Numbers 1 ORDER ESTABLISHED In observing the completion of the Tabernacle and the establishing of an acceptable way of maintaining fellowship with God through the offerings of God's choice, I am impressed by the way God organized a tribe of ex-slaves into a well-functioning society. God does not leave us the way we were in our past. Slaves are no longer slaves. Idol worshippers are no longer worshipping gods made by man's ideas. The past is dead to those "who are in Christ Jesus." After 400 years of slavery under the harsh control of sinful men, God established order under His direction to preserve His people from chaos and undisciplined living.
Genesis tells us of God's choice of one man of faith, Abraham. After giving a brief overview of half of human history, we are told of God's election of this one man and then unfolds in Exodus, the book of redemption, how He looks upon those who He has chosen to be His people. They are given the privilege of acting in personal faith in Him and then by His power, God enables them to leave the bondage of the world and sin, to walk in liberty by personal faith in Him. He makes every provision for our need and then gives us the choice to believe Him and take that provision for ourselves as an act of faith in Him. Fellowship with God is maintained by appropriate worship and communion that has been established on God's terms as is taught in Leviticus. How that new life, new liberty and new worship is worked out is demonstrated in Numbers.
I picture in my mind an orderly tent city of over two million people spreading outward from the Tabernacle where God dwelled that was located right in the middle of the camp. He was the gathering center and from the safety of His light by fire by night, and the covering shelter of the cloud from the wilderness heat by day, every person could know where the tribe he was a part of was and their dwelling was located. By gathering unto Him, there was no question as to where one should be.
Starting life over as a redeemed people called for each one of them to submit to God's authority rather than the authority imposed at the end of a slave-driver's whip. This new authority for them and us comes from a Living Source that is based on love, not force. The call of God to service is not unfair because He gives Living Power from the Holy Spirit within us to do what God wants in God's way. That Living Power gives us the wisdom to do divine service with love, wisdom, and with the reasonableness of our ability from the Living Center to whom we are gathered - and He blesses that effort with His perfection. That makes our service acceptable.
Christians are not alienated by the sin-loving world as mere liberated slaves, but because we are motivated by the love and grace we have received to live for God. The blessings associated with being a "new creation in Christ Jesus," "children of God," "sons of God," and "heirs of God" are not at all like what comes from an on-going pedigree of human generation. The new birth and new life of a Christian makes each true child of God aware of the fact we owe everything to Him. We have been justified by His grace. Every one who has been saved by God's grace has repented of their sin to God and has put faith in Christ alone as our Savior from sin. All adopted children in God's family have justified God by admitting God is righteous and we have condemned ourselves as helpless sinners unable to make ourselves fit for His glory. Redeemed souls can say we know we have passed from death to life. There are inward changes to which the Holy Spirit within bears witness.
God's holiness is the foundation for our relationship with Him. He did not isolate Himself from His people in the past nor does He now even though He is unseen. There is evidence of him being with us in daily life, and because He is holy, He wants a holy people to have fellowship with Him. The journey of faith of a believer in Christ is characterized by continual progressive growth in grace and knowledge as we learn more of Christ through God's Word as we experience the truth we practice.
Moses heard God speak in the wilderness of Sinai, and He speaks to us today in the spiritual wilderness in which we live. Perhaps God Has allowed us to live in the wilderness of separation to keep us from being distracted by what goes on around us. Much of what is being done in "God's name" is merely a sort of upgraded worldliness that is more righteous than openly evil practices. Our spiritual life and direction are not left to our own opinions and ideas, otherwise biblical Christianity would be the chaotic so-called "Christianity" that has confused the world.
To establish and maintain order, Moses and Aaron were told by God to choose a tribal representative from the twelve tribes, excluding Levi. Those men were to stand as leaders among the people of the nation of Israel. A nation was being formed and it was not to be a haphazard multitude of ex-slaves each doing their own thing. The census that was taken of the twelve tribes, excluding Levi, showed there were 603,550 men from twenty years old and upward to the age of those who had lost their strength to go to war, probably fifty years old. The Levites were not numbered because they were the guardians of the Tabernacle and its environs, as well as being responsible for the movement and maintenance of the Tabernacle. They were God's possession for God's service. All the children of Israel would have numbered two million or more people with a very imposing size of an army of men available for military purposes. The taking of the census not only gave information to those who led the people, but it would make every family understand they were involved in the life of the nation.
The order of the census of men from twenty to approximately fifty began with the sons of Leah, then Rachel's, then the two handmaid/concubines with whom Jacob had sons. The twenty days or so that it took to establish the number and the order were not wasted days. In order to do what God intends, it often takes time, and it certainly deserves the uttermost care to make sure what is done is according to God's will and word. God does communicate with humanity. He used speech, actions and the written word to make sure we know what His desire is.
The Levites knew what was their responsibility when the nation moved forward. They were appointed by families to set the Tabernacle up, to move it with order and respect when the cloud and fire indicated. To take the Tabernacle down and put it up, the Levites had to be ready, and every person knew their work and service. The "charge of the Tabernacle of testimony" was no small matter. The charge of the house of God today is a very important work, and is not left up to us to decide how things are to be done.
Numbers is a book that describes the faithfulness of God and His love and grace to man in spite of disobedience and unbelief. The first chapter establishes God's demand for orderly service in view of battles that were to be fought. We are not just on a casual stroll through a favorable world. The system that hated our Lord Jesus Christ when He was here hates those who follow Him. "All that live godly in Christ Jesus, shall suffer persecution." God's work is to be conducted decently and in order in keeping with His character and what He wants ours to be like.