Today we continue in our reading through the Book of Numbers.  What did you notice in these chapters?  Here are some of the things that stood out to me:

1. God got Balaam’s attention by talking to him through his donkey.
2. A second census was taken of the Israelites
3. Land was allotted to the people based on the census and how many were in their family.
4. Joshua was commissioned by the Lord to be the one who would take over after Moses.
5. An entire chapter (30) was spent on stressing the importance of vows made between husbands and wives.

Today’s passage of scripture covers a great deal of events. We join the Israelites on their journey through the desert and things aren’t going well – at least in their minds. Many of them begin to question why in the world they ever left Egypt. In fact, Moses’ brother, Aaron and his sister, Miriam want to know why they’re not in charge too. In spite of the lack of faith of many in the community the Lord still provides. On separate occasions he provided quail to eat and water from a rock to drink. Though the people disobeyed and questioned what God was up to, I love the Lord’s response. Numbers 14:18 says, “the Lord is slow to anger, abounding in love and forgiving sin and rebellion.” This doesn’t mean that no one was punished for their sin – in fact, many lost their lives in these passages. Today’s reading ends with the death of two of the key people in the community – Miriam and Aaron. In spite of many people’s disobedience, we learn in these passages that Caleb, “has a different spirit and follows [God] wholeheartedly.” (Num 14:24).  At the end of the day I certainly hope that it won’t be said of me that I was a grumbler or lacked in faith – but that I had the Spirit of the Lord in me and followed God wholeheartedly.

It’s census time again.  The 2010 Census is in full swing here in the United States.  Workers are all over our country are counting the population.  The same was true in the Israelite community in the book of Numbers.  In the scripture reading for today we read about the very first census.  God tells Moses in Numbers 1:1 to take a census of the people.  The passages that follow are an accounting of every person in the tribes of the descendants of Jacob’s sons.   Like US Census, these scripture passages aren’t the easiest of reading.  However, these passages give us a greater understanding of all the people of the area and the fact that God cares for them all.