总题：民数记结晶读经（一）
Crystallization-Study of Numbers (1)
Message Four
The Lord's Jealousy over the Church as His Wife
Scripture Reading: Num. 5:11-31; Rev. 19:7-9, 11-16; 2 Cor. 11:2-3
I. If we enter into the deep thought of the Bible, we will realize that the Bible is a romance, in a most pure and holy sense—2 Cor. 11:2; Rev. 19:7-9:
A. The male in this couple is God Himself, who desires to be the male of this universal couple—Isa. 54:5-6; 62:5; Jer. 3:14; 31:32.
B. The female of this couple is a corporate chosen and redeemed people, including all the saints of the Old Testament and the New Testament—Rev. 19:7-9; 21:9-10; 22:17.
C. Throughout the centuries God has had a romance with man; thus, the Bible is a record of how God courts His chosen people and eventually marries them—Gen. 2:21-24; S. S. 1:2-4; Isa. 54:5; 62:5; Jer. 2:2; 3:1, 14; 31:32; Ezek. 16:8; 23:5; Hosea 2:7, 19; Matt. 9:15; John 3:29; 2 Cor. 11:2; Eph. 5:25-32; Rev. 19:7; 21:2, 9-10; 22:17:
1. In this union God is His people's life, and they are His expression; in this way God and His chosen people become a universal couple—v. 17:
a. When we as God's people enter into a love relationship with God, we receive His life, just as Eve received the life of Adam—Gen. 2:21-22.
b. It is this life that enables us to become one with God and makes Him one with us—John 3:3, 5-6, 15-16, 29-30.
2. By loving the Lord as our Husband and thereby partaking of His life and nature, we become one with Him as His counterpart, enlargement, and expression—2 Cor. 11:2; 2 Pet. 1:4; John 3:15-16, 29-30.
D. God chose Israel to be His spouse; in typology certain women in the Old Testament reveal that the church is the counterpart of Christ—Hosea 2:19-20; Jer. 2:2; 31:3; Ezek. 16:8; Gen. 24:67; 41:45; Ruth 4:13; 1 Sam. 25:40-42; S. S. 6:13:
1. The church as the counterpart of Christ is typified by Eve as the counterpart of Adam; Eve's coming out of Adam typifies that the church comes out of Christ and has the life and nature of Christ—Gen. 2:21-24; Eph. 5:23-32.
2. Rebekah typifies the church as the counterpart of Christ being chosen from the world—Gen. 24:67.
3. Ruth typifies the church as the counterpart of Christ being redeemed—Ruth 4:13.
E. The divine romance is portrayed in the Song of Songs—1:2-4:
1. This book is a marvelous and vivid portrait, in poetic form, of the bridal love between Christ as the Bridegroom and His lovers as His bride in their mutual enjoyment in the mingling of His divine attributes with the human virtues of His lovers—vv. 15-16; 4:7, 10-15; 5:1-2; 6:4, 10.
2. According to Song of Songs, our relationship with the Lord should be very romantic; if there is no romance between us and the Lord Jesus, then we are religious Christians, not romantic Christians.
F. When the Lord Jesus came, He came as the Bridegroom for the bride—John 3:29; Matt. 9:15:
1. The Lord Jesus regenerates the church so that the church may be His bride—John 3:3, 5-6, 29-30.
2. Through regeneration we receive another life, the divine life; in this life and by this life we are qualified to become Christ's counterpart and to match Him—vv. 3, 5-6, 15, 29; Rev. 22:17.
G. At the end of this age, Christ will come to marry His redeemed and take her as His wife—19:7:
1. On the day of His wedding, Christ will marry those who have been fighting the battle against God's enemy for years; that is, Christ will marry the overcomers, who have already overcome the evil one—vv. 7-9, 11-16.
2. There will be a glorious wedding day, at which time Christ will marry His redeemed ones—vv. 7-9.
3. For eternity in the new heaven and new earth, the New Jerusalem will be the wife of the Lamb; this is the fulfillment of the divine romance revealed in the Scriptures—Jer. 2:2; Hosea 2:19-20; Rev. 19:7-9; 22:17.
II. The church as the bride of Christ must also be a warrior to defeat God's enemy—Eph. 5:25-27; 6:10-18; Rev. 19:7-9, 11-16:
A. Spiritual warfare is a matter of the Body; we are a corporate army fighting the battle for God's interest on earth—17:14; 19:14; cf. 2 Tim. 2:4.
B. Christ will come as a fighting General with His bride as His army to fight against Antichrist at Armageddon—Rev. 19:11-21:
1. When Christ comes with His army, He will come as the Son of Man—Matt. 26:64; Rev. 14:14.
2. As the Son of Man, He will need a counterpart to match and complete Him; this counterpart will be His bride—John 3:29.
3. The wedding garment—Christ lived out of us as our daily righteousness—qualifies us not only to attend the wedding but also to join the army to fight with Christ against Antichrist in the war at Armageddon—Matt. 22:11-12; Rev. 19:7-8, 14.
