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Scripture Reading: Exo. 35:22-35; 36:1-7
Exodus 35 and 36 reveal to us the materials and the workmanship of the building of God. All these materials, as well as the service of the tabernacle, typify the things of Christ. By this we know that for the building of the Lord both the material and the workmanship must be something of Christ that we experience.
Verses 21 and 24 of Exodus 35 and verses 3 and 6 of chapter 36 refer to the heave offering. Exodus 35:21 reads, “They came, everyone whose heart lifted him up and everyone whose spirit made him willing, and brought the heave offering of Jehovah for the work of the Tent of Meeting and for all its service and for the holy garments.” According to the original Hebrew language, the offering here is the heave offering. Verse 24a continues, “Everyone who offered a heave offering of silver and bronze brought the heave offering of Jehovah.” Offered, here, should be translated as “heaved.” Verse 3a in chapter 36 says, “They received from Moses every heave offering which the children of Israel had brought for the work of the service of the sanctuary, to make it.” Verse 6b reads, “Let neither man nor woman produce any more material for the heave offering of the sanctuary.”
These verses tell us that all the materials used for the building of the Tent of Meeting, its service, and the holy garments of the priests were heave offerings, offered or heaved, by the people of Israel. The word heave means “to lift up,” indicating that Christ has been lifted up into the heavens. The heave offering typifies the ascended Christ, the Christ ascended to the heavens.
The ascension of Christ into the heavens is the climax, the highest peak, of Christ’s experience. Before the ascension there were many things related to Christ, and after the ascension there are more matters related to Christ, but all these, whether before the ascension or after the ascension, are included in the Christ typified by the heave offering. The things of Christ before the ascension began from eternity past. Christ was the very God in eternity past. He was the Word of God (John 1:1), the explanation of God. He accomplished the creation of the heavens and of the earth and of all things within the universe (v. 3; Col. 1:16). Then He was incarnated to be a man (John 1:14) and lived on this earth for thirty-three and a half years. When He was on this earth, He experienced human living and all the sufferings and hardships of human life. He went to the cross to be crucified, to enter into death, and He was buried and went into Hades (Phil. 2:8; Acts 2:23, 27). He was raised up from Hades and the grave, and He was lifted up to the third heavens (vv. 24, 31-35). By this, He reached the highest point of the universe; that is, He ascended to the heaven of heavens.
Then, after the ascension, He sent down the Holy Spirit; that is, He came down from the heavens as the Holy Spirit (John 14:16, 18) to visit His redeemed ones and enter into them to be their resurrection life and their all. He Himself came as the Spirit and entered into us to transform us into a fully renewed new man (Eph. 4:23-24), the fullness of Himself, which is His Body, the church (1:22-23).
The church came into being due to His descension as the Holy Spirit after His ascension. In the period between His ascension and eternity future He accomplishes many spiritual things, including the regeneration, transformation, and renewing of the church as His full expression.
After the completion of the renewing of the new man and the building up of His Body, eternity future will begin. He will be the center of that eternal age. All these matters are included in the ascended Christ. This ascended Christ is the heave offering, and all the people of God offered something of this ascended Christ for the building of God. Whatever they offered is referred to as the heave offering.
The Christ in whom we believe is not only the Christ who was born of a virgin and who died for us. The Christ in whom we believe, whom we receive as our life and we enjoy as our all, is the Christ who has ascended to the heavens. All the things offered by the people of God for God’s building were something of the ascended Christ. Therefore, they are called the heave offering. We also need to experience and enjoy Him as the ascended Christ for the building of God.
We have seen that the things offered by the people are of six categories. The first category is the articles of gold. Exodus 35:22 says, “They came, men together with women, as many as were of a willing heart, and brought nose rings and earrings and signet rings and pendants, all kinds of articles of gold; even every man who waved a wave offering of gold to Jehovah.” Gold signifies the divine nature of Christ. The divine life and nature are the first item we experience of Christ. As long as we are regenerated by Christ, we have the divine nature and the divine life of God (2 Pet. 1:4; John 3:15-16). This is the first item of the riches of Christ that we possess by experiencing Him. If you do not have this, you have not yet been saved. If you have been saved, you at least have this item of spiritual wealth.
The gold here is not something hidden or covered. It is something manifested as your beauty. The articles of gold in Exodus 35:22 are the ornaments worn on the exposed parts of the body, such as the face, neck, and arms. This signifies that the divine nature and the divine life of God in Christ are now manifested upon you as your beauty. People could see and realize that in you there is the divine beauty of the divine life and nature.
Our experience of the divine life and nature are in resurrection. Therefore, the offerings of gold are the wave offerings (v. 22). The meaning of the wave offering is different from that of the heave offering. To wave implies movement and means that you are living, you are alive. When you come to the meeting, you must “wave.” You should not sit or stand still; you must have some “motion.” Whenever we come together and a brother or a sister offers a prayer or gives a testimony, we may say that they are waving a wave offering. All the beauties of God’s divine nature that are manifested upon us must be something alive, something living and full of life. They are not dead or motionless but full of life, full of motion and action. When we love a brother or do something in the resurrection life of the Lord Jesus, there is the beauty of life full of “motion.” This is something done in the resurrection power of the life of God. This is the manifestation of the divine life and nature.
