Morning Light – Numbers 1

[Numbers 1] What Tribe Are You in God? Introduction to the Book of Numbers. The book of Numbers gets its name from the various census that God instructs Moses to take. The people were numbered by tribes, clans, and families. Did you know there are tribes in God? What tribe are you? God numbers people to prepare them for war – When man numbers the people, he gets into trouble. In Numbers 1, God instructs Moses to number the people for the third time since leaving Egypt. This is done to prepare them for the conquest of Canaan. Though they were in the wilderness, every day was a preparation for the land of milk and honey. Are you walking through a wilderness place in your life? When you are in the wilderness, God is always preparing you likewise for the next season of conquest.

[Num 1:1-54 KJV] 1 And the LORD spake unto Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the tabernacle of the congregation, on the first [day] of the second month, in the second year after they were come out of the land of Egypt, saying, 2 Take ye the sum of all the congregation of the children of Israel, after their families, by the house of their fathers, with the number of [their] names, every male by their polls; 3 From twenty years old and upward, all that are able to go forth to war in Israel: thou and Aaron shall number them by their armies. 4 And with you there shall be a man of every tribe; every one head of the house of his fathers. 5 And these [are] the names of the men that shall stand with you: of [the tribe of] Reuben; Elizur the son of Shedeur. 6 Of Simeon; Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai. 7 Of Judah; Nahshon the son of Amminadab. 8 Of Issachar; Nethaneel the son of Zuar. 9 Of Zebulun; Eliab the son of Helon. 10 Of the children of Joseph: of Ephraim; Elishama the son of Ammihud: of Manasseh; Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur. 11 Of Benjamin; Abidan the son of Gideoni. 12 Of Dan; Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai. 13 Of Asher; Pagiel the son of Ocran. 14 Of Gad; Eliasaph the son of Deuel. 15 Of Naphtali; Ahira the son of Enan. 16 These [were] the renowned of the congregation, princes of the tribes of their fathers, heads of thousands in Israel. 17 And Moses and Aaron took these men which are expressed by [their] names: 18 And they assembled all the congregation together on the first [day] of the second month, and they declared their pedigrees after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, by their polls. 19 As the LORD commanded Moses, so he numbered them in the wilderness of Sinai. 20 And the children of Reuben, Israel’s eldest son, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, by their polls, every male from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war; 21 Those that were numbered of them, [even] of the tribe of Reuben, [were] forty and six thousand and five hundred. 22 Of the children of Simeon, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, those that were numbered of them, according to the number of the names, by their polls, every male from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war; 23 Those that were numbered of them, [even] of the tribe of Simeon, [were] fifty and nine thousand and three hundred. 24 Of the children of Gad, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war; 25 Those that were numbered of them, [even] of the tribe of Gad, [were] forty and five thousand six hundred and fifty. 26 Of the children of Judah, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war; 27 Those that were numbered of them, [even] of the tribe of Judah, [were] threescore and fourteen thousand and six hundred. 28 Of the children of Issachar, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war; 29 Those that were numbered of them, [even] of the tribe of Issachar, [were] fifty and four thousand and four hundred. 30 Of the children of Zebulun, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war; 31 Those that were numbered of them, [even] of the tribe of Zebulun, [were] fifty and seven thousand and four hundred. 32 Of the children of Joseph, [namely], of the children of Ephraim, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war; 33 Those that were numbered of them, [even] of the tribe of Ephraim, [were] forty thousand and five hundred. 34 Of the children of Manasseh, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war; 35 Those that were numbered of them, [even] of the tribe of Manasseh, [were] thirty and two thousand and two hundred. 36 Of the children of Benjamin, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war; 37 Those that were numbered of them, [even] of the tribe of Benjamin, [were] thirty and five thousand and four hundred. 38 Of the children of Dan, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war; 39 Those that were numbered of them, [even] of the tribe of Dan, [were] threescore and two thousand and seven hundred. 40 Of the children of Asher, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war; 41 Those that were numbered of them, [even] of the tribe of Asher, [were] forty and one thousand and five hundred. 42 Of the children of Naphtali, throughout their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war; 43 Those that were numbered of them, [even] of the tribe of Naphtali, [were] fifty and three thousand and four hundred. 44 These [are] those that were numbered, which Moses and Aaron numbered, and the princes of Israel, [being] twelve men: each one was for the house of his fathers. 45 So were all those that were numbered of the children of Israel, by the house of their fathers, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war in Israel; 46 Even all they that were numbered were six hundred thousand and three thousand and five hundred and fifty. 47 But the Levites after the tribe of their fathers were not numbered among them. 48 For the LORD had spoken unto Moses, saying, 49 Only thou shalt not number the tribe of Levi, neither take the sum of them among the children of Israel: 50 But thou shalt appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of testimony, and over all the vessels thereof, and over all things that [belong] to it: they shall bear the tabernacle, and all the vessels thereof; and they shall minister unto it, and shall encamp round about the tabernacle. 51 And when the tabernacle setteth forward, the Levites shall take it down: and when the tabernacle is to be pitched, the Levites shall set it up: and the stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death. 52 And the children of Israel shall pitch their tents, every man by his own camp, and every man by his own standard, throughout their hosts. 53 But the Levites shall pitch round about the tabernacle of testimony, that there be no wrath upon the congregation of the children of Israel: and the Levites shall keep the charge of the tabernacle of testimony. 54 And the children of Israel did according to all that the LORD commanded Moses, so did they.

