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From the six Old Testament books of 1 and 2 Samuel through 1 and 2 Chronicles we see another principle—God’s building always involves a struggle, a real battle. When God has done something, the enemy always attempts to damage and destroy God’s work. The pleasant situation, the glorious condition, never lasts too long, that is, not until we reach the ultimate goal. During this process of time, over the ages, there is a continuous struggle. Satan will not allow the good condition of God’s building to remain.
History shows how God’s enemy came in to damage and desolate God’s temple not long after it was finished (2 Chron. 12:1-2; 24:4-5, 7, 12-13; 29:2-7, 16-17; 34:8, 10-11). Not only did he damage the temple, but eventually Satan sent the Chaldeans, the Babylonians, to completely destroy God’s building. They took away all the vessels of the temple and then burned God’s house (36:17-19). The city out of which Abraham was called was in Babylon. The book of Revelation reveals that up to the very last age before God’s ultimate consummation these two cities will be in existence, Jerusalem and Babylon. And Babylon is always in opposition to Jerusalem. Abraham was separated from Babylon, and his descendants eventually built God’s building. But God’s enemy came also from Babylon to destroy this building. The destruction inflicted upon Jerusalem by the Babylonians was not perpetrated merely by human hands but by the enemy, Satan. Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, had captured all the vessels related to the temple and the worship of God and brought them to Babylon, where he put them in a temple of idols (Ezra 1:7; Dan. 1:1-2). This was a great blasphemy to the Lord. Thus, it is evident that this fight was not merely between the Babylonians and the Jewish people but between Satan and God.
We must remember that God’s intention is to recover this earth from His enemy. Through His chosen people, especially through men like David and Solomon, God regained at least a portion of this earth. He recovered some ground upon which He could place His feet, where He could glorify Himself, express Himself, and exercise His authority upon this earth. It is in this way that God becomes the Lord not only of the heavens but also of the earth. Because God had gained a place on this earth through His people, He could be called the Lord of earth as well as the Lord of the heavens. Today God is eager to recover the entire earth.
When Satan sent the army of Babylon to destroy the temple, that meant, spiritually speaking, that he came to force God out of His position on this earth. By reading all the books of the captivity, such as Ezra, Nehemiah, and Daniel, we notice a very interesting fact. In all of these books God is always called the God of heaven, not the God of heaven and earth (Ezra 1:2; 7:12, 21, 23; Neh. 1:4-5; 2:4; Dan. 2:18, 28). In a sense, God had been chased away from this earth. God had lost the ground to exercise His authority on this earth, for it had been captured by His enemy. The temple was destroyed, the ground was lost, and God withdrew from earth to heaven. God again became the God of heaven rather than the God of heaven and earth.
Satan’s intention is always to chase God from the earth. God’s intention is to have a building on the earth, a Bethel, a gate to heaven, a place where God can put His feet to exercise His authority. We must see from history that whenever there is a person or a group of persons on this earth who will take a stand for God, at that time God is called the God of heaven and earth. In Genesis, when Abraham defeated the five kings, Melchizedek the priest came out to meet him. At that time God was called the “Possessor of heaven and earth” (Gen. 14:19), because at that time there was at least one person on this earth who could be the gate of heaven. Abraham brought heaven down to this earth. God could boast because of Abraham that He was the Possessor not only of the heavens but also of the earth. He had some ground upon which to exercise His authority. Later in history, when the people of Israel crossed the Jordan, the priests who carried the Ark stepped into the waters and remained there. At that time, God was called “the Lord of all the earth” (Josh. 3:11). There were some people on this earth standing with God, and through these people God gained the position to exercise His authority on the earth. However, in all the later books which record Israel’s captivity, God is always called the God of heaven. Seemingly, God had been chased away from this earth by the failure of His people.
