As believers in Christ we are priests to God and our full-time job is to handle Christ (as the priests handled the items of the tabernacle) and the church, and to minister Christ in all His rich aspects to people.
The book of Numbers is a book of service, and this service is a holy service; on one hand it is a military service to fight for God’s interest on earth and protect His testimony, and on the other, it is a service to God and to His people.
In Num. 1 we see the numbering of the people of Israel for the army to be formed, in ch. 2 we see the encamping of the people around the tabernacle, and now in ch. 3 we would expect some sort of military exercises or tactics being practiced.
However, what we see in ch. 3 of Numbers is the service of the priests and the Levites, the holy service. This service was initially to be carried out by all the people of Israel, but due to their failure, God selected one tribe among them, the tribe of Levi, to serve God on behalf of all the people.
In the New Testament, however, the priesthood is universal, for we all are a kingdom of priests, a holy priesthood, serving God in spirit.
Every believer is a priest, but not every believer may function as a priest. The Lord wants to recover the universal priesthood, the normal function of all the saints as priests.
On the one hand we are priests serving God and serving man, and on the other we are also Levites, handling the holy things of Christ and the church and serving in a practical way in the church.
As believers in Christ we are both priests and Levites, and our service is holy, for it takes care of Christ and the testimony of God, the church.
The basic principle in our service is that everything is based on life, under the sovereign arrangement of God. We are not volunteering for a service to God, neither can we unsubscribe from a certain service that has been assigned to us; rather, according to our growth in life and function in the Body, Christ as the Head assigns us a certain service.
Our holy service is without confusion because it is based on life and it is under the divine arrangement.
Sometimes we may think we’re not the right people for a particular service – and it may be true in human eyes, but according to God’s divine arrangement, He assigns to us a certain service according to our organic function in the Body, and our service is for the building up of the Body of Christ.
What an Honor it is to Handle Christ and bring Him in His Rich Aspects to Others!
In the Old Testament there was a clear distinction between the service of the Levites and that of the priests; the Levites were not priests directly but served the tabernacle and the priests, while the priests served God and His people.
The Levites were the serving ones of the priesthood (Num. 3:9, 12, 17), and they did a lot of practical service around the priesthood and the tabernacle. In particular, the Levites carried the tabernacle through the wilderness.
The tabernacle was not a small structure – there were many things to disassemble and carry, and there was a lot of weight there. But there was a difference between who carried what and how.
Those of the family of Merrari and Gershon carried the items they were assigned in an ox cart, while the Kohatites carried theirs on their shoulders, walking through the wilderness and carrying the ark, the table of the bread of the presence, the bronze altar, the lampstand, and the incense altar.
In the spiritual reality in the New Testament we all are priests and Levites, and it is our duty to carry God’s testimony with Christ and the church to all the earth, wherever our wandering in this wilderness takes us today.
If we are persons carrying the bronze altar, we bring God’s salvation, His judicial redemption, from one place to another place. It is not God directly through angels that brings His judicial redemption to man, but it is through man, through us as the real Levites of today.
If we are those carrying the table of the bread of the presence, we are carrying the resurrected Christ as food, nourishment, and life supply from one place to another place. What an honor it is to bring God’s presence, His salvation, and the riches of Christ to men wherever we are and wherever we go!
If we are those carrying the lampstand, we bring the light from God’s word to unveil others, shine on them, and bring them into the light from place to place.
If we are those carrying the ark, we bring the testimony of God wherever we are, and we are so intimately one with Christ that He is expressed through us to make us the testimony of God wherever we are and whatever we do. Oh, what an honor it is to handle Christ and bring Him in all His rich aspects with His salvation to others!
In the priesthood, the ministry of the priests, there were many business affairs that required the service of the priests (Num. 3:25-37). These affairs were the transportation of the tabernacle with its contents and utensils, and even the ashes of the sacrifice were transported, for they were holy.
The service of the Levites was to take care of the Tent of Meeting – the Tabernacle of the Testimony – which is a type of Christ and the church (Num. 18:1-4, 6).
In taking care of the tabernacle and its contents, the Levites didn’t serve God directly but rather, they served the priesthood and the priests, who served God directly (see Num. 3:9, 12, 17).
