Because the tabernacle is merely the temporary dwelling place of God, we should not be satisfied with the church life in this stage. We need to press on to the stage represented by the temple in the good land. In the Old Testament the temple replaced the tabernacle. Eventually, the articles that were in the tabernacle were placed in the temple. Thus, the tabernacle in the wilderness was the temporary building, but the temple in the good land was the consummate building. Therefore, the children of Israel had to go on from the wilderness to the good land.
If I had been among the children of Israel in Exodus 40, I would have been fully content with the building of the tabernacle. However, God’s final goal was still a long way off. About three-fourths of the way remained. For this reason, the children of Israel had to journey onward to the third station and enter into the good land.
We have seen the factors that brought the children of Israel into the wilderness and that brought them in the wilderness to the mountain. Now we must consider the factor that brought them into the good land. This factor is the ark with the tabernacle (Josh. 3:3, 6, 8, 13-17; 4:10-19). When the children of Israel entered into the good land, the ark went down into the Jordan, and the waters stopped. Prior to that time, they had the ark as the factor, but they did not have the faith to apply it. But at the end of their years of wandering in the wilderness, they did apply the ark in this way. This indicates that in the church life today Christ as the ark must be the factor by which we enter into Christ as the good land.
What kind of Christ do you enjoy? Do you enjoy Christ just as the Passover Lamb, as the unleavened bread, as the manna, and as the rock flowing out the living water, or do you enjoy Him as the good land? Colossians 2:6 says, “As therefore you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, walk in Him.” If our Christ is only the Passover Lamb, the manna, and the rock with the living water, how can we walk in Him? If we would walk in Christ, we must experience Him as the spacious land. The experience of Christ among most Christians is elementary; few experience Him as the good land.
We have seen that the children of Israel enjoyed the Passover lamb, the unleavened bread, the manna, and the rock with the living water. However, God did not promise Abraham that He would give such things to his descendants. God promised to give them the good land. According to Galatians 3, the blessing of the land promised to Abraham is the Spirit. The blessing of the land, this Spirit, is the Triune God who has been processed through incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection to become the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit. This Spirit is the blessing promised to Abraham’s descendants by faith.
Abraham has two kinds of descendants: the descendants in the flesh and the descendants by faith. The descendants in the flesh are the nation of Israel, and the descendants by faith are those who believe in Christ. To the descendants in the flesh the good land is a literal place; but to the descendants by faith the good land is a spiritual reality, Christ as the all-inclusive Spirit.
I am grateful to the Lord that in all the churches in the Lord’s recovery there is the ark with the tabernacle. The ark and the tabernacle typify Christ with the temporary, movable church life. Christ with such a church life is the factor by which we enter into the all-inclusive Christ typified by the land of Canaan.
Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians show us Christ and the church in the good land. In 1 Corinthians, however, we have the church at the mountain. This book speaks of the Passover and the baptism in the Red Sea, by which we are brought out of Egypt and into the wilderness. It also speaks of drinking of the spiritual rock, one of the factors that brings us to the mountain. This indicates that Christ and the church as revealed in 1 Corinthians are related to the mountain in the wilderness. Many of us have passed through this station.
My burden in this message is to point out that there is no need for us to wander through the wilderness with the ark and the tabernacle. Years ago, some of us were separated from the world, and we entered into the wilderness. Then we ascended the mountain where we saw the vision concerning God, concerning the life of God’s people, and concerning God’s dwelling place. We also erected the tabernacle at the foot of the mountain. Thus, we are Christians with the church life, at least in the temporary and movable form, the tabernacle. However, we need to press on, cross the Jordan River, and enter into the land of Canaan.
God’s chosen people had to cross two bodies of water: the Red Sea, which deals with the world, and the Jordan River, which deals with the self. The worldly forces typified by Pharaoh and his army were buried in the Red Sea. But twelve stones representing the old self of the children of Israel were buried in the Jordan (Josh. 4:1-9, 20). What frustrates us from entering into the all-inclusive Christ is not the world-it is the self. This self must be buried in the Jordan. The factor that enables the self to be buried is the ark. The twelve stones were not buried in the river before the ark went in. Rather, the ark went down into the river first. This indicates that Christ with the movable church life is the factor by which we enter into the all-inclusive Christ. The church life we have today is not the temple, but the tabernacle, the church life that is still portable. But even such a church life is a factor for entering into the good land. I can testify that Christ in such a movable church life has greatly helped me to enter into the all-inclusive Christ.