I. THE NEED OF GOD’S CHOSEN AND REDEEMED
PEOPLE TO RECEIVE THE DIVINE REVELATION
CONCERNING GOD HIMSELF AND HIS ECONOMY FOR
THEIR TRAINING AND BUILDING UP AS HIS TESTIMONY
God’s chosen and redeemed people need to receive the divine revelation concerning God Himself and His economy for their training and building up as His testimony. Since God’s choosing of His people is in the book of Genesis, this point covers Genesis as well as Exodus. In Genesis God’s people were chosen, and in Exodus they received the divine revelation concerning God and His dwelling place.
A. After the Participation in God’s Initial Salvation as Realized in the Passover
God’s chosen people received the divine revelation after their participation in God’s initial salvation as realized in the Passover (Exo. 12). God brought the people out of Egypt to the mountain of God, Mount Sinai, and there gave them a full revelation of His dwelling place among the human race on earth. We may say the revelation contained the "blueprints" for the building of God’s dwelling place. In order to dwell among the human race, God needs a people who are not only chosen and redeemed but also ready to receive the divine revelation concerning Him and His dwelling place. As the book of Exodus shows us, God’s people did receive this revelation and they built the tabernacle according to it. When the tabernacle was set up, God’s glory descended upon it.
B. Through the Enjoyment
of the Divine Provisions
The divine revelation was through the enjoyment of the divine provisions as tasted in the supply of the heavenly manna and the living water flowing out of the smitten rock (Exo. 16; 17:1-7).
C. Through the Experience of Being an Army
That Shared in God’s Fighting against His Enemies
The divine revelation was also through the experience of being an army that shared in God’s fighting against His enemies, as in their fighting against the Egyptians and the Amalekites (Exo. 14; 17:9-16).
D. Reaching and Arriving at the Mountain of God
Eventually, in Exodus 19 God’s chosen and redeemed people reached and arrived at the mountain of God. When God sent Moses to rescue the children of Israel out of the hand of Pharaoh, God told Moses that after he had brought the people out of Egypt, they would serve the Lord upon this mountain (Exo. 3:12). In Exodus 19 this word was fulfilled.
(Life-Study of Numbers, Chapter 49, by Witness Lee)
