Take the sum of the whole assembly of the children of Israel, after their families, according to their fathers' houses, by the number of the names, every male, according to their polls;
God has brought Israel out of Egypt, given them the law, and taught them how to worship. Now He tells Moses to count them — which raises real questions: who has the right to take such a count, and why are people listed by family, by name, and one head at a time?
The count opens a book set in the wilderness. One writer lines up the books of Moses. Each one finds Israel in a different place, and the mood changes as soon as Numbers begins:
Here we find ourselves at once "in the wilderness," where the only ones counted are those "able to go to war." The difference stands out. In Genesis the seed of Israel was still unborn, in their father Abraham. In Exodus they were making bricks in Egypt. In Leviticus they gathered around the tent of meeting. In Numbers we see them in the wilderness... But as soon as we open the book of Numbers, we read of men of war, of armies, of standards, of camps, and trumpets sounding the alarm.
A census is an owner's act. So why may God take this one? Because of who Israel belong to:
This showed His rights as Lord of Israel. He had the right to count them, because they were all His own. If He had no right to them, and no purposes for them, He would not have counted their total. The same is said of His divine title in another part of His realm: "He determines the number of the stars; He gives to all of them their names." That is how He shows His sovereignty among the armies of heaven. (Psalm 147:4.)
The same act, done by the wrong man for the wrong reason, brought disaster:
After Israel left Egypt, over a year passed before this census took place. When David decided to number the people (2 Sam. 24:2-10), his motive was pride in ruling a great nation, and 70,000 people died as a result. But God's census in Numbers shows His own deep interest in each one of His people Israel — an interest that is just as real for His saints today.
Nobody made the list just by standing in the camp. Each man had to show where he came from, and Israel's history explains why:
They had to show their family line, and only those who could do it had a place in this muster and could be soldiers. They needed that proof because of the mixed multitude of outsiders who had joined themselves to the people of God. "A mixed multitude also went up with them" (Exod. 12:38)... Our own family line, which gives us a place among the people of God, is the new birth, by which we become children of God.
Older translations render "head by head" as "by their polls." The word behind it is plain:
The skull or head, but used to mean a person. Num. 1:2-22.
The count reaches every man, one at a time. That carries a comfort we are slow to take:
We can all understand how sweet it is to be counted for heaven, and that is where most hearts turn. But even those who take the greatest comfort in God's purposes, which secure them for eternity, easily forget the interest the Lord takes right now in all our movements, ways, conflicts, and trials. This is the first thing the book opens with.
God had counted Israel before, and each count had its own purpose. One writer sets the first two side by side:
The aim of the first numbering (Ex. 38:25-27) was to collect the silver... so that count was made for the Lord, with the worship of Him in view. The second numbering (Num. 1:2-3) came when Israel was about to fight the enemy, and its aim was to find how many men were able to go to war. This was according to God. Every Israelite from twenty years old and upward needed to understand his own responsibility in the battles of the Lord.
Only the men were counted. One writer carries the point across to today:
The difference is that in Israel only the males over 20 years of age were numbered... Today all of His saints are fitted for spiritual warfare, women and young and old too.
- Owned. God counts Israel because Israel is His. The census is a claim of ownership, like the God who numbers the stars and names every one.
- Named. What He owns He knows one by one — "head by head," each man a person, not a statistic.
- Placed. Each name sits inside a clan and a father's house. Belonging to the crowd is not enough.
- Armed. The list is an army roll. This book opens with armies and trumpets, not with worship at the sanctuary.
- Accountable. Being counted meant personal responsibility in the Lord's battles. A count taken out of pride, as David's was, brought judgment instead.
from twenty years and upward, all that go forth to military service in Israel ye shall number them according to their hosts, thou and Aaron.
This command counts Israel's fighting men and sets the tone for the whole book. The road ahead is a march that is also a campaign. Why did God want only men from twenty upward, and why does a book of journeys open with a muster roll?
Scripture records more than one counting of Israel, and each one had a different purpose. One writer sets this census beside the others to show what makes it distinct:
The first numbering (Exodus 38:25-27) was to gather the silver, a bekah per man. That silver was meant to form the bases of the pillars of the tabernacle. So that numbering was done for the Lord and with a view to worshipping Him. The second numbering (Num. 1:2-3) came when Israel was about to fight the enemy. It was meant to count the men able to go to war. This was according to God. Every Israelite from twenty years old and upward needed to understand his own responsibility in the battles of the Lord.
The tone of the whole book changes at this point, and the change is deliberate.
Here we find ourselves at once "in the wilderness." Only those who are "able to go to war" are counted. This stands out clearly. In Genesis the seed of Israel were in the loins of their father Abraham. In Exodus they were in the brick-kilns of Egypt. In Leviticus they were gathered round the tent of meeting. In Numbers they are seen in the wilderness... But as soon as we open the book of Numbers, we read of men of war, armies, standards, camps, and trumpets sounding the alarm.
God's plan for the road ahead is why they had to be ready:
We must remember that God's plan was to carry them straight into the land of promise. But the route was not "by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near" (Ex. 13:17). The people had seen no war from their very beginning. They were not to face it within a few days of their rescue, yet they had to be ready for it. Indeed Amalek attacked them within a couple of months and came under God's undying curse for doing so.
Twenty marked the point at which a man was counted grown:
The Israelites were numbered from twenty years old and upwards. That was the age at which they were able to go out to war. It was also the age at which they were regarded as having grown up to manhood and fit for the service of life (Num. 1:3; 14:29; Lev. 27:3).
Verse 2 tells Moses to register the men by clan and family line. That rule had a reason:
They had to declare their family line. Only those who could do that had a place in this muster and could be warriors. Showing their family line was necessary because of the mixed multitude that had joined themselves to the people of God... What gives us a place among the people of God is the new birth, by which we become children of God. Our calling is to a spiritual war. It is not against flesh and blood, but against the devil and his schemes and the wicked spirits (Eph. 6:11-12).
Who orders a count, and why, makes all the difference.
In David's time, when he decided to number the people (2 Sam. 24:2-10), his motives were pride in reigning over a great nation, and this resulted in the death of 70,000 people. But God's census in Numbers shows His own deep interest in each one of His people Israel. That interest is just as true of His saints today.
That interest runs wider than the battlefield.
The main object in the early chapters is a count of the males who were fit for war. But the numbering goes beyond this. There are other aims than war and warlike purposes. Whatever the aim may be in different parts of the book, God impresses one thing on us: the care and interest He takes in everyone who belongs to Him.
The list held only men fit to fight. What does that ask of us?
Surely the lesson is that we are to long to be men. Of course it is not now a question of sex in this matter; a sister may be a man of God (2 John 10). And in Romans 16, where we get a list of God's mighty men (corresponding to the mighty men of David's army, 2 Sam. 23), we find that a large number of them are women. So it is not a matter of sex, but of spiritual strength and growth. Every child of God should desire to grow and be strong for the Lord, for it is written, "Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong."
- Counted — God orders this census Himself. Unlike David's proud count, it shows His interest in every person who belongs to Him.
- Named — Each man had to name his family and father's house. That marked off true Israelites from the mixed crowd who came out of Egypt with them.
- Aged — Twenty was the mark of full growth, the point at which a man was fit for war and for the service of life.
- Armed — Numbers opens with armies, standards and trumpets. God meant to bring Israel into the land, and they had to be ready to fight.
- Answerable — Each man had to grasp his own responsibility in the Lord's battles. Today the test is not gender but spiritual strength and growth.
And with you there shall be a man for every tribe, a man who is the head of his father's house.
Numbers opens with God ordering a count of Israel. Before the count begins, He appoints twelve men — one from each tribe — to stand with Moses. Two questions follow. Why does God count His people at all? And why must each tribe have its own head in the work?
The count is not paperwork. It is God claiming what belongs to Him.
The book opens with His command to Moses to number the tribes, and it is done with great exactness and care... This was an expression of His rights as Lord of Israel. He had title to take their number, for they were all His own. If He had no right to them, and no prospects in them, He would not have counted their sum. The same is said of His divine title in another part of His realm: "He determines the number of the stars; He gives to all of them their names." This is the expression of His sovereignty over the armies of heaven. (Psalm 147:4)
The same interest holds today, and it comes with a call to fight:
But God's census in Numbers shows His own vital interest in each one of His people Israel, and that interest is just as real for His saints today... Today all of His saints are fitted for spiritual warfare — women too, and the young and the old — though some are less active than others because of age. Yet the lesson is also clear for us. To take part in practical conflict we need maturity, or full age, which comes through knowing and growing in the word of God.
Verse 4 puts a man from each tribe beside Moses. Who picked them?
Our chapter records that first of all God selected a "head" or prince for each tribe. The choice was not left to the people, or even to Moses. The word to him was, "These are the names of the men who shall assist you…" God chose His own leader for each tribe, and this reminds us that God today chooses His own servants and leaders. He does not put the matter to a popular vote.
