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Numbers
1:1-54 “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, 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; 3 from twenty years old and upward,
all that are able to go forth to war in Israel:
thou and Aaron shall number them by their armies. 4
And
with you there shall be a man of every tribe; every one head of the house of
his fathers. 5 And these are the names of
the men that shall stand with you: of the
tribe of Reuben; Elizur the son of Shedeur. 6
Of
Simeon; Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai. 7
Of
Judah; Nahshon the son of Amminadab. 8
Of
Issachar; Nethaneel the son of Zuar. 9
Of
Zebulun; Eliab the son of Helon. 10
Of
the children of Joseph: of Ephraim;
Elishama the son of Ammihud: of
Manasseh; Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur. 11
Of
Benjamin; Abidan the son of Gideoni. 12
Of
Dan; Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai. 13
Of
Asher; Pagiel the son of Ocran. 14
Of
Gad; Eliasaph the son of Deuel. 15
Of
Naphtali; Ahira the son of Enan. 16
These
were the renowned of the congregation, princes of the tribes of their
fathers, heads of thousands in Israel. 17
And
Moses and Aaron took these men which are expressed by their names: 18
and
they assembled all the congregation together on the first day of the
second month, and they declared their pedigrees after their families, by the
house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years
old and upward, by their polls. 19
As
the LORD commanded Moses, so he numbered
them in the wilderness of Sinai. 20
And
the children of Reuben, Israel’s oldest son, by their generations, after their
families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names,
by their polls, every male from twenty years old and upward, all that were able
to go to war; 21 those that were
numbered of them, even of the tribe of Reuben, were forty and six
thousand and five hundred. 22 Of the children of
Simeon, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their
fathers, those that were numbered of them, 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; 23 those that were
numbered of them, even of the tribe of Simeon, were fifty and
nine thousand and three hundred. 24
Of
the children of Gad, by their generations, after their families, by the house
of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old
and upward, all that were able to go forth to war; 25
those
that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Gad, were forty
and five thousand six hundred and fifty. 26
Of
the children of Judah, by their generations, after their families, by the house
of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old
and upward, all that were able to go forth to war; 27
those
that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Judah, were
threescore and fourteen thousand and six hundred. 28
Of
the children of Issachar, by their generations, after their families, by the
house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years
old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war; 29
those
that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Issachar, were
fifty and four thousand and four hundred. 30
Of
the children of Zebulun, by their generations, after their families, by the
house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years
old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war; 31
those
that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Zebulun, were
fifty and seven thousand and four hundred. [The population of The Netherlands stood at
17.65 million in January 2024.] 32
Of
the children of Joseph, namely, of the children of Ephraim, by their
generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to
the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able
to go forth to war; 33 those that were
numbered of them, even of the tribe of Ephraim, were forty
thousand and five hundred. [The current population
of Canada is 39,118,132 as of Sunday, July 14, 2024, and the current
population of Australia is 26,708,150 as of Sunday, July 14, 2024, At 31
March 2024: New Zealand's estimated resident population was provisionally 5,338,900,
and the population of the united kingdom 66.97 million
(2022), total for Ephraim ]
34 Of the children of Manasseh, by
their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers,
according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all
that were able to go forth to war; 35
those
that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Manasseh, were
thirty and two thousand and two hundred. [the current population of the United
States of America is 341,884,099 as of Monday, July 15, 2024] 36 Of the children of Benjamin, by their generations, after
their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the
names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war;
37
those that were numbered of them, even of the
tribe of Benjamin, were thirty and five thousand and four hundred. 38 Of the children of Dan, by their generations, after their
families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names,
from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war; 39 those that were numbered of them, even of the
tribe of Dan, were threescore and two thousand and seven hundred. [The current population of Ireland in 2024 is 5,089,478,
and the current population of Denmark in 2024 is 5,939,695] 40 Of the children of Asher, by their generations, after
their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the
names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war;
41
those that were numbered of them, even of the
tribe of Asher, were forty and one thousand and five hundred. 42 Of the children of Naphtali, throughout their
generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to
the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able
to go forth to war; 43 those that
were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Naphtali, were fifty
and three thousand and four hundred. 44 These are
those that were numbered, which Moses and Aaron numbered, and the princes of
Israel, being twelve men: each
one was for the house of his fathers. 45 So were all
those that were numbered of the children of Israel, by the house of their
fathers, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to
war in Israel; 46 even all
they that were numbered were six hundred thousand and three thousand and five
hundred and fifty. 47 But the Levites
after the tribe of their fathers were not numbered among them. 48 For the LORD had spoken
unto Moses, saying, 49 Only thou
shalt not number the tribe of Levi, neither take the sum of them among the
children of Israel: 50 but thou
shalt appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of testimony, and over all the
vessels thereof, and over all the things that belong to it: they shall bear the tabernacle, and all the
vessels thereof; and they shall minister unto it, and shall encamp round about
the tabernacle. 51 And when the
tabernacle setteth forward, the Levites shall take it down: and when the tabernacle is to be pitched, the
Levites shall set it up: and the
stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death. 52 And the children of Israel shall pitch their tents, every
man by his own camp, and every man by his own standard, throughout their hosts.
