2019年 夏季训练
GENERAL SUBJECT: Crystallization-Study of Number (2)
The All-inclusive Christ Being the Allotted Portion of the Saints, according to God’s Choice, as Their Divine Inheritance for Their Enjoyment
Scripture Reading: Num. 32:1-6, 12, 16-22, 33; Deut. 8:9; Col. 1:12; 2:6-7; Phil. 3:7-11, 14
Ⅰ The all-inclusive Christ is typified by the good land, a land in which we will not lack anything—Deut. 8:9:
Ａ Christ as the allotted portion of the saints (Col. 1:12) refers to the lot of the inheritance, as illustrated by the allotment of the good land of Canaan given to the children of Israel for their inheritance (Josh. 14:1):
１ The New Testament believers’ inheritance is not a physical land; it is the all-inclusive Christ; He is the pledge of our inheritance—Eph. 1:14.
２ He is the allotted portion of the saints as our divine inheritance for our enjoyment—Acts 26:18b.
Ｂ God’s intention is to bring all His people into the good land, which typifies Christ as the goal; in the Old Testament God’s people journeyed and then arrived at the goal, but in the New Testament we, the believers, having been baptized into Christ, are already in the goal—Rom. 6:3; Gal. 3:27; 1 Cor. 1:30; Col. 2:6 and footnotes.
Ｃ The good land today is Christ as the all-inclusive Spirit (v. 6; Gal. 3:14), who dwells in our spirit (2 Tim. 4:22; Rom. 8:16) to be our enjoyment; to walk according to this Spirit (v. 4; Gal. 5:16) is the central and crucial point in the New Testament:
１ Colossians 2:6-7 reveals that Christ as the good land is the rich soil in which we have been rooted so that we may grow with the elements that we absorb from the soil—cf. 1 Cor. 3:6, 9; Col. 2:19.
２ If we have been rooted in Christ, we shall spontaneously walk in Christ—living, acting, moving, and having our being in Christ.
３ The only way to become deeply rooted in Christ is to contact the Lord and spend time with Him in the Word with much prayer; we first grow downward and then bear fruit upward—Eph. 5:26; 6:17-18; Isa. 37:31.
４ While we walk in Christ, we will be built up in Christ to live out Christ; this living out of Christ will produce the corporate expression of Christ, the church life—Col. 2:6-7.
５ Every morning we need to take adequate time to absorb the Lord; although even ten minutes is good, it is best to spend thirty minutes to enjoy Him at the start of each new day; as we spend time contacting the Lord in the morning and throughout the day in our spirit, we will spontaneously absorb into us the riches of Christ as the soil.
６ We must take time to enjoy the Lord as the all-inclusive land so that all the elements of Christ as the rich soil may be absorbed into us for us to be made full in Him in our experience—v. 10a; 4:2:
ａ If we would absorb the riches of Christ as the soil, we need to have tender, new roots; we should not let ourselves get old but be fresh and renewed every day—2 Cor. 4:16; cf. Deut. 34:7; Luke 11:34-36; Acts 3:19-20; Psa. 16:11.
ｂ We need to forget our situation, our condition, our failures, and our weaknesses and simply take time to absorb the Lord so that we may be built up in Him for the building up of His Body, His corporate expression—Luke 8:13; Matt. 14:22-23; 6:6.
Ⅱ The book of Numbers reveals the prearrangement of the distribution of the good land, typifying the sharing of the enjoyment of the rich Christ according to God’s choice—32:1-42; 33:50—36:13:
Ａ The good land is surrounded by two seas (the Mediterranean Sea and the Dead Sea) and one river (the Jordan River); these two seas and this river all signify the death of Christ—34:2-3, 6, 12.
Ｂ This indicates that the enjoyment of Christ is closely related to His death; the enjoyment of Christ must be in the sphere, the territory, of His death—Phil. 3:7-11.
