GOD'S DWELLING
GOD’S DWELLING
The thought I wished to present, in connection with the scripture read, was that the believer is called out from this world, and his desire is now to glorify God. On the other hand we find that God glorifies Himself. He glorifies Himself in holiness as we see in verse 11.
In the epistle to the Romans we see how the believer glorifies God by the Spirit. “If, by the Spirit, ye put to death the deeds of the body, ye shall live” (Romans 8: 13); also by the Spirit we cry, “Abba, Father”. The epistles to the Corinthians show us how God glorifies Himself. As a wise architect, Paul laid the foundation in Corinth, but in Ephesians we see the building finished, and the assembly becomes the vessel of God’s glory throughout all eternity.
Exodus corresponds to the epistle to the Romans; 1 Chronicles corresponds to the Corinthian epistles, and 2 Chronicles to Ephesians.
My desire now is that we should consider the holiness that characterizes the house of God, as also the love and order that belong to it. While God appreciated David’s desire to build Him a house, nevertheless He reserved to Himself the right to give the pattern of His house. Paul, like David, received the pattern of the house. When we see this, we will be preserved from setting up anything else, such as we find in the different church establishments or parties around us. It says of the Thessalonians that they became “imitators of the assemblies of God which are in Judaea in Christ Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 2: 14); it is clear that the assembly in Thessalonica was in correspondence with the pattern.
It says in Exodus 15, “Jehovah ... is highly exalted”. In 2 Chronicles 3: 4 we read of the porch of the house being one hundred and twenty cubits high. It speaks of the moral elevation of the house. We ought not to be like men of this world; a moral elevation belongs to us as the people [p. 302] of God. Then we read in 1 Chronicles 28: 11 of treasuries, upper chambers, inner chambers, and the house of the mercy sea. We cannot enter into the good of these things if we are not marked by the moral elevation that places us on another level as distinct from the sects around us in christendom. The upper chambers speak of the secret link that we have with God. The inner chambers convey the thought of the Lord’s supper where He takes His place amongst us as Head to lead us into the blessings of the house; there are many abodes. There is also the pattern for the house of the mercy-seat, the place where God is known in mercy. As we consider the pattern of the house and all its chambers, we learn how to conduct ourselves in our localities. The courts convey the thought of how we should walk worthily in public. “A day in thy courts is better than a thousand”, Psalm 84: 10. We find others with whom we can have fellowship; the young ones can rejoice in these courts, and there we can have spiritual intercourse with each other. In the treasuries there is found what spiritual men have written.
Then we come to the priests and levites. As priests we speak to God, and we ought to understand our distinctive place. We read of David that he ordered the courses of the priests. The Spirit teaches us to understand our place so that we do not get in the way of each other in our service. The Levites were also divided into courses “for all the work of the service of the house of Jehovah”, 1 Chronicles 28:13.
All the vessels for service are then mentioned. The pattern gives us instructions as to every detail of the service in the house of God. In verse 12 we read of the pattern of all that David had by the Spirit, and in verse 19 it says, “All this said David, in writing, by Jehovah’s hand upon me, instructing as to all the works of the pattern”. We may think that every believer desires to glorify God, but we must do everything according to the pattern which God has given us.
In 1 Corinthians we see how Paul laid the foundation, but in Ephesians the building is presented as completed.
[p. 303] The breaking of bread comes in in connection with Ephesus (Acts 20), where the apostle speaks of how he had declared the whole counsel of God to them. The breaking of bread has to do with the inside of the house, its heavenly character. Acts 20 begins with the embrace of love, as Paul called the disciples to him and, after he had embraced them, went away to go to Macedonia. Afterwards we read that Paul embraced the youth Eutychus and finally we have the elders embracing Paul. This chapter is really a chapter of love. It is in the breaking of bread that the Lord constantly presents His love to us. It says, “we being assembled to break bread, Paul discoursed to them ... . And he prolonged the discourse till midnight”, Acts 20: 7. He was anxious to present all the truth to them, the whole counsel of God, and so the breaking of bread comes forward, so to speak, in the full light of what Paul had discoursed. As Head the Lord leads us into love’s realm so that we might fill out our part worthily in the testimony. The expression ‘The Lord’s supper’ relates more to the public side: “For as often as ye shall eat this bread, and drink the cup, ye announce the death of the Lord, until he come”, 1 Corinthians 11: 26.
If our souls keep to those upper chambers, then we will not be living in the sphere where earthly joy obtains; and if we live in the inner chambers, we will learn to know the love of God as Father, according to what John says in his gospel (John 1: 14), “and we have contemplated his glory, a glory as of an only-begotten with a father”. The two disciples enquired as to His dwelling; “Where abidest thou? He says to them, Come and see. They went therefore, and saw where he abode; and they abode with him that day”, John 1: 38, 39. This preserves us from finding our company in the world. When we come to the “house of the mercy-seat”, we see how God has come out in mercy to all men, and what the basis is for this. We acquire there a real evangelical spirit. Paul preached as one who had been there, and he speaks of the unsearchable riches of the Christ.
The courts of the house speak of the general relations [p. 304] between the people of God. How enjoyable are the occasions which we can spend in each other’s homes! They amount to something like the courts of the house of God. From these courts we go up to the house of God. In Acts 16 we read how Lydia said, “If ye have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house and abide there”, verse 15. How precious were the times spent by Paul and Silas together with others in Lydia’s house! “A day in thy courts is better than a thousand”, Psalm 84: 10.
If we consider the priestly side, we find that every believer is a priest. Every young believer ought to covet to serve as a priest, but how often we find that many of our young brothers are silent in the assembly. But God says, “Let me see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice”, Song of Songs 2: 14. If we think of the Levites, we find there is much for them to do. The need amongst the people of God is great. The Lord says, “supplicate therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he send forth workmen unto his harvest”, Matthew 9: 38. The Lord will give a commission to each one. In the measure in which we learn to speak to God as priests in the assembly, so will we learn to speak to men in a way that will help them.
God gave the pattern to David, but he was not allowed to build the house, because he had shed much blood. This privilege was given to his son, Solomon, and God said, “He shall be my son”, 1 Chronicles 17: 13. The house is built by the Son; Christ is Son over the house, because He is greater than the house. In Colossians we are translated “into the kingdom of the Son of his love”. There we are sons, and are introduced into the house. The house is built by the Son, and consists of sons, and all the service of God is performed by sons.