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In this message we shall again devote our attention to the two pillars at the temple. We have seen that when Jacob was first at Bethel, he set up as a pillar the stone he had used for a pillow and called it the house of God (Gen. 28:18, 22). We have pointed out again and again that nearly everything in the book of Genesis is a seed that is developed in the following books of the Bible. The full development of the seed of the pillar is in Revelation 3:12, where the Lord Jesus says, "He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God." Between Genesis and Revelation, there are many portions of the Word concerning the pillars. Each time the two pillars at the temple are mentioned we see more of the details regarding them. Not every aspect of the pillars is found in any single portion.
Today's Christians have very little concern for God's building, which is for the accomplishment of God's economy. Although most Christians neglect this, the Bible strongly emphasizes it. If we would know the building, according to the biblical way, we must firstly see the pillar, for the pillar is a signboard of God's building. If we see what the pillar is and decide to become a pillar, then we are on the way of God's building. The pillar is so crucial that the Bible mentions it over and over again. Because most Christians have no understanding of God's building, they do not pay attention to those portions of Scripture which mention the pillar. But by the Lord's mercy we have been so deeply impressed with the pillar that we simply cannot get away from it. The Bible has no wasted words. Hence, whatever it reveals is meaningful and crucial for us. Because, at this end time, God is completing His building, we must carefully consider what the pillar is and how we can become a pillar.
I would like now to stress three positive aspects and two negative aspects of the pillars covered in the last message. The three positive aspects are the brass, the lily, and the pomegranates. The pillars themselves were made of brass. On the top of the capital were the lilies and around the capital were the pomegranates. I doubt that any human designer would ever have put these three things together. But how crucial and meaningful it all is to us! Brass signifies death under judgment. We must be under judgment, realizing that we are good for nothing but death and that we have been crucified (Gal. 2:20). Furthermore, we all have been buried in baptism (Rom. 6:4). Thus, we are a people under the judgment of death. But after death comes resurrection, and the lily grows upon us in resurrection. The pomegranates surrounding the capital signify the expression of the riches of life. Therefore, in the pillars we see death, resurrection, and the expression of life. Praise the Lord that many of us can testify that day by day we are the brass growing lilies and expressing pomegranates. Are you not such a person? If you are not, then you are not qualified to be a pillar and you have nothing to do with God's building.
The two negative aspects of the pillars are the checkerwork (the network) and the chainwork. The checkerwork and chainwork signify the intermixed and complicated situation. The checkerwork is a lattice composed of intersecting bars. This indicates that, in our experience, we are daily being crossed out. As we undergo this, we are held by the chainwork. Many times we brothers are under the crossing out of our dear wives. Although we may desire to escape this, we are held by the chains and cannot slip away. We may be cut into pieces, but not one piece can escape. The sisters can all testify of the same thing in relation to their husbands. Some in the church life say that they cannot bear the crossing out of the elders. However, the chainwork is also there. In the church life we have both the checkerwork and the chainwork. Praise the Lord for these two negative things, because the brass, the lily, and the pomegranates can only be connected by them.
Not long after I was saved, I learned that I had been crucified with Christ. But I did not know how this crucifixion could practically be applied to me. It is applied by the checkerwork, the network. Without the network and the chainwork, our co-crucifixion with Christ and His living instead of us would be mere doctrine. We may know the doctrine of being crucified with Christ and recite Galatians 2:20 over and over only to discover that this does not avail. I did this again and again without success. I repeated the words, "I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me." Later, I experienced the network and the chainwork in the church life. It has been through these two negative things that the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ have been practically applied to my life. Eventually, therefore, the three positive things and the two negative things become one unit. We have the brass, the lily, and the pomegranates joined by the checkerwork and the chainwork. All five are joined in the pillar.
In addition to all the points covered in the previous message, we must cover nine further points in this message. God, His Word, and His dealing with us are not simple.
On the top of the capitals which were on the pillars were two bowls (2 Chron. 4:12; 2 Kings 25:17). Each bowl, including the network, was two cubits high (see definition below). What does this signify? The bowls are round. (Darby translates the Hebrew word for bowls as "globes.") On the top of each capital there were two bowls, one above the other. Around the capitals were "chains like a necklace," or "chains at the collar," (2 Chron. 3:16, Amplified Bible; Darby's New Translation) that divided the capital into two sections. The first section was the base. Although 1 Kings 7:16 says that the capitals were five cubits high, 2 Kings 25:17 says that the capitals were three cubits high. The reason for this is that three cubits is the height of the base of the capital and five cubits is the height of the whole capital. In other words, there were three cubits for the base and two for the bowls. Here, the number three does not signify the Triune God. Rather, it signifies the process of resurrection. In the Bible, two numbers, three and eight, signify resurrection. Three signifies the process of resurrection, and eight, the first day of a new week, denotes the freshness of resurrection, the new beginning in resurrection. The three cubits of the base of the capital are closely related to the network and the chainwork. This reveals that the network and the chainwork are for the process of resurrection. Moreover, the number two, the height of the two bowls, signifies testimony. The two cubits of the two bowls on the two capitals of the two pillars signify testimony by living as a lily and by expressing the riches of life.
