Crystallization of Numbers 3

Message Title: the Service of the Priests and the Levites for God's Move

I. Numbers is a book of service, and chapters 3 and 4 cover the holy service

why is it called holy service? it is called holy service because this service takes care of the Tabernacle of the Testimony of God. if we read these two chapters, we can see that this service 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. 

why there is no confusion? because, first, all the Levites were born into the service, which means that all services are based on life. second, all the services are assigned to the Levites by the priests. for us, the New Testament believers, our services are assigned by the Head. thus, the service is in good order. This again requires us to exercise ro reject our natural choices or preferences, rather submissive to the Head in His assigning, and ordination.

II. the holy service was carried out by the priests and the Levites. 

Numbers 3:3 These are the names of the sons of Aaron, the anointed priests, who were consecrated to serve as priests.

Numbers 3:6 Bring the tribe of Levi near and set them before Aaron the priest, that they may minster to him.

Numbers 3:9 And you shall give the Levites to Aaron and to his sons; they are wholly given to him from among the children of Israel.

Numbers 3:10 And you shall appoint Aaron and his sons, and they shall keeo thier priesthood; but the stranger who comes near shall be put to death. 

the holy service was carried out by the priests and the Levites. but from above verses, the priests were anointed by God to serve God deirectly, while the Levites were serving the priests, not serving God directly. The priests were to keep the charge, which means responsibilities of the sanctuary and the altar, and the Levites served under the priests, under their supervising, in caring for the sanctuary and the altar. the tabernacle of the Testimony with all its furnishings and the altar, are types of Christ in all His rich aspects. so from the picture of the priests and the Levites taking care of the tabernacle with all its furnishings and the altar, we, the New Testament believers, are ministering Christ to others. 

III. the holy service portrayed in Nunbers 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. 

our God is always advancing, always progressing, going on and on. God wants to move in every country on this earth. but what I am really touched is that, though God wants to move, and God can move by Himself without any hindrances, because He is powerful and He has all the authorities; rather, He is willing to add limitation to Himself, the mightt God. and He has limitated Himself with man. The only way for God to move is to have man who will match Him, who will match His move. then how can we match Him, match His move? let us first see a few points. 

1. the Levites did their service under the direction of the anointed priests. this means that, we, the New Testament priests serving God, should not act according to our own idea but under the direction of the anointed view, i.e. under the direction of the Spirit who anoints us. 

if we read the book of Acts, and look at two examples, Stephen and Phillip, we will find out one point shoing us how to be directed by the Spirit who anoints us. both Stephen and Phillip were serving practical matters, like meals. we can see this service, is today's Levitical services, not like Paul or Peter, who are speaking messages to crowds. but if we look at how Stephen and Phillip were chosen into the meal services, and if we look at what kind of person Stephen and Phillip were. the Scripture described them as "full of the Spirit", "being led by the Spirit". this indicated that they were people anointed by the Spirit and were under the direction by the Spirit. Therefore, we can say that the criteria to do services in the church serving God, even practical services, is that we need to be full of the Spirit. 

2. the priests took care of the primary things, the important things, and the Kohathites (Levites) took care of some of the secondary things. 

the priests took care of the Ark; this is to take care of Christ directly and to minister Christ, which is the primary thing. So, the primary thins in the church services is that Christ must be minstered and must be dispensed. 

3. the tabernacle moved on the shoulders of the descendants of the three sons of Levi. so the Lord today moves through our bearing the Ark, the furnishings of the sanctuary, and the Tent of Meeting. practically speaking, the Lord moves through the living testimonies. who are the living testimonies? every believer should be a living testimony. not only our preaching, but our daily living, our conduct should give people the impression that we are expressing God. 

4. the principle in God's New Testament economy is that God needs man to match Him in His move on earth. God has set the principle that He will not do anything without man. the basic principle of God's New Testament economy is that God must have man to match Him, to be one with Him, to coordiante with Him. Then, God will have a way to move through and with those who love Him, who are one with Him. this should be our aspiration, and our prayer everyday, that we will contact God, to be saturated with God, with His thoughts, so that we can match Him. 

one of the best ways is to offer priestly prayers. without such prayers offered to God, God will not move. why do we need to pray?

a. we realise and confess that we cannot do anything, so we put our trust in God.

b. God must do something through us

c. God wanst to mingle Himself with man. the most important thing we can do in our priestly service is to be mingled with God. 

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. 

1 Peter 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. 

1 Peter 2:9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people acquired for a possession, so that you may tell out the virtues of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; 

as the New Testament believers, everyone of us is a priest. God wants to recover universal priesthood. we need to pray to recover our own priesthood and the priesthood of the others. so today, the Levites services and the priestly services are one. so we are doing both practical services and spiritual services. while we are doing practical or Levitical services, we still need to do it under the supervision of the inward, spiritual view of the New Testament priesthood. that means that, while we are arranging chairs in the meeting hall, or vacumming the floor, we still need to pray to contact the Lord inwardly. then the outward service become a spiritual activity that minister life to others. 

V. In Hebrew, the word "service" in NUmbers 4:3, 23, 30, 35, 39, and 43 is warfare, indicating military service

when we touch service in the church, we touch God's move, which leads us to touch resistance. in this universe, God has an enemy. Satan and his dark forces are against God, and God's move. so if we are involved in God's move, surely, we will be facing the resistance from the enemy. we need to be aware, and be prepared for this warfare, if we want to serve God, to serve the church. 

let us see two stories in the Old Testament, one positive and one negative, regarding the relationship between the priesthood and the Ark, the Testominy of God.

1. in 1 Samuel chapter 4, Eli and his two sons are the negative pattern in the priesthood. during that time, the priesthood has degraded, and God raised up Samuel, the prophet to function in the place of the degraded priesthood. during the war with the Philistines, Eli and his two sons died on the same day, and the Ark was captured by the Philistine people. 

2. in Joshua chapter 6, we have the positive story, the war at Jericho. that time, the priesthood was functioning properly, and all God's people were one with God. Israel people did not do anything. they circled around the city of Jericho, under the leading of the Ark, the priests, and then shouted, Jericho was defeated by them, because God was with them. 

we, the New Testament priests are warriors, and our priestly service is a fighting. if we are proper priests, bearing God's image and representing God, we are victorious in the fight. vice versa, if we do not function as priests properly, we are always defeated in the fight, and God's testimony also suffers loss. every service in the church is a warfare. in this warfare we, as the church, bind the enemy. the more we are engaged in the service, the more we are engaged in warfare. 

VI. A reward, or compensation, was given to Aaron and his sons as the priests and to the serving Levites. 

Numbers 18:20 And Jehovah said to Aaron, You shall have no inheritance in their land, nor shall you have any portion among them; I am your portion and your inheritance among the children of Israel. 

Numbers 18:7b ...I give you the priesthood as a service of gift, but the stranger who comes near shall be put to death. 

the Lord has given this service to us as a gift, a reward. if we are determined to serve the Lord, to give ourselves to the church, we will not become rich or prosperous as other people in the wolrd. But we will accumulate God as our portion and inheritance. the only reward for our priestly and Levitical service is Christ. Amen!