第一週•週五

w01d05-ch

晨興餧養

太六10『願你的國來臨，願你的旨意行在地上，如同行在天上。』

西一13『祂拯救了我們脫離黑暗的權勢，把我們遷入祂愛子的國裏。』

按豫表，迦南表徵撒但黑暗國度空中、天上的部分。…撒但是這世界的王（約十二31）和空中掌權者的首領，（弗二2，）有他的權勢（徒二六18）和他的使者，（太二五41，）這些使者是他的從屬，就是那些執政的、掌權的、和管轄這黑暗世界的。（弗六12。）…撒但和他的國與神和神的國，彼此爭戰，爲仇爲敵。以前我們是在撒但的國裏，但神的救恩已帶我們脫離黑暗的國，進到神愛子的國裏。（西一13。）現今，我們不再在撒但的國裏，乃在神的國裏。（民數記生命讀經，二七○至二七一頁。）

信息選讀

民數記二十一章一至三節、二十一至三十五節啓示，以色列人戰勝亞拉得王、亞摩利人的王並巴珊王。…以色列人要進入美地，必須經過這些王管轄的領土；他們乃是爲撒但守衞着迦南地。所以，這些王乃是黑暗國度的守門者，他們必須被擊敗，然後以色列人纔能進入撒但所篡竊並霸佔的地。

迦南在豫表上表徵甚麼？一般、淺顯的領會是說，迦南表徵天堂。有些詩歌說到往天堂的路上要過『約但的寒波』。這樣領會迦南的屬靈意義，當然是不準確的。在迦南地上有各樣的仇敵。倘若迦
南表徵天堂，這就是說，天堂有許多仇敵。…〔但事實不是這樣，〕迦南…是在消極一面豫表撒但國度的主要部分，就是領頭部分，空中部分，連同其掌權的和執政的。在豫表裏，迦南地的巨人表徵那些跟從撒但之邪惡、背叛的天使。（啓十二4，7。）

已過…我們曾着重的說迦南美地是基督的豫表。現在我們卻說迦南是撒但的國度連同其邪靈的豫表。這看來似乎矛盾，但實際上卻不然。我們若仔細的研讀豫表，就會看見迦南有兩個特點。一面，迦南是豐富之地，如申命記八章所啓示的。…另一面，迦南地滿了惡人和仇敵，需要以色列人將其完全消滅。迦南的這一點，或這一面，表徵撒但黑暗國度裏最邪惡的部分。我們從迦南這兩個特點就可以看見：我們能否享受基督作包羅萬有的地，乃在於我們有沒有擊敗迦南人所豫表的仇敵。這指明整個召會，包括所有的肢體，都該從事以弗所六章所啓示的屬靈爭戰。

以弗所書論到包羅萬有的基督。三章八節告訴我們，基督的豐富是追測不盡的。我們要享受這樣一位基督，就需要與屬靈的仇敵爭戰，抵擋『諸天界裏那邪惡的屬靈勢力』。（六12。）…我們都需要記住，迦南人豫表墮落的天使，他們成了撒但國裏執政的、掌權的和有權勢的；並且邪靈和召會之間有一場爭戰在進行着。民數記二十一章的豫表給我們看見如何在這爭戰中作戰。這裏說到將守門者殺戮，指明我們需要擊敗撒但國裏的邪靈。（民數記生命讀經，二七○至二七二頁。）

參讀：希伯來書生命讀經，第十七篇；神建造的異象，第一章；李常受文集一九六四年第一册，五二七至五四四頁。

WEEK 1 — DAY 5

Morning Nourishment

Matt. 6:10 Your kingdom come; Your will be done, as in heaven, so also on earth.

Col. 1:13 Who delivered us out of the authority of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son of His love.

In typology, Canaan signifies the aerial part, the heavenly part, of the dark kingdom of Satan…As the ruler of this world (John 12:31) and as the ruler of the authority of the air (Eph. 2:2), Satan has his authority (Acts 26:18) and his angels (Matt. 25:41), who are his subordinates as principalities, powers, and rulers of the darkness of this world (Eph. 6:12)…Satan and his kingdom are at war, at enmity, with God and His kingdom. Formerly, we were in the kingdom of Satan, but God’s salvation has brought us out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of the Son of God’s love (Col. 1:13). Now we are no longer in the kingdom of Satan but are in the kingdom of God. (Life-study of Numbers, pp. 239-240)

Today’s Reading

Numbers 21:1-3, 21-35 reveals that the children of Israel defeated thekings of Arad, of the Amorites, and of Bashan…In order for the children of Israel to enter into the good land, they had to pass through the territory controlled by these kings who were guarding the land of Canaan for Satan. These kings, therefore, were gate guards of the kingdom of darkness, and they had to be defeated before the children of Israel could enter into the land usurped and occupied by Satan.

What does Canaan signify in typology? A common, shallow understanding is that Canaan signifies heaven. Certain hymns speak of crossing “the cold waves of Jordan” on the way to heaven. This understanding of the spiritual significance of Canaan surely is not accurate. In the land of Canaan there were all kinds of enemies. If Canaan signifies heaven, this would mean that there are enemies in heaven. On the contrary, Canaan typifies the main part, the leading part, the aerial part, of Satan’s kingdom, with its authorities and rulers. In typology, the giants in the land of Canaan signify the evil angels, the rebellious angels who follow Satan (Rev. 12:4, 7).

[In] the past…, we have stressed the fact that Canaan, the good land, is a type of Christ. Now we are saying that Canaan is a type of the kingdom of Satan, with its evil spirits. This may seem contradictory, but actually, it is not. If we study the typology carefully, we will see that Canaan has two features. On the one hand, Canaan is a land of riches, as revealed in Deuteronomy 8… On the other hand, Canaan was a land full of evil persons and enemies, all of whom were to be eradicated by the children of Israel. This feature, or aspect, of Canaan signifies the most evil part of Satan’s dark kingdom. As we consider these two features of Canaan, we see that whether or not we can enjoy Christ as the all-inclusive land depends on whether or not we defeat the enemies typified by the Canaanites. This indicates that the church as a whole, including all the members, should engage in the spiritual warfare revealed in Ephesians 6.

Ephesians is a book on the all-inclusive Christ. Ephesians 3:8 tells us that the riches of Christ are unsearchable. In order to enjoy such a Christ, we need to fight against the spiritual enemies, against “the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenlies” (6:12)…We all need to keep in mind that the Canaanites typify the fallen angels, who have become the powers, rulers, and authorities in Satan’s kingdom, and that a war is raging between these evil spirits and the church. The typology in Numbers 21 shows us how to fight in this war. The slaughtering of the gate guards in this chapter indicates our need to defeat the evil spirits in the kingdom of Satan. It is helpful to have this view as we…consider 21:1-3, 21-35. (Life-study of Numbers, pp. 239-241)

Further Reading: Life-study of Hebrews, msg. 17; CWWL, 1964, vol. 4, “The Vision of God’s Building,” ch. 1; CWWL, 1964, vol. 1, pp. 405-415