Crystallization-Study of Job
Message Four
Job and the Two Trees
OPENING WORD OF THE PROPHESYING MEETING
Reading the verses in each day.
Reading the main points in the outlines.
Pray-reading the verses:
Gen. 2:9, 17 And out of the ground Jehovah God caused to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food, as well as the tree of life in the middle of the garden and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil….But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, of it you shall not eat; for in the day that you
eat of it you shall surely die.
Rom. 8:5-6 For those who are according to the flesh mind the things of the flesh; but those who are according to the spirit, the things of the Spirit. For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the spirit is life and peace.
Word of Appetizer
Which two principles of living do the two trees in Genesis 2:9—the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil represent?
The two trees show that a Christian can live according to two different principles—the principle of right and wrong or the principle of life. Being a Christian is not a matter of the principle of right and wrong, the principle of good and evil, but is a matter of life; in our daily living we should not be in the realm of the tree of the
knowledge of good and evil but in the realm of the life-giving Spirit. In order to live according to the principle of the tree of life, we need to follow the inner sense of life.
Spiritual Burden
God’s intention was not to have a Job in the line of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil but a Job in the line of the tree of life; God’s purpose in dealing with Job was to turn him from the way of good and evil to the way of life so that he might gain God to the fullest extent.
We are a miniature garden of Eden because the triangular situation involving God, man, and Satan is now within us; when we set our mind on the spirit, we have life, peace, light, comfort, and strength; our thirst is quenched, and our hunger is satisfied.
Concluding Word of the Prophesying Meeting
The Revelation of the Truth
According to the divine revelation in the Scriptures, there are two trees, two sources, two ways, two principles, and two consummations.
God’s intention was not to have a Job in the line of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil but a Job in the line of the tree of life.
We need a vision of the tree of life; the two trees in Genesis 2:9—the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil—represent two principles of living.
Every genuine believer in Christ is a miniature garden of Eden, with God as the tree of life in his spirit and Satan as the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in his flesh.
The Experience of Life
Through the fall the tree of the knowledge of good and evil is in us, and through regeneration the tree of life is now in us; we have the tree of life in our spirit and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in our flesh; whenever we contact the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, we become dead; whenever we contact the tree of life, we gain life.
We have peace because there is no discord between our outward behavior and our inner being; when we set our mind on the spirit, we have life, peace, light, comfort, and strength; our thirst is quenched, and our hunger is satisfied.
Practice and Application
In our daily living we should not be in the realm of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil but in the realm of the life-giving Spirit; in order to live according to the principle of the tree of life, we need to follow the inner sense of life.
If we stand on the side of the tree of life and contact God, we will live out God, and the result will be life.
PROPHESYING TOPICS—
TWELVE TOPICS PER WEEK
Day 1
T1: According to the divine revelation in the Scriptures, there are two trees, two ways, and two consummations (Gen. 2:9; Matt. 7:13-14; Rev. 22:1-2; 20:10).
(Please explain that there are two trees in Genesis chapter 2, two consummations in Revelation chapter 22 and two ways between them.)
T2: The Bible, as a full record of the divine revelation, is a book of signs (Rev. 1:1b).
(Please explain that the first tree signifies God as life, the second tree signifies Satan as death, with the implications of knowledge, good, and evil.)
Day 2
T1: These two lines originate from the two sources (Rev. 22:1-2; 19:20).
(Please explain that the way of life and the way of death, lead men to the two ends—the New Jerusalem and the lake of fire respectively.)
T2: The two ruling and regulating principles by which men have their relationship with God (Jere. 17:5-8).
(Please explain that God’s purpose in dealing with Job was to turn him from the way of good and evil to the way of life.)
Day 3
T1: God’s intention was to have a Job in the line of the tree of life (Gen. 2:9; John 11:25).
(Please explain according to your own experiences that in our daily living, whether you are in the line of the tree of life or in the line of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.)
T2: We should not do anything according to good and evil. Instead, we should do everything according to the Spirit (Rom. 8:4-6).
(How should we exercise in our daily living not to be in the realm of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil but in the realm of the life-giving Spirit?)
Day 4
T1: Christ, the embodiment of the Triune God, is the tree of life (John 1:4; 15:5).
(Please explain with verses that Christ is the fulfillment of the figure of the tree of life.)
T2: Due to the fall, the tree of life was closed to man (Gen. 3:22-24; Heb. 10:19-20).
(Please explain that through the redemption of Christ, the way to touch the tree of life has been opened again.)
Day 5
T1: The tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil represent two principles of living (1 Cor. 8:1).
(Please explain according to your own experiences that our Christian living is based on an inner life, not an outward standard of right and wrong.)
T2: Being a Christian is not a matter of the principle of right and wrong, the principle of good and evil, but is a matter of life (1 John 5:11-13).
(Please explain according to your own experiences that in order to live according to the principle of the tree of life, we need to follow the inner sense of life.)
Day6
T1: Every genuine believer in Christ is a miniature garden of Eden (Gen. 2:9; Rom. 8:2, 5-6).
(Please explain that we have God as the tree of life in our spirit and Satan as the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in our flesh.)
T2: We have peace because there is no discord between our outward behavior and our inner being (Rom. 8:6).
(Please explain that our prayer is not mainly to ask the Lord to do things for us, but to keep our mind set on the spirit.)
