BeMidbar 34-1

In the desert of

Numbers 1:1-19

The LORD spoke to Moses in the Tent of Meeting in the Desert of Sinai on the first day of the second month of the second year after the Israelites came out of Egypt. He said: "Take a census of the whole Israelite community by their clans and families, listing every man by name, one by one. You and Aaron are to number by their divisions all the men in Israel twenty years old or more who are able to serve in the army.

Num. 1:1-3 NIV

Is there any relationship between freedom and discipline?

A year had passed since their departure; and the people had had great spiritual and physical experiences. They had entered the covenant and received the Torah of fire from heaven. They had built a tabernacle and learned how to make sacrifices.

The next step in the people's education was to teach them more about order and discipline. The whole book of Numbers speaks about this. This fact shows us the importance that it has for the Eternal.

This text starts talking about the departure from Egypt and then goes on talking about a census of Israel's army. This shows that there is a relationship between deliverance from bondage and an army's discipline. True freedom is not that everyone does what they please and go anywhere they want. True freedom has to do with order. Where there is no order there is no freedom.

The oppression they experienced in Egypt was caused by incorrect discipline. But the solution for that is not anarchy but sound discipline, guided by divine order and principles of respect.

Every man in the people who was able to submit to the order of an army was counted and thus the people were prepared to move forward in their spiritual development until reaching their final goal: the promised land with the sanctuary as the worship centre.

Beloved disciple of the Messiah, ready your mind for a disciplined life and you'll be able to grow spiritually and reach the final goal for your life.

Shavua tov,

Ketriel