EATING THE LORD TO BE MINGLED WITH HIM
FOR THE BUILDING OF THE CHURCH
In the last chapter of Ezekiel there is a city foursquare with three gates on every side (48:30-35). Three times four equals twelve. Three refers to the Triune God, and four refers to the creatures such as the four living creatures. In God’s building there is the number three. The first building of God was the ark of Noah. The ark of Noah had three stories, signifying God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit. With God’s building there is always the number three because the Triune God is there. Three plus four means that God is added to man. At the beginning of Revelation there are seven churches; seven is three plus four. But the consummate number in the New Jerusalem is twelve, signifying God multiplying Himself with man, God mingling Himself with man. Addition becomes multiplication. Thus, the outcome of the book of Ezekiel is the number twelve, the mingling of the Triune God with the created man. At the end of Revelation there is the same thing—a city foursquare with three gates on every side, signifying the Triune God mingled with man. This mingling can only be realized by our eating. Many American eggs have been mingled with some of us by our eating of these eggs. We have to learn to eat the Lord to be mingled with Him.
This is why the Lord Jesus, in His last seven epistles to the churches in Revelation, told us clearly that He will give the one who [148] overcomes to eat of the tree of life, which is the Triune God Himself for our enjoyment. He also promises to give the overcomer to eat of the hidden manna. When the church is so worldly and even married with the world like the church in Pergamos, the Lord will give the hidden manna, the private manna, which is the Lord Himself, to the overcomers. Finally, in these seven epistles, the Lord Jesus told us that if we have an ear to hear His voice and open the door, He will come in not to teach us but to dine with us, to feast with us, so that we can enjoy Him and He can enjoy us.
The church life is the enjoyment of the tree of life, the hidden manna, and the divine feast. We feast with the Lord and let the Lord feast with us. From this eating, from this mingling, the building up of the house of God will be realized. Here is the way of the church life. The church life is not something produced by organizing power, by teaching, or even by gifts, but something produced by eating the Lord as the tree of life, as the hidden manna, and as the feast.