Numbers 2:32 These are those which were numbered of the children of Israel by the house of their fathers: all those that were numbered of the camps throughout their hosts were six hundred thousand and three thousand and five hundred and fifty.
A Sense of Family
The nation of Israel is most often referred to as the children of Israel. Numbers 2:2 tells us that “every man of the children of Israel shall pitch by his own standard, with the ensign of their father’s house.” Then it goes on to talk about all these families and how they were numbered. Here’s an entire nation of people who are no longer people that knew everybody else. This was a mass crowd that had long since exceeded the boundaries of the typical family reunion, but the very context of their being was that they were the children of Israel. These were the children of a man to whom God had made a promise and had given the Promised Land. A sense of family is not to be underestimated.
In America, most of us travel widely, live far from where we were born, and marry someone from hundreds of miles away. Although I don’t think this mandates that you live in a certain area, it is instructive how important the home is to God and how important it was to the founding of this nation that God had designed.
Family also determined what they did. Most noticeable were the sons of Aaron. These were the men that served as priests to God’s people.
Family described who they were. It was a sense of identity. Numbers 2:32 says, “These are those which were numbered of the children of Israel by the house of their fathers….” Now, your family doesn’t doom you, nor does it automatically ensure success. I’m not trying to make more of this than God would, but a strong healthy sense of family gives a clear sense of identity and direction. We are living in a day when the family is not just under attack, but the family is ignored and marginalized. A society that honors and recognizes the home builds a strong foundation. That was true of Israel, and that is true today.
If you don’t have that strong sense of family, then be the one by God’s grace to build it. Not for the sake of bragging about your family. And I’m not talking about going back and tracing your lineage. There may be a couple or a dozen in your home, but in any case, God has established your home. The home is the foundation of the nation, and we ought to honor God by doing what is right at home.