We Need to receive the Revelation concerning God and God’s Economy for God’s Building

Unto the economy of the fullness of the times, to head up all things in Christ, the things in the heavens and the things on the earth, in Him. Eph. 1:10

Even though the word economy is not used in the Old Testament books, yet the typology of Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers unveils God’s economy; we need to receive the revelation concerning God and God’s economy.

In these books we see the economy of God in pictures, while in the New Testament we see it in definition and teaching. Actually, the cargo of the entire Bible is God’s economy; the only thing that we as believers can find in the Bible is God’s economy, and this is our unique cargo.

Besides the economy of God we have nothing else to teach. In and according to the economy of God, we have been chosen, redeemed, and saved from the bondage in the fall, and we have been delivered in Christ from the usurpation of the world and from the bondage of Satan.

We were dead in sins and offenses, without God in the world, and having no hope and no life; but praise the Lord, God chose us, Christ redeemed us and saved us, and we have been saved from the usurpation and bondage of Satan in the world!

Now as saved ones, we are enjoying Christ; we have received the divine revelation from God, and we are now being built up with the processed Triune God.

In and according to God’s economy, we are being reconstituted, reformed, remodelled, and rebuilt with the Triune God, the One who has been processed and consummated to become the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit.

Also, we are being formed into a priestly army; we are being not only transformed metabolically in our nature but also matured by the divine life which saturates us and grows in us.

The Lord prepares us and forms us to be His priestly army, the army which fights for God and His interests on earth, and the army which journey on earth with God.

Finally, we are being prepared by God in every way so that we may possess the all-inclusive Christ as the good land; God is preparing us and equipping us that we may possess the all-inclusive Christ. Praise the Lord!

Today we want to see more concerning how the Old Testament – especially Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers – speaks of and unveils the economy of God, and how we can experience it and experience it in our daily life today.

Also, we want to see how we as God’s people need to receive the divine revelation concerning God Himself and His economy for our training and building up as His testimony! Amen!

Seeing How the Typology in Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers unveils God’s Economy

The word economy is not used in the Old Testament, but it is found in the New Testament, especially in the writings of Paul…. Although this word may not be used in Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers, the typology in these books unveils God’s economy. God’s economy is His administration with His plan, His purpose, and His arrangement to accomplish His plan and attain His purpose for the fulfillment of the desire of His heart. This desire is to have a people not only created by Him but also regenerated, sanctified, transformed, and conformed to the image of Christ as the embodiment of the processed Triune God. Eventually, this people will be brought into glory, into the expression of the Triune God. This is God’s economy. In the Old Testament we have a picture of God’s economy; in the New Testament we have a clear speaking concerning God’s economy. Witness Lee, Life-study of Numbers, p. 346The expression, God’s economy, is nowhere to be found in the Old Testament, but in typology the books of Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers unveil God’s economy.

The entire Bible speaks of this one thing: the economy of God; besides this, we have nothing else to teach, nothing else to speak of, and nothing else to focus on.

God’s economy is not something “too high” to present to both new believers and unbelievers, neither is it something complicated and unattainable, for it is the focus of the entire Bible.

What is God’s economy? According to the Bible, God’s economy is His household administration to accomplish His plan for the fulfilment of the desire of His heart.

What is in the heart of God is to have a group of people who are not only created by Him in His image but who are also regenerated, sanctified, transformed, and conformed to the image of Christ as the embodiment of the processed Triune God.

Such a people are eventually brought into glory, that is, into the corporate expression of the Triune God (1 Tim. 1:3-4, 18; 6:3; cf. 1 Cor. 4:17; 2 Tim. 1:6-9; 4:7).

In 1 Tim. 1:3-4 Paul exhorted Timothy to charge certain nes not to teach different things other than God’s economy, which is in faith; this shows that the teaching of God’s economy is the unique teaching in the New and in the Old Testament, and we should teach nothing else.

Furthermore, when we teach God’s economy, we war the good warfare, warring against the different teachings of the dissenters to carry out God’s economy. So we need to fan our spirit into flame, and not be ashamed of the testimony of the Lord and of His ministers; we fan our spirit into flame, teach only the economy of God, and we are not ashamed of the Lord’s testimony!

In the Old Testament we have a picture of God’s economy, and in the New Testament we have a clear speaking concerning God’s economy. The history of the children of Israel, as recorded in the Old Testament, is a type of the history of the believers in the New Testament (see 1 Cor. 10:6, 11; Rom. 15:4).

So we need to take heed to our speaking, especially our murmuring, that we may do all things without murmurings and reasonings; when we murmur as the people of Israel did, the Lord may come in to discipline us.

May we learn from the example and history of the people of Israel, realising that God has an economy and that He arranges all things in our environment for our transformation.

May we see how the typology in Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers unveils God’s economy, and may we be one spirit with the Lord to speak and live in God’s economy today.

Thank You Lord for unveiling us to see a vision of Your economy, Your household administration to accomplish Your plan for the fulfilment of the desire of Your heart. May we be those who are not only created in Your image but also regenerated with Your life, transformed in Your nature, and conformed to the image of Christ as the embodiment of God! Amen, Lord, may God’s economy become the unique thing we focus on, we teach, we speak of, and we tell others about. May we be the people who will be eventually brought into glory, into the corporate expression of the Triune God!

