Numbers 1

Chapter 1. The ArmyThe book of Numbers opens with the picture of an army of more than 600,000 men, marshaled for victorious warfare, and organized and equipped in perfect form with all the accompaniments necessary for their successful advance. We find in this great host all the elements which constitute the army of the Lord in the Church of the New Testament.

Section I: Sons

Section I—SonsNum_1:1-54The first thing required in the marshaling of the host was that everyone should declare his pedigree and should be enrolled according to the house of his fathers. It is thus in our spiritual life, and it teaches us that before we can be true soldiers, we must know that we are sons of God. The reason why many Christians fail in their tests and their service is because they do not know their place in the divine household, and have not entered fully into the blessed assurance of a full divine sonship. Therefore God required of His ancient people that they should know and declare their pedigree, before they could put on their armor. We also may know that we have eternal life and are the sons of God, and so be able to bear an unequivocal testimony to the world and stand with unfaltering front before the Adversary. Our Lord received in like manner the witness to His Sonship, before He went forth into the wilderness to meet Satan, and then afterwards into the world to overcome him in others. This was what the devil tried his best to unsettle: “If you are the Son of God” (Matthew 4:3). But Christ overcame him in the confidence of His Father’s love and His high calling. So let us, as we read these ancient records, make sure of our pedigree and fully claim our sonship. “Yet to all who received him… he gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:12). “Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, ‘Abba, Father’” (Galatians 4:6). “The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children” (Romans 8:16).

Section II: Soldiers

Section II—SoldiersNum_2:1-34The next picture of the ancient host is the picture of the soldiers. Having declared their pedigree they were next required to pitch by their own standard, with the ensign of their fathers’ house. Only the men of war were counted. So God expects all His people to be soldiers. We are not registered in the heavenly roll according to our place on earthly church rolls, but according to our enlistment in the army of the living God. The order of the standards was divinely arranged according to a perfect system. There were four great divisions around the tabernacle. On the east there were three tribes, numbering 186,400 men, led by the tribe of Judah. On the south there were three tribes numbering 151,450 men, with Reuben in the front. On the west there were three tribes around the camp of Ephraim, numbering in all 108,100 men; and on the north the remaining three tribes, numbering 157,600, with Dan in the center. This was the arrangement of the tabernacle when it rested. When in motion, the tribe of Judah always led the caravan, followed by Reuben. Then came the tabernacle with the ministering priests and Levites, followed by Ephraim, Dan and the other tribes. We may learn from this order that the Church of Christ is not a promiscuous mass of heterogeneous elements, but a divinely organized body. Christ is the living Head, and the Holy Spirit the ever-present guide, and all the divine provisions for mutual service, fellowship and cooperation we find wisely and completely defined in the New Testament and illustrated in the primitive Church. In the center of the camp no standard was permitted; but the tabernacle and the ark were the types of Jesus Christ Himself, around whom all the ranks of God’s people should ever be gathered in unity. The leadership of Judah, whose name means praise, is at least suggestive of the spirit of Christian life and warfare, which should always march out like Jehoshaphat’s army with the singers and the players in the front. We shall ever find the spirit of praise to be the keynote of triumph. Military figures occupy a very prominent place in the pictures of Christian life in the New Testament. Our life is a very real conflict, and our adversaries are not going to be set aside by our ignoring them. God’s ancient people, we are told, went forth armed for battle, out of the land of Egypt; and we shall wretchedly fall amid the perils and enemies on the way if we forget that “our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Ephesians 6:12). They who fear the conflict will never have rest from it, but will be harassed by assault and defeat to the close. It is only by courageous resistance and victory that we can ever have real peace. Israel had ceaseless war during the time of the Judges, but a few brief campaigns on the part of Joshua and David brought lasting peace. After the bitterest conflicts, we always read that “the land had rest from war” (Joshua 14:15). Let us, therefore, put on the whole armor of God, fight the good fight of faith and endure hardness as good soldiers of Jesus Christ. While we glory in our pedigree, let us also lift up our standard and write upon it—Jehovah-nissi, the Lord is my banner.

