As the people of God today, we have Christ as our Leader in our Christian life, we are formed into His army to fight for His interests, we journey with God, we are bearing the testimony of God, and we are prepared by God to possess the all-inclusive Christ.
Our history as believers in Christ is typified by the history of the children of Israel, in particular as recorded in Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers.
This week we have been focusing on a vital sketch of the divine revelation in the books of Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers concerning God’s economy with His chosen and redeemed people.
In these three books we see at least ten major items helping us to possess the all-inclusive Christ typified by the good land.
First we see the Passover, which is Christ Himself; Christ has been prepared by God and given to us both to cover us and protect us from God’s judgement, and to be our inward supply to move one with God out of the world.
Second, we have the Lord’s presence; His presence goes with us, and we are governed by the first-hand direct presence of God, His smile, and in particular He leads us by the Spirit and through His word.
Third, we have Christ as our daily manna and the spiritual rock with the living water to supply us day by day as we are living and walking in our Christian life and church life.
Fourth, we have Christ as the Ark of the testimony; He is the testimony of God, and He is in us to be our center and everything to make us the testimony of God.
Fifth, we have the tabernacle of the testimony, the enlarged testimony of God, and God overlays us with Himself to add Himself to us and be our oneness for His testimony; in this way, we are bearing the testimony of God.
Sixth, we have Christ as the reality of all the offerings; He is our absoluteness, our food, our peace, our covering for sin, our sin-dealing life, and He is everything we need.
Seventh, we have the priesthood with the experience of Christ as the High Priest; we are priests of God, and we live in Christ and by Christ, applying Christ and making Him everything in our Christian life.
Eighth, we have the regulations of a holy life; we have been bought with a price, and we need to live a holy life in the church life to be the holy people of our holy God.
Ninth, we are being formed into the divine army, being matured in the divine life and keeping our newness and freshness with the Lord to serve Him in the army.
Tenth, by maintaining the priesthood we will be able to fight the battle; by keeping in fellowship with the Lord and living in His presence, we will be able to fight the battle one with the Lord.
Fighting together with God and for God to Defeat the Enemy and bring in God’s Kingdom
As God’s chosen and redeemed people, we are the priestly army who fight together with God and for God; this is seen in type in the history of the children of Israel in Num. 4:23, 30, and 35.
The children of Israel had to be formed as an army and fight together with God and for God against the enemies on earth, but our fight and battle is not against flesh and blood but against the spiritual authorities.
The children of Israel defeated the king of Arad and destroyed his people; by doing this, they fought together with God and for God, and they overcame the first enemy among the Canaanites (Num. 21:1-3).
Then, God’s people defeated Sihon the king of the Amorites with his people, and Og the king of Bashan with his people; this means that they overcame Canaan’s two “gate-guards” (vv. 21-35).
Even before they entered the good land, Israel had to fight with some of the kings who were “guarding the gate” to the good land; this was for their entrance into the good land.
Then, the children of Israel also defeated the Midianites with their five kings; by defeating them, the people overcame Canaan’s gate army (see Num. 31:1-12).
These kings which God’s chosen and redeemed people defeated signify the spiritual powers, rulers, and authorities in the air, whom we as believers in Christ must defeat.
As believers in Christ we were not only called by God, chosen by Him, saved and supplied by Him, and brought to the high mountain to see the divine revelation; we are also formed into the army fighting for His interests on earth.
For us to fight the spiritual warfare, we need to realise that our battle is not in ourselves but in the Body.
We need to be empowered in the Lord and in the might of His strength, and in the Body we need to put on the whole armor of God so that we may be able to stand against the stratagems of the devil (Eph. 6:10).
Our wrestling is not against blood and flesh; rather, it is against the rulers, against the authorities, against the world-rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenlies.
Our fight is in the Body and as the Body, and our fight is in the spiritual realm; we need to fight together with God and for God to defeat the enemy and bring in the kingdom of God.
Just as the children of Israel went through a process to be formed into an army, so we are being formed into God’s holy army to fight the spiritual warfare and defeat God’s enemy.
The church is God’s corporate warrior, and as such, the church needs to put on the whole armor of God and defeat the enemy to bring in the kingdom of God.
