I Chronicles 12:33  Of Zebulun, such as went forth to battle, expert in war, with all instruments of war, fifty thousand, which could keep rank: they were not of double heart.
38  All these men of war, that could keep rank, came with a perfect heart to Hebron, to make David king over all Israel: and all the rest also of Israel were of one heart to make David king.

As I was reading these verses recently it struck me that God put a couple of interesting phrases in these verses. The first phrase that caught my attention was: “could keep rank”. That phrase means these soldiers were better disciplined than the rest. In an army, the soldiers need to be well disciplined. If they are not, things will not go well on the battle field.
There is so much conflicting news coming out of the war between Russia and Ukraine. Most of the media is telling us that Russia is losing and they will soon need to go home in defeat. There are a few outlets that state that Russia knows what it is doing and that it has used a strategy that the west does not want people to know about.
Early on in the war, it was stated that the west, in particular the U.S., had invested heavily in Ukraine, prior to the war, in establishing over thirty bio-weapons labs. There was a concern for the safety of these labs, since they were doing experiments in them similar to what was taking place in the Wuhan lab in China. We know the results of that lab “work”. Apparently the Russians targeted most of those labs early on in this war. They wanted them out of the way. There are also conflicting accounts of what is taking place at the large nuclear plant in Ukraine. The Ukrainians accused the Russians of attacking that site. The Russians were accusing the Ukrainians of attacking the site. We know that the Ukrainians did not want the IAEA inspectors to assess any damage that had been done to that site.
Reports also suggest that Russia has threatened any of its soldiers that get captured, with ten years in prison unless they escape. Russia does not want their men to give up. Mr. Putin wants them to fight to the death. It will be interesting to see how this all works out. The Bible has some things to say about Russia that are interesting to note. Of course there are those who suggest that the Bible has nothing to say about Russia.
In our text, king David had many soldiers. He was blessed with men who knew how to fight. He was blessed with some who were of particular benefit in that they could keep rank. They were well disciplined men who put the needs of the nation ahead of their own wishes.
This is important in the Christian life. As we will see, this would not be a reference to the ecumenical movement that has been around for some time now. It also does not refer to the New Evangelical movement which has also been around since at least 1948. Those two movements are working together in a destructive manner. They are deeply compromised and those who join them are headed the wrong way. Those movements are there to scratch the itching ears of many religious people. They adapt to the times. They have accepted the perversions rather than the Word of God. They have accepted the Contemporary “Christian” music which feeds the emotions. They have also adopted the worldly immodesty that used to be condemned by their own forefathers.
The qualifier in these two verses is important to note. In verse 23 we read “they were not of double heart.” A true soldier cannot be of a double heart. Gideon needed to learn this many years earlier. He started with an army of thirty two thousand men. God told him that was much too big an army. God told Gideon to send all those who were afraid, home. Twenty two thousand men went home with that option. That left ten thousand men who thought they were ready to fight against the Midianites. The LORD told Gideon he still had too many men. His men were not ready to go to battle. Further to that, with such an army, if Gideon and his men were successful in the battle, they would assume they won the battle. They needed to see that the LORD would be fighting for them. The rest of the nation of Israel needed to see this as well.
God had another test for the men and after that test, Gideon was left with three hundred men. God was satisfied with that number. Now there was a number that would work together and they would accept the unusual instructions that Gideon was told to give them. It would also be clear to the Midianites as well as to the nation of Israel, that the LORD had won this great victory.
God is looking for people who are not of a double heart. If a person is not convinced that the Lord is God and that He alone is God, then they are not fit for service in God’s army. If a person is ashamed to identify with the Lord Jesus Christ, he is not fit for the battle. Peter failed the test as did the other disciples, prior to Jesus’ crucifixion. Later on they would be much different, but for a time they were of a double mind and heart.
Peter and John stood faithfully on Jesus’ side in Acts 4 and 5.
In our text we read that the men of Zebulun were not of a double heart. That is an important distinction. As we noted, today God is looking for those who are of one heart as we see in verse 38. God is looking for those who are fully persuaded of God’s truth and are willing to stand upon that truth regardless of what others say. We know there have been some like this in Bible times. We have also read of some like that in church history. We need men like that today. As our world becomes more pagan we need men who will choose to stand for the truth. As churches are caving in to compromise, God is looking for men who are of one heart with Him. The emergent church movement is gaining strength all the time. More and more churches that used to believe the truth have now chosen to join with those who are compromisers. Some of the bigger churches have been promoting compromise for a long time already. This year seems to be a year where many more churches are falling for compromise.
God cannot use those churches for His glory. He cannot use them to reach people with the Gospel. God’s Word is sure. There is no reason to fall for the compromises. It will require those who accept the true God as their Lord and Saviour and thus can keep rank with Him and are not of a double heart. Rather than dabble in false teaching, stick to the truth. Get into God’s Word and as you study His Word in a good local church, you will see where you need to be and what you need to flee from. If that is not what you want, you are in trouble, whether you want to believe that or not. God’s Word is sure. His Word is true. As we noted with Gideon’s army, God does not need a massive following. He requires a true following. That is what matters.
Pastor Bartel