If you read all the portions concerning the two pillars, you will realize that the bowls are composed of the network, the chainwork, the lilies, and the pomegranates. The pomegranates are not on the base of the capital, but on the chainwork surrounding the bowls. The network covers the bowls, the chainwork surrounds the bowls, the pomegranates are upon the chainwork, and the lily grows upon the network. All these things together are the bowl. If you consider this in the light of your experience, you will realize that through the crossing out by the network and the restriction of the chainwork, you live as a lily to express the riches of the life of Christ. This is a living testimony coming out of the process of resurrection.
In our homes we are in the checkerwork and held by the chainwork. This is also true with the brothers and sisters in the church. Those who serve in the business office have undoubtedly experienced the checkerwork and the chainwork there. Surely in the business office there is much checkerwork and chainwork. But along with the checkerwork and the chainwork, there are also the three days. All those who serve in the business office are on the way of the three days, that is, they are in the process of resurrection.
The lilies appear on the top of the bowls on the third day. It does not matter how nice, gentle, or humble we are, for none of this is the lily. Rather, it is our natural life. The more we experience the crossing out, the more the lily grows on the third day. Every brother desires to have a nice wife, and every sister wants a gentle husband. However, no matter how nice or gentle we are, we are not lilies. The lily only grows on the third day in the midst of the checkerwork and the chainwork. When in all the intermixed and complicated situations we come to the third day, the lily will grow. Then we shall also have the pomegranates, the expression of the riches of life. This is the bowl — the glory, beauty, decoration, and crown. This is a testimony. I hope that the Spirit will speak more of this to you.
We all have been judged and we need to judge ourselves under God's judgment. It is easy to be a brass pillar, saying, "I'm fallen, corrupted, sinful, and good for nothing but death." But to pass through the three days of the process of resurrection in the midst of the crossing out of the checkerwork and the limitation of the chainwork is very difficult. But the more we are in the checkerwork and the chainwork, the more we are in the three days, the more the lily grows, and the more of the pomegranates we express. Then we become a living testimony, not of anything natural, but of the process of resurrection under the crossing out of the checkerwork and the restraint of the chainwork. There is no escape. We must stay in the checkerwork and chainwork. It is exactly like being buried for three days and coming out through the process of resurrection. As we pass through this experience, the lily grows and the pomegranates are expressed. Every pillar must bear the testimony of living by faith to express the riches of Christ through the process of resurrection under the crossing out of the checkerwork and the restriction of the chainwork. The brass in the two pillars in front of the temple indicates that we are under the death-judgment, which brings us into the process of resurrection, signified by the three-cubit height of the base of the capitals. This process of resurrection brings us through the network and the chainwork to grow the lily and to bear the pomegranates for a testimony. This is the way for the pillar to bear the responsibility, signified by the five cubits, the total height of the capitals.
The bowls on the capitals were not square, but round. This roundness signifies that living by faith in God and bearing responsibility in the midst of all the complications is not legal but always flexible. When we live in the Spirit, nothing is legal. Rather, we are flexible in every situation. Both the young and the old are legal. The old have their old legal way, and the young have their fresh legal way. Because of this, I am reluctant to give many instructions during the training. If I do this, all the young will take these instructions in a fresh legal way. Nearly every Christian is legally square. If we are not square, then we are triangular or even pentagonal. Some of the older sisters like to eat and go to bed at an exact time. This legality has killed many of the young people. While it is good for you to be regulated, for the sake of others, you need to be flexible. Some elders are very square. However, others are so round that they are political. A politician has no sides. Although we should be round we should not be politically round. Those who serve in the business office should be round. If you are square in your serving, you will kill everyone. Instead of being square, you must be flexible to fit into every situation. This is the way we should be in our daily living. As we are in the midst of the checkerwork and the chainwork, we must be flexible.
