Numbers — Chapter 1

God commands Moses to number all the sons of Israel from twenty years old and upward, all who are able to go out to war; the census reflects God's providential ordering of His people into a holy army.

The total of those numbered was 603,550 fighting men, not counting the Levites; the Levites are set apart for service of the Tabernacle and are not enrolled in the military census.

The tribe of Levi is exempted from the census and given charge of the Tabernacle; \"among the children of Israel they shall have no possession,\" for the Lord is their inheritance.