Day: January 2, 2022

The Subject of the Bible Being Eating and Drinking God

The sixty-six books of the Bible focus on this one subject. This is the unique subject. If the Bible speaks of love, it is a love that is lived out through our eating of God. If the Bible speaks of patience, it is a patience that is lived out through our receiving of God. If the Bible speaks of holiness, it is a holiness that is manifested through our digestion of God. If the Bible speaks of zeal, it is a zeal that comes from the fire that burns within us through our breathing of the fiery God. The things of God that are recorded in the Bible are only God Himself.

This is the story of the Bible. Genesis begins with God becoming man’s food. In the Psalms the psalmist says, “Taste and see that Jehovah is good” (34:8). Tasting involves eating and drinking. Psalm 36:8 says that we can be saturated with the fatness of His house. The fatness of His house is simply God Himself. Without God the house has nothing. God Himself is the fatness of the house. Hence, to enjoy the fatness of the house is to enjoy God Himself. This verse also says that we can drink of the river of His pleasures. This water is God Himself. The fatness and the water are for eating and drinking. This continues the thought in Genesis 2. Psalm 36:9 says that with God is the fountain of life and that in His light we see light. These descriptions and expressions are found in the Old Testament. However, these are not merely descriptions; they are the genuine experiences of the psalmists.

In the New Testament the Lord Jesus came. He said that He is the bread of life that comes down out of heaven. He came to give man life. In other words, He said that He is the tree of life in Genesis 2. He is able to dispense life into us in the form of food. He wants to be our food so that we may have life. Those who contact Him will not hunger, and those who believe into Him will not thirst. One day the Lord Jesus declared that if anyone thirsts, he should come to Him and drink, and that those who believe into Him will have rivers of living water flowing out of them. The Bible explicitly points out that this refers to the Spirit, whom those who believed into Him would receive (John 7:37-39). The Spirit is the realization of God. God became flesh, died, resurrected, and became the Spirit. The Spirit is the very God who was incarnated and raised from the dead. The Spirit is also the God who enters into man. The God who became flesh, died, resurrected, and entered into man is the Spirit. When such a Spirit enters man, He becomes rivers of living water in man to satisfy his thirst and to flow out of him. Here the Lord Jesus is again speaking of eating and drinking. This is the thought in Genesis 2. Before He died, He established the Lord’s supper in which He took bread and blessed it and said to His disciples, “Take, eat; this is My body.” And He took a cup and gave thanks, and He gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you” (Matt. 26:26-27). This is eating and drinking; it is the thought in Genesis 2. When He came to the disciples on the evening of His resurrection, He breathed into them and in a sense said, “Receive the holy breath” (John 20:22). By this breath the Holy Spirit entered the disciples. This is a kind of eating and drinking of the Lord Himself. In the book of Revelation God says that He would be the hidden manna to the overcoming saints who love Him. From the beginning to the end of the Bible God’s thought is to make Himself available as food and drink. He wants man to eat and drink Him. At the end of Revelation the entire divine record concludes. The Bible begins with the tree of life and a flowing river, and it concludes with the tree of life and the river of water of life. From the throne within the city, that is, from God Himself, the river of water of life flows. On both sides of the river is the tree of life, bearing fruits for man’s enjoyment. The Bible begins with the tree of life and concludes with the tree of life. In the beginning God reveals Himself to man as food for eating and drinking, and in the end He presents this same picture.

The line that runs through the entire Bible, from beginning to end, is God becoming food to man. He wants man to eat Him, drink Him, and enjoy Him. He wants to be life to man. Once we know this, we can understand that the relationship between God and man is not a matter of worship or service or a matter of doing some work for Him. These are secondary and ancillary. The crux of the issue is that we must eat God, drink Him, absorb Him, and enjoy Him.

