NUMBERS – From SINAI To The PROMISED LAND: Introduction and Chapters 1 & 2

Contributing commentaries by pastors Sonny Islas, Albert Lopez and James Fire

Complete Study of Numbers Ch. 1 - 10 on Youtube by pastor Chuck Smith 

NUMBERS 1 & 2: “GOD Paints By Numbers” – by James Fire, Facebook video.

INTRODUCTION: We are now in the fourth book of the TORAH, as written by Moses, as inspired by the Holy Spirit.
In GENESIS we saw the beginning of all things, including the beginning of a relationship between ‘the father of the faithful’, Abraham and His GOD, the LORD GOD. This man and Sarah his wife grew into a family, and by the end of GENESIS, they grew into a nation.

In EXODUS that nation was redeemed from bondage in Egypt and was brought to Mount Sinai where the LORD GOD was revealed to them, as well as His Holy Law, the testimony of GOD confirmed regarding His plan for Israel and the plans for the Tabernacle that was then built.
In LEVITICUS we see that the nation that was redeemed, has been sanctified, and made a holy and special people to the LORD through priestly ministration and sacrifices. As a nation, as a priesthood Israel was consecrated unto the LORD to fulfill His glorious purposes: to be a beacon of truth and light to a world that didn’t know GOD (not much beyond the testimony of creation).

Now we are in the book of NUMBERS, and it’s called that because of the first four chapters, where Moses is busy about making a census of the twelve tribes of Israel.

The Hebrew name for this book is Bemidbar which means “In the wilderness” – because it’s here that we track their journey from Sinai, through the wilderness (what we know today as the Sinai Peninsula) and all the way up to the east bank of the Jordan River – on the other side of which is Canaan, the land that GOD promised by covenant to Abraham (GEN 15).

Where we read of the commands declared by GOD Himself here in NUMBERS, Moses will provide exposition (“explanation”) for in DEUTERONOMY where this Prophet of GOD elaborates on all of the revelation that the LORD provided back in EXODUS, to a whole new generation (children and grandchildren); fairly the same things Moses declared to the original generation that came out of Egypt.

OUTLINE (based on Thompson Chain Reference notes): This is the book of the pilgrimage of Israel.

The central message of this book is “Unbelief will bar entrance to the promised land, and to the abundant life that GOD desires to bless His people with”.

Homework; check out: HEB 3:7-19.

TOPICS & EVENTS:
    1) Organization and legislation – NUM 1–9
    2) Israel Leaves Mount Sinai, begins the pilgrimage to Canaan – NUM 10–12
    3) The mixed multitude despises the constant diet of manna – NUM 11
    4) Moses experiences discouragement – NUM 11
    5) Seventy elders are appointed – NUM 11
    6) Quails are sent by GOD to feed the people meat – NUM 11
    7) Miriam and Aaron become jealous of Moses – NUM 12

The FAILURE at KADESH BARNEA (Lost in sight of home!):
    8) The sending of spies into the land and their report – NUM 13
    9) The rebellion of the people and the curse pronounced upon them – NUM 14; the whole original generation is doomed due to their unbelief (vs. 29), with the exception of just two men!
    10) The events connected with the forty years of wandering in the wilderness (a journey that should have taken less than two weeks!) – NUM 15–19
    11) The return to Kadesh Barnea, the sin of Moses and the death of Aaron – NUM 20
    12) The brazen serpent, a type or symbol of Christ’s sacrifice – NUM 21
    13) Balaam the mercenary prophet and the corruption of Israel NUM 22–25
    14) The numbering of the new generation – NUM 26
    15) Various laws concerning the inheritance of the land by tribe; also offerings, feasts, vows, etc. – NUM 27-30
    16) The judgment of Midian – NUM 31
    17) The assignment of land east of the Jordan River, orders to wipe out the Canaanites, the dividing of the land according to inheritance – NUM 32-34
    18) The six cities of refuge and the inheritance of eighty-four cities for the tribe of Levi established throughout the land, among the tribal territories of Israel – NUM 35
    19) The inheritance of the daughters who have no husbands – NUM 36

MESSIANIC TYPES found in the book of NUMBERS:
    The smitten rock – NUM 20:7-11; compare with 1 COR 10:4
    The brazen serpent – NUM 21:6-9; compare with JOHN 3:14
    The cities of Refuge – NUM 35; compare with HEB 6:18
And there is another Messianic representation that we will be looking at in NUMBERS 2

