Go and teach all nations
The Israelites at the start of their journey
Numbers 1:1-4
God’s command to Moses to ’make a census of all the Israelites’ clans and families; the first census of Israel
v1 The LORD spoke to Moses. Moses was in God’s Tent. The Israelites were living in the Sinai desert. It was the first day of the second month during the second year after they had left the country called Egypt.
The LORD said,
v2 ’Make a census of all the Israelites’ clans and families. Register the name of every man
v3 who is 20 years old or more. Register every man who can fight in the army. You and Aaron will count them, group by group.
v4 Ask one man from each tribe to help you. These men must be the leaders of their clans.’
Comment:
Chapters 1-10: The Israelites at the start of their journey
The Israelites had camped near Sinai Mountain. They were preparing to travel to the Promised Land. Before they left, God told Moses to do four things.
1. Celebrate the Passover (Numbers 9:1-14).
2. Count the soldiers (Numbers chapter 1).
3. Tell each tribe where to camp round God’s Tent (Numbers chapter 2).
4. Give duties to the priests (Numbers chapters 3 and 4).
This part of the book describes these four things. But the accounts are not in the order that these things happened. The events in chapters 7:1 to 9:15 happened before the events in chapters 1 to 6. But all these events happened during a period of less than 50 days (Numbers 1:1; 10:11).
Verse 1 - ‘The LORD spoke to Moses.’ This is a very important sentence. It appears over 80 times in this book. God had chosen Moses to be the Israelites’ leader. God spoke to Moses. Then, Moses told the people what God had said. Also, Moses spoke to God on behalf of the people.
God’s Tent was a very special tent. God had told Moses how to build it (Exodus 25:8 to 27:21). The Israelites took it with them on their journey. In the desert, it was the place where they worshipped God. It showed them that God was always among them.
It had two rooms. A curtain separated these rooms. The bigger room was called ‘the Holy Place’. The smaller room was called ‘the Most Holy Place’. The Ark was inside this room. The Ark contained two pieces of stone. God had written his Law on these pieces of stone (Exodus 34:1). We shall learn more about God’s Tent in Numbers 9:15-23.
‘It was the first day of the second month during the second year after they had left the country called Egypt’ (verse 1). This verse tells us clearly when these events happened. It reminds us that we are reading about real people and real events. Many writers say that the people left Egypt during the first half of the 13th century BC. BC is the period of time before Jesus was born.
Verses 2-3 - God told Moses to count all the men who were able to fight. This was the purpose of the census. Also, it showed that every person mattered to God. Moses’ brother Aaron could help him count.
The Promised Land, which was the country called Canaan, was not empty. The people who lived there would fight the Israelites. So Israel needed a strong army.
Moses and Aaron had to count everyone group by group. Families were the smallest groups. There were several people in a family. A clan consisted of several families. A tribe consisted of several clans. The nation called Israel consisted of 12 tribes.
Verse 4 - The census was a very big responsibility. One leader from each tribe had to help Moses and Aaron. It is important for leaders to share responsibilities.
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Text from the EasyEnglish Bible Version and Commentary - used with permission - © 2009, Wycliffe Associates (UK) - For more information about EasyEnglish Publications, visit their website: www.easyenglish.info.
Go and teach all nations