Wilderness (Part 2): Numbers 1-2 // Taking Stock
Numbers 1-2 (NRSV)
1:1 The Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the tent of meeting, on the first day of the second month, in the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt, saying: 2 Take a census of the whole congregation of Israelites, in their clans, by ancestral houses, according to the number of names, every male individually; 3 from twenty years old and upward, everyone in Israel able to go to war. You and Aaron shall enroll them, company by company. 4 A man from each tribe shall be with you, each man the head of his ancestral house. 5 These are the names of the men who shall assist you:
From Reuben, Elizur son of Shedeur. 6 From Simeon, Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai. 7 From Judah, Nahshon son of Amminadab. 8 From Issachar, Nethanel son of Zuar. 9 From Zebulun, Eliab son of Helon. 10 From the sons of Joseph: from Ephraim, Elishama son of Ammihud; from Manasseh, Gamaliel son of Pedahzur. 11 From Benjamin, Abidan son of Gideoni. 12 From Dan, Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai. 13 From Asher, Pagiel son of Ochran. 14 From Gad, Eliasaph son of Deuel. 15 From Naphtali, Ahira son of Enan.
16 These were the ones chosen from the congregation, the leaders of their ancestral tribes, the heads of the divisions of Israel.
17 Moses and Aaron took these men who had been designated by name, 18 and on the first day of the second month they assembled the whole congregation together. They registered themselves in their clans, by their ancestral houses, according to the number of names from twenty years old and upward, individually, 19 as the Lord commanded Moses. So he enrolled them in the wilderness of Sinai…
2:1 The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying: 2 The Israelites shall camp each in their respective regiments, under ensigns by their ancestral houses; they shall camp facing the tent of meeting on every side. 3 Those to camp on the east side toward the sunrise shall be of the regimental encampment of Judah by companies… 5 Those to camp next to him shall be the tribe of Issachar… 7 Then the tribe of Zebulun…
10 On the south side shall be the regimental encampment of Reuben by companies… 12 And those to camp next to him shall be the tribe of Simeon… 14 Then the tribe of Gad…
17 The tent of meeting, with the camp of the Levites, shall set out in the center of the camps; they shall set out just as they camp, each in position, by their regiments.
18 On the west side shall be the regimental encampment of Ephraim by companies… 20 Next to him shall be the tribe of Manasseh… 22 Then the tribe of Benjamin: The leader of the Benjaminites shall be Abidan son of Gideoni…
25 On the north side shall be the regimental encampment of Dan by companies… 27 Those to camp next to him shall be the tribe of Asher… 29 Then the tribe of Naphtali…
34 The Israelites did just as the Lord had commanded Moses: They camped by regiments, and they set out the same way, everyone by clans, according to ancestral houses.
Illustration of Numbers 2
From CSB Study Bible: Notes, ed. Edwin A. Blum and Trevin Wax (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2017), 206.
Prayer of Confession
Everlasting God,
fountain of all life and true home of every heart:
our hearts are restless until they rest in you.
Yet we confess that our hearts have been enslaved
by distraction, desire, selfishness, and sin.
We have sought after many things
and neglected the one thing we need.
We have not loved you with our whole hearts.
Help us to turn to you and find forgiveness.
Lead us home,
that we may again find in you
our life and joy and peace.
Amen.
Prayer Prompt
God in our midst—our true home.
Help us to love you and others by…
Daily Guide