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Scripture Reading: Exo. 26:26-29; Luke 15:22; Eph. 1:13b; 4:2-3; Acts 16:6-7
We have seen how the tabernacle was composed of wooden boards overlaid with gold. It is so clear that the tabernacle did not stand by the gold but by the wood. Wood was the main element that enabled the tabernacle to stand, and the wood was even the main element of the tabernacle. Gold provided decoration, beauty, value, and preciousness, but wood provided the standing power. Wood is a type of the humanity of Jesus, indicating that the standing power of the church, today’s tabernacle, is the humanity of Jesus. If we are lacking the humanity of Jesus, the church will be very weak and will have no power to stand. The church must have acacia wood as the humanity of Jesus for its standing power.
In the tabernacle there were not only the boards but also the bars. “You shall make bars of acacia wood, five for the boards of the one side of the tabernacle, and five bars for the boards of the other side of the tabernacle, and five bars for the boards of the side of the tabernacle at the rear westward. And the middle bar shall pass through in the center of the boards from end to end. And you shall overlay the boards with gold, and make their rings of gold as holders for the bars; and you shall overlay the bars with gold” (Exo. 26:26-29).
The tabernacle had twenty standing boards on one side and twenty standing boards on the other side. Then at the rear, on the west side, there were eight standing boards. Altogether, there were forty-eight separate boards standing up in the tabernacle. How then could these forty-eight boards be one? How could they be united? This was the function of the bars. If we enjoy the humanity of Jesus, we become strong standing boards, but we may not be united with other boards. We are enabled to stand, but we are not united. This is why we need the uniting bars. The uniting bars were also made of acacia wood overlaid with gold. But the rings for the bars were made of solid gold.
All forty-eight boards were standing up, but it was the bars that held them together. Exodus 26:26-29 tells us clearly that on each of the three sides of the tabernacle, there were five bars, with the middle bar reaching from end to end. If then the middle bar was one long bar going from end to end, where were the other four bars? It must be that the first bar was above the middle bar, but it only extended halfway across. Then the second bar continued above the middle bar to complete the other half. The fourth bar must have gone halfway across below the middle bar, and the fifth continued the other half at the bottom. So there were five bars on every side, with the middle bar going from end to end. Since the middle bar extended from end to end, we can realize that the other four bars must have been arranged in this way. Otherwise, there could be no middle bar. Thus, we have the number five, since there are five bars, and we have the number three, because there are three layers of the bars.
On each side of the tabernacle, the bars united the boards. But simply to have the boards and the bars was not sufficient; there was also the need of the rings. The golden rings were on the overlaying gold of the boards. Each board was overlaid with gold, and on the overlaying gold of each board there were three solid gold rings. Thus, there were at least one hundred forty-four rings for the fifteen bars on the three sides of the tabernacle. When the boards, the bars, and the rings were all joined together, there was the oneness. All forty-eight boards united together became one dwelling place.
According to typology, the uniting bars are the Holy Spirit, and the rings for the bars are also the Holy Spirit. Both are types of the Holy Spirit. Why are these two things, the rings and the bars, necessary to signify the one Holy Spirit? This requires the proper experience as well as the proper verses for confirmation. The last part of Ephesians 1:13 says, “In Him also believing, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of the promise.” This is the initial experience of the Holy Spirit. Once a person believes in the Lord Jesus, he is sealed with the Holy Spirit. But in the same book we read, “Being diligent to keep the oneness of the Spirit in the uniting bond of peace” (4:3). This verse does not have the word Holy before Spirit. We must just keep the oneness of the Spirit. There is a significant reason for this, which we will see later. Of course, some may say that the Spirit is the Holy Spirit, and I agree. But do not think that the apostle Paul was careless with his words. There is a purpose in his using Holy Spirit in Ephesians 1:13 and the Spirit in Ephesians 4:3.
What is the difference between the sealing of the Holy Spirit and the keeping of the oneness of the Spirit? To receive the sealing of the Holy Spirit is easy. Once we believe, we have it. But to keep the oneness of the Spirit is not as easy. After having it, we need to keep it. If I were to ask if you have the sealing of the Holy Spirit, you would answer, “Amen.” But are you keeping the oneness of the Spirit? That is another matter. There may be three brothers who all believe in the Lord Jesus; therefore, they are sealed with the Holy Spirit. But since they live together in the same house, they are fighting all the time. Do you think that they are keeping the oneness of the Spirit?
