FAMILY AFFECTIONS (2)
[p. 346] FAMILY AFFECTIONS (2)
Genesis 44:14 - 34; Genesis 45:1 - 5
JT These chapters strike one as being particularly applicable to the time in which spiritual family relationships have become deranged, such as are exhibited at the present time. What is needed is adjustment among God’s people generally, and these two chapters help in that way, as showing the great need of this ministry of Joseph’s. That is, a ministry of Christ which brings about adjustment of divine relationships among the saints. After Abraham the paternal instincts were not so marked. Isaac was evidently a good husband, for it says he loved Rebecca, but there is not much to indicate that he was an especially good father. He had preference for the man after the flesh, for his venison. Isaac loved Esau, because venison was to his taste. Evidently a man of natural appetite. Jacob’s history is marked by circumstances not conducive to the development of family relationships, because of the different mothers. It was not one son, as with Abraham, “thine only son”, but twelve, and there were four mothers. So the circumstances in which the children were brought up were such as not to foster family affections. Jacob’s sons are not marked by these affections. They had little sympathy with their father, and they had no love for their brother, so that the behaviour of the ten becomes the occasion of this remarkable ministry that you get in Joseph, a ministry which I think has been in progress ever since the Lord was rejected.
HWD To whom did the ministry come? You said certain circumstances became the occasion of certain ministry.
JT Primarily it refers to the Jewish remnant,
[p. 347] but it has an application to us also. Right family relations will be established among the Jews in the last days, when they become “one stick” in Christ’s hand. As brethren they will dwell together in unity, but this ministry is not only applicable to them. It marks the Lord at the present time, and I thought it would be helpful, therefore, to consider these chapters, so that we might see how these divine relationships that we have been dwelling on are adjusted where they become deranged.
WGR It is not a father and son here, as Isaac in relation to Abraham, but brethren in relation to Christ. Is that right?
JT Yes.
HWD Does that naturally follow on with what we had this afternoon?
JT You see we have the paternal feature presented in Abraham: His name means, “Father of a multitude”, in him you have the paternal thought presented. He loved Isaac, and dwelt in tents with Isaac and Jacob. There was in him a reflection of God Himself. “The Father loves the Son”; then He loves us also as His sons. But of Isaac it was said, “Thy son, thine only son, Isaac, whom thou lovest”, Genesis 22:2. Then Rebecca is brought in as his companion, and she is loved by Isaac; so that you have family relationships and affections extended.
HWD The elements are brought together which would produce the brethren, is that it?
JT The brethren are seen in Jacob’s family. But failure came in. Whilst Isaac and Rebecca present a type of Christ and the assembly, Isaac fails. He breaks down and is unable to discern the difference between Esau and Jacob. He is governed by natural tastes, he loves venison, he is a man of appetite. There is that which precludes the development of these affections of which we have been speaking.
In Isaac’s house the wives of Esau were a cause of [p. 348] grief to Rebecca and Isaac, and then Jacob has to flee from the face of his brother and he has to serve. for a wife. The prophet says that Israel served for a wife; (Hosea 12:12). All these circumstances preclude the development of these affections and relationships of which we have been speaking, so that Joseph’s ministry, among other things, is to bring about the restoring, adjusting and re-establishing of them.
HWD Strictly speaking, this is Israel, is it not?
JT Yes. As I said, the full bearing of it toward the godly Jews will be seen in the latter days when they are brought together under Christ. “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!”, Psalm 133:1. This will be seen in them. Christ is brought in as the great Priest in heaven, then the oil flows down on His beard and to the skirts of His garments. It will be fully seen then but it is seen amongst us now, and there never was a time when this ministry of Joseph’s was more needed.
HWD What marked the sons of Jacob marks us naturally, and the ministry of Christ is needed to remove that from us. Is that your thought?
