CONDITIONS FOR A DIVINE VISITATION
[p. 45] CONDITIONS FOR A DIVINE VISITATION
Mark 6:48, Genesis 17:22 - 27; Genesis 18:1 - 5; Genesis 18:33
These scriptures treat of divine movement having a certain end in view, and I refer to them not exactly because of that end, or indeed because they speak of divine movement in itself, but rather of the possibility alluded to in the first passage, of the Lord passing us by. That is a touch in Mark’s record of this occurrence. It is also recorded by others, but he alone mentions that the Lord in walking on the water “would have passed by them”. No doubt in the history of the assembly, or of the testimony on earth, there has been much of this passing by. We have but an indication here of all that has now become history. It is therefore a warning to us, while incidentally indicating that the Lord is not at all stopped because of the necessity of passing any of us by: He goes on. It comes out very prominently in the history of the gospels, that He goes on — no circumstance can hinder Him. “He passing through the midst of them”, we are told in one case, “went his way”, (Luke 4:30). So that He goes on, but He takes with Him certain according to His choice. This evangelist makes much of the selection He made; but the selection is not all, nor is the training all, for prior to this He had had them on the mountain “that they might be with him, and that he might send them to preach”, (Mark 3:14). There was much instruction by way of word and example. They had themselves proved their efficiency as ministers, and yet He would have passed them by; not that He in result intended to do so, for the sequel shows that they were not to be passed by. The Lord will not pass by any of us without exercising every possible means of help and recovery, for no one is as gracious as He. The fact [p. 46] that He did not pass them by involves other things, but that He would have done so is the warning.
The passage goes on to tell us that their hearts were hardened (verse 52). They were toiling in rowing, but toiling is not everything. I might journey from here to the Antipodes and toil for months or years, but it would not be everything; it might not be anything; it might not be sufficient to attract the Lord’s attention. So here, they were toiling in rowing, and the wind was contrary to them. But then we are told that “their heart was hardened”, in spite of the fact that they were working hard. They had not seen the point in the feeding of the five thousand; they had not taken into their souls the import of that marvellous service of Christ. They had some five loaves and a few fishes, but He had even to put it to them to go and see what they had; “Go and see”, He says, as if they did not know. Well, this is how matters stood, and He would have passed them by. Was it for nothing? Not at all. The most honoured of servants were in that boat, the most effective ones; how much we owe them who can say? But He would have passed them by.
What a lesson for them! Mark understood what the Lord meant by this incident when he wrote this account; he understood how servants, or saints, may be in such a state, notwithstanding that they are, so to speak, toiling in rowing, that they may be passed by — for the Lord knows what is going on underneath. In the book of Judges it is said that God raised up judges. It is a book of decline. The underlying state of the people is disclosed in the last few chapters. The interventions of God are in the early chapters. It says when God raised up a judge He was with the judge, but when the judge was removed the people sinned, and sinned “more than their fathers” (Judges 2:19), so that it was continual decline. After each judge died, things became worse than ever; it is very solemn. So that the Lord is not looking on the outward thing, but at the inner state of things, at what is [p. 47] going on underneath. There may be full meetings and fresh ministry, but that is not all; the Lord is looking at what is below. So here, He knew that in that boatful of men there was a hardened state; that they had not been affected by the most marvellous expression of grace, for look at what had happened. As the Lord takes up a few loaves and fishes, He lifts His eyes to heaven, blesses them, hands them to His disciples to give to the five thousand people, and they are filled. We never had anything like that! I am not despising what God is doing today; but though the most marvellous thing had happened; yet their hearts were hardened, when they should have been most softened and impressionable. With hardened hearts they were toiling in rowing and the wind was contrary to them, and He would have passed them by.
Now, in brief, I want to show the contrast to this. I do not go into the detail of the chapter; I wish to show the contrast, from these other scriptures, in Abraham. What you observe in the first passage in Genesis 17 is that God went up from Abraham. We talk much about going to heaven, and we ought to, for we are going there, but one wonders how much conception we have of going up. The point made in Acts 1 is that they beheld the Lord as He went up. That is not mentioned for nothing. Attention is called to what they beheld. So it reads, “they beholding him”. Then the two men say to them, “This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven, shall thus come in the manner in which ye have beheld him going into heaven”, (Acts 1:11). Did you ever stop to picture in your mind, spiritually, what that movement was? It is a sort of pattern of what is going to happen — the idea of going up. “This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven, shall thus come in the manner in which ye have beheld him going into heaven”; not “as he went up”, but ‘as ye have seen him go up’, that is the point which is to be impressed upon us. So here you see God went up from Abraham. Think of the importance [p. 48] of Abraham to heaven as it looked on at that transaction! What a man Abraham was in the eyes of the heavenly companies!
