Numbers 2:1-34
1 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 tabernacle 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.a
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 of 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.
THE ORDERING OF THE CAMP
(vs.1-34)
The Lord now gives instructions to Moses as to the positions of all the tribes when camped and the order of their marching. Judah is mentioned first, his name appropriately meaning "praise." His tribe was directly in front of the tabernacle, toward the east (v.3), set back at sufficient distance to allow full room for the sons of Aaron near the tabernacle entrance, their family being spread across the east side of the tabernacle court (ch.3:38).
The standard of Judah included two other tribes, Issachar and Zebulon (vs.5-7), one encamped on each side of Judah. All of this is typical of God's maintaining spiritual order in the church, not a precise physical order, but an order that glorifies His name through the subject obedience of His saints in unity and devotion to His name. We have seen the meanings of the leader's names in chapter 1, and these have full significance as regards their assigned places.
The standard of Judah was always in the lead when the tribes set out to march, for the spirit of praise to God is of first importance in travel or in warfare. When Jehoshaphat's army went out with singers praising the Lord, the victory was soon gained (2 Chronicles 20:21). The total number of men under Judah's standard was 186,400 (v.9).
The tribe of Reuben was in the middle on the south side, and under his standard were also the tribes of Simeon and Gad on either side (vs.10-16), the total number of men in the three tribes 151,450. These under Reuben's standard followed those under Judah's standard when they broke camp.
Just as the tabernacle was in the center of the camp, so its place in traveling was in the center (v.17), with the Levites accompanying it. For it was the very heart of the camp, the dwelling of God, who was in the midst of Israel. Six tribes preceded it in traveling, and six followed.
The standard of the camp of Ephraim was on the west side, and with Ephraim were Manasseh and Benjamin (vs.18-23). The armies of these three totaled 108,100. These followed the Levites in traveling.
On the north side the tribe of Dan bore the standard that included also Asher and Naphtali (vs.25-30). Their armies together comprised a total of 157,600 men, and were last in order to travel. All the numbered men therefore totaled 603,550, as chapter 1:46 reported, and chapter 2:32 confirms. Again, we are reminded that this did not include the Levites (v.33), nor of course women and children. The total of the congregation must have been between two and three million. what a company for Moses to lead through the wilderness! But this illustrates the care of God in providing the best order possible. Certainly in the Church of God today He exercises no less wisdom in providing a spiritual order that will glorify His name, and He expects in the gatherings of the assembly a becoming recognition of His order, as1 Corinthians 14:40 shows. "Let all things be done decently and in order."