53
But the Levites shall pitch round about the tabernacle of
testimony, that there be no wrath upon the congregation of the children of
Israel: and the Levites shall keep the
charge of the tabernacle of testimony. 54 And the
children of Israel did according to all that the LORD commanded Moses, so did they.” Introduction: The Things
That Are Written Are To Be Examples To Us [Audio
version: https://resources.ccphilly.org/detail.asp?TopicID=&Teaching=WED578] “The Book of
Numbers. Anybody read through the first
chapter? You have a few ideas of where
we’re headed here? The Hebrew name for
the Book is just ‘Imid Bar’ which means “In the wilderness,” is taken
from the first verse where it says “in the wilderness.” The Septuagint translation done 200 and some
years before Christ by 72 Hebrew scholars in Alexandria translating it to
Greek, they called it “Arith Moiye” where we get arithmetic, Arith Moiye, and
then when they did the Latin translation it was ‘Numeri.’ So we have it today called “the Book of
Numbers.” All of those things give us a
picture of the Book, it is the numbering of the children of Israel as they
enter upon their wilderness journey. So
all of that comes to bear. If Genesis is
the book of Beginnings, and Exodus the book of Redemption, Leviticus the book
of Worship, this is the book of Warfare, it’s a book of motion, it’s a book of
moving. Genesis, if that is “election,”
again, redemption, Exodus, and then Leviticus, worship, this is very interesting. It covers a period of 38 years. And yet we’re only given a few glimpses of
things that happened during those 38 years of wilderness wandering. They come to Kedesh Barnea, and they will
turn away from there, and they will go through a number of experiences in the
Book of Numbers. Paul tells us in 1st
Corinthians, well let me read Romans first, you’re familiar with these
verses. Romans chapter 15 says,
“Whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning,
that we through patience and comfort of the Scripture, might have hope.” (verse
4) Very specific in 1st
Corinthians chapter 10, he says, “But with many of them God was
not well pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness. Now these things were our examples” the
word “examples” there in the Greek is “they were types,” they’re something
we’re supposed to see in them. ‘Now
these things were our examples, our types,’ “to the intent, that
we should not lust after evil things,” we see that in the Book of
Numbers, “as they lusted, neither be idolators, as some of them
were. As it is written, the people sat
down to eat and drink, and they rose up to play. Neither let us commit fornication, as some of
them committed and fell in one day twenty-three thousand.” We’ll see that in the Book of
Numbers. “Neither let us tempt
Christ, as some of them tempted, and were destroyed of serpents.” We’ll see that in the Book of
Numbers, “Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured and were
destroyed of the destroyer.” “Now”
Paul says, “all of these things happened unto them for examples,” for
types, “and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of
the world are come.” or ‘the ends of the Age are come,’
“Wherefore let him that thinketh he stand take heed lest he fall.” (verses
5-12) So Paul says very
specifically the things we do have in the Book of Numbers, and it’s 38 years of
wandering condensed to some very specific pictures given to us, that those
things are written there to be examples to us, so that we wouldn’t fall into
the same traps and temptations in our journey.
It is a picture of their journeying.
And right from the beginning we start to find something different in the
first chapter, and the LORD speaks to
Moses, and we’re going to have that “spake to Moses” over a 150 times in the
Book of Numbers. And that’s how involved
God is when he leads us. And he says 14
times in this first chapter, ‘Number those who are the age to go to war,
these are my armies.’ This is a
nation that had come out of 400 years in Egypt, and the last part of that, they
were slaves. We’re going to find out
there’s 603,550 fighting men from 12 tribes, from 20 years old and upwards. So you have that number 600,000 males from 20
years old and upward. Then you have to
take into consideration children, wives, the elderly that were too old for war,
and that’s where most scholars agree, that we’re looking at a camp that’s
between 2 and 3 million people. So
imagine, Philadelphia proper has a population of about a million and a half
now, imagine twice the population of the city of Philadelphia. And there in the wilderness now at Mount
Sinai. And God is going to lead
them. It tells us in Deuteronomy, and
you don’t have to turn, I’ll turn there, chapter 1, it says in verse 2, they
are 11 days journey from Horeb, by the way of mount Seir up to Kedesh, that it
was an 11 day journey from mount Horeb to the edge of the Promised Land. And it took them 38 years from this
point. But it was an 11-day journey,
they took the long way around the barn, as many of us do in our
experience. And it tells us in the next
verse in Deuteronomy 1, ‘And it came to pass in the fortieth year, in the
eleventh month,” so we are 40 years after the beginning of the
book. Look in verse 1, in Numbers,
“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” so in Deuteronomy 1 we’re in the 40th year,
38 years later, and it prefaces that statement by telling us it was an 11-day
journey if they had done it God’s way. Exodus
chapter 40, verse 17 tells us that it was the first day of the first month of
the second year, this is the first day of the 2nd month of the
second year, so this is exactly one month after the end of Exodus. And in that month the Tabernacle is erected,
all the Law is given that’s in the Books of Exodus through Leviticus in regards
to worship and Feast days and so forth.
And we’re a month after the Book of Exodus now chronologically, and God
is going to deal with this mass of people.
Now if you’ve been in the military, if you’ve been in some huge
corporation, try to imagine the logistics of moving between 2 and 3 million
people, in the desert, in the wilderness.
And we’ll talk about that as we go on, what was necessary in regards to
Manna, the tonnage necessary daily to fall.
The water, what a blessing, it says that the Rock followed them. Just, it’s incredible itself, and it says
they would move when the Pillar moved, and they would camp when the Pillar
camped. So you can imagine mass
pandemonium if there was no order and the Pillar just starts to move,
everybody’s grabbing everything, just going like a swarm of bees or
something. Now this is going to give us
now, the number of the males that are ready to go to war, in the first chapter,
Numbers 2 is going to give us the encampment of the tribes, Numbers 3 is going
to give us the order of the encampment of the Levites and the priests, and
chapter 4 then is going to give us the duties.
So in these first four chapters we have the numbering of the males in
Israel, the second chapter, their encampments with their families, the third
chapter is the order of the priests and the Levites and their responsibilities,
and the fourth chapter then their responsibilities and duties. So there is order here as this begins. And it says in the New Testament, ‘Let
all things be done decently and in order.’ God has not changed. So it’s very interesting for us to look at
this. You know, we can sit back and say ‘This
many thousand, and this many thousand,’ and all these numbers, but what
it’s telling us is ‘God knows where this tribe was, and God knows where
that tribe was, and God knows where that tribe was,’ he knows
how many males of the age of war were in this tribe and in this tribe and this
tribe and this tribe, that he knows your address, he knows your phone number,
he knows where you live, and he knows where you’re camped, he knows everything
about your life. [Comment: A lot of Christians and Jews and Messianic
Jews debate where ‘The Lost Ten Tribes of Israel’ are today, and some
may have somewhat accurately sleuthed out who some of them might be as
nations. But God knows exactly where
they are, as the late Pastor Chuck Smith once said. And it is Jesus Christ, at his 2nd
coming, who will regather them back to Israel where the Israeli Jews have
already taken up residence there in advance.
