Numbers 1

Numbers _Intro_chapters_1-2
2/8/09

Numbers
I. English name comes from the Septuagint where it is called "arithmoi", numbers.
A. Because twice in the book the children of Israel were numbered (census taken).
1. It contains many statistics or population counts of tribes, priests and Levites, as well as other numerical data.
B. The Hebrew title is "midbar" which means "in the wilderness"
1. It tells the story of God leading the children of Israel from Mt. Sinai to the Plains of Moab opposite Jericho, to Canaan and the Land of promise, and the years spent wandering in the wilderness due to unbelief.
2. It has or could be titled
a. "And He spoke" from the first words of the book and is an important phrase as well as an important theme of the book.
(1) God has/is spoken/speaking, are we listening?
b. The Book of Journeyings
(1) Much can be learned to help us with our journey, by learning from the journey of others.
Romans 15:4 (NKJV)
4 For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.
c. The Book of the March and the Roll Call
(1) We might point out a number of things about marching and marching order related to our spiritual life, something for you to ponder on as we journey through this book.
(2) Roll Call is reminiscent of the old hymn ""When thr roll is called up yonder i'll be there"
(a) When the children of Israel finally made it to the promised land, only two names from the original roll call were there, how about you will you be there, or has unbelief taken hold in your life.
d. The Book of Murmurings
(1) Uncontentedness and unbelief work together, often bringing about rebellion and disinheritance.
(a) There are some great lessons in this book about such things.

3. While Numbers is a historical account of events in the history of ancient Israel, we could read it as an analogy of the Christian life.
a. It is a journey filled with trials, tests, and challenges, all of which require faith and confidence in God.
(1) Fear held them back trapped in their unbelief, but we are not to walk in fear but in love.
1 John 4:18 (NKJV)
18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.
b. Like them we are a redeemed people, on a journey to a land God has promised us.
c. As God was faithful to them, He will be faithful to us. (Don't miss His faithfulness the way they did).
d. We see many pictures of grace in God's dealings with Israel, and God is dealing with you and I in His grace, we need the reminders.
C. Relationship of Numbers to the previous books.
The first book, Genesis, teaches us that we are elected unto salvation.

Exodus the second book instructs us how we are saved, by redemption.

The third book, Leviticus shows us what we are redeemed for, worship. In it we learn of the Holy requirements of God and His Gracious provision.

In Numbers is the walk and warfare of the wilderness, which is typical of our pilgrimage here in a sinful world.
1. Exodus spans about a year of time, Leviticus spans only about a month, but Numbers spans a period of almost 40 years.
a. Having said this, there is a lesson in it for us, of the 40 years there is a span of almost 38 years about which not much is said, this is the time of their wandering aimlessly in unbelief.
(1) There is much about the time we spend in unbelief that is vanity or emptiness, and that is one of the great lessons in this book.
(a) Yet the wonderful thing is that God will use (redeem if you will) even those years if we allow Him to.
II. Divisions of the Book (There three main divisions or sections).
A. Preparation to go to the Promised Land in Chapters 1-10.
B. Journeying to the Promised Land in chapters 11-25
C. New preparation for inheriting the Promised Land chapters 26-36.
III. Background information.
A. In the book of Exodus we saw how God had miraculously delivered Israel out of Egypt, by God's wonderful hand they had escaped slavery and hundreds of years of bondage.
1. They came through the Red Sea, where God had opened a door for them which no man could shut, but we know that God is able to shut doors that no man can open and God shut that very same door on the Egyptian army drowning them in the Red Sea as they pursued Israel.
2. Then God provided for them as they traveled through the desert to Mt. Sinai.
3. At Mt. Sinai God gave them the Law.
4. And there encamped at Mt. Sinai, they built the Tabernacle of Meeting, the Priesthood was established, and they received God's over all plan for the priests and the nation outlined in Leviticus.
a. At the end of the book of Leviticus they had been out of Israel just over a year.
b. So let’s jump into Numbers chapter-1
IV. Numbering the people, the first census.
A. Verse-1
Numbers 1:1 (NKJV)
1 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:
1. The Tabernacle was set up on the first day of the first month of the second year
Exodus 40:17 (NKJV)
17 And it came to pass in the first month of the second year, on the first day of the month, that the tabernacle was raised up.
2. So we begin one month after the Tabernacle was established.
B. Verses 2-3
Numbers 1:2-3 (NKJV)
2 “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,
3 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.
1. So God commanded Moses to count by tribe only the males who were over twenty years old and who were fit to go out to war.
a. He was not to number women and children.
C. And Moses was to have the chief man of each tribe assist him.
Numbers 1:4-7 (NKJV)
4 And with you there shall be a man from every tribe, each one the head of his father’s house.
5 “These are the names of the men who shall stand with you: from Reuben, Elizur the son of Shedeur;
6 from Simeon, Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai;
7 from Judah, Nahshon the son of Amminadab;