Because we experience the divine life and nature, we have the surplus of the divine life and nature as the wealth in our hands. Then we can bring this to wave to the Lord as the wave offering for the building of the Lord.
The second item of the offerings is the coverings, whether for the covering of the tent or for the clothing for the priests. Exodus 35:23 says, “Every man with whom was found blue and purple and scarlet strands and fine linen and goats’ hair and rams’ skins dyed red and porpoise skins brought them.” The coverings were mostly of the woven materials. Although it does not clearly mention whether these are called the heave offering or the wave offering, we must realize that these are surely something of the heave offering. All these materials are something of the ascended Christ.
Verse 23 mentions the heavenly color, blue; the color of kingship, purple; the color of redemption, scarlet; and the color of Christ as righteousness, white, as implied by fine linen. All these characteristics of the ascended Christ, the heavenly Christ, have to be woven into our life. In this way all these characteristics will be a covering to the Lord’s people, who should be the priests serving God. The entire tent as well as the priesthood is covered with these characteristics. The fellowship between God and His people as signified by the priestly garments with the breastplate and shoulder plates also depends on these coverings. The coverings were woven of these materials, which are the various heavenly aspects and characteristics of Christ.
The blue, purple, scarlet, and white threads were of linen, something of the vegetable life, and the goats’ hair, the rams’ skins dyed red, and the porpoise skins were of the animal life. The animal life signifies the redeeming aspect of Christ as our life. Christ gave up His life to suffer judgment, punishment, and death. He also suffered the attacks and trials from man and Satan, and the tests from God. All these sufferings of Christ for redemption are typified by the animal life. The porpoise skins are for protection and typify Christ as the One who has the strength and the energy to suffer and endure all kinds of attacks. Christ as the porpoise skins can withstand every attack, whether from people or from the evil spirits. Christ can endure any kind of circumstance. We must experience the ascended Christ in this aspect.
The third item of offerings is the silver and bronze, or copper (v. 24a). This item in verse 24 is called the heave offering. Although the offerings of gold are called the wave offering, the things of silver and bronze are referred to as the heave offering because they represent something of the heavenly authority. Silver is for the base, the support, and the foundation of the Tent of Meeting. The sockets as the foundation of the tent were made of silver (36:24, 26, 30).
The bronze is in the same principle. The hangings for the outer court were placed upon the base of bronze (38:11, 17). The bronze was for the foundation as a protection for the tent. For God’s building to have a proper foundation, there must be the heavenly authority. If there is no authority, there is no foundation or protection. All the silver and the bronze are for the foundation as the protection to the tent, and this foundation and protection must be something heavenly. It is a foundation on the earth, but it is a heavenly foundation, representing the heavenly foundation and protection to the church on this earth. The heavenly characteristics of Christ become the foundation as a protection to the church.
The fourth item of the offerings is acacia wood (35:24b), typifying the human character of the ascended Christ. We have to experience the character of the ascended Christ, which on the one hand is a human character and on the other hand is a resurrected, ascended, and heavenly character. Our character today has to be transformed and renewed into the likeness of the ascended Christ.
The fifth item is the precious stones (v. 27). These are offered by the leaders, the principal ones among the Lord’s children, who have the authority. These precious stones are something related to those who have authority. This means that if you are going to be one with authority among the Lord’s children, you have to have something to offer to the Lord as precious stones. If you do not have this kind of wealth, you cannot take the lead among the Lord’s children. To have something of the precious stones means that in your life, in your spiritual experience, you have suffered the burning and the pressure. Thus, with you there is something very solid, very strong, and very precious, like precious stones. These experiences are much deeper than the experiences of the articles of gold. The precious stones typify the deeper and further experiences of Christ. If we have something precious of Christ as the precious stones, we have the authority. Then we will be ones who can take the lead among the Lord’s children.
The sixth item is the spices and oil (v. 28). As we have seen, the spices represent the sweet odor of the resurrection life of Christ. The resurrection life of Christ is so sweet to God. The oil represents the Holy Spirit, and this Holy Spirit is related to the resurrection of Christ. The resurrected Christ is the Christ who became the Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45b). The spices and the oil represent Christ resurrected and ascended to God and coming down to visit people to enable people to serve God. All the services offered by men to God are included in the spices and the oil. The spices are for the slain and resurrected Savior, the sweet odor offered to God, and the oil represents the Holy Spirit in whom we can render the service to God. The spices and oil are offered not by the people but by the leaders of the people. Only those who could offer the precious stones could offer spices and oil. This is quite meaningful. Only when one has the deeper and further experiences of Christ as the precious stones could he offer the spices and the oil. Because he is so matured, so full of the Holy Spirit, he can offer the spices and the oil. All these are the items of the offerings and are called the heave offering, something of the ascended and heavenly Christ.
