Daily Devotion | Numbers 2 | 2026 April 08

Title: Daily Devotion | Numbers 2 | 2026 April 08

Scripture: Numbers 2 (ESV, reference only)

Date: 2026 April 08

Speaker: Rev. John Chen

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

All right, dear brothers and sisters, peace be with you. We thank God for His grace that we have come to a new day to study our Daily Devotion. The passage we are studying today is Numbers chapter 2. We thank You for leading us and letting us see the wisdom of how the Israelites camped and arranged themselves in battle formation. Lord, we ask that You would have mercy on us, so that in marching and fighting, and in the arrangement of our ministries, we may be full of wisdom that comes from You. We pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

All right, thanks be to the Lord, we come now to Numbers chapter 2. This chapter speaks about how the Israelites were to camp, and how they were to march and fight. Now this matter, as we look at it today, do not think it is something casual or ordinary. In fact, in ancient warfare, and even in modern warfare today, the arrangement of camps, formations, marching, and battle order is actually extremely important. Among us here, perhaps, haha, there are more sisters, and maybe there is not much interest in marching and warfare. But whether you are interested or not, warfare still requires a strict and careful formation. This is a very high kind of wisdom. Especially when you are commanding hundreds of thousands, or even several hundred thousand troops, it greatly tests a commander’s leadership ability. And the key part of leadership ability is exactly this: marching, fighting, and arranging the army in formation. Because when so many people are fighting, and the other side also has hundreds of thousands, how do your own hundreds of thousands fight? If you do not have a formation, in fact you cannot fight at all. You cannot have everyone turned into a chaotic mess, like some gang brawl where everyone rushes in together. That definitely will not work.

So here we truly see that Jehovah is a counselor. God Himself gave Israel this battle formation; it was personally arranged by God for them. And of course I also certainly believe that for a man like Moses, who had learned all the wisdom of Egypt, such a military leader—he had even once been prepared to become Pharaoh, right?—when God arranged the army in this way, Moses would immediately understand what was going on. He would know how such a march and battle should be arranged. This is something filled with wisdom, very, very much wisdom.

First, let us look at the arrangement. In the middle was the tabernacle, and then the twelve tribes were divided into four groups. Each group was stationed in a different direction. Here, on the east side—because on the east side, they were to face that direction in battle. When they entered Canaan, they would be attacking from the east side toward the west, so the eastern side was first. The strongest military force in the first position was the camp of Judah. Included with Judah were Issachar and Zebulun. This was the camp of Judah. It had the largest number of soldiers. How many? It was 186,400.

This was the strongest camp, one very strong camp. Then after that came the camp of Reuben on the south side. Now what side was the camp of Reuben guarding? It was guarding the south. In Reuben’s camp there was also the camp of Gad. On the western side—well, the point here is that the camp of Reuben was also a relatively strong camp. Its number was 151,450. This too was a relatively strong camp, because the main directions from which the enemy would attack—the places where the pressure would be greatest—were the east, the south, and the north. In warfare, those are the places that need to be strong.

Then after that came the camp of Ephraim. Ephraim, that is, the camp of Ephraim, was the weakest among these four camps. It had only 108,100 men. So this camp was placed in the third position. That is, it came right behind the tabernacle. This was the third camp. Then the fourth camp was the one guarding the north, which was the camp of Dan, along with Asher and Naphtali. Together they had 157,600 men. This was the arrangement of the encampment, this one formation after another. The arrangement of the camp was extremely wise. All four sides were guarded. All four sides were fully covered.

So, brothers and sisters, let me remind everyone again: do not underestimate this kind of arrangement of encampment—how one camps, how one breaks camp. Who is in front, who is behind—this mattered greatly in the ancient cold-weapon age. It was very carefully considered. And the same is true even in modern warfare. First there is the air force, and then the ground troops advance. How the ground troops follow up and how they fight is a matter of very great wisdom. Of course, I know that God—we all know that God does not delight in war. But not delighting in war does not mean that God will not arrange conquest and victory. So from this method of encampment, we can see that it would be very hard for the enemy to launch a surprise attack on this camp, because every camp was arranged in an orderly, staggered way on the four sides.

The strongest camp was on the east. If the enemy came from the west, he would first have to break through the camp of Judah. On the south and north sides, there were also strong forces. On the south, the camp of Reuben was holding the line. On the north, there was also a strong camp. The relatively weaker camp was the camp of Ephraim, and Ephraim was in the rear-guard position behind the tabernacle. That is how the camp was arranged. Then after that, the arrangement for marching and warfare was different again. If you are able to draw a diagram, or if you can imagine it as an animation, then you can picture how this encampment moved. How did they go from camping to marching?

When they marched, first the camp of Judah moved forward. Then the camp of Reuben came up from the south and followed. The tabernacle did not move at first. First Judah, then Reuben, and then the tabernacle followed and moved. Behind the tabernacle, following closely behind it, was the camp of Ephraim. Ephraim was the camp that stayed close behind the tabernacle. Then after they had all moved forward, finally the camp of Dan came down and took the rear. You can draw a diagram yourself, or imagine it with animation. This way of marching and fighting was like flowing clouds and running water.

