After pray-reading the above verses, we can realize how much the church is something of humanity. The church is in need of the proper humanity. Many Christians talk only about spirituality when they talk about the church. But these verses show how necessary the proper humanity is in the church life.
From the types in the Scriptures we can see the need of a proper humanity for the church life. We have seen in the past what the ark and the tabernacle signify: the ark is Christ, and the tabernacle is the enlargement of the ark. So the tabernacle signifies the enlargement of Christ. This enlargement of Christ is His Body, the church, which is His fullness. When Christ as the ark is increased and enlarged, there is the tabernacle. Then we have the church. Just as the tabernacle is the enlargement of the ark, so the church is the increase and enlargement of Christ.
This can be proved since the ark was made of acacia wood overlaid within and without with gold. “And they shall make an ark of acacia wood...And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, within and without shalt thou overlay it, and shalt make upon it a crown of gold round about” (Exo. 25:10a, 11). The gold was made into a type of crown round about the four sides of the top of the ark. By the word “crown” we realize that the gold was mainly for decoration. It is not called the ark of gold, but the ark of acacia wood. So the main and basic structure of the ark is wood. Wood in typology always signifies humanity, and acacia wood typifies the humanity of Jesus. Gold, which in typology signifies the divine nature, overlays the wood, which is the human nature. So Christ as the ark is the human nature overlaid with the divine nature.
As we look at the life of Jesus in the four Gospels, we see a real man. He was born of a mother. He was a real, solid, physical man. But in the Gospels, some asked, “Who is this man?” He was a real man, but there was something extraordinary about Him. Of course, this was the overlaying gold, His divinity. He was overlaid with the divinity of God. He was a human with humanity, but this humanity was overlaid with divinity. One day, on the top of a mountain, He was transfigured. At that time the shining of the gold was made manifest. It was the outshining of His divinity. But the humanity was still there. The man Jesus was there with the shining nature of His divinity. Jesus was the ark made with acacia wood and overlaid with the shining gold. The most interesting aspect of this Jesus is not the gold, but the wood, not primarily His divinity, but His humanity. This is Jesus as the ark.
We must also consider the tabernacle. The tabernacle is mainly composed of forty-eight boards. These boards are made of the same material and in the same way as the ark. “And thou shalt make the boards for the tabernacle of acacia wood, standing up...And thou shalt overlay the boards with gold” (Exo. 26:15, 29a). The ark was made with acacia wood overlaid with gold, and the boards of the tabernacle were also made with the same material and in the same way-acacia wood overlaid with gold.
However we must note what Exodus 26:15 says concerning the boards of the tabernacle. In this verse God says that the boards are to be standing up. We all know that gold is valuable, weighty, and shining, but in a sense gold is not capable of standing by itself. In order for the boards of the tabernacle to stand up, there is the need of the acacia wood. Acacia wood is quite adequate for standing up.
So in the tabernacle, again the acacia wood is the main structure. This means that the enlargement of Christ, the church, is composed mainly of the humanity of Jesus overlaid with divinity. We need humanity, and we also need divinity, but it is the humanity in the church that causes the church to stand up. As we look at today’s situation, we see that in so many places the so-called Christian churches are not standing up, but rather falling down. Some have even fallen already. They may say they are spiritual, but they are spiritual lying down, not standing up. They are short of the acacia wood, the proper humanity of the man Jesus. Both the ark and the tabernacle had the acacia wood as their main substance. Just as Christ stood by the proper humanity, so His humanity alone can cause the church to stand.
In John 1:14, the word “dwelt” can be translated as “tabernacled.” “The Word was made flesh, and tabernacled among us.” The Word who was God became flesh and tabernacled among us. We cannot separate the tabernacle from the flesh. If God would tabernacle among us, He needs flesh. So He was made flesh and then tabernacled among us. Without the flesh, it would truly be difficult for God to tabernacle among us. Therefore, in a sense, the flesh is the tabernacle. And the flesh is the humanity. Of course, the flesh here does not mean the evil flesh, but the proper, pure, uplifted flesh. For God to tabernacle among us, there is the need of this flesh.
From John 1:14, we can see that Jesus is this tabernacle. And if we go on from John to the book of Revelation, not only is Jesus Himself the tabernacle, but He is also the church, the New Jerusalem. “And I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice out of the throne, saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He shall tabernacle with them, and they shall be His peoples, and God Himself shall be with them” (Rev. 21:2, 3). The New Jerusalem is composed mainly of precious stones, something transformed from God’s creation. Surely this signifies humanity. The ultimate tabernacle, the New Jerusalem, which is the ultimate consummation of the church, is built up with a proper humanity, the humanity of Jesus.
Home | First | Prev | Next