In order for us as the church to accomplish God’s economy, we need to be separated from the world in all of its aspects. Amen!
This week in our crystallization-study of Jeremiah and Lamentations we come to a not-so-positive matter, that is, God’s Judgement upon Egypt and Babylon.
In the book of Jeremiah we see how, on one hand, God judges and chastises His people Israel, and on the other hand, how He judges and punishes the nations around Israel, who dealt harshly with His people and who rebelled against God.
In particular, in the beginning of the judgements He judges Egypt (Jer. 46) and then at the end He judges Babylon (ch. 50), which represent different aspects of the world.
The world is a system created and designed by Satan to distract God’s people from the enjoyment of God; Satan usurps God’s people by means of the world with its system of entertainment, pleasures, knowledge, etc in order that God’s people would not drink of God as the fountain of living waters.
The matter of God’s judgement on the world shows that we need to be separated from the world in all of its aspects if we are to build up the church as the house of God by drinking of Christ as the living water.
We have seen the previous week that God has a wonderful economy with His dispensing, and His intention is to dispense all that He is into us for our enjoyment; for this, we simply need to be open to Him, allow Him to cleanse us and wash us from all unrighteousness, and enter into the enjoyment of all that God is.
This is on the positive side. On the negative side, however, we need to be separated from the world if we want to enjoy God!
The truth is that we can’t really and fully enjoy God’s economy with His dispensing until we see what Egypt and Babylon stand for, and how they need to be exposed and judged in order for God’s people to fully enjoy His economy and His dispensing.
As we come to such a word like this, may we be before the Lord in much prayer so that He may cover us and hide us in Him.
God’s enemy, Satan, doesn’t want that his tactics and schemes would be exposed, so there’s a fierce battle for our whole being in this matter.
Once the enemy with his schemes is exposed, we can stand on the Lord’s side and be freed from any entanglement and usurpation of the world, and we will run to the Lord to drink of Him as the fountain of living waters!
May we all see how God’s judgement upon the nations represents His judgement upon the different aspects of the world; may we see what the world is, what are its aspects, and may we return to the Lord to enjoy Him, under the covering of His precious blood!
For the Accomplishment of God’s Economy, the Church must be Separated from the World in all its Aspects
In the book of Jeremiah we see a picture of how God first comes in to deal with, punish, judge, and chastise His people, and then He comes in to punish and judge the nations; these nations around Israel typify the many aspects of the world (Jer. 46:2; 47:1; 48:1; 49:1, 7, 23, 28, 34; 50:1).
After God’s dealing and punishment of the children of Israel, He came to carry out His judgement upon the nations, which were all surrounding the nation of Israel at that time. They were all the enemy to God’s people.
There are six chapters in Jeremiah showing us how God comes to punish and judge the nations: Jer. 46 – 51.
Practically speaking, the children of Israel could not avoid contacting the nations around them, and these in turn couldn’t avoid having involvement with Israel.
Israel didn’t just exist alone in the middle of nowhere; rather, he was surrounded by all these nations, and these nations typify different aspects of the world.
The nations surrounding Israel, representing different aspects of the world, were enemies to God’s people, for they frustrated God’s people from accomplishing God’s purpose.
This shows that, for the accomplishment of God’s economy, we as the church – God’s elect today – must be separated from the world in all its aspects.
In speaking concerning the nations, Jeremiah mentions Egypt first (Jer. 46:2-28) and Babylon last (see chs. 50-51); this indicates that, in God’s view, the world is first Egyptian and then Babylonian.
In these six chapters 46-51 God came in to deal with nine nations, each representing certain aspects of the world; the first was Egypt (representing the beginning, the initiation of the world) and the last one was Babylon (representing the epitome, climax, conclusion of the world).
According to the picture in the book of Jeremiah, the last nation to be judged is Babylon; when God judges Babylon, His judgment of the nations will be complete.
Similarly, in Revelation we see that, when God judges the Great Babylon, His judgment is complete, and His economy is consummated; when Babylon is fully taken care of and dealt with, that will be the consummation of God’s eternal purpose.
May we realize that, for the accomplishment of God’s economy, the church as God’s New Testament elect must be separated from the world in all its aspects (John 17:14, 16; Rom. 12:2; 1 John 2:15-17).
God’s judgment on Egypt and the other nations culminating with Babylon is not something merely of historical and prophetical importance; it is something to be applied to our Christian life.
The world is so close to us; we live in the world, we are immersed in it, and even though we may love the Lord, eat Him, and enjoy Him, we may also be entangled by the world and usurped by it.
Separation from the world is crucial if we are to accomplish God’s economy; we must be separated from the world with all its aspect.
As the Lord expressed in His final prayer in John 17, He doesn’t take us out of the world but He prays that the Father would keep His disciples from the world, for they are not of the world.
We are in the world, but because we have God’s word, the world hates us; we need to be separated from the world.
God’s economy stands in opposition to the world; the world and God’s economy cannot coexist, and we can’t have both the world and God’s economy at the same time.
Especially these days, we live in an environment where we have the world everywhere around us, even in our pocket, in our very hand; all the saints, both young and old, need to see the importance of being separated from the world.
