Numbers 10:11-36--Israel Leaves Sinai

Numbers 10:11-36
English Standard Version

Israel Leaves Sinai
11 In the second year, in the second month, on the twentieth day of the month, the cloud lifted from over the tabernacle of the testimony, 12 and the people of Israel set out by stages from the wilderness of Sinai. And the cloud settled down in the wilderness of Paran. 13 They set out for the first time at the command of the Lord by Moses. 14 The standard of the camp of the people of Judah set out first by their companies, and over their company was Nahshon the son of Amminadab. 15 And over the company of the tribe of the people of Issachar was Nethanel the son of Zuar. 16 And over the company of the tribe of the people of Zebulun was Eliab the son of Helon.

17 And when the tabernacle was taken down, the sons of Gershon and the sons of Merari, who carried the tabernacle, set out. 18 And the standard of the camp of Reuben set out by their companies, and over their company was Elizur the son of Shedeur. 19 And over the company of the tribe of the people of Simeon was Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai. 20 And over the company of the tribe of the people of Gad was Eliasaph the son of Deuel.

21 Then the Kohathites set out, carrying the holy things, and the tabernacle was set up before their arrival. 22 And the standard of the camp of the people of Ephraim set out by their companies, and over their company was Elishama the son of Ammihud. 23 And over the company of the tribe of the people of Manasseh was Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur. 24 And over the company of the tribe of the people of Benjamin was Abidan the son of Gideoni.

25 Then the standard of the camp of the people of Dan, acting as the rear guard of all the camps, set out by their companies, and over their company was Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai. 26 And over the company of the tribe of the people of Asher was Pagiel the son of Ochran. 27 And over the company of the tribe of the people of Naphtali was Ahira the son of Enan. 28 This was the order of march of the people of Israel by their companies, when they set out.

29 And Moses said to Hobab the son of Reuel the Midianite, Moses' father-in-law, “We are setting out for the place of which the Lord said, ‘I will give it to you.’ Come with us, and we will do good to you, for the Lord has promised good to Israel.” 30 But he said to him, “I will not go. I will depart to my own land and to my kindred.” 31 And he said, “Please do not leave us, for you know where we should camp in the wilderness, and you will serve as eyes for us. 32 And if you do go with us, whatever good the Lord will do to us, the same will we do to you.”

33 So they set out from the mount of the Lord three days' journey. And the ark of the covenant of the Lord went before them three days' journey, to seek out a resting place for them. 34 And the cloud of the Lord was over them by day, whenever they set out from the camp.

​35 And whenever the ark set out, Moses said, “Arise, O Lord, and let your enemies be scattered, and let those who hate you flee before you.” 36 And when it rested, he said, “Return, O Lord, to the ten thousand thousands of Israel.”

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The day has come!  It's been approximately a year since they arrived at the base of Mount Sinai (see Exodus 19:1 which said that it was the third new moon since the people had left Egypt meaning it was approximately the 3rd month.  It is now the 20th day of the second 2nd month of the 2nd year--they now have Sabbaths and Feasts and a calendar to help them keep track of the passing of days, so this is much more specific date).  The pillar of cloud lifts from over the Tabernacle, and the people break camp as they were commanded.  The cloud settled down over the wilderness of Paran and the children of Israel for the first time move out according to the command of the LORD as He had instructed Moses (using the trumpets just created as signals).

Each tribe set out with its standard-bearer in front and led by its chief--first the tribes of Judah, Isaacar and Zebulan that were camped on the East side of the Tabernacle.  Notice in this that even though Judah was not the oldest of Israel's twelve sons, he was the one that was chosen to lead his people--the tribe from which the rightful kings would come from and the tribe from which the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, the Messiah would come from.  Then come the youngest children of Leah (the wife of Jacob to whom he was married first but whom he favored less than Rachel).  So then we even see the Biblical principle of the last shall be first.

Once the Tabernacle had been taken down, the Levites who were of the clans of Gershon and Merari who carried the Tabernacle (the actual tent itself) set out next.  Remember that these were two of the tribes who were given oxen and carts to care that things that were not considered holy and did not need to be carried on poles.  Following them were the tribes that camped to the South of the Tabernacle--Reuben, Simeon and Gad.  Levi, Reuben and Simeon are also children of Leah and Gad is the firstborn son of Leah's servant Zilpah (a custom of that time when the wife could not bear children).  So then God is continuing to show His favor towards Leah and her children even though she and her children were not treated well by Jacob.  These children not only lead the people, but get to protect the very Tabernacle of the LORD.

