Have you ever given thought to the “numbers” of Israel? Is it possible that we might have been viewing their numbers from a perspective that might be misunderstood? After reviewing some research, I’m starting to think so.
It seems that whenever Yahweh wants to make a point among the nations, He works with small groups to bring about change. Think about the small forces of Abraham as he chased after 5 kings, and Gideon’s army who took on an entire nation. Samson a man of one-battled thousands. And of course, Yeshua chose 12 to spread the gospel around the world. Whenever I read these stories, I become convinced that when we are weaker—He in turn is Greater.
So what does this have to do with the book of Numbers?
Try to imagine the large numbers of people that are listed in this book and wrap your mind around how this might have looked from a practical point of view. If we read this text at face value, the entire number of Israel would be close to 3 million a procession close to 1,864 miles if going through the “kings road” (Num 20:17). For perspective, the distance from Seattle to LA is only 1200 miles! The largest sports stadium in the US holds 107,000 people. 3 million people would be close to 30 of these stadiums. The populations of Seattle, Portland, and San Francisco don’t even reach 3 million. So are we reading “Numbers” right? And what difference does it make anyway?
The word for thousand, in Hebrew, is eleph. That word is directly related to the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet: aleph. As the first letter, aleph also stands for one or unit. In Hebrew, eleph is the highest cardinal numeral or it refers to a unit at the highest level. When Gideon complains in the book of Judges he says:
“Ah Lord, wherewith shall I save Israel? behold, my thousand (eleph) is the poorest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house. Judges 6:15 (Darby Version) The context makes it clear that Gideon is actually referring to his family-clan. Something similar occurs in the famous prophecy of Micah 5:2.
In chapter one of Numbers, verse 16, we find an extensive list of thousands: These are the called out ones, princes of the stocks of their fathers; they are heads of thousands (eleph) of Israel. An example would be: … for the stock of Reuben were forty-six thousand five hundred. Numbers 1:21
So now we might ask, “Is the clan of Rueben 46,500 men or about forty-six thousands (eleph) meaning forty-six families with a total of five hundred men, rounded off, (from twenty years and older)?”
I will leave out the specific problems of calculating and interpreting these numbers accurately right now, but if we were to consider this method, the population of Israel would be somewhere in the vicinity of 20,000 to 30,000 people—a population that is still the size of Redmond, Oregon but much more proportional to the area, time, and occurring events when in the wilderness. This understanding would also be in line with the consistent pattern of Yahweh’s strength in the midst of our weakness.
So why is this important for us today? Personally, I’m taking away three things from the book of Numbers. First, I need to be counted as one of Yah’s people—I need to take a stand for Him. And secondly, the amount of people standing for Yahweh doesn’t have to be measured in quantity but in quality. Finally, I need to be able to defend my position of practicality to a non-believer without taking away the miracles of Eloheim. Tens of thousands crossing the Red Sea is a miracle, whereas millions crossing the Red Sea is a little bit hard to read. And of course, Israel was chosen because they were small in number. Boasting an army larger than any other counter part at that time, would also, not make sense.
Stand tall, join the brave, the few, and the proud. Be counted among Yah’s elite.
Be Blessed,
Rollyn