JT That is it. Now just to briefly sketch the previous history, let us look at chapter 37. It says, “Israel loved Joseph more than all his sons”. (Genesis 37:3) So far there is a continuation of Abraham. Abraham loved Isaac; Isaac loved Rebecca; and Israel loved Joseph That is what is recorded. The ten have a father that loved a son — Joseph Then the spirit that marked Jacob’s other sons is depicted — not only a murderous spirit towards Joseph, but it says, “And they took Joseph’s vest, and slaughtered a buck of the goats, and dipped the vest in the blood; and they sent the vest of many colours and had it carried to their father”, Genesis 37:31,32. Mark that, they sent the vest to their father, they did not take it. Had there been any affection for their father, they would have gone to him at a time when he needed their support,
[p. 349] but they sent and had it carried to their father, and said, “This have we found; discern now whether it is thy son’s vest or not”. Not “our brother” — not a word about that. It is “discern now whether it is thy son’s vest” (Genesis 37:32).
WCR Like “this thy son” in Luke 15.
JT Exactly, the passages correspond.
GWH-n So they are not only against their brother but against their father.
JT Yes, there was a total want of sympathy with their father. God says in the prophets, “If then I be a father, where is mine honour?” (Malachi 1:6).
GWH-n They were totally irresponsive.
JT Yes.
BLC Does not the nature of Jacob come out in his sons in their actions?
JT The nature of the man born after the flesh comes out surely. It is for each of us to see what the flesh is in me.
WCR It is your own picture.
JT Yes, I do not know of anything in a way that is more touching to think of than these ten men under those circumstances sending the vest to their father, and sending the word, Is this thy son’s? It would pierce his heart like an arrow that he had not an atom of sympathy from them. There was not only the loss of his son Joseph, but the want of sympathetic affections in his other sons.
GWH-n It was a cold, heartless act.
OJO It shows what the natural man is, does it not?
JT It is a question whether we have sympathy with God. You see, the children of God are all loved of Him. Christ died “Not for that nation only, but that He also should gather together in one the children of God that were scattered abroad”, John 11:52. So if one loves Him who begets, he loves also him begotten of Him. The two things go [p. 350] together. The test is whether I love the children of God.
GWH-n We see a wonderful service on the part of Joseph at this point, taking a review of the past, he seeks the recovery of his brethren.
JT Jacob and Joseph knew what existed among the ten brothers. Genesis 49 shows Jacob’s parental exercises. “Gather yourselves together”, he says, “and hear ye sons of Jacob; and hearken unto Israel your father”;(Genesis 49:2) he then reviews their history and takes note of the wicked things they had done.
GWH-n “Simeon and Levi are brethren, Instruments of cruelty are in their habitations”. (Genesis 49:5) What an exposure!
WB-t Is it not remarkable that, after all that occurred in regard to Joseph, it says, “Judah went down from his brethren?” He seemed to go from bad to worse; chapter 38:1.
GWH-n Do you take it that Judah had measured things here?
JT That is what we want to come to in chapter 44. Judah expresses the exercises they had arrived at, so that without going into any further details it says, “Judah and his brethren came to Joseph’s house”. That was an important movement. It is a good place to come to, is it not? The light had shone into their souls. They had been in his presence several times. We can read between the lines what exercises they must have passed through (in mind and heart) as to who this man might be. In the early part of this chapter particularly it says, “What shall we say to my lord? What shall we speak, and how justify ourselves? God has found out the iniquity of thy servants”. God had found it out. That was the result of a process — the whole series of events led up to this.
GWH-n [p. 351] Gradually.
JT Yes, God had found it out, you see. He is owned in it now.
WGR In other words, God had discovered it to them.
JT Exactly, and brought it home to them.
WGR Does this show the skilfulness with which God brings things home to us, what grace, what pains He takes to discover to us what we are. It says, “All things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do”, Hebrews 4:13.
JT Exactly. You will notice it says of Joseph that “He was still there”. Judah and his brethren came to Joseph’s house and he was still there. He knew what was coming.
GWH-n “They shall look upon me whom they pierced, and they shall mourn for him as one mourneth for his only son”, Zechariah 12:10. The spirit of that was already working here.
JT Yes. It will be a family affair, “As one mourneth for his only son ... . The family of the house of David apart, and their wives apart; the family of the house of Nathan apart, ... every family apart”, Zechariah 12:10; Zechariah 12:12; Zechariah 12:14. God will cause the light to come into the families and they will see how they treated the Lord.
