Benchmarking Our Faith
(A way of judging the quality or quantity of something)
Numbers 1: 1-3Now the Lord spoke to Moses in the Wilderness of Sinai, in the tabernacle of meeting, on the first day of the second month, in the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt, saying:2"Take a census of all the congregation of the children of Israel, by their families, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of names, every male individually,3from twenty years old and above--all who are able to go to war in Israel. You and Aaron shall number them by their armies.NKJV
S REUBEN 46,500
S SIMEON 59,300
S Gad 45,650
E Judah 74,600
E Issachar 54,400
E Zebulum 57,400
W Manasseh 32,200
W Ephrahaim 40,500
W Benjamin 35,400
N Dan 62,700
N Asher 41,500
N Naphtali 53,400
603,550
1. Establishing a BENCHMARK
· It was God’s idea to number the people.
· God knows how many people there are. So, why does God have them counted? It is so the people will know how many there are. God never asks a question for His information.
· He doesn’t do anything with the information! Nothing! The story continues on without any discussion about this new information.
· You can’t multiply what you will not manage, and you cannot mange what you will not measure.
Why would God establish a benchmark?
A. To help you see where you really are (If you want to change something; measure it)
B. To help you measure where the blessing and where the cursing is operating in your life.
C. To document a miracle or to measure God’s goodness in your life.
· Job experienced this process.
Numbers 26: 1-4And it came to pass, after the plague, that the Lord spoke to Moses and Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest, saying:2"Take a census of all the congregation of the children of Israel from twenty years old and above, by their fathers' houses, all who are able to go to war in Israel."3So Moses and Eleazar the priest spoke with them in the plains of Moab by the Jordan, across from Jericho, saying:4"Take a census of the people from twenty years old and above, just as the Lord commanded Moses and the children of Israel who came out of the land of Egypt."NKJV
S REUBEN 46,500…………….47,730
S SIMEON 59,300……………22,200
S Gad 45,650…………….40,500
E Judah 74,600…………….76,500
E Issachar 54,400………….…64,300
E Zebulum 57,400…………….60,500
W Manasseh 32,200…………….52,700
W Ephrahaim 40,500…………….32,500
W Benjamin 35,400…………….45,600
N Dan 62,700…………….64,400
N Asher 41,500…………….53,400
N Naphtali 53,400…………….45,400
603,550 601,730
2. Engaging our ENEMIES
A. What happened between the 2 numberings?
1. The people complained and God sent fire to the outskirts of the camp.
2. A plague came upon Israel while they ate the quail.
3. The Amalekites and Canaanites drive back Israel when they decide to go ahead and try to take the Promised Land.
4. Korah rebels with 250 men and their households were swallowed up.
5. 14,700 people killed by plague after lamenting what happened to Korah and the leaders that died with him.
6. Israel fights Canaanites and wins.
7. People complain and are bitten by snakes and many die.
8. King Sihon defeated
9. King Og defeated
10. 24,000 die after Israel joins Moab in harlotry.
B. There were 10 trials to test Israel
· Ten is the number of testing
· Ten plagues tested Egypt
· Israel tested God ten times in the wilderness (numbers 14:22)
· Now God is testing Israel these 10 times
C. God used 6 sins/rebellion and 4 external battles
3. Enjoying His REWARDS
· After the second numbering, God decides to divide the land by THAT number. He uses this information.
· Notice the Sovereignty of God. The total number barely moved. What did change was the individual tribes and their destiny
· Some tribes increased
· Some tribes were almost annihilated
· Times of trial can bring increase or decrease.
· Eastern band was the only 3 that all increased.