1. I won't take the time to read through all the names but the chief man of each tribe is listed by name in this pattern down to verse-15 and verse 16 says.
Numbers 1:16 (NKJV)
16 These were chosen from the congregation, leaders of their fathers’ tribes, heads of the divisions in Israel.
a. So the 12 men listed in verses 5-15 are the captains or princes over the various tribes.
(1) Now the meanings of each man's name is interesting, according to verse-17 they are expressive or descriptive of the man, so let me encourage you to get out a concordance and look up each mans name to see what it means, and ponder the fact that these are the men chosen to be leaders.
Get a Strong’s concordance or a bible program, or go to blueletterbible.org
D. Verses 17-46
Numbers 1:17-21 (NKJV)
17 Then Moses and Aaron took these men who had been mentioned by name,
18 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.
19 As the Lord commanded Moses, so he numbered them in the Wilderness of Sinai.
20 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:
21 those who were numbered of the tribe of Reuben were forty-six thousand five hundred.
1. So they gathered together and they listed the men twenty years and older who were able to go out to war, tribe by tribe, and the numbers by tribe are given to us after the manner verses 20-21 all the way down to verse-45 and I won't read them I will summarize them for you.

Reuben 46,500 (v. 21)
Simeon 59,300 (v. 23)
Gad 45,650 (v. 25)
Judah 74,600 (v. 27)
Issachar 54,400 (v. 29)
Zebulun 57,400 (v. 31)
Ephraim 40,500 (v. 33)
Manasseh 32,200 (v. 35)
Benjamin 35,400 (v. 37)
Dan 62,700 (v. 39)
Asher 41,500 (v. 41)
Naphtali 53,400 (v. 43)

Total 603,550 (v. 46)
a. Verse-46 gives us the total
Numbers 1:46 (NKJV)
46 all who were numbered were six hundred and three thousand five hundred and fifty.
(1) It is speculated that perhaps as many as three million people were involved here when you add in the rest of the population.
b. We need to note that the tribes are not listed here in birth order, but in the order in which they will encamp around the tabernacle, which we have more to say in chapter-2.
E. Verses 47-54
Numbers 1:47-54 (NKJV)
47 But the Levites were not numbered among them by their fathers’ tribe;
48 for the Lord had spoken to Moses, saying:
49 “Only the tribe of Levi you shall not number, nor take a census of them among the children of Israel;
50 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.
51 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.
52 The children of Israel shall pitch their tents, everyone by his own camp, everyone by his own standard, according to their armies;
53 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.”
54 Thus the children of Israel did; according to all that the Lord commanded Moses, so they did.
1. So we see that the tribe of Levi was not numbered because they were not to go out to war in the sense of carrying weapons.
a. But they were appointed to take care of the Tabernacle and its furnishings.
(1) As they moved about the Levites were to take down the Tabernacle, to carry it and to set it back up when they stopped.
(a) Also through Aaron and the priests they had responsibility for service within the Tabernacle.
V. Now as we move into chapter-2 and briefly look at it we need to bear in mind the main theme of chapters 1-10 is "Preparation to go to the Promised Land"
A. So what we see in the instructions of this chapter is "preparation for travel".
B. Let me read the first seven verses for you to give you a flavor for the wording and then I will summarize the rest for us.
Numbers 2:1-9 (NKJV)
1 And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying:
2 “Everyone of the children of Israel shall camp by his own standard, beside the emblems of his father’s house; they shall camp some distance from the tabernacle of meeting.
3 On the east side, toward the rising of the sun, those of the standard of the forces with Judah shall camp according to their armies; and Nahshon the son of Amminadab shall be the leader of the children of Judah.”
4 And his army was numbered at seventy-four thousand six hundred.
5 “Those who camp next to him shall be the tribe of Issachar, and Nethanel the son of Zuar shall be the leader of the children of Issachar.”
6 And his army was numbered at fifty-four thousand four hundred.
7 “Then comes the tribe of Zebulun, and Eliab the son of Helon shall be the leader of the children of Zebulun.”
8 And his army was numbered at fifty-seven thousand four hundred.
9 “All who were numbered according to their armies of the forces with Judah, one hundred and eighty-six thousand four hundred— these shall break camp first.