Ｃ That the good land rose up from the waters that bordered it on either side indicates that it is an elevated, uplifted land; this signifies the resurrected and ascended Christ, the heavenly Christ, who has entered into us in His resurrection (John 20:22) and whose riches we enjoy in His ascension (Eph. 2:6; Col. 3:1-4).
Ｄ The request by Reuben and Gad to receive the land that God had promised (Num. 32:1-5, 33) was not wrong; however, they were not right in wanting to receive this according to their choice as to what was best:
１ Eventually, their land was the first part of the land of Israel to be taken over by the Gentile invaders from the east (1 Chron. 5:25-26); those who remain halfway and are satisfied with only a little blessing from God will be easily captured by the enemy.
２ In spiritual matters it is much better to not act according to our choice but to leave matters in the hand of the Lord and let Him do according to His choice—Hymns, #907; cf. Gen. 13:5-18.
３ The land requested by Reuben and Gad could be reached without crossing the river Jordan, which signifies the old man not being dealt with and buried (see footnotes on Joshua 3:16—4:12); only after our old man has been dealt with and buried (Rom. 6:3-6) are we in a position to possess the all-inclusive Christ as the good land for our enjoyment.
４ The land given to Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh (Num. 32:33), the land that was according to their choice, could be reached without crossing the Jordan and thus was not actually a part of the good land of Canaan (cf. 34:14-15; 35:14); this indicates that, in type, it was outside the death of Christ.
５ The obligation of Reuben and Gad toward Jehovah and toward Israel (32:22) was due to the fact that they had their own choice regarding their portion of the land (vv. 1-5); in serving the Lord, we need to learn to give up our own choice in order to avoid obligating ourselves to God and to His people.
６ Our self-choice is likewise outside the death of Christ and therefore has nothing to do with the real enjoyment of the rich Christ; if we do not pass through the death of Christ, we cannot enter into the realm of His resurrection and ascension to enjoy Him as the heavenly, elevated One—cf. Gal. 2:20; Phil. 3:10-11; Col. 3:1-4.
Ｅ Obtaining “the land east of the Jordan” reaches God’s spiritual goal but not His glorious goal—receiving the rich inheritance in Christ, the glory of the riches of Christ, in the position of His ascension.
Ｆ The tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh thought only about themselves, cared too much for their own enjoyment, and did not care for God’s will, plan, goal, kingdom, or testimony.
Ｇ This indicates that if we care only for our own salvation, peace, blessing, or material things and are unwilling to go forward, we will not be able to fulfill God’s will and plan or reach His goal, kingdom, and testimony; we should not substitute the second best for the best.
Ｈ Moses permitted the promise of Reuben and Gad (Num. 32:16-19, 33), telling them that if they went to battle with their brothers, subdued the land, and freed themselves from their obligation, they could have the land east of the Jordan (vv. 20-22):
１ Here Moses represented God; many times God permits such promises as this; He does not force us.
２ Today in the church many of the Lord’s lovers and pursuers remain on the east of the Jordan; they only want to be under God’s blessing and care.
Ｉ The choice of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh caused their descendants to lose the right to inherit the land of Canaan (vv. 18-19, 33):
１ This typifies that if we lust for ease and comfort today—caring only for ourselves, stopping halfway, and giving up our rights in the matter of pursuing the Lord—we will not be able to recover those rights, and there will not be any compensation for them; this is an eternal loss.
２ In contrast, if we are willing to pay the price today to go forward continually into God’s glorious goal so as to enjoy His fullness, we will have an extremely rich and special enjoyment in the future—Phil. 3:14.
Ｊ God has ordained Christ to be our portion for our enjoyment, but we must cooperate with God’s ordination by driving out everything within us that is other than God and Christ; we must destroy all the idols within us and not leave any ground within us for the worship of idols (Num. 33:50-53; 1 John 5:21); only then can we have the genuine enjoyment of Christ for the church as His building and His kingdom.