BROUGHT TO GOD (1)
[p. 138] BROUGHT TO GOD (1)
Exodus 19:1 - 11; Psalm 42:1 - 3
JT The proposal for these readings is to look at Exodus from the standpoint of being brought to God. Believers are brought to God. Scriptures may come before us other than those read as we proceed, but it is particularly desired to look at Exodus from the standpoint mentioned, not to consider it from the collective or assembly standpoint but rather to show how, in type, it prepares believers for assembly service. The service of God is in view in Exodus. The request of Moses was that the people should be let go to serve God. God also conveys to Pharaoh that Israel was His son. “Let my son go, that he may serve me”, Exodus 4:23. But what is now in view and what runs throughout the book is preparation for service through the knowledge of God, and ultimately we shall see, through the knowledge of His house. But the first thought is that God has brought us to Himself. It was thought that God has helped us in His service for some years back, but that where the defect lies is in the knowledge of God Himself, the God whom we serve. And correlatively, we have the type of the Mediator and the knowledge of Him, then too, priesthood.
So that the first feature to be considered is the divine proposal in chapter 19:6, “Ye shall be to me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation”. And then the challenge in the proposal: what there is in the people, based on the experience they already have with God and so, underlying all, integrity in them. In their relation with God they are to be trustworthy.
LES Would the house of Jacob and the children of Israel link together these two [p. 139] ideas?
JT Well, in chapter 19:3 we have, “Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel”. They are addressed by the two well-known names, implying features that are set out in Jacob and Israel, firstly, the idea of responsibility and secondly the spiritual, concurrent condition contemplated by God. These two features are necessary for the bringing out of integrity in the saints. Of course, we must keep in mind that we are really dealing with ourselves now, not them. It is a question of integrity in coming to God.
HGH Is your thought that the people are brought to God not so much from our viewpoint but God’s viewpoint? “Then shall ye be my own possession”, Exodus 19:5.
JT That is what I thought we might see in this section, the divine proposal, that God had said that He heard their groans and had come down to deliver them. This passage shows that His own affection and the intent of His own heart are in question. “Ye have seen what I have done to the Egyptians, and how I have borne you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. And now, if ye will hearken to my voice indeed and keep my covenant, then shall ye be my own possession out of all the peoples — for all the earth is mine — and ye shall be to me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation”, Exodus 19:4,6. That is the divine proposal, what they are to be, what is in His heart for them. Not only that, but we are to think of the area that is His. There is plenty of room: “all the earth is mine”. There is plenty of scope for them. Later He tells them that He spied out the land of Canaan particularly for them. But here the idea is plenty of latitude: He has control of all the earth. So Israel will be well provided for.
Ques I think what you say about the knowledge of God is most important. Would you say that if [p. 140] there is a mental knowledge of God and what is suited to God’s service without this nearness, there will be outbreaks of sin in holy spheres?
JT That is what I thought we might reach in detail, the great need for integrity in the saints. God sets this proposal before them. Also He reminds them of what He can do. “Ye have seen what I have done to the Egyptians, and how I have borne you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself”. But then the proposal carries with it requirements. “And now, Israel, what doth Jehovah thy God require of thee ... ?” Deuteronomy 10:12. He is looking for integrity. “In order that the righteous requirement of the law should be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to flesh but according to Spirit”, Romans 8:4. What a painful want of integrity is seen in our own history and generally as in the service of God! Where God is known He is looking for integrity as seen in these chapters. That is what I have in mind, making all allowance for the law, and the difference between these chapters and Christianity as seen in Hebrews 12.
CB What comes to light in what God has done to the Egyptians, and how He has borne His people on eagles’ wings and brought them to Himself would indicate that there is abundance of power and plenty of scope.
JT Just so. Plenty of scope, “All the earth is mine”, and plenty of power also.
ANW In 1 Corinthians 15:34 we are told that some were “ignorant of God”.
