"BINDING"

“BINDING”

Genesis 37:5-7; 1 Samuel 25:29-31

A. B. Parker The brethren will have observed that there is a link between these passages in the thought of binding. Joseph’s comment about his dream was, “We were binding sheaves in the fields.” And Abigail refers to “the bundle of the living.” These expressions, I trust, will develop in what the Lord may give.

The character of these meetings is unique. More than on any other occasion brethren are together from various parts of the world and thus, representatively, these meetings are universal in character. This is important, for I believe we are not ignorant of Satan’s effort to bring in sectional feelings; to attempt, by one means or another, to bring in division of outlook or thought. It seems timely, therefore, that we should consider how we can all contribute to this matter of binding together, in order that the position may be preserved intact, universally, until the Lord comes.

Early in the gospel by Luke the writer gives us a sign, which is rather unusual for Luke. We have a number of signs in John’s gospel, but in Luke’s gospel a sign is given to the shepherds. The angel said “This is the sign to you - ye shall find a babe wrapped in swaddling-clothes, and lying in a manger,” Luke 2: 12. The Spirit of God, through Luke, would give us a sign so that we may not miss our way; that what is infinitely precious to heaven is preserved in the most unlikely place. Though it may be in smallness and in weakness, yet its preciousness is realised and it is bound up, wrapped, so to speak, in swaddling-clothes and lying in a manger.

We may be affected, as together, by the number of those who are present, but many of us will return to places where what is of God is found in smallness. The Lord would indicate to our hearts, I believe, that this sign is to characterise our day; that what is infinitely precious to heaven is to be found in the most unlikely place, as far as the world’s conjecture is concerned. And yet, it is to be held; it is to be preserved; it is to be cared for, as suggested by this tribute to Mary - that “she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him up in swaddling-clothes and laid him in the manger.”

I would not wish, in any sense, to detract from the uniqueness of the birth of Jesus, but I believe that in this sign there is the suggestion that what is precious to heaven is to be preserved and cared for in our local settings; it is all to be bound together universally, of course, but it works out locally, and it is bound together with mother feelings. There is no suggestion of a midwife - I say it reverently. We can thank God for those with skilful and sympathetic understanding who can help the work of God through - but here the power of motherhood is suggested, and this is greatly needed in our localities. Paul knew the need of it at Thessalonica; he was amongst them as a nurse with her own children, cherishing, yearning over them and imparting character and life to those new-born babes. These were features characteristic of motherhood. And thus Luke would write of binding together what may be outwardly weak, but infinitely precious.

And then as Luke proceeds with his narrative he gives us a parable which the Lord Jesus spoke, after which He said, “Go, and do thou likewise.” What is set out in that parable is to be taken on by us, and it relates to binding; it has to do with recovery. There is a man in a half-dead state. He may have been pursuing his own will, but he had been caught in a trend. He was on his way from Jerusalem to Jericho, but he was not the only one on that way; there was a priest on it too, and a Levite - indicating how general was the trend. How often we may, unwittingly, be caught in a trend like those two hundred men in 2 Samuel 15 who went after Absalom in their simplicity, not knowing anything. It is a terrible thing to be caught in a trend, but the Lord has in mind that there is to be power to bring about the resuscitation of such, and that involves binding. It is not now motherhood; it is a matter of bringing about resuscitation. Power is needed, and right feelings, too, because it says that the Samaritan had compassion! The priest, in his liberty to move amongst the brethren, seemed devoid of local responsibility. He may have said, I cannot go into details in specific cases. On the other hand the Levite was a local brother, for it says, “ ... being at the spot.” Yet, he was unable to deal with the matter. But the Samaritan, as he journeyed, “came to him, and seeing him, was moved with compassion, and came up to him.” He was not on the way down to Jericho, he was travelling up to Jerusalem! It is only those who are travelling to Jerusalem, those who have the whole universal position of the testimony in their hearts, who rightly can take matters on in a locality. The Samaritan took the case on and bound up the man, pouring in oil and wine. He would bring to bear, we might say, the full power of the kingdom of God. Unless we move in the Spirit’s power we can effect nothing for God. But the Samaritan bound up the man’s wounds, pouring in oil and wine - speaking, I believe, of the essentials of the kingdom of God - righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. The binding must be done in righteousness; if not, the wounds will break out again and there will be a worse condition than the first. But where righteousness enters into this binding, there will be peace and joy, too. The kingdom of God is not yet in display,

but it is here in mighty power and we are to use that power to hold things together righteously.