SEVEN OCCASIONS of ISRAEL MURMERINGS:
    1) Concerning the direction of their travels – NUM 11
    2) Concerning the constant diet of manna – NUM 11
    3) Concerning the giants discovered in the land – NUM 13, 14
    4) Concerning their leaders – NUM 16
    5) Concerning GOD’s judgments upon them – NUM 16
    6) Concerning the long journey through the desolate desert – NUM 20
    7) The second time of complaints concerning the diet of manna – NUM 21

So let’s dig into the first two chapters of this book and see what we can see by the Spirit of the LORD Who alone gives us eyes to see, ears to hear and hearts to understand and obey!

NUMBERS 1

ENLISTMENT In the ARMIES of the GOD of ISRAEL:

NUMBERS 1:1-4
1 Now the LORD spoke to Moses in the Wilderness of Sinai, in the tabernacle of meeting, on the first day of the second month, in the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt, saying: 2 "Take a census of all the congregation of the children of Israel, by their families, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of names, every male individually, 3 "from twenty years old and above-all who are able to go to war in Israel. You and Aaron shall number them by their armies. 4 "And with you there shall be a man from every tribe, each one the head of his father's house.

You may recall that King David at one time took a census of the people, numbering them to find out how big an army he had -and GOD chastened him severely for doing this – so why did GOD command Moses to do what He got angry with David for?

Bottom line, because GOD commanded Moses to take the census, but He didn’t issue any such command to David – Kings were forbidden to take a census on their own initiative in order to determine just how much power they had by the size of their army. It was David’s pride that led him to do so, and this brought about judgment from GOD!
[Read the more complete answer from GOTQUESTIONS here]

NUMBERS 1:5-16
5 "These are the names of the men who shall stand with you: from Reuben, Elizur the son of Shedeur; 6 "from Simeon, Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai; 7 "from Judah, Nahshon the son of Amminadab; 8 "from Issachar, Nethanel the son of Zuar; 9 "from Zebulun, Eliab the son of Helon; 10 "from the sons of Joseph: from Ephraim, Elishama the son of Ammihud; from Manasseh, Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur; 11 "from Benjamin, Abidan the son of Gideoni; 12 "from Dan, Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai; 13 "from Asher, Pagiel the son of Ocran; 14 "from Gad, Eliasaph the son of Deuel; 15 "from Naphtali, Ahira the son of Enan." 16 These were chosen from the congregation, leaders of their fathers' tribes, heads of the divisions in Israel.

So the criteria for these armies is, one army from each tribe, from age 20 and on up, as old as they are able to go to war. There is to be a leader for each of the armies and in each case, we see that these are sons of their fathers who would go to war (their fathers apparently were too old (or even perhaps deceased).

Do you remember when we were back in GENESIS and Jacob was blessing and prophesying over his twelve sons (GEN 49)? And also when he was blessing Joseph’s two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh (GEN 48)? Old Jacob more or less adopted Joseph’s sons, and so now there are actually 14 tribes instead of just 12. 

So no matter who is listed in any passage of the Bible, you can always have 12 tribes listed, if you omit Joseph – you can then include Ephraim and Manasseh. Or if you want to omit Dan, you can include Joseph and Ephraim, and so on. You’ll notice in vs. 10, the tribe of Joseph is divided between Ephraim and Manasseh. 

From a menu of 14 tribes, you see selected, 12 tribes and everywhere you see 12 tribes listed in Scripture, it’s interesting when you read the context of the passage then compare that with the tribe(s) that are left out, what revelation can come to mind.

So each tribe has a single leader to lead the army of that tribe: Elizur will lead the armies of Reuben; Nahshon will lead the armies of Judah; Abidan will lead the armies of Benjamin, and so on (the tribe of Benjamin were known as fierce warriors!). And in this list, who is leading the armies of Levi? Can you see?

There are no armies in Levi! They were not to go to war!

Then why, you may ask, in the book of JOSHUA, do we read that the priests of Levi lead the armies as they circle around the city of Jericho, once a day? And then on the seventh day, the Sabbath – they don’t rest, they march around that city seven times more! What’s going on there?
That’ll have to wait until we get to JOSHUA 6 (But if you can't wait til then, Chuck Missler has a competent exposition on this chapter; check it out in this Youtube video!)!

