The books of 1 and 2 Kings are concerned not with the historical facts but with an intrinsic revelation related to Christ and the church, for these books of history were written from the point of view of God’s eternal economy concerning Christ and the church.
May we have such an intrinsic view of the revelation in these two books in the Bible.
May we be saved from merely trying to find out what king was good and what king was evil, who murdered who and who had how many battles with who, and may we come to God’s word by having the glasses of God’s economy on.
The Bible does not waste any word; every word that is recorded in the Bible is according to the main line in God’s word, which is the eternal economy of God concerning Christ and the church.
May we get into our mingled spirit to touch what is in the heart of God when we read His word.
As we read the Bible, especially as we read the books of history, we need to realize that the Old Testament is a book of types, figures, and pictures, and the New Testament is a book of full definition and fulfilment.
And both the Old and the New Testament talk about the same thing, God’s economy concerning Christ and the church.
We can even say that the New Testament is concealed in the Old Testament, while the New Testament is an unveiling or definition of the pictures we see in the Old Testament.
Just as we appreciate and love the New Testament, we need to also appreciate and love the New Testament, for in it we see many pictures of what the New Testament speaks in reality and fulfilment.
The entire Bible is actually a book of God’s economy; it is not merely a book of prophecy, history, or poetry, but a book of God’s economy.
The first section of the Bible, the Old Testament, gives us a picture of God’s economy, and the second section, the New Testament, gives us a full definition and fulfilment of God’s economy.
The Bible is written by men inspired and borne by the Holy Spirit; God is the Author of the Bible, and for us to properly read and understand the Bible, we need to have God’s view.
The Bible is a record of the divine revelation concerning God’s eternal economy, of which Christ is the center and the church as the Body of Christ is the circumference.
Christ is the centrality and universality of God’s economy, and everything God does is related to Christ.
This Christ is to have the first place in all things, and He is enlarged to be the church, the Body of Christ, for His corporate expression on the earth.
Hallelujah, we are part of the fulfilment of God’s economy, for we are the church, the Body of Christ, to continue His living and expression on the earth today!
When we come to the word of God, we need to have God’s economy in view, realizing that the whole Bible is a book of God’s economy, and the main thing the Bible speaks of is the economy of God.
The Intrinsic Revelation in the Books of History is God’s economy concerning Christ and the Church
First and Second Kings are concerned not with historical facts but with an intrinsic revelation, which is God’s economy concerning Christ and the church.
The intrinsic revelation of the history according to the record from Joshua to Esther is to unveil to us how the eternal economy of God was carried out by His elect on the earth (Josh. 1:1-9; 1 Sam. 16:12-13; 2 Kings 2:11-12; 6:1-2).
There are twelve books of history; they show the life of the children of Israel after entering into the good land.
These books reveal to us how the children of Israel were to possess and enjoy the good land.
They inherited this land, they entered into it, and now they have to live in it, possess it, and become God’s people to express and represent Him.
What we see here is how the eternal economy of God was carried out by His elect on earth.
We believers in Christ are now in the good land; in the church life, in the Lord’s recovery, we have been brought out of Egypt and out of the wilderness into the enjoyment of the all-inclusive Christ.
How is our enjoyment of Christ as the good land? Are we enjoying this all-inclusive Christ as we should, or are we wasting this land?
Are we usurping the land?
May we realize that the history of the children of Israel is also our history, for we have been brought into the enjoyment of the all-inclusive Christ to build up the church as the Body of Christ.
Apparently, the books of 1 and 2 Kings are the history of the kings of Israel; actually, 1 and 2 Kings were written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit in the way of being related to God’s economy (Eph. 3:9; 1 Tim. 1:4).
Some of the kings in these books were good while some were bad; the record in these books, however, relates to God’s economy concerning Christ and the church.
Christ is the center, the reality, and everything in God’s economy; this Christ now includes all of us, His believers as the members of the Body of Christ, the corporate Christ.
He must have preeminence, He must rule and reign over everything, including us, and we are co-kings together with Him.
What we see in the books of history in the Old Testament is a type of the fulfilment and carrying out of God’s economy concerning Christ and the church.
David and Solomon, as types, are strong evidence that the history of the kings of Israel is related to the economy of God, which concerns Christ as the embodiment of God and the church as the Body of Christ (Eph. 5:32).
The books of 1 and 2 Kings open up with David, the last part of his life, and then continue with Solomon, how he entered into the kingship and how he built the temple with all its details.
David is a type of Christ and Solomon with the temple is also a type of Christ with the church, the Body of Christ, for God’s corporate expression.
In Matt. 1 we see that David is related to Christ, that is, Christ is a descendant of David; Christ was the greater Solomon, the real Solomon, for He spoke the word of God full of wisdom and He built the house of God, the church.
