I want to say a few words to the saints as we approach the end of this year and proceed into the new year. First, I am burdened that we would pray for the recovery of the all-inclusiveness of Christ among the Lord’s children and the recovery of the genuine expression of such a Christ among God’s people. We should pray that the Lord would recover these two items…
A New Beginning in Resurrection with Newness
Second, what I want to cover is related to the end of this year and the beginning of another. Although we do not believe in the traditions surrounding new years, months, and days, there are some principles related to these beginnings. One principle revealed in the Bible is that the first day of the year, including the first day of the month, signifies resurrection with the newness of life and light.
In the Scriptures at least four important things occurred on the first day of the first month of the year.
1. Enjoying Christ as the New Land in Resurrection
After the flood during the time of Noah, the waters began to recede from the earth (Gen. 7:17, 24; 8:3). Eventually, in “the six hundred first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the water was dried up from the earth. And Noah removed the covering of the ark and saw that now the surface of the ground was dry” (v. 13) … In type, the earth coming up out of the waters after the flood typifies Christ resurrecting from the dead, which is similar to the earth coming out of the deep waters on the third day in Genesis 1. The earth coming out of the deep waters on the third day of God’s restoration and further creation typifies Christ resurrecting from the dead on the third day to be the land for the generation of life. Due to the fall of man, the earth was flooded by God in Genesis 7, but in Genesis 8 the earth came out of the waters again as another new beginning. Noah and his family had a new start in enjoying the new land. The new beginning with Noah was a beginning of the enjoyment of the new land, which typifies a new beginning in the resurrection of Christ to enjoy Christ as the new land. As we proceed into the new year, we should apply this word so that we can have a new beginning in the experience of Christ as the new land in resurrection.
2. Raising Up the Tabernacle
The first record of the first day of the first month of a year in the Scriptures is related to the new land enjoyed by Noah and his family; the second record is related to the raising up of the tabernacle by the children of Israel. Exodus 40:17 says, “In the first month in the second year, on the first day of the month, the tabernacle was raised up.” On the first day of the first month of the second year after the Israelites came out of Egypt, they raised up the tabernacle. This record of the new beginning in Exodus is an improvement over the record in Genesis 8. The new beginning in Exodus consisted not only of the enjoyment of Christ as the new land but also of the issue of the enjoyment of Christ, the raising up of the tabernacle as God’s dwelling place and His testimony, His expression, on earth. I hope that with us there will be a new beginning in which the tabernacle is raised up for the Lord.
3. Leaving Captivity to Return to Jerusalem
… A third important item associated with the first day of the first month of the year involved Ezra and a group of captive Israelites leaving the land of captivity (Ezra 7:9). This new start was the beginning of the leaving of captivity by God’s people for their return to Jerusalem. It may be of the Lord that some among us would have such an experience.
4. Cleansing and Sanctifying the Temple
Second Chronicles 29:3 says concerning Hezekiah, “He, in the first year of his reign, in the first month, opened the doors of the house of Jehovah and repaired them,” and Ezekiel 45:18 says, “Thus says the Lord Jehovah, In the first month, on the first day of the month, you shall take a bull of the herd without blemish, and you shall purify the sanctuary.” These two verses refer to the cleansing of the temple on the first day of the first month. … To cleanse the temple means that through our prayers and in our spirit we have a clearance before the Lord. We are the temple of God (1 Cor. 3:16). Thus, to cleanse the temple, which is also the house and the sanctuary, is to be inwardly cleansed and sanctified to the Lord; it is to clear up all the things of the past and make a thorough confession before the Lord. How much time we spend in making such a confession depends on the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Nevertheless, we should go to the Lord to make a thorough clearance regarding our person and situation, which is to cleanse the Lord’s temple. Then we need to sanctify the temple by giving ourselves to the Lord.
These four different beginnings are new thoughts—enjoying Christ as the new land, raising up the tabernacle, leaving the land of captivity in order to return to Jerusalem, and inwardly cleansing ourselves as the temple of God. May the Lord lead us to pray much for the recovery of the all-inclusiveness of Christ and the recovery of the genuine expression of such a Christ among His children. May He also lead us to take possession of Himself as the new land, to pray for the raising up of the tabernacle as the Lord’s testimony among us, to depart from the land of captivity and return to Jerusalem, and to have a thorough clearance before Him in order to cleanse and sanctify ourselves as His sanctuary.
A portion from, The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1961–1962, vol. 4 pp.507-510
