Numbers 1 commentary

NUMBERS 1 COMMENTARY
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
INTRODUCTION BY PETER PETT
SECTION 1. THE PREPARATIONS TO GO FORWARD
FROM SINAI WITH YAHWEH’S PROVISIONS RELATED
THERETO (1:1-10:10).
The Mobilisation of the Army of Israel, and the Preparation of
the Levites For Their Work of Bearing the Ark and
Dwellingplace of Yahweh (1:1-4:49).
The first stage towards entry into the land had to be the
mobilisation of the army of Israel, both of its fighting men, and
of its ‘servants of the dwellingplace of Yahweh’. That is what is
in mind in the first four chapters.
The description of this follows a general chiastic pattern
indicated by the letters a to d and can be divided up as follows:
a The taking of the sum of the tribes and their responsibility (to
war) (Numbers 1:1-46).
b The Levites’ responsibility for the Dwellingplace (Numbers
1:47-54).
c Positioning and arrangements for travel of the people
(Numbers 2:1-32).
d The consecration of the priests to Yahweh (Numbers 3:1-4).
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d The dedication of the Levites to the priests and to Yahweh
(Numbers 3:5-13)
c Positioning and arrangements for travel of the Levites
(Numbers 3:14-51).
b The priests’ responsibility for the Dwellingplace (Numbers
4:5-15).
a The taking of the sum of the Levites and their responsibilities
(Numbers 4:1-4; Numbers 4:21-49).
Chapter 1 Preparation For The Journey: The Army Is
Numbered For War
The numbering of an army was always preparatory to action.
Thus the numbering here of the men of war was preparation
for what lay ahead. They were now to go forward to make war
in order to conquer the land and possess it. The resultant total
will then be used later in the book in order to demonstrate that,
in spite of failure on the part of Israel, the people leave the
wilderness after all their troubles as numerous as when they
entered it, the old having been replaced with the new (Numbers
26). Man’s purposes may fail but God’s never do.
But it was also a way of describing the organisation of the
fighting men of Israel into military units, without too much
regard for the actual literal quantity. These units were then to
be set around the people on the move in fighting array. They
had learned their lesson from the Amalekite attack at
Rephidim (Exodus 17:8-16; Deuteronomy 25:17-18), and were
determined to prevent it happening again. And they were
especially to surround the Dwellingplace of Yahweh on all four
sides, forming a square around it, as did the Egyptian armies
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of Rameses II around the Pharaoh’s tent. This was a typical
second millennium BC formation.
In this we have a picture of the ‘church militant’, the true
people of God on earth, preparing themselves for battling with
the great Enemy (e.g. Ephesians 6:10-18). They are a number
which no man can number, and yet each is numbered before
God (Revelation 7). Indeed the very hairs of their head are all
numbered (Matthew 10:30; Luke 12:7). Not one of them is
forgotten before Him.
The Census
1 The Lord spoke to Moses in the tent of meeting
in the Desert of Sinai on the first day of the second
month of the second year after the Israelites came
out of Egypt. He said:
BARNES 1-4, "A month had passed away since the setting up of the
tabernacle Exo_40:2, Exo_40:17 : and the Sinaitic legislation was now
complete (compare Lev_27:34).
A census (“sum”) was commanded, to be based not upon any fresh
registration of individuals, but upon that which had accompanied the
previous collection of the offerings. Compare Exo_30:11, etc.; Exo_
38:25-28. The offerings had been probably tendered by the people in
groups, and if certificates of registration were furnished to such groups, the
new census might be easily carried out by means of these documents, and
got through Num_1:18 in a single day. The present registration enrolled
persons “after their families, by the house of their fathers;” and was
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superintended not by the Levites (see Exo_38:21 and note), but by Num_1:4
an assessor for each tribe to act in the business with Moses and Aaron. The
purpose now in view was not religious only. The census now taken would
serve as a basis for various civil and military arrangements.
CLARKE, "The Lord spake unto Moses - on the first day of the second
month - As the tabernacle was erected upon the first day of the first month,
in the second year after their coming out of Egypt, Exo_40:17; and this
muster of the people was made on the first day of the second month, in the
same year; it is evident that the transactions related in the preceding book
must all have taken place in the space of one month, and during the time the
Israelites were encamped at Mount Sinai, before they had begun their
Journey to the promised land.
GILL, "And the Lord spake unto Moses in the wilderness of Sinai,.... Which
is different from the wilderness of Sin, Exo_16:1; and had its name from the
mountain so called, on which God gave the law of the decalogue, and where
the Israelites had been encamped eleven months, Exo_19:1,
in the tabernacle of the congregation; which had now been set up a whole
month, and out of which the Lord had delivered to Moses the several laws
recorded in the preceding book in that space of time, Exo_40:17,
on the first day of the second month; the month Ijar, as the Targum of
Jonathan, which answers to part of our April, and part of May, and was the
second month of the ecclesiastical year, which began with Abib or Nisan:
in the second year after they were come out of the land of Egypt; that is, the
children of Israel, who had now been a year and half a month out of it:
HENRY, "I. We have here a commission issued out for the numbering of
the people of Israel; and David, long after, paid dearly for doing it without a
commission. Here is,
1. The date of this commission, Num_1:1. (1.) The place: it is given at God's
court in the wilderness of Sinai, from his royal palace, the tabernacle of the
congregation. (2.) The time: In the second year after they came up out of
Egypt; we may call it the second year of that reign. The laws in Leviticus
were given in the first month of that year; these orders were given in the
beginning of the second month.
JAMISON 1-2, "Num_1:1-54. Moses numbering the men of war.
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on the first day of the second month, etc. — Thirteen months had elapsed
since the exodus. About one month had been occupied in the journey; and
the rest of the period had been passed in encampment among the recesses
of Sinai, where the transactions took place, and the laws, religious and civil,
were promulgated, which are contained in the two preceding books. As the
tabernacle was erected on the first day of the first month, and the order
here mentioned was given on the first day of the second, some think the
laws in Leviticus were all given in one month. The Israelites having been
formed into a separate nation, under the special government of God as their
King, it was necessary, before resuming their march towards the promised
land, to put them into good order. And accordingly Moses was
commissioned, along with Aaron, to take a census of the people. This census
was incidentally noticed (Exo_38:26), in reference to the poll tax for the
works of the tabernacle; but it is here described in detail, in order to show
the relative increase and military strength of the different tribes. The
enumeration was confined to those capable of bearing arms [Num_1:3], and
it was to be made with a careful distinction of the tribe, family, and
household to which every individual belonged. By this rule of summation
many important advantages were secured: an exact genealogical register
was formed, the relative strength of each tribe was ascertained, and the
reason found for arranging the order of precedence in march as well as
disposing the different tribes in camp around the tabernacle. The promise
of God to Abraham [Gen_22:17] was seen to be fulfilled in the extraordinary
increase of his posterity, and provision made for tracing the regular descent
of the Messiah.
K&D, "Muster of the Twelve Tribes, with the Exception of that of Levi. -
Num_1:1-3. Before the departure of Israel from Sinai, God commanded
Moses, on the first of the second month in the second year after the exodus
from Egypt, to take the number of the whole congregation of the children of
Israel, “according to their families, according to their fathers' houses (see
Exo_6:14), in (according to) the number of their names,” i.e., each one
counted singly and entered, but only “every male according to their heads
of twenty years old and upwards” (see Exo_30:14), viz., only ‫א‬ ָ‫ב‬ ָ‫צ‬ ‫א‬ ֵ‫צ‬ִ‫ל־י‬ ָ‫כּ‬
“all who go forth of the army,” i.e., all the men capable of bearing arms,
because by means of this numbering the tribes and their subdivisions were
to be organized as hosts of Jehovah, that the whole congregation might fight
as an army for the cause of their Lord (see at Exo_7:4).
CALVIN, "Verse 1
1.And the Lord spake unto Moses in the wilderness of Sinai Although this is the first
numbering of the people, of which we have an account, still, inasmuch as God had
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already imposed a tax upon every person, the amount of which has been recorded,
we infer that it was in fact the second. But the reason for thus numbering the people
a second time was, because they were very soon about to remove their camp from
the wilderness of Sinai to take posession of the promised land. Since, however, their
impiety withheld thmn from doing so, there was a third census taken just before
their actual entrance into the land, and with this object, that it might be obvious, on
comparison, how marvellously the people had been preserved by the springing up of
a new generation, in spite of so many plagues and so much slaughter; for although a
great proportion of them had been cut off, almost as many persons were found as
before.
Further, it must be observed, that the people were not numbered except at God’s
command, in order that He might thus assert His supreme dominion over them; and
also, that the mode of taking the census was so arranged, that there should be no
confusion of ranks either through fraud or irregularity; for this was the reason why
each tribe had its superintendents, lest any one should slip into a tribe to which he
did not belong; and this is expressly mentioned by way of assurance, since otherwise
many might suspect that so great a multitude could hardly be distinguished into
classes with certainty, so that the whole sum should be calculated without mistake.
BENSON, "Numbers 1:1. In the wilderness of Sinai — Where now they had been a
full year or near it, having left Egypt about thirteen months. Compare this place
with Exodus 19:1; Exodus 40:17.
COFFMAN, "The name, "Numbers" is from [@Arithmoi], the designation of the
book in the Septuagint (LXX) translation, apparently given because of the census
reports in Numbers 1 and Numbers 26. "The Hebrew name is [~Bemidbar],
meaning `wilderness' from the appearance of the word in the first verse,"[1] which
appears to us to be a far more suitable name, since the subject matter of Numbers is
concerned principally with what happened to the Israelites "in the wilderness."
The arbitrary and artificial manner in which this portion of the Book of Moses has
been separated from other portions of it should not obscure the fact that Moses
wrote one book, not five, and that what is called the Book of Numbers, or the Fourth
Book of Moses, is actually part and parcel with the whole. It carries the
unmistakable imprimatur of the times, the authorship, and the personality of Moses,
the great lawgiver of Israel. This very first chapter presents an array of repetitions
which were characteristic of the writings of the period in the mid-second millennium
B.C., utterly unlike the literature of the ages following that period. (See a fuller
discussion of this in the chapter introduction of Exodus 35 in this series of
commentaries.)
