Numbers 1:1-3 ‘Then the LORD spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the tent of meeting, on the first 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 sons of Israel, by their families, by their fathers’ households, according to the number of names, every male, head by head from twenty years old and upward, whoever is able to go out to war in Israel, you and Aaron shall number them by their armies.”‘ God orders a censes taken. According to v. 3, it’s for the purpose of military preparedness. This is what nations did. Jesus referred to this concept in a parable in Luke 14:31 “Or what king, when he sets out to meet another king in battle, will not first sit down and consider whether he is strong enough with ten thousand men to encounter the one coming against him with twenty thousand?” David took a census which angered The Lord. 1 Chronicles 21:1 “Then Satan stood up against Israel and moved David to number Israel.” Why was this wrong? Here are some possible responses: Israel is God’s people. A census is to be done when He says so. While it’s for understanding one’s strength as a nation, ultimately Israel’s trust is to be in God. He can save with many or with few. What was David’s motive? It may have been pride. It may be that David wanted to impress others with these statistics. It may have been weak faith. He may have had some concerns about their defense and did this to seek reassurance. It may have been the least talk amongst royalty. David may have been following a fad. Our trust and focus is to be in God. While David was generally a man after God’s heart, he wasn’t here. Jesus pointed out the normalcy of numbering the people. However, it wasn’t to be done by Israel, unless God said so. There are many things that our culture sees as a norm that God discourages. 1 Peter 2:11 says, “Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul.” While the world encourages indulgence, we aren’t to go there. We are strangers and aliens to our culture. We also may have fears and anxieties. God wants us to bring them to Him first. There are positive ways to soothe those: music, friends, counseling and more. These are important, but God wants us to include Him and His ways in the solution. There are destructive ways to address them: drugs, alcohol abuse, obsessions, etcetera. Everyone can tell stories of broken lives, marriages and families from these poor choices. This same action of the census was wrong in one situation and right in the other. We are to keep an open heart and mind before The Lord. God, help us to do so.