THE IRON DID SWIM
THE IRON DID SWIM
JT We have important testimony connected with the Jordan in this book; in this chapter we have a collective move towards it. I link this with 2 Corinthians, in the beginning of which the apostle speaks of a great death that he was delivered from; and, in chapter 4, of “always bearing about in the body the dying of Jesus”, (verse 10) and “knowing that he who has raised the Lord Jesus shall raise us also with Jesus”, (verse 14). Whatever discipline and ministry come to us, unless they incline our hearts in this direction, the effect will soon slip away from us.
In 2 Kings 2:6 we have, in Elijah, the idea of being sent. “Jehovah has sent me to the Jordan”, he says, and Elisha would go with him. Then, in chapter 5, we have one being sent there for cleansing. And in chapter 6:1 - 2 the sons of the prophets say to Elisha, “Behold now, the place where we dwell before thee is too strait for us. Let us go, we pray thee, to the Jordan, and take thence every man a beam, and let us make a place there, where we may dwell”.
JMcM Is that the force of the words “We had the sentence of death in ourselves”? (2 Corinthians 1:9).
JT Exactly. That marked the apostle in writing the second time to the Corinthians, as if he would incline their hearts, after the ministry of the first letter, towards Jordan. If they are otherwise inclined, the ministry may remain with us for a little while, but it will soon fade.
Rem The first epistle to the Corinthians suggests cleansing and separating, and the second epistle the truth of this chapter of Kings.
JT That is right. If the first epistle were not submitted [p. 67] to, there could be no further light or progress. This incident properly comes in after Naaman’s submission, the second epistle is consequent on their submission to the first. Chapter 7 treats of the effect of the first letter, and in chapter 2:9 he puts them “to the test, if as to everything ye are obedient”.
WSS This desire for a larger place would be right.
JT Yes. The Holy Spirit shows us how the teaching of the book is becoming effective. Enlargement at Jordan would be spiritual, not worldly.
WSS I was thinking that the apostle desires the enlargement of the Corinthians in the second epistle.
JT Yes; “for an answering recompense ... let your heart also expand itself”, (chapter 6:13).
HL Does the line we have in 2 Kings 5 correspond with the first epistle to the Corinthians and produce this general movement among the saints?
JT I think so. Obedience to the first letter laid the basis for the second. The apostle is clearly leading on towards Jordan in the latter.
ELM Would the ministry of the man at the end of 2 Kings 4 awaken desires to know another sphere, so that the cleansing of chapter 5 is felt to be a moral necessity?
JT That is a very good suggestion. You allude to the “man from Baal-shalisha”. So that chapter 5 opens with a man who, although he was a great man with his master, and had been used of the Lord, was a leper. It is almost like the Corinthians. There were distinguished men among them, but they needed cleansing, (2 Corinthians 7:1). “A great man with his master” and even used of God, as Naaman was, is not necessarily great spiritually, and may need cleansing.
ELM All that has to be faced in our histories.
JT That is what I was thinking. There may be certain greatness in service; we may be even used of God, and [p. 68] yet be leprous, It was the state of things at Corinth. They were boasting in men — “I am of Paul, and ... I of Apollos”, They were reigning as kings, but they were reigning without Paul. We do not want to reign without Paul.
JMcM Would the acceptance of the truth of the Jordan deliver us from that? Elisha went over with Elijah; and afterwards by himself; and so I may learn to go over Jordan myself.
JT I think what we get at the outset is the principle of attraction. Elisha would not leave Elijah. I do not suppose we should ever go over Jordan of ourselves. It is as I apprehend Christ as having annulled death that I accept it. Not only do I know that He has disposed of it, but He attracts me, and I go over Jordan. “If thou hast run with the footmen, and they have wearied thee, then how canst thou contend with horses? and if in the land of peace, wherein thou trustedst, they wearied thee, then how wilt thou do in the swelling of Jordan?” (Jeremiah 12:5). We see here how one is to do in the swelling of Jordan, and we learn it from Elijah. Elijah is a type of Christ going over. The book of Joshua teaches us that, in going over, we are to remain two thousand cubits behind the ark. There is a clear objective. Two thousand cubits is a considerable distance, about three-fifths of a mile. That would mean that there is a clear view — provided one has good eyesight. If one is short-sighted he may not see it. Peter speaks of those who “cannot see afar off”, (2 Peter 1:9).