The verse ties each man to "the house of his fathers." That family order shaped the whole army:
In this muster the organization used is the natural one, by families or "fathers' houses"... The difference between the two is this: the word for "family" implies being under authority, while "father's house" shows that this authority rests on the natural relationship. Such is God's relationship to His people, and the father is the picture of it. Here rule should be easy, and obedience a joy. So they were linked together in family groups in God's army, brother fighting beside brother — an army so closely joined that you would think it could not be beaten.
So why record twelve names and nothing else about the men?
Of these men nothing is recorded but their own names and their fathers' names. For that very reason, if there could be any doubt otherwise, we can be sure their names are meant to speak to us. All these Bible names should speak, and their link with the tribes they represent must matter. There must be a reason why Elizur, and not Shelumiel or Nahshon, is prince of Reuben. We find that reason by looking into Reuben's history.
Reuben shows how that works:
The leader of the tribe of Reuben was Elizur the son of Shedeur. Elizur means "God is a Rock." What a contrast to his forefather Reuben, of whom we read, "Unstable as water, you shall not have preeminence" (Gen. 49:4). Reuben in the flesh was utter weakness, just as the flesh proves to be in all of us. But the strength and stability of God belong to the new nature.
The count demanded proof of descent. Not everyone in the camp could give it:
They had to declare their descent, family by family. Only those who could do that had a place in this muster and could be warriors. They had to show their descent because of the mixed crowd that had joined itself to the people of God... Our own line of descent, which gives us a place among the people of God, is the new birth, by which we become children of God. And our calling is to a spiritual warfare — not against flesh and blood, but against the devil and his schemes and the wicked spirits (Eph. 6:11-12).
- Ownership — God counts Israel because Israel is His. He numbers what belongs to Him and names it, as He names the stars.
- Appointment — God names the twelve heads who stand with Moses. The people do not vote, and Moses does not choose.
- Family — God ranks each man inside his father's house, so brother fights beside brother in one closely joined army.
- Names — God leaves us only these men's names and their fathers'. So the names themselves teach: Elizur, "God is a Rock," answers unstable Reuben.
- Pedigree — God admits no one to the muster without proof of descent. Commentators see the same today in the new birth, which gives a place among His people and a call to spiritual warfare.
And these are the names of the men that shall stand with you for Reuben, Elizur the son of Shedeur;
In Numbers 1 God orders a census of Israel at Sinai, and verse 5 names the first of twelve tribal leaders who stand with Moses and Aaron for the count. Of Reuben's leader we are told only his name and his father's name.
The census was not a head count for its own sake. One writer explains why God wanted the count at all:
He was careful in this way to assert His title and survey His possessions. He would have the exact number of Israel brought to Him, for they were all His own. He called them by their names, and knew their numbers.
The count also had a purpose. Israel was becoming God's army, and every man had his place in it:
The people are to face the dangers of the way, and the first requirement for this is to be in subjection to their Leader — not Moses, but the Lord Himself. So first of all comes this mustering and marshalling of what is to be the host of God. For a soldier, keeping rank is an absolute necessity, and here a wisdom that cannot fail appoints for everyone his place and his companions.
Scripture records nothing about these leaders except their names and their fathers' names. Commentators read that silence as a clue, not a gap:
Under Moses and Aaron there are certain princes of the people. Each belongs to his own tribe, and in time becomes its head. Scripture gives us nothing about them but their own names and their fathers' names. For that very reason — if there could be any doubt — we may be sure their names are meant to speak to us. All these Bible names should speak, and their link with the tribes they represent must matter. There must be a reason why Elizur, rather than Shelumiel or Nahshon, should be prince of Reuben. We find that reason by looking into Reuben's history.
The force of the name shows once you set it beside what Jacob said about Reuben:
Reuben stands first here, as in Genesis, and Reuben's prince is Elizur the son of Shedeur. The meaning of the first name is beyond question, and it is beautiful — "God is a Rock." That becomes plain as soon as you set it beside the character Jacob gives his firstborn: "Unstable as water, you shall not have preeminence." What a contrast between the rock-like stability of God and the instability of Reuben! And it is learning this, and learning how to build on it, that gives stability to the unstable. In ourselves there is never strength. The way of strength is to know this: "when I am weak, then I am strong."
The match is not accidental. The captain given to the unstable tribe carries in his name the answer to its instability:
So it is plain why Elizur is Reuben's prince and leader. He is one of God's royal family of overcomers, and he overcomes the evil that is native to the tribe he represents. In him, faith has found refuge from himself, and found it in God. He is then the fitting captain for the men fit for war in the tribe of the firstborn.
Another writer starts from God's own choice of these men, then reads the father's name:
God Himself chose the leaders of each of these tribes, and He had good spiritual reasons. We must learn those reasons from the names given, since that is all Scripture supplies. Shedeur means "the Almighty is fire," which adds the thought of God's consuming holiness judging the flesh and all its works. To know the strength and steadying energy of God as we should, we must be "partakers of His holiness." That is what the fire speaks of — holiness that must judge Reuben's sin. So it is fitting that the lessons Shedeur teaches come first in preparing us for spiritual conflict.
The same writer draws the line from Israel's muster to believers now:
God's census in Numbers shows His own deep interest in each one of His people Israel. That interest is no less true of His saints today. The difference is that in Israel only males over twenty were numbered… Today all His saints are fitted for spiritual warfare, women and young and old too… Yet the lesson is clear for us. To engage in real conflict we need maturity or full age, such as comes through knowledge and growth in the word of God.
- Counted — the census asserts God's title to His people; He called them by their names and knew their numbers.
- Named — Scripture records only names here, so the names themselves must speak.
- Matched — Elizur, "God is a Rock," leads the tribe Jacob called unstable as water. The name answers the tribe's weakness.
- Purified — Shedeur, "the Almighty is fire," comes first. Holiness judges the flesh, then God's strength steadies us.
- Mustered — God forms an army with every man in his rank. For conflict today we need growth in God's word.
for Simeon, Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai;
Numbers 1 hands each tribe to one named man. Simeon's man appears here with nothing but his own name and his father's — no deeds, no history, no record of his work.
The census did not start with the people. God named the men who would stand beside Moses, and the tribes had no say.
Our chapter records that, first of all, a "head" or prince of each tribe was chosen. The choice was not left to the people, or even to Moses. The word to him was, "These are the names of the men who shall stand with you…" God chose His own leader for each tribe. This reminds us that God still chooses His own servants and leaders today. He does not put the matter to a popular vote.
Scripture tells us nothing else about Shelumiel. So the names are the message, and it matters which man was joined to which tribe.
We are told nothing about these men except their own names and their fathers' names. For that very reason, if there could be any doubt otherwise, we can be sure their names are meant to speak to us. All these Bible names should speak, and their link with the tribes they represent must matter. There must be a reason why Elizur, and not Shelumiel or Nahshon, is prince of Reuben; and we find it by looking into Reuben's history.
Simeon's family record was violent. His father Jacob described that character in Genesis 49, which makes the name of Simeon's prince a reversal.
In order of birth the tribe of Simeon comes next, and the prince of Simeon was Shelumiel (v.6), which means "at peace with God." That is a striking contrast to Simeon's character as his father Jacob described it in Genesis 49:5-7. Simeon, along with Levi, was guilty of cruel and vicious hatred in the murder of the men of Shechem (Gen. 34:25-26). Only the grace of God could make any difference in so terrible a case. Is the flesh in us any better than in Simeon and Levi? Not at all. Yet God has in pure grace reconciled all believers to Himself (2 Cor. 5:18), and we are "at peace with God," as Romans 5:1 declares.
The son's name rests on the father's. Peace is not a mood in the man; it stands on something outside him, and the possessive pronoun makes it personal.
Shelumiel was the son Zurishaddai, meaning "My rock is the Almighty." This reminds us that peace with God depends on the stability of God Himself, the Almighty; and in this case not only is God the Rock, by "my rock." How good it is for us if we appropriate to ourselves this living truth! This is a wonderful sustenance in warfare.
Simeon's old strength was a partnership with his brother, and it ended in violence. His prince's name points to a different bond.
Simeon's very alliance with his brother is a confession of weakness — a weakness he would cure by turning to what so many turn to today: banding together with others. And he does find strength there, but only to use it cruelly and to walk apart from God. So on his part it ends in division and scattering. That has to happen if he is to be saved from himself. Having found where natural strength leads a man, he may turn to the One in whom there is all-sufficiency and with whom is holiness. This is now the Simeonite prince's alliance, and such a bond never needs to be broken up again. So Shelumiel, that true peace with God which comes from communion with Him, springs from Zurishaddai, the known and enjoyed strength of the Almighty.
Shelumiel does not stand alone. His place is next to Reuben's prince, and the two names echo each other.
If Reuben's prince is Elizur ("God is a rock"), the father of Simeon's prince is Zurishaddai — "my rock is the Almighty." So they are well-matched companions. But the communion that Simeon stands for must follow Reuben's lead of holding to God and submitting to Him. Only then can it stand up under the warfare of the desert. That is how he fills his own place here.
