Seeing how God’s Building is the Goal of His Salvation, Provision, and Revelation

The subject of the book of Exodus is that Christ is the redemption, salvation, and supply of God’s people, and the means for them to worship and serve God so that in Him they may be built up with God together for them and God to meet, communicate, and dwell mutually (see the Holy Bible, Recovery Version).

In picture after picture what we see in Exodus is that God saved His people, gave them the provision of life, and brought them to the mountain of God to give them a revelation of His heart’s desire so that they would build up the tabernacle and have God dwell among them as His people.

As a book of pictures, Exodus reveals that God’s building is the goal of His salvation, provision, and revelation (see Exo. 25:8-9; 40:1-2, 34-38).

The goal of God saving His people out of Egypt was to gain a building, a dwelling place among men. The goal of God giving His people water and manna throughout their journey in the wilderness is so that they would be built up to be His dwelling place, God’s building.

The goal of God bringing His people to His holy mountain to open up His heart to them, give them a revelation of who He is and how they should walk and live in His presence to please Him, was so that they would become God’s building.

The goal of God’s complete salvation, His rich provision, and His divine revelation is God’s building. The central thought, the goal, the direction, and the divine thought of Exodus is God’s building.

One of the greatest lacks in Christianity today with all their schools of theology is their ignorance concerning God’s goal. God’s goal as revealed in the Bible is NOT “going to heaven”; God doesn’t save man so that He would “whisk him to heaven where He is”. God’s goal is the building.

What is God’s building? In the Old Testament we see that the building of God was the tabernacle and then later the temple, both physical structures composed of specific materials and a particular design given by God. The tabernacle and the temple had God’s glory, and glory is God Himself expressed. God’s building as seen throughout the Bible is the corporate expression of God in Christ.

God wants to have a corporate expression of Himself, and He gains this expression through His building. It is for God’s building that we as believers in Christ were redeemed, saved, born again, called, and we come into the church life, grow in life, and aspire to overcome.

The reason God brought His people out of Egypt, took care of them in the wilderness, and brought them to His mountain to give them a revelation is for His building. We shouldn’t stop at God’s redemption, we should not remain merely in God’s provision, and we should not be content only to have God’s revelation – we should be one with the Lord for His building!

Our goal on earth is NOT merely to have a good church life, a good family life, or a satisfying job – we are here for God’s building! Our job is for God’s building, our family life is for God’s building, and we breathe and live for God’s building!

Lord Jesus, cause the desire of Your heart become the desire of our heart! May Your goal of gaining Your building become our goal! O Lord, gain a corporate expression of Yourself in Christ through the church as Your building! Gain Your dwelling place among men, Your habitation and building. Thank You for saving us, becoming our daily provision, and showing us a revelation of Your heart’s desire; now Lord, we are one with You to pray, Gain Your Building!

The Goal of God’s Complete Salvation is God’s Building

In Exodus 12-14 we see God’s complete salvation which includes the Passover, the exodus from Egypt, and the crossing of the Red Sea.

The Passover with the lamp, the bitter herbs, the unleavened bread, and God’s ordination on how to eat them and be ready to get out of Egypt – all this signifies God’s redemption (Exo. 12:1-13). God didn’t just “snatch” His people out of Egypt; in His complete salvation He ordained the Passover to supply and strengthen His people to get out of Egypt, and then He released them and brought them across the Red Sea.

The exodus of the people of Israel from Egypt signifies our going out of the world unto God for His purpose (Exo. 5:1; 7:4-5; 12:31-32, 35-36, 41, 51). God’s purpose cannot be accomplished in the world, and so God exposes and deals with the world, supplies us inwardly with Christ as our Passover, and then we get out of the world unto God.

The crossing of the Red Sea signifies our baptism (see Exo. 14:13-31; 1 Cor. 10:1-2). After God saves us and rescues us from the world, we need to be baptized so that Satan (typified by Pharaoh) and the world would be crucified and terminated to us.

The goal of the Passover, the exodus from Egypt, and the crossing of the Red Sea was so that God’s people would build up and become God’s building, His dwelling place. Praise the Lord for His redemption, our getting out of the world, and our baptism – all these are for God’s goal, which is God’s building!

We were redeemed by God, we get out of the world unto Him, and we are being baptized for God’s goal, His building, the church!

