阅读经文 

在带领以色列民踏入旷野之前，神吩咐他们数点所有二十岁或以上，能出去参军打仗的男丁，结果被点数的“共有六十万零三千五百五十名。”

人口统计的记载未免有点沉闷，但我们却可以在此学到一些功课。第一，这个人口统计提醒我们，神是信实的。神曾向亚伯拉罕应许，他的子孙多起来，如同海边的沙。（参创 22:17）能加入以色列军队的男丁数目共有几十万，而这个数目并没有包括妇女、小孩、利未人和很多其他以色列民。神确实履行了祂的应许。

这个人口统计也表明，在这个历史时段中，神的子民需要一支军队来保护自己，当神呼召他们与祂和他们的敌人争战时，他们需要做好准备。神会为祂的子民争战和保护他们的，然而他们自己也需要站立得稳，并向其他国家表明他们是神忠心的子民。他们打的仗，根源于独一真神和其他国家的假神之间的属灵争战，这些假神都是由欺诈万民的大骗子撒但统领的，目的是要毁灭我们每一个人。

今天，我们仍然为神的国度而参与着这场属灵争战。基督徒的生活是一场信心的争战，魔鬼希望我们失去盼望和撇弃神。然而，我们的救主耶稣，已经胜过了所有攻击我们的属灵敌人了。你是否正在为真道打那美好的仗呢？（参提前 6:12）

Before leading Israel into the wilderness, God told them to count every man 20 years old or older and able to serve in the army. And "the total number was 603,550."

A census may seem boring, but we can learn some things from it. First, it reminds us that God is faithful. God had promised that Abraham's descendants would be as numerous as the sand on the seashore (Genesis 22:17). And here a census of the men able to serve in Israel's army numbers in the hundreds of thousands—and that doesn't include women, children, the Levites, and many others who made up the people of Israel. God had kept his promise.

The census also shows that at that time in history, God's people needed an army to defend themselves, and when God called them to battle against his and their enemies, they needed to be prepared. God would fight for his people and protect them, but they also needed to stand firm and show other nations that they were God's faithful people. The battles they fought were rooted in spiritual war between the one true God and the false gods of other nations, led by the great deceiver of all peoples—Satan, who wants to destroy us all.

Today we are still involved in spiritual war for God's kingdom. The Christian life is a fight of faith. The devil wants us to lose hope and abandon God. But Jesus, our Savior, has defeated all our spiritual enemies. Are you fighting the good fight of faith (1 Timothy 6:12)?