Introduction

Today, we examine Chapter 3 of Numbers. The theme of Numbers Chapter 3 is this: to diligently observe and perform the duties of the priests and Levites.

These four words, diligently observe and perform, must be etched in everyone's mind, as they concern matters of life and death, blessing and curse. In my earlier years, while working as a senior administrator at a university in Singapore, I also deeply yearned to serve God. I thought I had zeal for serving God; I contributed money and effort, and felt that everything I did was good. But what was the result? Although I did things, there were no blessings, only curses came upon me, it was truly very difficult.

What kind of situation was that? It was one where problems arose where they should, and even where they shouldn’t. I was dumbfounded. I realised that I had never encountered such a difficult working environment in my life. I had faced difficulties before, but I could still see God's presence. How could serving God, building the church, and leading people to faith become like this? I really thought I was a modern-day Job, it was too miserable to be Job.

Later, I realised that things were increasingly amiss. Reading the Bible, I discovered that this was not the case. It turned out that I had not diligently observed and performed, building His church according to God's Word. Hence, I encountered these problems. Afterward, I found that many people like to misinterpret things when they encounter problems. In this generation, many problems arise not because God is unfaithful, nor because we are undergoing God's trials, but because we have not diligently observed the priestly duties.

Serving God Requires Diligent Obedience to His Commands

Brothers and sisters, know that every Christian is a royal priest. Numbers Chapter 3 begins by recording two names: Nadab and Abihu.

But Nadab and Abihu died before the Lord when they offered unauthorized fire before the Lord in the wilderness of Sinai, and they had no children. So Eleazar and Ithamar ministered as priests in the presence of Aaron their father. (Numbers 3:4)

What happened here? The Bible records that Nadab and Abihu offered unauthorized fire, and fire came out from the tabernacle of the Lord and consumed them. What is unauthorized fire? It means that they did not light the fire according to God's instructions, nor did they offer the fire in the way God required. They treated the matter of offering fire to God casually, ultimately provoking God's anger, and He sent fire to consume them. Later, I gradually understood that this is no joke. What kind of God is our God? Our God is the creator of the universe, a God of great power.

For example, if you are an engineer who comes into contact with high-voltage wires, will you diligently observe and perform the operating procedures for high-voltage wires? You must comply. If you do not follow the operating procedures for high-voltage wires, you are playing with your life. If a high-voltage wire electrocutes someone, you cannot say that there is a problem with the high-voltage wire; you can only say that the person who came into contact with the high-voltage wire did not comply with the safety operating procedures.

Victory in Spiritual Warfare Leads to Receiving Promises

Our God is a God of great power. In serving the Lord God, we must diligently observe and perform God's Word. The words diligently observe and perform must be deeply imprinted in your mind. I am a person who has learned a lesson, a very deep lesson. But I thank God that I am quite astute. What is the astute thing about me? Reading the Bible, I realised that I had made a mistake. I quickly repented, and then quickly diligently observed and performed. What does diligently mean? It means reading God's Word very carefully according to what God says. Later, I realised that this was how things were, and that was how to build the church.

The core Christian belief system we have summarised today is extremely important. For example, Christians must win in spiritual warfare in order to receive promises. Let us look at the entire process of Israel's exodus from Egypt:

At the end of the 430 years, to the very day, all the Lord’s divisions left Egypt. (Exodus 12:41)

When I read these words, I began to understand that God wants to build His church, and we are to become the army of the Lord God, fighting spiritual battles. If we serve God and fight spiritual battles without diligently observing and performing God's Word, will it work? That would be very dangerous. So later I understood that we do what God says. You may not understand what God says at first, but you will understand as you read on.

Learn God's Word diligently, and yearn to know God. Regarding diligently studying God's Word, I think I am qualified to say the word diligently. Why? Because I found that the Bible has long explained clearly the duties of building the church, serving God, and being a priest. In the process of building the church, I also offered unauthorized fire, but God did not consume me with fire, I am truly grateful to God! What was my offering of unauthorized fire? How did I build the church? In the beginning, I cooked delicious food every Sunday to attract people to the church. I thought this method could build the church, but I found that the Bible never said that attracting people to believe in the Lord by cooking delicious food works; that is really absurd.

