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The Corporate Thornbush

In the eyes of God, 
Moses was 
a thornbush 
burning with the Triune God; 
as individuals, 
we all 
are today’s Moses, 
but we are 
also a part of the church 
as the corporate thornbush:

When God called Moses, 
he saw the great sight 
of a burning thornbush; 
once 
we were 
thorns under the curse 
in Genesis 3, 
but in Exodus 3 
we are 
a redeemed thornbush; 
this burning thornbush 
is both the children of Israel 
in the Old Testament 
and the church 
in the New Testament.

In the church 
today 
there are still “thorns”; 
the church 
is not yet precious stone; 
nevertheless, 
we praise the Lord 
that we are undergoing 
the process of transformation.

In Deuteronomy 33:16 
Moses spoke of God 
as the One 
who dwelt in the thornbush; 
this word was uttered 
when Moses 
was one hundred twenty years of age, 
forty years after he 
had seen the vision 
of the burning thornbush:

Moses never forgot that vision, 
even after the tabernacle 
had been built 
and God 
had come to dwell 
in it.

How marvelous 
that a thornbush 
can be God’s dwelling place 
on earth today!

God’s ultimate goal 
is to obtain 
a dwelling place; 
this means 
that God’s eternal purpose 
is to build up 
His habitation:

In Genesis 
we have the revelation 
of the house of God at Bethel, 
but we do not have 
the actual building 
of the house of God.

At the beginning of Exodus 
God dwelt in the thornbush, 
but at the end of the book 
He dwelt in the tabernacle.

The tabernacle with the Ark 
thus became the focal point 
of the history of the children of Israel; 
eventually, 
the tabernacle 
was enlarged into the temple.

The Lord Jesus 
came both as God’s tabernacle (John 1:14) 
and as God’s temple (2:19); 
the church today 
is also the temple of God (1 Cor. 3:16); 
ultimately, 
this temple 
will consummate in the New Jerusalem, 
which will be 
both God’s tabernacle 
and God’s temple 
in eternity (Rev. 21:3, 22).

In the beginning 
God’s dwelling place 
was a redeemed thornbush, 
but gradually 
this thornbush 
is being sanctified, transformed, 
conformed, and even glorified; 
the tabernacle 
is an illustration 
of transformation:

In the tabernacle 
there was 
acacia wood 
overlaid with gold 
and also linen 
embroidered with gold thread; 
both the acacia wood and the linen 
signify humanity, 
and the gold 
signifies divinity.

In Exodus 3 
God’s dwelling 
was a thornbush, 
but in Exodus 40 
His dwelling 
was the tabernacle 
made of humanity 
overlaid by and interwoven with divinity; 
such an overlaid and embroidered humanity 
is a transformed humanity.

Both the thornbush and the tabernacle 
are symbols; 
God’s actual dwelling place 
was neither the physical thornbush 
nor the tabernacle; 
it was 
His people:

After the children of Israel 
had been dealt with by God, 
they became acacia wood 
overlaid with gold 
and also linen 
embroidered with gold thread; 
the church today 
is the fulfillment 
of this type.

At present, 
the church may be 
a redeemed thornbush; 
however, 
the day is coming 
when we shall be 
gold, pearl, and precious stone.

Praise the Lord 
for this marvelous vision 
of God’s dwelling place! 
This vision 
covers God’s habitation 
from the initial stage, 
the stage of the thornbush, 
to the consummate stage, 
the stage of the New Jerusalem.

When Moses was called by God, 
he saw the holy fire 
burning within the thornbush; 
when Paul was called, 
he saw the same vision 
in principle:

Paul saw the Triune God 
burning within His redeemed ones; 
through this divine burning, 
the holy fire 
was one with the thornbush, 
and the thornbush 
was one with the fire, 
which is 
the Triune God Himself.

The Lord Jesus 
once said 
that He came 
to cast fire 
on the earth (Luke 12:49-50); 
on the day of Pentecost 
the Spirit 
came in the form of 
tongues of fire (Acts 2:2-4).

Today 
the Lord 
is still casting fire 
on the earth; 
this holy fire, 
this divine burning, 
has captured us, 
and now 
we are 
part of the thornbush 
that is burning 
with the Triune God.