Right? First the camp of Judah moved forward, then the camp of Reuben, then the tabernacle, then the camp of Ephraim kept following right behind the tabernacle, and after they had all moved, the camp of Dan came down and followed behind them. This is what is called a long single-line serpent formation. A long single-line serpent formation is a very effective formation. When marching and fighting, you can see how orderly and well spaced it is. Then once they stopped, if they came to a halt, first the camp of Reuben would move to guard the south side below, then the tabernacle would move forward, and the camp of Ephraim would remain in place. Finally the camp of Dan would go upward to guard the north side. So you can imagine with animation how they marched and fought and how they camped. If you connect the two together, you will know that this was an extremely powerful formation.

Why? Because it had absolutely no weak point. Right? There was always the camp of Ephraim behind the tabernacle. When they marched and fought, it would never happen that there was some opening where all four camps ran forward, and then no one was guarding the rear of the tabernacle. That would never happen. So it was extremely smooth. Once they stopped, Judah stopped first, then the camp of Reuben immediately guarded the south side, the tabernacle moved forward, and Ephraim followed behind. Then finally Dan guarded the north side. So if you think of it in the form of an animation, this marching formation was extremely rigorous, without any loophole at all. When they camped, the defense was firm and secure. And when they marched, the camp of Judah and the camp of Reuben went first, with the tabernacle following behind, and behind the tabernacle came the camp of Ephraim. Ephraim was always guarding the rear of the tabernacle.

Then finally, because Ephraim’s strength was relatively weaker, it could not serve as the rear guard. That is why the camp of Dan had to take the rear. Because in warfare, the force that guards the rear cannot be weak. In fact, you can see that the strength of the camp of Dan was the second strongest. So the second strongest force had to bring up the rear; the strongest was in front; the second strongest had to be at the end; the relatively weaker one was in the third position; and the second position also had to be strong. So this is what God told Moses: Israel was to march and form itself in this way. This was a formation full of wisdom. In ancient times this kind of formation was also often used by some of the larger nations, for example Egypt and others. It was a wise arrangement, one that could preserve their own strength and prevent themselves from being easily attacked.

All right, this is the meaning of the passage. We see the wisdom God gave to Israel. But then someone may ask, “Pastor Chen, what use is this formation to me? Right? I am not marching and fighting now. And it is not as though the church is going off to war. So what use is it for you to teach me this battle formation?” In fact, I think the purpose of teaching us this formation is not to make us go fight a war, but in our daily life there actually are some places where it can be applied.

Let me give the simplest example. Suppose you are in a relay race. In a relay race you have four runners. Naturally, some are stronger and some are weaker. How do you arrange them? I have never really run before, but I think there is a bit of insight here in Scripture. The strongest should run first, the second strongest should run fourth, the third leg should also be stronger than the second leg, and the relatively weaker one can be placed in the third leg. Haha, that is my own application. Of course, these are not the main point. The main thing, I think, is that there are two reminders here which are especially important for us.

The first reminder is this: in fact, the wisdom that God gives and the wisdom that people in the world think about—there are places where there is no difference between them. This is the first point I want to emphasize. Because within the Christian community, we often have this kind of misunderstanding. What misunderstanding? It is that we think the Holy Spirit only works in a supernatural way to give us reminders or guidance. Or we think that only supernatural guidance is from the Holy Spirit, while all the other things—the so-called human wisdom—are not from the Holy Spirit. People set the guidance of the Holy Spirit and worldly knowledge and wisdom in opposition to each other, thinking that the two cannot coexist. Either you receive God’s wisdom, or you rely on your own human thinking. And it even seems that people assume God’s wisdom must always be higher than human wisdom. From a theological perspective, that may sound correct, but in fact there is a very big mistake in it. Why? Because sometimes God reveals His wisdom through what we call worldly means.

Let me give a few examples. For instance, when it comes to studying theology, when it comes to reading the Bible, many Christians think like this: “When I read the Bible or preach, I do not need theology. That is something of man. I do not want to learn it. I will just receive directly from God.” When you hear that, it sounds very advanced, as if the person is very spiritual and devout. But they overlook one point, which is that the Holy Spirit often uses—and even primarily uses—the study of theology to help you understand Scripture. This is something they cannot understand; it is their blind spot. In fact, they have fallen into a trap—they have fallen into Satan’s scheme. That is to say, although the Holy Spirit certainly enlightens us, the Holy Spirit often leads us to learn, using other teachers and theologians to teach us, so that we may understand His Word. These two things are not contradictory. But many people set them against each other, and that is human vanity.

In fact, God often uses theological study to help us know His Word. Of course, there is also God’s illumination. Or let us put it from another angle: when we are doing theological study, do we need the guidance of the Holy Spirit? Of course we do. It is not that once you have theological books, you can just read them on your own without anything else. You still need the guidance of the Holy Spirit. So here, when I read Numbers chapter 2, what I feel is that the wisdom of these people—whether it is something they learned, or even something they might have copied from what they saw elsewhere, or perhaps other nations learned from Israel’s way of encamping—either way, the two are not in conflict. That is something we need to pay special attention to.

