God’s command to Moses – Numbers 1:1-4
‘The LORD spoke to Moses.’ (v1) These were God’s words thus it is a very important statement. This statement appears over 80 times in this book. God had chosen Moses to be the Israelites’ leader and spoke first to Moses and then he, Moses, told the people what God had said. Also, Moses spoke to God on behalf of the people.
God instructed them to make a tent which was called the tabernacle. God had given Moses specific instructions (according to pattern) how to build it (Exodus 25:8 to 27:21). The Israelites took it with them on their journey. Each time they moved on they were to dismantle it and take it with them and re-assemble it at the next stop. It was the place where they worshipped God. This would be no easy task as we shall see, but It showed them that God was always among them.
It had two rooms separated by a curtain. The bigger room was called ‘the Holy Place’. The smaller room was called ‘the Most Holy Place’ or ‘The Holy of Holies’. There was a special box called the Ark of the Covenant which was kept inside The Holy of Holies. The Ark contained the two pieces of stone on which God had written his Law among other items (Exodus 34:1). We shall learn more about the tabernacle in Numbers 9:15-23.
‘It was the first day of the second month of the second year after they had left Egypt’ (v.1). This verse tells us clearly when these events happened. It reminds us that we are reading about real people and real events. Some commentators say that the people left Egypt during the first half of the 13th century BC.
God told Moses to count all the men who were able to fight (v2,3). This was the purpose of the census. Also, it showed that every person mattered to God. Moses’ brother Aaron was to help him count as this was a huge task.
The Promised Land, the country called Canaan, was occupied and the people who lived there would fight against the Israelites. So, Israel needed a strong army.
Moses and Aaron had to count everyone group by group. Families were the smallest groups. A clan consisted of several families. A tribe consisted of several clans. The nation called Israel consisted of 12 tribes.
The census (v4) was a very big responsibility. It was important for leaders to share responsibilities so one leader from each tribe had to help Moses and Aaron.
God chooses some helpers – Numbers 1:5-19.
Verses 5 -15 list their names and v16 says God chose these men. They were the leaders of their ancestors’ tribes. They were Israel’s leaders under Moses.
v17 Moses, Aaron and these leaders got together, and in v18 we read that he asked the people to meet together that same day. They registered all the people by clans and families. They recorded the names of all the men who were 20 years old or older. They counted each one. (v19) They obeyed the LORD’s command to Moses.
In verses 4-9, This list reminds us that this is a book about history. These are the names of real people, with their fathers’ names and their tribes’ names. The Word of God is no myth, it is about real people.
The Israelites’ ancestors were Jacob’s sons (Genesis 35:23-26). Each of Jacob’s son’s name became the name of his tribe.
However, you will notice two sons are missing – Levi and Joseph. In this list, two half tribes, Ephraim and Manasseh, Joseph’s sons are there in place of Joseph’s tribe. That made the twelve, but Levi’s tribe had a special job to do. So, they were excluded, and Moses counted them separately (3:14-39).
Names were very important to the Israelites. They chose names carefully. If you knew a person’s name, you knew something about their character.
Apart from the names of the tribes, there are 24 names in this list. Many of these names have one of the Hebrew names for God in them. These Hebrew names are ‘El’ (God), ‘Shaddai’ (All-Powerful) and ‘Zur’ (Rock). For example, Elishama means ‘My God listens’. Zurishaddai means ‘The All-Powerful God is my Rock’. A rock can be a shelter for people. It can provide security. It can protect people. God does all this for his people. Names, like Abi (My Father) and Ahi (My Brother), also refer to God. God is like a father and a brother to us.
These names show us that God was very important to the Israelites. They were very aware of Him even though they did not always obey Him.
The census of Israel’s soldiers – Numbers 1:20-46
They counted the men from each tribe who were 20 years old or older. These men were able to fight in Israel’s army.
46,500 men from the tribe of Reuben, Jacob’s oldest son.
59,300 men from Simeon’s.
45,650 men from Gad’s.
74,600 men from Judah’s.
54,400 men from Issachar’s.
57,400 men from Zebulun’s.
40,500 men from the tribe of Ephraim, Joseph’s son.
32,200 men from the tribe of Manasseh, Joseph’s son.
35,400 men from Benjamin’s.
62,700 men from Dan’s.
41,500 men from Asher’s.
53,400 men from Naphtali’s.
Moses, Aaron and the 12 leaders counted all these men. They registered each man’s name by his tribe and family. The total number of men was 603,550.
These were strong, healthy men who were 20 years old or older. This number does not include women or children under 20 years old, old people or sick people. It does not include Levi’s tribe. Levi’s tribe were not soldiers. They had a different job to do. So, Moses counted them later.
This means that we could estimate that there would be between two and five million people in the camp.
God gives a special job to Levi’s tribe – Numbers 1:47-54.
Verses 47-54 God did not want Levi’s tribe to fight. They had a different job, a very important job. They had to look after God’s Tent (the tabernacle).
Levi was Jacob’s third son (Genesis 29:34). Levi had three sons. Their names were Gershon, Kohath and Merari (Genesis 46:11). Moses and Aaron were Kohath’s descendants (Num. 3:14-24). Aaron was the first High Priest. The High Priest had the most important duties in the tabernacle. Aaron’s sons were priests. Men from Levi’s tribe helped the priests to do their duties. The High Priest was their leader. They had to carry the parts of the tabernacle whenever the Israelites travelled. Men from Levi’s tribe had to put the parts together again when the Israelites stopped to camp. Thus, they were no weaklings.
Also, Levi’s tribe had to look after the tabernacle. It was the most important place in the camp. God is everywhere. But He was in the tabernacle in a special way. The priests worshipped God there. It was a very holy place. The Israelites had to respect it. If they came too near to it, they would die.
God is pure and holy; But every person has sinned. So, in order to come close to God, the Israelites had to offer sacrifices.
However, as we said before, it is different for us. Christians can be close to God. This is not because we are good. It is because Jesus, God’s son, suffered the ultimate punishment for our sins on the cross. Jesus was the perfect sacrifice. So, we do not need to offer sacrifices of animals. Jesus’ blood takes away all our sins and makes us clean inside our hearts. We must confess our sins to God in true repentance, so that he will forgive us. We must believe that Jesus died on our behalf. And we must receive Him into our lives. We can come and talk to God any time. God invites us to come close to Him! (Heb. 10).
Only Levi’s tribe served God in His Holy Tent. They belonged to God in a special way. But, because of Jesus’ sacrifice, all Christians belong to God in a special way, like priests (1 Peter 2:5).
The events in this book happened many centuries before Jesus came. So, Levi’s tribe had to make sure that the Israelites respected God’s Tent.
In this the people did everything that God wanted (verse 54). They obeyed him completely. However, it didn’t last, and they did not obey him afterwards. The rest of the book emphasises this.
