第四週■週三

w04d03-ch

晨興餧養

出二八29 ～ 30『亞倫進聖所的時候，要將決斷胸牌上以色列兒子們的名字，帶在胸前，在耶和華面前常作記念。你又要將烏陵和土明放在決斷的胸牌裏；亞倫…要帶在胸前…。』

胸牌上的十二個名字包含希伯來文二十二個字母中的十八個；其餘的四個字母安在一塊叫作土明的東西上。希伯來文的土明，意卽成全者或完成者。因此，在胸牌及附加的土明上，能看見全部的希伯來文二十二個字母。正如打字機鍵盤上的二十六個英文字母，可用來拼出單字、片語、句子或段落；照樣，胸牌和土明上的二十二個希伯來文字母，也可用來拼出單字和句子。（出埃及記生命讀經，一六○九頁。）

信息選讀

烏陵是一種照明物，安在胸牌裏面十二塊寶石底下；希伯來文『烏陵』的意思就是光。…烏陵能裝油燃燒，而用以燃燒這油的火是來自祭壇。…烏陵有十二個照明物，每一個照亮胸牌上的一塊寶石；然後透明的寶石就能發出光來。

烏陵和土明加到胸牌上，就使胸牌成爲決斷的胸牌。…每當約書亞需要得着關於百姓行動的引導時，他必須到大祭司面前，然後大祭司就藉着烏陵和土明得着從神來的引導。因此，神是藉着烏陵和土明說話。

烏陵和土明都豫表基督，而胸牌豫表召會。因此，烏陵和土明加到胸牌上，豫表基督加到召會裏。…胸牌裏的十二塊寶石豫表信徒，就是召會的組成分子，刻有基督作屬靈的字母。按照啓示錄，基督是阿拉法，也是俄梅嘎。旣然祂是頭一個字母和最後一個字母，毫無疑問，祂也是中間所有的字母。這意思是，基督乃是用來組成單字、句子、段落、章節、和整本書的字母。刻在胸牌裏十二塊寶石上的字母，豫表基督是屬天的字母。

土明…是胸牌上字母的完成者，成全者。這指明無論有多少基督寫到我們裏面，我們還是不完全；雖有一些字母，有一些屬基督的東西，但仍有缺失。我們需要完成的基督，就是帶着這些缺失字母的那一位。

加到胸牌上的烏陵使十二塊寶石發亮。…這裏要緊的點乃是：卽使所有的寶石都刻着字母，表徵信徒都寫着基督，仍會缺少一些東西。…因此，需要土明所豫表的基督加到召會—胸牌裏。

召會裏領頭的人常領悟到，他們所在地的聖徒無論多麼經歷基督，或無論有多少基督已寫到他們裏面，仍會缺少一些屬基督的東西。…因此，我們需要基督作爲完全。不僅如此，無論我們經歷基督有多少，並有基督寫在我們身上，我們若倚靠自己，就仍是在黑暗裏。我們需要基督作光，作烏陵，加到召會裏。…卽使我們對基督的經歷是豐富的，仍會缺少一些屬基督的東西，並且惟有基督自己纔能補上。我們絕不該以爲我們已經把基督用盡了。不，祂是取之不盡，用之不竭的。…我們需要基督加到我們裏面。這缺少的一分基督加上時，我們就得着完全並照耀。（出埃及記生命讀經，一六一○、一六二九至一六三一頁。）

參讀： 出埃及記生命讀經， 第一百二十三、一百二十六至一百二十九篇。

WEEK 4 — DAY 3

w04d03-en

Morning Nourishment

Exo. 28:29-30 ...Aaron shall bear the names of the sons of Israel in the breastplate of judgment on his heart when he goes into the sanctuary, for a memorial before Jehovah continually. And you shall put in the breastplate of judgment the Urim and the Thummim; and they shall be on Aaron’s heart when he goes in before Jehovah...

The twelve names on the breastplate included eighteen of the twentytwo letters in the Hebrew alphabet. The remaining four letters were put on a piece called the Thummim. The Hebrew word Thummim means “perfecters” or “completers.” Thus, on the breastplate with the additional piece called the Thummim all twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet could be found. Just as the twenty-six letters of the English alphabet on the keys of a typewriter can be used to compose a word, phrase, sentence, or paragraph, so the twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet on the breastplate and the Thummim could be used to spell out words and sentences. (Life-study of Exodus, p. 1405)

Today’s Reading

The Urim was an illuminator inserted into the breastplate underneath the twelve stones. In Hebrew the word Urim means “lights”...The Urim had the capacity to contain oil for burning, and...the fire used to burn this oil came from the altar...This Urim had twelve illuminators, one to illuminate each piece of stone on the breastplate. Then the transparent stones could shine with light.

When the Urim and the Thummim were added to the breastplate, they caused it to become the breastplate of judgment...Whenever Joshua needed guidance concerning the move of the people, he had to go to the high priest who then received guidance from God by means of the Urim and the Thummim. Thus, God spoke through the Urim and the Thummim.

Both the Urim and the Thummim typify Christ...The breastplate typifies the church. Therefore, the Urim and the Thummim added to the breastplate typify Christ added to the church. The twelve precious stones in the breastplate typify the believers, the components of the church, inscribed with Christ as the letters of the spiritual alphabet. According to the book of Revelation, Christ is the Alpha and the Omega. Since He is the first letter and the last, He is no doubt all the letters in between. This means that Christ is the alphabet used to compose words, sentences, paragraphs, chapters, and books. The letters inscribed on the twelve stones in the breastplate typify Christ as the letters in the heavenly alphabet.

The Thummim...was a completer, a perfecter, of the letters on the breastplate. This indicates that no matter how much of Christ has been inscribed into us, we still are not complete. Some letters, something of Christ, are still missing. We need the completing Christ, the One who bears these missing letters.

The Urim added to the breastplate caused the twelve precious stones to shine...The important point here is that even with all the stones inscribed with letters signifying the believers inscribed with Christ, there was still something missing...Hence, there is the need for the Christ typified by the Thummim to be added to the church, the breastplate.

Often the leading ones in the church realize that no matter how much the saints in their locality have been experiencing Christ or how much of Christ has been inscribed into them, something of Christ is still missing...Therefore, we need Christ as the completion. Furthermore, no matter how much we have experienced Christ and have had Him inscribed upon us, we will still be in darkness if we depend on ourselves. We need Christ as the light, as the Urim, to be added to the church...Even though we may be rich in the experience of Christ, something of Christ is still lacking and can be made up by Him alone. We should never think that we have exhausted Christ. No, He is inexhaustible...We need Christ to be added to us. When this missing portion of Christ is added, we have the completion and the shining. (Life-study of Exodus, pp. 1405-1406, 1423-1425)

Further Reading: Life-study of Exodus, msgs. 123, 126-129