Numbered but not just a number: The Good Shepherd Who seeks the lost sheep of humanity (Numbers 1; Luke 15)

Hallel Fellowship

Under the hood of Numbers

The book of Numbers spans both generations of the Exodus. The books of Exodus and Leviticus talk mostly about the setting up and operation of the Tabernacle. When Moses called for donations, the people responded with such a generous outpouring that he had to ask for the donations to stop after a while, which is amazing.

When we read this story, we ask ourselves if we have followed HaShem’s instruction and discipline. We are willing to leave behind the victim mindset of Egypt? Do we trust God, who is leading us to true rest? Do we trust Him for our daily bread or do we trust ourselves? Do we trust God to give us the land of promise or do we want to possess that land with our own work?

God urges us to be content with the roles we have been given. At the heart of Korach’s rebellion was his refusal to accept the honorable role assigned to him and his family. Although they were entrusted with transporting the most sacred items of the tabernacle, Korach was not satisfied and instead coveted Aaron’s position.

We will also learn about Balaam, a prophet for hire and a spiritual mercenary. Although he spoke God’s words, he did not truly embrace them in his heart. In the end, he had to be rebuked by a female donkey. He was forced to speak God’s words of blessing over the children of Israel rather than the curses he was hired to spew.

Counting Heads or Counting Redemption

“For the LORD had spoken to Moses, saying, “Only the tribe of Levi you shall not number, nor shall you take their census among the sons of Israel. “But you shall appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of the testimony, and over all its furnishings and over all that belongs to it. They shall carry the tabernacle and all its furnishings, and they shall take care of it; they shall also camp around the tabernacle.” (Numbers 1:48–50 NAS95)

The phrase that is used to describe the census called for in Number 1 is called “lifting the head.” We see this same phrase in Genesis when Joseph interpreted the dreams of the baker and wine sommelier in Genesis.

“Lift up your heads, O gates, And be lifted up, O ancient doors, That the King of glory may come in!” (Psalm 24:7 NAS95)

One’s head can either be lifted up in the spiritual sense of being held in high esteem, and given a high office, or one’s head can be lifted up in preperation to detach it in execution.

The lifting of the head is also a symbol of pride, as in “head held high” or as a “stiff necked people.” There’s a big difference between lifting up our own head in pride and God lifting up our head from a lowly estate to a higher one.

There are two kinds of counting in Numbers 1:48-50.

The word paqad can mean either “appoint, take note, attend to with care (TWOT), or to prescribe, seek out, scrutinize (HALOT).

The people of Levi are counted because they are entrusted with the holy things.

The word nasa means to carry, lift, support (TWOT).

The people of Levi were also lifted up and separated from the rest of Israel for a different duty.

So two ways that you are seeing this counting or designation of the tribes. The counting of the Levites is different than the counting of the other tribes. The census of the other tribes was of fighting age men only. Each person is scrutinized, appointed, designated for particular assignments. They are carrying, carrying a load that is going on with it.

Every one is included and is participating. Each person being counted is a contribution to a mission. In the case of the Levites, they are officiating in the tabernacle and surrounding the tabernacle to protect it. The tribes that surround them are protecting the Levites and the Tabernacle.

Strategic Positioning: The Importance of Clear Objectives for Israel

Each tribe lived under and marched out under their standards. They were not willy nilly, wandering around in the desert. They were positioned deliberately surrounding the dwelling place of God. The objective of the army of the Lord is what to center around the tabernacle.

In what is the Army of Israel going to participate? Armies that campaign and fail are those who forget what they are trying to achieve.They lose focus. A lot of people may die in pursuit of things that do not contribute to victory. The military campaign in Korea in the 1950’s was infamous for this. The army would issue a command to take a particular mountain or hill. Once the army took the hill, another command would come down from on hight and tell them to leave it, even though capturing that hill required the army to face relentless machine gun fire, and a loss of up to 70% of the fighting force to do so and then the command would come to abandon that hill. When the army leaders issue indefensible objectives, this lowers the morale of the army.

If you lose sight of your ultimate goal and get involved in entanglements that do not serve your ultimate goal, you will lose the war. That’s why we lost the Vietnam war and why the Korean war ended in a stalemate. When we went into WW2, our ultimate goal was Berlin and we had to fight many battles from Normandy onward and liberate other territories first to achieve that goal.

The same thing happened in Israel’s history, when the people of Israel forgot what why they exist. They forgot their mission and developed new missions for themselves that didn’t involve God.

Counting the Omers: Preparing for the Great Feast of the Harvest

Yeshua spoke about the harvest, and talked about needing workers for the harvest. Working the harvest was not just busy work for the sake of a paycheck. A good harvest was necessary for survival. Without a harvest, starvation and famine would ensue. A good harvest meant life, a bad harvest meant death.

