Now we need to see how the Triune God’s vision can come to us.
When the divine light shines over the divine revelation, the divine revelation becomes the divine vision (Acts 26:19). A vision is a view whereby we may see something. If a person’s eyes are covered by a thick veil, there may be some wonderful scenery in front of him, but he is not able to see it. He cannot see because he has no vision, but when the veil is taken away he can see.
Many Christians read the Bible with a veil. This is why Paul said that we should look unto Christ with an unveiled face (2 Cor. 3:18). In 2 Corinthians 3 Paul said that when the sons of Israel read the books of Moses, they have a veil upon them and see nothing (vv. 13-15). Paul then said that whenever their heart turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away and that wherever the Spirit is, there is freedom (vv. 16-17). This means that when we are veiled, we are bound; we are imprisoned; we do not have freedom. When the veil is gone, we are released. This freedom comes from the Spirit of God. It is by the Spirit of God that we look unto the Lord with an unveiled face to be transformed into His image through the Lord Spirit.
We need to learn to come to the Bible every day by coming to God. We should confess our sins to make a clear situation so that we can have fellowship with God in the Spirit. Then we should read His word by pray-reading. Every day we will receive revelation; the Spirit will also shine over the revelation, and we will receive a vision. There is a progression from the word to revelation and from revelation to vision.
In Ephesians 1:17 Paul asked the Lord to grant us a spirit of wisdom and revelation. When the Spirit shines over the revelation, the vision is here. Without the light, we cannot receive the vision, even if the veil is taken away. The veil should be gone; and the light should come. Furthermore, we need the sight. If we are blind, we will not be able to see anything, even if the veil is removed and the light is here. We need the revelation, the light, the vision through the light, and the sight. Then the veil is gone, the vision is here, and we have the light with the sight. We also have the understanding of the vision through the Spirit’s wisdom.
God moves all the time in and according to His divine revelation. In the age of Noah, God told Noah to build an ark to save him and his family. Noah spent his days working on that ark. No doubt, at that time there were many mockers who mocked what Noah was doing (cf. 2 Pet. 3:3-6). Noah could have told them, “God told me that the whole earth will be flooded, so we need an ark to save us.” The people would not believe him. Eventually, only eight members of Noah’s family entered into the ark. All others were destroyed by the flood. In Noah’s age, the move of God was to make an ark according to God’s revelation.
Then at Abraham’s time God told him to come out of his father’s land and immigrate to the good land. God’s word was for Abraham to stay in the good land, which would be his inheritance. At Moses’ time God revealed to him that he should bring the law of God to God’s people and build up the tabernacle. These are examples in the Old Testament of the Triune God moving in and according to His divine revelation.
Now consider the New Testament. Peter was a fisherman whom the Lord called and attracted. Then the Lord gradually gave him revelation so that he came to know what the Lord would do in the New Testament age. It was the same with the apostle Paul. What the Lord wants to do in the New Testament age is to save many sinners who were chosen by God to be the members of Christ, to have the church built, and to have the Body of Christ produced from the building up of the churches. This Body of Christ will consummate in the New Jerusalem, and the New Jerusalem will be God’s eternal enlargement, expansion, and expression forever. This is the revelation of the entire New Testament.
Today we are at the end of the New Testament age. We should do what God is doing according to His revelation. He is moving and working in His revelation. This is why we have to know the Bible. Millions of Christians read the Bible, but they do not have the revelation or the vision. They do not know what God is doing today, so they establish things which are not in and according to the revelation of God. Thus, what they are doing is not in the move of God. Today we thank the Lord that we have seen the vision of God’s revelation, and we know how God is moving. We must be in His move.
The Triune God’s move is for the accomplishment of His eternal economy (1 Tim. 1:4; Eph. 1:10; 3:9).
(The Triune God's Revelation and His Move, Chapter 1, by Witness Lee)