Scripture Reading: 1 Kings 12:25-33; 13:33-34; Deut. 12:2-18

DAY 1 Outline　MorningRevival

DAY 2 Outline　MorningRevival

DAY 3 Outline　MorningRevival

DAY 4 Outline　MorningRevival

DAY 5 Outline　MorningRevival

DAY 6 Outline　MorningRevival

«　WEEK 11　DAY 1　»

　　Deut. 12:5-7 But to the place which Jehovah your God will choose out of all your tribes to put His name, to His habitation, shall you seek, and there shall you go. And there you shall bring your burnt offerings and your sacrifices... And there you shall eat before Jehovah your God, and you and your households shall rejoice in all your undertakings, in which Jehovah your God has blessed you.

　　Jeroboam made two calves of gold, putting one in Bethel and the other in Dan, in order to distract his people from worshipping God in Jerusalem (1 Kings 12:25-30). God had ordained that His people come together three times a year in Jerusalem. Jeroboam was afraid that the ten tribes would return to their rightful king if they went to worship God in Jerusalem. Thus, he set up two worship centers, saying that it was not convenient to travel to Jerusalem. The excuse of convenience also is used to justify today’s denominations. Jeroboam’s apostasy broke God’s ordination of having one unique worship center in the holy land for keeping the unity, the oneness, of the children of Israel (Deut. 12:2-18). This became a great sin and caused the people to worship idols. (Life-study of 1 & 2 Kings, p. 54)

　　Apostasy means to be distracted from the right track in following God... Whenever someone uses the worship of God as a cloak to take a devilish way, he has fallen into apostasy... Although those in Catholicism worship God in name, they are actually worshipping idols. The Roman Catholic Church does exactly the same thing Jeroboam did when he set up the idols and said, “Behold your gods, O Israel” (1 Kings 12:28). Jeroboam seemed to be saying, “This is the God you must worship.” In reality that was not God; it was a golden calf. Hence, apostasy is worshipping God in a way that is false and devilish. Today’s Christianity is filled with apostasy. Apostasy is universal. Many who claim to be worshipping God are in fact worshipping idols. (Life-study of Genesis, p. 1321)

　　Jeroboam built a temple at the high places and appointed priests from among the common people who were not of the tribe of Levi (1 Kings 12:31). Whereas God had ordained that the tribe of Levi would be the priests, Jeroboam appointed common people to be priests. Jeroboam ordained a feast in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, like the feast that was in Judah (v. 32a), doing what he had devised in his own heart. He might have told the people that it was not necessary for them to go to Jerusalem in order to have a feast. Jeroboam offered sacrifices on the altar at Bethel to the calves that he had made, and he placed in Bethel the priests of the high places (vv. 32b-33a). In his apostasy Jeroboam ordained a feast for the children of Israel, and, although he was not a priest, he went up to the altar to burn incense (v. 33b). The apostasy of Jeroboam in the above five items could be considered a type of the apostasy of today’s Christianity.

　　First Kings 13:1-32 is a record of God’s judgment on the altar at Bethel made by Jeroboam. This judgment was carried out by a man of God from Judah (vv. 1-10). This man of God was then deceived by an old prophet to take the way against God’s commandment and was torn apart by a lion (vv. 11-32).

　　In 14:1-18 we have Ahijah’s prophecy concerning the tragic ending of Jeroboam. Jeroboam sent his wife in disguise to see Ahijah the prophet in Shiloh, hoping to get some good news concerning his son Abijah (vv. 1-5). Instead of giving good news, Ahijah the prophet, in a prophecy from God, told the wife of Jeroboam that because of Jeroboam’s evils in his apostasy, God would destroy Jeroboam and his whole family as a man sweeps dung until it is all gone (vv. 6-18). Jeroboam’s... life was ended by the severe punishment of God (vv. 19-20a). (Life-study of 1 & 2 Kings, pp. 54-55)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of 1 & 2 Kings, msg. 8; Life-study of Deuteronomy, msgs. 10-11

«　WEEK 11　DAY 2　»

　　Rev. 1:6 And made us a kingdom, priests to His God and Father, to Him be the glory and the might forever and ever. Amen.

