In 26:5-51 we have the numbering of the twelve tribes, with the number being 601,730. If we compare the second numbering with the first, we will see that some tribes decreased, whereas other tribes increased.
Those numbered had to be twenty years old and above (v. 2). This means that they had to be mature for fighting.
Verses 33 and 46 indicate that some of the daughters were numbered. Their being numbered was for inheriting the land.
In verses 52 through 56 we have the regulation for the distribution of the land.
"To these the land shall be divided for an inheritance according to the number of names. To a large tribe you shall give a large inheritance, and to a small tribe you shall give a small inheritance; each shall be given its inheritance according to its numbers" (vv. 53-54). These verses indicate that the distribution of land to each tribe was according to the number of people in the tribes. This means that the distribution was according to the increase of life. Those with a greater increase were to receive a larger inheritance.
"The land shall be divided by lot, according to the names of the tribes of their fathers they shall inherit. Their inheritance shall be divided according to lot between the larger and the smaller" (vv. 55-56). This distributing of the land by lot was according to the blessing under God's sovereignty, whereas the distributing of the land according to the number of people was a matter of human responsibility. On the one hand, the people had to bear the responsibility to have the increase in number. On the other hand, God ordained that the land be distributed according to the blessing under His sovereignty. Therefore, the distribution of the land depended both on human responsibility and on divine sovereignty.