Number for War
Most times this does not strike me as anything. And honestly until I looked for something that might jump out I still did not see it. I find it interesting that God decided to number the people.
Why? He knew how many there were. God often tells us to do things for our benefit not for His.
So what was the purpose. I think there may be a few. The biggest to me is the one we see in the passage. War! You see when you go into a battle you need to know the numbers. The numbers tell you how hard the battle is going to be, and determines the strategy you will employ.
So how does this apply to us today?
Well I have seen many churches fall into the temptation to not keep accurate numbers. They give figures but the numbers might be general. As well many churches don't do membership. You will notice that only the tribes are mentioned not the foreigners among the tribes. It is important for us in the church to know who is counted among us. It helps us realistically look at the war we are in. Numbers can tell us a lot about where we are truly at.
There is a tendency for us to look and say "numbers are wrong". But numbers are amoral. It is how we use them that determines if they are good or bad. Lets us them the way God did. To remind us we are in a battle, and that we need to be ready.
Created over 1 year ago
