THE BELIEVER SET FOR THE DEFENCE OF THE TESTIMONY - PART 2
THE BELIEVER SET FOR THE DEFENCE OF THE TESTIMONY — PART 2
JT It is important to bear in mind that the people were one year and a month in the wilderness before they were numbered. It is as if the Spirit would remind us that our position in regard to the tabernacle of witness were made to hinge on a certain experience with God. The book of Exodus shows that they are brought to God in the wilderness; and having been brought to God, He proposes the covenant to them; and following upon that, He counts on their affection in the way of giving, and lays tribute upon them for the material of the tabernacle. Then the tabernacle is reared up; and He enters into it, and His glory fills it. Then the instruction that follows in Leviticus is that He is to be approached there: He is to be drawn near to. All that precedes this book occupied a year and a month, and unfolds the experience of what it is to be set here in the world in relation to the testimony. So, in the opening of this book we have the numbering; which reminds us that God is taking account of us. In chapter 26 we are numbered for the land, for heaven, but in this chapter we are taken account of by God for the defence of the testimony.
Rem They were exercised before being numbered.
JT Yes; God does not lay upon us burdens we are not able to bear; He graciously deals with our souls until there is a measure of strength there; then He reminds us that He is taking account of us here, and is going to give us a place in defence of the testimony. We have to take account of the tribe of Levi apart; that is another subject, really; but here all the tribes are numbered with regard to the military position in the wilderness.
Rem They had experience of God, did you [p. 83] say?
JT Yes; they had been brought to Him; that is the point in the earlier chapters. God had brought them to Himself. He had borne them on eagle’s wings. They were not yet in the land, but as brought to Himself they were to know Him in grace. In all these chapters, following Exodus 15, God has given them no reproofs. They murmured, they complained, but there is no reproach; that is to say, it is the reign of grace. Then following on this are all these wonderful things; the ark, the tabernacle, and all that related to God’s dwelling; they were instructed as to all that. You can understand if a soul were exercised how much he would find in the testimony, and therefore he would stand for the defence of it.
Ques The purpose of God was assured to them.
JT His purpose is unfolded in this chapter. He would bring them in, and plant them in the mountain of His inheritance; but, in their experience, they were brought to God. It is a wonderful thing to be brought to God; but to be brought in, and planted in the mount of God’s inheritance, where His sanctuary is, is another thing. Your heart is brought to the presence of God, where things are contrary; this is in the wilderness.
Ques Would you say God gets the response of our affections before we are set here in the defence of the testimony?
JT He does; that is the testimony of Exodus, though the breakdown is in Exodus too, that of the golden calf. Nevertheless, we get in Exodus that the people came and offered willingly.
Ques Did you say that in chapter 26 they were taken account of for heaven; and here it is for the testimony? Now, why are they taken account of for the testimony first? I was thinking of Ephesians, where the conflict is after they have gone in.
JT This book does not typify Ephesians. Ephesians is conflict in the land.
[p. 84] Ques What is the difference between conflict in the land, and here?
JT Well, conflict in the land is wholly spiritual.
It arises from the fact that God has given us a place in heaven; and Satan disputes that. Revelation 12 gives an account of the warfare in heaven. It arises from the fact that the Man Child is caught up, He is the Emperor! He rules, not a nation, but the nations. That is imperialism. He rules the nations.
He is the real Emperor. God meets imperialism in Christ. Satan saw what was in the mind of God in dividing the nations, and so he brought in imperialism. It is an idea that is prevalent now in one way and another, but God has met it in Christ. Revelation 12 shows that the woman who brings forth the Man Child is seen as endowed with universal dominion; that is God’s mind in regard to her; and the Man Child becomes the Ruler of the nations. In other words, He is to be the Emperor. Satan’s device is met, and overthrown in Christ. Now, the assembly is included in the ascent of the Man Child. The divine thought of universal rule is seen in Christ, and Satan disputes that. Meanwhile the Lord is on high; and He goes into heaven with the breastplate on Him; that is, He carries all the saints in there on His heart, so we are there in His affections. He is there as the Priest; and Satan is the anti-priest who accuses the brethren, as we are told in that chapter, day and night before God. Now, the Lord is intolerant of that; nothing is more intolerable to Him than the accusing of the saints; so there is war in heaven, and that is really the light of Ephesians. We are in the light of that here, and we testify to it. But then you are also here as a man who has once been in Egypt. The Ephesian warriors are regarded as having their origin in heaven. In Numbers you are viewed as a man who has had a history in Egypt, in the world; you have had your part in it. God [p. 85] has converted you there, and you take your stand there where you have been converted. That is the idea in the first chapter of Numbers. You are where you have been converted; where all your responsibility was. Now, in conformity with that the numbering begins in the first chapter with Reuben, and it is specified that he is the eldest son of Jacob. That is the responsibility side. We know how corrupt Reuben was. Reuben is taken account of by God now. He has had a bad history, but now he is converted, speaking in Christian language; and where he had dishonoured God he is now for God in testimony. We are converted to God, and where we had dishonoured God, we glorify Him. That is what is in this first chapter.