　　2:6 But this you have, that you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.

　　The nation [of Israel] was divided into two kingdoms... Jeroboam became the king of the northern nation, and Rehoboam, the king of the southern nation. After this division was formed, idolatry came in. Jeroboam not only caused division; he also set up idols in Bethel and in Dan (1 Kings 12:29)... Jeroboam set up another center of worship because he feared the loss of his kingdom [vv. 26-27]... To prevent this from happening and to preserve his kingdom, Jeroboam set up idols in a rival center of worship. This clearly indicates that the origin of these idols was his ambition. (CWWL, 1979, vol. 2, “The Genuine Ground of Oneness,” pp. 256-257)

　　We need to apply this principle to the situation among Christians today. The divisions in Christianity are caused by selfishness and ambition. Because certain ones are ambitious to have their own empire, they neglect God’s choice... In the Old Testament God’s choice was a unique place: Mount Zion in Jerusalem. In this place the temple with the Holy of Holies as the oracle was built. Nevertheless, Jeroboam, an ambitious, selfish, and self-seeking man, set up another center of worship... This worship center was actually a cover-up for Jeroboam’s ambition... Many Christian leaders have set up centers of worship. Apparently, these centers are established for the worship of God. Actually, they are set up to fulfill a man’s ambition to have an empire. Hence, in a very real sense, the founders of many Christian groups are today’s Jeroboams. The centers of worship set up by these present-day Jeroboams are actually centers of ambition. For this reason, “idols” can be found in those places.

　　According to the principle in 1 Kings 12:26-30, in many Christian groups there are “idols” set up to attract people and to hold them. These “idols” keep people from God. Following the example of Aaron at Mount Sinai, Jeroboam made two golden calves and told the people that they were the God who brought them out of Egypt. We may wonder why the children of Israel could be so blind as to accept these idols as God... However, if we had been there, we probably would have followed Jeroboam and would have been one with him.

　　We need to be clear about the situation in Christianity today. If we are under the shining of the heavenly light, we will realize that in so many Christian groups “idols” have been set up in place of God. These “idols” attract people into those groups and then keep them there. (CWWL, 1979, vol. 2, “The Genuine Ground of Oneness,” pp. 257-258)

　　God in His economy intended that all His people be priests serving Him directly. In Exodus 19:6, God ordained the children of Israel to be a kingdom of priests. This means that God wanted them all to be priests. However, because they worshipped the golden calf (Exo. 32:1-6), they lost the priesthood, and only the tribe of Levi, because of its faithfulness to God, was chosen to replace the whole nation of Israel as priests to God (Exo. 32:25-29; Deut. 33:8-10). Hence, there was a mediatorial class between God and the children of Israel. This became a strong system in Judaism. In the New Testament, God has returned to His original intention according to His economy, in that He has made all believers in Christ priests (Rev. 1:6; 5:10; 1 Pet. 2:5, 9). But at the end of the initial church, even in the first century, the Nicolaitans intervened as the mediatorial class to spoil God’s economy, spoiling the universal priesthood of all believers... In the proper church life there should be neither clergy nor laity; all believers should be priests of God. Because the mediatorial class destroys the universal priesthood in God’s economy, the Lord hates it. (Rev. 2:6, footnote 1)

　　Further Reading: CWWL, 1979, vol. 2, “The Genuine Ground of Oneness,” chs. 1-3

«　WEEK 11　DAY 3　»

　　Deut. 12:2 You shall completely destroy all the places where the nations whom you will dispossess have served their gods, on the high mountains and on the hills and under every flourishing tree.

　　Col. 1:18 And He is the Head of the Body, the church; He is the beginning, the Firstborn from the dead, that He Himself might have the first place in all things.

