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.

66 Books in 1 Canon

 How many times have you heard something similar to the following:

The Bible is composed of 66 books written over the span of 1500+ years across three continents in three languages by 40+ authors from various backgrounds/education levels/socio-economic standing---and yet, it contains no errors, inconsistencies, but has one unifying theme. (And whoever's speaking can word the theme however they want, whether "Jesus" or "God's redemption of the world" etc)

This is not a post about inerrancy. I'll save that for another day. (Yes, I believe the Bible is true, but there are so many nuances to this discussion that, well, it requires discussion. Too often we are set in our interpretations, where there are errors and contradictions, and we put all that pressure on the Bible itself. But again, another day).

As it stands, I have no real problem with the above statement. I've said it and probably will say something like it again in the future. The purpose is to show the Bible's uniqueness from all other books. To prove (or give evidence) for the divine character and influence behind its composition. I see the intention. I understand the truth here.

Yet, even in the statement, we air out some dirty laundry (which I am all about), and at the same time try to shove everything back under the rug. I don't think anyone considers time span, the number of authors, the languages, or various geographical locations to be a negative to the Bible's composition. But as soon as we recognize it, we shift focus immediately to the "one book."

I would rather focus on the 66. Yes, of course, each book was recognized as inspired pretty close to its time of writing. The Hebrew Bible was recognized as canonical with its Torah, Writings, and Prophets not too long after Malachi was complete (there were some stragglers). The same process occurred with the NT, and five or six books were not accepted into the canon until the third or fourth century. This does not mean they weren't inspired. There was simply debate according to the church's criteria for canonicity (apostolicity, catholicity [widespread use], orthodoxy). I have absolute confidence that we have all the inspired books. None were excluded that were inspired, and none were accepted that aren't.

So yes, one canon. Complete. And there is a unified theme of Jesus or restoration of creation. 

But without a balanced view of that opening statement, we can fall into missing the human element of the Bible. Focusing on the divine, the miracle of Scripture, lends to an attitude that borders on worship of the revelation and not the One who revealed it. I've seen it. I've experienced it. There is no fourth member of the Trinity.

I like to at least have an equal emphasis on the diversity among the books. I can't study Hosea the same as Luke. Or Revelation the same as Ruth. They are not just different genres, but the backgrounds of the authors, grammar, time periods/history, that we listed above. These are individual books written for specific audiences with a particular purpose at that time. 

I've talked to many people where you think they assume the leather-bound copy of any English version just fell from the sky in one neat volume (even including study notes for us). Individual books on scrolls written to unique audiences at various times for specific purposes. And our goal when studying must be to uncover as much of that original setting as possible. Our 21st century milieu means nothing when we first approach the text.

I let individual authors speak for themselves. I want the situation of the original readers to surface. I don't want to lump everything together or level everything out to all be read the same way. 

1 Canon. But 66 books. Humans writing to humans. Spirit leading the entire way. 

And we get to eavesdrop on their initial communication. It's pretty incredible.

 

Jonah 1:1-17

 “The Lord said to Jonah son of Amittai, “Go immediately to Nineveh, that large capital city, and announce judgment against its people because their wickedness has come to my attention.” Instead, Jonah immediately headed off to Tarshish to escape from the commission of the Lord. He traveled to Joppa and found a merchant ship heading to Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went aboard it to go with them to Tarshish far away from the Lord. But the Lord hurled a powerful wind on the sea. Such a violent tempest arose on the sea that the ship threatened to break up! The sailors were so afraid that each cried out to his own god and they flung the ship’s cargo overboard to make the ship lighter. Jonah, meanwhile, had gone down into the hold below deck, had lain down, and was sound asleep. The ship’s captain approached him and said, “What are you doing asleep? Get up! Cry out to your god! Perhaps your god might take notice of us so that we might not die!” The sailors said to one another, “Come on, let’s cast lots to find out whose fault it is that this disaster has overtaken us.” So they cast lots, and Jonah was singled out. They said to him, “Tell us, whose fault is it that this disaster has overtaken us? What’s your occupation? Where do you come from? What’s your country? And who are your people?” He said to them, “I am a Hebrew! And I worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.” Hearing this, the men became even more afraid and said to him, “What have you done?” (The men said this because they knew that he was trying to escape from the Lord, because he had previously told them.) Because the storm was growing worse and worse, they said to him, “What should we do to you to make the sea calm down for us?” He said to them, “Pick me up and throw me into the sea to make the sea quiet down, because I know it’s my fault you are in this severe storm.” Instead, they tried to row back to land, but they were not able to do so because the storm kept growing worse and worse. So they cried out to the Lord, “Oh, please, Lord, don’t let us die on account of this man! Don’t hold us guilty of shedding innocent blood. After all, you, Lord, have done just as you pleased.” So they picked Jonah up and threw him into the sea, and the sea stopped raging. The men feared the Lord greatly, and earnestly vowed to offer lavish sacrifices to the Lord.” 17 (2:1) The Lord sent a huge fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the stomach of the fish three days and three nights.

