Numbers 2: 1 – 34
Got their act together
2 And the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying: 2 “Every one of the children of Israel shall camp by his own standard, beside the emblems of his father’s house; they shall camp some distance from the tabernacle of meeting. 3 on the east side, toward the rising of the sun, those of the standard of the forces with Judah shall camp according to their armies; and Nahshon the son of Amminadab shall be the leader of the children of Judah.” 4 And his army was numbered at seventy-four thousand six hundred. 5 “Those who camp next to him shall be the tribe of Issachar, and Nethanel the son of Zuar shall be the leader of the children of Issachar.” 6 And his army was numbered at fifty-four thousand four hundred. 7 “Then comes the tribe of Zebulun, and Eliab the son of Helon shall be the leader of the children of Zebulun.” 8 And his army was numbered at fifty-seven thousand four hundred. 9 “All who were numbered according to their armies of the forces with Judah, one hundred and eighty-six thousand four hundred—these shall break camp first. 10 “On the south side shall be the standard of the forces with Reuben according to their armies, and the leader of the children of Reuben shall be Elizur the son of Shedeur.” 11 And his army was numbered at forty-six thousand five hundred. 12 “Those who camp next to him shall be the tribe of Simeon, and the leader of the children of Simeon shall be Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai.” 13 And his army was numbered at fifty-nine thousand three hundred. 14 “Then comes the tribe of Gad, and the leader of the children of Gad shall be Eliasaph the son of Reuel.” 15 And his army was numbered at forty-five thousand six hundred and fifty. 16 “All who were numbered according to their armies of the forces with Reuben, one hundred and fifty-one thousand four hundred and fifty—they shall be the second to break camp. 17 “And the tabernacle of meeting shall move out with the camp of the Levites in the middle of the camps; as they camp, so they shall move out, everyone in his place, by their standards. 18 “On the west side shall be the standard of the forces with Ephraim according to their armies, and the leader of the children of Ephraim shall be Elishama the son of Ammihud.” 19 And his army was numbered at forty thousand five hundred. 20 “Next to him comes the tribe of Manasseh, and the leader of the children of Manasseh shall be Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur.” 21 And his army was numbered at thirty-two thousand two hundred. 22 “Then comes the tribe of Benjamin, and the leader of the children of Benjamin shall be Abidan the son of Gideoni.” 23 And his army was numbered at thirty-five thousand four hundred. 24 “All who were numbered according to their armies of the forces with Ephraim, one hundred and eight thousand one hundred—they shall be the third to break camp. 25 “The standard of the forces with Dan shall be on the north side according to their armies, and the leader of the children of Dan shall be Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai.” 26 And his army was numbered at sixty-two thousand seven hundred. 27 “Those who camp next to him shall be the tribe of Asher, and the leader of the children of Asher shall be Pagiel the son of Ocran.” 28 And his army was numbered at forty-one thousand five hundred. 29 “Then comes the tribe of Naphtali, and the leader of the children of Naphtali shall be Ahira the son of Enan.” 30 And his army was numbered at fifty-three thousand four hundred. 31 “All who were numbered of the forces with Dan, one hundred and fifty-seven thousand six hundred—they shall break camp last, with their standards.” 32 These are the ones who were numbered of the children of Israel by their fathers’ houses. All who were numbered according to their armies of the forces were six hundred and three thousand five hundred and fifty. 33 But the Levites were not numbered among the children of Israel, just as the LORD commanded Moses. 34 Thus the children of Israel did according to all that the LORD commanded Moses; so they camped by their standards and so they broke camp, each one by his family, according to their fathers’ houses.
I want you to consider this situation. Thousands of years ago you happened to be in the Sinai desert. You notice a unique cloud over in the distance. As you move toward it you come over a rise and see below you millions of people camping out in 4 sections. Somehow the cloud has settled over the entire camp. You sit down on the hilltop and take in the scene below. You notice people scurrying about. In the center of the camp there is this large rectangular enclosure. People are there scurrying about taking it apart. Throughout the camp the rest of the camp dwellers start taking their tents down. Others head over to their livestock. Then all of a sudden you hear a blast of a horn. You stare in wonder as the cloud starts to move. Amazingly the people start an orderly procession following the cloud. They efficiently peel off in an organized manner starting with the campers who were on the east side of the camp. Then another group follows. The ones who seemed to have inhabited the middle of the camp then follow. The people in this group seem to be dressed differently than the rest of the camp dwellers. The last two groups then pick up the end portions of the procession. You sit there highly impressed. You think to yourself that this group of people really got their act together.
