Reading 2
A.J.G. The Spirit of God gives a long description of the bride’s glory because she represents the highest point of God’s work. This work continues now; it must appear in our local meetings and help us in what God wants to bring about. A great thought that relates to the bride is that of adornment. We find this figure used in verse 2 of the same chapter, where it is said: “prepared as a bride adorned for her husband”; so that our beauty as belonging to the bride comes from the consideration of what is pleasing to the Lord. This will help us constantly, if we are always occupied with what pleases Him. We have already considered the bride this morning as the city coming down out of the heaven from God, having the glory of God. The city will be the great vessel of influence and administration by which God will be expressed. We also spoke about the need for transparency, for it says: “Her shining was like a most precious stone: as a crystal-like jasper stone”. In the verses that we have just read, there is the constant repetition of the number twelve: twelve gates, twelve angels, twelve tribes of the sons of Israel, twelve foundations, twelve names of the twelve apostles. The Spirit of God desires to engage us with the idea of twelve, a number chosen to express love in its practical effects, not love seen in a theoretical way, but in its operation. So we have Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, who perhaps represent God known in revelation, in the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit; but then there are twelve sons, for what is manifested in revelation must be expressed practically, in order to be spread out, and it is for this purpose that God gave twelve sons to Jacob. Twelve is an easily usable number, and it is precisely a characteristic of love in activity. In a company where there is love expressing itself in a practical way, and mutual confidence, everything is made easy; but if there is no love, nor mutual trust, everything becomes difficult. The Lord is much occupied now with what might be called administration, that is to say, what is done and how it is done. Love is needed in that. God is expressed in the three Persons of the Godhead; but then, for Him to be represented in men, twelve are needed. That gives the idea of love functioning easily among us, and love is of God. Maybe the number three is used to accentuate the thought that the brethren are acting together. So, there are three doors to the east, three to the north, three to the south, and three in the west, as if at each of the cardinal points you would see the brethren acting together in relation to the thoughts of God.
Ques. Would you help us that, after the transparency which we have been occupied with this morning, there are immediately the wall and the gates. How does this apply in the administration of love?
A.J.G. The great and high wall is very necessary. It preserves what is inside and it excludes what is foreign. The great and high wall is, I think, the result of what is built up in our souls in the appreciation of Christ. It represents holiness in the saints as appreciating the holy One. In chapter 5 of the Acts, when Peter had to deal with evil, it is said, “and they were all with one accord in Solomon’s porch”. There was not a single brother (or sister) who disagreed with the judgment, and it is added that “but of the rest durst no man join them”. The wall is especially prominent there: “but of the rest durst no man join them”. It is the power among the saints that excluded all that was foreign, while those in whom God was working were attracted. Those in whom He was not working were afraid to join such conditions, and I believe that maintaining these conditions constitutes the “great and high wall”. Then we have some impressions of the glory of the city in the day to come in that at the gates there are twelve angels, and names written which are those of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel, that is to say that in the city we have the assembly, then we have angels, then the sons of Israel in close contact with the city. This shows how great the city is as a centre of divine administration in the day to come, and angels and Israel are identified with it, not as having part, but closely associated with the city. As a consequence, the light to which we have been called, and for which we are being formed, should affect us in relation to what needs to be done now. Gates are particularly the place where judgment is expressed in relation to issues that arise. For example, we read in Amos 5: 10: “They hate him that reproveth in the gate”, and again in verse 15: “Hate evil, and love good, and establish judgment in the gate”. This is the idea represented by the gates, where God’s judgment is rendered as to cases that arise. In former times, Solomon, who was marked by wisdom, had a portico where he exercised judgment. He had specially asked for wisdom to be able to judge the great people of God properly. I believe that God allows so many issues to be raised in our localities, so that we should develop our spiritual judgment.
Ques. Is there a link between the angels in this passage, and the angels of the seven assemblies at the beginning of the Revelation?
A.J.G. I believe that in this passage it is a literal allusion to angels, while the angels of the assemblies rather indicate the idea of responsible representatives. The word “angel” in Revelation 2 and 3, actually means “messenger”; it is a term often used in a representative way. In the Old Testament, the word “angel” is sometimes used as a figure of the Holy Spirit Himself, who was sent.
