圣经开始于神的创造，结束于神的居所。我们都需要对这两个辞有深刻的印象－创造和居所。圣经的总结乃是神永远的居所。我们若要认识圣经，必须牢记这两件事，神的创造和祂的居所。我们已经看过，创世记几乎包含了关于神经纶之真理一切的种子。也许这卷书里最后的一粒种子是伯特利，神的居所。不仅在圣经的结语，甚至在创世记的后半，也有神经纶的终结－伯特利，神的居所。伯特利这辞的意思就是神的家，或神的殿，神的居所。
创世记包括八个伟大人物的传记：亚当、亚伯、以挪士、以诺、挪亚、亚伯拉罕、以撒、雅各同约瑟。在亚当身上，有神的创造；在雅各身上，有神的居所，伯特利。在雅各身上，我们不仅仅看到神的拣选。神拣选的结果，总结的目标是甚么？乃是伯特利，神的居所。神创造、拣选、呼召并拯救我们，目的乃是要得着一个居所，直到永远。这粒建造的种子，像创世记里所有其他的种子一样，在整本圣经中发展。
在雅各之后，有以色列家，以色列家实际上就是神的家。出了埃及以后，在以色列家中有帐幕的建造；接着帐幕，有圣殿的建造。因此，旧约的记载就是从亚当到雅各这八个伟大人物，加上帐幕和圣殿。圣殿的建造、拆毁和重建，把我们带到旧约的结束。在新约里有甚么？也有两件主要的事：帐幕，就是耶稣，（约一14，）以及殿，就是教会。（林前三16。）教会是殿，它的完成就是新耶路撒冷。要记住圣经，有一个有意义且简单的方法，就是记住从亚当到雅各八个伟大人物，旧约中帐幕和殿的豫表，以及新约中帐幕和殿的实际；它终极的结果就是新耶路撒冷。
圣经的主题是甚么？有些人可能说，是人的堕落、神的救赎、我们的悔改、神的赦免、我们的重生和我们的救恩。明显的，这些事都在圣经里。我们若要认识圣经的主题是甚么，必须看见圣经告诉我们八个人物，开始于神创造中的亚当，经过连着神的家（伯特利）的雅各，接著有旧约中的帐幕和殿，以及新约中帐幕和殿的实际，而完成于新耶路撒冷。启示录二十一章说，新耶路撒冷是神的帐幕，神和羔羊是其中的殿。因此，新耶路撒冷是伯特利的终极结果。
信息重点：神创造、拣选、呼召并拯救我们，最终的目的乃是要得着伯特利——神的家、神的居所；这个目标最终完成于新耶路撒冷。
应用祷告：主耶稣，求你开启我的眼睛，使我看见你永远的心意乃是得着你的居所。愿我的生活不只为着自己，乃为着你的家和你的建造。阿们。
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Bethel — God Wants to Gain a Dwelling Place — Gen. 28:17-19
The Bible begins with God’s creation and ends with God’s dwelling place. We all need a deep impression of these two terms — creation and dwelling place. The consummation of the Bible is God’s eternal dwelling place. If we want to know the Bible, we must keep these two things firmly in mind: God’s creation and His dwelling place. We have already seen that Genesis almost contains all the seeds of the truths concerning God’s economy. Perhaps the last seed sown in this book is Bethel, God’s dwelling place. Not only at the conclusion of the Bible, but even in the latter half of Genesis, there is already the consummation of God’s economy — Bethel, God’s dwelling place. The word Bethel means the house of God, or the temple of God, God’s dwelling place.
Genesis includes the biographies of eight great persons: Adam, Abel, Enosh, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, together with Joseph. In Adam we have God’s creation; in Jacob we have God’s dwelling place, Bethel. In Jacob we see not merely God’s selection. What is the result, the consummating goal, of God’s selection? It is Bethel, God’s dwelling place. God’s creating, selecting, calling, and saving us — the purpose is to gain a dwelling place, forever. This seed of building, like all the other seeds in Genesis, develops throughout the entire Bible.
After Jacob comes the house of Israel, and the house of Israel is actually the house of God. After the exodus from Egypt, the tabernacle was built within the house of Israel; following the tabernacle, the temple was built. Therefore, the Old Testament record proceeds from Adam to Jacob — these eight great persons — plus the tabernacle and the temple. The building, destruction, and rebuilding of the temple bring us to the end of the Old Testament. What do we find in the New Testament? There are also two main matters: the tabernacle, which is Jesus (John 1:14), and the temple, which is the church (1 Cor. 3:16). The church is the temple, and its completion is the New Jerusalem. There is a meaningful and simple way to remember the Bible: remember the eight great persons from Adam to Jacob, the types of the tabernacle and the temple in the Old Testament, and the reality of the tabernacle and the temple in the New Testament; its ultimate issue is the New Jerusalem.
What is the theme of the Bible? Some may say it is man’s fall, God’s redemption, our repentance, God’s forgiveness, our regeneration, and our salvation. Clearly, these matters are all found in the Bible. But if we want to know what the theme of the Bible truly is, we must see that the Bible tells us of eight persons, beginning with Adam in God’s creation, passing through Jacob who is joined to the house of God (Bethel), followed by the tabernacle and the temple in the Old Testament, and the reality of the tabernacle and the temple in the New Testament, consummating in the New Jerusalem. Revelation chapter 21 says that the New Jerusalem is the tabernacle of God, and that God and the Lamb are the temple within it. Therefore, the New Jerusalem is the ultimate result of Bethel.
Message Main Points: God’s creating, selecting, calling and saving us have as their ultimate goal the gaining of Bethel — the house of God, God’s dwelling place; this goal is ultimately fulfilled in the New Jerusalem.
Today’s Prayer: Lord Jesus, open my eyes to see that Your eternal intention is to gain Your dwelling place. May my life not be only for myself, but for Your house and Your building. Amen.