NUMBERS

Numbers Chapter 2

• Numbers 2:1 And the LORD spoke unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying, 
• 2 Every man of the children of Israel shall pitch by his own standard, with the ensign of their father's house: far off about the tabernacle of the congregation shall they pitch. 

At this particular time in history, Israel were the only ones who served the real living God as opposed to those around them that were into the idolatry that resulted in the rebellion against God at the tower of Babel many years before in the days of Nimrod a few hundred years after the worldwide flood. 

Until the time of Christ and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon those that would receive the Christ, care had to be taken to keep Israel from the idolatrous nations that surrounded them. 

Why was this? Was God a racist? Was Israel better than everyone else? 

Absolutely not. Israel knew about God and knew right from wrong and still would fall into idolatry on occasions. They were not better than everyone else but they did know better than everyone else what was right and what was wrong. They walked with God, they had the law, they were chosen of God to bring forth the Messiah into the world. Nevertheless at this point in history they had to remain untouched by the nations around them except to be a witness to them about the existence of the real living God as opposed to idols.

The heathen nations did things that would seem very foreign and strange to us today. Because of the coming of Jesus, the world has changed and only a few 3rd world nations practice things that the old world practiced continually. 

Not only did they worship idols but they sacrificed their own children alive to these idols burning them alive upon altars built to worship these idols. Many other things were done because of the influence of the evil spirits that were present in idol worship. 

We see today a return of idolatry through; New Age and other eastern religions that are invading even the Christian world. Many do not know what they are playing around with.

God used Israel in the days of Moses and Joshua to wipe out the evil heathen nations that passed the point of no return and went so far into idolatry that innocent lives of children were being killed in their worship. They had to go. 

There were many other nations in the world at that time that were not wiped out. They were allowed to continue. They had not yet reached the point where God had to wipe them out. Their iniquity was not yet full. God explains this to Abraham and it is recorded in Genesis.

• Genesis 15:16 But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full. 

I included this verse from Genesis where God was speaking to Abraham warning him that his descendants were going to be enslaved in Egypt for over 400 years. After that they would be brought out and sent to conquer the land of Canaan. They were not allowed to conquer Canaan in the days of Abraham because the Canaanites had not yet sinned so great and their iniquity was not yet full or to the place where they could not repent and change. 

God always prefers to save rather than destroy as we see when we read the story of Jonah.

To return to the chapter at hand, before they can go into the land of Canaan as a great army, they had to get prepared. They had to separate into tribes with appointed heads to lead each section. We see that example in our armies today. This keeps order and allows troops to work together and defeat the enemy rather than having an unorganized bunch of men all trying to do things by their own mind and not being united. An army that is united under good leadership can defeat large numbers of unorganized armies with bad organization and leadership. 

• Numbers 2:3 And on the east side toward the rising of the sun shall they of the standard of the camp of Judah pitch throughout their armies: and Nahshon the son of Amminadab shall be captain of the children of Judah. 
• 4 And his host, and those that were numbered of them, were threescore and fourteen thousand and six hundred. 
• 5 And those that do pitch next unto him shall be the tribe of Issachar: and Nethaneel the son of Zuar shall be captain of the children of Issachar. 
• 6 And his host, and those that were numbered thereof, were fifty and four thousand and four hundred. 
• 7 Then the tribe of Zebulun: and Eliab the son of Helon shall be captain of the children of Zebulun. 
• 8 And his host, and those that were numbered thereof, were fifty and seven thousand and four hundred. 
• 9 All that were numbered in the camp of Judah were a hundred thousand and fourscore thousand and six thousand and four hundred, throughout their armies. These shall first set forth. 
• 10 On the south side shall be the standard of the camp of Reuben according to their armies: and the captain of the children of Reuben shall be Elizur the son of Shedeur. 
• 11 And his host, and those that were numbered thereof, were forty and six thousand and five hundred. 
• 12 And those which pitch by him shall be the tribe of Simeon: and the captain of the children of Simeon shall be Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai. 
• 13 And his host, and those that were numbered of them, were fifty and nine thousand and three hundred. 
• 14 Then the tribe of Gad: and the captain of the sons of Gad shall be Eliasaph the son of Reuel. 
• 15 And his host, and those that were numbered of them, were forty and five thousand and six hundred and fifty. 
• 16 All that were numbered in the camp of Reuben were a hundred thousand and fifty and one thousand and four hundred and fifty, throughout their armies. And they shall set forth in the second rank. 

So we see from this great numbering and organizing of Israel that they were counting the cost and getting prepared before going forth to conquer the land of Canaan. 

We know though that because of unbelief this army being organized here was not allowed to go into Canaan. They remained in the wilderness until their children were grown and the older ones died off. We see that God probably knew that they were going to do this yet He had Moses prepare them just as if they were going to battle the next day. I find this an interesting point. Why prepare if they were not really going to battle until over 40 years later? 

