The wall of the New Jerusalem is great and high for separation and protection for protecting the interests of God, and the law (typified by the twelve tribes of Israel) watches and observes that all who enter meets its requirements, while the angels observe and cheer us on.
This scene of the New Jerusalem is quite amazing, for it smashes our human concept and religious beliefs, and it also encourages us to go on with the Lord until we become such a reality.
First of all, the New Jerusalem is the consummation of the picture we see in Numbers 2, where God encamped His people in array around the tabernacle, three tribes on each of its four sides, each taking the tabernacle as the center.
This picture in Numbers two shows us something eternal in God’s purpose, which is that He wants to mingle Himself with us to make us His expression and representation on earth, so that we may be His people who express Him and also deal with His enemy to bring in His kingdom on earth.
When the twelve tribes were encamped, they all faced the tabernacle, and they acted as a wall to protect the testimony of God – the tabernacle was the Tabernacle of the Testimony, and the encamping of the children of Israel was for the protection of God’s testimony.
We see the same pattern in the New Jerusalem, the consummation of all that God desires to do with man. In the New Jerusalem we see a wall with four sides and there are three gates on each side, and above the gates there’s the names of the twelve tribes of Israel, a name above every gate.
This means that the way we are prepared and formed into an army to fight for God’s interest is by living a “three by four” life in our daily living and in our church life. We need to live a life in the mingling of God and man, a life of being mingled with God and taking Christ as our center.
Amen, may we be those who take Christ and the testimony of God as our center, and may we allow Him to mingle Himself with us daily, so that we can be prepared and formed into the army who fights for His interests on the earth.
Furthermore, today we want to see even more implications and applications of the wall of the New Jerusalem to our Christian life and church life.
In particular, we want to see what does it mean to have a great and high wall in our experience, and how does the law both approve and lead us into the Holy City, under the observation and cheering on of the angels.
Having a Great and High Wall by being Absolutely Separated unto God for Protecting the Interests of God
The great and high wall of the New Jerusalem is for separation and protection, for the holy city is absolutely separated unto God and will fully protect the interests of God (Rev. 21:12).
The height of the wall is one hundred and forty-four cubits, which is very tall.
This wall functioned in two main ways, which is first to separate anything that is of God and His interest from anything and anyone that is not of God, and secondly, to protect and maintain the interests of God. These two functions, separation and protection, are interrelated, for one requires the other.
What the twelve tribes in Numbers two did is to protect the interests of God, that is, to protect the testimony of God on earth.
On one hand we need to be absolutely separated unto God from anything that is not God Himself, and on the other, we need to be built together to protect the interest of God, acting as the separating and protecting wall.
Today we live in a complicated world, a world full of things that are so available and convenient to us every day, and the line or the distinction between the worldly things is very unclear. We may even drift into things of the world and be fully involved with them without being aware of it.
In these days being worldly and not being worldly is a blurry thing, for example we may have a smart phone and spend quite a lot of time on it, but we may not consider it as a worldly thing.
There used to be a time when touching gadgets and being on the computer or on the phone was a worldly thing, but nowadays we need our laptop, tablet, and phone for business and communication, so where do we draw the line?
Today we have so many digital means and also the social media, and technology is easily available to us.
In all these things, in all our living and work, we need to be separated unto God, and we need to protect His interests on earth.
If we are to be God’s army being formed and encamped around the testimony of God, we need to be a great and high wall acting as a strong separation from the world and anything that is not of God, and we need to protect the interests of God by declaring them to others.
The New Jerusalem was promised to the church in Philadelphia, who was told to hold fast what they have, lest someone take their crown.
What we need to do today is hold fast what we have. God has given us so much today in the Lord’s recovery – so much has been revealed and passed on to us, all the riches of God’s divinity and the attainments of Christ’s accomplishments. Who protects these riches and attainments?
When we speak of spiritual warfare, we fight not with fists, guns, or spears, but we fight by standing – having done all, to stand.
We don’t know how long will it be until the Lord returns, but we sense that we are in the last period of this age. We need to hold fast what we have, the vision that God has shown us, the ministry that He has given us, and protect the riches of God’s divinity and the attainments of Christ’s accomplishments.
We need to remain in these things, allow these things to be constituted into us, so that we may practically become the great and high wall today.
But the question is, can we stand against the luring and enticing of the world? We may be able to stand against suffering and persecution, but can we stand against the luring of the world? Today all believers need such a great and high wall for their separation and protection.
