Conclusion – A Brief History

“The history of the church shows that the world situation is an indicator of the Lord’s move on earth.” (The World Situation and the Direction of the Lord’s Move, p. 9)

Because “God’s move among men is wrapped up with the course of history” (The World Situation and God’s Move, Preface), we must have intrinsic insight to see the “kernel” of the divine history within the “shell” of the human history (The Holy Word for Morning Revival: Special Fellowship concerning the World Situation and the Lord’s Move, p. 23). According to Acts 17:26, the world situation is under God’s sovereign arrangement, and He is the One who determines the appointed seasons and boundaries for His move.

In the first century A.D., God used the Roman Empire for the first step of His move to accomplish His eternal purpose—for Christ’s incarnation, human living, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension and for the spreading of the gospel. God prepared Germany in the sixteenth century for the return to the Bible, and God used Great Britain for the recovery of the gospel, the teaching of the Bible and the proper meetings. Through Western missionaries, these truths reached China, and the flow of the Lord’s move reached our brothers Watchman Nee and Witness Lee in the early part of the twentieth century.

The Lord initiated His recovery among us in the Far East, and it is still growing there…It has been brought to and rooted in the United States for growth…In both the Far East and the United States, the Lord’s recovery is growing, but it is still in the stage of initiation in Europe. (The World Situation and Direction of the Lord’s Move, pp. 14, 17)

In 1991 Brother Lee said that the “Lord’s direction of His present recovery must be toward Europe” (p. 17). In the consummation of the fulfillment of the vision of the great human image in Daniel 2, Europe is “more vitally crucial than any other country or race” (p. 18).

Daniel 2 records that Nebuchadnezzar had a dream which Daniel interpreted. In that dream there was a great human image. The golden head of this image signifies Nebuchadnezzar and his Babylonian Empire. The breast and arms of silver signify the Medo-Persian Empire. The belly and thighs of brass signify the Grecian Empire with Alexander the Great. The legs and feet of iron signify the Roman Empire. The feet of the image are part iron and part clay, signifying the nations in the period after the fall of Rome and before the second coming of Christ. This image shows the four great empires on earth with their governments. It is actually a prophetic illustration of the history of human government, sovereignly arranged by the Lord for the carrying out of His economy. (The World Situation and the Direction of the Lord’s Move, p. 9)

The periods of history signified by the head, the breast and the arms, the belly and the thighs, and the legs have been fulfilled. But the ten toes have not been fulfilled. According to Revelation 17:12, ten kings will be raised up before the great tribulation in the revived Roman Empire. They will be one with Antichrist in opposing God and persecuting His people—the Jews and the believers…The ten kings typified by the ten toes of the great image in Daniel 2 will be under Antichrist, who will be the last Caesar of the Roman Empire (see Revelation 17:10-11 with notes—Recovery Version). All of this will transpire in Europe.

When the Lord comes to crush human government, He will crush the feet with the ten toes. This will be the crushing of the entire image from the head to the feet. Daniel 2:34-35 says, “You were watching until a stone was cut out without hands, and it struck the image at its feet of iron and clay and crushed them. Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were crushed all at once, and they became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away so that no trace of them was found. And the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.” Christ is the great stone who will crush the two feet of the great image, which will be the crushing of the entire human image, the entire human government. (The World Situation and the Direction of the Lord’s Move, pp. 18-19)

As Brother Lee said in 1991,

We need to see this as a basis to understand the Lord’s mind. Before this crushing transpires, the Lord’s recovery must spread to Europe and be rooted there. The spreading of the truths of the Lord’s recovery will be a preparation for the Lord’s coming back to bring the recovery and restoration not only to Israel but also to the entire creation. (The World Situation and the Direction of the Lord’s Move, p. 19)

The Lord’s recovery today is full of the divine truths. (The World Situation and the Direction of the Lord’s Move, p. 37)