I would now refer to an incident at the end of the pathway of Jesus here, when the high priest uttered, prophetically, that one man should die for the people; John 11: 50. We are told that he did not say this of himself, but being high priest that year, he prophesied. Thus we see the pent-up feelings of God finding public expression, “that Jesus was going to die for the nation; and not for the nation only, but that he should also gather into one the children of God who were scattered abroad.” What a reminder to us that no matter how hard we may labour, no matter how earnest our desires may be to carry on this binding, it all must be based on the precious fact that Jesus has died - that He must die that He should gather into one the children of God who were scattered abroad. Oh, to think that in this our day, the last hours of church history, God would speak to our hearts about gathering into one. The fact that it was the high priest that uttered this word - a man who was seeking to get rid of Jesus - only shows how deep the feelings of God were that His mind might find expression in the midst of all the hatred that was against Christ. But in our hearts, beloved brethren, there is no hatred against Christ, there is love for Christ, but we are in a day when the children of God are still scattered abroad. Thank God for those that are in the bundle of the living! Thank God for those that are consciously in the joy of being bound in a sheaf that remains standing! But we would have all the people of God in our hearts. They are all to be gathered at our assembling together unto Him, when “the dead in Christ shall rise first; then we, the living who remain, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds” not one shall be left out! But in the meantime, with this in our hearts, we would seek to work out in power this matter of binding a sheaf that will remain standing.

Well now, as to Joseph’s dream - no doubt his sheaf rising up looked forward to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, but I think that we are justified in applying the general idea to our local exercises. Joseph would represent the idea of the ministry, I believe - what is to be effected through the ministry, for the sheaf, represents food. Joseph became the administrator of the food supply in Egypt. He was “Saviour of the world,” indicating that the whole position, universally, was held intact through his skilful administration. Oh, how we need to have the universal position in our hearts, that the whole position may be held; that none may be lost. The Lord Jesus could say that of those whom the Father had given Him, He had lost none save the son of perdition, that the scripture might be fulfilled. Think of that wondrous sheaf which had been gathered to the bosom of Jesus and bound together! It remained standing! See it on the day of Pentecost - Peter standing up with the eleven - the sheaf remained standing! And it will remain standing. It was the nucleus of what is going right through! And we all want to be in it. But there is a danger of not being in it. Other sheaves are being bound. Joseph’s brethren were binding sheaves, too. Let us have no part in the binding of a sheaf that will not remain standing. His brethren could say, “We are all one man’s sons; we are honest,” Genesis 42: 11. They had bound a sheaf, but it was not complete; they had to say, “The youngest is this day with our father, and one is not.” In their binding, they had left one out! Let us not leave out one, let us hold all in our affections!

Joseph’s brethren had taken offence at his dream. They had hated him before and now they were offended by his ministry. He had said, “Behold, we were binding sheaves in the fields, and lo, my sheaf rose up, and remained standing; and behold,