　　Although the children of Israel destroyed the places wherein the nations served their gods... and although the temple was built in Jerusalem, eventually the very things that had been destroyed came back. The high places (1 Kings 11:6-8; 12:31), the flourishing trees, the pillars, the Asherahs, and the idolatrous names were restored. In fact, Solomon, the very one who built the temple according to God’s desire on the ground of oneness, took the lead to build up the high places once again... He built up again the very high places Moses had charged the people to destroy. These high places were related to fornication and idolatry. Solomon’s setting up of the high places was especially connected with the indulgence of lust. It was for the sake of “all his foreign wives” [11:8] that he built up the high places. (CWWL, 1979, vol. 2, “The Genuine Ground of Oneness,” pp. 313-314)

　　To set up a high place is to have a division. Hence, the significance of high places is division. God’s intention with the children of Israel in the Old Testament was that His people be kept in oneness in order to worship Him in a proper way. To preserve the oneness of His people, God required that they come to the unique place of His choice. The high places, however, were a substitute and an alternative for this unique place. This indicates that division is a replacement for oneness. The unique place, Jerusalem, signifies oneness, whereas the high places signify division. Just as all manner of evil and abominable things were related to the setting up of the high places, so, in New Testament terms, all manner of evil is related to division.

　　According to the record in 1 Kings, two kings—Solomon, a good king, and Jeroboam, an evil king—took the lead to set up the high places. In the case of Solomon, the building of the high places was related to the indulgence of lust. Solomon had hundreds of wives and concubines. In order to satisfy their desire, he built up high places. His wives had “turned his heart after other gods” (11:4). In the case of Jeroboam, the building of the high places was related to ambition (12:26-32). Jeroboam wanted to maintain his empire. Fearing that the kingdom would return to the house of David if the people went to Jerusalem to worship, Jeroboam “made a house of high places” (v. 31). Hence, Jeroboam’s ambition was the cause of his decision to build up high places... What evil is associated with high places! The high places were related to lust, ambition, and idolatry. Since high places signify divisions, this indicates that the divisions among Christians today are related to these evil things.

　　Not many Christians realize that division is connected to lust, ambition, and idolatry. Most Christians would not go beyond saying that divisions are wrong and unscriptural and that they cannot agree with them. However, in the eyes of the Lord, division involves such things as lust, ambition, and idolatry. Remember, a high place is an elevation, something lifted above the common level. This indicates that a high place involves the exaltation of something. In principle, every high place, every division, in Christianity today involves the uplifting, the exaltation, of something other than Christ. The things that are exalted may not be evil. On the contrary, they may be very good and may include even Bible study or Bible teaching. Surely it is a good thing to teach the Bible. But Bible study may be related to division. In such a case, even a meeting for the study of the Scriptures becomes a high place; it may lead to the exaltation of something in place of Christ. (CWWL, 1979, vol. 2, “The Genuine Ground of Oneness,” pp. 314-315)

　　Further Reading: CWWL, 1979, vol. 2, “The Genuine Ground of Oneness,” chs. 8-9

«　WEEK 11　DAY 4　»

　　Rom. 15:4 For the things that were written previously were written for our instruction, in order that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.

　　Col. 3:11 Where there cannot be Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free man, but Christ is all and in all.

　　The account of the building of the high places under Solomon and Jeroboam is not merely a record of historical fact. This record has a spiritual significance... Hence, what was written concerning Solomon and Jeroboam was written for our spiritual instruction today [Rom. 15:4]. (CWWL, 1979, vol. 2, “The Genuine Ground of Oneness,” p. 316)

　　If you investigate the situation of today’s Christianity, you will learn that every division is an elevation of some kind. It is good to teach the Bible. But Bible study should not become an elevation that separates God’s people from one another... You may find pray-reading very helpful. However, you should not elevate it by insisting on the practice of pray-reading in the meetings. If you elevate pray-reading, you will make even pray-reading a cause of division. All of us, especially the young people, must learn not to elevate anything other than the Lord Jesus. He alone should be exalted. In the church life we should not have any high places. Instead, we should all be on one level to exalt Christ.

　　The high places built by Solomon and Jeroboam seriously damaged the ground of oneness. If this matter of the high places were not of great significance, the Old Testament would not mention it repeatedly. Only the worship, the offerings, and the incense at the place of God’s unique choice were regarded as genuine... Any high place, even those at which genuine sacrifices are offered, causes damage to the ground of oneness. Those high places are used by people in their lust and ambition for the fulfillment of their own purpose.

