Scripture Reading: Num. 9:15-23; Exo. 33:14; Luke 24:25-27, 44-49; 1 Cor. 10:6, 11; Rom. 15:4; 1 Tim. 1:3-4, 18; 6:3

DAY 1 Outline　MorningRevival

DAY 2 Outline　MorningRevival

DAY 3 Outline　MorningRevival

DAY 4 Outline　MorningRevival

DAY 5 Outline　MorningRevival

DAY 6 Outline　MorningRevival

«　WEEK 1　DAY 1　»

　　Exo. 33:14 And He said, My presence shall go with you, and I will give you rest.

　　Num. 9:15 And on the day that the tabernacle was set up, the cloud covered the tabernacle…; and in the evening it was like the appearance of fire…until morning.

　　22 [When]…the cloud extended its time over the tabernacle…, the children of Israel remained encamped…; but when it was taken up, they set out.

　　[In presenting] 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…. We may say that the New Testament is hidden in the Old Testament and that the Old Testament is manifested in the New Testament. (Life-study of Numbers, p. 345)

　　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…. This priestly army fights for God and journeys with God….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. (Life-study of Numbers, pp. 345-346)

　　Exodus shows us that God took a big step in His move by coming down to deliver Israel out of Egypt (Exo. 3:8) and bring them into the wilderness (v. 18). Egypt typifies the world where people are occupied with making a living and where people can enjoy a life with pleasures. The world is a place of easy living and pleasure and also a place of sin and idolatry.

　　God delivered Israel out of Egypt and brought them into the wilderness…. It is very good to be saved by God out of the noisy world to a place where there is only the heavens and the earth and God, nothing else. But for the long run, the wilderness was not a good place. Thus, they had to be brought by a long journey through the wilderness.

　　God moved with them and brought them to Mount Sinai. Sinai represents God's presence….The children of Israel remained at Sinai with God for about eleven months (Exo. 19:1; cf. Num. 10:11). God stayed with His people day and night there, so God trained them.

　　At Mount Sinai God gave them the law and the pattern for the tabernacle. On the one hand, God regulated them by the law, and on the other hand, He encouraged them by the tabernacle. After the decree of the law and the building up of the tabernacle at Sinai, God gave them all the chapters of Leviticus to train them to worship and partake of God and to live a holy, clean, and rejoicing life. (CWWL, 1991-1992, vol. 4,”The History of God in His Union with Man,” pp. 147, 158, 169)

　　Further Reading: CWWL, 1960, vol. 1,”Synopsis of Numbers,” ch. 1; CWWL, 1991-1992, vol. 4,”The History of God in His Union with Man,” chs. 11-12

«　WEEK 1　DAY 2　»

　　Eph. 1:10 Unto the economy of the fullness of the times, to head up all things in Christ, the things in the heavens and the things on the earth, in Him.

　　3:9 And to enlighten all that they may see what the economy of the mystery is, which throughout the ages has been hidden in God, who created all things.

　　The word economy is not used in the Old Testament, but it is found in the New Testament, especially in the writings of Paul…. 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. (Life-study of Numbers, p. 346)

　　God's chosen and redeemed people need to receive the divine revelation concerning God Himself and His economy for their training and building up as His testimony…. In Genesis God's people were chosen, and in Exodus they received the divine revelation concerning God and His dwelling place.

　　God's chosen people received the divine revelation after their participation in God's initial salvation as realized in the passover (Exo. 12). God brought the people out of Egypt to the mountain of God, Mount Sinai, and there gave them a full revelation of His dwelling place among the human race on earth. We may say the revelation contained the”blueprints” for the building of God's dwelling place. In order to dwell among the human race, God needs a people who are not only chosen and redeemed but also ready to receive the divine revelation concerning Him and His dwelling place. As the book of Exodus shows us, God's people did receive this revelation and they built the tabernacle according to it. When the tabernacle was set up, God's glory descended upon it.

　　The divine revelation was through the enjoyment of the divine provisions as tasted in the supply of the heavenly manna and the living water flowing out of the smitten rock. The divine revelation was also through the experience of being an army that shared in God's fighting against His enemies, as in their fighting against the Egyptians and the Amalekites.

　　Eventually, in Exodus 19 God's chosen and redeemed people reached and arrived at the mountain of God. When God sent Moses to rescue the children of Israel out of the hand of Pharaoh, God told Moses that after he had brought the people out of Egypt, they would serve the Lord upon this mountain (Exo. 3:12). In Exodus 19 this word was fulfilled.