Second Chronicles 4:13 says that there were "four hundred pomegranates on the two networks, two rows of pomegranates on each network, to cover the two bowls of the capitals which were upon the pillars" (Heb.). There were four hundred pomegranates on the two networks, with two rows on each network to cover the two bowls of the capitals upon the pillars. Why does it not say that there were three hundred or five hundred pomegranates? The Lord Jesus said that we can bear fruit thirtyfold, sixtyfold, and a hundredfold (Matt. 13:8). The hundredfold increase is the highest. Thus, we can express the riches of life a hundredfold. We know that the number four signifies us, the human creatures. The hundredfold expression of the riches of life is upon the creatures. That the four hundred pomegranates were arranged in two rows on each of the two pillars indicates a testimony. We must be strong, not simply in declaring that we are the testimony of Jesus, but in having a testimony by living. We need a testimony of the experience of the riches of the life of Christ four hundredfold. Although we may have problems in the church life, in our work, and at home, we also have the life of the lily, which, in the Bible, signifies a life lived by trusting in God. The Lord knows that I daily have one problem after another. If we live by ourselves, we cannot bear these problems. But we are lilies among thorns (S.S. 2:2). The thorns are just the problems. Our wife, children, grandchildren, the elders, and the co-workers are all "thorns." Although I am surrounded by so many "thorns," I praise the Lord that I am still living. I have not been "thorned" to death. I am living today, not like a giant, but like a lily. I do not live by my ability, but by faith in my God. I am simply a lily among thorns. The more thorns there are, the better, because the thorns give the opportunity for the Lord's ability to be expressed. We are different from the worldly people, who have no God in whom to trust.
Many seeking Christians are looking for a church life that is heavenly in every respect. They want everyone in this heavenly church life to be an angel. I am not imagining this; I have actually met people like this. Many of these seeking ones have traveled from "church" to "church" in pursuit of such a heavenly "church." If they find one, their heavenly "church" is soon exposed to be more than earthly. The way to determine whether or not a church is proper is mainly by the ground of the church, not by our measure of the heavenliness of the church. Today on earth there is not an angelic, heavenly church. Shortly after coming into the church life, you will find yourself in the midst of "thorns" and you will say, "I thought everyone here was an angel. But now I see that many of them are not angels but thorns. I cannot bear this." Although I may be a "thorn" to you, you also are a "thorn" to me. Eventually, we "thorn" one another and love one another. This "thorning" helps us grow. During the past three years in Anaheim, this "thorning" has helped us to grow. If everything in the church were smooth and angelic, there would be no testimony of the riches of life.
Out of one hundred pomegranates, ninety-six were exposed to the open air (Jer. 52:23). Since every row had one hundred pomegranates, why did Jeremiah 52:23 suddenly speak of ninety-six pomegranates? Because the record in Jeremiah 52:23 concerns the destruction of the pillars by the Babylonian army, some think that four of the pomegranates on each row of chainwork were broken. But if you read this chapter carefully, you will see that this was not the case. The King James Version says, "There were ninety and six pomegranates on a side." This rendering is incorrect. The Hebrew words translated "on a side" should be "towards the air." Hence, this verse should read, "There were ninety and six pomegranates towards the air, and all the pomegranates upon the network were an hundred round about." Notice that all the pomegranates upon the network numbered one hundred. All were there, but only ninety-six were towards the air. The Hebrew word translated "side" in the King James Version is ruach, the word for spirit, wind, breath, and air. Ruach denotes something real yet invisible. The New American Standard Version says that there were ninety-six "exposed pomegranates." However, the margin gives the literal translation of "windward," which means towards the wind or towards the air.
Ninety-six pomegranates were exposed and four were covered. What is the significance of this? Ninety-six is composed of twelve times eight. Twelve signifies eternal completion, eight signifies resurrection, and the air signifies the Spirit. Therefore, the expression of the riches of life is eternally complete, in resurrection, and in the Spirit. This is the nature and atmosphere of our expression of life. Our expression of the riches of life is twelve, eternal; it is not seven, temporal. Moreover, it is also the number eight, the freshness of resurrection, not the number three, the process of resurrection. Here, it is not the process of resurrection, but the freshness, the beginning, the new start, of resurrection. Also, it is absolutely a matter in the Spirit. That the ninety-six pomegranates were exposed to the open air means that the expression of the riches of life is in the reality of the spiritual air, which is invisible. While we can sense it, we cannot touch it. In John 3:8, the Lord Jesus spoke of both the wind and the Spirit, saying, "The wind blows where it wills, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit." The regeneration of the Spirit resembles the moving of the wind. The wind blows and the Spirit regenerates. Our expression of the riches of life is not only eternal and in the freshness of resurrection, but is absolutely in the atmosphere of the Spirit. Whenever people see upon us the expression of the riches of life, they will immediately sense that they are in the Spirit and that there is some fresh wind, air, and atmosphere there. However, whenever we enter into a situation filled with death, we sense stuffiness. But when we are in a situation filled with the expression of the riches of life, we find ourselves in a spiritual atmosphere and sense that refreshing air is present. This is what it means for ninety-six pomegranates to be towards the air.