Numbers 2:1-9 (NLT)
1 Then the Lord gave these instructions to Moses and Aaron:
2 “When the Israelites set up camp, each tribe will be assigned its own area. The tribal divisions will camp beneath their family banners on all four sides of the Tabernacle, but at some distance from it.
3 “The divisions of Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun are to camp toward the sunrise on the east side of the Tabernacle, beneath their family banners. These are the names of the tribes, their leaders, and the numbers of their registered troops:
Tribe Leader Number
Judah Nahshon son of Amminadab 74,600
5 Issachar Nethanel son of Zuar 54,400
7 Zebulun Eliab son of Helon 57,400

9 So the total of all the troops on Judah’s side of the camp is 186,400. These three tribes are to lead the way whenever the Israelites travel to a new campsite.
1. So God instructed Moses the order in which the tribes were march and camp with the tabernacle at the center, and the census numbers and the twelve leader’s names are listed.




2. So let me summarize:
a. First to the East side of the Tabernacle were the tribes of Judah, Issachar, and Zebulon while each tribe would camp under its own banner, they would collectively camp under the banner of Judah, and the total number of their troops was 186,400.
(1) And they would break camp first and lead the way.
b. Next to the south were the tribes of Reuben, Simeon, and Gad collectively they would camp under the banner of Reuben, the total number of troops was 151,450.
(1) They would be the second to break camp.
c. Next to break camp would be the Levites with the Tabernacle
Numbers 2:17 (NKJV)
17 “And the tabernacle of meeting shall move out with the camp of the Levites in the middle of the camps; as they camp, so they shall move out, everyone in his place, by their standards.

d. After the Levites and the Tabernacle and on the West side of the Tabernacle were the tribes of Ephraim, Manasseh, and Benjamin collectively camped under the banner of Ephraim and the total number of troops was 108,100.
e. Last of all were the tribes of Dan, Asher, and Naphtali who were camped on the North side of the Tabernacle collectively under the banner of Dan, with the total number of troops being 157,600.
3. Someone has pointed out the population counts were uneven to the east was the highest count and opposite it to the west was the lowest count, while the counts to the north and south were almost identical to each other, so that if you were to look at the nation of Israel camped around the Tabernacle from overhead it would have an appearance similar to a cross!
C. The chapter closes
Numbers 2:32-34 (NKJV)
32 These are the ones who were numbered of the children of Israel by their fathers’ houses. All who were numbered according to their armies of the forces were six hundred and three thousand five hundred and fifty.
33 But the Levites were not numbered among the children of Israel, just as the Lord commanded Moses.
34 Thus the children of Israel did according to all that the Lord commanded Moses; so they camped by their standards and so they broke camp, each one by his family, according to their fathers’ houses.
1. With a summary statement and that as God instructed so they did.
VI. Let me close with these two points or spiritual lessons.
A. Number one we see that our God is a God of order, He has a plan and purpose for all that concerns us, we would do well to search them out in the scriptures.
1. Order for the family, for the government, for the church...
B. Secondly we see that God's people we to dwell around the Tabernacle, the tent of meeting, the place where God dwells among His people.
1. The lesson is that God is to be the center of our existence, our very being, the main and master passion in our life,
a. We will learn lessons about letting this happen as we go along in our study, but let me encourage you to desire and pray a closer relationship with Him as we consider what we have heard today, and what lays ahead in the exciting lessons of this book.