　　At Mount Sinai God's people received the revelation concerning God Himself that they might be separated unto the holy God as His sanctified people (Exo. 20—24). By the revelation of God Himself, we refer to the law. The law is a portrait of God. Before the children of Israel received the revelation concerning God's building, God gave them a portrait of Himself to show them what kind of God He is. The law reveals that God is a God of love and light and that He is holy and righteous. Therefore, love, light, holy, and righteous are crucial words describing the characteristics of the almighty, Triune God. As the God of love and light, He is altogether holy; that is, He is uncommon, different, and separate from everything else in the universe. Furthermore, God is altogether righteous. He is righteous with Himself, He is righteous in all He does, and He is righteous toward man and all His creatures. This is God as He is revealed in the picture in Exodus 20—24. (Life-study of Numbers, pp. 346-348)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of Numbers, msg. 52

«　WEEK 1　DAY 3　»

　　Heb. 1:3 Who, being the effulgence of His glory and the impress of His substance and upholding and bearing all things by the word of His power, having made purification of sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high.

　　Psa. 119:97, 119 Oh, how I love Your law! All day long it is my musing. …I love Your testimonies.

　　In the New Testament we have a description of God, but we do not have a picture of God. John tells us clearly that God is love and light, and Paul tells us that the very God who is love and light is absolutely holy and righteous. The Ten Commandments are a type signifying Christ as the portrait of God, as the expression of God's image. Hebrews 1:3 says that the Son of God, Jesus Christ, is the express image, the impress, of God's substance….To see Him is to see God. The law is also a portrait of God. By studying the commandments of the law, we can see that God is love and light and that He is holy and righteous. Because the law is such a picture of God, the law was called the Testimony of God (Exo. 25:16, 21; 31:18). The Ark in which the law was placed was called the Ark of the Testimony (Exo. 25:22), and the tabernacle was called the Tabernacle of Testimony (Exo. 38:21). In the Psalms the law is often referred to as the testimony (Psa. 19:7; 25:10; 119:2). This testimony was a portrait, a picture, of God.

　　God's people received the revelation concerning God Himself so that they might be separated unto the holy God as His sanctified people. This matter is given particular emphasis in the book of Leviticus. For example, Leviticus 11:44 says,”I am Jehovah your God. Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy.” (Life-study of Numbers, pp. 348 -349)

　　We know from the first chapter of Genesis that in His work of creation God accomplished many things. However, Genesis 1 does not reveal what kind of God our God is. We do not know from this chapter whether He is a God of love or of hate, a God of darkness or of light. We do not know whether He is holy or common, righteous or unrighteous. The law was given that we might have a portrait, a description, of God and thereby understand what He is. For this reason, God considers the law as His testimony. As a testimony of God, the law is a type of Christ. Christ is the living portrait of God, His living definition and description. Therefore, Christ is the real testimony of God.

　　Contrary to the concept of both Jews and Christians, the law was given not for us to keep, but to reveal what kind of God our God is. As the testimony of God, the law is indeed lovable. Romans 7:12 says,”So then the law is holy, and the commandment holy and righteous and good.” In Romans 7:14 Paul says that”the law is spiritual.” The law is holy, righteous, good, and spiritual because it is a portrait of God. We should love the law because it is a picture of our God. (Life-study of Exodus, pp. 983-984)

　　The law is God's testimony (Exo. 16:34; 31:18; 32:15; 40:20; Psa. 19:7), God's expression, a revelation of God to His people…. The law of God reveals God's attributes, showing that He is jealous (Exo. 20:4-6; cf. 2 Cor. 11:2), holy (Exo. 20:7-11), loving (vv. 6, 12-15; cf. Rom. 13:8-10; Gal. 5:14), righteous (Exo. 20:5), truthful (v. 16; cf. 1 John 1:5-6), and pure (Exo. 20:2-3, 17). As the word of God and the testimony, the expression, of God, the law is a type of Christ as God's Word and God's testimony, God's expression (John 1:1, 18; Rev. 19:13; 1:5; Col. 1:15).

　　The reality of keeping the law is to live God and express God. Such a living, a living in the eternal economy of God, is the living of a God-man, a life of continually denying the self and being crucified to live Christ, who is God's testimony, by the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ for the enlarged and expanded expression of God (Matt. 16:24; Gal. 2:20; Phil. 1:19-21a; Rom. 8:4). (Exo. 20:1, footnote 1)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of Numbers, msg. 49

«　WEEK 1　DAY 4　»

　　Exo. 26:15 And you shall make the boards for the tabernacle of acacia wood, standing up.