Behind the whole roll call stands a question of ownership.
This was an expression of His rights as Lord of Israel. He had the right to count them, for they were all His own. If He had no claim on them, and nothing to look for in them, He would not have counted them up. The same is said of His divine right in another part of His dominions: "He tells the number of the stars; He calls them all by their names."
- Counted — God numbered Israel because they were His own; He calls them by name, as He does the stars.
- Chosen — God appointed the man who stood for Simeon; the tribe did not elect him.
- Named — no deeds are recorded, so the two names carry the lesson: Shelumiel, "at peace with God," son of Zurishaddai, "my rock is the Almighty."
- Reversed — Simeon's family name stood for cruelty. Only grace turns that record into peace with God.
- Ready — that peace rests on the Almighty as my rock. It holds a man in the desert warfare, in his place beside Reuben.
for Judah, Nahshon the son of Amminadab;
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
for Issachar, Nethaneel the son of Zuar;
Numbers 1 opens with God ordering a census of Israel's fighting men. He names one man from each tribe to stand with Moses and Aaron and do the counting. Verse 8 names the man for Issachar. Scripture tells us nothing else about him, so the question is what a bare name and a father's name are doing in the record at all.
The tribal heads were not picked by the people or even by Moses. Commenting on how the list is introduced, one writer draws out who did the choosing.
Our chapter records that as a preliminary a "head" or prince of each tribe was selected. The choice was not left to the people, or even to Moses. The word to him was, "These are the names of the men that shall stand with you…" God chose His own leader for each tribe, and this may usefully remind us that God today chooses His own servants and leaders, and does not submit the matter to a popular vote.
Because the record gives us nothing about these men except their names, the names themselves carry the weight.
Of these we have nothing noted but their own and their fathers' names, but just for that reason, if there could otherwise be doubt, we may be sure that their names are intended to speak to us. All these Bible names should speak and their connection with the several tribes which they represent must be of importance.
Nethanel belongs to a cluster of names in this list built on the Hebrew word for God. Another writer counts them and reads something into the pattern.
It may be that the Spirit of God was stirring the hearts of many in Israel at this time, and turning them to the God of their fathers. If we read the names of those who were "the renowned of the congregation" in Numbers and remember that "El" means "God," we cannot but be struck with the number of names of which this forms a part. For example, Numbers 1:5, Elizur means "God is my rock"; verse 6, Shelumiel means "Friend of God"; verse 8, Nathaneel means "Given of God"; verse 9, Eliab means "My God is Father."
Issachar's own name means "hire," and Jacob's words over him in Genesis 49 picture a strong donkey that bows its shoulder and becomes a servant at forced labour. Against that background, a prince named "gift of God" is pointed.
Issachar's prince comes fourth in the list, Nathaniel, the "gift of God" — again exactly suited to him whose name speaks of hire, and whose tendency is to stoop his shoulder to foreign yokes, and to pay his tribute from the love of ease. The spirit of legality takes up readily with such strange service, since it is self which it really serves, and a bribe will turn it from its true Master… the hireling spirit in the people of God themselves would turn His grace into legal compensation, and a true overcomer is this Nathaniel who has learnt that the "gift of God" cannot be purchased.
The father's name is not filler. Zuar means "little," and commentators tie the two names together as cause and effect.
Nethanel was the son of Zuar, meaning "little." How true it is that when we receive every blessing simply as a gift of God our pride will be brought low, no longer to think highly of ourselves, but like Paul, whose name means "little," to consider ourselves "less than the least of all saints" (Eph. 3:8).
Nethanel does not stand alone. In the camp order that follows, Issachar takes his place beside Judah, whose name means "praise."
The last thought connects with Issachar, who, with Zebulon, fights under Judah's banner, with his captain Nathaniel, "the gift of God." They are both under the best of leadership evidently. The one will not seek his own, nor the other stray off to the world, while Judah leads.
Later, this tribe became known for something more than numbers.
Some of Issachar came to David at Ziklag, and of them it is said that they "had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do" (1 Chr. 12:32).
Behind the whole roll call is God's claim on the people He redeemed.
He was careful thus to assert His title, and survey His possessions. He would have the number of Israel exactly brought to Him, for they were all His own. He called them by their names, and knew their numbers.
- Chosen — God Himself named the man who stood for Issachar. The tribe did not vote him in, and Moses did not pick him.
- Named — Scripture records no deeds for him, only a name. Writers take that silence as the point: the name is the message. Nethanel means "gift of God."
- Gift — a tribe whose name means "hire" gets a leader whose name means gift, and the gift of God cannot be bought or earned.
- Little — his father's name, Zuar, means "little." Receiving everything as a gift brings pride down to size.
- Ranked — the gift-of-God man marches under Judah's banner, and his tribe later gave David men who understood the times and knew what Israel should do.
for Zebulun, Eliab the son of Helon;
This verse is one line in a list. Eliab stands for Zebulun in the census at Sinai, named with his father. Two questions sit behind that short entry. Why did God pick these men? And why does Scripture keep their names?
The men on this list did not put themselves forward:
Our chapter records that as a first step a "head" or prince of each tribe was selected. The choice was not left to the people, or even to Moses. The word to him was, "these are the names of the men who shall assist you…" God chose His own leader for each tribe. This is a useful reminder that God today chooses His own servants and leaders. He does not put the matter to a popular vote.
Eliab's job was to count his tribe. The count had a purpose tied to the journey ahead:
The whole people are counted tribe by tribe and family by family. A prince of each tribe is chosen, and he oversees the count of that tribe. Only the men of war are to be counted, because the census is taken with the dangers and trials of the journey in view. So right at the start we see the thought of order stressed. No Israelite warrior is left out. Each one takes his place under his tribal prince, and all of them are arranged, as we shall see later, with reference to the tabernacle.
Counting someone assumes a claim on them. That claim is God's, and it reaches beyond Israel:
This was an expression of His rights as Lord of Israel. He had title to take their number, for they were all His own. If He had no right to them, and no prospects in them, He would not have counted their number. The same divine title is spoken of in another part of His dominions: "He determines the number of the stars; He gives to all of them their names." That is the expression of His sovereignty among the heavenly hosts. (Psalm 147:4)
The list gives no deeds and no stories, only names. That silence is itself the clue:
Under Moses and Aaron there are certain princes of the people. Each one belongs to his own tribe, and in time becomes its head. Nothing is recorded about them except their own names and their fathers' names. For that very reason, if there could be any doubt otherwise, we can be sure that their names are meant to speak to us.
Many of these names are built on the same syllable:
Read the names of those who were "the renowned of the congregation" in Numbers, and remember that "El" means "God". The number of names built on it must strike us. For example, in Numbers 1:5, Elizur means "God is my rock". In verse 6, Shelumiel means "Friend of God". In verse 8, Nathaneel means "Given of God". In verse 9, Eliab means "My God is Father". And so we might go on.
Zebulun's name means dwelling. The name of the man who leads him carries both a warning and a comfort:
God is the Father of His believing people. But if they mix with the world and forget whose they are, they force Him, as it were, to forget their special relation to Himself. He cannot be a Father to them as He would be. How terrible this loss is, little as many think of it! And what a strong witness Zebulun's captain gives us here — Eliab, "God is a Father!" May it speak to His people's hearts with all its solemnity and all its precious encouragement! So Zebulun, "dwelling," gets its right meaning.
Zebulun does not camp alone. He stands under Judah's banner with Issachar, and the three tribes carry one message together:
Taken as a whole, then, the camp of Judah expresses the spirit of righteousness. The standard he gathers under is righteousness. It is a spirit to which God's statutes are songs, and so it is free from legality. It keeps the enjoyment of relationship to God as Father, where Issachar and Zebulun add the thoughts that complete it.
- Chosen — Eliab did not volunteer and was not voted in; God named the man who would stand with Moses for each tribe.
- Counted — the census listed the men able to fight, because the journey ahead held danger. Every warrior took his place under his tribal prince.
- Owned — God numbers Israel as He numbers the stars, because those He counts belong to Him.
- Named — nothing is told of these men but their names, and that alone signals the names are meant to speak.
- Fathered — Eliab means "My God is Father", and Zebulun means dwelling. The family bond is what gives dwelling with God its meaning.
for the children of Joseph for Ephraim, Elishama the son of Ammihud; for Manasseh, Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur;
Numbers 1:10 lists two men where you would expect one: Joseph's family supplies a prince for Ephraim and a prince for Manasseh. Why does one son of Jacob hold two places in the list? And why record the names of these men and their fathers at all?
Joseph is not listed as a tribe here. His two sons stand in his place, and commentators trace this back to Jacob giving Joseph an extra place through his two sons:
Jacob had 12 sons at the time, the exact number that speaks of complete order. So why should he give Joseph an extra place among the tribes by naming tribes after his two sons? The wisdom of God was in this. Later we find that Levi received no inheritance of its own among the tribes (Num. 1:47-53), because God set that tribe apart to serve Him in the tabernacle and among all the tribes.
