It is quite wonderful to see that, according to the book of Numbers, in the Israelites encamping in array, their formation shows us that God is mingled with the created man, forming a unit of eternal and perfect government.
In the first chapter of Numbers we see the formation of the army to fight for God’s interest on earth, and in ch. 2 we see the encamping in array of the children of Israel around the tabernacle, according to God’s design.
In this matter of being encamped, the children of Israel had no choice – they had to be encamped under the standard of their family and their tribe, each with his own tribe, according to the design given by God.
All the twelve tribes were encamped around the tabernacle, surrounding it on the four sides.
In the church life we may want to exercise our own preference concerning who we should meet, maybe even what local church we should meet, according to what we desire and prefer.
But God has a certain sovereign arrangement, and He has placed us with some particular people, some saints, with whom we need to be built up. We must learn to deny our preference and desire and simply take God’s arrangement and seek to be built up and knit together in the Body of Christ.
We cannot pick and choose the saints we meet with, and we should not exercise preference in relation to the church life. Rather, we should be encamped as the Lord arranged it, and we should seek to be formed into the army that he needs for the protection of His testimony.
The center of the camp of Israel and the side that everyone faced was the Tent of Meeting, that is, the Tabernacle of the Testimony. This means that the Tabernacle was the center of the people of Israel, and in everything they did they took the Tabernacle of the Testimony to be their unique center.
In our Christian life and church life we need to have Christ and the church as our unique center.
We should not merely try to balance things, allotting time to our family, to our job, and to the church life, but rather, we should take Christ as our center, and we should focus on the testimony of God in the church, and all other things will be properly balanced.
The meaning of our life on earth is Christ and the church. The more we take Christ as the meaning of our life, the more we will have the testimony of Jesus among us, and the more we will be arrayed in an army fighting for the interest of God on earth.
The Testimony of God Faces all Sides, and we are Encamped According to our Spiritual Condition
The way the children of Israel were encamped in an array typifies God’s redeemed people being consummated as the New Jerusalem. First of all they were all encamped around the Tabernacle of the Testimony, and they all faced it.
The Israelites encamped facing the Tent of Meeting in four directions: the east, the south, the west, and the north; this means that the testimony of God faced all sides (Num. 2:1-34). This means that God’s testimony is not only for the Jews or for those who are more spiritually mature but for all men.
The testimony of God is for all men to see and for all those who are willing to become part of it. God’s testimony is for all the earth – not just for the Jewish people but for all the Gentiles as well. How we praise the Lord that His testimony has reached us and has included us!
Also, if we look at the way the children of Israel were encamped and who set our first, God assigned four camps to be around the tabernacle – on the east there was the camp of Judah, on the south there was the camp of Reuben, on the west there was the camp of Ephraim, and on the north there was the camp of Dan.
On the east side, toward the sunrising, was the standard of the camp of Judah, who was in front of the tent of meeting to guard the testimony of God; these were to set out first (Num. 2:3-9).
On the south side was the standard of the camp of Reuben with two other tribes; these were to set out second (vv. 10-16).
On the west side was the standard of the camp of Ephraim with two other tribes ; these were to set out third (vv. 18-24).
On the north side was the standard of the camp of Dan with two other tribes; these were to set out last (vv. 25-31).
If we look at the sequence both in the encamping and in the setting out we will realise that it is not according to birth but according to the condition of the tribes.
This shows us that in being encamped in an array to be the army of God, our natural birth and constitution are of little significance, for what matters is our spiritual condition.
If our spiritual condition is good before the Lord, and if we are mature in life and one with the Lord, then we will be formed into the army and we will even take the lead in setting out for the battle.
But if our spiritual condition is poor, no matter how many years we have been in the church life or what our natural capacity and ability is, we will have to allow others to take the lead and set out for battle first.
In the sequence of the encamping of the people of Israel we see that, although Reuben was the firstborn (Gen. 29:31-32), because he committed fornication he lost the birthright (Gen. 49:3-4; 1 Chron. 5:1-2).
Judah, on the other hand, was born fourth (Gen. 29:31-35), but he set out first because he was an overcoming lion among the twelve brothers (Gen. 49:8-9), typifying Christ as the overcoming fighter, the Lion of the tribe of Judah (Rev. 5:5), the One who defeated God’s enemy.