The New Testament records that one day while the Lord Jesus was on the earth, He prayed, “I extol You, Father, Lord of heaven and of earth” (Matt. 11:25). Again, through the man Jesus, God had ground on the earth. So many Christians today desire to go to heaven, but God desires to come down to this earth. Heaven is so precious to some, but to God this earth is precious. We should sympathize with God. We should not say, “Let the church life be in the heavens.” We should say that the church must be on this earth today.
Hallelujah, God can never be defeated! After the Israelites had been in captivity for seventy years, the struggle was again openly manifested. God had been patient long enough, so He fought back. He stirred up His people to return to Jerusalem. The two books of Ezra and Nehemiah record a very interesting phrase—to Jerusalem (Ezra 1:11; 7:7; 8:31; Neh. 2:11). God’s way of recovery always involves a return to the original, proper ground of worship. Today we cannot say, “There is not any difference. God is omnipresent; God is everywhere. If God is in Jerusalem, He must also be in Babylon.” Yes, God is everywhere, yet you must leave Babylon and come back to Jerusalem.
If we would realize God’s recovery today, we must leave Babylon. Babylon is the very element which damages God’s building. We must abandon it and return to Jerusalem. There is only one ground for the Lord’s recovery. We must return to the old standing of the proper ground, which is in Jerusalem. The books of Ezra and Nehemiah record the real struggle involved over Israel’s return to Jerusalem. For the Israelites to have God’s building in Babylon was quite all right—all their enemies agreed concerning this. But for them to return to Jerusalem was another matter. The situation is exactly the same today. The battle between God and His enemy is mainly over the matter of Christians returning to the church ground, the ground of unique oneness. We must return to Jerusalem.
In God’s way of recovery the most important thing is to recover the ground. When the Israelites returned to Jerusalem, one of their first projects was to rebuild the altar upon its original base (Ezra 3:3). The Israelites could have built another altar in the same shape and style, using the same material, and put it in a place other than its original site in Jerusalem, but that would be wrong. The altar must be on the proper base, the proper ground in Jerusalem. Some Israelites might have built a temple in Babylon, using the same pattern, the same size, the same precious materials, and the same color as the temple in Jerusalem, but God would never have recognized that temple. It would be the same in every respect except for one vital factor—it would be on a different ground, a different standing. In the recovery of the church life the first thing to which we must pay attention is the old ground, the original standing. We must not say, “Let us build a temple here in Babylon, in Egypt, or in Syria.” No! We cannot do that. We must return to Jerusalem, to the old ground, to the original standing of God’s building.
The book of Nehemiah records how the enemy stirred up an intense struggle to frustrate the Israelites from God’s building. After they began to build, they were openly attacked (Neh. 4). The enemy’s only intention was to stop the recovery of God’s building. Another tactic of the enemy was to utilize some people to suggest a conference (6:2). Likewise, there are some today who say, “Please come, and let us sit down together and talk it over.” We must see through these subtle wiles of the enemy. We must tell them, as Nehemiah did, “I do not have time for a conference. I am too busy building.” People may accuse you of not desiring to discuss the matter and have fellowship with others. But we want to have positive fellowship; we do not want to waste our time. We do not want to be frustrated from the recovery of the building. How subtle the enemy is in his attempts to frustrate us from God’s building! The Israelites who worked in the building with Nehemiah labored with one hand to build and in the other hand held their weapons for fighting the battle (4:17). This reveals that whenever we labor on God’s building, we will certainly be involved in battle.
These books of history also show us what happens when we neglect the recovery of God’s building. The Lord says in Haggai that when we neglect His house to do our own labor and sow our own seed, the result will only be emptiness. We may eat continually, but we will still be empty. We may drink constantly, yet we will not be filled. We may gain something by our labor, but the Lord will blow it away. We may earn some wages and put them away in a bag as our savings, but the bag will be full of holes (1:2-11). If we neglect the building of God’s temple, we will lose the blessing of God. If we give our full attention to the recovery of the church life today, being willing to be built up together, we will attain this building. Whenever we go out to preach the gospel, many will be saved. The blessing of the Lord will be upon whatever we do. On the other hand, if we neglect God’s house, the building up of the church, no matter what we do, the end result will be very poor. We may sow the seed, but there will be no lasting fruit. We may gain something, but eventually it will be gone. There will be no satisfaction. Many of us can verify these things. The Lord warns us that we must pay attention to His house first. If we would attend to the church life and be built up in our locality, we will see the Lord’s abundant blessing upon us.
