In addition to all the points covered in the previous message, we must cover nine further points in this message. God, His Word, and His dealing with us are not simple.
On the top of the capitals which were on the pillars were two bowls (2 Chron. 4:12; 2 Kings 25:17). Each bowl, including the network, was two cubits high (see definition below). What does this signify? The bowls are round. (Darby translates the Hebrew word for bowls as "globes.") On the top of each capital there were two bowls, one above the other. Around the capitals were "chains like a necklace," or "chains at the collar," (2 Chron. 3:16, Amplified Bible; Darby's New Translation) that divided the capital into two sections. The first section was the base. Although 1 Kings 7:16 says that the capitals were five cubits high, 2 Kings 25:17 says that the capitals were three cubits high. The reason for this is that three cubits is the height of the base of the capital and five cubits is the height of the whole capital. In other words, there were three cubits for the base and two for the bowls. Here, the number three does not signify the Triune God. Rather, it signifies the process of resurrection. In the Bible, two numbers, three and eight, signify resurrection. Three signifies the process of resurrection, and eight, the first day of a new week, denotes the freshness of resurrection, the new beginning in resurrection. The three cubits of the base of the capital are closely related to the network and the chainwork. This reveals that the network and the chainwork are for the process of resurrection. Moreover, the number two, the height of the two bowls, signifies testimony. The two cubits of the two bowls on the two capitals of the two pillars signify testimony by living as a lily and by expressing the riches of life.
If you read all the portions concerning the two pillars, you will realize that the bowls are composed of the network, the chainwork, the lilies, and the pomegranates. The pomegranates are not on the base of the capital, but on the chainwork surrounding the bowls. The network covers the bowls, the chainwork surrounds the bowls, the pomegranates are upon the chainwork, and the lily grows upon the network. All these things together are the bowl. If you consider this in the light of your experience, you will realize that through the crossing out by the network and the restriction of the chainwork, you live as a lily to express the riches of the life of Christ. This is a living testimony coming out of the process of resurrection.
In our homes we are in the checkerwork and held by the chainwork. This is also true with the brothers and sisters in the church. Those who serve in the business office have undoubtedly experienced the checkerwork and the chainwork there. Surely in the business office there is much checkerwork and chainwork. But along with the checkerwork and the chainwork, there are also the three days. All those who serve in the business office are on the way of the three days, that is, they are in the process of resurrection.
The lilies appear on the top of the bowls on the third day. It does not matter how nice, gentle, or humble we are, for none of this is the lily. Rather, it is our natural life. The more we experience the crossing out, the more the lily grows on the third day. Every brother desires to have a nice wife, and every sister wants a gentle husband. However, no matter how nice or gentle we are, we are not lilies. The lily only grows on the third day in the midst of the checkerwork and the chainwork. When in all the intermixed and complicated situations we come to the third day, the lily will grow. Then we shall also have the pomegranates, the expression of the riches of life. This is the bowl—the glory, beauty, decoration, and crown. This is a testimony. I hope that the Spirit will speak more of this to you.
We all have been judged and we need to judge ourselves under God's judgment. It is easy to be a brass pillar, saying, "I'm fallen, corrupted, sinful, and good for nothing but death." But to pass through the three days of the process of resurrection in the midst of the crossing out of the checkerwork and the limitation of the chainwork is very difficult. But the more we are in the checkerwork and the chainwork, the more we are in the three days, the more the lily grows, and the more of the pomegranates we express. Then we become a living testimony, not of anything natural, but of the process of resurrection under the crossing out of the checkerwork and the restraint of the chainwork. There is no escape. We must stay in the checkerwork and chainwork. It is exactly like being buried for three days and coming out through the process of resurrection. As we pass through this experience, the lily grows and the pomegranates are expressed. Every pillar must bear the testimony of living by faith to express the riches of Christ through the process of resurrection under the crossing out of the checkerwork and the restriction of the chainwork. The brass in the two pillars in front of the temple indicates that we are under the death-judgment, which brings us into the process of resurrection, signified by the three-cubit height of the base of the capitals. This process of resurrection brings us through the network and the chainwork to grow the lily and to bear the pomegranates for a testimony. This is the way for the pillar to bear the responsibility, signified by the five cubits, the total height of the capitals.
The bowls on the capitals were not square, but round. This roundness signifies that living by faith in God and bearing responsibility in the midst of all the complications is not legal but always flexible. When we live in the Spirit, nothing is legal. Rather, we are flexible in every situation. Both the young and the old are legal. The old have their old legal way, and the young have their fresh legal way. Because of this, I am reluctant to give many instructions during the training. If I do this, all the young will take these instructions in a fresh legal way. Nearly every Christian is legally square. If we are not square, then we are triangular or even pentagonal. Some of the older sisters like to eat and go to bed at an exact time. This legality has killed many of the young people. While it is good for you to be regulated, for the sake of others, you need to be flexible. Some elders are very square. However, others are so round that they are political. A politician has no sides. Although we should be round we should not be politically round. Those who serve in the business office should be round. If you are square in your serving, you will kill everyone. Instead of being square, you must be flexible to fit into every situation. This is the way we should be in our daily living. As we are in the midst of the checkerwork and the chainwork, we must be flexible.