The Triune God 
is burning 
within and upon the church, 
which He has chosen and redeemed; 
thus, 
the church 
is the Triune God 
burning within a redeemed humanity; 
this is 
the divine economy.

This economy 
was revealed to Paul, 
and it is 
the focus of the divine revelation; 
Moses saw this in symbol, 
but Paul saw it in reality.

How we praise the Lord 
that His economy 
has been unveiled to us! 
Every local church 
is a thornbush 
burning with the Triune God.

In Ephesians 1 and 3 
we have the divine economy, 
the dispensing of the Triune God 
into His redeemed people 
so that they 
may become His expression; 
this dispensing 
brings into being 
the church 
as the burning thornbush today.

Because of God’s redemption, 
the excluding flame of Genesis 3
has become 
the visiting and indwelling flame 
of Exodus 3:

The thorns in Genesis 3 
indicate that fallen man 
is under a curse.

Sin brought in the curse, 
and the curse brought in 
the excluding flame of fire.

In Exodus 3 
the cursed thorn 
becomes the vessel of God, 
and the flame of fire 
becomes one with the thornbush:

Through redemption, 
signified by the lamb 
slain and offered to God 
for fallen man, 
the curse 
has been taken away, 
and the fire 
has become one with the thorn.

Galatians 3:13 and 14 
reveal that the redeeming Christ 
has taken away the curse 
and that the Spirit as the fire 
has been given to us.

The very God Himself, the Holy One 
whose holiness excludes sinners 
from His presence, 
can come 
to visit us, 
stay with us, 
and even dwell in us 
through the redemption of Christ.

The church 
is a corporate thornbush 
burning with the God of resurrection:

The children of Israel 
were a corporate thornbush; 
as such a thornbush, 
they were redeemed, sanctified, 
transformed, and built up; 
this is 
a type of the church 
as a corporate thornbush.

Do not say 
that the church 
is poor, low, or dead; 
the more you say this, 
the more you put yourself 
under a curse, 
but if you praise the Lord 
for the church life 
and speak well concerning it, 
you will put yourself 
under God’s blessing:

“He has not beheld iniquity in Jacob, 
/ Nor has He seen trouble in Israel” (Num. 23:21).

“How fair are your tents, O Jacob, 
/ Your tabernacles, O Israel!” (Num. 24:5).

“Blessed is everyone 
who blesses you, / 
And cursed is everyone 
who curses you” (Num. 24:9b).

From the time 
that Nebuchadnezzar 
destroyed the city of Jerusalem 
until now, 
every nation, people, race, or individual 
who has cursed the Jewish people 
has received a curse, 
and whoever has blessed the Jewish people 
has received a blessing; 
it is the same with 
our attitude toward the church
—if we curse the church, 
we will be cursed, 
but if we bless the church, 
we will be blessed.

In spite of all the division, sin, confusion, 
abuse of gifts, and heretical teaching 
in the church in Corinth, 
the apostle still called it 
the church of God 
because the divine and spiritual essence 
which makes the assembled believers 
the church of God 
was actually there.

Being a corporate thornbush 
as God’s dwelling place today 
is a matter 
altogether in resurrection:

The church is 
“Christly,” “resurrectionly,” and heavenly.

Resurrection is 
the life pulse and lifeline 
of the divine economy.

Our labor for the Lord 
in His resurrection life 
with His resurrection power 
will never be in vain, 
but will result in 
the fulfilling of God’s eternal purpose 
through the preaching of Christ to sinners, 
the ministering of life to the saints, 
and the building up of the church 
with the experiences of the processed Triune God 
as gold, silver, and precious stones.

Individually 
we are a thornbush, 
and together 
we are a corporate thornbush 
burning with the God of resurrection; 
this is 
a picture of the church life today.

 

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7 replies on “The Corporate Thornbush”

Prophecy note, 3 May 2015
We need to be strong in faith
and declare that we
are in resurrection
because our God
is not the God of the dead
but the God of the living.
In myself,
I am in the flesh
and in the natural life,
but in my God,
I am in resurrection.
In resurrection
He is
the great I Am.
We all
need to say in faith
that we
are in resurrection.
The more we speak this
in faith,
the more it will become
our experience.

What we say
is what we experience.
If we say
that we are in the flesh,
then
we shall be in the flesh.
But if we say
that we are in resurrection,
then
we shall be in resurrection.
Here,
in resurrection,
the thornbush
can be blessed
to be God’s dwelling place.