Section Ill: Servants

Section Ill—ServantsNum_3:5-51; Numbers 8:5-26The next picture in the Hebrew host is the Levites, whose calling and functions are described in minute detail in the third and fourth chapters of Numbers. They represent the idea of service in our Christian life, as the priests did of worship, and the soldiers of conflict. Substituted and Separated

1. They were separated unto God as an entire tribe instead of the firstborn of Israel, who were all dedicated to the Lord, and claimed as His peculiar property. As a commutation, He accepted the entire tribe of Levi instead of the firstborn of all their tribes, and set them apart to His own peculiar ministry. The dedication of the firstborn was connected with the slaying of Egypt’s firstborn, and was recognized as the result of the sprinkled blood of the Paschal Lamb. It conveyed, therefore, the idea of redemption. This was confirmed by the fact that the surplus of Israel’s firstborn over and above the tribe of Levi, which amounted to about 5,000 males, were redeemed by the payment of five shekels each. This was still further typical of our redemption, not with perishable things such as silver and gold, but with the precious blood of Christ. The Levites thus took the place of the redeemed men who had been bought back from death and judgment by the blood of the Lamb, and so they express for us the great spiritual truth, that all our service must have its root in redemption, and its inspiration in the blessed consciousness of a Savior’s love. A slave girl bought from the block in New Orleans, when about to fall into the hands of cruel and lustful men, was set free by her benevolent purchaser; but with every instinct of gratitude overwhelming her, she threw herself at his feet and refused to accept her freedom, begging him to take her as his servant as long as she should live, and exclaimed whenever she was asked why she was willing to endure the privations and toils of her life, “He redeemed me, he redeemed me.” This is the spirit of the apostle when he says, “You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). God Their Inheritance
2. The Levites were not only redeemed men, but they took the place of firstborn men, that is, the place of sons and heirs. The nature of their inheritance is very beautifully described in many places in the Levitical code. It consisted simply in this, that God Himself was their inheritance. They had no share in the land of Canaan except the tabernacle and its immediate precincts. To them came no worldly possessions, but it was added, “The Lord is their inheritance” (Deuteronomy 18:2). This is an expressive type, not only of the Christian’s high calling and glorious prospects as an heir of God and a joint heir with Christ of all the glory of His kingdom and of His throne, but of a deeper truth, namely, that the true servant of the Lord, like an ancient Levite, must take the Lord Himself for the supply of his spiritual needs, and the strength for all his service. In this respect the Lord Jesus was a true Levite. He constantly claimed: “By myself, I can do nothing: I judge only as I hear” (John 5:30). “Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me” (John 6:57). He was constantly depending upon His Father and His resources for all His earthly ministry. And like Him the great apostle could say: “Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant” (2 Corinthians 3:5-6). So Peter adds: “If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever” (1 Peter 4:11). None are so rich as they that are absolutely poor. When we have nothing else, then we have God for our inheritance, and can say: “God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work” (2 Corinthians 9:8). Subordinate to the Priests
3. The Levites were subordinate to and under the direction of the priests. So Christian work must ever be subordinate to Christian worship, and our service must be under the control and inspiration of our deeper life and fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ. Our highest service is our ministry unto Him as priests in His presence, and all our service for others should be impelled by the spirit of higher devotion. These two classes, the priests and the Levites, beautifully represent the two sides of Christian life, the devotional and the practical. They do not refer to two classes of men or women, some of whom shall be Marthas and the others Marys, but to the two aspects which ought to be combined in all the services of the Lord—the one looking inward and heavenward, the other looking outward and around to the needs of our fellow men and the work given us to do. Both are beautifully combined in the ancient promise: “You will be called priests of the Lord, you will be named ministers of our God” (Isaiah 61:6). Three Classes
4. The Levites were classified into three sections; namely, the Kohathites, the Gershonites and the Merarites. The Kohathites had charge of the sacred vessels, the Gershonites the curtains and coverings, and the Merarites the bars and boards of the tabernacle. These classes represent the various orders and spheres of Christian ministry which Christ has appointed in the Church. There are diversities of gifts, but the one Spirit; there are diversities of works, but the one God who works all in all. Some are called to be teachers, and some to be helpers; but the helpers are placed above the governments, and the least are often the greatest. The rule of preferment and honor in the kingdom of Christ is self-abasement. No ministry for Him is menial; and yet to every man His work is given, and faithfulness consists in standing in our lot. There were some things in the tabernacle which could not be committed to careless hands. The oxen could draw the heavy boards, but the golden vessels might not be touched by any but the consecrated Kohathites. For each of us there is a work to do, which no man can be paid to do in our stead, and for which no proxy will ever be accepted. There are vessels of the Lord which our hands must bear, and cups of water which we must carry ourselves. The bearing of the tabernacle by the ministering hands of the Levites is a lovely picture of the support of the Church of Christ by the united hands of God’s faithful people, each in his place and all together bearing the precious burden, in which the Lord Himself condescends to dwell. The principle of mutual service is constantly recognized in God’s Word: “One sows and another reaps” (John 4:37); and it is a heavenly and happy gift to know our places, and be able also to appreciate our brother’s work. It is said about some of David’s ancient warriors, in high commendation, that they could keep rank. And one of the sweetest expressions in the New Testament in commendation of the disciple is, “You, loyal yokefellow” (Philippians 4:3). A traveler describes two laborers in Africa, working together in the sowing of their fields. The one was without legs and the other was without arms. The armless one carried his neighbor on his shoulders, while the other scattered the seed with his hands, the two together constituting one working man. So let the sons of Kohath and Gershon work together in the mutual ministry of the heavenly tabernacle. Their Dedication
5. The account of the Levites is closed with the beautiful picture of their solemn and public dedication on the altar of the tabernacle: “Bring the Levites to the front of the Tent of Meeting and assemble the whole Israelite community. You are to bring the Levites before the Lord, and the Israelites are to lay their hands on them. Aaron is to present the Levites before the Lord as a wave offering from the Israelites, so that they may be ready to do the work of the Lord” (Numbers 8:9-11). What a beautiful picture of living sacrifice. This was the highest of all the Levitical offerings. It was not a bullock or a lamb, but a company of living men, solemnly dedicated by the imposition of hands, and laid as a sacrifice on the altar of the Lord. What a vividness it gives to the apostle’s injunction, “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship” (Romans 12:1).

