Then the tribe of Gad: and the captain of the sons of Gad shall be Eliasaph the son of Reuel.
The verse names the tribe of Gad and identifies its captain as Eliasaph the son of Reuel. It belongs to the ordered arrangement of the camp and the march, in which each tribe had its own standard and a designated place. The tribes camped and journeyed under their own standards in the positions commanded around the tabernacle, each assigned its place and leadership rather than acting indiscriminately.
It is one detail of the perfect organization and special, disciplined order instituted for the children of Israel after their deliverance. That order, with each tribe assigned its place and standard, was made for their good and for God's glory. In that arrangement each person had an appointed task to perform faithfully, so that the camp would display order and harmony.
The arrangement was meant to impress the people with God's majesty and holiness and with the purity required of those who serve Him. It was also meant to show the surrounding nations something of God's character and what He desired His people to be. It declared that the Lord governed Israel, so that His work would not appear inferior or be belittled.
Israel's travels, together with their sins, murmurings, rebellions, punishments, and carcasses strewn in the wilderness through unwillingness to submit to God's wise arrangements, are hung up as a faithful warning and example. These things happened for examples and were written for admonition upon whom the ends of the world are come, lest that disobedience be followed and a like fall come. God has not changed from a God of order but is the same in the present dispensation as in the former, not the author of confusion but of peace, as particular now as then. Therefore the orderly arrangement of the tents and its principles are to be studied for practical guidance, that lessons of order and organization learned from the perfect order instituted in the days of Moses may benefit His people and guide His work today.
The verse names the tribe of Gad and identifies its captain as Eliasaph the son of Reuel. It belongs to the ordered arrangement of the camp and the march, in which each tribe had its own standard and a designated place. The tribes camped and journeyed under their own standards in the positions commanded around the tabernacle, each assigned its place and leadership rather than acting indiscriminately.
It is one detail of the perfect organization and special, disciplined order instituted for the children of Israel after their deliverance. That order, with each tribe assigned its place and standard, was made for their good and for God's glory. In that arrangement each person had an appointed task to perform faithfully, so that the camp would display order and harmony.
The arrangement was meant to impress the people with God's majesty and holiness and with the purity required of those who serve Him. It was also meant to show the surrounding nations something of God's character and what He desired His people to be. It declared that the Lord governed Israel, so that His work would not appear inferior or be belittled.
Israel's travels, together with their sins, murmurings, rebellions, punishments, and carcasses strewn in the wilderness through unwillingness to submit to God's wise arrangements, are hung up as a faithful warning and example. These things happened for examples and were written for admonition upon whom the ends of the world are come, lest that disobedience be followed and a like fall come. God has not changed from a God of order but is the same in the present dispensation as in the former, not the author of confusion but of peace, as particular now as then. Therefore the orderly arrangement of the tents and its principles are to be studied for practical guidance, that lessons of order and organization learned from the perfect order instituted in the days of Moses may benefit His people and guide His work today.