And the tent of meeting shall set forth, the camp of the Levites in the midst of the camps; as they encamp, so shall they set forth, every man in his place, according to their standards.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
The standard of the camp of Ephraim according to their hosts shall be westward; and the prince of the sons of Ephraim shall be Elishama the son of Ammihud;
Numbers 2:18 puts Ephraim's banner on the west side of the tabernacle, under Elishama the son of Ammihud. It reads like camp paperwork. Yet the writers find in it a picture of fruitfulness — where it stands next to God's dwelling, and who leads it.
Ephraim's camp stood on the side closest to the holy place. One commentator ties that to a line in Psalm 80 about God shining out.
The tribe of Levi had been separated from the rest. Even so, the splitting of Joseph's tribe into two kept the number at twelve. So three tribes pitched their tents on each side of the tabernacle. The group under Judah faced the entrance into the court. The one under Ephraim was on the west side, and so nearest to the holy place with the cloud of the Divine Presence. This explains the reference in Psalm 80 to God shining out "before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh."
Scripture names the standard but never describes it. One source passes on a Jewish tradition about the four banners.
Scripture does not state the form of the standards and ensigns. The Rabbis say that Judah's standard looked like a lion (compare Genesis 49:9; Revelation 5:5). Reuben's was a man. Ephraim's was an ox (compare Deuteronomy 33:17). Dan's was an eagle. If that is so, the same figures appear in the faces of the living creatures in Ezekiel 1:10 and in Revelation 4:4-7. For the Christian, CHRIST is the only standard, and His banner is LOVE.
Ephraim camps with Manasseh and Benjamin, all descendants of Rachel. One writer reads the direction, the tribe names and the leaders' names together.
Westward stand Ephraim, Manasseh and Benjamin, the children of Rachel. The west, the opposite of the east, is "toward the sea," the place of storm, but also of refreshing showers from it. Here Ephraim, "fruitfulness," has his place. His captain marks it out: Elishama, "God has heard," the son of Ammihud, "the people of majesty." Fruitfulness comes from God. Manasseh means "forgetting." His prince is Gamaliel, "God is a rewarder," the son of Pedahzur, "the rock has redeemed." These names urge us to forget the things that are behind, and to seek our fruitfulness from the Rock who has redeemed us.
The pairing of Ephraim with Elishama is not treated as accidental. Fruit can be dangerous to the person carrying it.
Joseph claims his double portion in his two sons. Of these, Ephraim comes first, because Jacob's prophetic word gave this place to the younger born. Ephraim's prince is Elishama, "God has heard." The "fruitfulness" that Ephraim's own name speaks of may be a snare to us. It becomes one when we fail to credit it, with reverence, to the One who hears His people's prayer. The second name, Ammihud, means "the people of Majesty." It may hint at a conscious relationship with the infinite Greatness. That relationship gives successful prayer both its ground and its drive. All these names breathe a spirit of dependence and nearness — of lowliness, yet of closeness. The two always go together.
Another writer counts the three western tribes and sets them in the line of march.
The armies of these three totalled 108,100. These followed the Levites when travelling.
Each man's standard told him his post. One writer shows how that produced order without sameness.
Each had to know his post and keep it — to know his standard and stay by it. That is how they moved on together. That is how they made progress, did the work and carried on the warfare. The man of Benjamin had his post, and the man of Ephraim had his. Neither was to interfere with the other, or cross his path... Each had his place to fill and his work to do, and there was work enough and room enough for all. There was the greatest possible variety, and yet the most perfect unity.
A name can outlast the thing it describes. Ephraim's later numbers tell a sad story.
Ephraim's name means "fruitfulness." Yet Ephraim stands in sad contrast to Manasseh, for this tribe fell from 40,500 to 32,500. The lesson may be this: if we depend on our reputation for bearing fruit, the fruit itself will shrink badly, because self has become our object instead of Christ. Self-satisfaction is one of the most damaging attitudes we can adopt.
- Place. Ephraim camped on the west, nearest the holy place. The presence at the centre fixed his position.
- Name. Ephraim means fruitfulness. His place is "toward the sea" — the side of storms and of refreshing showers alike.
- Source. His captain is Elishama, "God has heard," son of Ammihud, "the people of majesty." Fruit comes from the God who answers prayer.
- Order. 108,100 men marched behind the Levites under one banner. Each man knew his own standard, so variety never became confusion.
- Warning. A fruitful name still has to be lived out. Ephraim later shrank, which shows what happens when reputation replaces Christ as our object.
and his host, even those that were numbered of them, forty thousand five hundred.