HL What would ensure long sight?
JT You get the idea of vision from the men of faith. Take a man like Abraham: “Lift up now thine eyes ..”. (Genesis 13:14). There is the idea of looking; that is the power of his vision. “Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it” (John 8:56); and again, “He looked for a city”, (Hebrews 11:10). He had great power of vision. It is an element of faith, so that Paul says, “We look not at the things that are seen, but at the things that are not seen” (2 Corinthians 4:18) — eternal [p. 69] things.
JMcM Is it connected with the Spirit — “your young men shall see visions” (Acts 2:17)?
JT It is the power of the Spirit. I think that is what is meant in Mark 8, where the Lord gives the blind man the second touch. After the first touch, it says he saw men as trees walking. That is not good sight. If you see men as trees, they appear unduly conspicuous. Then the Lord touched the man again, and he saw all things clearly — the whole landscape, so to speak. It is not only that I see the brethren; I see the things of God, and see them clearly. Thus we see how to go over Jordan. When the feet of the priests that bare the ark touched the brim of Jordan, the waters were driven back. There was no struggle in the death of Christ. Jordan was driven back as He touched it, (Psalm 114). There is no death like that. That has to be understood; thus Jordan is crossed.
JTS Is the principle of attraction seen in the epistle to the Colossians in the expression “with Christ”?
JT That is the thought before us now. Crossing the Jordan is by the power of Christ alone; then it is our death with Him. As to this a clear vision is most important for us. As we reach the article of death, unless we maintain a clear vision, we shall be disturbed. It is the greatest test of faith, whether God will raise the dead. Our hearts are prone to be sceptical as to this. But we face death triumphantly as we have seen the Lord go over. Peter and the disciple whom Jesus loved entered the sepulchre and saw the linen clothes lie. The linen clothes lay as they had been wrapped round the Lord’s body, and the napkin was folded in a distinct place by itself. There had been no struggle at all. “The other disciple ... saw and believed” (John 20:8); they would understand later by these facts what the passage of Jordan means. John would never have any fear as to death after having seen how Jesus came out of it.
JMcM “Prepare you victuals”, etc., (Joshua 1:11). Is this ministry [p. 70] to prepare?
JT Yes. They were to be prepared. They were to be strengthened by food. It is a question of a spiritual state to face death. They had not gone that way before. Jesus goes first, and goes alone. We have to see how He went through.
WSS I suppose the question of state comes out in the beginning of 2 Corinthians. The apostle and others had the sentence of death in themselves.
JT Yes, the apostle had been in the presence of death in a very real way, so that he could speak to the Corinthians as one familiar with it. He could also speak of “God which raiseth the dead: who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver”, (2 Corinthians 1:9,10). Now he is bearing about in his body the dying of Jesus, and looking at things not seen.
WSS In the passage we read, there is the desire to dwell at the Jordan?
JT I think the teaching of the earlier chapters of this book enables us to desire to move in that direction. What we remarked about Naaman is a very practical thing. He was a great man with his master. Why is it put in that way? In chapter 4:8 you have “a great woman”. What marked her was that she housed the prophet. Later she said she dwelt among her own people, having no desire to be spoken of to the king. She wished for no distinction in the world. Following on the woman who sold the oil and paid her debts, living on the rest, this “great woman” is a believer who has come typically to the understanding and appropriation of the Spirit of God as seen in Romans 8. Her greatness would allude to the wealth she had acquired.
But Naaman was great in another sense. He was great with his master on account of military service rendered, Jehovah having given deliverance to Syria through him. Exploits are sure to be found with a man who has gifts. So that chapter 5 refers to a man whom God uses, but he is a leper notwithstanding. No doubt his conscious [p. 71] greatness somewhat accounted for this, or at least fed the leprosy. Hence he comes to the prophet with his horses and his chariot, and stands at the door of the house of Elisha; he is there in his fancied greatness. What underlies all that is leprosy — the working of sin, not in gross actions, but in pride.
Rem Naaman thought he would have support in that position; he thought the prophet should have come out to him (verse 11).