As you will see in Numbers chapter 2, the tribe of Judah was always in
the lead, broke camp first, whenever the Pillar of Cloud moved. Judah was always the first tribe to go into
battle, in the order of battle God laid out for the tribes. Now Judah since 1948 is back in the Promised
Land, leading the way, as it were, for the return of the other 10 tribes. The study on Genesis 48 gives some hints as
to who the two lead tribes of those Ten Tribes might be (see https://www.unityinchrist.com/Genesis47-48.html and scroll to Genesis 48).] It’s telling us so much more, it’s telling us
so much more. The Numbering Of The Children Of Israel So as we
jump into this, it says “And the LORD spake unto Moses in
the wilderness of Sinai, in the tabernacle of the congregation,” that’s where God was speaking
to him, “on the first day of the second month, in the second year
after they were come out of the land of Egypt, saying,” so they’re into the
second year [and one month after the Tabernacle was erected], and God said “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; from twenty years old and upward, all that are able
to go forth to war in Israel:” that phrase, 14 times in chapter 1, “thou
and Aaron shall number them by their armies.” (verses 1-3) That’s no small undertaking. They have to count all of these men of the 12
tribes, and again it’s going to be over 600,000, the standing army will be over
half a million. Now you guys, if you’re
familiar with the life of David, you know in 2nd Samuel 24 at the
end of David’s life, David numbered and counted the children of Israel and
their armies, and God smote him there and offered him three different
plagues. This though is by God’s
command, they’re to number the children of Israel, to set up the camp, they’re
to understand that they’re a force. And
now all of a sudden they’re being told they’re an army. They had never thought of that before, that’s
because they’re in the wilderness, they’re in enemy territory. Look, it’s a picture for you and I, we have
the Book of Beginnings, God’s election, the Book of Genesis, we have the Book
of Redemption, we get saved [Exodus], we have the Book of Worship, we come to
realize the True and Living God [the Book of Leviticus], and then we have this
Book of Wanderings and Warfare [the Book of Numbers]. And that’s the pilgrimage we’re in right
now. Look, when we read the New
Testament, we hear of enemy, we hear of wrestling, we hear of shields, we hear
of swords, we hear about the helmet of salvation [Ephesians 6], you know, all
of these descriptions in the New Testament, it’s not there just for fun, if you
haven’t noticed [read https://www.unityinchrist.com/memphisbelle.htm]. There is a struggle in our Christian
experience, every day, to do the right thing, to sense the Spirit, to yield to
the Word, when we want to express ourselves and respond in the natural, to do
the other, when the difficult things come, to trust Christ. And all of those pictures we’re going to have
here. And finally, entering into Canaan,
which is not a picture of heaven [or the Kingdom of Heaven, which will end up
on earth, Revelation 21:1-23]. Because
Canaan’s filled with giants, it’s filled with seven years of war, by the time I
get to heaven I’m done with all that.
It’s a picture of taking our inheritance and all the things that God has
for us. But they will learn in this
wilderness journey. Now let me tell you
something, it should be an exhortation, it’s an exhortation to me, this 603,550
men in the beginning, they renumber themselves at the end, they’re counted
again 38 years later, they’re 601,730, there’s less, by 1,860 of them. In bondage, in Egypt in 400 years, they grew
from 70 to between 2 and 3 million, that means they doubled in number in
bondage every 20 to 30 years. [Doubling
every 25 years for 400 years = 16 doublings of 70 which = 2,293,760 people from
the original 70.] They were prolific in
Egypt. [Though the Jews don’t really
like to admit it, Egypt was the Gentile birthmother of Israel. God has a special place for Egypt during the
Millennial Kingdom of God, as Isaiah would prophecy.] But in this wilderness wandering, because of
difficulty, mostly because of rebellion, there’s a zero population growth. And the sad thing is, out of our initial
numbering, 603,550, 603,548 die in the wilderness, and two of them go into the
Promised Land, Joshua and Caleb. And a
whole new generation goes in with them, a whole new generation. And what you and I want to be part of, we
want to be Joshua and Caleb. We don’t
want to be a part of a situation where there’s a move of God, where there’s
deliverance, I think of the JESUS Movement in ’69 and ’70, we don’t want to be
part of something, and then as the years go on, get comfortable and don’t want
to go to battle, don’t want to step in the front lines anymore, not want to do
anything, and you know, kind of perish in the wilderness and have God have to
raise up a whole new generation. And if
he does that, and I hope he does it, I want to be part of it, I want to be
right there in the thick of the battle.
We’re going to find in the Book of Joshua, when they go into the land,
Caleb is 85 years old [see https://www.unityinchrist.com/Joshua14-16.html]. And he says ‘I want Hebron, that’s where
all the giants live, let me at ‘em, I wanted at ‘em years before this, and the
whole nation turned away, I was ready to go fight giants then, I’m ready to go
fight ‘em now, because the LORD is with me.’ And let’s be as zealous now as we were when we first
got saved, let’s be as committed to Christ, because you know, we can get weary
in our journey, and we’re going to see so much of that here. But let’s be like Joshua and Caleb, let’s be
one of those who doesn’t want to turn away, who wants to face the giants of the
land head-on. Who believes that the
Captain of the LORD’s host is going before us, that
we can have a complete victory in these things.
So, number them, he says, all that are able to go forth to war, “thou
and Aaron shall number them by their armies.
And with you there shall be a man of every tribe; every one head of the
house of his fathers.” (verses 3b-4) So they’re going to work with the head of each
of the tribes, “And these are the names of the men that shall stand
with you:” (verse 5a) Now it’s very
interesting, and I took the meaning of the names from Alfred Edersheim, you may
dig them up somewhere else and study them, Alfred Edersheim gives us the names
in this order, ‘Of the tribe of Reuben,’ and I’m going to
slaughter these names, I’ll pretend to know how to pronounce them, but “of the
tribe of Reuben; Elizur the son of Shedeur.” (verse 5b) and his name
means “God is a Rock,” the son of Shedeur. “Of Simeon; Shelumiel the son of
Zurishaddai.” (verse 6) it’s either “the friend of God” or “God
is salvation.” “Of Judah; Nahshon
the son of Amminadab.” (verse 7) which is the strange one to me, of all of
these, which means “a diviner” it can have the idea of trying to find
direction, ‘the son of Amminadab,’ who is in the genealogy of Jesus Christ,
Matthew chapter 1. “Of Issachar; Nethaneel
the son of Zuar.” (verse 8) and his
name means “God the giver,” or “God is a giver.” “Of Zebulun; Eliab the son of
Helon.” (verse 9) His name means “God
is father,” or “God the Father.”
“Of the children of Joseph: of
Ephraim; Elishama the son of Ammihud:” (verse 10a) And his name means “God hears.” “of Manasseh; Gamaliel the son of
Pedahzur.” (verse 10b) which means “God rewards.” “Of Benjamin; Abidan the son of
Gideoni.” (verse 11) means “my father is judge.” “Of Dan; Ahiezer the son of
Ammishaddai.” (verse 12) which means
“My brother is help.” “Of Asher; Pagiel the son of Ocran.”
