Num 26:1+2, Then it came about after the plague, that the Lord spoke to Moses and to Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest, saying, "Take a census of all the congregation of the sons of Israel from twenty years old and upward, by their fathers' households, whoever is able to go out to war in Israel." 
We now come to what might be considered the turning point of the Book of Numbers. The first generation of Israelites, the ones actually released from slavery in the Exodus and who refused to enter the Promised Land because of their lack of trust in the Lord to go before them have died off. The children, the second and new generation are now ready to do what their parents chose not to do - enter in and conquer the land. 
Once more, we turn to Dr. Ronald B. Allen in his writing on the Book of Numbers contained in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary. He provides a superb portrayal of both the introduction to this second section of the Book as well as his observations on what is at the heart of this whole of the writing in a most comprehensive explanation. 
Quote. The Book of Numbers is rightly named; its organization is really quite simple. There are two grand sections: (1) the census and preparation for march of the first generation and their subsequent failure and judgment (chs. 1-25); (2) the census and preparations for march of the second generation and the hope that they will not repeat the sins of their fathers and mothers (chs. 26-36)
	…The first section begins with the preparation of a holy camp and is then followed by the material describing the rebellion of the people, their subsequent judgment, and their return to the desert to await the dying of the rebellious people. The chapters on priesthood, purification, and the like are included in this section as encouragements to the people. Even though the one generation will never be able to participate in the blessings of the land, yet those blessings have not been forgotten by God. The new generation may be making confident preparation for their day in glory. Then the story of Balaam comes as the new generation is about to have its opportunity. The pagan prophet is a foil for the person of Moses, and his attempted cursings of Israel are opportunities for God to renew his promises of blessings and to affirm them to the people. Thus there is in this incident tremendous assurance that despite all the sins, rebellions, and untoward actions of the people on so many occasions and in the most diverse of circumstances, the Lord is not only not finished with His people, He is more ready than ever to bless them and to complete His promise of salvation for them. Yet immediately on the heels of this monumental blessing of the people by their God, they rebel in the most egregious way possible. 
	Chapter 25 records Israel’s bowing to the lust of Baal Peor, the last rebellion of the first generation. And the plague is their last judgment, the final assault of God on wicked persons, the final dying of the people.
	Chapter 26 begins with the idea that after the plague the Lord commanded that Moses do a census of the people. The expression “after the plague” is to be regarded as the turning point from the first generation to the second, the shift from the fathers and mothers to sons and daughters. God was about to begin a new work with a new people. The younger generation would begin to have their day. 
	The second section of the Book of Numbers presents only the positive, preparatory, side of things. It deals with the taking of the new census, a demonstration that God has kept faith with the people in a remarkable manner. Despite innumerable setbacks and plagues that touched many lives, and despite the judgment of God that decreed that everyone over the age of twenty would have to die in the forty years spent in the desert, the total numbers of the people remain nearly precisely the same. This is an enormous miracle, a great demonstration of the power of God to do His will and work even in the most unlikely of places. 
	But the new generation will also have to face its tests. What those will be are anybody’s guess, but they will not be easier than those suffered by their parents. The great question, looming like a heavy cloud on the horizon, is being asked all along the way through these last chapters of the Book of Numbers: Is it possible that the new generation will finally be used by God to enter the land, to conquer the inhabitants, to displace them, and to enjoy the land that is God’s great and gracious gift for them? Or is it possible that this new, second generation will be like its predecessors? Will they also come to the lip of the land, send out their spies, and then find that the evil report of these spies will also dissuade them? God forbid! May the new generation be new; may they be faithful to God in all their house even as Moses was for most of his lustrous career. And may they enter the land with joy and delight, praising God for giving them the opportunity that their parents had but which they forswore.
	So the Book of Numbers ends with a great, haunting question: What will the children be like? Will they be like their parents? Or will they be like Moses and Aaron, like Joshua and Caleb, like Miriam and others faithful to God? Will they believe in Him, obey His commands, and take up their weapons as they march in victory song? End quote.
    	Some of the key components of the passages of this 26th chapter help to reveal the greater measure of the love and the grace and the mercy of the Lord God Jehovah. One of them is verse 51 in what Dr. Allen alluded to which we have detailed for us. Num 26:51, These are those who were numbered of the sons of Israel, 601,730. 
	Consider the fact that in the first census of Numbers Chapter 1, the total of the population of those who were 20 years of age or older, ready to go into battle was 603,550. These were the parents who then were prohibited from going into the Promised Land because of their unbelief. This was the generation that was led through the desert regions until all had perished. They moaned and groaned, they rebelled, and they committed apostasy and suffered the results of that despicable course of action until they were completely expunged from the ranks of the living. 
Yet, despite all that befell that primary generation, the count of the second generation was almost the same. The grace and the mercy of God which sustained His Chosen people went before them throughout their desperate wanderings in the wilderness and they still were the strong and vibrant people whom God would use to inhabit the land of His promise. He showed His providential hand upon them and they were able to remain a strong nation before whom the Lord spread terror and fear among those who would try to oppose them.
