1 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. 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.
At Hebron when the tribes gathered to make David king over all Israel, fifty thousand men of Zebulun came skilled and expert in war, fully equipped with all instruments of war, able to keep rank with undivided and wholehearted loyalty. To keep rank is to act in disciplined unity and exact order, working together harmoniously and in step rather than moving as a scattered crowd, for God is a God of order. Not to be of double heart is to have a perfect, single, whole heart with one purpose, and steadfast unity in service requires such singleness, since a divided heart hinders keeping rank. Dividing heart and energies between the message and the world makes workers break rank, for the double-minded are unstable and ineffective. In the Lord's work this calls lay members and all workers to one aim of serving the Lord and fighting His battles, giving united and wholehearted effort to warn every nation, kindred, tongue, and people with the message of Revelation 14.
Setting and Meaning
The verse belongs to the fuller account of the tribes gathering at Hebron to make David king over all Israel. The fighting men assembled on that occasion numbered about 350,000, and the gathering included a three-day festival. The total of the warriors who came to support David, as represented by the elders of Israel when they came to make him king, is also reckoned as 339,600.
The verse describes fifty thousand men of Zebulun who went forth to battle as skilled and expert in war. They were fully equipped with all instruments or weapons of war and prepared for battle. They were able to keep rank and to keep their ranks. They were not of double heart but single-hearted, not divided in loyalty but united and undivided in loyalty to David.
The chapter as a whole presents the tribal contingents who joined David as mighty, capable, and wholehearted men. Among them, the men of Zebulun were loyal to David without divided allegiance.
Unity in God's Work
Keeping rank is acting in disciplined unity and exact order, working together harmoniously and in step without drawing apart, and not moving as a promiscuous motley crowd. God has established order in the church as well as in the heavenly bodies, and those who could keep rank in David's days were commended for it. That order follows the pattern of Israel coming out of Egypt harnessed five in a rank and of the perfect order observed in erecting and removing the tabernacle and in encamping. God is a God of order, while sin causes disorder and confusion.
The verse stands next to the account of Issachar's leaders who understood the times and knew what Israel should do, and those who keep rank are promised knowledge of what God's people should do. Not being of double heart means not being divided in moral loyalty but having a perfect, single, whole heart with one purpose. Keeping rank in battle was tied to being single-hearted, so steadfast unity in service requires hearts committed to one purpose. Being double-hearted hinders keeping rank, including in uniting to make David king.
Dividing the heart and energies between the message and the world makes workers break rank, and this includes yielding to tempting side enterprises. A double-minded person is unstable and ineffective. Applied to lay members in the Lord's army, the verse teaches that they must have one aim of serving the Lord and fighting the Lord's battles. United effort and wholehearted service are necessary for the success of the Lord's work.
Applied to young people, canvassing experience equips them for mission service, especially opening new fields through printed literature, and prepares them with wholehearted purpose to work together. In the present work keeping rank means giving undivided effort to the mission and going forward united to spread the literature containing God's truth. The example of Zebulun's warriors acting in step with undivided loyalty applies to the united people who will proclaim the message of Revelation 14 before Christ takes His kingdom, working together in a common effort to warn every nation, kindred, tongue, and people. Winning belongs to the single-hearted while the divided in heart fail. A man with his whole heart in his pursuit stirs people while divided affection leaves nothing lasting or permanent, and God's presence and power come into the heart that is single toward Him.
Having two physical hearts is a bodily abnormality that God in nature can overrule for good and gives no cause for worry. Having a divided moral heart is different and is a weakness to the nation.