We realize
that, at best,
we are just a thornbush.
Nevertheless,
the great I Am,
the God of resurrection,
dwells within us,
and we enjoy Him.
Individually
we are a thornbush,
and together
we are a corporate thornbush
burning with the God of resurrection.
This is a picture
of the church life today.

Day 6

Gen. 12:3
And I will bless those 
who bless you, 
and him who curses you 
I will curse; 
and in you 
all the families of the earth 
will be blessed.

1 Cor. 1:2
To the church of God 
which is in Corinth, 
to those 
who have been sanctified 
in Christ Jesus, 
the called saints, 
with all those 
who call upon the name 
of our Lord Jesus Christ 
in every place, 
who is 
theirs and ours.

From the time 
that Nebuchadnezzar 
destroyed the city of Jerusalem 
until now, 
every nation, people, race, or individual 
who has cursed the Jewish people 
has received a curse, 
and whoever has blessed the Jews 
has received a blessing.

The church of God! 
Not the church 
of Cephas, of Apollos, of Paul, 
or of any practice or doctrine, 
but of God. 
In spite of all the division, sin, confusion, 
abusing of gifts, and heretical teaching 
in the church in Corinth, 
the apostle still called it 
“the church of God” 
because the divine and spiritual essence 
which makes the assembled believers 
the church of God 
was actually there. 
Such a spiritual address by the apostle 
was based on his spiritual view 
in looking upon the church in Christ. 
Such a simple address alone 
should have eliminated 
all the division and confusion 
in both practice and doctrine.

The very God in the thornbush, 
the One who called Moses, 
was the God of resurrection. 
This is proved 
by the Lord’s word to the Sadducees 
in Mark 12:18-27. 
As the Sadducees were arguing with Him 
concerning resurrection, 
the Lord said, 
“But concerning the dead, 
that they are raised, 
have you not read 
in the book of Moses, 
in the section concerning the bush, 
how God spoke to him, 
saying, 
‘I am 
the God of Abraham 
and the God of Isaac 
and the God of Jacob?’ 
He is 
not the God of the dead, 
but of the living.” 
Here 
the Lord pointed 
the unbelieving Sadducees 
to the section in the Scriptures 
concerning the thornbush. 
The title, 
“the God of Abraham, 
the God of Isaac, 
and the God of Jacob,” 
implies the God of resurrection. 
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob 
have all died. 
If God were 
the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob 
and there were no resurrection, 
then 
God would be 
the God of the dead. 
But God is 
not the God of the dead; 
He is 
the God of the living, 
the God of resurrection.

The fact that the God of resurrection 
dwelt in the thornbush 
indicates that being a corporate thornbush 
as God’s dwelling place today 
is a matter 
altogether in resurrection. 
The holy One 
can visit us 
and dwell among us 
because He 
is in resurrection. 
He is 
the God of resurrection, 
and we, His people, 
are in resurrection.

As those 
who are still in the flesh, 
it may be difficult 
for us 
to believe 
or to realize 
that we 
are in resurrection. 
If I were to ask you 
whether you are 
in the natural life 
or in the resurrection life, 
you would probably say 
that, for the most part, 
you are 
in the natural life. 
However, 
if you say this, 
you do not have faith. 
We need to be strong in faith 
and declare that we 
are in resurrection 
because our God 
is not the God of the dead 
but the God of the living. 
In myself, 
I am in the flesh 
and in the natural life, 
but in my God, 
I am in resurrection.
In resurrection 
He is 
the great I Am. 
We all need to say in faith 
that we 
are in resurrection. 
The more we speak this 
in faith, 
the more it will become 
our experience.

What we say 
is what we experience. 
If we say 
that we are in the flesh, 
then 
we shall be in the flesh. 
But if we say 
that we are in resurrection, 
then 
we shall be in resurrection. 
Because the very God 
who indwells us 
is the God of resurrection, 
we have a basis 
for declaring that we 
are in resurrection. 
Here, 
in resurrection, 
the thornbush 
can be blessed 
to be God’s dwelling place.