Ques. Would you see a relationship with the gates in Proverbs 31: 23? “Her husband is known in the gates, when he sitteth among the elders of the land”?
A.J.G. It is known as the place where judgment is expressed. That is one of the most important things currently in the assembly, that the issues that arise are settled by a sound judgment.
Rem. And battle must be turned to the gates, according to Isaiah 28: 6.
A.J.G. “In that day will Jehovah of hosts be … for a spirit of judgment to him that sitteth in judgment, and for strength to them that turn the battle to the gate”. When there is conflict of any kind, the great matter is to turn the battle to the gate; that is, to establish clearly the points to be decided, so that a judgment can be rendered according to God. The gate is the place where judgment is rendered according to God. When Absalom rose up against David, the battle took place in a forest and a lot of people were lost, because it was a forest, with lack of clarity. In any conflict, the questions must be clear for all, but you do not have these clear conditions in a forest.
Rem. Salvation appears to be in this “one accord” in being found in “Solomon’s porch”.
A.J.G. Sometimes when questions are raised for the judgment of the assembly, brethren are not all of one mind, and this is because we allow natural relationships, or feelings of this nature, to intervene, while everything should be judged entirely on the truth of God. There is the great matter, too, of the foundations of the wall. On them, it is said, were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. The great testimony of the twelve apostles was that God had raised up Jesus, as Peter says: “This Jesus” (Acts 2: 32) after quoting four verses of Psalm 16, a psalm that describes the moral glories of Jesus. When the Lord lay in the tomb, millions of other men were also lying in their tombs, including those that had figured in the history of this world. But God has raised up Jesus and left all the others in their sepulchres. He thus showed, in an indisputable way, who the Man was that He approved. That is what is on the foundations of the wall. We see what kind of man must appear in the assembly. Paul presented Him in Corinth saying that he did not want to know anything among them but Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ crucified; and he asserts that there can be no other foundation than the one that has been laid. So we are tested as to our practical measure in appreciating this order of Man. In verse 18 of our passage in Revelation, we come to the angel who spoke with John having a golden reed to measure the city and its gates and its wall. The “golden reed” puts us to the test; it is a divine measure.
Ques. How can we measure with a divine measure?
A.J.G. That brings us back to the appreciation we have of Christ. It is the measure of what God has in view as to man. All ministry is intended to ensure that we come to the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ. The city is the Lamb’s wife, the one who has been united to Christ, who has taken care of His interests. She is aware of His thoughts; she has had many opportunities to study Him and for her to give Him proof of her fidelity. But the thought of the bride is a complete thought, characterised by adornment. The fact that the angel measures shows that the work of God is perfect, that everything answers to the divine pattern.
Ques. Is it not remarkable that angels, who desire to look into things, can now see the work of God very nearly accomplished?
A.J.G. They should see the all-various wisdom of God in the assembly. When the queen of Sheba came to hear Solomon’s wisdom, she presented him all her difficult questions and he answered all of them. But then she saw Solomon’s wisdom. What she saw was an orderly system, under his hand, beginning with “the house that he had built”, that is, his own home, and the food of his table, and the deportment of his servants, and the order of service of his attendants and their apparel, and finally the ascent by which he went up to the house of Jehovah. She saw a system that expressed his wisdom, and that is what must be seen in the assembly now, a system that works in perfect order, with spiritual intelligence, having its climax in the service of God. It goes on to say that “there was no more spirit in her”; she really became a worshipper of God. I understand that, in the same way, angels can see the wonderful wisdom of God in exercise in a vessel composed of men, having as Head a Person of the Godhead. We have as Head a Man who in Himself is God, in whom the fulness of Godhead dwells, and we ourselves have the Spirit which is of God, who dwells in us. So we can understand the great possibilities that lie in such a vessel. It is a matter of what is actually seen.
Rem. Would you tell us something about verse 17?
A.J.G. “And he measured its wall, a hundred and forty-four cubits, a man’s measure, that is, the angel’s”. The fact that it is said to be a “man’s measure” would show that it is what God has done in men; and that has been first seen perfectly in Christ Himself as a Man. He said: “the ruler of the world comes, and in me he has nothing”; the wall was perfect in Him; evil could not get access to Him in any way; and this has to be produced by the work of God in men, in the saints. It is to the extent that we are formed in holiness that evil is excluded. Speaking of this measure, it is added, “that is, the angel”, because this is the divine measure; it was the angel who had the golden reed. The aim is to show that the work of God is perfect.