(verse 13) which is “My prayer to
God.” “Of Gad; Eliasaph
the son of Deuel.” (verse 14) his
name means “God gathers.” “Of
Naphtali; Ahira the son of Enan.” (verse 15) His name means “My brother is my
friend.” Now listen to me, these are
the heads of the tribes that will represent the men of fighting age of each
tribe. And I’m going to tell you
something, in the warfare that you and I are in every day as Christians, it’s
important for us to understand these things: “God is my rock,” “he is my
salvation,” “he helps me find direction,” “God is the giver,” “God is my
Father,” “God hears,” “God rewards,” “My Father is the judge,” “My brother is
my help.” Boy we need to realize that
every day. “My prayer is to God,” “It is
my God that gathers,” and “My brother is my friend.” Look, “These were the renowned of
the congregation, princes of the tribes of their fathers, heads of thousands in
Israel. And Moses and Aaron took these
men which are” notice “expressed by their names:” (verses 16-17)
because there was something about their character relative to their names. Those are all important truths, in the
warfare that we’re in you have to know that our brother or sister-in-Christ is
there to be our friend, because that’s what the enemy loves to get us doing, is
get us at the throat of each other.
Again, when my wife and I get in an argument, it’s because I’m
confessing her sins to her, and she’s confessing my sins to me, instead of us
both confessing our own sins to the Lord.
We better know that God is the giver, we don’t have to beg anywhere
else, that he’s the one that rewards, that no matter what people think of us,
that God is the judge, that he’s our Rock, that he is our Salvation. And as you go through these I think, what an
interesting table of contents and prerequisite for the armies that are ready to
go to war, that these men would lead them that are expressed by their
names. The
Numbers For Each Tribe, Initially & 38 Years Later “and they assembled all the
congregation together on the first day of the second month, and they
declared their pedigrees after their families, by the house of their fathers,
according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, by
their polls. As the LORD commanded Moses, so
he numbered them in the wilderness of Sinai.” (verses 18-19) Now those of you who read ahead, here we’re going to
get some numbers now, so I won’t torture you.
We’ll move through these, let me read the first one so you get a sense
of how these numbers will flow. Verse
20 says, “And the children of Reuben, Israel’s oldest son, by their
generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to
the number of the names, by their polls, every male from twenty years old and
upward, all that were able to go to war; those that were numbered of them, even
of the tribe of Reuben, were forty and six thousand and five hundred.”
(verses 20-21) Listen, 20-years-old
and upwards, God’s estimation, you are able to go to war, you young people
here, 20 years old and upward, there’s something that God sees in you. 1st John chapter 2 says
‘I’ve written unto you young men because the Word of God abides in you,
and you’ve overcome the evil one.’ God
expects us by the time we’re 20 to know how to handle the Sword, the Word of
God [and I’ve been handling it since the spring of 1970], the shield of faith,
to be strong, to be able to stand in temptation. From 20 years old that were able to go to
war, and he says here in verse 21, “those that were numbered of them,” this
was of Reuben, this is of the tribe of Reuben, “even of the tribe of
Reuben, were forty and six thousand and five hundred.” At the end of the Book, the tribe of
Reuben was 43,730, so they declined.
Verse 22, we have the children of Simeon, end of verse 22, able to go to
war, verse 23 says those of Simeon that were numbered were 59,300. At the end of the Book, 22,200, Simeon’s
almost cut in half in their numbers.
Verse 24, of the children of Gad in their generations, again at the end
of the verse, those that were able to go forth to war, those that were numbered
of them, verse 25, even of the tribe of Gad, were 45,650. At the end of the Book, there were only
40,500, so there was a decline. In
Judah, the children of Judah, those that were able to go forth to war, verse 27
says, those that were numbered of them, even the tribe of Judah were threescore
and fourteen thousand and six hundred, that’s 74,600. At the end of the Book, Judah was 76,500, so
there’s an increase in the tribe of Judah.
Verse 28, we have the children of Issachar, those that were able to go
to war, verse 29 gives us their number, and it says there were 54,400. At the end of the Book there’s 69,300, so
they’re way up. The children of Zebulun,
verse 30, verse 31 tells us there were 57,400.
When they’re numbered again at the end of chapter 26, the end of the
Book of Numbers, there’s 60,500, so they’re up in number. And the children of Joseph, mainly of the
children of Ephraim, those that were able to go to war, we have 40,500. At the end of the Book, there were 32,500, so
they’re down. Of the children of
Manasseh, Joseph’s other son, verse 34, verse 35 says those that were numbered
of Manasseh were 32,200. At the end of
the Book they’re up to 52,700, they’re up 20,500. Of the children of Benjamin by their
generations, those that were able to go to war, verse 37 says there were
35,400. At the end of the Book, 45,600,
they’re up 10,000. Of the children of
Dan, by their generations, able to go to war, verse 39, there are threescore
and two thousand, that’s 62,700. At the
end of the Book there’s 64,400, they’re up slightly. Of the children of Asher, that were able to
go to war, verse 40, 41 tells us there were 41,500. At the end of the Book, Asher 53,400, so
they’ve increased in their numbers. Of the
children of Naphtali that were able to go to war, it tells us in verse 43,
there were 53,400. And at the end of the
Book, their second number they’re down to 45,400, so they’re way down. Verse 44 says this, “These are those that were numbered, which Moses
and Aaron numbered, and the princes of Israel, being twelve men: each one was for the house of his
fathers. So were all those that were
numbered of the children of Israel, by the house of their fathers, from twenty
years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war in Israel; even all
they that were numbered were six hundred thousand and three thousand and five
hundred and fifty.” (verses 44-46) that’s 603,550, and again at the
end of the Book, there were 601,730, so we’re down. But this is the number of fighting men, 20
years old, at least up to 50, no doubt there were some over 50 who wanted to
enter into battle. Interesting again, to
think that they were followed by the Rock, they were fed by Manna, there were
led by the Pillar, they were delivered from Egypt, all the advantages in some
way we wish we had, and still only two of them will enter into the Promised
Land, Joshua and Caleb, interesting picture.
