We come now to the fourth major point, which is in the book of Numbers. Most expositions of Numbers give the impression that it is a book of wanderings and repeated failures. This is not quite accurate. Properly speaking, Numbers is not a book of failures, but a book of victory and glory. Is it not glorious that on this earth God not only has a dwelling-place, but also a camp with an army?
In Numbers 2 we read, “And the Lord spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying, the children of Israel shall encamp every man by his own standard, with the ensigns of their fathers’ houses: over against the tent of meeting shall they encamp round about” (vv. 1-2). Each tribe had a specific place in which to pitch their tents round about the tent of meeting. The tribes on the east were Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun; those on the south were Reuben, Simeon, and Gad; on the west were Ephraim, Manasseh, and Benjamin; and on the north were Dan, Asher, and Naphtali (Num. 2:3-31). In the very center were the Levites, who cared for the tabernacle (Num. 1:50-53; 2:17). The priests could never be separated from the tabernacle; they were one with the tabernacle and always with it. This picture of the twelve tribes encamped on the four sides of the tabernacle with the Levites in the center is a preview of the coming New Jerusalem. That city portrayed in Revelation has twelve gates, three on each of its four sides, containing the names of the twelve tribes (Rev. 21:12-13). That means that the New Jerusalem is not a new concept in Revelation. It was revealed many centuries before, in the book of Numbers. Thus, we see again that the whole of Scripture is of one line, related to one thing-God’s building. Even as the tabernacle in the Old Testament was the center of the twelve tribes of Israel, so God and the Lamb are the temple in the center of the New Jerusalem.
From beginning to end the book of Numbers is a glorious book. In the beginning God formed the army, and at the end we have a record of the dividing of the land conquered by this army. In the beginning the camps were arrayed in preparation for battle. In the forming of the house of Israel into a fighting army, we again see the principle revealed in Genesis 1: God desires a corporate man to represent Him in subduing and regaining this earth from the usurping hand of Satan. God had given Israel a good land called Canaan, but the Israelites had to take this land from the usurping hand of God’s enemy. They could not gain the land easily; they must fight inch by inch, defeating all their enemies. The purpose and goal of the fighting was to possess the land.
The book of Numbers is a book of vital principles for us to apply today. Where is the army now? Are you in the army? This is the problem. There is no army, because there is no building. If the church is not built, there is no priesthood, and if there is no priesthood, there is no army. In Numbers 4:35, 39, and 43, the Hebrew word for the service of the priesthood really means warfare (See the footnote on Numbers 4:3 in the A.S.V.). This signifies that whenever the priests served together, they were fighting the battle. It was a warfare. We can testify of this from our experience: whenever we are in the real service of the Lord, there is always a battle taking place. This is why in the book of Joshua the priests took the lead when the children of Israel went into battle. The priests were the generals, the real soldiers. This is why we also must first have the building, and then we may have the priesthood, which becomes the army to fight God’s battle.
The book of Numbers presents a glorious scene with the standards and ensigns, the formations and the order. All these things are full of application for us today. The army consisted of twelve tribes in four divisions, with three tribes in each division. Again we see the numbers, three and four-the Triune God mingled with man. The principle of mingling is represented by three times four, equaling twelve. God is not only added to us, but also mingled with us. The book of Revelation begins with a record of the seven churches, which are divided into one section of four plus another section of three. This signifies that the Triune God is added to the creature, as three is added to four, equaling seven. But Revelation ends with the New Jerusalem, where all the numbers are twelve; that is, three times four, signifying God’s mingling with us. The real building of God is this mingling of God with man.
In the army there was only one weapon-the ark. The Israelites fought their battles with the ark. In the center of the army of Israel was the tabernacle. All their activities, all their moves, depended upon the tabernacle. When the tabernacle remained in a certain place, the house of Israel, the army, also remained. When the tabernacle moved, everyone moved with it (Num. 9:17-23). These Old Testament illustrations reveal clearly the principle that all the fighting of God’s army accompanies the building of the church. When the church moves, the fighting proceeds; when the church stops, the fighting ceases. The fighting is one with the move of the church.
Home | First | Prev | Next