The Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the tent 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, “Take a census of all the congregation of the people of Israel, by clans, by fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, every male, head by head.”
– Numbers 1:1–2
I’m just going to stop there. This is how the Book of Numbers begins. And it continues in these initial chapters that when we’re reading through the Bible. We have a tendency to kind of gloss over because it’s just a list of names, all these different individual names. And I’m not saying we need to meditate on each one of these names and numbers that are listed here, like thousands of people.
Numbers 1:1–2 pictures God’s personal care for his people.
But I do think there are significant takeaways for us from chapters like this one. Chapters like this, point us to the beauty of the Bible as a book of history. So unlike many other religious books, the Bible is recorded history. It’s not just the writings of one particular person or this particular group of people. It’s a historical account that can be attested to over 1500 years. Over and over again, the Bible has been proven historically, geographically, and archeologically accurate.
I think of one non-Christian, non-Jewish archeologist who said, “It may be stated categorically that no archeological discovery has ever controverted a biblical reference.” And this is part of the beauty of the Bible. It’s true history. At the same time… So here’s another takeaway from chapters like this… And this is what I want to lead us to pray specifically according to chapters like this… The Bible remind us that every single person, every single name numbered among God’s people, counts… Matters to him.
And I just want to encourage you with that reality today. Whoever you are as a child of God, he knows your name. And that sounds so simple, but just think about it. Think about where the Bible ends with this picture of names written in the Book of Life, not just a group of people but individual names. Your name! For all who’ve trusted in Jesus, your name is written in the Book of Eternal Life.
Numbers 1:1–2 pictures God’s deep knowledge of every detail of our lives.
And I just want you to be reminded today from the beginning of the book of Numbers that you matter to God. He loves you personally. He knows the details of what’s going on in your life. He’s intimately involved in the details of what’s going on in your life. He loves and cares for you. God is committed to providing for you. He treasures you. I mean, I could keep going on and on, but just want to lead us to pray accordingly.
God, you have created billions of people on the planet right now. You’re sustaining billions of people’s heartbeats and lungs breathing in addition to all kinds of other creatures. And so we praise you, God, that you know us. You know me and every single person listening to this right now, every single child of yours, that their name is written in your family and your book, and that right now and all throughout the day, every day, you love us individually, that you care for us individually, that you’re committed to providing for us individually.
Oh God, I praise you for your love for me. I pray that every single person, literally every single person who’s listening to this right now, would in a fresh way feel your love for them, your care for them, your knowledge of them, your commitment to provide for them. Oh God, we praise you for your personal love for us.
And God we pray, use our individual lives to lead other people to know you this way. We know you love people around us, and that you desire their salvation. God, we pray… Use us today to share the gospel with somebody else, to lead them to know you by name, oh God, to know you. Jesus.
Prayer for the Pashayi People
Oh God, we pray for the Pashayi people of Afghanistan. God, we pray for this people group of a hundred thousand in this remote valley region in Afghanistan. God, please you know their names. They need your grace, your mercy. Please cause your grace to spread to them. Please, oh God bless our brothers and sisters in Afghanistan from other places. However, whatever it takes. So God, we pray for the spread of the gospel that Pashayi names men, women, and children… That they might be brought to faith in you, brought into your family. God, we pray for that even as we praise you for your personal love in our lives today. All of this according to your Word in Numbers 1:1–2, which we love for so many reasons, including its historical accuracy. We pray all of this in Jesus’ name. Amen.
David Platt serves as a Lead Pastor for McLean Bible Church. He is also the Founder of Radical, an organization that helps people follow Jesus and make him known in their neighborhood and all nations.
David received his B.A. from the University of Georgia and M.Div., Th.M., and Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Some of his published works include Radical, Radical Together, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, and Don’t Hold Back.
He lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area with his wife and children.
