TAKING ROOT DOWNWARD
[p. 48] TAKING ROOT DOWNWARD
Isaiah 37: 21 - 23; Isaiah 37:30 - 32
This attack of the Assyrian is accorded a prominent position in the divine records, in the historical books and also in this book of Isaiah, the prophet. Inasmuch as it appears in the prophet, it has a prophetic setting, and therefore a prophetic voice. We read in the New Testament of the voice of the prophets. It may be that we have not heard the voice of the prophets, but it is a voice intended for us, especially as to this feature, this attack of the Assyrian against Jerusalem, because, as moving according to the will of God, as we are thus, we are the objects of attack. No person, or number of persons, corresponding in any way to Christ in this world, can escape attack, especially so if we recognise the church. There are many of the Lord’s people who do not recognise the church; in fact they hardly know what the word means, for, in current language, the word has lost its primary meaning. Perhaps one true believer out of ten could give, could convey, the scriptural idea of the church; he must therefore consider whether he is walking in the light implied in the word. The word ‘church’ in Scripture is properly translated ‘assembly’. The ordinary word is applied now to religious bodies, or religious buildings. But primarily it is a word applied to Christians referring only to them as people called out of the world, separated from it, and set up in holy unity and fellowship. We have in the epistle to the Corinthians the classifications of persons resident in any town; in the early days there were the Jews; that is to say, those who resorted to the synagogue; and there were the gentiles or Greeks, who resorted to the idol temples; and there were the Christians, who met together and were called the [p. 49] assembly of God. So you have this in a very simple way, beloved friends, the idea, the divine idea of the church as seen in many towns and cities of the ancient empire of Rome, and it is a word of prophecy.
The voice of the prophets is of great importance as bearing on the saints viewed in this light. They are the objects of attack, and this feature in Isaiah contains both instruction and encouragement to us, as to how the position of the saints as called out, as separated, as set up here, according to the will of God collectively, is defended and protected. So that Isaiah, whose prophecy is more intensive in its bearing than that of any other of the prophets, includes this important event of the attack of Sennacherib upon Jerusalem and Judah in the days of Hezekiah. It is to bring in the prophetic voice, so that it should be heard, and be a comfort and an instruction to us. The prophetic voice is not merely instruction; it is what the word signifies — “a word from God”. The prophet brings God to the conscience, and so the apostle says to the Corinthians, “But if all prophesy, and some unbeliever or simple person come in, he is convicted of all, he is judged of all; the secrets of his heart are manifested; and thus, falling upon his face, he will do homage to God, reporting that God is indeed amongst you”, 1 Corinthians 14: 24, 25. He came into the Christian assembly. Why did he not go to the synagogue? Why were his feet directed to these people having no ecclesiastical standing, no religious status at all? Why had he come? It is a good question for any person who knows the ministry of the Spirit of God — why did he come? He came. It is well for you that he did. And he falls down as the prophet ministers the word of prophecy. There is not much moral fibre, beloved friends, if he does not learn to fall down. The Lord Jesus is said by Simon to be set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel. One who falls on that stone may be broken.
[p. 50] It is well to be broken, as Saul of Tarsus was. He fell. He fell to the ground. And so this man fell down, it says. He fell down. There is not much hope for anybody who is merely coming to hear what these people hold. It is a question of a moral state of soul, and if that be there, the prophetic word will bring you down. He falls down, and he acknowledges that God is among you of a truth. It is one thing for us to assume it. There are many who assume the presence of the Lord, the presence of God, as they come together, but then is He there “of a truth”, or is it a mere imaginary thing? You remember how the Lord Jesus remained behind in Jerusalem when his parents set out after the feast for their own place. They thought He was with them. I mention what is very simple and has often been repeated and is most practical.