If we see this, if we realize that David and Solomon were types of Christ with the church, we will realize that the books of history – especially 1 and 2 Kings – have an intrinsic revelation, which is related to God’s economy concerning Christ and the church.
If we see this vision, we will realize that the books of 1 and 2 Kings are not just something of the Old Testament alone.
They are connected to the New Testament by this link of God’s economy concerning Christ (the embodiment of God) and the church (the Body of Christ).
May we pray for a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the full knowledge of Christ as we come to the word of God so that we may see the intrinsic revelation in the books of 1 and 2 Kings.
Lord Jesus, grant us a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the full knowledge of You especially as we come to Your word. Grant us to see God’s economy concerning Christ and the church in both the Old and the New Testament. We praise You, Lord Jesus, for coming to be the embodiment of God, the expression of God, the real David and the greater Solomon. You are the One who speaks the word of God with much wisdom and You build up the church as the real house of God. You are the greater David, the real David, for You bring in the kingdom of God to the earth and You redeemed us from our sins to make us part of God’s kingdom, the church. Hallelujah, we today are the church as the Body of Christ, the enlargement and corporate expression of Christ!
The History of Israel Concerns the Fulfillment of God’s Eternal Economy in the Old Testament in the Way of Typology
Since Solomon and the temple built by him play strong roles in the history of Israel and occupy a wide realm in such a history, they are evidence that the history of Israel concerns very much the fulfillment of God’s eternal economy in the Old Testament in the way of typology (Luke 24:44).
The temple signifies both Christ as the embodiment of God and the church as the Body of Christ; Solomon signifies Christ as the One who builds the church (Matt. 16:18).
The life of the children of Israel, as seen in the books of 1 and 2 Kings, was wrapped up with this temple.
Even today the Jewish people are waiting for the right moment to rebuild the temple at the Temple Mount, the proper site.
Their lives are altogether wrapped up with the temple, and before the Lord Jesus comes back, this temple will be built. This is on the physical side.
On the spiritual side, our life as believers in Christ is fully wrapped up with the church as the temple of God.
We are here for the building up of the Body of Christ.
That Christ and the church are the centrality and universality of God’s economy is universal in both the New Testament and the Old Testament (Matt. 16:16-18).
We need to see that the books of history in the Old Testament were written from the point of view of God’s eternal economy concerning Christ and the church.
Therefore, in reading 1 and 2 Kings, we need to see the link between the Old Testament books of history and the New Testament; this link is God’s economy concerning Christ and the church (Eph. 1:22-23; 3:17; 4:16).
The history of the kings includes not only the kings but also the prophets as God’s overcomers.
Again and again, we see how the prophets came in to either help the kings or deal with them.
Nathan the prophet helped David and also rebuked him, Elijah dealt with Ahab, Elisha performed miracles in life, and Isaiah helped Hezekiah.
In the book of Isaiah, we see two prophecies concerning Christ, showing the link between the Old and the New Testament.
Isa. 7:14 says that a virgin will bring forth a son whose name would be called Immanuel, and Isa. 9:6 says that a son would be given to us and His name will be the mighty God and the eternal Father.
These prophecies reveal that God would become a man, even a little child, and this little child will be called the eternal Father. Wow!
This shows the high peak of the divine revelation, that is, that God became man to make man God in life and nature but not in the Godhead.
Yes, there is the need for redemption, and Isa. 53 is a strong chapter on the redemption of Christ.
But what God desires in His economy is to redeem man to make this redeemed man God in life and nature but not in the Godhead so that He can consummate His economy in the Body of Christ as the enlargement of Christ. Hallelujah!
The books of 1 and 2 Kings show in typology how God desires to become man to redeem man back to Himself so that He might make His redeemed people God in life and in nature so that He might have a universal, corporate expression of Himself for eternity.
It is for this that He became a man and then this man became a life-giving Spirit so that He would come into us, the believers in Christ, to impart the divine life into us, transform us, conform us, and eventually glorify us so that we may be made God in life and in nature.
This is what the whole Bible speaks about, and this is the highest peak of the divine revelation in God’s word.
This is seen in type in the books of 1 and 2 Kings, and even though it was not manifested outwardly, we in the New Testament can the veil removed to see God’s economy concerning Christ and the church as seen in type in these books.
May the Lord continue to unveil us and remove even anything of our religious concepts when we come to God’s word so that we may see the economy of God and live a life according to God’s economy concerning Christ and the church.
May our daily life with all its activities and things be fully under the governing vision of God’s eternal economy so that we may allow God to work Himself into us a little more each day for the building up of the church as the Body of Christ.
What matters in God’s eyes is not who is good and who is bad, who fails and who succeeds; what matters is seeing His economy and cooperating with Him for the fulfilment of His economy.
