February 10, 2026 - Numbers 1-4

The book of Numbers, of course, is so named because of the census of fighting warriors taken:  “All those listed of the people of Israel, by their fathers’ houses, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war in Israel— 46 all those listed were 603,550” (1:45-46).  Other censuses were taken, also, for example:  “And the LORD said to Moses, ‘List all the firstborn males of the people of Israel, from a month old and upward, taking the number of their names’” (3:40) & “The LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, ‘Take a census of the sons of Kohath from among the sons of Levi, by their clans and their fathers’ houses’” (4:1-2) & “The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Take a census of the sons of Gershon, also’” (4:21-22) & so on.  A couple thoughts.  One, God is sovereign and, if he promised to give Canaan to Israel, that was as good as done.  God declared it; it would happen.  Two, though God decrees and does what he decrees, though he works, he works through his people.  At Baxter, we have recently been talking about the church and the expectation that every member serve and contribute to the work, just as every member of the physical body has its own role and contributes to the healthy working of the body (Ephesians 4).  To the work!

To the work! to the work! we are servants of God,

Let us follow the path that our Master has trod;

With the balm of His counsel our strength to renew,

Let us do with our might what our hands find to do.

Toiling on, toiling on,

Toiling on, toiling on:

Let us hope, let us watch,

And labor till the Master comes.   –Fanny Crosby (1871)