The number here, 40,500, is Ephraim's fighting strength. Ephraim's standard gathered the west side of Israel's camp. A bare total raises two questions. Why does God count His people at all? And why does He decide where each tribe camps, instead of leaving it to Israel?
Ephraim's 40,500 is part of a larger sum. Three tribes camped and marched under one standard:
The standard of the camp of Ephraim was on the west side, and with Ephraim were Manasseh and Benjamin (verses 18-23). The armies of these three totalled 108,100. These followed the Levites in travelling.
Another writer sets Ephraim in the marching column, where the two largest groups took the two ends:
The next standard to appear was Ephraim's, joined by the tribes of Manasseh and Benjamin — 108,100 men able for war in all. Behind them came the rear guard: the standard of the camp of Dan, with the armies of Asher and Naphtali... The rear guard amounted to 157,600 fighting men. So of the two largest hosts, one led the way and the other brought up the rear.
This count is not statistics for its own sake. It is God taking stock of what belongs to Him:
He was careful to assert His title this way, and to 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 He knew their numbers.
Another writer looks at the census as a whole and finds the same care behind it:
God's wisdom required that the children of Israel be counted. In the early chapters the main purpose set before us is a count of the males who were fit for war. But we shall find that the numbering goes beyond this. There are other concerns and aims here 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 that He takes in everyone who belongs to Him. It is a very simple truth, but certainly full of comfort to the soul.
The names in this camp carry meaning. Writers read the west side as a picture of spiritual increase:
Westward, Ephraim, accompanied by Manasseh and Benjamin, the children of Rachel, are grouped... Here Ephraim, "fruitfulness," has his place. His character shows in his captain, Elishama, "God has heard," the son of Ammihud, "the people of majesty" — fruitfulness comes from God. Manasseh means "forgetting." His prince is Gamaliel, "God is a rewarder," the son of Pedahzur, "the rock has redeemed." Manasseh encourages us to forget the things that are behind and to seek our fruitfulness from the Rock who has redeemed us... This is the true spirit of fruitfulness, which can gather material for spiritual increase out of the very trials of the way.
The west side was not a random allotment. It put these three tribes nearest the holy place, and a psalm later looks back to that:
The tribe of Levi had been set apart from the rest. But the split of the tribe of Joseph into two kept the number at twelve. So three tribes pitched their tents on each side of the tabernacle. The group under Judah faced the entrance into the court. The group under Ephraim was on the west side. So it was nearest to the holy place with the cloud of the Divine Presence. This explains the reference in Psalm 80 to God shining out "before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh."
God gave each man his family line and his post, so no one had grounds to envy another:
Each had to know his post and keep it — to know his standard and stay by it. So they moved on together; so they made progress, did the work and carried on the warfare. The Benjaminite had his post, and the Ephraimite had his. Neither was to interfere with the other or cross the other's path... Each had his family line, and each had his post. Neither of them came from their own thoughts; all was of God. He gave the family line, 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. The exact figure is God surveying what is His own; He knew their names as well as their numbers.
- Placed. Counting leads straight to placing. Ephraim heads the west side with Manasseh and Benjamin — 108,100 men in all.
- Fruitful. Ephraim means fruitfulness. The names around him point to its source: fruitfulness comes from God, drawn even out of the trials of the way.
- Near. The west camp lay closest to the holy place, the side Psalm 80 names when it speaks of God shining out.
- Content. No tribe picked its own spot; God gave each its post, so there was no room for jealousy and work enough for all.
And by him shall be the tribe of Manasseh; and the prince of the sons of Manasseh shall be Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur;
Numbers 2 gives every tribe a fixed place around the tabernacle, and verse 20 puts Manasseh on the west side beside Ephraim. Why does the older brother camp beside the younger, and why does God record a prince's name at all?
Manasseh camps on the west side, in one of four groups of three tribes. One writer explains what that side of the square meant:
The tribe of Levi had been separated from the rest. But the tribe of Joseph was divided into two, and that kept their number at twelve. So on each side of the tabernacle three tribes pitched their tents. The group under Judah faced the entrance into the court. The group under Ephraim was on the west side. That put it nearest to the holy place, with the cloud of the Divine Presence. This explains the reference in Psalm 80 to God shining out "before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh."
