Bamidbar (In the wilderness)

Numbers 1:1-4:20
Hosea 2:1–22

“More Than Just a Number”

POSTED 30 MAY, 2008

by Mark Huey
mhuey@outreachisrael.net

“Then the Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the tent of meeting, on the first of the second month, in the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt, saying, ‘Take a census of all the congregation of the sons of Israel, by their families, by their fathers' households, according to the number of names, every male, head by head from twenty years old and upward, whoever is able to go out to war in Israel, you and Aaron shall number them by their armies’” (Numbers 1:1-3).

Bamidbar begins the Book of Numbers, and as is typical, takes its Hebrew name from one of the first words in the parashah that describe where Israel is going to spend the next thirty-eight years. It is “in the wilderness” (Heb. b’midbar, arbdmb) journey that Israel learns to depend upon the Lord prior to its eventual invasion of the Promised Land. Great trials are on the horizon as the nurturing process begins to mold Israel into a set-apart people uniquely chosen to be God’s light to the nations. As you reflect on this opening portion of the Book of Numbers, you can readily appreciate why it is commonly called “Numbers” as there are many facts and figures being discussed as Moses is requested to take a census of the male population eligible for military service.[1] As I spent time considering various aspects of the mustering process, what came to my mind was the reality that the people of Israel are more than just “numbers.” In fact, the Holy One is intimately concerned about the ultimate destiny of each one of His children and how they fit into His plan for the ages.

Here, for the first time in the study of the Torah—even though it was mentioned in Exodus 38:26—one might begin to appreciate the magnitude of the migration from Egypt to the Promised Land. We have to remember that these events took place over 3,300 years ago in the general area today known as the Sinai Peninsula. Now that we begin to focus in on the actual number of people involved in the Exodus, it is difficult to imagine how, given the primitive conditions, Israel could make its trek. As the accounting begins and you contemplate the numbers, you realize that we are easily dealing with several hundred thousand people. Moving them through a wilderness environment for forty years was indeed a miraculous achievement. Here in this portion, we can begin to appreciate the level of organization and cooperation that made this relocation possible.

Organizational Structure

It is difficult for us to fathom these hundreds of thousands of people with belongings and livestock bivouacked in the desert. The logistical needs including food, water, and basic sanitation for that amount of people is overwhelming. Thankfully, God was responsible for providing the basic sustenance, water, and His commandments were being obeyed to deal with the sanitation problems. It is obvious that some degree of organization had already been implemented. Apparently, the Israelites were still very much structured by their tribal, clan, and family units. We must remember that when the Israelites were leaving Egypt, they had the accommodating will to depart in the military formation known as “martialed array.” A group of people does not move in this manner without substantial cooperation among the different families, clans, and tribes:

“Hence God led the people around by the way of the wilderness to the Red Sea; and the sons of Israel went up in martial array from the land of Egypt” (Exodus 13:18).

If we remember back to some of the early challenges of Moses’ burden of leadership, we should recall that his father-in-law, Jethro, was very instrumental in helping establish some organizational structure to the mass of Israelites:

“Furthermore, you shall select out of all the people able men who fear God, men of truth, those who hate dishonest gain; and you shall place these over them as leaders of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties and of tens…So Moses listened to his father-in-law and did all that he had said. Moses chose able men out of all Israel and made them heads over the people, leaders of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties and of tens” (Exodus 18:21, 24-25).

As this advice was instituted, the people of Israel began to have some organizational structure that brought additional order into the camp. It seems, from a practical standpoint, that by the time the census takes place, thirteen months into the Exodus, the Israelites have already positioned themselves around the Tent of Meeting according to their tribes. At this point, Moses and Aaron formalize the specific directives from God delivered in this portion. Now, even more order is established between the different tribal units:

“Now the Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, ‘The sons of Israel shall camp, each by his own standard, with the banners of their fathers' households; they shall camp around the tent of meeting at a distance’” (Numbers 2:1-2).

After processing some of the logistical thoughts, and wondering how this mass of humanity could function in the wilderness, I concluded that it was simply the miraculous intervention of God Himself that sustained Israel.

Everybody Counts!

