Let’s begin to pick apart and examine some key parts from the census in Numbers 26.
First, take a look at verses 8 to 11.
“The sons of Pallu: Eli’av; and the sons of Eli’av: N’mu’el, Datan and Aviram. These are the same Datan and Aviram, men of reputation in the community, who rebelled against Moshe and Aharon in Korach’s group, when they rebelled against Adonai; and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up together with Korach when that group died, and the fire consumed 250 men, and they became a warning sign. (However, the sons of Korach did not die.)“
Okay, remember when the terrible wrath of the Lord came against tribe of Rueben and the clan of Korah when the earth opened up and swallowed them whole?
Well, it appears that the entire family was NOT swallowed up.
Because right here we have listed the clan names of those who survived.
And that’s not all.
Later on, we’re going to see that the clan of Korah will go on to become a very prominent clan among the Levites as the official singers of the Temple.
Next, let’s take a look at the final tally of men aged 20 and up who were eligible to become part of the military.
“Thus those who were counted of the people of Israel numbered 601,730.”
The truth is this number is about 1800 men fewer than the census taken about 40 years earlier.
Here are the actual numbers:
Reuben lost 2,770 (6%).
Simeon lost 37,100 men (63%).
Gad lost 5,150 (11%).
Judah gained 1,900 (3%).
Issachar gained 9,900 (18%).
Zebulun gained 3,100 (5%).
Manasseh gained 20,500 (64%).
Ephraim lost 8,000 (20%).
Benjamin gained 10,200 (29%).
Dan gained 1,700 (3%).
Asher gained 11,900 (29%).
Naphtali lost 8,000 (15%).
Total: A loss of 1,820 or a .3% decline.
An 1820 men decrease may seem like a lot but it’s really not.
It only represents a quarter of a 1% difference actually and again don’t forget we’re dealing with the younger generation whose growth spurt was just right around the corner.
In spite of of all the wars and plagues the people experienced, it’s fair to say that the population remained pretty much at an even level.
However, there was a shift in the population of each of the tribes on an individual basis.
The Tribe of Manasseh represented the biggest jump upwards with a whopping 60% increase.
On the other end of the spectrum, the Tribe of Simeon represented the biggest jump downwards with an approximate 60% decrease.
Now it has been hypothesized that the tribes who grew in faith grew in numbers and vice versa.
I wouldn’t disagree with that it is true that “The Lord Rewards the Faithful and Punishes the Unfaithful”.
This would actually be a really interesting study in and of itself: To see if there is a direct correlation between a Tribe’s obedience and faithfulness to the Lord and their resulting increase or decrease over the long term.
From a “natural” perspective, one could argue that Simeon had experienced more deaths versus births.
Or possibly many more of their tribal members decided to join the other stronger Israelite tribes.
Also, it shouldn’t be overlooked that when Manasseh left Egypt, they were already the largest tribe.
I’m done for today.
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