Head Count
I remember in my days as a student pastor going on ski trips, retreats or simply bowling. I would take 35 or 40 kids on a trip. As a precautionary method of not leaving someone, I would give each of the students a number. When we would stop to eat, once we got back on the bus or in the vans, we would proceed with count off. It worked pretty good to keep me from leaving a kid behind at Taco Bell while we hit the road.
The book of Numbers starts right out of the gate counting people. The Lord gives Moses instructions at Mt. Sinai to count all the fighting men, 20 years of age or older. It’s been about just over 2 years since the Israelites crossed the Red Sea. Moses appoints a lead counter from each tribe. This was definitely a “manual count” method. Check this out…
45 All the Israelites twenty years old or more who were able to serve in Israel’s army were counted according to their families. 46 The total number was 603,550.
47 The ancestral tribe of the Levites, however, was not counted along with the others. 48 The Lord had said to Moses: 49 ‘You must not count the tribe of Levi or include them in the census of the other Israelites. 50 Instead, appoint the Levites to be in charge of the tabernacle of the covenant law – over all its furnishings and everything belonging to it. They are to carry the tabernacle and all its furnishings; they are to take care of it and camp round it. (Numbers 1:45-50 NIV)
It sort of blows my mind that the number of people had gotten so large. When they left Egypt their number was significant. Here they are camped at Mt. Sinai and there are over a half million men 20 years and older. This number doesn’t count the Levites which would could assume was average to the other clans. This doesn’t account for the kids under age 20 or the wives of these men. There were probably well over 1.5 million people in this community. Moses had a formidable task to get them moving forward or simply doing anything. It helps me keep the journey of wandering through the desert for the next 38 years in a different perspective.
I believe that the Lord is interested in numbers. He counted the people because the people counted to Him. I think sometimes it’s a wise practice to stop and count the cost of what I’m doing. There are times when I didn’t count the cost at the beginning; I end up cutting my losses. I think it’s wise to do the math at the beginning of a project as well as during the project and then at the end. A good CPA told me that numbers don’t lie – they just are what they are. I think it’s wise to keep count of my family, my friends, my money and my time. I have responsibility in all these areas so I should take my influence and management of these areas more seriously. I need to know just how valuable and important these areas are to me, but I also need to know how important I am to all of the areas of my life.
Pressing On!
Dwayne