“But
The Levites Shall Pitch Round About The Tabernacle Of Testimony”--The Levites
Are Not Numbered Verse 47 tells us this, “But the Levites after the tribe of their fathers were not
numbered among them. For the LORD had spoken unto Moses, saying, Only thou shalt not
number the tribe of Levi, neither take the sum of them among the children of
Israel: but thou shalt appoint the
Levites over the tabernacle of testimony, and over all the vessels thereof, and
over all the things that belong to it:
they shall bear the tabernacle, and all the vessels thereof; and they
shall minister unto it, and shall encamp round about the tabernacle.” (verses
47-50) So there are warriors and worshippers here. And though the tribe of Levi, they had no
inheritance in the Land, but they’re not numbered amongst the army, and yet
we’re going to see when they cross over to go into the land of Canaan, it’s the
Levites carrying the Ark that go ahead of the army into the Jordan River, and
the Jordan River parts. They don’t go to
battle, but in that one particular incident they lead the armies across the
Jordan River, interestingly. “And
when the tabernacle setteth forward, the Levites shall take it down: and when the tabernacle is to be pitched, the
Levites shall set it up: and the
stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death.” (verse 51) The person that is not called to the
place of the Levite or the priest, if they infringe upon an honoured position
that God hasn’t given to them, it says they shall be put to death. Again, order, and they are not choosing their
places, they’re not choosing, we’re going to see God sets up the camp. So, they would be put to death, someone who
comes in and tries to touch the holy things that’s not of the tribe of Levi. “And the children of Israel shall pitch
their tents, every man by his own camp, and every man by his own standard,
throughout their hosts.” we’re going to find out they’re on the north, the
south and the west, and that Moses and Aaron and his family are on the east,
they’re on the front, as the Tabernacle faces east. “But the Levites shall
pitch round about the tabernacle of testimony, that there be no wrath upon the
congregation of the children of Israel:
and the Levites shall keep the charge of the tabernacle of testimony. And the children of Israel did according to
all that the LORD commanded
Moses, so did they.” (verse 52-54) Numbers 2:1-34 “And
the LORD spake unto Moses and unto
Aaron, saying, 2 Every man of
the children of Israel shall pitch by his own standard, with the ensign of
their father’s house: far off about the
tabernacles of the congregation shall they pitch. 3 And on the east side toward the rising of the sun shall
they of the standard of the camp of Judah pitch throughout their armies: and
Nahshon the son of Amminadab shall be captain of the children of Judah. 4 And his host, and those that were numbered of them, were
threescore and fourteen thousand and six hundred. 5 And those that do pitch next unto him shall be the
tribe of Issachar: and Nethaneel the son
of Zuar shall be captain of the children of Issachar. 6 And his host, and those that were numbered thereof, were
fifty and four thousand and four hundred. 7 Then the tribe of Zebulun:
and Eliab the son of Helon shall be captain of the children of
Zebulun. 8 And his
host, and those that were numbered thereof, were fifty and seven
thousand and four hundred. 9 All that
were numbered in the camp of Judah were an hundred thousand and
fourscore thousand and six thousand and four hundred, throughout their
armies. These shall first set forth. 10 On the south side shall be the standard of the
camp of Reuben according to their armies:
and the captain of the children of Reuben shall be Elizur the son
of Shedeur. 11 And his
host, and those that were numbered thereof, were forty and six thousand
and five hundred. 12 And those
which pitch by him shall be the tribe of Simeon: and the captain of the children of Simeon shall
be Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai. 13 And his
host, and those that were numbered of them, were fifty and nine thousand
and three hundred. 14 Then the
tribe of Gad: and the captain of the
sons of Gad shall be Eliasaph the son of Reuel. 15 And his host, and those that were numbered of them, were
forty and five thousand and six hundred and fifty. 16 All that were numbered in the camp of Reuben were
an hundred thousand and fifty and one thousand and four hundred and fifty,
throughout their armies. And they shall
set forth in the second rank. 17 Then the
tabernacle of the congregation shall set forward with the camp of the Levites
in the midst of the camp: as they
encamp, so shall they set forward, every man in his place by their standards. 18 On the west side shall be the standard of the camp
of Ephraim according to their armies:
and the captain of the sons of Ephraim shall be Elishama the son
of Ammihud. 19 And his
host, and those that were numbered of them, were forty thousand and five
hundred. 20 And by him shall
be the tribe of Manasseh: and the
captain of the children of Manasseh shall be Gamaliel the son of
Pedahzur. 21 And his
host, and those that were numbered of them, were thirty and two thousand
and two hundred. 22 Then the
tribe of Benjamin: and the captain of
the sons of Benjamin shall be Abidan the son of Gideoni. 23 And his host, and those that were numbered of them, were
thirty and five thousand and four hundred. 24 All that were numbered of the camp of Ephraim were
an hundred thousand and eight thousand and an hundred, throughout their
armies. And they shall go forward in the
third rank. 25 The standard
of the camp of Dan shall be on the north side by their armies: and the captain of the children of Dan shall
be Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai. 26 And his
host, and those that were numbered of them, were threescore and two
thousand and seven hundred. 27 And those
that encamp by him shall be the tribe of Asher: and the captain of the children of Asher shall
be Pagiel the son of Ocran. 28 And his
host, and those that were numbered of them, were forty and one thousand
and five hundred. 29 Then the
tribe of Naphtali: and the captain of
the children of Naphtali shall be Ahira the son of Enan. 30 And his host, and those that were numbered of them, were
fifty and three thousand and four hundred. 31 All they that were numbered in the camp of Dan were
an hundred thousand and fifty and seven thousand and six hundred. They shall go hindmost with their standards. 32 These are those which were numbered of the
children of Israel by the house of their fathers: all those that were numbered in the camps
throughout their hosts were six hundred thousand and three thousand and
five hundred and fifty. 33 But the
Levites were not numbered among the children of Israel; as the LORD commanded Moses. 34 And the
children of Israel did according to all that the LORD commanded Moses:
so they pitched by their standards, and so they set forward, every one
after their families, according to the house of their fathers.” God’s Instructions For Setting Up The Campsite Of Israel “And
the LORD spake unto Moses and unto
Aaron, saying, Every man of the children of Israel shall pitch by his own
standard, with the ensign of their father’s house: far off about the tabernacles of the
congregation shall they pitch.” (verses 1-2) Now in this
chapter God’s going to set up the camp, and he’s going to describe where he
wants each tribe. What he’s going to say
is around the Tabernacle itself, you have the sons of Gershon, Merari, ah,
Moses and Aaron on the east side, and the Kohathites on the other side. So around the Tabernacle itself will be the
Levites and the priests. That would be
important if you could imagine a camp twice the size of Philadelphia, 2 to 3
million people. And it says when the
Cloud goes up, that they break camp, and the Pillar of Cloud leads them, the
Pillar of Cloud during the day, the Pillar of Fire at night. So it would be very important for the Levites
and the priests to be camped right there, because as soon as that Pillar begins
to move, they have to break down the Tabernacle, take it down, put it into its
carrying wagons, they have to bear it, and follow, they have to be ready to
follow that Pillar as it moves. And then
we’re going to get the order of the tribes, how they’re to march. God has a specific order that they’re to go
through the wilderness, so that they have the Levites and the priests, and the
implements of the Tabernacle in the midst of their armies, and they have
certain tribes bringing up the rear. So
God will design their march through the wilderness with incredible order,
because he wants the Tabernacle, the Ark of the Covenant, all of those things
protected. So they will be in the midst
of the army, it will be the tribe of Judah that leads the nation of Israel in
their marches, and it will be the house of Nahshon, and Nahshon doesn’t know at
this point that the Messiah is in his loins, Jesus Christ after the flesh, is
in the genes and chromosomes of Nahshon.