As God’s People we need to Receive the Revelation Concerning God and God’s Economy for our Training and Building up as His Testimony

And to enlighten all that they may see what the economy of the mystery is, which throughout the ages has been hidden in God, who created all things. Eph. 3:9In the book of Genesis we see how God’s people were chosen by God, and in Exodus they received the divine revelation concerning God and His dwelling place.

God’s chosen and redeemed people need to receive the divine revelation concerning God Himself and His economy for their training and building up as His testimony. After the people of Israel participated in God’s initial salvation – as realised in the Passover – they received the divine revelation.

God brought them out of Egypt and to the mountain of God, Mount Sinai, and there He gave them a full revelation of Himself and His dwelling place. We may say that the revelation the people of Israel received on Mount Sinai contained “the blueprint” for the building of God’s dwelling place.

The divine revelation was through the enjoyment of the divine provisions; the people of Israel tasted the supply of the heavenly manna and the living water flowing out of the smitten rock (Exo. 16:1—17:7; 1 Cor. 10:3-4).

Also, the divine revelation was through the experience of being an army that shared in God’s fighting against His enemies, as in their fighting against the Egyptians and the Amalekites (Exo. 14; 17:8-16; Gal. 5:16-17; cf. 1 Pet. 2:11).

From the very beginning, when God delivered His people from Egypt, He called them “His armies”; they never had this concept, but they actually were the armies of God. In God’s sight, when they marched out of Egypt, the people of Israel were God’s armies.

Then in Exo. 17 they fought with Amalek, with Moses interceding on the mountain and Joshua fighting in the valley. Christ is interceding for us as the Spirit with our spirit fights against the flesh; on one hand Christ is the interceding One in our spirit, and on the other, He is the fighting Spirit in our spirit.

God’s chosen and redeemed people need to receive the divine revelation concerning God Himself and His economy for their training and building up as His testimony; in Genesis God’s people were chosen, and in Exodus they received the divine revelation concerning God and His dwelling place. God’s chosen people received the divine revelation after their participation in God’s initial salvation, as realized in the passover — Exo. 12; 1 Cor. 5:7-8. God brought the people out of Egypt to the mountain of God, Mount Sinai, and there gave them a full revelation of Himself and His dwelling place; we may say that this revelation contained the”blueprint” for the building of God’s dwelling place. Crystallization-Study of Numbers (2), outline 1We can receive the revelation concerning God and God’s economy by entering into the real and practical Holy of Holies, our mingled spirit, and thus enter into the real and true prayer, taking Christ as our King, Ruler, Head, and authority.

In this way we give Him the preeminence in our being in all things, and we can see a revelation of God and God’s economy.

Eventually, in Exo. 19 God’s chosen and redeemed people reached and arrived at the mountain of God; when God sent Moses to rescue the children of Israel out of the hand of Pharaoh, He told Moses that after he had brought the people out of Egypt, they would serve the Lord upon this mountain (Exo 3:12), and this was fulfilled.

At this mountain, God’s people received the revelation concerning God Himself – the law – so that they may be separated unto God. The law is not a set of commandments, a set of do’s and dont’s; rather, it is a picture of God, a portrait of God.

The law is a portrait of God, a revelation of God Himself; the law reveals that our God is a God of love, light, holiness, and righteousness (see Exo. 20-24). These words – love, light, holiness, and righteousness – are crucial in describing the characteristics of our almighty, Triune God.

Our God is love itself; He is light itself, He is altogether righteous, and He is holy. May we see such a revelation of God and His economy!

Lord, grant us the divine revelation concerning God Himself and concerning God’s economy for our training and building up as His testimony! Amen, Lord, may we realise that we are not only chosen by God but also brought to a place where we can see God’s economy and God Himself. Thank You for delivering us from the world, for bringing us to Yourself, and for giving us the divine provisions of Christ as the heavenly manna and as the living water flowing to quench our thirst. Amen, Lord, may we see the revelation concerning God Himself so that we may be separated unto Him!

Read this article / blog post in Romanian - puteți citi acest articol și în limba românăThis article can also be read in the Romanian language / Citiți acest articol în limba română vizitând următorul link, Trebuie să primim revelația cu privire la Dumnezeu și la economia lui Dumnezeu pentru zidirea lui Dumnezeu.

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, msg. 52 (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:
    # Oh, may a clear, controlling vision of / The Lord’s economy direct my heart, / And burn in me until my spirit’s wholly set afire! / With spirit strong and active we’ll press on / To consummate God’s goal— / New Jerusalem, Hallelujah! (Song on, God has called us for His purpose)
    # In His Christ to head up all things / Is our God’s economy; / Taking Christ as Head and Center, / All is one in harmony. (Hymns #981)
    # God planned His great purpose in eternity, / This great will was hidden, a great mystery; / With wisdom and prudence He has made it known, / Through revelation, in Christ, the Son. / Unto the economy of the fullness of the times, / To head up all things in Christ, / The things in the heavens in Him. (Song on, Unto the Economy)
About aGodMan

A God-man is a normal believer in Christ; the author of this article is one who is learning to be a normal Christian, a daily enjoyer of Christ, a living and functioning member in the Body of Christ. Amen, Lord, make us such ones for the building up of the Body of Christ!

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Laura
Laura
2 years ago

I would love if you could give a summary of Gods Economy shown in the types and shadows of the Old Testament.