Christ's battle, our victory

Numbers 31:25-31 (ESV)
The LORD said to Moses, [26] "Take the count of the plunder that was taken, both of man and of beast, you and Eleazar the priest and the heads of the fathers' houses of the congregation, [27] and divide the plunder into two parts between the warriors who went out to battle and all the congregation. [28] And levy for the LORD a tribute from the men of war who went out to battle, one out of five hundred, of the people and of the oxen and of the donkeys and of the flocks. [29] Take it from their half and give it to Eleazar the priest as a contribution to the LORD. [30] And from the people of Israel's half you shall take one drawn out of every fifty, of the people, of the oxen, of the donkeys, and of the flocks, of all the cattle, and give them to the Levites who keep guard over the tabernacle of the LORD." [31] And Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the LORD commanded Moses.

Divide the plunder into half. God commands to divide the spoils of the war with Midian and give the half to the ones who went out to battle and half to the congregation that stayed behind. God teaching here that those who stayed behind fought the war as much as those who were sent to the front lines. There are warriors who stay behind, and warriors who fight the battles. There are those who pray for and send our missionaries and there are those who go into the deepest parts of the battle. Both are fighting the good fight. There are those who bring the Gospel to the lost in unreached parts of the world, and there are those who feed, nurture and protect the flock of God. Both are fighting the same war. But what will be the reward for those who stay behind but do nothing at all? Those who don't do anything for lost souls nor for the church cannot expect to receive any rewards from the Lord. We are all servants of the Lord. The least we can do is to pray or give at least a little for the cause of God. We were all hired to worked at God's vineyard. Let us be faithful in giving glory to God in all that we do, wherever we are.

Though the plunder is divided equally, God honours those who have fought in the front lines more than those who have stayed behind. God requires less levy from the spoils given to the soldiers than from the congregation. To whom much is given, from him much will be required. The congregation were given the more in comparison to the warriors, for they worked for it less. They are less deserving of the spoils, because they did not physically go outside the camp to fight.

Those who have been given the more grace, therefore, deserve to give more glory back to God. Let us who have received much grace from the Lord Jesus in forgiveness give the sacrifices of thanksgiving unto Him, as Mary broke the jar of expensive perfume for the Lord. Let us give glory back to Him by forgiving those who have sinned against us. Let us who have received much grace in knowledge and truth teach it well to those whom God has given to us. Let us who have been given the grace in much finances give to the church and to those in need. There is no way we can pay back Christ for what He has given us, but we must not take the grace of God in vain. We are debtors who can't pay Him back full, but we labour to pay Him back at least a little bit. This is not legalism. We are not working to receive God's favour. Christ bought God's favour for us with the price of His own blood, that we may stand before the Father faultless. We owe Him our lives. We must make ourselves His servants, as it is written:
Proverbs 22:7 (KJV)
The borrower is servant to the lender.
We have borrowed Christ's life from God, and we can't ever pay Him back. So we are His forever, being grateful for His grace. Let us give Christ the return for His investment in us, and bear the fruits that are pleasing to God who has rained His love upon us.

We can also find Christ in this passage. Is not Christ who went to battle for us, all alone? Christ has fought the battle with Satan, and stole the keys of death and hell from him, by dying for the sins of His people. He Himself died, drinking the wine of the wrath of God that was to fall upon us. And He is the one who has brought in all the spoils of His Father's love, blessing, glory, grace and favour. These plunder were none other than the treasures from His own pocket. And He gives them all away for us, though we have done nothing in fighting this battle. He divides not in half, but gives the whole lot to us. You say, it is not fair? No it is not. It is grace. We have done nothing to fight this war against sin, death and hell. In fact, we are the ones who gave in to the temptation of Midian. But Christ still gives the spoils to us. We now have all that Christ has. We have God as our Father through His work on the cross. We have the love that Christ had from God shared equally to us. This should be enough for us. We are to honour Christ, the Man of War, who fought the lonely fight for us. All His closest soldiers fled when He was caught, and the General was left to fight this war Himself. But our King needed no man to help Him. God's own arm brought salvation for Himself. Christ said "You're either with Me, you're against Me". But all turned His back on Him, and even His closest friend denied Him and became as His enemy. He fought all alone. He won the victory on His own, and He took captivity captive by His own power. Yet, Christ divides the spoils, that we may have all that He has. Just as the warriors who fought Midian were one with the congregation, we are one with Christ. Christ is our representative. His victory was our victory. His death also was our death. And His life from the dead, also our life from the dead. We have been united with Him. If He suffered to give us the victory, then we make it our goal to suffer with Him for His glory. The war that He fought against sin, wickedness and evil, is also our war, and we fight as He fought.

The levy of the plunder taken from the warriors was given to Eleazar, and the levy taken from the congregation were given to the Levites. Let us imagine for a moment that we Christians are as those virgin Midianite women who were saved by the mercy of God. Let us imagine for a moment that we were chosen from among our people to be given to God in the service of the temple, assisting Eleazar or the Levites. The later verses even tell us of the number given: 32 persons to Eleazar, and (calculated to be) 320 to Levites. What grace has been given to these 352 people of Midian. Not only that their lives have been spared, but that these have been given as an offering to God to serve in assisting to the priesthood. We believers are like these these 352 people out of the 32,000. As Christ has said:
Matthew 22:14 (KJV)
For many are called, but few are chosen.
God has chosen us from amongst so many people of Satan to not only have our lives spared, but given us the grace to be purified from our previous lives to be used for the services for God's temple. This is an honour. It is God who has kept us pure from committing the sin that cannot be forgiven, and kept our souls pure from unbelief that we may be saved through faith. Though we lived amongst unclean people, He has purified us with the water of purification. We could have been servants of the temples of demons, given over as sacrifices to Baal, but God has rescued us and made us servants in the Holy Temple of His church. Let us glorify Him who has given us this mercy. We had no part in this Kingdom of God, but God gave us the grace to be partakers, not as these slaves were, but even made us to serve as His own children. We have been given more grace than these 352. Let's thank Him for His election.

The difference in the levy that is given to those who fought in the war than those who stayed behind is a challenge for us who are staying behind to go out to the front lines. We do this for the praise and glory that God shall give to us. We remember this verse from Daniel:
Daniel 12:2-3 (KJV)
And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. [3] And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.
God will give the glory as stars to those who turn many to God's righteousness. This special honour is promised to those who go to the harvest and who go into the battle that many, not just a few, may turn from establishing their own righteousness to submitting to the perfect righteousness that has been fulfilled by Jesus Christ. Let us preach this Gospel to every creature, that we may have God's praise and honour, as well as everlasting life. How glorious is that God would share some of His glory to us pitiful sinners! It says in Isaiah:
Isaiah 42:8 (KJV)
I am the Lord : that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images.
But God will His glory and praise to those who are in Christ His Son, to those have done good works acceptable through Him. Let us then desire God's glory and praise more than praise of men. God will honour those who have fought for Christ in Christ's name. Let us labour to hear from the Lord on that Day, "Well done, good and faithful servant". Amen.