When the Lord Speaks: Obey!

June 10, 2019

When the Lord Speaks: Obey!

Numbers 1

Scott Jones

Central Truth

The Lord desires us to have a heart that obeys Him, even when it does not make sense to us.

Thus did the people of Israel; they did according to all that the LORD commanded Moses.

A Census of Israel's Warriors

1 The LORD spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the tent of meeting, on the first day of the second month, in the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt, saying, 2 “Take a census of all the congregation of the people of Israel, by clans, by fathers' houses, according to the number of names, every male, head by head. 3 From twenty years old and upward, all in Israel who are able to go to war, you and Aaron shall list them, company by company. 4 And there shall be with you a man from each tribe, each man being the head of the house of his fathers. 5 And these are the names of the men who shall assist you. From Reuben, Elizur the son of Shedeur; 6 from Simeon, Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai; 7 from Judah, Nahshon the son of Amminadab; 8 from Issachar, Nethanel the son of Zuar; 9 from Zebulun, Eliab the son of Helon; 10 from the sons of Joseph, from Ephraim, Elishama the son of Ammihud, and from Manasseh, Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur; 11 from Benjamin, Abidan the son of Gideoni; 12 from Dan, Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai; 13 from Asher, Pagiel the son of Ochran; 14 from Gad, Eliasaph the son of Deuel; 15 from Naphtali, Ahira the son of Enan.” 16 These were the ones chosen from the congregation, the chiefs of their ancestral tribes, the heads of the clans of Israel.

17 Moses and Aaron took these men who had been named, 18 and on the first day of the second month, they assembled the whole congregation together, who registered themselves by clans, by fathers' houses, according to the number of names from twenty years old and upward, head by head, 19 as the LORD commanded Moses. So he listed them in the wilderness of Sinai.

20 The people of Reuben, Israel's firstborn, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of names, head by head, every male from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go to war: 21 those listed of the tribe of Reuben were 46,500.

22 Of the people of Simeon, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers' houses, those of them who were listed, according to the number of names, head by head, every male from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go to war: 23 those listed of the tribe of Simeon were 59,300.

24 Of the people of Gad, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go to war: 25 those listed of the tribe of Gad were 45,650.

26 Of the people of Judah, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war: 27 those listed of the tribe of Judah were 74,600.

28 Of the people of Issachar, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war: 29 those listed of the tribe of Issachar were 54,400.

30 Of the people of Zebulun, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war: 31 those listed of the tribe of Zebulun were 57,400.

32 Of the people of Joseph, namely, of the people of Ephraim, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war: 33 those listed of the tribe of Ephraim were 40,500.

34 Of the people of Manasseh, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war: 35 those listed of the tribe of Manasseh were 32,200.

36 Of the people of Benjamin, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war: 37 those listed of the tribe of Benjamin were 35,400.

38 Of the people of Dan, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war: 39 those listed of the tribe of Dan were 62,700.

40 Of the people of Asher, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war: 41 those listed of the tribe of Asher were 41,500.

42 Of the people of Naphtali, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war: 43 those listed of the tribe of Naphtali were 53,400.

44 These are those who were listed, whom Moses and Aaron listed with the help of the chiefs of Israel, twelve men, each representing his fathers' house. 45 So all those listed of the people of Israel, by their fathers' houses, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war in Israel— 46 all those listed were 603,550.

Levites Exempted

47 But the Levites were not listed along with them by their ancestral tribe. 48 For the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 49 “Only the tribe of Levi you shall not list, and you shall not take a census of them among the people of Israel. 50 But appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of the testimony, and over all its furnishings, and over all that belongs to it. They are to carry the tabernacle and all its furnishings, and they shall take care of it and shall camp around the tabernacle. 51 When the tabernacle is to set out, the Levites shall take it down, and when the tabernacle is to be pitched, the Levites shall set it up. And if any outsider comes near, he shall be put to death. 52 The people of Israel shall pitch their tents by their companies, each man in his own camp and each man by his own standard. 53 But the Levites shall camp around the tabernacle of the testimony, so that there may be no wrath on the congregation of the people of Israel. And the Levites shall keep guard over the tabernacle of the testimony.” 54 Thus did the people of Israel; they did according to all that the LORD commanded Moses.

Obedience is not easy. Numbers begins with the words, "The LORD spoke to Moses . . . ." (Numbers 1:1a) The Lord commanded Moses to take a census of Israel and gave specific instructions on how that was to be done. Numbers 1 presents a detailed account of the census, concluding with these words: "Thus did the people of Israel; they did according to all that the LORD commanded Moses." (Numbers 1:54) Moses obeyed God. I imagine that a census in the desert with exact details did not make perfect sense to him.

Like Moses, Jesus obeyed God. Jesus was fully man and fully divine. He had committed no crime, yet He surrendered Himself and went to the cross to pay for our sins. From a human perspective, this makes no sense. But Jesus obediently gave up His life for us, though we did not deserve this sacrifice. "[B]ut God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8)

For years I tried to make my marriage work in my own strength. It did not work out well. "There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death." (Proverbs 14:12) Then for the first time I looked at the words of Ephesians 5:25 and realized what it meant to love my wife as Christ loved the Church. No matter what. Unconditionally. At that time, this command made no sense at all. But I saw that the little things I was called to do to serve her daily fell far short of going to the cross. So I began to pray and seek God's wisdom, and as I began to obey God in faith, my marriage began to heal. Over the years, God has blessed my obedience. Not that marriage is always easy, for we still live in a fallen world. But Patti and I have found that if we want things to go well with us, it is best to obey God, even when it makes no sense to us.

1. Have you taken the first step of obedience by accepting God's free gift of salvation? Jesus obediently gave His life on your behalf (and mine) so that you might be reconciled to God and experience eternal life with Him. See John 3:16 and John 5:24.

2. What is God calling you to do that makes no sense to you today? Honestly, do you think it will go well with you if you resist obeying God's commands?

3. What steps of obedience can you take today relying by faith on the character of God? It does not have to be a big step. God will honor faith as small as a mustard seed (Matthew 17:20).

4. How is your flesh feeding your doubts about God's goodness and His direction for your life? What hurts, habits, and hangups do you need to turn over to the Lord?

5. How can you feed your soul so that you may better understand God's wisdom and His call to you? Here's a hint: Devote Daily. But wait—you are on The Journey, so you are already on the right track.