Working through my annual reading plan of the Bible. Today, I arrived at Numbers 1. Honestly, I wasn’t expecting much. But then the Spirit of God opened my eyes to see something I have read at least 40 times over the years. It was always there; I was just blind to it—until I needed it, just an hour later.
It was just before dinner and I was finishing up reading the first chapter of the book of Numbers. After dinner I was going to call a pastor who needed a word he could trust, an encouraging word that had more than my care behind it. He needed a word from God. What was the word?
God is about to give instructions on how the Israelites are move through the wilderness whenever YHWH tells them to break camp. Numbers 1:
1 Then the Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the tent of meeting, on the first of the second month, in the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt, saying, 2 “Take a census of all the congregation of the sons of Israel, by their families, by their fathers’ households, according to the number of names, every male, head by head 3 from twenty years old and upward, whoever is able to go out to war in Israel, you and Aaron shall number them by their armies. 4 With you, moreover, there shall be a man of each tribe, each one head of his father’s household. 5 These then are the names of the men who shall stand with you:
of Reuben, Elizur the son of Shedeur;
6 of Simeon, Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai;
7 of Judah, Nahshon the son of Amminadab;
8 of Issachar, Nethanel the son of Zuar;
9 of Zebulun, Eliab the son of Helon;
10 of the sons of Joseph:
of Ephraim, Elishama the son of Ammihud;
of Manasseh, Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur;
11 of Benjamin, Abidan the son of Gideoni;
12 of Dan, Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai;
13 of Asher, Pagiel the son of Ochran;
14 of Gad, Eliasaph the son of Deuel;
15 of Naphtali, Ahira the son of Enan.
16 These are they who were called of the congregation, the leaders of their fathers’ tribes; they were the heads of divisions of Israel.”17 So Moses and Aaron took these men who had been designated by name,
It is a given of Christian theology that God knows all things. He is omniscient. There is nothing that is hidden from Him. Here’s just one example:
Psalm 139:15
My frame was not hidden from You,
When I was made in secret,
And skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth;
There is great comfort in knowing that God knows all things, even with all the confusion we have when He allows things in our lives that sometimes we wish He didn’t. But at another level, it is all philosophical and theoretical, good theology, but rather abstract, until God gives us a very real and tangible evidence or picture of His very personal knowledge of our situation. And there it is, right in front of us. He put it right there in His word and then the day comes when He illumines it to your Spirit.
Twelve men and their fathers are picked by God, named and appointed by God to a new task of leadership. Named them! He knows us by name. He knows all of us by name.
God could have delegated the picking of the men for the task ahead to Moses. But he didn’t do that. Instead, He personally chose them and named them (and their fathers) because His knowledge was/is complete. Drill down on that thought. Look at verse 5. “. . . Elizur the son of Shedeur . . .” I doubt there was only one Elizur in the tribe of Reuben. So God told Moses that it was the Elizur whose father was Shedeur. The specificity is important. God knows each of us by name. Fantastic!
One hour later, after seeing for the first time what probably millions of Bible readers have seen through the centuries I am in a conversation with a discouraged pastor fighting doubts about if God has a place of service for him. And in that moment, I felt led to share two obscure verses from the book of Numbers, and in just that moment my friend’s spirit is lifted, he sees God’s personal awareness and senses the care of God in a new way.
5 These then are the names of the men who shall stand with you . . .
17So Moses and Aaron took these men who had been designated by name [by YHWH] . . .
Isn’t our God marvelous? Friends, read the word of God and meditate on what you read. There is encouragement for your soul in your pilgrim journey in Christ. He (YHWH / Jesus) is waiting to wrap you in His arms with the truth of His word. Listen to Him. Let your spirit listen to him. You will not regret your time in His word.
Campare also Psalm 25, 42-43
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