第一週•週二

w01d02-ch

晨興餧養

申八7『因爲耶和華你神領你進入美地，那地有川，有泉，有源，從谷中和山上流出水來。』

西一12『感謝父，叫你們彀資格在光中同得所分給眾聖徒的分。』

基督就是美地。…〔創世記一章九至十節和十三節裏〕第三日從死水裏露出來的旱地，乃是在第三日從死裏復活之基督的豫表。…一切的生命，無論是植物、是動物、或是人的生命，都是出於地；甚至人也是用那復活之地的塵土造的。從醫學上來看，我們身體的成分和土壤所含有的成分，是相同的。…所以人是出於地，而地是基督的表號。這表徵基督是各種生命的源頭。基督乃是美地，是出自死水，在四圍環繞的死水中高高的露出來之地，由迦南地所描繪。…這地就是基督的一幅圖畫。（希伯來書生命讀經，二二一頁。）

信息選讀

因着申命記有對美地的描述，我們可以說，美地是啓示在舊約中。但因着美地的意義是隱藏的，我們也可以說美地是隱藏在聖經中。主的兒女因着祂憐憫和恩典的供應，深入神的話中，纔開始認識神應許給祂選民的美地，乃是基督的豫表。倘若在埃及所享受的逾越節，以及在曠野所經歷的嗎哪，都是基督的豫表，那麼美地必定也是基督的豫表。

在約書亞五章十一至十二節，我們看到一個題示，美地接續嗎哪作基督的豫表。十一節說到以色列的百姓喫美地的出產。十二節說得特別清楚：『他們喫了那地的出產，當日嗎哪就止住了，以色列人也不再有嗎哪了；那一年，他們卻喫迦南地的出產。』嗎哪豫表基督是神百姓生命的供應。正如約書亞記中這二節所指明，美地的出產乃是嗎哪的延續。因此，嗎哪若是豫表基督，美地的出產必定也是豫表祂。藉着曠野中嗎哪的供應，神的百姓就能建立會幕作神的居所。同樣的原則，因着那地豐富出產的供應，他們就能建造聖殿作神更穩固的居所。毫無疑問，以色列子民所享受的美地，乃是基督一個重大的豫表，因爲乃是藉着享受美地，聖殿纔得以建立。我們甚至可以說，這是基督在聖經中最終極的豫表。美地乃是基督完全而包羅萬有的豫表。

我們需要詳細的認識，基督如何由申命記八章七至十節中所記載的一切項目來豫表。祂是從谷中和山上流出來的水，祂是小麥和大麥；小麥和大麥分別豫表成爲肉體並被釘死的基督，以及復活的基督。我們還要繼續往前看，基督如何由酒、油、無花果、石榴、和礦物來豫表。

地是舊約聖經的緊要中心，這就是爲甚麼神在舊約中一再說到那地的原因。神呼召亞伯拉罕出來，告訴他要把他帶到一個地方，那個地方就是迦南美地。…舊約的中心乃是在美地上所建造之城裏的聖殿。我們若認識聖經，也有從神來的亮光，我們就明白，神永遠計畫的中心，按豫表說，乃是美地連同殿和城。從創世記開始，舊約就以美地爲中心，並且一再題到和美地有關的事物。…美地乃是包羅萬有之基督的圖畫，豫表基督之於我們乃是一切。（歌羅西書生命讀經，二○二至二○四頁。）

參讀：歌羅西書生命讀經，第六、二十篇。

WEEK 1 — DAY 2

Morning Nourishment

Deut. 8:7 For Jehovah your God is bringing you to a good land, a land of waterbrooks, of springs and of fountains, flowing forth in valleys and in mountains.

Col. 1:12 Giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you for a share of the allotted portion of the saints in the light.

Christ is the good land…The land that came out of the death water on the third day was a type of the resurrected Christ who came out of death on the third day…All the life, including the vegetable, animal, and human life, came out of the land. Even man was made from the dust of that resurrected land. Medically speaking, our physical body contains the same elements as the earth…Mankind came from the land, and the land is a figure of Christ. This signifies that Christ is the source of all kinds of life. Christ as the good land, the land that came out of the death water, the land that was elevated above and surrounded by the death water, was depicted by the land of Canaan…This land is a picture of Christ. (Life-study of Hebrews, 2nd edition, p. 180)

Today’s Reading

Because Deuteronomy describes the good land, we may say that the good land is revealed in the Old Testament. But because the meaning and significance of the good land are concealed, we may also say that the land is concealed in the Scriptures. As the Lord’s children, supplied by His mercy and grace, delved into the Word, they began to realize that the good land promised by God to His chosen people is a type of Christ. If the passover enjoyed in Egypt and the manna experienced in the wilderness were types of Christ, then the good land must also be a type of Christ.

In Joshua 5:11 and 12 we see a hint that the good land typifies Christ as the continuation of the manna. Verse 11 says that the children of Israel ate of the produce of the land. Verse 12 is especially clear: “And the manna ceased on that day, when they ate of the produce of the land; and there was no longer manna for the children of Israel, but they ate of the yield of the land of Canaan that year.” Manna was a type of Christ as the life supply for God’s people. As these verses in Joshua point out, the produce of the good land was the continuation of the manna. Therefore, if the manna typifies Christ, the produce of the good land must also typify Him. By means of the supply of manna in the wilderness, God’s people were able to build the tabernacle as God’s dwelling place. In the same principle, through the supply of the rich produce of the land, they were able to build the temple as a more solid dwelling place for God. No doubt, the good land enjoyed by the children of Israel is a significant type of Christ, for through the enjoyment of it, the temple was built. We may even say that it is the ultimate type of Christ found in the Scriptures. It is a complete and all-inclusive type of Christ.

We need to know in detail how Christ is typified by all the items mentioned in Deuteronomy 8:7-10. He is the water that flows forth in valleys and in mountains. He is the wheat and the barley, which signify respectively the incarnated and crucified Christ and the resurrected Christ. We must go on to see how Christ is typified by vines, oil, figs, pomegranates, and minerals.

The land is the crucial focus of the Old Testament. This is the reason that in the Old Testament the Lord spoke of the land again and again. He called out Abraham and told him that He would bring him into a certain land, which was the land of Canaan…The center of the Old Testament is the temple within the city built in the good land. If we know the Scriptures and have light from God, we will realize that the center of God’s eternal plan, speaking according to the type, is the land with its temple and city. Beginning with the book of Genesis, the Old Testament takes the land as the center and mentions again and again something related to the land…The land is the figure of the all-inclusive Christ, a type of Christ as everything to us. (Life-study of Colossians, second edition, pp. 164-165)

Further Reading: Life-study of Colossians, msgs. 6, 20