The order inside the verse is also deliberate. Ephraim, the younger, comes before Manasseh:
Levi is left out between Simeon and Judah, since he is not to be counted. Asher and Gad swap places. Ephraim and Manasseh take Joseph's place. According to Jacob's prophecy (Gen. 48:14-22), Ephraim takes precedence over Manasseh.
Elishama and Gamaliel did not campaign for their positions. The list came from God:
Our chapter records that God first chose a "head," or prince, for each tribe. The choice was not left to the people, or even to Moses. The word to him was, "These are the names of the men who shall assist you…" God chose His own leader for each tribe. This reminds us that God still chooses His own servants and leaders today. He does not put the matter to a vote.
Several writers treat the names of these princes as messages in themselves. Ephraim's name carries the idea of fruitfulness. His prince's name supplies what fruitfulness needs:
Ephraim's prince is Elishama, which means "God has heard." The "fruitfulness" that Ephraim's own name speaks of can become a trap for us. It is safe only when we trace it back to the One who hears His people's prayer. The second name, Ammihud, "the people of Majesty," may point to a known relationship with the infinite Greatness. That relationship is what gives prayer its right and its drive. All these names breathe a spirit of dependence and of nearness — of lowliness, yet of intimacy — things that necessarily go together.
The other name in the verse looks ahead to reward, and this is a chapter about men fit to fight:
Manasseh's prince was Gamaliel, meaning "God is a Rewarder." In a time of conflict this is a wonderful encouragement. We have no reason to look for men's approval or rewards. If we fight only to please God, we will be content to wait for God's time of reward. Gamaliel's father, Pedahzur, means "the rock has redeemed." That reminds us never to take pride in the rewards of service. We are only sinners redeemed by Him who is the one stable Rock.
Behind the roll of princes lies the reason for the census itself:
The early chapters set out one main object: a count of the males who were fit for war. But we will find that the numbering goes beyond this… Whatever the aim of each part of the book, God presses this on us — the care and the interest He takes in everyone who belongs to Him. It is a very simple truth, but it is full of comfort to the soul.
That is why descent mattered so much in this chapter. Elishama son of Ammihud, Gamaliel son of Pedahzur — each man's father is named:
They had to show their family line. Only those who could do that had a place in this count and could serve as soldiers. They needed this proof because a mixed crowd of outsiders had attached itself to the people of God… What gives us our place among the people of God is the new birth. By it we become children of God. And we are called to a spiritual war. It is not against flesh and blood, but against the devil and his schemes and the evil spirits (Eph. 6:11-12).
- Counted — the census counted the men fit for war. Its deeper message is the care God takes in everyone who belongs to Him.
- Claimed — Joseph gets two places through his sons Ephraim and Manasseh. That keeps the tribes at twelve once Levi is set apart to serve at the tabernacle.
- Chosen — no tribe voted for its prince. God named the men who were to assist Moses, and He still chooses His own servants and leaders.
- Heard — Elishama means "God has heard." Fruitfulness turns into a snare unless we trace it back to the God who hears.
- Rewarded — Gamaliel means "God is a Rewarder," so no soldier needs human applause. Pedahzur, "the rock has redeemed," keeps that reward from feeding pride.
for Benjamin, Abidan the son of Gideoni;
Numbers 1:11 is one line in a roll call. God counts Israel's fighting men, and Abidan son of Gideoni stands with Moses and Aaron to represent Benjamin. Why does God record the name of one man's father in a military register, and what did commentators find in it?
Behind this count stands an owner taking stock of what is His.
He was careful to assert His title and survey His possessions. He would have the number of Israel brought to Him exactly, for they were all His own. He called them by their names, and knew their numbers.
Verse 11 sits inside a list of twelve names. Writers find the meaning of each Hebrew name worth study.
Moses and Aaron were called to lead in numbering the people by their armies. As we saw in Exodus, both Moses and Aaron are pictures of Christ. He knows His people and His watchful eye rests on each one. Associated with Moses and Aaron were the princes of the tribes mentioned in verses 5–16. The names of these princes are of deep interest when we translate them into English.
The name of Benjamin's leader points to judgment. The tribe he leads has a fierce reputation.
Abidan was the prince of Benjamin, his name meaning "My father is judge" (v.11). In Genesis 49:27 Benjamin is called "a ravenous wolf." In other words he was naturally a warrior. But the Lord does not need natural fighters. Peter learned this when he used a sword to cut off the ear of the high priest's servant (John 18:10-11). The Lord rebuked him and healed the man's ear. "For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds" (2 Cor. 10:4). So let us remember the lesson of Abidan, "my Father is judge." God as a Father judges according to each person's work (1 Peter 1:17). It is He who judges the value of our warfare, with perfect spiritual discernment.
Another writer puts the warning to anyone who fights evil.
What warning could be more needed in the struggle against evil than this — that we ourselves are under our Father's holy eye! How can we fight evil elsewhere while we ignore its power over our own hearts and ways? In the dark days after Israel took the land, the judge was also the deliverer. His office was twofold: he judged Israel, and he went out to war.
The verse also names Abidan's father. The same writer explains that name, and what must come before any self-judgment.
But Abidan is also the son of Gideoni — "the cutter down." All true later judgment flows from one thing: accepting that first judgment at the cross. There the tree of humanity had to be cut down to build the ark of salvation. Christ crucified is our deliverance. But Christ crucified is also the judgment of the flesh: "our old self was crucified with him." Christ died to sin, so we are to count ourselves dead to sin. To count it so is power over it. If shoots come up from the stump, the knife and the axe still have their place. But for intelligent faith, Gideoni has done his woodman's work well. Gideoni is the father of Abidan.
The chapter counts every tribe for war. Even so, writers find in Benjamin one particular kind of fighting.
As already said, people may be in the conflict who are not warriors. There are also different kinds of warfare — defensive as well as offensive, in the fort and in the field. Benjamin is the picture of the aggressive soldier. He is not the shield-bearer but the swordsman or the slinger, like those in Benjamin at another time: "seven hundred chosen men… every one could sling a stone at a hair and not miss" (Judges 20:16). God wants this in His people too: not just holding the fort, but going out to war — when there is land to win, or fellow believers to rescue.
- Counted — God counts people who are already His own. He knows their names and their numbers.
- Named — each Hebrew name teaches something. Moses and Aaron are a picture of Christ, whose eye rests on each person.
- Judged — Abidan means "my father is judge," and it is God who assesses the worth of the fight, not the fighter.
- Cut down — Abidan is son of Gideoni, "the cutter down." Self-judgment grows out of the judgment of the flesh at the cross.
- Sent out — Benjamin stands for the soldier who advances, not only defends. But the weapons are not of the flesh.
for Dan, Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai;
Numbers 1:12 gives just two names — the man chosen to represent Dan in the census, and his father. Yet both names carry meaning. Together they turn one short line into a picture of how God chooses and uses people.
The heads named in this list did not rise by popularity. The instruction came to Moses with the men already selected.
Our chapter records that, first of all, God chose a "head" or prince for each tribe. The choice was not left to the people, or even to Moses. The word to him was, "These are the names of the men that shall stand with you…" God chose His own leader for each tribe. This is a useful reminder that God still chooses His own servants and leaders today. He does not put the matter to a popular vote.
The record gives Ahiezer no story. It gives only his name and his father's name.
Under Moses and Aaron there are certain princes of the people. Each one belongs to his own tribe, and in time becomes its head. We are told nothing about them except their own names and their fathers' names. For that very reason, if there could be any doubt, we can be sure their names are meant to speak to us. All these Bible names should speak. Their link with the tribes they represent must matter.
Dan opens the group descended from Jacob's servant wives. Its prince carries a name that runs against what Jacob once said about this tribe.
Now come the sons of Jacob's servant wives, and Dan is named first. The prince of Dan was Ahiezer, which means "brother of help." What a contrast to the character of Dan described in Genesis 49:17: "Dan shall be a serpent in the way." Instead of giving a brother's help, he would give harm from Satan. Again, God makes a wonderful change by His pure grace, so that Dan would be a help in conflict. Ahiezer was the son of Ammishaddai, which means "the people of the Almighty." Once the people are settled in their relationship to the Almighty, a brother relationship is what we should expect.
Dan's own name means judgment. In human hands, rule turns inward and serves the ruler.
The first of these is Dan, "judgment" — the spirit of rule. As Dan's origin shows, rule is really service. Yet how quickly man turns it into something else! "Man does not remain in his honour." Instead of using his position to bless those entrusted to his care, he uses it for himself. He feeds his own ambition or greed with it. He becomes a rebel against the One who gave him his authority… But for this, as for everything else, God has a remedy. Dan stands here in his place with his captain Ahiezer — "brother of help," the son of Ammishaddai — "the people of the Almighty." Let those names be made real, and the ruler becomes what God designed: the "helping brother" of the people he is set over.