JT Yes, that is significant. Integrity in us is a moral necessity. It is striking how the Spirit of God lays bare evil conditions that worked out in the Corinthians, yet not lessening the position as in the first nine verses of chapter 1 which show what God had done for [p. 141] them.
APr Is there any principle involved in the thought that Moses conveys God’s commandments to the people and then conveys their thoughts back to God all in connection with the third month? It would be a separate epoch now.
JT We must take into account what preceded in their history, the mediator is a type of Christ. The mediator knows what to do. So the assembly is here in type, in Zipporah (chapter 18). It is the setting in which God is carrying on and the mediator knows what to do. So the position is plainly set out. “And Jehovah said to Moses, Go to the people, and hallow them today and to-morrow, and let them wash their clothes; and let them be ready for the third day; for on the third day Jehovah will come down before the eyes of all the people on mount Sinai. And set bounds round about the people, saying, Take heed to yourselves, not to go up unto the mountain nor touch the border of it; whatever toucheth the mountain shall certainly be put to death: not a hand shall touch it, but it shall certainly be stoned, or shot through; whether it be a beast or a man, it shall not live. When the long drawn note of the trumpet soundeth, they shall come up to the mountain”, Exodus 19:10 - 13. The position is very clearly defined. They were encamped before the mount in the wilderness. We can see, however, that Moses is really with God, he went up to God. The mediator is thus in evidence, having liberty to go up; his history is already given to us.
APr When we reach the sense of that in our souls, it is then that definite steps are taken towards God.
JT That is it. The mediator knows what to do. God calls to him out of the mountain, showing that everything is ready for this great matter. Are we ready to come into this in integrity? Is there integrity in our relations with God?
[p. 142] RH Would Romans 12 fit in here? On the basis of the compassions of God we are exhorted to present our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable.
JT Well, that comes in. When we come to the material for the tabernacle our bodies must come in. Romans 7:3 sets out the marital side, that we are to “be to another”. Romans 8:4 shows that “the righteous requirement of the law should be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to flesh but according to Spirit”. And all is in keeping with that great background of love, which we do not get clearly here. Here it is God in the intents of His heart, what He had in mind for the people, what they would be in relation to Him, namely, “a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation”. This is in principle worked out in Romans — the presenting of our bodies is a priestly action.
Ques Would the eagles’ wings indicate the urgency and speed that God was moving in from His side, and stand in contrast to the forty years of wilderness wanderings on the part of the people?
JT Just so. That is a good suggestion, showing how God had to wait. The journey should have taken the people only eleven days, from mount Horeb to Kadesh-barnea, but it took forty years. You will observe, however, that when the people come to the territory indicated in Numbers 21, they move toward the land speedily. It is a question of the Spirit: “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God”, Romans 8:14. They would move toward God. God becomes all to us as seen in that chapter. In Numbers 21 there is buoyancy, the buoyancy of the springing well; and so they move forward. But God is waiting for us. He is waiting for them, and He intends in this proposal to fill their hearts with something worth while, what they are going to be to Him. What scope for [p. 143] them! He spied out the land for them, as though He said, I have considered for you, and decided on this land for you as the most choice.
LES Would the eagles’ wings be more the divine side and would Matthew where we have the wings of the hen, be more conditions in which we are found in adversity?
JT Deuteronomy enlarges on the eagles’ care and how God protects the people. Here it is the wings as denoting power, power in flight. The hen’s wings imply protection, too, with warmth. So it is not exactly the Holy Spirit in us, but a power outside of ourselves to support us as a beast supports, as the Samaritan’s beast in Luke 10. This is already accomplished, and is referred to in order to encourage them. The proposal in our chapter is laid before the people and the point now is their integrity of heart to respond to that.
HGH What about verse 6? What do you say about the kingdom of priests and a holy nation?
