Several years ago, I joined some close friends who were leading an bible study from teacher Kay Arthur. She implements a method of inductive study which is done by following three steps: observation, which is a generalized overview; interpretation, carefully done using scripture to support, corroborate, and sustain scripture; and finally application, in which you learn how to apply the lessons to life.
During some of the lessons, it was suggested that we draw pictures of scenes in the passages we were covering. This would help solidify the passage in memory by pictorial association of the material and scriptures.
Some time after that, I decided to apply the same technique to a part of my yearly biblical reading in the chapters regarding the tabernacle. The image below is a recreation of the drawing I made those many years ago.
1) The ark of the covenant inside the Most Holy Place, or the Holy of Holies.
2) Inside the Holy Place was the altar of incense before the veil that separated the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place.
3) On the north side of the Holy Place was the table of shewbread.
4) On the south side of the Holy Place was the lampstand.
5) Outside the tent of meeting, in the courtyard, was the laver, or basin, for the ritual washing.
6) In the courtyard, near the entrance of the tabernacle, was the altar of sacrifice.
A short time later, my daily reading came to the distribution of the encampments of the tribes of Israel. The opening chapters of Numbers tell of the census taking of each man capable of going to war from 20 years of age upward. Never before had I been able to name all the tribes, so I decided to apply the same method of drawing the tribes around the now memorized tabernacle. To simplify it, I memorized 4 sets of 3 initials: JIZ (eastward), DAN (northward), EMB (westward), and GSR (southward). By seeing the initials, the names of the tribes readily come to mind.
If you know the tribes, and scripture, you will realize that there is not an L mentioned above for the Levites. They were not included in the census as they were not to fight as warriors, but they did have position within the encampments. The sons of Levi were Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. Aaron and Moses are from the lineage of Kohath, though Aaron and his descendants were singled out to be the priests before God. The remaining Kohathites, along with the Gershonites and Merarites, were the Levites in charge of the tabernacle. These four groups, priests and Levites, encamped between the tabernacle, where God dwelled, and the other tribes as a buffer: the priests eastward, Merarites northward, Gershonites westward, and Kohathites southward. The image below shows this second stage of memorization.
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The next issue is something that I have heard along the way, and while not something I'm totally convinced about, it is an interesting thought to ponder. Take it as you will.
In the census of the opening chapters of Numbers as I mentioned above, each tribe's warriors were numbered and then totaled per each of the four flags (Judah, Dan, Ephraim, and Reuben). Two camps were nearly equal in size, one camp smaller, and one larger than the others, which when drawn out lays out an interesting image.
I leave it to you to consider its validity, and its implications.
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[Originally written: March, 12, 2017]
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