— ‭‭Jonah‬ ‭1‬:‭1‬-‭17

The story of Jonah is so fascinating, and it’s really the OT equivalent of the Prodigal Son (or Luke 15). Because the point of both passages is whether God’s people will rejoice or sulk when God offers mercy to the worst of sinners. Yet, the grand emotion and shock factor is often restricted in conversation because people first want to debate whether this is historical or not. Or rather, they want to make sure everyone knows Jonah was actually swallowed by a whale/large fish. If you believe otherwise, then you are the worst of sinners and need to repent.

Of course, there are arguments on both sides, and there are counterpoints on both sides. Just because Jesus talked about Jonah in the fish’s belly, this is not a slam dunk argument. It’s a good argument, but it doesn’t seal the deal. Both sides talk about genre and contextual clues about how to read the book, so it depends on who you like to read and who’s more convincing. If you want to believe that it must absolutely be historical or else the Bible is a bunch of lies, that’s fine. If not, have at it. When it comes to intense debates like this, yes, I have thoughts, but when I see scholars—and not just their academic work, but also good, solid Christian men and women—disagree in conclusions, I say, “Ok, let’s move this down the hierarchy of important things to seize doctrinally.” It’s ok to disagree here.

Another important debate is the date of Jonah, or for that matter authorship. Most conservative dating/writings will have this during the life of the prophet, sometime around the reign of Jeroboam II (the key is before Nahum). Others will find this odd, because Nahum is not too long after Jonah lived, and the mercy of God in Jonah then “disappears” or “runs out” and the promised judgment comes in full force. Nahum promises and delivers some serious destruction on Nineveh.

The more progressive/liberal (I honestly don’t know what the point is of using terms like this anymore, because it just seems like enemy markers) approach is to date Jonah much later, like in the exile/post exile period. Then when God promised judgment in Nahum, it happens. But when Israel is wrestling with the character of God post exile (see Malachi), and how they should interact with their surrounding nations, and how God’s sovereignty is still intact, the book of Jonah was written.

Assyria was long gone by then, but they were known as the most ruthless empire when they were around. Sticking hooks up noses. Parading through streets naked. Perhaps I’ll post articles sometimes about their tactics. This is precisely why Jonah would say “Umm, I don’t think my going there would be a great idea. Hard pass.”

Whether the story happened in time of Jonah, or the story was created makes the same point. God is the type of God that offers forgiveness to the most cruel enemy the Jews ever faced in their history to that point. Would His people be willing to continue their mission of being a light to the surrounding nations? 

Some more points from this first chapter: Chapters 1-2 use the word “down” multiple times for Jonah. Hebrew has it more visibly than English. He goes down to Joppa. He goes down into the ship. He sinks into the sea. Pretty soon seaweed is around his head (whether metaphorical or real). It’s fantastic imagery of his rebellion against God.

Multiple times throughout the book, God appoints things: the storm, the fish, the plant, the worm (ch 4). And all these things are way more obedient than Jonah. In fact, whenever we read “the word of the Lord came to a prophet” in the OT, we always hear of the prophet speaking some terrible judgment against someone or doing some crazy stunt. Not Jonah. He runs away. This is absurd, and we want to stay engaged with the text to see what happens and why he has done this.

These sailors would have been somewhat used to storms but nothing like this. Their superstitions led them to Jonah, and even they had more faith at this point. Jonah’s speech is such a lie. I worship YHWH. Yeah. At least, he confessed that much. 

