Preparing For Battle

From the whole community of Israel, record the names of all the warriors by their clans and families. List all the men . . . who are able to go to war.   Numbers 1:2-3

God was leading the people into warfare, preparing them for a military campaign in which they would enter the land he had promised them. Costly battles and ultimate victory lay ahead.

But in the early days after the Exodus, God shielded his people from the full cost of their calling: “When Pharaoh finally let the people go, God did not lead them along the main road that runs through Philistine territory, even though that was the shortest route to the Promised Land. God said, ‘If the people are faced with a battle, they might change their minds and return to Egypt’” (Exodus 13:17).

Jesus declares, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me” (Mark 8:34). He does not tell us what that cross will be, only that we must be ready to take it up.

It took Moses’ traveling caravan two months to get from the Red Sea to Sinai, and by the time the Tabernacle was set up, a year had passed. God used that time to turn a confused crowd into a disciplined nation. The people had an ordered way of worship, a functioning legal system, and a government.

Genesis tells us God chooses his people; Exodus tells us he redeems his people; Leviticus tells us God is among his people; Deuteronomy tells us God loves his people; and Numbers tells us God commissions his people. God’s chosen, redeemed, holy, and dearly loved people were now being sent to war.

Our calling is to a life of unconditional obedience to all that God has told us to do. God’s revealed will for Israel was to enter the land of Canaan. The revealed will of God for his people today includes the great commandment, “You must love the LORD your God with all your heart . . . [and] love your neighbor as yourself” (Mark 12:30-31), and the great commission, “Go and make disciples of all the nations” (Matthew 28:19).

For further reading, see Ephesians 6