Alastair's Adversaria - Biblical Reading and Reflection: Numbers 2

Episode Date: May 3, 2022

The tribes ordered around the tabernacle. My reflections are searchable by Bible chapter here: https://audio.alastairadversaria.com/explore/. If you are interested in supporting this project, please consider supporting my work on Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/zugzwanged), using my PayPal account (https://bit.ly/2RLaUcB), or buying books for my research on Amazon (https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/36WVSWCK4X33O?ref_=wl_share). You can also listen to the audio of these episodes on iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/alastairs-adversaria/id1416351035?mt=2.

Numbers chapter 2. The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron saying, The people of Israel shall camp each by his own standard, with the banners of their father's houses. They shall camp facing the tent of meeting on every side. Those to camp on the east side, toward the sunrise, shall be of the standard of the camp of Judah by their companies. The chief of the people of Judah being Nashan, the son of Aminadab. His company as listed being 74,600. Those to camp next to him shall be the tribe of Issaq, the chief of the people of Issaq, being Nethynel, the son of Zuhar. His company is listed being 54,400. Then the tribe of Zebulin, the chief of the people of Zebulin being Eliab, the son of Helon. His company is listed being 57,400.

All those listed of the camp of Judah by their companies was 186,400. They shall set out first on the march. On the south side shall be the standard of the camp of Rubin by their companies. The chief of the people of Rubin being Eliza, the son of Sheddyer. His company is listed being 46,000. and those to camp next to him shall be the tribe of Simeon, the chief of the people of Simeon, being Shulumiel, the son of Zuru Shaday. His company is listed being 59,300. Then the tribe of Gad, the chief of the people of Gad, being Eliasaf, the son of Ruel. His company is listed being 45,650. All those listed of the camp of Ruben by their companies were 151,450. They shall set out second. Then the tenta meeting shall set out, with the camp of the Levites in the midst of the camps.

As they camp, so shall they set out, each in position standard by standard. On the west side shall be the standard of the camp of Ephraim by their companies, the chief of the people of Ephraim, being Elishma, the son of Amayat, his company has listed being 40,500, and next to him shall be the tribe of Manasseh, the chief of the people of Manassah being Gamaliel, the son of Pederser. His company has listed being 32,200. Then the tribe of Manassahs, tribe of Benjamin, the chief of the people of Benjamin being a Biden, the son of Gideonai, his company is listed being 35,400. All those listed of the camp of Ephraim, by their companies, were 108,100, they shall set out third on the march. On the north side shall be the standard of the camp

of Dan by their companies, the chief of the people of Dan being Ahayezah, the son of Amishadai. His company is listed being 62,700. And those to camp next to him shall be the tribe of Asha, the chief of the people of Asha being Pagiel, the son of Okran. His company as listed being 41,500. Then the tribe of Naftali, the chief of the people of Naftali being a Hira, the son of Enan. His company as listed being 53,400. All those listed of the camp of Dan were 157,600. They shall set out last standard by standard. These are the people of Israel as listed by their father's houses. All those listed in the camps by their companies were 603,550. But the Levites were not listed among the people of Israel as the Lord commanded Moses. Thus did the people of Israel, according to all that the Lord

commanded Moses, so they camped by their standards, and so they set out, each one in his clan according to his father's house. Having been numbered in Numbers chapter 1, in Numbers chapter 2, the tribes of Israel are arrayed around the tavernacle. We have already considered the possibility of astral or heavenly symbolism in the numbers of Numbers Chapter 1. And when we consider the order of the tabernacle, it could be likened to the sun with constellations around it. In the tabernacle and the gathering of Israel around it, we have a correspondence with the heavenly temple.

In being arrayed around the tabernacle in such a way, Israel is being brought up to participate in this higher order. It is not just the tabernacle in their midst that is of great significance. It's the whole camp. Around the 13th century BC, the Egyptian army, and Ramsey's the second adopted the formation of the military camp around the king's tent. Gordon Wenham notes the similarity between this formation and the formation of the camp of Israel. The camp here is divided into four groups. The first group consists of Judah, Isika and Zebulon.