God Desiring Man to Be Transformed 
and to Be Like Him by Eating and Drinking

We should consider the situation when Adam was placed in front of the tree of life. Beside him was a river flowing, and where the river flowed, there were gold, bdellium, and precious stone (vv. 10-12). This picture depicts the desire of God’s heart. Adam, who was made of earth, was placed beside Eve, who was made from Adam’s earthy rib. This was an earthy husband with an earthy wife, an earthy male beside an earthy female; both were earthy. Do we think that the God whose appearance is like the shining of gold and precious stones craves worship of earthy creatures? God is not a god of earth and dust. He has no intention for earthy men to worship and serve Him. In effect, God was indicating that there was no need to serve and worship Him but rather to be fed and satisfied with Him. He is golden and like precious stone. He is different in nature from the earth, the clay, and the dust of our constitution. We need to eat and drink Him and allow His nature to enter into us in order for us to experience transformation. This will make us the same as He is—gold and precious stones.

God’s word is even clearer in the New Testament. Second Corinthians 4:7 clearly says that we have this treasure in earthen vessels. God is a treasure, and we can be transformed when this treasure is hidden in us, the earthen vessels. At the end of Revelation there is a city with the tree of life and the river of water of life flowing in it. This city is not an earthen city but a golden city of precious stones and pearl. That is the ultimate manifestation of the glory of the believers. Hence, the first picture that God shows in the Bible is that He wants to be food to man. He wants to be eaten so that man can be transformed in his nature. This is God’s intention.

Some may think that I am too excited, but I have a burden within me. God has no intention for us to worship or serve Him. He simply wants us to eat Him. Although we would rather worship and serve Him, this thought is absolutely contrary to His desire. Our thought and God’s desire are incompatible. We must eat Him; we do not need to worship Him.

This picture needs to be seared into our being. God is for us to eat. I have heard many brothers and sisters praising God, saying, “I praise You that a man as vile and lowly as I am can worship You as the holy God.” This type of praise comes from those who do not truly know God. If we knew God and knew how to enjoy Him, we would say, “I praise You that a man as lowly and vile as myself can eat and enjoy You even though You are great and holy.” Every Lord’s Day we praise the Lord in the bread-breaking meeting, saying, “Lord, we love You so much. You died on the cross for us. You have shed Your blood and borne our sins. You rose from the dead and ascended on high to be our interceding High Priest. We thank and praise You.” Almost every Christian says this. After this type of thanksgiving, we may make a resolution, saying, “Lord, give me the strength not to shame Your name but to walk and behave according to Your will so that I can preach the gospel with zeal, attend every meeting, read the Bible, and pray every day.” The Lord’s response to this is, “Foolish one, I do not want any of these things. My body was broken for you. Take and eat. My blood was shed for you. Take and drink. Remember Me in this way.” Eating and drinking the Lord in remembrance of Him means to take the Lord by eating and drinking Him. When we break the bread, we need to realize that we are not worshipping or serving Him; rather, we are eating and drinking Him. The loaf of bread before us symbolizes the Lord’s body, which was sacrificed for us. The cup before us symbolizes His blood, which was shed for us. Both of these are for eating and drinking. This is altogether a matter of eating and drinking.

We must understand this. God’s relationship with man is not based on things but on His being food. In Genesis 1 we see the matter of eating and drinking. The tree of life is for us to eat, and the river of water of life is for us to drink. Through God becoming food, an earthen man can become golden. A man without God can become a man full of God, and the human element can be transformed by participating in God’s element. God has absolutely no intention for man to do anything for Him. He just wants man to eat and drink Him. When we break the bread, we are eating and drinking God. When we contact Him in the morning, we are also eating and drinking Him. Even our meetings are a kind of eating and drinking of Him.

God Desiring Man Not to Work for Him 
but to Eat and Drink Him

After God created man, He did not say to man, “I am the Creator. Worship Me, serve Me, and work for Me.” God did not do this. In His first contact with man He presented Himself to man as food in the form of the tree of life. He did not ask man to do anything. Rather, He made Himself available to man as food. He did not want man to toil for Him; He wanted man to enjoy Him. He presented Himself to man as food in the way of life. In other words, He became man’s life in the form of food. This is a crucial matter.