JT He is self-occupied. He does not understand that the prophet represents God, and He will not minister to human pride, especially when in one of His people. Naaman was ignorant in his pride, but after his cleansing in Jordan he returned to the man of God — not now simply to his house, expecting Elisha to come out to him; he stood before him. And now nothing is said of the horses and chariot!
WSS Evidently Naaman would have had no desire to dip in Jordan when he was thinking of himself as a great man.
JT Then you will observe how he compares Abana and Pharpar with Jordan. The Holy Spirit doubtless brings that in here to precede chapter 6, that is, to call attention to the meaning of Jordan. There is no river like it.
ELM The man discovered his impotence in the presence of Jordan; he could not hold the axe head. Is there in it a lesson for us of reduction, learning one’s smallness and inability?
JT I am sure there is. Very little is really learned until death is accepted. Whilst the desire was right to go to Jordan, because there was more room, there was evidently a good deal to be learned. I think the end reached is resurrection. After the axe-head incident you get nothing more about building. When you get the axe head back, you arrive tangibly at resurrection. I think it corresponds with Jacob; he set out from Beer-sheba, but he came back to Hebron — typical of “that world, and the resurrection”, (Luke 20:35).
JMcM Does the teaching of the axe head mean recovery in Christ?
JT That is the thought, but apprehended by the believer. The iron swims; it is the believer in superiority to death. The man “put out his hand and took it”. This is the end reached in the type. We may say it is the believer or servant in the realisation of the power of resurrection.
JMcM Do we begin to move collectively now?
JT I think all that follows in the chapter is to show the sequel to all this — how the enemy is completely outwitted. It is a question of divinely given intelligence as to the enemy’s movements. The Syrians did not come back any more. It is a matter of spiritual warfare, how the man of God can conquer in secret conflict with the enemy. All is based on resurrection.
JHT That is what Paul has in mind when he says, “We are not ignorant of his” (Satan’s) “devices”, (2 Corinthians 2:11). In the presence of what was in Corinth, the apostle sent Timothy as one who would bring to their remembrance Paul’s ways which were in Christ.
JT Thus they had Paul’s ways which were in Christ in their very midst in Timothy. The idea of going to Jordan is shown, because it really comes to this, that one has to die for one’s brethren. A spiritual man is journeying in that direction. So that they had at Corinth in Timothy one who would remind them of Paul’s ways as they are in Christ. It was a living representation in a “beloved and faithful child”, (1 Corinthians 4:17). Look again at the early part of chapter 6: “The place where we dwell before thee is too strait for us”. It is well if the young brethren are dwelling ‘before’ those who have the mind of God. Here the sons of the prophets were dwelling before Elisha. They wanted a larger place. It is to their credit that they make the suggestion to go to Jordan. A meeting like this [p. 73] ought to afford something prophetic. That God might speak to us is in view. We enjoy these meetings, but then what do we say afterwards? Do we feel limited spiritually, and seek more room? Here they go on, “Let us go, we pray thee, to the Jordan, and take thence every man a beam, and let us make us a place there, where we may dwell”. They are not putting any obligation on the prophet. Very often in a meeting all the obligation is put on the leading brothers, but they are not putting any obligation on him, save that they want his permission to go and his presence with them. There is no idea of an undertaking in independence of their elder and teacher. Each one of them accepts responsibility. Taking a beam implies something onerous.
HL There seems to be a difference between the sons of the prophets spoken of earlier, and these.
JT Yes, they are very different. These have evidently come under the influence of Elisha and his ministry.
ELM I should like to hear something about carrying the beam.
JT It is material for building. Let every one take heed how he builds — what kind of material he uses.
ELM Does it set forth the moment when you are not content merely with light?
JT That is what it means. You want to build, and build at the Jordan. One has no worldly aspirations at all.
JMcM If we apply it to the church, it is that Christ may be exalted. You want a place for sons to dwell.
JT The sons of the prophets say, “Where we may dwell. And he answered, Go ye. And one said, Be content, I pray thee, and go with thy servants”. There is no independency of thought. They are dwelling in the presence of the prophet, but they want enlargement, and are ready to take on obligations.
FB Was that David’s thought, when he said he would not give sleep to his eyelids till he found a habitation for the [p. 74] Lord?
JT Yes, only here it is a place for ourselves to dwell. There it is a place for the Lord. But these sons of the prophets want the prophet with them. We want the Lord’s company in this movement.
