We Experience Christ in His Resurrection as our Authority in the God-given Ministry

In Num. 17 we see God’s vindication of His appointed authority, which is the budding rod of Aaron; this shows that we need to experience Christ in His resurrection in the God-given ministry.

In Num. 16 we see the general rebellion of the leaders and the people of Israel against Moses and Aaron, and we also see how God came in to judge them; but God didn’t stop there – He came in to vindicate His appointed authority, and the way He did it was by life not by power.

In Num. 16 there was a struggle for power; the leaders of the children of Israel had the ambition for position, and they wanted to have Moses’ position.

Throughout the centuries many believers were ambitious for having a position in the church, and many problems have been caused by ambition.

Moses’ reaction to the rebellion was not to deal with it directly but to fall on his face, not give up his God-given position as God’s deputy authority, and bring all this to God, the supreme authority in the universe.

When rebellion takes place and people are ambitious for position, only God can deal with this; we need to bring this to God.

Direct confrontation is never the solution; rather, humbling ourselves before God and bringing the situation to God will cause God to come in, judge, and vindicate His appointed authority.

The enemy Satan is behind all rebellion; he is the source of rebellion, and he instigates people to rebel against God and His deputy authority. Even in the church, the enemy Satan is behind all rebellion and all struggle for position.

God is the One who can manifest who has authority, and authority comes from the experience of the resurrection life, but there are some who want to get the position and be in authority.

The truth is that, if you have to defend your authority in the church, you have no authority to defend at all; all authority belongs to God, and He is the One who gives authority to the ones who go through death and experience resurrection.

Our rebellious nature needs to be exposed and subdued; may the Lord have mercy on us and expose rebellion in us, and may we stay under the covering of the fellowship in the Body so that we may be preserved.

We need to be enlightened and see a vision of the authority of God, and once we see it, we will realise that God’s authority flows in man and through man; we will then submit to God’s appointed authority, whether in the church, at work, at home, in school or in society.

The Basis of God’s Vindication of His Appointed Authority is Resurrection, the Resurrected Christ

How did God vindicate His appointed authority? First of all, God doesn’t have to do anything; He has all authority, He can appoint the ones He wants to appoint, and He doesn’t have to justify Himself; however, in Num. 17 we see the vindication of God’s appointed authority by causing he rod of Aaron to bud, blossom, and bear ripe almonds.

God commanded all the twelve leaders of the tribes to take a rod for each tribe and put them in the Tent of Meeting before the Ark, and the rod of the man whom God chooses shall bud (Num. 17:5).

A rod is not just a branch – it is a branch that has already been dried out, stripped of its leaves and roots, and is dead.

All these twelve rods therefore were leafless, rootless, dry, and dead; so whichever of them would bud would be the one chosen by God, and it would be in resurrection.

Resurrection is the basis of God’s selection and the basis of authority.

God didn’t come in to vindicate His appointed authority by enforcing it with His might and power; rather, He did it in the way of life, showing that resurrection life is the basis of the authority that He appoints.

Of course, man has no right to question God why He chooses whom He chooses to give authority, but when God condescends Himself to tell man the reason and basis for His appointment of authority, He points to resurrection.

When the rod of Aaron budded, blossomed, and bore ripe almonds, all the Israelites could see who was the God-appointed authority; their mouth was shut, and there were no more questions on who the real authority is.

There was no difference between Aaron and the other leaders of the tribes of Israel; they were all fleshly, sons of wrath; the twelve rods were all leafless, rootless, dead, and dry.

The basis of service and the basis of authority is not what we have in our natural life; it has to do with the resurrection life that we receive from God.

Authority has nothing to do with man but with the resurrection that is manifested through man.

The way Aaron was distinct from the other person is that God chose him and He gave him the resurrection life.

Since the rebellion of Korah and his company was related to the priesthood (Num. 16:3, 8-10), the budding of Aaron’s rod was a vindication indicating that Aaron was the one accepted by God as having authority in the God-given ministry of the priesthood (17:2-10).

This is the way that God manifests authority and makes clear who is representing Him with His authority.

The budding rod of Aaron typifies the resurrected Christ – the budding, blossoming, and fruit-bearing Christ; this One imparts life to others.

Christ is the greatest “budding rod” in the universe; He imparts life to others, and He always flows out life to enliven others (John 12:24; 1 Pet. 1:3). Even today, Christ is still budding, and we are the fruit, the almonds, of His budding.

A rod, however, signifies authority (see 1 Cor. 4:21); through the budding of Aaron’s rod, God spoke to the Israelites and also to Aaron, for only God can bring forth life out of a dead stick.

Now Aaron was assured, just as Moses was, that God commissioned him; this is not because Aaron was something more or better than others, but because of God’s choice and His resurrection life.

