Today, we will examine Numbers, chapters 5 and 6. As we delve into these chapters, we encounter a series of intricate regulations, leaving us to wonder about their purpose. Let me guide you to chapter 6, verse 22:
The Lord said to Moses, 'Tell Aaron and his sons, 'This is how you are to bless the Israelites. Say to them: '“‘The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.’”’ So they will put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them. (Numbers 6:22-27)
Therefore, the central theme of these two chapters revolves around The Lord bless you and keep you. In fact, this theme permeates not only chapters 5 and 6 but extends from the opening chapter to chapter 6, all expounding on the desire for the Lord to bless and protect you. How does the Lord bestow blessings and protection upon us? It is through enabling us to see that the foremost crucial matter is spiritual warfare. This spiritual warfare involves engaging in battle, with only those above 20 years old who can wield weapons considered for such duties, subsequently assigning their responsibilities.
How do the various clans and tribes encamp and array themselves? The tabernacle of God stands at the center, with the tribe of Levi responsible for its surrounding. Aaron oversees the tabernacle, with Aaron and his sons bearing the priestly duties. The Levites undertake miscellaneous administrative tasks in the outer perimeter. This is the gist of what the initial four chapters convey, highlighting the key to victory in spiritual warfare.
Only through triumph in spiritual warfare can the Lord bless and protect you. Without a clear depiction of spiritual warfare in the preceding chapters, the subsequent sections would descend into utter chaos. Brothers and sisters, as Christians, we must recognize the connection between uncleanness and Israel's battles, wielding swords in combat. These connections constitute relatively minor truths.
A few days ago, a female pastor sent me a message titled Why is Our God Ineffective? In this piece, the author takes pride in the perceived ineffectiveness of the god they worship. In reality, our God is exceedingly effective. By reading the Gospel of John, you will encounter the verse, Ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it. However, the crux of the matter lies in being someone who knows God, not only knowing Him but also understanding the spiritual laws He has established. With ignorance, how can one expect effectiveness?
Generally, people anticipate their deities to be efficacious. Should Christians not expect the same from their God? If the God Christians worship cannot fulfill all needs in life and cannot lead one into blessings, then what is the point of believing in such a deity? Are you sturdier than God? It is common for people to expect their gods to be potent. What is it called when the God that I worship is ineffective?
In my understanding of God, Christianity's God is the most effective. For example, if someone were to rob a bank, praying to our Lord Jesus beforehand, Lord Jesus, bless my robbery to be successful, only to be apprehended before the act, that is indeed potent. What does ineffectiveness imply then? It signifies that bank robbery is ineffective. Why? Because our God is a holy God. If we can know God, become priests and children of the eternal God, God says in the Old Testament, So they will put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them.
How vital is it for individuals to possess blessings throughout their lives today? Why would a Christian say: Come follow me in believing in the Lord! When asked: Why should I believe in the Lord through you? One cannot say: Believing in the Lord makes life even more miserable. Come follow me to believe in a God Who is utterly ineffective! What on earth are they doing? I am at a loss.
What they articulate is quite intriguing. Consider this: I beseech Him for what I desire, but He requires me to learn contentment. If you are a priest of the eternal God, someone who has received Mingding Destiny, would you request the car, the house, these things? How foolish would one be to desire these? Right? Does one who desires these truly know God? Can such a person be said to know God?
If that pastor is still seeking these cars and houses, how pathetic is that? Right? Where in the Bible does it instruct you to seek these things? The Bible says you are to seek first His kingdom and His righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well. Right? It does not say you will not receive these things or that God is unwilling to grant them, but rather that you are to seek His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you, with some receiving additional blessings, while from others, even what they have will be taken away. Observe how sternly this is conveyed. Thus, the crux of the matter lies in knowing God or not, understanding spiritual matters or not.
Listen further: I beseech Him to avenge me against the wicked. What Christian asks for this? If you possess Mingding Destiny, why would you request such a thing? Avenge against the wicked? In what manner? Right? This demonstrates a lack of understanding of God. He wants me to forgive them. What sort of statement is this? I beseech Him for a peaceful and secure life, yet He allows me to experience storms, granting me inner peace. The utterances here are truly fascinating. What do Christians truly seek? Christians seek victory in spiritual warfare, to liberate captive souls and release the oppressed.
