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May 19, 2023
Be Counted
This week we begin the book of Numbers—named after two different numberings of the children of Israel contained in its pages. While God is numbering and preparing His children to take possession of their promised land, He also positions them for access to His presence. Each tribe is positioned an equal distance from the tabernacle—except for one tribe. The Levites are numbered and consecrated for service in the tabernacle.
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Be Counted (Out of Zion Episode #181)
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Transcript
1
00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:05,380
We began the book of Numbers this week, and it's named after two different
2
00:00:05,380 --> 00:00:11,200
numberings of the children of Israel in its pages. The book is better described
3
00:00:11,200 --> 00:00:16,520
as the book of the wilderness, the wilderness wanderings, because while God
4
00:00:16,520 --> 00:00:22,080
was preparing his children to take possession of the Promised Land, it
5
00:00:22,080 --> 00:00:27,240
would take another 40 years before they actually got the go-ahead. So welcome to
6
00:00:27,240 --> 00:00:31,120
this week's Shabbat Shalom devotional, when I seek to share a little inspiration,
7
00:00:31,120 --> 00:00:36,360
bring a little piece to the close of your very busy week. So this week's Torah
8
00:00:36,360 --> 00:00:42,680
portion is called B'midbar, or In the Wilderness, and it's Numbers chapter 1
9
00:00:42,680 --> 00:00:49,200
through 4. Now this is the beginning of the fourth book of the Torah. The book is
10
00:00:49,200 --> 00:00:53,960
really about the wilderness wanderings of the Israelites, but it's named numbers
11
00:00:53,960 --> 00:00:58,920
because of the two numberings of the Israelites that it describes. But in
12
00:00:58,920 --> 00:01:05,720
Jewish writings, they tend to refer to it as B'midbar, or the book about the
13
00:01:05,720 --> 00:01:11,880
wilderness. Now the book opens up with the first numbering of the children of
14
00:01:11,880 --> 00:01:17,720
Israel, and the reason is given because they are about to go to war. It's time to
15
00:01:17,720 --> 00:01:23,120
enter and take possession of the Holy Land. Now the Levites were not to be
16
00:01:23,120 --> 00:01:27,800
numbered because they were not to be involved in military action. Their
17
00:01:27,800 --> 00:01:33,560
responsibility was the moving and the care of the Tabernacle. So now it
18
00:01:33,560 --> 00:01:38,920
describes that the tribes of the Lord, after they've been numbered by family and
19
00:01:38,920 --> 00:01:45,040
by tribe, they're now placed around the Tabernacle where each tribe is to be
20
00:01:45,040 --> 00:01:52,520
camped separately, each tribe alone, but they're all in equal distance from the
21
00:01:52,520 --> 00:01:58,880
Tabernacle in all four directions, all the way around it. So of course the
22
00:01:58,880 --> 00:02:05,520
lesson is that they were all to have equal access to the presence of God. No
23
00:02:05,520 --> 00:02:10,720
one tribe was going to be left behind or in the back and where it's harder for
24
00:02:10,720 --> 00:02:16,040
them to make it to the Tabernacle. They all had equal access. Now the Levites
25
00:02:16,040 --> 00:02:20,560
who were not numbered, they were actually placed in a protective way around the
26
00:02:20,560 --> 00:02:25,480
Tabernacle because the Lord wanted to make sure that no one accidentally
27
00:02:25,480 --> 00:02:32,440
touched it or went into it and therefore suffered because of it. So after we have
28
00:02:32,440 --> 00:02:38,040
this description of the tribes and their access to the Tabernacle, we have the
29
00:02:38,040 --> 00:02:45,320
numbering of the Levites now and their numbering is because they belong to the
30
00:02:45,320 --> 00:02:53,920
Lord for His service. So they were numbered for divine and divinely designated,
31
00:02:53,920 --> 00:03:00,560
you could say, for consecration. Have you been numbered as one of His? I want to be
32
00:03:00,560 --> 00:03:07,160
numbered with the Levites. I want to be numbered as designated for His service. If
33
00:03:07,160 --> 00:03:13,520
you have not yet made that step, you can join God's family today. We don't just
34
00:03:13,520 --> 00:03:18,760
come from the 12 tribes of Israel. We actually are part of a family that's
35
00:03:18,760 --> 00:03:24,880
made up of every tribe and every tongue. We are not born into this family. We are
36
00:03:24,880 --> 00:03:30,400
adopted into the family through Christ Jesus. So you be sure that you're
37
00:03:30,400 --> 00:03:44,040
numbered as one of His. And with that, I wish you Shabbat Shalom.
