February 27

As the apostle Paul writes to the church at Corinth, he reminded them that, “God is not a God of disorder but of peace” (I Corinthians 14:33). God is a God of order. He does not operate by accident or by chance. Whether we understand the reasons for God’s decisions or not, He knows exactly what He is doing and why. And someday when we are in heaven and we “see everything with perfect clarity” (I Corinthians 13:12), we will also understand the wonder of God’s design here on earth, as well as the reasons for His decisions.
Moses had already taken the census and knew the number of fighting men from each tribe who were over twenty years of age (Numbers 1:20-46). God had a special place He wanted each tribe to camp and travel while the Israelites wandered through the wilderness. He is a God of order and there is a reason for the order God chooses. The three tribes who were to lead the nation (Judah, Issachar, Zebulun) totaled more soldiers (186,400) than any combination of the other three tribes. In our minds, it only makes sense to have the greatest number of troops toward the front in case they were confronted by an enemy. The second greatest number of troops (157,600) were comprised of the tribes of Dan, Asher, and Naphtali and they brought up the rear. Aside from numbers, there were probably special skills found within each of those tribes that would prove beneficial in the place they were assigned. The point is, we will not always understand why God does what He does. But, faith is trusting God sufficiently so that when He gives us a command, we obey it whether we understand the reasoning behind it or not. To their credit, the Bible tells us, “the people of Israel did everything just as the Lord had commanded Moses” (Numbers 2:34) and God blessed them when they did. What was true for them is also true for us. God does not expect that we know everything there is to know. He, alone, can claim such omniscience. What God does expect is that we will trust Him enough to do as He tells us. Trust and obey. There’s no other way!