On the first day of the second month of the second year after the Israelites had come out of the land of Egypt, the LORD spoke to Moses in the Tent of Meeting in the Wilderness of Sinai. He said: “Take a census of the whole congregation of Israel by their clans and families, listing every man by name, one by one. You and Aaron are to number those who are twenty years of age or older by their divisions—everyone who can serve in Israel’s army. – Numbers 1:1-3

Warrior;
The Book of Numbers, in Hebrew was originally known as the book of Censuses. God wanted us to know the NUMBERS of those that left, and those that entered. For this book covers the JOURNEY from Egypt- the land of bondage, to Canaan- the land of promise. It was called the book of Censuses, because the book has ‘bookends’ of Census’. There are in fact two censuses, one in Chapter 1, taken in the second year from the Exodus, and another one in Chapter 26, taken 38 years later just before the Israelites were to enter the land of Canaan. If we are to add up the numbers from Numbers, we come to a total of 603,500 men, 20 years or older left Egypt. 40 years later, a total of 601, 730 men of the age to go to war- entered the Promised land. In the desert, on the journey that should have taken 2 weeks, which lasted 40 years- Israel had a zero-population growth. They actually dropped about 1200 men, 20 years or older, of fighting age. This shows us the Brutality of the journey in the desert. This shows us the hardness of the human heart, and the “stinkin’ thinkin’” of the mind of flesh. We are so offended and put off by everything-this makes us hard to lead, unless we get a new Spirit.

Leader– in the flesh, we are stiff necked people! The problem is NOT out there, it is IN here. It is in our HEADS and our HEARTS. They are both FULL OF IT! Full of fear, complaints, and doubts, the Israelites continue their trek toward the promised land. When they finally reach the border, 12 spies leave to scope out the terrain for 40 days. Ten spies return with horrifying reports of giant enemies, and Israel refuses to enter the occupied land. The other two spies, Caleb and Joshua, can’t convince the people to trust that God will provide for them in the land. The majority are sure that God is out to get them—that he must be luring them into the land to kill them by the giants’ swords. They forget that God rescued them from slavery to give them life in the promised land- not to kill them when they got there! They conclude they’d rather die in the wilderness than enter the land. As God will eventually do, He gave them over to the desires of their heart! Yahweh gives them what they want, closing the door to the promised land and assigning them 40 years to camp in the wilderness until the whole generation dies. The census figures only count men, military age. The actual total number of people who walked out of Egypt was between 2 million and 3.5 million. Of the millions that walked out of Egypt, only 2; Caleb and Joshua walked into the Promised land! Even with so much loss and missed opportunity, this story still has great hope! For those that trust in the Lord- He has great plans for you! Plans for hope and a future- plans to prosper you and not harm you. (Jeremiah 29:11) It is impossible to please God without Faith and “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.” (Hebrews 11:6,1 Cor 2:9)

Conduit, what is great about the Numbers journey is that God was necessary for survival. He was at the center of the camp. He was their compass, their GPS, He was their guide and their God. He was Jehovah Jireh, Shamah, Tsidkenu, Shalom, Rapha and Jehovah Geppetto, the puller of the strings! There is a good lesson in the middle of the many lessons. We all go through deserts, and valleys. We all have hard times, make poor decisions, and go off the proper path. However, what we do after that matters. Our choices, how we respond to consequences and the attitude we embrace matter. Notice the numerical changes in the 12 tribes. Reuben; LOSS almost 3000. Simeon; Loss more than half 59,300-22,200. Gad; Loss of 5000. Judah; GAIN almost 2,000. Issachar; Gain 54,400 to 64,300. Zebulun; gain 3100. Ephraim; reduced 8,000. Manasseh gained, Benjamin gained, Dan gained, Asher gained, Naphtali dropped 8000. They all went through the same desert and the same struggles, but they responded differently. We might all go through similar stuff, but the choices we make and the closer we get to God- the more God can cause all things to work for our good and His Glory! Hear the Word of the Lord: And you shall remember the whole way that the LORD your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD. Your clothing did not wear out on you and your foot did not swell these forty years. Know then in your heart that, as a man disciplines his son, the LORD your God disciplines you. So you shall keep the commandments of the LORD your God by walking in his ways and by fearing him. (Deuteronomy 8:2-6)