Numbers 2

CHAPTER 2THEME: The arrangement of the campIn chapter 1 we learned about the census. Each Israelite had to know who he was. He also had to know where he belonged. During all these years in the wilderness, the camp positions and the order of their marching were orderly and according to God’s direction. We are told that they raised standards over their camps. These were banners that were put up over them. Just what was on these banners? Let me quote to you from two great scholars of the Old Testament, Keil and Delitzsch, in their Commentary on the Pentateuch, Volume III: “Neither the Mosaic law, nor the Old Testament generally gives us any intimation as to the form or character of the standard (deqhel). According to rabbinical tradition, the standard of Judah bore the figure of a lion, that of Reuben the likeness of a man, or of a man’s head, that of Ephraim the figure of an ox, and that of Dan the figure of an eagle; so that the four living creatures united in the cherubic forms described by Ezekiel were represented upon these four standards.” I don’t want to make too much of that because there is a danger in trying to read too much into it. There are people who go so far as to find in their arrangement about the camp a picture of the way the stars are arranged in heaven, the signs of the Zodiac! Also there are people who try to find the gospel written in the stars or try to find their future written in the stars. Shakespeare said, “It’s not in our stars but in ourselves that we are underlings.” Our problem is within ourselves, not up yonder in the stars. We won’t find the gospel in the stars; we find it in the Word of God. Without the Word of God we would not suspect that the gospel was in the stars.

Mankind is not without excuse because they could read the gospel in the stars but because all creation reveals God’s eternal power and Godhead. Whether the standards bore a name or emblem is unimportant, and we know that tradition is not always accurate.

Numbers 2:1

THE ARRANGEMENT OF THE CAMPNotice that they all camp in reference to the tabernacle. The tabernacle would be placed in the camp and then the children of Israel would camp around it. They would put up their standards to mark their place in the camp. On the east side was Judah. The tribe of Issachar (v. Num_2:5) and the tribe of Zebulun (v. Num_2:7) camped with Judah under the same standard. If the emblem on that standard was a lion, then when these three tribes saw the standard with the lion, they knew where they belonged.

Numbers 2:10

The tribe of Reuben was on the south side and Simeon (v. Num_2:12) and Gad (v. Num_2:14) camped with Reuben.

Numbers 2:18

On the west the tribes of Manasseh (v. Num_2:20) and Benjamin (v. Num_2:22) camped with Ephraim under his emblem.

Numbers 2:25

The tribes of Asher (v. Num_2:27) and Naphtali (v. Num_2:29) camped with Dan under his standard.

Numbers 2:33

We have learned now that they must know who they were and where they belonged. They must know their pedigree in order to know their place in the camp. They could not go to war unless they were sure of their position. Just so, Christian warfare is not carried on in the realm of doubts and fears but in the clear light of a sure salvation. Our enemies today are the world, the flesh, and the devil. My friend, they will overcome you if you are not sure of your salvation. Every person in the church of the Lord Jesus Christ has a God-appointed place. All service in the church is to be directed by the Holy Spirit. We are told that by one Spirit we are all baptized into one body. When you were put into the body, you were put in as a member. “For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ. For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. For the body is not one member, but many” (1Co_12:12-14). When He puts you into that body, He puts you there to serve. Every believer has a gift. You have a gift. The exercise of that gift is your Christian service. There are many members of the human body and each has its function. There are over 20 bones in the foot alone. So in the body of Christ there are many gifts and each of us is to exercise his gift. You and I are to find out what our gift is. I believe that God rewards His own by the exercise of that gift. Although the Holy Spirit divides to every man severally as He wills, I do believe that 1Co_12:31 indicates we can pray and covet the best gifts.

As a young man, I heard Dr. Ironside teach the Bible, and I asked God to let me teach like he taught. God heard and answered my prayer in a wonderful way. Although I can’t teach like he did, God has permitted me to have a teaching ministry which I wanted and asked Him for. I think that we may covet earnestly the best gifts, but recognize this is all under the sovereign control of the Holy Spirit. Remember Dorcas? She made clothes. You remember that when she died, they called in Simon Peter and the widows showed him the clothes Dorcas had made for them. Simon Peter probably said, “We had better raise this woman from the dead. The church needs her!” And God raised her from the dead. Friend, you ought to find your place in the camp. Are you usurping another’s place? Are you occupying a place in the church that you really can’t fill and that belongs to someone else? We ought to encourage each member of our church to find his place, and that should hearten the humblest member of the church. You have a gift and God wants you to exercise it. Don’t try to do someone else’s job. You do what God has called you to do.