The numbering of Israel in Moab.

An alcoholic, who became a believer, was asked how he could believe all the nonsense in the Bible about miracles. “You don’t believe that Jesus changed the water into wine do you?” “I sure do, because in our house Jesus changed the whiskey into furniture.” &re … More

Miracles

Even though Moses was not allowed to go into the Promised Land, he spent the closing weeks of his life preparing the new generation to enter Canaan and claim the land God promised to give them. In this portion of Scripture, a new census was taken in anticipation of assigning land to the families of the tribes, a new leader was identified in Joshua, and the law of God concerning offerings was brought into focus. Thirty-eight years had passed since the first great census. During this time every Israelite man and woman over 20 years of age, except Joshua, Caleb and Moses, had died and yet God’s laws and the spiritual character of the nation were still intact.

The first census (Chapters 1 and 2) counted the Hebrews who left Egypt. But when the old generation died in the wilderness, another census was needed to count the Hebrews ready to enter the Promised Land. The first census revealed a total of 603,550 soldiers were available (1:45-46). This new census revealed that although over 600,000 men (not counting women and children) had died in the wilderness the male population of Israel now numbered 601,730 (v. 51). When you consider that every man who had died during the previous 38 years had now been replaced (except for only 1,820 men), this total is quite remarkable. Just as God had multiplied His people during their years of suffering in Egypt (Ex.1:7, 12), so He made them fruitful as they traveled in the wilderness.

Some people think Numbers is rather boring, but it records some dramatic miracles. All of this is a quiet but powerful miracle that is easy to be overlooked. Just think, a whole nation moved from one land to another, lost its entire adult population, yet managed to maintain its spiritual direction. Sometimes it may seem like God isn’t working dramatic miracles in our lives, but God often works in quiet ways to bring about His long-range purposes.

Application

Sometimes it may seem like God isn’t doing much in my life, but I must remember that God is still in the miracle business and works in quiet ways to bring about His long range purposes.

Numbers 26:1-65 (English Standard Version)


Warning: MagpieRSS: Failed to parse RSS file. (Space required at line 39, column 24) in /var/www/html/familytimes/includes/magpie6-1/rss_fetch.inc on line 230

Warning: array_slice() expects parameter 1 to be array, null given in /var/www/html/familytimes/includes/rss/esvLookup.php on line 15

View this passage in NIV (Bible Gateway) »