When the nation of Israel came into existence about 3500 years ago, God had Moses oversee the building of the tabernacle. This tabernacle was a movable worship center in which God Himself dwelled in the Holy of Holies. (See "The Tabernacle") To know God's speaking, God's direction, God's will and God's desire, the Jews needed to go to the tabernacle.

The tabernacle was built in a very particular way and with very specific materials (Hebrews 8:5). According to Exodus 26, the boards of the tabernacle comprising the walls and some of the furniture in the tabernacle were acacia wood overlaid with gold. These materials are very significant in the Bible and represent spiritual significances for us. Why would the Lord use acacia wood for the building of the tabernacle versus another kind of wood? Why would that acacia wood be overlaid with gold? Surely, this is fully in God's plan and has spiritual implications for our lives.

Acacia wood was a strong, resilient wood that grew up in desert climates. It could survive the harsh environment because its rood grew very deep. The tree itself never grew tall. In fact, most acacia trees only grow to a height of 15-30 feet. This tree was not affected by disease nor animal infestations because of the strong odor in the fiber of its wood. Insects would not borough into it. Therefore, some scholars present that acacia wood signifies the proper humanity as displayed by Jesus Christ while He was on the earth 2000 years ago. The Lord's humanity was perfect. He was without sin, without blemish, without "spot," without "wrinkle," and without any negative thing. His human living withstood all the evil, negative environments around Him and nothing could successfully attack Him.

The tabernacle, on one hand, was comprised of such a humanity! In John 1:14, the Lord Jesus was the Word who became flesh and "tabernacled" among men. On the other hand, the tabernacle was also comprised of gold signifying the divine life and nature of God Himself. Gold is used frequently in the Old Testament and the New Testament as a building material for God's house, God's temple (1 Corinthians 3:12; Hebrews 9:4-5; Revelation 1:12,20; 21:15, 18, 21). John 1:1 says that the Word was with God and the Word was God. This same "Word" who tabernacled among men (John 1:14) was God! He was the uncreated, eternal, omniscient (all knowing), omnipotent (all powerful), omnipresent (everywhere present) God come in the flesh to earth. This aspect of the Lord Jesus Christ is signified by gold because of its incorruptible nature and golden appearance.

What the church lacks most today is the acacia wood, the church being all the regenerated, born-again, believers in Christ. As God's church, we are not short of gold. In other words, all believers possess the life of God inside of them. Therefore, all believers have "gold" within them (1 Peter 1:23). This is a fact by faith as confirmed in the Bible. We cannot directly see the gold, the divine life and nature, although it is hidden within our spirit, the deepest part of our being (1 Thessalonians 5:23; Hebrews 4:12). But we know we have the divine life and nature of God because when we open our mouth, something of God often comes out. The problem is that gold, a soft metal, must be upheld and supported by something or it will change shape. Therefore, God told Moses to use acacia wood to uphold the gold. God meant that His divine life and nature must be upheld by a proper humanity. But we cannot see this kind of humanity lived out very often. And the humanity we live out usually does not match nor display the humanity of Jesus. This means that we lack the "acacia" wood as part of God's New Testament tabernacle, the church.

Let me illustrate. We have some "gold" in our church meetings. Surely the Bible possesses gold. Songs, hymns, prayers, testimonies, and ministry also may possess the golden element. However, something is lacking: where is the acacia wood upholding the gold? Where is the wonderfully attractive, solid and proper humanity of Christ that is manifested by His children on the earth, proving to the entire world that we, as God's children, possess the divine life and nature we received at our new birth in Christ? We must confess there is a great shortage of this kind of humanity on the earth today. The church is filled with legalism, fear, worldliness, idolatry, immorality, inadequacy and superiority yet is lacking love, strength in adversity, repentance, solid growth, overcoming, the pure Word and more attributes of God which should be expressed in our humanity (Revelation 2-3). Eventually because of the lack of the proper humanity or acacia wood, much of the divine life and nature of God within His children, the gold, is "wasted" because it remains hidden and buried (Matthew 25:24-28). Therefore, we must learn to take care of our humanity. Acacia wood signifies a humanity that stands firm, that remains strong, that can go through trials and face challenges just as the Lord Jesus did while He lived on the earth. The Lord's humanity and our transformed humanity is much more than just a healthy and moral life. It is a humanity that sees what God desires and operates accordingly. This kind of humanity will build up the churches.

