Numbers 1: The Census
I started reading Numbers with the vague notion that it would be SO much fun to read all the genealogies. But within minutes I noticed something interesting. God instructs Moses to take a census and to take with him the head/leader of each tribal family. And then He does something interesting… He names them.
I know that seems stupid. But, He didn’t have to name them off. Moses could have called them out and then learned their names. But God knew their names. Out of the hundreds of thousands (millions?) of Israelites, He knew the names of each of the tribes’ leaders. Granted, there are only 12 tribes, but I still think it’s pretty darn cool that He just rattles off the names of the leaders of each tribe. He knew His people. He knew everything about them. He knew who their fathers were, and in many cases, he also tells us who their grandfathers were! I think that’s awesome!
The implication, obviously, is that in all the millions (billions?) of people on this earth, God knows my name, too. We say that all the time, and while it’s true, seeing God specifically name 12 men (and their lineage) out of the entire nation of Israel makes it hit home a little more.
P.S. – it’s also pretty amazing that each person twenty years-old and under could recite their own ancestry.
