NOTES ON THE LAST CENSUS: GOD’S FINAL SIFTING OF WHEAT FROM CHAFF TOWARD A CONFESSING AMERICAN REMNANT – (WITH VIDEO)

I. THEOLOGY

SCRIPTURE. “Now the Lord spoke to Moses in the Wilderness of Sinai, in the tabernacle of meeting, on the first day of the second month, in the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt, saying: ^‘TAKE A CENSUS of all the congregation of the children of Israel, by their families, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, every male individually, from twenty years old and above—all who are able to go to war in Israel. You and Aaron shall number them by their armies. And with you there shall be a man from every tribe, each one the head of his father’s house’ …

But the LEVITES were not numbered among them by their fathers’ tribe; for the Lord had spoken to Moses, saying: ^‘Only the tribe of Levi you shall not number, nor take a census of them among the children of Israel; but you shall appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of the Testimony, over all its furnishings, and over all things that belong to it; they shall carry the tabernacle and all its furnishings; they shall attend to it and camp around the tabernacle.’” – NUMBERS 1:1-4, 47-50, NKJV; emphasis added

KEY TERMS.

• • “NUMBERED.” ‘Paqad’ [תִּפְקְד֥וּ]: “A primary root, ‘To visit (with friendly or hostile intent); to oversee, select, muster [in order to count or account for].’’’ NOTE. “The Hebrew verb ‘paqad’ is a versatile term that encompasses a range of meanings depending on the context. It can mean to visit or attend to someone, often with the implication of care or oversight. It can also mean to muster or count, as in taking a census or assembling troops. Additionally, ‘paqad’ can imply ‘appointing someone to a position or role.’ In a more negative sense, it can mean to punish or bring judgment upon someone. The context of the passage typically clarifies the specific nuance intended.”

• • “ATTEND.” ‘Sharath’ [יְשָׁרְתֻ֑הוּ]: “A primitive root, ‘To minister as a menial or worshipper; to serve or wait upon; often refers to a domestic servant attending to an official or authority figure.’” NOTE: “The Hebrew verb ‘sharath’ primarily means to serve or minister. It is often used in the context of service to God, particularly in the roles of Priests and Levites who ministered in the Tabernacle and Temple.”

QUOTATION. “America has already taken in more than one-quarter of Mexico’s entire population, according to the Pew Research Center’s analysis of Census data.” ― ANN COULTER, ¡Adios, America!: The Left’s Plan to Turn Our Country into a Third World Hellhole, 2016; edited  [NOTE: Key to God’s Judgments on America].

COMMENTARY. “The people were numbered to show God’s Faithfulness in thus increasing the seed of Jacob, that they might be the better trained for the Wars and Conquest of Canaan, and to ascertain their families in order to the division of the Land. ‘It is said of each Tribe, that those were numbered who were able to go forth to war.’ They had Wars before them, though now they met with no opposition. Let the believer be prepared to Withstand the Enemies of his soul, though all may appear to be Peace …

We all are unfit and unworthy to have fellowship with God, till called by His Grace into the Fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord. And so, being the spiritual seed of that Great High Priest, we are made Priests to our God. ‘Great care must be taken to prevent sin, for preventing sin is preventing Wrath. Being a Holy Tribe, they were not reckoned among other Israelites. They that Minister about Holy Things, should neither entangle themselves, nor be entangled, in worldly affairs. And let every believer seek to do what the Lord has commanded.” – MATTHEW HENRY, Exposition of the Old and New Testaments, 6 vols., 1708-17-10; edited

II. TEACHING

From this important Theological Platform we are now able to dive more deeply into the significant of the Tribe of Levi as: A TEMPLATE – Albeit an imperfect one, for the New Testament Priests to follow.

WARRIOR-PRIESTS. It is crucial to understand from the outset that the Tribe of Levi did not consist of what we today think of as, indeed, “A Priest.” Mild. Inoffensive. Kind. Quiet. Pleasant. Polite. Pleasant. Agreeable. And so on. For both better and worse as we shall see, these ‘Chosen’ of God were anything but those things.

Thus, the title of the following analysis by DR. ZACHARY GARRIS, Pastor, Bryce Avenue Presbyterian Church (PCA; Master of Divinity, Juris Doctor) in White Rock, New Mexico signals their true nature: “The Levites-A Class of Warrior Priests” (Knowing Scripture, April 17, 2018; edited).

Prepare for some historical and theological surprises.