Paul told us not to be conformed to this age, to the particular section of this world in our days, but to be transformed by the renewing of the mind (Rom. 12:2).
John told us that if we love the world, the love of the Father is not in us, for everything that is in the world is against God the Father (1 John 2:15-17).
As long as the world is gaining access to our being, there is no way for God’s economy to proceed or advance in us; the world needs to be judged, and both Egypt and Babylon need to be exposed and dealt with, so that God’s economy can proceed and be concluded, for Him to return.
Lord Jesus, open our eyes to see the importance of our dealing with the world and our being separated from the world. Save us from allowing the world to have ground in our being and have access to our heart. Oh Lord, we are not of the world; sanctify us in Your word and keep us enjoying You as we are being separated from the world in all its aspects. May we be not be fashioned according to this age but be transformed by the renewing of the mind day by day! We love You, Lord, and we want to stay with You, loving nothing and no one else but You! Expose the world, judge the world, and show us the aspects of the world so that we may repudiate them, be separated from them, and abide in Your sanctifying Word!
Seeing how the World Distracts us from Enjoying God as the Fountain of Living Waters and being Separated from it
It is interested to see the sequence in Jeremiah of how God punishes first the children of Israel and then He judges the nations; on one hand Israel sinned and was chastised by God, and on the other, God punishes and judges the nations who were rebellious against Him.
And when God deals with the nations, He mentions Egypt first and Babylon last.
According to the record in the Bible, Babel is the origin and source of man’s worship of idols, man’s rebellion against God, and human self-exaltation.
After this, the world became Egyptian; Egypt signifies the world in the aspect of making a living and having entertainment.
At Babel man rebelled against God, he worshipped idols, and he exalted himself, and then later with Egypt man sought to make a living and have entertainment.
In Gen. 42:1-2, during the time of famine, Egypt was nearly the only place that still had food; Egypt could be considered as a place of security and enjoyment.
This is what God judges first. On one hand we need to take care of our daily necessities and we do need to be happy, but on the other hand, we need to do this not by being usurped by Satan in the world, and not by being ensnared by the worldly entertainment.
Babylon is the last nation to be judged, and actually at the end of the Bible, once Babylon the great is judged, God can consummate His economy.
“The Egyptian world” attracts those in the church by their making a living and by pursuing of worldly enjoyment; these things distract us from God’s economy and from God as the fountain of living waters.
If we turn our back to our source and origin, if we don’t drink of God as the fountain of living waters (Jer. 2:13), we will be ensnared by the world with its pursuit of making a living and having entertainment.
May we return to the Lord, may we come back to our source and drink God as the fountain of living waters, so that He may dispense Himself into us for the accomplishment of His economy!
If we return to the Lord, forsake any self-made cisterns which hold no water, and are separated from the world, we will enjoy Him and will receive His dispensing into us for the accomplishment of His economy!
And then God will take care of us and He will keep the world away from us. We need to be aware of what Babylon stands for – rebellion against God, exalting of the self, and worshipping of idols – and stay away from the world with its aspects.
May we in the church life be separated from the world and clear away any rebellion against God, any exalting of ourselves, and any worshipping of idols. Amen!
May the Lord gain in us a pure elect under His dispensing who enjoys Him and is separated from the world! May we be those who instead of enjoying Egypt as a good place for our living, we enjoy the Triune God and have the church life as our living! Amen!
May we be before the Lord for Him to shine and expose what aspect of the world we are involved with, and may we return to Him as the fountain of living waters to enjoy Him for His corporate expression on earth!
Lord Jesus, shine on us and expose the world with all its aspects, particularly the aspects of the world that we are involved with. Oh Lord, may we realize that even our seeking to have a living in the world and seeking to have pleasure and entertainment can be something used by Satan to distract us from enjoying God as the source. We return to You again and again, Lord, to drink of You as the fountain of living waters. Make us those who are separated from the world and clear away any rebellion against God, any exalting of ourselves, and any worshipping of idols. Oh Lord, we just want to be Your elect under Your divine dispensing to enjoy You and have the church life as our living!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Sources of inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by James Lee for this week, and portions from, Life-study of Jeremiah, msgs. 34, 36-38 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization Study of Jeremiah and Lamentations, week 9, God’s Judgment upon Egypt and Babylon.
- Hymns on this topic:
– I’ve turned my back upon the world / With all its idle pleasures, / And set my heart on better things, / On higher, holier treasures; / No more its glitter and its glare, / And vanity shall blind me; / I’ve crossed the separating line, / And left the world behind me. (Hymns #438)
– If I gained the world, but lost the Savior, / Were my life worth living for a day? / Could my yearning heart find rest and comfort / In the things that soon must pass away? / If I gained the world, but lost the Savior, / Would my gain be worth the lifelong strife? / Are all earthly pleasures worth comparing / For a moment with a Christ-filled life? (Hymns #1079)
– God has saved me from the world… / I’ve come out from Babylon; / I’ll never go back anymore… / Since I found the local church, / I’ll never go back anymore. (Hymns #1127)
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