When the descendants of Abraham became the race of Israel, God brought them to Mount Sinai. At Mount Sinai God's intention was to train them to be His people to serve Him with a tabernacle, with a priesthood, and with all kinds of offerings. The tabernacle, the priesthood, and the offerings are of the line of the tree of life. But the people of Israel did not know themselves. Their thought was always with Cain.

God, before the making of the tabernacle, decreed the law, and the law is in the line of good and evil. We have seen that the law was a side line. The main line is the line of the tree of life with the tabernacle, with the priesthood, and with the offerings. But the people of Israel desired to take another way, the way of the law, the way of good and evil. They promised God that they would do whatever He said (Exo. 19:8; 24:3). God knew, of course, that they were talking in a foolish way. While Moses was on the mountain with God receiving the commandments of the law, they made a golden calf to break the law. Later, Moses went up to the mountain again. This time God gave him the pattern of the tabernacle. He also showed Moses the priesthood with all the offerings. The tabernacle, the priesthood, and all the offerings typify Christ. This is the way of life. Throughout the entire history of Israel in the Old Testament from Moses' time, we can see these two lines—the line of the law and the line of the tabernacle, the priesthood, and the offerings, which are the line of life.

David treasured the law and tried to keep it, but he failed to the uttermost. He killed Uriah and robbed Uriah of his wife. He needed the tabernacle, the priesthood, and the offerings. Through the tabernacle, the priesthood, and the offerings, David was forgiven. Psalm 51 shows us that when David repented, he was a strong "Abel." Psalm 51, a psalm of David's repentance and confession, is the most spiritual psalm. At the end of his confession, he asked God to do good to Zion and to build the walls of Jerusalem (v. 18). Later, however, when he was fleeing from Absalom, David turned back again to the group of Cain, as we saw in Psalms 3—7.

Now we can see that in the book of Psalms, as in the entire Bible, there are two lines. At the end of the Psalms, the psalmists are fully in the line of life. The concluding psalms are full of praises, full of "Hallelujahs." The psalmists by that time were not praising the law, but Christ. We have to see the two lines in the book of Psalms. In reading the Psalms, we should not agree with David when he is "Cain-David." We need to stay with "Abel-David." We need to stand with "Abel-David" in Psalm 51. We should treasure all the psalms concerning Christ in the line of life. We need to come out of the group of Cain and enter into and stay with the group of Abel.

When we study the book of Job, we can see many "Cains" there and also some "Abels." My burden is to help us know the two lines, the two ways, in the Bible. Among the Jews in the Old Testament, there was the wonderful way of the tabernacle, the priesthood, and all the offerings. There was also the way of the law. The people of Israel could not meet God by keeping the law; they met God in the tabernacle.

Whenever we try to accomplish something in ourselves like Cain, we do not have the inner anointing. We need to pray, "Lord, I can do nothing and I do not want to do anything. I just want to enjoy You, to partake of You, to experience You, to live You, and to express You." When we pray in this way, we are like Abel, and we are full of the inner anointing. Thus, we can see two sources, two lines, and two ways with two kinds of results. One result is the absence of God, and the other result is the presence of God.