The first Israelite census

Numbers Chapter one

This Chapter was authored by Moses and tells of the people of Israel struggling and complaining as they traveled to the Promised Land. It is named for the numbering of the people.

During the second years following the people's freedom from Egypt the Lord told Moses to take a census of the clans. He asked that all men of 20 years old and older who were able to go to war be counted and Moses and Aaron were to head the project with the help of one family leader from each clan. these leaders chosen were:
Tribe of Reuben with leader Elizur
Tribe of Simeon with leader Shelumiel
Tribe of Judah with leader Nahshon
Tribe of Issachar with leader Nethanel
Tribe of Zebulun with leader Eliab
Tribe of Epharaim (son of Joseph)with leader Elishama
Tribe of Manasseh (son of Joseph) with Gamaliel
Tribe of Benjaman with leader Abidan
Tribe of Dan with leader Ahiezer
Tribe of Asher with leader Pagiel
Tribe of Gad with leader Eliasaph
Tribe of Naphtali with leader Ahira
So all the people were registered in the wilderness at Sinai. And the list of those many thousands who were able to go to war is listed in verses 21 through 43 for you to read. They had to list their ancestral descent in the record, but his total did not include the Levites for the Lord pronounced them exempt from the count because they were to be put in charge of the Tabernacle and its furnishings and content. The Levites were to carry the Tabernacle as the people traveled, and they took it down and set it back up again.

BIBLE NOTES show God commanded that anyone who went too near the Tabernacle were to be executed. And though each tribe of Israel had a designated camping spot, the Levites were designated to camp around the Tabernacle to offer the people protection from God's fierce anger. The Levites stood guard.

And so the people were preparing to go forth to their new land.
This chapter seems timely for our world today, as we are in the process of counting people in our 2010 census. We know how long and tedious a census can be, but in today's world we are not just counting how many men can be warriors. We are sorting many other things, such as financial ability to own or rent homes, education, etc. As a genealogist I read census reports all the time and the information they give is precious. I wish we were able to get the type of ancestral information like Moses did.

Yours in Christ,
Mary