You can all prophesy one by one… —1 Cor. 12:31

2018 WT Message Six

Crystallization-Study of Numbers (1)

Message Six

The Divine Trinity as Revealed in Numbers

Opening Word of the Prophesying Meeting

Reading the verses in each day.

Reading the main points in the outlines.

Pray-reading the verses:

2 Cor. 13:14      The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

Num. 9:15-17   … the cloud covered the tabernacle, the Tent of the Testimony…So it was always; the cloud covered it by day, and the appearance of fire by night. And whenever the cloud was taken up from over the tent, then after that the children of Israel set out; and in the place where the cloud settled, there the children of Israel encamped.

Word of Appetizer

Although the Bible contains many explicit teachings, the Scriptures do not contain any direct teaching or doctrine concerning the Divine Trinity, why ?

The fact that the Bible contains no doctrines concerning the Divine Trinity indicates strongly that the Divine Trinity is for God to work Himself into us so that we may partake of, experience, and enjoy Him; this is fully proved by Matthew 28:19 and 2 Corinthians 13:14.

According to the entire revelation of the Bible, the Divine Trinity is for God’s dispensing; without the Divine Trinity God would have no way to carry out His divine dispensing.

Spiritual Burden

God’s desire with His strong intention is to dispense Himself into His chosen people as their life, their life supply, and their everything.

The Christian life is a life of our being mingled with the Divine Trinity; we should always have fellowship with the Spirit in the divine life through the cross and through the Word.

Concluding Word of the Prophesying Meeting

The Revelation of the Truth

The Triune God refers mainly to God Himself, the divine person; the Divine Trinity refers mainly to God’s being triune, which is the primary attribute of the Godhead; as a whole, the Bible is constructed with the Divine Trinity.

The Divine Trinity is for God’s dispensing.

The Divine Trinity is the model of our Christian life.

Apparently, the book of Numbers is a record of the numbering of God’s people and their journey in the wilderness; actually, such a record is structured with the Divine Trinity—the separation of the Nazarite, the threefold blessing of Jehovah to His people, the function of the tabernacle and the offerings, the cloud and the fire covering the tabernacle, and the smitten rock—all involve the Triune God.

The Experience of Life

In His expansion and enlargement, Christ became the tabernacle, God’s dwelling place; now, in His expansion into a tabernacle, Christ is not only God’s dwelling place but also the place where we can enter into God; and we have a place where we can enter into God, meet with God, and be mingled with God.

The cloud and the fire covering the tabernacle indicates that the Divine Trinity is for God’s people to stay or to journey so that they may enjoy the riches of the Divine Trinity all the time and all the way.

Practice and Application

It is altogether worthwhile for us to spend our time and energy with a spirit of prayer to conduct a thorough and exhaustive study of the Divine Trinity as revealed in the holy Word.

Due to the warfare within us, we must learn to cooperate with the Divine Trinity; with our tripartite being we need to cooperate with the indwelling Divine Trinity; we should always have fellowship with the Spirit in the divine life through the cross and through the Word.

Using Key Verses to Have a Bird’s-Eye View over the Whole Outline

Key Verses (1)

Rev. 1:4-5   John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from Him who is and who was and who is coming, and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne, And from Jesus Christ, the faithful Witness, the Firstborn of the dead, and the Ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us and has released us from our sins by His blood.

Matt. 28:19       Go therefore and disciple all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

The Triune God , the Divine Trinity is for God to work Himself into us

I. The Triune God refers mainly to God Himself, the divine person; the Divine Trinity refers mainly to God’s being triune, which is the primary attribute of the Godhead.

II . As a whole, the Bible is constructed with the Divine Trinity.

III. It is altogether worthwhile for us to spend our time and energy with a spirit of prayer to conduct a thorough and exhaustive study of the Divine Trinity as revealed in the holy Word.

IV. Although the Bible contains many explicit teachings, the Scriptures do not contain any direct teaching or doctrine concerning the Divine Trinity; the Divine Trinity is for God to work Himself into us so that we may partake of, experience, and enjoy Him.

Key Verses (2)

2 Cor. 13:14      The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

1 Thes. 5:23      And the God of peace Himself sanctify you wholly, and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Divine Trinity is for God’s dispensing

The Divine Trinity is the model of our Christian life

V. According to the entire revelation of the Bible, the Divine Trinity is for God’s dispensing

God’s desire with His strong intention is to dispense Himself into His chosen people as their life, their life supply, and their everything.