00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:05,380
We began the book of Numbers this week, and it's named after two different
2
00:00:05,380 --> 00:00:11,200
numberings of the children of Israel in its pages. The book is better described
3
00:00:11,200 --> 00:00:16,520
as the book of the wilderness, the wilderness wanderings, because while God
4
00:00:16,520 --> 00:00:22,080
was preparing his children to take possession of the Promised Land, it
5
00:00:22,080 --> 00:00:27,240
would take another 40 years before they actually got the go-ahead. So welcome to
6
00:00:27,240 --> 00:00:31,120
this week's Shabbat Shalom devotional, when I seek to share a little inspiration,
7
00:00:31,120 --> 00:00:36,360
bring a little piece to the close of your very busy week. So this week's Torah
8
00:00:36,360 --> 00:00:42,680
portion is called B'midbar, or In the Wilderness, and it's Numbers chapter 1
9
00:00:42,680 --> 00:00:49,200
through 4. Now this is the beginning of the fourth book of the Torah. The book is
10
00:00:49,200 --> 00:00:53,960
really about the wilderness wanderings of the Israelites, but it's named numbers
11
00:00:53,960 --> 00:00:58,920
because of the two numberings of the Israelites that it describes. But in
12
00:00:58,920 --> 00:01:05,720
Jewish writings, they tend to refer to it as B'midbar, or the book about the
13
00:01:05,720 --> 00:01:11,880
wilderness. Now the book opens up with the first numbering of the children of
14
00:01:11,880 --> 00:01:17,720
Israel, and the reason is given because they are about to go to war. It's time to
15
00:01:17,720 --> 00:01:23,120
enter and take possession of the Holy Land. Now the Levites were not to be
16
00:01:23,120 --> 00:01:27,800
numbered because they were not to be involved in military action. Their
17
00:01:27,800 --> 00:01:33,560
responsibility was the moving and the care of the Tabernacle. So now it
18
00:01:33,560 --> 00:01:38,920
describes that the tribes of the Lord, after they've been numbered by family and
19
00:01:38,920 --> 00:01:45,040
by tribe, they're now placed around the Tabernacle where each tribe is to be
20
00:01:45,040 --> 00:01:52,520
camped separately, each tribe alone, but they're all in equal distance from the
21
00:01:52,520 --> 00:01:58,880
Tabernacle in all four directions, all the way around it. So of course the
22
00:01:58,880 --> 00:02:05,520
lesson is that they were all to have equal access to the presence of God. No
23
00:02:05,520 --> 00:02:10,720
one tribe was going to be left behind or in the back and where it's harder for
24
00:02:10,720 --> 00:02:16,040
them to make it to the Tabernacle. They all had equal access. Now the Levites
25
00:02:16,040 --> 00:02:20,560
who were not numbered, they were actually placed in a protective way around the
26
00:02:20,560 --> 00:02:25,480
Tabernacle because the Lord wanted to make sure that no one accidentally
27
00:02:25,480 --> 00:02:32,440
touched it or went into it and therefore suffered because of it. So after we have
28
00:02:32,440 --> 00:02:38,040
this description of the tribes and their access to the Tabernacle, we have the
29
00:02:38,040 --> 00:02:45,320
numbering of the Levites now and their numbering is because they belong to the
30
00:02:45,320 --> 00:02:53,920
Lord for His service. So they were numbered for divine and divinely designated,
31
00:02:53,920 --> 00:03:00,560
you could say, for consecration. Have you been numbered as one of His? I want to be
32
00:03:00,560 --> 00:03:07,160
numbered with the Levites. I want to be numbered as designated for His service. If
33
00:03:07,160 --> 00:03:13,520
you have not yet made that step, you can join God's family today. We don't just
34
00:03:13,520 --> 00:03:18,760
come from the 12 tribes of Israel. We actually are part of a family that's
35
00:03:18,760 --> 00:03:24,880
made up of every tribe and every tongue. We are not born into this family. We are
36
00:03:24,880 --> 00:03:30,400
adopted into the family through Christ Jesus. So you be sure that you're
37
00:03:30,400 --> 00:03:44,040
numbered as one of His. And with that, I wish you Shabbat Shalom.
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