We realize 
that, at best, 
we are just a thornbush. 
Nevertheless, 
the great I Am, 
the God of resurrection, 
the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, 
dwells within us, 
and we enjoy Him. 
Individually 
we are a thornbush, 
and together 
we are a corporate thornbush 
burning with the God of resurrection. 
This is a picture 
of the church life today.

 

Day 5

Num. 23:21
He has not beheld iniquity in Jacob, 
nor has He seen trouble in Israel; 
Jehovah their God 
is with them, 
and the shout of a king 
is among them.

Num. 24:5
How fair are your tents, O Jacob, 
your tabernacles, O Israel!

Num. 24:9b
Blessed is everyone 
who blesses you, 
and cursed is everyone 
who curses you.

The children of Israel 
were a corporate thornbush. 
As such a thornbush, 
they were redeemed, sanctified, 
transformed, and built up. 
Perhaps you find it difficult 
to believe 
that the children of Israel 
were transformed.
A prayer meeting in Shanghai 
in the early 1940s
helped me to see God’s people 
as He sees them.
An experienced sister co-worker,
as she prayed,
sighed and groaned 
because of 
the poor condition of the church. 
When she finished praying, 
Brother Nee 
broke forth in praise 
to the Lord 
and gave Him thanks 
that the church 
is never weak or low 
but always high. 
The congregation 
was shocked. 
Then 
Brother Nee helped us 
to understand 
the significance of Balaam’s prophecy 
regarding the children of Israel. 
Balaam was hired by Balak 
to curse the children of Israel. 
But instead of cursing God’s people, 
Balaam blessed them.
According to Numbers 23:21 and 24:5, 
God did not see 
iniquity or perverseness in Israel. 
Instead, 
He saw 
only goodness, fairness, and beauty. 
The same is true 
regarding the church today.

Do not say 
that the church is low or dead. 
The more you say this, 
the more you put yourself 
under a curse. 
However, 
if you praise the Lord 
for the church life 
and speak well concerning it, 
you will put yourself 
under God’s blessing. 
During all the years 
I have been in the church life, 
I have not seen one person 
who spoke negatively about the church 
who was under God’s blessing. 
On the contrary, 
all who have said 
that the church was poor, low, or dead 
have been under a curse. 
Those who speak positively 
about the church, 
declaring that the church is lovely 
and that it is God’s house, 
receive the blessing.

The children of Israel 
could be a corporate thornbush 
because they had been transformed 
and built up. 
God believed this, 
and we need to agree with Him. 
The tabernacle 
signified the children of Israel 
as God’s dwelling place. 
Do not regard the tabernacle 
as something apart from 
the children of Israel. 
Actually, 
it was the children of Israel 
who were God’s dwelling place. 
The tabernacle 
was merely a symbol.

After the tabernacle was erected, 
it was filled with 
the glory of the Lord. 
At night, 
the cloud of glory 
had the appearance of fire. 
The fire burning upon the tabernacle 
signified that the people of Israel 
were a corporate burning thornbush.

When Moses spoke of God 
as the One 
who dwelt in the thornbush, 
it is difficult to tell 
whether he was referring 
to the actual thornbush 
he had seen forty years before 
or to himself 
and to the children of Israel 
respectively as an individual 
and a corporate thornbush. 
I believe 
that his word 
includes all this. 
On the one hand, 
we are still a thornbush; 
on the other hand, 
through redemption, sanctification, 
transformation, and building, 
we are 
God’s dwelling place. 
Hallelujah, 
today 
God has 
a dwelling place 
on earth! 
Satan might say to God, 
“Your people 
are merely a thornbush.” 
But God would reply, 
“Satan, 
get behind Me. 
Don’t you know 
that this people 
has been redeemed, 
sanctified, 
and transformed? 
They have also been built up, 
and now 
they are one. 
Therefore, 
I am dwelling among them. 
You say 
that they are 
a thornbush, 
but I declare 
that they are 
My dwelling place.” 
The church today 
is God’s dwelling place. 
You may think 
that the church is uncomely, 
but to God 
it is lovely. 
You may criticize the church 
for its shortcomings, 
but God says 
that He sees no iniquity 
in His people. 
Regarding His people, 
God says, 
“I find no fault in them. 
I am in their midst, 
and they are 
My dwelling place 
on earth.” 
This is the church 
as the corporate thornbush.

