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One-sentence summary: The Lord tells Moses to take a census and number the men from each tribe who are able to go to war, men aged 20 and up, and He chooses leaders from among them.
The Lord speaks to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the tabernacle of meeting, on the first day of the second month of the second year after the Israelites had come out of Egypt, and He tells him to take a census of Israel according to each household, counting all the men age 20 and above who are able to go to war. They are to be numbered and separated into different armies by tribe, with one man chosen by the Lord to be the head of each tribe. Moses and Aaron take these men and assemble the congregation on this day, and the men recite their ancestry for them. Moses numbers them and records the number of each tribe. The numbers of each tribe, of every male aged 20 and above who is able to go to war, vary from about 35,000 to about 75,000 men. However, the Levites are not to be numbered, because they are the priestly tribe who will be responsible for carrying and setting up the tabernacle. The Lord says that Israel should pitch their tents by tribe, but the Levites are to camp around the tabernacle.
The Lord tells Moses and Aaron that the eleven tribes should camp a little ways from the tabernacle, and He also tells them where each of the tribes is to camp.
All of the tribes of Israel together were 603,550 men aged 20 and above, except for the Levites, who were not numbered.
(Side note: Moses is awesome!)
Thoughts/Discussion Questions:
Moses listens and does everything the Lord commands him. Amazing!