Today’s Message: God Knows You By Name

The book of Numbers in the Bible does not kick off like a best-seller. For several chapters, we have instructions for camping and marching, lists of tribes and clans, oh and numbers – lots of numbers!

However, everything in these pages is inspired by God. The first three words of the book are, ‘The Lord Spoke’. So, the content of these early chapters must be important. What did the Lord say?

After Moses had received the 10 commandments plus the detailed plans for the building of the tabernacle, he and the Israelites were still camped at Mount Sinai, but ready to hear The Lord’s next instructions.

It had been over a year since the nation escaped the clutches of Egypt, ‘with signs and wonders, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm and with great terror’ (Jer 32: 21). God had worked an incredible deliverance and had brought them to this place where they would begin to be shaped into a nation of their own.

But they wouldn’t stay at Mount Sinai. The Lord had given them the law and, through the tabernacle, a way to search their hearts and atone for sin, but they would need to travel some distance on foot to claim the land that He had promised them.

So, before setting off, God had one more direction: ‘Take a census’ (Num 1: 2) – take a census of the whole Israelite community (that’s a lot of people!), recording clans, families and individuals.

At surface level, the first chapter is just a list of names and numbers, but something struck me as I read the 50 or so verses that followed – God knew people by name.

In verse two, He told Moses to ‘list every man by name, one by one’. Then, in verses four and five, God’s instructions became very specific as He singled out tribal heads who will assist Moses in the task, individually recognizing each one and the family they belong to. God didn’t just know Moses by name, He knew the entire Israelite community.

This reminds me of Jesus’ comments in Matthew 10 (and Luke 12). In the middle of a confronting discourse about standing firm and speaking boldly in the midst of persecution, Jesus changed his tone to one of a gentle shepherd, addressing the natural fear that would arise in such a situation and telling them that sparrows, worth little in the marketplaces are never unnoticed by our Father in Heaven. How much more, then, are we?

In fact, said Jesus, ‘even the very hairs of your head are all numbered’ (Matt 10: 30).

If He knows me by name, and he knows exactly how many hairs sit on my head, then He must know about my health issues and the worries that occupy my mind. He must see my needs and He is present when I don’t know what to do and when I need His help.

‘But now, O Jacob, listen to the Lord who created you. O Israel, the one who formed you says, “Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you. I have called you by name; you are mine’ (Is 43: 1 NLT).