JT Well, it is worth while considering what a holy nation is, in comparison with the nations of the world today. It is what God has in mind for His people. A kingdom would mean that the thought of a king, involving rule, is there. We have in Revelation, “Who ... has ... made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father”, Revelation 1:5,6. Then in Revelation 20 we are priests of God and of Christ. Here, I think, the idea is that there is the power of the kingdom with the people. Numbers goes into detail and suggests what this is, God in the midst of His people. But in this chapter it is the power of the kingdom, not exactly in Christ or in Jehovah, but in the people; they are the kingdom. Then the idea of a nation is another point. I suppose it defines a subdivision of mankind. Israel was a subdivision, taken out indeed, but set in among all nations. So [p. 144] there are the two ideas which run together, a kingdom and a nation. It is a kingdom of priests. I think we shall see in the millennium what God had in mind. He modifies this with Israel and takes Aaron and his family for the priesthood.
CB Would the thought of the holy nation be seen prominently in Solomon’s time when the service of God was set up?
JT Yes, that would be right. A nation is a subdivision of humanity having its own distinction. God begins by taking out a people, a people that shall “dwell alone and shall not be reckoned among the nations”(Numbers 23:9). It is marvellous to see what is in His heart for them, a kingdom of priests, a holy nation. There is plenty of scope. He removes other nations. See what He does to the Egyptians, and in Isaiah He speaks of giving nations for them. What will He not do for them? They are also in the position of a subdivision of mankind, but the centre of it all, bringing into evidence what God can work out in what He selects.
LES Is not all this based on the severe judicial ways of God with His people?
JT Yes. This is a serious matter and is in mind in what is before us. Ezekiel outlines the history of the nations, and shows that it was one of sin. God did not overlook anything; that is implied in what is before us now. Integrity of heart is needed to work this out with the people. There is a possibility of the want of integrity, indeed it was already a fact, but God is not defeated, and He has taken up Christ to carry it out. The proposal now comes to us.
LES God says, “Thee hath Jehovah chosen ... out of all the peoples that are upon the face of the earth”, Deuteronomy 14:2.
JT That would bring out the idea of the nation, the subdivision God selected.
ANW Peter says, “Ye are a chosen race, a kingly priesthood”(1 Peter 2:9). Would race be a larger subdivision?
JT The word ‘race’ in that sense implies a certain kind of humanity.
ANW Had you in mind to say something more about the position of the mediator? I am thinking about his relation to the elders and then to the people.
JT That is the next thing. “Moses came and called the elders of the people, and laid before them all these words which Jehovah had commanded him. And all the people answered together, and said, All that Jehovah has spoken will we do! And Moses brought the words of the people back to Jehovah. And Jehovah said to Moses, Lo, I will come to thee in the cloud’s thick darkness, that the people may hear when I speak with thee, and believe thee also for ever”. You will notice there that the mediator is in God’s mind to be established in the confidence of the people for ever. He magnifies him in the eyes of the people. The Lord Himself in all His greatness is in that place with us. It is only Christ, as typified here, who is able to carry divine thoughts to the people. So Moses reports God’s thoughts to the people and the words of the people to Jehovah. “And Jehovah said to Moses, Go to the people, and hallow them today and to-morrow, and let them wash their clothes; and let them be ready for the third day; for on the third day Jehovah will come down before the eyes of all the people on mount Sinai”. You can see how Moses is thoroughly with God and God thoroughly with Moses. The people are given three days, full opportunity to bring out what is in them. If we look at this point, viewing God as in the type. God is taking account of us as to whether integrity can be worked out and He is giving us scope to prepare against His coming [p. 146] to us.
LES Will you say a word about integrity as appearing in the elders of the people?