 

Day 4

Gen. 3:24
So He drove the man out, 
and at the east of the garden of Eden 
He placed the cherubim 
and a flaming sword 
which turned in every direction 
to guard the way 
to the tree of life.

Exo. 3:2
And the Angel of Jehovah 
appeared to him 
in a flame of fire 
out of the midst of a thornbush. 
And when he looked, 
there was the thornbush, 
burning with fire; 
but the thornbush 
was not consumed.

We need to see 
that there is a connection 
between Genesis 3 and Exodus 3. 
In both chapters 
we have 
the thorn and the fire. 
The thorn in Genesis 3 
indicates that man 
is under a curse, 
and the flame of fire 
indicates that man 
is excluded from 
God as the tree of life. 
According to Genesis 3, 
thorns came from the curse 
due to sin. 
Hence, 
thorns are 
a symbol of fallen man 
under the curse. 
Immediately after the curse 
was pronounced, 
a flaming sword 
was placed 
at the east of the garden 
“to guard the way 
to the tree of life” (v. 24). 
Thus, 
sin brought in the curse, 
and the curse brought in 
the flame of fire. 
The function of fire in Genesis 3 
is to exclude sinners 
from the tree of life, 
that is, 
from God as the source of life.

If the Bible had ended with Genesis 3:24, 
our situation would be forever hopeless. 
According to chapters 1 and 2 of Genesis, 
we were created 
specifically to receive God as life. 
The man created by God 
was placed in front of the tree of life. 
Then in chapter 3 
sin came in, 
man fell under the curse, 
and the fire of God’s holiness 
excluded the cursed sinners 
from any direct contact with 
God as the tree of life.
Man’s situation in Exodus 3 
is much different from 
that in Genesis 3. 
In Exodus 3 
the cursed thorn 
becomes the vessel of God, 
and the flame of fire 
becomes one with the thornbush. 
Through redemption, 
signified by the lamb 
slain and offered to God 
for fallen man, 
the curse 
has been taken away, 
and the fire 
has become one with the thorn.

The reality of this picture 
is seen in Galatians 3:13 and 14. 
Verse 13 says, 
“Christ has redeemed us 
out of the curse of the law, 
having become a curse 
on our behalf.” 
This means 
that through the death of Christ on the cross 
the curse has been taken away. 
Verse 14 continues, 
“That the blessing of Abraham 
might come to the Gentiles 
in Christ Jesus, 
that we might receive 
the promise of the Spirit 
through faith.” 
Therefore, 
according to these verses 
the curse 
has been taken away, 
and the Spirit, the fire, 
has been given to us.

Acts 2:3 and 4 
indicate that the outpoured Spirit 
is symbolized by tongues of fire. 
This outpouring of the Spirit as fire 
was predicted by the Lord Jesus 
in Luke 12:49: 
“I have come 
to cast fire on the earth, 
and how I wish 
that it were already kindled!” 
On the day of Pentecost 
the promised Spirit, 
given through the redemption of Christ 
which took away the curse, 
came upon the disciples 
in the form of fire. 
This fire 
no longer excludes us 
from God; 
instead, 
it is 
the flame of God’s visitation.

Considering this 
in the light of the picture in Exodus 3, 
we see 
that the thorn and the flame 
are one. 
In Genesis 3 
fallen man 
was under the curse 
signified by the thorn. 
There 
the flame of fire 
excluded this fallen man 
from God as the tree of life. 
In Exodus 3, 
however, the thornbush, 
which can be considered 
a type of vessel, 
and the fire 
are one. 
In Genesis 3 
the fire keeps the man 
who is under the curse 
away from the tree of life, 
away from God 
as the source of life. 
But in Exodus 3 
the flame of fire 
visits the thornbush 
and indwells it. 
This indicates 
that through the redemption of Christ 
the very God Himself, the holy One 
whose holiness excludes sinners 
from His presence, 
can come 
to visit us, 
to stay with us, 
and even to dwell in us. 
Hallelujah, 
Christ has taken away the curse 
and has cast down to earth 
the fire of the Holy Spirit! 
Now that the curse 
has been taken away, 
we are 
no longer excluded 
from God as life. 
Praise the Lord 
that the excluding flame 
of Genesis 3 
has become 
the visiting and indwelling flame 
of Exodus 3! 
Now 
the once-cursed thorn 
can become 
God’s dwelling place.

