Day 54: Numbers 1-2

Welcome to five -minute Bible your daily guide for your daily reading today's February the 23rd, and we'll be tackling numbers 1 through 3

Now today we step into the book of Numbers and Israel is still camped in front of Mount Sinai The tabernacle has been completed and finished and the glory of the

Lord has filled it the sacrifices have been explained in the book of Leviticus the priests have been consecrated at the end of Exodus and the covenant has been ratified between God and Israel and now

The Lord begins to speak again Not to rescue them from Egypt not to repeat the law but to prepare them to move towards the promised land everything up till this point has been preparation and now the command to move forward is soon and numbers 1 through 2 is all about the order and the

Identity and the readiness of the people of Israel before they're gonna march towards the promised land

They must arrange themselves around the presence of God and in that way numbers 1 opens up with the census

And this is not everyone's favorite part of the book But God commands Moses to count every man 20 years old and upward who is able to go to war tribe by tribe and name by name their number and over 600 ,000 fighting men are counted and this is not a

Minor detail it is all about mobilization Israel is no longer a scattered mass of liberated slaves

They are becoming a covenant army under a divine summons to conquer the land and bring

God's dominion to the land of Canaan But something crucial interrupts the pattern the

Levites aren't counted among the soldiers. They are set apart You see while the tribes prepare for battle the

Levites are preparing for worship They are assigned to guard the tabernacle and transport its furnishings and protect the sacred boundaries around God's dwelling place if Unauthorized people approach the

Levites are supposed to intervene and why well it's because even in preparation for war

The center of the nation which is worship of Yahweh must remain holy and that's how numbers 1 comes to a close

Then in numbers 2 you have God Arranging the camp the tribes are not positioned in some sort of random order

They are assigned specific locations to the north south east and west of the tabernacle and each tribe camps under its own banner three tribes on each side three on the east three on the west three on the north three on the south and the

Levites are encircling the tabernacle itself in the center of the nation now

God's Dwelling sits at the very center of the people who are surrounding him.

So when Israel moves, they're not moving chaotically They're moving in a cross -shaped Formation worshiping

God at the center order in every direction that they step now as you read today

I want you to ask the following question What does it look like to structure your life around the presence of God before you pursue anything before you pursue any?

Promises or progress? What does it look like to structure your life around him and numbers 1 through 2 teaches us that identity and order?

precede Advancement before you do anything you have to understand who you are and who you are is in relationship with God Now the central pattern in this in these passages are

Presence and centered order Israel is strong numerically, but their strength is not in their census totals

It's actually in their arrangement. God does not allow them to scatter across the desert

He doesn't let ambition determine their formation He places himself at the center and then organizes everything outward from that point and that speaks

Directly to us today because we often like to organize our lives Around career and urgency and opportunity and comfort or fear we put those things at the center of our life

We cluster our schedules and our decisions around what we feel like is most pressing and yet numbers

Offers us a different way. God is at the center worship is guarded community is ordered and mission

Flows outward from the presence of God Even warfare is structured around holiness

And yes, Israel is an army, but they are first a worshipping community before their soldiers

The Levites stand between the chaos in the sacred space the arrangement of this declares something visually

Powerful that the people of God are orbiting the presence of God and all of this points unmistakably to Jesus Israel camped outside the tabernacle because that's where God dwelt and in the fullness of time

God doesn't dwell in temples made of fabric and gold but a flesh Christ is the true tabernacle he is the dwelling place of God among men and just as Israel was counted and named and Placed in a cross -shaped pattern

Jesus himself was set apart and named to go to the cross for our sins and Believers now are known and called individually into this body of Christ No one is anonymous in the army of God instead of the tabernacle at the center of our world

Christ is at the center of our world and we are connected to him surrounding him

Just as the Levites guarded the sanctuary Christ now stands as the ultimate priest the high priest of high priest the one who's the mediator and the guardian of the presence of God and now access to God is protected not by tribal allotments or boundaries

But by the finished work of the Son and just as Israel was commanded to march in formation

The church moves in ordered unity not scattered and not self -directed but centered on the living

Christ We are not redeemed Wanderers, but we are structured spirit formed people who orbit the presence of Almighty God So as you read numbers 1 through 2 today,

I want you to notice the precision and the intentionality before the conquest comes

Before the movement comes before the battle comes Worship must happen and tomorrow.

We're gonna see how the Levites are set apart even more specifically Deepening the structure that protects the holiness of Israel as they prepare to march forward and take over the promised land

But with that read your Bible carefully Devotionally and joyfully and may the Lord use his word to sanctify you completely and we will continue our journey tomorrow