Lord Jesus, thank You for giving us the vision of the age, the ministry of the age, and the economy of God. Thank You for entrusting us with the riches of God’s divinity and the attainments of Christ’s accomplishments. Keep us in these things, Lord. Keep us in what You have given us, holding fast what we have so that no one takes our crown. Make us part of the great and high wall of the New Jerusalem for separation and protection. Amen, Lord Jesus, we want to be fully separated unto You from the world, be saturated with Your element, and hold fast what we have so that we may be Your army, the ones who protect God’s interests on earth!
The Law Watches the Entrance into the City and Leads People into it, while the Angels Observe and Cheer us on
There’s an angel at each of the gates of the New Jerusalem, and each gate has a name of one of the tribes of the children of Israel.
In God’s eternal economy, angels are ministering spirits (see Heb. 1:14); they serve us, those who inherit salvation and participate in the eternal blessing of the New Jerusalem.
In the New Jerusalem, the angels will be the gatekeepers of our possession, while we will be the enjoyers of the rich inheritance in God’s economy.
The salvation in God’s New Testament economy is like a big arena, where those who receive the Lord have a free ticket to enter; the angels are the spectators, cheering us on – they are our servants, ministering God’s salvation to us.
For example, God sent an angel to Mary with the good news and another angel to Cornelius regarding salvation; the angels do a lot of things invisibly to help us seek the Lord and receive Him, and they cheer us on, watching over us.
The angels watch over us to go on with the Lord, take Christ as our center, and advance in Him; they cheer us on to take Christ and the church as our center.
When we confess the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we get a “free ticket into the holy city”, the New Jerusalem; here the angelic spectators rejoice and welcome us. There’s much joy in the presence of the angels over one sinner repenting (Luke 15:10); they clap their hands and rejoice when men are saved.
The fact that the names of the tribes of Israel are inscribed on the ages points to the law of the Old Testament, indicating that the law is represented at the gates of the New Jerusalem.
The law of God watches and observes that all the communications, all the comings in and goings out of the holy city, meet its requirements.
Hallelujah, Christ came not to destroy the law but to fulfill it, and by His life, living, and sacrifice on the cross, He satisfied all the requirements of the law; now that all the demands of the law have been met, we can enter into the holy city by faith in Jesus Christ.
We cannot make it into the holy city, but Jesus made it – He met all the requirements of the law, and when someone calls on Him, he enters into the New Jerusalem in a lawful way.
All genuine believers in Christ meet the righteous requirements of the law to enter into the New Jerusalem, because of what Christ has done.
Furthermore, that the names of the twelve tribes of Israel are inscribed on the twelve gates signifies that the twelve tribes are the entrance into the holy city; as such, they lead people, through the preaching of the gospel, into the riches of the Triune God to enjoy the supply in the city – cf. Rev. 22:14.
On one hand the law has requirements, but on the other, the law functions as a child conductor to lead people to Christ (Gal. 3:24).
The law leads us through the entrance for us to become part of the holy city and even to become the wall to protect God’s interest.
As long as we are in Jesus Christ, all the requirements of the law are met, and we are in the holy city, New Jerusalem; Christ paid the price for us, and the guard at the gate (the law) honors Christ and approves our entrance into the city. Praise the Lord!
Thank You Lord Jesus for fulfilling all the demands of the law so that we, by faith in You, may enter by the gates into the holy city, New Jerusalem, and be part of Your corporate expression and representation on earth. Amen, Lord Jesus, thank You for preparing everything for us and doing everything for us; we believe into Your perfect work and take Your perfect sacrifice by faith, and we are approved by the righteous law of God to enter into the city! Hallelujah, the angels are cheering us on for us to go on with the Lord and be part of the army that fights for the interest of God! Praise the Lord!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by James Lee for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1984, vol. 3, “God’s New Testament Economy,” chs. 34-35, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallisation-Study of Numbers (1), week 2, Israel’s Encamping in Array Typifying God’s Redeemed People Being Consummated as the New Jerusalem.
- Hymns on this topic:
# The wall a separation makes, / Excluding all that is unclean; / Gold, pearls, and precious stones alone / The holy city has within. (Hymns #979)
# Thou, beloved Philadelphia, / Dost His Word of patience keep. / From the hour of trial He’ll save thee, / Which o’er all the world shall sweep. / Troublers too shall know He loves thee; / They to thee must then bow down. / “Hold thou fast, for I come quickly, / That no man may take thy crown.” (Hymns #1275)
# Via too, the awful anguish / Of the hours beneath the trees, / Where the hosts of Satan linger, / Awful hours of anguish these! / Yet we fail not, for God’s angels / Minister to us, and say, / “Look, beloved, at the glory, / Conflict is but for a day!” (Hymns #628)
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