Day 39. Numbers 1-3

Numbers 1-3

Numbers 1

¹And 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,

Numbers is the fourth book of the bible. In Hebrew the book is called Bəmidbar meaning "in the desert". The book is traditionally ascribed to Moses.

²Take 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;

³From 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.

So, the numbers in Numbers are of men of fighting age.

⁴And with you there shall be a man of every tribe; every one head of the house of his fathers.

Additionally, the book contains the list of men who are appointed to be the leaders of the tribes.

Reuben, Elizur
Simeon, Shelumiel
Judah, Nahshon
Issachar, Nethaneel
Zebulun, Eliab
Ephraim (Joseph), Elishama
Manasseh (Joseph), Gamaliel
Benjamin, Abidan
Dan, Ahiezer
Asher, Pagiel
Gad, Eliasaph
Naphtali, Ahira

You'll note there is no listing for Levi, that's because Moses and Aaron were the leaders of them.

¹⁹As the LORD commanded Moses, so he numbered them in the wilderness of Sinai.

Reuben, 46,500
Simeon, 59,300
Gad, 45,650
Judah, 74,600
Issachar, 54,400
Zebulun, 57,400
Ephraim (Joseph), 40,500
Manasseh (Joseph), 32,200
Benjamin, 35,400
Dan, 62,700
Asher, 41,500
Naphtali, 53,400

⁴⁵So 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;

⁴⁶Even all they that were numbered were six hundred thousand and three thousand and five hundred and fifty.

There were 603,550 men who were of fighting age in the group.

⁴⁷But the Levites after the tribe of their fathers were not numbered among them.

So not only did the Levites not have to work for food, they also didn't have to go out and fight.

⁵⁰But thou shalt appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of testimony, and over all the vessels thereof, and over all 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.

It's odd that the Levites didn't have to go out and fight, Levi was one of the guys who killed the city in Genesis 34.

Numbers 2

²Every man of the children of Israel shall pitch by his own standard, with the ensign of their father's house: far off about the tabernacle of the congregation shall they pitch.

In the second year, Moses finally put the defense of the camp into effect.

On the east of the camp is Judah. He also commanded Issachar and Zebulun.
On the south is Reuben.He also commanded Simeon and Gad.
On the west is Ephraim. He also commanded Manasseh and Benjamin.
On the north of camp is Dan. He also commanded Asher and Naphtali.

³⁴And 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.

The 600,000 fighters were protecting the tabernacle and all the other properties.

Numbers 3

¹These also are the generations of Aaron and Moses in the day that the LORD spake with Moses in mount Sinai.

Levi didn't get counted (yet), but we do get the sons of Aaron: Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. Remember Nadab and Abihu got killed for the fire.

¹²And I, behold, I have taken the Levites from among the children of Israel instead of all the firstborn that openeth the matrix among the children of Israel: therefore the Levites shall be mine;

¹³Because all the firstborn are mine; for on the day that I smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt I hallowed unto me all the firstborn in Israel, both man and beast: mine shall they be: I am the LORD.

If god wanted the firstborn, why did he choose Levi? If god wanted the firstborn he should have claimed Reuben.

¹⁵Number the children of Levi after the house of their fathers, by their families: every male from a month old and upward shalt thou number them.

Finally Levi gets counted.

¹⁷And these were the sons of Levi by their names; Gershon, and Kohath, and Merari.

Aaron and Moses fell under two parts of Levi. Their mother was Jochebed who in Exodus 6, we are told is Levi's daughter. She is the half sister of Kohath. Kohath is the father of Amram, Amram married Jochebed. So Levi was Moses grandfather and also great grandfather. With that much inbreeding, it's no wonder Moses had horns.

Next is a list of responsibilities for the Levites regarding the tabernacle.

Gershon carries the tent, covering, hangings and other things.

Kohath carries the ark, the table, the candlestick, and the rest of the gold things.

Merari carries the boards, the bars, the pillars and other vessels.

³⁹All that were numbered of the Levites, which Moses and Aaron numbered at the commandment of the LORD, throughout their families, all the males from a month old and upward, were twenty and two thousand.

Because the Levites were special, they were counted from a month and up. There were only 22,000 of them. The next smallest tribe was Manasseh except if you count Manasseh and Ephraim together they were the second largest tribe.

⁴¹And thou shalt take the Levites for me (I am the LORD) instead of all the firstborn among the children of Israel; and the cattle of the Levites instead of all the firstlings among the cattle of the children of Israel.

Again, Moses seems to care about the firstborn, even though they never seem to care about the firstborn: Isaac instead of Ishmael, Jacob instead of Esau, Ephraim instead of Manasseh, and now Levi instead of Reuben.

⁴³And all the firstborn males by the number of names, from a month old and upward, of those that were numbered of them, were twenty and two thousand two hundred and threescore and thirteen.

So it wasn't just 22,000 it was 22,273.

⁴⁷Thou shalt even take five shekels apiece by the poll, after the shekel of the sanctuary shalt thou take them: (the shekel is twenty gerahs:)

Moses actually charged the people five shekels to count.

⁴⁸And thou shalt give the money, wherewith the odd number of them is to be redeemed, unto Aaron and to his sons.

Here, have some money.

Points to ponder:

1. Moses makes the firstborn seem much more important than any of the previous patriarchs. Also, he is the leader of the people, and he isn't the firstborn.

2. The numbers above are just men who were fighting age, that didn't include their wives and children under 20 or people who were too old to fight, or their servants. The number of people in the wilderness had to have been in the millions. There were more than a million people in the wilderness, and no archaeological evidence in the desert has ever been found. People claim there's evidence... but there really isn't.

3. Again, it's so nice that Moses set up his nephews for all eternity. The god of the bible didn't even take care of his favorite people as well as Moses set up the levites.