Ⅰ
The Bible is a book of God’s economy—Gen. 1:1, 26-28; Rev. 21:1-2, 9-11:
A
The entire Bible, both the Old Testament and the New Testament, is first a picture of God’s economy and then a full definition and fulfillment of God’s economy—Eph. 1:10; 1 Tim. 1:4.
B
The Bible is a record of the divine revelation concerning God’s eternal economy, of which Christ is the center and the reality—John 14:6; Col. 1:15; 3:11:
１
Christ is the embodiment of the Triune God, and the church is the Body of Christ—2:9; Eph. 1:22-23.
２
Christ and the church are the basic structure of the Bible—Eph. 5:32.
C
God’s economy, the key to the Bible, is the Triune God with His plan and arrangement to dispense Himself in His Divine Trinity into His chosen, redeemed, and regenerated people as their life, their life supply, and their everything to make them His corporate expression, initially as the Body of Christ and ultimately as the New Jerusalem—Eph. 3:9:
１
If we see that God’s economy is the key to the Bible, we will use this key in our study of every book of the Bible.
２
If we see this key and use it, the Bible will become to us what it is to God—the revelation of the divine economy—Luke 24:44-46.
Morning Nourishment
Eph. 3:9 ...To enlighten all that they may see what the economy of the mystery is, which throughout the ages has been hidden in God, who created all things.5:32 This mystery is great, but I speak with regard to Christ and the church.
If we have not seen the significance of God’s economy, we will not be able to get into the real significance of the whole Bible. We may read it again and again without realizing its central thought. When the Lord opens our eyes to see God’s economy, the economy of God immediately becomes a key for us to open the entire Bible...To open everything in the Bible, we need this constant key. (CWWL, 1975-1976, vol. 2, “The Church—the Reprint of the Spirit,” p. 453)
Today’s Reading
We need to see the fulfillment in the New Testament of the typology in the Old Testament concerning God’s economy. What is in the Old Testament is a typology, a set of types. Then what is in the New Testament is a complete fulfillment of that typology concerning God’s economy. Thus, the entire Bible, both the Old Testament and the New Testament, is first a picture of God’s economy and then a full definition and fulfillment of God’s economy. On the one hand, if we want to know the Old Testament, we must come to the New Testament definition ...On the other hand, if we want to know the New Testament, we have to spend the time to look at all these pictures.Saint Augustine said that the New Testament is concealed in the Old Testament, and the Old Testament is unveiled in the New Testament ...The pictures and the definitions form a strong basic principle for us to understand the Bible.
The great teachers among the Brethren said that the entire history of Israel was a type of the church ...The teaching of the Brethren strongly stressed that the captivity of Israel into Babylon typifies the church that was captured into Catholicism ... The Lord Jesus referred to the Roman Catholic Church as Jezebel (Rev. 2:20; Matt. 13:33) and also as the great Babylon, a mystery (Rev. 17:5)...The Brethren saw that Israel’s captivity typifies the church’s captivity and that the return of Israel typifies the recovery of the church starting from Luther.
Although the Brethren saw this, they did not see that the history of the kings in the Old Testament is a typology of God’s economy...They did not even use this term. They somewhat used another term to replace God’s economy, that is, God’s plan or God’s purpose. The English word economy is anglicized from the Greek word oikonomia...When most think of an economy, they think of it in terms of dollars and cents. We do not mean this when we speak of God’s economy. God’s economy is God’s plan, God’s divine arrangement, for the fulfillment of His good pleasure in His will to be His purpose. Israel’s history is not only a type of the entire church, as the Brethren teachers pointed out, but also a type of God’s economy. The fulfillment of this economy is in the New Testament. The New Testament presents the complete fulfillment of the typology of the kings in the Old Testament...One is the picture, and the other is the definition. (CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 1, “Living a Life according to the High Peak of God’s Revelation,” pp. 173-175)
The Bible is not a book of history. The Bible is the record of the divine revelation concerning God’s eternal economy, of which Christ is the center and reality. Christ is the embodiment of the Triune God, and the church is the organic Body of Christ. These two items are the basic structure of the Bible. So, in understanding any book of the Bible, we should hold this point of view, especially in the life-study of the books of Kings. Apparently, these two books are the history of the kings of Israel. Actually, they are books written in the inspiration of the Spirit of God in the way of being related to God’s eternal economy. (Life-study of 1 & 2 Kings, pp. 2-3)
Further Reading: CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 1, “Living a Life according to the High Peak of God’s Revelation,” chs. 1-2; Life-study of 1 & 2 Kings, msgs. 1-4, 6