Read together with the tribes camped alongside Dan, these three names form one set of qualities for a people about to travel and fight.
Dan, "judge," his prince Ahiezer, "the brother of help," the son of Ammishaddai, "the people of the Almighty": these names combine the thoughts suggested of alertness, power and helpfulness… Thus the camp is duly ordered and prepared for the march. The tabernacle, whether the people are at rest or on their journey, is surrounded by these men of war, all in due order.
Dan stands in full honour here. Its later history took a dark turn. Yet God still holds a place for it.
Very early in the land this tribe set up the idolatry that lasted until the people went into captivity. Judges 18:30-31. Jacob's picture of the snake that bites the horse's heels recalls the serpent that would bruise the heel of the woman's offspring. Genesis 3:15. This seems to suggest that the Antichrist will arise out of the tribe of Dan, and this has been the judgement of Christians from the earliest times. Two omissions confirm the thought. Dan's name is missing from 1 Chronicles 2 – 8, the book that records much of grace and blessing. Dan is also left out of the list of tribes from which twelve thousand each will be sealed in a future day. Revelation 7:3-8. Still, God will keep His promises to the twelve tribes. Dan will have its portion in the land, as Ezekiel 48:1-2, 32 foretells.
Commentators differ on how much weight to give Jacob's words here. Not all treat the link with the antichrist as settled.
Some have thought that Jacob's prophetic words about Dan in Genesis 49:16-18 may throw light on this. If the "serpent in the way" and the "adder in the path" point to the antichrist, driven by Satan and rising out of the tribe of Dan, then it may.
- Chosen — the head over Dan was not voted in; God named the man who would stand with Moses.
- Named — with no story attached to Ahiezer, his name and his father's name are what God means us to hear.
- Helped — Ahiezer is "brother of help," son of "the people of the Almighty." Help between brothers flows from a people settled with God.
- Serving — Dan means judgment. In God's design, rule is service, and the helping brother is the ruler God intended.
- Kept — Dan's later idolatry cost the tribe its place in some lists, yet its portion in the land still stands.
for Asher, Pagiel the son of Ocran;
Numbers 1:13 is one line in a long roll call. It names the man who stood for the tribe of Asher when Israel was counted at Sinai. Why does Scripture record twelve princes and their fathers by name?
Before the counting began, each tribe needed a head. That choice did not come from the people.
Our chapter records that as a first step a "head" or prince of each tribe was selected. The choice was not left to the people, or even to Moses. The word to him was, "These are the names of the men who shall assist you…" God chose His own leader for each tribe. This is a good reminder that God today chooses His own servants and leaders. He does not put the matter to a popular vote.
Scripture tells us nothing about Pagiel except his father's name and his tribe. One writer treats that silence as a reason to look closer.
Under Moses and Aaron there are certain princes of the people, each identified with his own tribe, and in due time coming to be head over it. We have nothing about them except their own names and their fathers' names. For that very reason, if there could otherwise be doubt, we may be sure that their names are meant to speak to us. All these Bible names should speak. Their link with the tribes they represent must be important.
Read the three names together and they pull in opposite directions. Asher's own name promises gladness; the prince and his father speak of God's dealings and of pain.
Asher's prince was Pagiel (v.13). His name means "event of God." His father's name, Ocran, means "afflicted." Genesis 49:20 tells us, "Asher's food shall be rich, and he shall yield royal delicacies." Asher means "happy." But even the blessing of Asher has to be tempered with God's dealings — events of God — to bring affliction. For true happiness always comes through suffering, little as we might at first appreciate this. How well Paul understood this when he wrote, "For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong" (2 Cor. 12:10).
The census had a military purpose, and the princes existed to give it order.
The census counts all the people, tribe by tribe and family by family. Each tribe has a prince who presides over the counting of that tribe. The count includes only the men of war, because the census looks ahead to the dangers and trials of the journey. So right from the start we see the stress on order. Not one Israelite warrior is left out. Each man finds his place in subjection to his tribal prince, and all take their place around the tabernacle.
Scripture names Pagiel as "the son of Ochran," because descent decided who could be enrolled at all.
They had to declare their pedigrees, family by family. Only those who could do that had a place in this muster and could be warriors. They had to show their pedigree because a mixed multitude had joined themselves to the people of God. "A mixed multitude also went up with them" (Ex. 12:38)… So only those who could show by their pedigree that they belonged among the people of God joined the muster and could go to war. Our pedigree, which gives us a place among the people of God, is the new birth, by which we become children of God. And our calling is to a spiritual warfare. It is not against flesh and blood, but against the devil and his schemes and the wicked spirits (Eph. 6:11-12).
Asher's story runs far beyond the wilderness.
When counted at Sinai, Asher had 41,500 men able to go out to war. Near the promised land the number was 53,400. But when the rulers of the tribes are listed in the time of David, Asher is left out. Num. 1:41; Num. 26:47; 1 Chr. 27:16-22… In Rev. 7:6, twelve thousand of Asher will be sealed, and in Luke 2:36, Anna a prophetess, of the tribe of Asher, gave thanks in the temple at the birth of the Saviour. Asher is one of the tribes still to come into blessing, and to have a portion in the land. Ezek. 48:2-3.
- Chosen — the prince over Asher was named by God, not elected by the tribe or picked by Moses.
- Named — Scripture gives only Pagiel's name and his father's, so the names themselves are meant to teach.
- Afflicted — "event of God," son of "afflicted," heads the tribe called "happy": real joy comes by way of suffering.
- Counted — every man of war took his place under his prince, around the tabernacle. No one was left out.
- Kept — Asher grew from 41,500 to 53,400, then vanished from David's list. Yet Anna of Asher gave thanks in the temple, and 12,000 of Asher are sealed in Revelation.
for Gad, Eliasaph the son of Deuel;
At Sinai, God told Moses to count Israel, and He picked one man from each tribe to help. This verse names the man from Gad, and even one line of a name list raises real questions: who chose him, why record his father's name, and why count fighting men at all?
The census did not begin with numbers. It began with names that God gave to Moses.
Our chapter records that as a first step God selected a "head" or prince for each tribe. The choice did not rest with the people, or even with Moses. God's word to Moses was, "These are the names of the men that shall stand with you…" God chose His own leader for each tribe, and this may remind us that God today chooses His own servants and leaders. He does not put the matter to a popular vote.
The list gives only their names and their fathers' names. One writer treats that silence as the clue.
Under Moses and Aaron there are certain princes of the people. Each one belongs to his own tribe, and in time he becomes its head. The record notes nothing about them except their own names and their fathers' names. For that very reason, if there could be any doubt otherwise, we can be sure their names are meant to speak to us. All these Bible names should speak, and the link between each name and the tribe it represents must matter.
The two names in this verse fall in an order: closeness with God first, growth after it.
And now we have Gad, whose prince is Eliasaph — "God has added"; he is the son of Deuel — "known of God." What a good thing it is to be known by God! This does not mean the general knowledge God has of everything. It means the knowledge we have of someone we are close to, and it implies approval. And this is the real secret of the spiritual increase that Eliasaph's name speaks of… Do we need to be told to expect growth in a child of God? Or when growth is missing, is that not sad proof that closeness with God is lacking?
Another writer ties the same two names to Gad's future and to the fight ahead.
The blessing spoken over Gad is a prophecy of recovery and triumph, so Eliasaph's name shows that this triumph will come by God giving the increase. His father's name, Deuel, means "known of God." The sense of God's knowing us thus leads to spiritual increase in practical life. This too is connected with preparation for conflict. But God is the source of all.
One chapter later the same man is called Reuel. A Bible dictionary explains the difference as a copying slip, not two men.
Father of Eliasaph, "prince" of Gad. Num. 1:14; Num. 7:42, 47; Num. 10:20. In Num. 2:14 he is called REUEL. This is clearly a case where someone mistook the letter ד (D) for the letter ר (R).
Gad's own name and blessing suit a chapter about men able to go to war.
Gad means "a troop," which shows a warrior character. That will be clearest in Israel when God restores them to their inheritance. God "enlarges Gad," because those who join the good fight of faith to take hold of what is theirs are the ones He enlarges in this way.
No man joined the count unless he could show his family line.
Each man had to declare his family line. Only those who could do so had a place in this count and could be warriors. They needed to show their family line because of the mixed crowd of outsiders who had joined the people of God… So only those who could prove their rightful place among the people of God were counted and could go to war.
Behind the exactness of the whole list stands a claim of ownership.
This was an expression of His rights as Lord of Israel. He had the right to count them, because they were all His own. If He had no claim on them, and nothing to look for in them, He would not have counted them at all. Scripture says the same of His divine title in another part of His realm: "He determines the number of the stars; He gives to all of them their names."
- Chosen — no vote made Eliasaph a leader; God named the head of each tribe Himself.
- Known — his father's name, Deuel, means "known of God," and closeness with God comes before growth.