Of each hundred pomegranates, four were hidden. Because the Bible has no wasted words, there must be some significance relating to our experience in this verse. The only way I can understand it is by experience. That four of every one hundred pomegranates were hidden indicates that while our expression of the riches of life is eternal, in resurrection, and in the Spirit, our natural being, signified by the number four, must be covered. Our natural life, our natural being, our self, and our ego must be wholly concealed. Although I have sought to discover how these pomegranates were hidden, I have been unable to do so. It is a mystery known only to the Lord. However, if we examine our experience, we shall say, "Amen." When the riches of Christ are expressed, others can see the eternal expression of the riches of life in resurrection and in the atmosphere of the Spirit, but it is difficult to say where our natural man is. How meaningful it is to see that our ego is covered! Whenever "I" appears, the big number four will be there, but the ninety-six will be gone. Instead of air, there will just be the natural life, the old man, and the ego. But whenever the number four disappears, we shall have the ninety-six pomegranates, the rich expression of the life of Christ in the open air.
Jeremiah 52:21 says, "The thickness thereof was four fingers: it was hollow." Each pillar was a cylinder whose walls were four fingers thick, and within each pillar was a large hollow space. This signifies that God's building is of the human creature, represented by the number four, filled with the Spirit. Undoubtedly, the brass pillar is the condemned and judged human creature. Within the judged creature is an empty space that must be filled with an invisible reality. We should not be muddy, thin, and filled with sand, for then there would be no hollow space within. Rather, we must be brass, four fingers thick, and hollow. Then it will be possible for our hollow space to be filled with reality, the Spirit.
Second Chronicles 3:15 says, "Also he made for the front of the house two pillars of thirty and five cubits long" (Heb.). The two pillars had a combined height of thirty-five cubits, with one cubit covered. In the last message I said that each of the standing boards in the tabernacle was one and a half cubits wide. These boards stood horizontally side by side. But with the pillars it is not only a matter of being horizontal, but also of being vertical. The pillars were measured vertically, with one standing above another. This indicates that God's building is not only horizontal, but also vertical with some part hidden. Although it is easy for two brothers to stand side by side, it is difficult for one brother to be under the other. It is also difficult to be above others. If the building is to be strong, it must be vertical. The more vertical it is, the more space there will be. We should not only stand side by side with one another, but also above one another. In order to stand side by side, there is no need of sacrifice or to have any part covered. But if we would stand vertically, there is the need for some part to be covered.
3 Kings 7:15 says that each pillar was eighteen cubits high, but 2 Chron. 3:15 indicates that the two pillars were thirty-five cubits long. According to 2 Chron. 3:15, one cubit is missing. This cubit must have been covered and sacrificed. One reference book says that half a cubit went into each of the pedestals. I do not accept this explanation because the Bible does not say that the pillars had a pedestal or a base. Another reference book says that a cubit was lost in the joint to the capital. I believe this explanation to be correct. This means that in order to be vertical, there is the need of sacrifice. If you consider your experience, you will see that there is no sacrifice required to be side by side with others. But if you would be under someone, like the pillar under the capital, you must sacrifice. If you do not sacrifice, you cannot have anyone above you. You would either cast others away or leap over them. In order to let others be above you, you must give in and sacrifice a part of yourself. Sisters, you need to sacrifice so that someone can be above you. You should not only be measured horizontally but also vertically. Throughout the years, I have always been under someone. To be under others is to bear others and to be partly covered by them. It is by this sacrifice that we can have the vertical building.
First Kings 7:17 says, "And nets of checkerwork, and wreaths of chainwork, for the capitals which were upon the top of the pillars; seven for the one capital, and seven for the other capital." Here we see that the network and the chainwork on the two capitals were seven on each. This indicates that all the complicated situations are temporal, not eternal. All the crossing, breaking, and suppressing are temporary, yet they are complete, for they are in the number seven. One day, all this will be over, and there will be no more checkerwork and chainwork. Instead of network and an entwined wreath, we shall have a golden crown.
Notice that in these two pillars the number three is hidden. This indicates that the Triune God is hidden. That the pillars are twelve cubits in circumference and capitals four cubits in diameter implies the presence of the number three. The number three, the Triune God, is real but invisible. In every situation the Triune God is real, but He is hidden.
The brass, the lily, and the pomegranates are all on the two pillars. This reveals that death, resurrection, and the expression of life are all a testimony in God's building. Today, we are here with this testimony. All these points are crucial, and I hope that you will spend time to pray and fellowship about them until they get into you and become your experience. Then we shall know what a pillar is and how we can become a pillar.