About ten years ago the church in Taipei set aside several days specifically for gospel meetings. The gospel was preached in at least five or six meeting places during the same evening. After several days of meetings, a person from a Christian organization came to me and inquired, “Brother, would you please tell me the secret?” When I asked him what he meant, he told how his group had held some gospel meetings several weeks before. They had put a large advertisement in the newspaper, and they had invited a well-known speaker. Yet every night their turnout was little more than ten people and never over twenty. This gentleman had visited all the meeting places of the local church for only a few minutes each night. He was exceedingly surprised to see every place full of people. He knew that there had been no advertisement in the newspapers and that before each meeting not many knew who was to be the speaker. I could not adequately explain the situation to this brother, and if I could pass on to him the methods, they would not work for his group. Why? It is because this brother had simply neglected the church life. He trusted in advertising and famous speakers, yet he neglected God’s building.
How much we need God’s recovery today! We must be built up together as one church in each city; then we will have God’s blessing. However, we must realize that we will suffer for such a building. The enemy will attack us over this matter more than anything else. He will do everything that he can to damage us, spreading all kinds of rumors and lies, for no other reason than to hinder or stop the recovery of God’s building. Yet the Lord is victorious. Praise Him!
According to the record of Nehemiah, the recovery was eventually accomplished, including not only a recovery of the temple but also a complete rebuilding of the city. Ezra records the rebuilding of the temple, and Nehemiah tells of the recovery of the city. The temple signifies the expression of God, whereas the city signifies the authority, or kingdom, of God. The city protected the temple; the kingdom is the protection of God’s expression. When Satan through the Babylonians assaulted Jerusalem, they first destroyed the city; then they had the liberty to demolish the temple. The order of God’s recovery is first that the altar must be recovered (Ezra 3:2), then God’s house (vv. 8-13), and finally the city (Neh. 2:18). The altar was the very place where the people could offer and consecrate to God. Likewise, today we must first recover the ground of consecration. We must recover a place for the people of God to offer themselves and all that they have to God. Following this, we must recover the expression of the temple, God’s house. Then, for protection, we must recover the city. The two books of Ezra and Nehemiah reveal this order of God’s recovery.
At the end of the Scriptures, in the book of Revelation, we see the city and the temple mingled together as one building. Together they are called the tabernacle (21:3). The New Jerusalem, the holy city, is the tabernacle of God on the earth. There is no temple in the holy city (v. 22), because the city itself is the temple. Today, however, our first need is to recover the altar, then the house, and then the city.