Lord Jesus, may we be empowered in the Lord and in the might of His strength. May the church as the Body of Christ put on the whole armor of God so that we may be able to stand against the stratagems of the devil. Amen, Lord, we want to stand one with You on earth and fight together with God for God in the Body to defeat the enemy and bring in the kingdom of God on earth. Amen, Lord, we stand in Your victory, we stand in the Body, and we fight for the kingdom of God to be brought in and for the enemy to be defeated!
Fighting for God’s Interest and Bearing the Testimony of God in the Church Life
The children of Israel were formed into a holy army to fight the holy war for the defeat of the enemy of God and the bringing in of the kingdom of God. As a priestly army, they bore with them God’s dwelling, the Tabernacle of the Testimony with the Ark of the Testimony.
In the church life today we are bearing God’s testimony with God Himself; as the church bears the testimony of God, the church is God’s dwelling place on earth.
The tabernacle of the Testimony signifies that we as God’s chosen and redeemed people are built up with Him to be His dwelling on the earth; this is what the church is today. The Ark of the Testimony signifies Christ as the center of God’s economy among His chosen and redeemed people.
The center of the people of Israel as they were journeying through the wilderness was the Tabernacle of the Testimony with the Ark of the Testimony; their center was Christ, the testimony of God.
Our center today in the church life is Christ Himself, the testimony of God; today we have Christ with us in a personal way, and we bear the testimony of God in the church.
While travelling through the wilderness, the children of Israel didn’t engage in commerce, a job, or anything else that other peoples did; their whole occupation was to follow God’s leading, journey with God, care for God’s testimony (the Tabernacle with the Ark), and fight with God for His interest on earth. It is the same with us today.
Others around us may care for their career, job, occupation, family, sports, etc but our unique care is to follow the Lord’s leading, have the testimony of God, and fight for God’s interest on the earth.
In the eyes of the worldly people it seems that we are wasting our time – just as the children of Israel seemed to be wasting their time in the wilderness, in the eyes of the other people.
But in God’s eyes it is the worldly people who are wasting their time (Matt. 20:3), and we are doing a work that will change this age and we are fulfilling God’s purpose.
As the priestly army carrying out God’s holy war, we bear with us the dwelling place of God, the testimony of God, and God is among us. In the church life we are fighting for God’s interest and we are bearing the testimony of God so that we may fulfill God’s purpose and defeat God’s enemy, bringing in the kingdom of God on earth.
The key words in Exodus are redemption, leading, revelation, and building; the key words in Leviticus are fellowship, service, and holiness; and the key words in Numbers are formation, journeying, and fighting.
The book of Numbers is a record of God’s chosen and redeemed people being formed into a priestly army to fight for God and to journey with God so that they may be prepared by God to possess the all-inclusive Christ as the good land.
And especially as younger ones in the church life in the Lord’s recovery, we are learning from the experience, history, and mistakes of the older generation – just as the children of Israel learned from the generation who was delivered from Egypt.
The second generation learns from the first generation, and the experiences of the first generation is passed on to the second generation for their building up and learning. May we learn and may we bear God’s testimony as we fight for God’s interest on earth in the church life!
Lord Jesus, we give ourselves to live the church life by bearing the testimony of God and fighting for God’s interest on earth so that the enemy would be defeated and the kingdom of God would be brought in. Amen, Lord, may we be gained as part of the holy army formed by You to fight one with You for the defeat of the enemy and the bringing in of the kingdom of God! We want to follow Your lead, bear Your testimony, enjoy Your supply, and be one with You to fight for God’s interest on earth!
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References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by bro. Ed Marks for this week, and portions from, Life-study of Numbers, pp. 356-368 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-Study of Numbers (2), week 1, A Vital Sketch of the Divine Revelation in the Books of Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers concerning God’s Economy with His Chosen and Redeemed People.
- Hymns on this topic:
# Pray with one accord in spirit, / Pray as in the heavenlies; / All the earthly interests treading, / Fight the principalities. (Hymns #779)
# Our battle is corporate—as one man we conquer! / We’re one with the Lord in the might of His strength! / Withstanding the foe, in the Body empowered, / Steadfastly we stand, headed up through His reign! (Song on, The church is the Bride, the new man, and the warrior)
# Fight the battle in the Body! By the virtue of the Head; / Standing firmly with the Body, / Into vict’ry you’ll be led. / For the Body is God’s armor, / Not for anyone alone; / When you wrestle in the Body, / All its benefits you own. (Hymns #885)
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