Lord Jesus, thank You for becoming a man, even flesh, so that You may set up a pattern of a God-man living and also redeem us back to God. Thank You for becoming a life-giving Spirit to come into us to regenerate us, transform us, renew us, conform us to Your image, and glorify us. Hallelujah, our God became man so that man would become God in life and nature but not in the Godhead. Amen, Lord, grant us a clear, controlling vision of Your economy as we live our Christian life today. We want to live a daily life in Your economy, cooperating with You for the fulfilment of Your purpose. Amen, Lord, gain the church as the Body of Christ!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Sources of inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by brother James Lee in the message, and portions from, Life-study of 1 and 2 Kings, pp. 122-123, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-study of 1 and 2 Kings (2022 summer training), week 1, entitled, The Intrinsic Revelation in 1 and 2 Kings concerning the Economy of God Unveiled and Conveyed through Typology.
- Hymns on this topic:
– God’s economy is His plan to dispense Himself / Into His chosen, predestinated, and redeemed people / As their life (as their life), their life supply, (their life supply) / And their everything / To produce (to produce), constitute (constitute), / And build up the organic Body of Christ, / Which consummates the New Jerusalem. (Song on, God’s economy is His plan to dispense Himself)
– God has called us for His purpose, / His economy so glorious, / For which He was fully processed; / Consummated now is He! / As the Spirit, He indwells us; / As our God allotted portion, / Working out His full salvation, / Making us the same as He is. / Oh, may a clear, controlling vision of / The Lord’s economy direct my heart, / And burn in me until my spirit’s wholly set afire! (Song on, God has called us for His purpose)
– Thou art the King like Solomon, / Whose rule with peace was filled; / With wisdom Thou dost reign in pow’r / And Thou God’s house dost build. / As King unseen Thou reignest now / Among Thy saints with love; / One day, when Thou shalt reign with us, / Thou wilt Thy kingship prove. (Hymns #193)
About aGodMan
In the book of Isaiah two short prophecies clearly show the link between the Old Testament and the New Testament. Isaiah 7:14 says that a virgin would bring forth a son whose name would be called Immanuel. Isaiah 9:6 says that a son would be given to us and that his name would be called the mighty God and the eternal Father. These prophecies reveal that God would become a man as a little child. The mighty God, the eternal Father; became a man in order to make man God in life and in nature (but not in the Godhead). However; in order to be made God in this way, man first needed to be redeemed. Isaiah 53 is a strong chapter on the redemption of Christ. In His humanity the God who had become man was man’s Redeemer; slain for man’s sin.God redeemed man for the purpose of making the redeemed man God in life and in nature so that God can have a consummation of His economy in the Body of Christ as the enlargement of Christ. This Body of Christ will consummate in the New Jerusalem as God’s full expression and enlargement for eternity In typology the history of the kings is linked to God’s becoming a man to redeem man back to Himself that He might make His redeemed people God in life and in nature so that He might have for eternity a universal, corporate expression of Himself. This, in brief, is God’s economy – becoming a man to redeem man back to Himself that He might make His redeemed people God in life and in nature so that He might have for eternity a universal, corporate expression of Himself. Life-study of 1 & 2 Kings, pp. 122-123, by Witness Lee
The Bible is a book of God’s economy.
The key to unlock the riches and mysteries in the Bible is the eternal economy of God.
If we see that God’s economy is the key, we will use this key, and the Bible will become to us what it is to God – the revelation of the divine economy.
That’s right brother, “the Bible is a book of God’s economy. And we say this with conviction under the Lord’s revelation.
God’s economy embodies God’s will, God’s eternal purpose, good pleasure, and God’s counsel.
All these 4 great matters- the eternal will, the purpose of the ages, God’s good pleasure, and counsel are all included in His economy. WOW!!!
Amen brother. We can never neglect the Old Testament because it typifies the reality of the New Testament.
Although we do not care for history for its own sake, it’s crucial that we see that the history of Israel typifies the history of the church, and the history of the kings typifies the development of God’s economy. God became man in order to redeem man back to himself.
This reveals to us that we must do everything in our spirit so that the Life Giving Spirit may transform, conform and eventually glorify us so that we might be made like God in life, nature & expression
Amen Lord keep us open to Your divine dispensing today!
amen Brother I enjoyed that we need to see this link in bible in both the old and the new testament which is brings into God’s eternal economy may we be those who are to see this when we come to the word
Amen.
We believers in Christ are now in the good land; in the church life, in the Lord’s recovery, we have been brought out of Egypt and out of the wilderness into the enjoyment of the all-inclusive Christ.
It is for this reason that He became man and then this man became a Life-giving Spirit so that He could come to us, the believers in Christ, so that He could impart the divine life into us, transform us, conform us, and eventually glorify us so that we may be made God in life and nature.
Halleluiah!