In the wilderness of Sinai. Numbers 1:1 In the desert W. Jones. I. THE NATURAL TRIALS OF THE DESERT. 1. Barrenness. Temporal and material things cannot satisfy spiritual beings. 2. Homelessness. The soul cannot find rest in this wilderness world. 3. Pathlessness. Man, if left .to himself, is bound to stray and lose himself. 4. Perilousness. The wiles of the devil, the seductions of the world, and the lusts of the flesh. 5. Aimlessness. The years pass, opportunities come and go, and so little seems accomplished, so little progress made in our character, so little true work done. II. THE DIVINE PRESENCE IN THE DESERT. 1. Divine communication in the desert. God's voice is never silent. He is ever speaking in the sounds and silences of nature; through Scripture; and by His Holy Spirit. 2. Divine provision in the desert. "The Lord will give grace and glory; no good will He withhold from them that walk uprightly." "Your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things." "My God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus." 3. Divine shelter and rest in the desert ( Psalm 90:1 ). 4. Divine direction in the desert. (1) By the leadings of His providence. (2) By the teachings of the sacred Scriptures. (3) By the influences of the Holy Spirit. 5. Divine protection in the desert. "No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper." "If God be for us, who can be against us?" "Who is he that will harm you, if ye be followers of that which is good?" III. THE DIVINE USES OF THE DESERT. 1. That the generation of slaves might pass away. There is much in us that must die and be buried before we can enter upon the inheritance of spiritual perfection. Our craven-hearted fears, our carnal lusts, our miserable unbelief, must be buried in the desert. 2. That a generation of free men might be educated. In the desert we are being trained by God into spiritual perfection and power for service and blessedness.Conclusion: 1. Ponder well the Divine design of our life in this world. 2. By the help of God seek its realisation in ourselves. ( W. Jones. ) Take ye the sum of all the congregation. Numbers 1:2, 3 Reasons for numbering the people W. Attersoll. Not because God would understand whether they were sufficient for number, or able for strength, to encounter their enemies, forasmuch as nothing is unknown to Him or impossible for Him to bring to pass, who is able to save as well with a few as with many. 1. For order's sake: that there should be no occasion of contention for primacy, but that every tribe and family should know his place and time, when to remove and when to stand still, when to fight with their enemies, and in every point what to do. 2. That such things as were to be paid for the use of the tabernacle might the more easily be collected when they were separated according to their tribes, and the tribes according to their families, and the families according to the household, man by man. 3. To testify His exceeding great love toward them and special care over them. A faithful shepherd will many times count the sheep committed to him, lest any should be missing. 4. Lastly, they are severally and distinctly numbered every tribe by itself, that in time to come it might be certainly known of what tribe and family Christ Jesus, the promised Messiah, should be born. ( W. Attersoll. ) Reasons for the census taking 1. To prove the accomplishment of the promise made to Abraham, that God would multiply his seed exceedingly; and renewed in Jacob ( Genesis 28:14 ). Now it appears that there did not fail one tittle of that good promise, which was an encouragement to, them to hope that the other promise of the land of Canaan for an inheritance should always be fulfilled in its season. Therefore God would have Israel numbered, that it might be upon record how vastly they were increased in a little time, that the power of God's providence and the truth of His promise may be acknowledged by all. It could not have been expected, in any ordinary course of nature, that seventy-five souls (which was the number of Jacob's family when he went down into Egypt): should in two hundred and fifteen years multiply to so many hundred thousands. It is therefore to be attributed to an extraordinary virtue in the Divine promise and blessing. 2. It was to put a difference between the true-born Israelites and the mixed multitude that were among them. None were numbered but Israelites. All the world is but a lumber in comparison with those jewels. Little account is made of others; but the saints God has a particular property in and concern for ( 2 Timothy 2:19 ; Philippians 4:3 ). The hairs of their head are numbered; but He will say to others, "I never knew you, never made any account of you." 3. It was in order to their being marshalled into several districts, for the more easy administration of justice, and their more regular march through the wilderness. It is a rout and a rabble, not an army, that is not mustered and put in order. ( Matthew Henry, D. D. . ) Israel's host mustered Lewis R. Dunn, D. D. 1. The order for this enumeration is Divine. God gave the order, and He appointed the men who should fulfil it. It may be asked, Why does the Lord now sanction the doing of this work, and in the subsequent ages curs David for doing, substantially, the same thing? The answer is twofold: First, it was not the Lord, but Satan, who tempted David to number Israel; and, secondly, it was done for the gratification of David's personal pride and ambition. Further, it may be said, this was done against the protest of the general-in-chief of his armies (see 1 Chronicles 21:3, 4 ). When God commands it is always safe to obey; but when Satan incites us we are to beware. There are several reasons why God commanded this muster-roll to be made now.(1) The promise had been made to Abraham of an exceeding great multiplication of his seed. It was now designed that they should see how this promise had been fulfilled, even amid the heartless bondage of Egypt.(2) This He demanded should be done carefully and certainly. There is nothing easier than to miscalculate numbers, especially where the basis of reckoning is careless. Here He orders this to be done by an individual count.