 

Day 3

Exo. 40:38
For the cloud of Jehovah 
was upon the tabernacle 
by day, 
and there was fire in it 
by night, 
in the sight of 
all the house of Israel 
on all their journeys.

Rev. 21:10-11
And he carried me away in spirit 
onto a great and high mountain 
and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, 
coming down out of heaven from God, 
having the glory of God. 
Her light 
was like a most precious stone, 
like a jasper stone, 
as clear as crystal.

Both the thornbush and the tabernacle 
are symbols. 
God’s actual dwelling place 
was neither the physical thornbush 
nor the tabernacle; 
it was His people. 
After the children of Israel 
had been dealt with by God, 
they became acacia wood 
overlaid with gold 
and also linen 
embroidered with golden thread. 
The church today 
is the fulfillment of this type. 
At present 
the church may be 
a redeemed thornbush. 
However, 
the day is coming 
when we shall be 
gold, pearl, and precious stone. 
Praise the Lord 
for the marvelous vision 
of God’s dwelling place! 
This vision 
covers God’s habitation 
from the initial stage, 
the stage of the thornbush, 
to the consummate stage, 
the stage of the New Jerusalem.

When Moses was called by God, 
he saw the holy fire 
burning within the thornbush. 
When Paul was called, 
he saw the same vision, 
at least in principle. 
He saw the Triune God 
burning within His redeemed ones. 
Through this divine burning, 
the holy fire 
was one with the thornbush, 
and the thornbush 
was one with the fire, 
which is 
the Triune God Himself. 
Today 
God the Father in the Son 
and the Son as the Spirit 
have come down upon us 
as fire. 
The Lord Jesus 
once said 
that He came 
to cast fire 
upon the earth. 
On the day of Pentecost 
the Spirit came 
in the form of 
tongues of fire. 
Today 
the Lord 
is still casting fire 
upon the earth. 
This holy fire, this divine burning, 
has captured us, 
and now 
we are 
part of the thornbush 
that is burning 
with the Triune God. 
The Triune God 
is burning within and upon the church 
He has chosen and redeemed. 
Thus, 
the church 
is the Triune God 
burning within a redeemed humanity. 
This is 
the divine economy.

This economy 
was revealed to Paul. 
It is, in fact, 
the focus of the divine revelation. 
Moses saw this 
in symbol, 
but Paul saw it 
in reality.
We boldly proclaim 
that we have seen the vision 
of the burning thornbush. 
Every local church 
is a thornbush 
burning with the Triune God.

Moses and Paul 
could not forget the vision 
they had seen. 
Paul’s Epistles 
reveal that nothing, 
including imprisonment and martyrdom, 
could turn him 
from the vision. 
Paul was steadfast 
unto the end 
because he had been captured 
by the heavenly vision. 
The death of those 
martyred for the Lord 
can only cause the thornbush 
to burn more than ever.

Thousands of us today 
have seen the vision 
of the burning bush, 
and no one 
can change us. 
We cannot even change ourselves. 
If we try to turn away 
from the vision, 
the vision 
does not let us go. 
We have been “wrecked” 
by the vision 
we have seen.
Many have testified 
that they 
cannot turn away 
from the vision of the church 
in God’s economy. 
The opposers 
should realize 
that it is too late 
to stand against the Lord’s recovery 
because so many 
have seen the vision 
of the burning thornbush. 
Hallelujah for the vision 
of the Triune God 
burning within the church!

Every aspect 
of God’s calling of Moses 
can be found 
in the writings of Paul. 
In Paul’s Epistles 
we see the vision 
of the burning thornbush. 
In Ephesians 1 and 3 
we have the divine economy, 
the dispensing of the Triune God 
into His redeemed people 
so that they 
may become His expression. 
This dispensation 
brings into being the church 
as the burning thornbush today. 
How glad 
I am to be 
part of this burning bush! 
Because we have seen this vision, 
we could never go back to religion. 
Rather, 
the vision 
causes us 
to press on. 
Even many of the young people 
can bear witness 
that they have seen 
the vision of the burning thornbush, 
the vision of God’s economy 
in today’s church.

 

Day 2

Deut. 33:1
And this is the blessing 
with which Moses, the man of God, 
blessed the children of Israel 
before his death.

