ORDER IN THE CAMP

“Adonai said to Moshe and Aharon, ‘The people of Isra’el are to set up camp by clans, each man with his own banner and under his clan’s symbol; they are to camp around the tent of meeting, but at a distance.’”
Numbers 2:1-2

I have always had this misconception concerning the people of Isra’el. I knew that it took the people a total of forty years to get from Egypt to the Promise Land, and that the normal trip could be made in approximately eleven days, but I failed to realize why it took them so long. In college we were taught that it was due to the wandering they did. My mind always put in place a mental image of people walking aimlessly in the desert. While that may be partially true, I see it was not fully true. Adonai simply was not moving the cloud by day and fire by night as quickly. As a result, there were times when the cloud and fire parked. It was in these times, be it a stay of months or years, that Adonai gave an order as to who would camp where. It is that order we read of in Numbers 2.
With approximately 2-3 million people making up the nation of Isra’el, organization was a must. Adonai gave a blue print them of how they were to camp and how they were to move out when it was indeed time to move. He ordered the Holy Sanctuary, the Tent of Meeting, be in the center of the camp. Before we go on, let us make a parallel. This Tent was to be the center of the camp. Adonai is to be the center of our lives. Putting anything else in the center than Adonai shifts the order to which He commands and places that object in Adonai’s seat. Let us be careful that this is not a sin we are committing even today.
Now with the Tent in its ordained position, Adonai then named the tribes that were to surround it on each side. On the east were to be placed the tribes of Y’hudah, Yissakhar, and Z’vulun. To the south were to be placed the tribes of Re’uven, Shim’on, and Gad. In the chapter, following the named tribes of the south side, follows a new order. It was then stated that when the tribes were to move out, again here in the middle, the Tent of Meeting and the L’vi’im were to be found. The passage then goes on to record the tribes of the west, consisting of Efrayim, M’nasheh, and Binyamin. Lastly the tribes to the north were commanded their place, which included Dan, Asher, and Naftali. Each tribe had its banners and the banners marked their place in the journey as well as in the camp itself.
It was this detail and order, and the heeding of it that prevented mass chaos and confusion in the midst of an approximate 3 million people. But it was also this location of the Tent, parallel to where Adonai should be in our lives, that needed to be obeyed as well as commanded by Adonai.

Numbers 2:1-34