The Goal of God’s Provision is God’s Building

In Exodus 15-17 we see God’s provision for His people: He healed the bitter waters for them to drink, He brought them to Elim with twelve springs and seventy palm trees, and they partook of the manna and the living water from the smitten rock.

In the wilderness the children of Israel experienced God’s rich provision – the heavenly manna was descending every morning and the living water sprang out of the cleft rock (Exo. 16:14-15; 17:6; 1 Cor. 10:3-4). The goal of God’s provision is God’s building.

After being redeemed, delivered, cleansed, purified, and separated from Egypt, the people of Israel needed to be reconstituted with the heavenly manna and the living water so that they would become God’s dwelling place on earth, God’s building.

Today we as believers in Christ need to daily eat the heavenly manna and drink the living water so that we may be reconstituted with the heavenly element and become God’s building.

When we eat Christ in His word every morning, He is the heavenly manna to us – He is our “heavenly diet” causing us to be reconstituted with a heavenly element. Christ was smitten for us so that living water could flow out of Him to quench our thirst (see Exo. 17:6; John 19:34; 7:37-39).

The people of Israel were enjoying God’s provision in their journey in the wilderness so that God would gain His building. As we eat and drink Christ today in our journey through the wilderness, the Triune God works Himself into our being to make us God’s building, His house, His dwelling place (see Eph. 3:14-19).

The Goal of God’s Revelation is God’s Building

God brought His people to the mountain of God (Mount Horeb) to give them a revelation concerning God and the tabernacle (see Exo. 3:1; 24:13; 19:1-7; 20:1-3; 25:8-9) with the goal that they would build up His habitation, His dwelling place.

After rescuing His people from everything other than Himself by delivering them from Egypt and reconstituting them with the heavenly food, God brought them to His mountain to give them a heavenly vision by which they came to know God Himself and what kind of living they should have in accordance to God.

At the mountain of God the people of Israel saw a revelation of who God is and what is the desire of God’s heart, and they built up the tabernacle according to the pattern shown to Moses on the mountain.

God brings us to Himself on a high mountain to speak to us and show us a vision of Himself and what kind of living we should have in accordance to Him, with the goal that we would be built up with the saints as His dwelling place in spirit.

At the mountain of God, God’s people saw the revelation of the desire of God’s heart, which is to have a dwelling place on earth (see Exo. 25:8-9; Matt. 16:18; 1 Cor. 3:9b; Eph. 2:21-22; 4:16). The goal of God’s revelation of Himself and of His heart’s desire is so that He may gain a built up church, the corporate expression of Himself in Christ through the church.

We need to see that the goal of God’s complete salvation, His divine and rich provision, and His revelation of Himself and His heart’s desire is God’s building.

Lord Jesus, praise You for Your complete salvation in redeeming us, saving us from the world, and taking us through the baptism so that we may be a part of Your building. Lord, we give ourselves to You to daily eat You as the heavenly manna and drink You as the living water so that we may be reconstituted with the heavenly element and be suitable for God’s building. Oh Lord, show us a revelation of who You are, what is the desire of Your heart, and what kind of living we should have in accordance to You so that we may build up the church, Your dwelling place!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration: the Word of God, my Christian experience, bro. Ron Kangas’ sharing in the message for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1977, vol. 1, “The Kernel of the Bible,” chs. 2, 4, as quoted in, the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-Study of Exodus (1), week 1 / msg 1, A Revelation of God and God’s Building as the Goal of His Salvation, Provision, and Revelation.
• Hymns on this topic:
  # Lord, Thou art our true Passover, / God passed over us thru Thee; / By Thyself and Thy redemption / We with God have harmony. / Thou, the Lamb of God, redeemedst us / With Thyself and with Thy blood; / We apply Thy blood, our ransom, / Eating Thee, our real food. (Hymns #196)
  # Christ is our manna true, / Our bread of life indeed; / He’s our supply of nourishment, / As on Him now we feed. / From Egypt Israel fled / Into a desert land; / Egyptian food they left behind, / And wandering began. / One day, the manna fell, / Oh, what a wondrous feat; / This was the bread the Lord had giv’n / For Israel to eat. (Hymns #1147)
  # Deep in God’s heart He planned / To mingle Himself with man. / God, as a river and a tree, / Man’s food and drink to be. / God our enjoyment / Issues the fulfillment: / A city as His expression / Built with gold, pearl and precious stones. (Song on God’s Goal – the Building)