Section IV: Saints

Section IV—SaintsStill another class appears in this great procession of the army of the Lord: the Nazirites, who are described at length in the sixth chapter of Numbers, and who stand as special types of saintship and separation in the Church of God. The ordinance of the Nazirites, however, is preceded by two or three other important regulations in regard to the subject of purity, culminating in the special class separated to represent this distinct idea. Their success depended upon their perfect purity, and so God made full provision for their separation from all evil. Separation

1. Every leper, every one with an unclean issue and every one defiled by the touch of the dead, had to be separated from the camp. “The Lord said to Moses, ‘Command the Israelites to send away from the camp anyone who has an infectious skin disease or a discharge of any kind, or who is ceremonially unclean because of a dead body’” (Numbers 5:1-2). So we must cleanse ourselves from “everything that contaminates body and spirit” (2 Corinthians 7:1), and come out from all evil, before we can be used by God in consecrated service and enter into the land of our inheritance. “Therefore come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you. I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty (2 Corinthians 6:17-18). And again, “I will not be with you anymore unless you destroy whatever among you is devoted to destruction” (Joshua 7:12). Restitution
2. Trespasses must be confessed, restitution must be made and the sacrifice of atonement offered. He “must confess the sin he has committed. He must make full restitution for his wrong, add one fifth to it and give it all to the person he has wronged” (Numbers 5:7). And so our mutual or relative injuries must be met fully, that we may be victorious in our Christian warfare, and effectual in our work for God. “If a man cleanses himself from the latter, he will be an instrument for noble purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work” (2 Timothy 2:21). So the Lord bids us to put away from our midst all causes of mutual misunderstanding, and even if a brother have aught against us to go to him in the spirit of forgiveness and love, and remove the misunderstanding if possible. “If you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift” (Matthew 5:23-24). Suspicion Satisfied
3. The very suspicion of evil must be removed and prevented (Numbers 5:11-15, Numbers 5:24-28), and so provision is made for the trial of the suspected person by what is called “the waters of jealousy,” which were to become accursed to the guilty person, but to be harmless to the innocent. The Nazirite (Numbers 6:1-8; Numbers 22-27)
4. The highest conception of purity and separation was expressed by the law of the Nazirite. Here we observe: (1) He was entirely separated unto God, recognizing himself, and being recognized as a dedicated life. (2) The sacrifice was voluntary and not constrained, and therefore had the sweet savor of perfect joy and love. (3) It was accompanied by a vow of special form and most sacred consecration. (4) He was to abstain from wine and all strong drink, suggesting that his life was to be free from the heat of earthly passion and excitement, and that the calm and heavenly freedom of the divine possession was ever to characterize him. (5) He must not touch the dead, not even his own immediate family. This implies that if we would be true Nazirites, we must be separated from our old fleshly nature; we must be crucified with Christ, and so risen with Him that we shall not touch even in consciousness or memory the sinful self which we have renounced and crucified. (6) No razor must touch his head or body, but he must be wholly yielded to the Lord in perfect simplicity. The hair of the human body seems in some way to be the divine symbol of power, and the design of this feature of the Nazirite’s life was to suggest, as in the case of Samson, the idea of power in all the fullness of the divine enduement and indwelling of the Holy Spirit. A Nazirite thus expresses the idea of purity and power as inseparably combined. So we find that Samson was a Nazirite; and while faithful to his consecration he was possessed of the superhuman strength which God gave as the seal of that consecration. When he abandoned that he lost his strength. Surely the lesson is not hard to find in our spiritual life. We shall be weak and sinful men as oft as we allow the world to defile us. But in holy separation we shall find boundless possibilities of God’s power and fullness.