The goal of the farmer was to survive to the next harvest. So we, as we continually working in the field, and as we’re counting up to each of the Omers and reaching toward the great feast of the harvest, or the Feast of the weeks. It’s not just about punching the clock. The harvest that means the most to Yeshua, and should mean the most to us is the harvest of people for the Kingdom of Heaven.

In our day, so many things are automated with software. But you can have a picture of a tree or a house, and you can make another picture by using a whole collection of other images, just by matching the different tonal shifts into it. You can make another picture out of it by just piecing all these little pictures together.

We are more than just a number. Each person is assigned to a different task. Yeshua repeatedly preached about the uniqueness of each individual in the overall body.

The tribes that were blessed increased in number over the 40 years while the tribes who were acting out the most against God and suffered judgement went down.

Coveting Power: The Perils of Seeking Unassigned Authority

With citizenship comes responsibility and each member of the community contributes to the whole. History is replete with examples of people who have started wars and killed many people because they coveted a position of authority that didn’t belong to them and when they got it, they realized that gaining the throne is its own prison.

The history of Israel is also replete with examples of people who either lost the plot of their mission or coveted positions of authority that God did not give to them and it was a disaster for the nation.

The High Priest Eli and his reprobate sons are a case study of a family of High Priests who completely forgot that their only job was to bring the people closer to God but their actions did the complete opposite. Eli’s sons created a culture at the tabernacle where people, especially women, did not want to go toward the tabernacle because of their behavior. Even though Eli’s sons were assigned to their roles from birth because of their lineage, but their hearts, their minds, their emotions, were not connected at all with God.

The Apostle Paul taught us that we still have to respect those in authority, encourage them to live up to the responsibility that comes along with their lineage.

Managing the Flock: Insights from Northern California Shepherds on Protecting and Finding the Lost

We have the opportunity to seek those who want to be found and to respond to those who don’t want to be found.

In Luke 15, Yeshua tells us repeatedly that God loves His people on an individual level. We are all special in God’s eyes and appointed a particular role in the Kingdom, and if we are lost, then the body of Yeshua suffers.

• Lost sheep (Luke 15:1-7)
• Lost coin (Luke 15:8-10)
• Prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32)

So He told them this parable, saying, “What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep and has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open pasture and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’” (Luke 15:3-6 NASB 1995)

Livestock such as sheep or goats, move around in a mass but are also very individualistic. Here in northern California, we have a lot of shepherds. Raising sheep and goats is big business here, because of our wine industry and our mediterranean climate. They have discovered that one of the best ways to manage wildfire risk is to manage the growth of the grasses and weeds that feed the wildfires.

I recently attended a conference where some modern shepherds who now market themselves as fuel management specialists spoke a length about their role in managing foliage overgrowth, which is crucial, especially in wildfire-prone areas like ours.

They described in great detail how they can send flocks of sheep or goats to reduce fuel loads in a particular area. They have very high tech ways to guide and corral the sheep or goats to an area and to move them around as needed to trim back the growth, without completely destroying it. For example, the flock they use at the Sonoma Raceway to keep the fire load down is 1000 strong, but the shepherds know when one sheep is missing. We might not be able to distinguish one sheep or goat from another, but the shepherds know their flocks on an individual level and they care when even one is lost. If one of their flock go missing, the shepherds don’t comfort themselves with the thought that “well, 99% of them are still here.” There is no acceptable loss ratio between shepherd and sheep.

It’s the same relationship with the Lord and us as His flock of people. He knows if even if one of us is missing. Yeshua is the same way, he wants all to come to repentance and goes to seek the ones who are lost. You can go from lost to found through repentance and there is none one on earth who doesn’t need repentance.

The sheep has some degree of sentience and may know if it is lost or not and the shepherd certainly knows when the sheep is lost and seeks after it. The coin is like one who has no idea that it’s lost, but the owner seeks it out and will turn over tables to find it.

God gives people permission to approach Him but we must approach Him on His terms, not ours. Repentance and humility are required to be in communion with God.

The sheep, the coin and the son were not written off, even if a lazy shepherd, a lazy widow or a annoyed older brother didn’t care about what was lost, the good shepherd, the diligent widow and the loving father cared deeply about what was lost and do what they needed to do to find what was lost and return them to their place.

From the first to the second generation of the Exodus, we will see the prodigal sons move from slavery to freedom. The first generation squandered so much, the Exodus, the red sea and Mt. Sinai but the second generation understood that they weren’t worthy of the blessing yet were welcome into the Promised Land.

Summary: Tammy