GWH-n You spoke this afternoon about the faithfulness of God. God foreseeing and foreknowing each one of us, His faithfulness follows us up until we reach the point of self-judgment.
JT That is it, and it is going on all the time. I do not see how we could go on without it. It is a great comfort to know this purpose is being pursued, so the children of God scattered abroad should learn to judge themselves as to what their attitude has been Godward, and Christward, and brethrenward. We have got to answer for everything, all has to be gone into, if these divine relationships and affections are to exist; there must be the going into all this, and in Joseph’s house. He is [p. 352] still there.
OJO Would that bring in the judgment seat of Christ?
JT It does, in the principle of it. Here Joseph’s brethren were convicted before him.
OJO I was thinking that what has not been judged here we shall have to go over with Him there.
JT This rather illustrates what we have at the present time. The judgment that is going on continually. If anyone injures you, you can reckon on the Lord taking the case up, and bringing circumstances to bear on that person, until he comes to the point where he comes to Joseph’s house and has the matter settled.
RLC Things done in the dark will be brought to light.
JT The Lord is going on with this work unceasingly, and in this way affections suited to the children of God are brought about.
JAR Why was the cup put in the sack of the youngest one?
JT To bring the thing home to them. They were obligated to Jacob about Benjamin. It doubtless represents another feature. He did not betray or sell Joseph, nor had he anything to do with it. Joseph knew that Benjamin was the test, and Judah accepted it. He says, “We are my lord’s bondmen”. Joseph replies: “Far be it from me to do so! The man in whose hand the cup has been found, he shall be my bondman”. That was the point, and further it says, “Then Judah came near to him, and said, Ah! my lord, let thy servant, I pray thee, speak a word in my lord’s ears, and let not thine anger burn against thy servant”. The thing was urgent.
GAT We have considered Abraham making and appeal for Sodom. It says, “Abraham drew near”. These men draw near, they have an appeal to make. It is a great thing to draw near to God.
JT “Draw near to God, and He will drawn near to you”, James 4:8.
GAT We must know what it is to be near to have communion and make intercession.
JAR Does this prove Judah’s affections are now toward his brother?
JT Judah is the mouthpiece. Let us examine what he says: “Let thy servant, I pray thee, speak a word in my lord’s ears”. Now take note of what he says, because it illustrates the light and the judgment that had come in. “And let not thine anger burn against thy servant; for thou art even as Pharaoh”. He recognises Joseph as superior, as supreme. Typically it is God Himself in Christ. “My lord asked his servants, saying, Have ye a father, or a brother?” Note these two words — “a, father, or a brother”. Joseph would bring in that adjustment. This is how it comes in: “Have ye a father, or a brother?” The reply was, “We have an aged father, and a child born to him in his old age, yet young”. Here is a sympathetic man speaking. He knows what it is to be a father himself. “His brother is dead, and he alone is left of his mother; and his father loves him. And thou saidst unto thy servants, Bring him down to me, that I may set mine eye on him. And we said to my lord, The youth cannot leave his father; if he should leave his father, his father would die. And thou saidst to thy servants, Unless your youngest brother come down with you, ye shall see my face no more. And it came to pass when we came up to thy servant my father, we told him the words of my lord. And our father said, Go again, buy us a little food. But we said, We cannot go down; if our youngest brother be with us, then will we go down; for we cannot see the man’s face unless our youngest brother is with us. And thy servant my father said to us, Ye know that my wife bore me two sons; and the one went out [p. 354] from me, and I said. He must certainly have been torn in pieces; and I have not seen him again hitherto. And if ye take this one also from me, and mischief should befall him, ye will bring down my grey hairs with misery to Sheol. And now, when I come to thy servant my father, and the lad is not with us — seeing that his life is bound up with his life, it will come to pass when he sees that the lad is not there, that he will die; and thy servants will bring down the grey hairs of thy servant our father with sorrow to Sheol. For thy servant became surety for the lad to my father, saying, If I bring him not to thee, then I shall be guilty toward my father all my days. And now, let thy servant stay, I pray thee, instead of the lad a bondman to my lord, and let the lad go up with his brethren; for how should I go up to my father if the lad were not with me? — lest I see the evil that would come on my father”. There is a son and brother speaking. He has come to it now.
