Numbers 1:5-16 – Enlisted to serve

In Numbers 1:5-16, we see a list of 12 men enlisted to help Moses in the census. One key person from every tribe of Israel was taken except the tribe of Levi. Elizur, Shelumiel, Nahshon, Nethanel, Eliab, Elishama, Gamaliel, Abidan, Ahiezer, Pagiel, Eliasaph and Ahira were the twelve men chosen and enlisted. To accurately identify them from countless others who would probably share the same names, their fathers were being mentioned. This tells us how precise God is. To us, these people might just be a name in history but to God, they were enlisted to do a work that was needed at a crucial time. The pertinent question to ask then is what can we learn from a list of names like this?  Here are some lessons deduced from these 12 verses.   

Firstly, we learn that God uses human instrumentality to accomplish His work. Each of them in this list was an important person called to do a needful task in a critical moment in history. Like them, every one of us has been enlisted into God’s team to accomplish His work. And it is an honor to be on God’s team. Today each one of us is not in the church to make up the numbers. We are enlisted into God’s occupation force to advance His work. None of us can afford to sit idly by and not consider what we can do to contribute to the great work that God wants to accomplish through the church.       

Secondly, it is a tremendous privilege to be identified by God to serve His purpose. Each of them was individually and precisely identified. They each have a name and were known by that name. Know that out of the billions of people in the world today, God still knows each one of us by name. Just consider how wonderful it is to be known by our names. And what a joy it is to know that God knows us by name. We are all acquainted with the lyrics of the song “He knows my name.” Yes, God knows your name as well as mine. Even before life began our lives were in His hand. He knows our names and our every thought.     

Thirdly, these 12 men had the joy of serving God. What they were called to do was no longer a menial task. We need to know that no task for God is too small or insignificant. Hence it must be received with joy and attended to with wholeheartedness. No one should be casual about the work of God. All of us must nurture the mentality that any task assigned to us in the fellowship of God is a service rendered to Him. Hence, we cannot be half-hearted or nonchalant about it.  

It is a tremendous privilege to serve God. We must cherish the privilege. And like every privilege, there must be accountability and we must go about it responsibly. The very day God drew us to Himself, our assignment to serve Him had begun. In our career or in ministry in the church, they are our assignments from God. Don’t short-change God! Do it diligently, do it well, and be known as God’s good and faithful servants.