Crystallization-Study of Numbers (2)
Opening Word of the Prophesying Meeting
Message Eleven
The Vision of the All-sufficient One—the Divine View of God’s People
Reading the verses in each day.
Reading the main points in the outlines.
Pray-reading the verses:
Num. 23:9 … Here is a people who live alone And do not reckon themselves among the nations.
21 He has not beheld iniquity in Jacob, Nor has He seen trouble in Israel;…
24:5 How fair are your tents, O Jacob, Your tabernacles, O Israel!
9 …Blessed is everyone who blesses you, And cursed is everyone who curses you.
Word of Appetizer
In Numbers 3:21: “He has not beheld iniquity in Jacob, / Nor has He seen trouble in Israel.” How could Balaam speak such a word, since Israel was not perfect and since God could see all the iniquities of His people?
1. This word was spoken not according to the human view but according to the divine view; In the sight of God, Israel is without fault; In themselves God’s people have many defects; In God’s redemption and in Christ they have no defects. When God looks at His people, He does not see them according to what they are in themselves but according to what they are in Christ.
Spiritual Burden
We should never underestimate the value of having a proper view of a certain matter; the view changes us; it affects our entire being; we need to see the vision of the All-sufficient One and have a divine view of God’s people; in its standing the church is holy, in the sight of God the church is perfect, and in appearance the church is beautiful, fair.
The more we praise the Lord for His people and speak well of them in faith, the more we put ourselves under God’s blessing.
Concluding Word of the Prophesying Meeting
The Revelation of the Truth
We should never underestimate the value of having a proper view of a certain matter; the view changes us; it affects our entire being
In the Bible vision denotes an extraordinary scene; it refers to a special kind of seeing—a glorious, inward seeing—and to the spiritual scenery we see from God。
Like Balaam, a Gentile prophet who was brought into a vision, we need to see the vision of the All-sufficient One and have a divine view of God’s people.
We need to have a vision concerning the church and see that the church is “Christly,” “resurrectionly,” and heavenly.
We need to learn that the way we look at God’s people is a serious matter.
The Experience of Life
Under the heavenly vision we are directed toward God’s destination, and our life is controlled according to God’s economy.
If we have God’s view of His people, we will see them as God sees them— chosen, redeemed, saved from the bondage of the fall, enjoying Christ, being built up with the Triune God, formed into an army to fight for God, and prepared by God to possess the all-inclusive Christ as the good land.
Practice and Application
We need to see the vision of the All-sufficient One and have a divine view of God’s people; the more we praise the Lord for His people and speak well of them in faith, the more we put ourselves under God’s blessing.
We need to learn that the way we look at God’s people is a serious matter; If we praise the Lord for His saints being full of life and light, we will be the first to participate in life; we need to view the church in a heavenly way and realize that all the local churches are parts of the coming New Jerusalem.
Using Key Verses to Have a Bird’s-Eye View over the Whole Outline
Key Verses (1)
Acts 26:19 Therefore, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision,
Prov. 29:18a Where there is no vision, the people cast off restraint.
Phil. 3:13-14 Brothers, I do not account of myself to have laid hold; but one thing I do: Forgetting the things which are behind and stretching forward to the things which are before, I pursue toward the goal for the prize to which God in Christ Jesus has called me upward.
I. We should never underestimate the value of having a proper view of a certain matter
II. In the Bible vision denotes an extraordinary scene; it refers to a special kind of seeing—a glorious, inward seeing—and to the spiritual scenery we see from God
- The view changes us; it affects our entire being.
- In order to have a vision, we need revelation, light, and sight.
- The heavenly vision governs us, restricts us, controls us, directs us, preserves us, revolutionizes us, keeps us in the genuine oneness, and gives us the boldness to go on.
- Under the heavenly vision we are directed toward God’s destination, and our life is controlled according to God’s economy.
Key Verses (2)
Num. 23:9…Here is a people who live alone And do not reckon themselves among the nations.
21 He has not beheld iniquity in Jacob, Nor has He seen trouble in Israel; Jehovah their God is with them, And the shout of a king is among them.
24:5 How fair are your tents, O Jacob, Your tabernacles, O Israel!
9 …Blessed is everyone who blesses you, And cursed is everyone who curses you.
III. We need to see the vision of the All-sufficient One and have a divine view of God’s people
- The prophet Balaamheard the words of God and saw the vision of the Allsufficient One.
- “From the top of the rocks I see him, / And from the hills I behold him. / Here is a people who live alone / And do not reckon themselves among the nations”; this word indicates that the children of Israel were a holy people.