There are many who assume the Lord is with them, but is He with them of a truth? That is to say, is His authority there? How has it authority? — by the prophetic word that God is there. Then he fell down; that is, you go out smaller than you were when you came in. He fell down, and he acknowledged something. You may often look at the heavens and acknowledge the Creator, and you should, and give thanks for the evidences of creation. God is there, in a certain way, but then you see, beloved friends, that God can be found in a company of christians, that God is among them of a truth. How wonderful to be sure about that! it comes out in the one who falls down; he makes an acknowledgement.
Well, that is the setting of the scripture, and I wanted to come to the idea of root. I have got that in mind in what I have to say — taking root downward. The first thing is to strike the earth in humility, in self-judgment, and the next thing is to take root, “root downward”, it says here, and then “bear fruit upward”. We may not be rooted downward. I may be rooted somewhere else. Scripture makes much of roots. The Lord Jesus is the root really of all that is of God. There is nothing else outside of that. He says in the last chapter of the last book of the Bible, “I am the root and offspring of David” (Revelation 22:16), the root. It is beautiful, the fruit that the Spirit of God so delights in. You take the book of Psalms. What is brought out but fruit for God in those psalms, the outgoing of David’s heart Godward, not only in his own Psalms but in the arrangement of others. Well, Christ was the root of all that. A young man came to Saul and said, “I have seen a son of Jesse”; that is David, the most interesting man in the Old Testament. It says: “And one of the young men answered and said, Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, who is skilled in playing, and he is a valiant man and a man of war, and skilled in speech, and of good presence, and Jehovah is with him”, 1 Samuel 16: 18. Jesse had eight sons. Samuel comes in and sees Eliab, and says, “Surely Jehovah’s anointed is before him”, 1 Samuel 16: 6. No, he was not before Him. That was not the son of Jesse whom this young man saw. “I have seen a son of Jesse”, he says. ‘He can play well. He is a musician; he has good presence, too; he is a valiant man; and the Lord is with him’. That is the one; that is the one whom the Spirit of God brings before us. The Lord says, “I am the root and offspring of David”, Revelation 22: 16.
Well, now beloved, I am speaking of this because it is so important to understand “root”, the idea of root, and to know what one may have sprung from, to make sure you are of that root. There are other roots, you know. There are roots of bitterness. We are enjoined to be rooted and founded in love”that the Christ may dwell, through faith, in your hearts, being rooted and founded in love” (Ephesians 3: 17);
[p. 52] but the primary root, all that is of God, is Christ, and that implies His divinity. The Lord would challenge His adversaries; it says, “And Jesus answering said as he was teaching in the temple, How do the scribes say that the Christ is son of David? for David himself said speaking in the Holy Spirit, The Lord said to my Lord, Sit on my right hand until I put thine enemies as footstool of thy feet. David himself therefore calls him Lord, and whence is he his son?” (Mark 12: 35 - 37). What a question that was! That is the question the Spirit of God is putting all the time. How is it He is Lord? Well, the secret of it is that Christ is a divine Person, and He is representative of all that is of God in this world, and if you have not sprung from that root you are out of the divine realm; you will be lost eternally unless you come on that root.
Well, now I want to show you how this prophetic word fits into our time, and how much the answer by Jehovah to Sennacherib includes the thoughts of Zion and Jerusalem. You might have assumed that if this conqueror Sennacherib is to be met, he must be met by an army equal to his, at least, but the first word is ‘daughter’, and women are not enlisted ordinarily in a military way. ‘A daughter of Zion’ — what a word to all young sisters here! But then it is not merely a matter for sisters. It is a matter of a subjective result of principle. A subjective result is usually represented in women, on the feminine side. It implies that there is subjection, that there is affection, that there is tenderness. There can be no representation of Zion aside from subjection to God. The feminine result is always a company, the outcome of subjection. The principle is presented. Many christians are not accustomed much to the word ‘principle’, but it is a very fine word. I recall having heard a very remarkable incident recorded of a certain christian who was told, ‘These people will [p. 53] tell you that the Bible is a book of principles’. ‘Well’, he said, ‘that is a wonderful remark. I never heard it before. That is light to my soul; the Bible, a book of principles?’ Yes, beloved friends, the Bible is a book of principles, and one of these principles is supplied by the word ‘Zion’.