Rem This is for the wilderness.
JT Precisely. The idea in Corinthians is that Paul had gone to Corinth, and he presented to them the testimony of God. Now, many of the Corinthians were converted. The Lord had told him beforehand that He had much people in that city; not a people in heaven, but in that city; and He would allow no one to hurt Paul, who preached, and a goodly number were converted. As gathered together they were definitely called the assembly of God in Corinth; and every member that composed that assembly was previously known as having been in the world.
Ques Does the ordering of the people here in connection with the testimony necessarily contemplate conflict?
JT It is rather, that they are there in case there should be an attack. It is not aggressive conflict. When you come to Canaan it is aggressive; but not so here, because it is a question of passing through. If the Amalekites let them alone, they would let the Amalekites alone. You may be employed in a workshop; you have spent your time as an unconverted man there; but you are converted,
[p. 86] and in the place where you had been in your unconverted days, you testify for the Lord; and if the Lord is attacked there, you defend Him there.
Rem It magnifies the grace of God; I was thinking of Reuben.
JT Yes; it is remarkable that He begins with Reuben; but then He takes up Judah in chapter 2.
Rem Judah seems to have a very remarkable position in this chapter.
JT Judah represents in Scripture the counsel of God; and therefore what we gather from chapter 2 is that whilst you are taken account of in your responsibility to God, and in connection with the standard of your father’s house, yet God orders things according to His counsels. He decides who is to lead. If it were according to nature Reuben would lead; but if it is according to God’s sovereignty, it is whom He will. We are all taken account of by God, and set together, but you must not assume that because you are the eldest you must lead; you must leave room for the sovereignty of God. What ultimately brought in the enmity of Ephraim was that God took up Judah. It is a most important thing for us to bow to the sovereignty of God. “He doeth according to his will in the army of heaven”.
Rem And it is according to His grace.
JT Yes; you may depend upon it, if God takes anyone up, it is according to divine wisdom; God does not do anything simply in an arbitrary way.
Ques Why was Levi not to be numbered with the others?
JT In the case of Levi the Spirit shows us, in type, what the assembly’s own place is in the mind of God. Whenever Levi is not numbered, it shows that the tribe is distinguished; and in the book of Joshua you find it is distinguished in this sense, that it had no inheritance on earth; it had an inheritance in heaven. It is said of Levi; “The [p. 87] Lord God of Israel was their inheritance;” and the point in the book of Joshua is that the Levites represent the assembly as a heavenly company. In Numbers the Levites represent the saints as specially charged with the service of God in the assembly.
Ques What would you say is their character in Deuteronomy?
JT Well, in the book of Deuteronomy the priesthood is scarcely distinguished from the Levites. I think that the way the Levite is alluded to in Deuteronomy is to show that the people are in direct touch with God without an intermediary; in fact, they are called the sons of God. Viewed in that light, we do not need an intermediary.
Rem I was thinking of that verse, “At that time the Lord, separated the tribe of Levi, to bear the ark of the covenant of the Lord, to stand before the Lord to minister unto him, and to bless in his name unto this day”, Deuteronomy 10: 9.
JT To Levi, being the priestly tribe, that was given, but I think it is very important to bear in mind that whilst God takes account of us each one, age has nothing to do with God’s counsels; we must bow to the sovereign will of God in whatever He does; and so He brings Judah forward here.
Ques Do you regard the thought of the Levites as setting forth the assembly?
JT Yes, here. We shall see in chapter 3, that we have the service of the Levites detailed; so that in that sense the Levite refers to the Christian now, in contrast to what he may be in other connections; but where it is distinctly said that they are not to be numbered amongst others, there they are signalised.
Rem They have this unique position because of their faithfulness in a day of ruin.
JT Deuteronomy 33 enlarges on that. “And of Levi he said, Let thy Thummim and thy Urim be with thy holy one, whom thou didst prove at Massah,
[p. 88] and with whom thou didst strive at the waters of Meribah; who said unto his father and to his mother, I have not seen him; neither did he acknowledge his brethren, nor knew his own children; for they have observed thy word, and kept thy covenant. They shall teach Jacob thy judgments, and Israel thy law: they shall put incense before thee, and whole burnt sacrifice upon thine altar. Bless, Lord, his substance, and accept the work of his hands”. That is based on what they were in faithfulness when the tribe of Levi gathered around Moses at the time of the sin of the golden calf. However, Aaron and his house were chosen sovereignly for the priesthood.
Rem The Levites were taken up especially for the service of the tabernacle.
