The book of Numbers records how God’s chosen and redeemed people were formed into an army – a priestly army – to journey with God and fight with God for His interest on earth (see Num. 1:1-4:49; 9:15-10:36; 12:16; 20:1-21:35; 31:1-54; 33:1-49).
In ch. 1 of Numbers there’s a numbering of the people for the army, and the expression “all who are able to go forth for military service” is repeated fourteen times; being formed into an army is not merely for those who are willing but those who are able to go forth for military service.
This army is corporate, and the military service requires that we grow in life and be mature. Moses was told by God to number the males who were 20 years old and over, with no upper age limit.
In the spiritual application of this principle, however, we need to realise that being a male refers to any strong believer, male or female, who has the required maturity in life.
The lower age limit is twenty years old, when one emerged from adolescent years and starts to enter the young adulthood.
In the book, The Experience of Life, brother Witness Lee outlines four stages of the experience of life, and the fourth one is knowing the Body of Christ, knowing ascension, reigning in life, the spiritual warfare, and full maturity.
The third stage of the experience of life includes the experience of the cross, dealing with the flesh, dealing with the self, and dealing with the natural constitution. We can say that, experientially speaking, the third stage of the experience of life is our spiritual adolescence.
Only those who passed through this third stage are twenty years old, old enough to be numbered for the army. In the church life there are many saints who are newly saved or rather new to the Lord’s recovery, and they are in the second stage of the experience of life.
We should not introspect and analyse to see where we are, and we should not take in thoughts of unbelief or be discouraged. We should simply know the truth and cooperate with the Lord to grow in life.
Regarding the matter of being twenty years of age or older, in the spiritual realm, the apostle John speaks concerning a certain spiritual age group in 1 John 2:13-14, where he says, I write to you, young men, because you overcome the evil one…I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one.
These “young men” are in a spiritual category: they are strong (soldiers are not weak or narcissistic wimps, those not able to handle any kind of conflict) according to the resurrection power.
The young men who are qualified to be formed into an army have grown up in the divine life and the word of God abides in them; they have overcome the evil one.
If we let the word of Christ abide in us and if we are strengthened with power into the inner man, our spirit is the strongest part of our being, and Christ is making His home in us, and the evil one is exposed.
After speaking of the young men being strong, John says that we should not love the world or the things which are in the world; one cannot love the word in the way we love God, or love the things in the world – and be in the army.
In 2 Tim. 1:4, when Paul knew that he was an overcomer and the Lord has prepared a crown of righteousness for him as a recompense, and for all those who love His appearing, he also referred to a co-worker who was a fellow soldier, and he said, But Demas has forsaken me, having loved the present age.
There are many believers today who are saved eternally, who will be in the New Jerusalem, who have their sins forgiven, who are justified by grace through faith, who are born of God and have eternal life, but they are still part of this generation who loves the present age.
This is our choice today, especially as we may have a good job and a promising career: do we choose the present age, or do we choose to be formed into an army to fight for the Lord’s interest?
We need to realise that the whole world lies in the evil one (1 John 5:19); the evil one is pernicious, harmfully evil, one who affects others and influences them to be evil and vicious. In such an evil one the whole world lies.
But the young men who would be soldiers in the Lord’s army have become strong, the word of God abides in them, they see through the masks of the world, and they know that the whole world system lies in the evil one, but they have overcome the world – they have overcome the evil one!
May the Lord strengthen us, give us an appetite for the Word of God, so that we may let the word abide in us richly, and allow the Lord to make His home in us, so that the world may be exposed to us and we would be delivered from loving the world.
Amen, may we be those who are formed into an army to fight for the Lord’s interests so that, when the rapture call comes, we would not first reach for our smart phone or our car keys but rather we would be one with the Lord to be part of His army!
Being Formed into an Army to Fight so that God can Build His Kingdom and Habitation
The army that the Lord is after is for God’s people to fight so that God can gain the ground on earth to build up His kingdom with His habitation (see Exo. 12:41, 51; 13:18).
Even from their exodus from Egypt, the people of Israel marched out as the armies of God. In Numbers we see how God’s redeemed people are being formed into an army who journeyed with God and fought for God on earth.
In Leviticus we see mainly the worship and living of the redeemed people of God; furthermore, in Leviticus God’s redeemed people were instructed how to worship God and live a holy life, while in Numbers they were formed into an army and fought for Him throughout their journey.
Today God wants to gain an army to fight so that God can gain the ground on earth to build up His kingdom with His habitation.
The Lord wants to gain ground in country after country; for example, He used to have the ground in a country like Germany, but the enemy usurped it, so now the Lord comes again to nullify the works of the devil, take the ground back, and increase His kingdom in Germany!
And for this He needs people to fight so that God would gain more ground for Him to build up His kingdom with His habitation.
In the book of Numbers we see three main things: the formation of the army, the journeys of the army, and the fighting of the army (Num. 10:33-36). The formation of the army was for fighting, and the fighting required the army to journey, that is, not to stay in one place.
As seen in Num. 33:1-40, the children were always going on from place to place to gain ground that God might have a people to be built up for His kingdom and His house.
