Daily Devotion | Numbers 1 | 2026 April 07

Title: Daily Devotion | Numbers 1 | 2026 April 07

Scripture: Numbers 1 (ESV, reference only)

Date: 2026 April 07

Speaker: Rev. John Chen

Transcribed, translated & edited by: Joseph Wang (Yufan)

Alright, dear brothers and sisters, peace be with you. We thank God for His grace that we have come to a new day to study the Daily Devotion. Today we are entering into the study of Numbers. What we are studying today is Numbers chapter 1. Let us pray. God, we thank You. We thank You that You are willing to show such favor and mercy to us. Lord, You truly showed favor to the Israelites. You led them in the wilderness, causing them to camp in such an orderly way, with such beautiful formations, and with such a clear system of administration. The purpose was to make known that You are a God of order. Lord, we ask that You would have mercy on us. Let us see how willing You are for us to be an orderly army. May You grant grace among us. We pray in Christ’s name. Amen.

Alright, the section of history that follows is still the period when the Israelites were staying at Mount Sinai, preparing to set out. You remember that at the end of Exodus, the time when Moses erected the tabernacle was the first day of the first month. And when had they come out into the wilderness? They came out on the evening of the fourteenth day of the first month, right? That was the first year. Then by the first day of the first month in the second year, that means they had stayed there for about one year. So all the history that happened previously took place there—how to make the tabernacle, and things like that.

And Leviticus also covers a period of one month. So roughly speaking, they spent one month learning this history, learning these statutes and ordinances, and these events. That took about one month. And now we come to the first day of the second month in the second year, and God gives this new command. Leviticus contains only one month. In that one month, there was really nothing much, apart from the giving of the law. There were no especially major events, except for the matter of Nadab and Abihu being struck down. Other than that, there was nothing especially major. The main thing was to learn the statutes and ordinances, to tell them what the rules were.

That was one month. Next, they were preparing to set out. So what then? They began to number the people. Now with regard to the numbering of the people, we are not going to look through it verse by verse here. In any case, what do we see? We need to observe several points.

First, the number of the Israelites. In verses 45 to 46, from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go out to war, there were 603,550. If you estimate on the basis of that number, then the total population of Israel at this time was around two million. After four hundred years of multiplication, from seventy persons, under the conditions of Pharaoh’s oppression and slaughter in Egypt, they had still multiplied to two million people. So I think at this point, anyone who reads the Bible ought to praise the greatness of God. God’s promise to Abraham was finally fulfilled, right? Back then, seventy people went down there. Now after four hundred years, after four hundred and thirty years, two million came out. What an extraordinarily great miracle this is. Throughout this process, they still suffered so much persecution, but the word of God stands firm forever. God’s promise to Abraham has been fulfilled. These two million people, thanks be to the Lord, can now go and conquer the land of Canaan.

This is the first meaning of the census: it shows that God’s promise has been fulfilled. Then secondly, why count the people? It is because, in the age of cold weapons, the number of people was almost a decisive factor. The more people you had, the more likely you were to win. Actually, now that we have come into the age of modern warfare, the age of firearms, numbers can no longer play the decisive role, although numbers are still a very important factor. But they are no longer the decisive factor. In the age of cold weapons, your numbers represented your confidence of success. You have so many men. There are six hundred thousand men holding swords. Such a mighty army is going to sweep across Canaan. And this also gave confidence to the Israelites themselves, right? This is one aspect. We have more than six hundred thousand men holding swords on our side. So in that way, it also gave them confidence. That is the second purpose.

In any case, this is one very obvious meaning that we can see in the numbering of the people. And there are still many details that we can read here. Another point is this: Israel was a strictly ordered army. They were an army with leaders and with personnel. So I think this is a great reminder to us.

