Scripture Reading: 2 Kings 17
In this message we will first consider the reign of Hoshea over Judah and then give a word related to the fulfillment of God's economy as typified in the books of history in the Old Testament.
The account of the reign of Hoshea over Israel is found in 2 Kings 17. Hoshea began to reign in the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah and reigned in Samaria for nine years (v. 1).
Hoshea did evil in the sight of Jehovah, but not like the kings of Israel who preceded him (v. 2).
The king of Assyria came to attack Hoshea, and Hoshea became his servant and rendered presents to him (v. 3).
Hoshea conspired against the king of Assyria, sending messengers to the king of Egypt and not sending a present to the king of Assyria. The king of Assyria shut Hoshea up and bound him in prison (v. 4).
The king of Assyria invaded the whole land, going up against Samaria, besieging it three years, and capturing it in the ninth year of Hoshea, and carrying the people away into Assyria. All this happened because of the sins of the people of Israel (vv. 5-41).
The people of Israel forsook Jehovah their God, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt, and feared other gods (v. 7).
The children of Israel walked in the statutes of the nations and in the statutes made by the kings of Israel, secretly doing things against Jehovah their God that were not right (vv. 8-9a).
The children of Israel built high places in all their cities. They set up pillars and idols on every high hill and under every green tree; they burned incense in all the high places; and they did wicked things and served idols to provoke Jehovah to anger (vv. 9b-12).
In His love God sent the prophets to the people of Israel to testify to them against their evils, sins, and wickednesses and to help them come back to God, but they would not return. Instead of hearing the prophets, the people stiffened their necks (vv. 13-14).
The people rejected God's statutes and His covenant and followed the nations in their vanity to worship idols (vv. 15-17).
The people provoked Jehovah their God to such an anger that He removed them, both Israel and Judah, from their land to the heathen world (vv. 18-23). Their wickedness went to the extent that God could no longer tolerate them but gave them up and let them be carried away to Assyria.
According to verses 24 through 41 the king of Assyria brought people from Babylon and other heathen cities to the cities of Samaria. These people did not fear Jehovah and were punished by Jehovah with lions. Then the king of Assyria used a Jewish priest to teach the heathens the customs of Israel and the things concerning God. Eventually, these heathens intermarried with the Jews who remained in Israel. As a result, a confused and mixed worship was produced, such as that referred to by the Samaritan woman in John 4:20. This confusion and mixture may be regarded as a type of the kind of worship, found especially in Catholicism, that is a mixture of the worship of God with heathen practices and the pagan worship of idols.
At this juncture I would like to say a word concerning God's economy. Christ's incarnation and redemption constitute the first part of the fulfillment of God's economy as typified in the books of history in the Old Testament. In his prophecy Isaiah refers us to Christ's incarnation (7:14; 9:6) and Christ's redemption (ch. 53). Christ came as God becoming a man, a God-man with two natures — the divine nature and the human nature. After going into death, He entered into resurrection, and in resurrection He accomplished many things. He brought His humanity into divinity, being designated the firstborn Son of God with His humanity (Rom. 1:4). In Christ's resurrection all of God's chosen people were regenerated together with Christ and in Christ (1 Pet. 1:3).
In resurrection Christ also became the life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45b) as the consummation of the Triune God. This divine, all-inclusive Spirit enters into our spirit and mingles with our regenerated spirit, causing God and man, man and God, to become one in the mingled spirit. The two spirits are now mingled together as one entity (1 Cor. 6:17; Rom. 8:16). This mingled spirit is the beginning of the Body of Christ and will consummate in the New Jerusalem. Today we need to care for this mingled spirit. If we are not clear concerning this but instead, like Judaism and Christianity, pay our attention to outward things, we will be distracted, even deceived and seduced, from the central matter in God's economy.
Christ today is the heavenly High Priest (Heb. 4:14), a Minister in the heavens (8:1-2), the Mediator of a new covenant (9:15), and the Executor of the new testament (9:16-17). As such, He is working not only in the heavens but also in our regenerated spirit, bringing heaven to us and joining us to heaven. The way for us to follow Christ is to remain, live, walk, and have our being in the mingled spirit. This spontaneously causes us to live Christ, magnify Christ, and be one with Christ (Phil. 1:20-21). The issue of such a life is the Body of Christ, the church.
We should do everything, great or small, in and according to the mingled spirit, always checked by the regulations of the Bible. The Bible's teaching urges and inspires us to live in the spirit, to walk in the spirit, and to do everything according to the spirit. For instance, the way we style our hair and the way we speak with our spouse and children should be according to the spirit. When we visit others for the preaching of the gospel, we should contact them not according to our self but according to the mingled spirit. Furthermore, in the church meetings our singing, praying, praising, and prophesying should all be in the spirit and according to the spirit.
Today's Christians know about the Holy Spirit, but very few know the wonderful life-giving Spirit. Concerning this all-inclusive, compound Spirit, five portions of the Holy Word are crucial. Unfortunately, these portions are neglected by many fundamental Christians.
First, John 7:39 says, "The Spirit was not yet, because Jesus had not yet been glorified." The Spirit was there in eternity and is mentioned in Genesis 1:2, but in John 7:39 this Spirit had not been consummated because Jesus had not yet been glorified. Through the processes of death and resurrection Christ was glorified (Luke 24:26) and became the life-giving Spirit.
Second, 1 Corinthians 15:45b says, "The last Adam became a life-giving Spirit." Contrary to the concept of those who hold to the traditional teaching regarding the Trinity, this verse reveals that in resurrection Christ is now the life-giving Spirit. The life-giving Spirit is the divine Spirit who gives life (John 6:63a).
Third, 2 Corinthians 3:17 says, "The Lord is the Spirit." According to the context of this chapter, the Lord here is the crucified and resurrected Christ, who in His resurrection became the Spirit. As we behold Him, we are transformed into His image by the Lord Spirit (v. 18), the life-giving Spirit who is the very resurrected Christ.
Fourth, the book of Revelation speaks of the "seven Spirits" (1:4; 3:1; 4:5; 5:6). The life-giving Spirit, who is the pneumatic Christ, the consummation of the Triune God, is intensified to be the seven Spirits.
Fifth, Exodus 30:23-25 speaks of the holy anointing oil, composed of olive oil, signifying the Spirit of God, compounded with four spices: myrrh, cinnamon, calamus, and cassia, signifying respectively the death of Christ, the effectiveness of Christ's death, Christ's resurrection, and the power of Christ's resurrection. The anointing oil signifies the compound anointing Spirit (1 John 2:20, 27).
In the Lord's recovery today, we should pay our full attention to the mingled spirit, the Spirit mingled with our spirit, and we should live, walk, and have our being according to this mingled spirit.
