Numbers 1:32

Numbers 1:32 says, Of the children of Joseph, namely, of the children of Ephraim, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war;   We now have the house of Joseph, starting with those of Ephraim.  Verse thirty-three adds, Those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Ephraim, were forty thousand and five hundred.  There were forty-four thousand five hundred men over twenty who were able to go to war in the tribe of Ephraim.  Verse thirty-four states, Of the children of Manasseh, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war;  Verse thirty-five adds,Those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Manasseh, were thirty and two thousand and two hundred.  There were thirty-two thousand two hundred men of Manasseh who fit the criteria. Verse thirty-six says, Of the children of Benjamin, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war;   Verse thirty-seven adds, Those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Benjamin, were thirty and five thousand and four hundred.  Of the tribe of Benjamin there were thirty-five thousand four hundred men over the age of twenty who were able to go to war.  Verse thirty-eight states, Of the children of Dan, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war;  Verse thirty-nine adds, Those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Dan, were threescore and two thousand and seven hundred.  Of the tribe of Dan, there were sixty-two thousand, seven hundred men over twenty years of age who were able to go to war.  Verse forty says, Of the children of Asher, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war;  Verse forty-one adds, Those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Asher, were forty and one thousand and five hundred.  There were forty-one thousand five hundred men above the age of twenty in the tribe of Asher who were able to go to war.  Verse forty-two says, Of the children of Naphtali, throughout their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war;  Verse forty-three adds, Those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Naphtali, were fifty and three thousand and four hundred.  Of the tribe of Naphtali, there were fifty-three thousand four hundred men over the age of twenty who were able to go to war.  The nation of Israel had grown quite large while they were in Egypt, and God had delivered them to lead them to the Promised Land.  We as Christians need to likewise be growing into a large nation, which is not something that is defined by physical barriers, but by our relationship with God.  One day, God will lead us to the Promised Land, which is heaven, and He knows our number.  

Numbers 1:17

Numbers 1:17 says, Moses and Aaron took these men which are expressed by their names:   Moses and Aaron divided the people of Israel by tribes, or families.  Verse eighteen adds, And they assembled all the congregation together on the first day of the second month, and they declared their pedigrees after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, by their polls.  Once more, we are told that they were assembled tribes.  This was done on the first day ofthe second month, in the second year after they were delivered from Egypt.  God always works in orderly ways, I believe.  Verse nineteen continues, As the LORD commanded Moses, so he numbered them in the wilderness of Sinai.  The counting of the people of Israel was done as God had told Moses to do it.  Whatever we do for God today must be done in accordance with His instructions.  Verse twenty states, And the children of Reuben, Israel’s eldest son, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, by their polls, every male from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war;  The next several verses break down the number of males of Israel over twenty years old and able to go to war and fight by tribe, beginning with Rueben, the eldest son of Israel, or Jacob.  Verse twenty-one adds, Those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Reuben, were forty and six thousand and five hundred.  There were forty-six thousand five hundred men over twenty who could go to war in the tribe of Benjamin. Verse twenty-two says, Of the children of Simeon, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, those that were numbered of them, according to the number of the names, by their polls, every male from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war;  Verse twenty-three adds, Those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Simeon, were fifty and nine thousand and three hundred.  Simeon was the next to be numbered by family, and there were fifty-nine thousand, three hundred in his family who fell into this category.   Verse twenty-four states, Of the children of Gad, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war;   Verse twenty-five adds, Those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Gad, were forty and five thousand six hundred and fifty.  The tribe of Gad had forty-five thousand six hundred and fifty men over twenty who were able to go to war.  Verse twenty-six says, Of the children of Judah, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war;  Verse twenty-seven adds, Those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Judah, were threescore and fourteen thousand and six hundred.  The tribe of Judah numbered seventy-four thousand six hundred men over twenty who were able to go to war.  Verse twenty-eight states, Of the children of Issachar, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war;  Verse twenty-nine adds, These that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Issachar, were fifty and four thousand and four hundred.  The number of men over twenty who could go to war in the tribe of Issachar was fifty-four thousand four hundred.  Verse thirty says, Of the children of Zebulun, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war;   Verse thirty-one adds, Those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Zebulun, were fifty and seven thousand and four hundred. The tribe of Zebulun numbered fifty-seven thousand men over twenty who were able to go to war.