In every other group the younger tribe follows the elder. Manasseh is the single exception, and the reason goes back to Jacob's blessing:
In the grouping of the tribes into four great camps we may observe a plan. The four leaders were Judah, Reuben, Ephraim, and Dan. The tribes attached to each moved after their standards, and in each case, except Manasseh, the younger followed the elder. No one could justly complain about this one exception. Jacob had settled that Ephraim came before Manasseh when he blessed them, guiding his hands on purpose, as we read.
Commentators read that crossing of hands as a statement about how God gives blessing:
When we come to Jacob's sons, we find Reuben, the eldest, set aside. Judah, the lawgiver, is not chosen either. Joseph is chosen for the birthright. That double portion appears in two tribes, Ephraim and Manasseh. And Ephraim, the younger, gets a greater blessing than Manasseh, the elder. Jacob's crossed hands proclaimed the sovereignty of God.
The name Joseph gave his son turns into a picture of the Christian life:
And now we come to Manasseh. "Manasseh" means "forgetting." "God has made me forget," says Joseph, "all my relatives and my father's house." Translated into Christian experience, it is the spirit of the runner. He no longer looks at what is behind him as he presses on toward the prize ahead. And Manasseh's prince supplies this last thought. His name is Gamaliel — "God is a rewarder." As it is said of Moses, "He looked to the reward."
Gamaliel's name promises reward. His father's name guards against pride:
Manasseh's prince was Gamaliel, meaning "God is a Rewarder." In a time of conflict this is a wonderful encouragement. There is no reason to look for men's approval or rewards. If we fight with the simple desire to please God, we shall be content to wait for God's time of rewarding. Gamaliel's father, Pedahzur, means "the rock has redeemed." That reminds us that the rewards of service must not become occasions of pride. We are only sinners redeemed by Him who is the one stable Rock.
No tribe chose its own ground, and no man chose his own place in it:
Each man had to know his post and keep it — to know his standard and stay by it. That is how they moved on together, made progress, did the work and carried on the warfare. The Benjaminite had his post, and the Ephraimite had his, and neither was to interfere with the other or cross his path. So it was with all the tribes throughout the camp of the Israel of God. Each had his family line, and each had his post, and neither was according to their own ideas; all was of God. He gave the family line, 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.
God fixed the marching order too, not only the camping ground:
God commanded the order in which the tribes were to march when they set out on their journeys, just as He commanded the order of their tents when they rested. He did not leave the arrangements to their own choice or desires. If they had disobeyed, thinking they knew some better order, they would simply have produced disorder.
- Placed — Manasseh camps beside Ephraim on the west, the side nearest the holy place. Psalm 80 names these three tribes together.
- Humbled — here alone the elder follows the younger. Jacob crossed his hands on purpose, so God's choice, not birth order, fixed the rank.
- Forgetting — the name means letting go of what is behind, like a runner pressing toward the prize.
- Rewarded — Gamaliel, "God is a rewarder," means no need to chase human approval. A soldier can wait for God's time.
- Redeemed — Pedahzur, "the rock has redeemed," keeps reward from turning into pride. Every man in the camp stands there as a sinner redeemed, in a post God assigned.
and his host, even those that were numbered of them, thirty-two thousand two hundred.
The verse records Manasseh's total: 32,200 men, camped beside Ephraim on the west side of the tabernacle. Three questions sit behind that plain number: where Manasseh camps, why he follows his younger brother, and why God counts a tribe this small at all.
Manasseh camps under Ephraim's standard, so the group's place decides his. One writer explains how the twelve tribes were arranged, and what stood nearest the west side:
The tribe of Levi stood apart from the rest. But the tribe of Joseph was split in two, which kept the number at twelve. So three tribes pitched their tents on each side of the tabernacle. The group under Judah faced the entrance into the court. The group under Ephraim was on the west side. That put it nearest to the holy place, with the cloud of the Divine Presence. This explains the reference in Psalm 80 to God shining out "before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh."
Manasseh was Joseph's firstborn, yet the list puts him second, under Ephraim's standard. One writer treats this as the only exception in the whole arrangement:
The tribes attached to each leader moved behind their standards. In every case except Manasseh, the younger followed the elder. No one could justly complain about this one exception. Jacob had settled Ephraim's place ahead of Manasseh when he blessed them, guiding his hands knowingly, we read... No tribe, then, could complain of its place in the order of march. It could not have made anyone jealous.
