Numbers 26:1-65 – The call to be faithful

Numbers 1:46 showed a total of 603,550 men in the first census taken of Israel’s men 20 years and above and ready for military service. For that generation, God had declared they would not possess the promised land because of their unbelief. Forty years had elapsed, that generation had already perished in the wilderness. Numbers 26:63-65 confirmed that all of them had died in the wilderness except for Caleb and Joshua. A new generation had grown up. After the judgment of the plague following their scandalous escapade and harlotry at Shittim described in Numbers 25, the Lord instructed Moses to take another census. All men ready for military service and 20 and above were again counted. Numbers 26:51 recorded a total of 601,730 men. The difference between the two censuses was not huge.

The difference between the first census and the second was only 1,820 men. This figure speaks of the mercy and faithfulness of God. Despite the sin of the previous generation resulting in more than half a million deaths in the wilderness, God did not allow the population of the males in Israel to be depleted. He had kept faith with Abraham and maintained the number. The army of Israel was still quite a formidable size with all the capacity to inherit the promised land. He did not give up and discard His plan for the children of Abraham just because one generation had failed Him. He continued to work in the lives of the subsequent generation to bring to fruition His promise to them. No wonder the Psalmists so loudly proclaimed that “His faithfulness and love endure forever.” His refusal to give up on the sons of Israel despite their unfaithfulness is a great encouragement to us, who also trust in Him. We alone know the numerous times we have failed Him, yet He did not give up on us. He allowed us to be disciplined by the consequences of our sins and failure, but He still forgives and restores us when we repent. What a gracious God!

Comparing the difference of the total numbers of each tribe between the first and the second census, most of the tribes show small decreases, except for the tribe of Simeon. In the first census, their total reflected 59,300. Now in the second census, the total was 22, 200 men. The population was drastically reduced by more than half. Why the telling difference? Remember Zimri the Simeonite, who took Cozbi, a Midianite woman to the family to consummate his marital relationship. That incident was likely an indication that the tribe of Simeon took the lead in the sin at Shittim. Hence more of them were judged in the plague.

In verses 52-56, Moses was told to apportion the land to each tribe based on the proportion to the population of the tribe. As to the locality, it would be by drawing lots. There was a separate census taken of the Levites. The male Levites were counted from one month onwards and not above 20 years because they were not required to do military duty. Besides, they were not allotted land like all the other tribes.

Once again, we are reminded of the faithfulness of God. May this chapter again be a call for us to stay faithful to God. Though God is faithful, we must not take His faithfulness for granted. Being a Holy God, He needs to deal with our sin. We will have to bear the consequence for every sin we commit. A moment of pleasure is not worth the amount of pain one must reap consequently. So we must live wisely and not as fools.  We must seek to know and understand what the will of God is for our life.