Notice what he asks for: I beseech Him to change others' attitudes towards me, but He wants me to change my attitude towards others. I beseech Him to take away my pain, yet He says, 'My grace is sufficient for you.' I beseech Him to help fulfill my dreams, yet He says He will use me to fulfill His plans. I beseech Him for an easier life, yet He says He will lead me to accomplish great and difficult tasks. After believing in Him, some things have changed, many have not, but I discovered one thing... There is a fondness for these convoluted, circuitous things, engaging in wordplay.
Is our God truly ineffective? Our God is exceedingly effective. If one truly understands blessings and curses, then all is well. It is only natural for an individual to desire a good life, and it is only natural to aspire to a vibrant life. Yet, if one is in our Jesus Christ, upon careful reading of Numbers and Deuteronomy, which individual does not lead a good life? Upon reading Chronicles and Judges, whenever the people of Israel diligently observed and meticulously obeyed God's word, thoroughly implementing it according to His instructions, none failed to receive blessings. Brothers and sisters, we must once again be strong, lest we be beguiled by these murky deceptions. We know with certainty in our hearts that the God we believe in is the answer to all our life's problems!
Last night, I ministered to a sister who had reached the brink of collapse. No matter what business she ventured into, she incurred losses, accumulating a substantial debt. I led her in prayer and reproved her, as she was filled with a worldly, Old Marxian logical system. How can one be blessed without change? You think that Old Marxian is effective? Our God places so much importance on people receiving blessings; our God cares deeply that we are blessed.
If you desire to resolve your issues, today, we impart to our brothers and sisters the concept of understanding the matter of blessings and curses. If we seek to live well, let us unravel the intricacies of blessings; if we seek to live poorly, let us keep the matter of curses shrouded in obscurity. Let us not dwell in an atmosphere of vague curses. We must recognize that the Bible is spiritual words discussing spiritual matters! The occurrences in the world are intricately linked to the events in the spiritual realm. The lack of victory in the spiritual realm will inevitably lead to the lack of prosperity in the world.
If you live without prosperity, you will make one erroneous decision after another, propelling you into the abyss of destruction. All this stems from ignorance of spiritual matters, the inability to triumph in the spirit, to receive blessings, and also from the lack of knowledge of God and spiritual matters. How then can you thrive in this world? Those who triumph in the spirit will undoubtedly be led into prosperity; this is the word of God I believe in.
Today, brothers and sisters, let us try to solely trust in our God, unconcerned about anything else. To recall, in the workplace, fearing the boss like a mouse before a cat. We need to have a clearer understanding of the spiritual realm. Subsequently, I discovered that the events in the spiritual realm are intricately connected to our lives. The matters in the world also directly impact the spiritual realm. For example, worldly matters, coveting another's wife or house, failing to honor parents, and engaging in numerous wicked deeds will subject one to curses.
To discern good and evil is death; to indulge in the flesh is death; to love the world and the things of the world means the love of God is not within you. How can you attain blessings if you desire to love the world? If you seek to resolve your problems through a worldly logical system, is that not courting disaster?
Today, we must completely repent, utterly demolishing the worldly logical system within you. The worldly logical system tells us the church needs money, compelling some to desperately earn money to support the church. Such a thought is the greatest insult to God. To rely on earning money to support the church, does that not embarrass God? Our God possesses the entire universe; does He need you to earn money to support the church? Many believe this and act accordingly.
Some time ago, there was an individual who was utterly penniless, unable to even get out of bed. Last year, he approached me, saying, Can you pray for my money? I replied, Why pray for your money? I have not seen in the Bible that one should pray for money. He said, I want to earn money to support the church. I see those preachers are utterly penniless, so I very much want to earn money to support them. As a result, several million have been lost in business ventures. Can you pray for my money? The Holy Spirit urges me every night to rise and pray for my money. I said, Is that the Holy Spirit? He said, Yes, every night as I am about to fall asleep, it comes to wake me up, rise, rise and pray for your money.
Do you think our God is such a frivolous God, tormenting people to the point of nervous exhaustion? Our God is not such a trivial God; our God wants to bless you, to protect you. He is the God who possesses the entire universe, who controls the answers to all problems. I believe my God is the God who governs the entire universe. What is the solar system or the Milky Way? Billions of galaxies are in His hand. You ask me how God does it? I only know that our God controls everything.
