For some time many have been influenced by the concept that the church life depends mainly on the young people. Those who are under thirty may think that the Lord’s recovery is their kingdom, and the ones over thirty may feel that they are useless and out of date. This concept is not accurate. In the Old Testament those under the age of thirty were not qualified to minister in or around the tabernacle, which was a type of the church today as the Lord’s testimony. Instead of being useless, those who are thirty and over are the ones most useful in caring for the tabernacle, for the church as the Lord’s testimony.
In the Lord’s move there are two main types of service: the service for the tabernacle and the fighting. Today we must, on the one hand, maintain a strong and living testimony; on the other hand, we need to fight the battle. For the fighting of the battle, we need those under the age of thirty, but for maintaining the testimony, we need those thirty and over.
Because in the past we did not make it clear about these two services, some were confused and thought there was only one service and that it depended solely on the young people. Therefore, I am concerned that we see these two categories of service in the Lord’s move. Today many of the young people are on the campuses fighting to gain ground for the Lord. The older ones, however, are maintaining the testimony. This is much more important than fighting.
Many of the middle-aged and older brothers and sisters have become dislocated or disjointed members. It seems that the fingers have been functioning but that the shoulders have been dislocated. I hope that through this chapter and through the four chapters to follow all the members will be put back in the proper location.
Various portions of the Old Testament speak of the different age groups among the Lord’s people (Exo. 30:12-16; Lev. 27:2-8; Num. 1:3; 4:3, 30, 46-49; 8:24-25). Because Exodus 30:12-16 deals with the matter of redemption, it makes no distinction among the age groups. From the standpoint of God’s redemption, we are all the same; we are all sinners. In Exodus 30:14 the age of twenty signifies the ability to bear responsibility before God as a full-grown man. Everyone twenty years of age and older had to give the same offering to the Lord, half a shekel. This half shekel, twenty gerahs, fulfilled the requirements of the ten commandments.
Exodus is a book of redemption, but Leviticus is a book of consecration. In redemption we all are the same, but in consecration there are differences. Leviticus 27:2-8 mentions various age groups: those from twenty to sixty, from five to twenty, from one month to five years, and those over sixty. In redemption everyone had the same value, half a shekel. In consecration, however, there are different evaluations for different ages. Among those from twenty to sixty, the male was worth fifty shekels and the female, thirty. Among those from five to twenty, the male was worth twenty and the female, ten. Among those from one month to five years, the male was worth five and the female, three. Finally, among those over sixty, the male was worth fifteen and the female, ten. Therefore, in Leviticus 27:2-8 there are four age levels, with the most valuable age being that between twenty and sixty. The testimony of the Lord depends mainly upon those in this age group. As we shall see, according to God’s scale the most important age for His testimony is the age between thirty and fifty.
Following Leviticus, we come to Numbers, a book of service. The Hebrew word which Darby renders “service” in Numbers 4:3 (“host” in KJV) has the meaning of military service and thus refers to warfare. God viewed the children of Israel in the wilderness as an army fighting for His testimony. Apparently the children of Israel were fighting for themselves. Actually, they were fighting for God’s testimony on earth, for among them was the tabernacle of the testimony, God’s dwelling place on earth. In this warfare there were two main functions: the function of fighting the enemies and the function of maintaining the tabernacle, which represented God’s testimony in the universe. Only those between the ages of thirty and fifty had the privilege of doing the work in and around the tabernacle. Those between twenty and thirty, however, were qualified for the military service, that is, for fighting the enemy. Numbers 1:3 says, “From twenty years old and upward, all that are able to go forth to war in Israel: thou and Aaron shall number them by their armies.” This indicates that those over the age of twenty were qualified for military service.
Home | First | Prev | Next