	The next detail from this chapter is the fact of the results of the census. Just like the first census of the nation, the count was in order to determine the strength of the tribes for going into battle for the sake of conquering the land. Sadly, that entire population, with only two exceptions, never was able to enter the land of their blessing. They were lost to the sands of their wandering hearts.
	The second census has an element that stands out markedly from the first one. While the men were counted for the number of warriors to go forth into battle, this census contained an additional focus which was never part of the first one. We read this in verses 52-56 of this 26th Chapter. 
	Num 26:52-56, Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, "Among these the land shall be divided for an inheritance according to the number of names. To the larger group you shall increase their inheritance, and to the smaller group you shall diminish their inheritance; each shall be given their inheritance according to those who were numbered of them. But the land shall be divided by lot. They shall receive their inheritance according to the names of the tribes of their fathers. According to the selection by lot, their inheritance shall be divided between the larger and the smaller groups." 
	This was a most positive detail that Moses was to announce to the tribes. Not only was the census a count for battle, it was also the means of the distribution of the Promised Land. This census went much further in the preparation process for the habitation of the land across the Jordan River. Each tribe would be allotted sufficient land for the number of the people in each familial unit. That was far more promising for the people than simply a count of battle ready men. There was a promise attached to this count which foreshadowed their victorious possession of the territory of God’s pledge to them. This was a feature that had not been put before the previous generation because the fathers and mothers had shunned their faith that the Lord was going before them and had turned their back on His glory. 
	Our final passage to consider in this chapter this morning is verses 63-65. Num 26:63-65, These are those who were numbered by Moses and Eleazar the priest, who numbered the sons of Israel in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho. But among these there was not a man of those who were numbered by Moses and Aaron the priest, who numbered the sons of Israel in the wilderness of Sinai. For the Lord had said of them, "They shall surely die in the wilderness." And not a man was left of them, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun. 
	There are a couple of bittersweet aspects to this passage. The first is that it was Moses and Aaron’s son, Eleazar who were to do the counting. In the first census it was Moses and Aaron. The difference here is that Aaron was gone, as was the totality of that first generation over the age of 20, with the exception of Moses, Caleb, and Joshua. This must have been a difficult task for Moses, counting the people a second time with only the barest remnant of those who had gone through the plagues of Egypt and the Red Sea parting, and all those 40 years of desert wandering. Once more he was instructed to count the people of the Lord, but it was the children who were being counted now. The faithless parents were gone, including his brother Aaron and sister Miriam. 
	As well, Moses was counting the people who would be entering into the Promised Land and giving them instruction as to its division. However he would not the one to conquer or to divide the land. He would not be able to join them on the other side of the river. He would only be able to see the land from the distance but not enter it himself. 
At the first count, it was one of anticipation of entering the land. At this count, it was that of facing the futility of what could have been if the people had only chosen to trust the Lord. This count was his last hurrah of sorts. His time was at an end and he would soon be turning the people over to Joshua to lead them across the Jordan.
	This passage highlights the holiness of God in the most poignant of ways. The first generation who had turned their backs on Him and had defiled His sanctuary and had continually sought to be like all the other nations of the earth had ceased to be. The Lord had provided for them with His grace and His mercy for those 40 years as they died off. He had not wiped them out instantly, as could have been their just punishment for their idolatrous ways. No, The Lord made every provision for His people as He patiently waited for them to come to the end of their lives. 
As Moses would remind the people in Deut 8:2-4, the Lord had been faithful to them, even as they had been faithless to Him. Deut 8:2-4, And you shall remember all the way which the Lord your God has led you in the wilderness these forty years, that He might humble you, testing you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. And He humbled you and let you be hungry, and fed you with manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you understand that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord. Your clothing did not wear out on you, nor did your foot swell these forty years. 
	As well, in this passage, the grace and the mercy and righteousness of God are highlighted as He allowed Caleb and Joshua to enter into the Promised Land. These two, alone, from all the 603,550 of that first generation, were permitted into the land of milk and honey because they had held true to Him. They had encouraged the entry into the Land with the definitive affirmation that the Lord would go before them. They, alone of that first generation, were the recipients of that Promise of God in the fulfillment of leading the march into the land of Canaan. The righteousness of God was seen in the inclusion of these two men who were the beacons to all of the faith that God will always fulfill that which He promises. So be it!
Then it came about after the plague, that the Lord spoke to Moses and to Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest, saying, "Take a census of all the congregation of the sons of Israel from twenty years old and upward, by their fathers' households, whoever is able to go out to war in Israel." Amen.

	
This morning’s benediction is Ps 32:10+11. Many are the sorrows of the wicked; But he who trusts in the Lord, lovingkindness shall surround him. Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, you righteous ones, And shout for joy, all you who are upright in heart. Amen.