Scripture Reading: Matt. 19:8; Jer. 29:10, 14b; 30:3; 31:12; 32:39; 33:6-7; Dan. 9:2-3, 17-19
Ⅰ
The principle of recovery: "From the beginning it has not been so"—Matt. 19:8:
A
In Matthew 19:8 we see the principle of recovery:
１
Recovery means to go back to the beginning.
２
We need to go back to the beginning, receiving the Lord's grace to go back to God's original intention, to what God ordained in the beginning.
B
The word recovery means that something was there originally and then was damaged or lost; thus, there is a need to bring that thing back to its original state and to its normal condition—Dan. 1:1-2; Ezra 1:3-11; 6:3-5.
C
The words recovery and economy refer to one thing as seen from two different viewpoints—1 Tim. 1:4; Eph. 1:10; 3:9:
１
With God, it is a matter of economy; with us, it is a matter of recovery.
２
God's economy was unveiled through the apostles, but because the believers lost the proper understanding of God's economy, there is the need for it to be recovered—vv. 3-5; Acts 2:42.
３
We in the Lord's recovery must have a clear vision of God's economy and then be governed, controlled, and directed by this vision, for we are here to carry out God's economy in His recovery—26:19; Prov. 29:18a.
D
When we speak of the recovery of the church, we mean that something was there originally, that it became lost or damaged, and that now there is the need to bring that thing back to its original state—Matt. 16:18:
１
Concerning the church, our vision should be governed not by the present situation nor by traditional practice but by God's original intention and standard as revealed in the Scriptures—Eph. 2:21-22; 3:3-5; 4:16.
２
We need to understand the recovery of the church in relation to God's intention and accomplishment and Satan's work of destruction—Rev. 4:11; Rom. 12:2, 4-5; Matt. 13:31-33:
ａ
God is a purposeful God, and once He has made up His mind to do something, nothing can change His mind or stop Him—Eph. 3:10-11.
ｂ
After the destruction caused by Satan, God comes in to redo what He had done before and to bring back whatever had been destroyed by the enemy; this is the Lord's recovery.
Ⅱ
The prophecy concerning recovery: "When seventy years are fulfilled for Babylon, I will visit you and establish My good word to you, to bring you back to this place"—Jer. 29:10:
A
"I will turn your captivity and gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you, declares Jehovah, and bring you back to the place from where I sent you into exile"—v. 14b.
B
"Yes indeed, days are coming, declares Jehovah, when I will turn the captivity of My people Israel and Judah, says Jehovah, and I will bring them back to the land which I gave to their fathers, and they will possess it"—30:3.
C
"They will come and sing in the height of Zion, / And they will flow forth to the goodness of Jehovah"—31:12a.
D
"I will give them one heart and one way, to fear Me all the days"—32:39a.
E
"I am about to bring it [Jerusalem] recovery and healing and will heal them; and I will reveal to them an abundance of peace and truth. And I will turn the captivity of Judah and the captivity of Israel and build them up as in the former time"—33:6-7.
F
"In those days Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will dwell securely; and this is the name by which she will be called: Jehovah our righteousness"— v. 16.
G
The Lord's words in 25:11 and 29:10-14 were a comfort to Jeremiah, assuring him that the captivity of Israel would last only seventy years:
１
Some of the captured ones, such as Daniel, would still be alive at the expiration of the seventy years—Dan. 1:21; 6:28.
２
Just as God gave the people up to captivity, He would bring them back, not as captives but as triumphant warriors.
Ⅲ
The prayer for recovery: "I, Daniel, understood by means of the Scriptures the number of the years, which came as the word of Jehovah to Jeremiah the prophet, for the completion of the desolations of Jerusalem, that is, seventy years. So I set my face toward the Lord God to seek Him in prayer and supplications"—Dan. 9:2-3:
A
Daniel had read Jeremiah's prophecy that the children of Israel would serve the king of Babylon for seventy years; standing on this word, he must have prayed many times for the fulfillment of this prophecy and for the return of the captives—Jer. 25:11; Dan. 9:2b.
B
Daniel was in captivity in Babylon, but his heart was fully set on God and His people, His temple, and His holy city for God's kingdom on earth; and he was in his spirit, fully occupied with prayer and supplications to God—vv. 2b-23:
１
In his desperate prayer Daniel requested that God recover the Holy Land, send His people back, and rebuild the holy city—vv. 16-19.
２
In verse 17 Daniel's prayer reached the highest peak: "Now hear, O our God, the prayer of Your servant and his supplications, and cause Your face to shine upon Your sanctuary that has been desolated, for the Lord's sake."