"2 The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, 2 “The people of Israel shall camp each by his own standard, with the banners of their fathers' houses. They shall camp facing the tent of meeting on every side. 3 Those to camp on the east side toward the sunrise shall be of the standard of the camp of Judah by their companies, the chief of the people of Judah being Nahshon the son of Amminadab, 4 his company as listed being 74,600. 5 Those to camp next to him shall be the tribe of Issachar, the chief of the people of Issachar being Nethanel the son of Zuar, 6 his company as listed being 54,400. 7 Then the tribe of Zebulun, the chief of the people of Zebulun being Eliab the son of Helon, 8 his company as listed being 57,400. 9 All those listed of the camp of Judah, by their companies, were 186,400. They shall set out first on the march.
10 “On the south side shall be the standard of the camp of Reuben by their companies, the chief of the people of Reuben being Elizur the son of Shedeur,11 his company as listed being 46,500. 12 And those to camp next to him shall be the tribe of Simeon, the chief of the people of Simeon being Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai, 13 his company as listed being 59,300. 14 Then the tribe of Gad, the chief of the people of Gad being Eliasaph the son of Reuel, 15 his company as listed being 45,650. 16 All those listed of the camp of Reuben, by their companies, were 151,450. They shall set out second.
17 “Then the tent of meeting shall set out, with the camp of the Levites in the midst of the camps; as they camp, so shall they set out, each in position, standard by standard.
18 “On the west side shall be the standard of the camp of Ephraim by their companies, the chief of the people of Ephraim being Elishama the son of Ammihud, 19 his company as listed being 40,500. 20 And next to him shall be the tribe of Manasseh, the chief of the people of Manasseh being Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur, 21 his company as listed being 32,200. 22 Then the tribe of Benjamin, the chief of the people of Benjamin being Abidan the son of Gideoni, 23 his company as listed being 35,400. 24 All those listed of the camp of Ephraim, by their companies, were 108,100. They shall set out third on the march.
25 “On the north side shall be the standard of the camp of Dan by their companies, the chief of the people of Dan being Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai, 26 his company as listed being 62,700. 27 And those to camp next to him shall be the tribe of Asher, the chief of the people of Asher being Pagiel the son of Ochran,28 his company as listed being 41,500. 29 Then the tribe of Naphtali, the chief of the people of Naphtali being Ahira the son of Enan, 30 his company as listed being 53,400. 31 All those listed of the camp of Dan were 157,600. They shall set out last, standard by standard.”
32 These are the people of Israel as listed by their fathers' houses. All those listed in the camps by their companies were 603,550. 33 But the Levites were not listed among the people of Israel, as the Lord commanded Moses.
34 Thus did the people of Israel. According to all that the Lord commanded Moses, so they camped by their standards, and so they set out, each one in his clan, according to his fathers' house."
Numbers 2:1-34
The concept of a church advancing with a living power at its heart is one that is sorely needed today. It can hardly be doubted, from all available evidence, that it is the presence of the living Word among the people of God that gives meaning, direction and purpose to their corporate life. And if there is anything calculated to encourage and hearten in the Church situation of our time, it is the steady recovery of the Word in power and authority in more and more churches and gatherings. It is a familiar biblical pattern: at a later stage than the history of Numbers, with the raising up of Samuel the prophet after a long time of drought, barren- ness and dearth, in which the word of the Lord was precious (i.e. a scarce commodity) and there was no open vision in the land. At that moment, when the lamp of God was flickering in the Temple, God laid His hand on the young Samuel. And presently it began to be noised abroad that the Word of the Lord was with him; and in a quarter of a century it took all of that time the whole national situation was transformed. This is the message of the chapter. It is when God and His Word are in the midst of the Church that it moves forward like a mighty army. Plant the Word of God in the heart of the Church's life, and once again it will move forward with some purpose. Life for Israel was to be related to the Ark, and submissive to its principles. Not only so: the Ark was to be protected, and reverence shown it. The divine institutions were to be honoured, and the divine order maintained, according to the pattern shown in the mount. God's warfare was to be fought in God's way. It was because Israel later became disobedient to this that she failed to go forward. Is not the lesson for us clear and plain?