That is, when the Israelites were about to enter the land of Canaan, you see that among the twelve tribes, each tribe had a clan leader. And when they arranged the army—tomorrow we will speak again about their formation, because their formation was actually a very remarkable formation, and we will talk about that tomorrow—but here, each tribe had a clan leader. And within that structure, as we have said, there were leaders of fifty, leaders of a hundred, and leaders of a thousand. Such an army was a highly disciplined army. This is what we can read here: each tribe had one person with overall responsibility, and then under each overall leader there were leaders of tens, leaders of fifties, leaders of hundreds, and leaders of thousands. It was arranged in an orderly way.

And then notice this as well. When the Israelites counted the numbers in the end, notice that they counted them according to camps. They had camps. They were divided into four camps. In the camp of Reuben there were Simeon and Gad. In the camp of Judah there were Issachar and Zebulun. In the camp of Ephraim there were Manasseh and Benjamin. And in the camp of Dan there were Asher and Naphtali. They were divided into four camps. These four camps were counted according to the number in each camp. The first camp, the second camp—the first camp was the camp of Reuben, then the camp of Judah, then the camp of Ephraim, and the camp of Dan. In each camp there were three tribes.

Now in that case, first, the numbers were comparatively balanced. Second, the army was arranged according to tribes. In this way, the cohesion within a tribe could be preserved. You need to understand that when people fight together, it is a very good way to unite the emotional bonds among them. So each tribe being within one camp—your tribe is in one camp, your tribe is in one camp, and three tribes form one large camp. Then that large camp fights together. This is a very good arrangement. So here you need to notice that when God led the twelve tribes of Israel, He never broke up the boundary of the twelve tribes. He allowed each tribe to remain together, loving one another.

So perhaps to people today, you may feel that this is nothing much. But if you engage in politics, if you understand a little political history, then this is quite an extraordinary matter. How should we put it? It is a kind of organizational construction, I suppose. Yes, you may understand it that way. What does it mean? It means that among Chinese kings, the approach in China was to eliminate all nobles, to scatter all those of the same clan, so that they might be easier to govern. This is what Chinese rulers did. Actually, it is also something that all rulers tend to do. Because if the power of your tribes is too strong, if you have nobles, then for the ruler it becomes hard to govern them.

Now in Israel, you have twelve tribes. Of course, from the standpoint of warfare, that is very strong. But if you think from the angle of the ruler—and of course, perhaps none of us have ever been rulers, and I am not that bad—but from the angle of an emperor, having twelve tribes is a troublesome thing, do you know that? He would have to split up the twelve tribes and scatter them all, or perhaps exalt one tribe. This is what Saul later did.

Later on, when we speak about the history of Saul, we will talk about this again. Generally speaking, kings do not like there to be strong powers underneath them. That is, the twelve tribes. I can scatter you. Qin Shi Huang in China did exactly this. He abolished all the nobles, no longer enfeoffed anyone, and then began the commandery-and-county system, that is, he directly sent out officials himself. In that way, it became very easy for him to govern. This is what bad kings do. God did not do this.

God consistently preserved the twelve tribes of Israel. What was the purpose? Because God’s intention was that they should love one another. At the same time, this distribution of power among the twelve tribes meant that the king would not be able to act so recklessly, because beneath him each tribe had very strong influence. If you were truly not doing well, then the leaders of the tribes below would oppose you, and the elders would oppose you. Later on, this in fact happened in the days of Solomon’s son Rehoboam. When Rehoboam wanted to suppress the tribes, when it seemed that the tribes were about to rebel, in the end the tribes overthrew him. So this is why the tribes were preserved. But unfortunately, later in the northern kingdom, the strength of the tribes was continually broken up by those kings, and the tribes found it hard to retain their own strength. This was not good. God’s intention was to preserve the strength of these tribes so as to check royal power. This is a somewhat political-historical reading.

Now as we read this passage, what else can we see? We can also see the orderliness of the Israelites. This was a very orderly army. One year earlier, when these slaves had suffered under Pharaoh in Egypt and were brought out of Egypt, Exodus says that the army of the LORD came out of Egypt. But if you think about it, how could this group of slaves possibly become an army of the LORD? That is quite an unreasonable thing. The text records in Exodus 12:51, “On that very day, the LORD brought the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their hosts.”