The apostle Paul wrote Ephesians 1:13 in the past tense: “In Him also believing, you were sealed.” This has already been accomplished. But in chapter 4 he says, “Being diligent to keep the oneness of the Spirit.” They have something, yet they lack something. They have been sealed with the Holy Spirit, but they are short of being diligent to keep the oneness of the Spirit. Thus, we see that the sealing of the Holy Spirit is an initial experience, but keeping the oneness of the Spirit is something of further growth and improvement. We all have the sealing of the Holy Spirit. This occurs at the beginning of our Christian life. It is without condition or terms, for it is an accomplished fact. But keeping the oneness of the Spirit depends upon certain conditions. You may have it, and I may not have it. I may have it now, but I may not have it later. You may have it today, but you may not have it tomorrow.
Keeping the oneness of the Spirit is a great improvement from the sealing of the Holy Spirit. It is still one Spirit but in two stages. In the first stage of our Christian life, the Holy Spirit is the sealing Spirit. But we must go on from the first stage to the second in order to experience the Spirit of the uniting bars.
In the first stage, the Holy Spirit is just a ring. In ancient times, a ring was used as a seal. Even today some still use a ring as a seal. Every item of the tabernacle in Exodus has a spiritual meaning. The golden rings on the boards are a type of the sealing Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the golden ring that seals us. After we were saved, we were sealed with the Holy Spirit.
This can be seen in the return of the prodigal son in Luke 15. “The father said to his slaves, Bring out quickly the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand” (v. 22). The father put a robe on his son, which signifies Christ as his righteousness. But this is not all. He also put a ring on his hand. This is the sealing of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit was given as a seal.
All the boards of the tabernacle had rings, but that alone could not unite them. They needed the uniting bars. Two brothers may be saved and have the sealing of the Holy Spirit, but they may still argue and always act independently of one another. They need lowliness and meekness, long-suffering, and bearing of one another in love (Eph. 4:2). This cannot come from their humanity; it requires another kind of humanity. One version says “making allowances” in place of “bearing one another.” This is why it is necessary to be diligent to keep the oneness of the Spirit in the uniting bond of peace. If these two brothers go on from the first stage of the Spirit to the second, there will be some improvement. Not only will they have experienced the Holy Spirit as the golden rings, but they will also experience Him as the uniting bars. In the first stage, the Holy Spirit is just a ring, purely of gold; there is no wood. But in the second stage, something is added. There is not only gold but also acacia wood. Instead of one element, there are now two. Hence, to keep the oneness, we need the humanity of Jesus.
Many Christians talk about the Holy Spirit or the Spirit of God. But have they ever heard of the Spirit of Jesus? In the whole Bible only one verse uses this phrase. Acts 16:6-7 says, “They passed through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. And when they had come to Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, yet the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them.” Many Christians have never heard that the Spirit of God today is also the Spirit of a man. This is because the Spirit today is not only the Spirit of God but also the Spirit of Jesus. The name Jesus is not a divine title but the name of a man. Today the Spirit is not only the Spirit of God but also the Spirit of Jesus. The Spirit of God has only one element — the divinity of the divine nature. But the Spirit of Jesus has another element — the humanity of Jesus. In this Spirit there is divinity as well as humanity. He is the Spirit of God for He has divinity in Him, and He is also the Spirit of Jesus because humanity is also within Him.
I would now like to quote a few sentences from chapter 5 of The Spirit of Christ by Andrew Murray, entitled, “The Spirit of the Glorified Jesus.” He says, “From His nature, as it was glorified in the resurrection and ascension, His Spirit came forth as the Spirit of His human life, glorified into the union with the Divine, to make us partakers of all that He had personally wrought out and acquired, of Himself and His glorified life. And in virtue of His having perfected in Himself a new holy human nature on our behalf, He could now communicate what previously had no existence — a life at once human and Divine. And the Holy Spirit could come down as the Spirit of the God-man — most really the Spirit of God, and yet as truly the spirit of man.”
Today the Spirit of Jesus is not only the Spirit of divinity but also the Spirit of humanity. When we were first saved, we only experienced Him as the divine Spirit with His divinity. But as we grow, we begin to experience Him not only as the Spirit of divinity but also as the Spirit of humanity. It is in the Spirit of humanity that there is the uniting bar. As the Spirit of divinity, He is the ring that seals us, but as the Spirit of humanity, He is the bar that unites us in the ring.
