GENERAL SUBJECT
CRYSTALLIZATION-STUDY OF DEUTERONOMY
Message One
The Intrinsic Significance of Deuteronomy—— a Book concerning Christ
Scripture Reading: Deut. 30:11-14; Rom. 10:6-9; Deut. 8:3; Matt. 4:4; Psa. 119:1-2, 9; Deut. 27:1-8
I. Deuteronomy is a concluding word of the law and gives an all-inclusive conclusion to the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible, which were written by Moses:
A. Deuteronomy means "second law" and thus signifies a respeaking, a repeated speaking, of the divine law.
B. The law was given through Moses the first time when he was eighty years old (Exo. 7:7); forty years later, after the first generation, with the exception of Caleb and Joshua, had died out, the law was spoken again to the children of Israel, this time to the second generation, the generation that was ready to enter into the good land and possess it (Deut. 2:14; 8:6-10):
1. If we are going to fully possess Christ as the good land, we must beware of having an evil heart of unbelief——1:25-26, 28, 35-39; 9:23; Heb. 3:12, 16-19; 4:2, 6; 11:1; cf. 2 Cor. 4:13; Gal. 3:2, 5; Rom. 10:17; Acts 6:5a; Num. 13:25-33; 14:4-10; 32:11-12; Josh. 14:6-12.
2. If we are going to fully possess Christ as the good land, we must beware of murmurings (discontented and secret mutterings, grumblings, and complaining)——1 Cor. 10:5-6, 10-11; Deut. 1:27; Num. 14:1-4; Psa. 106:25; Phil. 2:14.
3. If we are going to fully possess Christ as the good land, we must beware of languishing in the land; the word languish implies the loss of spiritual freshness and the blunting of original impressions, produced by force of custom, or long residence in the same spot——Deut. 4:25; Rev. 3:15-22; Deut. 34:7.
C. Most of the second generation had not been present to hear the giving of the Ten Commandments, the statutes, and the ordinances at Mount Sinai; therefore, God burdened Moses to respeak, to rehearse, the law; this respeaking was a renewed training given to the new generation of the children of Israel after their long wandering, to prepare them to enter into the good land promised by God and inherit it as their possession——Exo. 3:8; Col. 1:12; 2:6-7.
II. The two generations should be interpreted not only in a literal sense but also in a typological sense; the first generation typifies our old man, and the second generation typifies our new man:
A. Paul's intention in writing 1 Corinthians was to help the saints experience the dying out of the old man and the growing up of the new man——3:1 and footnote 11, 6-9; 5:7; 10:3-13.
B. The good land in 2 Corinthians typifies Christ Himself as the very embodiment of the processed Triune God given to us as the divine grace for our enjoyment——1:12; 4:15; 6:1; 8:1, 9; 9:8, 14; 12:9; 13:14.
C. We need to be those who grow in life into the full possession and enjoyment of the all-inclusive Christ, God's promised land; to grow in life is to eliminate the old generation and to be renewed in our mind, emotion, and will for our transformation; transformation is the dying out of the old man and the growing up of the new man.
D. God's economy is to have our old man (the outer man) consumed and our new man (the inner man) renewed day by day——4:16.
E. Transformation is the inward metabolic process in which God works to spread His divine life and nature throughout every part of our being, particularly our soul, bringing Christ and His riches into our being as our new element and causing our old, natural element to be gradually discharged——3:18; Rom. 12:2.
F. By the Lord's mercy and grace, since we have come into the Lord's recovery, a metabolic change is taking place within us; this is the experience of being renewed for our growth in life and transformation in life to usher us into the enjoyment of Christ as our good land for God's building and kingdom.
III. In Romans 10:6-9 Paul applies the word spoken by Moses in Deuteronomy 30:11-14 to Christ, indicating that the commandment, which is the word of God (vv. 11, 14), is Christ as the Word (John 1:1; Rev. 19:13), who, as the breath that proceeds out of God's mouth (cf. Deut. 8:3; 2 Tim. 3:16a), is in our heart and in our mouth:
A. In Deuteronomy 30 the it in verse 12 refers to the commandment in verse 11; the commandment of God is the word, and Christ is the unique word of God:
1. Whereas verse 13 speaks of the sea, in Romans 10:7 Paul speaks of the abyss, which points to the place Christ visited after His death and before His resurrection, which place is Hades, the region of death as the lower parts of the earth—— Acts 2:24, 27; Eph. 4:9.
2. To bring Christ down refers to Christ's incarnation; to bring Christ up from the dead refers to Christ's resurrection; Christ was incarnated and crucified by coming down from heaven and was resurrected by coming up from Hades (the abyss)—— Rom. 10:6-7.
3. When we put together Deuteronomy 30:11-14 and Romans 10:6-9, we have a full picture concerning Christ; in this picture we see that Christ was incarnated, that He was crucified and buried, that He went to the abyss, that He arose from among the dead, and that in His resurrection He became the breath, the life-giving Spirit; this is our basis for saying that Christ is unveiled throughout the book of Deuteronomy—— John 20:22; 1 Cor. 15:45b.
4. Thus, Christ has become the living Word, the Spirit (Eph. 6:17), to be in our mouth and in our heart, just like the air, the breath, that can be taken into our being; He is near, and He is available for us to receive as our life supply, our strength, and our everything by calling on Him——Rom. 10:12-13.