Small debate whether his willingness to be thrown overboard was contrition or more running. It was better to drown than go to Nineveh. 

NET has vowed to offer sacrifices. Not sure these sailors converted to Judaism or anything, and hopefully they waited to reach land before building a fire. But God’s power over the storm clearly showed them whom to fear.

This opening chapter sets the stage for everyone responding to YHWH correctly (even creation), except Jonah. And if I knew the Ninevites, I would probably be in the sea with Jonah,  too. But hopefully by ch 4, I wouldn’t be complaining as much. Hopefully.

Genesis 6:1-8

“When humankind began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that the daughters of humankind were beautiful. Thus they took wives for themselves from any they chose. So the Lord said, “My spirit will not remain in humankind indefinitely, since they are mortal. They will remain for 120 more years.” The Nephilim were on the earth in those days (and also after this) when the sons of God were having sexual relations with the daughters of humankind, who gave birth to their children. They were the mighty heroes of old, the famous men. But the Lord saw that the wickedness of humankind had become great on the earth. Every inclination of the thoughts of their minds was only evil all the time. The Lord regretted that he had made humankind on the earth, and he was highly offended. So the Lord said, “I will wipe humankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth – everything from humankind to animals, including creatures that move on the ground and birds of the air, for I regret that I have made them.” But Noah found favor in the sight of the Lord.”

— ‭‭Genesis‬ ‭6‬:‭1‬-‭8‬‬

Wow, this is obviously one of the most intriguing texts in the OT. So many opinions on the sons of God, the Nephilim, even the extent of the flood. 

First note is structure of Genesis 1-11 as whole. I’ll have to come back and insert verses/passages, but there’s a repeated pattern. Creation, fall, fraternal division, genealogy, lots of sin. Chapters 6-11 repeat the pattern. Flood story covers world with water again (see 1:2) and there’s recreation of sorts. Similarities between Adam and Eve’s sin and Noah’s vineyard (though only one real Fall situation). Cain and Abel=curse of Ham. Genealogy of ch 10 even though the earth isn’t “scattered” until chapter 11. Then Tower of Babel in some ways mirrors this passage. So God’s blessing through Adam, then Noah, then Abraham. 

God says, “Rather than starting over again with one man, I’ll save the world through one family.” At least that’s what the pattern and the literary style presents.

The narrative at least presents a global flood. We can’t interview the people who lived then or what they perceived or experienced, or if they are exaggerating for affect. There’s really no reason for science and Bible to hate each other here. I’ve read a bunch of scientific article for and against a completely global flood. It depends on what you want to believe. So I really don’t care about the science side. I think it can always be used as a tool to help our understanding. Our problem is we get so scared of it, or what if it disproves something? I have a much more confident (well, some may call it loose), but I just understand the nuances of inerrancy enough to know that the ancient contexts of the original audience matter. We can’t impose our thoughts onto them. Sometimes we can’t get all the way back to what they were thinking, and that has to be ok, but the text is completely reliable. Our interpretation may need to be altered.

I do know that “all” doesn’t always mean all in the Bible (see the conquest). “All the land” and “all the world” are sometimes used for effect. 

Sons of god= We may want to tone this down to mean Seth’s line who married Cain’s line, but there are still other humans referenced. Sons of god pretty much always references angels or divine beings of some sort. It makes us uneasy, but in Gen 18-19 the men of Sodom requested to have sex with the angels who visited Abraham and then Lot. So angels either have physical bodies or can take physical bodies.

120 years: Some still translate and interpret this as humans lived for 120 years, but I agree with the NET that the flood came 120 years after God talked to Noah. He allowed them more time to repent. This gets into the debate of how long people actually lived anyway, which is not appropriate here.

Nephilim: giants. Mentioned in Numbers as well. If you think the entire world was destroyed, then these obviously can’t be descendants. The author doesn’t make the connection explicit that these are descendants of the angel/woman relations. Just says they were around. 

God saw: This is a key phrase of the passage. It counters Genesis 1 where everything God sees everything as “good” and fulfilling its intended purpose. Here, everything is completely out of order and chaotic. Also speaks to God’s nearness to His creation/sovereignty even in its chaos.