C. In Song of Songs we see that when the overcoming lover of Christ becomes one with God to be God's dwelling place, in the eyes of God she is as beautiful as Tirzah and as lovely as Jerusalem; however, to the enemy she is as terrible as an army with banners—6:4, 10:
1. The lovers of Christ should be lovable and terrible at the same time; however, many believers have lost their loveliness before the Lord and their terribleness before the enemy—vv. 4, 10:
a. The lover of Christ is beautiful and comely before the Lord, as solid as the heavenly city and as serene as the sanctuary; at the same time, she displays the glory of her victory before the enemy and the world—v. 4.
b. The overcoming lover of Christ not only has a future that is full of hope and a life that is absolutely heavenly, but she is also a victor who constantly triumphs in her victory—3:7-8.
2. A terrible army signifies that the Lord's overcomers terrify God's enemy, Satan—6:4, 10:
a. The enemy is frightened by the church that is built up as the city of God—Neh. 6:15-16; Psa. 102:12-16.
b. Satan is not afraid of individualistic Christians, even if they number in the thousands, but he is terrified of the church as the Body of Christ, the corporate warrior fighting against him and his kingdom—Eph. 6:10-20.
D. David typifies the warring Christ in the midst of sufferings (1 Sam. 25:28), and Abigail typifies the warring church in the midst of sufferings—vv. 2-42:
1. From 1 Samuel 25 onward, Abigail was always at the side of David the warrior and followed him in his wars—vv. 40-42:
a. Abigail's marriage to David typifies the church enlisted as an army for warfare—Eph. 6:10-20.
b. Abigail typifies the warring church, fighting for God's kingdom in the midst of sufferings—Rev. 1:9; 11:15; 12:10.
2. The type of Abigail portrays the church's participation with the Lord Jesus in spiritual warfare—Eph. 6:10-20:
a. Not only must God's eternal purpose be fulfilled and the desire of His heart be satisfied, but God's enemy must be defeated; for this, the church must be a warrior—1:11; 3:9-11; 6:10-12.
b. Spiritual warfare is necessary because Satan's will is set against God's will—Matt. 6:10; 7:21; Isa. 14:12-14:
1. Spiritual warfare has its source in the conflict between the divine will and the satanic will.
2. As the church, our fighting is to subdue the satanic will and to defeat God's enemy—Rev. 12:11.
c. The purpose of spiritual warfare is to bring in the kingdom of God—v. 10.
III. In Numbers 5:11-31 the dealing with a wife over whom her husband was jealous typifies Christ's jealousy over His believers and the church—Deut. 6:6-15; Exo. 20:5; 34:14; 2 Cor. 11:2-3:
A. Christ's fighting army is composed of the overcomers, who are a fighting wife to match Christ—Rev. 19:7-9, 11-16:
1. In order to be a part of the Lord's fighting army, we must be chaste toward Him—2 Cor. 11:2-3.
2. Our seeking and pursuing of anything other than Christ is spiritual adultery in the eyes of God—cf. James 4:4.
3. Those who commit spiritual adultery will be judged and cursed by God (1 Cor. 16:22) and will not be able to fight for God and serve God.
B. Jealousy is usually regarded as a negative thing, but it is one of God's attributes—Exo. 20:5; 34:14:
1. The jealousy of God is like the jealousy of a husband over his wife—2 Cor. 11:2-3.
2. The most jealous one in the universe is God; His name is Jealous—Exo. 34:14:
a. He wants us to love Him uniquely, singly, wholly—Mark 12:30.
b. God is jealous whenever we love anything or anyone in place of Him.
3. As a jealous Husband, God wants us to serve Him and Him alone—Matt. 6:24.
4. Knowing that our God is jealous, we should let His jealousy become ours so that we would care only for Him and allow no one and nothing to replace Him—Exo. 20:5; 34:14; 2 Cor. 11:2-3.
C. "Love is as strong as death, / Jealousy is as cruel as Sheol; / Its flashes are the flashes of fire, / A flame of Jehovah"—S. S. 8:6b:
1. All the seekers of the Lord have been captured by His love; it is as strong as death—2 Cor. 5:14; S. S. 8:6b.
2. With this love and with this jealousy is a flashing fire; these two—the consuming God and the jealous God, the consuming fire and the jealousy—go together—v. 6b.
3. From the beginning of time, God has been a jealous God—Exo. 20:5:
a. Nothing can withstand God's jealousy; He will destroy all His enemies—34:14.
b. God will remove all hindrances until He becomes the unique Lord, the God of all, the unchallenged King—1 Cor. 14:25-28; Psa. 45:11; Rev. 19:16.
4. Paul told the saints in Corinth that he was jealous over them with a jealousy of God and that he had betrothed them to one husband to present them as a pure virgin to Christ—2 Cor. 11:2-3.