Numbers 1:1-2:9
I don’t think I’ve ever envied anyone less than Moses on this first day of the second month of the second year after they came out of Egypt. I can imagine his joy when the Lord called him into the tent of meeting and his utter dejection when he was told he had to count by name every single male Israelite who was over the age of 20. Scholars have long wondered how it could have taken Israel 40 years to cross the Sinai wilderness but now that mystery is solved - 32 of those 40 years were spent sitting around while Moses called out 603,550 names from a clipboard. I don’t think there is anything significant about how many there are in each tribe other than to note that Judah, who received Jacob’s blessing of the first-born, now has the bragging rights and that God’s is giving Abraham as many offspring as stars in the sky. We have so far seen God’s redemption narrative ebbing and flowing, we’ve seen it going through triumph and tedium but there can be no mistaking it - God’s story is being written, his purposes are being accomplished and he is coming good on every promise that he has ever made to his people.
Luke 1:26-38
What I love about Luke’s gospel is that he has just said how he is writing an orderly, almost scientific account of Jesus’ life and then he slips in the phrase “God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth” as if it were no more unusual than popping to the shops for some groceries. His birth narrative continues with miraculous event after miraculous event and each time Luke’s brow seems remarkably unfurrowed by the supernatural explanations that are creeping into his account. Indeed, you could be forgiven for suggesting that Luke’s account is not merely infiltrated by the occasional supernatural happening but that the entire edifice is constructed upon the slightly gullible conviction that supernatural events can and do occur. And this is the bare-faced-cheek of our faith and the thing that we must doggedly cling to - that these angelic visitations and this miraculous stuff is not just an other-worldly religious hang-up but is the meat and drink of living in this desk-by-8am, gym-by-7pm, pinot grigiot-drinking, sushi-eating world that we see around us. This is the message that we receive from Luke and that we pass on to those around us; that this is God’s world and that every single moment, every single breath is in itself a miracle of his grace to us. And that God, if he is able to create and sustain such a world as this, can be relied upon to do absolutely anything he desires. We are not bound by the limitations of the visible but we live in the knowledge that nothing is beyond the ability of God.
Psalm 33:12-22
So often I focus on me seeking God and trying to find him but the truth is that he spends his time watching me and keeping his eye on everything I do. And that is a deeply reassuring thing.
