I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading. I had been using One Year Bible Online, but it was time for a change.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Numbers 1-2.

    A year after leaving Egypt, Moses took a census in order to establish the size of the fighting force which the children of Israel could muster. The Israelite Army at that point was slightly over 600,000 men. This tells us why the various nations in their path were frightened. Even by today’s standards this was a large army and, unlike today’s armies, they had no land to protect. The number listed in this passage would make the Israelite army the ninth largest army if it existed today. It must have been quite a sight to see the people of Israel on the move. The number listed was only the men of fighting age who were able to go to war. It did not include women and children (or even men under the age of 20). It did not include the old men, or those who were physically unable to fight for some reason. And it did not include any of the men of the tribe of Levi. The people of Israel were a city on the move, and a large city at that.