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Scripture Reading: Num. 4
In this message we will consider the duties of the priests and the Levites in the tabernacle's setting out.
The priests and the Levites had certain duties in the tabernacle's setting out. To set out is to go forward. Thus, what is covered in the holy service is not for a Christ who is inactive but for a Christ who is very active. In His activity we must match Him.
In the Old Testament, God could move by Himself, without man. For instance, when God created the heavens and the earth, there was no need of man to match Him. But the New Testament begins with the divine incarnation. This set up the principle for God's New Testament economy, which is that God needs man to match Him. Without man, God can do nothing. In the Old Testament, God could do many things without man. In the New Testament, God has given Himself to be bound together with man. This binding together of God with man can be illustrated by the runners in a three-legged race, who are bound together in such a way that each pair of runners has three legs. In the New Testament, God must have man to match Him, to be one with Him, to coordinate with Him. This is the basic principle of God's New Testament economy.
In His New Testament economy, God does nothing without man. Man must be one with God, match God, and be bound together with God. "He who is joined to the Lord is one spirit" (1 Cor. 6:17). This implies that in the New Testament God's economy has bound man together with God. God is willing to be bound to man, for He cannot move without man. Now God moves not only with man but also within man. This is why God never preaches the gospel directly to anyone; instead, He preaches the gospel through man.
Christ is moving today throughout the earth. "You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and unto the remotest part of the earth" (Acts 1:8). To be Christ's witnesses is to be His testimony, and to be His testimony is to be His portrait. If we are Christ's testimony, His portrait, people will see Him wherever we go. We witness for Christ in the sense of being His portraits. Hence, all gospel preachers are actually witnesses, portraits, of Christ.
The Lord's move today is with us. Regarding His move, we may be either a "mule wagon" or a "747." By this I mean that if we are slow, the Lord's move with us will be slow. If we are fast, the Lord's move with us will be fast.
We need to see how the Lord moves today. He moves within us. We are today's Gershonites, Kohathites, and sons of Merari. In order to see how Christ moves on earth, we should look at the move of the tabernacle. The tabernacle moved on the shoulders of the descendants of the three sons of Levi. This moving was in a very good sequence, with no confusion. Only Aaron and his sons could look at the holy things and touch them. The Levites could look at them and touch them only after they had been packed and covered. The layman had no right at all to touch the holy things.
From the foregoing we can realize that not everyone is able to bring the Lord's recovery from one country to another. By the Lord's mercy, I can testify that when I came to the United States, I brought the ark with all the furnishings of the sanctuary. I also brought the tent of meeting, which is the enlargement of Christ, the church. The Lord moves through our bearing the ark, the furnishings of the sanctuary, and the tent of meeting.
Christ, the embodiment of God for His expansion, moves through those who love Him. If we do not move, He cannot move. Rather, He is bound and even imprisoned within us. If we do not move, we become a prison to the Lord.
The duties in the tabernacle's setting out involve both the priests and the Levites. In the Old Testament there is a distinction between the priests and the Levites. However, in the New Testament there is only one class, that of the priests, which includes the Levites. Hence, what the Levites did in the Old Testament, we, the New Testament priests, should also do.
The priests had the privilege of packing the things of the divine Person. To pack a person's belongings is a special privilege, given only to those who are close to that person. He who packs another's belongings sees all of that person's mysteries and secrets.
The priests packed the furnishings of the sanctuary, including the ark, the showbread table, the lampstand, the golden altar, and the altar (vv. 5-14). The first item of the furnishings of the sanctuary to be packed was the ark. The priests covered the ark with the veil of the screen, a covering of porpoise skin, and a cloth of blue (vv. 5-6).
We today have the privilege of packing the things of Christ. First, we pack Christ as the ark, with all that this comprises. Then we pack the showbread table. This is to minister Christ as food, as bread, to God's serving ones. The Lord Jesus said, "I am the bread of life...He who eats Me shall also live because of Me" (John 6:48, 57b). We also pack the lampstand. The showbread table is for life, and the lampstand is for light. Furthermore, we pack the golden altar, which is for God's acceptance, and the bronze altar, which is for God's redemption.
The priests appointed the Levites to do their service (Num. 4:19, 27-28, 33). The Levites doing their service were not according to their way but under the direction of the anointed priests. This indicates that we, the New Testament priests serving God, should not act according to our own idea but under the direction of the anointed view, that is, under the direction of the very Spirit who anoints us.