• • OPEN. “Everyone knows the Levites were one of the Twelve Tribes of Israel and were given duties in the service of the Tabernacle (though only those of Aaron’s line were technically ‘Priests’). However, not everyone is familiar with the ‘Origins’ of the Levites. ‘The Levites had a Violent History.’ And what makes this interesting is that the violent nature of the Levites both (1) Lost them Land in Israel, and (2) Gained them the Priesthood. This is demonstrated in two episodes, that of Jacob’s son Levi in Genesis 34, and that of the Tribe of Levi in Exodus 32.”

• • SLAUGHTER I. “First, Levi (and his brother Simeon) Slaughtered an entire City following the rape of his sister Dinah, which lost the Levites land in Canaan (Genesis 34:25-31). After Jacob and his sons settled in the City of Shechem (Genesis 33:18), a man named Shechem, son of Hamor, raped Jacob’s daughter Dinah (Genesis 34:1-2). Jacob’s sons then deceived Shechem and Hamor by saying that they required the men of the city to be circumcised for Dinah’s hand in marriage (Genesis 34:13-24). This provided an opportunity for Simeon and Levi to Slaughter all the males, while all the brothers then plundered the City (Genesis 34:25-29).”

• • SLAUGHTER II. Second, the Levites slaughtered idolaters at Sinai following Israel’s worship of the Golden Calf, which gained them the priesthood (Exodus 32:25-29). “While Moses was receiving the Law on Mount Sinai, the Israelites Rebelled and made a Golden Calf (Exodus 32:1-6). Moses interceded for Israel but made the Israelites drink the water with the ground up powder of the Calf (Exodus 32:7-20). Moses then stood in the Gate of the Camp and said, ‘Who is on Yahweh’s side? Come to me.’ And the Levites, Moses’ own tribe, gathered around him (Exodus 32:26). So Moses called for the Levites to Slaughter their fellow Israelites—‘Thus says Yahweh God of Israel, “Put your sword on your side each of you, and go to and fro from gate to gate throughout the camp, and each of you kill his brother and his companion and his neighbor.’” And the Levites killed about 3,000 men (Exodus 32:27-28).

• • REDEMPTION. “So we see that the same Violent Nature that lost the Levites Land also gained them the Priesthood. Of course, there is a Major Difference—Levi acted ‘foolishly’ by slaughtering foreigners in defense of his sister’s honor (Genesis 34), while the Sons of Levi acted ‘righteously’ by slaughtering Israelites ‘in defense of God’s Honor’ (Exodus 32). In this way, we see God’s Redemption of the Line of Levi. While the Levites did not receive Land as an inheritance in Canaan, this was also used for good. In fact, the Biblical Text (post-Jacob’s curse in Genesis 49) focuses on the positives of the Levites not having Land. God turned Jacob’s apparent curse for the Levites’ good. Thus, the Book of Joshua states that the Levites received no inheritance of land because Yahweh Himself and ‘The Priesthood of Yahweh’ were their Inheritance’ (Joshua 13:14, 33; 18:7).”

• • CONCLUSION. “‘The Levites were not just Priests—they were Warrior-Priests! Their Priestly Origin is based in Righteous Violence.’ But God put the Violent Nature of the Levites to good use. Not only would the Priests among them slaughter animals on a regular basis for sacrifice, but also all the Levites would ‘Guard the Tabernacle/Temple and the Cities of Refuge.’ Yahweh ordained and scattered the Levites throughout Israel in order to Guard His Worship. ‘All of this points to Christ, the True Warrior-Priest, who not only became a Sacrifice for sin, but who Guards God’s Temple of Worship (the New Heavens and New Earth) from intruders, namely those who Reject Christ in Unbelief [and Disobedience]. At the Final Judgment Jesus will Slaughter all who refused to Worship Him’ (Revelation 19:11-21). Like the Levites scattered throughout Israel, the Lord Jesus should serve as a Warning and lead us all to the proper Worship of Yahweh.”

NEW TESTAMENT CODICIL. “I assure you and most solemnly say to you, among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater [in privilege] than he. From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violent assault, and violent men seize it by force [as a precious prize].” – JESUS OF NAZARETH, MATTHEW 11:11-12, AMP

The EDITORS of the Life Application Study Bible (2022, p. 2103; edited) write in brilliant theological relief its incisive meaning: “Most likely, Jesus may have meant that: ‘Entering God’s Kingdom takes Courage, unwavering Faith, Determination, and Endurance because of the Growing Opposition leveled at His followers.’ In any case, Jesus knew that John would be violently beheaded (14:1-12) and was pointing out that Opposition was building [then, and now!].”