- Increased — Eliasaph means "God has added"; we should expect growth in a child of God, and God gives it.
- Enlisted — only men who could prove their family line joined the count, because this was a list of men ready for war.
- Owned — God counted Israel because Israel was His, just as He counts the stars and names each one.
for Naphtali, Ahira the son of Enan.
Numbers 1:15 ends the list of twelve tribal leaders who stand with Moses and Aaron for the counting of Israel's fighting men. Ahira son of Enan comes last. Like the eleven before him, he gets only his own name and his father's name. So why record him at all?
The record gives no deeds and no speeches for any of them. One writer takes that silence as the point.
Under Moses and Aaron there are certain princes of the people, each identified with his own tribe, and in due time coming to be head over it. Of these men we are told nothing but their own names and their fathers' names. For that very reason, if there could be any doubt otherwise, we may be sure their names are meant to speak to us. All these Bible names should speak. Their link with the tribes they represent must matter. There must be a reason why Elizur, rather than Shelumiel or Nahshon, is prince of Reuben, and we should find it by exploring Reuben's history.
One writer looks first at the two men in charge of the count.
Moses and Aaron were called to be the leaders in numbering the people by their armies. As we saw in Exodus, both Moses and Aaron are pictures of Christ. He knows His people and His watchful eye rests upon each. The names of these princes are of deep interest when we translate them into English.
Ahira's name is the hardest of the twelve. On its own it sounds like an insult. Set beside Jacob's words about Naphtali, it reads differently.
Naphtali's prince (v.15), Ahira, "brother of evil," is the most difficult as regards interpretation. Genesis 49:21 reads, "Naphtali is a doe let loose that bears beautiful fawns." [An older translation ends: "he uses beautiful words."] "Brother of evil" can then be understood only in the sense of "brother of trouble," and could refer to the sympathetic character of the believer in bearing the burden of others. This would be in some contrast to the deer let loose, but would remind us of Paul's words, "For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all" (1 Cor. 9:19). Ahira's father was Enan, meaning "having eyes," and may speak of the concern that looks on the sorrows of others.
Commentators differ over what the father's name adds. One reads the open eyes as eyes that take in the sorrow around them.
May it be that in Ahira we find one whose eyes have affected his heart, like another Jeremiah (Lam. 3:51), and made him a man of sorrows in sympathy with the sorrow around? One would expect such a spirit to find expression among these leaders of Israel. Then the "brother of evil" becomes the "brother born for adversity" that Proverbs speaks of (Prov. 17:17). And this would fit well with the character of Naphtali. His own name is a memorial of "struggling," and his "pleasant words" are noted in that prophecy of Jacob which seems to be in view all through.
Another writer keeps the same phrase but turns the eyes outward, toward the enemy.
Naphtali is "the wrestler," another militant name. His prince Ahira is "brother for evil," the son of Enan, "open-eyed." This suggests that "brother born for adversity," whose eyes are always watchful against the enemy.
Every fighting man in Israel takes his place under these twelve. One writer points to what fitted them to lead.
These, then, are Israel's princes. They can gather the hosts of the redeemed and lead them to victory, because they are themselves overcomers of their surroundings and of the tendencies to failure among which they live. In the constant battlefield which this world is for us, we must indeed be overcomers or be overcome. All the men fit for war must take their place under these leaders. In the messages to the seven churches of Revelation, too, the promises are all for overcomers. Here is the test for us, and we cannot excuse ourselves from it. Blessed be God: if we have the spirit of the overcomer, the evil around us can never master us, any more than the darkness of night can keep the stars from shining. The darkness is their opportunity to shine!
- Named — The record gives only these twelve names and their fathers' names. That silence is why the names themselves must speak.
- Known — In the count, God takes account of His own. He knows His people, and His watchful eye rests on each one.
- Ahira — "Brother of evil" is best read as "brother of trouble." He carries the burdens of others, like Paul, who made himself a servant to all.
- Enan — Commentators differ over "having eyes." It may mean eyes moved by the sorrows of others, or eyes watchful against the enemy.
- Overcomers — These princes could lead Israel's armies because they had first overcome in their own surroundings. The same test stands for us, and the darkness is only the chance for the stars to shine.
These were those summoned of the assembly, princes of the tribes of their fathers, the heads of the thousands of Israel.
Numbers 1:16 closes the list of twelve men who stood beside Moses and Aaron when God took a census of Israel at Sinai. It describes them in three short phrases. Each one says something about how God chooses and uses people.
An older English translation calls them "the renowned of the congregation." That sounds like men who had made a name for themselves. One writer points to what the word means:
Not "renowned," but summoned of the assembly, charged to take care of its affairs.
Verse 16 gathers the twelve into one group. But who put them there?
Our chapter records that as a preliminary a "head" or prince of each tribe was selected. The choice was not left to the people, or even to Moses. The word to him was, "These are the names of the men that shall stand with you…" God chose His own leader for each tribe. This may well remind us that God today chooses His own servants and leaders. He does not put the matter to a popular vote.
Scripture tells us almost nothing about these men beyond their names and their fathers' names. One commentator argues that the silence itself is the clue:
Under Moses and Aaron there are certain princes of the people, each identified with his own tribe, and in time coming to be head over it. About these men we are told nothing but their own names and their fathers' names. For that very reason, if there could be any doubt, we can be sure that their names are meant to speak to us. All these Bible names should speak, and their link with the tribes they represent must matter. There must be a reason why Elizur, and not Shelumiel or Nahshon, is prince of Reuben. We should find it by looking into Reuben's history.
Read together, the names carry a pattern. Another writer notices how often one short syllable turns up in them:
Read the names of those who were "the renowned of the congregation" in Numbers, and remember that "El" means "God". You cannot help noticing how many of these names are built on it. For example, Numbers 1:5, Elizur means "God is my rock"; Verse 6, Shelumiel means "Friend of God"; Verse 8, Nathaneel means "Given of God". Verse 9, Eliab means "My God is Father".
These twelve were called to help count Israel. Why did God want a count at all?
In His wisdom God saw that the census of the children of Israel had to be taken. The first purpose set before us in the early chapters is a count of the men fit for war. But we shall find that the numbering goes beyond this. There are other aims in view besides war. In short, whatever the particular aim may be in different parts of the book, God presses this on us: the care and the interest He takes in everyone who belongs to Him. It is a very simple truth, but full of comfort to the soul.
Another writer adds a second reason for the count:
In this way He was careful to assert His ownership and survey what was His. He would have the number of Israel exactly brought to Him, for they were all His own. He called them by their names, and knew their numbers.
A place given by God can still be turned against Him. One writer shows how fast that happens:
If God puts an honour on a man, and the man does not receive it as from Him, that honour becomes only a stepping stone. He uses it to despise the God who gave it, while grasping after what God has never given him. Nothing produces such discontent as a heart that does not rightly value what God has given us.
- Called — they were summoned and given a charge, not celebrated. Their place came from God, not from their fame.
- Chosen — Moses did not pick them, and the people did not vote. God still chooses His own servants and leaders.
- Named — Scripture records only their names and their fathers'. Many of those names are built on "El," which means God: "God is my rock," "Given of God," "My God is Father."
- Counted — the census they helped take shows God's care for every person who belongs to Him. He was claiming what was already His own.
- Cautioned — an honour from God turns dangerous the moment a man forgets who gave it and reaches for what God never gave.
And Moses and Aaron took these men who are expressed by their names,
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
and gathered the whole assembly together on the first of the second month. And they declared their pedigrees after their families, according to their fathers' houses, by the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, according to their polls.
On a set day the whole congregation gathers, and every man registers himself — not as a crowd, but family by family, name by name. The verse turns a headcount into a question for each man: can I show where I belong?
The census begins with God, not with Moses. He counts what is His own, and He counts with care.
He was careful to assert His title this way, and to survey His possessions. He wanted the number of Israel brought to Him exactly, for they were all His own. He called them by their names, and knew their numbers.
That interest is not only about the future. It reaches into the ordinary hardships of the road ahead.
We can all understand the sweetness of being numbered for heaven. Most people's hearts turn to that. But some take the greatest comfort in looking at God's purposes securing them for eternity. Even they are apt to forget the present interest the Lord takes in all our movements, ways, conflicts and trials.
The older translation says they "declared their pedigrees" — each man produced his line. This mattered because a crowd of outsiders had attached itself to Israel when they left Egypt.
Those to be numbered were all from twenty years old and upward, able to go to war. They had to declare their pedigrees after their families. Only those who could do that had a place in this mustering and could be warriors. They had to show their pedigree because of the mixed multitude that had joined the people of God. "A mixed multitude also went up with them" (Exod. 12:38). That mixed multitude among them fell to craving (Num. 11:4).
The two terms in the verse are not padding. One speaks of order, the other of the natural bond behind it.
In this muster the organisation is the natural one, by families or "fathers' houses." The two terms appear to cover the same ground, though that is not the usual thought. The word for "family" implies subjection to authority. The father's house shows that this authority rests on the natural relation. Such is God's relationship to His people, of which the father is the image. In family groups they were linked together in God's host, brother fighting alongside brother. It was an army so compacted that one might suppose it invincible.