Deut. 33:16a
With the choicest things of the earth, 
and the fullness thereof, 
and the favor of Him 
who dwelt in the thornbush.

Exo. 40:34
Then 
the cloud 
covered the Tent of Meeting, 
and the glory of Jehovah 
filled the tabernacle.

God’s ultimate goal 
is to obtain a dwelling place. 
This means 
that God’s eternal purpose 
is to build up His habitation. 
In Genesis 
we have the revelation 
of the house of God at Bethel, 
but we do not have 
the actual building 
of the house of God. 
At the beginning of Exodus 
God dwelt in the thornbush, 
but at the end of the book 
He dwelt in the tabernacle. 
The tabernacle with the Ark 
thus became the focal point 
of the history of the children of Israel. 
Eventually, 
the tabernacle 
was enlarged into the temple.

The Lord Jesus 
came both as God’s tabernacle (John 1:14) 
and as God’s temple (John 2:19). 
The church today 
is also the temple of God (1 Cor. 3:16). 
Ultimately, 
this temple 
will consummate in the New Jerusalem, 
which will be God’s temple in eternity.

In the beginning 
God’s dwelling place 
was a redeemed thornbush, 
but gradually 
this thornbush 
is being sanctified, transformed, 
conformed, and even glorified. 
The tabernacle 
is an illustration 
of transformation. 
In the tabernacle 
there were 
acacia wood 
overlaid with gold 
and also linen 
embroidered with golden thread. 
Both the acacia wood and the linen 
signify humanity, 
and the gold 
signifies divinity. 
Such an overlaid and embroidered humanity 
is a transformed humanity. 
In Exodus 3 
God’s dwelling 
was a thornbush, 
but in Exodus 40 
His dwelling 
was the tabernacle 
made of humanity 
overlaid by and interwoven with divinity.

If we are like Moses, the man of God, 
we shall have 
a twofold consciousness. 
On the one hand, 
we shall be conscious of the fact 
that we are thornbushes; 
on the other hand, 
we shall be conscious of God’s glory 
dwelling within us 
as a burning flame. 
Moses became 
a man of God, 
but he still considered himself 
a thornbush. 
In the same principle, 
God’s glory 
dwelt among the children of Israel 
and made them His glorious dwelling place, 
but they were 
still a thornbush, 
even a corporate thornbush.

According to Deuteronomy 33:1, 
Moses was 
a man of God. 
This indicates transformation. 
Apart from the process of transformation, 
how could Moses, a man 
so strong and active 
in his natural life, 
become a man of God? 
Only through transformation 
could he become 
such a person. 
One example of Moses’ transformation 
was his experience with the Lord 
on the mountaintop. 
After Moses had been with the Lord 
on the mountain 
for forty days, 
his face was shining 
because the flame of God’s holy fire 
had been burned into him. 
Moses was like steel 
that is thrust into fire 
and kept there 
until the steel 
glows with the fire 
that has been burned 
into its very essence. 
When Moses was on the mountaintop, 
God’s glory 
was burned into his being. 
When he came down from the mountain, 
his face was shining.
Was that 
not a sign of transformation? 
It was a sure indication 
that Moses was being transformed. 
According to 
his training in the palace, 
Moses could have become an expert 
in all the Egyptian knowledge. 
But because he had been redeemed, 
called, sanctified, and transformed, 
instead he eventually became 
a man of God.

In the Lord’s recovery 
we do not care for 
a large number; 
we care for 
the genuine experience 
of transformation. 
I am happy 
that we are 
under the divine burning, 
the burning that transforms us 
and makes us dispositionally different 
from the worldly people. 
Because the element of God 
is being burned into our nature, 
we are becoming 
men of God. 
This is 
what it means 
to be a burning thornbush 
in an individual sense. 
According to 
our nature, 
we are 
still a thornbush, 
but according to 
God’s burning within us, 
we are transformed people. 
On the one hand, 
we are a thornbush; 
on the other hand, 
we are men of God.

