The book of Numbers as a whole reveals the need for God’s chosen people to be formed into a holy army to carry out the holy war; for this, they go through many stations and experience many things, so that God would gain His holy army.
We have seen that in the book of Exodus God brought His people out of the usurpation of Pharaoh and opened up His heart to them at Mount Sinai, showing them both who He is by giving them the law, and giving them a blueprint of God’s building, the tabernacle.
The tabernacle is a very meaningful matter, for in it we see the revelation of God and His economy; in His economy God wants to build Himself into man and build man into Himself, so that the Triune God would be one with man and live with man as one entity, a corporate dwelling place, the testimony of God.
This is what the whole Bible speaks about, and in the Old Testament – especially in Exodus – we see this in type, while in the New Testament we have the clear revelation and definition of what God’s economy is.
Before God created anything, He had a heart’s desire to gain a corporate expression; for this, He chose us, He predestinated us, and in time He came to redeem us and save us; now after our salvation, He reveals who He is to us, and He shows us what His heart’s desire is.
According to His heart’s desire, the Triune God builds Himself into man and mingles Himself with man so that He may obtain a dwelling place, a testimony.
This is seen in the tabernacle, where we see type after type of the Triune God and man being mingled and built up together.
The boards of the tabernacle, the ark, the lampstand, the altars, and everything related to the tabernacle is a type of the Triune God being wrought into man and being mingled with man so that God would gain a testimony for Himself, a corporate expression in humanity.
This is what the book of Exodus reveals. Then, the book of Leviticus shows us how God trained His people to worship Him and partake of Him, and how to live a holy, clean, and rejoicing life.
The whole book is filled with God’s speaking concerning how we, the holy people of the holy God, should worship Him and partake of Him; as we do this, we will live a holy, clean, and rejoicing life together with our God who lives in our midst.
Our God is still training us – we are His disciples; we are being trained to enjoy the Lord, to live a holy life, a clean life, and a rejoicing life.
The Need for God’s People to be Formed into a Holy Army to Carry out the Holy War
In its entirety, the book of Numbers reveals the need for us as God’s chosen and redeemed people to be formed into an army to carry out the holy war (1 Tim. 1:18; 2 Tim. 2:3-4).
Therefore, the people of Israel had to go through many experience and arrive at many stations, journeying with God and fighting with God and for God, so that they would be formed into a holy army to fight for God’s interests on earth.
In order to be formed into a holy army, God’s people first had to be numbered according to their maturity in life (see Num. 1:3, 18).
For us to be formed into a holy army to fight with God and for God, we need to be brought on to maturity (Heb. 6:1), for to be a part of this army we need to have some maturity in life.
After being numbered, God’s chosen people were also built up into one body (Num. 1:44-46); their encamping in the array ordained by God showed that they were built up as one body.
Then, God’s people journeyed with God, and in their journey they had the presence of God. Wherever they went, the people of Israel had God’s presence as signified by the cloud in the day and by the fire in the cloud at night (Exo. 33:14; 40:36-38; Num. 9:15-23).
To be formed into the holy army to fight for God’s interest, we need to journey with God, having His presence with us; His presence makes us His people, a distinct and uncommon group on earth who stand for God and for His interest.
As the children of Israel journeyed with God, the Angel of Jehovah took the lead (Exo. 32:34); the title the Angel of Jehovah is a particular title of Christ in the Old Testament, as revealed in Exodus 3:2-6. This shows that in their journey the children of Israel were moving, walking, and living with Jehovah, the Triune God.
In our journey with God on earth, as we are being formed into a holy army to fight for His interests, we need to move, walk, and live with the Triune God; our daily living needs to be one with the Lord and in the Lord, and everything we do has to be in this organic union with Him and under His leading.
God’s chosen and redeemed people passed through the great and terrible wilderness with all kinds of trials, sufferings, and divine care, supplies, and discipline (Deut. 1:19; 8:2-5).
This is a type of our Christian life; though we may think that the Christian life should be full of joy and peace, in the type of the children of Israel we see that our Christian journey is as in the great wilderness, and we have all kinds of trials, sufferings, together with God’s divine care, supplies, and discipline.
On one hand we experience trials and sufferings, and on the other the Lord is faithful and tender to care for us, to supply us with food and drink, and even to discipline us.
The Lord is with us as we pass through the sufferings and trials in our Christian life; He not only leads us through these tribulations and trials, but He also divinely cares for us, bountifully supplies us, and disciplines us.
Many times we are like the children of Israel, “naughty Christians”, so the Lord comes in to discipline us for a time, until we learn the lessons He wants us to learn and we open to Him without reservation so that He may train us and form us into the holy army He needs to fight for His interests.
On their journey through the wilderness, the children of Israel passed through forty-two stations to enter into rest in the good land promised by God (see Num. 33:1-49; Josh. 1:2).
