Today we would like to consider how young people who are under God’s hand can be used by Him to turn the age.
We need to realize that many times God does things on earth to turn an age. When God works on earth, He does so age by age. The reason that God has many age-turning moves is that men used by Him in one age often become fallen and fail to reach His goal. This forces God to turn the age, that is, to have a new start so that He can do what He wants to do in a new age.
We can see many cases like this in the Old Testament. God would bring in a new age by doing something through some people during a particular time. However, due to man’s degradation, that age would soon become fallen and degraded. It would become so degraded that God could not have a way with men on earth and could not do anything anymore. As a result, God would have to bring in a new age. Only by bringing in a new age could God do any work again. Unfortunately, the next age did not continue for long before it fell again. God once more could not do any work. Consequently, He had to bring in another age. When one reads the Old Testament, he can see that one age came after another had degraded. One age rose only to see it wane again. Another age rose and then also failed again.
I would like you to realize that God’s work in turning the age is always done through men. Before a new age is ushered in, there are always men in the previous age who are used by God particularly to turn the age. And in every age-turning work, God purposely uses young people. The two most obvious examples are Samuel and Daniel.
Samuel turned the age of the priesthood to the age of the kingship, whereas Daniel turned the age of captivity to the age of return. The age of the kingship brought in by Samuel, properly speaking, began with David. It came to its golden peak when King Solomon built the temple. At that time God’s authority was manifested through men; God was able to rule through men under His authority. At the same time, God’s glory was also expressed among men.
In those days in Israel, on the one hand, there was the throne of the house of David and, on the other hand, the temple. The throne speaks of God’s authority, and the temple, of His glory. One should remember that the glory of God filled the temple when Solomon consecrated it to God immediately after its completion. We know that there is symbolic significance in this. The throne and the temple among the Israelites show us that God desires to rule and to express His glory.
I hope that the young brothers and sisters will see these two things. God wants to have a throne on earth and a habitation on the earth. The throne speaks of His ruling, and the habitation speaks of the expression of His glory. Such an age was brought in by Samuel. On the one hand, he brought in a throne and, on the other hand, he brought in a habitation through this throne. This situation was quite apparent among the Israelites after King Solomon succeeded in building the temple. God established a throne and ruled through it and obtained a dwelling place, a place for His expression through which He manifested His glory among men. This period can be considered a very normal age.
However, this condition did not last long. Due to man’s corruption and Satan’s attacks, this testimony was destroyed. When Solomon was old, the age had become fallen. At that time it seemed that God’s throne was laid aside and His glory was neglected.
From King Solomon on, his descendants began step by step to fall further. At the time of King Ahab, their condition could not have become more fallen. By the end of the books of Kings, which was the very end of the age of kingship, everything had become degraded and desolate. There was no more of God’s throne or God’s glory. Both of these had disappeared. What could God do? God could only give them up and let them go. As a result, the enemies came in, and Jerusalem was destroyed; the temple was burned down, and all the utensils for serving God in the temple, together with the Israelites, were carried away to Babylon. It totally became the age of captivity because everything was carried away.
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