Tanak Foundations-Concepts in Numbers-Chapter 3

Before we move on to Num 3, we need to look at how these tribes were arranged, and their names will teach us about the Redemption. There were three tribes camped on the east and alludes to the first coming of Yeshua. There was Issachar (my hiring, servant), Judah (praise) and Zebulon (to dwell). This teaches us that his star was seen in the east before his birth (Num 24.17; Matt 2.1) the Messiah came the first time as a “servant” from the tribe of Judah and “dwelt” among men (John 1.14). The tribes on the west allude to the second coming of Yeshua, and they are Benjamin (son of the right hand), Ephraim (fruitful) and Manasseh (to forget). Messiah will come as a “son of the right hand” (Matt 26.64) and his kingdom will be “fruitful” and he will cause us “to forget” the past troubles.

So, if the tribes on the east and west teach about the coming of Messiah, then the tribes on the north and south teach about the False Messiah. The tribes on the north are Asher (to prosper), Dan (to judge) and Naphtali (sweetness drips). The False Messiah will come and “prosper” (Dan 11.36) but fall eventually. Asher is a related word to Asshur, the home of Nimrod. The False Messiah may come from the tribe of Dan according to many scholars, but he will be “judged.” He will be a great orator at first, and “sweet word’s” will drip from his mouth (Dan 7.11, 20). Isa 14.13-14 says that Satan (the power behind the False Messiah) desires to sit in the recesses of the “north” where God sits The tribes on the south are Gad (a troop, related to the word for “invade”), Reuben (see, a son) and Shimon (to hear). The False Messiah will come as a “troop and will invade” Israel, Jerusalem and the Temple. He will proclaim himself the “son” of God (1 Thess 2), but he will be defeated when Yeshua comes, and his followers will “hear” charges at the judgment “south” of Jerusalem at a place called Tophet (Isa 66.24; Matt 25.31-46).

When you take the totals of each side, in four parts, it forms a cross. On the west there were 108,100 people (Num 2.24). This is the shortest side, corresponding to the top of the cross. The tribes on the south were 151, 450, and the tribes on the north were 157, 600. These are the most equal and correspond to the part of the cross where Yeshua’s arms/hands were. The tribes on the east added up to 186,400, the longest side, and corresponded to where the legs went.

They did not camp like a mob like you see in the movies, but it had order and organization. They had to make it easy to go outside the camp to the latrines and to gather wood, etc. So, each side camped long-wise in order to do this. That means they camped in four parts around the Mishkan. In Num 23.10 it says that Balaam said, “Who can count the dust of Jacob or number the fourth part of Israel?” In Num 22.41 it says that Balak took Balaam up to a high mountain and he saw from there “a portion of the people” or the end of the camp. He saw the fourth part of the camp and he couldn’t even count them. What part of the camp was it? Probably the east portion with 186,400 people plus. Remember, these numbers are only the warriors, not everyone.

So, the way they camped was eschatological and the camp formed a cross. If you had a drone and could fly over the camp, you could see it like God did. Israel camped in four corps and twelve divisions. We will also notice that the three tribes that camped together had relationships to each other. The tribes on the east (Judah, Issachar, Zebulon) are sons of Leah. The tribes on the south (Reuben, Shimon, Gad) are Leah’s sons and a son from her maid Zilpah (Gad). The tribes on the west (Ephraim, Benjamin, Manasseh) are descendants of Rachel. The tribes on the north are Dan, Asher, Naphtali) are the sons of the two maids Bilhah (Dan, Naphtali) and Zilpah (Asher).

Num 3.1-51 will tell us about a census of the priests and the Levites; and their duties in relation to the priests and are a special possession of Yehovah; the camp of the priests; the redemption of the first-born of the sons of Israel.

v 1…Now these are the records of the generations (Hebrew “toldot” with the second “vav” missing, meaning man’s generations have been diminished since the sin of Adam; “toldot” is not written fully until Ruth 4.18 with the genealogy of David, through whom the Messiah will come and restore the generations of man) of Aaron and Moses (the four children mentioned are also identified as “sons of Moses” because he was their spiritual father and taught them the Torah; no children of Moses are named) at the time when the Lord spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai.

v 2…These are the names of the sons of Aaron; Nadab the first born, and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar.

v 3…These are the names of the sons of Aaron, the anointed priests, whom he ordained to serve as priests.

v 4…But Nadab and Abihu died before the Lord when they offered strange fire before the Lord in the wilderness of Sinai (see Lev 10.1-7 notes); and they had no children.  So Eleazar and Ithamar served as priests in the lifetime of their father Aaron.

v 5…Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

v 6…”Bring the tribe of Levi near (Hebrew “karav” which is the root for “korban” of offerings) and set them before Aaron the priest, that they may serve him (in guarding the Mishkan; taking care of the vessels; carrying it and taking it down and setting it up, etc).

v 7…And they shall perform the duties for him and for the whole congregation before the tent of meeting (not in it), to do the service (avodah)nof the tabernacle (Mishkan).

v 8…They shall keep all the furnishings of the tent of meeting (ohel moed), along with the duties of the sons of Israel (representing them at the services).

v 9…You shall thus give the Levites to Aaron and to his sons (to be their ministers); they are wholly given to him from among the sons of Israel (distinguished as separate from them).

v 10…So you shall appoint Aaron and his sons that they may keep their priesthood (to do what was required of them), but the layman who comes near (to perform the duties of a priest) shall be put to death..”

v 11…Again the Lord (Yehovah) spoke to Moses, saying,

v 12…”Now, behold (see), I have taken the Levites from among the sons of Israel instead of every first-born, the first issue of the womb among the sons of Israel (for their faithfulness at the Golden Calf).  So the Levites shall be mine (whom he is giving to the priests-v 40-43).