We are to be ready in season and out of season, occupying until the coming of the Lord. We are not to be spiritually asleep and not ready at any time. Remember the parable of the ten virgins that Jesus told. Five were wise and took extra oil. Five were foolish and thought they would borrow from the wise virgins if they needed oil. Five were prepared and five were not. That story is in Matthew 25. 

• Numbers 2:17 Then the tabernacle of the congregation shall set forward with the camp of the Levites in the midst of the camp: as they encamp, so shall they set forward, every man in his place by their standards. 

Remember the Levites were the spiritual leaders of the children of Israel. The tabernacle and place of worship was always present when Israel went to war. This shows us that God has to come first and our worship is not to be laid aside when we had secular jobs or other things to do that did not pertain to worship. This also shows us that without the power of God with them, they could never win any battle. That is still true today when it comes to Israel. 

• Numbers 2:18 On the west side shall be the standard of the camp of Ephraim according to their armies: and the captain of the sons of Ephraim shall be Elishama the son of Ammihud. 
• 19 And his host, and those that were numbered of them, were forty thousand and five hundred. 
• 20 And by him shall be the tribe of Manasseh: and the captain of the children of Manasseh shall be Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur. 
• 21 And his host, and those that were numbered of them, were thirty and two thousand and two hundred. 
• 22 Then the tribe of Benjamin: and the captain of the sons of Benjamin shall be Abidan the son of Gideoni. 
• 23 And his host, and those that were numbered of them, were thirty and five thousand and four hundred. 
• 24 All that were numbered of the camp of Ephraim were a hundred thousand and eight thousand and a hundred, throughout their armies. And they shall go forward in the third rank. 
• 25 The standard of the camp of Dan shall be on the north side by their armies: and the captain of the children of Dan shall be Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai. 
• 26 And his host, and those that were numbered of them, were threescore and two thousand and seven hundred. 
• 27 And those that encamp by him shall be the tribe of Asher: and the captain of the children of Asher shall be Pagiel the son of Ocran. 
• 28 And his host, and those that were numbered of them, were forty and one thousand and five hundred. 
• 29 Then the tribe of Naphtali: and the captain of the children of Naphtali shall be Ahira the son of Enan. 
• 30 And his host, and those that were numbered of them, were fifty and three thousand and four hundred. 
• 31 All they that were numbered in the camp of Dan were a hundred thousand and fifty and seven thousand and six hundred. They shall go hindmost with their standards. 
• 32 These are those which were numbered of the children of Israel by the house of their fathers: all those that were numbered of the camps throughout their hosts were six hundred thousand and three thousand and five hundred and fifty. 
• 33 But the Levites were not numbered among the children of Israel; as the LORD commanded Moses. 
• 34 And the children of Israel did according to all that the LORD commanded Moses: so they pitched by their standards, and so they set forward, every one after their families, according to the house of their fathers. 

Like I said before, it is interesting to see what preparations and planning were set in order before the children of Israel ventured further into the land in which God had promised them. This preparation took place even though we will see in later chapters that their trip into the promised land would be delayed many years because of the unbelief that sets in later. Still before that event takes place we see them being numbered, set in order, camped at certain positions, leaders chosen to make them  ready for the time appointed to enter into the land before them.

God knew that they would sin and be found in unbelief but notice that God never assigns punishment or takes action against sin until the sin is committed. 

Again we see that the Levites were not numbered among the armies and tribes because their purpose was to administer and attend to the worship, offerings and sacrifices needed for God's presence to dwell among them. 

Notice also that God wanted to keep the tribes separated but united as a whole. He planned 12 tribes to fulfill prophecy and bring them into the promised land. I think of separate but equal here with one tribe being set apart for the sole purpose of attending to spiritual matters that was very important. 

Our relationship to God and our worship is just as important today even more so when we think of the sacrifice that Jesus made to bring us back into fellowship with God that was broken because of sin. 

My main thought as I read these passages though is preparation. They were ready at least physically at that time. They had great numbers. We who are familiar with the book of Numbers know ahead of time that they were not ready spiritually. Israel is going to fall into unbelief and fear causing all over the age of 20 to lose out on their passage to the Promised Land. Only two men of the original people over the age of 20 were alive to enter the promise land.

When the 12 spies were sent into the land to spy it out, 10 of them were fearful and had the whole congregation of Israel in unbelief thinking there is no way that we can take the land. Joshua and Caleb remembered the power of God and tried to calm the people believing that through God's power they could conquer the land no matter how big the giants were. 

Israel had forgotten that in themselves, of course they could do nothing, but by the power of God that delivered them out of Egypt, parted the Red Sea, and fed them in the wilderness, all things are possible. 

If we went back to the teaching of God's word in truth, preaching the gospel with power, allowing the Holy Spirit to convict of sin, warning, exhorting, rebuking and telling it like it is, yes, we might lose some but we will be getting people ready to meet God. People are dying without Christ, our country has let down its standards big time. DC