One of the following idioms I could have said to describe what the participants were doing;
. Be in on the act - To be included in an activity.
. Clean up (one's) act - To improve one's behavior or performance.
. Get into the act - To insert oneself into an ongoing activity, project, or situation.
. Get (one's) act together - To get organized.
In this chapter Israel are depicted as needing to be organized around the God’s ‘Tabernacle. Encamped to the east of the Tabernacle were to be Judah, with Issachar and Zebulun (all Leah tribes). On journeying these were seemingly to form the advance guard. To the south were to be Reuben with Simeon and Gad (two Leah tribes with Gad replacing Levi. These were to move off second, taking up a second line of defense. In the centre around the Tabernacle were to be the priests and Levites. They were, as it were, the Tabernacle’s special bodyguard. They were then to be followed up by Ephraim, with Manasseh and Benjamin, who encamped to the west but followed the Tabernacle when on the march (Rachel tribes), and finally came Dan, with Asher and Naphtali (concubine tribes along with Gad), who encamped to the north, but followed up in the rear on marching.
2 And the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying: 2 “Everyone of the children of Israel shall camp by his own standard, beside the emblems of his father’s house; they shall camp some distance from the tabernacle of meeting.
All the children of Israel, tribe by tribe, were to encamp in their own ranks beneath the ensigns of their fathers’ houses, at some distance from (over against) the Tent of Meeting, but surrounding it.
3 On the east side, toward the rising of the sun, those of the standard of the forces with Judah shall camp according to their armies; and Nahshon the son of Amminadab shall be the leader of the children of Judah.” 4 And his army was numbered at seventy-four thousand six hundred.
The east was probably seen as the side from which most danger could come while they were encamped. This would come from the roving tribes of the people of the east. But when it came to journeying they would lead the way because of their strength.
I want you to look with me at chapter 1 of the Gospel of Matthew, “The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham: 2 Abraham begot Isaac, Isaac begot Jacob, and Jacob begot Judah and his brothers. 3 Judah begot Perez and Zerah by Tamar, Perez begot Hezron, and Hezron begot Ram. 4 Ram begot Amminadab, Amminadab begot Nahshon, and Nahshon begot Salmon.
Please take a look at the verse 4 who was in the genealogy of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It is the name ‘Nahshon’. The man who leads the parade of the Israelites is the ancestor of our King and Lord Jesus Christ. Awesome!
Also please take notice here that while Reuben as the firstborn headed the list in chapter 1, here Judah takes the lead. This fact may partly explain the disenchantment of the Reubenites which we will see later revealed in the behavior of Dathan and Abiram who are from this tribe.
5 “Those who camp next to him shall be the tribe of Issachar, and Nethanel the son of Zuar shall be the leader of the children of Issachar.” 6 And his army was numbered at fifty-four thousand four hundred. 7 “Then comes the tribe of Zebulun, and Eliab the son of Helon shall be the leader of the children of Zebulun.” 8 And his army was numbered at fifty-seven thousand four hundred. 9 “All who were numbered according to their armies of the forces with Judah, one hundred and eighty-six thousand four hundred—these shall break camp first.
Issachar and Zebulun, both Leah tribes, were to be joined with Judah in protecting the east.
Thus the total number of fighting men to the east in ‘the camp of Judah’ was 186,400 fighting soldiers. To add to this picture you have to realize that the elderly, women, and children took up the rear of the march. The enemy spotted this as an opportunity and as the book of Deuteronomy chapter 25 tells us this is who these cowards attacked, “17 “Remember what Amalek did to you on the way as you were coming out of Egypt, 18 how he met you on the way and attacked your rear ranks, all the stragglers at your rear, when you were tired and weary; and he did not fear God. 19 Therefore it shall be, when the LORD your God has given you rest from your enemies all around, in the land which the LORD your God is giving you to possess as an inheritance, that you will blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven. You shall not forget.”
10 “On the south side shall be the standard of the forces with Reuben according to their armies, and the leader of the children of Reuben shall be Elizur the son of Shedeur.” 11 And his army was numbered at forty-six thousand five hundred. 12 “Those who camp next to him shall be the tribe of Simeon, and the leader of the children of Simeon shall be Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai.” 13 And his army was numbered at fifty-nine thousand three hundred. 14 “Then comes the tribe of Gad, and the leader of the children of Gad shall be Eliasaph the son of Reuel.” 15 And his army was numbered at forty-five thousand six hundred and fifty.