JT He called the elders of the people, which would mean that God is working with the best features there are. An elder ought to be the best, he has experience. God is not taking up the young people specially, but He is taking up the best, working through the best. They are to influence and lead according to God. And then there are three days given them. “And it came to pass on the third day, when it was morning, that there were thunders and lightnings and a heavy cloud on the mountain, and the sound of the trumpet exceeding loud; and the whole people that was in the camp trembled. And Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet with God; and they stood at the foot of the mountain”. Well, you say, That is a test that applies to them, that is not Christianity. But we are dealing with the God of Christianity. He is dealing with a people, to bring out what is in them; “to prove thee, to know what was in thy heart”, Deuteronomy 8:2. God deals with us on these principles, working in us to bring out what is there. This is a serious matter — the whole people in the camp trembled. Can I stand in the presence of this? “Our God is a consuming fire”(Hebrews 12:29). But you say, Is that Christianity? Does the assembly come into that? This is typical, but the principles here enter into God’s ways with us. Verse 17 says, “And Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet with God”. Not yet God in His house, we have not reached the house yet. It is simply, God. Psalm 42 comes in here, “As the hart panteth after the water-brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?”. There is a man in dire need of God, he is cast down, he is out of Jerusalem, evidently driven out. He is out by the Jordan, and he says, “My soul thirsteth for God”. He would find a refuge in God. We are in troublous times; do we understand what it is to find God in them?
ANW You are still holding back the collective thought.
JT This is all preparatory. The mediator takes them out of the camp to meet God. The camp here would be an external position before the mount, but not yet what Numbers presents. The camp protects in some little measure. But here they are brought out to meet God Himself. Typically each one is before God in testing circumstances with no protection except the mediator.
APr Is the thought in this preparation that although in verse 8 the people say, “All that Jehovah has spoken will we do!”, God answers again and says, “Go to the people, and hallow them today and to-morrow, and let them wash their clothes; and let them be ready for the third day; for on the third day Jehovah will come down before the eyes of all the people on mount Sinai”? This is the answer God gives the people.
JT Yes. Why all this if God has already said that He has brought them to Himself? He says you cannot come close to the mount. All this indicates the character of the God we have to do with. “And Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet with God; and they stood at the foot of the mountain. And the whole of mount Sinai smoked, because Jehovah descended on it in fire; and its smoke ascended as the smoke of a furnace; and the whole mountain shook greatly”. Some brother might say, That is not Christianity, you are bringing us back to Judaism. No. This scripture is written for us; it is the same God. Hebrews says that He is a consuming fire. His love is behind all this; but He is looking for truth in us. What we have here is not mere history; it is written for our learning.
AB Does the “third day” suggest that matters do not go on indefinitely. God sets a time?
JT It is a completed preparation. God is stressing what is suitable to Him. There is a good deal of that in the Scriptures, three days, seven days and so on. They are periods of time referring to spiritual experiences having certain ends in view. Three days have adequate testimony in mind. The three-day period of exercise was needed for the great occasion. “Go to the people, and hallow them today and to-morrow, ... and let them be ready for the third day; for on the third day Jehovah will come down before the eyes of all the people on mount Sinai”. What about that? Have I learnt to wash my clothes, or is God to do all? In the beginning of the book of Revelation we are told that Christ does the washing, “To him who loves us, and has washed us from our sins in his blood”. Revelation 1:5. In chapter 7, however, it is the people that do the washing. “These are they who come out of the great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and have made them white in the blood of the Lamb”, Revelation 7:14. It is a great matter to do it well. They washed their robes and made them white. In chapter 22 when it is a question of entrance into the city and of the right to partake of the tree of life, persons must be marked as washing their robes. Here these three days have reference to meeting God (verse 17). This is a serious thing; we have to learn to judge ourselves so as to be before God acceptably.
Ques Would the knowledge of God help us in this respect?
JT It is a question of the knowledge of God. He requires that we keep our robes white. If we are to be with God it must be on His terms; He says, “Be ye holy, for I am holy”(1 Peter [p. 149] 1:16).
HGH The people in the camp trembled and now they are brought out of the camp. Does this show that camp conditions are to be set aside?