GAT He knows the father’s heart now.
JT How very different from, Is this thy son’s coat?
GAT It is all out now, would you say?
JT Yes. So it says, “Joseph could not control himself”.
WCR What a contrast between this and the first two brothers we get in Scripture. “Where is Abel thy brother?” And the reply, “Am I my brother’s keeper?”, Genesis 4:9. Judah had not been his brother Joseph’s keeper, but now he is prepared to be Benjamin’s. Does this suggest to us that we should be surety for our brethren?
JT I think so. We are brought to that. This is a remarkable speech, showing how God brings a man to self-judgment, and at this point it says, “Joseph could not control himself”. He must make himself known now because the brotherly state is there. It is as if he said, I could not [p. 355] recognise you as my brethren until you arrived at the brotherly state.
HWD Is Joseph a type of Christ in that way?
JT Yes. The Lord is bringing about in us the brotherly spirit; we must think not only of the relationship, but also of the spirit and affection suited to it.
GAT Would you connect this with the Lord appearing to His own in the upper room? All being put out from Joseph corresponds with the closed doors.
JT Quite.
WHF Joseph was sent to preserve life. What application would that have for us now? Joseph is a type of Christ in rejection here.
JT Primarily, I think, he is a type of Christ preparing for the Jewish remnant when they are obliged to leave their own land. I think Romans 9 to 11 are in view here. The question raised is, What about the promises to Israel? The spirit of Christ in His love for Israel was reflected in Paul. He had wished to be a curse from Christ for his brethren. There is a remnant now, “For I also am an Israelite”, (Romans 11:1) Paul says. He found a refuge prepared for him among the Gentiles by the rejected Christ.
WHF Joseph is a type of Christ as Lord, being over Egypt as administrator; everything is now under his hand to distribute.
JT So he says, “God sent me before you to preserve you a remnant in the earth”. The word is “remnant”, Genesis 45:7.
GWH-n Supposing I am not on speaking terms with my brother, and there is a good deal of distance between me and the saints, and no brotherly spirit found in me, I am sure, in such a state, I can not approach God. By what particular truth am I affected so that I have the spirit of a son and of a brother?
JT The Lord has His own way of affecting [p. 356] you,
and of bringing home to you what will affect you. It may be in some governmental circumstance, such as the loss of a loved one, of a business, or of money — whatever it may be; the Lord knows how to turn that to account in your soul, and to bring you to inquire, What is the meaning of this? There is a searching process, an initial exercise, and presently the light dawns on you and you own you have been wrong.
HWD You mean that is an illustration of what you have been saying?
JT Our brother was raising the question as to how it would apply to a brother now. These were governmental circumstances, but Joseph turns them to account. God turned them to account so that Judah and his brethren judged themselves in that in which they had failed. They had been without sympathy toward their father and toward their brother. Now Judah speaks in beautiful terms about a father’s feelings and about his brother Benjamin. We may reckon on that. One of the comforts one has is that governmental dealings help us.
GWH-n Concurrent with the governmental dealings of God with us is the precious light of love flowing in; a sense of what is in the Father’s heart brings things to a climax, so to speak.
JT “Awake north wind, and come thou south”, Song of Songs 4:16. We can pray for that.
HWD Does Joseph act here in priestly grace?
JT Yes.
HWD He was lord, as administrator of the good things of Egypt, but here is acting as priest, is that it?
JT I think so. He acts with the greatest skill and is completely successful in reaching their consciences. That is what was before him from the very outset.
WCR It says, “Love never fails”.
GAT I can pray very easily for the south wind but it is a test to pray for the north wind.
JT It is not only your garden, but the Lord’s garden. “Awake north wind, and come thou south; blow upon my garden”, Song of Songs 4:16. That is your garden, and then, “Let my Beloved come into his garden”, Song of Songs 4:16. You do not pray for tribulation, but it is necessary for the north wind to blow upon my garden.
