第二週■週三
晨興餧養
創十二 7『…我要把這地賜給你的後裔。亞伯蘭就在那裏爲向他顯現的耶和華築了一座壇。』
加三 16『應許原是向亞伯拉罕和他後裔說的。並不是說，和眾後裔，像是指着許多人，乃是說，「和你那後裔，」指着一個人，就是基督。』
神在第一次顯現時呼召亞伯拉罕。神在第二次顯現時應許亞伯拉罕，要把迦南地賜給他的後裔。〔創十二 7。〕一般的說，亞伯拉罕的後裔是指他屬地的子孫，就是猶太人，也就是以色列。但狹義的說，這後裔乃是指基督。（加三 16。）
關於以色列國的境界，多年來一直有許多的爭論和會議，但是當耶穌回來作亞伯拉罕獨一的後裔時，祂要清理局面，承受美地。（李常受文集一九九一至一九九二年第四册，一二九頁。）
信息選讀
神把這地賜給亞伯拉罕的後裔，因爲神是這地的神，是全地的神，全地的擁有者。地上的政府以爲他們各自的領土是屬於他們的，但事實上全地乃是屬於耶和華神的。（詩二四 1。）…神是這地的所有者和擁有者，神有權利把這地賜給祂朋友的子孫。
神運用祂暗中的照顧，祂隱密的照顧，拯救祂朋友亞伯拉罕和他的妻子。〔創十二 10 ～ 20。〕祂是隱密照顧祂選民的神，拯救祂的選民脫離他們的難處。
神在羅得離別亞伯拉罕後，第四次向亞伯拉罕說話，這給我們看見神是安慰並鼓勵的神。在這次說話中，神應許亞伯拉罕，要把他向四方所能看見的迦南地賜給他和他的後裔，也要使他的後裔如同地上的塵沙那樣多。（十三 14 ～ 17。）亞伯拉罕和羅得都富有起來。他們有許多羊羣牛羣和帳棚，那地太小，使他們不能同住。亞伯拉罕要羅得揀選他所喜歡的地，羅得就離開了亞伯拉罕。
這時神來安慰並鼓勵亞伯拉罕，應許要把他所能看見的迦南地賜給他和他的後裔，也要使他的後裔如同地上的塵沙那樣多。沒有人能數算神所給亞伯拉罕的後裔有多少，因爲他們是數不清的。在約珥書一章四節說到，有許多亞伯拉罕的子孫被四種蝗蟲所表徵的外邦政權和入侵軍隊所殺害。這些蝗蟲如同地中海的波浪，來沖洗如同塵沙的以色列。但無論有多少塵沙被水沖去，仍然有些沙子留下來。所以在創世記二十二章十七節，亞伯拉罕的子孫不是比作塵沙，乃是比作海邊的沙。…有些好像塵沙，但其中有許多被沖走了。在沖洗之後還留下的人，如同在地中海邊的沙。（李常受文集一九九一至一九九二年第四册，一二九至一三一頁。）
保羅寫歌羅西二章七節的時候，必定想到舊約裏美地的圖畫這包羅萬有之基督的豫表。…在歌羅西二章七節保羅告訴我們，要在基督裏行事爲人，而在加拉太五章十六節他囑咐我們，當憑着靈而行。不但如此，在羅馬八章四節他說到照着靈而行。這些經文指明，今天我們的美地，就是那住在我們靈裏包羅萬有的靈。這包羅萬有的靈，就是包羅萬有的基督這經過過程的三一神。三一神經過過程之後，乃是包羅萬有的基督，成了包羅萬有的靈，給我們經歷並享受。今天這包羅萬有的靈，就是基督自己，住在我們的靈裏，作我們的美地，並活在我們裏面，使我們能在祂這包羅萬有的地上行事爲人。
在基督裏行事爲人，就是享受祂活在我們裏面；祂活在我們裏面，乃是神聖的分賜。當基督活在我們裏面，祂就將經過過程之三一神的豐富，分賜到我們全人裏面。（新約總論第五册，五四五至五四六頁。）
參讀：新約總論，第一百四十一篇。
WEEK 2 — DAY 3
Morning Nourishment
Gen. 12:7 …To your seed I will give this land. And there he built an altar to Jehovah who had appeared to him.
Gal. 3:16 But to Abraham were the promises spoken and to his seed. He does not say, And to the seeds, as concerning many, but as concerning one: “And to your seed,” who is Christ.
In His first appearing God called Abraham. In His second appearing He promised Abraham that He would give the land of Canaan to his seed [Gen. 12:7]. Abraham’s seed, generally speaking, refers to his earthly descendants, the Jews, Israel. But narrowly speaking, the seed refers to Christ (Gal. 3:16).
There have been disputes and conferences about the boundaries of the nation of Israel for years, but when Jesus comes back as the unique seed of Abraham, He will clear up the situation and inherit the good land. (CWWL, 1991-1992, vol. 4, “The History of God in His Union with Man,” pp. 96-97)
Todays Reading
God gave this land to Abraham’s seed because God is the God of the land, the God, the Owner, of the earth. The earthly governments may think that their respective territories belong to them, but actually, the entire earth belongs to Jehovah God (Psa. 24:1)…As the Possessor and Owner of the land, He has the right to give it to His friend’s descendants.
God exercised His hidden care, His secret care, to save His friend Abraham and his wife [Gen. 12:10-20]. He is the God of secret care for His elect to rescue His elect from their troubles.
God is seen as the God of comfort and encouragement in His fourth speaking to Abraham after Lot left him. In His speaking, God promised to give to Abraham and to his seed the land of Canaan as far as he could see in four directions and to make his seed as numerous as the dust of the earth (13:14-17). Abraham and Lot both became rich. They had many flocks, herds, and tents, and the land was too small for them to dwell together. Then Abraham asked Lot to choose the part of the land that he desired, and Lot left him.
Then God came to comfort and encourage [Abraham] in promising to give him and his seed the land of Canaan as far as he could see and to make his seed as numerous as the dust of the earth. No one can count how many descendants God has given to Abraham, because they are innumerable. Many of his descendants were killed by the four kinds of locusts in Joel 1:4, signifying the Gentile governments with their invading armies. These locusts were like the waves from the Mediterranean Sea, which came to scour Israel as the dust. But regardless of how much the water washed away the dust, there was still some sand left. This is why in Genesis 22:17 Abraham’s descendants are not likened to the dust but to the sand on the seashore…Some are the dust, but many of them were scoured away. The ones who remain after the scouring are as the sand on the seashore of the Mediterranean. (CWWL, 1991-1992, vol. 4, “The History of God in His Union with Man,” pp. 97-98)
As Paul was writing Colossians 2:6, he must have been considering the picture of the good land in the Old Testament as a type of the all-inclusive Christ…In Colossians 2:6 Paul tells us to walk in Christ, but in Galatians 5:16 he charges us to walk by the Spirit. Furthermore, in Romans 8:4 he speaks of walking according to the spirit. These verses indicate that the good land for us today is the all-inclusive Spirit who indwells our spirit. This all-inclusive Spirit is the all-inclusive Christ as the processed Triune God. After being processed, the Triune God is the all-inclusive Christ as the all-inclusive Spirit for us to experience and enjoy. Today this all-inclusive Spirit who is Christ Himself indwells our spirit to be our good land and lives in us that we may walk in Him as our all-inclusive land.
To walk in Christ is to enjoy His living in us, and His living in us is a matter of the divine dispensing. As Christ lives in us, He dispenses the riches of the processed Triune God into our being. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, p. 1535)
Further Reading: The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 141