 

Day 1

Gen. 3:17-18
And to Adam 
He said, 
Because you listened to 
the voice of your wife 
and have eaten of the tree 
concerning which I commanded you, 
saying, 
You shall not eat of it;
Cursed is the ground 
because of you; 
/ In toil 
will you eat of it 
/ All the days of your life.
And thorns and thistles 
will it 
bring forth for you, 
/ And you will eat 
the herb of the field;

Exo. 3:3-4
And Moses said, 
I must turn aside now 
and see this great sight, 
why the thornbush 
does not burn up.
And when Jehovah saw 
that he had turned aside 
to look, 
God called to him 
out of the midst of the thornbush 
and said, 
Moses, Moses. 
And he said, 
Here I am.

The thornbush in Exodus 3 
is a symbol of Moses 
as God’s called one.
No one has 
much appreciation for a thornbush. 
Although Moses 
had been rejected by man, 
he was accepted by God, 
and the fire of God’s glory 
burned within him and upon him. 
Therefore, 
Moses was a thornbush 
burning with the glory of God.

The burning thornbush in Exodus 3, however, 
refers not only to Moses 
as an individual 
but also to the children of Israel 
as a corporate entity. 
God’s people, the children of Israel, 
included 
those who were weak 
and those who were strong. 
Moses was only one 
among God’s corporate people. 
To the Lord, 
the thornbush burning in chapter three 
was not only an individual 
but also a corporate people.
As individuals, 
we all 
are today’s Moses. 
But we 
are also part of the church 
as the corporate thornbush.

God’s goal 
in dealing with His people, the children of Israel, 
was to obtain a proper dwelling place. 
Deuteronomy 33:16 
speaks of God 
as the One 
who dwelt in the thornbush. 
This word, 
written by Moses, 
indicates that God 
possessed that burning thornbush 
as His house, His dwelling place. 
Who would ever have thought 
that God’s habitation on earth 
would be a thornbush?

Moses must have realized 
that the burning thornbush 
he saw 
when God called him 
was a symbol of himself. 
At the time of Deuteronomy 33, 
Moses regarded himself 
as a thornbush, 
but to God 
he was “the man of God” (Deut. 33:1). 
In the individual aspect 
Moses was a thornbush, 
and in the corporate aspect 
the children of Israel 
were a thornbush. 
Nevertheless, 
the God of blessing 
dwelt in such a bush. 
If God does not dwell in us, 
we are finished.
Although we may be 
cultured ladies and gentlemen 
or well-trained professionals, 
we still are thornbushes 
because our fallen nature 
is related to thorns and to the curse.

In referring to God 
as the One 
who dwelt in the thornbush, 
Moses’ heart 
must have been full of thanks to God. 
During the last forty years of his life, 
Moses knew 
that he was just a thornbush. 
But he knew also 
that God was with him. 
We all need to have 
such a realization. 
Whenever we have a proper spirit 
before the Lord, 
we know 
that we are a thornbush. 
We know 
that even our natural virtues, 
such as kindness, humility, and patience, 
are “thorns.”
As he 
was blessing the children of Israel, 
Moses must have had 
such a sense about himself.

We have pointed out 
that the burning thornbush 
refers to God’s redeemed people. 
Once we were thorns 
under the curse in Genesis 3, 
but in Exodus 3 
we are a redeemed thornbush. 
Now God is burning 
within us and upon us. 
This burning thornbush 
is both the children of Israel 
in the Old Testament 
and the church 
in the New Testament. 
In the church 
today 
there are still “thorns”; 
the church 
is not yet precious stone. 
Nevertheless, 
we praise the Lord 
that we are undergoing 
the process of transformation.

In Deuteronomy 33:16 
Moses spoke of God 
as the One 
who dwelt in the thornbush. 
This word was uttered 
when Moses 
was one hundred twenty years of age, 
forty years after he had seen 
the vision of the burning thornbush. 
Moses never forgot that vision, 
even after the tabernacle 
had been built 
and God 
had come 
to dwell in it. 
In Deuteronomy 33:16 
why did not Moses 
speak of the good will of “Him 
who dwelt in the tabernacle”? 
I believe 
that for Moses 
to speak of God 
dwelling in the tabernacle 
would not have been 
as sweet as it was 
for him 
to speak of God 
dwelling in the thornbush.
I believe 
that even when we 
are in the New Jerusalem 
we shall recall 
how we once were a thornbush 
indwelt by God. 
How marvelous 
that a thornbush 
can be God’s dwelling place 
on earth today!

 

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