Post by Lee on Apr 9, 2014 4:13:15 GMT
I read this chp and didnt initially get much out of it, and thought...what can we find of interest in this?!? It always amazes me what you can learn from every chp of the Bible. Here is a comment from RR on this chp:
"But the people were numbered a second time viz., at the end of the forty years’ sojourn in the wilderness (Num. 26:2, 63), when they were found to be only 180 more in number than at the beginning, viz., 603,730 men over twenty, as compared with 603,550. The reason of this almost total want of natural increase lay in the destructive calamities that befel them during the forty years on account of their rebellions, and in the steady action of the hand of God against them to weed out the whole generation that dishonoured Him by refusing to enter the land on receiving the evil report of the spies (Deut. 2:14–15).
What counterpart can there be to this second numbering, if it be not in the second and final adjustment of human affairs that takes place at the close of the thousand years? At the beginning of that period, the world at large is delivered from the system of things “which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified” (Rev. l 1:8). The world is settled upon a divine foundation; it has received the law proceeding from Zion, and in a sense has been the subject of a divine census and declaration of pedigree; but it is not a final settlement. There are murmurings against the prophet like unto Moses, as shown by the need for withholding the rain from disobedient communities (Zech. 14:17). At the finish, there is a grand revolt and widespread concerted effort to overthrow the government of Christ (Rev. 20:8–9), which evokes the destructive anger of heaven. “Fire descends from God out of heaven and destroys them” like Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. Then ensues the final numbering of the people and settlement of pedigree for ever. All whose names are not written as the children of Abraham are destroyed; the rest live for ever, and enter upon the state finally figured by the land of promise—the inheritance of the earth, in the peace, prosperity, and perfection of immortality—no more death, and no more increase in population.
And just as the second numbering of the children of Israel showed next to no increase upon the first, so it is probable that the earth’s population, when it enters the perfect state, will be about what it is when the reign of Christ begins—with this great difference, that whereas the population at the beginning of the blessed era will all be mortal (with the exception of the rulers—the saints) and taken in the mass from the generation contemporary with Christ’s advent (on the principle of submission to his enjoined authority, enforced by judgment), the population at the end will consist of selected individuals, chosen by individual faith and obedience under trial during the kingdom of the thousand years, and admitted to eternal life at the close of that period. Such a population will certainly be numerous enough for the comfortable and joyful occupation of the planet in glory to God for the endless ages of perfection that lie ahead.
Roberts, R. (1987). The Law of Moses (electronic ed.). Birmingham, UK: The Christadelphian.
"But the people were numbered a second time viz., at the end of the forty years’ sojourn in the wilderness (Num. 26:2, 63), when they were found to be only 180 more in number than at the beginning, viz., 603,730 men over twenty, as compared with 603,550. The reason of this almost total want of natural increase lay in the destructive calamities that befel them during the forty years on account of their rebellions, and in the steady action of the hand of God against them to weed out the whole generation that dishonoured Him by refusing to enter the land on receiving the evil report of the spies (Deut. 2:14–15).
What counterpart can there be to this second numbering, if it be not in the second and final adjustment of human affairs that takes place at the close of the thousand years? At the beginning of that period, the world at large is delivered from the system of things “which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified” (Rev. l 1:8). The world is settled upon a divine foundation; it has received the law proceeding from Zion, and in a sense has been the subject of a divine census and declaration of pedigree; but it is not a final settlement. There are murmurings against the prophet like unto Moses, as shown by the need for withholding the rain from disobedient communities (Zech. 14:17). At the finish, there is a grand revolt and widespread concerted effort to overthrow the government of Christ (Rev. 20:8–9), which evokes the destructive anger of heaven. “Fire descends from God out of heaven and destroys them” like Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. Then ensues the final numbering of the people and settlement of pedigree for ever. All whose names are not written as the children of Abraham are destroyed; the rest live for ever, and enter upon the state finally figured by the land of promise—the inheritance of the earth, in the peace, prosperity, and perfection of immortality—no more death, and no more increase in population.
And just as the second numbering of the children of Israel showed next to no increase upon the first, so it is probable that the earth’s population, when it enters the perfect state, will be about what it is when the reign of Christ begins—with this great difference, that whereas the population at the beginning of the blessed era will all be mortal (with the exception of the rulers—the saints) and taken in the mass from the generation contemporary with Christ’s advent (on the principle of submission to his enjoined authority, enforced by judgment), the population at the end will consist of selected individuals, chosen by individual faith and obedience under trial during the kingdom of the thousand years, and admitted to eternal life at the close of that period. Such a population will certainly be numerous enough for the comfortable and joyful occupation of the planet in glory to God for the endless ages of perfection that lie ahead.
Roberts, R. (1987). The Law of Moses (electronic ed.). Birmingham, UK: The Christadelphian.