​Next came the Levite clan of the Kohathites who carried the holy things (the Altar of Burnt Offerings, the Altar of Incense, the Golden Lampstand, the Table of Showbread, and all the utensils that accompanied them) on their shoulders.  This put the holy things of the Tabernacle in the center of the people..  At the rear of these holy objects were the tribes of Ephraim, Manasseh , and Benjamin who camped to the West.  Ephraim and Manasseh were the "double portion" of the inheritance given to Joseph as his first two sons were given an equal share as to what his share would have been, and Benjamin was the other son of Rachel.  These tribes were moderately faithful to the LORD, but each had their issues with leading the people into rebellion and idolatry at times.  Ephraim will be largely responsible for the political rebellion of the northern 10 tribes of the divided kingdom.  Part of the tribe of Manasseh will refuse to take its inheritance from the other side of the Jordan river because they want to continue to identify with their Egyptian nationality and heritage and they will at times fail to fight alongside their brothers (sometimes fighting against them), and they will fight for the throne of the northern kingdom which did not belong to them, for the throne belonged to Judah.  Benjamin was the only one who pledged allegiance to Judah when the kingdom split after Solomon's reign.  However, they also would also fall short.  However, this is the tribe that the apostle Paul would later come from.  Notice that there are no Levites that move out between this group and the next one.

The next group to break camp and move out were the tribes of Dan, Asher and Naphtali.  There's not much good that I can say about this group.  The tribe of Dan is actually responsible for the spiritual apostacy of the Northern 10 tribes and appears to have no inheritance in the New Jerusalem (heaven).  He is the "father" of all those who are apostate and turn back to worship the golden calf--a god that we fashion and say "these are our gods" and worship in the way that the pagans worship their gods that we know to be demons.  Not much is said about the tribe of Asher, they are largely unremarkable, but they are in bad company here. Along with Naphtali, they will form the northern border of the Promised Land of Canaan. The tribe of Naphtali is called a land of spiritual darkness even in the Old Testament.  This land would become a place that was so secular that they would seem to lose all religious and cultural identity as being Jewish and it wasn't easy to tell them apart from their Gentile neighbors to the north and east.  Yet it is in this very area that Mary and Joseph lived in a town called Nazareth (remember how the religious Jews said, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?").  Out of this great darkness would come a marvelous light--the Light of the World.

So then, it seems that even how God groped the camps and positioned them around the holy and sacred people and objects--He knew exactly who they were and what they would become.  Finally in the rear was the family of Moses' wives--his father-in-law Rael (also known as Jethro), the priest of Midian.  They would have no inheritance in the Promised Land and were simply "along for the ride" until Moses dies.  Moses seems to indicate that Jethro should tell them where to camp, but the LORD is already taking care of that by letting HIs Presence come to rest at the place where they are to make camp.  However, Moses is correct that Jethro and his family will experience all the blessings that God gives to the people of Israel as long as he travelled with them.  You can see already in his answer though that Jethro knows that the land does not belong to him or his people and he desires to return to his homeland of Midian when it is time.

We did not talk about Moses, Aaron or Aaron's sons.  Moses would be out in front of the people and it would seem that Aaron and his sons would be carrying the Ark of the Covenant out in front of the people.  They would also be the priests that would also have their musicians and the choir out in front of the people so that even as they went into battle, they did so with the Presence of the LORD and the Ark of the Covenant always in front of them and priests leading them in worship to remind them that battle belonged to the LORD and the LORD must fight and win the battle for us.  We do know that the Levites had swords and spears in places where they fought with zeal for the LORD in Exodus 32 and Numbers 25, but we seem to have an indication that the priests and other Levites were not counted as part of the "fighting men" in the census and that these priests out front were probably bearing instruments and not swords.  You would normally think of the lead elements as being your "special forces" that would have special training, special weapons and special tactics, and in a way, that is exactly what is going on here as the training, weapons and tactics that these priests brought to the battle were the weapons of spiritual warfare as they kept the people focused on God and reminded the people of His covenant and all that the people needed to do was put their faith in the LORD and watch Him win the victory for them (most of the time that's exactly what happened as the LORD would drive the enemies away or hurl great hailstones at them or would confuse the enemy so that they killed themselves or brought a plague on them or something similar).

What do we take away from this?  God had an order to things and while we may not understand all of His reasons for the order that He established, he did understand everything.  The order that He put in place may make no sense to us--we may have imagined that the troops should be led from the oldest to the youngest, but we'd probably no imagine that the people should be led by priests who carried the Ark of the Covenant and that the Ark should be out front where it was exposed to enemy attack--logic would dictate that something valuable should be kept in the center of the ranks where it could be protected by everyone.  His ways are higher than our ways and His thoughts are higher than our thoughts.  "My LORD knows the way through wilderness.  All I have to do is follow."