One of the little hidden treasures in the Bible that really intrigued me was the camp of Israel in the book of Numbers. It amazed me when I first heard about it.
By way of quick background, the nation of Israel had just escaped Egypt under the guidance of Moses and, after refusing to enter into the land of Canaan were condemned to wander in the wilderness for forty years, until all the adults that had rebelled had died off. Contrary to popular belief, the people did not wander around a as large mass of unorganized souls. They were given specific instructions on how to organize themselves for the march through the desert. At the center of the camp was the Tabernacle. This was a mobile temple that housed the Arc of the Covenant (remember Indiana Jones?) which held the stone tablet of the ten commandments. This was where the High Priest would perform the sacrifices for the nation of Israel. Around the wall of the Tabernacle was the camp of the Levites, or priests.
The nation of Israel was camped in specific areas around the Levites. In Numbers, chapters 1 and 2, we are given a census of the nation. The first time I read it I thought nothing could be more boring. Who really cared how many people were in each of the twelve tribes? But I found out that nothing is in the Bible without a reason. Several times the people are commanded NOT to count the population, so what makes this such a big deal? From the census, beginning at Numbers 1:20, we find that the tribes had the following populations:
1. Reuben: forty-six thousand five hundred.
2. Simeon: fifty-nine thousand three hundred.
3. Gad: forty-five thousand six hundred and fifty.
4. Judah: seventy-four thousand six hundred.
5. Issachar: fifty-four thousand four hundred.
6. Zebulun: fifty-seven thousand four hundred.
7. Ephraim: forty thousand five hundred.
8. Manasseh: thirty-two thousand two hundred.
9. Benjamin: thirty-five thousand four hundred.
10. Dan: sixty-two thousand seven hundred.
11. Asher: forty-one thousand five hundred.
12. Naphtali: fifty-three thousand four hundred.
Then the tribes were told where they were to camp. Each group of three tribes was to live under the banner of the tribe assigned to be closest to the Tabernacle.
Judah with the banner of the Lion, Reuben with the Man, Ephraim with the Ox, and Dan with the Eagle. The four groups were arraigned as follows (with their combined populations):
East Judah, Issachar, Zebulun 186,400 Lion
South Reuben, Simeon, Gad 151,450 Man
West Ephraim, Manasseh, Benjamin 108,100 Ox
North Dan, Asher, Naphtali 157,600 Eagle
This still doesn’t mean a whole lot until you look at it graphically. Keep in mind that the dimensions of the Tabernacle are given as 100 cubits by 100 cubits. A cubit is generally defined as 18 inches, but by whatever dimension is given, the Tabernacle was perfectly square. Keep in mind that the ancient Hebrew was extremely literal. North meant north. There was no room for northwest or northeast. So this is what the camp looked like: 
Now, imagine you are in the air traveling overhead. Now the entire camp would look like this:
This is amazing enough as it is, but there’s one more thing. On the ancient Hebrew maps, West, not North, was at the top of the map. So the final image looks like this:
It’s very easy to think that this was added after the fact, but you have to remember that this is directly from the Torah, this first five books of the Bible, and still is kept in every Jewish Synagogue on the planet.
admin General Notes camp of israel, cross, exodus, God, Moses, numbers, tribes
