Crystallization-Study of Numbers (2)
Opening Word of the Prophesying Meeting
Message Ten
Christ as the Star out of Jacob
Reading the verses in each day.
Reading the main points in the outlines.
Pray-reading the verses:
Num. 24:17… There shall come forth a Star out of Jacob,…
2 Pet. 1:19 And we have the prophetic word made more firm, to which you do well to give heed as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts;
Dan. 12:3 And those who have insight will shine like the shining of the heavenly expanse, and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars, forever and ever.
Word of Appetizer
Numbers 24:17 says, “There shall come forth a Star out of Jacob”; What does this Star refer to?
The star is the living revelation, the living vision, not the old and dead doctrinal knowledge of the Scriptures, not the dead knowledge of Micah 5:2; what we need today is not merely Bible knowledge but the heavenly vision, the upto-date, instant vision, the living vision, the vision that human concepts can never teach.
Spiritual Burden
The living stars give heed to the prophetic word of the Scriptures “as to a lamp shining in a dark place” so that Christ as the morning star rises in their hearts day by day; if we give heed to the word in the Bible, which shines as a lamp in a dark place, we will have His rising in our hearts to shine in the darkness of apostasy where we are today, before His actual appearing as the morning star.
Concluding Word of the Prophesying Meeting
The Revelation of the Truth
Numbers 24:17 says, “There shall come forth a Star out of Jacob”; this Star refers to Christ.
Christ’s faithful followers are shining and living stars, those who follow Christ as the shining and living Star to be His duplication.
The Experience of Life
The living stars enjoy and are filled with the sevenfold intensified Spirit to make them intensely living and intensely shining for God’s building.
The kingdom is the shining of the reality of the Lord Jesus; whenever He is shining over us and we are under that shining, we are in the kingdom under God’s ruling and reigning within us for our growth of life.
Practice and Application
It is easy to accumulate scriptural knowledge, but if we would have living guidance, we must live in an intimate relationship with the Lord; we must be one with Him; a Christian should rise up early because the early morning is the best time to meet the Lord (to fellowship with God, to praise and sing, to pray-read the Bible with the ministry, and to pray to the Lord).
Among all the local churches there are some living stars; we simply need to contact them and keep company with them; they will lead us to the place where Jesus is.
Using Key Verses to Have a Bird’s-Eye View over the Whole Outline
Key Verses (1)
Matt. 2:1-2 Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, Saying, Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star at its rising and have come to worship Him.
Num. 24:17 …There shall come forth a Star out of Jacob, …
Matt. 2:9-10 And after they heard the king, they went their way, and behold, the star which they saw at its rising led them until it came and stood over the place where the child was; and when they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy.
I. Numbers 24:17 says, “There shall come forth a Star out of Jacob”; this Star refers to Christ.
A. The fulfillment of this type of Christ is found in the word of the magi, learned men from the east, recorded in Matthew 2:2: “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star at its rising and have come to worship Him”:
- The Jews had the knowledge in letters concerning where Christ was to be born (Micah 5:2), but these learned men from the east received a living vision of Him; eventually, the star led them to the place where Christ was (Matt. 2:9-10).
B. Matthew 2:1-12 reveals that to find Christ is a living matter; it is not a matter of mere doctrinal knowledge of the Bible:
- Even if we have the knowledge of the Scriptures, we still need the instant, up-to-date, living star to lead us to the very street and the very house where Jesus is.
Key Verses (2)
Rev. 22:16 …I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the bright morning star.
2:1…These things says He who holds the seven stars in His right hand,…
2 Pet. 1:19 And we have the prophetic word made more firm, to which you do well to give heed as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts;
Psa. 5:3 O Jehovah, … In the morning I will set forth my words in order to You, And I will watch.
Rev. 4:5 And out of the throne come forth lightnings and voices and thunders. And there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God;
II. Christ’s faithful followers are shining and living stars, those who follow Christ as the shining and living Star to be His duplication (a)
- The living stars follow the heavenly, living, up-to-date, and instant vision of Christ as the centrality and universality of God’s economy.
- The living stars are those who bless God’s people; the more we praise the Lord for God’s people and speak well of them in faith, the more we put ourselves under God’s blessing.
- The living stars give heed to the prophetic word of the Scriptures “as to a lamp shining in a dark place” so that Christ as the morning star rises in their hearts day by day.
