07/18/2019
Do you ever feel like one of the lesser believers? When work is handed out at church do you always seem to get the mundane tasks, or the grunt work? If so then rejoice and don’t lose heart! Faith is not like everyday worldly life... in faith the least shall be first. You are like the camp of Dan, and although you bring up the rear there is great importance in that. These are the most humble, most unsung, and yet most dependable of all.
“All those listed of the camp of Dan were 157,600. They shall set out last, standard by standard."”
Numbers 2:31 ESV
We have all heard the expression “Rear Guard”, but do you know the function they serve? Well, this is the portion of an army that protects the main force from being attacked from the rear as they travel. If we think about the Israelites as they fled Egypt what would this group be tasked with? The Pharaoh mustered his forces and came after them as they fled, so in this case the last would have become the first in that battle. As Pharaoh caught up to the mass of fleeing slaves it would have been up to the camp of Dan to engage and repulse them. The least were in place to become the first, but as God would have it Moses parts the sea and the group passes through in safety. Nonetheless, the rear guard stood ready, and when the waters came rushing back together they were standing at the ready against Pharaoh on the far shore.
“Thus did the people of Israel. According to all that the Lord commanded Moses, so they camped by their standards, and so they set out, each one in his clan, according to his fathers' house.”
Numbers 2:34 ESV
Satan is a predator, and when he comes against us as Christians he attempts to catch us unaware. He wants to engage us at our weakest point... that place where we don’t see well. He is like a lion that brings down its prey from behind by striking the rear legs and then pouncing upon it as it stumbles. So, although an army attacks from the front, it is important that it defend itself from the rear. Some of God’s most vulnerable creatures have rear facing defenses. The quills of a porcupine are rear facing, a skunk’s scent glands are rear facing, and a Christian, who is humble and meek, leans on God to defend his rear and exposed flanks. God defends us, and this is our expectation; in Him we trust.
“Give justice to the weak and the fatherless; maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute. Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked."”
Psalms 82:3-4 ESV
This was the job God gave the tribe of Dan, and it is the job He gives to those Christians who don’t need accolades, or to be carried boldly as a banner of an advancing army. These are the most dependable, the humble who anchor the Christian army and defend it. If they are ever called upon to attack they must do so through the crumbling remains of a forward facing regiment as it retreats. Didn’t Jesus come in such manner?
“Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father,”
Galatians 1:3-4 ESV
Jesus came from the crowd... from a place not known for its spirituality, and at that perfect time He attacked sin and death through the crumbling front lines of the Jewish faith. Their structure was faltering, and yet they didn’t recognize it... but God did, and Jesus stepped through the cracks in their line to claim the victory.
“The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.”
1 Corinthians 15:56-58 ESV
So although the Bible is full of heroes and champions, it’s greatest, Jesus, came from the least, and He was born from the line of David who was a young shepherd boy who stepped from the rear to defeat Goliath and the Philistines when the bravest quaked at the prospect... two kings of the Jews; one of this world, and the other of Heaven and earth, but both from the least in a time of great strife.
We do the routine, the mundane, and the dirty work of faith; we are the rear guard that routinely claims no glory and is seldom mentioned except in mass “the camp of Dan were 157,600.” We are the solid, the stable, the dependable that gives those at the tip of the spear the confidence they need to press on. We are the shaft that drives the spearhead, and the fletching that makes the arrow of faith fly true. We are the shield against surprise attack, and the smooth small stones ready to make King’s of little shepherd boys. From here, in the midst of the meek, the greatest come, and The New Jerusalem is built.
“"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.”
Matthew 5:3-5 ESV
If you feel less in the grand scheme of Church then take heart! If you do the unrecognized work of the faith then rejoice! If you are always considered last then be encouraged. You are in position to be used by God... not to bring yourself glory, but to bring God glory. Many people glow in their faith as they speak of Mother Theresa, and her saintly life, but how many of the spiritual elite would have stepped forward to live in the slums as she did, or become God’s champion to the poor as she was? She was one of the least... are you?
Prayer:
Father, thank you for drawing the greatest from the least, and giving hope where there is none. Thank you for your Son Jesus who was born poor, placed in a manger, and who wore a crown of thorns so that all men could be redeemed from the debt of sin and death. Help us Holy Father to realize that what you value most is not what the world holds dear. Help us to serve you from obscurity so that we will be recognized by you in judgement. Keep us humble Merciful Father, and when Satan comes to tempt us strengthen us so that we can say “get the behind me!” Holy, Holy, Holy, are you our God who places the least first, and sees great value in the most humble of your children. Praised be your name for taking the hands of little children and saying “for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.” Great are you in the most minute things of creation, and mysteries yet to be revealed. All glory is yours Father, and none can stand except it be in your light. All worship and praise belong to you now, and forevermore!
Rich Forbes