Numbers 1 and 2 … Consider Him Who Arranged His Army

Originally posted: 05/25/2019

Israel is beginning her second year as God’s delivered people, rescued from the bondage of Egypt. The moral, civil, and ceremonial laws are in place; the regulations for governance and worship would set them apart as His beloved and chosen people. And now He drafts His Army, for there will be battles ahead.

All those able to go to war are to be numbered and placed in His prescribed positions, arranged around their secret weapon and strength, His very Presence in their midst.

Consider Him Who Arranged His Army

• He Arranged His Army to identify and number all who were eligible for war.
  • “Take a census of all the congregation of the sons of Israel, by their families, by their fathers’ households, according to the number of names, every male, head by head ³ from twenty years old and upward, whoever is able to go out to war in Israel, you and Aaron shall number them by their armies,” (1:2-3).

• He Arranged His Army as a continual reminder of His Holiness.
  •  “Only the tribe of Levi you shall not number, nor shall you take their census among the sons of Israel. ⁵⁰ But you shall appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of the testimony, and over all its furnishings and over all that belongs to it. They shall carry the tabernacle and all its furnishings, and they shall take care of it; they shall also camp around the tabernacle. ⁵¹ So when the tabernacle is to set out, the Levites shall take it down; and when the tabernacle encamps, the Levites shall set it up. But the layman who comes near shall be put to death,” (1:49-51).

• He Arranged His Army to prepare them for mobilization.
  • Now the Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, ² “The sons of Israel shall camp, each by his own standard, with the banners of their fathers’ households; they shall camp around the tent of meeting at a distance,” (2:1-2).

• He Arranged His Army to position His Presence in their midst.
  • “Then the tent of meeting shall set out with the camp of the Levites in the midst of the camps; just as they camp, so they shall set out, every man in his place by their standards,” (2:17).

How are we to respond to Him Who Arranged His Army?

Let’s face it; the cold, hard reality is… we are at war. Although the battles are not against flesh and blood, the casualties are frequently beyond devastating.

 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places, (Ephesians 6:12).

Let us prayerfully dig into His Word, that He would number us with His Arranged Army, to camp or set out just as He commands.

• Have we been identified and numbered as a part of His overcoming Army?
  • For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. ⁵ Who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? (1 John 5:4-5).

• Let us honor His Holiness as we accept His marching orders and strive to please Him through consecrated lives.
  • Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. ⁴ No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier, (2 Timothy 2:3-4).

• Let us be ready to mobilize with the weapons He has graciously provided: His full armor to protect, defend, and attack.
  • For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, ⁴ for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. ⁵ We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, (2 Corinthians 10:3-5).
  • Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. ¹¹ Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. ¹² For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. ¹³ Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm, (Ephesians 6:10-13).

• And let us always remember, we are not fighting in our own power. Though in and of ourselves we are weak, as we rely on His Holy Spirit within us, we can trust His Great Power and Love to Arrange His Army to overwhelmingly conquer our enemy.
  • But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves; (2 Corinthians 4:7).
  • But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. ³⁸ For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, ³⁹ nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord, (Romans 8:37-39).

Thank You Father, that as we trust You with childlike faith, we know that by Your Great Power You will Arrange Your Army, and we will overcome!

You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world, (1 John 4:4).

Let’s Grow Together!