- The living stars enjoy and are filled with the sevenfold intensified Spirit to make them intensely living and intensely shining for God’s building.
- The living stars are the messengers of the churches, those who enjoy and experience the pneumatic Christ as the Messenger of God and as the fresh message from God so that they can dispense the fresh and present Christ into the people of God for the testimony of Jesus.
Key Verses (3)
Gen. 1:16-18 …God made the two great light-bearers, the greater light-bearer to rule the day and the lesser light-bearer to rule the night, and the stars…God set them…give light on the earth, And to rule over the day and over the night and to separate the light from the darkness.
Dan.12:3 And those who have insight will shine like the shining of the heavenly expanse, and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars, forever and ever.
Isa. 50:10 Who among you fears Jehovah; Who hears the voice of His servant; Who walks in darkness And has no light? Let him trust in the name of Jehovah, And rely on his God.
Jude 13 Wandering stars, for whom the gloom of darkness is kept for eternity.
III. Christ’s faithful followers are shining and living stars, those who follow Christ as the shining and living Star to be His duplication (b)
- The living stars have “great resolutions in heart” and “great searchings of heart”; they are lovers of God who are like the “stars…from their courses” to fight together with God against His enemy so that they may be “like the sun / When it rises in its might”.
- The living stars are those who fear Jehovah and hear the voice of His Servant, trusting in Jehovah so that they may have light while walking in darkness.
- The living stars are typified by the stars that were established on the fourth day of God’s restoration with His further creation, in which they rule by their shining; where there is shining, there is ruling for the growth of life.
- On the negative side, there are some who are “wandering stars”.
- May the Lord be merciful to us that we may always be kept in the right way to meet the Lord, to worship Him, and to offer our love to Him; may the Lord make us all like the magi, following the living star to find Christ in order to become His duplication as the living stars.
Prophesying Topics—Twelve Topics per Week
D1
TI “There shall come forth a Star out of Jacob”; this Star refers to Christ (Num. 24:17; Matt. 2:2)
(Please illustrate that the fulfillment of this type of Christ is recorded in Matthew 2:2.)
T2 “…For we saw His star at its rising (Matt. 2:2)
(Please illustrate that to find Christ is a living matter; it is not a matter of mere doctrinal knowledge of the Bible.)
D2
TI Regardless of how “scriptural” we are, if we lose the presence of the Lord, we are absolutely wrong (John 5:39-40)
(Please illustrate that it is easy to accumulate scriptural knowledge, but if we would have living guidance, we must live in an intimate relationship with the Lord.)
T2 The magi saw Christ, so they departed into their own country “by another way” (Matt. 2:12)
(Please illustrate that once we have seen Christ, we never take the same way, the way apart from Christ with experiences.)
D3
TI Not only is Christ Himself the star, but also His followers (2 Pet. 1:19; Rev. 3:1)
(Please illustrate that what are the two ways that we can become one of the stars.)
T2 Day by day we need to have the morning star rising in our heart (S. S. 7:12; Psa. 5:1-3)
(Please illustrate that while we are pray-reading the verses of the Bible, there is a sense deep within of enlightening, of shining with experiences.)
D4
TI We should spend the best time of the day—the early morning—before the Lord (Psa. 5:3; 90:14)
(Please illustrate that the best time to meet the Lord, to contact Him, and to fellowship with Him is early in the morning. (Exo. 16 with experiences.)
T2 To take heed to the prophetic word is to pay attention to the living Word (2 Pet. 1:19)
(Please illustrate that we must open up our whole being to the Word until Christ as the morning star rises up in us and shines over us.)
D5
TI Those who turn many to righteousness shine like the stars, forever and ever (Dan. 12:3; Isa. 50:10-11)
(Please illustrate that we should walk in the light given by God, not in the light we make for ourselves.)
T2 The light not only shines, but also rules by its shining (Gen. 1:14-19)
(Please illustrate that where there is shining, there is ruling.)
D6
TI We should be the stars but not the wandering stars (Jude 13)
(What is the wandering stars? How can we recognize the wandering stars?)
T2 Today the living star and the living stars are not far from us—they are in and with the local churches (Rev. 1:11, 20)
(Please illustrate that we simply need to contact them and keep company with them; they will lead us to the place where Jesus is.)