　　Psa. 84:1-4 How lovely are Your tabernacles, O Jehovah of hosts! My soul longs, indeed even faints, for the courts of Jehovah….At Your two altars even the sparrow has found a home; and the swallow, a nest for herself, where she may lay her young…. Blessed are those who dwell in Your house…

　　In addition to receiving the divine revelation concerning God Himself, the children of Israel received the divine revelation concerning God's economy that they might be built up together with God in His Divine Trinity as His dwelling place on earth for His testimony (Exo. 25—40).

　　That God's people were to be built up together with Him is indicated by the materials which were to be used for the building of the tabernacle. For instance, the boards of the tabernacle, like the Ark, were made of acacia wood overlaid with gold. The boards of acacia wood are a type of God's people, and the gold overlaying the boards is a type of the divine person. Thus, the boards of acacia wood overlaid with gold signify God's people being built up together with God to be His dwelling place. From this we see that not only are God's people the building materials for His dwelling place but also that God Himself is the building material. (Life-study of Numbers, pp. 349-350)

　　In the tabernacle we can see a picture of the Divine Trinity. It is rather easy to see that the tabernacle reveals Christ the Son. For example, the Ark, the table of the bread of the Presence, and the incense altar all signify the Son. But where do we see God the Father and God the Spirit? The Father is signified by the gold, for in typology gold signifies the nature of God, which, no doubt, is related to God the Father. God the Spirit is signified by the oil in the seven lamps in the lampstand. If the lamps had not had oil, they would have been useless, and there would not have been any light in the tabernacle. (Here we would also point out that the lampstand, which is a single entity, signifies the Triune God. The gold signifies the Father, the form signifies the Son, and the oil signifies the Spirit.) Therefore, with the tabernacle we have the Triune God—with the Son signified by the furniture, the Father signified by the gold, and the Spirit signified by the oil—and humanity, signified by the acacia wood. This is a revelation of God's people being built up with the Triune God to be His dwelling place on earth.

　　The entire tabernacle was God's testimony….This means that the tabernacle was a portrait of the Triune God. Furthermore, the Triune God is actually His own dwelling place, for the Dweller and the dwelling are one. The Dweller is the dwelling place.

　　The forty-eight boards of the tabernacle correspond to the forty-eight cities given to the Levites. Six of these cities were to be refuge cities. The most striking point regarding the refuge cities is that they were enterable. Eventually, these forty-eight cities of the Levites will consummate in a unique city—the New Jerusalem. The tabernacle revealed in Exodus is a miniature of this unique city. In the Old Testament God's testimony was the tabernacle, and in the New Testament it is the church, the Body of Christ. In eternity this testimony will consummate in the New Jerusalem, which is also called a tabernacle (Rev. 21:3). Thus, there was a tabernacle in the Old Testament, there is a tabernacle in the New Testament, and there will be a tabernacle in eternity. In the Old Testament the tabernacle was with the children of Israel, and in the New Testament the tabernacle is firstly Christ (John 1:14) and then the church as the enlargement of Christ. In eternity there will be the ultimate, consummate tabernacle, the New Jerusalem. In each case, the striking point is that the tabernacle is enterable. An entry into the tabernacle is available to us today. Hallelujah, the Triune God is enterable! (Life-study of Numbers, pp. 350-351)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of Numbers, msg. 49

«　WEEK 1　DAY 5　»

　　1 Tim. 1:18 This charge I commit to you,…according to the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you might war the good warfare.

　　2 Tim. 2:3-4 Suffer evil with me as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No one serving as a soldier entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please the one who enlisted him.

　　The book of Numbers as a whole reveals the need of God's chosen and redeemed people to be formed into an army to carry out the holy war. In order to be formed into a holy army, God's people must first be numbered according to maturity in life (Num. 1:3, 18). God's chosen and redeemed people were also built up into one body (1:44-46). If we consider how the children of Israel were in array at the foot of Mount Sinai, we will realize that they had truly been formed into one body.

　　After God's people were numbered and built up into one body, they journeyed with God. In their journey with God, the children of Israel had the presence of God, signified by the cloud in the day and by the fire in the cloud at night (Exo. 33:14; 40:36-38; Num. 9:15-23). The cloud and the fire were both the expression of the Triune God…. In this journey they were led by God Himself. (Life-study of Numbers, pp. 353-354)

　　As the children of Israel were journeying with God, the Angel of Jehovah took the lead (Exo. 32:34). The title the Angel of Jehovah is a particular title of Christ in the Old Testament, as revealed in Exodus 3. The Angel of Jehovah took the lead, always walking in front of the army of Israel.

　　In their journey the children of Israel were moving, walking, and living with Jehovah, the Triune God. This is a type, a picture, of our living as Christians today. Day by day we are moving, walking, and living together with the processed and dispensing Triune God.