(3) It was only those who were able to go forth to war who were numbered. The blind, the lame, the diseased, and the aged were not enrolled. It is the Lord's plan in all the ages, never to ask a man to do what he is incompetent to perform. On the other hand, He expects every one to do all he is able to do. The men selected for this enrolment were "renowned men." Heads of their families and their tribes — princes in Israel. Sometimes the great, the wealthy, and the wise attempt to excuse themselves from the service of God. They are too much busied with their own concerns. But there are those who wear crowns and coronets who do pray and labour in Christ's cause. They are worthy standard-bearers in the army of the Lord. Like Queen Victoria and Lord Shaftesbury, like Coligny and Conde, like the electors of Germany in the time of the Reformation, they stand forth doing the Lord's will, and accomplishing His purposes. We see here, further, with what quickness and promptness this work was done. It would seem as if only a few days were consumed in doing a work so vast. Thus when God calls us to do His work there is to be no delay. "The King's business requires haste." No one has a right to be an indifferent or idle worker. Another thought here: only Israelites were to be mustered. No one of the mixed multitude is to be put upon the rolls, They could not be intrusted on the army-rolls. They were more ready for a ferment than for a fight. No wonder that the immortal Washington, on an occasion of great importance and peril, said, "Put no one but Americans on guard to-night." So God would not allow any one but His own people to fight His, battles, or to do His work. In the numeric record Judah is found to have the largest number of men. "This deserves notice in connection with the blessing pronounced on that tribe in Genesis 49:8-12 , 'Thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise.'" Judah was the grand leader of all the princes and tribes of Israel. God designed that He should be so, as his was the tribe from which Immanuel was to come. The whole number was six hundred and three thousand five hundred and fifty. With three exceptions, Russia, Germany, and France, this is larger than the regular army of any nation now on the face of the globe. Of court, the war-footing of many other nations is greater than this; but this is an amazing regular army for that day and age. But, vast as it was, it was all swallowed up in thirty-eight years from this time, because of unbelief and sin. Only two of this great number escaped the general destruction; namely, Caleb and Joshua. So multitudes who profess to be soldiers in the Lord's army are wasted by death or become inefficient and useless. One of the great defects in all our Churches is want of organisation. Herein were the beauty and the strength of this mustering. The Levites, however, were exempted from this enrolment. In all ages the priestly caste of men has been generally free from war-service; so the Levites, by the appointment of God, were free. To them were committed the spiritual interests of the tribes, the worship and service of God, the offering of sacrifices, and the expounding of the law. "They warred the warfare of the tabernacle." So we think no minister should be a soldier, a lawyer, a physician, a business man, or a farmer. He cannot do these things without lowering the standard of his calling and materially injuring his efficiency. ( Lewis R. Dunn, D. D. ) The numbering of the people (a homily for the census day) W. Binnie, D. D. I. A FEW WORDS ABOUT THE CENSUS, which is being taken to-day in every town, every hamlet, every remote habitation of the United Kingdom. The Israelites dealt largely in statistics. At all the great turning-points in their history a census was taken. This Book of Numbers owes its name to the fact that it records two census-takings; one at the beginning, the other at the close of the forty years' sojourn in the wilderness. An admonition to fill up the census-papers with exactness and for conscience' sake. II. MEDITATIONS PROPER TO THE CENSUS DAY. 1. The filling up of a census-paper is, in itself, a piece of secular business. Yet I do not envy the man who can perform it without being visited with holy feeling. The setting down of the names of one's household brings up many tragic memories. The setting down one's own age, after a lapse of ten years, summons us to count our days that we may apply our hearts to wisdom. 2. The Lord keeps an exact register of His people. There is a Book of Life in which are inscribed the names of all whom He has chosen. How true this is the whole Scripture bears witness ( Exodus 32:30 ; Isaiah 4:3 ; Ezekiel 13:9 ; Luke 10:20 ; Philippians 4:3 ; Hebrews 12:23 ; Revelation 13:8 ). We commonly think of this as a book which is shut and sealed. The Lord only knoweth them that are His. A man may ascertain his own acceptance with God. ( W. Binnie, D. D. ) The numbering of the people W. Jones. I. THE AUTHORITY FOR THIS NUMBERING. Leaders of men should be well assured of two things in the movements which they inaugurate — 1. That they have the Divine approval of their undertakings. The movement which is approved by God, and well prosecuted, shall advance to splendid triumph. 2. That they are actuated by worthy motives in their undertakings. A sinful, selfish motive will vitiate our enterprises and mar our works. "The Lord looketh at the heart." Let us scrutinise our motives. II. THE PLACE OF THIS NUMBERING. "In the wilderness of Sinai." 1. In a desert. (1) Privation. (2) Peril. (3) Perplexity. 2. In a desert where the tabernacle of God was. III. THE TIME OF THIS NUMBERING. Exactly one month after the setting up of the tabernacle ( Exodus 40:2, 17 ) and about eleven months from the time of their arrival in the desert of Sinai. The people abode in this desert nearly a whole year (comp. Exodus 19:1 with Numbers 1:1 and Numbers 10:11). What was the reason of this protracted halt? That they might be instructed in their relations to God and to each other; that they might learn lessons of duty and worship; that they might be taught to reverence and obey God. There are times and circumstances in which standing still is the speediest advance. IV. THE MANNER OF THIS NUMBERING. They were to take account of — 1. Only the males. 2. Only the males above twenty years old. 3. Only the males above twenty years old who were in vigorous health — "able to go forth to war." 4. They were to be numbered "after their families," that it might be known of what tribe and of what particular house every able man was. 5. The numbering was to be individual, and by name.The census was minute. (1) The Lord chooses fit instruments for the accomplishment of His purposes. (2) The Lord is perfectly acquainted with every one who is fitted for His work. V. THE DESIGN OF THIS NUMBERING. 1. The organisation of the army. 2. To manifest the Divine faithfulness. 3. To show the Divine power. 4. To the promotion of order. 5. To exhibit, on the coming of the Messiah, the correspondence of the event with the predictions concerning it. 6. To illustrate the care of God for His people generally and particularly. The Lord's care over His people is most minute and constant and tender. ( W. Jones. ) The numbered people Dean Law. 1. In common matters men count possessions, which are choice and dear and prized. They whose mean joys are fixed on this world's pelf thus calculate their gold. Their coffers are oft opened. Do we, then indulge unfounded fancy when in God's numbering we read God's love? Do not clear characters here write that His people are thus numbered because loved — counted, because prized? 