Message 128
(13)
Scripture Reading: Exo. 28:30; Lev. 8:8; Num. 27:21; Deut. 33:8-10; Ezra 2:63; 1 Sam. 23:6, 9-12; 28:6
In the foregoing message we pointed out that the Urim and Thummim were added into the breastplate to make it the breastplate of judgment. We also considered the qualifications of those who used the breastplate and how it was applied to various people in the Old Testament. Furthermore, we saw that the Urim typifies Christ as the illuminator. Now we shall go on to consider the significance of the Thummim and how the Urim and the Thummim may be applied to our experience today.
According to an appendix concerning the Urim and the Thummim in David Baron’s book The Ancient Scriptures and the Modern Jew, the Thummim contained four letters of the Hebrew alphabet that were not used in the names of the twelve tribes and therefore not inscribed on the twelve precious stones in the breastplate. The Hebrew word for Thummim means completers, perfecters, and it typifies Christ as the completer and perfecter. We do not know how the Urim and the Thummim were added to the breastplate. However, we do know that both the Urim and the Thummim typify Christ and that the breastplate typifies the church. Therefore, the Urim and the Thummim added to the breastplate typify Christ added to the church.
The twelve precious stones in the breastplate typify the believers, the components of the church, inscribed with Christ as the letters of the spiritual alphabet. According to the book of Revelation, Christ is the Alpha and the Omega. Since He is the first letter and the last, He is no doubt all the letters in between. This means that Christ is the alphabet used to compose words, sentences, paragraphs, chapters, and books. The letters inscribed on the twelve stones in the breastplate typify Christ as the letters in the heavenly alphabet.
According to the appendix in David Baron’s book, four letters of the Hebrew alphabet were not inscribed on the stones set in the breastplate. Therefore, in order to have a complete Hebrew alphabet, it was necessary for the remaining letters to be supplied. That appendix also says that these four Hebrew letters were found on the Thummim. The Thummim, then, was a completer, a perfecter, of the letters on the breastplate. This indicates that no matter how much of Christ has been inscribed into us, we still are not complete. Some letters, something of Christ, are still missing. We need the completing Christ, the One who bears these missing letters.
The Urim added to the breastplate caused the twelve precious stones to shine. If some stones had been missing, there would have been a dark spot on the breastplate, indicating that something of Christ is missing. But the important point here is that even with all the stones inscribed with letters signifying the believers inscribed with Christ, there was still something missing. This signifies that even if the church is complete, perfect, and without defects or shortcomings, something of Christ is still missing. Hence, there is the need for the Christ typified by the Thummim to be added to the church, the breastplate.
Often the leading ones in the church realize that no matter how much the saints in their locality have been experiencing Christ or how much of Christ has been inscribed into them, something of Christ is still missing. All the believers need something additional of Christ. Although the saints may experience Christ and have Christ inscribed into their being, they are still short of Christ. Only Christ Himself can supply what is missing. Therefore, we need Christ as the completion. Furthermore, no matter how much we have experienced Christ and have had Him inscribed upon us, we shall still be in darkness if we depend on ourselves. We need Christ as the light, as the Urim, to be added to the church. Even though the precious stones on the breastplate had been inscribed with the names of all twelve of the tribes, there were still some Hebrew letters missing. Likewise, even though we may be rich in the experience of Christ, something of Christ is still lacking and can be made up by Him alone. We should never think that we have exhausted Christ. No, He is inexhaustible. Even after experiencing Him over a long period of time, we must admit that something of Christ is still missing. Therefore, we need Christ to be added to us. When this missing portion of Christ is added, we have the completion and the shining.
Christ is the spiritual alphabet for inscription and also for completion. The Christ whom we experience is the One who is inscribed into us. But even though we may have a great deal of Christ inscribed into us, we are still missing something of Christ. When we realize this, we may say, “I cannot have this completion in myself, but I can have it through the church.” However, if you try to find this completion in the church, you will not be successful. The church itself also needs this completion. Therefore, even if you have the church, you still need Christ as your completion.
The fact that Christ is the alphabet for inscription and completion indicates that He is inexhaustible. We may have Him as the letters for inscription, but we still need Him as the letters for completion. We can never exhaust Christ, for although we may enjoy His inscription, there is still something more of Him that we need for completion.