And he would be the first one into battle, that carried their ensign,
which is a lion, the Lion of the Tribe of Judah. [Judah was always the first tribe to go into
battle, in the order of battle God laid out for the tribes. Now Judah since 1948 is back in the Promised
Land, leading the way, as it were, for the return of the other 10 tribes. The study on Genesis 48 gives some hints as
to who the two lead tribes of those Ten Tribes might be. See https://www.unityinchrist.com/Genesis47-48.html and scroll to Genesis 48.] And it’s this remarkable picture, as the
children of Israel are obedient to God, as they move when he moves, they camp
when he camps, and in fact the LORD is the one
who goes before them into battle.
There’s some remarkable, remarkable things here, certainly not
coincidence, as the rabbis tell us, coincidence is not a Kosher word. Rabbinic tradition tells us that everybody in
the camp of Israel camped facing the Tabernacle, they didn’t face camping out,
they weren’t worried about their enemies, because they had the LORD’s presence in the middle. So all the tents were facing the Tabernacle,
over top of the Tabernacle at night was a Pillar of Fire, imagine how big that
Pillar of Fire had to be, here we are, we’re out on Philmont Avenue, imagine
looking towards city hall from here, and the Pillar of Fire has to be big
enough for you to see clearly in case it starts to move, you pack up your tent
and start to go with it. Or the Pillar
of Cloud during the day. Imagine what a
spectacular sight it was. Imagine people
that had insomnia, you’d just sit in your tent door and look at that thing
blazing in the middle of the camp. I’d
have had insomnia every night at least for awhile. Just what an incredible sight. No wonder the enemies of Israel were
terrified, it must have been an incredible huge pillar of fire going up into
the heavens, right in the middle of the camp, parked right over top of the
Tabernacle. What an awesome thing it
must have been to have come to the Tabernacle, imagine at night looking up and
seeing this huge thing, a thousand times bigger than a tornado, this huge
Pillar of Fire going up to where you can’t see.
How wide was it? Just imagine
what this must have looked like, or the Pillar of Cloud during the day, what an
incredible, incredible sight in the middle of the camp of Israel. It tells us now in verse 3, “And on the
east side toward the rising of the sun shall they of the standard of the camp
of Judah pitch throughout their armies: and Nahshon the son of Amminadab shall
be captain of the children of Judah.” (verse 3) Now just for your information, we get our
bearings by facing north, because north is magnetic. Middle Eastern cultures got their bearings by
facing the rising of the sun, we call that “orientation,” to get your bearings
by facing east is orientation, because it’s toward the rising of the sun. So the rising of the sun, east was always in
front of you, south was always called “the right hand.” Yameen in the Hebrew, the Arabic
cognit is Yemen. The city at the
southernmost part of Saudi Arabia is Yemen, it’s to the right, facing
east. The left was always the north, and
westward was always seaward [toward the Mediterranean] or the Hebrew word for
your back, because it was behind you. So
their camp always orients facing east.
The Tabernacle faced east, Moses and Aaron camped on the east side, the
Levites around it, and then you had these three tribes we’re going to read
about, with Judah out in the front with his flag of the Lion on it, the Lion of
the Tribe of Judah. And when the camp
moved they went first. And then the
other parts of the camp, first from the south fell in line and went with them,
then from the west, and then from the north, we’re going to see God has a way
for the whole camp to move, and he’s describing that here. ‘So on the east side, toward the rising
of the sun shall they of the standard of the camp of Judah pitch’ now
we have nowhere in the Scripture that tells us what the standards of the tribes
are. Rabbinic writings tell us, ancient
rabbis say that they’re taken from, they describe them, but they end up with
the faces of the cherubim in Ezekiel chapter 1.
That we’re going to see, the utmost tribes camped around the Tabernacle,
you had Judah on one side, the face of a lion on the flag, you had Reuben on
one side, with the face of a man, you had Dan on one side, who because of the
prophecy of Jacob, he would be like a serpent, changed his ensign to an eagle,
the enemy of a serpent, and then you had Ephraim on the other side, which was
the face of an ox. So around the camp of
Israel you had the face of a lion, the face of a man, the face of an ox, and
the face of an eagle, those are reflected in the four Gospels, Matthew, Lion of
the Tribe of Judah, Mark, the ox, the servant, Luke, Christ the man, and John
the Eagle, the Deity of Jesus Christ [cf. Revelation 1:13-18]. Very interesting, we’re going to get up in a
helicopter and look down at this camp, there are some very, very interesting
things to see in the way that they’re camped.
So first we have here the standard of Judah, which is a lion, and it
says “And on the east side toward the rising of the sun shall they of the
standard of the camp of Judah pitch throughout their armies: and Nahshon the
son of Amminadab shall be captain of the children of Judah. And his host, and those that were numbered of
them, were threescore and fourteen thousand and six hundred.” (verses
3-4) we have that from the first chapter.
