We have previously studied the tribes around the tabernacle that make up the army of Israel on the East, North and South. Today we will begin to look at the tribes and the leaders and captains of the divisions of the West.

Jacob/Israel dearly loved his wife named Rachel. Rachel had two sons; Joseph and Benjamin. Israel later adopted Joseph’s sons as his own. Their names were Ephriam and Manasseh.

The tribes of the West and their leaders are representative of the tribes that came from Rachel’s sons.

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to our on-going; every Thursday bible study called COME AS A CHILD. We are so glad you have decided to join in with our weekly study.

Our purpose here is to walk all the way through the bible together as if we had never read or seen a passage; as if we were children hearing about the wonders of their father’s life for the very first time.

We aren’t in a hurry. It has taken us over four years to cover Genesis, Exodus and Leviticus. Now we are in the Book of Numbers. Our study today is taken from Numbers; Chapter 2.

If you missed last week’s lesson; you may review it here:  https://theinseasonlifestyle.com/god-has-added-lesson-246-come-as-a-child-bible-study/

ELISHAMA – THE FIRST OF THE LEADERS OF THE WEST

God commanded Moses to chose Elishama  to be over the tribe of Ephriam. He was the son of Ammihud.

Ammihud translates from Hebrew to English as : My Kinsman is glorious. It makes me think that Elishama’s father’s name was a prophetic announcement of The Messiah to Come. I would love to know more of the story of how this man’s name came about long before he became the father of Elishama.

Elishama’s name translated from Hebrew to English seems to end the statement well.  Together they say “My Kinsman is glorious and My God Hears.  Another name that translates to the fact that God has provided a Son; The Messiah.  Both names seemed to be prophetic in nature.

AN IMPORTANT FATHER

Elishama’s father was important in establishing the order that God was bringing to Israel’s army. We will learn of more about all of his sons later in our study.

AN IMPORTANT GRANDSON

Elishama’s grandson was also very important in establishing Israel as a nation both BEFORE and AFTER they reached the Promised Land. This grandson’s name was Joshua. It will be exciting to get to the part of this study in the future when we will learn more of the adventures God had in store for Elishama’s grandson named Joshua.  He played a crucial part in leading the people of Israel to The Promised Land.  His leadership continued well after the land was established and settled.

SMALL BUT SIGNIFICANT

At the time of this census of the army, Ephriam under Elishama’s command consisted of 40,500 men. This was one of the smaller tribes of Israel.

Of the three tribes of the Western Division (108,100 men from three different tribes) of the army; Ephraim was first, and closest to the tabernacle itself on the west side.

Following the tribe of Ephraim were the tribes of Manasseh and Benjamin. The tribes ordered themselves after the standard (flag or banner) of Ephraim, which was said to be a calf.

THE SYMBOLISM IN THE BANNERS OF THE DIVISIONS OF ISRAEL

Each of the divisions (3 tribes in each division surrounding all four sides of the tabernacle) of Israel camped around four banners or flags, which were said to be a lion, a man, a calf (Ephriam), and an eagle.

The lion represented the division headed up by Judah.

A man represented the division headed up by Reuben.

An eagle represented the division headed up by Dan.

The calf that represented Ephriam is often referred to in the scriptures not as a “calf” but as an “ox” depending on the passage usage and the times of history in which the passages were written.

If you have studied your bible at all you will recognize all four of these well known symbols of Lion, Ox, Man and Eagle. They are mentioned often in relation to prophecy. We find the same four creatures surrounding the throne of God in Revelation.

These symbolic banners are first mentioned here; in the formation of the tribes of Israel that we read about in The Book of Numbers.

ORDER AND ORGANIZATION MATTERS

In all of this formation and the choosing of the leaders that will lead each formation, have you grasped that God is a God of order and organization?

I think we often forget this.

It is the enemy of God who thrives on chaos; which is just the opposite of God’s desire for us.

The Master of the Universe always has a good plan and it is orderly and organized and well thought out.

It occurs to me that this is why we always feel so much better whenever we make the time to get our own personal lives sorted out and put into the proper order.

Sometimes just the physical act of clearing the clutter and arranging things properly can turn into an almost spiritual exercise for many of us. This naturally happens because we are born to imitate God. His image is within us if we belong to Him and our world just feels better to us when it is orderly and organized.

A GOOD FATHER MAKES HIS CHILDREN FEEL SECURE

People living in large masses out in the dessert can get pretty grumpy and their human nature will most likely be operating on overtime.

God must have realized this when He was giving Moses these organization orders.

Arranging the troops on the outskirts of the camps and having the tabernacle as the center must have made the population of Israel feel more safe and more secure.

Giving each division and each tribe a leader must have reinforced the feeling of security among the people.

ONLY GOD’S ORDER WORKS

The thing we Christians often miss about the theory of order is that for order to work the way it should; it has to be God’s order; not our own.

We can’t make the plan; God must make the plan.

Sometimes in our humanness we fail to see the perfect order that works the best for everyone.

For instance; God chose to put the smaller tribes in some of the most vulnerable places and the larger tribes were not given the first priority in the order of things. This seems to go against our human nature.  We always think “bigger is better” and “strength comes in numbers.”  God doesn’t think that way.

WE MUST PRAY FOR A PROPER REVELATION

Sometimes God’s way looks different from our ways; and the key to solving that is to pray for God to reveal His perfect order for our lives and our days.

That was exactly what Moses was doing as he went about forming the army of Israelites that would take the people all the way to The Promised Land.

He was well aware of the fact that the only way they would make it through would be by knowing God’s perfect will.

The reference point for all of the order and organization was always the place where God dwelled among them – the wilderness tabernacle.

God was always at the center of His people then; and He should remain in that place today for any nation seeking success and abundant life.