As I reread the opening statements of this portion, one expression really caught my attention. Moses and Aaron, in conducting the census, were to count each male “head-to-head.” What did God mean by having the men counted “head-to-head?” I looked up the Hebrew word gulgolet (tlGlG) and did a word study. It seemed to me that the Lord was really interested in each individual person as he was being numbered for service. When you speak to a person face-to-face—or head-to-head as it were—you should have a very sincere and intimate conversation with he or she. You are acknowledging the most recognizable part of the person with your most recognizable part. Remember how much Moses wanted to see the face of the Most High and was denied:

“The Lord said to Moses, ‘I will also do this thing of which you have spoken; for you have found favor in My sight and I have known you by name.’ Then Moses said, ‘I pray You, show me Your glory!’ And He said, ‘I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of the Lord before you; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show compassion on whom I will show compassion.’ But He said, ‘You cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live!’ Then the Lord said, ‘Behold, there is a place by Me, and you shall stand there on the rock; and it will come about, while My glory is passing by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock and cover you with My hand until I have passed by. Then I will take My hand away and you shall see My back, but My face shall not be seen’” (Exodus 33:17-23).

Here, the Holy One acknowledges that He knows Moses by his name, but He is not able to let Moses see His face—because according to this testimony, Moses would die. Apparently, fallen man cannot look upon the face of pure holiness and live.

But as we contemplate this gulgolet or head-to-head experience, we note that each of the Israelites gets to look into the eyes of Moses and Aaron. Was the Lord expressing a desire to recognize each person in the camp? Certainly, the opportunity to present yourself to Moses and Aaron at or near the Tent of Meeting was probably a great privilege. By this time in the wilderness journey, both Moses and Aaron had certainly distinguished themselves as anointed vessels of the Most High. Now as representatives of God, they are instructed to count each male who was twenty years old and over, who was eligible for military service.

I imagine how one would feel when it was his turn to be personally counted and recognized by Moses and Aaron. Here were the two chosen representatives of God Himself looking deeply into your eyes, getting your name, and recording it for the purpose of the census. What came to my mind was that this was like being commissioned for service unto the Lord. In many respects, this was like a military commission or a graduation from school, but it could easily have been elevated to an ordination in the minds of the men who received the recognition and listing for their responsibilities concerning the journey and battles ahead.

Further examination into the Hebrew word gulgolet reveals that it simply means “skull,” in reference “for each person” or “enrolment by head count” (HALOT).[2] In different Bible translations I looked at it is rendered poll, polls, head by head, one by one, skull, apiece, man, or census, and so my curiosity was stirred. Not being a Hebrew scholar I thought that this might be the root word for Golgotha, which means the “place of the skull.” I discovered that “This word means the same as the Aramaic word Gulgotha—the name of the place where Jesus was crucified” (AMG).[3] Perhaps there is more to this word than appears on the surface.

Gulgolet appears twelve times in the Tanakh: five times it appears in this portion[4] and two other times in Exodus,[5] when the manna was being gathered for each family and when the statute for the poll or head tax was being declared:

“This is what the Lord has commanded, ‘Gather of it every man as much as he should eat; you shall take an omer apiece according to the number of persons each of you has in his tent’” (Exodus 16:16).

“[A] beka a head (that is, half a shekel according to the shekel of the sanctuary), for each one who passed over to those who were numbered, from twenty years old and upward, for 603,550 men” (Exodus 38:26).

Then in this portion repeatedly, the Lord calls upon Moses to count (Numbers 1:18, 20, 22; 3:47) the men “head-to-head”:

“[A]nd they assembled all the congregation together on the first of the second month. Then they registered by ancestry in their families, by their fathers' households, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, head by head…Now the sons of Reuben, Israel's firstborn, their genealogical registration by their families, by their fathers' households, according to the number of names, head by head, every male from twenty years old and upward, whoever was able to go out to war…Of the sons of Simeon, their genealogical registration by their families, by their fathers' households, their numbered men, according to the number of names, head by head, every male from twenty years old and upward, whoever was able to go out to war” (Numbers 1:18, 20, 22).

You can assume that each of the remaining tribes was also recognized and numbered by their “skulls.” In other words, they have a face-to-face encounter with the men and let them know that they have value or worth. There is something about having the leader recognize your existence. In a representative way, the Holy One is letting Moses and Aaron perform a vital function encouraging the men of Israel. What this said to me is that the Lord is very interested in the individual and that He looks upon each person as a unique creation. In other words, everybody counts.

Continuing in this Torah portion, you read about the different people mentioned and realize that the men listed are not just numbers, but instead names with tribal identifications. Each of these unique men descended from named fathers and each has been granted a position among his peers. If you read and study the names, and recognize how the Father often allows people to live out the meaning of their names, you begin to realize that each individual has worth and value in His eyes. Here, the Lord appreciated their roles in the community of faith, so that He actually recorded their names in the Torah.