your sheaves came round about and bowed down to my sheaf.” There are two parts to that, but his brethren could only see one part - that their sheaves were to bow down to his. Now it is important that we take on the ministry in its completeness. Joseph’s brethren completely ignored the positive side of the teaching - that the sheaf that Joseph bound was to rise up and remain standing. That was really the crux of the ministry. That was the “word” that tried Joseph, as recorded in Psalm 105: 19. That word was not fulfilled when his brethren came and bowed down to him. He did not disclose himself then and say, My dream has come true! It was not until he could bind them together in a sheaf that remained standing that Joseph found the fulfilment of his dream. For thirteen long years it had been in his soul. There was a day coming when he and his brethren would be bound into a sheaf that would remain standing, a sheaf of Joseph’s binding. So that when his brethren came down to him in Egypt he used his skill as administrator of the food supply to have all matters righteously adjusted so that the sheaf could be bound in righteousness. Later, he was greatly distressed lest there may have been some defect in the binding. When Jacob died, his brethren came to him again, saying, Behold, we are thy bondmen. They thought that when Jacob was dead Joseph would not be the same toward them. It says, “And Joseph wept,” Genesis 50: 17. Think of the feelings of Joseph! Beloved brethren, we are to be bound together so that nothing can bring in separation and division. The sheaf is to remain standing. And, according to the teaching of this passage the binding is to be accomplished through the ministry - through administration of food with skill. Therefore, I suggest to those who have part in the ministry, in the service of the saints, that we use skill in the administration of the food supply. Whilst Joseph sets out the great example, his word is “Appoint overseers over the land ... for food in the cities,” Genesis 41: 34. That is, the whole position is kept, but it is worked out locally. Joseph represents the great idea of skill in the administration of the food. His brethren, though difficult, are won, and they are bound into a sheaf which remained standing.

I believe that in the days we have been together we have witnessed the skill with which the food supply has been administered. No one in this company, who needs adjustment, need go away without realising that adjustment is available to him, if he desires to be right. None of us need go back to our localities with any unsettled matters. The food has been administered with authority and with application. The Lord has been skilfully behind the administration of the food so that we can go back to our localities as fully unified and remembering the words of Joseph, “Do not quarrel on the way.” We are to go to our local settings and work these things out, beloved brethren! Not just to tell our brethren that we had a very good time, but to work out the truth in a practical way.

The details in the scripture show the practical skill which Joseph used in bringing in adjustment. He immediately raised the question of the brother. And then he divided two brethren - Simeon and Levi. Jacob could say of them - “Instruments of violence their swords. My soul, come not into their council; mine honour, be not united with their assembly,” Genesis 49: 5. In principle, he says, Let me never be in a care meeting where Simeon and Levi are! Never do I want to be in their council! “Scatter them in Israel.” And so Joseph separates them, he “divides them in Jacob.” He bound Simeon before their eyes when he sent the others home. He said, as it were, this matter will go better if Simeon is not with Levi when the brothers go back to work things out. And so we need to break up parties and the tendency to party spirit. They are affinities in cruelty, because party spirit leads to cruelty, it leads to death. We need to be delivered from party spirit and see that the affinities which bind us together are family feelings; feelings which hold together what is precious to heaven. And so I leave Genesis with the idea in our minds, I trust, that the Lord will help us to be concerned that in our ministry we administer the food supply with a view to bringing about healthy conditions amongst us and binding the saints together. The Lord spoke of administering a portion of food in due season and of the pleasure it will be to Him to find that kind of thing going on when He comes. Let us be concerned that the ministry is characterised thus!

And now to speak about Abigail. I believe she represents an element that characterises the body of the saints - the sympathetic subjective work of God in His people. That element is abundantly amongst us. It is sound; it is spiritual; it has right feelings; it has a right judgment of things. Thank God for it! It is the spiritual element amongst us. It is not always in the forefront, alas! It may be unnoticed, but it is there. In the forefront at Carmel was a man who was shearing sheep. Is it possible that there may be with us, in some sense, a tendency to exploit the saints? Before I leave the matter of the ministry I would address a word to myself and to all who have part in Levitical service, as we call it. Are we wholly delivered from a tendency to exploit the saints? The beloved brethren, in our day, have hearts which flow out freely. I have been greatly touched, while in this country, to receive practical expressions of the love and fellowship of the saints. This is something which must be regarded and appreciated with spiritual feelings, lest, in any way, we be marked by covetousness. Paul reminds the brethren at Thessalonica that he had not been among them with flattering discourse nor with a pretext for covetousness. Elsewhere he says, We seek not yours but you. Oh, that we might be preserved from shearing sheep! The affections of the saints, expressed in monetary gifts to those who serve, must be held in the most sanctified way and what is received used rightly, because it represents the practical expression of divine love operating in the hearts of the saints. But here is a man whose greatness has been built up through the shearing of the sheep. Never is David spoken of as shearing sheep - Nabal’s young men could say that David and his men were a wall to them night and day and that nothing was hurt and not a sheep was lost during the time they were near. Thus the shepherd care of David, even in this military position, found its expression, not only in himself, but in the young men that surrounded him, over whom he had become captain. That is what is needed - the shepherd spirit that guards and binds, and does not exploit.