2. Who are numbered? The young, the weak, the female, stand apart. None are enrolled but they whose age and strength enable them for war. Christ's service is a mighty work, a determined fight. About a year has passed since the last numbering of this family. The Levites then formed part of the collected mass. They are not now included. They stand apart, a separate portion. But mark a wondrous fact. The number then and now amounts exactly to the same. Israel has surrendered Levi's tribe, but Israel's forces are not thereby less. We never lose by giving to the Lord. 3. Once more survey the numbered people. You are inclined to say this band will safely reach the promised land. Surely their willing steps will ever run in the appointed way. Alas! two, and two only, steadfastly adhere. Ah, unbelief! It is the sin of sins, the misery of miseries, the hopeless malady, the death of souls, the bar which shuts out Christ. ( Dean Law. ) Counting mercies and days Bp. Babington. We may again learn of these gracious numberings of His people to number often with ourselves His mercies vouchsafed unto us, that we may send up thankful thoughts to His majesty for them. Such an holy numbering used Jacob when he said, "O Lord, with my staff came I over this river, and now I return with much wealth." How many great men, of all callings, may thus number God's favour towards them since their first beginning, in cities and towns, where little stocks have grown to great sums. What a fit meditation is this? and how shall the Lord like this kind of numbering? We may also remember what the Psalm says, and learn to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom. But you may say this numbering was restrained to the Jews, and even so was God's love, in some sort, for a time. But when Christ came, then there went out a decree from Augustus Caesar that all the world should be taxed, which could not be without numbering of them. And therefore by Christ the partition-wall is broken down, and the comforts of God's numbering of them imparted to us, and to be approved by us to our joy, praying with him that so prayed, "Grant, good Lord, that in Thy numberings of Thy people I may be ever one." ( Bp. Babington. ) The census paper The census paper may be, by God's blessing, the means of bringing home some very telling facts. You, who are going to sign it, are ten years older than when last a similar paper lay before you. Ten years gone! gone for ever! Is not this something to make you thoughtful? The census papers will show what increase and progress has been made throughout the country. Mark this. There is no idea of failure or decrease. Can you show marks of Christian progress as clear? Whether you have prospered in your everyday work or not, enjoyed health and happiness, or had to bear sickness, disappointment, and even bereavement — in any case have you, as if forgetful of the past, still kept "pressing forward" for the prize of your high calling in Christ Jesus? Is there no decrease, no failure? You will write down your Christian name, condition, and profession. Your Christian name! Many a man's name is his character. There are names which in every rank, profession, business, and trade, are coupled with skill, courage, honesty, and truth: their names are, as it were, registered in the book of greatness. There is a book in which the names of Christians are registered ( Philippians 4:3 ). Is your Christian name entered there? Does your Christian name suggest before God and His angels, to your neighbour, and yourself, a Christian character. Perhaps your condition has not altered. You are still what you were ten years ago: Have all who are under your roof learnt to see in you a kind friend, a good father or mother, a forbearing master or mistress, a steward conscious that you must give account to God of the duties and responsibilities of your trust? Perhaps it has altered. You have married, and children have been granted to you. Have you been, and are you, a true Christian parent, caring for the souls of your children as well as their bodies, training them by your words and example for Heaven? Or, perhaps, the last ten years have been full of sadness to you. You are now a widow or widower, an orphan, or childless, a lone being. Have you learnt, though the heart was torn, to look up to the Father in heaven who chastens with suffering all whom He loves? And does the question the census paper asks you about your profession suggest no similar question about your Christian profession? Are you careful never to say or do anything which will bring discredit upon that profession? Do you watch the thoughts of your heart, that nothing base, or impure, or careless, shall enter in to dwell there? In the Book of the Revelation, Christians are taught that "all, small and great, shall stand before God and be judged out of those things written in the books, according to their works." Then will be the great census; the names, ages, conditions, and professions of all will be known. Able to go forth to war. The lawfulness of war W. Attersoll. : — I. This teacheth us that A GODLY MAN MAY LAWFULLY BE A WARRIOR. If war were not in itself lawful, God would never have a muster taken of such as are able to bear arms. True, every good profession may be abused. Abraham is said to be the father of the faithful, yet he made war, and overthrew the enemies that had spoiled Sodom, and carried away the riches of it as a prey, and was not reproved of Melchizedeck, the priest of the living God, but refreshed together with his army. The like we might say of Moses, Joshua, the Judges, and other godly kings, who fought many battles by the commandment of the Lord. When the soldiers heard the preaching of John, the forerunner of Christ, they asked him what they must do; he did not dissuade them from war, but gave them directions how to behave themselves in that honourable profession. Neither did Peter, being sent for to come to Cornelius, command him to follow a new trade of life. Neither did Paul persuade Sergius Paulus, the deputy, a prudent man, to renounce that calling, which no doubt they would have done if the profession of chivalry had not stood with the profession of Christianity. II. THE REASONS TO CONFIRM THIS TRUTH. 1. God doth command it, and therefore doth allow it as just and lawful. 2. As God gave direct commandment, so the people of God going forth to battle were to call upon Him for a blessing, and to sanctify the work by prayer, and in doing so have been heard. Things in their own nature unlawful are so filthy that no invocation of God's name can cleanse them; nay, they make such prayer foul and abominable. Seeing, therefore, God blesseth and delivereth such as go to war, it must needs follow that war and true religion may well stand together, so that one and the same man may be both a warrior and yet religious. ( W. Attersoll. ) Able to fight J. Parker, D. D. Then there were some who were not able. There were some who were not designed for military pursuits. The Lord would say here: Examine the people; go carefully over them as to force, capacity, and providential destiny, and arrange that those who are able to go forth to war in Israel may be ready. There is always that wonderful other side. The Lord does not pour contempt upon men who cannot fight. He knows what they can do, and He will bless them if they keep within their capacity and their Divine call. Each man's business should be to inquire, Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do? am I a soldier, a leader, a sailor? am I a home-keeper? am I intended for obscurity? am I to be written down amongst Thy feeble ones? Thy will be done. Nor let us limit this word "soldier" to what we understand