THE THIRD PART: 24 CRUCIAL LINES IN THE BIBLE
Christ and the Church
Message Two
Christ and the Church Typified by the Four Couples
in the Old Testament
Scripture Reading: Gen. 2:18-25; John 19:34; Eph. 5:25-27, 32; Rev. 19:7; 21:2, 9-10; 22:17
I. The entire Bible is a divine romance, a record of how God courts His chosen people and eventually marries them—Gen. 2:21-24; S. S. 1:2-4; Isa. 54:5; 62:5; Jer. 2:2; 3:1, 14; 31:32; Ezek. 16:8; 23:5; Hosea 2:7, 19. (2013 ST, msg. 8)
II. In Genesis 2 we see a picture of Christ and the church in the types of Adam and Eve—cf. Eph. 5:22-32: (2013 ST, msg. 8)
A. Adam typifies God in Christ as the real, universal Husband, who is seeking a wife for Himself—Rom. 5:14; cf. Isa. 54:5; John 3:29; 2 Cor. 11:2; Eph. 5:31-32; Rev. 21:9. (2013 ST, msg. 8)
B. “Jehovah God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper as his counterpart”—Gen. 2:18. (2013 ST, msg. 8)
C. “Jehovah God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh in its place”—Gen. 2:21: (2013 ST, msg. 8)
1. Adam’s deep sleep for the producing of Eve as his wife typifies Christ’s death on the cross for the producing of the church as His counterpart—Eph. 5:25-27. (2013 ST, msg. 8)
2. Through such a process God in Christ has been wrought into man with His life and nature so that man can be the same as God in life and nature in order to match Him as His counterpart. (2013 ST, msg. 8)
D. “Jehovah God built the rib, which He had taken from the man, into a woman and brought her to the man”—Gen. 2:22. (2013 ST, msg. 8)
E. “The man said, This time this is bone of my bones / And flesh of my flesh; / This one shall be called Woman / Because out of Man this one was taken. Therefore, a man shall leave his father and his mother and shall cleave to his wife, and they shall become one flesh”—Gen. 2:23-24. (2013 ST, msg. 8)
F. Adam and Eve becoming one flesh, a complete unit, is a figure of God and man being joined as one; the coming New Jerusalem will be the eternal union of God and man, a universal couple as a complete unit composed of divinity and humanity. (2013 ST, msg. 8)
III. We have a type portraying Christ and the church, symbolized by the marriage of Isaac and Rebekah—Gen. 24: (Truth Lessons, Lev. 3, Vol. 1, lsn. 8)
A. Genesis 25:5 also tells us that “Abraham gave all that he had to Isaac”: (Truth Lessons, Lev. 3, Vol. 1, lsn. 8)
B. Isaac took Rebekah as his wife, who was of his father’s house and of his kindred; this typifies that Christ desires to obtain the church, which is of the same blood and flesh as He is, to be His counterpart—Gen. 24:2-4; Heb. 2:14: (Truth Lessons, Lev. 3, Vol. 1, lsn. 8)
1. The counterpart of Christ must come from Christ’s race, not from the angels nor from any other creatures, but from the human race. (Truth Lessons, Lev. 3, Vol. 1, lsn. 8)
2. Christ’s desire is to obtain the church, which is of the same blood and flesh as He is, to be His beloved counterpart for the satisfaction of His heart’s intent. (Truth Lessons, Lev. 3, Vol. 1, lsn. 8)
C. Just as Isaac is a type of Christ, so Isaac’s wife Rebekah is a type of Christ’s counterpart, the church—Gen. 24:14; Rev. 19:7. (Truth Lessons, Lev. 3, Vol. 1, lsn. 8)
D. Rebekah was given to Isaac and married to him, and the two became one flesh; thus, Isaac was comforted, and she also enjoyed all the riches which Isaac had inherited from his father; this typifies that the church is given to Christ to become one with Him as His beloved counterpart for His full satisfaction and thus to be able to enjoy all the riches which He has inherited from God the Father. (Truth Lessons, Lev. 3, Vol. 1, lsn. 8)
IV. Boaz is a type of Christ, and Ruth is a type not only of the seeking saints but of the church—Ruth. 2:1, 14-16; 3:15; Eph. 3:8; 2 Cor. 12:9; Phil. 1:19b; Eph. 5:23-32; John. 3:29-30: (Life-Study of Ruth, msg. 6)