To stand for the testimony of God, we must have a strong and firm humanity. We must be those who are firm. If we are always wavering, "Today I want to be here, tomorrow I want to be there; today I want to move, tomorrow I want to stay; today I want to do this, tomorrow I want to do that," then there is no acacia wood. The wood itself has problems. Whether we can be used by God or not depends on the type of wood, which refers to our humanity. It is not a matter of having a lot of Christ and thus being covered with gold. It is a matter of what is within and underneath the gold. There is no problem with Christ and all of His attainments and accomplishments, but where are the vessels for Him to dwell and be expressed? Are we a good piece of acacia wood? If we are, then God can use us. Our humanity is very crucial in the building up of the church. Again, in the Lord's recovery today we are not short of gold, we are short of the acacia wood. It is not the gold that stands, but the wood that stands. On one hand, we already have so much Christ. We talk about Christ, we read about Christ, our lives are filled with Christ, we know Christ within and without. On the other hand, there is so little acacia wood for Christ to be laid upon. There is no wood for Him to stand upon. For the building of God's testimony, there must be the solid humanity. This is the acacia wood. Gold can never stand upon plywood. Even other strong, hardwoods, can be infected by disease or devoured by insects. Therefore, we must be the "acacia wood" for all the gold we have (Christ in us) to stand upon.

We must take care of our humanity. It doesn't matter how much God works if there is not the proper humanity to stand upon. On one hand, we realize that our humanity is from God Himself. He made us what we are. He gave us our talents and capability. But still we have to realize that unless we are the boards made out of the proper wood, there is nothing for the gold to stand upon. Nothing spiritual will work if the humanity has problems. This is why Satan does his best to damage the humanity that God created. Satan attacks humanity to make it absolutely useless for God. Satan attacks the wood so that no gold can stand upon it. For His testimony, God needs a humanity that is able to work, struggle, fight, and stand firm. God can only use this kind of humanity.

For example, some brothers are not trustworthy. They can only bear so much, and if they are given any more, they can't handle it. What is the reason? The piece of wood has problems. Then there is no way for God to use them. If we are a piece of plywood, then how can gold lay over us? If a little something comes to us and we can't handle it, then how can God use us? If we want to serve the Lord, then all kinds of challenges and difficulties will come. At such times we must be very firm. We must be those who can say, "I am for Christ! I am for His church! Whether it is by His salvation or by my naturalness, I don't even care! I am here standing firm for what God desires!" Then the gold can be laid over us.

Humanity, then, becomes the crucial matter in following Christ for His economy. A person with a solid humanity is just solid. If a brother is having a hard time, he must be the acacia wood to go through it. In a sense, it is almost as if this has nothing to do with Christ. Needless to say, we still need Christ. But a good piece of wood is just a good piece of wood. On one hand, the acacia wood is a regenerated and transformed humanity. But on the other hand, wood is just wood. Humanity is just humanity. These two aspects do not contradict each other. Yes, our humanity needs to be transformed. But even before salvation, humanity is just humanity. Some people learn to work hard, while some live at ease. Some are able to stand firm and face problems, while some escape whatever difficulties come to them. Whoever escapes the difficulties, whoever cannot face the problems and challenges, how can they ever serve the Lord? We do need transformation, but we should not over-spiritualize it and make it too simple. If we are not a proper piece of wood, then God has no way to operate. The quality of wood makes a big difference in God's operation in our lives. No matter how much Christ is involved in our lives, if we are sloppy, indifferent, too easygoing, always escaping, unable to confront storms, afraid to stand firm, then God can never use us because our humanity has problems.

