42,360

Starting with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Seraiah, Reelaiah, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispar, Bigvai, Rehum, and Baanah, the Holy Spirit takes time to list, in Ezra 2, every clan or tribe that became the pioneers of a reborn nation.

Not only family names but the number in each family in total 42,360. Then the number of animals then what they gave towards the mission.

And some say God is not interested in numbers. This passage along with others would seem to dispel that notion once and for all.

Numbers and the people (and the animals) behind the numbers were so important to him that he ensured they were recorded for us to read 1000's of years later.

That's one of the reasons we have prayed specifically for a number in our church (MKCC) for many years. We prayed that we would see 1000 people gathering each Sunday to celebrate Jesus together and then scatter to proclaim Jesus in their world. The end of 2013 saw the answer to that prayer.

Now we have a new number we are praying for in 2014 - 2000. Two Thousand people to be meeting together being equipped to become fully devoted followers of Christ.

In the words of Perry Noble, Senior Pastor of NewSpring Church: "Every number has a name, every name has a story & every story matters to God"