Note the verbatim repetition fifteen times of these words: "By their generations, by
their families, and by their fathers' houses, according to the number of the names,
by their polls, every male from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go
forth to war."
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This formula was given by God in His instructions to Moses and Aaron, by Moses
and Aaron in their instructions to the people, and was repeated in the instance of
each of the twelve tribes, and also in the summary of what was done. Due to this, we
have elected to present the information contained in these chapters, by chart, or
diagram, rather than by the repetitious prose that marks these chapters.
"And Jehovah spake unto Moses in the wilderness ..." These first words of
Numbers, or their equivalent, are found not less than eighty times in the book;[2]
and we are absolutely unwilling to accept the postulations of evil critics that these
words are "a pious fraud." They affirm dogmatically the divine source of the
narrative, and there are no intellectual reasons why they should not be received as
the truth. The sacred text of Numbers has suffered little or no damage from
transition throughout the millenniums through which it has descended to us in its
present form.
It is not surprising that this first chapter begins with an enumeration of the able-
bodied Israelites capable of going to war. Their emancipation from slavery
inevitably led to their securing those liberties by means of military conflict. There is
a deep spiritual truth discernible here also. Redeemed by the blood of the Passover
(Exodus 12:12-36), released from the dominion of Pharoah by their baptism "unto
Moses in the cloud and in the sea" (1 Corinthians 10:2), and restructured as an
independent nation by means of (a) the giving of the law; (b) the erection of the
tabernacle; and (c) the consecration of a separate priesthood, Israel in this chapter
was commanded to prepare for war. It is ever thus that when people turn to God,
warfare with an evil world is inevitable and certain to ensue at once.
"Take ye the sum of the children of Israel by their families ... by their polls ..."
(Numbers 1:2). The words here rendered "take ye the sum of" are not the technical
word for "census."[4] Also, the mention of "by their polls" indicates that, in this
enumeration, use would be made of the census already taken in the instance of
collecting the poll tax (Exodus 30:11; 38:24,25). It will be noted that no mention of
"by their polls" was made in the second enumeration of Numbers 26. Keil, Cook,
Whitelaw and others understood this census, therefore, as identical with the first
one, a probability that appears very strongly in the fact of the total number being
exactly the same in both. Keil's comment is:
"This correspondence in the number of the male population after the lapse of a
year is to be explained simply from the fact that the result of the previous census,
which was taken for the purpose of raising head-money from every one who was fit
for war, was taken as the basis of mustering all who were fit for war, which took
place after the erection of the tabernacle. Strictly speaking, this mustering merely
consisted in the registering of those already numbered in the public records,
according to their fathers' houses."[5]
As already noted, another census of Israel was taken after about forty years
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(Numbers 26); and this is a convenient place to present the information gathered
from that numbering along with this:
<MONO>
TRIBE 1ST CENSUS 2ND CENSUS
Reuben .................. 46,500 .................... 43,730
Simeon .................. 59,300 .................... 22,200
Gad ..................... 45,650 .................... 40,500
Judah ................... 74,600 .................... 76,500
Issachar ................ 54,400 .................... 64,300
Zebulun ................. 57,400 .................... 60,500
Ephraim ................. 40,500 .................... 32,500
Manasseh ................ 32,200 .................... 52,700
Benjamin ................ 35,400 .................... 45,600
Dan ..................... 62,700 .................... 64,400
Asher ................... 41,500 .................... 53,400
Naphtali ................ 53,400 .................... 45,400
TOTAL: 603,550 TOTAL: 601,730SIZE>MONO>
Counting Manasseh and Ephraim together as the posterity of Joseph, it is evident
that the families of these two patriarchs predominate in the makeup of Israel. Also,
the surprising losses of Simeon during the wilderness journeys are compensated by
substantial increases in the tribes of Manasseh, Issachar, Benjamin and Asher.
Of course, the great critical problem with this calculation of the immense size of
Israel, indicating perhaps as many as 2,000,000 souls in all, is that unbelieving
scholars just don't believe it. Well, what else is new? There is no hard evidence of
any kind for setting these figures aside as inaccurate. It is simply of no significance
that "learned men" love to pontificate upon the impossibility of so large a
population being maintained in the Sinai desert at that time, but the Bible
acknowledges that problem by providing the answer that God Himself did indeed
feed and clothe Israel during that period, making it unnecessary for the land to
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sustain them. The land did NOT do it. God did it! The rationalism that denies
Biblical miracles is simply UNBELIEF, nothing else. No Christian should pay the
slightest attention to such denials. In addition to this, no one can be impressed by
what men who live in the 20th century profess to "know" about conditions in the
vicinity of Sinai over three thousand years ago!
One other important feature of this record (Numbers 1:1-19) is the choice of the
various princes of Israel who would assist Moses in this numbering. These names,
with the exception of those of Nahshon and Amminadab, do not appear outside of
Numbers; however, we are familiar with Nahshon and Amminadab as being listed
in the genealogy of Jesus (Luke 3). It seems also correct to view these "princes" of
Israel as the commanders of their corresponding military units.
All of the records of the emergence of Israel as an independent nation are
presented in the sacred text in such a manner as to require their acceptance as truth.
Allis' comment on this was:
"Not only are these statistical figures given with the utmost care and checked
by their use in the construction of the tabernacle, they find support in the character
of the narrative itself."[6]
The total number of the males in Israel were required to pay a poll tax, the half-
shekel ransom, and the very amount of money thus raised is given, along with the
use of it in the construction of the silver sockets of the tabernacle, and the amount of
the money is absolutely consistent with the figures given for the total number. Yes,
the figures are accurate. Of course, so large a population could not have survived
without Divine assistance. So God fed them with manna for forty years, and that is
no myth! We are told what the manna looked like, when it fell, how much they
gathered, when it started, and when it ceased. We are even told what it tasted like,
that the people tired of it, and that it was supplemented with a meat diet. This is the
language of history.
It is of interest also that the tribe of Levi was not numbered among those
prepared to go to war, their task being solely related to the priesthood and the
tabernacle. Their numbers are also given in the first census here as 22,270, and in
the second census as 23,000. It should also be noted that these figures take no
account of any units less than fifty.
We have included here a diagram of the deployment of the tribes of Israel around
the tabernacle which was placed at the center of the large camp of all Israel. This, of
course, is the subject of the next chapter.
<MONO>
Asher DAN Naphtali
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Benjamin Morarites Issachar
EPHRAIM Gershonites Tabernacle AARON'S SONS JUDAH
Manasseh Kohathites Zebulun
Gad REUBEN SimeonSIZE>MONO>
COKE, "Numbers 1:1. And the Lord spake unto Moses— The Israelites had now
left Egypt about thirteen months, and had resided near Mount Sinai almost a year,
(compare Exodus 19:1 with this verse) receiving all the foregoing laws and
injunctions before they left this place. The Almighty orders a general muster to be
made, and an exact poll to be taken of all the Israelitish men, from twenty years old
and upwards, the Levites excepted; and a careful distinction to be observed in the
tribes, families, and households; for these reasons: 1st, That every one might know,
and deliver to his posterity, a clear account from what tribe he descended, and to
what family he belonged: 2nd, That the Israelites might see how fully he had made
good his promise to Abraham, of multiplying his seed: 3rdly, That they might know
what strength they had for war, in case of any attack from their enemies: 4thly,
That they might better dispose of their camp about the tabernacle, now that it was
erected, and march more regularly when they removed from mount Sinai: and,
5thly, That hereby the genealogy of the Messiah, who was to be born of this nation,
might be fully ascertained. It appears from Exodus 40:17 that the tabernacle was
erected on the first day of the first month of the second year after their coming out
of Egypt; and, as this muster was to be taken on the first day of the second month of
the same year, it appears, that what is related in the foregoing book, must have
passed in the space of that first month.
ELLICOTT, "(1) In the tabernacle of the congregation.—The tabernacle of the
congregation, or tent of meeting, so called because it was there that God met with
Moses (Numbers 17:4; Exodus 25:22), had been set up one month previously
(Exodus 40:17), nearly a year after the exodus.
TRAPP, "Numbers 1:1 And the LORD spake unto Moses in the wilderness of Sinai,
in the tabernacle of the congregation, on the first [day] of the second month, in the
second year after they were come out of the land of Egypt, saying,
Ver. 1. In the wilderness of Sinai.] Here God held his people well nigh a year. Here
they received the law, both moral and ceremonial: the moral drove them to the
ceremonial, which was then Christ in figure; as it doth now drive us to Christ in
truth. The ceremonial law, saith one, was their gospel. We must also pass by Sinai to
Sion, unless we like rather to be carnally secured than soundly comforted. {See
Trapp on "Exodus 19:1"}
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PETT, " The Call To Number The Tribes and To Prepare for War, excluding Levi
(Numbers 1:1-46).
Numbers 1:1
‘And Yahweh spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the tent of meeting, on
the first day of the second month, in the second year after they were come out of the
land of Egypt, saying,’
From the commencement the book stresses that in it we are dealing with what
results from the word of Yahweh given to Moses, spoken in the Tent of Meeting.
Thus this heading to the record declares whom the record is about. It then gives
place and date. It is a typical heading to a written record from those days, as can be
seen by comparison with other written records discovered. Note the immediate
reference to the land of Egypt. This is the continuing story of deliverance from
Egypt.
Taking place one month after the Dwellingplace had been consecrated, it stresses
that the people of Israel are setting out from the wilderness of Sinai, where they
have spent a year in their dealings with Yahweh. They had commenced their
journey from Egypt in the first month of the first year, and had arrived at the
wilderness of Sinai in the third month of the first year (Exodus 19:1). Now in the
second month of the second year the army is to be mustered (‘numbered’) ready for
going forward.
A glance ahead to Numbers 3:1 reveals there a typical closing colophon to a
document, whereas this is a typical heading. It would appear therefore that at one
stage this record from Numbers 1:1 to Numbers 3:1 originally stood on its own as a
record of the military mobilisation and organisation of the troops readied for going
forward, a record made at the time. It was then later incorporated into Numbers.