JT Yes; a Levite in chapter 4 is simply a Christian viewed as occupied with the things of God, not engaged with secular things. In our employment in the world outside, and having to do with the contrary elements, we are warriors. If you are not a warrior you will be overcome, and that is where many suffer: they do not take that position. You must be on your guard; you are a military man; you are on the defence; and if you are not on your guard, you will be overcome. When you turn aside from that, and take up the things of God, you are in a levitical position; your exercises in regard to the people of God are levitical. The key word as to the Levite is, he beam; he carries.
Ques Would prayer for the Lord’s people be levitical?
JT That is more priestly; but it is the levitical side that leads to that. When you come to the next chapter, you can do nothing without the priests. And that leads to another side, that in Christianity each Levite, or minister, is a priest. You will notice that Eleazar the priest, and not Aaron, was “chief over the chief of the Levites”. It refers more to [p. 89] priesthood in the saints than to Christ specially. Of course, the Levites were given to Aaron, and that is to Christ; but Eleazar supervises the Levites. It is more the spiritual side in the saints that Eleazar represents. There are a great many things to be carried amongst us; and that is the Levites’ work.
Ques Would you enumerate some?
JT Well, it takes largely the form of helping the saints; because the testimony is in the saints in a practical way. Here the tabernacle of witness answers to our present condition. The tabernacle suggests an order of things which could be terminated at any time; hence in that sense it refers to us as in flesh and blood, liable to death. The saints, in that respect, are liable to be put to sleep; and they are liable to be ill. All these things lead to levitical exercises. You want to help a brother; you cannot ignore him.
Rem We read in Galatians, “Bear ye one another’s burdens”.
JT That is levitical. The best example you will find is in 2 Corinthians 11; there Paul gives an account of his levitical exercises.
Rem The testimony is bound up with the saints; and they have to be carried.
JT Yes; and it is carrying that tests us.
Rem Some of the things were very heavy to carry.
JT Yes; and you carry them in the desert, where the sun is beaming down upon you; that is testing.
Rem Instead of the breaking of bread being the end of exercise, it should be the beginning.
JT I think so; it leads to love; and therefore the box is in order; because you want to support what is of Christ here.
Rem What was in my mind in speaking of the breaking of bread was the desire of a young person wanting to break bread. Often the exercise ceases [p. 90] there; instead of seeing that the tabernacle is in the wilderness, and that it has to be carried.
JT There is no need of armour in the assembly; it is a very abnormal state of things if we war with each other; it is outside you need the armour. The numbering here is to show that when you go out of the assembly into your ordinary sphere of life you are prepared to defend Christ. It is not aggressive warfare; we do not go out into the world and raise a quarrel with people; they are not in our inheritance yet; heaven is our place, and therefore the warfare is in heaven, aggressive warfare; but as here in the wilderness, we are simply negative; we are prepared to defend the truth under any circumstances.
Ques Did not David err in numbering the people. He was depending more on the numbers of his people than on God?
JT When God numbers us there is no danger; but when we begin to number ourselves with the object of making a show, then there is danger; and God is sure to bring that down. When God numbers us, He knows our names, and He is going to give us some position to occupy.
Rem I suppose the important point is, being with God to start with?
JT That is the important point. He says, “I brought you to myself;” that is the epistle to the Romans; you are brought to know God, and really the epistle to the Romans brings in the boards of the tabernacle. Not only do we know God, but we love His will. Paul says, “I delight in the law of God, after the inward man”, Romans 7: 22.
Ques Is Romans 12 the answer to that?
JT Yes. “That ye may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God”. It becomes a very searching thing when you take it to yourself. In God’s mind I am set for the defence of the testimony in my position in the presence of men.
[p. 91] Ques Would not that involve the confession of Jesus as Lord?
JT Yes; you do not hide your light under a bushel, or under a bed.
Rem We have to ask ourselves the question. Are we honest in the circle in which we are placed, as those who are connected with the Lord?
JT Yes; as Peter says, you do not run riot with them, as you used to; the time past sufficed for that; now it is a question of the will of God, to live the rest of your time for the will of God; it may only be a very little while, but it is your aim to live it for God.
Ques You would distinguish between that conflict, and what is entirely spiritual?
JT Well, yes; you want the inheritance, and the numbering in Numbers 26 means that you should have a place in the land; and if your place there is occupied by enemies, you must have conflict to get possession. It is a path of conflict now; you do not want a little part of the wilderness for yourself; you want to pass through it, and defend the testimony in it. I think it is very beautiful to see the touches we get in the chapters which were read. First, as regards Reuben; God taking account of us in responsibility as regards the testimony; and then, in chapter 2, we bow to the sovereignty of God.
Ques What would answer to it in the New Testament?
JT You find that God has set gifts in the assembly, for example, and He does it according to His sovereign wisdom.
Rem I was thinking of that scripture, “differences of administrations, but the same Lord”.
JT Yes. You see, for instance, in the case of Saul of Tarsus, how distinctly that was an act of the sovereignty of God. Saul had absolutely no claim at all, yet he is put in the front rank.