The Heavenlies In Christ
"These things happened as examples".

AFTER their baptism in the Red Sea (1 Cor. 10:1), the children of Israel traveled through the wilderness, to experience the trials of Marah, Elim and the wilderness of Sin. They were sustained by manna from heaven, and water from the Rock at Rephidim, and so arrived at Sinai, to enter into covenant relationship with Yahweh on the basis of the Mosaic code of laws.

Their experiences in those journeyings typed those of the Christ-Body in its pilgrimage towards the Promised Land.

The very organization of Israel formed a pattern used by the Lord. He gathered to himself twelve Apostles, to whom he promised twelve thrones from whence they would rule the twelve tribes of Israel in the Age to come. He also confirmed his covenant with them (Rom. 15:8), so fulfilling the type of Sinai.

The Ecclesial body, therefore is formed according to the pattern of Israel. As in the days of Moses, God again "visited the Gentiles to take out of them a people for His Name" (Acts 15:14). The people called are constituted a spiritual house (1 Pet. 2:5), the living temple of Yahweh (1 Cor. 3:16-17), the true Israel of God (Eph. 2:20-22; 4:13; Gal. 6:16).

Because of this, the pattern of the wilderness encampment formed the basis of the symbology associated with the manifestation of Yahweh's future dwelling place, in the glorified redeemed (Rev. 4:6; 7:4-11; 14:1). There are lessons in Yahweh's past dealings with Israel, which we can use to our eternal profit. They demonstrate what type of people we are called to be.

The ideal displayed in the Israelite encampment is seen in perfection in the Lord Jesus Christ. He was Yahweh's dwelling place on earth (2 Cor. 5:19); through him, He manifested Himself in the midst of His people (John 1:14; 14:9; 1 Tim. 3:16).

The Lord Jesus Christ fulfilled the type presented by the four standards of Israel with the Tabernacle in the center, the very heart of the people. The Lion, the Ox, the Man, and the Eagle, in their symbolic representation, find their reality in the Lord. Hence four Gospel accounts were required to depict those four aspects of his ministry and character.

1. Matthew shows him as the "LION of the tribe of Judah" (Rev. 5:5): the Ruler of his people.
2. Mark represents him as the OX (or bullock), the suffering Servant of Yahweh (Isa. 42:1), who continually meditated (chewed the cud) upon the Father's Word and Law (Isa 53).
3. Luke's record depicts him as the MAN, the Son of Man who identified himself completely with those he came to save, yet also attained unto the fullness of the "image and likeness of God" which was the purpose of God in creation (Gen. 1:26).
4. John reveals him as the EAGLE, the emblem of the Spirit: the one in whom, and through whom, the Father's power and glory was manifested. He was endowed with the Spirit without measure, and its influence was seen in his character and service.

These were the standards of the leading tribes, placed at the four sides of the encampment. The faces are seen again in Ezekiel 1 and 10, Revelation 4:7.

The characteristics which they represented, and which were displayed in Christ, must be developed also in the members of the Christ-body. Otherwise they will not be "one" with him (John 17:20-23; 1 Cor. 12:13). They are to duplicate him:

1. As MAN, in this present nature, to strive to attain unto the full image and likeness of the Elohim (Gen. 1:26).
2. As LION, to rule themselves so that they may rule with him.
3. As OX, to submit to whatever yoke is placed on them.
4. As EAGLE, to manifest the influence of the Spirit Word.

The fullness of these standards, or faces, will not be manifested today; but they will be in the Age to come. Then the perfected Ecclesia will be revealed as an extension of Christ, for he will be glorified in every member then gathered together in him in one (2 Thess. 1:10). Therefore, in The Apocalypse, the glorified saints are represented by the symbolisms of the standards of Israel: "And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal; and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and behind. And the first beast was like a LION, and the second beast like a CALF, and the third beast had the face as a MAN, and the fourth beast was like a flying EAGLE. And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come" (Rev. 4:6-8).

This is a symbolic picture of the political organization of the Kingdom of God, based, as it will be, on the Israelitish constitution of the past. Again, consider the description of the heavenly Jerusalem, described as the Bride of Christ (Rev. 21:9-10). Her "organization" is described similarly to that of Israel in the past: "And the city lieth foursquare, and the length is as large as the breadth; and he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs. The length and breadth and the height of it are equal" (Rev. 21:16).

Because of this identification with the Israelitish order of things as established at Sinai, saints today are described as "the Israel of God" (Gal. 6:16). Their patriotism is for the things of Israel, and they look forward with keen anticipation to the restoration of the nation as the Kingdom of God, and of the throne of David upon which Christ is to sit as supreme ruler in the coming age (Luke 1:32-33).

The "heavenlies in Christ Jesus" (Eph. 2:6) is a title used by Paul to describe the Ecclesia of God. However, in Heb. 9:23- 24, a similar expression is used to describe the Tabernacle in the wilderness, as a type of the things associated with those "called to be saints". Hence Yahweh's past dealings with Israel foreshadowed His manifestation in Christ, and His dealings with the present day "Israel of God, taken out of the Gentiles".