In the two previous messages we have considered the vision of the tabernacle and its furniture. The children of Israel could see this vision only after they had had the initial experiences of the Passover, the crossing of the Red Sea, Marah and Elim, the enjoyment of manna, the enjoyment of the living water out of the cleft rock, and the war against Amalek. Then the people were brought into fellowship with God at Mount Sinai, where they received the law of God. On the one hand, the law revealed what kind of God our God is. On the other hand, it exposed the people’s fallen, sinful, and corrupt condition. The vision of the tabernacle was given to Moses on the mountaintop when he was staying with God under His glory for forty days and forty nights.
We have pointed out that in 25:1-9 three categories of materials are mentioned: minerals, plants, and animals. All the materials refer to the virtues of Christ’s Person and work, and all were presented to God as a heave offering for the building of His dwelling place. Gold, the first of the minerals mentioned, signifies Christ’s divine nature. In this message we shall go on to consider the other minerals, the plants, the animals, and the pattern.
Silver, the second of the minerals, signifies Christ’s redemptive work. We should not understand this redemptive work in a superficial way. Redemption involves termination and replacement. We were created by God for Himself and chosen by God to be for Him. However, because we became fallen and lost, we need Christ to redeem us. As fallen creatures, we also need to be terminated. Thus, on the cross Christ crucified us; He terminated us. Furthermore, through His redemption Christ imparts Himself into us to be our replacement. All this—redemption, termination, and replacement—is signified by the silver. The silver testifies that we have been redeemed, terminated, and replaced.
In our daily life we need to bear the testimony that we are redeemed, terminated, and replaced people. Even the young people in high school should have such a testimony. Others should be able to say, “These young people are very human, but there is something wonderful about them. They are special in a way that I find difficult to explain.” The more we are replaced by Christ, the more wonderful we shall be. Praise the Lord that Christ has redeemed us and terminated us and that He is now in the process of replacing us! This is the experience of Christ as our silver.
When we experience Christ as silver and possess Him in this way as our treasure, we should bring this treasure to the church meetings. Then as we function by releasing our spirit, we should offer to God in worship the silver we have gained, enjoyed, and experienced. This is the kind of worship God desires. He does not want us to prostrate ourselves before Him, and He does not want to listen to the performance of a choir. The worship which is acceptable to God is worship in which we offer to Him as a heave offering the Christ we have experienced and possessed. Such worship will not only be acceptable to God; it will also build up the saints. Meeting by meeting, we all need to be built up in this way.