POOLE, "God commands Moses and Aaron to number the people that were fit for
war, Numbers 1:1-3. Twelve captains chose, of every tribe one; their names; the
number of each tribe, Numbers 1:4-16, The Levites exempt; to take care of the
tabernacle; the other tribes camping round it, Numbers 1:47-54.
They now had been in the wilderness a full year, or near it, as may be gathered by
comparing this place with Exodus 19:1 40:17, and other places.
In the tabernacle; from the mercy seat.
B.C. 1490
PARKER, ""In the wilderness of Sinai, in the tabernacle of the congregation"—
Numbers 1:1
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The wonderful conjunction of names and situations in life.—Here we have
"wilderness" and "tabernacle."—We cannot be blind to the "wilderness";
sometimes a teacher is required to point out the "tabernacle."—The "tabernacle" is
always to be found by the earnest searcher.—The wilderness, as to mere space is
incomparably larger than the tabernacle, but the tabernacle as to its quality and
radiance destroys the unhappiest aspects and influences of the wilderness.—The
wilderness may represent what nature can do for man; the tabernacle is the peculiar
and distinctive work of God, showing how the supernatural subdues and glorifies
everything with which it comes in contact.—Sometimes the tabernacle is in the
man"s heart; if indeed its spirit is not there no outside building can supply its place
or offer such security as cither reason or feeling can really enjoy.—Be afraid of no
wilderness in which there is a tabernacle.—By setting up his tabernacle God means
to make the wilderness blossom as the rose.—Life itself may often assume the
desolation of a wilderness; this it must do in the absence of supernatural influences;
decorate it as we may, scatter upon it all the wild flowers that hands can gather, it is
a wilderness still: in such circumstances the traveller must cry out for the living
God, and yearn for a dwelling place not made with hands.—The tabernacle may be
some quickening thought, or sacred memory, or inspiring promise, or the
companionship of a kindred soul; the tabernacle of God has a thousand aspects, and
is consequently different in its representation according to the circumstances in
which every man looks upon it.—The tabernacle is never so beautiful as when seen
in contrast with the wilderness.—As the weary night makes the dawn doubly
welcome, so the great wilderness develops in the tabernacle a beauty and a
splendour which would be otherwise unrecognised.—As in darkness we see the
stars, so in the wilderness we ought to see the spiritual glory of the tabernacle.
Verses 1-54
The Census and Its Meaning
Numbers 1
How long is it since the Tabernacle was set up? From some points of view it would
seem to be years at least. Time is variously estimated: it is long,—it is short,—it is a
flying wing,—it is a mountain of lead,—according to the circumstances under which
we view and reckon it. Just one month has elapsed since the Tabernacle was set up,
and during that month the whole ritual of Leviticus has been wrought out. Leviticus
was not a manual for a year; it was a ritual for a month. It would wear some of us
out; we have lived ourselves into shortening days. What a busy month! Read the
whole Book of Leviticus , from the first chapter to the last, and then remember that
every word of it was to be carried out in critical detail within the compass of a single
month, and when the month was over the ritual was to be begun again. All life was
one Sabbath then. In very deed the days were well-filled in with labour—pressed
down, heaped up, running over. Life meant something then. Poor are our
services,—poor to begin with, run through perfunctorily, leaving behind not so
much a thought as a faint impression—not an unconquerable inspiration, but a
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memory of partial weariness.
"And the Lord spake—." He was always speaking in the olden times; he never
speaks now. How foolish is such reasoning! how vicious and degrading such a
sophism! We first misinterpret the terms, and then declare the conditions are never
repeated. We bar out good things from ourselves not only by sin but by impious
ignorance, by narrow-mindedness, by superstition meant for veneration. God is
always speaking wherever he can find a Moses. Surely, he will not speak to stocks
and stones, and deaf men and callous hearts: he will call up a child at midnight to
whisper in his ear. It is the hearer that is wanting, not the speaker. He that hath ears
to hear, let him hear what the Spirit saith. "And there came a voice out of the cloud,
saying—." It is our consciousness that is dull—afflicted, indeed, with incurable
stupidity; it is our will that is ironed in unholy obstinacy; otherwise, we should write
down in plain ink, in open letters, in our mother tongue,—"The Lord spake unto
me, saying—." We have to fight the ghost of superstition; we have lost spiritual
health; we are in a diseased condition of mind and heart To set up the Lord in
ancient history, or exalt him into the inaccessible heavens, is mistaken for
veneration. How suddenly the subject is changed! We have been reading about the
tabernacle, the ark of the covenant, the shedding of blood, the consecration of
priests; and our whole mind has, so to say, been steeped in religious thought and
sacred phraseology, and now, by the overturning of one page, we come upon the
divinely-appointed and divinely-directed census of Israel:—Number the people:
mark them out in their families and tribes: arrange them according to a plan, and
let us know the sum-total of the war force of Israel. We have been thinking, if not
talking, of prayer,—suddenly the word battle is put into the history. Thus the
chapter of life changes; the Author is the same, the writing continuous, with the
same noble fluency, the same intellectual dignity, the same imaginative vividness,
the same marvellous dramatic change of point and colour; but the subject is
organisation for battle, a call for soldiers,—words that might have been spoken
through a trumpet; yet the speaking God, the hearing Moses, the obedient Israel,
are the unchanged quantities of the story. The Lord could have counted the people
himself: why did he set others to do the numbering? It is part of his providence. He
could do everything himself; but he trains us by criticism, by the use of our faculties,
by the discharge of manifold duties and responsibilities. We need not pray to God as
the mere necessity of informing him of our wants, because he knows every one of
them better than the suppliant can know his own necessities; but this is educational:
our prayer is part of our schooling; to project our heart"s necessity into words is a
marvellous thing to keep the tongue in balance of the heart, so that the speech shall
not run out the need, or the argument be in excess of the conviction; so God cleanses
the tongue and subdues it, bringing it into harmony with the whole movement of his
own purpose and will. Reluctant, lying tongue! double-speaking tongue! how canst
thou be turned and chastened into noble service but by being charged with prayer?
This is God"s wise way. How was the numbering to proceed? Every man was of
consequence. We think we honour God by speaking of him only as the Lord of
Creation, the God of Hosts, the Ruler of incalculable armies stretching over spaces
infinite; it is our poverty of thought that so strains itself as to lay hold of what to us
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are great numbers;—God rather seeks to glorify himself in counting men one by
one. "The very hairs of your head are all numbered." Looking round his
banqueting-table, he says,—Yet there is room. He seems to notice the vacancies as
certainly and as clearly as he notices the occupations. To us, numbers are alone of
consequence; to our Father, the one child is of great importance: saith Hebrews ,—
One is wanting: go fetch him; call more loudly for him: the next appeal may strike
his ear and elicit the response of his heart; go out again, and again, and rather
blame the darkness of the night than the unwillingness of the child; give him one
more opportunity. This is the philosophy: that the little is always striving to make
up for its littleness by conceptions of infinite numbers; and the great—the divinely
and essentially great—shows its quality by lighting a candle and sweeping the house
diligently till it finds the piece that was lost. We owe ourselves to God"s
condescension. The men were to be registered for battle according to "the number
of their names... from twenty years old and upward." Do we begin life at twenty?
Are the nineteen years gone, forgotten, unreckoned? "Twenty years old" is the
harvest time of preparatory education. At twenty a man should be able to give some
account of himself; he ought to have read some books; he ought to know the figure
of the world, and to have acquired, at least, a general outline of the little scheme of
things within which he lives—a little fluttering wing of a world—just one little tuft
of smoke whirled by infinite rapidity into an earth, a school-house, a preparation-
place; yea, "the great globe itself" is but a handful of smoke whirled into rotundity
and made use of, until we become "twenty years old and upward." Let us have no
frivolity even in the nineteen preparatory years. Every man is getting ready for war;
every boy at school is a soldier in possibility. The children will be greater than we
were: otherwise, they will have lost their foot-hold upon the line of progress, and
have dropped out of the noble traditions of their species. Some men are long in
beginning; they are not wholly to be blamed: men ripen in various degrees of
rapidity; "Soon ripe, soon rot," is the old proverb, not wanting in wisdom. Others
come to maturity slowly, but having reached maturity no wind can shake their deep
roots.
There are some remarkable things about the census: for example, what high titles
we find here! Following the first list of names, we read in the sixteenth verse: "These
were the renowned of the congregation, princes of the tribes of their fathers, heads
of thousands in Israel." So Egyptian bondage did not stamp out Israelitish pedigree
and claim upon the past. Our bondage need not destroy our manhood. Israel
recovered its noblest memories and reclaimed divine purposes and covenants which
had fallen into desuetude and into the formality of a dead letter. We may go back
over the period of our banishment and humiliating captivity and claim to bear the
image and likeness of God; we, who went astray, may return unto the Shepherd and
Bishop of our souls, and may become kings and priests unto God and the Father.
Why should the mind plunge itself into the despair of guilt, rather than avail itself of
God"s ministry and mediation in Christ to project itself to earlier times and original
policies and begin with the purpose and intent of God? There are, too, some
singular fulfilments of prophecy in the numbering of the tribes. Judah had the most
to set in array. Was this a mere accident? Not according to Genesis 49:8 : "Judah,
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thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise." So we find, in the numbering, Judah
stood first—the largest of the host. We find, too, that Ephraim had a number larger
than Manasseh. Was this a mere incident, hardly to be accounted for? There are no
such incidents in life: everything is accounted for, or to be accounted for, by those
who search into roots, beginnings, motives, and divine intentions. In Genesis 48:20,
we find how Israel blessed the sons of Joseph,—"And he blessed them that day,
saying,... God make thee as Ephraim and as Manasseh: and he set Ephraim before
Prayer of Manasseh ,"—Joseph said, No; but the old father said, Yes!—Manasseh
"also shall become a people, and he also shall be great: but truly his younger
brother shall be greater than Hebrews ,"—and now that the census is taken
Ephraim stands at the head of Manasseh! The details are given critically from verse
to verse: "the tribe of Reuben were, forty and six thousand and five hundred"; "the
tribe of Simeon were, fifty and nine thousand and three hundred"; "the tribe of
Gad were, forty and five thousand six hundred and fifty"; "the tribe of Judah were,
three-score and fourteen thousand and six hundred." These are petty details,—what
is the sum-total? "... all they that were numbered were six hundred thousand and
three thousand and five hundred and fifty"! That is what we wanted to ascertain!
