Crystallization-Study of Numbers (1)
Message Three
The Service of the Priests and the Levites for God’s Move
Opening Word of the Prophesying Meeting
Reading the verses in each day.
Reading the main points in the outlines.
Pray-reading the verses:
Num. 3:6-7 Bring the tribe of Levi near and set them before Aaron the priest, that they may minister to him. And they shall keep his charge and the charge of the whole assembly before the Tent of Meeting to do the service of the tabernacle.
2 Cor. 3:6 Who has also made us sufficient as ministers of a new covenant, ministers not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
Word of Appetizer
What is the basic principle of the holy service, which is covered in chapters three and four of Numbers?
Numbers is a book of service, and chapters 3 and 4 cover the holy service; the service in Numbers is a picture of the church service; the service is holy because it takes care of the Tabernacle of the Testimony of God; the basic principle of the holy service is that it is without confusion because it is based on life; everything in the holy service is under the divine administration, and thus it is in good order.
Spiritual Burden
The holy service was carried out by the priests and the Levites; in the New Testament there is only one class, that of the priests; when a person serves God, there needs to be both the priestly work and the Levitical work; the ministry of the priests and the Levites always supplies people with the riches of Christ.
Christ is moving today throughout the earth, and He is moving with those who are one with Him; the Lord moves through our bearing the Ark, the furnishings of the sanctuary, and the Tent of Meeting.
The holy service of the priests and the Levites involved warfare; preaching the gospel, edifying the saints, administrating the church, and praying are all a kind of warfare.
Concluding Word of the Prophesying Meeting
The Revelation of the Truth
Numbers is a book of service, and chapters 3 and 4 cover the holy service; the holy service was carried out by the priests and the Levites; the holy service portrayed in Numbers is not for a Christ who is inactive but for a Christ who is very active; in His activity, in His move, we must match Him.
In the Old Testament there was a distinction between the priests and the Levites; in the New Testament there is only one class, that of the priests.
In Hebrew the word service is warfare, indicating military service. A reward, or compensation, was given to Aaron and his sons as the priests…and to the serving Levites.
The Experience of Life
2 Cor. 3:6 Who has also made us sufficient as ministers of a new covenant, ministers not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
We today are both priests and Levites; the believers in Christ are both the priests and the serving Levites; the only reward, the only compensation, for our priestly and Levitical service is Christ; Christ was our house, inheritance, land, clothing, food, and everything.
Practice and Application
The ministry of the priests and the Levites always supplies people with the riches of Christ; We need to learn to do outward things under the inward view of the priesthood; while we are taking care of outward, practical matters, we should be ministering life to others.
The Lord moves through our bearing the Ark, the furnishings of the sanctuary, and the Tent of Meeting; we are today’s Gershonites, Kohathites, and sons of Merari; Christ is moving today throughout the earth, and He is moving with those who are one with Him.
The New Testament priests are warriors, and our priestly service is a fighting.
Using Key Verses to Have a Bird’s-Eye View over the Whole Outline
Key Verses (1)
Num. 3:6-7 Bring the tribe of Levi near and set them before Aaron the priest, that they may minister to him. And they shall keep his charge and the charge of the whole assembly before the Tent of Meeting to do the service of the tabernacle.
Eph. 3:8 To me, less than the least of all saints, was this grace given to announce to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ as the gospel.
I.Numbers is a book of service, and chapters 3 and 4 cover the holy service
II. The holy service was carried out by the priests and the Levites
In Numbers we have a full type of the church service; the service in Numbers is a picture of the church service.
The service is holy because it takes care of the Tabernacle of the Testimony of God.
The basic principle of the holy service is that it is without confusion because it is based on life; everything in the holy service is under the divine administration.
The priests were the anointed ones who served God directly; the priests were to camp before the tabernacle, on the east, toward the sunrise; they guarded the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, and anyone who wanted to serve God had to pass through the priests.
The Levites were not priests directly but were the serving ones of the priesthood.
The Tabernacle of the Testimony with all its furnishings and the altar, to which the priests ministered, are types of Christ in all His rich aspects, whom the New Testament believers minister to others.
Key Verses (2)
John 15:16 You did not choose Me, but I chose you, and I set you that you should go forth and bear fruit and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name, He may give you.
Num. 4:15 And when Aaron and his sons have finished covering the sanctuary and all the furnishings of the sanctuary, whenever the camp sets out, then the sons of Kohath shall come to carry them; but they shall not touch the holy things, or they will die. These things are the burden of the sons of Kohath in the Tent of Meeting.