Later, when they came to the meeting on Sunday, I prepared bottles of mineral water, and the brothers and sisters took a bottle of mineral water and put a coin into it. Today I will tell everyone the amount: a bottle of water that I wholesale cost two cents Singapore dollars, and how much did I ask them to pay? Pay one dollar Singapore dollars, the profit is quite high. Why? Because I want to diligently observe and perform God's Word and train disciples. I don't want to train everyone to take advantage of the church, I want to train people to be willing to pay the price when they come to the church.

This sounds like it makes some sense. When a person is willing to give and offer, can he not be blessed? He will certainly be blessed. When a person diligently observes and performs according to God's Word, will he be victorious in spiritual warfare? He will be victorious. If he is victorious in spiritual warfare, he will plunder the devil and the enemy, and his financial problems will be reversed.

When I read Deuteronomy 28:1-13, I really did not read that not diligently observing and performing would bring blessings; it is all about diligently observing and performing God's Word that people will be blessed. If you diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God, then what? Then you will be victorious in spiritual warfare, you will be the head and not the tail, above only and not beneath, blessed financially, blessed in health, and blessed in many things.

“If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations on earth. All these blessings will come on you and accompany you if you obey the Lord your God: You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country. The fruit of your womb will be blessed, and the crops of your land and the young of your livestock—the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks. Your basket and your kneading trough will be blessed. You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out. The Lord will grant that the enemies who rise up against you will be defeated before you. They will come at you from one direction but flee from you in seven. The Lord will send a blessing on your barns and on everything you put your hand to. The Lord your God will bless you in the land he is giving you.

The Lord will establish you as his holy people, as he has sworn to you, if you keep the commands of the Lord your God and walk in obedience to him. Then all the peoples on earth will see that you are called by the name of the Lord, and they will fear you. The Lord will grant you abundant prosperity—in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your ground—in the land he swore to your ancestors to give you. The Lord will open the heavens, the storehouse of his bounty, to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands. You will lend to many nations but will borrow from none. The Lord will make you the head, not the tail. If you pay attention to the commands of the Lord your God that I give you this day and carefully follow them, you will always be at the top, never at the bottom. Do not turn aside from any of the commands I give you today, to the right or to the left, following other gods to serve them. The Lord will indeed set you above only, and not beneath. (Deuteronomy 28:1-13)

This passage is really great! After reading it, I said to God, God, I want this! Wanting it is one thing, but you must diligently observe and perform. The church that was established at that time did not have prayer meetings, and later the church was full of prayer meetings. A few days ago, a sister told me, Now praying for two hours doesn't feel like time is passing slowly, it's like being addicted to prayer. Being addicted to prayer is a good habit!

When we study Revelation, we will find that what reaches God is not the pastor's sermons, nor the pastor's Bible study, but the prayers of all the saints. Therefore, establishing a praying church is an important breakthrough. Building God's army and fighting spiritual battles are also important breakthroughs. Strictly following God's Word to build God's church is a very important concept.

Cooking something delicious to attract people to believe in the Lord, what else is it if not offering unauthorized fire? If you are not cursed, who will be cursed? One day I told a Canadian sister in our church about something, saying that I knew a pastor whose members told the pastor that they wanted to eat dumplings with fish filling, so he made dumplings with fish filling for that member. After hearing this, our sister said that the pastor was really loving. My goodness, offering unauthorized fire has become loving.

The Priestly Office Cannot Be Overstepped

What kind of era is this? This is an era of confusion in the faith of Jesus Christ. Our brothers and sisters must carefully read God's Word. When did God ask you to do this? What exactly is our responsibility as priests? What exactly is the responsibility of the Levites? Can we keep our responsibilities and duties well?

The sons of Kohath were, by clans, Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. The sons of Merari were Mahli and Mushi. These were the clans of Levi, according to their families. (Numbers 3:19-20)

This cannot be casual. It is not to say that Aaron and his sons are not good, step down and I will do it; I think you are not good at being a priest. Earlier it was said that Abihu and others offered unauthorized fire and were burned to death by the fire of the Lord. Any outsider who approaches it shall be put to death, which shows that there can be no overstepping. People from all the tribes cannot overstep; if they overstep their duties, they cannot fight spiritual battles; the responsibilities must be clear.

You may be a little confused. Who am I exactly? Am I a Levite or a priest? Today, we who are Christians are all priests of the Lord God, and we have all turned to God. Everything turns to God and belongs to God, which is called being set apart and dedicated to God. Being set apart requires people to live in holiness and make a separation from the world; the worldly value system makes a separation from the priests. We who are priests follow God's Word, while people in the world follow human words. Do you say that living according to human words is good, or living according to God's Word is good? Of course, living according to God's Word is good! I did not understand this at the beginning of establishing the church, but gradually understood it after studying the Bible.

