03/19/2026
2, We should meet God first before meet the world study with
Watchman Nee, the founder of the Local Church Movement, often said that God values more what we are than what we do. It’s not hard for us to draw inspiration from the story of David and the words of John Wimber and Watchman Nee. We don’t need to pay too much attention to the names and numbers of those tribes in this chapter. Rather, we should pay attention to how we can stay focused on the Lord. Under the illumination of the Holy Spirit, we did notice that a very important phrase in this chapter from the second verse "around the tent of meeting." Numbers 2:2 (NIV) says, "The Israelites are to camp around the tent of meeting some distance from it, each of them under their standard and holding the banners of their family." While we had our Bible study, the Holy Spirit especially illuminated this and reminded us to pay attention to these words “around the tent of meeting.” In the version of the Chinese Bible we used, it was translated as “facing the tent of meeting.” The translation in the NIV is not that clear. But the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) version says, “The Israelites shall camp each in their respective regiments, under ensigns by their ancestral houses; they shall camp facing the tent of meeting on every side.” It also says, “facing the tent of meeting on every side.”
In other words, Jehovah’s encampment isn’t just focusing on the order, division numbers, and the names of the leaders of the twelve tribes. These are important, but what’s more important is the principle of the encampment of the tribes of Israel: to "camp facing the tent of meeting on every side. " In other words, the principle of spiritual warfare is to "face God and turn one's back on the world and the enemy." This sounds different from the strategy in the world. We usually face our enemies. What should we do if the enemy suddenly attacks? It’s a different story here. Although we need to understand the enemy’s movements, the key to win at spiritual warfare is to “face God,” receive enlightenment and guidance from Him, rather than fighting the enemy according to our flesh.