Eliab, Son of Helon

“So Moses and Aaron took these men who had been designated by name.” (Numbers 1:17, NASB95)

Zebulun’s tribe was represented by Eliab ben Helon.  Again, you recognize El as God, and the personal pronoun “i,” so you know we are going to be seeing “My God is ab” for the meaning of Eliab.  And, if you know your New Testament, you know the term “abba” as the tender word for father.  Indeed, “ab” means “Father.”  So Eliab tells us that, in the land of rest, God would reveal Himself as Father. In choosing Eliab “by name,” this is what God wants us to know.

But Eliab was the son of Helon.  Israel would go from Helon to Eliab, spiritually speaking. Helon is a Hebrew name that comes from hayil (or chayil, with the guttural “ch”). Hayil is most often translated “army,” but can also refer to valor, strength, or even wealth.  

What joy it is to go from personal strength, valor, and wealth into a land where such virtues are not needed because the “peace of Jerusalem” has arrived, and we rejoice that God is “our Father.”  Are you working by might or strength, or “by my Spirit, says the Lord?”

In His Grace,

Dr. Randy White