1 Pet. 2:5 You yourselves also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house into a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
III. The holy service portrayed in Numbers is not for a Christ who is inactive but for a Christ who is very active; in His activity, in His move, we must match Him
IV. In the Old Testament there was a distinction between the priests and the Levites; in the New Testament there is only one class, that of the priests
The priests and the Levites had certain duties in the tabernacle’s setting out, in its going forward: The priests took care of the primary things, the important things, and the Kohathites (Levites) took care of some of the secondary things.
In order to see how Christ moves on earth, we should look at the move of the tabernacle; the Lord moves through our bearing the Ark, the furnishings of the sanctuary, and the Tent of Meeting.
The principle in God’s New Testament economy is that God needs man to match Him in His move on earth; Christ is moving today throughout the earth, and He is moving with those who are one with Him.
What the Levites did in the Old Testament in type, the believers as the New Testament priests should also do in reality.
When a person serves God, there needs to be both the priestly work and the Levitical work.
Key Verses (3)
2 Cor. 10:4-5 For the weapons of our warfare are not fleshly but powerful before God for the overthrowing of strongholds, As we overthrow reasonings and every high thing rising up against the knowledge of God, and take captive every thought unto the obedience of Christ.
Num. 18:31 And you may eat it in every place, you and your households, for it is your reward in return for your service in the Tent of Meeting.
V. In Hebrew the word service is warfare, indicating military service
VI. A reward, or compensation, was given to Aaron and his sons as the priests and to the serving Levites
In Hebrew the word service in Numbers 4:3, 23, 30, 35, 39, and 43 is warfare, indicating military service.
The holy service of the priests and the Levites involved warfare.
As priests of the gospel of God, we should consider ourselves warriors.
All the spiritual work that we are doing for God, whatever form it may take, as long as it touches the things of the spiritual realm, is in nature a warfare.
The priests and the Levites had no portion other than Christ; Christ was their house, inheritance, land, clothing, food, and everything.
Today, in the New Testament, the Levitical service is combined with the priesthood; the only reward, the only compensation, for our priestly and Levitical service is Christ.
Prophesying Topics—Twelve Topics per Week
D1
T1 The service in Numbers is a picture of the church service—Num. 3:1-39; 4:1-33; Rom. 12:5-8, 11
(Please illustrate that the basic principle of the church service is that it is without confusion, it is based on life)
T2 The holy service was carried out by the priests and the Levites—Num. 3:3, 6, 9-10
(Please illustrate that the priests were the anointed ones who served God directly.)
D2
T1 The Levites were the serving ones of the priesthood—Num. 3:9, 12, 17.
(Please illustrate that how the Levites to take care of the Tent of Meeting)
T2 The ministry of the priests and the Levites always supplies people with the riches of Christ—Eph. 3:8
(Please illustrate that to minister is to serve, and to serve is to supply people by ministering to them, just as a waiter supplies people with food.)
D3
T1 The Levites did their service is under the direction of the anointed priests—Num. 3:3
(Please illustrate that we, the New Testament priests serving God, should not act according to our own idea but under the direction of the Spirit.)
T2 The tabernacle moved on the shoulders of the descendants of the three sons of Levi—Josh. 3:10-11, 13-15, 17)
(Please illustrate that the principle in God’s New Testament economy is that God needs man to match Him.)
D4
T1 In the Old Testament there was a distinction between the priests and the Levites; in the New Testament there is only one class, that of the priests—Rom. 15:16
(Please illustrate that what the Levites did in the Old Testament in type, we as the New Testament priests should also do in reality with example.)
T2 The Levitical service should never be separated from the priestly view—1 John 1:2-3
(Please illustrate that while we are taking care of outward, practical matters, how can we minister life to others with example.)
D5
T1 Our service to Lord must be priestly service—Num. 4:3, 23
(Please illustrate that all our service must be priestly with example.)
T2. In Hebrew the word service is warfare, indicating military service—Num. 4:3, 35, 39
(Please illustrate that the New Testament priests are warriors, and our priestly service is a fighting specifically.)
D6
T1 All of our work in serving the Lord is that of warfare—2 Cor. 10:4-5
(Please illustrate that our Preaching the gospel, edifying the saints, administrating the church, and praying are all a kind of warfare with experience.)
T2 A reward, or compensation, was given to Aaron and his sons as the priests and to the serving Levites—Num. 18:8-32
(Please illustrate that the only reward, the only compensation, for our priestly and Levitical service is Christ.)