One day a young man came to me, and that sister reminded me, You even wanted to introduce me to him that day... What do you think about the matter of introducing someone in the church? Some people say: When a man is old enough, he should marry; when a woman is old enough, she should marry. This is a matter of course. Later, I found that there is no such thing as introducing someone in the Bible. How much unauthorized fire did I offer before.

This young man said to me: You should do this and that as a pastor. As soon as I heard this, this young man became my coach, so I have to learn from you. So I asked him if he had been a pastor, and he said no. I said how do you know what you said is right? He didn't know. So what was he doing here telling me this? Later, he walked away with a gloomy face, and he must have felt unhappy in his heart. I was thinking how could people be so fond of overstepping?

There were many such things at that time. Several brothers came to me and asked when to hold an election. I said do we need to run for election if we hold an election? The concept of election is very interesting. The Bible does not have priests and leaders who are elected. At that time, I did not understand and did many things that did not conform to the Bible and was cursed.

Today, brothers and sisters, know that we have been placed under God's name to be priests. Being a priest solves spiritual matters. If spiritual matters are resolved, worldly matters can be resolved. Later, when I was building the church, I led the brothers and sisters to pray. The Bible clearly records that we should obey the government. Our brothers and sisters must be good citizens. We are fighting a spiritual battle. We are solving spiritual matters, and life problems can also be solved.

Everything Depends on the Outcome

In the process of trusting God, I have encountered very strange things. For example, someone might ask, Can believing in the Lord fill your stomach? I thought about it, and believing in the Lord can not only fill your stomach, but also allow you to eat better. Because God's word is such that those who carefully observe and follow God's word can live well. Many people do not follow it because they think they are doing the right thing, but that may not be the case.

A programmer wrote five lines of code, and when he ran it, many errors popped up. He did it because he thought it was right. We humans all do what we think is right, but whether it is truly right or falsely right depends on the outcome. If the result is wrong, and you still insist that it is right, then you are just making trouble for yourself. Everyone should have a spirit of exploration, not just take things for granted or be self-righteous. Self-righteous people are very foolish, pondering from morning till night without doing anything.

How do you judge whether something is done correctly or incorrectly? For example, if you cook a bowl of rice and find it is half-cooked, then it is definitely wrong. If you cook a dish and it tastes particularly delicious, then it is right. Building a church that is full of God's glory, but then you look at the Christians around you, and they have many illnesses and are very poor, then they have not understood what faith is all about. Because what they are doing is not the same as what is taught in the Bible.

It is easy to judge right and wrong. If something is not done right, then correct it. By the Spirit, put to death the deeds of the body, To set the mind on the flesh is death, Do not distinguish between good and evil, Do not love the world or the things in the world. We know these things. People like to be stiff-necked. Even when they have not done things right, they still think they are right. People should not be stubborn in their hearts. Stubbornness and saving face will not solve anything. They lead to not carefully observing and following God's word, which results in being cursed and not living well. The outcome of a person's life comes from the heart.

Thank God, I have learned a very deep lesson in my life: carefully observing and following God's word brings blessings, and not carefully observing and following it brings curses. So today, let's study the Bible together, Numbers chapter 3. We must all know that worshiping God is a very serious matter. Carefully observe and follow God's word, and do not be wise in your own eyes, lest you bring a curse upon yourself.

Therefore, today, serve the Lord your God, carefully observe and follow God's word, and do not joke with God or with yourself. We are fighting a spiritual battle, which means carefully observing and following God's word. How do we fight a spiritual battle? It is by doing according to God's word.

Building Strictly According to God's Instructions

In the cases recorded in the Bible, there are two people: one is Moses, who built God's tabernacle strictly according to God's instructions; and the other is David's son, Solomon, who also built God's temple strictly according to God's revelation. Then God's glory filled Moses' tabernacle and Solomon's temple. So today, if we want to build a church of God's glory, can we do it without carefully reading the Bible?

