Numbers 1-2 Camping Out
Matthew 24 Olivette (Do Not Be Deceived in End Times)
This is from Saturday, 19 March, but I was at the El Paso County Republican Caucus. Yet, it is one of my favorite lessons.
In Numbers 2, the 12 tribes were told to group into four camps. Each tribe had a standard and symbol … a flag, if you will. Judah, Issachar, and Zebulon were to rally around the standard of Judah. They collectively represented 186,400. The group of Reuben, Simeon, and Gad collectively represented about 151,000 and gathered around the symbol of Reuben. Ephraim, Manasseh, and Benjamin collectively represented 108,100 and gathered around the symbol of Ephraim. Dan, Asher, and Naphtali, 157,600, gathered around the flag or symbol of Dan. Judah’s standard was the Lion of the Tribe of Judah. Reuben’s was a man. Ephraim’s was the ox. Dan, the eagle.
Pause a moment. Lion, Man, Ox, and Eagle. These four symbols are the four faces of the cherubim around the throne of God in Isaiah 6, Ezekiel 1 and 10, and Revelation 4.
Each of the camps, of three tribes each, was to encamp on one of the four cardinal compass directions (N, S, E, or W) with respect to the camp of the Levites enclosing the tabernacle.
We can only guess at how much space was required by the Levites, whether it was 100 feet on a side, 100 yards, or whatever. But whatever it was, we’ll assume that length as a basic unit.
To fully appreciate all the implications, you must try to think like a rabbi by maintaining an extremely high respect for the precise details of the instructions. They often resorted to heroic measures in their attempt to comply with the letter of the law.
The Camp of Judah had to camp east of the Levites. This poses a technical problem. Notice that if the breadth of their camp was larger than that of the Levites, the excess would be southeast or northeast, not east. Therefore, if they were to comply strictly to their instructions, their camp could only be as wide as that of the Levites, and they then would have to extend eastward to obtain whatever space they required.
The camps of Reuben, Ephraim, and Dan had the same constraint on the south, west, and north, respectively. The length of each leg would thus be proportional to the total population in each camp. We can infer from the Biblical account and imagine what the camp of Israel looked like from above: the tabernacle and the Levites in the center, surrounded by the four faces of the tribal standards, and each of the four camps of Judah, Ephraim, Reuben, and Dan, stretching out in the four cardinal directions. We can also tally the size of each tribe to total the relative length of each camp as they stretched out in each of the four directions.
For forty years, the children of Israel camped out in the symbol of the cross around a ‘Type’ of the throne of God.
The Book of Numbers reveals that these were real people with practical problems; and, devotionally, we see that ‘crossing over Jordon' is not 'going to Heaven,' because life is warfare.
All of us are in our own ''wilderness'' and every day is our ''Kadesh-Barnea.' Will we trust God and ''conquer the land?” Will we resolutely try to surmount the obstacles that lie in our way or will we shrink from the apparent difficulties and remain slaves to the sin in our lives?
Pay attention. The symbol for the book of Matthew is the Lion. Jesus’ lineage describes him as a son of Abraham. The symbol for Mark is the Ox. The Ox is the symbol for servitude. In the book of Mark, Jesus has no lineage because he came to serve. The lineage of a servant is seldom considered important. The symbol for Luke is a Man. Jesus’ lineage in Luke details Jesus as the son of Adam. The symbol for the book of John is the Eagle. God is described as being like an Eagle sweeping in its babies and covering them with his wings. In John, Jesus is described as the Son of God.
Each of the Gospels has a symbol. They are the same symbols as the flags Israel camped out and lined up with. Those faces are on the creatures before the throne of God in Revelation and Ezekiel’s wheels within wheels. From their exit from Egypt to the second coming, this is a 2,000 + year synchronization and imitation that revolves around the throne of God.
Walk with Jesus. Do not let your faith remain a churchy pedestrian exercise in plainness along the wandering sidewalk wilderness of life.
Jay