But then, Nabal represents another dangerous element, as well. He says, “Who is David? and who is the son of Jesse? there are many servants nowadays that break away every man from his master. And shall I take my bread and my water and my flesh which I have killed for my shearers, and give it to men whom I know not whence they are?” Let me say, beloved brethren, in holy boldness, that if you find persons who are spreading damaging reports among the brethren, it is not only to depreciate others but to exalt self. And there is too much of this going on. There is too much evil-speaking. I am not seeking to accuse, but I fear that what is spoken of in the world as a “whispering campaign” is liable to be carried on amongst us, and the enemy is behind it. Let us seek to counter this by adhering to the word of Paul, “Against an elder receive not an accusation unless where there are two or three witnesses,”

1 Timothy 5: 19. We are to have regard for what the Lord Jesus has invested in those whom He is using to serve His people. Let us not spread or receive an evil report against them. Such reports will not spread if we do not receive them. And so Nabal asked, Who is David? Well, his young men could answer that. They told Abigail about David. The slander was met by a spiritual state amongst the brethren. And Abigail represents just that. It is the subjective state amongst the brethren that enters feelingly into the battles of Jehovah. She says, of the souls of the enemies of David, “Them shall he sling out from the hollow of the sling.” That expression should stir the feelings of the most militant believer Abigail is the assembly militant! But she speaks of the sling. She does not say that David’s enemies are to be impaled upon a spear, the shaft of which is like a weaver’s beam. It is not a Philistine weapon! “For the arms of our warfare are not fleshly, but powerful according to God.” She speaks of the sling that David used to overthrow Goliath, the spirit that marked him as he went down into the valley of Elah. It was not with Saul’s armour; it was not with a shield; he went with a shepherd’s bag and a sling and five smooth stones. It is the spirit in which Jesus met the mighty power of Satan. It is the spirit of going down. And Abigail goes down. It has often been referred to. While Abigail was “coming down by the covert of the hill, behold David and his men came down opposite to her.” In that spirit they met and the matter was adjusted. But she had a right judgment of the enemies. They were to be dealt with; they were not to be overlooked, but the instruments of our warfare are not to be fleshly.

But then Abigail says, “And if a man is risen up to pursue thee and to seek thy life, the soul of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of the living with Jehovah thy God.” What an expression - “Bound

in the bundle of the living?” It is like the sheaf that remains standing. “The bundle of the living” is going through. Abigail, I believe, represents the subjective work in the saints, which may not find much in the way of public expression, but which, in a crisis, gives support and impetus to what is right. She would prevent David from doing something rash, but at the same time would have a right judgment of conditions in a locality. She says of Nabal, “This man of Belial, Nabal; for as his name is, so is he Nabal is his name, and folly is with him.” There is no uncertainty about it; the root of the matter must be named. It is a great help to name things on the one hand and yet to restrain any abortive action which might bring distress and sorrow. I remember our beloved brother, Mr. Taylor, saying, in relation to a matter, We need to have patience because God is working. If God is working we can have patience, but if there is an insulation of self-will between God’s desire to help and a readiness on our part to be helped, we must name the condition.

And then we see that Abigail went to David with a gift. In a place characterised by exploitation, the spiritual element rises up to control the situation on the basis of good feelings, which can only exist and find vent when the evil has been named and dealt with. Thus the wealth that is amongst the saints is now brought into availability. The yoke of self-interest is thrown off and good feelings mark the saints. Again we have the administration of food to meet conditions, but here it is in the spontaneous outflow of affections from a spiritual element that rises up to offset the evil, using weapons which are not carnal but nevertheless mighty and effectual.

And so, beloved brethren, I believe that this great service of binding together can be effected through the skilful administration of the food supply, and by the operation of right spiritual feelings amongst us.

To this end may the Lord grant that these things may find a place in our hearts and that each one of us may have a part in binding, locally and universally, a sheaf that will remain standing.

May the Lord bless the word!