There is a spiritual relationship between the incense altar (Exo. 30:1-10) and the formation of an army (vv. 11-16). Actually, all throughout Exodus we see that God considers His people as “His armies”: He said He will bring them out according to their armies (Exo. 6:26), and “bring forth My armies, my people” (7:4), “On this day I brought your armies out of Egypt” (12:17), and “all the armies of Jehovah went out of the land of Egypt” (v. 41, 51).
The Lord didn’t just deliver His people from under the tyranny of the Egyptians so that He may bring them to a good land to be in peace and serve Him; God brought His armies out of Egypt so that they may build the tabernacle to be His testimony and fight for God’s move.
Nowhere on earth is God welcome, and in order for Him to give the good land to the people of Israel, they had to be formed into an army to fight against all God’s enemies and take the land. When the people of Israel got out of Egypt they were arrayed for battle (Exo. 13:18).
However, even though there’s a war raging and God needs an army, He may not lead us to the way of war too soon so that we won’t lose heart (Exo. 13:17).
The Lord wants to gain an army that will fight for His interest and advance His economy, and for this He wants to gain some who pray at the incense altar for the formation of an army, so that many of God’s people would grow in life and have a certain measure of maturity to be formed into the army.
Without the prayers at the incense altar God cannot gain the growth in life that He needs among His people; we need to be joined to the Lord and see His need, His economy, and His administration, and we need to pray the prayers that He needs by entering into the interceding life of Christ so that God would release the growth in life of His people and an army would be formed to fight for God’s move on earth!
At the Incense Altar we Pray for the Formation of an Army to Fight for God’s Interest
The connection between the incense altar and the expiation silver in Exo. 30 is that at the incense altar there’s much prayer for the army to be formed to fight for God’s move on earth. We need to experience all the aspects of the tabernacle until we arrive at the incense altar to intercede for God’s interests and His move.
When we are at the golden incense altar, as part of the corporate Christ interceding, we have no opinion about everything; here we are not governed by any natural views and inclinations but we are fully open to the transmission from the interceding Christ, and whatever He prays we also pray.
At the incense altar the saints are one with the Lord and, whatever He transmits into their spirit, the Body on earth echoes and expresses the prayer of the Head.
The more we linger at the incense altar in oneness with the Lord, the more we get to discover what is in the Lord’s inner being; we realize that God wants to move all over the earth, and if temporarily He can’t open a certain country, He may move hundreds of thousands of people from that country to a place where they can hear the gospel (see the recent refugees situation in Europe).
God wants to move, and the intercessors pray for God’s move; they realize there’s a fight, a war, since Satan resists God in His move, and there’s much prayer for the formation of the army.
God doesn’t need “special forces” saints who are “parachuting behind enemy’s line” and accomplish God’s special operations; God wants an army, saints who are qualified to be warriors in the army, saints who see God’s need, His move, and have the necessary growth in life unto maturity to join themselves to God and to one another to pray and fight for God’s move on earth.
Even though such an army is small, the ones at the incense altar don’t lose heart: they pray for the Lord to release the growth in life, the maturation of His people, and they pray to defeat Satan’s strategy to hinder the growth in life. Then, the way is open for the saints to mature and arrive at the spiritual age of twenty, and they can be formed into the army God needs to further His move on earth.
The prayer at the incense altar is for God’s move; because of all the enemies that oppose God’s move, God moves by fighting. When the ark set out, Moses said, Rise up, O Jehovah, and let Your enemies be scattered; and let those who hate You flee before You (Num. 10:35).
The tabernacle signifies God embodied in His chosen people for His move on earth, and everything in the tabernacle and related to the tabernacle is for God’s move (Exo. 25:8-9). However, God’s testimony and His move in man is a matter of warfare; there’s much opposition to God and many enemies fight against God, and so whenever God wants to move, His people formed as His army needs to fight.
God moves by fighting, and God’s people need to pray for the formation of the army to fight for God’s move on earth to accomplish His purpose (Eph. 6:10-12)!
Lord Jesus, we want and be one with You as the interceding Christ to pray for the formation of an army to fight for God’s move on earth! Lord, release the growth in life of the saints unto maturity so that they would pay the expiation silver and be formed into the army that fights for Your move and interests on earth today! Bind Your enemy and all his attacks on the saints to keep them from growing in life. Lord, may the army be formed with those who are strong in spirit, empowered by the Spirit into their inner man, and who see God’s move and care for His interests on earth!
