Message 12
In this message we shall consider the three stations in the fulfilling of God’s purpose as they are mentioned in Exodus 3. In God’s call the chosen people were directed to three different stations. Verse 18 says that the children of Israel were to take a “three days’ journey into the wilderness.” In verse 12 the Lord said to Moses, “Certainly I will be with thee; and this shall be a token unto thee, that I have sent thee: When thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain.” Finally, in verses 8 and 17 the Lord promised Moses that He would bring the children of Israel out of Egypt into a “land flowing with milk and honey.” Therefore, the three stations spoken of in this chapter are the wilderness, the mountain, and the land.
Many Christian teachers have emphasized the importance of the experience of the children of Israel in the wilderness. However, they interpret the wilderness as a place of test and trial. Although elsewhere in the Bible the wilderness has this significance, this is not the meaning of the wilderness in Exo. 3:18. Here the wilderness denotes a place of separation from the world. According to 3:18, the children of Israel were to make a journey of three days into the wilderness so that they might sacrifice to the Lord their God. It was impossible for God’s people to sacrifice to Him in Egypt. In order to serve God in this way, they had to be in a place of separation.
The wilderness was separated from Egypt by the Red Sea. The crossing of the Red Sea is a type of baptism. After we believed in the Lord Jesus and took Him as our Passover, we were baptized. Thus, the water of baptism separates us from the world and brings us into the wilderness where we can serve God. However, many saved ones have not yet been delivered into the wilderness. This means that although they have been saved, they have not been separated from the world.
The wilderness, the place of separation from the world, is the first station in God’s deliverance of His chosen people from Egypt. Our experience testifies to this. Before we were saved, we were very much occupied with the things of the world. But God’s salvation has delivered us from this preoccupation and has brought us into the wilderness. Everyone who is properly saved must have this kind of experience.
This is seen both in the Old Testament and in the New Testament. The only difference is that the Old Testament presents the type, the picture, whereas the New Testament presents the spiritual reality in words. Because it is often difficult for us to grasp the spiritual things in the New Testament, God in His wisdom uses the pictures in the Old Testament to help us understand them. The history of the children of Israel is a portrait of a believer’s full salvation. For example, the Passover is a type of Christ. In 1 Corinthians 5:7 Paul says, “Our Passover, Christ, has been sacrificed.” Furthermore, in 1 Corinthians 10:1 and 2 Paul indicates that the crossing of the Red Sea is a type of baptism. In addition, the manna and the water from the cleft rock are also types of Christ (1 Cor. 10:3-4). It is not difficult to see the significance of these types; however, hardly any Christians realize that the good land is also a type of Christ. Hence, many regard only the beginning stage of the history of the children of Israel as a type. How we thank the Lord for showing us that the whole history of the Israelites is a portrait of our salvation.
The children of Israel came out of Egypt and into the wilderness by the enjoyment of the Passover (12:11, 31-41) and through the baptism in the Red Sea (14:21-30). To them, the Passover was an enjoyment; they enjoyed the lamb, the unleavened bread, and the bitter herbs. The supply they received through this enjoyment strengthened them to walk out of Egypt. Furthermore, the baptism in the Red Sea delivered them from the Egyptians. This indicates that by Christ as the Passover Lamb and by His death we are separated from the world and brought into the wilderness, the first station in fulfilling God’s purpose.
The second station is the mountain (Exo. 3:12; 19:1-2, 11; 24:16-18), where the children of Israel received revelation concerning God and concerning the tabernacle. For hundreds of years they had been under darkness in Egypt where there was no light, no word, and no speaking of God. But now, under the enlightenment, they were to live according to the revelation concerning God, and they were to build the tabernacle according to the pattern revealed by God.
The children of Israel were brought to the mountain by the tree which made the bitter water sweet (Exo. 15:23-25), by the twelve springs of water at Elim (Exo. 15:27), by the manna from heaven (Exo. 16:14-15, 31-32, 35), by the living water from the cleft rock (Exo. 17:6), and by the victory over Amalek (Exo. 17:8-16). When the Israelites came to Marah, “they could not drink of the waters of Marah, for they were bitter” (Exo. 15:23). Because the people murmured against him, Moses cried to the Lord, “and the Lord showed him a tree, which when he had cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet” (15:25). This tree signifies Christ with His cross. The children of Israel went on to Elim, where there were twelve springs of water (Exo. 15:27), and they camped there by the waters. When they journeyed onward from Elim, they murmured again; this time it was because they had no food. God met their need by sending down manna, the heavenly food, to support them. Likewise, when the children of Israel murmured because there was no water, God brought forth living water from the cleft rock (Exo. 17:1-6). All these items signify various aspects of Christ as our life supply, the very supply God uses to bring us to the mountain. We in the local churches can testify that we have been supplied by the sweet water, by the twelve springs at Elim, by the heavenly manna, and by the living water flowing from the cleft rock.
