THE THIRD PART: 24 CRUCIAL LINES IN THE BIBLE
God’s Building
Message Three
Crucial Types of God’s Building in the Old Testament
Scripture Reading: Gen. 2:22; John 12:24; 1 Pet. 1:3; Gen. 13:18; 35:1; 28:12; Exo. 15:18; 1 Kings 6:1, John 2:19-21; 1:14; Col. 2:9; Ezek. 40:1; Deut. 8:7; Hag. 1:2-15; Matt. 19:28; Acts 3:20-21
I. The building of Eve with the rib taken from Adam’s side typifies the building of the church with the resurrection life released from Christ through His death on the cross and imparted into His believers in His resurrection—Gen. 2:22; John 12:24; 1 Pet. 1:3: (Genesis 2:22, footnote 1, Recovery Version)
A. The church as the real Eve is the totality of Christ in all His believers—Eph. 5:28-30. (Genesis 2:22, footnote 1, Recovery Version)
B. Only that which comes out of Christ with His resurrection life can be His complement and counterpart, the Body of Christ—1 Cor. 12:12; Eph. 5:28-30. (Genesis 2:22, footnote 1, Recovery Version)
II. Abraham’s tent with the altar built by him was a prefigure of the tabernacle with the altar built by the children of Israel after the exodus from Egypt—Exo. 40; Gen. 13:18. (Genesis 13:18, footnote 1, Recovery Version)
III. God’s purpose according to His heart’s desire is to have Bethel, His house on earth—Gen. 35:1; 28:12: (Genesis 35:1, footnote 1, Recovery Version)
A. God desires to have a house on earth—1 Tim. 3:15; Gen. 28:20-22. (Genesis 28:12, footnote 1, Recovery Version)
B. His intention is to transform His called ones into stones, material for His building—1 Pet. 2:5; Eph. 2:22; 1 Cor. 3:16-17, 11. (Genesis 28:12, footnote 1, Recovery Version)
IV. The breastplate on the ephod signifies the church as the building together of God’s redeemed people upon Christ—Exo. 28:15; 1 Cor. 3:10-12a: (Exodus 28:15, footnote 2, Recovery Version)
A. The twelve precious stones set in gold symbolize the saints as transformed precious stones built together in the divine nature of Christ to become one entity, the church as Christ’s Body—Exo. 15:17-20; 1 Cor. 3:10-12a. (Exodus 28:15, footnote 2, Recovery Version)
B. The entire ephod with its shoulder pieces and the breastplate are a marvelous portrait of Christ with the church—Eph. 1:22-23. (Exodus 28:15, footnote 2, Recovery Version)
V. The temple replaced the tabernacle as God’s dwelling on earth; the temple first signifies the incarnated Christ, the embodiment of God as God’s dwelling on the earth—1 Kings 6:1; John 2:19-21, 1:14; Col. 2:9: (1 Kings 6:1, footnote 2, Recovery Version)
A. It also signifies the church, including all the believers, the members of Christ, as the enlargement of Christ to be God’s dwelling on the earth—1 Cor. 3:16-17; 6:19; Eph. 2:21-22. (1 Kings 6:1, footnote 2, Recovery Version)
B. The contents of the tabernacle were placed in the temple, indicating that as God’s dwelling place the tabernacle and the temple were one—Exo. 40:2, 34. (1 Kings 8:4, footnote 1, Recovery Version)
C. The tabernacle was a portable precursor moving through the wilderness, whereas the temple was a consummation of God’s building in typology—1 Kings 8:1-11. (1 Kings 8:4, footnote 1, Recovery Version)
VI. In the three previous sections of the book of Ezekiel, concerning the glory of the Lord (ch. 1), the judgment of God (chs. 2—32), and the recovery of the Lord (chs. 33—39), are all for the holy building of God (chs. 40—48)—Ezek. 40:1: (Ezek. 40:1, footnote 1, Recovery Version)
A. God’s eternal purpose is to have a building as a mingling of Himself with His chosen people; whatever God does among His people and among the nations on earth is for His building—Exo. 25:8; Eph. 2:19-22. (Ezek. 40:1, footnote 1, Recovery Version)
B. Beginning with Abraham’s tent, progressing to the tabernacle and then to Solomon’s temple, and concluding with the temple in Ezekiel’s vision, there is a continual progression in the enlargement of God’s building in the Old Testament—Gen. 13:18, footnote 1. (Ezek. 40:1, footnote 1, Recovery Version)
C. This enlargement signifies a continual increase in the experience of Christ by God’s people—1 Kings 6:2, footnote 1. (Ezek. 40:1, footnote 1, Recovery Version)
D. God’s building in the Old Testament prefigures God’s spiritual building in the New Testament, which begins with Jesus Christ, the incarnated God, as God’s tabernacle and God’s temple, advances to the church, the Body of Christ, as the enlargement of Christ and consummates with the New Jerusalem as the ultimate manifestation and enlargement of God’s building in eternity—John 1:14, 2:19-21; Eph. 1:22-23; 2:20-22; Rev. 21:2-3, 15-17. (Ezek. 40:1, footnote 1, Recovery Version)
VII. By enjoying the riches of the land, the children of Israel were able to build up the temple to be God’s habitation on earth and the city of Jerusalem to establish God’s kingdom on earth—Deut. 8:7-9: (Deut. 8:7, footnote 1, Recovery Version)
A. Likewise, by enjoying the unsearchable riches of Christ, the believers in Christ are built up to be Christ’s Body, the church, which is Christ’s fullness, His expression, and which is also the habitation of God and the kingdom of God—Eph. 1:22-23; 2:21- 22; 1 Tim. 3:15; Matt. 16:18-19; Rom. 14:17. (Deut. 8:7, footnote 1, Recovery Version)
B. Ultimately, God’s habitation and God’s kingdom will consummate in the New Jerusalem in eternity for the fulfillment of God’s eternal economy—Rev. 21:1-3, 22; 22:1, 3. (Deut. 8:7, footnote 1, Recovery Version)
VIII. The central thought of Haggai’s prophecy is that the building of the house of Jehovah is related to the welfare of God’s people today—Hag. 1:2-15; Matt. 19:28; Acts 3:20-21: (Hag. 1:1, footnote 2, Recovery Version)
A. During the years when the rebuilding of the temple was interrupted through the opposition of the adversaries (Ezra 4), the children of Israel began to build houses for themselves and gradually forgot the building of the temple—Ezra 4:2-4. (Hag. 1:1, footnote 3, Recovery Version)
B. It is impossible for us to be neutral; we must be absolute, either taking care of our houses first or taking care of the Lord’s house first—cf. Matt. 6:33; Luke 9:57-62. (Hag.1:9, footnote 1, Recovery Version)
C. If we do not have the heart to take care of God’s house for His satisfaction, no matter how much we eat or drink or how well we dress, there will be no satisfaction—Hag. 1:6. (Hag. 1:6, footnote 1, Recovery Version)
D. In our response to the Lord’s charge, we all should be occupied by the Lord Jesus in the work of preaching the gospel, feeding the new believers, and taking care of others for the building up of the Lord’s house, the church as the Body of Christ—John 21:15-17. (Hag. 1:14, footnote 2, Recovery Version)