Numbers 1:24

Of the children of Gad, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war;

The verse records the counting of the men of Gad by their generations, families, and fathers' houses, every man from twenty years old and upward who was able to go forth to war. It belongs to the first census of Israel in the wilderness at Sinai, taken at the close of the first year after the tabernacle was built and its services established and before leaving Mount Sinai, amid tokens of God's care. Only men of military age were numbered, with Levi, all females, and all under twenty excluded, for a total of 603,550 men of war, to marshal the host in complete order preparatory to marching into Canaan. This numbering at Sinai gives the book part of its name and provides the baseline at the beginning of the forty years to be compared with the second numbering in the plains of Moab thirty-eight years later, with Gad decreasing from 45,650 to 40,500. Every man numbered expected an inheritance in the land of promise but, except for Caleb and Joshua, none of that first generation entered because of rebellion and all died in the wilderness, fulfilling God's threatened judgment and showing that sin brings ruin, while the census itself taken at God's command was not sinful as David's census taken without the Lord's consent was.

First Numbering at Sinai

This numbering of Gad belongs to the first census of Israel in the wilderness at Sinai, taken at the close of the first year about a year after the Exodus. It came after the building of the tabernacle and the establishing of its services and before leaving Mount Sinai. It was given after the law had been proclaimed from the flaming mount, after the tabernacle had been erected with the ark containing God's law placed in its most holy place, and after the cloud of God's glory had taken possession of the building. It was given amid tokens of God's care, with bread given from heaven every morning, water given from the smitten rock, and the pillar of cloud by day and of fire by night remaining over the camp.

The verse records the men of Gad by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names. It counts every man from twenty years old and upward who was able to go forth to war. It reflects a careful, orderly, tribe-by-tribe numbering in which each tribe was counted separately under careful oversight.

The numbering counted only men of military age and excluded the tribe of Levi, all females, and all under twenty. The whole count was 603,550 men of war. Its purpose was to take down all their names and to marshal the host in complete order preparatory to marching into Canaan.

It belongs to the first of the two numberings that give the book its name, the numbering at Sinai, while the second numbering was made in the plains of Moab thirty-eight years later. The title Numbers is fitting because the book contains these numberings, answering to the Greek Arithmoi, from which comes the word arithmetic.

Second Census and Lessons

The numbering in Numbers 1 stands at the beginning of the forty years of wandering as the baseline to be set against the second numbering in Numbers 26 at the end of the forty years. The first numbering came forty years before the second, and the two are placed together so the difference in the tribes can be seen. When the later census is compared with the earlier, it shows how each tribe gained or lost during the wilderness journey. Some tribes had increased greatly by the end of the wandering while others had declined.

For Gad the comparison is a decrease, from 45,650 men fit for war in the first census to 40,500 in the later numbering over the intervening years. Every man thus numbered looked for an inheritance in the land of promise, and after such tokens of divine care might have had it, with the host marshaled in complete order preparatory to marching into Canaan in speedy entrance into the land. Those counted could not enter because of rebellion, for all of that first generation died in the wilderness. Except for Caleb and Joshua, none of those counted the first time remained alive.

Their deaths fulfilled the divine judgment pronounced after their rebellion. In this is seen that sin brings ruin and that God carries out His threatened judgments. The fact that this census was taken by Moses at God's command shows that taking a census is not in itself sinful. David's census was wrong because he took it without the Lord's consent.

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