For the standing up of the church life, we need the humanity of Jesus, and for the uniting, we also need the humanity of Jesus. I have never before seen so clearly why the apostle Paul put all these human virtues in Ephesians 4:2-3. He mentions lowliness or humility, meekness or gentleness, long-suffering, and bearing one another in love. All these are human virtues, and they are all required for keeping the oneness of the Spirit in the uniting bond of peace. They are all related to the oneness of the Spirit. It is not the Holy Spirit or the Spirit of God who is mentioned here, but the Spirit, who is the Spirit of man or the Spirit of humanity. He is indeed the Spirit of God, but here He is the Spirit of humanity.
We need another illustration in order to be more clear. Suppose there are two brothers who were sick. One had cancer three years ago, and the Lord healed him. The other almost died of a certain disease, but the Lord delivered him. Both of them received a miraculous healing from the Lord. Do you believe that these two brothers could ever be united as one because of these miracles? I am afraid that the more they speak about their miracles, the more they will be divided. They need to call: “O Lord Jesus, You are so lowly; You are so meek; You were such a man on this earth. And now, Lord Jesus, You are this man in me. O Lord Jesus, O Lord Jesus!” If these two brothers will learn to call on the Lord in this way, spontaneously they will be one. This experience of the Spirit is the uniting bar, and within the bar is the acacia wood, the humanity of Jesus. The more they talk about their miracles, the more individualistic they will become. But the more they masticate the humanity of the Lord Jesus, the more they will be spontaneously one with each other and with others.
Today the Lord Jesus is the Spirit of humanity; He is the Spirit of a man. His humanity is in the Holy Spirit, just as His divinity is in the Holy Spirit. We all have the golden rings, but we still cannot be one. We need the uniting bars, the Spirit of the man Jesus. The mighty power of Jesus is in His divinity, but lowliness, meekness, and all His human virtues are in His humanity. It is only by these human virtues that we can keep the oneness of the Spirit in the uniting bond of peace.
I must repeat again that lowliness, meekness, and gentleness are not virtues of divinity but virtues of humanity. Long-suffering and bearing one another in love are also human virtues. All these are in the Spirit of a man. Jesus has uplifted the human nature. Now there is something in the universe that never existed before His resurrection — the new uplifted human nature of Jesus. This humanity is now an element of the Spirit of Jesus. If we call on His name and feed upon Him, all the virtues of this uplifted human nature will be ours. Then we will be united by His humanity. Only by these experiences can we keep the oneness of the Spirit in the uniting bond of peace.
We do not need to pay so much attention to miracles or to having a victorious life, but we do need to enjoy Jesus as a man. The more we masticate Jesus as a man, the more we will enjoy all the virtues of His humanity. Then the Spirit will become the uniting bars among us. Regardless of how much the brothers take advantage of us, we will make allowances. We will be willing to bear one another in love. This is not something of the divine virtues but of the human virtues. It is by this kind of life that we are spontaneously one. We are united by the bars of acacia wood overlaid with gold.
Now we must come back to the five bars that are in three layers on each side of the tabernacle. The number five in the Bible is always composed of four plus one. If we look at our hand, we will see four fingers and one thumb. We never count our fingers as three plus two, but always four plus one. If we had three fingers and two thumbs, it would be rather awkward. Moreover, if we had all fingers or all thumbs, it would be worse. God’s creation is marvelous. How could anyone say that there is no God? The best designer could not design a hand in such a way. Four in the Bible stands for the creatures; there are four living creatures in Revelation 4:6. One in the Bible signifies the one God. So four plus one means man plus God. We did not have God before we were saved, but now that we are regenerated, we are man plus God. The number five means God plus man to bear responsibility. These five bars are not just for appearance. They are arranged in such a way that they hold the boards together. They bear such a responsibility.
These five bars are in three layers. This signifies resurrection. The Lord Jesus was resurrected on the third day. We are man plus God, but in resurrection. It is not in the natural disposition but in resurrection. Furthermore, there are not only three layers of bars but also three sides to the tabernacle. This signifies the Triune God. Hence, we have man plus God in resurrection with the three persons of the Triune God. This is how we are united. All forty-eight boards in the tabernacle were united in this way. Since we are the boards today, we must be fully united by taking the humanity of Jesus in resurrection with the Triune God.
The main factor of the uniting power in the church life is the acacia wood within the gold. The oneness comes from the humanity of Jesus. Today this humanity is in the Spirit. When we have this Spirit, we have the humanity of Jesus, the resurrection, and the Triune God. All these matters are related to the humanity of Jesus. If we simply enjoy His humanity, we will have the resurrection with the Triune God. May we look to the Lord that all these things may be put into practice in our daily life.