　　Every place in which the heathen peoples had worshipped idols was to be destroyed, no matter whether such places were “on the high mountains and on the hills and under every flourishing tree” (Deut. 12:2). God’s people were to tear down their altars, crush their pillars, burn their Asherahs, and cut down the idols of their gods. Furthermore, they were to destroy the names of them from that place. Three main things were to be dealt with: the places, the idols, and the names. This reveals that the good land was to be thoroughly cleared of all the heathen centers of worship.

　　The ground of oneness is deeper, richer, higher, and fuller than [one city, one church]. We all must learn that in this universe God has chosen only one place, and that place is the church. God requires us to go to this place He has chosen. Spiritually speaking, we must destroy every place other than the church and every name other than the name of Christ. This means that we must destroy our culture and religious background... Perhaps you had a religious background in a particular denomination... The places that we must destroy include our disposition, temperament, and habits. We must destroy everything that damages the oneness of the one new man.

　　The church with Christ is the unique place of God’s choice. In order to fulfill the word of Colossians 3:11, every other place must be utterly destroyed. We must destroy everything that is not the church with Christ. Then we will simply be in the church life enjoying Christ as the riches of the good land. As we enjoy Him with God, we will be planted in the house of the Lord, we will grow, and we will flourish. This is the proper way to have the Christian life and the church life. This is the ground of oneness. (CWWL, 1979, vol. 2, “The Genuine Ground of Oneness,” pp. 318-320, 264, 288-289)

　　Further Reading: CWWL, 1979, vol. 2, “The Genuine Ground of Oneness,” chs. 4-5

«　WEEK 11　DAY 5　»

　　Eph. 4:3-4 Being diligent to keep the oneness of the Spirit in the uniting bond of peace: one Body and one Spirit, even as also you were called in one hope of your calling.

　　John 17:21 That they all may be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us; that the world may believe that You have sent Me.

　　The church ground is constituted of three crucial elements: The first element... is the unique oneness of the universal Body of Christ, which is called “the oneness of the Spirit” (Eph. 4:3). This is the oneness that the Lord prayed for in John 17. It is a oneness of the mingling of the processed Triune God with all the believers in Christ. This oneness is in the name of the Father (vv. 6, 11), denoting the Father’s person, in which is the Father’s life. This oneness is even in the Triune God through sanctification by His holy word as the truth (vv. 14-21). This oneness is ultimately in the divine glory for the expression of the Triune God (vv. 22-24). Such a oneness was imparted into the spirit of all the believers in Christ, in their regeneration by the Spirit of life with Christ as the divine life. (CWWL, 1990, vol. 2, “A Brief Presentation of the Lord’s Recovery,” p. 408)

　　The second element of the church ground is the unique ground of the locality in which a local church is established and exists. The New Testament presents us a clear picture that all the local churches, as the expression of the universal church—the universal Body of Christ—are located in their respective cities. Hence, we see the church in Jerusalem (Acts 8:1), the church in Antioch (13:1), the church in Cenchrea (Rom. 16:1), the church in Corinth (1 Cor. 1:2), and the seven churches in Asia in seven respective cities (Rev. 1:4, 11). Every city, as the boundary in which a church exists, is the local ground of that church. Such a unique ground of locality preserves the church from being divided by many different matters as different grounds in the way that divisive denominations... are divided.

　　The third element of the church ground is the reality of the Spirit of oneness, expressing the unique oneness of the universal Body of Christ on the unique ground of locality of a local church... The reality of the Spirit... is the living reality of the Divine Trinity (1 John 5:6; John 16:13). It is by this Spirit that the oneness of the Body of Christ becomes real and living. It is also through this Spirit that the ground of locality is applied in life and not in legality. And it is by this Spirit that the genuine ground of the church is linked with the Triune God (Eph. 4:3-6).

　　The above-defined ground of the church keeps, in practicality, the genuine oneness of the church both locally and universally (v. 3), without any division.

　　The church of God, as the living Body of Christ, needs the local churches for its existence and function. Without the local churches the Body of Christ has no way to exist and to carry out its function in practicality. Actually, the local churches are the Body of Christ, and the Body of Christ is all the local churches.

