When we get into God’s house, the flow is constant. In the New Jerusalem, the holy city and the tabernacle of God (Rev. 21:2-3), the river of water of life flows constantly (22:1). If the flow within us is occasional and not constant, this means that we are not in the house but in the wilderness. With the five occasions of drinking before the building of the house of God, problems were solved by the drinking of the living water, but that water did not flow constantly. Once the house was built and the city was established, the water began to flow constantly. Our problems come back again because we have only the instant flow and not the constant flow. We need to get into the house to enjoy the constant flow of life.
All of us who are in the practical church life can testify of the difference regarding the inner flow of life before and after we came into the church life. After I received the Lord, I experienced the flow. But shortly after that initial experience, the flow was cut off. This flow would come back occasionally and instantly, but then it would stop again. However, since I came into the church life, I have enjoyed the constant flow.
We need to pay our full attention to these two sections in the history of the Lord’s children-the section of the water flowing for drinking before the building of the house with the city and the other section afterwards. In the section before the building, the water flows occasionally and instantly, but in the section after the building, the water flows constantly and eternally. Today we should not be in the wilderness but in the house and in the city. We need to be in the house and in the city to have a constant flow of the living water. We should not be satisfied with the occasional flow in the wilderness, but we all need to experience the constant flow in the house of God and in the city of God.
The water to drink before the building, basically speaking, quenches the thirst. But after the house was built, the water not only quenches the thirst but also waters the dry land, produces life, and heals the death. The water at Marah, Massah, Beer, and Lehi is basically for quenching. But in the city within the house is the flowing river, not only to quench but also to water the dry land, produce life, and heal the death.
Psalm 46:4 tells us that the river makes the city glad. If we do not have the water of life, we will be sad. Joel and Zechariah tell us that the river flows from the house within the city to water the desert and to heal the two seas, the Dead Sea on the east and the Mediterranean Sea on the west. The water flowed out of the house through and out of the city to heal the death.
In Ezekiel 47 the Lord gives us an exceedingly clear picture of the flowing of the living water out of the house of God. Ezekiel tells us that “he brought me again unto the door of the house” (v. 1) and that “the man that had the line in his hand went forth eastward” (v. 3) and measured a thousand cubits. The man referred to here is Christ. This man in chapter forty-seven is the one mentioned in 40:3: “And He brought me thither, and, behold, there was a man, whose appearance was like the appearance of brass, with a line of flax in his hand, and a measuring reed; and he stood in the gate.”
Daniel 10:5-6 says, “Then I lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and behold a certain man clothed in linen, whose loins were girded with fine gold of Uphaz: his body also was like the beryl, and his face as the appearance of lightning, and his eyes as lamps of fire, and his arms and his feet like in color to polished brass, and the voice of his words like the voice of a multitude.” In Daniel the Lord was girded at the loins, while in Revelation 1 He is girded at the breast. He was girded at the loins in Daniel because He was still working, but by the time of Revelation 1, the work is accomplished. His being girded at the breast there signifies His care for the churches in love. Daniel tells us that His arms and His feet were like in color to polished brass while Revelation 1:15 tells us that “His feet were like shining brass, as having been fired in a furnace.” This shows us that the man in Ezekiel 40 with the appearance of brass, who is seen again in chapter forty-seven, is Christ.
Christ is not only a Man of gold but also a Man of brass. His being a gold Man indicates that He is full of divinity, while His being a brass Man indicates that He is the judging One. Brass in typology signifies divine judgment (Exo. 27:1-6). Shining or polished brass means that He has first been judged, tested, and proved to be perfect. He is the polished brass. He is the One who has been judged and tested and is now qualified to judge and test others. In the book of Ezekiel the Lord Jesus is the judging One, the testing One, so He has the measuring line, the measuring reed.
Home | First | Prev | Next