Rem. The measurement of the city is given in stadia: twelve thousand stadia; for the wall, it is cubits.
A.J.G. I believe that the measurement given in stadia would indicate the immense substance contained in the city. It is a large cube whose length, width and height are equal. It is not infinite (God alone is infinite), but it is very large in its dimensions, and we see the immense substance of God’s work in the saints. The vessel must be immense and glorious because it is the fulness of Christ. That is what is being formed now, and I believe that exercise must be produced in us in this light as to how we act in the assembly.
Rem. The measure of the city seems larger than that of the wall.
A.J.G. I think the measure of the wall is in its height. Viewed in this way, it is a very large wall. It is large enough to protect fully.
Ques. Is the thought that we should appreciate the greatness of the city?
A.J.G. Yes, and we must see that God works in us now in view of the city. We need indeed to ensure that the features that mark the city are among us now, in our local assemblies.
Ques. Could you help us with the practical way in which the foundations of the wall are adorned in our localities?
A.J.G. We are not used to seeing ornamented foundations, because they are themselves out of sight. These precious stones are formed in trying circumstances. It could be an allusion to the appreciation that the saints have of Christ in different characters, but it is certain that each precious stone is formed in trial, under intense heat. There are a lot of trials among the saints now, and God desires that the result should be Christ-like formation. I think that the appreciation of Christ is the true foundation of the wall, because the more we value Christ, the more evil is excluded. Then, at the twelve gates we see twelve pearls. Each of the gates was in itself one pearl. Thus, the same features should be seen in all localities. It is said that each of the doors respectively was one pearl. The thought of a single pearl is connected, I believe, to a single purpose. Paul was jealous of the Corinthians, with a jealousy that was of God, in order to present them as a chaste virgin to Christ; he had espoused them to one Man. I believe that this is the beauty of one pearl; she has only one man before her, and that has to be seen wherever there is an expression of the assembly. Then it is said that the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass. It is remarkable to find these two thoughts—pure gold, that is, what is entirely of God, and transparency. And what we have seen this morning is very important, namely that God is light and in Him there is no darkness at all. The street of the city is obviously the place where the saints walk, where they move together, and they are there in love, as it is said: “walk in love, even as the Christ loved us, and delivered himself up for us”. Then the idea of transparency is once again accentuated. It is a great triumph, that God should be able to produce these conditions among men. In Luke 12, the Lord said to His disciples: “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy”; that is to say, beware of the tendency to have only an appearance. We will be freed from this danger if we walk before God; and we will be helped in spiritual judgment by first developing in self-judgment. I mean that all our motives and all our actions must be brought into the light of God. By developing in self-judgment in this way, we will be qualified to exercise the judgment of God in the assembly. Thus we will be able to develop in the features that mark the street and the gates. We are exercised to walk in love, in the light of Christ, and we are exercised to walk in the light of God, so that everything is transparent; there is no attempt made to make things seem to be what they are not.
I was thinking then of chapter 5 of the Acts, of which we have already spoken. At the beginning of the book of Acts, everything went on with a great deal of power, and the Spirit of God dwelling in the assembly, the element which was found in Ananias and Sapphira was immediately exposed. It was an effort of the enemy to introduce a corrupting element, but Peter faced it with power; and the result was the full development of the features of the wall among the saints. In the previous chapter, the enemy had frightened them; but then they were united more than ever. Then, in verse 32 of Chapter 4, it is said that “the heart and soul of the multitude of those that had believed were one”. It was a great testimony to God. This testimony therefore was attacked by Satan; but, as I said, Peter faced the situation with power. Now we have the instructions from Paul as to how to judge sin in the assembly; but then Peter faced it summarily.
Ques. What is your thinking, saying summarily?
A.J.G. Without the thing being brought in a formal way before the assembly. In the same way, the Lord will deal with the beast and the false prophet in a summary way: they will never appear before the great white throne. Every evildoer will have to appear before the great white throne, but the Lord will deal in a rapid way with the beast and the false prophet. And when evil began to manifest itself in the assembly, it was settled summarily; but later, Paul gives ministry to the assembly, that if evil appears, the assembly must be called upon.
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