It is rather amazing to think that the Lord would have taken the time to record all of the names of the Israelites in a book by their fathers’ households. Was this like a selective service registration for the military draft? Can you imagine how this would have made the individual Israelites feel about their place in society? Remember that one of the tasks the Lord was working on was to convert these Egyptian slaves from a slave mentality to being citizens of a nation of priests.

As I contemplated these things, I had a very sobering thought. Of all the names I was looking at among the Israelites, only two of this generation actually made it into the Promised Land. We will learn in later Torah portions that only Joshua and Caleb, because of their faith, are spared dying in the wilderness. All the rest perish and do not make it across the Jordan. This became another revelation for me to ponder.

Future Numbers

While contemplating this incredible transmigration and the discipline to bring it to fruition, I was led to take a look at the Haftarah portion, which is Hosea 2:1-22. It is always instructional to consider the Haftarah portion and how it relates to the Torah portion. Here, you can get a glimpse into the minds of the Jewish Sages and what they dwell on when they consider the annual cycle through the Torah portions. The Haftarah reading for Bamidbar was extremely enlightening.

Since the theme of Bamidbar happens to be the numbering of Israel, the Jewish Sages were led to consider the words of the Prophet Hosea, who was a prophet to the Northern Kingdom of Israel. He gave some incredible warnings to these people that actually manifested themselves in his marriage and the children he had. Consider how he prophesies of the great numbers that Israel will become:

“Yet the number of the sons of Israel will be like the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured or numbered; and in the place Where it is said to them, ‘You are not My people,’ It will be said to them, ‘You are the sons of the living God.’ And the sons of Judah and the sons of Israel will be gathered together, and they will appoint for themselves one leader, and they will go up from the land, for great will be the day of Jezreel” (Hosea 1:10-11).

As Hosea looks into the future, he declares that the numbers of Israel will be like the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered by man. In other words, as he contemplates the future for Israel, he sees the Israelites being so great that it is impossible consider numbering them. Since God has sown Israel among the nations of the Earth, it is virtually impossible to determine who they really are and where all of them are.

Of course, the Lord knows who His people are, both physically and spiritually. He and He alone can follow the bloodlines of Israel through the generations. He and He alone knows if a person is truly born again by the Spirit. And of course, according to Hosea’s prophecy, He is going to have to gather the people of Israel at His appointed time.

Here, it is interesting to note Hosea’s prophecies to both those of Judah and those of Israel who had already taken divergent paths—are people that still remained in the Father’s heart. Hosea sees that once those from Judah and Israel are gathered at the End of the Age, “they will appoint for themselves one head and ascend from the land” (ATS). Is this a solid argument for declaring that restored Israel from both Houses will be “raptured” before the great and terrible day of the Lord?

The Final Count

What is interesting to note is that two thousand years ago, the Apostle Paul understood Hosea’s prophecies about Judah and Israel needing to come together before the day of Jezreel. As one of the Benjamites of Judah (Acts 21:39), he was chosen to be one of the ambassadors who would spread the good news to humankind. As he was writing to the Believers in Rome, he penned words that quoted parts of Hosea’s prophecy:

“What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction? And He did so to make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory, even us, whom He also called, not from among Jews only, but also from among Gentiles. As He says also in Hosea, ‘I will call those who were not My people, “My people,” and her who was not beloved, “Beloved.” And it shall be that in the place where it was said to them, “You are not my people,” there they shall be called sons of the living God.’ Isaiah cries out concerning Israel, ‘Though the number of the sons of Israel be like the sand of the sea, it is the remnant that will be saved; for the Lord will execute His word on the earth, thoroughly and quickly.’ And just as Isaiah foretold, ‘Unless the Lord of Sabaoth had left to us a posterity, we would have become like Sodom, and would have resembled Gomorrah.’ What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, attained righteousness, even the righteousness which is by faith; but Israel, pursuing a law of righteousness, did not arrive at that law. Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as though it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone, just as it is written, ‘Behold, I lay in Zion a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense, and he who believes in Him will not be disappointed’” (Romans 9:22-33).

