Chapter 2

I have to tell you, numbers gives you more of the same before we get to more interesting material!

Chapter 2, like chapter 1, is primarily about organization. Whereas chapter 1 was about the divisions of the army and their respective commanders, however, Chapter 2 is about the daily life encountered by the people of Israel – specifically, where they are going to camp.

“Wow,” I can hear you say. “That’s going to be an exciting chapter . . NOT!”

Actually, it may well have been exciting for its original readers – but more about that later on.

Like chapter 1, we have a pattern. “The people of Israel are to set up camp circling the Tent of Meeting and facing it. Each company is to set up under its distinctive tribal flag.” So there is a general principle; Each tribe will set up facing the tent of meeting.

Verses 3 – 31 give us more detail about how this is to happen. The pattern goes as follows:
“To the [direction] are the companies of the camp of [tribe] under its flag, led by [leader]. His troops number [same number as yesterday].

“The tribe of [tribe] will camp next to them, led by [leader]. His troops number [same number as yesterday].

“And the tribe of [tribe] is next to them, led by [leader]. His troops number [blow me down if it’s not the same as yesterday].

“The total number of men assigned to [first of these three tribes], troop by troop, is [number]. They are [position] in the order of the march.”

The Levites are to march in the middle. Considering that the heart of the Israelite assembly was the Tent of Meeting (and the Tabernacle), this is a sensible precaution, since it means that both from the vanguard and the rearguard any enemy will have to penetrate a dense wall of soldiers before getting to them.

Again, the people did everything that God commanded them.

There are a few things worth noticing here. Again, the organization of this group is amazing, and sets them apart from a regular band of nomads; although they are constantly mobile, it is perhaps better to imagine the assembly as a sort of mobile city rather than simple nomads. Life here can continue in the complex manner we associate with cities. Each person knows where they are to set up, and when they move, they remain in the same place relative to each other. This means that after a move, a minimal amount of time is spent sorting out what happens next; each person knows where to go and what to do. Further, people know where to go to find a particular person. Once again, we get an insight into how 2 million people and their flocks and herds were able to cross the wilderness (and survive for forty years’ wandering!).

More than that, though, I want you to notice an important feature of the camp. The Tent of Meeting (as we saw yesterday, the place where God meets with Moses) was at the centre of the camp, and all tents were facing it.

The significance of this is obvious. Both symbolically and in a real, physical sense, God wanted to be the very centre of the Israelites’ world. The first thing an Israelite would see in the morning was the place where God would meet Moses, and it was also the last thing he or she saw in the evening.

As I have gone through life, I have worked in a number of workplaces. Currently I work in a Christian workplace. Even there it’s possible to forget about your identity as a Christian – No, I don’t mean that during the workday you’re likely to suddenly start sacrificing black chickens to the greater glory of Satan; rather, in the busyness of the day, you can get so caught up in all the stuff that has to happen so that you can get everything done that God Himself (remember Him? The one who created the universe and gives you everything you need to live?) can become a detail you leave out of the planning. If that can happen at a Christian workplace, how much easier is it for God to be left out when there ISN’T a prevailing ethic of making Him the centre of the day! There are times when we all do this.

Presumably the Israelites were capable of this too, but the geography of the camp was designed to minimize it. As they went through their day, time and time again, they’d be reminded who they belonged to.

There’s a lesson in this for us. As Christians, we say that God is the focal point of our lives. But often we don’t LIVE that way. The camp of the Israelites was set up to remind them. Maybe there are some things we can do to remind ourselves of our lives in Christ. Perhaps an object might be an effective touch stone. If you’re the sort of person to watch the clock, maybe a particular time might be the reminder you need. Whatever we do, it’s always good to be reminded that being a Christian isn’t something we do at particular times of the week. As the late great Keith Green once sang “To obey is better than sacrifice; I want more than Sunday and Wednesday nights; ’cause if you can’t come to me every day, then don’t bother coming at all!”

God certainly has a less condemnational attitude than this song, but the point is well made – We’re meant to be Christians all the time, so let’s live that way.

By the way, I said that I’d comment on the fact that the Israelites WOULD have found all this interesting. To us, “Judah”, “Nahshon son of Amminadab” and “Ephraim” are just names, and ancient names at that. But to the ancient Israelites, these were family members whose inclusion in the lists here would have been a great matter for pride. A few weeks ago I watched a film, and a friend of mine was listed in the credits (quite a long way down). I found it was no difficulty to stay right to the end just to catch that, so I suppose I can’t hassle the ancient Israelites for that.