NUMBERS 1:17-19
17 Then Moses and Aaron took these men who had been mentioned by name, 18 and they assembled all the congregation together on the first day of the second month; and they recited their ancestry by families, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and above, each one individually. 19 As the LORD commanded Moses, so he numbered them in the Wilderness of Sinai.

The LORD is into organization and bringing His people into account for their responsibilities.
Likewise we the church are to be organized under the LORD’s direction – and serve in the Kingdom where GOD has appointed us in His army.

Unlike the tribes of Israel however, there are no age restrictions for the church, concerning spiritual warfare! We can have them as young as Blue and Damian or as… mature as Angel, Sylvia or even our sister Carol!

We know that Satan’s armies are organized, from his general and colonels (principalities, powers), his majors and lieutenants (spiritual rulers of darkness) right down to his foot soldiers (common variety demons) that plague us from time to time!

A well trained, highly organized army can wreak havoc with the enemy. For us to stay organized, we need to remain in regular communication with our Commander and Chief, the LORD Jesus – receiving through the Word and sending in prayer!

There is no one better to teach our hands to war (PS 18:34), than our LORD, the LORD, Mighty in battle:

PSALM 24:8
Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle.

NUMBERS 1:20-21
20 Now the children of Reuben, Israel's oldest son, their genealogies by their families, by their fathers' house, according to the number of names, every male individually, from twenty years old and above, all who were able to go to war: 21 those who were numbered of the tribe of Reuben were forty-six thousand five hundred.

From here, what we are reading are the actual numbers of men, eligible for war, listed in each tribe. I know what you’re thinking: Why did the Holy Spirit inspire Moses to record the tally of soldiers from each tribe? What possible benefit could that serve us today?

Remember PSALM 40:7 “In the volume of the book it is written of Me.” 

JESUS is the central focus of the Bible! Bear that in mind as we keep reading through these numbers in the rest of this chapter. 

Then we’ll see what we can uncover in Chapter Two, where GOD assigns the encampment of these tribes.

Something to remember in the meantime is that the four following tribes are the leading standard bearers, whose banners (flags) will lead the tribes in war, and also represent the four camps where all twelve tribes will be positioned: Reuben, Judah, Ephraim, and Dan. Each of these tribes had their own distinctive banners. What did their banners look like? That’s also something we will check out!

NUMBERS 1:22-25
22 From the children of Simeon, their genealogies by their families, by their fathers' house, of those who were numbered, according to the number of names, every male individually, from twenty years old and above, all who were able to go to war: 23 those who were numbered of the tribe of Simeon were fifty-nine thousand three hundred. 24 From the children of Gad, their genealogies by their families, by their fathers' house, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and above, all who were able to go to war: 25 those who were numbered of the tribe of Gad were forty-five thousand six hundred and fifty.

Under the standard of Reuben we have in addition to Reuben, the tribes of Simeon and Gad, with a total of 151,450 troops.

NUMBERS 1:26-31
26 From the children of Judah, their genealogies by their families, by their fathers' house, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and above, all who were able to go to war: 27 those who were numbered of the tribe of Judah were seventy-four thousand six hundred. 28 From the children of Issachar, their genealogies by their families, by their fathers' house, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and above, all who were able to go to war: 29 those who were numbered of the tribe of Issachar were fifty-four thousand four hundred. 30 From the children of Zebulun, their genealogies by their families, by their fathers' house, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and above, all who were able to go to war: 31 those who were numbered of the tribe of Zebulun were fifty-seven thousand four hundred.

Under the standard of Judah, we have the tribes of Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun, with a total of 186,400 troops.

NUMBERS 1:32-37
32 From the sons of Joseph, the children of Ephraim, their genealogies by their families, by their fathers' house, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and above, all who were able to go to war: 33 those who were numbered of the tribe of Ephraim were forty thousand five hundred. 34 From the children of Manasseh, their genealogies by their families, by their fathers' house, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and above, all who were able to go to war: 35 those who were numbered of the tribe of Manasseh were thirty-two thousand two hundred. 36 From the children of Benjamin, their genealogies by their families, by their fathers' house, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and above, all who were able to go to war: 37 those who were numbered of the tribe of Benjamin were thirty-five thousand four hundred.

Under the standard of Ephraim we have Ephraim, Manasseh and Benjamin with a total of 108,100 troops.