III. AN AMERICAN CONFESSING CHURCH

“Most American Christians know the story of DIETRICH BONHOEFFER, a German pastor who heroically defied the Nazis. He and a small number of other German Protestant leaders gathered, calling themselves ‘The Confessing Church.’ They issued the Barmen Declaration in 1934, affirming the Church’s independence from the Nazi government, which tried to force them to join an official ‘Reich Church.’

They were right to do so, but by then the Nazis were too entrenched, too powerful, and too popular. Most of the Barmen leaders lost jobs, several spent time in the concentration camps, and many were executed for the principled stand against Nazi tyranny. Bonhoeffer himself took part in a failed attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler. Tragically he was caught, imprisoned, and ultimately martyred in the waning days of World War II.

‘May we all be as Courageous when the Whore of Babylon comes for us!”

This stirring Introduction was taken from a brilliant essay by DR. PAUL D. MILLER (Ph.D. Georgetown, M.A., Harvard), an American academic, writer, and former White House staffer for Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama. He is currently a Professor in the Practice of International Affairs at Georgetown University‘s School of Foreign Service. His essay is titled: “A Confessing Church for America’s Weimar Moment” was published in The Dispatch (March 23, 2025; edited).

PRELUDE. I, Dr. Clifford Rodriguez Kelly, do firmly declare at the outset of our conversation that for all intents and purposes, whether good or ill, the American, primarily White Christian Church, has become the FIRST CHURCH OF DONALD TRUMP. And if as I strongly believe by now, that Trump is the Biblical Antichrist and America has become Babylon the Great – well then, beloved, we have some serious work to do in the days ahead.

Would you not agree?

That work that should be at the very least: ‘To Protect and Preserve what is left of the Biblical Canon and the True Gospel of Jesus Christ as Light in the American Darkness forming all around us.’

DR. MILLER’S PROPOSAL. What follows are the scholar’s MAJOR IDEAS in summary form, hopefully to drive us toward some responsible Biblical commitment and action as Moral Resistance to the forces of what constitutes an aggressive ‘Coup d’etat ‘by President Donald Trump and the White Maga Church.

• • REALISM. “‘We rightly applaud Bonhoeffer today.’ But, if we are allowed to critique our Martyrs, can’t we say that heroic as they were, Bonhoeffer and the Confessing Church were ultimately ‘too late?’ Where were Bonhoeffer and the other leaders of the Confessing Church before the Nazis came to power in 1933? Where were they during the days of the Weimar Republic, when they might have made a difference? The Answer is that most were members of various Centrist political parties, completing their studies and establishing their careers. For all their later Heroism, they failed to see the growing threat to the Republic when it might still have been saved. By the time they took their principled stand, the die had been cast.”

• • QUESTION. “‘It’s a Relevant Question for the American Church in 2025.’ Whether you are on the Left or the Right, it is tempting to see ourselves as living through Germany in 1933, confronting the Moral Equivalent of the Nazis on the other side. There is a Moral Clarity to it, ‘stark lines’ dividing the Good Guys from the Bad. Our duty is obvious. The only Question is whether we can muster the courage. But the Analogy can be misleading, and it excuses us from examining our own side. We should be able to spot Injustices from Both Sides of the political aisle. It is harder, intellectually and spiritually, to confront a ‘Different Historical Analogy.’ Maybe we’re not living through the Nazi Regime in 1933, but through the Weimar Republic of 1923.”

• • GERMANY. “Ten years before the Nazis took power, Germany was governed by a shaky Republic. It was shambolic, corrupt, and weak. Few admired it. Far from America’s inspiring Founding Story, Germany’s Republican Moment started after 2 million German soldiers died in the failed and unjust Great War (as World War I was called then). Military defeat led to the fall of the Kaiser, Wilhelm II. Communist uprisings rocked German cities. Right-wing Paramilitaries fought back. ‘Civil War was in the air.”’

• • AMERICA. “What would a Confessing Church have looked like if it had formed before the Nazis took power, when it faced murkier waters with moral evils on the Left and Right alike? That seems the Right Question for Our Time too. American Christians seem divided over who the Good Guys and Bad Guys really are and what the Historical Analogy should teach us. To some, the Secular Progressive Left is the obvious modern equivalent of the Nazis: allowing a Holocaust on the unborn, fostering an Authoritarian Culture on campuses and in newsrooms, demanding the State’s validation and endorsement for every excess of the sexual revolution. To others, President Donald Trump and his MAGA Movement are the Baddies: Preaching belligerent Nationalism, demanding Absolute Loyalty to a singular Leader, Subverting the Rule of Law, and rewarding Political Violence.”

THE NEW CONFESSORS. IF it is not too late, then, these Remnant Confessors would labor hard to follow GUIDELINES proposed by Dr. Miller below.

