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 lan... [ Continue Reading ]
THE CALL TO NUMBER THE TRIBES AND TO PREPARE FOR WAR, EXCLUDING LEVI (NUMBERS 1:1). 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... [ Continue Reading ]
‘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... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And with you (ye) there shall be a man of every tribe, every one head of his fathers' house.' Furthermore twelve men were to be called on to assist, one from each of the twelve tribes, each to be the head of his father's house, the prince of the tribe. Each would be responsible for the ‘numbering'... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And these are the names of the men who will stand with you. Of Reuben: Elizur the son of Shedeur. Of Simeon: Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai. Of Judah: Nahshon the son of Amminadab. Of Issachar: Nethanel the son of Zuar. Of Zebulun: Eliab the son of Helon. Of the children of Joseph, of Ephraim: El... [ Continue Reading ]
‘These are they who were called by the congregation the princes of the tribes of their fathers, they were the heads of the thousands of Israel.' These twelve men were the recognised great chieftains of the tribes, ‘the princes of the tribes of their fathers'. They were the titular heads of the figh... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And Moses and Aaron took these men who are mentioned by name, and they assembled all the congregation together on the first day of the second month, and they declared their pedigrees (their ‘begetting') after their clans, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of the names, from twenty y... [ Continue Reading ]
‘As Yahweh commanded Moses, so he numbered (assessed) them in the wilderness of Sinai.' Thus did Moses fulfil Yahweh's command and mobilise the fighting men of Yahweh ready for moving forward. The numbering of Israel was an act of faith and obedience to Yahweh. It was a declaration that Yahweh had a... [ Continue Reading ]
THE NUMBERING OR ASSESSMENT OF THE TRIBES (EXCLUDING LEVI). (For more detail on these ‘numbers' see the Book Comments in e-Sword). The tribes were now assessed tribe by tribe in order to give a total picture, (L=sons of Leah, R=sons of Rachel, B=sons of Bilhah, Z=sons of Zilpah), commencing with Ja... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Of the children of Asher, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go forth to war, those who were numbered of them, of the tribe of Asher, were forty and one thousand and five hundred.'... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Of the children of Naphtali, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go forth to war, those who were numbered of them, of the tribe of Naphtali, were fifty and three thousand and four h... [ Continue Reading ]
‘These are they who were numbered, whom Moses and Aaron numbered, and the princes of Israel, being twelve men, they were each one for his fathers' house.' This then was a description of those who were mobilised for military duty, by their twelve chieftains representing their tribes, under the autho... [ Continue Reading ]
‘So all those who were numbered of the children of Israel by their fathers' houses, from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go forth to war in Israel, even all those who were numbered were six hundred thousand and three thousand and five hundred and fifty.' So all the adult males amon... [ Continue Reading ]
THE LEVITES' RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE DWELLINGPLACE (NUMBERS 1:47). Numbers 1:47 ‘But the Levites after the tribe of their fathers were not numbered among them.' But the Levites were not numbered among these fighting men. They were descendants of Levi who had been chosen through the calling of Mose... [ Continue Reading ]