“And those that do pitch next unto him shall be the tribe of
Issachar: and Nethaneel the son of Zuar shall
be captain of the children of Issachar.” (verse 5) and it tells us in
verse 6 the number of their tribe is 54,400, we have that in the first
chapter. Verse 7, “Then the
tribe of Zebulun: and Eliab the son of
Helon shall be captain of the children of Zebulun.” and it says the
number of their tribe in verse 8 is 57,400.
So on the eastside of the Tabernacle there are 186,400 fighting men,
they’re all sons of Liah. Leah, you know
Jacob if he’d have had his way he’d have Rachel and no Leah, and Rachel was
more beautiful and he desired her, but Leah had the Messiah in her, in her
loins, Leah was the mother of Judah, and the LORD was
directing. So here on the east side you
have all of the sons, these are all sons of Leah, 186,400, that’s just fighting
men from 20 years old and upward. On the
south side now, which is the right hand, you have the standard of the camp of
Reuben, which is the face of a man, firstborn we’re told in the prophecy in
Genesis 49 “On the south side shall be the standard of the camp of
Reuben according to their armies: and
the captain of the children of Reuben shall be Elizur the son of
Shedeur.” (verse 10) And it says the
number of their tribe in verse 11, is 46,500.
Next to him, the tribe of Simeon, verse 13 says the number of their
tribe is 59,300, and then Gad, these are sons of Leah and Zilpah her handmaid,
and of Gad we have 45,650. All that were
numbered of the camp of Reuben were 151,450, “And they shall set forth in
the second rank.” (verse 16c) So the
ones on the east, those three tribes would move first, and then the ones on the
south would get in line and follow them.
Then it says the Tabernacle is what moves next, “Then the tabernacle
of the congregation shall set forward with the camp of the Levites in the midst
of the camp: as they encamp, so shall
they set forward, every man in his place by their standards.” (verse 17) So you’re going to have half of the army
in front, and half of the army behind, “shall set forward with the camp of
the Levites in the midst of the camp: as
they encamp, so shall they set forward, every man in his place by their
standards. On the west side shall be
the standard of the camp of Ephraim according to their armies: and the captain of the sons of Ephraim shall
be Elishama the son of Ammihud.” (verses 17-18) On the west side, that’s on the back, the
standard of the camp of Ephraim, which is the face of the ox, and tradition
says it comes from Joseph’s dream of the seven fat cows and the seven lean
cows. “according to their
armies: and the captain of the sons of
Ephraim shall be Elishama the son of Ammihud.” Verse 19 says there will be 40,500 from
the tribe of Ephraim. By him his
brother, Manasseh, and it tells us the name of the head of that tribe, and in
verse 21 it says there will be 32,200. Verse
22, it says, “Then the tribe of Benjamin: and the captain of the sons of Benjamin shall
be Abidan the son of Gideoni.” with Ephraim and Manasseh, these are the
two sons of Rachel, Joseph and Benjamin, and Rachel you can stop crying now,
because you’ve got 108,100 fighting men, from 20 years old and upward, they’re
your descendants, and who’d have ever dreamt, Rachel. And Benjamin it says in verse 22, and verse
23, 35,400 fighting men, all that were numbered of the camp of Ephraim, it
tells us, were 108,100, “And they shall go forward in the third rank.”
(verse 24c) And then the standard of
the camp of Dan, which had the face of an eagle, on the north side, of their
armies, and it gives us the name of the head of their tribe “The standard of
the camp of Dan shall be on the north side by their armies: and the captain of the children of Dan shall
be Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai.” (verse 25) and verse 26 says the
number of the warriors in the tribe of Dan were 62,700. Next to him is Asher, the number of those of
the tribe of Asher, it says in verse 28 are 41,500. Next to them the tribe of Naphtali, with the
head of their tribe, and with them it says in verse 30, are 53,400, and all
they were numbered in the camp of Dan 157,600, “They shall go hindmost with
their standards.” (verse 31c) God Knows Where Each And Every One Of Us Are--All The
Time This is how
they were to encamp, God gave them an order.
I don’t think anyone said ‘You guys get to go first, I can’t believe
you guys get to camp there, we get to go last, we get stuck behind all the
time.’ I don’t think any of that was
going on. I think God was directing, I
think they were completely content to be there, I think they were used to it,
for forty years they encamped in the same place, pattern. I’ve been watching you guys for 20 years, a
lot of you guys encamp in the same place, since we moved into this building ten
years ago, you camp in the same place every week too. And in fact, when we have a visitor, I see
the way you look at them sometimes, ‘Well I’m a Christian, you’re in my
seat, you can get away with it this week, but I’ll be here early enough next
week to prevent this from happening again.’
But I’m used to the faces every Sunday morning, you guys are really
creatures of habit, and I look around, so I know everybody’s very comfortable,
I know whose going to fall asleep, that’s ok, because they sleep every week,
I’d rather have them resting in the Lord here than somewhere else. I know when I listen to you sing, there’s a
person that sounds like a cat with a tractor-trailer parked on its tail, but
the Lord loves to hear that voice lifted up singing praises with all his heart,
just it’s very predictable. One of the
things, again, that really bothers me when I go someplace different, is I never
know what they’re going to do. I never
know when they’ll go off, I never know when they’re going to fall asleep, here
it’s like an old shoe, I know exactly what you guys are going to do, and that’s
a wonderful thing, you’re all camped where the Lord told you to camp, ah, no
doubt in the same place. So here the LORD ordering all of this, as it tells us in 1st
Corinthians 12, as he orders ‘the Spirit gives to every man,
severally as he wills.’ There is
no election here, this is not a democracy, it’s an Order, a Kingdom. As we look at the process here, the LORD is the one who decides where everyone is to camp, and he
knows where they’re all at. He says ‘Are
not two sparrows sold for a farthing?
