민수기 Chapter 26

Translation: ESV

2

"Take a census of all the congregation of the people of Israel, from twenty years old and upward, by their fathers' houses, all in Israel who are able to go to war."

Key Message

God maintains the number of his people even through forty years in the wilderness, and continues his history through a new generation.

▸As the forty years in the wilderness draw to a close, a second census is carried out.

As the forty years in the wilderness draw to a close, a second census is carried out. It uses the same standard as the first census in Numbers 1 (men twenty years old and upward), but now a new generation is its subject. This census confirms that the new generation is ready for war to conquer Canaan, and also prepares for the distribution of the promised land.

64

But among these there was not one of those listed by Moses and Aaron the priest, who had listed the people of Israel in the wilderness of Sinai.

Key Message

God's word is always fulfilled; after the generation of unbelief passes, God's promise is fulfilled through a new generation. Each generation has the opportunity for a fresh start.

▸The reason the result of the second census differs greatly from the first is that now everyone who was first counted has died, with the exception of two men (Caleb and Joshua).