commonly by war. Let us get away from these narrow limitations and look at life largely. The fact is that life itself is war. You cannot get away from strife. You cannot get away from it in business; you found it in the nursery before you found it in the market-place. The Church is a battlefield. What, then, is to be done? Everything depends upon the spirit in which the strife is urged. We may go forth to good wars with an evil intent. Or we may take it good-heartedly, with a great rising of gladness within the soul, saying, "This is Thy way, Lord, that we are to be made strong by fight; we begin by conflict, we are not to have our own way in the world; but give us the good spirit, loving, magnanimous." The great fight is within. If you are a living man, you are at war with yourself. Even supposing all your friends and enemies were at one with you, there would be a great war in the soul. You must do the evil deed. Yet you do not want to do it; you dare not speak about it; the war is secret, silent, profound, vital. God give you strength! You may overcome yet. Life is not only a war, but the war may be conducted under the very presence and with the very blessing of Christ. Whoso goes forth to war in that power comes back at eventide more than the conqueror. The text reads as if it were a direction in statistics. We cannot exclude the element of statistics from spiritual aggression and spiritual defence. How strong is God's army in numbers? "It is the glory of God to conceal a thing," saith the wise book; and God conceals from us the exact numerical strength of His army. The statistics of the army are kept in heaven. What if it should turn out that a little child's little finger-has won more victories than all the embattled hosts that went forth in mail? What we have to do is for each man to do his own share of the war, fight as if everything depended upon him. Christianity is the military religion. It will fight; it was born to fight. Christianity is dead against all evil. Not against great vulgar crimes only; there is not a magistrate on the bench who does not delight to punish crime. Crime is overt, external, rough, vulgar, and men are paid to sentence it to hard labour. Christianity deals with the spring, with the deceitful heart. Christianity is at war with motive, purpose, thought, intention of the heart. Therefore much of its war is done silently. It is not therefore the less vital and the less tremendous. Christianity insists that we shall fight evil spirits. It is soul against soul, spirit against spirit, thought against thought. There is no tragedy so sublime, so overwhelming, as the fight between the soul and the devil. Do not expect to win all at once. You are winning a little every day. Whatever fight you are waging you believe to be good, the mere fighting of the battle makes you stronger; you may he driven back for a little time, but you will come up again. Only, in God's name, for Christ's sake, do not lose your heart, or you will lose yourself. Let there be no doubt as to which side you are upon. People who are going between this side and that vide will be of no use in the fight and no use in the council. Let us have detiniteness of position. Let us have a clear, simple, honest profession of religion. Nor let any soul be discouraged because it cannot do much in the way of public battle. Some conquer by patience. Patience! — who can write the history of that great conqueror? Patience, that hardly sighs; patience, that scarcely ever turns its eyes to the clock to see how the weary time is going; patience, that puts the best view upon every case; patience, that sits up for the wanderer, though midnight be passed, saying all the while, that it really did not want to sleep; it is the inner interpretation of things; it is God's view of life; it is love at its best. You are not doing much public fighting mayhap, but let me tell you what you are doing — you are succouring the soldiers that are out in the field; you spake so kindly to the good man when he left home in the morning that he went out as strong as ten men. And you are but some poor obscure servitor; your place is in the kitchen; you do what are called the humbler duties of life, but you make the whole house glad. You make the man of business go forth a happier and stronger man in the morning because of your simplicity and faithfulness and daily care. Understand that whoever gives one of Christ's soldiers a cup of cold water with a loving hand and a loving glance wins part of the victory. ( J. Parker, D. D. ) Our duty to the state J. Spencer. He is not worthy to be a member of a state, by whom the state is no whir bettered. The Romans well understood this, when they instituted their censors, to inquire into every man's course of life, and to note them, carbone nigro , with a character of infamy, that could not give some good account of their life. It is a thing pitiful to consider how many there are in this land of ours whose glory is their shame, the very drones and cumber-grounds of their country, the chronicle of whose life was long since summed up by the poet, Nos numerus sumus et fruges consumere nati; no better than ciphers if you respect the good they do. But let them know that God will have no mutes in His grammar, no blanks in His almanack, no dumb shows on His stage, no false lights in His house, no loiterers in His vineyard. ( J. Spencer. ) A man of every tribe: every one head of the house of his fathers. Numbers 1:4-16 Bank and service W Jones. : — I. CO-OPERATION IN DIVINE SERVICE. 1. The toil of Moses and Aaron would be lessened. 2. The accomplishment of the task would be facilitated. 3. The envy of the princes would be prevented. Grumblers are seldom found among the workers of the Church. II. SOCIETY'S NEED OF LEADERS. 1. Because they are at present indispensable to social order and progress. Certain objects of utmost importance to society cannot possibly be attained without cohesion of purpose and effort on the part of a large number of men, and such cohesion is impossible without leaders. "Amongst the masses," says Guizot, "even in revolutions, aristocracy must ever exist; destroy it in nobility, and it becomes centred in the rich and powerful Houses of the Commons. Pull them down, and it still survives in the master and foreman of the workshop." 2. Because of the differences in the faculties of men. These men were "princes" from, the nobility of their birth: and they were probably men distinguished also for their abilities. "We must have kings," says Emerson, "we must have nobles; nature is always providing such in every society; only let us have the real instead of the titular. In every society, some are born to rule, and some to advise. The chief is the chief all the world over, only not his cap and plume. It is only this dislike of the pretender which makes men sometimes unjust to the true and finished man." III. THE GRAND CHARACTERISTIC OF TRUE LEADERS. They are pre-eminent in service. ( W Jones. ) These are the names of the men. The Lord knows the number and the names of all who belong to Him W. Attersoll. As this book of Moses beareth the title of Numbers, so a great part of it is spent in numbering of the people, to assure us that God hath numbered those that are His, and none escape His knowledge or sight. The Lord knoweth perfectly who they are that are His, both what their numbers and what their names are ( 1 Kings 19:10, 18 ; Romans 11:3, 4 ; Psalm 147:5 ; Isaiah 40:26 ). The reasons are not hard to be gathered. 