You cannot fit Zion into any human society. It is too big a concept for that. If you were to get all the so-called religious christian churches in the world together on the principle of amalgamation, the thought, the society, could not contain the idea of Zion. It is said there are three to four hundred millions of nominal christians; if they were united in a brotherhood, into a christian church, that would not be great enough for Zion; and yet, beloved friends, you may find the principle enshrined in a very small company of christians.
Now you take Jerusalem here. Rabshakeh asks Hezekiah for so many men; he to furnish the horses, if Hezekiah could man them. “And now engage, I pray thee, with my master the king of Assyria, and I will give thee two thousand horses, if thou be able on thy part to set riders upon them”, Isaiah 36: 8. I have no doubt that the answer would be that he could not man the horses that the Assyrians could supply. In other words, there was but a handful of people in Jerusalem at this time, and Sennacherib’s army was one hundred and eighty-five thousand. That many were slain by one angel. But Zion was enshrined in Jerusalem. I am not speaking of the hill, the physical hill at all; it is a moral thought — what God selected, what God chose. Think of the greatness of God, beloved friends, as you see Him in His creation. You look at the vastness of creation, and God looks around and He chooses something, a very small hill physically, but He says, I chose it.
God chose it. You have to think of the greatness of the Person whose choice it is, and then you will have [p. 54] some idea of the greatness of the choice. And then the next thing is, that choice is to be enshrined in our hearts. It is enshrined in the heart of every lover of God. The Lord has chosen Zion, we are told.
I have chosen it. I have desired it. “For Jehovah hath chosen Zion; he hath desired it for his dwelling This is my rest for ever; here will I dwell, for I have desired it”, Psalm 132: 13, 14. Solomon says, “Behold, the heavens, and the heaven of heavens, cannot contain thee”, 1 Kings 8: 27. But God says, ‘I will dwell in Zion. There will I dwell. I have desired it’. He does not dwell in temples made with hands. Put them all together, beloved friends; they are large masses of stone and mortar, wonderful as men speak of them, but they would be no dwelling place for God.
He has not desired such a dwelling as that. “But the Most High dwells not in places made with hands; as says the prophet, The heaven is my throne and the earth the footstool of my feet”, Acts 7: 48, 49.
Where else could he dwell? Think of stone and mortar for such a God, and yet He dwells in Zion! Here will I dwell, I have desired it. It is enshrined in the hearts of those in Jerusalem, such as Hezekiah, Isaiah and many others.
And so the first word to this great victorious Assyrian is, The virgin-daughter of Zion despiseth thee, laugheth thee to scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem shaketh her head at thee. The daughter of Zion indicates to us a people collectively formed in affection with that divine thought enshrined in their thoughts and hearts, and all the powers of evil cannot overcome that. As the Lord puts it in another way: “Hades’ gates shall not prevail against it”, Matthew 16: 18. There is something there that is unconquerable because that is what the word ‘virgin-daughter’ means. It is a virgin state, an uncontaminated condition in the people of God, in whose hearts is enshrined the thought of divine dwelling; and so,
[p. 55] beloved, our position is impregnable, if we can only take it in. There is no question here of military array, but it is a subjective side of things expressed in the virgin daughter of Zion. That is the great principle of divine dwelling, divine choice. Think of God, Creator of all things, having in His mind from the past eternity a dwelling in the affections of His people; that is really what is meant. He has chosen it; He desired it. “Here will I dwell”. No Assyrian can take any advantage over such.