The book of Numbers was written by Moses 1400 years before the coming of Jesus. In the book of Numbers, the people’s journeying is recorded from Sinai to the plains of Moab, which was the staging ground for entering Canaan. In the book of Numbers, we also see the seven murmurings of the people.

1. They murmured about the way in the wilderness.
2. They murmured about the food.
3. They murmured about the giants in Canaan.
4. They murmured about their leaders.
5. They murmured about God’s judgments and punishments.
6. They murmured about the desert.
7. They murmured about the Manna.

Because they murmured, a ten-day trip from Sinai to Canaan became a forty year wandering. Yet during all this time God never left them. He continued to care for them, lead and guide them while raising up a younger generation to go in and take the land of promise.

In v. 2 God instructs Moses to take a census of the men of war. This is the third time that God numbered the people in the Bible. He counted them when they left Egypt (Ex. 12:37) and He counted them again when many fell after the judgment dealing with the golden calf (Ex. 32:28). When he counted it was according to their “father’s houses”. In other words, if the mother was of a different tribe, the tribe of the children was determined by the father. That’s interesting because Gal. 4:26 says that the church is “the mother of us all” and that God is our father. We tend to let the church at large determine our tribe as part of a denomination, or otherwise but your tribe is not determined by your mother (the church) but by your Father in heaven. There are tribes in God. The name of God used before the fall of man is Elohim which means “the Father and His Family” or (for scholars) “The Creator El and His Pantheon”. Elohim is the tribal name of God. In Psa. 82:6 we are called “gods” or “Elohim”. Jesus quotes this same verse in John 10:34 in answering the complaint of the Pharisees that He called Himself the son of God. We are one tribe in the Father – we are Elohim, we are God kind in connection with our Father. Many have problems with this because they think it is presumptuous – but consider the words of Paul:

[Phl 2:5-6 KJV] 5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:

We are not equal to God in relationship because He is the Father, and we are His children. But we are equal to Him in fellowship because as Jesus prayed in John 17, He wants us to be ONE as He is ONE. Our equality and our authority are established in fellowship, which is the one thing the enemy works so hard to destroy among God’s people.

In 1 Chron. 21:1 David numbered the people, and it was one of the greatest sins of his life. Thousands died because he did this. Yet God numbered the people in our chapter, not for judgment but conquest and blessing. God wants our dependence to be upon him. Do we number the people today? When two pastors get together, there is inevitably a discussion about how many people are in each one’s respective congregation. We are impressed at the vast crowds in the mega-churches, and we feel sorry for the little pappa pastor with just a few folks. God wants our security and sense of self to be wrapped up and extracted from who he is in our lives, not from our congregation’s size or any other thing. Our security is in Him and not man. The cult of celebrity has produced an event-driven religious culture centered on larger than life leaders on platforms above massive crowds – this is the picture of success from a religious standpoint. The purposes of God go much deeper than this. He has a personal conquest and Canaan for every one of us and wants us to see ourselves not as mere spectators but as a numbered member of a mighty army.

The men included in the census were all those twenty years and upward that were able to go to war. Twenty is 10 x 2, which represents testing and witness. Going to war requires a certain amount of maturity. One of the church’s significant problems is taking immature believers and thrusting them into roles of responsibility before they are grown up in God. We tend to value ourselves and others by what we do in the kingdom or volunteering in the church. Young converts are rushed into service to secure their place and their attendance in the congregation. Instead, we need to focus on relationship building with new converts – thus connecting them by loving friendship to the greater purposes of God and not mere religious expectation and performance.

In v. 49, we see that the Levites were not numbered (at least they were not numbered with the general population). One rabbinical tradition suggests that God called Moses to the door of the Tabernacle and Moses heard God count the Levites one by one calling out their names from the greatest to the least of them. God knows your name. You are a royal priesthood, a holy generation set aside expressly for God’s service. Other rabbinical traditions called the Levites “the king’s legion,” thus making the connection that in Christ, we are not only priests before God but also kings. You are a king and a priest, not when you gt to heaven but now. As the Levites counted in the wilderness, so you count. You may not have entered into your personal Canaan land, but you still matter to God – He’s got your number!