Numbers 1:54 –
So the Israelites did everything just as the LORD had commanded Moses.
We know God has an actually dialogue with Moses and basically tells him what to do. The problem Moses has always had is convincing the people to do God’s will. It took 10 plagues to soften Pharos’ heart and even with Moses gone for one of his discussions the people build a golden calf. Really? They saw the Red Sea part and after seeing all God’s power, they think they can find salvation in a chunk of gold. It boggles my mind that Jesus has got a hold of people with miracles performed 2000 year ago. The Holy Spirit is cool that way.
Anyway, this chapter is focused on organizing the military. First God/Moses assigns the leaders of each tribe and then has them register their able bodied men who can fight. Interestingly they excuse the Levites, as they are to deal with the Tabernacle and moving it around. As they count it Moses has an available army of about 604 thousand men, which will be able to help defend and conquer for Israel.
Now me being a mild pin head have one question about the number of tribes. Why does the list have 12 tribes and exclude the Levites? There were 12 sons of Jacob, one of his sons was Joseph and he had two sons. Joseph died before leaving Egypt and therefore his inheritance was split between his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. Also, since the Levi’s got not inheritance most look at the division since it was parsed in 12 portions. Confusing? Yes, but remember the nation of Israel started with 12 tribes and the tribe of Joseph was divided into two.
I have written about this split every time I read something after Exodus that lists the tribes. One would think my memory would be better on subject matter like this, since I have researched and written on it more than once. I often wonder is my mind so distracted from God that I don’t remember this stuff or do I need to pound it into my head more often? I memorize verses and then a year later could only paraphrase them if I am lucky. So the question is am I a product of the information age where I can access any tidbit on my iPhone and therefore don’t have to work on memory or am I just forgetful?