JT The camp affords some protection, but now the people are to meet God outside of it; it is to be God, and the people each one in his responsibility, owning God’s rights. It resulted in the exposure of the utter worthlessness and untrustworthiness of man in the flesh; but each believer has to learn this as Romans 7 shows. This one thing is before you. You are facing God, not as in His house, but God. We see in Psalm 42 a true person longing after God. He is suffering under the government of God, but he is seeking Him. He cannot get help from Jerusalem; indeed he is forced out of it. A broken law is the cause and he has to learn this. It is a needed experience in us all. Have I got that experience?
CB How does God take us out from all the externals represented in the camp?
JT Moses does it. The mediator works for us and for God. He will not help you to cover yourself behind the order of the camp, but will bring you out to meet God. You say that is not in Christianity. It certainly is necessary to Christianity and Romans teaches this lesson.
Rem No subsequent declaration of favour sets aside what God is in His holy Being.
JT Christ on the cross said to God, “Why hast thou forsaken me?”(Matthew 27:46). We have to understand the ‘why’.
ANW I was wondering about the divine appellations in this chapter, God and Jehovah. It is Jehovah as the mediator relates to Him the words of the people (verse 7); but as the mediator leads the people towards God, it is God in all His attributes.
JT It would imply His attributes, involving Him “with whom we have to do”, Hebrews 4:13. Romans 8:28 is the full result, “All things work together [p. 150] for good to those who love God”. We have to learn to face this solemn scene and to see it worked out for good.
APr Is it a special point here that the children of Israel are brought to know God as a living God?
JT He has told them that He has brought them to Himself. Why this attitude now? He knows what they are and they have to know it. So in verse 18 we get, “And the whole of mount Sinai smoked, because Jehovah descended on it in fire; and its smoke ascended as the smoke of a furnace; and the whole mountain shook greatly”. The mediator brings them out to meet God. They are trembling in the camp but they are brought out of it to meet God on the mount Sinai, not God in His tabernacle I would suggest to anyone who questions this being Christianity that he read Hebrews where the writer says, “Our God is a consuming fire”(Hebrews 12:29). Christ experienced it on the cross. The flesh in man had to be judged. We have to learn to judge the flesh; the situation enforces judgment of the flesh so that we become a real people, a people who are marked by integrity. “And the whole of mount Sinai smoked, because Jehovah descended on it in fire; and its smoke ascended as the smoke of a furnace; and the whole mountain shook greatly. And the sound of the trumpet increased and became exceeding loud; Moses spoke, and God answered him by a voice”. There is one man that can be relied upon. Moses is reliable and God speaks to him. Moses is a type of Christ as the Mediator. So the passage runs on, “And Jehovah came down on mount Sinai, on the top of the mountain; and Jehovah called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up”. Now we are going to get the assertion of God’s rights, the law by which is the knowledge of sin. This is to be worked out later in [p. 151] the people.
RH Referring to the forsaking of Christ, the consideration of that would bring about moral integrity with us.
JT Exactly. We must face that. Both Matthew and Mark tell us that the Lord Jesus endured the forsaking of God; we must understand this in those gospels. Luke is the priest. In our chapter we have priests among the people mentioned for the first time, showing that God, while ever the Same, modifies conditions and helps us in our weakness. “And Jehovah said to Moses, Go down, testify to the people that they break not through to Jehovah to gaze, and many of them perish”. It is gazing He is dealing with, their trifling ways. I do not want that, God says. We often take liberties with God which He resents. “And the priests also, who come near to Jehovah, shall hallow themselves”. Now we have priests. These are not of the house of Aaron. Who are they? It is enough for us that the designation is there. God had compassion; God has the priests and that is all for the time being. The priests also that come near to Jehovah are to hallow themselves. You can see that God is dealing with those who take things up lightly. What do we come to the meetings for? Do we come to meet God? He is telling us that He wants reverence and holiness. It is to our blessing that these things are not optional with us. And then, as we remarked, we have the priests, that is, persons who have compassion on the ignorant. Presently He tells us He will have special priests of His own, the high priest and his family. God says elsewhere, “I will be hallowed in them that come near me”(Leviticus 10:3).
