Crystallization-Study of Numbers
Opening Word of the Prophesying Meeting
Message Ten
The Major Types and the Prophecy concerning Christ
Reading the verses in each day.
Reading the main points in the outlines.
Pray-reading the verses:
Numbers 17:8 And on the next day Moses went into the Tent of the Testimony, and there was the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi: it had budded; it even put forth buds and produced blossoms and bore ripe almonds.
20:8 Take the rod, and gather the assembly, you and Aaron your brother, and speak to the rock before their eyes, so that it yields its water. Thus you shall bring forth water for them out of the rock and give the assembly and their livestock a drink.
1 Corinthians 10:4 And all drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank of a spiritual rock which followed them, and the rock was Christ.
Word of Appetizer
What are five the major types concerning Christ in Numbers?
Aaron’s budding rod typifies not a dead Christ but the resurrected Christ.
The red heifer, the principal component of the water for impurity, signifies the redeeming Christ.
The rock in Numbers 20:8 typifies the crucified and resurrected Christ, and the water that flowed from the rock typifies the Spirit as the living water that flowed out of the crucified and resurrected Christ.
The bronze serpent in Numbers 21:4-9 is a type of the Lord Jesus (John 3:14-15), who was crucified in the likeness of the flesh of sin as our Substitute and Replacement that we might “look at” (believe into) Him and have eternal life:
The cities of refuge typify the all-inclusive Christ as the embodiment of the redeeming God, into whom mistaken sinners can flee for refuge.
Spiritual Burden
The principle to every service lies in the budding rod; resurrection is an eternal principle in our service to God; what we can do belongs in the natural realm, and what is impossible for us to do belongs in the realm of resurrection.
In all that we say and do concerning God’s people, our attitude must be according to God’s holy nature, and our actions must be according to His divine economy; otherwise, in our words and deeds we will rebel against Him and offend Him.
Concluding Word of the Prophesying Meeting
The Revelation of the Truth
We need to see and experience the major types concerning Christ in Numbers: Aaron’s budding rod, the red heifer, the rock, the bronze serpent, the cities of refuge.
Strictly speaking, the only portion of Numbers that is a prophecy is the portion in 24:14-25. Both the Star out of Jacob coming forth and a Scepter rising out of Israel refer to Christ. The history of Israel in the book of Numbers signifies the history of the church (1 Cor. 10:5-6; cf. Num. 24:9b); at the end of these histories, Christ will appear as the Star and the Scepter to shine on all the peoples and to rule the whole earth; at that time everything on earth that harasses God’s people will be removed, and God’s people will no longer suffer.
The Experience of Life
The bronze serpent in Numbers 21:4-9 is a type of the Lord Jesus (John 3:14-15), who was crucified in the likeness of the flesh of sin as our Substitute and Replacement that we might “look at” (believe into) Him and have eternal life. Day by day we can enjoy and apply the Lord to our being as the reality of the sin offering; He is the sin-dealing life, the life that deals with our sinful nature.
The cities of refuge typify the all-inclusive Christ as the embodiment of the redeeming God, into whom mistaken sinners can flee for refuge. Christ, the embodiment of the Triune God, is near and available; the Triune God has spread among men, to the very place where we are, to be a city of refuge for all those who make mistakes.
Practice and Application
Whenever we, the people of God, are defiled, we need to allow the Holy Spirit, who is compounded with the eternal efficacy of the Lord’s redemption, to be applied to us in order to remove our uncleanness.
To receive the living water from the crucified Christ, we need only to “take the rod” and “speak to the rock.” To take the rod is to identify with Christ in His death and apply the death of Christ to ourselves and our situation. To speak to the rock is to speak a direct word to Christ as the smitten rock, asking Him to give us the Spirit of life (cf. John 4:10) based on the fact that the Spirit has already been given.
Using Key Verses to Have a Bird’s-Eye View over the Whole Outline
Key Verses (1)
Num.17:8 And on the next day Moses went into the Tent of the Testimony, and there was the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi: it had budded; it even put forth buds and produced blossoms and bore ripe almonds.
