第四週•週四

w04d04-ch

晨興餧養

耶二13『因爲我的百姓，作了兩件惡事，就是離棄我這活水的泉源，爲自己鑿出池子，是破裂不能存水的池子。』

約四13 ～ 14『耶穌回答說，凡喝這水的，還要再渴；人若喝我所賜的水，就永遠不渴…。』

神在祂經綸裏的心意，是要作活水的泉源，源頭，以滿足祂的選民，作他們的享受。這享受的目標，是要產生召會，作神的擴增，神的擴大，好成爲神的豐滿，使祂得着彰顯。這是神在祂經綸裏的心願，喜悅。（弗一5，9。）這思想的完滿發展是在新約裏，但其種子是撒在耶利米二章十三節。

這思想在約翰的著作中得着發展。在約翰一章一節、十四節，我們看見那是神的話成了肉體，豐豐滿滿的有恩典，有實際。十六節繼續說，『從祂的豐滿裏我們都領受了，而且恩上加恩。』在四章，主耶穌對撒瑪利亞婦人說到活水。（10，14。）在七章三十八節祂說，『信入我的人，就如經上所說，從他腹中要流出活水的江河來。』…啓示錄二十二章一至二節給我們看見，在新耶路撒冷裏有生命河湧流，在這河中長着生命樹，作生命的供應，支持並維持全城。在約翰的著作中所看見的，的確是耶利米二章十三節裏所撒種子的長大。（耶利米書生命讀經，二一頁。）

信息選讀

這思想藉着保羅的著作得着加強。譬如，林前十二章十三節說，『我們…都已經在一位靈裏受浸，成了一個身體，且都得以喝一位靈。』在那靈裏受浸，乃是進入那靈，消失在祂裏面；喝那靈，乃是把那靈接受進來，使我們全人被祂浸透。在十章三至四節，保羅用舊約的豫表，不僅說到喝，也說到喫。『都喫了一樣的靈食，也都喝了一樣的靈水；所喝的是出於隨行的靈磐石，那磐石就是基督。』靈食指嗎哪，（出十六14 ～ 18，）豫表基督作我們每日生命的供應；靈水指流自裂開磐石的活水，（十七6，）豫表那流自釘死十架而復活之基督的靈，作我們包羅萬有的水。我們飲於神這活水，乃是爲着召會作祂的擴增；我們的喝，乃是爲着產生祂的擴大，祂的豐滿，使祂得着彰顯。

在耶利米二章十三節，我們不僅看見積極的事—活水的泉源，也看見消極的事—以色列人離棄這泉源，爲自己鑿出破裂不能存水的池子。這消極的事指明，以色列人和創世記三章的亞當一樣墮落了。亞當因着離棄生命樹，轉向另一棵樹—善惡知識樹—而墮落了。以色列人因着離棄神作活水的泉源，並且轉向神以外的源頭而墮落了。這源頭由以色列爲自己努力鑿出的池子所表徵。

神有負擔，叫以色列飲於祂，好成爲祂的擴增，作祂的豐滿，使他們彰顯祂。以色列本該飲於神這活水的泉源，但他們反倒作了兩件惡事：第一件惡事是離棄神；第二件惡事是鑿出池子作另一個源頭。然而，那些池子是破裂不能存水的。這指明除了神這活水的泉源，沒有甚麼能解我們的乾渴，沒有甚麼能滿足我們。除了神自己分賜到我們裏面作活水以外，沒有甚麼能使我們成爲祂的擴增，使祂得着彰顯。（耶利米書生命讀經，二一至二三頁。）

參讀：耶利米書生命讀經，第三、十二、十六至十七、四十篇。

WEEK 4 — DAY 4

Morning Nourishment

Jer. 2:13 For My people have committed two evils: they have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, to hew out for themselves cisterns, broken cisterns, which hold no water.

John 4:13-14 Jesus answered and said to her, Everyone who drinks of this water shall thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall by no means thirst forever…

God’s intention in His economy is to be the fountain, the source, of living waters to satisfy His chosen people for their enjoyment. The goal of this enjoyment is to produce the church as God’s increase, God’s enlargement, to be God’s fullness for His expression. This is the heart’s desire, the good pleasure (Eph. 1:5, 9), of God in His economy. The full development of this thought is in the New Testament, but it is sown as a seed in Jeremiah 2:13.

This thought is developed in the writings of John. In John 1:1 and 14 we see that the Word, which was God, became flesh, full of grace and reality. Verse 16 goes on to say, “For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace.”…The Lord Jesus spoke to the Samaritan woman concerning living water (4:10, 14). In John 7:38 He said, “He who believes into Me, as the Scripture said, out of his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water.”…Revelation 22:1 and 2 show us that in the New Jerusalem the river of life flows and that in this river grows the tree of life as the life supply to support and sustain the entire city. What we have in the writings of John is surely the growth of the seed sown in Jeremiah 2:13. (Life-study of Jeremiah, pp. 17-18)

Today’s Reading

This thought is strengthened by Paul’s writings. For example, 1 Corinthians 12:13 says, “In one Spirit we were all baptized into one Body… and were all given to drink one Spirit.” To be baptized in the Spirit is to get into the Spirit and to be lost in Him; to drink the Spirit is to take the Spirit in and to have our being saturated with Him. In 1 Corinthians 10:3 and 4 Paul, using the Old Testament types, speaks not only of drinking but also of eating. “All ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank of a spiritual rock which followed them, and the rock was Christ.” The spiritual food refers to manna (Exo. 16:14-18), typifying Christ as our daily life supply; the spiritual drink refers to the living water that flowed out of the cleft rock (17:6), typifying the Spirit, who flowed out of the crucified and resurrected Christ as our all-inclusive drink. Our drinking of God as the living water is for the church as His increase; our drinking is for the producing of His enlargement, His fullness, for His expression.

In Jeremiah 2:13 we see not only something positive—the fountain of living waters—but also something negative—the children of Israel’s forsaking this fountain to hew out for themselves broken cisterns, which hold no water. This negative thing indicates that Israel, like Adam in Genesis 3, had become fallen. Adam fell by forsaking the tree of life and turning to another tree—the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Israel fell by forsaking God as the fountain of living waters and turning to a source other than God. This source is signified by the cisterns, which Israel labored to hew
out for themselves.

God was burdened that Israel would drink Him to become His increase as His fullness that they might express Him. Israel should have drunk of God as the fountain of living waters, but instead they committed two evils. The first evil was to forsake God; the second evil was to hew out cisterns as another source. Those cisterns, however, were broken and could hold no water. This indicates that apart from God as the fountain of living waters, nothing can quench our thirst, nothing can satisfy us. Nothing apart from God Himself dispensed into us as living water can make us His increase for His expression. (Life-study of Jeremiah, pp. 18-19)

Further Reading: Life-study of Jeremiah, msgs. 3, 12, 16-17, 40