2BC BIBLE STUDY NOTES

Wednesday in the Word

Second Baptist Church

July 31, 2019

Numbers 1

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. 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. Exodus covered a year; Leviticus only a month - but the Book of Numbers encompasses more than 38 years. 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. 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. It is not a completely arid desert, but contains little vegetation and a few trees. The rainfall in such areas is too small to support cultivation. 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. Promised Land people are very different from slave people. Israel emerged from Egypt a people who didn’t know about trusting in God or following for God, basically unsuited for the Promised Land. How would God transform them into a promised-land people? The idea that the LORD spoke to Moses is repeated more than 150 times and more than 20 different ways in Numbers. God uses the wilderness to teach us to listen to him.

2. Verses 1-3. 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 counting all who are able to go to war in Israel. 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. 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. 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. 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. God wanted the count made by their families because the strength of Israel was determined by looking at the strength of individual families.

3. Verses 4-16. 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. In a sense, this is a representative form of government; each head of his father's house was essentially the "governor" of the tribe. It is possible - even likely - that the head of his father's house was elected by those in the tribe. 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). 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. Nahshon: This was the head of the house of Judah, and is mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus (Matthew 1:4).

4. Verses 17-19. The leaders of each tribe was responsible to count the potential soldiers in their tribe, then they gathered to make report to Moses. Every individual was important to God. This wasn't just the assembling of a final number, but a specific mention of each individual.

5. Verses 20-46. The military census only counted the men 20 years or older. Most likely, they are rounded off to the nearest one hundred (except in the case of the Tribe of Gad). With 603,550 potential soldiers in Israel in all. Judah and Dan with the largest tribes, and Manasseh and Benjamin with the smallest. At the end of the Book of Numbers - 38 years later - this census is repeated (Numbers 26). 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. 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. 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 between two and two-and-a-half million. Some have speculated that the number has been multiplied by a factor of 10, but we can’t say for sure. Tribes and fighting men in Numbers 1:21-43 Tribes of Israel Numbers of fighting men l. Ruben 46,500 2. Simeon 59,300 3. Gad 45,650 4. Judah 74,600 5. Issachar 54,400 6. Zebulun 57,400 7. Ephraim 40,500 8. Manasseh 32,200 9. Benjamin 35,400 10. Dan 62,700 11. Asher 41,500 12. Naphtali 53,400 Total tribe count of men 20 years or older who are eligible for military service.

6. Verses 47-54. 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. 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. 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. Instead of counting the Levites, God instructs Moses to put them in charge of holy things especially when they move from place to place. The Levites were responsible for the setting up and taking down of the portable sanctuary. When they would stop, the Levites would set up the tabernacle and live right next to it, while the other tribes would live around them.

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