1. The knowledge of God is so exact and perfect that most secret things are known and the smallest are regarded of Him. 2. Christ Jesus setteth forth Himself as the true Shepherd of His sheep. A shepherd knoweth his own sheep. 3. All His people are evermore present with Him, wheresoever they be; yea, albeit they be absent from Him.Uses: 1. This giveth singular comfort to all God's children, if anything else be able to minister them comfort. If an earthly prince should vouchsafe to look upon us, and single us out from the rest, and call us by our names, how would we rejoice, and how much would we esteem that the king would stoop so low as to know us? Do we live as contemptible persons to the men of this world? and will they not once vouchsafe to know us? Let not this trouble us, we cannot sink down in destruction; but rather let us lift up our heads, assuring ourselves that albeit they turn themselves from us, yet God looketh upon us: and though they seek to root out our names from the earth, yet He will know us and call us by our names. 2. We may gather from hence the wretched state of all the ungodly. For as it is a great part of the comfort of all God's children that He will know them; who, as they have a regard to know God in this life, to know Him in His word and other means appointed for their salvation, so shall they be known of God in His kingdom, and acknowledged before the angels in heaven: so this is not the least of the misery belonging unto all that work iniquity, that God will not know them. Though He know them by the general knowledge of His power and providence, yet He will not see them with the eye of His pity, nor touch them with the hand of His favour, nor hear them with the ear of His bounty, nor speak unto them with the mouth of His goodness, nor compass them with the arm of His protection, nor come unto them with the feet of His presence, nor behold them with the face and countenance of His lovingkindness. Can there be a more miserable condition described and felt than this is? 3. Seeing all that are God's are numbered of Him, and have their names written in His book, this serveth to seal up the assurance of our salvation and election to eternal life ( 2 Timothy 2:19 ). 4. Seeing the Lord knoweth us, it is our duty also to seek to know Him in all love and obedience. We must all of us begin to know Him here in this life, that we may know Him perfectly in the life to come. Here we must see Him as it were through a glass darkly, that hereafter we may see Him face to face fully. If we do not know Him in His word and sacraments, we shall never know Him in His kingdom. This knowledge of God necessarily required of us consisteth in these points following —(1) We must confess Him to be the Sovereign and Highest Good, in comparison of whom all things are reputed as nothing, being as dross and nothing to be desired with Him.(2) It behoveth us to depend upon Him, and to put our whole trust in Him alone, not in any man or angel: for then we make flesh our strength, and so lean upon a broken staff that cannot stay us, but will deceive us.(3) We must draw near unto Him in time of need, as to the fountain of all goodness, with all reverence and humility craving all things of Him by hearty and fervent prayer. If we call upon Him, He hath promised to reveal Himself unto us.(4) We must give Him thanks for all blessings received from Him, not only in prosperity, but in adversity.(5) We must seek the knowledge of His ways and word, and increase in the knowledge there

Benson Commentary Numbers 1:1 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, Numbers 1:1 . In the wilderness of Sinai — Where now they had been a full year or near it, having left Egypt about thirteen months. Compare this place with Exodus 19:1 ; Exodus 40:17 . Numbers 1:2 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; Numbers 1:2 . Take ye the sum — This is not the same muster with that spoken of Exodus 38:26 , as plainly appears, because that was before the building of the tabernacle, which was built and set up on the first day of the first month; ( Exodus 40:2 ;) but this was after it, on the first day of the second month. And they were for different ends; that was to tax them for the charges of the tabernacle; but this was for other purposes, as partly, that the great number of the people might be known to the praise of God’s faithfulness, in making good his promises of multiplying them, and for their own encouragement: partly for the better ordering of their camp and march, for they were now beginning their journey; and partly that this account might be compared with the other in the close of the book, where we read that not one of all this vast number, except Caleb and Joshua, were left alive; a fair warning to all future generations to take head of rebelling against the Lord. It is true, the sums and numbers agree in this and the former computation mentioned, ( Exodus 38:26 ,) which is not strange, because there was not much time between these two numberings, and no eminent sin among the people in that interval, whereby God was provoked to diminish their numbers. Some, indeed, suppose, that in that number ( Exodus 30:38 .) the Levites were included, who are here excepted, ( Numbers 1:47 ,) and that in that interval of time there were grown up as many more men of those years as there were Levites of the same age. Israel — So the strangers mixed with them were not numbered. Their fathers — The people were divided into twelve tribes, the tribes into great families, ( Numbers 26:5 ,) these great families into lesser families, called the houses of their fathers, because they were distinguished one from another by their fathers. Numbers 1:3 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. Numbers 1:3 . That are able to go forth to war — It would seem from this that none of the aged and infirm were numbered, as being unable to go to war. Among several other nations as well as the Jews, particularly the Romans, all who were of age to bear arms were obliged, upon some occasions, to go forth to battle. And hence it is that we read of the kings of Israel bringing such numerous armies into the field as appear hardly credible to those who judge of their manners by ours. Numbers 1:4 And with you there shall be a man of every tribe; every one head of the house of his fathers. Numbers 1:5 And these are the names of the men that shall stand with you: of the tribe of Reuben; Elizur the son of Shedeur. Numbers 1:5 . Reuben — The tribes are here numbered according to the order or quality of their birth, first the children of Leah, then of Rachel, and then of the handmaids. Numbers 1:6 Of Simeon; Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai. Numbers 1:7 Of Judah; Nahshon the son of Amminadab. Numbers 1:8 Of Issachar; Nethaneel the son of Zuar. Numbers 1:9 Of Zebulun; Eliab the son of Helon. Numbers 1:10 Of