A. Boaz typifies Christ in two aspects: (Life-Study of Ruth, msg. 6)
1. As a man, rich in wealth and generous in giving, Boaz typifies Christ, whose divine riches are unsearchable and who takes care of God’s needy people with His bountiful supply—Ruth 2:1, 14-16; 3:15; Eph. 3:8; 2 Cor. 12:9; Phil. 1:19b. (Life-Study of Ruth, msg. 6)
2. As a kinsman of Mahlon, the dead husband of Ruth, who redeemed the lost right of Mahlon’s property and took Mahlon’s widow, Ruth, as his wife for the producing of the needed heirs, Boaz typifies Christ in redeeming the church and making the church His counterpart for His increase—4:9-10, 13; Eph. 5:23-32; John 3:29-30. (Life-Study of Ruth, msg. 6)
B. Ruth typifies the church: (Life-Study of Ruth, msg. 6)
1. Ruth typifies the church, before her salvation, as men in God’s creation and sinners in man’s fall being “our old man”—Rom. 6:6. (Life-Study of Ruth, msg. 6))
2. Ruth typifies the church with her old man as her crucified husband redeemed by Christ—7:4a. (Life-Study of Ruth, msg. 6)
3. Ruth, after being redeemed by Boaz, becoming a new wife to him typifies the church, after being saved, through the regeneration of the church’s natural man, becoming the counterpart of Christ—v. 4b. (Life-Study of Ruth, msg. 6)
C. Ruth being united to Boaz typifies the Gentile sinners being attached to Christ that they may partake of the inheritance of God’s promise—Eph. 3:6. (Life-Study of Ruth, msg. 6)
V. The Shulammite was Solomon’s queen; Solomon typifies the resurrected and glorified Christ; hence, the Shulammite typifies the church in resurrection and glorification—1 S. S. 6:13: (CWWL, 1956, vol. 2, “Three Aspects of the Church, Book 1: The Meaning of the Church”, ch. 9)
A. Solomon typifies the glorious aspect of Christ, that is, His power in His ascension—Heb. 2:7, 9; Acts 1:16: (CWWL, 1956, vol. 2, “Three Aspects of the Church, Book 1: The Meaning of the Church”, ch. 9)
1. Christ’s being in the heavens now, His coming back to the earth in the future, and His living in us and being with us today are all in glory; Solomon is a type of Christ in glory—Col. 1:27. (CWWL, 1956, vol. 2, “Three Aspects of the Church, Book 1: The Meaning of the Church”, ch. 9)
2. The One into whom we believe is the Christ in resurrection; He overcame the constraints of man, resurrected, and is in the Holy Spirit; He came out of death and entered into glory; this glory is resurrection and also the Spirit—Acts 2:24. (CWWL, 1956, vol. 2, “Three Aspects of the Church, Book 1: The Meaning of the Church”, ch. 9)
B. The Shulammite, as a type of the church, centers on the church in resurrection and the way that the church enjoys and experiences the resurrected Christ—S. S. 2:8-10. (CWWL, 1956, vol. 2, “Three Aspects of the Church, Book 1: The Meaning of the Church”, ch. 9)
C. There is a complete union and full satisfaction between the Shulammite and Solomon, and in this satisfaction there is rest—Rev. 22:17: (CWWL, 1956, vol. 2, “Three Aspects of the Church, Book 1: The Meaning of the Church”, ch. 9)
1. At the end of Song of Songs, the Shulammite and Solomon have reached complete harmony with full satisfaction and endless rest without any distraction or interruption; this typifies the New Jerusalem—21:2-3. (CWWL, 1956, vol. 2, “Three Aspects of the Church, Book 1: The Meaning of the Church”, ch. 9)
2. The union and satisfaction between the Shulammite and Solomon typify the complete union and full satisfaction that exist between Christ and the church; in this satisfaction, Christ and the church are living a life of satisfaction and peace in endless rest; rest and satisfaction are characteristics of the New Jerusalem. (CWWL, 1956, vol. 2, “Three Aspects of the Church, Book 1: The Meaning of the Church”, ch. 9)