But what I want to point out is that God “left off talking to him”. When you break off a conversation, it does not necessarily mean that you have finished, but often that you intend to resume it, and that is how the thing is put here. God had commanded Abraham that he and his house should be circumcised, which implies that the flesh profits nothing; and God made a covenant with him on these lines, and He left off talking to him. But that is not the end of the matter; there is something to follow. Now what is Abraham to do? What has he in his mind? Jehovah went up, as if He were to say to Abraham, ‘I am leaving you to yourself; I am going up and you are to be here’. Now that is the position today. Christ is in heaven; He has been seen going into heaven and He is coming back, and the interval in which we are is a marvellous period of time, in which the church is called out. How called out? On the principle of obedience, for what is the church if it cannot be faithful in the absence of Christ? Of the virtuous woman in Proverbs 31:11 it is said, “The heart of her husband confideth in her”. It is therefore a question of obedience and trustworthiness, and so those who heard the two men speak in Acts 1, who saw Him go up, went back into the city; they went to the upper room. That shows that they are in accord in their walk here with what they had seen. It would convey to us that there is not to be any outward religious show, for it is a faith period. He went up into heaven, but He was received in a cloud out of their sight. “A cloud received him out of their sight”, and so it is now a question of faith. It is a time of obscurity, and not of Babylonish show. The whole fabric of modern christendom is show; it has been Babylonish from the first century. But faith is the principle today, and that involves that one is out of sight of men as to one’s glory,
as to one’s place with God. Of course there is testimony, but the principle of faith is the negation of outward show, so they went to the upper room.
And then throughout the Acts one great feature is obedience. God gives the Spirit to those who obey Christ. Let no one talk about having part in the church apart from obedience. No one has the Holy Spirit apart from obedience; “if ye love me, keep my commandments”, the Lord says, (John 14:15). The Spirit is given on the principle of obedience, for God does not offer His gift to unappreciative people. A principle underlying the gift is that you appreciate it, and this marks the church. Thus here, God has gone up, and Abraham is left, and what does he do? He circumcises to the fullest extent, according to the commandment of God, in complete disregard of age: Ishmael was thirteen years old, and Abraham ninety-nine. The thing has to be applied without modification. God loves obedience. You can understand, therefore, why He “left off”. He would give His servant an opportunity of proving his love, and he proved it fully, and hence the detail of circumcision here, which you can scarcely find anywhere else on this subject.
Well, now he is sitting at the tent door by the oaks of Mamre, in the heat of the day. He is not governed by the flesh; if he were, he would not be in the tent door when it was hot, he would be seeking repose in a “cool” place, like Eglon, king of Moab; but he is alert, he is, so to speak, walking “not after the flesh, but after the Spirit”, for that is the spiritual counterpart of circumcision. Circumcision is the negation of the flesh, and the Holy Spirit is power in the believer to do the will of God. Abraham is found alert, sitting in the heat of the day at the tent door, and three men stood by him. It is not the Lord now by Himself; He has got company; it is heaven, as I might say, brought down within Abraham’s range; a most touching scene; three men, and they are “standing near him”. They are not passing him by; they are [p. 50] standing there. It is beautiful, as God’s recognition of the believer’s obedience to His word, our obedience when He is not looking at us, so to speak. He has gone up, and we are here. The test is, what am I doing when I am alone, or not under surveillance; what I do, not only publicly, but secretly? God greatly values obedience in such circumstances. He was pleased as He saw Abraham carrying out His commandment to the letter. The same day he was circumcised, Ishmael was circumcised, and all in his house, from the eldest to the youngest. What a day for heaven! We have to look at things from God’s point of view as to secret obedience, what I do as the outcome of love to the Lord. “He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him”, (John 14:21). That is the point here, in these three men standing there. Now you can understand that the previous conversation was only broken off. It was to be resumed in the most favourable circumstances for Abraham. There are no commandments now. Abraham takes all the initiative, and God allows him to do so. He is not passing him by. Abraham says, in effect, ‘You are passing on, but you have not passed me by; after you are refreshed you will pass on’. That was the fact; God was going on, but He stopped on the way and stood near to Abraham. I do not know how long it took Abraham to get the kid and kill it and prepare it and the thick milk, but it must have been a considerable time, and God stood there all that time; the three men stood there under the tree. It is most affecting. It is written to show us, beloved brethren, that divine love recognises in us a response in the way of obedience. Morally, I suppose, the greatest thing in man is obedience; it is the evidence of love in a contrary scene.