Joseph gave Manasseh his name out of what he had lived through in Egypt:
During the seven years of plenty Asenath bore Joseph two sons. He named the first Manasseh, which means "forgetting." As he says, "God has made me forget all my hardship and all my father's house." This is typical of the truth of Christianity: it makes us forget the first creation with its natural relationships and its wearing trials. But that is because it brought in something better, the new creation, of which Christ is the Head... Manasseh therefore stands for the negative side of the truth, Ephraim the positive.
The other names on the west side point the same way, including the prince of Manasseh named in the verse before:
Here Ephraim, "fruitfulness," has his place, marked by his captain, Elishama, "God has heard," the son of Ammihud, "the people of majesty" — fruitfulness comes from God. Manasseh means "forgetting." His prince is Gamaliel, "God is a rewarder," the son of Pedahzur, "the rock has redeemed." These names encourage us to forget the things that are behind and to look for our fruitfulness from the Rock who has redeemed us... This is the true spirit of fruitfulness, which can gather material for spiritual increase out of the very trials of the way.
How does 32,200 compare with the rest of the camp?
Benjamin was the smallest of the tribes except Manasseh in the numbering of Numbers 1:37 and Numbers 2:22-23.
A small tribe gets the same careful count. One writer reads that repeated count as God claiming what is His:
The book opens with His commandment to Moses to take the number of the tribes. The count is made with great exactness and care. Numbers 1 and Numbers 2 set down the total of each tribe, except Levi, again and again... This was an expression of His rights as Lord of Israel. He had the title to take their number, for they were all His own. Had He not had a right to them, had He no prospects in them, He would not have counted their sum.
Every man in these lists had a standard to camp by:
Each had to know his post and keep it — to know his standard and stay by it. So they moved on together. So they made progress, did the work, and carried on the warfare. The man of Benjamin had his post, and the man of Ephraim had his. Neither was to interfere with the other or cross his path... Each had his place to fill and his work to do, and there was work enough and room enough for all. There was the greatest possible variety, and yet the most perfect unity.
- Counted — God numbers even the smallest tribe to the last man. He would not count a people He had no claim on.
- Placed — on the west side, Manasseh's group camped nearest the holy place. Psalm 80 recalls that position.
- Ranked — Manasseh followed his younger brother and lost nothing by it. Jacob's blessing had settled the order long before, so no tribe had grounds for jealousy.
- Named — Manasseh means forgetting. That is the negative side of the truth; Ephraim, fruitfulness, is the positive.
- Kept — every man knew his standard and stayed by it; variety of posts, one camp, and room enough for all.
And [with them shall be] the tribe of Benjamin; and the prince of the sons of Benjamin shall be Abidan the son of Gideoni;
Numbers 2:22 is one line in a camp plan drawn up by God Himself. Benjamin takes third place on the west side, under Ephraim's standard, led by a man named Abidan. The short verse carries a name, a position and a leader — and God chose all three.
God fixed Benjamin's place on the west side, near His own dwelling place. One writer explains why that side matters, and why Israel had no say in it:
The group under Ephraim was on the west side, and so it was nearest to the holy place with the cloud of God's presence. This explains why Psalm 80 speaks of God shining forth "before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh." Notice that God commanded the order in which the tribes were to march when they set out, just as He commanded the order of their tents when they rested. The arrangements were not left to their own choice or wishes. If they had disobeyed, thinking they knew a better order, they would have produced only disorder.
A dying mother named him once; his father named him again. One writer sees Christ in both names:
The youngest son of Jacob by his beloved wife Rachel. She died at his birth and named him BEN-ONI, meaning "son of my sorrow," but his father named him BENJAMIN, "son of the right hand." Gen. 35:18, 24. He is a picture of Christ in both names: as exalted at God's right hand (Benjamin), and as rejected — the cause of Israel's suffering in the last days (Ben-oni). Rachel pictures Israel (Micah 5).
Psalm 68 calls the tribe "Benjamin, the least of them." One writer uses the older wording, "little Benjamin," and sets that title beside the name his father gave:
In Psalm 68 the Spirit of the Lord refers to Benjamin as "little Benjamin" (v. 27); this was because he was the smallest tribe. It is important to keep these two names in mind: "Son of my right hand," a place of power, and "little Benjamin," the place of weakness. How can these two opposites be brought together? Both are essential for any servant of the Lord who wants to be faithful in his testimony: he needs a sense of his own weakness, and a sense of the power of God that can work in that weakness.