"The charge of Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest shall be the oil for the light, the fragrant incense, the continual meal offering, and the anointing oil, even the charge of all the tabernacle and all that is in it, of the sanctuary and its vessels" (v. 16). All these items signify the different aspects of the rich Christ. In Ephesians 3:8 Paul says, "To me, less than the least of all saints, was this grace given, to preach to the nations the unsearchable riches of Christ as the gospel." By the New Testament alone it is difficult for us to see Christ's unsearchable, or untraceable, riches. We also need the types, the pictures, in the Old Testament. Through all the items mentioned in Numbers 4 we can see that Christ's riches are untraceable.
Even the anointing oil is Christ. Although the anointing oil signifies the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit is the consummated Triune God. John 7:39b says, "The Spirit was not yet, because Jesus was not yet glorified." After Christ was glorified (resurrected), the Spirit became the all-inclusive, compound, life-giving, indwelling Spirit, who is the consummated Triune God. The Triune God was "raw," unprocessed, but after passing through the process of incarnation, human living, crucifixion, and resurrection, He was fully consummated to be the all-inclusive, compound Spirit. Today the Lord is the Spirit (2 Cor. 3:17; 1 Cor. 15:45b). In this sense, the anointing oil is Christ.
As we come to the service of the Levites, we see that with the Levites there was an age requirement. To serve as a Levite, one had to be between thirty and fifty years old (Num. 4:3, 23, 30, 35, 43, 47). These are the "golden years" of human life. Even the Lord Jesus did not reach the full age for God's service until He had reached the age of thirty (Luke 3:23). He did not begin His work until He was thirty.
In Numbers we can see some comparisons regarding age requirements. To be counted in the service to God, one had to be one month old and above — those at that age needed to grow and mature (3:39, 43). To be counted in the warfare for God's testimony, one had to be twenty years old or above — those at that age were mature and strong, without limit (1:20). Caleb, for example, was able to fight even at the age of eighty-five (Josh. 14:10-11). To be counted in the service that was close to God, one had to be from thirty years old up to fifty years old — those at that age were more mature and were stronger, without deterioration.
The priests took care of the primary things, the most important things, and the Kohathites took care of some of the secondary things. To take care of the furnishings of the sanctuary is to take care of the primary things. The priests took care of the ark. This is to take care of Christ directly and to minister Christ. The Kohathites carried the furnishings of the sanctuary (Num. 4:2-4, 15, 17-20, 34-37). To do this today is to speak concerning the church as the expansion of Christ.
The Kohathites were not to touch the holy things (v. 15) or to go in to look at them (v. 20). In either case, the penalty was death.
"Aaron and his sons shall go in and assign each of them to his service and to his burden" (v. 19b). Here we see that the service of the Kohathites was under the assigning of Aaron and his sons. This indicates that in the Old Testament there are two classes — the priests and the Levites. But in the New Testament these two classes are one. We today are both priests and Levites. When we as priests do the Levitical work, we must be under the supervision of our priestly view. For example, arranging chairs in the meeting hall is not a spiritual work but a Levitical service. But this Levitical service should be carried out under the inward, spiritual view of the priesthood. If the arranging of chairs is done in this way, the serving ones will pray for the church and for those who will sit on the chairs. The principle is the same with knocking on people's doors for the purpose of preaching the gospel. The Levitical service of door-knocking should be carried out under the supervision of the priestly view. Then those who visit people with the gospel in this way will have much prayer. They may pray, "Lord, while I am knocking on this person's door, I ask You to knock on his heart."
Today we should not separate the Levitical service from the priestly view. Any kind of outward activity must be carried out under the supervision of the inward, spiritual view of the priesthood.
The Gershonites (vv. 22-28, 38-41) were to carry the curtains of the tabernacle, and the tent of meeting, its covering, the covering of porpoise skin, the screen of the entrance to the tent of meeting, the hangings of the court, the screen of the entrance to the gate of the court, their cords, and all the equipment for their service. They did this at the command of Aaron and his sons, and under the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest (vv. 27-28).
Once again we see that the Levitical service was carried out under the supervision of the priests. This is a further indication that we need to learn to do outward things under the inward view of the priesthood. For instance, the way work is done in the church business office should be very different from the way in a bank, where there is no priestly supervision. All the service in the church business office should be done under the heavenly view and supervision of the priests. Then whatever we do in the church business office will become a spiritual activity and will minister life to others. While we are caring for business matters, we should minister life to others. If we do this, our Levitical service is under the view and supervision of the priesthood.
The sons of Merari (vv. 29-33, 42-45) were to carry the boards of the tabernacle, its bars, pillars, and sockets, the pillars of the court round about, their sockets, pegs, and cords, with all their equipment. This was to be done under the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.
Whatever is written in the Bible is for our good and is worth studying. Therefore, we need to study all the items related to the tabernacle, such as the pillars, sockets, pegs, and cords. All these items typify Christ. Christ is our peg and our cord. By knowing all these items related to the tabernacle, we know Christ.