If we would see a full picture of God’s building, we must also consider the book of Ezekiel. This portion of the Scriptures has nine chapters (chs. 40—48) dealing with the subject of the recovery of God’s temple. During the seventy year period of the captivity of the Israelites, Ezekiel was shown a vision from God. In the spirit he was brought back to the elevated land of Canaan, where he saw another temple. We must realize that historically, between the time of Solomon’s temple and this temple seen by Ezekiel, another temple was recovered by the Israelites who had returned to Jerusalem. The captivity of the Israelites occurred in 606 B.C., and Ezekiel saw the vision of God’s recovery in 574 B.C. The recovery of the temple by the Israelites after their captivity was accomplished in 536 B.C. Ezekiel witnessed a full recovery of God’s building in the spirit. That recovery was begun according to Ezra’s record, but the recovery of the destroyed temple has not yet been fully accomplished. In Ezra’s account of the recovered temple, there were no measurements given, but Ezekiel saw the measurements of the temple in his vision. We have previously indicated that in God’s recovery there is always an enlargement. In the recovery of Solomon’s temple there was a very apparent enlargement. But in the records of Ezra and Nehemiah, there is no apparent enlargement. However, if we have foresight to see things through to the end, we will realize that this recovery of God’s temple has not yet been fully accomplished. It is still in process. The temple built during Ezra’s time was replaced by Herod’s temple, which was built in forty-six years (John 2:20). The Lord Jesus came to the earth during the historical period of Herod’s temple. But neither the temple in Ezra’s day nor the temple of Herod’s time was the full recovery of the temple Solomon had built. The temple of Ezekiel’s vision, however, is more than the full recovery of Solomon’s temple, which had been destroyed. Most Bible students agree that Ezekiel’s vision was to some degree a prophecy that will be fulfilled in the future.
When we compare the temple in Ezekiel with the temple built by Solomon, we see a further, tremendous enlargement. Here are only a few items of this enlargement: first, there are both an outer court and an inner court (ch. 40)—two courts. The wall of each court is six cubits thick. Since one cubit is judged to equal approximately one and a half feet, the wall is exceedingly thick. The height of the wall is also six cubits. Thus, a cross-section of the wall would be six by six. In typology this is none other than the Lord Jesus in His humanity. Jesus Christ is the separating wall of the temple seen by Ezekiel. In the wall of the outer court there are three gates, and in the wall of the inner court there are three more gates, making a total of six gates. At each gate there is a threshold in front, then a passageway, and finally an inner threshold. In each passageway there are six little chambers, three on each side. We see already a considerable increase and enlargement over Solomon’s temple. All these items are related to the increased experiences of Christ. At each corner of Ezekiel’s temple there are thirty rooms, in which we may enjoy Christ. Oh, this is exceedingly rich! There are also many items in the inner court that we have not mentioned.
Eventually, Ezekiel takes us into the temple itself (ch. 41). Of course, this temple is the same size as the one built by Solomon, but there are many additional attachments. On three sides of the temple are side chambers in three stories, each story having thirty rooms. These chambers portray the fullness of Christ. Then, at the rear of the temple, is another very large building. Oh, how great a fullness! Oh, the riches in this temple! Yet we must realize that this is still not God’s ultimate building. The ultimate building of God is the New Jerusalem.
The New Jerusalem is a three-dimensional city. It is full and square, twelve thousand stadia square. The stadion, an ancient measurement of length used by the Greeks, is thought to be similar to our length of six hundred feet. The New Jerusalem will be twelve thousand stadia in the three dimensions of length, width, and height (Rev. 21:16). By way of enlargement it is overwhelming. The wall alone will be one hundred and forty-four cubits high (v. 17), or twelve times twelve. All the dimensions are divisible by twelve. There will be twelve foundations, twelve gates, twelve months, twelve apostles, and twelve tribes—many twelves. This number is not constituted of three plus four but of three multiplied by four. It is not merely something of man plus God but of man mingled with God in eternity. This will be the ultimate manifestation of God’s building.
In conclusion, let us briefly look at the progress in the enlargement of God’s building throughout the Scriptures. In the first stage there was something very small, as a building in miniature: there were the tents of Noah and Abraham with an altar. The tents of Noah and Abraham were exceedingly small, and their altars were very elementary. The altars at which Noah and Abraham worshipped were undoubtedly crude, being composed probably of just a few stones put together. That was the first stage of God’s building; it was but a shadow in miniature. In the second stage there was the tabernacle with the bronze altar. This was quite an enlargement over the tent and altar. Then, in the third stage, there was Solomon’s temple with its bronze altar (2 Chron. 4:1). Both this temple and the altar were more solid and of greater increase and enlargement. In Ezekiel’s vision there was an even more greatly enlarged temple with a wonderful altar (Ezek. 43:13-17) at the very center of the premises of the temple (40:47). However, the New Jerusalem will be the ultimate manifestation of God’s building and the greatest enlargement of all.
