Reading 2
A.J.G. We have considered this morning the second chapter of the second book of Kings, which begins by mentioning, “And it came to pass when Jehovah would take up Elijah into the heavens by a whirlwind”, which gives character to the whole history of Elisha, and to the present moment marked by the fact that man is in heaven in the Person of Christ. It is a matter of knowing if we appreciate the full greatness of it. Let us think of what it means for God to have man in His presence, the order of Man according to God, a Man in whom the fulness of the Godhead dwells bodily, so that God finds an infinite rest in man. This Man is before Him in the relationship of Son, with affection and response that can be given on the part of a son. We are led to all this as having received the Holy Spirit. It is thus that it can be said, “As he is, we also are in this world”. It is a great thing that exists for God in the present day. That was in God’s mind before the world was, but this day, which is the day of the Spirit, has that character, and the service of God today must be governed by that fact. The Spirit has been sent so that nothing should be lacking in the response to God, either in quantity or quality. It is what gives this day, the day of the Spirit, such a particular character, to know that there can be currently a response to God that is worthy of Him, which is fully in the light of what is of God, the glory of which shines in Christ, according to the appreciation of the message that has been brought by Mary of Magdala: “I ascend to My Father and your Father, and to my God and your God”. We have to consider these words and to contemplate Christ in relation with His Father and in relation with His God. We must set ourselves on His side in that position. In doing so, we will receive impressions of the marvellous grace and marvellous love of God, as also of His infinite wisdom that has found expression in the incarnation. All this furnishes substance in our souls in view of the service of God.
Now this service needs vessels and that is what we read of at the beginning of chapter 4. It is a question of vessels. There is a wife of the wives of the sons of the prophets but in a state of bondage with her sons. One could say that she herself and her children were in the truth, for she belonged to a company of the sons of the prophets, but she was burdened with the feeling of her responsibility which she could not face. The creditor made his claims and she could not meet them. So there was no liberty for her in the service of God. Then she goes to find Elisha as wanting to receive some help from him. He says to her: you must make use of what you have. He indicated nothing new that she did not have already; he simply gave her instructions to use what she had, that is all. The matter related to vessels, vessels that had to be empty and vessels that had to be borrowed. We have to realise that we all have to be vessels; each one of us is a vessel. In 2 Timothy, we have the thought of being a vessel to honour, a vessel which can be “serviceable to the master”; there is nothing better for us than to have part in the service of God.
In chapter 9 of Romans, we are seen as being vessels of mercy, so that the Holy Spirit takes account of the saints individually as being vessels. It is a case of knowing if each of us understands that he must be available as a vessel of the Spirit. Although there were vessels, the Spirit was available to fill them; only there was a time when there were not more vessels and the oil stayed.
R.B. Why is it emphasised that the vessels were borrowed?
A.J.G. We do not belong to ourselves; we have been bought with a price, but nevertheless we have to make use of ourselves in the sense that we do not belong to ourselves. That would deliver us from any negligence and also from being superficial. So we read in the first chapter of Revelation: “To him who loves us, and has washed us from our sins in his blood, and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father”. The Lord has washed us from our sins in His blood so that we should be a kingdom of priests for His God and Father. It is a kingdom for our support, but our business must be the service of God. In that position, we do not belong to ourselves, but we have been bought with a price. So each vessel was borrowed, asked for. They are also empty vessels, that is to say that they must be free of things that would hinder the Spirit. It is said, “do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God”. The Spirit wants to use vessels that have been emptied of all that might hinder His activities.
J.P. It is said, “shut the door upon thee and upon thy sons”.
A.J.G. It shows that it must be a matter of exercise between ourselves and the Lord. It is not only that the truth is understood but one goes to God about the matter in secret. So in the gospel of Matthew, in chapter 6, the Lord tells us to go to the Father who sees in secret: “enter into thy chamber, and having shut thy door, pray to thy Father who is in secret”. That is, in going to the Father, one has the desire to be real and very definite. This thought comes into view in the following incident: “And she went up, and laid him on the bed of the man of God, and shut the door upon him, and went out”, and in verse 33: “And he went in and shut the door upon them both, and prayed to Jehovah”.
So the chapter has in view suitable conditions in which God can be served as suits Him.
P.A.N. Do you see a thought of service in the fact that in the two cases there were children and then sons, then the child and the son?
A.J.G. That is good. The thought of a child indicates evidently what is not grown, while the expression son gives the complete thought, emphasising in particular liberty and dignity. God does not find pleasure in a service that is not truly characterised by liberty and dignity. Christ Himself is the expression of what God may find for His pleasure in Manhood. We have received the Spirit of God’s Son and can therefore have the same feelings, the same affections, that marked Christ before God; all that must be found in us. It might seem impossible to us to become that, but the Spirit takes this place in our hearts; He is the Spirit of God’s Son so that the service of God should be filled out in a manner that suits God.
