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Context No. 2299 of 4322 · Numbers

Context · Reflection

Numbers 1:34-39: in context

34Of the children of Manasseh, their generations, by their families, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go out to war: 35those who were counted of them, of the tribe of Manasseh, were thirty-two thousand two hundred. 36Of the children of Benjamin, their generations, by their families, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go out to war: 37those who were counted of them, of the tribe of Benjamin, were thirty-five thousand four hundred. 38Of the children of Dan, their generations, by their families, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go out to war: 39those who were counted of them, of the tribe of Dan, were sixty-two thousand seven hundred.

As Israel prepares for its journey and the battles ahead, God commands a census of the men able to serve. Tribe by tribe they are counted: Manasseh, Benjamin, Dan, and the rest, all who were twenty years old and upward, everyone able to go out to war. Each able member of the people was counted, numbered, and expected to take his place in the service and defense of the nation. No able person was to stand aside; all were counted among those ready to serve.

The census counted those able to serve, and in counting them, it expected them to take their place. Every man of age and ability was numbered, reckoned among those who would go out to the work and the battle. There was no provision for the able-bodied to stand aside as though the work belonged only to others; all who were able were counted, and being counted, were called to serve. The common work and defense of God's people was not left to a few, but was the responsibility of all who were able. This holds a call that reaches into the life of God's people. There is a temptation to leave the work of God to others, to stand aside as though the service, the labor, the struggle, belonged to someone else, while we remain spectators. But God's people are like the counted of Israel: all who are able are called to take their place in the common work, not to stand aside. Each has a part; each is counted; each is called to serve rather than leave the work to others. Cursed is Meroz, the song of Deborah says, because they did not come to help; those who stood aside from the common work were rebuked. God's work is the responsibility of all his people, not a few. This searches whether we take our place in the work of God or stand aside. Are we like those counted in the census, ready to take our place in the common work and service of God's people? Or do we stand aside, leaving the labor and the struggle to others, as though it were not our responsibility? When Nehemiah's people rebuilt the wall, all took their section, for the people had a mind to work; the common task was shared by all. And the work of God is meant to be shared by all his people, each taking his place, not left to a few while the rest stand by. This calls us to take our place in the common work of God's people rather than standing aside. The census counted all who were able, and being counted, they were called to serve; and we too, if we are able, are called to take our place in the work and service of God's people, not to leave it to others as though it were not our part. Each of us is counted; each has a part to play; and we are called not to stand aside as spectators but to take our place in the common work, sharing the labor and the struggle as those counted among God's people who are ready to serve.

Do I take my place in the common work and service of God's people, or do I stand aside, leaving the labor and the struggle to others as though it were not my responsibility, and can the census, which counted all who were able and, in counting them, called them to serve rather than stand aside, move me to take my place in the work of God, sharing the common labor rather than remaining a spectator, as one counted among God's people who is ready to serve?

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