In earlier years, I suffered greatly because I did not know God; however, I held a conviction that I must find the greatest God. You ask me: Is Jesus Christ the greatest God? I say yes. You ask me to prove it to you; I discovered that through the name of Jesus Christ, any demon can be cast out. Our Jesus Christ is a demon-expelling Jesus Christ. When our Jesus Christ came into this world, demons bowed before Him, saying, Ah... You are the Son of God. When I began to believe in Jesus, I thought: How wonderful, I have Jesus, this is great, I have found the answer to all my problems. Then I fervently believed in Jesus. I am a staunch supporter of Jesus Christ; we do as He says.
Today, as we discuss these matters, the defilement in the world will lead to spiritual defeat, while spiritual victory will bring blessing and prosperity in the world. Spiritual defeat comes from the defilement in the world. Numbers chapters 5-6 record several crucial matters, the first being cleanliness. For example, those with leprosy, suffering from discharges, or uncleanness, whether male or female, must be taken out of the camp.
The Lord said to Moses, “Command the Israelites to send away from the camp anyone who has a defiling skin disease or a discharge of any kind, or who is ceremonially unclean because of a dead body. Send away male and female alike; send them outside the camp so they will not defile the camp, where I dwell among them.” The Israelites did this; they sent them outside the camp. They did just as the Lord had instructed Moses. (Numbers 5:1-4)
Cleanliness is a crucial matter. There is also a passage, When you need to relieve yourself, you must dig a hole outside the camp and cover your excrement with dirt to prevent the Lord from seeing it when He walks through the camp. I have discovered that our God is very fond of cleanliness. In my years of ministry, when I see someone possessed by demons, I generally know a few things. A considerable portion of them likes to keep their homes filthy and cluttered, collecting junk, saving everything.
A Singaporean television program reported a news story about an elderly woman whose house was filled with garbage. The program host found the elderly woman and offered to renovate and clean her house for free. Originally, the house only had a narrow path left, and the rest was a chaotic mess of garbage, broken bottles, and broken jars. The house was filthy. This is a sign of being possessed by unclean spirits. The host cleaned the house very clean and beautiful and made a program. As a result, the old lady seemed unhappy, saying, Why did you make my house like this?
Some people just like dirt; I don't know how they make the room smell bad. These are all related to evil spirits. Evil spirits like filth, our God likes cleanliness and holiness. Clean is not holy, but unclean is certainly not holy. We must clean up our houses.
First Thing: God Likes Cleanliness
We must love cleanliness and live a holy life, because our God is a holy God. If God often walks among us and sees the filth and uncleanness, those with running sores, those with leprosy, those who are unclean, God will turn away. If we keep things devoted to destruction in our homes, God will also avoid us. Without God's protection and blessing, the devil will come to disturb you. It is not that the God in our hearts is greater than what is outside, so God will protect us. To solve these problems, it is very important that we abide by the rules. God said earlier: the details of setting up camp, building the tabernacle, issuing the Ten Commandments, and worshiping God are very important.
Second Thing: God Values Sin Greatly
The Lord said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites: ‘When a man or woman wrongs another in any way and so is unfaithful to the Lord, that person is guilty. They must confess the sin they have committed. They must make full restitution for the wrong they have done, add a fifth of the value to it and give it all to the person they have wronged. But if that person has no close relative to whom restitution can be made for the wrong, the restitution belongs to the Lord and must be given to the priest, along with the ram with which atonement is made for the wrongdoer. All the sacred contributions the Israelites bring to a priest will belong to him. Each priest may keep the sacred gifts he receives; whatever anyone gives him belongs to him.’” (Numbers 5:5-10)
Our God is a God of justice. The sins people often commit are all sins in the Ten Commandments. If a person confesses his sin and returns what he has taken from others, God is pleased. Our God does not like people sinning. Sinning is a more serious problem than being unclean. It is difficult for God to protect and bless a person who sins!
To deal with sin, one must confess one’s sin, ask for the cleansing blood of Jesus Christ, and be determined to turn away from sin. Our God is faithful. If you trust in Him, He will surely bring you out of sin. This is also why the Lord Jesus Christ died on the cross. What he repays should be given to the person he has wronged. If there is no one to receive it, it should be given to the priest who serves the Lord. As for the ram that makes atonement for him, it is excluded and cannot be given to the priest or the person he has wronged; it must be offered to God.
Why is a person not victorious in the spirit? Attributing spiritual defeat to God, saying that God is not effective, it is difficult for God to bless him! If the central idea is wrong, even if the others sound reasonable, they are of no use. Our God is a jealous God. If you carefully observe the decrees, regulations, and commandments of the Lord your God, He will bless the fruit of your womb, the offspring of your livestock, bless your barns, bless your kneading troughs, bless your bank accounts, and bless the work of your hands.
