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.