I was very taken by how Paul had used many of the quotes from Bamidbar’s corresponding Haftarah portion, specifically from Hosea. He particularly understood that his Roman readers were moving from the realm of not being a people to being sons of the Living God. As I read through the passage, I was drawn to the Isaiah quote that deals with the numbers of Israel that would be as the sand of the sea (Isaiah 10:22-23), because that is how Hosea also referred to the numbers of Israelites who will be scattered to the nations. Then I read the sobering comments that contrasted the number of Israelites compared to the remnant that will return:

“A remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the mighty God. For though your people, O Israel, may be like the sand of the sea, only a remnant within them will return; a destruction is determined, overflowing with righteousness. For a complete destruction, one that is decreed, the Lord God of hosts will execute in the midst of the whole land” (Isaiah 10:21-23).

As I read these words, I thought back to the Torah portion and how diligently Moses and Aaron had taken the time to number the men who were eligible for military duty. Their heads had been counted and the recognition had been made, and yet, for lack of faith, the great majority of these men, save only two, did not make it to the Promised Land. Talk about a remnant of a remnant!

Isaiah prophesies that even though Israel may be numbered like the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will return. He was not referring to the past, but to the future restoration of all Israel. At the end of Paul’s statement that refers to Isaiah 28, the problem that Israel has is with the Rock of offense, the Messiah Yeshua:

“Therefore thus says the Lord God, ‘Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a tested stone, a costly cornerstone for the foundation, firmly placed. He who believes in it will not be disturbed. I will make justice the measuring line and righteousness the level; then hail will sweep away the refuge of lies and the waters will overflow the secret place. Your covenant with death will be canceled, and your pact with Sheol will not stand; when the overwhelming scourge passes through, then you become its trampling place’” (Isaiah 28:16-18).

As you read Isaiah 28 a little further, you realize that the benefits for properly discerning the Stone or the Costly Cornerstone, Yeshua, is avoiding the eternal covenant with death. In other words, you understand that what the Psalmist writes about, the Stone which the builders refused, has become Chief Cornerstone:

“I shall give thanks to You, for You have answered me, and You have become my salvation. The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief corner stone. This is the Lord's doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day which the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it” (Psalm 118:21-24).

The Rock of Our Salvation

Remember that King David, and other Psalmists and Prophets, have often referred to the Messiah as the “Rock”:

“The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold” (Psalm 18:2).

“And they remembered that God was their rock, and the Most High God their Redeemer” (Psalm 78:35).

These passages are all about the Messiah of Israel. He is the Head. He is the Chief Cornerstone. The stone or rock that the builders refused has become the “head stone” of the corner. As I read these passages, I thought about the “head” once again and my earlier study of the word gulgolet. There is indeed a rock of offense and it is known as the place of the skull. In Jerusalem, there is a prominent protruding rock formation where the Messiah was crucified:

“They took Yeshua, therefore, and He went out, bearing His own cross, to the place called the Place of a Skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha. There they crucified Him, and with Him two other men, one on either side, and Yeshua in between” (John 19:17-18).

This event and its atoning work is what every person must believe in for salvation. We all are counted and numbered among the people of the world, but it is wonderful if you are counted among the Israelites by joining to Israel’s God. But the key to entering into eternal life requires an action by us: we must believe in the finished work of the Messiah. This is something that the author of Hebrews makes perfectly clear:

“For we who have believed enter that rest, just as He has said, ‘As I swore in My wrath, they shall not enter my rest,’ although His works were finished from the foundation of the world” (Hebrews 4:3).

Remember, the men who were recognized, numbered, and commissioned lacked the faith in God to believe Him for salvation and perished in the wilderness. Only a remnant of two believed and entered the Promised Land. Today, many believe that claiming your “Israelite identity” is enough to enter into eternal life. Do not be deceived! According to Isaiah’s prophecies, only a remnant of Israel avoids the destruction that is coming:

“A remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the mighty God. For though your people, O Israel, may be like the sand of the sea, only a remnant within them will return; a destruction is determined, overflowing with righteousness” (Isaiah 10:21-22).

Believe on the atoning work accomplished by the Rock on the rock at Golgotha! Make sure that you are not just numbered among the Israelites, but are numbered with the returning remnant who knows Him as their Lord and Savior!

Mark Huey (B.A., Vanderbilt University in History and Graduate Studies at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University) is the Director of Outreach Israel Ministries (www.outreachisrael.net). He is the author of several books, including: TorahScope, Volumes I & II, and Counting the Omer: A Daily Devotional Toward Shavuot. He is also co-author of Hebraic Roots: An Introductory Study.

NOTES