My God is very effective! The reason for ineffectiveness is because we do not know God, do not carefully observe and follow Him, do not care about what He says, and do not know how powerful blessings and curses are. Therefore, do not covet other people's houses, do not covet other people's money, do not love the world, do not indulge the flesh, and know God. After I made very high demands on the brothers and sisters some time ago, and constantly drove out these evil spirits that steal our blessings from them, what happened? Many people began to be greatly blessed financially. It is not a slight reversal, but an absolute reversal. We must remove the ideas of poverty and corruption from within us. If the things inside are not removed, we cannot be blessed.
Third Thing: What Our God Hates Most Is Disloyalty
Our God values loyalty very much. God hates disloyal people very much. A person's inability to win in spiritual warfare is closely related to disloyalty.
The Lord said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites: ‘If a man’s wife goes astray and is unfaithful to him so that another man has sexual relations with her, and it is concealed from her husband and her impurity is undetected (since there is no witness against her and she has not been caught in the act), and if feelings of jealousy come over her husband and he suspects his wife and she is impure—or if these feelings of jealousy come over him and he suspects his wife even though she is not impure—...
The priest shall bring her and have her stand before the Lord. Then he shall take some holy water in a clay jar and put some dust from the tabernacle floor into the water. After the priest has had the woman stand before the Lord, he shall loosen her hair and place in her hands the prescribed grain offering of jealousy, while he himself holds the bitter water that brings a curse. Then the priest shall put the woman under oath and say to her, “If no other man has had sexual relations with you and you have not gone astray and become impure while married to your husband, may this bitter water that brings a curse not harm you. But if you have gone astray and become impure while married to your husband and another man has had sexual relations with you—...
If feelings of jealousy come over a man and he suspects his wife, the priest is to have her stand before the Lord and must perform this entire ritual for her. The husband will be innocent of any wrongdoing, but the woman will bear the consequences of her sin.’” (Numbers 5:11-31)
This passage seems to be talking about the relationship between husband and wife. It talks about a very long passage. After reading it, I don’t want to explain whether this method is effective spiritually or not. What do I want to explain? I want to talk about how much God values loyalty. If a wife is disloyal, our God hates it very much. A person’s spiritual struggle is closely related to disloyalty. Disloyal people cannot win the battle. In other words, committing adultery is a very serious matter. The spirit of adultery brings death. These are not only about what happens to people on the physical level, but even more about how what happens on the physical level affects spiritual decline, and spiritual decline directly leads to the lack of prosperity in life.
The issue of loyalty is very important. In Paul's letters, he wrote about faithful disciples in Jesus Christ, so we must be faithful disciples. Spiritual disloyalty is even more deadly. We must be a loyal person. The bondage brought about by spiritual disloyalty is even more annoying. Therefore, God calls those who worship idols, who have one foot in the world and one foot in the kingdom of God, adulteresses.
If we want to believe in the Lord today, and want all the good words that God has promised in the Bible to be fulfilled in us, we must solve the problem of uncleanness and unholiness, then solve the problem of not owing and not sinning, and thirdly, solve the problem of loyalty. The fourth is to solve the problem of vows. Vows are holy to the Lord. If you make a vow, you must keep it. I do not encourage everyone to develop the habit of making vows, as if to say, God, if you give me something, I will give you something. It is not good to make such a vow. But if you want to make a vow, make it like this: I want to completely dedicate myself to the Lord as holy. It is not that God gives you something before you give God something, but you must completely and willingly dedicate yourself to the Lord as holy. It is not that God has accomplished this and accomplished that for you, and then you have some kind of unclearly defined vow relationship with God.
The two things, loyalty and vows, are actually similar. They are basically talking about a person who is honest and loyal. In the process of making a vow, a person must separate himself from the world, that is, live a holy life, not the life of a worldly person. What is this passage talking about? It tells us that Christians should all live a life separated from the world. If you tell yourself in your heart: Lord Jehovah my God, my Father, from now on I will belong to the Lord as holy, and I will completely separate myself from this world, and I will no longer pursue these worldly enjoyments, I will only pursue God’s destiny for me.
