Numbers 33:1-2: “These are the journeys of the children of Israel, which went forth out of the land of Egypt with their armies under the hand of Moses and Aaron. And Moses wrote their goings out according to their journeys by the commandment of the Lord: and these are their journeys according to their goings out.”
Today’s Covenant & the Cross quote about the Bible is from Andrew Murray. He said: “A readiness to believe every promise implicitly, to obey every command unhesitatingly, to stand perfect and complete in all the will of God, is the only true spirit of Bible study.”
Our topic for today is titled “Just Looking for a Home (Part 1)” from the book, “The Promise and the Blessing” by Dr. Michael A. Harbin.
After organizing the nation for a year, God told Moses to count the people in preparation for the move to the land He had promised. This event opens the book of Numbers, and this is often about as far as we get into the book. The numbers get tedious, and there seems to be little purpose to them. For the original audience, however, these lists served as an organizing structure. The figures given are supposed to be the number of men who were able to go to war, and they reflect major military fighting units. The census would also provide a basis on which to divide the land. The nation was organized around the twelve tribes. We have already observed how this was a mixed company. Apparently, then, those who had been outsiders were now “adopted” into specific tribes, and their families would be counted as part of those tribes from here on out.
The census also helped impress the original audience with the great work of God’s sustenance. While it is possible that some of the people planted gardens during the long stay at Sinai, the text clearly points out that the primary source of food for the entire people was from God’s provision of the manna. At this point, they were not aware that they would be eating it for almost forty years, but the fact that God had been faithful for the previous year would have been encouraging. Another purpose of the census would be to validate God’s sustaining for the entire forty-year period of wandering, but that would not be seen until after the period was over and a second census showed how the nation had maintained its strength. This final purpose, however, would be one of the key points for later generations, including ours.
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Daniel Whyte III has spoken in meetings across the United States and in over twenty-five foreign countries. He is the author of over forty books including the Essence Magazine, Dallas Morning News, and Amazon.com national bestseller, Letters to Young Black Men. He is also the president of Gospel Light Society International, a worldwide evangelistic ministry that reaches thousands with the Gospel each week, as well as president of Torch Ministries International, a Christian literature ministry.
He is heard by thousands each week on his radio broadcasts/podcasts, which include: The Prayer Motivator Devotional, The Prayer Motivator Minute, as well as Gospel Light Minute X, the Gospel Light Minute, the Sunday Evening Evangelistic Message, the Prophet Daniel’s Report, the Second Coming Watch Update and the Soul-Winning Motivator, among others.
He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Theology from Bethany Divinity College, a Bachelor’s degree in Religion from Texas Wesleyan University, a Master’s degree in Religion, a Master of Divinity degree, and a Master of Theology degree from Liberty University’s Rawlings School of Divinity (formerly Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary). He is currently a candidate for the Doctor of Ministry degree.
He has been married to the former Meriqua Althea Dixon, of Christiana, Jamaica since 1987. God has blessed their union with seven children.
BCNN1 WP 