The tribes might exchange friendly challenges and criticisms as to their varying
numbers as between and amongst themselves,—a little boasting might be permitted,
a little religious pride; but leaving the details as amongst the tribes themselves we
come to the broad and grand truth that in relation to any enemy, rise where he
might, there were six hundred thousand men ready to dispute the ground with him
inch by inch. To-day the Christian denominations are talking to one another about
their various thousands: they take a melancholy pride in saying that one
denomination has made five per cent. more progress than some other denomination.
This is what they have to suggest in place of love and in place of prayer! Simeon
takes his census, and Gad reports his figures, and Issachar reminds the other
denominations that he has fifty-four thousand enrolled under his banner, and
Zebulun tells Issachar that his fifty-four are not equal to Zebulun"s fifty-seven.
These figures are interesting up to a certain degree and within given boundaries;
but how many men can Christ put on the field against the devil and his angels? Do
not be chaffering to one another and boasting as between fifty-four thousand and
fifty-seven thousand; but stand together, shoulder to shoulder, and say: All for
Christ; the enemy must not fight one tribe, but the consolidated hosts of God. It was
but detailed and vexatious reading up to the forty-fifth and forty-sixth verses. we
longed to know the sum-total of the strength on which Christ could reckon; that is
what we want to know to-day. A little friendly emulation, as between the various
Christian communions, may relieve the monotony and inactivity of our modern
piety; but what Christ would know is on what military strength he can reckon when
he is challenged to the battle of Armageddon. These men whose names and tribes
are given were men qualified to be sent forth to war. At that period of history war
was an unhappy necessity: it was the school in which men were trained. We must
read history in its own light and grow with its growth, if we would understand its
philosophy and its purpose. If we deny the writing that is before us as an
inspiration, we have still to confront the fact that social classes are precisely divided
to-day as they were distributed in the pages of the Bible; when we have denied the
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inspiration, we have still to deal with the fact. What is the distribution of society to-
day? Military, commercial, educational;—these classes could not be interchanged.
The true soldier can be nothing but a soldier: to bind him down to anything else is
to invert his destiny. Men have the call of God in them. No man is at liberty to say
what he is going to be and going to do. He has nothing "to do" but to obey. It may
please him to talk about his "freedom," but it is the freedom of a cage. "Train up a
child in the way he should go,"—in the way of God"s purpose, according to the
predestination of his life,—"and when he is old, he will not depart from it"—he will
know at the end that all his life-pulses have been throbbing in harmony with the
infinite music of the divine purpose. The true merchant could never be a soldier: he
must buy and sell, he must make a little profit if he would sleep well at night; it is in
his blood; he cannot retire to rest until he has bartered, discounted, added up, and
given and taken receipts in full. If you suggested to him to go out to battle you would
but distress his timid soul; men of his temperature of blood were meant to buy and
sell and to live in the awful tumult of a controversy across the counter. The scholar
could never be a merchant; he must inquire and he must communicate; a book is a
treasure to him; a new thought drives him well-nigh mad,—it may be true: if true, it
would set back the horizon, heighten the dome of heaven, and make all things new;
he does not want to buy and sell, but to peruse, to examine, to criticise, to compare,
to amass information, and to communicate his intelligence to others; he is a
philosopher and a teacher, not a bagman or a banker. There is the fact. Why
quarrel with the Book of Numbers and raise a noisy discussion as to whether Moses
wrote it? The Book of Numbers is being written to-day: a million hands are doing
the clerical work; we are standing yet in this grand organisation and distribution of
labour.
But some were not permitted to go to battle;—who were they? They were the
Levites: "... the Levites after the tribe of their fathers were not numbered" among
the warriors. They were appointed to be near "the tabernacle of testimony," and
were set "over all the vessels thereof, and over all things that belong to it"; they
were to "bear the tabernacle, and all the vessels thereof"; and they were to
"minister unto it," and to "encamp round about the tabernacle"; and when the
tabernacle was set forth, the Levites were to "take it down"; and when the
tabernacle was to be pitched in a new place, the Levites were to "set it up"; "and
the children of Israel" were to "pitch their tents, every man by his own camp, and
every man by his own standard, throughout their hosts." Then the Levites were not
soldiers? Not in the narrow construction of the term; but all truly religious men are
soldiers. "The weapons of our warfare are not carnal." The Sunday-school teachers
of the land are its most powerful constabulary; the truly Christian ministry is the
very spirit of militancy—not urged against flesh and blood, visible substances, and
nameable human enemies; but against the whole spirit of perdition and against the
whole genius of darkness. "Soldiers of Christ, arise, and put your armour on!" That
is the heroic call,—may every man stand up and say,—Here am I: send me!
WHEDON, " GENEALOGICAL ENROLMENT AND MUSTER OF THE ADULT
MALES, Numbers 1:1-46.
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At the close of the third book of Moses the temple in the wilderness — the
tabernacle — had been erected, the law of sacrifices instituted, the Aaronic
priesthood inducted into their sacred office, and rules for holiness of life, and for the
isolation of Israel from the Gentile world, had been ordained.
At the opening of the present book the tabernacle has been standing one month. The
purpose of the Sinaitic sojourn has now been accomplished, and the vast host must
begin their eastward and northward march toward the Land of Promise. From
childhood they had been taught to turn their eyes from the banks of the Nile
towards the hills of Canaan, where Abraham, their national father, was buried.
Thither had their ancestors borne, in princely procession, the embalmed body of the
patriarch Jacob to find a resting place, and to that land of the covenant were the
Hebrews now bearing the mortal part of Joseph, the benefactor of his father’s
family. But mighty foes are intrenched in that land, and other strong enemies will
stand in their path to bar their entrance. Even the desert swarms with foes. War is
imminent. Bloody battle fields must be trodden before they can sit down in houses
which they have not builded, and pluck the fruit of olive yards which they have not
planted. Out of the crowd of fugitives hastening from the yoke of Egypt there must
emerge a compact military organization; for though Jehovah, the God of battles, the
Man of war, is leading them to victory, he purposes to employ human allies, and he
wishes to put them into the condition of the highest efficiency. For the military
organization a census must be taken. The census in this chapter is not an
enumeration de novo, but rather a muster on the basis of numerical and
genealogical data already in the possession of the tribes. This is shown by the
accordance of the number who have paid the atonement money with the total
number enrolled in this chapter as fighting men.
Verses 1-54
1. The Lord — JEHOVAH. The ineffable name was translated into the Greek by
the Seventy by the word κυριος, Lord. Our English translators unwisely followed
the Septuagint, and adopted the appellative Lord for the significant, chosen, proper
name Jehovah, the one eternal and immutable Being. We notify the reader that this
is the ground of our preference of Jehovah to Lord throughout this Commentary.
(See notes on Exodus 3, 14, and Numbers 6:2.)
Spake — Either to the ear in audible words, as is strongly suggested in Exodus
33:11, and Numbers 12:8; or by the urim and thummim, as in Exodus 28:30;
Numbers 27:21; or to the spiritual perception of Moses in such a manner as to give
certainty to the communication. A consideration of the three places in which
Jehovah spake to him and gave him audience inclines us to the theory of uttered
words as the usual mode of communication. These three places were, 1.) The mercy-
seat in the most holy place, the principal abode of the oracle. Numbers 7:89. We
believe that it was from the mercy-seat between the cherubim that Moses was
addressed in this chapter. 2.) At the door of the tabernacle, near the altar of burnt
offering. Exodus 29:42. 3.) Out of the cloudy pillar. Exodus 33:9; Numbers 12:5-6;
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Psalms 99:7.
Moses — The reader of the three preceding books has already become too well
acquainted with this great man to need an introduction. His character is above
eulogy, his great deeds are too numerous for recital. He is the embodiment of the
Old Testament as Jesus is of the New. “The law came by Moses, but grace and truth
by Jesus Christ.” His agency in the religious instruction and spiritual elevation of
mankind will have grateful mention in the anthems of the blood-washed throng in
heaven, for they shall sing “the song of Moses and the Lamb.” See Exodus 2,
Introductory, (3.)
Wilderness of Sinai — A wild and mountainous region in Arabia Petraea, between
the two branching gulfs of the Red Sea. It is a heap of lofty granite rocks, with steep
gorges and deep valleys, abounding in water and luxuriant vegetation in the rainy
season. These valleys are then beautiful. The Israelites sojourned in that part of the
desert which lies north of Mount Sinai.
“Long as the Desert of Sinai has been known to Christian pilgrims, yet it may
almost be said never to have been explored before the beginning of this century. We
are still at the threshold of our knowledge concerning it. The older travellers never
troubled themselves to compare the general features of the desert with the
indications of the sacred narrative, and therefore they missed the cardinal points of
dispute. We are still, therefore, in the condition of discoverers; and if we are thus
compelled to abstain from positive conclusions, it is a suspense which we need not be
afraid to avow, and which in this instance is the less inconvenient, because the very
uniformity of nature by which it is occasioned, also enables us to form an image of
the general scenes, even where the particular scene is unknown; and many will feel
at a distance what many, I doubt not, have felt on the spot, that in speaking of such
sacred events, uncertainty is the best safeguard for reverence, and suspense, as to
the exact details of form and locality, is the most fitting approach for the
consideration of the presence of Him who made darkness his secret place, his
pavilion round about him, with dark water and thick ‘clouds to cover them.’”
STANLEY’S Sinai and Palestine.
Tabernacle of the congregation — Literally, the tent of appointment, or stated
meeting, (with Jehovah.) The Septuagint calls it “the tent of witness,” and the
Vulgate “the tent of the covenant.” The book of the Law, the witness of the
covenant, was kept here. The tabernacle had been standing one month. Exodus
40:17. To distinguish it from the more temporary tent, the dwelling of Moses during
the first year of the Exodus — the ante-Sinaitic tabernacle — this second structure
is called the Sinaitic tabernacle. It was constructed by Bezaleel and Aholiab after the
model shown to Moses on the mount. Exodus 26:30. It was a portable mansion-
house and temple, the miniature of the great temple of Solomon. Its position was
significant and commanding. On the east, between it and the camp under the lead of
Judah, were the tents of the priests; southward, between it and the camp of Reuben,
were the Kohathites placed; on the west, between it and the camp of Ephraim, the
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Gershonites had their abodes; and on the north, between it and the camp of Dan,
was the station of the Merarites. In proportion to the wealth of the people, it was
more costly and magnificent than the world-renowned edifice at Jerusalem. For a
minute description see Exodus 36-38.
