A New Census
And it came to pass, after the plague, that the LORD spoke to Moses and Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest, saying: “Take a census of all the children of Israel from twenty years old and above, by their fathers’ houses, all who are able to go to war in Israel.” (vv1-2)
The results
of this second census revealed that those who came out of Egypt were now dead.
A generation was gone due to their lack of faithfulness except Joshua and Caleb.
The primary
purposes for numbering the people a second time (according to most
commentaries) was again for military purposes. However this time not so much for organization, but for determining the strength in numbers of their fighting force, which numbered some 601,730 able to go to war (not including women, children under 20 years of age, the elderly, and those unable to fight).
Our
goal as Christians today should be to take stock of our own preparedness of His Word and remain faithful to Him, that we
may be found in His eternal census when our time here is completed.
The
Truth: “After
these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number,
of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and
before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and
crying out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”
(Revelation 7:9-10)