Commentators read the register as a picture. Birth still decides who is counted — but a different birth. Nicodemus, named below, was a respected Jewish teacher.
All had to be enrolled, when "they declared their pedigrees after their families." So every man counted was without a doubt a genuine child of Israel. The test today is not natural descent but spiritual. Even Nicodemus had a natural pedigree that could not be faulted. But he had to discover that the necessary spiritual pedigree would only be his as he was "born of the Spirit." To be "in Christ" is the pedigree of supreme value.
An Israelite at the muster could not shrug. Commentators set the Christian's line beside Israel's, and press for the same certainty.
How different it is with the Christian! His pedigree is heavenly. His family tree has its roots in the new creation, and death can never break the line, because it is formed in resurrection. This first chapter of Numbers shows how essential it was that every Israelite could declare his pedigree. Uncertainty on this point would have proved disastrous; it would have produced hopeless confusion. It is hard to imagine an Israelite, called to declare his pedigree, speaking in the doubtful way many Christians speak today. We cannot picture him saying, "I am not quite sure. Sometimes I hope I am of the stock of Israel, but at other times I fear I do not belong to the congregation of the Lord at all."
Knowing your line settled where a man stood in the camp, under his own standard, or banner.
If a man did not know his pedigree, he could not recognise his standard. Everything would then fall into hopeless confusion. Instead of keeping rank and making steady progress, they would have been in each other's way, treading on one another. Each had his pedigree, and each had his post; and neither was according to their own ideas — all was of God. He gave the pedigree, and He assigned the standard. There was no need to compare one with another, and no ground for jealousy. Each had his place to fill and his work to do. There was work enough and room enough for all.
- Counted — God calls for the number Himself, because the people are His own. The census shows His interest in each one now, not just His purposes for eternity.
- Cleared — declaring the pedigree sorted the true Israelite from the mixed multitude that had come out of Egypt with them.
- Claimed — God traced the line by families and fathers' houses, so men stood in His army beside their own brothers.
- Confirmed — the test today is spiritual birth, not natural descent. To be "in Christ" is the pedigree of supreme value, and death cannot break that line.
- Commissioned — a man sure of his pedigree could take his standard and his post. Doubt about the first leaves no order in the second.
As Jehovah had commanded Moses, so he numbered them in the wilderness of Sinai.
This verse gives no total. It gives a reason — "as the LORD commanded Moses" — and a place: the desert of Sinai.
The census begins with a command from God, and that command carries a claim. The careful, repeated totals say who Israel belongs to.
This was an expression of His rights as Lord of Israel. He had title to take their number, for they were all His own. If He had no right to them, and no prospects in them, He would not have counted their sum. Scripture says the same of His divine title in another part of His dominions: "He determines the number of the stars; He gives to all of them their names." This is how He expresses His sovereignty among the heavenly hosts (Psalm 147:4).
That is why the same act can later be a sin. When David numbered Israel, the count itself was not the problem; the counter was.
It was an offence against this peculiar right of the Lord that David was guilty of. He claimed something of the divine glory when he sought to number Israel, as though they had been his own people… It was a trespass on the divine rights. It was an insult to the majesty of Him who was Lord and King of Israel. He could number Israel, because they were His own special treasure.
The order matters. The Passover — the meal that marked Israel's rescue from Egypt — came before this count.
The Passover commemorated the basis on which the redemption of the people rested. That came first, and the numbering of the people followed. So the picture makes one fact clear: God numbers and counts as His only those who have been redeemed.
The place named in this verse sets the tone for the whole book. Those counted are men of fighting age, and the ground under their feet is desert.
Here we find ourselves at once "in the wilderness." Only those "able to go to war" are counted. This stands out clearly. In Genesis the descendants of Israel were still unborn, in their father Abraham. In Exodus they were in the brick-kilns of Egypt. In Leviticus they were gathered round the tent of meeting. In Numbers they are seen in the wilderness.
The count also carries a comfort most readers miss. God numbers His people for the journey, not only for the destination.
We can all understand the sweetness of being numbered for heaven, and the heart of most people turns to that. But even those who take the greatest comfort in the counsels of God that secure them for eternity are apt to forget something. The Lord takes a present interest in all our movements, ways, conflicts, and trials. This is the first thing with which the book opens.
No one joined the list by claim alone. Each man had to state his family line. A large crowd of outsiders had attached itself to Israel on the way out of Egypt.
They had to declare their family line, and only those who could do that had a place in this mustering and could be warriors. They needed that proof because of the mixed crowd of outsiders who had joined themselves to the people of God… Our pedigree, which gives us a place among the people of God, is the new birth, by which we become children of God. And we are called to a spiritual war. It is not against flesh and blood, but against the devil, his schemes, and the wicked spirits (Ephesians 6:11-12).
Obedience is what the record praises here. One writer treats the phrase as a test that still applies.
Everything was done in obedience — "as the LORD commanded Moses." Eight times we read that everything was done according to the instructions he had received… As Samuel said to Saul, "To obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams"… There never was a time of greater energy and activity. Never did larger crowds gather for what they call worship. But measure these things by the test in the words "as the LORD commanded Moses," and you discover that man's will, and not the Lord's, is often the main spring of it all.
- Right. God counts Israel because Israel is His. He has the right to number what belongs to Him, just as He numbers and names the stars.
- Rescue. The Passover came first and the census followed — God counts as His those who have been redeemed.
- Roll. Each man had to declare his family line; the mixed multitude that came out of Egypt had no place on the list.
- Road. They are counted in the wilderness, as men able to go to war. God takes a present interest in every movement, conflict and trial — not only in the destination.
- Rule. One phrase measures the whole muster: it was done as the LORD commanded. Energy and crowds prove nothing where man's will, not God's word, drives the work.
And the sons of Reuben, Israel's eldest son, their generations, after their families, according to their fathers' houses, by the number of the names, according to their polls, every male from twenty years old and upward, all that went forth to military service
Numbers 1:20 opens the tribe-by-tribe count of Israel's fighting men, and Reuben, Jacob's oldest son, comes first. The verse raises the questions the chapter turns on: why God counts His people, why only men fit for war, and why each man must prove his line.
This count is not bookkeeping.
He was careful to assert His title and survey His possessions. He would have the number of Israel brought to Him exactly, for they were all His own. He called them by their names, and knew their numbers.
The Lord's interest is not only in where His people end up.
We can all understand how sweet it is to be counted for heaven, and that is where most hearts turn. But even those who take the greatest comfort in God's purposes securing them for eternity easily forget one thing. The Lord takes a present interest in all our movements, ways, conflicts, and trials. This is the first thing the book opens with.
The setting explains the list. Only fighting men appear on it.
Here we find ourselves at once "in the wilderness," where the list takes in only those "able to go to war." In the book of Genesis the seed of Israel were in the loins of their father Abraham. In the book of Exodus they were in the brick-kilns of Egypt. In Leviticus they gathered round the tent of meeting. In Numbers we see them in the wilderness... But as soon as we open the book of Numbers we read of men of war, of armies, of standards, of camps, and trumpets sounding the alarm.
Each man had to show his descent. That requirement had a practical cause: a mixed crowd had left Egypt alongside Israel, and not everyone in the camp belonged to the nation.
Each man had to declare his pedigree after his family. Only those who could do that had a place in this mustering and could be warriors. They had to show their pedigree because of the mixed multitude which had joined itself to the people of God. Our pedigree, which gives us a place among the people of God, is the new birth, by which we become children of God. And our calling is to a spiritual warfare, not with flesh and blood, but against the devil and his schemes and the wicked spirits (Eph. 6:11-12).
Nothing in wilderness life worked without that certainty.
It is impossible for anyone to recognise and rally round the proper "standard" unless he can declare his "pedigree"... How could an Israelite of old have taken his place in the assembly, or stood in the ranks? How could he make any progress through the wilderness, if he could not plainly declare his pedigree? Impossible.
The age limit marks when a man counted as grown and fit for service.
The Israelites were numbered from twenty years old and upward. That was the age when they could go out to war, and when they reached manhood and were fit for the service of life (Num. 1:3; 14:29; Lev. 27:3). Each man had to bring a bekah, or half shekel, to make atonement for his soul, so that "there be no plague among them." (Ex. 30:12.)
The age limit falls differently today.
Today all of His saints are fitted for spiritual warfare — women, young and old too — though some are less active because of age. Yet the lesson is also clear for us. To take part in real conflict we need maturity, or full age, which comes through knowledge and growth in the word of God.
The firstborn heads the list, but his place in the line does not guarantee his future.
