The six Old Testament books of 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, and 1 and 2 Chronicles reveal not only a history of the tabernacle with its ark, but also the recovery and enlargement of God’s building. If we have only seen the record of history, that is not sufficient. From the history we must see God’s way of recovery and enlargement. The record is mostly on the negative side, while the recovery and the enlargement are positive. All history is for the purpose of the enlargement of God’s building.
By the sovereignty of the Holy Spirit the six books of history to which we have referred are put together as a set. At the very beginning there is a good prospect-God’s building has been established in a definite place called Shiloh. The people need wander no longer; from that time anyone desiring God had a definite place to which he could go. How wonderful it is to have a definite place where we can meet God.
This pleasant situation, this glorious prospect, did not last long. The ark was captured, and God’s building suffered severe degradation (1 Sam. 3-6). But even before the ark was captured, the situation within the tabernacle was full of gloom. There was no light; everything was in darkness. There was no fresh word, no fresh revelation from God. The priests had become old and out of date. Therefore, God raised up a child: He was forced to bring forth something fresh and new. We must learn never to be old.
The degradation worsened. The Israelites would not get right with God; instead, they became superstitious. They used the ark to fight one of their battles; the ark was captured, and degradation reached its worst.
But although the ark was captured, God’s recovery began at that very point. We must realize that God can never be defeated in His purpose. God’s enemy may frustrate and delay Him for a time, but Satan can never frustrate God to the uttermost. God’s purpose must be fulfilled. Once God plans something, He will inevitably accomplish it. According to chapters 5 and 6 of 1 Samuel, it appears that the purpose of God has been overthrown: the ark was captured by the enemy. However, all the enemy’s activity and frustration only opens the way, not only for God’s recovery, but also for God’s enlargement! When God recovers something, He always enlarges it. We need glorious insight to understand all these things.
Based upon the history of the degradation of God’s people, some Christian teachers have taught that once the situation is degraded it can never be recovered. However, by reading the Scriptures over and over, we see just the contrary. Once the situation among God’s people is degraded, God eventually and inevitably recovers and enlarges it. During our early years in the Lord’s service, we were somewhat influenced by the negative teaching of these Christian teachers. To some extent, we took the same view. But later, by the Lord’s enlightenment, we discovered just the opposite in the Scriptures. How can we say that the things which have been degraded can never be recovered? Eventually there will be the New Jerusalem, which is far better than anything! That will be much better, transcendently better than the situation at the day of Pentecost.
In 1 Samuel, the beginning of this set of six books, there is a tabernacle, but in the last three books of this set there is a temple. The temple is a tremendous improvement over the tabernacle. In fact, there is no comparison. In the tabernacle there were altogether twenty-four pieces of precious stones, but they were all rather small. The forty-eight boards, though they were overlaid with gold, were all thin and narrow. Both the stones and the boards were indeed precious, but they had little size or weight. Furthermore, the tabernacle had some sort of foundation, but there was no floor, for the tabernacle was erected in the wilderness. Now let us consider the temple. The precious stones used there were huge, incomparably larger that those in the tabernacle. In the temple there was not a small amount of one kind of wood as in the tabernacle, but an abundance of three kinds of wood-olive, fir (or cypress) and cedar of Lebanon. Even the ground floor in the temple was made of wood overlaid with gold. The length of the tabernacle was thirty cubits, but the length of the temple was sixty. The width of the tabernacle was ten cubits, but the width of the temple was twenty. All the horizontal dimensions were doubled. The tabernacle was ten cubits high, while the temple was thirty cubits high-three times higher. Thus, the tabernacle was not only recovered in the temple, but also much enlarged.
Some Bible teachers, as we have mentioned, do not see how things which are once degraded can ever be recovered. They insist that all these things are dispensationally past and can never be regained. But according to typology the picture is exceedingly clear that something which has been degraded can not only be recovered, but also enlarged. Oh, praise the Lord! We must have the faith to believe this. The church can be much better today than at the time of Pentecost. God is moving on! If God was One who could always be defeated, how could He reach His goal? Regardless of how much degradation and confusion there is, God is marching on. If you have this glorious vision, you will never be discouraged or disappointed. Some Bible teachers are always bemoaning the fact of how far the church today is removed from its wonderful state at the day of Pentecost. If you are in this condition, you do not have adequate vision. If your eyes have been opened to see the Lord’s recovery, you will leap up and shout, “Hallelujah, regardless of the degradation and confusion, the Lord is marching on!” It is really glorious.
From 1939 to 1942 Brother Watchman Nee was helping us during a time of informal training in Shanghai. One night, in a prayer meeting of the church, someone prayed like this: “O Lord, we are so pitiful! The church is so weak and poor; there is nothing but disappointment!” It sounded good and many responded with Amens. But Brother Nee immediately interjected a prayer something like this: “Lord, Thy church can never be defeated. In Thy eyes the church is strong, the church is beautiful.” So many followed this prayer with, “Hallelujah, Amen!” It was a great contrast.
Everything depends upon our vision. The Lord told Balaam, the Gentile prophet, “He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob; neither hath he seen perverseness in Israel” (Num. 23:21). In the eyes of the Lord, “How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob, thy tabernacles, O Israel!” (Num. 24:5). God always sees through the valleys to the goal. Of course, if you are in a valley, you may bemoan the fact. But that is not the end-that is just an underpass on the highway to the goal. You must drive through the underpass to the goal upon the high mountain. We must learn to see through things to the goal, not only with insight, but also with foresight. The church can never be defeated! You are wrong if you say the church is always defeated. The church will eventually be victorious! We must see God’s way in the recovery and enlargement of His building.
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