By the Lord’s mercy and grace, I have been experiencing Christ for many years. When I went to Shanghai the first time, I was helped to experience Christ in a way I had not experienced Him in the past. After that visit to Shanghai, I returned to the north, where I held a conference and gave messages on Christ. I learned that no matter what my experience of Christ had been, while I was giving those messages, I realized that I had actually experienced very little of Christ. Regarding the experience of Christ, I then tried to receive help from the saints and from the church. However, I discovered that others were even more poor than I in experiencing Christ. In Shanghai I thought that I had experienced Christ to a great degree. But when I returned to the north and gave messages on Christ, I learned that I had not experienced Him very much at all. That was when I discovered what a great shortage there was among us with respect to the experience of Christ. Some saints had very little experience, and other saints had virtually no experience at all.
If you carefully examine the situation of Christians today, you will find out what poverty there is concerning the inscription of Christ. A certain believer may be very good, but he may still be opaque, lacking both in transformation and in the inscribing of Christ. Although such a believer has truly been saved, he has not yet been inscribed with Christ.
One day Brother Nee, referring to certain persons, asked me if I thought they had been regenerated. I knew those persons rather well and answered that it seemed to me that they had been saved. Brother Nee, somewhat in a joking way, replied, “Perhaps they have been saved, but not regenerated.” When I asked him how it was possible for someone to be saved without being regenerated, he answered, “Doctrinally, there is no such thing as a person who is saved but not regenerated. But according to actual experience, it seems that certain ones have been saved without being regenerated. No doubt, they have been redeemed by the blood, but although we have known them for years, we have never met their regenerated spirit. There is no question that they have been redeemed by the blood of Christ, but there is no indication of the Spirit that they have a regenerated spirit. They just don’t know to exercise their spirit.” It was surely the case that with these ones there was no inscription of Christ.
A particular saint may be a good brother or a nice sister, but how much of Christ has been inscribed into that one? How much of Christ has been inscribed into you? You may have to admit that little of Christ has been inscribed into your being. Because this is the situation with so many saints, in recent years my burden has become more and more heavy. It is possible to have thousands of local churches with tens of thousands of saints, but with little experience of Christ. How much have the saints in your locality been experiencing Christ? How much inscription of Christ do they have? If we consider our situation in this way, we may be somewhat disappointed.
At this point I would say a word to those who live in a brothers’ house or in a sisters’ house. How much of Christ has been inscribed into those with whom you live? We have seen that each of the twelve precious stones on the breastplate was inscribed with one of the names of the tribes of Israel. However, if you consider those with whom you live in a brothers’ or sisters’ house, you may find that no one has even one complete word inscribed on him or her. In some cases, only a part of a letter may be inscribed. The brothers and sisters may be very good, but it is difficult to see in them the clear and definite inscription of Christ. It is one thing to be a good brother or a nice sister; it is a very different matter to have the definite experience of Christ.
Consider once again the precious stones in the breastplate. Each stone was transparent, and each had been inscribed properly and definitely. For example, the name of the tribe of Judah had been inscribed into one of the stones. But, with many saints today there is a shortage of the clear and definite inscription of Christ. However, with some saints there are the definite experiences of Christ and the clear inscription of Christ. These saints have experienced Christ as the spiritual alphabet.
The situation of most of today’s Christians is far short of what God desires. The experience of Christ has been almost completely neglected by Christians throughout the centuries. Many have received edification, but few have had Christ inscribed into them. Before you came into the church life, you may have been edified in certain ways, but how much of the inscription of Christ did you have? You may have to admit that, although you were saved and regenerated, you did not have anything of Christ inscribed into you. Some among us were missionaries before they came into the Lord’s recovery. But although they labored on the mission field for years, they still did not have the clear and definite experiences of Christ. Rather, their experience was vague and indefinite.
Before I went to Shanghai in 1933, I spent more than seven years with the Brethren, from whom I learned a great deal about typology and prophecy. But after spending a number of weeks in Shanghai, I realized that during those years I had very little experience of Christ. Many of us have been in a similar situation. We gained knowledge about the Bible, but not very much of Christ was inscribed into us. For this reason, I am deeply concerned that the saints in all the churches have the proper experiences of Christ.
Even if we are like the twelve precious stones on the breastplate — transformed, transparent, and inscribed — we still are not complete or perfect. Therefore, we need to humble ourselves and say, “Lord Jesus, we are not yet complete. Because we are still imperfect, Lord, we need You to be our addition and completion. Lord, as an individual member of the church, I need You. Not only so, Lord, the whole church needs You. Even if as the church we are rich in experiencing You, we are yet missing something of You. Lord, we still need You to be added to us.”
