Next to Each Other (Numbers 1-2)

“The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, ² “The people of Israel shall camp each by his own standard, with the banners of their fathers’ houses. They shall camp facing the tent of meeting on every side,” Numbers 2:1-2.

The time had arrived for Moses to break camp and for his nation to make the journey into the Promised Land. As we read Numbers (traveling in the wilderness) 1, God directed Moses to set apart 12 men, one from each tribe, to be part of his lead team as they made the journey. These former slaves were now to become warriors for God. The book of Numbers tells their story.

Matthew Henry writes insightfully about their calling. He wrote the following:

“All the Numbers (census in the wilderness) remind us of God’s faithfulness to the seed of Abraham. The book clearly reminds us that these people, even though in peace for the moment, were headed toward war. So it is with the people of God who at any minute need to be prepared for spiritual warfare.” (ESV Church History Study Bible, Pg. 183)

Brothers and sisters, how true are these things. As I read the list of the leaders and as I read how God positioned each tribe around the Tabernacle, I was drawn to the following phrase that repeated itself 12 times. The phrase was “next to each other.”

Friends, God’s people were to both worship and war side by side. It is so true that we need each other. God Himself has called us to the assemble of the faith to both worship and war together. Each week we are to gather (Hebrews 10:25) and each day we are care for each other (Gal. 6:1-2, 10) as we walk through the trenches of life.

Here me clearly, if we fail to do this, the enemy will pick us off one at a time. Even as write this I am thinking about people who wondered away from the flock of God and were picked off. Let us brothers and sisters work hard in worship and in the war to stick together for the glory of the Lord.

Here is God’s Word to us today. It comes from I Corinthians 12:25-26

²⁵ that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. ²⁶ If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.