. Jesus is the one who bring unholy, impure people into the presence of God. Jesus is the one who protects us from the righteous anger of God that could harm us because of our sin. Jesus is the door through Whom we approach God, and through Whom God speaks.

So, here we are, one big, blessed, fighting family. Is this a stumbling walk through a desert, or a driven march home? Is this a lonely journey or a family trip. We’re going home, surrounded by loved ones, walking, fighting, always in the presence of our God.