Numbers 1:1

Numbers 1:1 says, And the LORD spake unto Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the tabernacle of the congregation, on the first day of the second month, in the second year after they were come out of the land of Egypt, saying,  We are given the date that the LORD spoke to Moses this time, which was two years and a month after God delivered the people of Israel out of Egypt.  Matthew Henty points out that of the first five Books of the Bible, this is the only one to be called by its English title and not its Greek.  Verse two adds, Take ye the sum of all the congregation of the children of Israel, after their families, by the house of their fathers, with the number of their names, every male by their polls;  God told Moses to number, or count, the males of Israel, by family and the house of their fathers.  This was a census to show how God was fulfilling His promise to Abraham.  We may not live to see all of God's promises fulfilled, but they will always be fulfilled.  Verse three continues, From twenty years old and upward, all that are able to go forth to war in Israel: thou and Aaron shall number them by their armies.  The males were to be counted from the age of twenty, because they were the ones who would be able to make up the armies of Israel, and Aaron was to number them by armies.  We as men who are followers of Christ today should be on the front lines in the army of God.  Verse four concludes, And with you there shall be a man of every tribe; every one head of the house of his fathers.  They were to be counted by tribes and not just as a total number of men.  God always brings more order, not less, to those who follow Him.  Verse five states, And these are the names of the men that shall stand with you: of the tribe of Reuben; Elizur the son of Shedeur.  From here through verse sixteen we have the names and what tribe or family group the people were from.  Verse six adds, Of Simeon; Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai.  Verse seven continues, Of Judah; Nahshon the son of Amminadab. Verse eight says, Of Issachar; Nethaneel the son of Zuar.  Verse nine adds, Of Zebulun; Eliab the son of Helon.  Verse ten continues, Of the children of Joseph: of Ephraim; Elishama the son of Ammihud: of Manasseh; Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur.  Verse eleven states, Of Benjamin; Abidan the son of Gideoni.  Verse twelve adds, Of Dan; Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai.  Verse thirteen says, Of Asher; Pagiel the son of Ocran.  Verse fourteen adds, Of Gad; Eliasaph the son of Deuel. Verse fifteen continues, Of Naphtali; Ahira the son of Enan.  Verse sixteen states, These were the renowned of the congregation, princes of the tribes of their fathers, heads of thousands in Israel.  These people represented the fulfillment of God's promise to Abraham at that time, and we as followers of Christ are still counted in that promise today.

Luke review concluded

We also have the account of Jesus making religious leaders angry, on many, many occasions.  These were not the religious leaders of other religions, but of the people of Israel, who were supposed to represent God to His people.  There are still religious leaders today who claim to be God's representatives who do not believe that Jesus is Who He says He is, which is the only way to salvation.  We have the account of Jesus's betrayal by one of His closest disciples, one of the twelve, and we need to make sure that as followers of Christ that we never betray Him in any of our thoughts or actions.  We certainly should never betray Him for material gain.  Also, we soon see all His disciples  disassociate themselves from Him.  We can never do this and truly be saved.  Then, we have the record of the crucifixion of Jesus, when He willingly laid down His life for the sins of everyone.  We only have to accept this by faith, as the one thief being crucified with Jesus did, in order to have everlasting life.  We also have the account of the women going to the tomb of Jesus on the third day and finding it empty.  They were the first ones to hear the good news from the angel that Jesus had risen from the dead.  This is our message to the world today.  We don't really need to take them to the tomb of Jesus, because it is empty.  We just need to point them to the resurrected Lord.  We then have the account of the disciples feeling defeated, until Jesus appears to them.  We will always be defeated by the sins of this world until we meet Jesus and accept the truth of His victory over sin and death if we will put our faith in Him.  Finally, we have the glorious news of Jesus ascending back to heaven, where He had come from and where He remains today, unti He returns in victory to claim His people.  Next, we are going to look at the book of Numbers.

Luke review continued

We have the facts about the life of John the Baptist, whose birth was also foretold by an angel to his parents, Zacharias and Elisabeth.  God is the source of all life, which begins at conception.  We have the account of John's lifestyle and preaching, in which he called for for people to repent and prepare for the coming Messiah, Who was already there, but he didn't know it.  As followers of Christ, we are to tell people today to be ready for His return, but when this happens, everyone will know it.  We also have the account of John the Baptist baptizing Jesus, and of the heavenly Father's approval of it.  Jesus set the example for us to be baptized, and even though it isn't a requirement for salvation, I believe that God expects us to follow the example that Jesus set as a sign of obedience.  Then, we learn of John the Baptist being beheaded because he made Herod’s wife angry by pointing out her sin.  We must always point out sin when we see it, even if it leads to our death.  Then we learn ofcthe birth of Jesus.  Once again, an angel told Mary and Joseph of His birth, and the nature of that birth.  Mary's Son was to be the only begotten Son of God and the Savior of mankind.  We either believe that today, or we never claim the salvation that Jesus made available to us.  We learn of the temptation of Jesus by Satan as Jesus was ready to begin His ministry.  We should always be ready to face the temptation of  Satan and the world as we begin to follow Jesus.  We have the account of Jesus calling the disciples, and of them leaving everything to follow Him, which we still must do today. We have many accounts of  Jesus teaching, performing miracles, and healing.  We as Christians are to be doing the same thing today, for God's glory and to spread His word to the world.  We may not always recognize a miracle or even a healing when it happens, but we must always have faith that God can provide both when it is in His will to do so.