As for Ephraim, the son of Joseph, he was third because of Joseph. Among the camps, Dan was the last. Dan was also the worst, for he was a “serpent” (Gen 49:17), and he was the first to rebel against God’s kingdom and set up a second worship center (1 Kings 12:26-30). We need to take all these to the Lord in prayer and ask Him,
Lord Jesus, make us those who grow in life unto maturity and are qualified to be formed into the army that You desire to have, the army that fights for Your interests on earth. Amen, Lord, may our spiritual condition be such that we would be those setting out for battle first. Save us from no growing and not maturing in life. Save us from remaining the same. Grow in us unto maturity and cause us to be strong for the battle, once with Christ as the Lion from the tribe of Judah to deal with God’s enemies and protect His testimony on the earth.
God is Mingled with Man to form a Fighting Unit of Eternal and Perfect Government
In the encamping of the children of Israel around the Tabernacle of the Testimony, there were three camps on each of the four sides; three denotes the Triune God, and four denotes the created man.
Three times four signifies God in His Divine Trinity being mingled with the created man as one. This is God’s design: three by four; it was not two by six or one by twelve, but three by four.
God designed the encamping of His people in a way that shows His intention of being mingled with man to form a unit of eternal and perfect government.
Our Christian life should bear this characteristic: every proper Christian should be a “three by four” man, not a “one by twelve” man whom all follow, but a man mingled with God and built up with the saints. In our Christian life and church life we should always experience and enjoy God’s mingling with us.
This is what God intended for us from the beginning, from the creation of man; he created us in His own image and likeness, and He put a spirit in us, preparing us to be a vessel, a recipient to receive and contain God.
God wants to be involved in man’s life and mingled with man, and in Numbers 2 we see from the type of God arraying His people that God wants to be mingled with man! Amen!
Our Christian life and church life is all about being a three by four, a 3 x 4 believer and a 3 x 4 church life, that is, a Christian living in the mingling of God and man.
Three times four equals twelve, which also denotes eternity and completion as well as administration and government. The number twelve denotes eternal perfection, eternal completion, and also signifies administration and government.
The Lord Jesus called twelve disciples, and as per Matt. 19:28, in the restoration the Son of Man will be sitting on the throne of His glory with twelve apostles on twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes.
This number, twelve, is a number for administration and government, and also a number of eternal perfection and completion.
According to the numbers in the Israelites’ encamping in array, their formation signifies God in His Divine Trinity being mingled with the created man, forming a unit of eternal and perfect government.
This is the array that God wants to have as His fighting unit – three by four – God mingled with man to form a fighting unit for His interest.
The fighting unit that God desires to gain is not strong men who are mighty warriors or spiritual giants, something that cannot be attained by most believers; the fighting unit God is gaining is a group of people who are mingled with God and who live in the mingling of God and man in their Christian life and church life.
Lord Jesus, may our Christian life and church life be in the mingling of God with man. May we see God’s intention to be mingled with man to form a fighting unit of eternal and perfect government, and may we remain in the mingling of God with man. May we be a “three by four” Christians, those who have God in His Divine Trinity being mingled with them to form a unit of eternal and perfect government. Amen, Lord, gain such an encamping among us, and gain the reality of Your army in the mingling of God with man!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by James Lee for this week, and portions from, Life-study of Numbers, msg. 3 (Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallisation-Study of Numbers (1), week 2, Israel’s Encamping in Array Typifying God’s Redeemed People Being Consummated as the New Jerusalem.
- Hymns on this topic:
# Out of death and into life, / Done with all divisive strife! / Free indeed to love but Thee, / Growing to maturity! / “Amen, Jesus,” is our prayer / To the purging work, whate’er; / Now Thy church must desperate be / More the growth in life to see. (Hymns #1239)
# The number twelve means government, / Perfection which eternal is; / God blent with man it also tells- / Three multiplied by four shows this. (Hymns #979)
# Jesus Christ the Lord is living now in us / As the wonderful Spirit within. / He has been transfigured, we enjoy Him thus, / As the life-giving Spirit within. (Hymns #1113)
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