ELM Might the losing of the axe head suggest that we are not to use borrowed tools? Is there not the idea underlying it that we should appropriate the truth for ourselves?
JT The movement brings out the defect. The suggestion of such a movement was evidently the work of God. There may be that, but there may be a defect that has to be called attention to. Perhaps if they had moved into the world, the axe head would never have been known to be borrowed. But at Jordan the thing is exposed. It is like a brother giving out what he has been reading. He is doing it uprightly, but he has to learn that he has to get the truth through the acceptance of death. As having taken the axe head out of Jordan, he has it on this principle. The Lord had His eye on this man. He is doing something with a right motive, and He wants to make him a better servant.
RR I was wondering about the fact that he confessed that it was borrowed.
JT Making the acknowledgement involved his gain. There is permanent gain from an experience like this. The instrument is defective, and it is like the Lord’s love to call attention to this. He wants to make us better servants. He uses an exclamation: “Alas, master, and it was borrowed!” It is well to notice these exclamations; they denote feeling.
JHT Do you think a young brother like that would profit by subjection to others who are approved in the service?
JT Yes. The household of Stephanas had devoted themselves to the saints for service, and the Corinthians were to be subject to them, (1 Corinthians 16:15). It would seem as if this scripture is intended to lead the younger [p. 75] men forward and perfect them in their ministry. It says in Mark 7:37, “He hath done all things well”. What is in view is to stimulate those in the ministry to good workmanship.
JHT That would be Paul’s desire for Timothy: “Till I come, give thyself to reading, to exhortation, to teaching”, (1 Timothy 4:13). He was to perfect himself as a workman, and not have a bad instrument.
ELM It was a good thing the axe head did not alight on a fellow-workman. He would have had to flee to the city of refuge.
JT That suggests another serious objection to the use of borrowed instruments.
Ques May we not borrow and make the thing our own, so as to use it? It is not that we should not use what we have heard.
JT Surely not, but God has our perfecting in view, and allows things to happen so as to expose to us what hinders us. This builder has an excellent motive, but he has a borrowed axe, and if he does not acknowledge that, he will not be a good workman hereafter. He says, “and it was borrowed!” There are two things — the axe head fell into the water, and it was borrowed.
ELM The young man would be in a spiritual state at the end of the incident. He put out his hand and took it.
JT If this axe had been in the hands of the man to whom it belonged, he would no doubt have known its defect and guarded against what happened. The borrower did not know the instrument. You might say something that was effective; I might say it, and it might not be effective. It is the spiritual setting of the thing that counts. The point is whether I have the thing in my soul in its proper setting.
HL Do the words “Alas, master” convey that he was not working according to the truth?
JT It is as if he said, Why should this happen to me?
He felt the occurrence. “And the man of God said, Where did it fall? And he showed him the place”. That is something to notice — where it fell.
JHT I was wondering whether that is set right in 2 Corinthians. The apostle speaks of some comparing themselves with themselves, and not being wise; then he says, We do not boast in another man’s line of things; and again, that it is not a question of the one who commends himself but whom the Lord commends, (2 Corinthians 10:12 - 18).
JT That corresponds with what we are saying.
JMcM Do we get help from the Lord as we thus own the truth? He says, “Alas, master!” We become thus more efficient. Is the thought that, in learning our lesson, we should go on in the work?
JT That is how the matter stands. We arrive at resurrection in this setting. “And he cut down a stick, and cast it in thither; and the iron did swim”. It is not a beam that is cut down, but a stick. The iron swims; it is not simply floating. That it comes up proves the power of resurrection, but the iron swimming is a stronger thought. It is energy from within. The believer has propulsion from within; he can move in superiority to the power of death; he can go against the stream.
JHT “The life which I now live ... I live by the faith of the Son of God”, (Galatians 2:20).
ADD What does the cutting down of the stick and casting it in refer to?
JT It refers to the death of Christ.
JMcM In the account of Paul’s shipwreck it speaks of those who were able to swim.
JT If I do not know how to swim, I sink. Floating will not last me long. In floating I am inactive, but swimming I am in power.
EBG Why a stick, and not a beam?
JT It is a smaller idea. It would convey what could be conveniently used. It points to Christ as in subjection [p. 77] here, and so available to God. The stick was cast into the water by Elisha where the iron fell.