NUMBERS 1:38-43
38 From the children of Dan, their genealogies by their families, by their fathers' house, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and above, all who were able to go to war: 39 those who were numbered of the tribe of Dan were sixty-two thousand seven hundred. 40 From the children of Asher, their genealogies by their families, by their fathers' house, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and above, all who were able to go to war: 41 those who were numbered of the tribe of Asher were forty-one thousand five hundred. 42 From the children of Naphtali, their genealogies by their families, by their fathers' house, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and above, all who were able to go to war: 43 those who were numbered of the tribe of Naphtali were fifty-three thousand four hundred.

Under the standard of Dan we have the tribes of Dan, Asher and Naphtali with a total of 157,600 troops.

NUMBERS 1:44-46
44 These are the ones who were numbered, whom Moses and Aaron numbered, with the leaders of Israel, twelve men, each one representing his father's house. 45 So all who were numbered of the children of Israel, by their fathers' houses, from twenty years old and above, all who were able to go to war in Israel- 46 all who were numbered were six hundred and three thousand five hundred and fifty [603,550 total number of troops in the armies of Israel].

NUMBERS 1:47-51
47 But the Levites were not numbered among them by their fathers' tribe; 48 for the LORD had spoken to Moses, saying: 49 "Only the tribe of Levi you shall not number, nor take a census of them among the children of Israel [The Levites weren’t enlisted in the army of Israel. The census for this tribe this won’t happen until chapters 3 and 4, under the three families from Levi, Gershon, Kohath and Merari]; 50 "but you shall appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of the Testimony, over all its furnishings, and over all things that belong to it; they shall carry the tabernacle and all its furnishings; they shall attend to it and camp around the tabernacle. 51 "And when the tabernacle is to go forward, the Levites shall take it down; and when the tabernacle is to be set up, the Levites shall set it up. The outsider who comes near shall be put to death.

NUMBERS 1:52-54
52 "The children of Israel shall pitch their tents, everyone by his own camp [note that: not “tribe” but camp – and there are four camps established in the next chapter, each under the head of the four primary tribes mentioned and their banners], everyone by his own standard [banner, flag, emblem], according to their armies; 53 "but the Levites shall camp around the tabernacle of the Testimony, that there may be no wrath on the congregation of the children of Israel; and the Levites shall keep charge of the tabernacle of the Testimony." 54 Thus the children of Israel did; according to all that the LORD commanded Moses, so they did.
The tribe of Levi was to surround the tabernacle of Testimony and act as a sort of buffer zone, between the tabernacle and the congregation of Israel – so that no one would accidently get too close to the holy tent of meeting and get zapped by the glory of GOD: “The outsider who comes near shall be put to death” and also, “[so] that there may be no wrath on the congregation of the children of Israel”

Now you still might be wondering, what the relevance of all this is, but just remember:

PSALM 40:7 “In the volume of the book it is written of [Jesus].”

NUMBERS 2

NUMBERS 2:1-2
1 And the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying: 2 "Every one of the children of Israel shall camp by his own standard, beside the emblems of his father's house; they shall camp some distance from the tabernacle of meeting.

Every tribe in fact had their own standard or banner, just like we here in America have the Star-Spangled Banner, our flag – so there are twelve standards, or banners, or flags, but among them, four were the primary flags that all twelve tribes camped under.

The Testimony of the Mazzaroth is a fascinating study that I think bears much credibility when compared with various Scripture (some of which mention the Mazzaroth by name) and correlate the meaning of the constellation's and the star's names in Hebrew, Aramaic, Chaldean and other languages. Check out the following website that has all kinds of charts, diagrams along with Scriptural references.

Essentially the assertion is that what we know as the Zodiac is a satanic perversion of what GOD intended to use, to show His glory in the heavens (PS. 19:1) that portrays the Gospel message!

For now, let’s see how these four camps are arranged around the Tabernacle and the camp of the Levites that surrounds the Tabernacle:

NUMBERS 2:3-9
3 "On the east side, toward the rising of the sun, those of the standard of the forces with Judah shall camp according to their armies; and Nahshon the son of Amminadab shall be the leader of the children of Judah." 4 And his army was numbered at seventy-four thousand six hundred. 5 "Those who camp next to him shall be the tribe of Issachar, and Nethanel the son of Zuar shall be the leader of the children of Issachar." 6 And his army was numbered at fifty-four thousand four hundred. 7 "Then comes the tribe of Zebulun, and Eliab the son of Helon shall be the leader of the children of Zebulun." 8 And his army was numbered at fifty-seven thousand four hundred. 9 "All who were numbered according to their armies of the forces with Judah, one hundred and eighty-six thousand four hundred; these shall break camp first.