May be a good place to insert the Ancient Near Eastern (ANE) parallels. Epic of Gilgamesh and Atrakhasis are closest stories from Mesopotamia to reflect flood stories (we also have creation stories and babel stories and famine stories.) People want to argue over who borrowed from whom. There are obvious similarities and differences. The most clear difference is that the secular texts make the gods irrational, annoyed with humans (i.e., they’re too loud). The flood is almost an accident or at least saving them is an accident. One god tells a messenger a secret to go share with the humans how to escape the flood so as to make the other god more angry.

YHWH is not irrational or annoyed. He is responding to sin. He gave commands. Those are being broken, and in His desire for order and justice, He acts. 

God has regret? Lots of different translations here. NET has good note, but Chisholm’s article on God’s character is one of the best I’ve seen. There’s a difference between God’s commands/prophecies and decrees. But this is not that. This is emotion, and may be speaking of God in ways we understand Him. Not saying it’s inaccurate or that God does or doesn’t have emotions. Author is portraying God as grieving. Sorrowful. 

Again, the all inclusive language may be a bit much. Is Noah really the only human that’s nor murdering others or thriving off sin? Could be in that region or maybe just not to a certain extent. Doesn’t really matter. The point is how the author sets this up. 

But Noah…he is the one about to “give rest.” By the way, rest through judgment. And the entire flood story is a fascinating narrative in itself. But that’s more than this passage allows.

Luke 2:1-7

 “Now in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus to register all the empire for taxes. This was the first registration, taken when Quirinius was governor of Syria. Everyone went to his own town to be registered. So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family line of David. He went to be registered with Mary, who was promised in marriage to him, and who was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.”

— ‭‭Luke‬ ‭2‬:‭1‬-‭7‬‬

Christmas time: Time to document notes on these passages.

Nothing known of worldwide census during time of Augustus. Have to acknowledge these facts. This may be most difficult historical issue in NT. Josephus documents census, but through eclipses and other historical rulers and historians, we can date it to A.D. 6 with much certainty. This census had to be BC 6-4 ish because of Herod the Great and we know when he died.

But all is not lost: We know that Augustus instituted 3 censuses during his reign, and it could be that Rome periodically registered citizens throughout the empire. This would make sense, and probably on a rotation. Josephus notes how in other social areas Romans allowed cultures to observe their traditions, so perhaps Rome allowed registration to be done according to Jewish custom. As in, Rome would not by nature require citizens to return home, but Jewish law would (2 Sam 24). Judea is technically a vassal kingdom with Herod the Great, but Rome took census among these as well. We have examples from Syria, Cappadocia, and Nabatea). 

The biggest problem is Quirinius. He was legate from 4BC-AD1 and governor from A.D. 6 and on. There are gaps in records. But probably not governor when Jesus was born. Best answer is that a time of census was running (and perhaps Quiriunius was overseeing the operation) and this registration was completed when Quirinius became governor. Thus his name became associated with the census.

With Luke’s attention to detail elsewhere, he has proven himself as student of records. We do not have all records. Have to be honest that this is difficult but we have options to preserve Luke’s accuracy (not really as historian either, but as gospel writer). 

Other quick notes: If Joseph and Mary knew they needed to be registered, probably didn’t travel at 9 months pregnant. Would have gone with plenty of time to get adjusted and settled in Bethlehem. “While they were there” not “the first night they scrambled around trying to find a bed”

Jospeh probably not the only one who had to go to Bethlehem, so maybe traveling with family. At least, he’s going because his family is in Bethlehem. He’s from David’s family. That’s the whole point. So they are living with family.

There is no innkeeper. The word for inn is not hotel, like in “Good Samaritan.” Inn is main living area of home. Other relatives have taken all the beds (jerks), so Joseph and Mary are either on the lower level where animals would sleep. Not saying it couldn’t be a detached cave, but they have somewhat of a support system.

A whole different post would be needed for differences on Matthew and Luke. (Matthew doesn’t have them traveling to Bethlehem, for example,…just assumes they’ve been there the whole time.)

Such a simple story, and we hear it so many times, and even this passage needs to be read with chapters 1-2 in mind. John the Baptist and Jesus are linked. Women dominate the story. Songs are all over the place. And God’s kingdom is coming. And best of all…God adores the meek and lowly.