Scenes From the Book of Numbers Blended TogetherBible World
2:1Numbers 2:1
And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying,
The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron very soon after Israel left Egypt to organize the host and thoroughly discipline it, with Moses fitted by special providence to stand at the head of the armies. The Lord Himself directed all the wilderness travels for the good of the people and the glory of God.
Each tribe was to carry a standard bearing the distinguishing sign of its father's house and to pitch under its own standard in its assigned place. When rest was ordered the tabernacle was erected first, then the tribes pitched their tents in order around it at a distance, each in just the position commanded. When the ark moved the different tribes were to march in assigned order, every tribe under its own standard, with the ark of the covenant borne before them.
The Levites were placed in the midst to bear the sacred ark, with only a special family of the Levites designated to bear it. Moses and Aaron marched just in front of the ark, and the sons of Aaron followed near them bearing trumpets. God signified pitching and journeying by the pillar of cloud: when He would have them abide it rested low directly over the tabernacle and remained there until He would have them move again, then the cloud of glory was lifted high above the tabernacle and they journeyed. Movements were directed through Moses to the trumpet-bearers, whose special sounds the people understood and obeyed.
These directions required perfect order in all pitching and journeying and specific roles in the camp, especially in matters concerning the tabernacle and the sacred ark. God is particular about order in sacred service, for He is a God of order who does not approve confusion in His work. He is not the author of confusion but of peace.
The ordered arrangement, together with what was connected to the tabernacle, was meant to impress Israel with God's majesty and holiness and the purity required of those who serve Him. This order and harmony were to show surrounding nations God's character and what He wants His people to be, that the Lord governed Israel. So His work would not appear inferior or belittled.
The perfect organization and special order instituted in the days of Moses for the benefit of Israel remains as a faithful picture of deliverance, organization, murmuring, rebellion, and carcasses strewn in the wilderness. It is hung up as a warning and admonition upon whom the ends of the world are come. God has not changed from a God of order but is the same in the present dispensation as in the former, and as particular now as then. Lessons of order and organization are to be learned from it, lest disobedience be followed and men fall like those with whom God was not well pleased.
The same principles give a rule for present religious work, plans, and conduct: arrangements should rightly represent God and reflect the elevated character of faith, without narrowness or manufactured duties. Each person is to faithfully perform an assigned particular work in order and harmony. These directions provide a model for arranging camp-meeting grounds carefully and attractively.
The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron very soon after Israel left Egypt to organize the host and thoroughly discipline it, with Moses fitted by special providence to stand at the head of the armies. The Lord Himself directed all the wilderness travels for the good of the people and the glory of God.
Each tribe was to carry a standard bearing the distinguishing sign of its father's house and to pitch under its own standard in its assigned place. When rest was ordered the tabernacle was erected first, then the tribes pitched their tents in order around it at a distance, each in just the position commanded. When the ark moved the different tribes were to march in assigned order, every tribe under its own standard, with the ark of the covenant borne before them.
The Levites were placed in the midst to bear the sacred ark, with only a special family of the Levites designated to bear it. Moses and Aaron marched just in front of the ark, and the sons of Aaron followed near them bearing trumpets. God signified pitching and journeying by the pillar of cloud: when He would have them abide it rested low directly over the tabernacle and remained there until He would have them move again, then the cloud of glory was lifted high above the tabernacle and they journeyed. Movements were directed through Moses to the trumpet-bearers, whose special sounds the people understood and obeyed.
These directions required perfect order in all pitching and journeying and specific roles in the camp, especially in matters concerning the tabernacle and the sacred ark. God is particular about order in sacred service, for He is a God of order who does not approve confusion in His work. He is not the author of confusion but of peace.
The ordered arrangement, together with what was connected to the tabernacle, was meant to impress Israel with God's majesty and holiness and the purity required of those who serve Him. This order and harmony were to show surrounding nations God's character and what He wants His people to be, that the Lord governed Israel. So His work would not appear inferior or belittled.
The perfect organization and special order instituted in the days of Moses for the benefit of Israel remains as a faithful picture of deliverance, organization, murmuring, rebellion, and carcasses strewn in the wilderness. It is hung up as a warning and admonition upon whom the ends of the world are come. God has not changed from a God of order but is the same in the present dispensation as in the former, and as particular now as then. Lessons of order and organization are to be learned from it, lest disobedience be followed and men fall like those with whom God was not well pleased.
The same principles give a rule for present religious work, plans, and conduct: arrangements should rightly represent God and reflect the elevated character of faith, without narrowness or manufactured duties. Each person is to faithfully perform an assigned particular work in order and harmony. These directions provide a model for arranging camp-meeting grounds carefully and attractively.