By every appearance, that did not look like an army. But notice, the word of God stands firm forever. So now, one year later, they began to organize an army. This was a strict army, right? There were men holding swords, there were commanders, and there were battle formations. So this was a very disciplined army. And what does this show? It shows that God’s word stands. It is not that there are first facts and then God’s word. Rather, God’s word comes first, and then there are facts. Not that facts come first and then God’s word comes afterward.

This we must remember. If God says they are an army, then they certainly are an army. God can train a group of slaves who had absolutely no combat ability into a strong army. This is God’s great power. God’s word works in exactly this way. So this is why this army is disciplined. Why do I say it is disciplined? Because although this passage does not say the words “disciplined,” look at Exodus and Leviticus before this—so many regulations were given. Is that not discipline? Yes, it is a disciplined army. It is an army capable of fighting. That is what an army is, a strong army. Through this one year of training, God was going to make them victorious.

Later on, in Numbers and Deuteronomy, they would be trained once again to become a truly battle-capable army. So I think this concept of an army is extremely applicable to the church today. At this point, I feel that our churches do not seem to realize that we are an army. Actually, we do not really have this concept.

In an army, there are several things that must be present. First, its command system must be clear and unobstructed. It must be a system with a tightly organized structure. If there is no organization, then the army cannot fight, right? What does this mean? For the church, it means that the church must have a tightly organized structure. It must have regulations. It must have pastors, elders, and deacons. It must be such an organized and well-governed body in order to have combat effectiveness. This is basic common sense. You cannot expect a group of disorganized people to go up and fight a battle. That is impossible. There must be commanders, there must be those who carry out orders, there must be those responsible for logistics, and those who coordinate strategic resources. Only then is it an army.

So I think that for the church to have such regulations and such offices is entirely in accordance with Scripture. Although we cannot match this passage in Numbers one by one with the church, the meaning here is very clear. This is a disciplined army. It must have a smooth and functioning command system. That is the first point. Second, it must have strict discipline. And what is this discipline? It is what we spoke about earlier in Leviticus. It is that Christians must live a holy life. They must faithfully carry out God’s statutes and ordinances on this earth. This is discipline. The command system corresponds to the offices in the church, and the discipline corresponds to living a holy life according to God’s law, a law that is centered on God rather than on the world.

Then third, what is the purpose? The purpose is to fight. So at this point, the purpose of the church is to wage war. The church, as a whole, wages war. The church is not merely something that exists to preach the gospel, so that people may be saved and born again one by one. This is a misunderstanding that many people have regarding the function of the church. This was also the misunderstanding we talked about last night when we studied the history of the Chinese church. People think that the church exists simply to preach the gospel—that one person comes, is saved, then another comes and is saved.

But in fact, such a way of thinking is rather simplistic. After a person comes to the church through the preaching of the gospel, there are still many things that he needs to do. He needs to learn God’s law. He needs to know how to live a holy life. He needs to know how to commit himself to the church. And only then can he go together with the church to fight this victorious battle.

So what is the purpose of the church’s existence? It is to go and fight. What kind of battle? It is to fight against the powers of darkness. This battle is not fought by relying on weapons or force. It is fought by means of a holy life, by a determination to suffer martyrdom, by a willingness in daily life to live out a testimony even unto death. It is fought in this way.

How do you fight this battle? It is by relying on God’s grace, by becoming witnesses one by one in daily life. It is by not seeking your own interests, by being willing to deny yourself, by refusing to give or receive bribes, by relying on God in the education of your children, and in your work, for the sake of God’s glory, being willing even to lose your job. It is through such a way of dying, as it were, that the church fights this battle, so that the church may become a church that truly bears the glory of God.

