Chapter 26

I’m going to be very blunt today and say that I REALLY don’t feel like writing a blog today. If I hadn’t promised you all that this was coming, I suspect that I’d not have done it.

There’s an advertisement doing the rounds at the moment which compares will power to a muscle – if you use your will power, it gets stronger. Well, I’m hoping that works. Today it has taken a real act of will to write; so thank you for reading it and making me take that extra step!

Anyways, let’s get to it.

At first, your natural reaction at this passage is to groan and think something like “Oh, no . . not again!!!” And you’d be forgiven for that – once again, the people of Israel are being counted. And the result is about the same (just a couple of thousand fewer).

Why are they doing this again?

Simple – a lot of water has gone under the bridge (or perhaps, this being the desert, maybe it’s a lot of sand) since the count in chapter 1. Obviously Numbers isn’t giving us an exhaustive account of the journey of the Israelites; there must be a lot of incidents in 40 years that don’t rate a mention. Perhaps this gives us an unkind picture of the Israelites; five or six incidents of grumbling over a forty year period might actually be a fairly good record. On the other hand it might be giving us a sample of what they were really like. Meh, whatever.

Anyway, this is the SECOND counting. Rather than their parents’ generation, this is the generation that WILL take the Promised Land.

Their parents muttered and complained, wanting to go back to the place where they may have been slaves, but at least they were secure. THESE Israelites don’t remember Egypt, and they don’t want to go back.

Their parents were born slaves; THESE Israelites were born free, wandering in the desert, maybe; but wandering where they wanted to anyway.

Their parents thought they would live their entire lives as slaves until Moses came on the scene, fresh from an encounter with a Burning Bush. THESE Israelites have had it drummed into them from the earliest possible age that they will take the land that God has promised. It’s not even a “might,” it’s a “will”. There’s no doubt, it’s a done deal. They have a destiny, and they know it.

Their parents are discouraged. THESE Israelites are motivated like you wouldn’t believe. They can hardly wait to begin the conquest of Canaan.

In short, the reason that the Israelites are counted again is because this is a moment of new beginnings.

One of the themes you find throughout the scriptures is new beginnings. Many of God’s people strive, then fail; but God gives them another chance. You can see it in the flood narrative, where God starts again with the human race. You can see this in the life of Moses – he starts off as a prince of Egypt, then he fails when he kills the slave driver; then God gives him a new beginning. And Samson, and David, and most of the disciples, and . . the list goes on.

This is important to us because we each have required a new beginning. Like all these heroes of the faith, we too have failed. We need to start again, and in the Cross God gives us a chance to do just that.

In a symbolic sense, the “old you” and the “old me” have been crucified on the Cross and no longer live (Galatians 2:20). For us, life is new from the point where we accept this fact, although allowing this experience to work itself out in our lives is a life-long thing.

What does it mean to us recognizing that we have been made new? Lots of things!

• It means that we can forgive ourselves for things which have gone before. The old has gone, the new has come.

• It means that we can be free to live Christ’s way. When we fail, return to point number 1!

• It means that we need to extend to others the same courtesy – allow others to be imperfect sinners who need a new beginning too!

You are not what you once were. You have been created anew. Don’t sell yourself short!