Numbers 1:20

He was careful to assert His title and survey His possessions. He would have the number of Israel brought to Him exactly, for they were all His own. He called them by their names, and knew their numbers.

We can all understand how sweet it is to be counted for heaven, and that is where most hearts turn. But even those who take the greatest comfort in God's purposes securing them for eternity easily forget one thing. The Lord takes a present interest in all our movements, ways, conflicts, and trials. This is the first thing the book opens with.

Here we find ourselves at once "in the wilderness," where the list takes in only those "able to go to war." In the book of Genesis the seed of Israel were in the loins of their father Abraham. In the book of Exodus they were in the brick-kilns of Egypt. In Leviticus they gathered round the tent of meeting. In Numbers we see them in the wilderness... But as soon as we open the book of Numbers we read of men of war, of armies, of standards, of camps, and trumpets sounding the alarm.

Each man had to declare his pedigree after his family. Only those who could do that had a place in this mustering and could be warriors. They had to show their pedigree because of the mixed multitude which had joined itself to the people of God. Our pedigree, which gives us a place among the people of God, is the new birth, by which we become children of God. And our calling is to a spiritual warfare, not with flesh and blood, but against the devil and his schemes and the wicked spirits (Eph. 6:11-12).

It is impossible for anyone to recognise and rally round the proper "standard" unless he can declare his "pedigree"... How could an Israelite of old have taken his place in the assembly, or stood in the ranks? How could he make any progress through the wilderness, if he could not plainly declare his pedigree? Impossible.

The Israelites were numbered from twenty years old and upward. That was the age when they could go out to war, and when they reached manhood and were fit for the service of life (Num. 1:3; 14:29; Lev. 27:3). Each man had to bring a bekah, or half shekel, to make atonement for his soul, so that "there be no plague among them." (Ex. 30:12.)

Today all of His saints are fitted for spiritual warfare — women, young and old too — though some are less active because of age. Yet the lesson is also clear for us. To take part in real conflict we need maturity, or full age, which comes through knowledge and growth in the word of God.

Reuben (Num. 1:20; Num. 26:5) heads the list. He is the firstborn, and so entitled by nature to the leadership. But because of sin he was not to have the first place. In these forty years of wandering his numbers dwindle; at the close we see him weaker than at the beginning. Looking at his history for a reason, we come to the rebellion of Dathan and Abiram, who were of this tribe (Num. 16:1). They wanted to be leaders. Pretending to claim the people's rights, they rebel against God's authority in Moses, turn back in heart to Egypt, and grumble at the trials of the way.