Crystallization-Study of Numbers (1)
Message four
The Lord’s Jealousy over the Church as His Wife
Opening Word of the Prophesying Meeting
Reading the verses in each day.
Reading the main points in the outlines.
Pray-reading the verses:
Rev. 19:7－8 Let us rejoice and exult, and let us give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready. And it was given to her that she should be clothed in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteousnesses of the saints.
2 Cor. 11:2 For I am jealous over you with a jealousy of God; For I betrothed you to one husband to present you as a pure virgin to Christ.
Word of Appetizer
What is the significance of the type in Numbers 5:11-31 the dealing with a wife over whom her husband was jealous?
It typifies Christ’s jealousy over His believers and the church. Christ’s fighting army is composed of the overcomers, who are a fighting wife to match Christ; in order to be a part of the Lord’s fighting army, we must be chaste toward Him.
Spiritual Burden
The church as the bride of Christ must also be a warrior to defeat God’s enemy.
Christ’s fighting army is composed of the overcomers, who are a fighting wife to match Christ; in order to be a part of the Lord’s fighting army, we must be chaste toward Him.
The jealousy of God is like the jealousy of a husband over his wife; He wants us to love Him uniquely, singly, wholly; as a jealous Husband, God wants us to serve Him and Him alone.
Concluding Word of the Prophesying Meeting
The Revelation of the Truth
If we enter into the deep thought of the Bible, we will realize that the Bible is a romance, in a most pure and holy sense.
The church as the bride of Christ must also be a warrior to defeat God’s enemy.
In Numbers 5:11-31 the dealing with a wife over whom her husband was jealous typifies Christ’s jealousy over His believers and the church.
The Experience of Life
When we as God’s people enter into a love relationship with God, we receive His life, just as Eve received the life of Adam.
Through regeneration we receive another life, the divine life; in this life and by this life we are qualified to become Christ’s counterpart and to match Him.
By loving the Lord as our Husband and thereby partaking of His life and nature, we become one with Him as His counterpart, enlargement, and expression.
Practice and Application
We are a corporate army fighting the battle for God’s interest on earth; the wedding garment—Christ lived out of us as our daily righteousness— qualifies us not only to attend the wedding but also to join the army to fight with Christ against Antichrist in the war at Armageddon.
In order to be a part of the Lord’s fighting army, we must be chaste toward Him; He wants us to love Him uniquely, singly, wholly; as a jealous Husband, God wants us to serve Him and Him alone.
Using Key Verses to Have a Bird’s-Eye View over the Whole Outline
Key Verses (1)
Isa. 54:5-6 For your Maker is your Husband; / Jehovah of hosts is His name…For Jehovah has called you, / Like a wife who has been forsaken and is grieved in spirit, / Even like a wife of one’s youth when she has been rejected, / Says your God.
John 3:29 He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices with joy because of the bridegroom’s voice. This joy of mine therefore is made full.
S.S. 1:2 Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth! / For your love is better than wine.
I. If we enter into the deep thought of the Bible, we will realize that the Bible is a romance, in a most pure and holy sense
The male in this couple is God Himself, who desires to be the male of this universal couple.
The female of this couple is a corporate chosen and redeemed people, including all the saints of the Old Testament and the New Testament.
Throughout the centuries God has had a romance with man; thus, the Bible is a record of how God courts His chosen people and eventually marries them.
God chose Israel to be His spouse; in typology certain women in the Old Testament reveal that the church is the counterpart of Christ; Eve, Rebekah, Ruth.
The divine romance is portrayed in the Song of Songs; according to Song of Songs, our relationship with the Lord should be very romantic.
When the Lord Jesus came, He came as the Bridegroom for the bride; at the end of this age, Christ will come to marry His redeemed and take her as His wife.
Key Verses (2)
Rev. 19:7－8 Let us rejoice and exult, and let us give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready. And it was given to her that she should be clothed in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteousnesses of the saints.
14 And the armies which are in heaven followed Him on white horses, dressed in fine linen, white and clean.
S.S. 6:4 You are as beautiful, my love, as Tirzah, / As lovely as Jerusalem, / As terrible as an army with banners.
II. The church as the bride of Christ must also be a warrior to defeat God’s enemy
Spiritual warfare is a matter of the Body; we are a corporate army fighting the battle for God’s interest on earth.