The leader's name carries a lesson. Set beside the description of Benjamin as a wolf, it corrects what a fighting tribe might assume about itself:
Abidan was the prince of Benjamin, his name meaning "My father is judge." In Genesis 49:27 Benjamin is called "a ravenous wolf." In other words, he was a warrior by nature. But the Lord does not need natural fighters. Peter found that out when he used a sword to cut off the ear of the high priest's servant (John 18:10-11), and 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 every person's work (1 Peter 1:17). It is He who judges the value of our warfare, with perfect spiritual discernment.
Benjamin does not head its own camp. God places the fighting tribe under Ephraim, and one writer says that pairing shapes the spirit of its warfare:
Benjamin would also lack the true spirit if it were not found under Ephraim. The spirit of controversy, without an eager desire for fruit for God, would be nothing but the spirit of Ishmael — warfare for its own sake — a spirit to be hated. How different it is when a burning zeal for Christ and for His glory drives a person, and, as we have seen, Abidan is the captain of the army!
Why count people at all? One writer answers from God's own right over Israel:
This was an expression of His rights as Lord of Israel. He had the right 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 divine right is claimed 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). So the Lord says of His saints, "They shall be Mine … in the day when I make up My treasured possession" (Malachi 3:17). He may make up — that is, number, hide and keep them safe — because they are His own.
- Counted — God numbers Benjamin because Benjamin is His. He counts, hides and keeps safe what belongs to Him.
- Named — "Son of my sorrow" became "son of the right hand" — a picture of Christ rejected and Christ exalted.
- Placed — the west side put Benjamin nearest God's dwelling place. God commanded the spot; Israel did not choose it.
- Led — Abidan, "my father is judge," reminds a fighting tribe that God, not the fighter, weighs the value of the warfare.
- Little — the smallest tribe marches under Ephraim. Weakness needs God's power, and zeal needs fruit.
and his host, even those that were numbered of them, thirty-five thousand four hundred.
This verse closes Benjamin's entry in the wilderness camp with one figure: 35,400 fighting men, placed under Ephraim's standard on the west side. It reads like bare arithmetic. Yet it raises the two questions behind the whole chapter. Why does God count His people at all? And why does He give each tribe its own side of the camp?
This figure belongs to the camp on the west side.
The standard of the camp of Ephraim was on the west side, and with Ephraim were Manasseh and Benjamin (vv. 18-23). The armies of these three totalled 108,100. These followed the Levites in travelling.
That position was not a matter of convenience.
Each tribe had its own standard, and each family its own flag. In the camp the twelve tribes were set three on each side, and one of each three gave its name to that side or camp. So the standard of Judah is called the standard of the camp of Judah, which was on the east. The camp of Reuben was on the south, the camp of Ephraim on the west, and the camp of Dan on the north.
The three tribes on the west all came from Rachel. One writer reads the meaning of their names as one lesson.
Westward, Ephraim is grouped with Manasseh and Benjamin, the children of Rachel. The west, the opposite of the east, is "toward the sea," the place of storm, but also of refreshing showers from it. Here Ephraim, "fruitfulness," has his place... Manasseh, "forgetting"... encourages us to forget the things that are behind and to seek our fruitfulness from the Rock who has redeemed us. Benjamin, "the son of my right hand," tells of the dignity of our position... This is the true spirit of fruitfulness, which can gather out of the very trials of the way material for spiritual increase.
35,400 was one of the lowest totals in the camp — and that smallness did not stay fixed.
In the numbering of Num. 1:37 and Num. 2:22-23, Benjamin was the smallest of the tribes except Manasseh. Ps. 68:27 calls it "little Benjamin." But in the numbering before Israel entered the land, Benjamin was larger than four of the other tribes... In Ps. 80:2, where God is asked to save them, Benjamin is named with Ephraim and Manasseh, the three tribes which followed the ark.
The chapter keeps repeating totals. One writer traces the counting back to 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.
That interest did not stop with this first count.
Later there is a fresh numbering of the men of Israel, in view of going to war. They were now on the borders of the holy land. The same grace of God which took account of every one of His people when they entered the wilderness shows that His love had not lessened, and that His personal interest was the same to the end. There was everything that could have turned Him aside, if that had been possible.
The order of the camp reached down to each single man.
Each had to know his post and keep it — to know his standard and stay by it... The Benjaminite had his post, and the Ephraimite had his. Neither was to interfere with the other, or cross the other's path... Each had his family line, and each had his post. Neither of them was according to their own thoughts; all was of God. He gave the family line, and He assigned the standard. There was no need to compare one man with another, and no ground for jealousy. Each had his place to fill and his work to do, and there was work enough and room enough for all.
Commentators read the name over this camp as pointing forward.