The Intercessory Prayer issues in the Number of God’s People to Form God’s Army
The intercessory prayer by the faithful saints who enter into the interceding life of Christ to intercede with Him at the incense altar issues in the numbering of God’s people to form an army to fight against God’s enemies, those who oppose His move.
Our fight today is not against flesh and blood, even though it may seem that men oppose God and His move; our fight is against the rulers and authorities in the heavenlies, typified by the inhabitants of the good land (see Exo. 30:11-16; 23:23; Eph. 6:12).
The Canaanites, the tribes that lived in Canaan and occupied the good land, have a threefold spiritual significance: the natural man with the natural life, the natural man joined to the evil spirits, and the evil spirits – the principalities and powers in the air.
The tabernacle signifies God embodied in His chosen people for His move on earth to build up the church as His corporate expression. The prayer offered at the incense altar is for God’s move. This intercessory prayer issues in the numbering of God’s people to form an army to fight against God’s enemies, who oppose His move, that is, against the rulers and authorities in the heavenlies, typified by the inhabitants of the good land (see footnote 1 on Exo. 23:23). When God has such an army, He is able to move on earth for His interests. Thus, there is a direct relationship between the expiation silver and the incense altar. (Exo. 30:12, footnote 1)
The army the Lord wants to gain and we pray for at the incense altar fights not against flesh and blood but against the evil powers of darkness in the heavenlies. Paul used the word “wrestling” – this is body-to-body and face-to-face fighting.
Satan fights with all his might, and the Lord must produce and form an army as a result of the prayer at the incense altar. When God has such an army, He is able to move on earth for His interests: He is ABLE, we as His people enable Him by removing any limitations, and we align our will with His will for Him to do whatever He wants to do!
How can God move in a situation where there are so many enemies? How can God save so many from the Arabic-speaking world so that He would complete His salvation among men, when there are so many opposing ones?
How can God establish shining golden lampstands all over Europe and in Israel so that the end of this age would come? How can God produce and gain His overcomers in all the churches, when the degradation in the church is prevailing and the truth is diluted?
God needs some who see His interest, are joined to Him, and enter into His interceding life to pray one with Him at the incense altar; such ones pray not for their need primarily but for God’s need, for God’s move, and for God’s interest.
Such ones are impressed by God with His move; they are infused and transfused with God’s need and desire, and they echo back to God what Christ is praying in and through them.
The intercessory prayers at the incense altar issue in the formation of an army to fight against God’s enemies, against the rulers and authorities in the heavenlies! Oh, may the Lord gain such ones!
Lord Jesus, gain the intercessory prayer at the incense altar which will issue in the numbering of God’s people to form an army to fight against God’s enemies. We join ourselves to You to be one with You and be impressed with Your move, Your interest, and Your heart’s desire. Lord, we no longer want to limit You in what You want to do: we remove all the limitations, and we want to enable You through our prayers to move on earth and gain Your interest! Lord, amen, have a free way to move on earth!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, brother Ron Kangas’ sharing in the message for this week, and Life-study of Exodus, msg. 153 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-Study of Exodus (3), week 8 (week 32), The Expiation Silver for the Formation of an Army to Fight for God’s Interests and Move on Earth.
- All Bible verses are taken from, Holy Bible Recovery Version.
- Hymns on this topic to strengthen this burden:
# Let us fight together with the Lord through prayer; / Over death, Christ’s vict’ry we declare. / One with the ascended Christ; we soar in prayer, / Fight as one for God’s move everywhere. (Song on Fighting in Prayer)
# God needs the overcomers, / Our dear Lord Jesus lovers! / Make us those who live to turn the age! / God needs the overcomers, / Our dear Lord Jesus lovers! / Make us those who consummate the age! (Song on Cooperating with God)
# ’Tis harder at the end / The word to testify, / For Satan fights with all his pow’r / Our witness to defy. / Much greater strength we need / The foe to overcome; / How happy when the Lord we see / And all our sighing’s done! (Hymns #893)
In Exodus 30, immediately after the record concerning the incense altar, we have a word regarding the census and the expiation silver. In order to have the formation of an army to fight, there was the need of a census. The intercession at the incense altar is for God’s move. But how can God move in a situation where there are so many enemies? The answer is that God moves by fighting. But where is God’s army? Where are His hosts? These hosts must be formed from God’s chosen people. (Witness Lee, Life-study of Exodus, p. 1652)