Christ will come as a fighting General with His bride as His army to fight against Antichrist at Armageddon; the wedding garment—Christ lived out of us as our daily righteousness—qualifies us not only to attend the wedding but also to join the army
In Song of Songs we see that when the overcoming lover of Christ becomes one with God to be God’s dwelling place, in the eyes of God she is as beautiful as Tirzah and as lovely as Jerusalem; however, to the enemy she is as terrible as an army with banners.
David typifies the warring Christ in the midst of sufferings, and Abigail typifies the warring church in the midst of sufferings; the type of Abigail portrays the church’s participation with the Lord Jesus in spiritual warfare.
Key Verses (3)
S.S. 8:6 Set me as a seal on your heart, / As a seal on your arm; / For love is as strong as death, / Jealousy is as cruel as Sheol…
Exo. 20:5 You shall not bow down to them, and you shall not serve them; for I, Jehovah your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me.
2 Cor. 11:2 For I am jealous over you with a jealousy of God; for I betrothed you to one husband to present you as a pure virgin to Christ.
III. In Numbers 5:11-31 the dealing with a wife over whom her husband was jealous typifies Christ’s jealousy over His believers and the church
Christ’s fighting army is composed of the overcomers, who are a fighting wife to match Christ; in order to be a part of the Lord’s fighting army, we must be chaste toward Him.
Jealousy is usually regarded as a negative thing, but it is one of God’s attributes; the jealousy of God is like the jealousy of a husband over his wife; the most jealous one in the universe is God; His name is Jealous; He wants us to love Him uniquely, singly, wholly; as a jealous Husband, God wants us to serve Him and Him alone.
“Love is as strong as death, / Jealousy is as cruel as Sheol; / Its flashes are the flashes of fire, / A flame of Jehovah”; with this love and with this jealousy is a flashing fire; these two—the consuming God and the jealous God, the consuming fire and the jealousy—go together.
Prophesying Topics—Twelve Topics per Week
D1
T1 The Bible is a romance of a universal couple—2 Cor. 11:2; Rev. 19:7-9
(Please illustrate that who is the male and who is the female in this couple)
T2 The entire Bible is a divine romance—Gen. 2:21-24; S.S. 1:2-4
(Please illustrate that how the Bible records God courts His chosen people and eventually marries them.)
D2
T1 The church is the counterpart of Christ—Gen. 2:21-24; 24:67; Ruth 4:13
(Please illustrate that how Eve, Rebekah and Ruth revealed the church is the counterpart of Christ with the verse above.)
T2 The difference between religious Christians and romantic Christians—S.S 1:2-4
(Please illustrate that our relationship with the Lord should be very romantic according to Song of Songs.)
D3
T1 When the Lord Jesus came, He came as the Bridegroom for the bride— John 3:29
(Please illustrate that why regeneration qualifies us to be Christ’s bride.)
T2 The fulfillment of God’s romance revealed in the Scriptures—Rev. 19:7; 21:19
(Please illustrate that at the end of this age, Christ will come to marry His redeemed and take her as His wife.)
D4
T1 As the church, we are bride and warrior—Eph. 5:25-27; 6:10-18
(Please illustrate that the identity of the church is Christ’s wife and warrior according to the verses above.)
T2 The bride’s wedding garment will be the uniform that she wears as God’s army—Rev. 19:7, 8, 14
(Please illustrate that the wedding garment—Christ lived out of us as our daily righteousness—qualifies us to fight with Christ against Antichrist.)
D5
T1 The lover of Christ is as beautiful as Tirzah, and she is as terrible as an army with banners—S.S. 6:4, 10
(Please illustrate that the lovers of Christ should be lovable and terrible at the same time.)
T2 Abigail typifies the warring church in the midst of sufferings—1 Sam. 25:2-42; Eph. 6:10-20)
(Please illustrate that Abigail’s marriage to David typifies the church enlisted as an army for warfare.)
D6
T1 Jealousy is one of God’s attributes—Exo. 20:5; 2 Cor. 11:2-3
(Please illustrate that the jealousy of God is like the jealousy of a husband over his wife.)
T2 “Love is as strong as death, Jealousy is as cruel as Sheol”;—S. S. 8:6
(Please illustrate that Christ’s jealousy over His believers and the church is serious.)