186,400: this comprises the largest camp.

NUMBERS 2:10-16
10 "On the south side shall be the standard of the forces with Reuben according to their armies, and the leader of the children of Reuben shall be Elizur the son of Shedeur." 11 And his army was numbered at forty-six thousand five hundred. 12 "Those who camp next to him shall be the tribe of Simeon, and the leader of the children of Simeon shall be Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai." 13 And his army was numbered at fifty-nine thousand three hundred. 14 "Then comes the tribe of Gad, and the leader of the children of Gad shall be Eliasaph the son of Reuel." 15 And his army was numbered at forty-five thousand six hundred and fifty. 16 "All who were numbered according to their armies of the forces with Reuben, one hundred and fifty-one thousand four hundred and fifty; they shall be the second to break camp. 

151,450: this comprises a camp similar in size to the camp of Dan.

NUMBERS 2:17
"And the tabernacle of meeting shall move out with the camp of the Levites in the middle of the camps; as they camp, so they shall move out, everyone in his place, by their standards.

This is not only the arrangement of the camp of Israel, but this is also their marching formation as they mobilize for war.

NUMBERS 2:18-24
18 "On the west side shall be the standard of the forces with Ephraim according to their armies, and the leader of the children of Ephraim shall be Elishama the son of Ammihud." 19 And his army was numbered at forty thousand five hundred. 20 "Next to him comes the tribe of Manasseh, and the leader of the children of Manasseh shall be Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur." 21 And his army was numbered at thirty-two thousand two hundred. 22 "Then comes the tribe of Benjamin, and the leader of the children of Benjamin shall be Abidan the son of Gideoni." 23 And his army was numbered at thirty-five thousand four hundred. 24 "All who were numbered according to their armies of the forces with Ephraim, one hundred and eight thousand one hundred-they shall be the third to break camp. 

108,100: this is the smallest camp of the four.

NUMBERS 2:25-34
25 "The standard of the forces with Dan shall be on the north side according to their armies, and the leader of the children of Dan shall be Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai." 26 And his army was numbered at sixty-two thousand seven hundred. 27 "Those who camp next to him shall be the tribe of Asher, and the leader of the children of Asher shall be Pagiel the son of Ocran." 28 And his army was numbered at forty-one thousand five hundred. 29 "Then comes the tribe of Naphtali, and the leader of the children of Naphtali shall be Ahira the son of Enan." 30 And his army was numbered at fifty-three thousand four hundred. 31 "All who were numbered of the forces with Dan, one hundred and fifty-seven thousand six hundred-they shall break camp last, with their standards." 157,600; Reuben and Dan are the two middle camps, smaller than Judah, but larger than Ephraim and these two are roughly the same size.
32 These are the ones who were numbered of the children of Israel by their fathers' houses. All who were numbered according to their armies of the forces were six hundred and three thousand five hundred and fifty. 33 But the Levites were not numbered among the children of Israel, just as the LORD commanded Moses. 34 Thus the children of Israel did according to all that the LORD commanded Moses; so they camped by their standards and so they broke camp, each one by his family, according to their fathers' houses.

So we have the four standards, or banners, or flags and four camps under which all the tribes of Israel camped out with. Note the specific directions: these camps were to be set up directly east, south, west, and north of the camp of the Levites, which itself surrounds the tabernacle. They can’t camp northeast, or southwest, or whatever. Only within the four cardinal points, and only as wide as the camp of the Levites and no further.

Suppose we could hop on an aerial time machine – a craft that could travel through the air as well as through time. And we traveled back these thousands of years ago and over the camp of Israel while they were set up like this. Looking from above, what would the four encampments surrounding the Tabernacle and the tribe of Levi, look like?

The Camp of Israel and the Cross

Tell me that doesn’t look like a cross! Is this a coincidence?
Not at all, this is how GOD intentionally instructed the Camp of Israel to be set up! Crucifixion was unknown at this time; crucifixion came about by the Persians around the 6th century B.C. It was later picked up and perfected to a science by the Romans.
If you think this is awesome, I’m not through!

What were the four images embroidered on the banners or flags of the four leading tribes?
“According to rabbinical tradition, the standard of Judah bore the figure of a lion, that of Reuben the likeness of a man or of a man’s head, that of Ephraim the figure of an ox, and that of Dan the figure of an eagle.” Check out the following portrait of these banners.