These are all tribes of Leah. The second group, Rubin, Simeon and Gad, are descended from Leah and Zilper. The third group, Ephraim, Manasseh and Benjamin are all Rachel tribes. The fourth group, Dan, Asher, and Naftali are from Bilha and Zilper. There are the same clusters of three in chapter 1 verses 20 to 42, but the order there is south, east, west, north, rather than east-south, west, north, as we have in this chapter. This isn't the only time in scripture where we have attention paid to the ordering of gates and the ordering of the tribes. Such attention is especially noteworthy in symbolic passages, where it seemed likely that there is some import to the order in which the tribes are listed. We have such a list in Ezekiel chapter.

of 48 versus 30 to 35. These shall be the exits of the city. On the north side, which is to be 4,500 cubits by measure, three gates, the gate of Rubin, the gate of Judah, and the gate of Levi, the gates of the city being named after the tribes of Israel. On the east side, which is to be 4,500 cubits, three gates, the gate of Joseph, the gate of Benjamin, and the gate of Dan. On the south side, which is to be 4,500 cubits by measure, three gates, the gate of Simeon, the gate of Issaica and the gate of Zebulon, on the west side, which is to be 4,500 cubits, three gates, the gate of Gad, the gate of Asher, and the gate of Naftoli. The circumference of the city shall be 18,000 cubits, and the name of the city from that time on

shall be, the Lord is there. Once again we see some sort of loose maternal clustering of the tribes. The northern tribes, Ruben, Judah and Levi are tribes of Leah. Joseph, Benjamin and Dan in the east are tribes of Rachel and her handmade Bilhar. Simeon, Isika and Zebulan in the south, or of Lea, and Gad, Asha and Naftali in the west are tribes of the Handmaids, Zilper and Bilha. David Chilton suggests that we have an implicit ordering of the tribes in the Book of Revelation as well on the gates. Revelation chapter 7 versus 4 to 8 gives the order of the tribes in the 144,000 sealed persons. In Revelation chapter 21 versus 12 to 13, we are told that the city had a great high wall with 12 gates and at the gates 12 angels and on the gates the names

of the 12 tribes of the sons of Israel were inscribed on the east three gates on the north three gates on the south three gates and on the west three gates if we put these passages together we can order the tribes around the city in the order that their names are given in revelation chapter 7 from the east to the north from the north to the west from the east to the south and from the south to the west This yields an order in which Judah, Rubin, Simeon are together, the Senior Leia tribes, Gad, Asher and Naftoli are together, the handmade tribes, Levi, Isika and Zebulin, Junior Leia tribes are together, and then Manasseh, Joseph and Benjamin are together, all tribes of Rachel. James Jordan and others have seen connection between the tribes and the signs of the

zodiac. Judah is connected, of course, to the lion. He's described as a lion's cub in Genesis chapter 49 verse 9, that would be Leo. Ruben corresponds with the water-carrying man. He's described as a man who's unstable as water in Genesis chapter 49 verse 4. That would be Aquarius. Ephraim with his brother is spoken of as the first-born bull in Deuteronomy chapter 33 verse 17. That would connect with the bull and with Taurus. Dan is spoken of as the serpent, a serpent in the way in Genesis chapter 49 verse 17, that would connect him with Scorpio, which can be seen as an eagle, a serpent, or a scorpion. More interestingly, this also reminds us of Ezekiel chapter 1, verses 4 to 10, where we have the description of the chariot vision of Ezekiel. As I looked, behold, a stormy wind came out

of the north, and a great cloud with brightness around it, and fire flashing forth continually, and in the midst of the fire, as it were, gleaming metal, and from the midst of it came the likeness of four living creatures, and this was their appearance. They had a human likeness, but each had four faces, and each of them had four wings. Their legs were straight, and the souls of their feet were like the soul of a calf's foot, and they sparkle like burnished bronze. Under their wings, on their four sides, they had human hands, and the four had their faces and their wings thus. Their wings touched one another. Each of them went straight forward, without turning as they went. As for the lightness of their faces, each had a human face. The four

had the face of a lion on the right side, the four had the face of an ox on the left side, and the four had the face of an eagle. The throne chariot and the living creatures seem to come from the north, and the face that's facing the prophet seems to be that of the human being. This would make the man's face the south-facing countenance of the cherubim. The lion on the right side would be facing east, the arks would be facing towards the west, and then the eagle would be facing back towards the north. If we rightly identified the tribes with the zodiacal signs, and their symbols, Judah with the lion, Rubin with the man, Ephraim with the bull, and Dan with the serpent or eagle, then the order of the faces in the four cardinal directions in the desert camp

corresponds with the order of the cherubim or living creatures in the vision that Ezekiel has of the Lord's chariot throne. Once again this would underline the fact that the earthly tabernacle mirrors in some sense the heavenly temple. As we have already seen possible connections between the numbering of Israel and calendrical symbolism, perhaps the possibility of the of such a connection should not so surprise us. We should, however, note that the association of the tribes with these particular zodiacal signs, one that many have argued for,

does not actually yield the typical ordering of the signs of the zodiac around the camp. A question to consider, where else in scripture might we have allusions to the signs of the zodiac? How can we understand such references without falling prey to the superstitions of astrology?