Numbers chapter 1 verses 1-5 (NIV)
The LORD spoke to Moses in the tent of meeting in the Desert of Sinai on the first day of the second month of the second year after the Israelites came out of Egypt. He said: “Take a census of the whole Israelite community by their clans and families, listing every man by name, one by one. You and Aaron are to count according to their divisions all the men in Israel who are twenty years old or more and able to serve in the army.The people are now in their second year in the desert. They have no history to this point of fighting, Yet God is preparing them for what lies ahead. The cencus records that there were 603,550 men over 20 excluding the Levites. In his comments on today’s Old Testament portion, Nicky Gumbel notes that in Exodus we see the people of God as a liberated people. In Leviticus we see them as a holy people. In Numbers we see them as a fighting force being prepared to take the land that God had promised to give them. He didn’t do that immediately after the Exodus as they were not ready. We too are called to be both kings and priests unto God, but also to be ready to participate in spiritual warfare if God calls us too. But He will never send us out unprepared. But we do need to be ready to act when He tells us to. Dear Lord, Thank You that You never send us out before we are ready and without being prepared. Help me to be ready with a willing heart and total obedience to act whenever You say. I ask in Jesus’ Name. Amen.