”From thirty years old and upward until fifty years old shalt thou number them; all that enter in to perform the service, to do the work in the tabernacle of the congregation.”-Numbers 4:23
“No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.” This is the exhortation Paul gives to the young minister Timothy. Timothy was not a man trained for physical combat. Yet his mission was a calling of warfare all the same. The service and work of his ministry interconnected to fighting, and battle. Today, we who hold dear the name of Jesus Christ, are called into the same service.
Even today, we have this same connection between service and war. When a young man enlists, it’s said that they “joined the service.” Warfare is service, and service is warfare. The word service used above in Numbers four and twenty-three is from the Hebrew word saba’. This same word is used throughout the book of Numbers in connection with the Levites. The Levites were a chosen tribe of Israel called by God to serve in the tabernacle of God. From thirty years old and upward until fifty years they were called to serve. There were other tribes of Israel, and other sons called to serve, but their service was a call to physical warfare. The same word saba’ is used for the ones called to serve in physical warfare, as for the Levites serving in the tabernacle. The Levites were engaged in service, and they were engaged in warfare. They didn’t go to war in the sense of fighting with sword and shield. Yet they engaged in warfare all the same. Their battle ground was sanctity, and their weapon obedience. The mission was to wage war against sin, and they were fighting for the good of the people. In Numbers chapter one it says that “the Levites shall keep the charge of the tabernacle of testimony.” Why must they do this? “That there be no wrath upon the congregation of the children of Israel.” The Levites were charged with keeping and administering the commandments of God which were written in the law of God. In so doing they must raise the tabernacle of testimony, arrange, and purify all that is therein, and minister to themselves and the people so that they might remain sanctified and holy (as was available at this time). They were fighting for righteousness, and they were fighting against sin. Sin that would tarnish the holiness of God, and His people. Sins of idolatry, covetousness, murder, adultery, and much the same. They were fighting against the allure of compromise and the influence of the unrighteous nations around them. Fighting against the desire to return to the familiarity of Egypt, with its affluence and comforts (forgetting of course the bondage and hardships that came with it). The same laws of God that separated the people from all others, also preserved the people. It says in Leviticus that if they keep the commandments, God will be among them (“And I will walk among you, and will be your God, and ye shall be my people.”) The commandments kept them close to God and in the center of His favor.
Our warfare is not with each other. It is not over land, territory, or political ideology. The battleground today is the same as it was then, it hasn’t changed. We are fighting for God, and against sin. We are not just fighting for God, in the sense that we carry his banner and raise His flag; but we are fighting, for God. We are fighting to keep Him at the center of our hearts, and our lives. To keep the integrity of the scriptures alive within, and evident without. That all who see us might know the true expression of Christ. Might see a servant of the Lord God, and Christ. Herein we strive, lawfully, under the direction and guidance of the Holy Spirit. Unconcerned with the wind and weather of this changing world, but with fixed hearts, focused minds, extreme obedience, and power of the Holy Ghost; we soldier on. On, and on until the end of our service here.
