Bamidbar “In the Wilderness”
Numbers 1:1–4:20
Hosea 2:1–22
Galatians 1-6

Don't Get Lost in the Crowd

Well, there you are, a part of the tribe of Benjamin. You are among the smallest of the tribes of Israel. There are only 35,400 men in this the smallest tribe and you are but one of them. As small as Benjamin is though it seems there are enough people to take care of the tasks at hand today. Maybe this would be a good day to roll over, go back to sleep and let everyone else do the work. After all, your presence would not be missed just for one day. Or would it?

The truth is that as the Hebrews walked through the wilderness, there was much to do on a daily basis. There was manna to be gathered, manna to be prepared and clean up to be done. There was sanitation needs to be considered. The list was a long one regarding the duties needed to keep this camp going on a daily basis. Then there was the Tabernacle to consider. It was a work of it's own. During the times of the moves there was so much to do. This put a special load on all of the people. Everyone had something they needed to do to make the camp flow smoothly on a daily basis. What if one person had decided to take the day off and sleep in? Would it really have made any difference? I think it would. Each person was important to the camp. Each person had a job to do and responsibilities to carry out. There was just no room for slackers in Israel.

So are times really any different today. You and I have no idea how many people are a part of this family called Israel. It is not humanly possible to take a census today. We do not have a camp to take care of. Only HaShem knows where the Tabernacle really is. So maybe reading this Torah portion is really a waste of time. What do you think? Of course, you should know what I think!

The key to understanding this Torah portion for me is found in Chapter 1, Verse 2. Moses was not only to take a census of the people and record the numbers he found, but rather in the recording of numbers, he was to record each mans name. The people were never to be treated as an impersonal number in the camp, but each person was to be known by a name which would make them a unique individual. No one was to be lost to the status of a number, but instead each person was to have a place, a duty and a responsibility. If one morning John the son of Levi did not perform his duties, there was at the end of the day a very important task of the camp that had not been accomplished. Everyone had worth and something very important they were to do in the camp.

Today this principle still holds true. Now, we may not be able to see at the end of our day a task that was dropped due to our being spread throughout the earth. Just the same however, from the Father's vantage point each of us has a responsibility in this widely spread out camp. He knows each of His family by name and has given each of us duties He wishes to have accomplished on a daily basis so His Kingdom runs smoothly and increases in not just numbers, but rather names of people who are being redeemed.

It is hard for some people to see their importance today. I have received letters through the years that said something like," Sorry I have nothing to give to this ministry, all I can do is just pray for you." "Just pray!" Now there is an interesting combination of words. The word just should never be used in conjunction with the word prayer. Prayer, fasting, giving, volunteering, witnessing, writing a letter or email of encouragement, preaching, teaching, the list can go on and on regarding the duties and responsibilities that are needed in His Kingdom on a daily basis. No job is more important that another. No job is less. The hardest thing for each of us is that at the end of the day we can not look back at where the camp was this morning and see the progress we have made towrd the Promised Land today. We have to take our progress by faith. We must lay down at night not really knowing what part we may have had, but knowing that whatever task He gave us that day was accomplished to the best of our ability.

One thing is for certain both in Ancient Israel and today, we each have a name. HaShem will never do as the world does and degrade us to the status of a number. He knows our name, our actions and even the number of hairs upon our heads. Each day He also records if we accomplished our given task for His Kingdom or if we merely rolled over and expected someone else to do our job.