- “He has not beheld iniquity in Jacob, / Nor has He seen trouble in Israel”; this word was spoken not according to the human view but according to the divine view; in the sight of God, Israel is without fault; in the sight of God the church is perfect.
- “How fair are your tents, O Jacob, your tabernacles, O Israel! in appearance the church is beautiful, fair. ”
- “Blessed is everyone who blesses you, and cursed is everyone who curses you”; the more we praise the Lord for His people and speak well of them in faith, the more we put ourselves under God’s blessing.
Key Verses (3)
Eph. 2:5-6 Even when we were dead in offenses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved) And raised us up together with Him and seated us together with Him in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus.
Gen. 37:6-7 …Listen to this dream which I have had: There we were, binding sheaves in the field, when suddenly my sheaf rose up and remained standing; and then your sheaves gathered around and bowed down to my sheaf.
9 And he had still another dream …: There were the sun and the moon and eleven stars, bowing down to me.
IV. We need to have a vision concerning the church and see that the church is “Christly,” “resurrectionly,” and heavenly.
V. We need to learn that the way we look at God’s people is a serious matter.
- The church is a matter in Christ, in resurrection, and in ascension in the heavenlies.
- Such a vision will govern us to the uttermost and rule out everything that is not Christly (of Christ), resurrectionly (of resurrection), or heavenly (of the heavens).
- Joseph’s two dreams, both from God, unveiled to him God’s divine view concerning the nature, position, function, and goal of God’s people on earth; if we praise the Lord for His saints being full of life and light, we will be the first to participate in life.
- In Numbers 33, the record of the forty-two stations of the journey of the Israelites from the land of slavery to the land of rest, there is no mention of the failures of the people.
- If we have God’s view of His people, we will see them as God sees them— chosen, redeemed, saved from the bondage of the fall, enjoying Christ, being built up with the Triune God, formed into an army to fight for God, and prepared by God to possess the all-inclusive Christ as the good land.
Prophesying Topics—Twelve Topics per Week
D1
TI We should never underestimate the value of having a proper view of a certain matter (Rev. 21:9-10; Acts 26:19)
(Please illustrate that vision denotes an extraordinary scene; it refers to a special kind of seeing and to the spiritual scenery we see from God.)
T2 “He has not beheld iniquity in Jacob, / Nor has He seen trouble in Israel” (Num. 23:21; 1 Pet. 2:9) D.
(How can we reconcile the word in verse 21 with the obvious fact that the children of Israel had many iniquities?)
D2
TI “How fair are your tents, O Jacob, / Your tabernacles, O Israel! (Num. 24:5)
(Please illustrate that in the sight of God, Israel is beautiful. this will be the actual situation of Israel during the millennium.)
T2 The church is sanctified, perfect, and beautiful when it is full of Christ (Eph. 3:15-21; 4:13, 15)
(Please illustrate that Balaam’s parables also indicate that the church is sanctified, perfect, and beautiful.)
D3
TI “Blessed is everyone who blesses you, / And cursed is everyone who curses you” (Num. 24:9)
(Please illustrate that the more we speak positively concerning the church, the more we are under God’s blessing with experiences.)
T2 Whenever we touch the church, we must do so in a positive way (Eph. 1:3)
(Please illustrate that the more we speak well of them in faith, the more we put ourselves under God’s blessing with experiences.)
D4
TI We need to have a vision concerning the church (Eph. 2:5-6)
(Please illustrate that we need to see that the church is “Christly,” “resurrectionly,” and heavenly.)
T2 Do not go to the Lord in the way of accusing others before Him (1 Kings 19:10, 18)
(Please illustrate that God displeased with that Elijah was accusing Israel before God.)
D5
TI In His eyes God’s people are all sheaves of life and stars shining in the sky (Gen. 37:5-9)
(Please illustrate that Joseph’s two dreams, both from God, unveiled to him God’s divine view concerning the nature, position, function, and goal of God’s people on earth.)
T2 One thing is certain: Whoever condemns the church or blames the saints will suffer the loss of life (Gen. 37:5-9)
(Please illustrate that we need to learn that the way we look at God’s people is a serious matter.)
D6
TI There is nothing but sheaves and stars in the New Jerusalem (Rev. 21:2, 9-11)
(Please illustrate that the more mature in life you become, the less you will speak negatively concerning the saints or the church.)
T2 The record in Numbers 33 of these forty-two stations is positive (Num. 33:1-49)
(Please illustrate that whether the church is marvelous or pitiful actually does not depend on what the church is; rather, it depends on what you are.)