And yet you’re of more value than many sparrows, fear not
therefore. Your Father knows what needs
you have before you ask.’ He
watches us, he knows where we are, he knows where we camp. He knows our number, he knows
our family, he knows the heads of our families, he knows the names of our
families, he knows our broken families, he knows our healthy families, he knows
our sad families, he knows every story, every encampment, every position. [How? In Proverbs 20:27 it says “The
spirit of man is the candle of the LORD, searching all the inward parts of the
belly.” If the spirit software
inside each human brain gives us our human intelligence, it also shows God
where each and every human being is on the planet earth, as well as giving God
a readout of the thoughts within each of our minds.] And you know, the interesting thing is, if
you look down on this, if you look down on this from the helicopter, ok, let me
just take you there for a minute. It’s
my conviction that they were camped three tribes out on a side, because if they
were just camped across each end, when they started to move, it would be kind
of pandemonium, but if you examine the numbers, the north and the south are
just about equal, the shortest numbers on the west and the longest number is on
the east, and if you look at that from above you have the shape of a
cross. And you have the face of a lion,
and of an ox, of a man, and of an eagle around the camp, you have something
spectacular going on in this camp. And
every tribe, every movement, everything that’s going on is measured in
relationship to the presence of God in the Tabernacle. If you want to say ‘I want to go visit my
cousin,’ ‘What tribe?’ ‘Oh they’re in the tribe of Simeon,’ ‘Well they’re north
of the Tabernacle,’ ‘I want to go visit so and so,’ ‘oh they’re on the west of
the Tabernacle.’ Everything in the
camp and amongst the children of Israel was measured relative to the presence
of God in their midst. And how it should
be in our lives that everything we do is measured relative to the presence of God
in our lives. Everything in this whole
camp is relative to that. He just said, ‘On
the north side, on the south side, on the west side,’ we’re going to see
with the Levites and the priests the same thing, everything is relative to the
LORD being in
their midst. And all of their movements,
all of their warfare, all of their strength, all of their encampments, all of
it is relative to his presence, to reality.
This is just great reality, you know it wasn’t like ‘I wonder today
if he numbered us?’ If he numbered
churches across America, how many would he say, what percentage would be able
to go to war, as it were? If we took the
total population of the Church [greater Body of Christ] across America, how
many would know how to handle the Sword [of the Spirit]? How many would be ready to go to war? You know, I have to believe here, because
it’s the center of everything we do, there’d be a good percentage here, ready
to go. I know what that verse says about
this, I know what that verse says about murmuring, I know what it says about
grumbling. We’re going to get to the
Graves of Lust at Kibroth-Hataava, I know what the Scripture says about
lusting, I know the destruction it brings, I know what it says about
unbelief. We’re going to come to Korah,
I know what it says about grumbling and backbiting. We’re going to come to all of these things in
these wilderness journeys. How many of
us are ready to go to war? How many of
us when we encounter those things are ready to take the Sword, and use it?
Not just shine it, not just hang it over our mantle, not just scramble
around when we’re being threatened, ‘Where in the world did I lay that
sword?’ to have it, to know it, to
use it, ready to go to war. That’s part
of our experience. Worshipping is part
of our experience, serving, fellowship is part of our experience. Certainly at the center, God’s call, God’s
redemption, but part of our experience, there’s a warfare, there’s an enemy,
there’s a struggle. I don’t think he
should ever get more pressed than he deserves, and the Church is guilty of
that. The other abuse is not taking
seriously the fact that we do have an enemy.
I don’t believe that Satan bothers any one of us individually, he is not
omnipresent, he can only be at one place at one time, and I think he’s more
concerned with President Bush or Billy Graham or Machmunaminajab or somebody
else than hanging around us. But we all
have some buck private demon ugly liar that hassles us. Somewhere, he’s somewhere in the rank and
file there. There is warfare. But as long as the Lord is in our midst, as
long as all of our motions and our marching are relative to his leading, as
long as we know how to handle his Word, his Sword, this is part of the
journey. And he goes before us, and he’s
guaranteed our entrance into the things he’s prepared for us. Over and over he says ‘When you be come
into the land that I promised to give you,’ he’s expecting that. And he’s expecting you and I to take hold, we
have things in Christ that are our inheritance.
My life has changed, I got saved in 1972, there are things that I
embrace now that I never embraced then. There
are things that anchor my soul now that never anchored my soul then. There are things that give me hope now that
never gave me hope then. There are
things in my life that are unshakable now, heaven and earth might shake, they
are not going to shake, I know in whom I believe. But warfare is part of the journey, so I
encourage you to read ahead, hopefully the first two chapters of Numbers, a lot
of people who didn’t like math stayed home.
Don’t get the wrong idea, there’s treasure hidden in this. You know, this is God’s Word, it’s not a
biology book, it’s not a math book, it’s alive and powerful, it’s sharper than
any two-edged sword. And every time I
come back, even the passages I think I’m completely familiar with, I find life
I never knew was there. I see things I
never saw before. The depth of it and
the beauty of it, they’re unending. So,
if you read the next few chapters, don’t get afraid, come back, we’re gonna
dig, we’re gonna mine, there’s stuff there, there’s beauty there. Let’s stand, let’s pray together, let’s have
the musicians come, we’ll sing a last song.
Coming back? OK, well it’s
communion next week, we come back for that, ok, and if the Lord tarries, the
week after that, then we’ll come back here to the Book of Numbers. If you want to change it “Into the
wilderness” that’s fine, that’s the Hebrew name, if Numbers scares you,
you can just call it “In the wilderness.” [Pastor Joe forgot to cover verses 32-34, which
follow] “These are
those which were numbered of the children of Israel by the house of their
fathers: all those that were numbered in
the camps throughout their hosts were six hundred thousand and three
thousand and five hundred and fifty. But
the Levites were not numbered among the children of Israel; as the LORD commanded Moses.
And the children of Israel did according to all that the LORD commanded Moses:
so they pitched by their standards, and so they set forward, every one
after their families, according to the house of their fathers.” (verses
32-34) [transcript of a connective expository sermon on Numbers
1:1-54 and Numbers 2:1-34, given by Pastor Joe Focht, Calvary Chapel of
Philadelphia, 13500 Philmont Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19116] related
links: Judah was
always the first tribe to go into battle, in the order of battle God laid out
for the tribes. Now Judah since 1948 is
back in the Promised Land, leading the way, as it were, for the return of the
other 10 tribes. The study on Genesis 48
gives some hints as to who the two lead tribes of those Ten Tribes might be.
See https://www.unityinchrist.com/Genesis47-48.html and scroll to Genesis 48 We’re going to find in the Book
of Joshua, when they go into the land, Caleb is 85 years old [see https://www.unityinchrist.com/Joshua14-16.html Look, when we read the New
Testament, we hear of enemy, we hear of wrestling, we hear of shields, we hear
of swords, we hear about the helmet of salvation [Ephesians 6], you know, all
of these descriptions in the New Testament, it’s not there just for fun, if you
haven’t noticed [read https://www.unityinchrist.com/memphisbelle.htm Audio version: https://resources.ccphilly.org/detail.asp?TopicID=&Teaching=WED578 |