WB-t I think it is worthy of note that Judah had lost two of his sons in the government of God; Genesis 38. The discipline evidently prepared him for this exercise.
JT Quite so. He now had a father’s heart.
WB-t We earlier touched a little on “Our God is a consuming fire”. (Hebrews 12:29) Your thought seems to be that the Lord Jesus is still adjusting things amongst His brethren, like Joseph does here, using discipline if necessary.
JT I think we ought to accustom ourselves to recognising God in everything. He has one thing before Him in this world today and everything else subserves it. Every king, every government, every famine, every war, and every occurrence in the world is intended for the furtherance of the prosperity of the saints. It says a sparrow does not fall without Him; Matthew 10:29. It is not simply that He marks the sparrow’s fall, but it cannot fall without Him. How much less can a war, or a famine happen without Him! All these things are under God’s direction, and all for one purpose. That is to say, for the furtherance of the interests of Christ and the assembly, which is the garden.
RLG Then it is quite possible that a brother or sister might be suffering some injustice from a brother, which they would bear for the Lord’s name, and He, in due time, would make the thing manifest and restore the brother, bringing them together.
JT It may take a long time for God to develop [p. 358] things in the world because His judgment there is indirect, but in His house His judgment is direct. God acts there directly and issues come out much more quickly. At the beginning they came out very quickly, as in the case of Ananias and Sapphira.
GAT The more spiritual the company the more quickly judgment comes in.
JT Sometimes where spirituality is low, evil may go on undetected for a while. One has seen that, Alas! but when the Lord gave the sop to Judas he went out.
WGR At once. We should detect the evil quickly.
WHF The north wind is discipline, and exercise and adjustment preparatory to the south wind, which would be a ministry of blessing, etc.
JT Just so.
GAT Does God not allow discipline to come in for two reasons with the individual? One on account of my unjudged actions: “For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep”,
(1 Corinthians 11:30). Then in Hebrews 12 that there might be “the peaceable fruit of righteousness” (Hebrews 12:11).
JT Exactly, discipline goes on all the time.
WB — t We get a little afraid of it sometimes.
JT But it goes on, “Tribulation worketh patience”, Romans 5:3.
Rem Discipline is only with sons, is it not?
JT Quite. It is the son that is disciplined, that he might be a partaker of God’s holiness.
Rem It will be a source of great satisfaction to the Lord’s heart when He sees unity established among the Jews as in Psalm 133, “There the Lord commanded the blessing” (Psalm 133:3).
JT So Romans 5 gives you a set of workers. “Tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope; and hope maketh not ashamed”. (Romans 5:3 - 5) That is, you have specific workers at [p. 359] your service. Then in Romans 8 you have, “All things work together for good to them that love God”. (Romans 8:28) That is, war, famine, and everything works together for good.
Rem Our hearts have to be established in the knowledge of God before we realise that.
JT Yes, otherwise you think, like Jacob, that, “All these things are against me”, Genesis 42:36.
WCR When Jacob started he had not quite reached the end God intended in the discipline. He says, “Ye will bring down my grey hairs with sorrow to Sheol”, (Genesis 42:38) but when he finally surrenders and says, “Take your brother ... . And I, if I be bereaved of children, am bereaved”, Genesis 43:13,14. The will is broken. Discipline from God was to effect this in Jacob.
AD Not only in Jacob, but in the brethren.
JT Yes, Judah, I think, here voices the exercise of the brethren. They had all come to it.
GAT I thought he was taking in measure, the place that Moses took, and that Paul took, when he was willing to become a curse for his brethren’s sake.
JT And because of that, it says, “Joseph could not control himself before all them that stood by him, and he cried, Put every man out from me. And no man stood with him when Joseph made himself known to his brethren”, Genesis 45:1. We have now come to definite adjustment, because adjustment is in the Lord making Himself known first. If I am to be right generally I must know what He is to the brethren when He makes Himself known. If I am to be a brother I must see what He is to the brethren.
RLG Previously he was used to preserve life, the life of Judah, and here Judah voices the brethren’s feelings.
