God’s Word for You
Numbers 26:51-56 Boundary lines
by Pastor Timothy Smith on Thursday, December 9, 2021
51 Those who were registered from the Israelites totaled 601,730.
This number does not include any of the women, or the young men and children under twenty, or any of the foreigners who came to live with the Israelites either as spouses, servants, or slaves. After numbering the fighting-age men from each tribe according to the families and clans (Numbers 26:5-50), the grand total of warriors was 601,730. But since part of the reason for the census was the division of the land, another step needed to be taken.
52 The LORD spoke to Moses: 53 “The land is to be divided among these tribes, with the size of the possession for each tribe based on the number of names. 54 For a larger tribe, increase its possession. For a smaller tribe, decrease its possession. Each tribe is to be given its inheritance based on the total of those registered. 55 The land must be divided by lot. They will receive their possession according to the names of their father’s tribes. 56 Their possession is to be divided between the larger and the smaller tribes as the lots determine.”
There are two points that the Lord makes about the distribution of the land. First, it is to be done according to the sizes of the tribes. Second, it is to be done by casting lots. This leaves some readers wondering, which one was it then, by size or by lot? The Lord answers in verse 56: Both were to be done. First, division between two groups, larger and smaller tribes. Then, by lot. This could be understood in at least two ways. One possibility is that the land was to be judged as to what its natural regions were, and then the larger sections distributed by lot to the larger tribes, and the smaller sections to the smaller tribes. Another possibility is that the lots might be cast right away, and then if an area fell to a larger tribe, the area could be increased. If we pay close attention to verse 56, then the first scenario seems to be more likely.
Of about 601,000 warriors, the average tribal size would be around 50,080 men. As it happens, six tribes were larger than that, and six were smaller. This suggests what was meant by the larger and smaller groups. The heights west of the Dead Sea, the highlands north of that region, and the large, rich valley of Jezreel were certainly places for large tribes to spread out, and each area was filled in that way. However, following the war on Midian (Numbers 31:1-54), two tribes and half of the people of Manasseh would ask Moses for permission to settle on the east bank rather than in Canaan itself (Numbers 32:5), and this would adjust the distribution of the land. Eventually, it would be Joshua who would cast the lots for the tribal distribution at Shiloh this after the conquest of Canaan (Joshua 18:9-10).
Casting the lot was something like tossing a coin in our culture. From a practical standpoint, casting the lot was not necessary. They could have surveyed the land and assigned regions strictly in terms of largest to smallest. But by casting the lot, the people would know that the hand of God was at work in where they would live. This would give the people confidence and keep the tribes from fighting over who should live where. We, too, have confidence in the Lord’s hand in the places where we find ourselves. This is partly because, living in the body of earthly flesh as we are, “we are away from the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:6) and long to be with him in heaven, therefore wherever we are does not live up to the standard of Paradise. But our confidence also comes from this: Wherever I happen to find myself, the Lord is able to work through me in whatever way is best for his kingdom. The book of Acts is filled with men of God making use of strange pulpits to proclaim Jesus: the court before the Sanhedrin (Acts 4:5-7), house to house (Acts 5:42), a slope of the hill outside Jerusalem where Stephen was stoned to death as he preached (Acts 7:58), a chariot beside a desert road (Acts 8:28), the river outside Philippi (Acts 16:13), the kitchen of a jail (Acts 16:33-34), the deck of a sinking ship (Acts 27:21), and even the court of Caesar (Acts 25:12). However strange the pulpit may be, however small or humble one’s home or apartment may be, may we always be able to say: “The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance. I will praise the LORD” (Psalm 16:6-7).
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in New Ulm, Minnesota. To receive God’s Word for You via e-mail, please visit the St. Paul’s Lutheran Church website.