SERIES E --- YHVH’S LAWS --- LESSON 01 --- PART 1

THE PEOPLE NUMBERED

A CENSUS OF THE MEN OF WAR

From Numbers 1

More than a year had passed since the people of Israel left Egypt. On the fifteenth day of April, the first day of the second month, while Moses was in the tabernacle in the Wilderness of Sinai, Adonai gave him special orders. Count all the men who are at least twenty years old, those eligible for service when you must go to war, Adonai ordered. Take the census by tribe and family. The leaders of each tribe will help you and Aaron with this census. Here are the names of the leaders chosen from each tribe:

From the tribe of Reuben, Elizur the son of Shedeur.
From Simeon, Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai.
From Judah, Nahshon the son of Amminadab.
From Issachar, Nethaneel the son of Zuar.
From Zebulun, Eliab the son of Helon.
From the tribe of Joseph’s son Ephraim, Elishama the son of Ammihud.
From the tribe of Joseph’s son Manasseh, Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur.
From Benjamin, Abidan the son of Gideoni.
From Dan, Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai.
From Asher, Pagiel the son of Ocran.
From Gad, Eliasaph the son of Deuel.
From Naphtali, Ahira the son of Enan.

These men, all respected leaders of thousands in their tribes, were chosen by YHVH to assist Moses and Aaron with the census. They gathered with Moses and Aaron that day and summoned the men who were at least twenty years old, registering them by tribe and family names. All the men who were eligible for military service were registered, as Adonai had Commanded Moses. Moses numbered the men there in the Wilderness of Sinai. Each tribe had the following number of men of military age, registered by families and clans:

The tribe of Reuben, Jacob’s oldest son, 46,500.
The tribe of Simeon, 59,300.
The tribe of Gad, 45,650.
The tribe of Judah, 74,600.
The tribe of Issachar, 54,400.
The tribe of Zebulun, 57,400.
The tribe of Joseph’s son Ephraim, 40,500.
The tribe of Joseph’s son Manasseh, 32,200.
The tribe of Benjamin, 35,400.
The tribe of Dan, 62,700.
The tribe of Asher, 41,500.
The tribe of Naphtali, 53,400.

Altogether six hundred and three thousand, five hundred and fifty men, at least twenty years old, were registered for military service by Moses and Aaron and the twelve leaders who represented their twelve tribes. The Levites were excluded from this census, for Adonai had Instructed Moses; do not include the men of the tribe of Levi in this census. Instead, appoint the Levites to be in charge of the tabernacle and its furnishings and its services. They will carry the tabernacle and its furnishings when it is moved; and they will be in charge of it. When it is set up, they will camp next to it. Whenever the tabernacle is moved, the Levites must dismantle it and set it up again. Anyone else who handles the tabernacle must be put to death. The other tribes of Israel will camp in assigned places around the tabernacle, each tribe with its own standard. The camp of the Levites will immediately surround the tabernacle, thus separating the tribes of Israel from YHVH’s holy tabernacle, lest YHVH’s judgment fall on them for their sins. The people of Israel did all that Adonai Commanded through Moses.