Reuben (Num. 1:20; Num. 26:5) heads the list. He is the firstborn, and so entitled by nature to the leadership. But because of sin he was not to have the first place. In these forty years of wandering his numbers dwindle; at the close we see him weaker than at the beginning. Looking at his history for a reason, we come to the rebellion of Dathan and Abiram, who were of this tribe (Num. 16:1). They wanted to be leaders. Pretending to claim the people's rights, they rebel against God's authority in Moses, turn back in heart to Egypt, and grumble at the trials of the way.
- Counted — God takes the number exactly because the people are His own; He calls them by name and knows their sum.
- Claimed — The census shows His interest in every movement, conflict and trial of the road, not just in a secured eternity.
- Certified — Each man declared his descent. The mixed crowd from Egypt had no place in the ranks, and neither did anyone unsure of his line.
- Conscripted — Twenty was the age of manhood and fitness for service. From then on, every man counted as a soldier.
- Cautioned — Reuben stands first by birth, yet sin costs him the first place. Rebellion in his tribe leaves him weaker at the end than at the start.
those that were numbered of them, of the tribe of Reuben, were forty-six thousand five hundred.
Reuben's tribe gives the first tribal total of the chapter: 46,500 men. Behind that figure lie three questions. Why does God count His people? Why is Reuben's name first? And what can one total teach us now?
This is a call-up for war, not a head count of the nation. Only one kind of man appears in the total, and that sets the tone for the whole book.
Here we find ourselves at once "in the wilderness," where the count includes only those who are "able to go to war." This stands out clearly. In Genesis Israel's descendants were still unborn, in their father Abraham. In Exodus they were in the brick-kilns of Egypt. In Leviticus they gathered round the tent of meeting. In Numbers we see them in the wilderness… As soon as we open the book of Numbers we read of men of war, of armies, of standards, of camps, and trumpets sounding alarm.
Scripture records more than one counting of Israel, and each had a different purpose.
The first numbering mentioned (Ex. 38:25-27) gathered the silver for the bases of the tabernacle pillars. So that counting was for the Lord, with a view to worshipping Him. The second numbering (Num. 1:2-3) came when Israel was about to fight the enemy. Its purpose was to find the number of men able to go to war. This was according to God. Every Israelite from twenty years old and upward needed to understand his own responsibility in the battles of the Lord.
A total like 46,500 is exact, and the same care runs tribe by tribe through two chapters.
This was an expression of His rights as Lord of Israel. He had title to take their number, for they were all His own. Had He not had a right to them, had He nothing to expect from them, He would not have counted their sum. Scripture says the same of His divine title in another part of His realm: "He determines the number of the stars; He gives to all of them their names." That is the expression of His sovereignty among the heavenly hosts (Psalm 147:4).
Two things could keep a man out of the total: being too young, or being unable to prove his descent. That second test mattered, because people outside Israel had left Egypt with them.
They had to declare their pedigrees after their families, and only those who could do that had a place in this mustering and could be warriors. They had to show their pedigree because of the mixed multitude that had joined the people of God. "A mixed multitude also went up with them" (Exod. 12:38)… Our pedigree, which gives us a place among the people of God, is the new birth, by which we become children of God. And our calling is to a spiritual warfare, not with flesh and blood, but against the devil and his schemes and the wicked spirits (Eph. 6:11-12).
Another leader once counted Israel, and it went badly wrong.
In David's time, when he decided to number the people (2 Sam. 24:2-10), his motives were pride in reigning over a great nation, and 70,000 people died as a result. But God's census in Numbers shows His own vital interest in each one of His people Israel, and that interest is no less true of His saints today. The difference is that in Israel only the males over 20 years of age were numbered… Today all of His saints are fitted for spiritual warfare — women, and young and old too — though some are less active than others because of age. Yet the lesson is also clear for us. To take part in real conflict we need maturity or full age. That comes through knowledge and growth in the word of God.
Reuben's tribe comes first in the count. Birth put him at the head of the list, but birth is not the whole story.
Reuben (Num. 1:20; Num. 26:5) heads the list — the firstborn, and therefore entitled, according to nature, to the leadership; but because of sin he was not to have the excellency. In these forty years of wandering his numbers dwindle; at the close we see him weaker than at the beginning. Looking at his history for a reason for this, we come to the rebellion of Dathan and Abiram, who were of this tribe (Num. 16:1).
The figure means more when set beside the second census.
His numbers shrink from 46,500 at the beginning to 43,730 at the close. From that we may learn the loss that fleshly reasoning and self-important claims bring into our lives.
- Counted. The exact totals are God's claim of ownership — He counts what is His own, as He counts and names the stars.
- Qualified. No man entered the total without proving his descent. Today that place comes by the new birth.
- Aged. Twenty years and upward means conflict calls for maturity, which comes by growth in God's word.
- Armed. The census counted men for war, so each man had to grasp his own responsibility in the Lord's battles.
- Diminished. Reuben led the list by birth but ended the journey weaker, and the falling number shows what fleshly reasoning costs.
Of the sons of Simeon their generations, after their families, according to their fathers' houses, those that were numbered of them, by the number of the names, according to their polls, every male from twenty years old and upward, all that went forth to military service
Numbers 1 records God's own count of Israel in the wilderness of Sinai, tribe by tribe, and verse 22 gives Simeon's turn in the roll call. Why did God want such a register, and why does Simeon's entry repay a closer look?
The census was not paperwork. Its purpose runs through the whole book.
God's wisdom made the census of the children of Israel necessary. The first thing the early chapters set before us is a count of the males who were fit for war. But the numbering goes beyond this, as we shall find. It has other purposes than war. In short, whatever the aim of a given part of the book, God impresses this on us. He shows the care and the interest He takes in everyone who belongs to Him. It is a very simple truth, but it is full of comfort to the soul.
The counting is also an act of ownership.
He was careful in this way to assert His title and survey His possessions. He would have the number of Israel exactly brought to Him, for they were all His own. He called them by their names, and knew their numbers.
Scripture records more than one numbering, and each had its own purpose.
The purpose of the first numbering mentioned (Ex. 38:25-27) was to gather the silver, a bekah per man, for the bases of the pillars of the tabernacle. So that numbering took place for the Lord, with a view to worshipping Him. The second numbering (Num. 1:2-3) came when Israel was about to fight the enemy. Its purpose was to find the number of men able to go to war. This was according to God. Every Israelite from twenty years old and upward needed to understand his personal responsibility in the battles of the Lord.
The age limit of twenty carries its own lesson for today.
In Israel only the males over 20 years of age were numbered... Today all of His saints are fit for spiritual warfare — women, and young and old too — though some are less active than others because of age. Yet the lesson is also clear for us. Real conflict needs maturity, or full age, and that comes through knowledge and growth in the word of God.
A man of Simeon could not be counted until he showed where he came from.
They had to declare their pedigrees after their families, and only those who could do that had a place in this mustering and could be warriors. They needed to show their pedigree because of the mixed multitude that had joined itself to the people of God: "A mixed multitude also went up with them" (Ex. 12:38)... Our pedigree, which gives us a place among the people of God, is the new birth, by which we become children of God.
One writer turns the same detail into a question for the reader.
First, it raises this important question for the reader: "Can I declare my pedigree?" There is real reason to fear that hundreds, if not thousands, of professing Christians are completely unable to do so. They cannot say with clearness and decision, "we are God's children now" (1 John 3:2), or "The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God" (Rom. 8:16).
Simeon carried a dark family history. Yet the tribe's prince bore a name that answered it.
The prince of Simeon was Shelumiel (v. 6), meaning "at peace with God." This is a striking contrast to Simeon's character, as his father Jacob described it in Genesis 49:5-7. Simeon, with Levi, was guilty of cruel and vicious hatred in the murder of the men of Shechem (Gen. 34:25-26). Only the grace of God could make any difference in this dreadful case. Is the flesh in us any better than in Simeon and Levi? Not at all: "the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God" (Rom. 8:7). Yet God has in pure grace reconciled all believers to Himself (2 Cor. 5:18), and we are "at peace with God," as Romans 5:1 declares.
Simeon's number did not hold. A later count shows what happened in between.
But the tribe of Simeon dropped drastically in numbers during the wilderness journey, from 59,300 (ch. 1:23) to 22,200. What is the reason for this? Likely it is seen in Numbers 25:14. Zimri was a leader of a father's house among the Simeonites and became a leader in the corrupting mixture of Israel with the Midianites. Think of the rebellion seen in Reuben, with Dathan and Abiram. Even that did not have effects on the people of God as devastating as being yoked together with unbelievers or with principles of unrighteousness... Too often we do not suspect the harm in unholy associations until we are trapped by them.
- Counted — the register is God's own. He surveys what belongs to Him and knows each name.
- Qualified — every man had to declare his pedigree, because a mixed multitude had joined Israel. The believer's pedigree is the new birth.
- Aged — twenty years and upward points to maturity, which grows through God's word and which real conflict needs.
- Armed — the count was for war, and every man from twenty up had to own his part in the Lord's battles.
- Warned — Simeon's 59,300 fell to 22,200 after mixing with Midian. Mixture cost this tribe more than rebellion cost Reuben.