the children of Joseph: of Ephraim; Elishama the son of Ammihud: of Manasseh; Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur. Numbers 1:11 Of Benjamin; Abidan the son of Gideoni. Numbers 1:12 Of Dan; Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai. Numbers 1:13 Of Asher; Pagiel the son of Ocran. Numbers 1:14 Of Gad; Eliasaph the son of Deuel. Numbers 1:14 . Deuel — Called Reuel, Numbers 2:14 , the Hebrew letters daleth and resh being often changed. Numbers 1:15 Of Naphtali; Ahira the son of Enan. Numbers 1:16 These were the renowned of the congregation, princes of the tribes of their fathers, heads of thousands in Israel. Numbers 1:17 And Moses and Aaron took these men which are expressed by their names: Numbers 1:18 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. Numbers 1:19 As the LORD commanded Moses, so he numbered them in the wilderness of Sinai. Numbers 1:20 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; Numbers 1:20 . By their generations — That is, the persons begotten of Reuben’s immediate children, who are here subdivided into families, and they into houses, and they into particular persons. Numbers 1:21 Those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Reuben, were forty and six thousand and five hundred. Numbers 1:22 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; Numbers 1:23 Those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Simeon, were fifty and nine thousand and three hundred. Numbers 1:24 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; Numbers 1:25 Those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Gad, were forty and five thousand six hundred and fifty. Numbers 1:26 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; Numbers 1:27 Those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Judah, were threescore and fourteen thousand and six hundred. Numbers 1:27 . Threescore and fourteen thousand — Far more than any other tribe, in accomplishing Jacob’s prophecy, Genesis 49. Numbers 1:28 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; Numbers 1:29 Those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Issachar, were fifty and four thousand and four hundred. Numbers 1:30 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; Numbers 1:31 Those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Zebulun, were fifty and seven thousand and four hundred. Numbers 1:32 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; Numbers 1:33 Those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Ephraim, were forty thousand and five hundred. Numbers 1:33 . Ephraim — Above eight thousand more than Manasseh, toward the accomplishment of that promise, ( Genesis 48:20 ,) which Satan in vain attempted to defeat by stirring up the men of Gath against them, 1 Chronicles 7:21-22 . Numbers 1:34 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; Numbers 1:35 Those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Manasseh, were thirty and two thousand and two hundred. Numbers 1:36 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; Numbers 1:37 Those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Benjamin, were thirty and five thousand and four hundred. Numbers 1:37 . Thirty-five thousand — The smallest number, except one, though Benjamin had more immediate children than any of his brethren, Genesis 46:21 ; whereas Dan had but one immediate son, ( Genesis 46:23 ,) yet now his number is the largest but one of all the tribes, and is almost double to that of Benjamin. Such great and strange changes God easily can, and frequently doth make in families, 1 Samuel 2:5 . And therefore let none boast or please themselves too much in their numerous offspring. Numbers 1:38 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; Numbers 1:39 Those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Dan, were threescore and two thousand and seven hundred. Numbers 1:40 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; Numbers 1:41 Those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Asher, were forty and one thousand and five hundred. Numbers 1:42 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; Numbers 1:43 Those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Naphtali, were fifty and three thousand and four hundred. Numbers 1:44 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. Numbers 1:45 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; Numbers 1:46 Even all they that were numbered were six hundred thousand and three thousand and five hundred and fifty. Numbers 1:47 But the Levites after the tribe of their fathers were not numbered among them. Numbers 1:48 For the LORD had spoken unto Moses, saying, Numbers 1:49 Only thou shalt not number the tribe of Levi, neither take the sum of them among the children of Israel: Numbers 1:49 . Levi — Because they were not generally to go out to war, which was the thing principally eyed in this muster, ( Numbers 1:3 ; Numbers 1:20 ; Numbers 1:45 ,) but were to attend upon the service of the tabernacle. They that minister upon holy things, should not entangle themselves in secular affairs. The ministry itself is work enough for a whole man, and all little enough to be employed in it. Numbers 1:50 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. Numbers 1:50-51 . The tabernacle of testimony — So called here, and Exodus 38:21 , because it was made chiefly for the sake of the ark of the testimony, which is often called the testimony. The stranger elsewhere is one of another nation, here one of another tribe. That cometh nigh — So as to do the offices mentioned Numbers 1:50 . Numbers 1:51 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. Numbers 1:52 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. Numbers 1:53 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. Numbers 1:53 . No wrath — From God, who is very tender of his worship, and will not suffer the profaners of it to go unpunished! whose wrath is called simply wrath, by way of eminence, as the most terrible kind of wrath. Numbers 1:54 And the children of Israel did according to all that the LORD commanded Moses, so did they. Benson Commentary on the Old and New Testaments Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com . Used by Permission.