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Luke Review

First, we see that Luke was told by eyewitnesses about the things that he was writing.  The facts about Jesus's life were not just stories someone had heard, but were reported by those who had witnessed them.  We must acknowledge them as truth and not just made up stories if they are to have meaning to us.  We then see that God not only spoke to Mary and Joseph, but to Zacharias and Elisabeth before them about the coming birth of a son.  No birth is accidental, but is from God.  Zacharias, being old doubted the angel and asked for a sign, and the sign was that he as made mute until the baby was born.  We should never doubt God and ask for signs.  Their son was to be called John, who became John the Baptist.  We have the facts of Mary becoming pregnant before Joseph and she were married, and the angel appearing to her to tell her to not be afraid, that she had been chosen to be the mother of the Messiah.  Still, we must acknowledge that she was but a woman, and was not some sort of god herself.  Joseph was also given assurance that Mary had done nothing wrong and that he was to marry her and become the earthly father of Jesus.  They both put their faith in what God had told them, and so must we.  After the birth of John, Elisabeth and Zacharias both said that he would be named John, as they had been instructed to do.   Zacharias had to write it on a tablet because he was still mute, but as soon as he did, he could speak again.  When we obey God, He will always fulfill His promises to us.  We learned that God could move a nation to fulfill His word, since He used Caesar to get Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem for the birth of Jesus.  We also have an account of the lowly shepherds being the ones who were told of Jesus's birth and them coming to find out for themselves about the truth of what they were told,and we must do the same if we are to become followers of Christ.  Then, we know of the purification of Jesus according to the law of Moses and the proclamation of Simon, a devout man of God, about what Jesus was to do, and that was to bring salvation to all who believed in Him, both Jew and Gentile.  God sent Jesus to redeem not just certain people, but all who put their faith in Him.  We only have one account of Jesus when He was growing up, and that was when He was about twelve and Mary and Joseph lost Him, only to find Him in the temple.  If we lose sight  of Jesus today because we are so busy, hopefully we can find Him in God's house if we go there.

Luke 24:40

Luke 24:40 says, And when he had thus spoken, he shewed them his hands and his feet.  As the disciples continued to question if He were just a spirit, Jesus showed them His hands and feet.  I believe that we will always be given enough proof or understanding to know that Jesus is Who He says He is when we encounter Him if we come to Him by faith.  Verse forty-one adds, And while they yet believed not for joy, and wondered, he said unto them, Have ye here any meat?  Like the disciples then, even when we are offered proof instead of believing in joy, we may yet doubt the reality of Jesus Christ dying and rising from the dead so that we might have salvation.  Verse forty-two continues, And they gave him a piece of a broiled fish, and of an honeycomb.  Jesus had asked the disciples for some meat, and they gave Him some broiled fish and honeycomb.  If we are ever to understand Who Jesus is, we must be willing to obey His commands, the first being to come to Him.  Verse forty-three concludes, And he took it, and did eat before them.  Jesus took the food and ate it, which a spirit couldn't do.  Verse forty-four states, And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me.  Jesus told them that He had warned them that all the things that the scriptures said about Him must be fulfilled, and that included His death, burial, and resurrection.  We cannot believe in Jesus without believing in all of God's word about Who He is.  Verse forty-five adds, Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures,  Jesus opened their understanding so that they might believe the scriptures.  He will also do this for anyone today who is willing to listen to His call to salvation.  Verse forty-six continues, And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day:  Jesus said that it was written in the scripture that it was necessary for Christ to willingly suffer and die on the cross and be raised from the dead in order to bring salvation to those Who put their faith in Him.  Of course,  He really brought salvation to everyone, but only those who put their faith in Him will benefit from it.  Verse forty-seven says, And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.  Jesus said that the gospel must be preached in all nations, beginning in Jerusalem.  This is what the disciples were supposed to be doing then and what we as followers of Christ are supposed to be doing today.  Verse forty-eight adds, And ye are witnesses of these things.  Jesus reminded the disciples that they were witnesses to all these things, and by faith so are all Christians today.  If the world is to know about Jesus, it is our responsibility to tell them.  Verse forty-nine declares, And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.  Jesus told the disciples that He sent the promise of the Father upon them, but that they were to remain in Jerusalem until they received this power, which comes from the Holy Spirit.  As followers of Christ, we always need to wait until God sends us empowered by the Holy Spirit before we go anywhere and share the gospel.  Verse fifty adds, And he led them out as far as to Bethany, and he lifted up his hands, and blessed them.  Jesus led them to Bethany, then lifted up His hands and blessed them.  When we follow Christ today as He leads us, He will also bless us.  This does not mean that we will become rich materially though.  Verse fifty-one says, And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he was parted from them, and carried up into heaven.  As Jesus blessed the disciples, He departed from them and ascended into heaven.  Though Jesus remains in heaven, if we put our faith in Him, we will join Him there one day.  In the meantime, the power that Jesus said that the Heavenly Father would send, the Holy Spirit, dwells within us if we are Christians.  Verse fifty-two adds, And they worshipped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy:  The disciples worshipped Jesus then,and returned to Jerusalem with great joy.  Once we accept Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and Lord, we need to go wherever He sends us with great joy.  Verse fifty-three continues, And were continually in the temple, praising and blessing God. Amen.  The disciples were then continually in the temple praising and blessing God.  We need to be praising God today anywhere we go as followers of Christ.