In my humble, but correct, opinion, while "numbers" do not define a church or its effectiveness, they are one measure thereof.
It seems to me that God put an emphasis on numbers on numbers of occasions.
He has counted the hairs on my head. It did not take Him long.
He told us how many men were fed by Jesus with the young boy's loaves of bread and fish.
We know how many disciples there were in the beginning of Jesus' ministry on earth.
We're told how many were saved at Pentecost.
He even wrote a whole book that He called, "Numbers."
The book of Numbers was written to cure insomnia.
If you don't believe that, some night when you can't get to sleep just start reading Numbers. You'll be asleep in no time.
Actually, there are some astounding things in Numbers that escape a cursory reading.
In chapter two, for instance, God found it necessary to tell us how the tents of the Israelites were laid out on the plains of Moab.
I'll not quote it all, but I'll give you the basics.
Numbers 2:1-2 Every man of the children of Israel shall pitch by his own standard, with the ensign of their father's house: far off about the tabernacle of the congregation shall they pitch.
Numbers 2:9 All that were numbered in the camp of Judah were an hundred thousand and fourscore thousand and six thousand and four hundred, throughout their armies.
Numbers 2:16 All that were numbered in the camp of Reuben were an hundred thousand and fifty and one thousand and four hundred and fifty, throughout their armies.
Numbers 2:24 All that were numbered of the camp of Ephraim were an hundred thousand and eight thousand and an hundred, throughout their armies.
Numbers 2:31 All they that were numbered in the camp of Dan were an hundred thousand and fifty and seven thousand and six hundred. They shall go hindmost with their standards.
Read the account for yourself. There is a great deal more detail in the Scripture.
Why on earth did God go to all of the trouble to tell us these minutia?
OK, let's jump over to the 25th chapter of Numbers and lay hold to an enigmatic story.
King Balak was afraid of the Israelites (22:1).
So he hired a "prophet," Balaam, to go curse them (22:4 ff) to keep them from eating the Moabites like an ox eats grass.
Balaam goes up one of the mountians surrounding the tents of the Israelites to curse them, but he cannot.
King Balak figures he needs more incentive, so he offers more money and some ambassadors, and sends Balaam off again.
He goes up another mountain to curse them. But Balaam cannot curse Israel.
Two more times, Balaam is sent by Balak to curse Israel.
Instead of cursing them, Balaam ends up saying things like,
Numbers 24:5 How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob, and thy tabernacles, O Israel! 6 As the valleys are they spread forth, as gardens by the river's side, as the trees of lign aloes which the LORD hath planted, and as cedar trees beside the waters.
and
Numbers 24:17ff: I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not nigh: there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel,...
What was going on? What did Balaam see that caused him to be unable to curse those tents?
As we learned in chatper 2 (if we were able to stay awake through it all), the tents were set out with the Tabernacle at the center and the tents laid out like this:,
On Ephriam’s side, about 108,000,
On Dan’s side about 150,000
Judah’s side about 186,000.
On Ruben’s side about 150,000.
They were laid out with Dan to the north, Ruben to the south, Ephriam to the east and Judah to the west.
Do you see it?
Does it all make sense now?
Is your heart pounding and your breath stopped?
My sweet Jesus!!!!
It's a CROSS!!!
Now guess how far you'll get with me the next time you try to tell me that numbers are not important.
14 comments:
I think numbers are very significant in the scripture though I confess at times their specific meaning escapes me. I'm persuaded there's nothing in the original text that is happenstance. Thanks for the pearl. ;-)
The book of Numbers was written to cure insomnia.
That is so true, so when I was reading it, I decided to sit at the table. It was an awesome book!
He has counted the hairs on my head. It did not take Him long.
HA AHAH AHAHAHAHAHHAHAHH!!!!!
Love it!!
WOW!!!!! :)
That's pretty cool, Joe.
By the way... I like your dry humor.
Joe... since you brought this up...To give you an example of how God has had his hand on the United States...An aerial view of Israel's wilderness camp forms the cross, while an aerial view of the Washington Mall also forms a cross.
At the north of the wilderness camp was the tribe of Dan whose emblem was the eagle. To the north of the Washington Mall is the White House...whose seal is the eagle.
To the east of the camp was Judah, whose emblem was the Lion. They were the lawgiver tribe. To the east of the Mall is the Capitol with a beautiful fountain surrounded by four stone lions representing the authority of the lawmakers.
To the south of the camp was Reuben, whose emblem was a man. To the south of the Mall is the Thomas Jefferson Memorial. He was a Deist and a Unitarian. He was a Humanist thinker relying on man rather than God.
And lastly to the west of the wilderness camp was Ephraim, whose emblem was the bull or ox. The Lincoln Memorial takes up this position on the Mall. (Lincoln was also the only President who shared his first name with the founder of the nation of Israel..and he was a farmer.
Great post. Good thread. Joe, I never noticed that before, thanks for your insights.
David of course found himself in trouble with God for counting, but I think His attitude was to see what he accomplished not what He accomplished. Anyone can have a bad day I guess.
brother John
Okay, now I have to go read Numbers, you have me curious!
i have it on good authority that the configuration was more like a Challah bread, intersected by a gifelte fish.
You always have something interestingly edifying, Joe. Thanks!
david: I never thought of that. WOW!
Keen observation here, Joe. A cross. I love when the Lord shows us things when we stop to look. Bonnie, I like the parallels you've drawn w/ DC. Where did you come up w/ those?
this is an image of Gods plan Ive looked at too.
Where should I purt my tent?
MDM
WHere should I put my tent rather.
I'm typing with a 6 month old on my lap
MDM
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