Num.19:2 This is the statute of the law which Jehovah has commanded, saying, Tell the children of Israel to bring you a red heifer without defect, in which is no blemish and upon which a yoke has never come.
9 And a man who is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer and place them outside the camp in a clean place, and it shall be kept for the assembly of the children of Israel as water for impurity; it is a sin offering.
the major types concerning Christ in Numbers: Aaron’s budding rod; a red heifer
Aaron’s budding rod typifies not a dead Christ but the resurrected Christ, the budding Christ, who not only buds but also blossoms and bears fruit to maturity.
- The root of this rebellion among God’s people was ambition, the struggle for power and for a higher position. As God’s deputy, or delegated, authority, Moses referred the case to God as the highest authority, for His speaking, exposing, and judging.
- The budding of Aaron’s rod was a vindication indicating that Aaron was the one accepted by God as having authority in the God-given ministry of the priesthood.
- The principle to every service lies in the budding rod; resurrection is an eternal principle in our service to God.
The red heifer, the principal component of the water for impurity, signifies the redeeming Christ.
- The color red signifies the likeness of the flesh of sin, which is for the bearing of man’s sin outwardly.
- The heifer being without defect signifies that although Christ was in the likeness of the flesh of sin, He did not have the sinful nature; that the heifer was without blemish indicates that Christ was perfect.
- Like the red heifer, Christ was crucified outside the camp, on Calvary, a small mount outside the city of Jerusalem.
Key Verses (2)
Num.20:8 Take the rod, and gather the assembly, you and Aaron your brother, and speak to the rock before their eyes, so that it yields its water. Thus you shall bring forth water for them out of the rock and give the assembly and their livestock a drink.
1Cor.10:4 And all drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank of a spiritual rock which followed them, and the rock was Christ.
Num.21:7-8 And the people came to Moses and said, We have sinned, because we have spoken against Jehovah and against you; pray to Jehovah, that He may take away the serpents from us. So Moses prayed for the people. Then Jehovah said to Moses, Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.
John3:14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up,
the major types concerning Christ in Numbers: the rock and the bronze serpent
The rock typifies the crucified and resurrected Christ, and the water that flowed from the rock typifies the Spirit as the living water that flowed out of the crucified and resurrected Christ.
- Since Christ has been crucified and the Spirit has been given, there is no need for Christ to be crucified again, that is, no need to strike the rock again, that the living water may flow.
- To receive the living water from the crucified Christ, we need only to “take the rod” and “speak to the rock”; to take the rod is to identify with Christ in His death and apply the death of Christ to ourselves and our situation.
- In all that we say and do concerning God’s people, our attitude must be according to God’s holy nature, and our actions must be according to His divine economy; otherwise, in our words and deeds we will rebel against Him and offend Him.
The bronze serpent in Numbers 21:4-9 is a type of the Lord Jesus (John 3:14-15), who was crucified in the likeness of the flesh of sin as our Substitute and Replacement that we might “look at” (believe into) Him and have eternal life.
Key Verses (3)
Num.35:6-7 And the cities which you shall give to the Levites shall be the six cities of refuge, which you shall give for the manslayer to flee to; and besides them you shall give forty-two cities. All the cities which you shall give to the Levites shall be forty-eight cities, them and their pasture lands.
Num.24:17-19 I see Him, but not now; I behold Him, but not near. There shall come forth a Star out of Jacob, And a Scepter shall rise out of Israel, ……And ……His enemies, shall also be dispossessed; While Israel does valiantly.
the major types concerning Christ in Numbers: the cities of refuge
the prophecy concerning Christ in Numbers: the Star and the Scepter
The cities of refuge typify the all-inclusive Christ as the embodiment of the redeeming God, into whommistaken sinners can flee for refuge.
- If any sinner repents, God will regard him as a mistaken sinner and will forgive him; such a one may flee into Christ.