Second month — This gives a clew to the period of time occupied by the events
narrated in Leviticus, namely, one month, during the encampment at Mount Sinai.
PULPIT, "Numbers 1:1
In the tabernacle of the congregation—where the Lord spake with Moses "face to
face" (Exodus 33:11), and where all the laws of Leviticus had been given (Leviticus
1:1). On the first day of the second month, in the second year. On the first day of Zif
(or Ijar); a year and a fortnight since the exodus, ten months and a half since their
arrival at Sinai, and a month since the tabernacle had been set up.
BI, "In the wilderness of Sinai.
In the desert: an illustration of the life of the good in this world
I. The natural trials of the desert.
1. Barrenness. Temporal and material things cannot satisfy spiritual
beings.
2. Homelessness. The soul cannot find rest in this wilderness world.
3. Pathlessness. Man, if left to himself, is bound to stray and lose himself.
4. Perilousness. The wiles of the devil, the seductions of the world, and
the lusts of the flesh.
5. Aimlessness. The years pass, opportunities come and go, and so little
seems accomplished, so little progress made in our character, so little
true work done.
II. The divine presence in the desert.
1. Divine communication in the desert. God’s voice is never silent. He is
ever speaking in the sounds and silences of nature; through Scripture;
and by His Holy Spirit.
2. Divine provision in the desert. “The Lord will give grace and glory; no
good will He withhold from them that walk uprightly.” “Your heavenly
Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.” “My God shall
supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”
3. Divine shelter and rest in the desert (Psa_90:1).
4. Divine direction in the desert.
(1) By the leadings of His providence.
(2) By the teachings of the sacred Scriptures.
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(3) By the influences of the Holy Spirit.
5. Divine protection in the desert. “No weapon that is formed against
thee shall prosper.” “If God be for us, who can be against us?” “Who is he
that will harm you, if ye be followers of that which is good?”
III. THE DIVINE USES OF THE DESERT.
1. That the generation of slaves might pass away. There is much in us that
must die and be buried before we can enter upon the inheritance of
spiritual perfection. Our craven-hearted fears, our carnal lusts, our
miserable unbelief, must be buried in the desert.
2. That a generation of free men might be educated. In the desert we are
being trained by God into spiritual perfection and power for service and
blessedness.
Conclusion:
1. Ponder well the Divine design of our life in this world.
2. By the help of God seek its realisation in ourselves. (W. Jones.)
GUZIK, "THE CENSUS OF ISRAEL
A. Background to the Book of Numbers.
1. As recorded in the Book of Exodus, Israel escaped slavery in Egypt -
God miraculously set them free from hundreds of years of bondage. They
came through the Red Sea and saw God provide through the desert
wilderness. They came to Mount Sinai where God appeared to them in a
spectacular way; where Moses went up on the mountain to meet with
God and receive the law. At Mount Sinai Israel also embraced an
idolatrous image of a golden calf and was corrected by the Lord.
a. Encamped at Mount Sinai, Israel built a tabernacle of meeting and
established a priesthood, receiving God’s plan for the priests and the
nation at large in Leviticus. At the end of the Book of Leviticus, they
have been out of Egypt for a little more than a year.
b. Exodus covered a year; Leviticus only a month - but the Book of
Numbers encompasses more than 38 years.
2. This third book of Moses tells us what happened during those 38
years. The Hebrew title of this book gives us an idea of the theme of
Numbers. In Hebrew this book is titled In the Wilderness instead of
Numbers.
a. The wilderness was never meant to be Israel’s destination. God’s
intention was to bring them into the Promised Land of Canaan. The
wilderness was intended as a temporary place - a place to move
through, not to live in.
i. “The Hebrew word for wilderness (midbar) means a place for
driving flocks. It is not a completely arid desert, but contains little
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vegetation and a few trees. The rainfall in such areas is too light, a
few inches per year, to support cultivation.” (Wenham)
b. The Book of Numbers is all about God’s people in the wilderness -
how they get there, how God deals with them in the wilderness, and
how He brings them out of the wilderness on their way to the
Promised Land.
i. “The theme of the book of Numbers is the journey to the
Promised Land of Canaan. Its opening ten chapters, covering a
mere fifty days, describe how Moses organized Israel for the
march from Sinai to the Promised Land.” (Wenham)
c. The Book of Numbers gives us a big vision: Where is God taking us?
What will it take to get there? What inward qualities must God
develop in us and demand in us along the way?
i. Promised Land people are very different from slave people.
Israel emerged from Egypt a slave people, basically unsuited for
the Promised Land. How would God transform them into a
promised-land people?
ii. “So the Israelites had been slaves in the land of Goshen; their
tasks were appointed, and their taskmasters compelled their
obedience. Their difficulties had been great, their bondage cruel,
but they were free from the necessity of thought and arrangement.
Having escaped from their taskmaster, they imagined that
freedom meant escape from rule. They had been taught in their
year of encampment under the shadow of the mountain that they
had to submit to law, and it was irksome to them, and they became
discontented. This discontent resulted from lack of perfect
confidence in God.” (Morgan)
d. The Book of Numbers approaches it all God’s way. When we are in
the wilderness, we are tempted to launch a hundred different
schemes and plans to escape. But only God’s way really works; and
the Book of Numbers gives us God’s way. The idea that the LORD
spoke to Moses is repeated more than 150 times and more than 20
different ways in Numbers.
B. Israel takes inventory: The census of Num_1:1-54.
1. (Num_1:1-3) The purpose of the census.
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.”
a. Now the LORD spoke to Moses in the Wilderness: As Moses met
with the LORD in the tabernacle, God commanded him to take a
census of the congregation of the children of Israel - but only
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counting all who are able to go to war in Israel.
b. You and Aaron shall number them by their armies: This was
predominately a military census to see who could fight on Israel’s
behalf in taking the Promised Land. This was the first step in taking
the Promised Land - an inventory to see where Israel was and what
Israel had to get where God wanted them to be.
i. Though the Promised Land has been mentioned during the
exodus to this point, the focus has been on getting to Mount Sinai
and receiving the law. That was just the beginning; now, the focus
turns towards taking the Promised Land and recognizing it will be
a battle.
ii. Imagine how this census would affect the nation! As the count
was made, every family would know preparation was being made
for war.
c. By their armies: The order to count the potential soldiers was not
meant to imply that Israel would take the land because of superior
forces or merely the bravery of these men - they would receive the
Promised Land by the hand of God. Nevertheless, they still had to
fight and know what they had available to them going into battle.
i. We may fail in spiritual battle because we do not take an honest
inventory about where we are spiritually. We may overestimate or
underestimate our spiritual strength and resources. This count of
Israel wouldn’t let them do that.
d. By their families, by their fathers’ houses: God wanted the count
made by their families because the strength of Israel was determined
by looking at the strength of individual families.
2. (Num_1:4-16) The heads of the tribes.
And with you there shall be a man from every tribe, each one the head of
his father’s house. These are the names of the men who shall stand with
you: from Reuben, Elizur the son of Shedeur; from Simeon, Shelumiel
the son of Zurishaddai; from Judah, Nahshon the son of Amminadab;
from Issachar, Nethanel the son of Zuar; from Zebulun, Eliab the son of
Helon; from the sons of Joseph: from Ephraim, Elishama the son of
Ammihud; from Manasseh, Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur; from
Benjamin, Abidan the son of Gideoni; from Dan, Ahiezer the son of
Ammishaddai; from Asher, Pagiel the son of Ocran; from Gad, Eliasaph
the son of Deuel; from Naphtali, Ahira the son of Enan.” These were
chosen from the congregation, leaders of their fathers’ tribes, heads of
the divisions in Israel.
a. A man from every tribe, each one the head of his father’s house:
Israel was organized according to the tribes that descended from the
original twelve sons of Jacob (later renamed Israel by God). Each of
these twelve tribes designated one who was the head of his father’s
house, who was to stand with Moses and stand for their whole tribe.
i. In a sense, this is a representative form of government; each
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head of his father’s house was essentially the “governor” of the
tribe.
ii. These were chosen from the congregation: It is possible - even
likely - that the head of his father’s house was elected by those in
the tribe.
b. From Reuben . . . from Simeon . . .: Twelve tribes are mentioned,
but not the tribe of Levi. Yet the number twelve is maintained because
from Jacob’s son Joseph, two tribes came (Ephraim and Manasseh).
i. This was a military census, and the absence of the tribe of Levi
among the potential soldiers is important but explained later in
the chapter.
ii. Nahshon: This was the head of the house of Judah, and is
mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus (Mat_1:4).
3. (Num_1:17-19) The assembly of the leaders.
Then Moses and Aaron took these men who had been mentioned by
name, and they assembled all the congregation together on the first day
of the second month; and they recited their ancestry by families, by their
fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years
old and above, each one individually. As the LORD commanded Moses,
so he numbered them in the Wilderness of Sinai.
a. They recited their ancestry by families: The leaders of each tribe
was responsible to count the potential soldiers in their tribe, then
they gathered to make report to Moses.
b. Each one individually: Every individual was important to God. This
wasn’t just the assembling of a final number, but a specific mention of
each individual.
C. The count of the tribes.
1. (Num_1:20-21) The Tribe of Reuben: 46,500 potential soldiers.
Now the children of Reuben, Israel’s oldest son, their genealogies by
their families, by their fathers’ house, according to the number of
names, every male individually, from twenty years old and above, all
who were able to go to war: those who were numbered of the tribe of
Reuben were forty-six thousand five hundred.
a. Those who were numbered of the tribe of Reuben were forty-six
thousand five hundred: Many people wonder if these numbers are
accurate and literal. Some think that they are grossly exaggerated,
and others have suggested they are increased by a factor of ten.