God’s chosen people were not to stay at the mountain in the wilderness. God’s intention was that they journey onward into the good land. Likewise, today we should remain neither in the wilderness nor on the mountain. Rather, we should regard both as temporary stopping places. Our ultimate destination is the good land.
In their experience not many Christians have come to the mountain. Many of us can testify that before we came into the church life, we were not at the mountain, the place of revelation. Most of the saints in the Lord’s recovery, however, have come to the mountain in the wilderness. On the one hand, it is a wonderful experience to be at the mountain; on the other hand, it is a cause of suffering if we remain there a long time. Some who have been in Christ for many years have not gone further than the station of the mountain. On the fourteenth day of the first month, the children of Israel celebrated the Passover in Egypt, and during the third month they arrived at the mountain (Exo. 19:1). They stayed there for approximately nine months. By the first day of the next year, the tabernacle had been built and was filled with glory (Exo. 40:17, 34). This indicates that it is not normal to remain at the mountain for too long a time. Many of us in the Lord’s recovery have seen the revelation on the mountain and have shared with others in the building of the tabernacle. Although this is wonderful, it is wonderful only in a temporary way.
If we consider the picture of the children of Israel in the wilderness, we see that only two of those who came out of Egypt — Joshua and Caleb — entered into the good land. All the others, including Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, died in the wilderness. To them, the wilderness was not only a place of separation, but also a place of test and trial. Before the children of Israel came to the mountain, the wilderness was positive, for it was just a place of separation. But after the mountain, the wilderness became a place of test and trial because of their unbelief.
When they were at the mountain, the Israelites received the revelation concerning what God is. Do not regard the law simply as some commandments. The law was a testimony, definition, description, and explanation of what God is. By the law we can know God Himself. God required His chosen people to live according to this revelation of Himself. Thus, on the mountain, Moses received a revelation both of what God is and of the kind of life the people of God should live. Because God is holy, righteous, and loving, His people should live a life characterized by holiness, righteousness, and love. Chapters twenty through twenty-four of Exodus reveal that God is detailed in His holiness, righteousness, and other divine attributes. His people must live a life that corresponds to the detailed attributes of God. Such a revelation can be seen only on the mountaintop.
It is on the mountain that God’s people can also see the revelation of the desire of God’s heart. Here we see that God wants us to live according to what He is because the desire of His heart is to have a dwelling place on earth. The tabernacle was erected as the temporary fulfillment of this desire. Before the tabernacle was built, a detailed revelation regarding every aspect of it was given to Moses in chapters twenty-five to thirty-one. The remaining chapters cover the experience of the children of Israel at the mountain and tell of the building of the tabernacle.
At the mountain we have the church life signified by the tabernacle. The church life we have today is not the temple church life; rather, it is the movable church life, the tabernacle. The tabernacle had no floor or foundation, but was erected on the earth. The temple built in the good land, on the contrary, had a solid foundation. No verse in the New Testament says that the church is built with wood. Rather, both Paul and Peter say that it is built with stones (1 Cor. 3:12; 1 Pet. 2:5). This indicates that the tabernacle, a type of the church, was God’s temporary dwelling place. His permanent dwelling place was to be the temple built in the land of Canaan. Many Christians, however, have not yet reached the stage of the tabernacle, the temporary church life, much less that of the solid building.
Because the tabernacle is merely the temporary dwelling place of God, we should not be satisfied with the church life in this stage. We need to press on to the stage represented by the temple in the good land. In the Old Testament the temple replaced the tabernacle. Eventually, the articles that were in the tabernacle were placed in the temple. Thus, the tabernacle in the wilderness was the temporary building, but the temple in the good land was the consummate building. Therefore, the children of Israel had to go on from the wilderness to the good land.
If I had been among the children of Israel in Exodus 40, I would have been fully content with the building of the tabernacle. However, God’s final goal was still a long way off. About three-fourths of the way remained. For this reason, the children of Israel had to journey onward to the third station and enter into the good land.
We have seen the factors that brought the children of Israel into the wilderness and that brought them in the wilderness to the mountain. Now we must consider the factor that brought them into the good land. This factor is the ark with the tabernacle (Josh. 3:3, 6, 8, 13-17; 4:10-19). When the children of Israel entered into the good land, the ark went down into the Jordan, and the waters stopped. Prior to that time, they had the ark as the factor, but they did not have the faith to apply it. But at the end of their years of wandering in the wilderness, they did apply the ark in this way. This indicates that in the church life today Christ as the ark must be the factor by which we enter into Christ as the good land.