In this way, you will begin to live a holy life, you will begin to deal with the sins in you, and you will begin to deal with those disloyal problems in you. Our brothers and sisters are beginning to understand why our God is not effective? Because a person has committed one of the many sins, he has committed all of them. If he has sinned, he is unholy. If he is unholy, it is difficult for God to be with you. Therefore, we must be circumcised in our hearts today. Where is the root of sin? The root of sin lies in our love of the world, the root of sin lies in our indulgence of the flesh, and the root of sin lies in our knowledge of good and evil.
Completely deal with these fundamental problems, and then be determined in your heart to be a person with destiny, begin to know God, and constantly know God. Even if you have not fully known God today, when you are determined to pursue knowing God, the precious blood of Jesus Christ is already effective in you and has begun to cleanse you. We must know today that Christians are priests of the living God. In the Old Testament, only priests were priests. Today, in the New Testament, we are all royal priests, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, a people belonging to God. If this is the case, we must assume the responsibilities of a priest and bear those responsibilities.
When the Israelites saw these rules for priests, a heap of detailed descriptions, they couldn't help but exclaim: How troublesome this thing is! Today, when we believe in Jesus, you will find that the requirements among us are not low. If you follow us in believing in the Lord like this, it is not easy to just follow along. Why? Because our requirements are too high, but high requirements are good. Although many of our brothers and sisters are rushing and hurrying to follow behind in believing in the Lord, they are also blundering into blessings.
Do not forget that people do not live by money, not by strength, not by work, but by our God. Relying on our God and spiritual victory, we can realize God's promises. Spiritual victory means living in the world in a way that follows God's word. If we live in the world according to God's word, it will bring spiritual victory and God's blessing in this life. Not to mention that we are blessed ourselves, but when we bless others, and we say in the name of the Lord, May the Lord bless you and protect you, God will bless you. See how well these words are spoken!
We cannot forget that as Christians, we still have many specific things to accomplish. The duty of being a priest is heavy, but the rewards are also rich. It is written in the scriptures: this thing should be given to the priest, that thing should be given to the priest, and these things all belong to the priest. Aren't you saying you want to offer it to God? Offering it to God is offering it to the priest, because the priest represents God on earth.
Chapter 6 talks about the rules for being a Nazirite. To be a Nazirite, one must separate oneself to the Lord, not drink alcohol, not use a razor to cut one’s hair, and not go near a corpse... I will not tell you about these rules today. Today, we are a priest of the New Covenant, and the requirements have become simpler. How simple are they? It is that these sacrifices have all become prayers. It was bloody to slaughter cattle and sheep at that time. It would be a terrible scene to slaughter thousands or tens of thousands of cattle. It would take a lot of work to cut open a cow. If you slaughter a thousand cows, the workload is also very deadly.
Today, although we have a destiny to be priests of the living God, we still need to carefully observe and obey the decrees, regulations, and commandments that the Lord our God has given us in the New Testament on these specific regulations. Because if we do this, it will bring spiritual victory; we do this because we believe in God's word; we do this, not because our God is not effective, but because our God is very effective. Take a close look today, among us, these testimonies, we can't finish talking about our testimonies every week, so we talk about them in various pastoral districts and groups, can you regain your faith in my God?
Today, you may be in debt or in distress, or you may be in a desolate, sad, or miserable situation, but it doesn't matter, our God can reverse any situation. As long as we recognize one thing, that is, we need God to live! It is to carefully observe and obey the commandments, decrees, and regulations of the Lord our God, even if it is cumbersome, we are not afraid! Some people can do those cumbersome things in business, but they can't stand it when it is cumbersome to trust in God, that is to say, the logical system in them is a worldly logical system. They think they live to make money. If they don't work, they have no money, and if they have no money, they can't live.
But the logical system in me is very simple. Building a church does not require money, building a church requires God; building a church requires carefully observing the words of the Lord your God. People don’t need money to live, they need God, do you understand? If you have God, what else do you need? With God, you have everything. Brothers and sisters, if you get the logic right, you must know that our God is very powerful, which is better than knowing anyone.
Therefore, may the Lord bless you and protect you, and may the promises of Deuteronomy 28:1-13 be fulfilled in you. The key is to be victorious. Brothers and sisters, we must overcome the devil’s lies, deceptions, and temptations, and then completely reject these worldly logical systems. Problems, no matter how difficult, can be overcome, and environments, no matter how difficult, can be overcome, because you and I are people who have God. If we have God, we can be victorious, and we will live a God-centered life. May God bless everyone!