Two Censuses in Numbers

I have produced charts for the first and second census in Numbers. This is considered an issue for skeptics and conservative scholars alike. We’ll see why below. 

Here we have the 12 tribes and their listed numbers as part of the census. Now who can be numbered? All able-bodied men over 20. Is that exclusive? Yes, because these are people going to war.

	Census 1	Census 2	Josh 4:12-13	Judges 5:8
Reuben	46,500	43730	x
Simeon	59,300	22200
Gad	45,650	40500	x
Judah	74,600	76500
Issachar	54,400	64300		x
Zebulun	57,400	60500		x
Ephraim	40,500	32500		x
Manasseh	32,200	52700	x	x
Benjamin	35,400	45600		x
Dan	62,700	64400
Asher	41,500	53400
Naphtali	53,400	45400		x
Total:	603,550	601730	40000	40000

What jumps out at you from these numbers? 

Simeon must have done something really bad. Or they were slow and couldn’t out run the vipers. Manasseh was really reproductive and made up for it. But Manasseh historically is one of those tribes known for being evil and wicked. 

Here’s the thing. You may go you’re whole life and never hear about the censuses in Numbers ever again. But, there may be some shrewd skeptic and critic out there. You’re busy in your evangelism, telling people about Jesus, and they say, but what about the Numbers? 

And what are you going to say? What do I mean? The total is 603,550 and then 601,730. Assuming there are teenagers, wives, disabled, this number runs into the 2 million range. All skeptics and even some evangelicals say that is highly unlikely. 

Now there are some that deny the entire Exodus even happened. They can’t find evidence of a group of Hebrews spending hundreds of years in Egypt, a big travesty in Egypt’s economy of military, no invasion of Canaan by Israel, especially not by 2 million people. But we have answers, and there is some evidence for what the Bible says. It is not as much or even as obvious as we would like, but it is there. 

So, no, this isn’t a matter of saying 2 million people is too many for God to feed in the wilderness. It’s a matter of looking at Joshua 4:12-13 and Judges 5:8. If we turned there, we would  see other battles, when men of war are called to action, and only a few tribes answer. And 40,000 men show up total.

It’s a matter of reading Numbers 3:43. Firstborn males are 22,273. So are there firstborn daughters? Probably. Let’s give each family a firstborn daughter. That doesn’t help. Assuming 2 million people equals somewhere around 1 million couples, that means every family has 45 children. 

It’s also realizing that the largest city of the day was Pi-Raamses. It houses about 300,000 people, and the Hebrews built it. Jericho, one of the largest cities in the Promised Land, could probably fit on a couple city blocks. 2 million people couldn’t fit around that. 

I don’t have a hard and fast solution. I just know something’s a little strange, and I’m not worried about it. If someone challenged me about it, I wouldn’t care at all.

Most solutions to this have to do with the word “thousand,” translating it as “family” or “tribe.” This would reduce the numbers significantly to make it more manageable and fit the social/historical contexts of the day.

Now let’s talk about the census for real, though. Moses is supposed to number all these people. Exodus 30:11-16 talks about taking a census. How Moses should count all who are 20 and up? Everyone should pay half a shekel, regardless of how rich they are. So this was a way to tax people and see their military strength. 

But what else is the point of this census? Let’s walk through big picture of Israel to this point. We get through all the preliminary creation, flood, Babel stuff. And Abraham receives promise of an awesome land. He’s going to bless the whole world, and he is going to have a son that turns into a huge nation. And he’s tested the rest of Genesis, and the book ends with a reasonable family of 70 going to Egypt, and the next book opens and they’re slaves.

We know what happens. Moses. Plagues. Red Sea. They’re free. And through all of those hundreds of years, that family did turn into a nation. And we’re going to see how they had a chance to enter the promised land right away, but they doubted God. 

They wander in the wilderness for years and years, facing all sorts of trials, complaining, being tested, but all along God provides for them, and at the very end when they’re finally ready to enter the land again, let’s count again. And they are still a numerous and prosperous nation. 

Through all their rebellion and filth, God has been protective, and good, merciful, and faithful to His promises. They can trust Him.