In this message we will begin to present a vital sketch of the divine revelation in the books of Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers concerning God's economy with His chosen and redeemed people. We may use four slogans to summarize certain crucial aspects of this sketch: "Purchased, redeemed, and saved from the bondage of the fall"; "Enjoying Christ, receiving revelation, and being built up in the Triune God"; "Formed into a priestly army to fight for God and to journey with God"; and "Possessed by God to possess the all-inclusive Christ as the good land." These slogans are a mingling of Old Testament typology and the fulfillment of this typology in the New Testament. This should not be surprising since the two sections of the Bible, the Old Testament and the New Testament, are one. We may say that the New Testament is hidden in the Old Testament and that the Old Testament is manifested in the New Testament.
These four slogans apply to the saints in both the Old Testament and New Testament. The saints have been chosen, redeemed, and saved from the bondage of the fall. The Old Testament saints were saved from bondage in Egypt, and we have been saved from the bondage of Satan. Having been saved, we are now enjoying Christ. Like the children of Israel at Mount Sinai, we have also received the divine revelation and are being built up with the processed Triune God. We are being built up with the Son as the embodiment of the Father and with the Spirit as the realization of the Son. Furthermore, we are being formed into a priestly army. The term priestly army may be an Old Testament term, but it also fits the New Testament fulfillment of Old Testament typology. This priestly army fights for God and journeys with God. While we are fighting for God and for His kingdom, we are journeying with Him. Finally, we have been prepared by God in every way to possess the all-inclusive Christ as the good land. This preparation is revealed in the last five chapters of Numbers, where we see the prearrangement of the distribution of the good land. This prearrangement was the preparation of God's people to enter into the land and possess it.
In this message and in the four following messages, we will present a vital sketch of the divine revelation in the books of Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers concerning God's economy with His chosen and redeemed people. The word economy is not used in the Old Testament, but it is found in the New Testament, especially in the writings of Paul, which strongly emphasize the matter of God's economy. Although this word may not be used in Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers, the typology in these books unveils God's economy. God's economy is His administration with His plan, His purpose, and His arrangement to accomplish His plan and attain His purpose for the fulfillment of the desire of His heart. This desire is to have a people not only created by Him but also regenerated, sanctified, transformed, and conformed to the image of Christ as the embodiment of the processed Triune God. Eventually, this people will be brought into glory, into the expression of the Triune God. This is God's economy. In the Old Testament we have a picture of God's economy; in the New Testament we have a clear speaking concerning God's economy.