What kind of Christ do you enjoy? Do you enjoy Christ just as the Passover Lamb, as the unleavened bread, as the manna, and as the rock flowing out the living water, or do you enjoy Him as the good land? Colossians 2:6 says, “As therefore you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, walk in Him.” If our Christ is only the Passover Lamb, the manna, and the rock with the living water, how can we walk in Him? If we would walk in Christ, we must experience Him as the spacious land. The experience of Christ among most Christians is elementary; few experience Him as the good land.
We have seen that the children of Israel enjoyed the Passover lamb, the unleavened bread, the manna, and the rock with the living water. However, God did not promise Abraham that He would give such things to his descendants. God promised to give them the good land. According to Galatians 3, the blessing of the land promised to Abraham is the Spirit. The blessing of the land, this Spirit, is the Triune God who has been processed through incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection to become the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit. This Spirit is the blessing promised to Abraham’s descendants by faith.
Abraham has two kinds of descendants: the descendants in the flesh and the descendants by faith. The descendants in the flesh are the nation of Israel, and the descendants by faith are those who believe in Christ. To the descendants in the flesh the good land is a literal place; but to the descendants by faith the good land is a spiritual reality, Christ as the all-inclusive Spirit.
I am grateful to the Lord that in all the churches in the Lord’s recovery there is the ark with the tabernacle. The ark and the tabernacle typify Christ with the temporary, movable church life. Christ with such a church life is the factor by which we enter into the all-inclusive Christ typified by the land of Canaan.
Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians show us Christ and the church in the good land. In 1 Corinthians, however, we have the church at the mountain. This book speaks of the Passover and the baptism in the Red Sea, by which we are brought out of Egypt and into the wilderness. It also speaks of drinking of the spiritual rock, one of the factors that brings us to the mountain. This indicates that Christ and the church as revealed in 1 Corinthians are related to the mountain in the wilderness. Many of us have passed through this station.
My burden in this message is to point out that there is no need for us to wander through the wilderness with the ark and the tabernacle. Years ago, some of us were separated from the world, and we entered into the wilderness. Then we ascended the mountain where we saw the vision concerning God, concerning the life of God’s people, and concerning God’s dwelling place. We also erected the tabernacle at the foot of the mountain. Thus, we are Christians with the church life, at least in the temporary and movable form, the tabernacle. However, we need to press on, cross the Jordan River, and enter into the land of Canaan.
God’s chosen people had to cross two bodies of water: the Red Sea, which deals with the world, and the Jordan River, which deals with the self. The worldly forces typified by Pharaoh and his army were buried in the Red Sea. But twelve stones representing the old self of the children of Israel were buried in the Jordan (Josh. 4:1-9, 20). What frustrates us from entering into the all-inclusive Christ is not the world — it is the self. This self must be buried in the Jordan. The factor that enables the self to be buried is the ark. The twelve stones were not buried in the river before the ark went in. Rather, the ark went down into the river first. This indicates that Christ with the movable church life is the factor by which we enter into the all-inclusive Christ. The church life we have today is not the temple, but the tabernacle, the church life that is still portable. But even such a church life is a factor for entering into the good land. I can testify that Christ in such a movable church life has greatly helped me to enter into the all-inclusive Christ.
After the children of Israel entered into the good land by crossing the Jordan, they were circumcised; that is, their flesh was cut off (Josh. 5:2-4). Thus, the self was buried in the river, and the flesh was cut off by circumcision. The church life with Christ helps us both to bury the self and to cut off the flesh.
After burial and circumcision, the children of Israel began to enjoy the riches of the good land (Deut. 8:7-10; Josh. 5:10-12). At that time, the manna ceased and was replaced by the produce of the land. Through the rich enjoyment of the all-inclusive land, God’s people were strengthened to fight against God’s enemy and to establish God’s kingdom. In that kingdom the temple was built.
The Old Testament reveals two stages of the church life, the stage of the tabernacle and the stage of the temple. Our church life today may not yet be in the stage of the temple, but may still be in the stage of the tabernacle. The reason for this is that most of us are not yet walking in Christ as the good land. We can testify that Christ is our Lamb, our unleavened bread, our manna, or our rock with the living water. But we must go on to experience Christ as our spacious land. We should not only eat of Him, but we should also walk in Him.
The main hindrances to entering into the all-inclusive Christ are not worldliness and sin; they are the self and the flesh. Worldliness and sin are dealt with at the first two stations. But we still need a burial to deal with the self and a circumcision to deal with the flesh. If we are absolute to go on with the Lord, we shall eventually become willing to have our self and flesh dealt with. However, such dealings do not come easily. It is especially difficult for young people to bury the self and to cut off the flesh. In the meeting we may declare, “To me to live is Christ.” But after the meeting, we live in the self and in the flesh. We may proclaim, “No more I, but Christ liveth in me.” However, this may merely be a teaching, for in our daily living we are full of self. The self and the flesh keep us from the experience of the good land.