JT Yes, it says, “No man stood with him when Joseph made himself known, to his brethren. And he raised his voice in weeping; and the Egyptians heard, and the house of Pharaoh heard. [p. 360] And Joseph said to his brethren, I am Joseph” What a moment!
GAT “Handle me, and see”, Luke 24:39.
JT Just so. First he says, “I am Joseph”, and then, “I am Joseph your brother”.
GAT He made it clear that he was Joseph “It is I myself”, Luke 24:39.
WHF The chapter indicates the coming day when Christ will present Himself to the remnant of the Jews and their eyes shall be opened to see the very One whom they cast out.
GAT I think this scene is wonderful. “He fell on his brother Benjamin’s neck, and wept: and Benjamin wept on his neck”. They wept together. There was intense sympathy between them. Then he kisses his brethren, kisses them all. As Luke 15, it is the kiss of assurance.
JT Quite. He says, “I am Joseph Does my father yet live?” How he thought of his father, and immediately enquired after him! It is not “your father” or “our father”, but “my father”.
RLG All the brethren would be in a broken state.
JT That was what gave occasion for the making known by Joseph.
GAT It is well to note that after announcing himself he enquires about his father.
JT Yes. Family relationships were emphasised. Then it says, “His brethren could not answer him, for they were troubled at his presence. And Joseph said to his brethren. Come near to me, I pray you”. It is adjustment here. In His dealings with us, the Lord would have nothing less than this. He would have us free in our affections to draw near to Him. As near to Joseph, his brethren learn everything from him, just as the Jew shall bye and bye, and as we now have to learn everything from Christ.
GMY Why does he not say “our father”?
JT I think it is the Lord’s personal distinction.
Joseph maintains that throughout. “My Father, and your Father” the Lord says, but never “Our Father”. He never links the disciples with Himself in that way. It is “My Father and your Father; and to my God, and your God”, John 20:17.
GAT When He teaches the disciples to pray He says, “Say, Our Father”, but He did not include Himself in that.
GWH-n I like what you say as to distinction. You get the height of the truth in the Lord. If you are adjusted from the top you get an apprehension of what the brother is in Christ, and in connection with “My Father” the light of sonship, would you say?
JT Yes, I suppose the two things go together, the relationship between Father and Son and the relationship between brethren.
RLG The action of his brethren severed Joseph for a long time from his family, but now they are about to be united. Do you not think that what we require today is the clearing up of that which causes distance, that happy relationships might be restored?
JT He says, “Come near to me, I pray you”. That is what they needed.
HWD Is that what discipline results in, the drawing near to Christ?
JT That is it. Many of us are sort of “long-distance” Christians.
GAT It has been said that the death of Christ has not only removed the distance between God and man, but between man and man, and that is the case here.
RLC Joseph is not free until they are together in self-judgment. Then he is free to reveal himself to them.
JT There were the two sticks, the stick of Judah and that of Ephraim, and they become one in the Lord’s hand; Ezekiel 37:19.
WCR “Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim”, Isaiah 11:13.
GWH-n The fruit of adjustment, as we are looking at it now, through the service of the Lord Jesus, we get in the assembly, do we not? You are adjusted with your brethren and Godward, fitting you for service with Him before His God, is that right?
JT Yes, quite, and the first thing is to come to Joseph’s house. He is “still there”.
GWH-n What a wise arrangement of things led up to all this! As you were saying a little while ago, all that has taken place in the world, wars and such like, is divinely ordered to bring an issue more quickly with the saints, but how wise and skilful the hand of God, the wisdom of divine love to bring to pass a service Godward.
HWD Have you in your mind that at the Supper, for instance, we come together with the idea of Christ being pre-eminent among us? Is that similar to Joseph saying here, “Come near to me, I pray you”. That thought would be in your mind on Lord’s day morning.
JT Quite. It is the time the Lord would have us come near to Him as His brethren. All the pressure and heart searching we experience are to prepare us for this. The Lord is working with all the saints so as to bring them in a suitable state to the assembly.