P.A.N. Do the closed doors to which we have made allusion correspond to the closed doors in John 20?
A.J.G. That is so. The closed doors in John 20 kept outside what would be a hindrance.
There is a variety of vessels in this passage and God finds great pleasure in what is varied. So in Isaiah 22: 24, we read “and they shall hang upon him all the glory of his father's house, the offspring and the issue, all the small vessels, as well the vessels of cups as all the vessels of flagons”. This shows that God finds pleasure in the variety of vessels, but all as hanging on Christ for his pleasure. It is a practical question, relating to our availability to the Spirit. As long as vessels were available, the oil flowed.
R.B. In the same scripture that speaks of the ministry, we read, “And be not drunk with wine, in which is debauchery; but be filled with the Spirit”.
A.J.G. That shows our responsibility, what we have to do. This has to be faced, so that it is said that the woman sold the oil and paid her debts. It is possible for the believer in the power of the Spirit to face his responsibilities, so that our desire is to be for Him, for His pleasure in little things. In this way, responsibility is fulfilled. But that being done, the woman must live on the rest. So that chapter 8 of the epistle to the Romans presents the Spirit as power to face responsibility first, but then it is said that the Spirit is life, that is to say that we find our life in the things of the Spirit: “as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God”. The Spirit must be all to us, giving us to enter into God’s purpose and into eternal life; giving us the capacity and the power for the service of God. I believe all that is in view in the first incident.
S.C. I would ask myself about the thought represented here by the woman, the sons, and the vessels: are they figures of different positions of the saints?
A.J.G. They are the saints who are seen in different aspects: the woman, the children and the vessels. In a sense, the mother of the children would represent feelings, I suppose. She occupies the position in a condition of bondage. Sometimes, there is a lack of liberty in our localities. It is a question of knowing if we feel it, or if we are content to go on with it. She felt the condition of bondage and she asked how it could be faced. The prophet said to her: Well, use what you have, but there have to be good conditions first, vessels empty and borrowed.
R.B. Would the fact that it is a woman suggest what is the work of God subjectively in our souls?
A.J.G. Yes. There was the work of God in her, as being affected by the truth; she was a wife of one of the sons of the prophets. It is very remarkable to see how little could be brought to deal with the condition. It was simply a matter of knowing to use what she had. We have the Spirit, we have bodies which belong to us and which have been bought by the Lord.
R.B. She is a figure of those who have believed on Christ in glory as an object of faith, but it is a matter of making use of what is possessed.
A.J.G. And I believe that we must keep in mind that the whole position is governed by the fact that a Man is in heaven. We know that but are we truly impressed? If we were taken up into the presence of Christ now, we would be astonished by the greatness of the position. But it is so near to us. The Spirit is the Earnest of the inheritance.
R.B. The presence of the Holy Spirit in us is the direct result of the fact that Christ is in glory.
A.J.G. It is what gives character to the present day, which is the day of Christianity. There has not been a day like it and the service of God must be carried on in a real way in our localities. It is not enough for us to have an abstract view of the assembly, but the assembly’s response takes form in the locality in which the brethren are found, and it is for us to discover if we are in liberty and dignity or not.
P.A.N. Do you think the widow character of this woman increased her exercises?
A.J.G. She was deprived of all natural resources. That showed the dependence in which she was found and what she was in the house.
Then there are better conditions in the following incident, which are in view for our localities. First we have the thought of vessels in the first paragraph, the thought of empty, borrowed vessels and the sufficiency of the Spirit for their use. Now it speaks of a particular locality, Elisha passed to Shunem. There is an element there that appreciated the truth, that appreciated the work of God and that desired to give place to it. This is a very good element in every locality, that of having the desire to give place to what the Spirit presents at any time. She says, “Behold now, I perceive that this is a holy man of God who passes by us continually”; that is to say, that he was in movement; there is nothing stagnant in Christianity. That raises the question of knowing if we are always desirous to furnish conditions for the present truth.
P.C. It was a wealthy woman. Could it be asked if she lived in what she had?
A.J.G. I would say that. She brings her husband into the matter; she says, “Let us make”. In a locality, it is important to bring all the brethren into what the Lord is doing. So she says, “let us set for him there a bed, and a table, and a seat, and a lamp-stand”. The bed showed that he is provided with restful conditions. The Song of Songs speaks of Solomon’s couch and the mighty men: “Behold his couch, Solomon’s own. Threescore mighty men are about it, Of the mighty of Israel”. They are the conditions which have in view rest for the heart of Christ and that must be protected. Then there is the table with the idea of fellowship.