Expositor's Bible Commentary Numbers 1:1 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, THE CENSUS AND THE CAMP 1. THE MUSTERING Numbers 1:1-46 FROM the place of high spiritual knowledge, where through the revelation of God in covenant and law Israel has been constituted His nation and His Church, the tribes must now march with due order and dignity. The sense of a Divine calling and of responsibility to the Highest will react on the whole arrangements made for the ordinary tasks and activities of men. Social aims may unite those who have them in common, and the emergencies of a nation will lay constraint on patriotic souls. But nothing so binds men together as a common vocation to do God’s will and maintain His faith. These ideas are to be traced in the whole account of the mustering of the warriors and the organisation of the camp. We review it feeling that the dominating thought. of a Divine call to spiritual duty and progress is far from having control of modern Christendom. Under the New Covenant there is a distribution of grace to every one, an endowment of each. according to his faith with priestly and even kingly powers. No chief men swear fealty to Christ on behalf of the tribes that gather to His standard; but each believer devotes himself to the service and receives his own commission. Yet, while the first thought is that of personal honour and liberty, there should follow at once the desire, the determination, to find one’s fit place in the camp, in the march, in the war. The unity is imperative, for there is one body and one spirit, even as we are called in one hope of our calling. The commission each receives is not to be a freelance in the Divine warfare, but to take his right place in the ranks; and that place he must find. The enumeration, as recorded in chapter 1, was not to be of all Israelites, but of men from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war. From Sinai to Canaan was no long journey, and fighting might soon be required. The muster was by way of preparation for conflicts in the wilderness and for the final struggle. It is significant that Aaron is shown associated with Moses in gathering the results. We see not only a preparation for war, but also for the poll tax or tithe to be levied in support of the priests and Levites. A sequel to the enumeration is to be found in Numbers 18:21 : "And unto the children of Levi, behold, I have given all the tithe in Israel for an inheritance, in return for their service which they serve, even the service of the tent of meeting." The Levites again were to give, out of what they received, a tenth part for the maintenance of the priests. The enactment when carried into effect would make the support of those who ministered in holy things a term of the national constitution. Now taking the census as intended to impress the personal duties of service in war and contribution for religious ends, we find in it a valuable lesson for all who acknowledge the Divine authority. Not remotely may the command be interpreted thus. Take the sum of them, that they may realise that God takes the sum of them and expects of every man service commensurate with his powers. The claim of Jehovah went side by side with the claim on behalf of the nation, for He was Head of the nation. But God is equally the Head of all who have their life from Him; and this numbering of the Hebrews points to a census which is accurately registered and never falls short of the sum of a people by a single unit. Whoever can fight the battle of righteousness, serve the truth by witness-bearing, aid in relieving the weak, or help religion by personal example and willing gift-every possible servant of God, who is also by the very possession of life and privilege a debtor of God, is numbered in the daily census of His providence. The measure of the ability of each is known. "To whomsoever much is given, of him shall much be required." The Divine regard of our lives and estimate of our powers, and the accompanying claim made upon us, are indeed far from being understood; even members of the Church are strangely ignorant of their duty. But is it thought that because no Sinai shrouded in awful smoke towers above us, and now we are encamped at the foot of Calvary, where one great offering was made for our redemption, therefore we are free in any sense from the service Israel was expected to render? Do any hold themselves relieved from the tithe because they are Christ’s freemen, and shirk the warfare because they already enjoy the privileges of the victors? These are the ignorant, whose complacent excuses show that they do not understand the law of Divine religion. True, the position of the Church among us is not of the kind which the Mosaic law gave to the priesthood in Israel. Tithes are gathered, not from those only who are numbered within the Church and acknowledge obligations, but also from those outside, and always by another authority than that of Divine commandment. In this way the whole matter of the support of religion is confused in these lands both for members of the national Churches and for those beyond their borders. Successfully as the old Hebrew scheme may once have wrought, it is now hopelessly out of line with the development of society. The census does not in any way determine what a national Church can claim. Aaron does not stand beside Moses to watch the enrollment of the tribes, families, and households as they come to be numbered. Yet, by the highest law of all, which neither Church nor State can alter, the demand for service is enforced. There is a warlike duty from which none are exempt, from which there is no discharge. Although the ideal of an organised humanity appears as yet far off in our schemes of government and social melioration, providentially it is being carried into effect. Laws are at work that need no human administration. By the Divine ordinance generous effort for the common good and the ends of religion is made imperative. Obedience brings its reward: "The liberal deviseth liberal things, and by liberal things shall he stand." Neglect is also punished: the sure result of selfishness is an impoverished life. The census is described as having been thoroughly organised. Keil and Delitzsch think that the registering may have taken place "according to the classification adopted at Jethro’s suggestion for the administration of justice- viz ., in thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens." They also defend the total of six hundred and three thousand five hundred and fifty, which is precisely the same as that reached apparently nine months before. It is an obvious explanation of what appears a perplexing agreement, that the enumeration may have occupied nine months. But the number is certainly large, much larger than the muster-rolls of the Book of Judges would lead us to expect, if we reckon back from them. Nor can any explanation be given that is satisfactory in all respects. We may shrink from interfering with these numerical statements carefully set down thousands of years ago. Yet we feel that the haze of remoteness hangs over this roll of the tribes and all after-reckonings based upon it. Of the twelve princes named in Numbers 1:5-15 , as overseers of the census, Nahshon, son of Amminadab, of the tribe of Judah, has peculiar. distinction. His name is found in the genealogy of David given in the Book of Ruth {Rth 4:20} . It also appears in the "book of the generation of Jesus Christ" {Mat 1:1-25} and the roll of Joseph’s ancestry recorded by St. Luke. One after another in that honourable line which gave the Hebrews their Psalmist and the world its Saviour is but a name to us. Yet the life represented by the name Nahshon, spent mainly in the wilderness, had its part in far-off results; and so had many a life, not even named-the hard lives of brave fathers and burdened mothers in Israel, who, on the weary march through the desert, had their sorrow and pain, their scanty joy and hope. Far away is the endurance of those Hebrew men and women, yet it is related to our own religion, our salvation. The discipline of the wilderness made men of