Almost to the Promised Land: Looking at Numbers

Leading up to the story of Joshua, the Israelites had journeyed to Canaan under the leadership of Moses, also Aaron the priest and his son, Eleazar. The stages of that journey will have to be in my next post because it would be too extensive here.

"Notes on Numbers"

In Numbers, chapter 26, a census of all the men twenty years old or more was recorded, just as it had been done the first time under Moses in the book of Numbers, chapter 1. The census served a purpose in that it was taken by tribe to determine the population and land size needed for each tribe.

This second census ended with a total amount of men of Israel as 601,730. All of the male Levites (the priestly tribe) were counted starting at a month old or more and numbered 23,000. The Levites were not counted along with the other Israelites because they were not to receive the same kind of land inheritance. The Lord had said in Numbers 18:23, that because they received a tithe, they would not receive a land inheritance.


The Israelites from Numbers 14 who had grumbled and complained along the journey and rebelled against Moses had not survived, except for Caleb, who the Bible says had a different spirit and served the Lord whole-heartedly, and Joshua, son of Nun.

After the Israelites defeated the Canaanites, the divisional boundaries of the tribal lands are specified in Numbers 34. In addition, the Levites were supposed to receive towns with pasture lands: 48 of them to live in, and 6 more were to be Cities of Refuge, for a total of 54 allotted cities.

The 6 refuge cities were supposed to be for people (whether Israelite or alien) who were accused of murder and waiting for a fair trial. If a person murdered with pre-meditation and hostility, then he was not allowed refuge. The Bibles says, "they shall be put to death" by an "avenger of blood." The rules for determining accidental death and murder are found in Numbers 35:16-21, and 22-24.

Cities of Refuge

Within the clan of Gilead, son of Makir, son of Manassah, the daughters of Zelophehad had been given land, so they were instructed to marry whomever they pleased, as long as they married men within the tribal clan of their father. No inheritance was supposed to pass from tribe to tribe; the Israelites were supposed to maintain their tribal inheritance. So Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Noah all married their (hopefully!) distant cousins on their father's side, descendents of Manassah, son of Joseph.

This is a brief summary of all the commands and regulations the Lord gave through Moses to the Israelites on the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho.