Outline
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Noah, Daniel, and Job are patterns revealing how we can live an overcoming life on the line of life to fulfill the economy of God; this is to live and work according to the vision of the age to change the age—Ezek. 14:14, 20; Gen. 2:9; Rev. 2:7; 22:1-2; Matt. 24:37-39, 45-51; Dan. 2:34-35; Acts 26:19; 2 Tim. 4:8.
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The lives of Noah, Daniel, and Job reveal the Triune God dispensing Himself, working Himself, into His chosen and redeemed people to fulfill His eternal economy; the entire Bible was written according to the governing principle of the Triune God dispensing Himself into us for us to experience Him, enjoy Him, and express Him for the fulfillment of His divine economy—cf. 1 Tim. 1:3-4; Eph. 3:2; 1 Pet. 4:10; Psa. 36:8-9; 2 Cor. 13:14; Eph. 3:16-19:
A
With Noah we see God the Father in His faithfulness to keep His eternal covenant (signified by the rainbow), which is His eternal economy to dispense the all-inclusive Christ into His chosen people as righteousness, holiness, and glory to make them the wise exhibition of all that Christ is—Gen. 3:24; 9:8-17; Ezek. 1:26-28; 36:22-38; Matt. 26:28; Heb. 8:8-12; 1 Cor. 1:9, 24-30; 2:9-10; Eph. 2:10; 5:25-27; Rev.4:3; 21:18-20.
Morning Nourishment
Ezek. 14:14 Though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in the midst of it, they would deliver only their own souls by their righteousness, declares the Lord Jehovah.Psa. 36:8-9 They are saturated with the fatness of Your house, and You cause them to drink of the river of Your pleasures. For with You is the fountain of life; in Your light we see light.
The proper church is a house where the fatness of Christ is saturating people, where the Spirit flows as the river of God’s pleasures, and where the fountain of life and light can be found.
The only way we could interpret Psalm 36:8-9 in this way is by the governing vision—the Triune God is working Himself into His chosen and redeemed people to be their life and life supply, to saturate their entire being with the Divine Trinity, that is, with the Father as the fountain, the Son as the fatness, and the Spirit as the river.
The entire Bible was written according to the principle of the Triune God wrought into His redeemed people as their enjoyment, their drink, and their fountain of life and light. The application of this principle in interpreting any portion of the New Testament is endless. (CWWL, 1984, vol. 2, “Elders’ Training, Book 2: The Vision of the Lord’s Recovery,” pp. 229-230)
Today’s Reading
The rainbow that God set in the cloud as a sign of the covenant (Gen. 9:12-17)…signifies God’s faithfulness…He cannot deny Himself (2 Tim. 2:13). Once He has spoken, He keeps His word. He Himself is faithfulness. First Corinthians 1:9 says, “God is faithful, through whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord,” and 1 John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” God is faithful.He is faithful to His word, and His word is the testament, the covenant. The covenant is simply God’s word…Whenever a cloud comes, you must call God’s faithfulness to come. That means that you call out the rainbow. Whenever you feel that you are weak, you must call for God’s faithfulness, saying, “O God, You are faithful. I am weak, but You must make me strong according to Your word.” We are all living under the covenant with God’s faithfulness as the sure sign that the flood will not come. This is the church life. (Life-study of Genesis, pp. 436-437)
In the rainbow there are several different colors, but the basic colors are only three—red, yellow, and blue…By their shining and refracting, these three colors combine to make a rainbow. Blue signifies the throne…The foundation of God’s throne is righteousness [Psa. 89:14]. This indicates that the blue throne signifies the righteousness of God. Fire signifies the sanctifying, separating, and consuming fire. This means that red here refers to God’s holiness. Yellow signifies God’s glory in the glowing electrum. Therefore, here we have God’s righteousness, holiness, and glory, signified by the colors blue, red, and yellow.
The Lord Jesus came, died on the cross to satisfy the requirements of God’s righteousness, holiness, and glory, and was resurrected, and He is now our righteousness, sanctification, and redemption (1 Cor. 1:30). He is also now our glory. In ourselves we are short of God’s glory (Rom. 3:23), we are under God’s righteous judgment, and we are kept away by God’s holiness. But now, as believers, we are in Christ…Because we are in Christ, in the sight of God we look like righteousness, holiness, and glory.
We need to experience Christ in such a way that when others contact us, they can sense righteousness, holiness, and glory…Then we will have the appearance of a rainbow, and the angels, the demons, and Satan will be able to see it…Every local church should bear the testimony of such a rainbow. Even the New Jerusalem has the appearance of a rainbow…(Rev. 21:19-20). (Life-study of Ezekiel, pp. 134-135)
Further Reading: CWWL, 1984, vol. 2, “Elders’ Training, Book 2: The Vision of the Lord’s Recovery,” ch. 13