From Scripture we understand that The Messiah came from Judah, Who is the Lion.
Jacob’s first born was Reuben and his name means “Behold a son” or “Behold the man-child”.
Ephraim was seen as the ox, because he was the son of Joseph, and it was Joseph who was given the visions by GOD where cows (or oxen) were seen: five of them well fed and the other were scrawny and starved, and who ate the fat cows – remember that? Dan’s image was that of an eagle; But Jacob had compared Dan to a serpent, saying, ‘Dan is a serpent in the way, an adder in the path;’ but Ahiezer (a son of Dan) substituted the eagle, the destroyer of serpents as he refused carrying an adder upon his flag. 

Interesting that the serpent was replaced by the eagle, because as we know the LORD Jesus compared how Moses raised up the brazen serpent (which we will be examining in this book in Ch. 21) with how He Himself would be raised up on the Cross. Jesus became sin for us, as represented by the serpent, but He destroyed the power of sin for us, just as an eagle destroys a serpent! 

The eagle is seen as the master of the heavens, the domain of Deity, as it can soar higher than any other bird.

Where else in Scripture do we see the lion, the man, the ox and the eagle?
These are the four faces of the living creatures that surround the very throne of GOD in heaven: in both EZEK1:5,10 and REV 4:6-7!

REVELATION 4:6-7
” and before the throne [of GOD is] a sea of glass like to crystal, and in the midst of the throne, and round the throne, [are] four living creatures, full of eyes before and behind; 7 and the first living creature [is] like a lion, and the second living creature [is] like a calf, and the third living creature hath the face as a man, and the fourth living creature [is] like an eagle flying.”

These four living creatures are seen throughout REVELATION and are the agents of God, with the characteristics of God as described, which demonstrates the spiritual truth that you become like the one you worship! – REV. 4:6-9; 5:6-14; 6:1,6; 7:11; 14:3; 15:7; 19:4.

So these four banners, with these four images all face towards the tabernacle which includes the altar of sacrifice as well as the altar of incense and the ark of the covenant where GOD’s presence would abide in His glory but seen there only by the high priest on Yom Kipur.

The tabernacle and the arrangements of the camps then all mirror the very throne of GOD, where these four living creatures day and night worship the LORD saying “Holy, Holy, Holy”!!
And the very shape of that camp of Israel was that of the Cross! That which is the brazen altar of the Almighty where the LAMB of GOD was slain for the sins of the world!

Then Christ took of that blood and went from the brazen alter which is the Cross of Christ and entered into the Holy of holies – not in the temple on Earth which is just a model of the real temple in heaven – and sprinkled His own blood on the mercy seat up There!

HEBREWS 9:11-12
11 But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. 12 Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place [in heaven] once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.

Remember:
PSALM 40:7 “In the volume of this Book it is written of [Jesus].”

And what about the GOSPELS? The four Gospel accounts: how do they fit it?

MATTHEW testifies of Christ as the KING of ISRAEL – the Lion, the King of the beasts
MARK testifies of Christ as the Servant of YHWH – the Ox, the servant who plows
LUKE testifies of Christ as the Son of Man – the Man, Christ in His humanity
JOHN testifies of Christ as the Son of GOD – the Eagle, Christ in His Deity

JESUS Who is KING and LORD of all because He humbled Himself to be the Servant of all; He Who is fully GOD and fully Man!

[Portions of the above commentary taken from Biblical Hermeneutics word study - What were the four standards around which the tribes of Israel were camped (NUM 2:1-34)? - Biblical Hermeneutics Stack Exchange]

To get this from another commentator, check out Chuck Missler’s presentation:

 
I am amazed at the unity of GOD's Word, how these 66 books of the Bible are integrated to form a singular message and that message is CHRIST! Here we see the camp of Israel, all of these military troops in the armies of Israel in the form of the Cross! The very authority of the throne of GOD leading both the armies of Israel as well as the Christian army that wars after the Spirit and not the flesh: spiritual warfare according to the Name and Authority of JESUS CHRIST! 

Onward Christian Soldiers

Onward Christian soldiers, marching as to war,

With the cross of Jesus, going on before!

Christ, the royal Master, leads against the foe;

Forward into battle, see His banners go!

Onward Christian soldiers, marching as to war,

with the Cross of JESUS going on before!

Next time we'll get into NUMBERS Ch. 3 and 4 with pastor Sonny!