“Compound interest is the eighth wonder of the world.
If you invest a sum of money at 10 per cent for five years, you will multiply your wealth by 1.6 times.
If you invest your capital at that rate for 10 times as long (50 years), you will not multiply your wealth by 16 times.
You will multiply it by more than 117 times.”
Albert Einstein
What does the first chapter of the book of Numbers have to do with compound interest? And, is there any relation between the wonder of compound interest with one of the key characters of God?
Summary
The LORD told Moses to take a census of all the congregations of the sons of Israel in the wilderness of Sinai. For the twelve tribes of Israel, their total numbered men were 603,550, who were ready to go out to war (Numbers 1:25). The Levites were not counted among them, but they were appointed over the tabernacle of the testimony.
God’s Invisible Work
Between Genesis and Exodus, a time gap of approximately 400 years, we do not know exactly what had happened to the sons of Israel. However, this “silence” section of the Bible implicitly points out how God invisibly worked on His people, the Israelites, to produce wonder. Please refer to the equation below.
What is the equation solving? For those who are Bible and number savvy may have already recognized each component of the equation. On the left side of the equation, 603,550 is the total number of Israelite men in Numbers. On the right side of the equation, 70 is the total number of Israelite men when Jacob came to Egypt, invited by Joseph (Genesis 46:27, Exodus 1:5). 400 is the approximate number of years it took from 70 people to grow to become 603,550 men from Genesis to Exodus and Numbers. The equation is solving for the average annual population growth that enabled 70 men to be multiplied to 603,500 in 400 years.
What would be your guess of the annual average population growth if the population of 70 was to grow to 603,550 for the next 400 years?
It requires only 2.3% a year.
Most people, especially those who are not familiar with the power of compound interest, are surprised to see such a low number. Just a 2.2% annual growth would be needed for 70 to become 603,550. Year-over-year growth would be too negligible to be noticeable. However, this small growth, when compounded for 400 years, would result in an increase of an astounding factor of 8,622. This is the wonder that Einstein talked about – although his was about the money, a similar logic can be applied to population growth.
This small yearly growth would be powerfully manifested under two conditions: 1) a long time horizon; and 2) consistency. If this growth rate was disrupted significantly anytime in the 400 years, an increase from 70 to 603,550 would not have been possible. Therein lies one of the key characters of God: His steadfast love and work.
God’s Steadfast Work
Steadfast: a: firmly fixed in place: IMMOVABLE b: not subject to change
Merriam Webster Dictionary
God worked on the Israelites steadfastly over a long time. He never used His power to multiply the Israelites dramatically in a short period of time. A steadfast working of God and His consistency are two of His main characters. God allowed the Israelites to consistently multiply by protecting them from foreign invasions, pandemic, or any other unexpected natural disaster for the 400 years. In the process, a small, consistent annual growth of 2.3% turned 70 men into 603,500 men.
Lesson
God works faithfully. The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases. His mercy never ends. He who worked on the Israelites will empower you to accomplish His work through you.
As God multiplied the sons of Israelites from 70 to 603,500, let Him multiply your faith in Him.
Give Life 