- The number three signifies the Triune God as the refuge for the man who makes mistakes; the number two (the two sets of three cities each) signifies a testimony standing in the universe, testifying and declaring to the universe that the Triune God is living on earth among human beings to be their city of refuge.
The only portion of Numbers that is a prophecy is the portion in 24:14-25; this prophecy speaks of the things that will happen at the Lord’s second coming. Both the Star out of Jacob coming forth and a Scepter rising out of Israel refer to Christ.
- The Lord was manifested as a bright star at His birth (Matt. 2:2) and will be manifested as a bright star at His second coming.
- The Scepter refers to Christ’s ruling; the One who has the scepter is the One who is on the throne and has all-inclusive power and authority.
Prophesying Topics—Twelve Topics per Week
Day 1
T1 Aaron’s budding rod typifies the resurrected Christ, the budding Christ.（Num.17:8）
(Please illustrate that resurrection is an eternal principle in our service to God)
T2 The root of this rebellion among God’s people was ambition, the struggle for power and for a higher position.(Num.16:3;9-10)
(Please illustrate that how did Moses deal with the rebellion of the Korah, Dathan, and Abiram)
Further Reading: CWWL, 1960, vol. 1, “Synopsis of Numbers,” chs. 21-22; CWWN, vol. 47, “Authority and Submission,” ch. 15
Day 2
T1 The red heifer, signifies the redeeming Christ.(Num.19:2;9)
(What does it signify that the color red, the heifer being without defect, the heifer having never been under a yoke, and the red heifer was killed outside the camp.)
7. “For the unclean they shall take of the ashes of the burning of the sin offering, and running water shall be added to them in a vessel” (Num.19:17)
(Please illustrate the spiritual significance of the ashes and running water)
Further Reading: CWWL, 1960, vol. 1, “Synopsis of Numbers,” ch. 24
Day 3
T1 The rock typifies the crucified and resurrected Christ, and the water that flowed from the rock typifies the Spirit.(Num.20:8;1 Cor. 10:4)
(Please illustrate that to receive the living water from the crucified Christ, we need only to “take the rod” and “speak to the rock”)
T2 Moses lost the right to enter the good land.( Num.20:10-11)
(Please illustrate that how did Moses offend both God’s holy nature and His divine economy.)
Further Reading: Life-study of Numbers, msgs. 29-30
Day 4
T1 The bronze serpent is a type of the Lord Jesus (Num. 21:7-8;2Cor.5:21;Rom.8:3)
(Please illustrate that the Lord Jesus came in “the likeness of the flesh of sin” but He did not participate in any way in the sin of the flesh.)
T2 The children of Israel had sinned but the serpent received the judgment. (John3:14;12:31-33)
(Please illustrate what are the two identifications that the cross of Christ indicates)
Further Reading: CWWL, 1960, vol. 1, “Synopsis of Numbers,” ch. 26
Day 5
T1 If any sinner repents, God will regard him as a mistaken sinner and will forgive him (Num.35:6; Acts 2:38).
(Please illustrate that the cities of refuge typify the Christ into whom mistaken sinners can flee for refuge.)
T2 That the cities of refuge were to be not only for the children of Israel but also for the strangers and sojourners among them.（Num.35:6-7）
(Please illustrate that the Triune God as the refuge for mistake-making man is for all mankind)
Further Reading: CWWL, 1960, vol. 1, “Synopsis of Numbers,” ch. 33
Day 6
T1 There shall come forth a Star out of Jacob, and a Scepter shall rise out of Israel. （Num. 24:17-19）
(Please illustrate that the three denotations that the star has according to Mat.2; Rev.2:28 and 2Peter1:19)
T2 There shall come forth a Star out of Jacob, and a Scepter shall rise out of Israel. （Num. 24:17-19）
(Please illustrate that the scepter refers to Christ’s ruling according to Psa.2:9; 45:6; Gen.49:10)
Further Reading: CWWL, 1960, vol. 1, “Synopsis of Numbers,” ch. 35