Lord Jesus, we want to experience You as resurrection life so that we may bud, blossom, and bring forth fruit in resurrection for others to be nourished. Save us from seeking to have a position of authority; save from ambition for power and position in the church. May we experience resurrection, be in resurrection, and enjoy Christ as resurrection until life flows out of us for others to enjoy and be nourished. May we leave the vindication of God’s appointed authority with God, and may we be persons in resurrection!

Authority is based on Resurrection; we need to Experience Christ in His Resurrection as our Authority in the God-given Ministry

The budding rod signifies our experience of Christ in His resurrection as our authority in the God-given ministry (see Heb. 9:4; Num. 17:1-10).

Without resurrection – without experiencing resurrection by first passing through death – there is no ministry, and therefore there’s no authority.

Aaron could not serve God merely based on his position, because in his position he was the same as all the others – and this is why the other tribes objected to his leadership.

Authority is based on resurrection; when one experiences resurrection, authority will be there, for God only recognizes as His servants those who have passed through death and resurrection.

The mark of ministry, the basis of ministry, and authority in the ministry is resurrection.

First, God selects us to serve Him, and then, we experience death and resurrection; when we enter into resurrection, authority flows through us. Only that which issues from resurrection results in authority, for authority is based on resurrection and not on ourselves.

And this experience of resurrection shouldn’t be limited or small; as seen in the budding rod, our experience of resurrection needs to be in maturity, for the rod budded, blossomed, and brought forth fruit.

This shows resurrection life in maturity; the ones who can act as God’s deputy authority are the ones who are matured in resurrection life. The more the resurrection life is expressed through us, the more authority we will have.

There was no need for anyone to say anything when they saw the budding rod – they all knew where authority was and who did God appoint to have authority.

In the church life it is the same; there’s no need for outward appointment or announcement, for it is our experience of the resurrection life that will bring in authority and show it.

It is the budding, the blossoming, and the bearing fruit that speaks; if the resurrection life is there, there is the vindication of God’s appointed authority, and there’s an indicator of who is the authority.

Resurrection is the vindication; we must be willing to pass through the dark night of death, where the Lord placed us, and enter into resurrection live in resurrection, blossom in resurrection, and bear fruit in resurrection.

Where there’s resurrection life, there’s authority; and authority speaks for itself.

May the Lord touch every brother of every age in the church life, both young and old, and also touch their wives, that they would not pursue authority but rather pursue the resurrected Christ and pursue to be brought into resurrection for the Body.

Our pursuit should be to experience Christ in His resurrection, and if the Lord will measure out to us a certain measure of representing Him, He knows what to do and when to do it.

When He was on earth, the religionists asked the Lord for a sign, and He told them that no sign will be given to them except the sign of Jonah, for just as he was in the belly of the fish for three days and three nights, so the Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth.

However, the Lord never vindicated Himself; even when He was on the cross and the others mocked Him saying, Save Yourself and come down, and we will believe into You as the Son of God… – He didn’t save Himself but chose to die, and He saved us!

He knew that resurrection is coming – He was on the cross, He endured the shame, and He did it all for the joy set before Him. Resurrection is the basis of authority (2 Cor. 1:8-9; 10:8; 13:4, 10).

The basis of God’s vindication of His appointed authority is resurrection. May we give ourselves to experience Christ in His resurrection as our authority in the God-given ministry!

Lord Jesus, we give ourselves to experience Christ in His resurrection day by day, in situation after situation. May we realise that authority comes from God, and may we take the way of death and resurrection so that we may be filled with the resurrection life until we bear fruit in resurrection. Amen, Lord Jesus, may we be matured in the resurrection life and may this life flow out of us and into others for their nourishing and building up. Cause us to experience resurrection life for the Body.

This article can also be read in the Romanian language / Citiți acest articol în limba română vizitând următorul link, Îl experimentăm pe Cristos în învierea Sa ca autoritatea noastră în slujba dată de Dumnezeu.

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by bro. Ron Kangas for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Watchman Nee, vol. 47, ”Authority and Submission,” ch. 15, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-Study of Numbers (2), week 8, Authority, Rebellion, the Vindication of Delegated Authority, and a Proper Representative of God.
• Hymns on this topic:
  # Thou art the sprouting Rod with God, / In Thee is endless life; / Before Thy resurrection pow’r / Death never can be rife. (Hymns #198)
  # Oh, may I know this resurrection life, / In every kind of death its pow’r outpoured, / In my experience ever realize / This life is nought but Christ my living Lord. (Hymns #639)
  # When the resurrection life / Is made real in pow’r to me, / As the rod with sprouting buds, / I will then accepted be. (Hymns #769)