Of the sons of Joseph of the children of Ephraim their generations, after their families, according to their fathers' houses, by the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that went forth to military service
Ephraim's tribe appears here under the name of Joseph — one father's name filling two places in the register. Behind that small detail lie a lost birthright, a reversed birth order, and God's own reckoning of who was fit to fight.
The verse ties Ephraim back to his father Joseph. That link points to an inheritance that moved out of the eldest son's hands.
1 Chronicles 5:2 tells us, concerning Israel, that "the birthright belonged to Joseph," and verse 1 tells us that Reuben's (the eldest son) birthright "was given to the sons of Joseph the son of Israel." We can see why Joseph had two sons and only two: so that he might have the double portion of the firstborn. So when the land was shared out, each of Israel's sons (Levi excluded for obvious reasons) had a single portion — one tribe each. Joseph had the double portion, two tribes: Ephraim and Manasseh.
One tribe had already dropped out of this military census. Splitting Joseph in two kept the count at twelve.
A little more than a year after the Exodus, the Lord told Moses to number the people who could bear arms, from twenty years old and upward. Levi was exempt from military service, so Moses numbered that tribe separately. But dividing Joseph into Ephraim and Manasseh made up the complete number, twelve.
Ephraim was the younger son, yet in this muster for war his name comes first. One writer contrasts two ways of listing the brothers — by birth, and by God's choice:
In the other list Manasseh again takes his place in relation to Ephraim according to the order of birth. But for combat Ephraim occupies his place according to the election of grace.
Jacob had already set that order when he blessed the two boys, and one writer follows it forward to Christ:
His name means "double fruitfulness." Think of the fruitfulness of the true Ephraim — the Christ of God. Ephraim was the younger of the two. Jacob knew what he was doing when he laid his hands on those two boys — his right hand on Ephraim, his left on Manasseh. He did it with spiritual understanding, for he says "I know it, I know it, my son." He understood that the second man was to have preference over the first. This world is content to go on with the first man, but our eyes have been opened to see the blessedness of the Second Man, the Christ from heaven.
Every man counted here had to show where he came from. There was a practical reason for that, and a lesson in it for us.
They had to declare their pedigrees, family by family. Only those who could do that had a place in this count, and only they could be warriors. They had to show it because a mixed multitude had joined itself to the people of God: "A mixed multitude also went up with them" (Exod. 12:38)... So only the men who could prove their rightful place among the people of God were counted, and only they 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 with flesh and blood, but against the devil and his schemes and the wicked spirits (Eph. 6:11-12).
The age limit of twenty carries its own point for readers today:
Today all of His saints are fit for spiritual warfare — women too, and young and old — though because of age some are less active than others. Yet the lesson is also clear for us. To take part in practical conflict we need maturity, or full age, such as comes through knowledge and growth in the word of God.
The census was not mere record-keeping. It was an act of ownership.
These chapters open with His commandment to Moses to take the number of the tribes, and Moses does it 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 them. The same divine title is expressed in another part of His realm: "He tells the number of the stars; He calls them all by their names."
- Birthright. Ephraim is counted under Joseph's name because Reuben lost the firstborn's double portion. It passed to Joseph, so Joseph fills two places instead of one.
- Grace. Here the younger son is counted ahead of the elder — the order of grace, not the order of birth.
- Fruitfulness. "Ephraim" means double fruitfulness. Preferring the second son to the first points forward to Christ, the Second Man from heaven.
- Pedigree. Only men who could declare their descent were counted for war. Our descent is the new birth, and our warfare is spiritual.
- Ownership. God counts His people because they are His own. He would not count them if He had no right to them.
those that were numbered of them, of the tribe of Ephraim, were forty thousand five hundred.
Numbers 1 records God's muster of Israel in the wilderness of Sinai, tribe by tribe, of every man fit to fight. Ephraim's total of 40,500 sits in that list. Why does a grandson of Jacob head a tribe at all, and what did God intend by counting these men one by one?
Ephraim appears in this census because Joseph's portion was split in two. With Levi set aside from military service, the arithmetic still reached twelve.
A little more than a year after the Exodus, the LORD commanded Moses to number the people. He was to count those able to bear arms, from twenty years old and upward. The tribe of Levi was exempt from military service, so Moses counted it separately. But the division of Joseph into Ephraim and Manasseh made up the complete number, twelve.
The double portion reached Joseph because Jacob's firstborn lost it.
Scripture confirms this. For instance, 1 Chronicles 5:2 tells us, concerning Israel, "the birthright was Joseph's." Verse 1 tells us that the birthright of Reuben, the eldest son, "was given to the sons of Joseph the son of Israel." We can see why Joseph had two sons and only two: so that he might have the double portion of the firstborn. So when the land was divided, each of Israel's sons had a single portion, that is one tribe each. Levi is left out, for obvious reasons. But Joseph had the double portion — two tribes, Ephraim and Manasseh.
This chapter puts Ephraim ahead of Manasseh, though Manasseh was the elder. The names of the two brothers explain why.
Manasseh means "forgetting" and Ephraim means "fruitful." The reason is that Joseph was made to forget the natural blessings of his father's house, and then became fruitful in Egypt. But forgetting is negative: fruitfulness is positive, and the positive must take the first place.
Elsewhere the two brothers appear in the other order, and one writer explains the difference.
This is like the numbering for combat, with one difference. Here Manasseh again takes his place in relation to Ephraim according to the order of birth. For combat, Ephraim occupies his place according to the election of grace.
The 40,500 were not every Ephraimite man. They were men of twenty and upward who could prove their descent, and that requirement had a reason.
The numbering was "after their clans, by their fathers' houses." Those to be numbered were all "from twenty years old and upward, all in Israel who are 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 a mixed crowd of outsiders had joined themselves to the people of God... So only a man who could show by his pedigree his rightful place among the people of God was mustered 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.
The war list is not the whole reason for the count.
In God's wisdom the census of the children of Israel had to be taken. The early chapters present it first as a reckoning of the males who were fit for war. But we shall find that the numbering goes beyond this. There are other considerations and aims than war and warlike purposes. In short, whatever the particular aim might be in various parts of the book, God impresses this upon us — the care and the interest He takes in everyone who belongs to Him. It is a very simple truth, but certainly full of comfort to the soul.
A second count came later, and Ephraim's total had fallen.
Ephraim, however, whose name means "fruitfulness," stands in sad contrast to Manasseh, for this tribe decreased from 40,500 (Num. 1:33) to 32,500 (v. 37). This may teach us that the fruit itself will be greatly depleted if we depend on our reputation for bearing fruit. The reason is that self has become our object rather than Christ. Self-complacency is one of the most damaging attitudes we can adopt.
Another writer draws out what this means for anyone who carries a God-given name:
Fruitful Ephraim seems to contradict his name, losing eight thousand men. It is one thing to have a name by grace, quite another to prove it in our walk.
- Name given. Ephraim means "fruitful." Reuben's birthright passed to Joseph, so Joseph's double portion became two tribes.
- Place given. This war census lists the younger brother before the elder. His place rests on God's choice, not on birth order.
- Muster taken. God counted only men of twenty and upward who could show their descent. Pedigree, not mere presence in the camp, qualified a man for war.
- Care shown. The count reaches past military need. God takes personal interest in everyone who belongs to Him.
- Walk tested. By the second count the fruitful tribe had lost eight thousand men. A name given by grace still has to be proved in daily life.