It is interesting to note that when Abraham was living in his small tent, he was living in the first stage of God’s building, but he was looking for its last stage, the city which has the foundations (Heb. 11:10). Do you see this vision of the continual increase in the enlargement of God’s building? Oh, the entire Scriptures are a record of building. God’s building is nothing but man mingled with God and God mingled with man. It began with a little tent and altar, then throughout history it came more and more into shape, until eventually and ultimately it will become the New Jerusalem, for which Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were all eagerly waiting.
Before closing the record of the Old Testament and proceeding to the New, let us consider three psalms which show the appreciation that some of the Old Testament saints had for God’s building.
First, let us consider the very familiar twenty-third psalm. The subject of this psalm is in verse 1: “Jehovah is my Shepherd; I will lack nothing.” Each of the five verses that follow reveal a successive stage of spiritual experience. The first stage is that of green pastures and waters of rest. We all enjoy being in the green pastures and drinking the waters of rest. Both of these experiences are the different aspects of the experience of the riches of Christ. But the steps in this psalm show that seeking Christians are those who go on after they have enjoyed the riches of the Lord. The green pastures and waters of rest are only the initial experiences of Christ; they are the stage of childhood. After enjoying the riches of Christ, the psalmist goes on to the second stage, where he is led through the paths of righteousness for the sake of the Lord’s name. Then we come to the third stage, the valley of the shadow of death. While we are walking on the paths of righteousness, we will pass through the valley of the shadow of death, but we will fear no evil, for the Lord is with us. His rod and His staff comfort us. In the fourth stage the Lord spreads a table before us in the presence of our adversaries. This stage involves a battlefield, but even in the place of battle we will enjoy something of the Lord as a feast in a more complete way. Our enjoyment of the Lord in the first stage, in the green pastures and the waters of rest, is very elementary and rather rough. In the fourth stage our enjoyment is more rich and full. Our enjoyment here becomes a table, where the Lord anoints our head with oil and our cup overflows. Yet this is not the ultimate. In the final stage goodness and lovingkindness follow us all the days of our life, and we dwell in the house of the Lord forever. The house of the Lord is clearly set forth as the fifth and ultimate stage in our experience of the Lord.
In this psalm we have seen five kinds of environment: first, the green pastures with the waters of rest; second, the paths of righteousness; third, the valley of the shadow of death; fourth, the battlefield; and fifth, the house of the Lord. We must go on to hit this mark and attain this goal; we must go on until one day we remain in the house of the Lord forever. This experience of the building of God is the ultimate and fullest of all spiritual experiences. May we continue on until we fully realize this stage of God’s building.
We must also look briefly at Psalm 27. In verse 4 the psalmist says, “One thing I have asked from Jehovah; / That do I seek: / To dwell in the house of Jehovah / All the days of my life, / To behold the beauty of Jehovah, / And to inquire in His temple.” The temple of God is the only thing that the Old Testament seeking ones were after. Their feelings, their affections, and their appreciation were for God’s house.
Finally, we come to Psalm 84, which says, “How lovely are Your tabernacles, / O Jehovah of hosts!” (v. 1). Verse 4 continues, “Blessed are those who dwell in Your house; / They will yet be praising You.” And verse 10 says, “For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand.” If we would really redeem the time, it is best to dwell in the house of God, for one day there will redeem a thousand days elsewhere. The psalmist continues, “I would rather stand at the threshold of the house of my God / Than dwell in the tents of the wicked.” If he could not dwell in the house of God, the psalmist would be satisfied even to stand at the threshold of that house. This reveals the appreciation the Old Testament saints had for the Lord’s building, and we have looked at only a few psalms. Again, this proves that the building of God is the central thought of the Old Testament.