E.J.S. They are all provisions for the night.
A.J.G. I would not say it was only for the night, because the table and the seat do not only envisage such a time. The seat would indicate systematic teaching, because the Lord sat down to teach the disciples. I believe that the seat represents that idea, and not just being used for spiritual teaching, for in Matthew 13, the kingdom of the heavens is compared to a seine. It is said that they draw it, then they sit down, putting the good fish into vessels and casting the worthless out. There is deliberation to retain what is good and reject what is bad. Then the lampstand indicates the light that shed on the Scriptures. These are the suited conditions that are in view in each locality.
R.B. Having in view the reception of the ministry in a sympathetic way?
A.J.G. But even with that it is not enough. There are conditions in God’s mind which have to be developed and Elisha discerns that there was something lacking in the fact that she had no son. What God has in view for His pleasure is sons.
R.B. Does the ministry have for its object that we pass on from the thought of vessels to the members of the body of Christ, seeing that it is a matter of the mouth, the eyes and the hands at the end of the paragraph?
A.J.G. I believe it is in mind that the prophet was taken up by what had happened, and he desired to identify himself sympathetically with the child’s condition. If he put his mouth to his mouth it was to enter into the things by which the child was fed or also into what he could say. If he put his eyes to his eyes, it was to produce exercise as to things that the child had looked at with his own eyes. But the thought that governed the prophet was that the woman must have a son, and what God has in view for His pleasure are sons. I clearly do not lose sight of the assembly, but it is indeed remarkable that in the epistle to the Ephesians, the first thought should be that of the adoption of sons. What God has in view are persons in the relationship of sons.
P.A.N. At the same time, you have said that this woman had had the thought to build a chamber, but this was not enough. Do you not think that we might be content locally with what exists, although the apostle Paul can speak of a child or children whom he has begotten?
A.J.G. I think it is good never to be content with present conditions, even if they are, so to say, reasonably good. When David had the idea of building a house of cedar for Jehovah, God was pleased with that thought; although He did not allow him to do it. It had to wait for Solomon, but it is said that God had found pleasure in the thought, that is to say in the fact that David had in his heart to furnish better conditions than those that existed at the time. God has nothing less in view than that we should be before Him as sons, not in bondage, but in the liberty and real dignity with intelligent affections that characterise His sons. This passage shows that it is necessary that there should be care: here the child is born, he grows, and it could well be said everything was going well now, he will soon be a man. But he goes out into the fields and he dies. It is always necessary to have in localities a spirit of care as well as good ministry.
Ques. Do we see this Paul descending from the upper room to embrace Eutychus?
A.J.G. That is an illustration. I think that it is very good to weigh Acts 20 because in the sequel to the incident to which you refer, the apostle addresses himself to the elders at Ephesus and reminds them of his ministry among them. He shows how this ministry had been complete, beginning with repentance towards God and faith towards the Lord Jesus Christ; then the glad tidings of the grace of God, then the kingdom of God, and finally the whole counsel of God. He shows them then how he had taken care of them night and day, with tears, and the way in which he had worked among them with his own hands. He finished his discourse saying “these hands”, and he reminds them how the Lord had said that it was more blessed to give than to receive, as if he desired to convey that ministry was not enough by itself, even going as far as the whole counsel of God; there had to be the accompanying fatherly and motherly care.
P.C. Do you think this was in view in the fact that Elisha said, “thou shalt embrace a son”?
A.J.G. It is a question of the affections. The wealthy woman represents someone who is occupied with the saints’ condition. It is not enough to have good meetings, meetings for ministry, readings, preachings, and so on; but that is in view of securing what is for the pleasure of God in sons. That must be evident in every locality. Assembly service is characteristically in the features of adoption, because One who is Head of the assembly is Son, the Son of the Father. This is in view in Christ giving His character to whole assembly service.
G.R.W. Do you think the woman saying “I dwell among mine own people” would indicate a state that was satisfied just with meetings?
A.J.G. It could be so, but that also shows that she had no worldly aspirations because the prophet said to her, “wouldest thou be spoken for to the king, or to the captain of the host?” That put her to the test; she had no worldly desires. She is a pious person but she had not yet embraced divine thoughts relating to God’s desire for sons.
G.R.W. She did not ask for a son herself; it is Gehazi who says, “she has no son”.
A.J.G. But when the son is given to her, the important point is that he had to be cared for. I think that the child is beyond its measure when he goes out to the reapers. So it is he says: “My head, my head!”, that is to say that his knowledge went further than his formation.
L.D. What is suggested in his sitting on his mother’s knees until noon?