These forty-two stations typify the 42 generations from Abraham to Christ (see Matt. 1); the goal of the forty-two stations was the good land, and the goal of the forty-two generations was Christ.
The correspondence here shows us that God’s intention is to bring all His people into the good land, for this all-inclusive Christ is the goal.
Thank You Lord for choosing us, saving us, and making us Your people so that we may be formed into a holy army to carry out the holy war, fighting for Your interests on the earth. May we be brought on to maturity so that we may be formed into an army, and may we be built up with the saints into one body for Your interest. Lord, we want to move, walk, and live with the Triune God as we journey in our Christian life day by day. Thank You for leading us step by step, station by station, through all kinds of trials and sufferings, and thank You for coming in to divinely care for us, supply us, and discipline us, until we become the holy army You need for Your purpose on earth.
As a Priestly Army, God’s Chosen and Redeemed People fight together with God and for God
The central thought of the book of Numbers is that Christ is the meaning of life, the testimony, the center of God’s people, and He is the Leader, the way, and the goal of their journey and fighting.
The entire Bible shows us one thing — God’s intention is to have a people formed into an army to take Christ as their meaning of life, testimony, center, Leader, way, and goal and to proceed on and fight for God so that He may have a people built up as His kingdom and His house, which will consummate in the New Jerusalem (Gen. 1:26-28; Exo. 12:41, 51; 13:18; Matt. 16:16-19; Eph. 6:10-12; Rev. 17:14; 19:11-16; 21:2, 10-11). Wow, Hallelujah!
The entire Bible shows us this one thing – on the positive side God gaining His testimony and expression, and on the negative side He is gaining a holy army, a priestly army, who would fight for His interest on the earth.
Today we as believers in Christ are being formed to be the priestly army so that we may fight together with God and for God.
For this, we must first move, live, and walk with Him, and we must also pass through many things in our Christian life and experience; only in this way can we be qualified to fight together with God.
In the church life today we should fight for God and with God as the holy army which He has prepared and formed.
This means that the church life is not mainly for us but for God; God regenerated us and brought us into the church life so that we may be formed into the holy army fighting for His interests.
But many times in our feeling concerning the church life we may be too selfish and too subjective – not in a negative way, but in the way of thinking that the church life is mainly for us, for our enjoyment.
We may thank and praise the Lord for bringing us into the church life, for here we have found our home; we wandered in many divisions, we sought for a place to call home, and we could not find food, drink, rest, peace, and satisfaction – but praise the Lord, we found the church life!
Oh, how good is the church life! Before we came into the church life, we were homeless, but now we are at home in the church! Amen! And this is absolutely true and correct to say and pray.
However, we should be able to lift our eyes and see that God Himself has a need – He needs not only a home where He and we are at rest, in mutual enjoyment and satisfaction, but He also needs an army, a holy army, a priestly army, who would fight together with God and for God.
God’s name, His interest, and His word is being put down all day on earth today, and His kingdom is hindered from coming; this is because there’s no holy army ready to fight the warfare with God. So it is good to learn prayers like this.
Lord Jesus, the church life is actually Your life; You want to live this way, and we are all living together with You. If we did not want to live and move with You, You would not have Your satisfaction. Lord, You do not want to be alone: You need a holy army to fight together with God and for God and His interest on earth. Thank You for choosing us, redeeming us, and saving us to accompany You in Your move. Our church life, Lord, is really for You. Gain us as the priestly army who would fight together with God and for God in the church life today.
This article can also be read in the Romanian language / Citiți acest articol în limba română vizitând următorul link, În viața de biserică suntem formați într-o armată sfântă pentru a lupta împreună cu Dumnezeu.
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by bro. Ed Marks for this week, and portions from, Life-study of Numbers, msg. 50 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-Study of Numbers (2), week 1, A Vital Sketch of the Divine Revelation in the Books of Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers concerning God’s Economy with His Chosen and Redeemed People.
- Hymns on this topic:
# God wants His holy people to become His army; / Rise up, all ages! March on for His testimony; / Christ is our meaning of life, testimony and center, / In everything He’s the way, the goal and the Leader. (Song on, Christ in Numbers)
# Fight, saints, for Jesus our Lord! / Take in His life, stand in one accord! / Never fear God’s enemy; / Tread on his head triumphantly! / Pray that the daily church life be strong, / That all the saints in spirit press on, / Fighting as the one new man, / Fulfilling our Lord’s great plan! (Hymns #1283)
# There’s a church in New York City, / Honoring the risen Christ; / Caring for the other churches— / Following in truth and light; / With them in coordination, / We the kingdom will possess; / Fighting as one mighty army, / Till the kingdom’s manifest. (Hymns #1263)
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