This week in our deeper study of the book of Numbers we come to the matter of the Service of the Priests and the Levites for God’s move, a crystal in this book which is mainly based on Numbers 3; in the church life today we have a holy service.
There are three main sections in the book of Numbers; in the first section we see the matter of being formed into an army (Num. 1-8), then we see the journeying of the children of Israel (chs. 9-20), and then the fighting of the people of Israel (ch. 21 to the end).
In ch. 2 we see that the children of Israel were encamped in a particular military formation, and they were ready to fight; however, what follows in ch. 3 is not military tactics and exercises to prepare to fight, but the holy service of the priests and Levites for God’s move (see chs. 3-4).
This shows us that the service of the priests and Levites is actually a military service. When we speak of the service in the church life, we speak of a military service, for it involves warfare.
This service is also called a holy service, because the priests and the Levites handled the most holy things, that is, the contents of the tabernacle. In the church life our service is a most holy service, for we handle the holy things of Christ and the church.
This service in the book of Numbers is carried out by two categories of people – the priests and the Levites. But in the church age today, these two categories of people are one, for all believers in Christ are both priests and Levites before the Lord.
The priesthood today is universal, which means that all believers in Christ are priests to God. We as believers serve God and the church not only practically as the Levites did, but even more spiritually as the priests did; in all our services we need to exercise our spirit and be in spirit to serve God as priests.
Our service in the church life is for God’s move; actually, our service is how God moves. The way God moves today is through our service as priests and Levites today. May the Lord open our eyes to realise that the service we do today in the church life is a military service, involving warfare, and this service is for God’s move.
Our Holy Service in the Church is Based on Life under the Divine Administration
Numbers is a book of service,and in particular chs. 3-4 cover the holy service. These two chapters should tell us something about our service in the church life, about the arrangement and way of our service.
May the Lord open our eyes to see that many times our service in the church, our church service, has been somewhat loose; often we were not serious, strict, and right in our service in the church before the Lord.
We have made mistakes, and these may be the reason that we missed so much of God’s blessing. We need to be before the Lord concerning our church service, and in serving God we should not be loose but serious.
Especially the young ones, the ones learning to serve and being perfected to serve in the church life, need to be serious in God’s service, and we all need to learn the spiritual regulations and spiritual laws regarding the service of God.
In Numbers we have a full type of the church service; the service in Numbers is a picture of the church service (Num. 3:1-39, 4:1-33; Rom. 12:5-8, 11).
The picture of the holy service of the priests and the Levites in Numbers is a type of our church service today. In Rom. 12 we see a variety of gifts needed and employed in the church service; there are seven such gifts listed, but there are many other kinds of gifts and functions that are needed in the church service.
The priestly service was holy because it took care of the Tabernacle of the Testimony of God (see Num. 3:7-8; 4:4-16). The way they were encamped was the arrangement of their service.
Right around the perimeter of the tabernacle there were the Levites on three sides, and on the east side at the entrance there was Moses and Aaron and the sons of Aaron. The priests and the Levites directly cared for God’s testimony.
We all need to be the priests and the Levites, not just the people encamped around them; we need to be the serving ones who directly care for God’s testimony typified by the tabernacle.
There are four groups around the tabernacle – Kohath, Gershon, and Merari (the three sons of Levi), and then Moses and Aaron with the sons of Aaron as the priests at the entrance.
Even among the Levites there was a difference: the Kohatites were different from the others, for they handled the contents of the tabernacle, that is, the ark, the incense altar, the table of the bread of the presence, the lampstand, and the bronze altar.
The other two groups of Levites handled the boards, the sockets, the hangings, and all the other furnishings of the tabernacle and the outer court…We can’t say that these are not important, but we would probably prefer to handle the holy things.
However, it was not up to anyone’s choice what he served with – you had to be born into that family to do something. The basic principle of our holy service is that it is without confusion because it is based on life; everything in the holy service is under the divine administration, and thus it is in good order (Num. 3:7).
If we read the book of Numbers we will see that every person was born in a particular service; nobody chose a service or volunteered for a service, but they were born in a particular tribe so they did a particular service.
This shows us that spiritually our church service is based on life. All our service is based on life, it is organic, and it is void of confusion.
The service of the Levites was assigned to them by the priests; it was apportioned to them – they had no choice or preference what service they take.
In our service in the church life we don’t have a choice – we receive an assignment, and it is actually Christ as the Head who assigns us a certain service.