Without the Divine Trinity God would have no way to carry out His divine dispensing; the three of the Divine Trinity are in us.

VI. The Divine Trinity is the model of our Christian life.

Because of the warfare within us, we need to learn to cooperate with the Divine Trinity.

The Christian life is a life of our being mingled with the Divine Trinity.

We should always have fellowship with the Spirit in the divine life through the cross and through the Word.

Key Verses (3)

John 1:14   And the Word became flesh and tabernacled among us (and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only Begotten from the Father), full of grace and reality.

Num. 6:13  Now this is the law of the Nazarite when the days of his separation are fulfilled: He shall be brought to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting.

17   And he shall offer the ram for a sacrifice of peace offerings to Jehovah, with the basket of unleavened bread. The priest shall also offer its meal offering and its drink offering.

Num. 9:15-17   …the cloud covered the tabernacle, the Tent of the Testimony…So it was always; the cloud covered it by day, and the appearance of fire by night. And whenever the cloud was taken up from over the tent, then after that the children of Israel set out; and in the place where the cloud settled, there the children of Israel encamped.

The book of Numbers is a record of the numbering of God’s people and their journey in the wilderness; actually, such a record is structured with the Divine Trinity

  • Without the Divine Trinity, the record in Numbers would be empty; the intrinsic reality of the record in Numbers is the Divine Trinity.
  • In chapter 1 of Numbers we see the incarnation of the Triune God; within the tabernacle was the Ark, and within the Ark was the law; the law is a testimony of God because it testifies, shows us, God. The Ark, being one entity of two elements, wood and gold, typifies Christ in His humanity with His divinity. Christ, the embodiment of the Triune God, has been enlarged into a habitation in which God dwells and into which we enter.

The Divine Trinity is revealed in the separation of the Nazarite.

The Divine Trinity is revealed in the function of the tabernacle and the offerings.

The Divine Trinity is revealed in the cloud and the fire covering the tabernacle.

The Divine Trinity is revealed in the smitten rock.

Prophesying Topics—Twelve Topics per Week

D1

T1 The highest attribute of God is the Divine Trinity—Matt. 28:19

(Please illustrate that the difference between the Triune God and the Trinity.)

T2 The Scriptures do not contain any direct teaching or doctrine concerning the Divine Trinity—Matt. 28:19; 2 Cor. 13:14

(Please illustrate that the Divine Trinity is not for doctrine, but for we to partake of, experience, and enjoy Him.)

D2

T1 “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all”—2 Cor 13:14

(Please illustrate that the Triune God is for our enjoyment according to 2 Cor 13:14.)

T2 The Divine Trinity is for God’s dispensing—Eph. 3:14-17

(Please illustrate why is that without the Divine Trinity God would have no way to carry out His divine dispensing.)

D3

T1 The Divine Trinity is the model of our Christian life—Matt. 28:19; 1 Thes 5:23

(Please describe the warfare among our “human trinity” opposed to the harmony among the three of the Divine Trinity.)

T2 The Christian life is a life of our being mingled with the Divine Trinity—2 Cor. 13:14; Eph. 3:14-17

(Please illustrate that in our Christian life, which four instruments does God use to mingle us with the Divine Trinity.)

D4

T1 In chapter 1 of Numbers we see the incarnation of the Triune God—Num 1:1; John. 1:1, 14

(Please illustrate that how can we see the incarnation of the Triune God consider the matter of the tabernacle with the Ark.)

T2 The Triune God incarnated to be a man has been expanded, increased, and enlarged—John 1:1, 14

(Please illustrate that in His expansion into a tabernacle, Christ is not only God’s dwelling place but also the place where we can enter into God.)

D5

T1 If we have a heart to serve God, we would volunteer as Nazarites—1 Sam. 1—3

(Please illustrate that the Aaronic priests were chosen by God, but the Nazarites volunteered themselves.)

T2 The fact that the Divine Trinity was involved with the separation of the Nazarite—Num. 3:13-16

(Please illustrate that How the Divine Trinity was involved with the separation of the Nazarite.)

D6

T1 The cloud typifies the Spirit in the day, and the fire typifies the Spirit in the night—Num. 9:15-18, 21

(Please illustrate that how the Divine Trinity is revealed in the cloud and the fire covering the tabernacle.)

T2 The Spirit as the living water flowing out of Christ as the smitten rock  is the flowing out of the Triune God—Num. 20:6-8

(Please illustrate that how the Divine Trinity is revealed in the smitten rock.)