courage, women great in faith. Beneath their feet the Arabian sand burned, above them the sun flamed; they heard alarms of war, and followed the pillar of smoke for their appointed time, looking, even when they knew they looked in vain, for the land beyond of which Jehovah had spoken. Unaware of their nation’s destiny, they toiled and suffered to serve a great Divine plan which in the course of the ages came to ripeness. And the thought brings help to ourselves. We too have our desert journey, our duty and hardship, with an outlook not merely personal. It is our privilege, if we will take it so, to aid the Divine plan for the humanity that is to be, the great brotherhood in which Christ shall see of the travail of His soul and be satisfied. Like a prince of Judah, or a humble nameless mother in Israel, each may find abiding dignity of life in doing well some allotted part in the great enterprise. The age of service fixed for the men of the tribes may yield suggestions for our time. It is not of warlike service we have to think, but of that which depends on spiritual influence and intellectual power. And we may ask whether the limits on one side and the other have any parallel for us. Young men and women, having reached the age of bodily and mental vigour, are to hold themselves enrolled in the ranks of the army of God. There is a time of learning and preparation, when knowledge is to be acquired, when the principles of life are to be grasped, and the soul is to find its inspiration through personal faith. Then there should come that self-consecration by which response is made to the claim of God. Neither should that be premature, nor should it be deferred. When an aimless, irresolute adolescence is followed by years of drifting and experimenting without clear religious purpose, the best opportunity of life is thrown away. And this far too frequently occurs among those on whom parental influence and the finest Christian teaching have been expended. The time arrives when such young men and women should begin to serve the Church and the world: but they are still unprepared because they have not considered the great questions of duty, and seen that they have a part to play on the field of endeavor. It is true, no time can be fixed. The public service of Christ has been begun by some in very early youth: and the results have justified their adventure. From the humble tasks they first undertook they have gone on steadily to places of high responsibility, never once looking back, learning while they taught, gaining faith while they imparted it to others. Each for himself or herself, in this matter of supreme importance, must seek the guidance and realise the vocation of God. But delay is often indulged, and the twentieth, even the thirtieth year, passes without a single effort in the holy service. One could wish for a Divine conscription, a command laid on every one in youth to be ready at a certain day and hour to take the sword of the Spirit. On the other side also many need to reconsider. No time was fixed for the end of the service to which the Israelites were summoned. As long as a man could carry arms he was to hold himself ready for the field. Not the increasing cares of his family, not the disinclination which comes with years, was to weigh against the ordinance of Jehovah. But service now, however cheerfully it may be rendered in early manhood and womanhood, is often renounced altogether when knowledge and power are coming to ripeness with the experience of life. Doubtless there are many excuses to be made for heads of households who are leaving their young folk to represent them in religion, and pretty much in everything outside the mere maintaining of existence or the enjoyment of it. The demands of public service all round are sometimes quite out of proportion to the available time and strength. Yet the Christian duty never lapses; and it is a great evil when the balance is wanting between old and young, tried and untried. Numbers 1:47 But the Levites after the tribe of their fathers were not numbered among them. 2. THE TRIBE OF LEVI Numbers 1:47-54 The tribe of Levi is not numbered with the rest. No warlike service, no half-shekel for the sanctuary, is to be exacted from the Levite. His contribution to the general good is to be of another kind. Pitching their tents about the tabernacle, the men of this tribe are to guard the sanctuary from careless or rude intrusion, and minister unto it, taking charge of its parts and furniture, dismantling it when it is to be removed, setting it up again when another stage of the march is over. In this order it is implied that, although according to the ideal of the Mosaic law Israel was to be a holy nation, yet the reality fell very far short of it. "The Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say unto them, Ye shall be holy: for I the LORD your God am holy". {Lev 19:1-2} Again and again this command of consecration is given. But neither in the wilderness, nor throughout the pre-exilic history, nor after the Babylonian affliction had purged the nation of idolatry, was Israel so holy that access to the sanctuary could be allowed to the men of the tribes. Rather, as time went by, did the need for special consecration of those about the temple become more evident. Although by statute the tribe of Levi was well provided for, it cannot be said that the life of the Levite was at any time enviable from a worldly point of view; at the best it was a kind of honourable poverty. Something else than mere priest-craft upheld the system which separated the whole tribe; something else made the Levites content with their position. There was a real and imperative sense of need to guard the sanctities of religion, a jealousy for the honour of God, which, originating with Moses and the priesthood, was felt throughout the whole nation. As we have seen, the scheme of Israel’s religion required this array of servants of the sanctuary. Under Christianity the ideal of the life of faith and the manner of worship are entirely different. A way into the holy place of the Divine presence is now open to every believer, and each may have boldness to enter it. But even under Christianity there is a general failure from holiness, from the spiritual worship of God. And as among the Hebrews, so among Christians, the need for a body of guardians of sacred truth and pure religion has been widely acknowledged. Throughout the Church generally down to the Reformation, and still in countries like Russia and Spain. we may even say in England, the condition of things is like that in Israel. A people conscious of ignorance and secularity, feeling nevertheless the need of religion, willingly supports the "priests," sometimes a great army, who conduct the worship of God. There is nothing to wonder at here, in a sense; much, indeed, for which to be thankful. Yet the system is not the New Testament one; and those who endeavour to realise the ideal are not to be branded and scorned as schismatics. They should be honoured for their noble effort to reach and use the holy consecration of the Christian. The Expositor's Bible Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com . Used by Permission.