“These are the ones who were numbered, whom Moses and Aaron numbered, with the leaders of Israel, twelve men, each of whom was of his father’s household. So all the numbered men of the sons of Israel by their fathers’ households, from twenty years old and upward, whoever was able to go out to war in Israel, even all the numbered men were 603,550” (Num 1:44-46).
These numbers will not bring tears to our eyes if we fail to consider the context in which they are found. In Exodus 1, Pharaoh tried to stop Israel from multiplying by enslaving our people and murdering our baby boys (see Exod 1:7-10). In Exodus 17, Amalek’s cowardly warriors attacked our weak and stragglers from the rear, once again assaulting Israel’s population (Exod 17:8; Deut 25:17-18).
It is an understatement to say that, in the context of the storyline, the number of Israelites in Numbers 1 defies all odds! Consider also the fact that these multitudes came forth from the barren womb of a woman much older than our grandmother (Gen 11:30; 21:1-2). The only explanation for Israel’s booming population then, and now, is God! “And He took him outside and said, ‘Now look toward the heavens, and count the stars, if you are able to count them.’ And He said to him, ‘So shall your descendants be'” (Gen 15:5).
And Satan still has his Balaks (Num 22:3-6) who try to curse us (antisemitism) and Hamans (Esth 3:6) who try to destroy us.
And despite all the tragedies and growing number of memorial days in our calendar, we are still here, and we continue to be a blessing to the world.
May God forgive us or any other person who tries to explain our existence apart from God!
And the God of our fathers who kept his promises to the patriarchs is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. No matter how much we’re hated as followers of Yeshua, no matter how unfair the fight, our God is a promise-keeping God. Just like he has done with the people of Israel, God will keep every single promise he has made to us.
“Thus says the LORD, who gives the sun for light by day and the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar; The LORD of hosts is His name: If this fixed order departs from before Me, declares the LORD, then the offspring of Israel also will cease from being a nation before Me forever” (Jer 31:35-36).
“For as many as are the promises of God, in Him they are yes; therefore also through Him is our Amen to the glory of God through us” (2 Cor 1:20).