Despite the objections of critics, it is best to trust the simple
testimony of God’s Word. Surely God could provide for such a
multitude in the wilderness and occasional discrepancies in numbers
are likely due to scribal errors.
b. Forty-six thousand five hundred: Are these numbers exact? Most
likely, they are rounded off to the nearest one hundred (except in the
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case of the Tribe of Gad).
2. (Num_1:22-23) The Tribe of Simeon: 59,300 potential soldiers.
From the children of Simeon, their genealogies by their families, by their
fathers’ house, of those who were numbered, according to the number of
names, every male individually, from twenty years old and above, all
who were able to go to war: those who were numbered of the tribe of
Simeon were fifty-nine thousand three hundred.
3. (Num_1:24-25) The Tribe of Gad: 45,650 potential soldiers.
From the children of Gad, their genealogies by their families, by their
fathers’ house, according to the number of names, from twenty years old
and above, all who were able to go to war: those who were numbered of
the tribe of Gad were forty-five thousand six hundred and fifty.
4. (Num_1:26-27) The Tribe of Judah: 74,600 potential soldiers.
From the children of Judah, their genealogies by their families, by their
the tribe of Judah were seventy-four thousand six hundred.
5. (Num_1:28-29) The Tribe of Issachar: 54,400 potential soldiers.
From the children of Issachar, their genealogies by their families, by
their fathers’ house, according to the number of names, from twenty
years old and above, all who were able to go to war: those who were
numbered of the tribe of Issachar were fifty-four thousand four
hundred.
6. (Num_1:30-31) The Tribe of Zebulun: 57,400 potential soldiers.
From the children of Zebulun, their genealogies by their families, by
numbered of the tribe of Zebulun were fifty-seven thousand four
hundred.
7. (Num_1:32-33) The Tribe of Ephraim: 40,500 potential soldiers.
From the sons of Joseph, the children of Ephraim, their genealogies by
their families, by their fathers’ house, according to the number of
names, from twenty years old and above, all who were able to go to war:
those who were numbered of the tribe of Ephraim were forty thousand
five hundred.
8. (Num_1:34-35) The Tribe of Manasseh: 32,200 potential soldiers.
From the children of Manasseh, their genealogies by their families, by
numbered of the tribe of Manasseh were thirty-two thousand two
hundred.
9. (Num_1:36-37) The Tribe of Benjamin: 35,400 potential soldiers.
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From the children of Benjamin, their genealogies by their families, by
numbered of the tribe of Benjamin were thirty-five thousand four
hundred.
10. (Num_1:38-39) The Tribe of Dan: 62,700 potential soldiers.
From the children of Dan, their genealogies by their families, by their
the tribe of Dan were sixty-two thousand seven hundred.
11. (Num_1:40-41) The Tribe of Asher: 41,500 potential soldiers.
From the children of Asher, their genealogies by their families, by their
the tribe of Asher were forty-one thousand five hundred.
12. (Num_1:42-43) The Tribe of Naphtali: 53,400 potential soldiers.
From the children of Naphtali, their genealogies by their families, by
numbered of the tribe of Naphtali were fifty-three thousand four
hundred.
13. (Num_1:44-46) Summary of the tribes: 603,550 potential soldiers in
Israel.
These are the ones who were numbered, whom Moses and Aaron
numbered, with the leaders of Israel, twelve men, each one representing
his father’s house. So all who were numbered of the children of Israel, by
their fathers’ houses, from twenty years old and above, all who were able
to go to war in Israel; all who were numbered were six hundred and
three thousand five hundred and fifty.
a. All who were able to go to war in Israel; all who were numbered
were six hundred and three thousand five hundred and fifty: At the
end of the Book of Numbers - 38 years later - this census is repeated.
The total number of available soldiers will be almost the same - only a
loss of some two thousand. But the numbers of each tribe change
significantly, and there is meaning in what happened to each tribe
over these critical 38 years.
b. So all who were numbered of the children of Israel, by their
fathers’ houses: In this first census Manasseh is the smallest tribe
and Judah is the largest. There are two tribes in the 30 thousands;
three in the 40 thousands; four in the 50 thousands; one in the 60
thousands, and one in the 70 thousands.
c. All who were numbered were six hundred and three thousand five
hundred and fifty: Based on having 603,550 available soldiers, many
people estimate the total population of Israel at this time to be
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between two and two-and-a-half million.
14. (Num_1:47-54) The special case of the tribe of Levi.
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. And when the tabernacle is to go
forward, the Levites shall take it down; and when the tabernacle is to be
set up, the Levites shall set it up. The outsider who comes near shall be
put to death. The children of Israel shall pitch their tents, everyone by
his own camp, everyone by his own standard, according to their armies;
but the Levites shall camp around the tabernacle of the Testimony, that
there may be no wrath on the congregation of the children of Israel; and
the Levites shall keep charge of the tabernacle of the Testimony.” Thus
the children of Israel did; according to all that the LORD commanded
Moses, so they did.
a. But the Levites were not numbered among them: Because this was
a census of potential soldiers, the Tribe of Levi was not counted. They
alone among the tribes did not go to war because they had special
responsibility to God for the priestly duties of Israel.
b. Thus the children of Israel did; according to all that the LORD
commanded Moses, so they did: Counting, or taking inventory, is an
essential step in organization and moving forward. In preparing to
enter the Promised Land Israel had to be organized - God is an
organized God, and moves through organization even when we can’t
figure it out! Therefore it was essential that Israel took inventory and
saw where they were.
i. God counts things. He counts the stars and has a name for each
one (Psa_147:4; Isa_40:26). God even counts and knows the
number of hairs on your head! (Mat_10:30)
ii. “He who counts the stars and calls them all by their names,
leaves nothing unarranged in his own service.” (Spurgeon)
c. Only the tribe of Levi you shall not number: We also must see, that
as in the case of Levi, there are some things that can’t - or shouldn’t -
be counted. Israel had to appreciate that some of the most important
things can’t be counted.
i. Taking inventory is fine; even a necessary first step in organizing
for victory in taking hold of God’s promises. But it must always be
done understanding that some of the important factors - as the
Levites were in Israel - cannot be counted. No inventory is totally
complete, and God always works mightily through things that
can’t be counted.
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2 “Take a census of the whole Israelite community
by their clans and families, listing every man by
name, one by one.
CLARKE, "Take ye the sum, etc. - God, having established the
commonwealth of Israel by just and equitable laws, ordained every thing
relative to the due performance of his own worship, erected his tabernacle,
which was his throne, and the place of his residence among the people, and
consecrated his priests who were to minister before him; he now orders his
subjects to be mustered,
1. That they might see he had not forgotten his promise to Abraham, but
was multiplying his posterity.
2. That they might observe due order in their march toward the promised
land.
3. That the tribes and families might be properly distinguished; that all
litigations concerning property, inheritance, etc., might, in all future
times, be prevented.
4. That the promise concerning the Messiah might be known to have its
due accomplishment, when in the fullness of time God should send
him from the seed of Abraham through the house of David. And,
5. That they might know their strength for war; for although they should
ever consider God as their protector and defense, yet it was necessary
that they should be assured of their own fitness, naturally speaking, to
cope with any ordinary enemy, or to surmount any common
difficulties.
GILL, "Take ye the sum of all the congregation of the children of Israel,....
Excepting the Levites; nor were any account taken of the mixed multitude
that came out of Egypt with the children of Israel, only of them; and this
account was taken, partly to observe the fulfilment of the divine promise to
Abraham concerning the multiplication of his seed, and partly that it might
be observed, that at the end of thirty eight years from hence, when they
were numbered again, there were but three left of this large number, their
carcasses falling in the wilderness because of their sins; and chiefly, as Aben
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Ezra observes, this sum was now taken to fix their standards, and for their
better and more orderly journeying and encampment; for on the twentieth
of this month they set forward on their journey from hence, Num_10:11; the
word for the order is in the plural number, take ye, being given both to
Moses and Aaron, who were to take the number, and did, Num_1:3,
after their families; into which their tribes were divided:
by the house of their fathers; for if the mother was of one tribe, and the
father of another, the family was according to the tribe of the father, as
Jarchi notes, a mother's family being never called a family, as Aben Ezra
observes:
with the number of their names; of every particular person, whose name
was inserted in a list or register:
every male by their poll; or head (b); for none but males were numbered:
the Lord's spiritual Israel are a numbered people, written in the book of life,
placed into the hand of Christ, and exactly known by him, even by name;
yea, all that belong to him are numbered, and the very airs of their heads,
HENRY 2-16, "The directions given for the execution of it, Num_1:2, Num_
1:3. (1.) None were to be numbered but the males, and those only such as
were fit for war. None under twenty years old; for, though some such might
have bulk and strength enough for military service, yet, in compassion to
their tender years, God would not have them put upon it to bear arms. (2.)
Nor were any to be numbered who through age, or bodily infirmity,
blindness, lameness, or chronical diseases, were unfit for war. The church
being militant, those only are reputed the true members of it that have
enlisted themselves soldiers of Jesus Christ; for our life, our Christian life,
is a warfare. (3.) The account was to be taken according to their families,
that it might not only be known how many they were, and what were their
names, but of what tribe and family, or clan, nay, of what particular house
every person was; or, reckoning it the muster of an army, to what regiment
every man belonged, that he might know his place himself and the
government might know where to find him. They were numbered a little
before this, when their poll-money was paid for the service of the
tabernacle, Exo_38:25, Exo_38:26. But it should seem they were not then
registered by the house of their fathers, as now they were. Their number
was the same then that it was now: 603,550 men; for as many as had died
since then, and were lost in the account, so many had arrived to be twenty
years old, and were added to the account. Note, As one generation passeth
away another generation cometh. As vacancies are daily made, so recruits
are daily raised to fill up the vacancies, and Providence takes care that, one
time or other, in one place or other, the births shall balance the burials, that
the race of mankind and the holy seed may not be cut off and become
extinct.