5. As the Word of God, the incarnated, crucified, and resurrected Christ Himself, who has become the life-giving Spirit as the breath breathed out by the speaking God, is the word of the law——including the commandments, statutes, and ordinances——rehearsed by Moses in Deuteronomy; in Deuteronomy expressions such as law, commandments, statutes, ordinances, and judgments are synonyms of Christ.
B. Deuteronomy 8:3 says that "man lives not by bread alone, but that man lives by everything that proceeds out from the mouth of Jehovah"; in Matthew 4:4 everything is replaced by every word, referring to the law, the commandments, the statutes, and the ordinances as the words that proceed out of the mouth of God:
1. In Deuteronomy the laws, the commandments, the statutes, and the ordinances are all God's word, and the totality, the aggregate, of God's word is Christ (John 1:1, 14); therefore, to live by every word that proceeds out through the mouth of God is to live by Christ, the embodiment of the divine breath.
2. All the words in Deuteronomy are God's breathing, and God's breathing is altogether embodied in Christ; as we read Deuteronomy, we need to inhale all that God has exhaled, all that He has breathed out; by inhaling the divine breath in Deuteronomy, we will enjoy Christ, the embodiment of the divine breath; the more we receive the breath of the speaking God, the more we will enjoy Christ.
3. Whereas the children of Israel were charged to keep the commandments, statutes, and ordinances, we today need to keep Christ; by taking Christ, keeping Christ, and holding fast to Him, we will gain Him, enjoy Him, and live Him; we need to love Christ, keep Christ, teach Christ, wear Christ, and write Christ——6:1, 5-9; Phil. 3:9; 1:19-21a.
4. God was leading His people into the good land, a type of Christ, by Christ, and He was sustaining them on their way to the good land also by Christ, who is everything that proceeds out through the mouth of God; every word in Deuteronomy is the very Christ, who is now the word of God for us to receive as our life and life supply——Psa. 119:1, 9 and footnotes 11 and 91.
5. Because the Scriptures are the breathing out of God, the exhaling of God (2 Tim. 3:16), we should inhale the Scriptures by receiving the word of God by means of all prayer (Eph. 6:17-18); as we are teaching the Bible, we should be exhaling God into people.
IV. If we take every part of the law——all the commandments, ordinances, statutes, precepts, and judgments——as the word breathed out by the God whom we love, we will have the law as God's living word; the Spirit is the reality of whatever God is (John 16:13; 1 John 5:6); hence, as the Spirit, Christ is the reality of the law (John 6:63; Eph. 6:17-18; 1 Cor. 15:45b; Psa. 119:9 and footnote 91):
A. As God's living word, the law functions to minister the living God to His seekers——vv. 2, 88.
B. As God's living word, the law functions to dispense God Himself as life and light into those who love the law——vv. 25, 50, 107, 116, 130, 154.
C. As God's living word, the law functions to restore man's soul and make man's heart joyous——19:7-8.
D. As God's living word, the law functions to bring salvation—— 119:41, 170.
E. As God's living word, the law functions to strengthen (v. 28), comfort (v. 76), and nourish us (v. 103).
F. As God's living word, the law functions to uphold us, keep us safe, and cause us to hope——vv. 116-117, 49.
G. As God's living word, the law causes us to enjoy God as our portion——v. 57.
H. As God's living word, the law causes us to enjoy God's countenance (v. 58) and the shining of His face (v. 135).
I. As God's living word, the law causes us to enjoy God as our hiding place and shield (v. 114) and also enjoy God's help and well-dealing (vv. 175, 65).
J. As God's living word, the law functions to make us wise and give us understanding——vv. 98-99.
K. As God's living word, the law functions to give us proper discernment and knowledge——v. 66.
L. As God's living word, the law functions to keep us from sinning and from every evil way——vv. 11, 101.
M. As God's living word, the law keeps us from stumbling (v. 165), establishes our footsteps, and causes us to overcome iniquity—— v. 133.
N. If we love God, humble ourselves, and regard the law as His living word through which we contact Him and abide in Him, the law will become a channel through which the divine life and substance are conveyed to us for our supply and nourishment; being infused with God's substance through the law as God's word, we will become one with God in life, nature, and expression and will spontaneously live a life that expresses God and corresponds to His law——Rom. 8:4; Phil. 1:21a.
V. The scene at the entry of the good land portrayed in Deuteronomy 27:1-8 includes the stone monuments, the altar, and the offerings; all these items typify Christ:
A. The law written on the monuments was a portrait of God Himself; hence, the monuments signify that Christ as the living portrait of God and the embodiment of God was standing before the people to make requirements of them according to what He is.
B. Right beside the stones containing the inscriptions of the commandments of God was the altar, signifying the cross of Christ, where God's people could take Christ, in type, as their burnt offering to God for His satisfaction and as their peace offering to God for their enjoyment with God in the divine fellowship—— vv. 6-7; Psa. 43:4-5.
C. The offerings burned on the altar as sacrifices for God's satisfaction also signify Christ as the One who meets and satisfies all God's requirements; thus, the requiring God Himself came in incarnation to be our Redeemer and our Substitute as the fulfilling One.
D. This wonderful scene shows that it is through the requiring God, the cross of Christ, and Christ Himself as the offerings, not by our endeavoring in ourselves, that we enter into Christ, our good land, and receive all the blessings that God would give us in Christ; these blessings are the processed Triune God Himself embodied in Christ and realized as the Spirit——1 Pet. 3:18; Eph. 1:3; Gal. 3:14 and footnote 143.