For example, could God supernaturally protect Israel so that no matter how they fought, even in chaos, they would still win? Of course He could. But God required Israel to be orderly, to be united, to enter Canaan with a formation. This also is the leading of the Holy Spirit. Was it not Jehovah who commanded Moses to arrange them in this way? So this too is the Spirit’s guidance. These two things are not contradictory at all. It is we Christians, in our own vanity, who think they are contradictory.

Another example: some Christians, when they are sick, do not go to the hospital. They think, “God will surely heal me supernaturally.” But this view is also vain. Of course God can heal you supernaturally, but hospitals are also created by God. God can also heal you through hospitals. These two things are not contradictory. So I think here we Christians need wisdom. These so-called worldly forms of knowledge—military knowledge, theological knowledge, medical knowledge—should we learn them? Of course we should. But we must deeply understand that behind all these forms of knowledge, it is still God who makes them effective. This is something we must remember, including in our work.

Some people say, “God provides for me, so God will supernaturally give me money.” That is not necessarily so. God can indeed provide supernaturally, but sometimes God provides through your work. This too is a way of God’s provision. These two are not contradictory. When you go to work and receive wages, and when God provides, in essence there is no difference. It is just whether God uses means or does not use means. In essence, it is all God who is providing. So here I think Numbers chapter 2 gives us a very important reminder in how to apply this in real life.

The second point is what we mentioned yesterday: Israel was a people who lived on earth in a very orderly and regulated way. Even in marching and fighting, everything had to follow strict rules. So for us, the church must also live on earth in a way that is structured, orderly, and disciplined. It is not that in the church we simply say, “God leads, God blesses, Jehovah is the head of the church, so I do not need to do anything.” That is not the case. We need to establish rules, systems, and wise arrangements. These are good and necessary. At the same time, seminary students must study theology diligently and seriously. And all of this is still under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, so that we may more deeply understand His Word and better enter into His truth.

In fact, the theological writings of the saints of old, and the constitutions of the church—do these not also contain the guidance of the Holy Spirit? They do. So to set these two things in opposition is a very foolish thing to do. And in fact, many churches today fall into exactly this kind of foolishness.

The third point I want to mention is about warfare. We spoke about it yesterday, and I want to mention it again today. As Christians living on earth, we are engaged in a battle. Externally, it is the work of evangelism. Internally, it is the breaking down of the strongholds within our hearts. We must be united and orderly. God calls a church, not an individual. God’s intention is within the church. God never intends for you to be saved as an isolated individual. He always intends for the church to be a body, encouraging one another, supporting one another, and together fighting this spiritual battle. This is something we must understand. The church is not a place for individual combat. You need the support of others. Even I, as a pastor, need the support of the congregation—they support my life, support my studies, and pray for me. Together we fight this battle.

At the same time, who is our opponent? Our opponent is not people. Our opponent is the one who has the power of darkness in the air, the one who holds the power of death—the devil. We must understand that this battle is not against people. Therefore we must be even more careful. We must be united and orderly. According to Ephesians, we must put on the whole armor of God. We are fighting against the rulers, authorities, and powers of darkness in the heavenly places.

So we are engaged in a spiritual battle. We must be very cautious. We must carefully follow God’s Word. Step by step, we must be vigilant. We must camp according to God’s method, and march according to God’s method. What is the goal? To win this spiritual battle, until we take possession of the whole land of Canaan. From the inward perspective, this means that we ourselves become more and more purified. From the outward perspective, it means that our evangelism becomes more and more fruitful, and the church becomes more and more like a city set on a hill, shining as a light, becoming a golden lampstand.

We must also know that our enemy, Satan, is one who arranges his camp and formations very carefully. He is very cunning. In this age, he uses all kinds of schemes—causing people to love the world, making people think the world is good, leading people not to marry or not to have children, leading people into false religions, through the disturbance of evil spirits. He uses false wisdom—what people call science, but which becomes a kind of false wisdom; false goodness; and false authority. Earthly rulers use their authority to attract people. As we mentioned in the Good Friday sermon, Jesus Christ exposed Satan’s three layers of disguise: false prophecy, false wisdom, and false authority. True wisdom is to know Jesus Christ as supreme. True authority belongs to Jesus Christ. Satan offers false religions to deceive and tempt people. But Jesus Christ tells us that the foundation of true religion is faith—faith in Jesus Christ, justification by faith, the incarnate Son of God who came among us to accomplish redemption.

So all these things are teaching us how to fight this spiritual battle, and how to overcome through the Lord Jesus Christ. May God help us. In Numbers chapter 2, may we break away from wrong ways of thinking, and follow Christ well, carefully seeking to understand God’s will. All right, we will end our sharing here for today. Thank you, everyone.