A.J.G. The reference to the knees could suggest prayer on the mother’s part, but perhaps she had not prayed enough up to then. That is what we often come to; we begin to pray for the young when they begin to stray into a bad way, but they need to be a constant subject of care on our part. We ought to know all the brothers and sisters and mention them by name in prayer. I do not mean in the meeting for public prayer, but in private.
R.B. Do we have this spirit of care in a complete way in Luke 15: the father and the woman?
A.J.G. The woman lights the lamp and she searches diligently for the coin until she has found it. The father sees the son a long way off. Paul reminded the Thessalonians of the care he had for them: he had been for them as a nurse and he exhorts them as a father, so that he had been among them as a father and mother at the same time.
R.B. The father says: my son was lost and has been found.
A.P. Did this woman, who had seemed strong, have something to learn by the death of her child?
A.J.G. I am assured of that. That would show that she had been lacking in her care, and it is what is needed in all our localities: a spirit of care.
Mr Stoney liked to say2 that conditions in our localities depended more on the spirit of care which was there than the gifts that were found there.
P.A.N. What teaching is there for us in the fact that the woman does not speak of her exercise to Gehazi, but to the man of God?
A.J.G. There was some discernment on her part; Gehazi was someone not very satisfactory, but Elisha himself had something to learn from this incident. He says to Gehazi to take his staff and put in on the child’s face, but that produced no result. Elisha’s staff represented the authority of his ministry, but the authority of ministry alone cannot deal with conditions such as these. So Elisha had to enter into the conditions themselves and find himself in great personal exercise before God. So he went into the house and shut the door and supplicated Jehovah. Then he identified himself entirely with the child’s condition, which spoke of a lot of humiliating exercise, for a man must reduce himself to the measure of a child. Then it says that he “returned, and walked through the house to and fro”. As Mr James Taylor said: he was looking to see what the conditions were there3. It could be that there was some element that had been allowed there, leading to the death of the child. I believe that this incident is presented for us to show that whatever the value of ministry, the result for the pleasure of God is not secured without a spirit of self-sacrifice, in the care of love which is expressed among the saints, for He Himself is love.
A.R. Elisha had to declare that Jehovah had hidden the thing.
A.J.G. All that would produce the greatest exercise with Elisha.
P.C. As to the death of the child, you said that there was something not good in his going out to the reapers. Would you develop your thought?
A.J.G. It would be like a young person who went to the work, to the work of the Lord I mean, before being established in the truth himself.
P.A.N. And if we read verse 37: “And she came and fell at his feet, and bowed herself to the ground; and she took up her son, and went out”. Do we have a thought of service?
A.J.G. That could well be. It is said, “she took up her son, and went out”, as if the son was now fully secured and if she would take care of him.
P.A.N. I thought especially of the expression, “she bowed herself”.
A.J.G. Exactly.
R.B. The son is there, not only as the result of the ministry but of the exercise of care in the locality.
A.J.G. I think it is very remarkable that at Ephesus, where there were such results, the apostle shows us not only the extent of his ministry but he also speaks in detail about his sacrifice in love: he addresses the elders called to him who were to shepherd the assembly of God, and shepherding means not only giving food but being concerned with the sheep who are lame and injured.
R.B. I am sure that we need this exercise in each of our localities.
P.P. Paul says, teaching publicly and in every house.
A.J.G. That shows how he did everything with order and care; the Lord gives us an example in John 13. He laid aside His garments and, having taken a linen towel, He girded Himself with it; then He put water into the basin and began to wash the feet of the disciples, wiping them with the towel with which He was girded. He went all round the circle, not one among them was left out. This is a model for every locality: each saint must be a particular object of care for all the saints.
R.B. One among them wanted to be left out.
P.L.N. I would like to know if one could make an interesting connection of verse 34, “he put his mouth upon his mouth”, with Genesis 2: 7, where God “breathed into his nostrils the breath of life”, and also with John 20: 22: “he breathed into them, and says to them, Receive the Holy Spirit”?
A.J.G. The prophet putting his mouth upon the child’s mouth shows that he identified himself with the child’s condition. God has given us a mouth so that we can speak to Him, and that we may speak about Him. It is said in a Psalm that they have mouths and they speak not. If God has given us a mouth, it is so that we can speak to Him, and that we speak about Him. But it could well be that the child had not used his mouth suitably. The epistle of James shows us in what a terrible way the mouth can be found under the power of Satan. In Mark, there is a deaf man who is led to the Lord; he could not speak right and the Lord so felt the condition that he looked up to heaven and groaned; then he opened his ears and loosed his tongue.
R.B. What do you think of the fact that the young boy sneezed seven times?
A.J.G. It is just the expression of life.
VALENCE
1st November 1952
Translated from the French magazine, ‘Ondées’, June 1953
____________________