And so we begin the book of Numbers. You could call it the book of math and murmuring, or as Eugene Peterson describes it in his introduction to the book, its a book of, “counting and quarreling.” Numbers describes the wilderness wanderings of the people of God from Sinai to Canaan, the land of promise. There are a lot of failures in this book — which means it describes people as they are (rebellious and in need of redemption) and not in some romanticized, make-believe version. Likewise, there are a lot of lists in the book! But rather than get bogged down in the details (especially in Chaps 1 and 2), see the big picture: God is numbering and arranging the tribes because he is a God of relationship. He knows every one of his people by name (see here in the census a type of the book of life/scroll of destiny in which is written the name of every person who belongs to God). Jesus would go further to say that not only are we known by God, but we are known by him so intimately that the very hairs of are heads are numbered. Likewise, God is a God of order. God is not haphazard and he knows that chaos is not beneficial to us as people (though our sinful natures often tend in that direction). He knows that individuals and especially communities need structure to thrive. He knows math is a good thing (Math friends, stand tall!). He knows that order and administration bring peace (Listmakers rejoice!).
Remember, as the tribes are being lined up in their camps, they are being arranged around him. He is the center of it all. He is the source. He is the one that was to be the heart of this community. He dwelt in the center of the camp in the tabernacle and he arranged the people by tribes around him. The Levites camped directly around the court and Moses and Aaron and the priests guarded the entrance whereby God was approached. Each of the remaining tribes were arranged from there. If you pay attention to the details (math friends and list-makers perk up!), you’ll notice the shape of the camp looked remarkably similar to the cross. Take heart; everything is type and a picture for us to learn from!
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