Let us now consider the picture of the recovery of the proper ground in Jerusalem after the dispersion. As we have pointed out already, many Christian teachers neglect the significance in typology of the history of Israel after their captivity in Babylon. Ezra, Nehemiah, Haggai, and Zechariah are books of recovery. Even Daniel is a recovery book. Of course, we do not see the actual recovery in Daniel. But we do see a man according to God’s heart. Although he did not return to Jerusalem, he prayed for God’s economy, opening his windows toward Jerusalem three times a day (Dan. 6:10). He prayed for the Lord’s recovery of Jerusalem and he expected to see it. Eventually, the Lord answered his prayer. The latter part of the Old Testament concerns the recovery. In this age of confusion, the only way for the Lord to carry out His economy is by recovery. Recovery means that in the midst of today’s confusion and division the Lord is calling out a remnant of His people to return to the original ground, to come back to the original standing. After their seventy-year captivity, a small number of Jews returned to Jerusalem and rebuilt the temple. Although this temple was inferior to the original temple built by Solomon, the site, the ground, of the temple was the same. That is the Lord’s recovery.
According to the book of Deuteronomy, the Jewish people realized that God wanted His people to build His temple only in the place He had chosen. This place was Mount Moriah, which later became Mount Zion. No Jew has ever had the boldness to build the temple in any other place. Today the Jews are anxious to rebuild the temple, but they do not have the site. When the ancient Jews were scattered, they were taken to Egypt, Syria, and mainly to Babylon. One day, God called them back to their own land, and a small minority returned. That was the recovery. Suppose, while Daniel was praying, one of the scribes would say, “God is omnipresent. If God could be there in Jerusalem, can He not also be here with us in Babylon? Let us build a temple here.” But even if they had built a temple exactly the same in design, size, and material as the temple constructed by Solomon, it would not have been recognized as the temple because it would have been on the wrong ground, the wrong site.
Those who actually returned to Jerusalem were not as good as Daniel was. When I was young, I could not understand why, according to Ezra and Nehemiah, so many poor Jews returned to the good land. It seemed that they were in a pitiful situation. However, although they built a temple that was smaller in size, inferior in material, and different in design from Solomon’s temple, because it was built on the proper site, God confirmed by His glory that it was the temple. Today the Jews are awaiting the return of this site, which is presently occupied by a Moslem mosque. Under this mosque is supposed to be the place Abraham offered Isaac. Throughout the centuries, many have recognized that the site on which this mosque now stands is the site of the temple. The fact that the so-called Wailing Wall is not far from the mosque confirms this. Although the Jews may have everything needed for the rebuilding of the temple, they do not yet have the site. By this we see that the site, the ground, means a great deal.
Now we must consider what the ground of the church is. The ground of the church is genuine oneness. The church is one. No division has the ground of the church, for division is the opposite of oneness. The way to discern whether or not a Christian group is a division is to apply the six tests given in the foregoing message. We need to ask whether a group has a particular name, a particular fellowship, a particular doctrine, a fellowship that is not universal, a separate administration, or a hidden connection with some organization.