Ⅴ
The pillars of the temple were built of bronze, signifying God’s judgment—1 Kings 7:14-15, 21; Rev. 3:12; 21:22:
A
In the Scriptures the pillar is a sign, a testimony, of God’s building through transformation in practicing the Body life—Gen. 28:22a; 1 Kings 7:15-22; Gal. 2:9; 1 Tim. 3:15; Rev. 3:12; Rom. 12:2; Eph. 4:11-12.
B
Those who are useful to God are constantly under God’s judgment (bronze), realizing that they are men in the flesh, worthy of nothing but death and burial—Psa. 51:5; Exo. 4:1-9; Rom. 7:18; Matt. 3:16-17:
１
The reason for both division and fruitlessness among believers is that there is no bronze, nothing of God’s judgment; instead, there is pride, self-boasting, self- vindication, self-justification, self-approval, self-excuse, self-righteousness, and condemning and regulating others instead of shepherding and seeking them—16:24; Luke 9:54-55.
２
When we love the Lord and experience Him as the man of bronze (Ezek. 40:3), He will become our extraordinary love, boundless forbearance, unparalleled faithfulness, absolute humility, utmost purity, supreme holiness and righteousness, and our brightness and uprightness (Phil. 4:5-8).
C
On the capitals of the pillars in the temple there were “nets of checker work [like a trellis] with wreaths of chain work”; these signify the complicated and intermixed situation in which those who are pillars in God’s building live and bear responsibility (1 Kings 7:17; 2 Cor. 1:12; 4:7-8); on the top of the capitals were lilies and pomegranates (1 Kings 7:18-20):
１
Lilies signify a life of faith in God, a life of living by what God is to us, not by what we are; the bronze means “not I,” and the lily means “but Christ”—S. S. 2:1-2; Matt. 6:28, 30; 2 Cor. 5:4; Gal. 2:20.
２
The pomegranates on the wreaths of the capitals signify the fullness, the abundance and beauty, and the expression of the riches of Christ as life—Phil. 1:19-21a; Eph. 1:22-23; 3:19.
３
Through the crossing out of the checker work and the restriction of the chain work, we can live a pure, simple life of trusting in God to express the riches of the divine life of Christ for God’s building in life.
Morning Nourishment
1 Kings 7:15 And he formed the two bronze pillars; eighteen cubits was the height of each pillar, and a line of twelve cubits encompassed each pillar.Rom. 7:18 For I know that in me, that is, in my flesh, nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but to work out the good is not.
In typology, bronze always signifies God’s judgment. That the two pillars were made of bronze clearly indicates that if we would be a pillar, we must realize that we are those under God’s judgment. We should not only be under God’s judgment, but also under our own judgment. Like Paul in Galatians 2:20, we must say, “I have been crucified. I have been crucified because I am not good for anything in God’s economy. I am only qualified for death.” Many brothers are intelligent and capable and many sisters are quite nice. Nevertheless, we must recognize that actually we are not good at all... We are only good for death. (Life-study of Genesis, p. 1065)
Today’s Reading
All those who became a true profit to the building of the church were those who did not think of themselves as being qualified for leadership. Rather, they always said, “I am not qualified. I am too poor. My disposition is not suitable, and I am still too much in my natural life. I do not consider myself to be good.” To say this is not only to be under God’s judgment, but also under self-judgment... We all must feel that in us, that is, in our flesh, there is nothing good (Rom. 7:18). We should say, “I am worthy of nothing but death. How could the brothers think that I should be one of the elders? I am terrified of this possibility.”... The Lord will never choose anyone who considers himself to be qualified. If you think that you are qualified, then you have nothing to do with bronze... The experience of bronze is that we are always under God’s judgment and under our own self-judgment. We all must apply this word to ourselves, saying, “Lord, have mercy upon me, for in me there is nothing good.”First Kings 7:17 speaks of “nets of checker work with wreaths of chain work for the capitals that were at the top of the pillars, seven for the one capital, and seven for the second capital.” Every situation faced by the church members is a checker work, a trellis encircled by a crown of pins and thorns... It is our destiny to be in this situation. We must not only bear the responsibility in this intermixed and complicated situation, but also live in the midst of it. In order to bear the responsibility in this complicated situation, we must live by faith in God. First Kings 7:19 says, “And the capitals that were at the top of the pillars in the portico were of lily work.” The lily signifies a life of faith in God. First, we must condemn ourselves, realizing that we are fallen, incapable, unqualified, and that we are nothing. Then we must live by faith in God, not by what we are or by what we can do. We must be a lily existing by what God is to us, not by what we are (Matt. 6:28, 30). Our living on earth today depends upon Him. How can we possibly bear the responsibility in the intermixed and complicated church life? In ourselves, we are incapable of doing this, but we can do so if we live by faith in God. It is not I, but Christ who lives in me—this is the lily. It is not I who bear the responsibility—it is He who bears it. I live, not by myself, but by Him, and I minister, not by myself, but by Him. If you sisters are mothers in the church life, you must say, “I am not a mother in the church by myself, but by Him.”
On the one hand, we are the condemned and judged bronze; on the other hand, we are the living lilies. The bronze means, “Not I,” and the lily means, “But Christ.” Those who are lilies can say, “The life that I now live, I live by the faith of Jesus Christ.” By all this we can realize that we are lilies bearing an impossible responsibility in an intermixed and complicated situation full of checker work and chain work... All the checker work is the base, the bed, in which the lilies grow. (Life-study of Genesis, pp. 1066-1067, 1073-1075)
Further Reading: Life-study of Genesis, msgs. 83-84