Rem Some of the local eruptions that are found amongst us are due to the absence of holiness and truth. What you are speaking of would be evidenced today in having the fear of God and accompanying holiness.
JT [p. 152] Exactly. What is said here to the people is needed in the assembly today. This chapter would challenge our hearts as in the assembly. Even the way some sit in the meetings indicates a painful want of reverence.
ANW Things must be taken account of according to divine requirements.
JT Just so. Moses elaborates on it in Deuteronomy. He reminds the people that he had gone through terrible things for them. “Jehovah was angry with me on your account”(Deuteronomy 1:37,4:21) he says. So the mediator is the saviour of the position and this chapter brings him out in a striking way.
It is said of the priests in verse 22 that they “shall hallow themselves, lest Jehovah break forth on them”. In working this thought of priesthood out in assembly matters priests are a provision. Without them there is no hope. If error or sin takes place we can depend upon the priests to look after the matter and yet here even the priests are not to go up. They were in danger of breaking through. All this shows the urgency of the requirements of the presence of God.
RH Is that why Peter emphasises the sufferings of Christ? “I ... who am ... witness of the sufferings of the Christ”, 1 Peter 5:1. And again, “Arm yourselves with the same mind”, 1 Peter 4:1.
JT Quite so. Peter helps as to being brought to God. Christ “suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God”(1 Peter 3:18). Peter was a “witness of the sufferings of the Christ”. He could say, I witnessed those sufferings and now He has gone up and I can go up; I wash my clothes. He speaks of the saints as a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. Why are things not dealt with amongst us? The truth is we are often content with the outward forms,
[p. 153] overlooking the inward state needed in the presence of God. “I myself with the mind serve God’s law”(Romans 7:25).
HGH What would you say about verse 24 of this chapter — Aaron going up with Moses and the priests not allowed to go up?
JT We have not come to priesthood as connected with Aaron yet. “The Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Jesus”, in Hebrews 3:1 refers to Moses and Aaron. Later God tells Moses to take Aaron his brother and his sons, and clothe them with the clothes for the priest’s office. Not the mediator, but the priest’s office. But here Aaron is just Aaron, simply a man of note. He is already a proved man. So far his status is seen in chapter 7, “And Jehovah said to Moses, See, I have made thee God to Pharaoh; and Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet”, Exodus 7:1. Moses is God to Pharaoh representatively and Aaron is his prophet, not his priest. Aaron is part of the system, a man who would consider what is suitable in it, especially in what was said.
LES In Psalm 42 do we see the ways of God with Korah reflected in his sons?
JT “An instruction; of the sons of Korah”. They would remember what happened to their father and what would have happened to them were it not for the sovereign mercy of God. This psalm contemplates Israel as cast out and the house no longer available. It is not a question now of the house of God, but of God himself. He is not yearning for the house yet, as in Psalm 84:2,3, “My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of Jehovah; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God. Yea, the sparrow hath found a house, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she layeth her young, thine altars, O Jehovah of hosts, my King and my God”. It is God in Psalm 42. In this sense, the position is the same as Exodus 19. David had gone to Gath, but [p. 154] God was not there, although He did not forsake him. Achish gave him Ziklag, but a terrible calamity befell him there. The Amalekites took as captives the families of himself and his men and burned the city. It was a dreadful disaster, but faith and the knowledge of God in his soul triumphed, “David strengthened himself in Jehovah his God”(1 Samuel 30:6). The fellowship and saints help us but we have to learn to get along with God alone.
LES On the cross Christ was entirely shut up to God. He says, “My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?”(Matthew 27:46).
JT He was there vicariously, meeting God on behalf of Israel in regard of His judgment on them on account of the broken law of Sinai. He made the salvation of the sons of Korah possible and the resultant psalms open for them. We all come in on this line, for “God hath shut up together all in unbelief, in order that he might show mercy to all”, Romans 11:32.
IL The knowledge of this in the soul becomes a preservative in subsequent history.