We may say that we need the virtues of Jesus. This is true, but even if the virtues are not of Jesus, we should still have them. If we consider Moses or the Apostle Paul, they had such a solid humanity prior to the Lord's calling them for His move on the earth. Moses was trained in the highest education of the Egyptians. He was the son of Pharaoh's daughter, a possible heir to the throne of Egypt. Paul acquired the highest education afforded in his time through Gamaliel according to the strictest training of the Pharisees (Philippians 3:4-6). We should not just wait so that we can be transformed. No one coming into the church life is automatically spiritual. We need years of transformation with Christ's life. But people do come into the church life who are already a solid piece of acacia wood. There is just something solid about them even before the spiritual transformation process has taken place. There is something profound about their humanity. Gold can be laid upon this person. So we may ask, does transformation come first, or does the acacia wood come first? Is the gold first laid over the wood and the wood is transformed underneath it, or is the acacia wood there already and the gold is applied afterward? It can be argued one way or the other, but with some brothers, the humanity is there for them to stand and be overlaid with gold. Because of their humanity, the Lord can use them.

Many leading brothers never realize how crucial and even how precious it is to be a piece of acacia wood. So they get involved in a lot of so-called spiritual works, activities and ministries. Then they become concerned over success or failure, but they have no ability to bear either. When they are successful, they become proud. When they are defeated, they become depressed. Eventually the whole church suffers under their care. These brothers are faithful, these brothers love the Lord, but their humanity becomes a real problem to the church. Their humanity is not solid nor firm. When they are burdened for a matter, the whole church goes forward with them. Then all of a sudden they are not burdened anymore, and the whole church doesn't know what to do. What is the reason? The wood. The humanity. With some churches, a leading brother can be so burdened and charged that everyone in the church operates. Then when a little frustration comes in, the brother is defeated and the church goes nowhere. This is because there is a lack in the brother's humanity. Eventually it is not the gold, but the wood that stands. If the wood cannot stand, then the church will suffer.

This is why, when we serve the Lord we must never be alone. When we are by ourselves, with no one to oversee our labor, no one to watch over our schedule, and no one to coordinate with us, then we can easily be ruined by our disposition. We must labor together with a group of brothers. We should never be by ourselves. We must remember that every board of the tabernacle was joined to another board (Exodus 26:15-17). Every piece of wood must be joined to another. No matter how much we get bothered and frustrated by the brothers who serve with us, we need them. Without them we cannot survive, and we cannot be built up. Even the most spiritual man cannot be alone. We must have the proper companionship. To serve by ourselves will damage our humanity, and will not allow us to be built up into the tabernacle. Eventually we not only stand, but we are built up into the tabernacle, which is a corporate testimony.

How do we build up the proper humanity that the Lord can use? The secret of having a proper humanity is for us to discipline ourselves in our daily lives and to seek the Lord's transforming work. We should strive to be industrious and productive, because our productivity has everything to do with a proper humanity. When a person is selfish, always escaping responsibilities, then he cannot be useful. We must exercise ourselves to be willing to bear the yoke of responsibility. As we are in this process we should not overly analyze ourselves. We should avoid the realm of always wondering and considering whether something is of the Lord or not. Instead, we should simply pay attention to life and peace. When we realize something is of our self and not of the Lord, then we should just stop ourselves and wait upon the Lord for His salvation. If our self becomes involved, we should simply let the Lord deal with it. However, we should not use this as an excuse to avoid bearing responsibility. We must still exercise the initiative to discipline ourselves so that the Lord can use us.

Eventually the quality of our humanity will decide our usefulness and operation before the Lord. The kind of wood we are, the kind of quality we have in our humanity, will decide how much the Lord can use us. Zeal and desire are not adequate. Even to love the Lord is not adequate. What we are short of is the acacia wood. We are short of the humanity that is able to uphold, that is able to stand firm. This is a sober word. We should all have a deep realization about the need for a proper humanity that the Lord can use. We should pray, "Lord Jesus, be merciful to me. I want to take care of my humanity because I know that it is crucial for Your use. I want my humanity to be so firm, so proper, and so solid. I pray that my humanity could be acacia wood for all the gold I have to stand upon. I pray that You would be able to use me and build me up into Your testimony." May the Lord have mercy.