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3. Commissioners are named for the doing of this work. Moses and Aaron
were to preside (Num_1:3), and one man of every tribe, that was renowned
in his tribe, and was presumed to know it well, was to assist in it - the
princes of the tribes, Num_1:16. Note, Those that are honourable should
study to be serviceable; he that is great, let him be your minister, and show,
by his knowing the public, that he deserves to be publicly known. The charge
of this muster was committed to him who was the lord-lieutenant of that
tribe. Now,
II. Why was this account ordered to be taken and kept? For several
reasons. 1. To prove the accomplishment of the promise made to Abraham,
that God would multiply his seed exceedingly, which promise was renewed
to Jacob (Gen_28:14), that his seed should be as the dust of the earth. Now
it appears that there did not fail one tittle of that good promise, which was
an encouragement to them to hope that the other promise of the land of
Canaan for an inheritance should also be fulfilled in its season. When the
number of a body of men is only guessed at, upon the view, it is easy for one
that is disposed to cavil to surmise that the conjecture is mistaken, and that,
if they were to be counted, they would not be found half so many; therefore
God would have Israel numbered, that it might be upon record how vastly
they were increased in a little time, that the power of God's providence and
the truth of his promise may be seen and acknowledged by all. It could not
have been expected, in any ordinary course of nature, that seventy-five
souls (which was the number of Jacob's family when he went down into
Egypt) should in 215 years (and it was no longer) multiply into so many
hundred thousands. It is therefore to be attributed to an extraordinary
virtue in the divine promise and blessing. 2. It was to intimate the particular
care which God himself would take of his Israel, and which Moses and the
inferior rulers were expected to take of them. God is called the Shepherd of
Israel, Psa_80:1. Now the shepherds always kept count of their flocks, and
delivered them by number to their under-shepherds, that they might know
if any were missing; in like manner God numbers his flock, that of all which
he took into his fold he might lose none but upon a valuable consideration,
even those that were sacrificed to his justice. 3. It was to put a difference
between the true born Israelites and the mixed multitude that were among
them; none were numbered but Israelites: all the world is but lumber in
comparison with those jewels. Little account is made of others, but the
saints God has a particular property in and concern for. The Lord knows
those that are his (2Ti_2:19), knows them by name, Phi_4:3. The hairs of
their head are numbered ; but he will say to others, “I never knew you,
never made any account of you.” 4. It was in order to their being marshalled
into several districts, for the more easy administration of justice, and their
more regular march through the wilderness. It is a rout and a rabble, not an
army, that is not mustered and put in order.
BENSON, "Numbers 1:2. Take ye the sum — This is not the same muster with that
spoken of Exodus 38:26, as plainly appears, because that was before the building of
the tabernacle, which was built and set up on the first day of the first month;
29

(Exodus 40:2;) but this was after it, on the first day of the second month. And they
were for different ends; that was to tax them for the charges of the tabernacle; but
this was for other purposes, as partly, that the great number of the people might be
known to the praise of God’s faithfulness, in making good his promises of
multiplying them, and for their own encouragement: partly for the better ordering
of their camp and march, for they were now beginning their journey; and partly
that this account might be compared with the other in the close of the book, where
we read that not one of all this vast number, except Caleb and Joshua, were left
alive; a fair warning to all future generations to take head of rebelling against the
Lord. It is true, the sums and numbers agree in this and the former computation
mentioned, (Exodus 38:26,) which is not strange, because there was not much time
between these two numberings, and no eminent sin among the people in that
interval, whereby God was provoked to diminish their numbers. Some, indeed,
suppose, that in that number (Exodus 30:38.) the Levites were included, who are
here excepted, (Numbers 1:47,) and that in that interval of time there were grown
up as many more men of those years as there were Levites of the same age. Israel —
So the strangers mixed with them were not numbered. Their fathers — The people
were divided into twelve tribes, the tribes into great families, (Numbers 26:5,) these
great families into lesser families, called the houses of their fathers, because they
were distinguished one from another by their fathers.
COKE, "Numbers 1:2. Take ye the sum— See Exodus 30:12; Exodus 38:26 and the
26th chapter of this book. The tribes were divided into families, the families into
houses or households, Joshua 7:16-18 but here the house of their fathers seems of
the same import with the tribes of their fathers: so in Numbers 1:4 the princes of the
tribes, are called, heads of the houses of their fathers; and Numbers 1:44 the house
of their fathers is the same as the tribe of their fathers, Numbers 1:47.
ELLICOTT, " (2) After their families.—The family or clan, mishpahah, included
several fathers’ houses (see Kurtz’s Hist. of the Old Covenant, 2, pp. 8-10).
With the number of their names.—Better, according to the number of names. The
reference is probably to the previous numbering recorded in Exodus 30:12. There is
no corresponding clause in the account of the later numbering in Numbers 26:2.
By their polls—i.e., man by man. The word gulgoleth denotes a man’s head, or
skull. Cf. Matthew 27:33.
TRAPP, "Numbers 1:2 Take ye the sum of all the congregation of the children of
Israel, after their families, by the house of their fathers, with the number of [their]
names, every male by their polls;
Ver. 2. Take ye the sum.] Hence this book is named in the Greek, Numbers.
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PETT, "Verse 2-3
‘Take you (ye) the sum of all the congregation of the children of Israel, by their
families, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of the names, every male,
by their heads, from twenty years old and upward, all that are able to go forth to
war in Israel, you (thou) and Aaron shall number them by their hosts.’
The command is given to ‘take the sum’ of all men of military age in the twelve
tribes (excluding Levi), in ‘the congregation of the children of Israel’, numbering
them in their different regiments (‘hosts’). The intention was in order to organise
the different sections of the army. This was ‘the Lord’s army’. What pride there
probably was in its being numbered. What sad failure would result when as a result
of unbelief it would flee from the Amorites. And yet God’s purposes would go
forward and success would come in the end, not through the size of that army but
through God’s power at work through weakness.
This numbering was to be done ‘by their families, by their father’s houses’, in other
words ‘wider family by wider family’, and ‘tribe by tribe’. Each section would
number its men available for action and the numbering would then be accumulated
to give the number for the tribe. The numbering was to be of those available to ‘go
forth to war’.
“The congregation of Israel.” A regular description for the tribes of Israel as a
whole seen as one in their submission to Yahweh, seen as a people ‘gathered’ to
serve Him. Sometimes it can refer to the mature menfolk, or sometimes to the whole
of Israel.
“According to the number of the names.” This may refer to the names of the twelve
tribes. But more probably it simply refers to the people as ‘names’ as it refers to
them as ‘heads’ and ‘every male’ (compare Numbers 1:17). They are not just
numbers, they have names. Compare Numbers 26:53.
We note that the command was given to Moses, but that Aaron was also to be
involved in the matter in his new position as ‘the Priest’ (the High Priest). This
linking is stressed in the passage Numbers 1:1 to Numbers 3:1 related to numbering
(see Numbers 1:3; Numbers 1:17; Numbers 1:44; Numbers 2:1), although Moses
alone is mentioned where Yahweh’s direct command is stressed (Numbers 1:19;
Numbers 1:48; Numbers 1:54; Numbers 2:33-34). This is officially ‘the history of
Moses and Aaron’ as confirmed by the colophon (Numbers 3:1).
POOLE, "Verse 2
This is not the same muster with that Exodus 38:26, as plainly appears, because that
was before the building of the tabernacle, which was built and set up on the first day
of the first month, Exodus 40:2; but this was after it, to wit, on the first day of the
second month, as is said Numbers 1:1. And they were for differing ends; that was to
31

tax them for the charges of the tabernacle, but this was for other ends; partly, that
the great number of the people might be known to the praise of God’s faithfulness,
in making good his promises of multiplying them, and to their own comfort and
encouragement; partly, for the better ordering of their camp and march, for they
were now beginning their journey; and partly, that this account might be compared
with the other in the close of the book, where we read that not one of all this vast
number, except Caleb and Joshua, were left alive; which was an evident discovery of
the mischievous nature of sin, by which so vast a company were destroyed, and a
fair warning to all future generations to take heed of rebelling against the Lord, for
which their ancestors had been so dreadfully plagued even to extirpation. It is true,
the sums and numbers agree in this and that computation, which is not strange,
because there was not much time between the two numberings, and no eminent sin
among the people in that interval whereby God was provoked to diminish their
numbers. Some conceive, that in that number, Exo 30 Exo 38, the Levites were
included, which are here excepted, Numbers 1:47, and that in that interval of time
there were grown up as many more men of those years as there were Levites of the
same age.
Of the children of Israel; so the stranger mixed with them were not numbered. The
people were divided into twelve tribes, the tribes into great families, Numbers 26:5;
these great families into lesser families, called
the houses of their fathers, because they were distinguished one from another by
their fathers.
WHEDON, " 2. Take ye the sum — The chief object of this enrolment was probably
for the more efficient organization of the military force of the nation. It may,
however, have also subserved other purposes.
After their families — This census was more than an individual enumeration: it was
a tribal and family registration, and was necessary for the efficient organization of
the army. The difference between the terms “families” and house of their fathers is
not clear. From Joshua 7:14, (see note,) we infer that the former includes the latter,
though Prof. Bush suggests that the latter is merely explanatory of the former. See
Exodus 6:13-19, note. An incidental but very important result of this family
registration was the documentary provision which it afforded for tracing the lineage
of the Messiah. The formation of family surnames is seen in Numbers 26:5-7, like
the English John-sons, the Scotch Macs, and the Irish O’s and Fitz’s.
The number of their names — Although the Hebrew for sum and number would
indicate some difference, it is not clear what it is. The majority of the versions
translate them as synonymous.
PULPIT, "Take ye the sum of all the congregation. The census here ordered had
clearly been anticipated, as far as the numbers were concerned, by the results of the
half-shekel poll-tax for the service of the sanctuary levied some time before on all
32

adult males on pain of Divine displeasure (Exodus 30:11, sq.). Since all who were
liable had paid that tax (Exodus 38:25, Exodus 38:26), it would only have been
requisite to make slight; corrections for death or coming of age during the interval.
The totals, however, in the two eases being exactly the same, it is evident that no
such corrections were made, and that the round numbers already obtained were
accepted as sufficiently accurate for all practical purposes. After their families. This
was to be a registration as well as a census. No doubt the lists and pedigrees
collected at this time laid the foundation of that exact and careful genealogical lore
which played so important a part both in the religious and in the secular history of
the Jews down to the final dispersion. Every Jew had not only his national, but also
(and often even more) his tribal and family, associations, traditions, and sympathies.