JT Yes. You can get along with God alone, so to speak. This is an immense advantage as you have nobody else to help you. You are with God against yourself, your own natural propensities, the flesh in yourself. 1 Samuel 30 is one of the finest illustrations of a man who overcame in the most difficult circumstances with none to help him but God. David encouraged himself in the Lord his God. In this history it is most important to notice that he availed himself of the priesthood: David enquired of Jehovah through it (1 Samuel 30:7,8). In drawing near to God we have a great Priest over the house of God.
JQ Would 2 Peter 1:2 come in here? “Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord”. And then in verse 10, “For doing these things ye will never fall”.
JT Yes. Peter’s second letter would also help us in the sense of addition. Not simply objective truth but what is done in my soul in real progress. “For doing these things ye will never fall”. That is a fine word, “Never fall”. “Wherefore the rather, brethren, use diligence to make your calling and election sure, for doing these things ye will never fall; for thus shall the entrance into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ be richly furnished unto you”, 2 Peter 1:10,11. Many rely on objective Christianity and neglect the corresponding experience in the soul. It is in “doing these things ye will never fall”. It is in this alone we can have steady assurance.
CB Is that connected with the thought of gazing (verse 21)?
JT Gazing there would be unholy looking into divine things. Christendom is full of it. People take the symbols of Christianity and look at them man’s way. God will not have that sort of thing.
ANW “They look, they stare upon me”, Psalm 22:17.
RH Would there be a difference between Exodus and Psalm 42 in that the psalmist says there, “The health of my countenance, and my God”. That would not be gazing in this sense.
JT That is holy appreciation of God in Christ. I may be near enough to God to see His countenance but not with an unhallowed gaze. The psalm reads, “Why art thou cast down, my soul, and art disquieted in me? hope in God; for I shall yet praise him, for the health of his countenance. My God, my soul is cast down within me; therefore do I remember thee from the land of the Jordan, and the Hermons, from mount Mizar. Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy cataracts; all thy breakers and thy [p. 156] billows are gone over me. In the day-time will Jehovah command his loving-kindness, and in the night his song shall be with me, a prayer unto the God of my life. I will say unto God my rock, Why hast thou forgotten me? why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy? As with a crushing in my bones mine adversaries reproach me, while they say unto me all the day, Where is thy God? Why art thou cast down, my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope in God; for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God”. First it is the health of God’s countenance, but then it is the health of the psalmist’s countenance. I would take that to mean a healthy state of things manifest in me in my relations with God. In having to do with the saints it is a great thing to have a healthy countenance as the result of apprehending God in Christ, the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
CB Would the working out of that be seen in Moses’ countenance in a peculiar way?
JT Yes, divine glory reflected in his face. Our chapter ends with God’s great concern that the people should not break through to Him to gaze. It is not that nearness to Him was not to be accorded to them ultimately, but they must learn what He was and what they were. They would be a people near Him (Psalm 148:14), but this will be through Christ. “And Jehovah said to him, Go, descend, and thou shalt come up, thou, and Aaron with thee; but the priests and the people shall not break through to go up to Jehovah, lest he break forth on them”. Moses had confidence in what the people would do, but you cannot be sure of people until they have judged themselves in the light of Christ’s death, and typically the people had not yet come to this. In chapter 24 Moses, Aaron, Nadab and Abihu are directed by Jehovah to go up to Him. “They saw God, and ate and drank”(Exodus 24:11). The thought of nearness and acceptance is increasing. Throughout Exodus the principle of nearness to God and moral elevation is progressive; but Leviticus opens with Jehovah in His house and intimates that the way of approach is open to all. “When any man of you presenteth an offering to Jehovah”(Leviticus 1:2). We can readily see the great difference between what is seen there and what Exodus 19 presents. In Numbers each believer typically has a fixed position, through redemption, in relative nearness to God. In Christianity we have “boldness for entering into the holy of holies by the blood of Jesus”. Through Christ we have access by one Spirit to the Father (Ephesians 2:18).