To the south of the Tabernacle were to encamp the tribe of Reuben, assisted by Simeon and Gad. Again the numbers are given, and the names of their leaders. Here Eliasaph’s father is named Reuel (‘friend of God’), contrast Deuel (‘one who knows God’) in chapter 1. This may be an alternative spelling of his name (compare Paul and Saul). While it is true that in ancient Hebrew ‘d’ and ‘r’ were very similar, we must beware of too glibly just assuming a copyist’s error. We must remember that the copyist would have heard it read out a hundred times and more prior to becoming a copyist. He would know which it would be. The lesson for us from this name is that it is necessary for us to know God truly if we would be His friend.
16 “All who were numbered according to their armies of the forces with Reuben, one hundred and fifty-one thousand four hundred and fifty—they shall be the second to break camp.
The total force in the camp of Reuben was 151,450.
These were to be the next to march after the camp of Judah, moving from their protective position on the south side of the Tabernacle
17 “And the tabernacle of meeting shall move out with the camp of the Levites in the middle of the camps; as they camp, so they shall move out, everyone in his place, by their standards.
Once the two powerful groups had gone forward the Levites would go forward after them, carrying the Tent of Meeting and its furniture. The Ark, however, would have gone forward with the leading group once the cloud had indicated that it was time to move. The Ark was the symbol of the God of battle, God active on their behalf, the guarantee against dangers ahead. The Tent of Meeting was Yahweh’s earthly Tabernacle while at rest, but would be folded up while on the march. Concentration would then be on the Ark in its blue (heavenly) covering.
18 “On the west side shall be the standard of the forces with Ephraim according to their armies, and the leader of the children of Ephraim shall be Elishama the son of Ammihud.” 19 And his army was numbered at forty thousand five hundred. 20 “Next to him comes the tribe of Manasseh, and the leader of the children of Manasseh shall be Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur.” 21 And his army was numbered at thirty-two thousand two hundred. 22 “Then comes the tribe of Benjamin, and the leader of the children of Benjamin shall be Abidan the son of Gideoni.” 23 And his army was numbered at thirty-five thousand four hundred.
The Rachel tribes, with their lower numbers, would protect the west. This was probably seen as the least dangerous side. On the march they would follow the Tabernacle.
24 “All who were numbered according to their armies of the forces with Ephraim, one hundred and eight thousand one hundred—they shall be the third to break camp.
They consisted of 108,100. On the march they followed behind the Levites who were bearing the Tent of Meeting and its furniture.
25 “The standard of the forces with Dan shall be on the north side according to their armies, and the leader of the children of Dan shall be Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai.” 26 And his army was numbered at sixty-two thousand seven hundred. 27 “Those who camp next to him shall be the tribe of Asher, and the leader of the children of Asher shall be Pagiel the son of Ocran.” 28 And his army was numbered at forty-one thousand five hundred. 29 “Then comes the tribe of Naphtali, and the leader of the children of Naphtali shall be Ahira the son of Enan.” 30 And his army was numbered at fifty-three thousand four hundred.
When encamped Dan, Asher and Naphtali protected the way from the north. They remained in position until the march had begun, joining on to the rear, thus guaranteeing against attack from that direction while the preparations for marching were taking place.
31 “All who were numbered of the forces with Dan, one hundred and fifty-seven thousand six hundred—they shall break camp last, with their standards.”
So, on the march they were at the rear of the advance, in order to protect the rear. The powerful tribe of Dan together with Asher and Naphtali consisted of 157, 600.
32 These are the ones who were numbered of the children of Israel by their fathers’ houses. All who were numbered according to their armies of the forces were six hundred and three thousand five hundred and fifty.
Once again we have repeated the result of the numbering was 603, 550.
33 But the Levites were not numbered among the children of Israel, just as the LORD commanded Moses.
The Levites were not included in this mobilization. They were exempt from general military service. This has been stressed previously. Here the fact is doubly emphasized. Their responsibility was to guard and serve Yahweh’s Tabernacle at all times.
34 Thus the children of Israel did according to all that the LORD commanded Moses; so they camped by their standards and so they broke camp, each one by his family, according to their fathers’ houses.
Again it is stressed that Israel did exactly as Yahweh had commanded Moses. At this stage they were fully obedient. They encamped by their standards (or in their ranks), and that is how they set forward, everyone by their ‘families’, and according to their clans/tribes.
This emphasis reminds us that above all what God requires of us is obedience. As our Lord Jesus reminded us, it is no good saying ‘Lord’ Lord’, if we do not do the things that He says (Matthew 7.21).
