The river that flowed out from the place where the tree of life was, signifies that the Spirit of God flows out of God as the river of the water of life with four heads to reach the four directions of the earth.
The gold, bdellium, and onyx stone at the flow of the river are precious materials for God’s building-the Body of Christ consummating in the New Jerusalem (1 Cor. 3:9; Rev. 21:18-21). Bdellium is a pearl made not from the oyster but from the resin of a tree. First Corinthians 3 says that we are God’s building built with gold, silver, and precious stones; furthermore, we should not build God’s building with wood, grass, and stubble (vv. 9-12). At the end of the Bible in Revelation, there is a city built with three precious materials-gold, pearls, and precious stones. Gold is the base, pearls are the gates, and precious stones are the wall and foundations. This shows that through the flow of the Holy Spirit, we are transformed into precious materials for God’s building, that is, the New Jerusalem. This is a great revelation.
None of the living creatures created by God in the first section of His creation was qualified to be the wife of man, signifying that no living creature and also no man are qualified to match Christ as His counterpart. Adam was a type of Christ (Rom. 5:14). He was seeking a wife, just as Christ was seeking the church to be His wife, His counterpart. But nothing in the old creation can match Christ to His counterpart. To match Christ we must have Christ’s life.
God caused man to sleep and took a rib out of him with which He built a wife for man, signifying that Christ died according to God’s will and that from His side flowed His blood for redemption and His Spirit of life for life dispensing, through which His Body is built up and becomes one with Him in His life, nature, and expression, but not in His Godhead, as fully unveiled in the New Jerusalem. The King James Version says that God made the rib taken out of the side of Adam into a woman. The word made is a wrong translation. In Hebrew it says that God built a woman.
God caused Adam to sleep. That means God decided by His will to let Christ die. Then when Christ died on the cross, His side was pierced. From Adam’s side a rib came out, whereas from the side of Christ, blood and water came out (John 19:34). Blood signifies redemption. Water signifies the dispensing of the Spirit. The rib, according to the New Testament, signifies Christ’s unbroken life. When He was on the cross, the soldiers came to break His legs, but when they saw that He had already died, they did not do it. John 19:36 says, “For these things happened that the Scripture might be fulfilled: ‘No bone of His shall be broken.’” Jesus’ resurrection life is unbreakable. Eve is a prefigure of the New Jerusalem, which is built with the Lord’s resurrection life released out of Him.
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