v 13…For all the first born are mine; on the day that I struck down all the first-born in the land of Egypt, I sanctified to myself (with a kedusha) all the first-born in Israel, from man to beast.  They shall be mine; I am the Lord (now they are exchanged for the Levites).”

v 14…Then the Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, saying,

v 15…”Number (in a separate accounting for a different reason) the sons of Levi by their father’s households, by their families, every male from a month old and upward you shall number (that’s when the Lord claimed the first-born-v 40)”

v 16…So Moses numbered them according to the word of the Lord, just as he had been commanded.

v 17…These are the sons of Levi by their names: Gershon (exile, stranger there) and Kohath (assembly) and Merari (bitter).

v 18…And these are the names of the sons of Gershon by their families: Libni (white) and Shimei (hear and obeys; my fame);

v 19…and the sons of Kohath by their families: Amram (exalted people; the father of Moses and Aaron) and Izhar (revelation), Hebron (communion) and Uzziel (strength);

v 20…and the sons of Merari by their families: Mahli (infirm, harp, pardon) and Mushi (yielding).  Thses are the families of the Levites according to their father’s households.

v 21…Of Gershon was the family of the Libnites and the family of the Shimeites; these were the families of the Gershonites.

v 22…Their numbered men, in the numbering of every male from a month old and upward, even their numbered men were 7500.

v 23…The families of the Gershonites were to camp behind (acharay)) the tabernacle westward,

v 24…and the leader of the father’s households of the Gershonites was Eliasaph (the Lord increases) and Lael (to God).

v 25…Now the duties of the sons of Gershon in the tent of meeting involved the tabernacle and the tent, its covering, and the screen for the doorway of the tent of meeting,

v 26…and the hangings of the court and the screen for the doorway of the court, which is around the tabernacle and the altar, and its cords, according to all the service concerning them.

v 27…And of KOhath was the family of the Amramites (of whom Aaron and Moses and their children belonged) and the family of the Izharites and the family of the Hebronites and the family of the Uzzielites, these are the families of the Kohathites.

v 28…In the numbering of every male from one month old and upward, there were 8600, performing the duties of the sanctuary.

v 29…The families of the sons of Kohath were to camp on the southward side of the tabernacle,

v 30…and the leaders of the father’s households of the Kohathite families was Elizaphah the son of Uzziel.

v 31…Now their duties involved the ark, the table, the lampstand, the altars, and the utensils of the sanctuary with which they minister, and the screen, and all the service concerning them.

v 32…And Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest was the chief of the leaders of Levi (over the three chiefs of the three houses of the Levites), and had the oversight of those who perform the duties of the sanctuary.

v 33…Of Merari was the family of the Mahlites and the family of the Mushites; these are the families of Merari.

v 34…Their numbered men in the numbering of every male from a mone old and upward, were 6200.

v 35…And the leader of the father’s households of the families of Merari was Zuriel the son of Abihail.  They were to camp on the northward side of the tabernacle.

v 36…Now the appointed duties of the sons of Merari involved the frames of the tabernacle, its bars, its pillars, its sockets, all its equipment and the service concerning them,

v 37…and the pillars around the court with their sockets and their pegs and their cords.

v 38…Now these were to camp before the tabernacle eastward (the most honorable place in the camp and most convenient for constant and direct care), before the tent of meeting toward the sunrise, are Moses and Aaron and his sons, performing the duties of the sanctuary for the obligation of the sons of Israel (for their safety, keeping out all persons from entering into the Mishkan and had no business there); but the laymen coming near was to be put to death.

v 39…All the numbered men of the Levites whom Moses and Aaron numbered at the command of the Lord by their families, every male from a month old and upward, were 22,000 (this 22,000 falls short by 300 of the separate totals just given; the Levites were taken and counted instead of the first-born of the sons of Israel, so their own first-born amounted to 300 and had to be excluded because a first-born cannot redeem another first-born).

v 40…Then the Lord said to Moses, “Number every first-born male of the sons of Israel from a month old and upward, and make a list of their names.

v 41…And you shall take the Levites for me, I am the Lord (Yehovah), instead of the first-born among the sons of Israel, and the cattle of the Levites instead of all the first-born among the cattle of the sons of Israel.”

v 42…So Moses numbered all the first-born among the sons of Israel, just as the Lord had commanded him;

v 43…and all the first-born males by the number of their names from a month old and upward, for the their numbered men were 22, 273 (a small number in proportion to all the males of the sons of Israel; these are the number of males under the age of twenty at the time of the census).

v 44…Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

v 45…”Take the Levites instead of the first-born among the sons of Israel and the cattle of the Levites.  And the Levites shall be mine; I am the Lord.

v 46… And for the ransom of the 273 of the first-born of the sons of Israel who are in excess beyond the Levites,

v 47…you shall take five shekels apiece, per head; you shall take them in terms of the shekel of the sanctuary (the shekel is twenty gerahs),

v 48…and give the money, the ransom of those who are in excess among them, to Aaron and to his sons (since the Levites were taken in place of the first-born, and the Levites were given to Aaron, in this deficiency it was right to give them the redemption price).”

v 49…So Moses took the ransom money from those who were in excess, beyond those ransomed by the Levites,

v 50…from the first-born of the sons of Israel he took the money in terms of the shekel of the sanctuary, 1365 shekels.

v 51…Then Moses gave the ransom money to aaron and his sons, at the command of the Lord, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

Posted in All Teachings, Articles, Idioms, Phrases and Concepts, Prophecy/Eschatology, The Festivals of the Lord, The Tanak, Tying into the New Testament

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