Numbers 26:2, commentary and pictures

Numbers 26:2 commands the second counting of Israel's army, numbering every male from twenty years old and upward by his father's house, answering to the first counting at the opening of the book. It was taken nearly forty years after the numbering after leaving Egypt, in the plains of Moab just before entering Canaan at the close of the forty years, and the two numberings give the book its name. By this second numbering it was made manifest that God had fulfilled His oath that every man counted the first time had died in the wilderness for rebellion, except Caleb and Joshua, so that not one rebel remained alive. Compared tribe by tribe with the first census, the whole host showed little change at 601,730 against 603,550, yet Simeon had shrunk by almost two-thirds and Manasseh had grown by almost two-thirds, fulfilling Jacob's word that Simeon should be divided and scattered in Israel. It instructs those upon whom the ends of the world are come that cherished sin will cause them to come short of the heavenly Canaan as Israel came short of the earthly, for what God prizes is not number but character made possible to all through Jesus Christ.

Second Census in Context

The command orders the second numbering of the host of Israel for war, answering to the first numbering at the opening of the book. The counting is of males only, from twenty years old and upward, throughout their fathers' house, all that are able to go to war in Israel. It directs that Israel be enrolled by ancestral families, including only men of war age who are able to serve.

The numbering was taken nearly forty years after the numbering soon after leaving Egypt, and just before entering Canaan. It was taken in the plains of Moab thirty-eight years after the census at Sinai, at the close of the forty years. The two numberings give the book its name and cover the thirty-eight years between them.

The census keeps the same tribal order as the earlier counting and gives definite numbers of men of war age. It is to be compared with the first census in Numbers 1, made forty years earlier, to see which tribes gained or lost people during the wilderness journey. By referring back and comparing the two countings the differences among the tribes are to be noted, with some increasing greatly and others declining. The whole nation showed little change, totaling 601,730 compared with 603,550 at the first numbering, but with considerable change among the tribes. Simeon shrank almost two-thirds from 59,300 to 22,200, while Manasseh grew almost two-thirds from 32,200 to 52,700.

Judgment Prophecy and Application

The second numbering made manifest that God had carried out His threatened judgment with a solemn oath after open rebellion rooted in sin in their midst, for apart from Caleb and Joshua every man counted the first time had fallen and died in the wilderness, excluded from the land of promise, so that not one rebel remained alive. That generation failed because sin was in them and broke out in open, wanton rebellion, and God therefore doomed them to die in the wilderness. Simeon's remarkable decrease, from 59,300 to 22,200, fulfills Jacob's dying blessing that Simeon and Levi should be divided in Jacob and scattered in Israel, fulfilled also by withholding tribal territory from Levi and scattering the Levites for priestly duties. Taking a census was not sinful in itself, for Moses counted the people twice at the Lord's command and no trouble followed, whereas David's census was sinful because he ordered it without the Lord's consent, out of pride and confidence in the number of his military men rather than in God.

As Israel was counted from twenty years old and upward when entering Canaan, a type of the heavenly Canaan, the numbering illustrates the Bible's practice of numbering men of fighting age and supports the possibility that the 144,000 are a special counted company that does not include women and children, while women and children are nevertheless saved. Whether children are counted in the 144,000 who will be translated remains unknown and unprofitable to speculate about. What God prizes is not number, although the elect number will be gathered, but character, which He has made possible to all through Jesus Christ. The second numbering instructs those upon whom the ends of the world are come, whose hopes of entering the kingdom of God and whose tokens of favor, presence, and willingness to save are no greater than Israel's were, that sin carried in the heart will inevitably bring ruin and cause them to come short of the promised inheritance as Israel did.