If we were Adam and Eve standing before the Creator, we would probably respectfully confess: “Let us worship our Creator, serve Him, stand before Him, and wait for His command. Let us work for Him. Let us please Him.” This is what we would do, but this is not in the Bible. Jehovah did not intend this for man. He had no intention that man would do anything for Him. When the Creator came to Adam and Eve, He did not come in His status as the Creator, sitting majestically on a throne and demanding worship and service. There is no trace of this. Rather, in effect, He was saying, “I have presented Myself to you as the tree of life, with the fruits of life hanging from its boughs. I have created you and ordained that you should live by eating and drinking. This means that you should eat and drink Me. I am the food you need. I am like the tree of life that is placed in front of you. My desire is that you would receive Me. Although I am on the throne and you are on earth, My pleasure is to enter into you and be mingled with you. However, I cannot enter into you unless you receive Me. I will not force you to receive Me. You must choose Me and take Me into you.” Brothers and sisters, this is not too much. This was God’s intention at the beginning when He placed Adam and Eve in front of the tree of life.

Some have asked me, “Brother Lee, how do you know that the tree of life refers to God?” If the tree of life in Genesis 2 does not refer to God, what else can it refer to? Psalm 36 clearly says that with God is the fountain of life (v. 9). God is the source of life. Life is in God. The Bible clearly says that when the Lord Jesus came, life was in Him. He is the life, and He came that man may have life (John 1:4; 10:10). These words are clear. The tree of life that man was placed in front of in Genesis signifies God Himself. It also signifies that God is life to man.

As soon as man was created, God placed Himself in front of man in the form of food. He did not come as a God demanding worship and service. He came as food. In effect, He said to man, “Eat Me. Do not be concerned with loving your wife or obeying your husband. I know that if you do not eat Me, you will beat your wife and rebel against your husband. If both of you do not eat Me, surely you will argue with each other about everything. But I also know that if Adam eats Me, he will love his wife. And if Eve eats Me, she will obey her husband. If you eat and drink Me every day and are filled with Me, you will surely be a loving couple. The love with which one loves is simply Me. If you eat Me, you will have love. The obedience with which one obeys is also Me. If you eat Me, you will have obedience. When I enter a husband, there is love, and when I enter a wife, there is obedience. When electricity operates in a bulb, it is light; when it operates in an amplifier, it is sound; and when it operates in a fan, it is wind. As soon as a bulb receives electricity, it lights up. As soon as an amplifier receives electricity, it produces sound. As soon as a fan receives electricity, it moves and produces wind. I do not need to give you any laws. I do not need to require anything of you. I only need to minister Myself to you. However, I also must warn you. If you eat something other than Me, you will die, because only I am life. Apart from Me everything else is death.”

It may seem as if this is a simple illustration, but we need to be deeply impressed with this picture. We may still have the concept that we should worship and serve God and that we need to work for Him. Before the Lord’s grace came to us, we loved the world and sin. After being revived and loving Him, our thought is to worship, serve, work, and be zealous for Him. Formerly, we loved the world, sin, and evil things. Now we are zealous and want to serve God and do good things. However, both the evil things we did and the good things we want to do are related to the same tree, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Gen. 2:9). We still have not seen the tree of life. The tree of life is not related to doing evil or doing good. The tree of life does not need anything from us. It indicates that all things are ready for us to come and enjoy. The fatted calf has been killed, the blood has been shed, the flesh of the lamb is available, the unleavened bread is prepared, and all things are ready. Do not come to worship, serve, or work. Come and eat!

The first picture unveiled in the Bible has nothing to do with our work or effort but with our eating. A Chinese expression describes some people as “a pair of shoulders with a big mouth.” This refers to people who eat all the time, and while this may not be a compliment as far as man is concerned, it is wonderful to God. He simply wants us to eat.

Some may ask, “If we do not need to worship or serve Him, what should we do? If all these things are related to the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and do not have anything to do with God, what should we do? If God wants us to eat Him, drink Him, and breathe Him, where is He? How can we do this?” I know this question is in us. But for the moment we should not worry about this. Forget about doing things. It is all right if we cannot serve and work for Him. Instead, we should say to Him, “Lord, I cannot do anything. I cannot worship and serve You. I know that it is wrong to try to do things for You, but what should I do?” If we can groan before the Lord this way, we will breathe in God. When we say, “Lord, I can’t make it,” we are breathing Him in. When we say, “I am wrong in this and I am wrong in that,” we are taking in another breath. Even saying, “Lord, I am confused. I do not know what is proper anymore,” this is another breath. We should thank and praise the Lord. This is to breathe out our sorrow and to breathe out our sin. We cannot breathe out without breathing in, and once we breathe in, God comes in, and His element increases within us.