We shouldn’t say that we serve in a certain area because the brothers assigned us to, but realise that the Head of the Body assigns us our service according to our organic function as a member of the body of Christ.
Because our holy service in the church life is based on life, it is without confusion. This is similar to our human body; when there’s confusion in our physical body, this is a sign of sickness, for the body is full of life and can’t tolerate confusion.
Similarly, in the Body of Christ as God’s army, which is altogether a matter of life, there must be a good coordination.
Our priesthood can be practiced only in the organic Body of Christ and not in any organised Christianity. In Christianity we see organisation and committees and decisions being made by people, but in the Body of Christ there’s only one Head, and directs each member to function according to their growth and position in life.
Sometimes in the church life we may think that we are the wrong person for the service we were assigned, but we need to realise that we can’t volunteer for a service and neither can we get out of a service when we’re assigned.
Our priestly service, our service in the church, has been apportioned to us by Christ the Head according to our organic function, and it is in life; this is why it is orderly, with no chaos.
Thank You Lord Jesus for assigning us a priestly service, a portion of service in the church life today. We take You as our Head, Lord, and we want to function in the Body and in the church according our measure of growth in life and in the service that You have assigned to us. Thank You Lord Jesus for the holy service in the church life, a service that is under the divine administration and thus it in good order. May we realise what our service is, may we be one with You in our holy service, and may we serve according to our organic function for the building up of the church.
We are the Priests and the Levites carrying out the Holy Service of God Today
The holy service was carried out by the priests and the Levites (Num. 3:3, 6, 9-10). In the Old Testament there were two types of persons serving the Lord in and around the tabernacle – the priests and the Levites.
But in the New Testament, the Levites are all priests, for every genuine believer in Christ is a priest. We shouldn’t excuse ourselves from our holy service as priests saying that we are mere Levites, so we don’t need to preach the gospel but only take care of practical things; all believers are both Levites and priests at the same time.
In the Old Testament, however, there was a distinction between the priests and the Levites – the priests served God and the tabernacle directly, and the Levites served the priests, under their direction, helping them.
The priests were the anointed ones who served God directly; only the priests were able to see and handle the holy things of the tabernacle – they served with the tabernacle, and when the people moved, they covered all the holy things and packed them up.
The Levites only carried the holy things and served in the outer court, but not in the tabernacle to touch the holy things.
They were to camp before the tabernacle, on the east, toward the sunrise; they guarded the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, and anyone who wanted to serve God had to pass through the priests.
According to God’s original intention, every one of His people should be priests; in God’s heart from the beginning it was that His people would be a kingdom of priests.
But this didn’t happen, so because of this abnormal situation, only a small number exercised the priesthood. Therefore, the priests were almost like guards at the entrance of the tabernacle – nothing could come in except through them.
The priests were to keep the charge of the sanctuary, the tabernacle with the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies (Num. 3:32, 38). The word “charge” refers to responsibility; for the priests to keep the charge of the sanctuary meant that they were responsible for the entire sanctuary and everything related to it.
Today the priesthood is universal; every believer is a priest and should function as a priest. However, not every believer actually functions as a priest.
Therefore, we need to come to the Lord and be recovered to our function as a priest, and we need to be trained and raised up by the Lord today to bear responsibility and serve Him and Him in the church, fulfilling our holy service.
Lord Jesus, recover the universal priesthood of all the believers, so that all those regenerated by You would rise up and function as priest and Levites in the church life for the building up of the Body of Christ. Save us from having excuses based on our mood, tiredness, ability, or availability when it comes to our holy service. Amen, Lord Jesus, may all Your believers rise up to fulfill their holy service as priests, and may it all be done for the building up of the church as the Body of Christ!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by Mark Raabe for this week, and portions from, Life-study of Numbers, pp. 25-28 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallisation-Study of Numbers (1), week 3, The Service of the Priests and the Levites for God’s Move.
- Hymns on this topic:
# I am the Lord’s! Yet teach me all it meaneth, / All it involves of love and loyalty, / Of holy service, absolute surrender, / And unreserved obedience unto Thee. (Hymns #433)
# Living stones, we’re built together / And a house for God must be, / As the holy priesthood serving, / In a blessed harmony. (Hymns #913)
# Lord, we meet to seek Thy face / And in one accord to pray; / We a holy priesthood are, / Waiting on Thee here today. (Hymns #772)
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