Benjamin was the youngest son of Jacob by his beloved wife Rachel. She died at his birth and named him Ben-oni, which means "son of my sorrow," but his father named him Benjamin, "son of the right hand." He is a picture of Christ in both names: as exalted at God's right hand (Benjamin), and, as rejected, as the occasion of Israel's tribulation in the last days (Ben-oni). Rachel is a picture of Israel.
- Counted — God claimed these 35,400 as His own. He knew their names and He knew their number.
- Placed — the count led to a place. Benjamin camped on the west, under Ephraim's standard, in a group of 108,100.
- Posted — the place led to a post. Each man kept his own standard, and no tribe crossed another's path.
- Small — and still counted in full. Later, "little Benjamin" grew larger than four other tribes.
- Named — the name over that small camp means "son of the right hand." Commentators read it as a picture of Christ exalted.
All that were numbered of the camp of Ephraim were a hundred and eight thousand one hundred, according to their hosts. And they shall set forth third.
This verse closes the description of the western camp: three tribes, one standard, one total, and a set place in the line of march. It reads like bookkeeping. Yet God chose every part of it — the side they faced, the names on the banner, the count, and the turn they took.
The position given here is not a rank the tribes negotiated. The same God who told them where to pitch told them when to move.
We notice that God commanded the order in which the tribes were to march when they set out on their journeys, just as He commanded the order of their tents when they rested. Arrangements were not left to their discretion or desires. If they had disobeyed, thinking they knew a better order, they would only have produced disorder.
Ephraim's camp lay on the west, nearest the ark. Centuries later a psalm prayed on the strength of that position.
The whole opening of Psalm 80 rests on the position of the tribes. In the last days of Israel's desolation, the psalmist asks God to lead them and to show His power as He did when He led them through the wilderness... Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh were the three tribes nearest the ark in the camp of Israel. That is why verse 2 of the Psalm says, "before Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh."
The three tribes here are Rachel's line. Their names spell out where fruitfulness comes from.
Westward, Ephraim accompanied by Manasseh and Benjamin, the children of Rachel, are grouped. The west, the opposite of the east, is "toward the sea," the place of storm, but also of refreshing showers from it. Here Ephraim, "fruitfulness," has his place. His character is shown by his captain, Elishama, "God has heard," the son of Ammihud, "the people of majesty" — fruitfulness comes from God. Manasseh means "forgetting." His prince is Gamaliel, "God is a rewarder," the son of Pedahzur, "the rock has redeemed." Manasseh encourages us to forget the things that are behind and to seek our fruitfulness from the Rock who has redeemed us. Benjamin, "the son of my right hand," tells of the dignity of our position. That position is to be marked by the prince Abidan, "my father is judge," the son of Gideoni, "the one who cuts down" — giving us the sense of adoption, and the godly fear that removes pride from us. This is the true spirit of fruitfulness, which can gather out of the very trials of the way material for spiritual increase.
Ephraim, not Manasseh, gives this camp its name. One writer explains why:
We find the law of spiritual increase in Joseph, shown by the name of his son "Ephraim" — "fruitfulness." But the way to fruitfulness runs through "Manasseh" — "forgetfulness," as with the apostle: "Forgetting what lies behind, I press on." The end is greater than the means. So Ephraim is, in the mind of God, greater than Manasseh.
The placing of the four camps was deliberate.
The next standard on display was Ephraim's, joined by the tribes of Manasseh and Benjamin, numbering in all 108,100 men able for war. Behind them, forming the rear guard, flew the standard of the camp of the children of Dan... So of the two largest hosts, one led the way and the other brought up the rear.
The practical lesson: no one had to work out his own place, and no one had cause to envy another's.
Each had to know his post and keep it — to know his standard and stay by it. So they moved on together. So they made progress, did the work, and carried on the warfare. The Benjaminite had his post, and the Ephraimite had his. Neither was to interfere with the other or cross his path... 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.
- Assigned, not chosen. God set both the camping order and the marching order. Choosing a "better" arrangement would only have made confusion.
- Placed near. This camp stood on the west, nearest the ark — a nearness a later psalm appeals to when praying for God to act again.
- Named for growth. Ephraim is "fruitfulness," Manasseh "forgetting," Benjamin "son of my right hand" — and fruitfulness comes from God.
- Ranked for a reason. Forgetting is the road. Fruitfulness is the goal, which is why Ephraim's name heads the standard.
- Kept in post. Third place was still an appointed place — enough work and enough room for all, with no ground for comparison.