The administration in the New Jerusalem as the divine, organic building flows out the river of water of life (the consummated life-giving Spirit, as the consummation of the consummated Triune God- John 7:38-39; 4:14) in the middle of the street, and on the two sides of the river grows the tree of life, producing twelve fruits, yielding its fruit each month (the incarnated, crucified, and resurrected Christ, as the embodiment of the consummated Triune God-Rev. 2:7; 22:14), signifying the supply of this organic building (cf. section II. I. 1. b. in Chapter Four).
In the middle of the street flows the river of water of life, and on the two sides of the river grows the tree of life (vv. 1-2). The river of water of life signifies the consummated life-giving Spirit, and the tree of life signifies the incarnated, crucified, and resurrected Christ. The throne flows out the river, on the two sides of which grows the tree of life, and the river flows in the middle of the street. Thus, three things flow out of the throne: the divine administration, the river of water of life, and the tree of life. The latter two are the provision, the supply, of the holy city.
It is helpful to look at the picture of the New Jerusalem. First, there is the base of gold, and the street of gold is on the base. The street and the base are one piece of gold. At the top end of the street is the throne of God. Thus, the street comes out from the throne. In the middle of the street the river of life flows. Hence, the river of life also flows out of the throne. On the sides of the river the tree of life grows. The river of water of life and the tree of life are the supply of the city. This indicates that the administration of the city and the supply of the city all flow out of the throne, on which God and the Lamb, the redeeming God, are sitting.
This picture indicates that the redeeming God is the very source. From His righteousness as one of the attributes of His nature issues out the administration of His organic building, which is joined to the street. Furthermore, from His throne flows out the river of water of life, which grows the tree of life to be the life supply as the provision to supply the entire city. Thus, in this picture we have the administration, the provision, and also the communication, the street. All these come from God in His righteous nature. In summary, the base and the street are joined together as one piece of gold. At the top end of the street is the throne of God, and the redeeming God is sitting upon the throne as the source, from whom flows out the administration, the communication, and the provision of the city. This is the way to interpret such a picture.
The city of New Jerusalem is built with large, tall gates, and it also has its center. If there were no communication, no street, and if there were no administration and no provision of food and water, how could the city live? In the New Jerusalem the throne flows out the water, and the water grows the tree of life, which produces twelve kinds of fruit as the food. These three things-the administration, the communication, and the life supply-flow out of the God of righteousness to take care of the city.
All the points mentioned above indicate that God’s nature, one of the attributes of which is righteousness, is the foundation of the throne and that out of this foundation proceeds the administration of this organic building that affords the base for the supply of this organic building. Thus, the administration and supply of the New Jerusalem are all issues from the divine nature of God the Father, who is the Originator of this organic building.
The administration affords the base for the supply of the city. If there were no proper administration in the city of Anaheim, who would take care of the daily water supply? Anaheim has an adequate supply of water because it has a strong government. The administration of the government is the base to supply the city with water.
The picture of the throne joined to the street flowing out the administration, the communication, and the supply shows us that the divine administration is from the throne of God, the divine communication goes along with the divine administration, and the divine supply comes from the divine administration and the divine communication under the authority of God’s throne. This indicates that if we want to participate in the divine supply in the New Jerusalem, we must submit ourselves to God’s throne of authority and to His divine administration and take care of the divine communication in the entire city of New Jerusalem.
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