I think that for many Christians, this is not very clear. Nor have they understood more fully, from the book of Numbers and from the matter of Israel conquering the land, what this means. This battle of conquering the land, on the one hand, is that we go out to fight, to win more souls. That is certainly true. But at the same time, there is also another aspect, which is our internal life. The darkness within our hearts also needs to be fought against. Through the word of God, through fighting against sin together, our hearts become more and more purified. So this is also a battle.

There is an external battle and an internal battle. Externally, we win souls. Internally, our hearts are purified. And within the community of the church, we become a people who love one another. That is the purpose for which the church exists. So I think this passage continually reminds us of these spiritual truths. We should remember them.

Let us repeat it. Let us remember: what is an army? What must an army have? First, an army must have a command system. This corresponds to the system of ordained offices in the church. Second, the church must have strict discipline. What is this discipline? It is what Leviticus has taught us: to live a moral life centered on God, to live a life of spiritual warfare. Third, what must the church do? The church must fight. What battle? The outward battle and the inward battle. This is what we are to do.

So you see, all these operations of the church, in the book of Numbers, are presented with a very clear concept. And the church must be organized and closely united. There must be close cooperation between churches. What is the purpose? That we may be joined together in order, becoming like the wall of Jerusalem. The whole people of Israel are one army. What are we to do? We are to go into the world, to fight against sin, so that we may live out a glorious likeness.

In addition, there is something else we must notice. In this passage, it is especially mentioned that the Levites were the ones who served the tabernacle and its furnishings. The tabernacle was placed in the very center of Israel. All the camps of Israel were arranged around the tabernacle as the center. What does this show? It shows that all the operations of the army were centered on the presence of God. Only if God was with them could this army win. If God was not with them, then even the best battle formation would be of no use.

So what is the core of the army? It is the tabernacle of the LORD. This makes it even clearer, when applied to the church, what this means. When the church goes out to fight, we have spoken of the command system, of discipline, of purpose. But what is the center? The center is the tabernacle of the LORD, guarded by the Levites. If there is no tabernacle of the LORD, then this battle cannot be fought. Nor is there any need to fight it.

In the end, it is only because God is with Israel that they are able to enter the land of Canaan. If God is not with them, they cannot enter. And even if they were to enter, it would have no meaning. So everything is about guarding—guarding what? Guarding the tabernacle of God. The Israelites went to set up the tabernacle of God in the land of Canaan. For them, the greatest blessing was that God was with them. Therefore, the Levites were not counted among the number. Their primary task was to guard the tabernacle. The tabernacle was placed in the center, and all the camps of Israel were arranged around it.

What does this show? It shows how holy God is. They could not violate the regulations of the tabernacle. They could not approach the tabernacle, except for the Levites. So this army, bearing the spiritual glory of God, entering into the land of Canaan—this was God’s intention.

And for the church today, it is even more so. What we proclaim is God’s law. What we worship is the one true God. What we follow is this God. When we lift up the glory of God, when the whole church takes God’s glory as its center, then the church will be victorious and unstoppable. We will be able to fight this victorious battle—not only winning souls, but also becoming more and more pure in our own hearts.

On the contrary, if there is no God—if we do not preach the word of God, but instead preach the word of man; if we do not exalt the glory of God, but instead exalt the glory of man—then such a church will surely perish. Why? Because the purpose of the church’s existence is to glorify God.

So I believe that when a church is willing to exalt the glory of God, to preach the word of God, to follow God’s law, and to live out God’s holiness, such a church must be a powerful church, a church able to fight. And it is not just one church, but a group of churches, closely united together. I believe this is the coming of revival. This is the revival of the Reformed faith.

We long for that day. When the glory of God is lifted up, when we fight strictly according to God’s law, I believe that we will surely win this battle. May God lead us, in the book of Numbers, to be continually encouraged and strengthened, so that we may be joined together in unity, becoming like the wall of Jerusalem, and under God’s guidance, take possession of the land. Alright, today’s sharing will stop here. Thank you, everyone.