In verses 16 through 29 we have the distributors of the good land. The leaders of the two and a half tribes are not included in the list of distributors. The two and a half tribes possessed something, but what they possessed was not part of the good land. In principle, this may also be our situation in the church life. We may have our choice and gain something. What we gain may seem to be according to God's promise, but actually it is merely something according to our own choice and cannot be reckoned as a part of God's promise.
"These are the names of the men who shall divide the land to you for an inheritance: Eleazar the priest and Joshua the son of Nun" (v. 17). Eleazar and Joshua both typify Christ. On the one hand, Christ is our Priest; on the other hand, He is our Leader.
Verse 18 says, "You shall take one leader of every tribe, to divide the land for an inheritance." In verses 19 through 28 we have a list of these leaders: Caleb, of the tribe of Judah, being the first; Shemuel, of the tribe of Simeon; Elidad, of the tribe of Benjamin; Bukki, of the tribe of Dan; Hanniel, of the tribe of Manasseh; Kemuel, of the tribe of Ephraim; Elizaphan, of the tribe of Zebulun; Paltiel, of the tribe of Issachar; Ahihud, of the tribe of Asher; and Pedahel, of the tribe of Naphtali. "These are the men whom Jehovah commanded to divide the inheritance for the sons of Israel in the land of Canaan" (v. 29).
There should be some significance in the fact that this list does not include the names of the leaders of the two and a half tribes. I believe that their names do not appear because these tribes made their own choice. Today, if we have our self-choice, our names may not be included on God's "list." Concerning this, we should not care about man's opinion, appraisal, appreciation, criticism, and condemnation. Today is "man's day" (1 Cor. 4:3), the present age in which man judges. Let us wait for the day of the Lord when He will judge (1 Cor. 4:4-5). Only the Lord is qualified to give the final word. Therefore, let us learn not to have our self-choice, which keeps us outside the death of Christ. We should care for the Lord's choice, not for our choice, and let our names be on His list, not on our list.
Finally, we need to see that there is a difference between the leaders in Numbers 1 and in Numbers 34. The leaders in chapter one were for the numbering; the leaders in chapter thirty-four were for the distribution of the good land. Both the boundaries of the good land and the distributors of the good land are significant.