WCR Joseph had been lord to them, but that does not suggest nearness. Now he would have them near to him as head.
JT I think the language here would indicate that to his brethren he is no longer lord. He says, “I am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt. And now, be not grieved, and be not angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither, for God sent me before you to preserve life”. The type shows that the Lord would disarm us of all fear [p. 363] in His presence.
GAT The Lord is made known in the breaking of bread.
JT He would have us free before Him. “Be not angry with yourselves”, Joseph says. It is no place for self reproach. They had made their confession and now he would have them in the liberty of brethren.
GAT You mean when I come to the Supper it is not with thoughts of myself. You leave all that outside.
JT Quite. It is a question of what the Lord is to you. Of course you come in self-judgment.
HWD Is this a type of Christ not being ashamed to call us brethren?
JT That is what you get here. When the brotherly spirit exists among us He can join us and recognise us.
GAT We have had a verse before us that might fit in here: “If any one has not the Spirit of Christ he is not of him”, Romans 8:9. That verse comes before me if the flesh shows itself amongst the brethren.
JT Gideon’s brethren were like him; Judges 8:18, 19. The Lord recognises us as like Himself. The gospels afford us a description of the brethren so that we may know them. Those He recognises in Matthew and Mark are those who do the will of the Father here. In Luke it is they hear the word of God and do it, but in John they are believers. The word “believing” applies in a characteristic way to them. “They saw and believed”, it says; the message through Mary in John 20 is to such.
RLG To-day Israel rejects the Lord, but the day is coming when He will make Himself known to them, and they will believe on Him.
JT There will be a resemblance in them, the law will be written in their hearts and minds. They will be like Him in that sense, but we are like Him in a greater sense because of the Spirit indwelling [p. 364] us.
WB-t And because of that He is not ashamed to call us brethren.
JT The marks exist. Gideon’s brethren had a resemblance to him and he acknowledged it. Now the gospels indicate the marks of Christ’s brethren: those who do the will of God, those who keep the word of God, and those who believe in Christ risen. John gives us the spiritual state suited to the brethren, which leads outside the world. As characterised by these marks, we have a link with another world and know what it is to be out of this world. Christians in human systems do not understand that at all, nor can they.
GWH-n What part of John are you referring to?
JT Chapter 20. Peter and John saw and believed, although they went to their own home; Mary Magdalene did not, and she got the message. But then the others “believed”. I think that feature of the truth as presented in John is what is so entirely outside the understanding of Christians in the “systems”. They do not know what it is to have a link outside this world altogether. That is what John aims at, an out-of-the-world state of things.
GAT Like the isle of Patmos, a place of separation.
JT Somewhat. In John the doors were shut. You have to note that. It is not a place with one entrance; there were doors. I have no doubt that this refers to hearts. The doors being shut, Jesus came and stood in the midst.
G.A.T. Shut against what?
JT The religious element. You do not bring that in. You feel it is unsuitable to Christ. It is not “door” but “doors” in John, and there is no furniture. It is not a question of what is external, but what is internal. He comes to where the disciples [p. 365] were.
WB-t It says the Egyptians in the house of Pharaoh heard, would that indicate Joseph was not ashamed of these men now?
JT You will notice it is a second time, not at the first visit. Stephen tells us that it was “the second time” he made himself known to them; Acts 7:13.
GWH-n Would you not say that the ways of God here, and all that marks time are for the maturing of God’s primary thoughts?
JT Yes. The development of family relationships and the affections suitable, is always before God in His dealings with us.
GWH-n How important and valuable time is. When the activity of God in time is over, what a harvest for His own heart there will be, when that which was looked forward to in counsel, before time, will be matured for Himself. His disciplinary ways with us should be welcome in view of all this.
JT So it is, “To him be glory in the assembly in Christ Jesus unto all generations of the age of ages”, Ephesians 3:21.
GAT In coming to the Lord’s supper it should be as having everything out with God, and with nothing but love for all the brethren, not only those I am walking with but all the brethren.
JT Judah only speaks here, but doubtless he expressed the exercises of the others. Joseph recognises that. If you have one spiritual man the Lord recognises him.