the Third Week after Easter
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Daily Devotionals
Day by Day Devotional - Year 1 of 5
Numbers 26:1-65
Forty years have rolled by since the numbering of chapter 1. The LORD calls for a recount of "the sum of all the congregation of the children of Israel". A comparison between the two censuses, at the beginning and at the end of the wilderness, brings to light the disastrous and irremediable consequences of the faults that have been committed. The tribe of Simeon, more guilty than the others in the affair of Baal-Peor, has been decimated (v. 14; cf. Numbers 1:23). This results in a proportional reduction of their inheritance in Canaan since, according to the LORD’s instructions to Moses, " . . . to few thou shalt give the less inheritance" (v. 54). This truth speaks to us all: a faltering walk results in eternal loss for the Christian and can deprive him of his "crown" (Revelation 3:11). From Reuben through to Naphtali the numbering is done in the same order as the first time, according to the standards of the tribes (Numbers 2). That the sum total is almost identical (v. 51; Numbers 1:46) demonstrates the power of the grace of God who has taken charge of this immense army of six hundred thousand men, without counting women and children, during forty years across the wilderness. God’s resources have never proved inadequate for the needs of His people and He will also take care of each one of us until our last day here on earth.