Well now, this is, as we can see, a wonderful time; it was not simply that the three men came and took a [p. 51] repast and were refreshed, but God is pleased with what happened. And now He says, “Where is Sarah thy wife?” as if that were an outcome of the visit; ostensibly it was not part of the programme, for God was on another errand altogether; He was going down to Sodom, for He says He had come down to see what was going on in that place — but He did not pass Abraham. Thus God treats as ‘friends’ those who, as loving Him, keep His commandments. It looks as if it were incidentally, but He would not pass by Abraham. He says, ‘You have passed on to your servant; I want to send you forward refreshed’. It is wonderful that God accepts from His people such a service. As they were going on, Abraham conducted them — it says “them” — that is, all three of them. God allows Himself to be conducted on His way by the obedient man here: it is wonderful. Now they say, “Where is Sarah thy wife?” Jehovah has something of importance to say about Sarah: Isaac is to come; this all comes out. We speak about the meetings and of having blessed times — note this example, for it is as if all this comes out impromptu. He was going somewhere else, but all this comes out. He inquires, “Where is Sarah thy wife?” Well, she is there, but she makes a poor show; nevertheless the purpose of God towards her must come out at this time. It had already been told to Abraham, but now it is emphasised at this meeting. The outcome of the occasion is that Isaac is announced, but Sarah laughs. She denies it, but God says, “but thou didst laugh”; He corrected her.
But this is not all; it says, “Abraham remained yet standing before Jehovah”. The men went on to Sodom, but Abraham stood yet before Jehovah, and the two men went on, and a further thing came out, for the Lord said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing?” as if the heart of the blessed God is drawn out towards us as we answer to His mind. This is simply a suggestion of what meetings may be, of what the assembly may be as [p. 52] conditions warrant it, of what God is, what Christ is to it. We should have some idea, from Jesus, what God is like — His manner, His feelings, His affections — what He can be amongst us. So here He says, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing?” Now we are going to have a disclosure, a word, as we speak of it. Some people rather disparage a word in the assembly. I have known places where they did not even take their Bibles to the assembly meetings. It is God’s assembly, and He speaks in it. “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing?” God was going to destroy Sodom. He had told Abraham about Isaac coming — the incoming of Christ typically. The world is to be replaced by Christ; the world has to go in order to make room for Christ in the assembly. So Christ is announced typically, and the world has to go. Abraham will command his children and his household after him; he is not only obedient himself, he will be concerned that his children are obedient; as he passes away he wants his place occupied by those who are obedient. How important is this principle, as the older brethren go, and for those of us who have children, that we are to command our children and our houses after us! Sodom is to be destroyed, but Abraham has the wonderful privilege of knowing what God was going to do, and of intercession for the doomed city. What a man he was! He drew near to Jehovah: that is the idea; he is a priest. “Let us draw near” — that is the point in Hebrews 10. It is right to talk about the holiest, but the point is to draw near to God; that is what Abraham did, he drew near to God, and God heard him, and says, “I will spare”. Abraham begins with the possibility of fifty righteous in Sodom, and went to ten; but God would spare the city “for ten’s sake”. God thus owned him as a priest. You see, beloved, how things are in the assembly and how simple we should be. The more spiritual we are, the freer and easier we are in the assembly; there is no legality, but no fleshly licence; there is the freedom which [p. 53] the Spirit gives, so that what appears here is seen. Abraham intercedes, and then it says that God left Abraham. He does not go up this time; verse 33 says, “And Jehovah went away when he had ended speaking to Abraham; and Abraham returned to his place”. Now you see He waits until the conversation is finished. He did not leave off this time; that is to say, it gives what you might call the end of the meeting. He had finished talking with Abraham, and He did not finish until Abraham finished. That is the mutuality of things; it is the very essence of simplicity here. Abraham is speaking with God as a friend, for he is called God’s friend, and we are friends. The Lord says, “I call you not servants ... but I have called you friends” (John 15:15), and so God listens to all he has to say, and He went on His way when He had finished. The destruction of Sodom was the end of that way; He had come for that. We may be thankful for the thought of the judgment of this world, for the Lord says, “Now is the judgment of this world”, (John 12:31). The world stands athwart the purpose of God, but God is on His way to deal with it effectively. The smoke went up as the smoke of a furnace, but He remembered Abraham. Abraham went to the very spot where God had spoken to him, and he saw the city in flames. God remembered Abraham, and the intercession of Abraham saved Lot, but the city was destroyed. And so it is that God is on His way, and presently He will cease talking with us; not that I would be fanciful at all, but what I am saying is involved in the truth of the assembly. The time is coming when He will cease talking with us on earth, when the assembly will be taken up, and the world will be destroyed. Its doom is fixed. The godly truly will be delivered out of it, as the godly Jew will be by and by, when the speaking has ceased, but thank God the speaking has not yet ceased.
I have sought, beloved brethren, to dwell on these scriptures so that there may be that underlying state with [p. 54] us in our localities, which God can see and which delights His eye, and which He honours by standing near us on the occasions which He selects, when He communicates with us and gives us the opportunity of ministering to Him. Thus He does not pass by us. It is very beautiful to see the mutuality here, the mutuality of the three men coming to Abraham, and the mutuality in which they speak to him and open the way for him to serve them, and then the further communications and revelations from God to the patriarch as to a friend.