Get Organized

Numbers 1

We are now in our fourth book of the Bible called Numbers. The title of this book of the Bible comes from what chapters 1-4 share about the division of the people of Israel. People think that the book of Numbers deals with numbers; which it kind of does but only a little bit. It actually deals with things that happened to Israel while they were in the wilderness. I appreciate the Hebrew title of this book more. The Hebrew titled is where the phrase in verse 1 which is “In the wilderness.” The book of Numbers was written by Moses and shows the 39 years of wondering around in the wilderness. Moses wrote this book in the final year of his life.  The book can be broken down into two segments, the first one is Israel in the wilderness in their 2nd year, chapter 1 through 14. The second part would be Israel in its 40 year in the wilderness 20:1 to the end of the book. 

 In this book we get to see two generations of Israelites. The first generation which their story starts in Exodus 2 and continues through Leviticus to the 14 chapter of Numbers. The second generation is mentioned in the end of the book. 

In the Wilderness

When we read chapter one of Numbers we need to remember now the story is taking place within the first year of their Exodus into the wilderness. It is like the beginning for them. If you have ever gone camping you will know that it takes some organization in getting through the trip. Imagine now a camping trip that would last a lot longer than your normal weekend trip and for a couple of a million people instead of a family of four. That would be hard to organize. I could not imagine doing it. In this chapter we see that Moses was told by God to take a count of all the people but based by their tribes. This was a smart way to organize the people.The other reason for this organization was for military reasons.  If Israel would be attacked they would already be put into groups and ready to be put into place for battle. It was a great strategy that the Lord wanted Israel to be ready and not get caught off guard. 

Levites Exempt 

In the last part of chapter 1, the Levites we see are in a different category; they were not to be counted. The reason why was they were exempted from battle. They were not required to fight, but they had their own responsibilities as we read through the book of Leviticus.  The Levites could not be fighting because their main duty was carrying the tabernacle. They were to be surrounding the tabernacle and their lives were to serve God in the tabernacle. There is a particular reason why; they were to keep the wrath of God from consuming Israel. The Levites were the ones who were to maintain being clean before God so they could be the ones going before God with their sacrifices.

 Being Organized

I don’t know about you but I know organization does not come naturally to me. There are some people that are so organized they make me sick. But the truth is that they get more things done by being organized. Yeah, it is work in the beginning but it pays off when things get going and you need certain things to be where you want them to be. God is an orderly God. He knows exactly what he is doing even when we think everything in life is chaotic. He was organizing Israel not because it would look pretty but that this model was a way for them to function in such a large setting. May we desire not to be organized in our own lives but for the glory of the Lord. How is your room? How is your study habits? How is your Bible study going? The Bible tells us that Satan is a prowling lion ready to devour us. He will attack when we least expect it. Israel needed to be organized so they could be ready for any surprise battles and we need to be organized in our Christian life to be ready for Satan’s attacks.