We owe so much to many teachers of the Bible who have gone before us, and today we are standing on their shoulders. I consider the notes we have published in the Recovery Version as the aggregate of the proper understanding of the New Testament. We are really blessed to be living in these latter days. We have received the aggregate understanding of the Bible because we are standing on the shoulders of many who have gone before us. Today we understand the Bible better than Martin Luther and J. N. Darby because we have inherited the truth they saw, and by the Lord’s mercy, we are standing on their shoulders and have gone on to see more. The Bible was spoken by God in the holy writings, translated by many scholars, and interpreted by the Body of Christ throughout the centuries. Today the proper understanding of the Bible has been collected in our writings in order for us to study, learn, and spread the divine truths. (The World Situation and the Direction of the Lord’s Move, p. 35)

Today the great need in Europe is for “the spreading of the translated, interpreted, and understood truths for the Lord’s recovery and restoration” (p. 31). The Lord’s charge to His disciples in Matthew was to “go and disciple all the nations” (28:19), to preach the “gospel of the kingdom…for a testimony to all the nations” for the consummation of the age (24:14).

In recent decades, saints have followed this charge to migrate to Europe, either to serve full time, to work, or to study. The first major move was in the early 1990s to the former Soviet Union and the former Eastern bloc countries. Through the literature, translation, and publication work, the ministry has been spreading the divine truths, and small groups of saints who are endeavoring to meet according to the way ordained by God are being raised up throughout Europe.

The goal and direction of the Lord’s move in Europe is for His return. Regarding this, Brother Lee says in the Life-study of Ephesians, Message 79,

I believe that in the coming years the Lord will spread the church life to England, Germany, France, and Italy. Furthermore, I believe that one day there will be a church in Rome and even in Jerusalem, where the church life began more than nineteen centuries ago. Acts 1:9-12 tells us that Christ ascended from the Mount of Olives, and Zechariah 14:4 reveals that Christ will return also to the Mount of Olives. In the same principle, the Lord began His church in Jerusalem and, I believe, will send the recovery of His church back to Jerusalem.

For years I was deeply troubled by the loss of mainland China. After more than twenty years of labor, in 1948 there were churches in all the leading cities of China. Then suddenly everything was lost. One day, after many years had passed, I saw something encouraging about this. I realized that in the 1920s the Lord desired to have the proper church life. However, because Europe and the United States had been spoiled by religion, the Lord was forced to go to a heathen country in the Far East for the recovery of the church life. Brother Nee once told us that the Lord went to China because it was virgin soil for the cultivation of the church life. However, the Lord knew that, primarily because of language, China was not the best place for the spread of His recovery. Much of what the Lord had revealed to us was buried in the Chinese language. Nevertheless, God used the virgin soil of China as a nursery. Watchman Nee was sown as a seed into this soil, and the church life began to grow. Then, through the loss of mainland China, the recovery was transplanted to the United States. However, the United States is not the goal; it is a stepping-stone for the spread of the recovery to Europe and eventually to Jerusalem. The Lord began from Jerusalem and then spread the church to Greece and Italy. I believe that He will also go back to Jerusalem by way of Italy and Greece. I long for there to be a church in Jerusalem waiting for the Lord Jesus when He returns.

Concerning the recovery of the church life, the Lord Jesus cannot be defeated. When the Japanese army took over the Philippines during World War II, General MacArthur was forced to withdraw. But he vowed to return. As we all know, General MacArthur did return to the Philippines. In like manner, no matter what Satan does to damage the church, the Lord Jesus will return, and His church will be waiting for Him. There may be a church in the city of Jerusalem. Perhaps the meeting hall will not be far from the Mount of Olives, the place from which He ascended and to which He will descend in His coming back. It would be a shame to the Lord Jesus to come back without having a church in Jerusalem ready for Him. The Lord will not suffer such a shame. For this reason, He is waiting for His recovery to spread to Europe and, ultimately, to Jerusalem.

May the Lord inspire us concerning His move in His recovery! May He spread the church life throughout Europe, the Middle East, and to Jerusalem. Perhaps one day we shall hold a prayer meeting in the Garden of Gethsemane, which is located at the foot of the Mount of Olives, and pray fervently to the Lord for His coming back!

We all need to enjoy Christ and to experience Him as the church-loving Christ. Because we also love the church, we are one with Him for the spread of His recovery throughout the world and back to Jerusalem. Oh, how Christ loves the church! He is in us as the church-loving Christ. His love for the church makes us willing to give our all for the recovery of the church life. (Life-study of Ephesians, pp. 664-666)