Ⅱ
Christ as the Son of Man is the High Priest, "clothed with a garment reaching to the feet, and girded about at the breasts with a golden girdle" (Rev. 1:13), to cherish the churches in His humanity and nourish them in His divinity:
A
The Son of Man is in His humanity, the golden girdle signifies His divinity, and breasts are a sign of love:
１
Christ was girded at the loins, strengthened for the divine work (Exo. 28:4; Dan. 10:5) to produce the churches, but now He is girded about at the breasts, caring for the churches that He has produced by His love.
２
The golden girdle signifies Christ's divinity as His divine energy, and the breasts signify that this golden energy is exercised and motivated by and with His love to nourish the churches.
B
Christ takes care of the churches in His humanity as the Son of Man to cherish them—Rev. 1:13a:
１
He dresses the lamps of the lampstands to make them proper, cherishing us so that we may be happy, pleasant, and comfortable—Exo. 30:7; cf. Psa. 42:5, 11:
ａ
The Lord's presence provides an atmosphere of tenderness and warmth to cherish our being, giving us rest, comfort, healing, cleansing, and encouragement.
ｂ
We can enjoy the cherishing atmosphere of the Lord's presence in the church to receive the nourishing supply of life—Eph. 5:29; cf. 1 Tim. 4:6; Eph. 4:11.
２
He trims the wicks of the lamps of the lampstand, cutting off all the negative things that frustrate our shining—Exo. 25:38:
ａ
The charred part of the wick, the snuff, signifies things that are not according to God's purpose and need to be cut off, such as our flesh, our natural man, our self, and our old creation.
ｂ
He trims away all the differences among the churches (the wrongdoings, shortages, failures, and defects) so that they may be the same in essence, appearance, and expression—cf. 1 Cor. 1:10; 2 Cor. 12:18; Phil. 2:2.
Morning Nourishment
Rev. 1:13 And in the midst of the lampstands [I saw] One like the Son of Man, clothed with a garment reaching to the feet, and girded about at the breasts with a golden girdle.Eph. 5:29 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, even as Christ also the church.
To cherish people is to make them feel happy and comfortable. To nourish them is to feed them, to give them something to eat…As the Son of Man, Christ as the High Priest is taking care of all the churches as lampstands (Rev. 1:12-13). On the one hand, He is cherishing the churches in His humanity; on the other hand, He is nourishing the churches in His divinity…When we visit people, invite them to our home, or contact them before and after the meetings, we must be one with Christ to cherish and nourish them. (CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 5, “The Vital Groups,” p. 152)
Today’s Reading
Christ is the best model of cherishing and nourishing…Christ is taking care of the lampstands by being the Son of Man with a long garment. This garment is the priestly robe (Exo. 28:33-35), which shows that Christ is our great High Priest.He is also girded about at the breasts [a sign of love] with a golden girdle… The golden girdle is one piece of gold to become a belt. The Son of Man is in His humanity, and the golden girdle signifies His divinity.
The priests in the Old Testament were girded at the loins for their ministry (Exo. 28:4). In Daniel 10:5 Christ also was girded at His loins, with fine gold. To be girded at the loins is to be strengthened for the work. Christ has finished His divine work in producing the churches. Now by His love He is caring for the churches that He has produced…Now He takes care of the churches with the girdle not on His loins but on His breasts, signifying love. I hope we all could realize that in these days even among us, Christ is wearing a golden girdle on His breasts.
The totality of Christ in His divinity has become a girdle. The golden girdle signifies Christ's divinity becoming His energy, and the breasts signify that this golden energy is exercised and motivated by His love. His divine energy is exercised by and with His love to nourish the churches.
Christ takes care of the churches as the lampstands in His humanity as the Son of Man to cherish them (Rev. 1:13a). Christ as our High Priest takes care of the churches that He has established first in His humanity to cherish the churches, to make the churches happy, pleasant, and comfortable.
The high priest in the Old Testament dressed the lamps of the lampstands every morning (Exo. 30:7). To dress the lamps is to make them proper. Christ cares for the lampstands by trimming the wicks of the lamps of the lampstand, just as the priest did according to the type in the Old Testament (Exo. 25:38). When the wick was burned out, it became charred and black, so the priest had to come to cut off the black part of the wick…The charred part of the wick, the snuff, signifies things that are not according to God's purpose which need to be cut off, such as our flesh, our natural man, our self, and our old creation. All the lampstands are organic. They are living lampstands. Since each church is a living lampstand, each church has much feeling. A church with charred wicks will not feel comfortable.
I thank the Lord that today in His recovery He is the High Priest in His humanity…We do not have a High Priest who cannot be touched with the feeling of our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all respects like us, yet without sin (Heb. 4:15). Our Christ is the same as we are…He always sympathizes with our weaknesses in His humanity. He is the High Priest in His humanity taking care of us by cherishing us all the time. (CWWL, 1994- 1997, vol. 5, “The Vital Groups,” pp. 154-156)
Further Reading: CWWN, vol. 17, “Scriptural Messages,” issue no. 22