Whenever we breathe deeply, we first must breathe out and then breathe in. The more we breathe out, the more we can breathe in. We do not need to pray that much, nor do we need to spend that much time to worship or serve God. We need to see this picture in the Bible—God first appeared to man in the form of food. He had absolutely no intention for man to worship Him. I can say this boldly even though some theologians may condemn me. They may say that it is heresy to say that God does not want man to worship Him. But I now have the boldness to speak of God’s desire for man because I know that He presented Himself to man in the form of food.

CHAPTER SEVEN

ENJOYING GOD BY EATING AND DRINKING HIM

Scripture Reading: Gen. 2:8-12; Psa. 34:8; 36:8-9; John 6:32-37; 7:37-39; Matt. 26:26-28; John 20:19-22; Rev. 2:7, 17; 22:1-2

GOD DESIRING MAN TO ENJOY HIM 
BY EATING AND DRINKING HIM

In this chapter we will continue the matter of enjoying God. I want to emphasize that God is man’s enjoyment. Those who know the Bible and God’s heart realize that what pleases God the most is for man to enjoy Him. This enjoyment is not an outward enjoyment. Rather, it is an inward enjoyment that can be compared to the enjoyment one experiences when he takes in food and water. God intends that man enjoy Him by eating and drinking Him.

We need to remember the principle related to the first mention of an item in the Bible. The first time an item is mentioned sets a principle for later references to similar cases. This is a set principle. After God created man, He presented Himself to man as food. This was His appearing to man. After creation man’s existence was not independent of eating and drinking. It is wonderful to consider that in God’s creation He ordained that human beings must exist by means of eating and drinking. Without these two things man cannot survive. Man needs to eat and drink in order to sustain the functions of walking, living, and working. In order to have the strength to do various things, man must eat and drink sufficiently. Without eating and drinking, he cannot do anything. In fact, if he does not eat and drink for a period of time, he will die. This is a God-ordained principle. Every physical thing in the universe is a sign of the invisible and spiritual things. When the Lord Jesus was on the earth, He considered everything He encountered around Him as a sign of spiritual things. In the same principle, God’s ordination for man to eat and drink is a sign showing that He is man’s food. Man must eat and drink of Him before he can live and work.

The Lord Jesus Being Man’s Real Food

Everyone in the world thinks that the food he eats is real food and the water he drinks is real drink, but one day the Lord Jesus came and said that the real food was sent by God from heaven. This means that whatever grows from the earth is not real food. It is not real. Some new believers may not agree, saying, “The bread that we eat is real bread. How can you say that it is not real? The rice we eat every day is real food. How can you say that it is not real?” According to the Bible, there is a different assessment of what is real and not real. In God’s eyes, everything that belongs to this life, everything that is temporary and visible, is not real, because it does not last forever. We may say that a house we own belongs to us, but if it is burned down by fire, it is no longer ours. This indicates that the house is not real. Some sisters may wear an expensive watch. If the watch is stolen, it is no longer real to her. Anything that does not remain forever is not real. In the same principle, the food we eat cannot make us live forever; it cannot satisfy us forever. The water we drink cannot quench our thirst forever. Hence, they are not real. One day the Lord Jesus was by a well in Sychar and said to a woman that whoever drank of its water would thirst again but that the water that He would give was real, and those who drank of it would never thirst again (John 4:13-14). In another situation He told the Jews that He was the bread that came down from heaven and that those who came to Him would not hunger and that those who believed in Him would never thirst again (6:32-35). This is real food. The Lord’s words indicate that God’s ordination to eat and drink was merely a sign. Through eating and drinking, God intends to awaken man to his real need. When we are hungry or thirsty, we should remember that we have another need in our deepest part, and this need is our real need. Our experience proves this. After we are satisfied through eating and drinking, we still hunger and thirst in our deepest part. We are hungering and thirsting for the living God. God is our real food.