Today the Lord wants His people to be formed into an army who would journey with Him from place to place according to His leading, and who would fight for Him to gain more ground on earth to bring in His kingdom and build up His habitation.
Just as the children of Israel were journeying from place to place for God to gain more ground on earth, so we need to pray prayers to cooperate with the Lord to gain more ground on earth, and we need to move one with Him in His move for Him to build up His church and bring in His kingdom.
We need to pray for this to happen all over the earth, in locality after locality; we need to be one with the Lord to be formed into an army to fight for His interests on earth so that His church may be built up as His habitation, and the kingdom of God would be brought in.
Lord Jesus, may we be formed into an army to journey with God and fight for Him so that God may build His habitation and expand His kingdom on earth. Amen, Lord, we are here on earth for You, for Your interest; we are here to be one with You in Your move and journeying on earth, and to build up the church as the house of God and the kingdom of God. Lord, release the prayers of the army to cooperate with You for the expanding of Your kingdom and the building up of the church!
Being Formed into an Army to Fight for the Protection of God’s Testimony on Earth
Numbers chapters 1 and 2 reveal that the children of Israel were formed into an army because they were surrounded by enemies; the army needed to be formed for the protection of God’s testimony (Num. 1:1-3).
The children of Israel were formed into an army able to fight for the protection of God’s testimony.
The picture in Numbers shows us that the army was encamped around the tabernacle to protect the sphere, the realm, in which the tabernacle was erected (2:2).
The center and focus of the children of Israel with their army was the tabernacle with the Ark of the Testimony, and the army was formed so that the testimony of God would be protected.
In the church life we need to be formed into an army to fight for the protection of God’s testimony on earth.
Every local church needs protection; all the local churches need some brothers and sisters who fight for the protection of the church, for the protection of God’s interests in the church, and for the protection of all the saints who are not at the military age.
As the children of Israel were journeying through the wilderness, God viewed them as an army fighting for His testimony (Exo. 12:41, 51; 13:18).
Similarly today, as the church life takes place on earth today, the ascended Christ views the Lord’s recovery in the wilderness as an army fighting for His testimony.
He sees an army being formed, and He knows that the enemy’s time is limited, his days are numbered, for soon the army will be mobilised, and the Lord will come back and destroy the enemy and even put him in the lake of fire forever!
What an honour it is for us to be saved out of the world system and be brought into the wilderness in a positive way, be separated unto God, enjoy Christ and the church, receive the divine revelation, and be formed into an army with a future of victory and glory!
Hallelujah, this is the Lord’s recovery!
Apparently, the children of Israel were fighting for themselves, but actually, they were fighting for God’s testimony on earth, for among them was the Tabernacle of the Testimony, God’s dwelling place on earth.
Today in the church life we need to be formed into an army to fight not for ourselves to get something for ourselves or to vindicate ourselves if we’re attacked in any way, but for God’s testimony on the earth!
People may say many things against us, they may even go online and attack us under artificial names and in dark places, but what we want is to fight for God’s testimony on earth! We are not afraid of the enemy’s attacks – these only strengthen us to experience Christ more!
We are not here to fight for ourselves, we don’t want any glory for ourselves in the Lord’s recovery, and we don’t seek to have a position in the church life; rather, through Christ as our burnt offering, we are here for God and His interest, and we are here to fight for His interest on earth!
In this warfare there are two main functions: the function of fighting the enemies and the function of maintaining the tabernacle, which represented God’s testimony in the universe (Num. 1:1-3; 21:1-3).
On one hand we serve the Lord to maintain the tabernacle, experiencing Christ and enjoying Him for the building up of the church; on the other hand, we are trained by the Commander-in-chief Himself, by His Joshua’s and Caleb’s, and by those who have been fighting the battle, so that we may fight the battle for the protection of God’s testimony on the earth.
Lord Jesus, we give ourselves to You to be formed into an army to fight for the protection of God’s testimony on earth. We are not here to vindicate ourselves or get a position in the church life; we simply give ourselves to You, Lord, to be formed into an army to fight for Your interest on earth and protect Your testimony. Lord, train us by Yourself and by those who have been fighting the battle for many years; we say Amen to Your training as the Head and through the Body, and we stand for Your testimony on the earth!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by Ron Kangas for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1977, vol. 2, “All Ages for the Lord’s Testimony,” chs. 1-2, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallisation-Study of Numbers (1), week 1, Being Formed into an Army to Fight with God for His Interest on Earth.
- Hymns on this topic:
# For God to gain His army, priesthood, and dwelling place, / Defilement must be dealt with, that to Him we’d be chaste, / Make us the same as You, Lord, truly righteous and holy, / Meeting Your strict requirements, becoming Your army. (Song on, Christ in Numbers)
# The churches are the Body / Of Christ on earth today. / They are His testimony, / That He may have a way. / They are the golden lampstands / In cities far and wide. / They are His fighting army, / And His beloved Bride. (Hymns #1265)
# One with the interceding Christ, to carry out God’s admin’stration, / Carry out God’s administration for His economy. / As God’s redeemed, sanctified elect, His holy army arrayed we stand, / And in the energizing God, we move, we battle, we take the land. / We must move today in the wheel of God’s ultimate move. (Song on, God’s Move Today)
About aGodMan