Now, beloved, what about this principle of God’s sovereign selection? What about your heart? Has he the right of way in your heart? When He created the universe, He had the right of way. There was no opposition as far as we know; even if there had been, He would have brushed it aside. But now He desires your heart and mine. He desires them. “Here will I dwell”. It is a question of sovereign selection. He would say to you tonight, I have selected your heart for my dwelling. It is the heart of the assembly that presents the full thought; then comes the word to us of the daughter, formed in affection, and tenderness and subjection, and rooted and grounded in love, so that the blessed Lord is there according to the desire of His heart. Could anything be greater? Could there be a greater appeal? Then it speaks of the daughter of Jerusalem; Jerusalem is a great city. There again you have the daughter. There is no question of an army. It is a question of daughters. A daughter of Jerusalem has intelligence in regard to the administration of things, carried on, it may be, by a few christians in an upper room. Such administration is publicly hardly known, but it is cherished and carried on, so that nothing contrary to the will of God is tolerated. You cannot be anywhere else. I warn you not to stay in any society where the will of God is not prevailing. Jerusalem is a city of great activity where the will of God prevails and [p. 56] where administration is effected. She is formed according to that. That brother is going to a care meeting, a meeting where divine principles are discussed and applied. It is one thing to have principles in your mind, and another thing to apply them and make them effective, to enforce them. That is Jerusalem. A daughter of Jerusalem represents all that, and she defies the Assyrian. She laughs at him so that our position, you see, is a question first of subjection and then of formation in affection.
It is well that we should have a sign, because God is very considerate of us. We have in verse 30 “This shall be the sign unto thee: there shall be eaten this year such as groweth of itself; and in the second year that which springeth of the same: but in the third year sow ye, and reap, and plant vineyards and eat the fruit thereof”. Now this is the sign. It is right that you should look for a sign, but at the same time, the Lord did not cherish it very much, at times anyway. There were those who looked for a sign. He could always give a sign, but He did not always do so. People who look for signs are often not very reliable, but God furnishes the signs at times; He does here. I should not like to be asking the Lord for a sign. He says to the wicked generation: “A sign shall not be given to it but the sign of Jonas” (Luke 11: 29), a very solemn matter, but here, the Lord proffers a sign, and what is it? ‘Ye shall eat this year’. Well, that is a good thing. You have been hungry for a long time. If you told the truth, there is not much food where you have been. This certainly is a sign that speaks volumes. What shall ye eat this year? Well, it says, “such as groweth of itself”. You say, Whatever does that mean — “Such as groweth of itself”? Well, that is the first of Genesis. It is to bring us back, you see, to God, so that if you get any light in your soul you go back to the beginning of things and see how things [p. 57] happen. The earth came up out of the waters and it was to cause grass to spring up. Herbs and grass were to grow up out of the earth. It is a question of the power of God. Are you conversant with that? I see the grass coming up, as the sun begins to shine in March, April and May, and the flowers come out, and the earth is beautified. That light, where did it all come from? It came from God. It is not a question now of what man was, but what comes up out of the earth, that the earth is fertile. It is a work of God and it furnishes food for you. I do not know where you would be, but if you have not been where Zion is cherished, where Jerusalem is maintained, where there is room for the Spirit of God, you will be in Lodebar. That was where Mephibosheth was before he was brought to the table of David. You will be in Lodebar, the place of no pasture. It does not say that Mephibosheth was like the prodigal, that he sought to eat of the things of the swine. No, he was a lover of David and he found a place at David’s table, but he had known what the place of no pasture was. Now you see, this is the sign. “There shall be eaten this year such as groweth of itself; and in the second year that which springeth of the same”; that is to say, what groweth of itself, has also a yield. It is a cumulative idea. You will always find that where God is working. One thing leads to another; one thing produces another. There is an energy of life here and it seems to be of God.
