The last division of the army that camped on the east side of the Wilderness Tabernacle was headed up by Eliab, the Son of Helon of the Tribe of Zebulun. He commanded 57,400 men of Israel’s army.

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to the COME AS A CHILD BIBLE STUDY which we post on this blog every Thursday.  We are so glad you could join us here.  The study is eventually going to take us all the way through the scriptures; and we are walking slowly with wide-open unassuming eyes; with the heart of a child looking to follow their Father on an adventure. 

Today’s study is taken from Numbers, Chapter 2.  If you missed last week’s lesson you may find it here:https://theinseasonlifestyle.com/the-man-from-issachar-come-as-a-child-lesson-242/ .

ELIAB, SON OF HELON

Let’s think about why God chose Eliab to be the leader of The Tribe of Zebulun as they formed the army around the Tabernacle.

What reasons could God have had for picking him out of 57,400 other men?

Eliab was from the Tribe of Zebulun which was known for being full of good scholars. Do you think it was it his scholarly characteristics that God found attractive?

It has been said that some of the tribe of Zebulun went on to become the enforcers of the law.  

BACK TO THE FUTURE

Perhaps we can not see all that God knew of these leaders that he picked to head Israel’s Army until we look down the road into the future and see their descendants.

The tribe of Zebulun, which was Eliab’s tribe, had some ancestors who eventually settled in the areas of Galilee and Nazareth.  Many scholars claim that they became part of the Sanhedrin.  This was the part of the country where Mary and Joseph were from and where many years later Jesus grew up.

Most of the Gospel scriptures and stories we read about in the New Testament came straight from the lives of people living in these areas. Some of the people there would have been the descendants of Eliab; though how many of them is uncertain due to the the fact that many of these people from the tribe were carried away by the Assyrians into captivity and scattered and lost among the nations.

Whatever amount of the tribe of Zebulun survived the captivity could have still been living in the area when Jesus walked and talked there.

WHO WAS HELON?

Helon, Eliab’s father, was the second son of Zebulun; who was a son of Jacob/Israel.  The name of the tribe, Zebulun, means “sea.”  The name of Eliab’s father, Helon, means “sand.”  The name Eliab means “ship.”  Many from this tribe of Zebulun spent their lives on ships looking for treasures hidden in the sand.  They inhabited the cities that indulged the world in trade and commerce.  

In the prophetic blessings that were given to the tribes it was said of both Zebulun and Issachar:  “They draw from the abundance of the seas, and the hidden treasures of the sand.”  (Deut. 33:18-19)

It seems that the people from Eliab’s descendants living in the area of Galilee did eventually become traders from the commerce of the seas, especially around the Sea of Galilee.