The Second Census – 📋

So I just got a clue and realized that Dathan and Abiram were… brothers?! What? How did I not catch that before?

That’s why when we get done reading the Bible through, you’re gonna go back to Genesis and do it all over again. Because you’ll learn new details every time.

It’s so great! 🤩

And… let’s all say it together,

“That’s why we don’t skip genealogies.” (Or census lists)

Another thing I noticed in this chapter is that there are at least 4 significant pairs of brothers.

Three pairs were killed by Yahweh. That’s kinda a lot in one chapter to be coincidence. Here they are:

Dathan & Abiram (v8, swallowed by earth)

Er & Onan (v19, dropped dead)

Nadab & Abihu (v61, fire from YHWH)

Isn’t that kinda odd? 🤔

The tribes they represent (respectively) are Reuben, Judah, and Levi – which may be significant. Reuben was the firstborn. Judah was promised the kingship. Levi was dedicated to Yahweh in place of the firstborn.

Is it just me or does it feel like there’s some kind of special attack on the ones who are in positions of leadership? Temptation. Pride. Stubbornness. 🎯

I don’t really know what (if anything) to make of it. It just stuck out as odd.

The 4th set of brothers is Moses & Aaron. They had their faults. But they repented quickly and received the correction of the LORD. Aaron has died but he lived out the full number of his days and died with honor. Moses will do the same.

Maybe we could just ponder the contrast between the obedient brothers and the disobedient ones.

So parents – if you have sons, here ya go – free teaching tool.

I’m kidding! Don’t do that. Please don’t raise your kids with scary stories that if they don’t behave, God’s going to strike them dead. That’s just wrong on so many levels. Ok. Moving on…

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In this chapter Moses takes another census of Israel’s fighting men. There are 601,730. Plus 23,000 Levites. I’m guessing nearly all of them have wives and at least a couple kids.

Can we just take a moment to appreciate the fact that there has been an entire metropolitan population of approximately 2.5 million people sustained in a hostile, arid wasteland for 40 years with:

🚫🚚 No modern infrastructure.

🚫🏥 No hospitals.

🚫🔌 No electricity.

🚫🍔🍟 No food.

🚫💦 No water.

🚫💳📦 No Walmart or Amazon…

I can’t say there weren’t “stores” because maybe they traded with one another and other people groups they encountered. Traded leather for wool cloth?? Or meat for cheese? Honestly I have no idea. But seriously- compared to what we’re used to, they had next to nothing.

And they didn’t die of starvation. Or thirst.

That alone is a miracle of such size we really have to think for a minute before it begins to sink in.

Two and a half MILLION. For 40 years. 🤯

That’s completely IMPOSSIBLE.

Except that nothing is impossible for God.

No wonder Jesus sounds like He had a twinkle in His eye when the disciples asked how on earth they were going to find enough food to feed more than 5000 people. 5000 for one meal is a breeze if you’ve fed 2-3 million for 40 years. 😉

And we worry about finances and the price of eggs and stuff.

Silly us. 🤭

God does not require a garden or even decent soil to produce food. He does not require a well to produce water. He doesn’t need things to be favorable in order to provide.

If you’re looking at your financial situation and wringing your hands – stop. Seriously. Stop it. God knows AND He cares. You are wasting energy that you could be using to pray and trust.

Let me tell you a little story…

There are broke college students, then there are broke Bible college students. I was the latter. One Saturday morning I was cleaning my dorm room and wanted to do laundry but I realized I had a grand total of $0.35 to my name. I remember the amount well because it was $.50 to wash and a dollar to dry. And I counted out my coins – one quarter and a dime. And I held them up in my palm to the Lord and said (admittedly with too much attitude and frustration – probably after a bit of a cry), “Lord! You see this?! (Kinda shaking my hand on every syllable.) “I have THIRTY. FIVE. CENTS. You see this basket of laundry?” (Pointing at it. As if the Creator didn’t know where to look.) “I need clean clothes by Monday. And it costs a fifty cents to wash and a dollar to dry! I have thirty-five cents. Coming to Bible College was YOUR idea. This is YOUR problem and I need You to fix it!”

Pretty sure I forgot to add “In Jesus name” or even an “Amen.” It was a fairly unorthodox prayer. But it had what the Jews call chutzpah. Moxie. Brashness. Boldness.

A while later I got a call from my choir director. He and his wife were singing at a local church tomorrow and would I come with them and sing alto? Of course, I’d be happy to.

We sang at the church and I got a free lunch afterwards. They drove me back to the campus. (I didn’t have a car yet. You can’t keep gas in a car with 35 cents anyway. Ha!) As I got out of their van my director handed me an envelope and said, “It’s not much, but we really appreciate you going with us today.”

I opened the envelope in my room and started laughing (for joy). It was $25. And I had all afternoon to do laundry like a boss because God provided.

That was my water from the rock moment. And it absolutely changed me. The Bible stories and testimonies about God miraculously providing weren’t just stories anymore. It was real.

Whatever your situation, dear reader, God can handle it. Whatever it is, I’m pretty sure it’s not 2-and-a-half-million-people-for-forty-years-in-the-desert big.

Maybe He’s just waiting for you to get some chutzpah.

“So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.”
‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭4‬:‭16‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Here’s the word translated “boldly”-

I’ve shared this little quote of mine before but it bears repeating:

“God does not require favorable circumstances.”

I’m just gonna suggest that you sit there and read that over and over for a bit.

Then maybe pray on it.

It’s going to be alright.

Even if you only have thirty-five cents.