Unity, but not uniformity,—unity in all deepest interests and highest purposes,
combined with great variety of character, of tradition, and even of tendency,—was
the ideal of the life of Israel. The number of their names. It is impossible to help
thinking of the parallel expression in Acts 1:15, of the similarity in position of the
two peoples, of the contrast between their numbers and apparent chances of success,
of the more striking contrast between their actual achievements.
BI 2-3, "Take ye the sum of all the congregation.
Reasons for numbering the people
Not because God would understand whether they were sufficient for
number, or able for strength, to encounter their enemies, forasmuch as
nothing is unknown to Him or impossible for Him to bring to pass, who is
able to save as well with a few as with many.
1. For order’s sake: that there should be no occasion of contention for
primacy, but that every tribe and family should know his place and time,
when to remove and when to stand still, when to fight with their
enemies, and in every point what to do.
2. That such things as were to be paid for the use of the tabernacle might
the more easily be collected when they were separated according to their
tribes, and the tribes according to their families, and the families
according to the household, man by man.
3. To testify His exceeding great love toward them and special care over
them. A faithful shepherd will many times count the sheep committed to
him, lest any should be missing.
4. Lastly, they are severally and distinctly numbered every tribe by itself,
that in time to come it might be certainly known of what tribe and family
Christ Jesus, the promised Messiah, should be born. (W. Attersoll.)
Reasons for the census taking:
1. To prove the accomplishment of the promise made to Abraham, that
God would multiply his seed exceedingly; and renewed in Jacob (Gen_
28:14). Now it appears that there did not fail one tittle of that good
33

promise, which was an encouragement to, them to hope that the other
promise of the land of Canaan for an inheritance should always be
fulfilled in its season. Therefore God would have Israel numbered, that it
might be upon record how vastly they were increased in a little time, that
the power of God’s providence and the truth of His promise may be
acknowledged by all. It could not have been expected, in any ordinary
course of nature, that seventy-five souls (which was the number of
Jacob’s family when he went down into Egypt): should in two hundred
and fifteen years multiply to so many hundred thousands. It is therefore
to be attributed to an extraordinary virtue in the Divine promise and
blessing.
2. It was to put a difference between the true-born Israelites and the
mixed multitude that were among them. None were numbered but
Israelites. All the world is but a lumber in comparison with those jewels.
Little account is made of others; but the saints God has a particular
property in and concern for (2Ti_2:19; Php_4:3). The hairs of their head
are numbered; but He will say to others, “I never knew you, never made
any account of you.”
3. It was in order to their being marshalled into several districts, for the
more easy administration of justice, and their more regular march
through the wilderness. It is a rout and a rabble, not an army, that is not
mustered and put in order. (Matthew Henry, D. D.)
Israel’s host mustered:
1. The order for this enumeration is Divine. God gave the order, and He
appointed the men who should fulfil it. It may be asked, Why does the
Lord now sanction the doing of this work, and in the subsequent ages
curs David for doing, substantially, the same thing? The answer is
twofold: First, it was not the Lord, but Satan, who tempted David to
number Israel; and, secondly, it was done for the gratification of David’s
personal pride and ambition. Further, it may be said, this was done
against the protest of the general-in-chief of his armies (see 1Ch_21:3-4).
When God commands it is always safe to obey; but when Satan incites us
we are to beware. There are several reasons why God commanded this
muster-roll to be made now.
(1) The promise had been made to Abraham of an exceeding great
multiplication of his seed. It was now designed that they should see
how this promise had been fulfilled, even amid the heartless bondage
of Egypt.
(2) This He demanded should be done carefully and certainly. There
is nothing easier than to miscalculate numbers, especially where the
basis of reckoning is careless. Here He orders this to be done by an
individual count.
(3) It was only those who were able to go forth to war who were
numbered. The blind, the lame, the diseased, and the aged were not
34

enrolled. It is the Lord’s plan in all the ages, never to ask a man to do
what he is incompetent to perform. On the other hand, He expects
every one to do all he is able to do. The men selected for this
enrolment were “renowned men.” Heads of their families and their
tribes—princes in Israel. Sometimes the great, the wealthy, and the
wise attempt to excuse themselves from the service of God. They are
too much busied with their own concerns. But there are those who
wear crowns and coronets who do pray and labour in Christ’s cause.
They are worthy standard-bearers in the army of the Lord. Like
Queen Victoria and Lord Shaftesbury, like Coligny and Conde, like
the electors of Germany in the time of the Reformation, they stand
forth doing the Lord’s will, and accomplishing His purposes. We see
here, further, with what quickness and promptness this work was
done. It would seem as if only a few days were consumed in doing a
work so vast. Thus when God calls us to do His work there is to be no
delay. “The King’s business requires haste.” No one has a right to be
an indifferent or idle worker. Another thought here: only Israelites
were to be mustered. No one of the mixed multitude is to be put upon
the rolls, They could not be intrusted on the army-rolls. They were
more ready for a ferment than for a fight. No wonder that the
immortal Washington, on an occasion of great importance and peril,
said, “Put no one but Americans on guard to-night.” So God would not
allow any one but His own people to fight His, battles, or to do His
work. In the numeric record Judah is found to have the largest
number of men. “This deserves notice in connection with the blessing
pronounced on that tribe in Gen_49:8-12, ‘Thou art he whom thy
brethren shall praise.’” Judah was the grand leader of all the princes
and tribes of Israel. God designed that He should be so, as his was the
tribe from which Immanuel was to come. The whole number was six
hundred and three thousand five hundred and fifty. With three
exceptions, Russia, Germany, and France, this is larger than the
regular army of any nation now on the face of the globe. Of court, the
war-footing of many other nations is greater than this; but this is an
amazing regular army for that day and age. But, vast as it was, it was
all swallowed up in thirty-eight years from this time, because of
unbelief and sin. Only two of this great number escaped the general
destruction; namely, Caleb and Joshua. So multitudes who profess to
be soldiers in the Lord’s army are wasted by death or become
inefficient and useless. One of the great defects in all our Churches is
want of organisation. Herein were the beauty and the strength of this
mustering. The Levites, however, were exempted from this
enrolment. In all ages the priestly caste of men has been generally
free from war-service; so the Levites, by the appointment of God,
were free. To them were committed the spiritual interests of the
tribes, the worship and service of God, the offering of sacrifices, and
the expounding of the law. “They warred the warfare of the
tabernacle.” So we think no minister should be a soldier, a lawyer, a
physician, a business man, or a farmer. He cannot do these things
without lowering the standard of his calling and materially injuring
35

his efficiency. (Lewis R. Dunn, D. D.)
The numbering of the people (a homily for the census day)
I. A few words about the census, which is being taken to-day in every town,
every hamlet, every remote habitation of the United Kingdom. The
Israelites dealt largely in statistics. At all the great turning-points in their
history a census was taken. This Book of Numbers owes its name to the fact
that it records two census-takings; one at the beginning, the other at the
close of the forty years’ sojourn in the wilderness. An admonition to fill up
the census-papers with exactness and for conscience’ sake.
II. Meditations proper to the census day.
1. The filling up of a census-paper is, in itself, a piece of secular business.
Yet I do not envy the man who can perform it without being visited with
holy feeling. The setting down of the names of one’s household brings up
many tragic memories. The setting down one’s own age, after a lapse of
ten years, summons us to count our days that we may apply our hearts to
wisdom.
2. The Lord keeps an exact register of His people. There is a Book of Life
in which are inscribed the names of all whom He has chosen. How true
this is the whole Scripture bears witness (Exo_32:30; Isa_4:3; Eze_13:9;
Luk_10:20; Php_4:3; Heb_12:23; Rev_13:8). We commonly think of this
as a book which is shut and sealed. The Lord only knoweth them that are
His. A man may ascertain his own acceptance with God. (W. Binnie, D.
D.)
The numbering of the people:
I. The authority for this numbering. Leaders of men should be well assured
of two things in the movements which they inaugurate—
1. That they have the Divine approval of their undertakings. The
movement which is approved by God, and well prosecuted, shall advance
to splendid triumph.
2. That they are actuated by worthy motives in their undertakings. A
sinful, selfish motive will vitiate our enterprises and mar our works.
“The Lord looketh at the heart.” Let us scrutinise our motives.
II. The place of this numbering. “In the wilderness of Sinai.”
1. In a desert.
(1) Privation.
(2) Peril.
(3) Perplexity.
2. In a desert where the tabernacle of God was.
36

III. The time of this numbering. Exactly one month after the setting up of
the tabernacle (Exo_40:2; Exo_40:17) and about eleven months from the
time of their arrival in the desert of Sinai. The people abode in this desert
nearly a whole year (comp. Exo_19:1 with Num_1:1; Num_10:11). What was
the reason of this protracted halt? That they might be instructed in their
relations to God and to each other; that they might learn lessons of duty and
worship; that they might be taught to reverence and obey God. There are
times and circumstances in which standing still is the speediest advance.
IV. THE MANNER OF THIS NUMBERING. They were to take account of—
1. Only the males.
2. Only the males above twenty years old.
3. Only the males above twenty years old who were in vigorous health—
“able to go forth to war.”
4. They were to be numbered “after their families,” that it might be
known of what tribe and of what particular house every able man was.
5. The numbering was to be individual, and by name.
The census was minute.
(1) The Lord chooses fit instruments for the accomplishment of His
purposes.
(2) The Lord is perfectly acquainted with every one who is fitted for
His work.
V. The design of this numbering.
1. The organisation of the army.
2. To manifest the Divine faithfulness.
3. To show the Divine power.
4. To the promotion of order.
5. To exhibit, on the coming of the Messiah, the correspondence of the
event with the predictions concerning it.
6. To illustrate the care of God for His people generally and particularly.
The Lord’s care over His people is most minute and constant and tender.
(W. Jones.)
The numbered people:
1. In common matters men count possessions, which are choice and dear
and prized. They whose mean joys are fixed on this world’s pelf thus
calculate their gold. Their coffers are oft opened. Do we, then indulge
unfounded fancy when in God’s numbering we read God’s love? Do not
clear characters here write that His people are thus numbered because
loved—counted, because prized?
37

Numbers 1 commentary

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