EBG Do you connect it with the cross?
JT I think it is rather Christ Himself. He went into death as doing the will of God. The stick is diminutive as compared with a “beam” — wood for construction, and points to the outward smallness in which Christ went into death, but also to the power that was there.
WL What does the iron signify?
JT The iron suggests the actual condition of man. There was no hope for him unless Christ went into death.
WSS I wondered if you had anything to say as to the manner in which the hosts of the king of Syria were defeated.
JT It is a very fine sequel to all this. It shows how the servant of God carried on without any great show. It is a question of spiritual understanding. Another world is opened up in resurrection, and the powers of it are round about those who have the light of God. “The mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha”.
WSS It is very helpful to look at it in this way. The king of Syria did not know how he was being defeated.
JT We are not to rest in visible numbers, although elsewhere the thousands of Israel are mentioned; it is a question of the power of God. It is overwhelming. “Greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world”, (1 John 4:4). Powers invisible to the world are all round the man of God. We are not looking at seen things, but at unseen things; at the same time we are not ignorant of Satan’s thoughts, (2 Corinthians 2:11).
JHT We get the same idea in verse 32 of our chapter. Elisha knows the murderous intention of the king. Do you think that, while we should not be ignorant of the enemy’s devices, we must be going on with what [p. 78] is positive?
JT I think that is the setting of this passage. You are never in any other spirit, you know that you are bound to be successful. What consternation was in the heart of the king of Syria! He warred against Israel, but he did not understand the power he had to do with. The king of Assyria warred against Israel in Hezekiah’s day, but the virgin, the daughter of Zion, laughed him to scorn. She understood the principles she was operating on; she was unconquerable.
JHT Her power lay in her virginity.
JT The Corinthians were in danger of being conquered because they were not maintaining virgin affections for Christ (compare 2 Corinthians 11:1 - 3).
ELM The spiritual discerns all things, (1 Corinthians 2:15).
JT That is what is seen here. The man of God discerns the counsels of the king of Syria. He says, “Beware that thou pass not such a place, for thither the Syrians are come down”. It is the man of God that shines in the testimony for Christ. The king of Israel benefits by this. Those who have the light of God now are a benefit to the whole of christendom.
JMcM Are there the two things, the prophetic ministry and the man of God?
JT Yes. The man of God considers wholly for God, and God is with him and imparts His mind to him.
JMcM Would we be preserved in these days in apprehending this?
JT That is what I was thinking. And it is imperative to apprehend resurrection. The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, neither are they borrowed.
Then we have how the wonderful triumph of good over evil is seen. The prophet says, “Set bread and water before them”, but the king of Israel goes further, and “prepared a great repast for them”. You see how complete the triumph is. The army of the king of Syria is at the command of the king of Israel, and instead of slaying them, he sets a great repast before them, and [p. 79] sends them away. God gives us the victory; it is the triumph of good over evil.
Rem It is so different from the first chapter of this book, where the captains of the fifties are consumed. Elisha’s ministry was quite different from this.
JT The Syrians never came back in bands. It is a great thing to save all the brethren in a party.
Rem If you can feed them and refresh them, that is the way you secure this.
JT “And the bands of Syria came no more into the land of Israel”. That is the break-up of that party!
Ques Have you any thought about the necessity of the young man’s eyes being opened to see the chariots of the Lord?
JT That is in keeping with what we are saying; it is a lesson for the young men. It is a very good prayer, to ask the Lord to open the eyes of the young men to see the unseen. The young man says, “Alas, my master! how shall we do?” He uses an exclamation, like the man who lost the axe head; he had feelings, but they are feelings of unbelief. He is looking at the enemy.
EBG Reference was made to the elders who sat with the prophets. Would the elders be the cumulative outcome of the series of exercises which have been before us?
JT That is no doubt true. They are first mentioned in the book in verse 32, and they are sitting with Elisha in his house.
JTS Would the results of this great victory be seen in the words “Salute one another with a holy kiss” (1 Corinthians 16:20)? There seems in it the suggestion of all the brethren being secured. Not one is lost; we secure one another in affection.
JT Just so. Saluting one another would mean that we have mutual respect for each other’s dignity. A holy kiss would imply the absence of natural preference.