Look at the picture in the Old Testament again and notice that the children of Israel did not enjoy the produce of Canaan until the self had been buried and the flesh had been cut off. But as soon as these things were dealt with, the children of Israel began to enjoy the rich produce of the land. It was the riches of the land, not the manna in the wilderness, that enabled them to fight against the enemies in the good land.
After the children of Israel entered into the good land, they had to defeat the Canaanites, the enemies that were occupying the land. These enemies typify the principalities and powers in the air that seek to keep us from enjoying the all-inclusive Christ. Within us we are troubled by the self and the flesh, and above us, in the air, there are the evil powers of darkness. When we bury the self and circumcise the flesh, the powers of darkness in the air will be exposed. The self and the flesh help the evil powers. Actually, if we are still in the self and in the flesh, the principalities and powers need not do anything to hinder us, for we are already frustrated by the self and the flesh. However, as soon as we deal with the self and the flesh, the powers of darkness will come forth to war against us. Then we must learn how to fight the spiritual warfare. The spiritual warfare is fought in the good land with the support of the rich produce of Christ.
We have pointed out that the good land for us today is the Triune God processed to become the all-inclusive Spirit. The Triune God is not only our Creator, Redeemer, Savior, Master, and Lord; He is the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit. Through incarnation, human living, crucifixion, and resurrection, Christ, the embodiment of the Triune God, has been processed to become the life-giving Spirit to indwell His chosen people. Thus, the Triune God reaches us today as the life-giving Spirit.
This wonderful Spirit is now in our spirit (Rom. 8:16). First Corinthians 6:17 says that he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit. Therefore, in the New Testament we are commanded to walk in spirit (Gal. 5:16, 25; Rom. 8:4). This is the consummate commandment. Not to walk in Christ is the greatest sin a believer can commit against God. If you do not walk in Christ, you are rebellious, even though you may be very virtuous. Because God’s desire is that Christ be lived out of us, even our natural virtue is a form of rebellion against God and His economy.
We all have confessed our sins, failures, and shortcomings to the Lord. But have you ever asked the Lord to forgive you for not living by Christ? Not many Christians have prayed in this way: “Lord, forgive me for not taking You as my life today. My behavior was very good, but I did not live by You or take You as my person. Lord, forgive me for being in rebellion against You. You wanted to be lived out of me, but instead I lived according to something other than Yourself. I lived by my opinion, not by Your revelation. According to this revelation, I should walk in You. But during the whole day, Lord, I didn’t walk in You at all.” I can testify that, especially recently, I have made this kind of confession to the Lord almost every day.
It is easy to be centered on so many things other than Christ Himself. We may be centered on religion, ethics, morality, or virtue, but we are not centered on Christ. If our behavior is poor, we feel regretful and repent. But if we are short in living by Christ, we may have no feeling about it and sense no need to confess. According to John 16, the unique sin of an unbeliever is not to believe in Christ. But the primary sin of a believer is not to walk in Christ. The New Testament does not command us to walk according to a particular teaching or doctrine. But it does charge us to walk in Christ or to walk in spirit. In Galatians 5:25 Paul says, “If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.” In Romans 8:4 Paul says that the righteous requirements of the law are fulfilled by those who walk according to spirit. The spirit here in Romans 8 is the mingled spirit, the all-inclusive Spirit mingled with our spirit.
Do not think that the land of Canaan is far away and that you must wander for years before you can enter into it. On the contrary, the good land is within us, for it is the processed God who is the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit indwelling our spirit. Like Caleb in Numbers 13:30, we must believe and declare that through the church life with Christ we are well able to possess this good land.
Remember that the ark with the tabernacle is the factor by which we may enter into the good land. Praise the Lord that we have enjoyed the Passover, the sweet water, the manna, and the living water from the cleft rock. We also praise Him that at the mountain we have seen the vision concerning God and His economy and that we have built the tabernacle, the temporary church life. Thus, we all have the ark with the tabernacle, Christ with the movable church life, as the factor by which to enter into the land. Because of this factor, we may have the boldness to enter into our spirit to enjoy the all-inclusive Spirit as the good land.
Let us forget religion, philosophy, ethics, and even spiritual seeking, and let us care for Christ and for having direct contact with Him in our spirit. We must learn to not do anything or say anything apart from Christ. In John 15:4 the Lord said, “Abide in Me and I in you.” In the next verse He said, “Apart from Me you can do nothing.” We need to have our living and our being in Christ as the good land. He is both the center and the circumference, both the centrality and the universality. As the good land, He is everything to us. Our final goal must be to pass through the wilderness and the mountain into the good land. Let us enter into this land to possess the all-inclusive Christ and to enjoy His unsearchable riches that God’s kingdom may be established and that the temple may be built.