There is growth on growth, and I can eat. That is a sign, a very important sign. Well now, the next and third year is in planting, because you are getting it in your soul. You become intelligent. You get no planting until the second chapter of Genesis, and it was God that did it. God gives the lead in planting, and so Paul said he planted, and so should we begin to plant. The idea of planting is that you select Row; you make a selection of seed. You do not let [p. 58] your garden grow anything that may come up out of the ground. You may seek to raise a crop of potatoes, if you allow me to be simple, a crop of carrots, and a crop of cabbage, whatever it is that you need. You have intelligence; you know your needs. The saints begin to acquire intelligence in the third year as to what should be done. When God revived the truth a hundred years ago, there was a great deal of this first year and second year growth, but the third year growth is the result to the planting. They began to present the truth to the world and God gave increase; that is to say, the seed is put down, and the desired result of the sowing is God-given. God gives it a body as it tells you. We never shut God out, but He loves to see skill in His work. How God loved to see Paul planting! How he planted at Corinth, but he would clear the ground for those worldlings, and as they were converted, so the word of God could work effectively in them that there should be a proper crop, and then Apollos watered. There is skill in the watering, too. He would not give too much water; then it says, “God gave the increase”. That was the third year. The very heart is appealed to in the idea of planting in the third year, for it says, “sow ye, and reap, and plant vineyards and eat the fruit thereof”. Now a garden is for a special purpose. You will remember how Ahab wanted the garden of Naboth, the Jizreelite. He said he wanted it. It was near to his house. “And Ahab spoke to Naboth saying, Give me thy vineyard, that I may have it for a garden of herbs, for it is near, by the side of my house”, 1 Kings 21:2. Well, that is the idea. He was going to plant something, but then, as I said, God planted a garden eastward in Eden. Would that one could get the idea of divine workmanship that it is special! In Genesis 1 some great feature of the creation came to being, but in chapter 2 it is a specialty. Man is a specialty in chapter 2; he fits [p. 59] in with what is in chapter 1, and Eve is a specialty, and the garden is a specialty. Eden was like a great big farm and the garden was a specialty, and Adam was set over it to dress it and keep it. Well, now you see, that is the idea here. In the third year we become specialists, so to speak, and we have desires and designs according to God, to get a certain result, and hence we plant a certain seed and it produces fruit to God. You would not wish anything else. The very seed that I put down, I have a little idea of it, but God has a much greater idea of it. God understands the words I am speaking tonight better than I do, and He gives the result Himself, as it takes form in your heart.
It goes on in verse 31 to speak of the remnant “And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward; for out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and out of mount Zion they that escape the zeal of Jehovah of hosts shall do this”. Now you see, we become the remnant. We are in remnant days. Isaiah makes a great deal of the remnant, and it comes in here in the most striking manner that in the planting of the third year, that remnant is a specialty. It is a beautiful thing. It is just like the original. It is the same thing in spite of the most awful declension and therefore it is a wonderful product of the faithfulness of God. That is what a remnant is, and so it says it takes root downward. You will never be anything if you do not take root downward; you will never be anything in the testimony. If it is merely a question of the head and intelligence, that will pass away. You want to get at the root and then to bear fruit upward, and then as I just read, “For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and out of mount Zion they that escape”. Now you see the moving. I have no doubt that this remnant in the future will be clothed with all the [p. 60] thoughts of God as regards Israel as revived. He will clothe it with all His thoughts. God develops in this remnant greater things than Solomon’s kingdom, and so it is with ourselves. The latter glory of the house is said to be greater than the former. We are going into the greatest possible things. There is continuity in the movement. So God would have us to be intelligent, beloved friends, that we may understand these principles, and how they form us and how we are displayed in the remnant and are then clothed with all divine thoughts in relation to Christ. Israel is restored in Christ. In chapter 60 we have: “Arise, shine! for thy light is come, and the glory of Jehovah is risen upon thee”. That very same word is applied to christians in the epistle to the Ephesians: “Wake up, thou that sleepest, and arise up from among the dead, and the Christ shall shine upon thee”, Ephesians 5: 14.