　　God's chosen and redeemed people passed through the great and terrible wilderness with all kinds of trials, sufferings, and divine care, supplies, and discipline (Deut. 1:19; 8:2-5). This also is a picture of our Christian life today. Some say that the Christian life is wonderful. However, according to typology, the Christian life is a life of passing through a great and terrible wilderness. In this wilderness we have all kinds of trials and sufferings, but we also have the divine care and supplies. Moreover, because we, like the children of Israel, are often”naughty children,” in addition to God's care and supplies we also have His discipline. On their journey through the wilderness, the children of Israel passed through forty-two stations to enter into rest in the good land promised by God (Num. 33:1-49; Josh. 1:2).

　　As a priestly army, God's chosen and redeemed people fought together with God and for God. If we would fight together with God and for God today, we must first move, walk, and live with Him and also pass through many things in the wilderness. Only in this way can we be qualified to fight together with God. The children of Israel fought not only with God but also for God. In the church life today, we should also fight for God. This indicates that our church life is actually for God and not mainly for us. However, our feeling concerning the church life may be too subjective and selfish. In the meeting someone may testify, saying,”Before I came into the church life, I was homeless. Now in the church I am at home. Oh, how good is the church life!” Yes, we are at home in the church life. Nevertheless, we need to realize that the church life is not mainly for us but for God. We should be able to say,”Lord, the church life is actually Your life. You want to live this way, and we are living together with You. If we did not live and move with You, You would not have Your satisfaction. You do not want to be alone. You have chosen, redeemed, and saved us to accompany You in Your move. Our church life, Lord, is really for You.” (Life-study of Numbers, pp. 354-355)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of Numbers, msg. 50

«　WEEK 1　DAY 6　»

　　Eph.6:10-12 Finally, be empowered in the Lord and in the might of His strength. Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the stratagems of the devil, for our wrestling is not against blood and flesh but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the world-rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenlies.

　　In their fighting together with God and for God, the children of Israel defeated the king of Arad and destroyed his people (Num. 21:1-3). By doing this, they overcame the first enemy among the Canaanites. God's people also defeated Sihon king of the Amorites with his people and Og king of Bashan with his people (21:21-35). This means that they overcame Canaan's two gate guards. The children of Israel also defeated the Midianites with their five kings (31:1-12). By defeating the Midianites the people overcame Canaan's gate army.

　　The kings defeated by God's chosen and redeemed people signify the spiritual powers, rulers, and authorities in the air. Today we need to fight against these powers and defeat them. The fighting of God's people against the kings was for the entrance into the God-promised good land that the kingdom of God might be spread and established there. The principle is the same with us today. When we defeat the rulers, powers, and authorities in the air, the kingdom of God surely is spread and established. (Life-study of Numbers, pp. 355-356)

　　As the priestly army carrying out the holy war, God's chosen and redeemed people bore with them God's dwelling, the Tabernacle of the Testimony with the Ark of the Testimony. This indicates that in the church life today we are bearing God's testimony with God Himself….As long as the church bears the testimony of God, the church is God's dwelling place. The Tabernacle of the Testimony signifies God's chosen and redeemed people built up with Him as His dwelling on the earth (the church in the New Testament). Spiritually speaking, the history of Israel and the history of the church are one…. What is recorded in Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers prefigures what is recorded in Acts and in the Epistles.

　　The Ark of the Testimony signifies Christ as the center of God's economy among His chosen and redeemed people. Today we have the ark among us; that is, we have Christ with us in a personal way. The tabernacle with the Ark was the testimony borne by God's chosen and redeemed people. During the years in the wilderness, the children of Israel…did not engage in commerce or work to make a living. God cared for their living by sending them manna and by giving them water from the rock. For a period of forty years, God's people, with the Angel of Jehovah taking the lead, camped and journeyed in the wilderness. In the eyes of the nations, the children of Israel were wasting their time. Likewise, in the eyes of the worldly people, we in the church life who have given ourselves to bear and to care for the testimony of God are also wasting our time. In the sight of God, however, it is actually the worldly people who are idle and who are wasting their time (Matt. 20:3).

　　Numbers is a record of God's chosen and redeemed people being formed into a priestly army to fight for God and to journey with God so that they may be prepared by God to possess the all-inclusive Christ as the good land. The second generation did not pass through as much as the first generation did, but they received the benefit of what the first generation experienced. I believe that the older generation told the younger generation about all they experienced, enjoyed, and suffered. This speaking was part of the raising up, or the building up, of the second generation. What the first generation experienced was not experienced in vain, for it was passed on to the second generation. (Life-study of Numbers, pp. 356-358, 368)

　　Further Reading: CWWL, 1991-1992, vol. 4,”The History of God in His Union with Man,” ch. 13