The Numbering of the Eleven Tribes
26: 51
One day Isra’el will be as numerous as the stars in the sky
and as countless as the grains of sand of the seashore.
Despite all people who had died during the years of wilderness experience, the total number of fighting Israelite men over the age of twenty (and not including the Levites) in the Second Census (to see link click Ec – The Second Census: The New Generation of Hope) numbered 601,730, nearly the same as the 603,550 people in the First Census (see Ai – The First Census: The Old Generation of Rebellion). This remarkable fact is to be regarded as the historic blessing of ADONAI, in fulfillment of His many promises to give numerical strength to the people descended from Abraham through Jacob (Gen 12:2). The loss of 1,820 people from the First Census is a drop of only three percent. A negligible sum.
This grand total is in accord with the general pattern of the numbers of the book. The numbers show a wonderful consistency, despite the shifting totals among the various tribes. It is utterly remarkable that the total number has remained nearly unchanged even though the people have lived under the most trying conditions for a period of thirty-eight years. There had been the deaths of all those who were over the age of twenty after the time of the rebellion at Kadesh-barnea (see Bz – Faith and Obedience), and there had been numerous judgments of Ha’Shem that came on the people because of their rebelliousness. Then, there was the harsh reality of living out life in the Desert of Sinai. Given all these factors, the birth rate was not just about equal . . . but prolific. The number points to a time when the Israelites, the apple of His eye (Deuteronomy 32:10), will be as numerous as the stars of the sky and as countless as the grains of sand of the seashore (Genesis 22:17).613
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