As far as I know, we are one of the few churches that study the Bible chapter by chapter, book by book, examining it very carefully. And the key is that when we study the Bible, we read God's word and then put it into practice. Once we have this concept, that would be great! I admire it myself. Let me tell you, each team has its own responsibilities. For example,

Of Gershon were the Libnite clan and the Shimeite clan; these were the Gershonite clans. The number of all the males a month old or more who were counted was 7,500. The Gershonite clans were to camp behind the tabernacle, on the west. Of Kohath were the Amramite clan, the Izharite clan, the Hebronite clan and the Uzzielite clan; these were the Kohathite clans. The number of all the males a month old or more who took care of the sanctuary was 8,600. The Kohathite clans were to camp on the south side of the tabernacle. Of Merari were the Mahlite clan and the Mushi clan; these were the Merarite clans. The number of all the males a month old or more who were counted was 6,200. Zuriel son of Abihail was the leader of the Merarite clans; they were to camp on the north side of the tabernacle. Moses and Aaron and his sons were to camp to the east of the tabernacle, toward the sunrise. They were responsible for the care of the sanctuary on behalf of the Israelites. Anyone else who approached the sanctuary was to be put to death. The total number of Levites counted by Moses and Aaron at the Lord’s command was 22,000 males a month old or more. (Numbers 3:21-23, 27-29, 33-35, 38-39)

Serving God is Such a Noble and Glorious Mingding Destiny

Serving God is such a noble and glorious Mingding Destiny! You must know that priests and Levites have a very, very honorable appointment, why? Let me give you an account, not because I love money, but because this account is based on what the Bible says. Now, many preachers in traditional churches are dirt poor. Why are they so poor? Because they think being dirt poor is a very spiritual thing to do. Is that what the Bible says? No, that is not what the Bible says.

What does the Bible say? The twelve tribes take out a tenth to give to whom? To the Levites. The Levites take out a tenth to give to the descendants of Aaron the priest. So, each tribe earns ten shares, takes out one share and becomes nine shares, gives one share to the Levites and becomes eleven shares, and then takes out one share to give to the priests. This does not even include other things. As a result, the priest's income is many times higher than that of ordinary people. So, what do you say?

Shouldn't priests be very wealthy among the Israelites? Why should priests be wealthy? Because priests must have a wealthy mindset. If a priest is dirt poor and loves money to death all day long, can he serve God well? So God deliberately made the Levites, Aaron the priest, and his sons very wealthy among the Israelites. We will not discuss what happened later. Let's take a look at what God's will is. It is another matter if people violate God's word.

What are priests? The priests and Levites replaced all the firstborn among the Israelites. The firstborn among the Israelites originally belonged to God. But God gave them a position and placed them under each tribe to fight. It's not that this matter is over. God had the Levites replace the firstborn of each tribe, and after counting, there was still a difference of 273 people. These 273 people were to be redeemed with silver, and the silver was weighed and given to Aaron and his sons.

Do you think Aaron's sons loved money, or did God command it? God commanded it. Don't think that Aaron said, Give me this money. How much was it? 1,365 shekels. Do you know how much 1,365 shekels is? That is a lot of money, possibly many times the annual income of ordinary people. So, when we serve God, is money a problem? Money is not a problem. When you serve God, there is only one thing: carefully observe and follow God's word, and fear God. Why should we fear God? Because God is a consuming fire. Do not be consumed by God's fire.

Conclusion

We who serve God today must truly carefully observe and follow God's word! We must truly read God's word with a trembling and fearful attitude, and then put it into practice in our service. When we do this, money is not a problem, and neither is anything else. We will also be victorious in spiritual warfare, and then we will see the entire nation of Israel become more and more prosperous.

In fact, spiritual warfare directly affects the spiritual state of the Israelites. Why did the Israelites decline later? It was because spiritual warfare declined. If you are not victorious in spiritual warfare, you cannot live well in this world. If you do not carefully observe and follow God's word, a curse will come upon you. When God's curse comes, the devil can legally come and ruin you. How can you possibly live well? Not only will demons come to oppress you, but God will also deal with you. How can you possibly live well? If you carefully observe and follow God's word, God will protect you, and the devil cannot come and deal with you. How can you possibly not live well?

Therefore, every one of us brothers and sisters who are priests must clearly know what we are doing. We are priests who serve the Lord Jehovah. We are disciples of Jesus Christ, mighty warriors of Jesus Christ, who must set free those who are oppressed and captive by the devil. May God bless us all to be victorious again and again in spiritual warfare, constantly reclaiming lost ground, and constantly advancing until we enter the promised land! Amen!