　　The local churches are the many expressions in many localities of the one Body of Christ. The local churches, being the existence of the Body of Christ for its function, are the many expressions of the Body of Christ. The Body of Christ may exist in the heavens, but to express itself, it must become the local churches.

　　The building up of a local church is not only for its own building up locally (1 Cor. 14:3) but for the building up of the entire Body of Christ universally (Eph. 4:12). Actually, the building up of the local churches is the building up of the Body of Christ because the local churches are the Body of Christ as its expression. Without the building up of the local churches, by what other way could the Body of Christ be practically built up? (CWWL, 1990, vol. 2, “A Brief Presentation of the Lord’s Recovery,” pp. 408-410, 412)

　　Further Reading: CWWL, 1993, vol. 2, “The Crucial Points of the Major Items of the Lord’s Recovery Today,” pp. 65-67

«　WEEK 11　DAY 6　»

　　Psa. 133:1 Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell in unity!

　　3 Like the dew of Hermon that came down upon the mountains of Zion. For there Jehovah commanded the blessing: life forever.

　　23:6 Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of Jehovah for the length of my days.

　　How we thank the Lord for recovering the genuine oneness, the oneness that has been lost by Christianity! This oneness is all-inclusive; it includes all positive things. Division, on the contrary, includes all negative things... When we come back to the oneness, all the godly, heavenly, spiritual things return... On the one hand, we must admit that we are still quite short and have a long way to go. On the other hand, we can testify that the Lord’s riches surely are to be found in His recovery. The unique ground of oneness is here, and all the spiritual riches are included with this ground. All the godly things and all the spiritual riches are ours on the ground of oneness. (CWWL, 1979, vol. 2, “The Genuine Ground of Oneness,” p. 330)

　　After we came into the church life, spontaneously the aspiration for godliness, holiness, and spirituality was stirred within us... Because we are on the proper ground, the ground of oneness, the Word of God is transparently open to us. This is wholly due to the Lord’s blessing on the ground of oneness. Where the recovery of the ground of oneness is, there the testimony of the Lord is also.

　　When God’s people in the Old Testament returned to Jerusalem, all the things pertaining to God’s testimony returned: the altar, the offerings, the temple, the feasts, and the rich enjoyment... The godly things were found not in Babylon; they were in Jerusalem, the unique place of God’s choice. Even though God’s returned people were weak or inadequate in many respects, it cannot be denied that the Lord’s testimony was with them, not with those in Babylon.

　　[With] the children of Israel, holiness, victory, and spirituality were not the result of their effort. These virtues were theirs simply because they were right with the temple, with the Holy of Holies, and with the Ark. When they remained in the oneness by being right with the temple, there was no need for them to try to be holy, victorious, or spiritual. Spontaneously,... they had these virtues... If we would be holy, spiritual, and victorious, we must be right with Christ and the church... We must remain in the proper oneness. It is the oneness that gives us access to all positive virtues and attributes.

　　When we are in the oneness, we are in life, and we enjoy every positive virtue and attribute. Furthermore, our spiritual condition gradually improves. However, simply by accepting a divisive thought, the way is opened for evil to enter in once again.

　　The reason for this oneness is that God Himself is one. Oneness is His nature. In all God’s acts we see one origin, one element, and one essence. In God’s creation we see one God and one corporate man. In His selection we also have the one God and one man. Moreover, in the church we have the one Spirit and one new man. Eventually, in the New Jerusalem we have the unique Triune God in the one city characterized by the one throne, the one street, the one river, and the one tree. Therefore, the oneness about which we are speaking is not a partial oneness; it is a great, complete, comprehensive oneness, a oneness in entirety. May we all be impressed with the vision of such a oneness. If we see the vision of the oneness of entirety, all the germs of division will be killed, and we will be delivered from every kind of division. (CWWL, 1979, vol. 2, “The Genuine Ground of Oneness,” pp. 330-331, 260, 262, 243)

　　Further Reading: CWWL, 1977, vol. 2, “The Spirit and the Body,” chs. 19-20; CWWL, 1975-1976, vol. 3, “Young People’s Training,” chs. 14-15