The priests were to keep the charge of the sanctuary and the altar, and the Levites served under the priests in caring for the sanctuary and the altar (see Num. 18:5-6). Praise the Lord, we are learning to serve with one another in the church to handle Christ and bring Him in all His rich aspects to those around us!
Thank You Lord for such a great honor to enjoy You, experience You, and bring You to those around us in all Your rich aspects. What a privilege we have, Lord, to handle Christ and bring Him to man, to bear the testimony of God among men. It is an honor to us to bring God’s salvation from one place to another place, and to testify of the resurrected Christ as the nourishment for man to enjoy and be supplied. Amen, Lord, it is such an honor to be under Your shining and bring Your light to others so that they may be unveiled, enlightened, and brought under Your light!
Believers are Priests who Minister Christ in All His Rich Aspects to Others
The Tabernacle of the Testimony with all its furnishings and the altar, to which the priests ministered, are all types of Christ in all His rich aspects; this Christ is what the New Testament believers minister to others (see Num. 3:25-26, 31, 36-37; Eph. 3:8; 2 Cor. 3:3; 1 Tim. 4:6).
What does it mean that the priests handle the most holy things, the content of the tabernacle, serving in the Holy Place and in the Holy of Holies?
It means that we as believers in Christ today need to enjoy and experience Christ as the reality of all the furnishings in the tabernacle, and we need to minister Christ in all His rich aspects to others.
Our priestly service ministers Christ to others. Sometimes we may minister Christ with His redemption to others (the bronze altar), and at other times we may minister Him as the life supply for their nourishment (the table of the bread of the presence).
As the Lord directs us, we may intercede for others by offering the ascended Christ for a satisfying fragrance to God (the incense altar), or we may open the word to others to shine the divine light on them (the lampstand).
All our service should be the ministry of Christ to others; we handle Christ, we enjoy Christ, we experience Christ, and we minister Christ to others in all His rich aspects.
The altar, signifying the cross (Heb. 13:10), refers to Christ’s redemption, and the tabernacle refers to Christ as the embodiment of God (Col. 2:9), through whom God dwells among men (John 1:14) and through whom men can enter into God to enjoy all that He is (John 14:2, 6, 20).
Both the ministry of the priests and of the Levites always supplies people with the riches of Christ; we may think we are not that able to speak or give a message about this or that, but even to the least of the saints the grace was given to impart to others the unsearchable riches of Christ as the gospel (Eph. 3:8).
What we do today is not merely take care of practical things but handle Christ, enjoy Christ, experience Christ, and minister the Christ we enjoy and experience to others, so that they may also enjoy the unsearchable riches of Christ.
To minister is to serve, and to serve is to supply people by ministering to them (see 2 Cor. 4:1; 3:3, 6, 8; 1 Pet. 4:10-11).
As priests and Levites, we are like waiters in a restaurant, supplying people with the riches of Christ and serving them with delicious, nutritious spiritual food, which is Christ in so many aspects for their life supply.
The New Testament believers serve others the cross of Christ for redemption (1 Cor. 1:23; 2:2) and the riches of Christ for their life supply (see Eph. 3:8; Col. 1:27-28).
What we preach is nothing else but Christ, and this One crucified for the judicial redemption, and we declare the unsearchable riches of Christ for others to enjoy organic salvation. This is what we need to serve and minister to others, whether they are unbelievers or believers.
Lord, may we be the priests who handle Christ, enjoy Christ, experience Christ, and minister Christ in all His rich aspects to others for their judicial redemption and organic salvation. Amen, Lord Jesus, make us divine and mystical waiters who serve others with Christ in all His rich aspects for their salvation. May we be filled with Christ and constituted with Christ, and may we minister such a One to believers and unbelievers alike. Thank You Lord for such an honor to minister God in Christ to others for their supply and enlightenment!
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. 189-190, 25-26 (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:
# Christ to minister is service / Both to God and others too, / Christ, the surplus, e’er supplying, / Off’ring Him as service true. (Hymns #912)
# Living stones, we’re built together / And a house for God must be, / As the holy priesthood serving, / In a blessed harmony. / Thus we must be built together, / In position minister; / For the basis of our service / Is the body character. (Hymns #913)
# When in sacrifice he offers / Christ to God as God has willed, / Then as food he doth enjoy Him / And is with His riches filled. (Hymns #911)
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