Section V: Stewards

Section V—StewardsNum_7:1-6, Numbers 7:11, Numbers 7:18, Numbers 7:24, Numbers 7:30, Numbers 7:36, Numbers 7:42, Numbers 7:48, Numbers 7:54, Numbers 7:60, Numbers 7:66, Numbers 7:72, Numbers 7:78, Numbers 7:84-89The closing picture of the Hebrew camp is the presentation by the princes of Israel of their voluntary gifts in the service of the tabernacle and the consecration of the altar. This is intended to suggest and prefigure the duty of Christian stewardship, and the consecration of our means as one of the most important departments of entire dedication to God and practical Christian service. These offering were made spontaneously and do not seem to have been even suggested by Moses, but were brought by the princes of their own accord under the pressure of their respective tribes, who seem to have contributed along with them the means for these several gifts. Moses had to hesitate and inquire of the Lord before accepting them, showing their entire spontaneousness (Numbers 7:3-5). Christian Giving This is ever the true spirit of Christian beneficence. The consecration of their substance to God was one of the very first results of the pouring out of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost (Acts 4:34) and has ever marked the measure of the Church’s life and consecration. The Apostle Paul unfolded its principles and emphasized its obligations with peculiar fullness in almost all his epistles. We find him classing it in his letters to the Corinthians among the very highest graces of the Christian life, and especially urging this spirit of heartiness and spontaneousness, as its true mode of inspiration. “But just as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in your love for us—see that you also excel in this grace of giving” (2 Corinthians 8:7). “For if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what he does not have” (2 Corinthians 8:12). The gifts of the princes occupied 12 entire days, each prince and tribe taking an entire day in succession and the services being signalized as a feast day by universal rejoicing. The services and gifts of each day are chronicled with minutest detail, embracing not only the names of the givers but also the specifications of their various gifts, and even where from day to day the gifts were the same, yet the account is repeated with equal minuteness over and over again, as if the Holy Spirit were never weary of recording in everlasting remembrance the smallest gifts of His people’s gratitude and love. This is intended to teach us that God recognizes in detail our every gift and service, and has, in His book of eternal memorial, an enduring record of each. This chapter of Numbers is the second longest chapter in the Bible, and it is not a little significant that the Holy Spirit has devoted such a chapter to the subject of Christian giving. It is but a specimen page from the larger volume which God is keeping amid the archives of the Judgment, for the day when He shall come and “his reward is with him” (Isaiah 40:10). It is also significant that all the gifts were of equal value, teaching us that our giving should be proportionate, and that none should be unequally burdened, but together share in common the claims of Christ’s kingdom (2 Corinthians 8:13, etc). The Names Some of the names of the princes of Israel who gave these offerings seem to possess a peculiar significance. Nahshon, the first, representing the tribe of Judah, signified an oracle, implying that very often our best way of speaking and testifying to God is through our gifts. Nethanel, the second, means God’s gifts, implying that all our gifts are to be smaller recognitions of His larger bounties. Eliab, the third, signifies God his Father. Elizur, the fourth, signifies God his Rock. Shelumiel, the fifth, means God his Peace. The three together suggest that they who have learned to know Jehovah as their Father, their Strength and their Peace will count it a privilege to serve with the very best their life can offer, and that their richest gifts are little, compared with the value which they place on His inestimable grace. Eliasaph, the sixth, means God his Gatherer and implies that He will take care of the seed that lovingly give to Him. Ahiezer, the 10th, means the Helping Brother, suggesting the mutual blessings of cooperation and help in Christian work and giving. Pagiel, the 11th, signifies God meets, suggesting the favor and acceptance with which God recognizes the gifts and sacrifices of His people’s love. This is beautifully expressed in the closing verses of the chapter, where we are told that after the offerings were all presented Moses entered into the tabernacle of the congregation and “heard the voice speaking to him from between the two cherubim above the atonement cover on the ark of the Testimony” (Numbers 7:89). God’s Approval It would seem as though God was so pleased with the willing gifts of His faithful people, that He came down immediately to recognize them and speak to them in the tender voice of His approval and blessing. What He said to Moses we are not told, unless it be that the next verses in the commencement of the eighth chapter (Numbers 8:1-4), commending the lighting of the lamps in the tabernacle, was the message given. If this were so, it may well teach us that the gifts of God’s people, when lovingly and faithfully bestowed, will ever bring the blessing of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the Church of Christ, and the kindling of a light and fire in God’s sanctuary and altar, which will spread its brightness afar on a dark and sin-cursed world. In a later prophet we know that He has told us explicitly the blessing which our consecrated gifts will ever bring. “‘Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,’ says the Lord Almighty, ‘and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it. I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your field will not cast their fruit,’ says the Lord Almighty. ‘Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land,’ says the Lord Almighty” (Malachi 3:10-12).