• • “‘A Confessing Church would Challenge its members to ask themselves:’ Was it morally permissible for German Christians to vote for the Nazis in the 1920s because they hadn’t yet become the Nazis of 1939? Was it morally permissible to vote for Communists in the 1920s because the reality of the Soviet Gulag was still a few years away? Or do we hold their early voters Morally Culpable because the Parties’ later actions were the predictable flowering of seeds planted by their ideological commitments?”

• • “‘The Church would teach its members to Tell the Truth!’—Always, fully, and simply, without spin or guile. The most Radical Thing you can do in today’s information environment is to speak with earnest simplicity about truth, goodness, and beauty. A Party that demands that we recite lies as the price of membership is a Party that cannot be trusted with power.”

• • “‘The Church would teach its members to “Let your speech always be gracious’”(Colossians 4:6). A Political Culture that trains you to speak with snark and half-truths for Party advantage is not a Culture that will train you to think and dwell on whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, or admirable (Philippians 4:8).

• • “‘The Church would warn its members against the Dangers of “The wisdom of the world’” (1 Corinthians 1:20). Media personalities who peddle fear and anger for clicks and ad dollars are the shabbiest of Worldly Philosophers.”

• • “‘A Confessing Church would Disciple its members to recognize that kind of Partisanship is a form of Disobedience to God.’ If you must be a Partisan, be a Good Partisan, one who is a good Gatekeeper, one who Scrutinizes your own Movement. Not just for the strategic necessity of broadening the base to win elections, but because of: ‘The Moral Necessity of Standing for something Good.’”

• “We live in a Moment when Political Extremists have figured out how to game our System and hijack our Parties. They may well be succeeding. A Confessing Church would respond to them with ALEKSANDR SOLZHENITSYN’S Famous Aphorism: ‘You can Resolve to live your life with Integrity. Let your Credo be this: Let the Lie come into the World, let it even triumph. But not through me!’”

IV. LAST THOUGHTS

Beloved, there are those of us who believe that indeed, as it was ‘Too Late’ for Bonhoeffer’s Confessing Church in Germany a century ago. It is likewise ‘Too Late’ for saving the American Republic today.

AMERICA FOUND WANTING. “And this is the inscription that was written, mene, mene, tekel, upharsin—numbered, numbered, weighed, divisions. This is the interpretation of the matter: mene, ‘God has NUMBERED the days of your kingship and brought them to an end;’ tekel, ‘You are WEIGHED in the balances and are found wanting;’ peres, ‘Your kingdom and your kingship are divided and GIVEN to the Medes and Persians.’ [Foretold in Isa. 21:2, 5, 9.]” – DANIEL 5:25-28, AMPC

Brief Commentary is offered by the EDITORS of the Life Application Bible: “The Writing on the Wall was a message for all those who Defy God. Although [King] Belshazzar had power and wealth, his kingdom was totally Corrupt, and he could not withstand the Judgment of God. God’s Time of Judgment comes for all people. If you have forgotten God and slipped into a sinful way of life, TURN AWAY from your sin now before He Removes the Opportunity to Repent. Ask God to Forgive you and begin to live by His Standards” (2022, p. 1857; edited).

Or: ‘Be destroyed!’

I am one of those, dear friends, who believes that Under the TRUMP REGIME, the Nation shall increasingly Rage Against Christ and suffer the now inevitable ‘Divine Ruination of “The America Dream.’”

But that is surely no cause for giving up. On the contrary. Rather, it is Right Cause for: Historic Refocus upon our Charge.

OUR FINAL MISSION. ‘Both Bonhoeffer and Solzhenitsyn were right.’ No matter the Deep Darkness now engulfing the whole Nation and Earth today, Our Calling remains the same as memorialized by the PROPHET ISAIAH for these Waning Hours:

“ARISE [from the depression and prostration in which circumstances have kept you—rise to a new life]! SHINE (be radiant with the glory of the Lord), for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you! For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and dense darkness [all] peoples, but the Lord shall arise upon you … and His glory shall be seen on you. And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising. Lift up your eyes round about you and see! They all gather themselves together, they come to you. Your sons shall come from afar, and your daughters shall be carried and nursed in the arms” (60:1-4, AMPC).

Regardless of what happens to America, beloved, IF ONLY A FEW OBEY (or even strive to do this and fail miserably): We bring Honor to our King, and Life and Hope and Salvation to those who have ears to hear and eyes to see.

And what, I ask, could possibly be better than that? Selah. Selah.

MEDIA

YOUTUBE: https://youtu.be/81ktVTXcJQs