MANHOOD

Numbers 33: 49; Numbers 12: 1-16; 1 Kings 19: 1-8

G.A.B. It was not in mind to dwell too long on this verse in Numbers 33 but just to notice that this encampment at the very end of the wilderness journey was in Abel-Shittim, which the footnote translates as 'plain of acacias'. It might suggest that this feature would occupy the saints at the end of the journey. When we think of acacia wood we think of the manhood of the Lord Jesus in all its perfection and of its imperishable character. The ark of the covenant, as we know, was made of acacia wood, but the boards of the tabernacle, and indeed other parts of the tabernacle system, were also made of acacia wood. While the distinctiveness of the Lord Jesus must always be maintained, it is the divine thought that this kind of manhood should be in evidence in the whole divine system. So I selected these two sample men from the Old Testament, Moses and Elijah, for our consideration. It says Moses was "very meek". Elijah was marked by power in his ministry. They both appear with the Lord on the mount of transfiguration but a point comes when they are overshadowed and the Lord Jesus is seen alone. I think it is important that we should hold to that, that however finely developed the features of manhood may become in anyone, the Lord must always be unique. "This is my beloved Son", Luke 9: 25. Perhaps we might look at these two men and see some of the features of manhood that come out in them; Moses shines in the face of adversity; Elijah overcomes the temptation to turn aside and finishes his service in power.

J.M. The verse you read in Numbers 33 is interesting. It reminds us of what is said in 1 Corinthians: "But of him are ye in Christ Jesus" (chap 1: 30); that is, we are to take character from the Lord Jesus himself.

G.A.B. Yes; it is the same character. The wood is the same, but there is this difference that the boards of the tabernacle stand up in bases of silver. The ark of the covenant needs nothing like that.

J.M. In 1 Corinthians 1 every other man is set aside to make way for features of Christ to come out.

G.A.B. God has only one Man before Him.

A.T. He is the foundation of all that is for God.

G.A.B. "For other foundation can no man lay besides that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ", 1 Cor 3: 11. The development of any other man has invariably led to disaster. We have known that in our own experience. Now, at the very end of the journey, this feature is more necessary than ever it was.

A.T. At the end of 2 Corinthians it says: "prove your own selves... that Jesus Christ is in you, unless indeed ye be reprobates", chap 13: 5.

G.A.B. Nothing extraneous has any place in the testimony of God. If we have failures it must be because some other kind of man has been allowed.

R.S.R. The emphasis seems to be on the man Moses. It might have said 'But Moses was very meek', but it is "the man Moses".

G.A.B. That was in mind - "the man". It is neither his mediatorship nor his leadership which is mentioned here, but manhood, as though that is what is going to meet the crisis.

R.S.R. He says nothing. It is Jehovah who takes up the challenge.

G.A.B. We can count on that.

J.R. The commendation of the Spirit of God regarding Moses is that he was very meek. The commendation of Jehovah Himself is that he was faithful. Would these two features go together?

G.A.B. Yes, that is very interesting. Some very fine qualities come out in Moses - his meekness, his faithfulness, as you say, and he also shines in intercession.

W.W. Would the Spirit's service be necessary in view of the formation of manhood after Christ? In chapter 21 of Numbers the Spirit is recognised and responded to.

G.A.B. But the exercise of the brazen serpent precedes that. Every other element is finished in the death of Christ so that by the Spirit there can be the development of this kind of manhood which is pleasing to God 'in service and in testimony.

D.R. In 1 John 2 we have "he that does the will of God abides for eternity" (v 17). While it is a testimonial feature, it goes right through. Does that link with the verse in Numbers 33?

G.A.B. Very much so. Peter says "all flesh is as grass, and all its glory as the flower of grass. The grass has withered and its flower has fallen", 1 Pet 1: 24. Every other man is put out of court. The kind of man who does the will of God is going through.

D.R. Do we each need to lay hold of this precious light that the Man who is in heaven is the Man who has accomplished God's will?

G.A.B. Just so. This kind of manhood goes through everything, whether we speak of the testimony or of assembly sorrows or of the service of God, this kind of man, formed after Christ, is pleasing to God in every situation. We can achieve it only by the Spirit and by the negation of the flesh. I think it is important to bear in mind that the boards of the tabernacle are made to stand up in sockets of silver. They do not stand up by themselves.

J.H. Paul begins his militant ministry in Corinthians by saying: "I... entreat you by the meekness and gentleness of the Christ", 2 Cor 10: 1.

G.A.B. That is beautiful and, as you say, it is significant that it is militant ministry.

W.D. Circumstances here seem to be rather equivalent to Matthew 11, do they not? There the Lord speaks of Himself as being meek and lowly in heart (see v 29).

G.A.B. You mean, in the face of rejection? I think so. That is an interesting connection. It is in a situation of adversity that manhood shines.

W.D. The Lord was being rejected by His people at that time. In a sense Moses was being rejected by Miriam and Aaron here.

G.A.B. Yes, it is almost a parallel situation. This is what tests us. When things are going well among the brethren there is not the same tax upon our manhood.

J.R. I suppose Moses was no more meek naturally than any one of us is. He must have been formed somehow. I was thinking of his forty years in the wilderness and having to do with God personally. Do you think that is how it came about?

G.A.B. That certainly enters into it, an extended period of education in the school of God. We could also say that he made an early committal. It was a conscious decision on his part to choose the reproach of the Christ. He esteemed it greater riches than all the treasures of Egypt (see Heb 11: 26). Speaking typically, he saw a glory in the rejected Christ. Paul's ministry gives us the glory of an exalted Christ, but there is a moral glory about the pathway of the Lord Jesus in rejection here. Now, He is up there but we are down here, and even as He is we also are in this world (see 1 John 4: 17).

A.A.B. Moses "persevered, as seeing him who is invisible", Heb 11: 27. Manhood is tested in what has to be worked out here below, and he was faithful.

G.A.B. Quite so. The acacia is a wilderness wood, but the ark was still the same in Solomon's glorious temple as it was in the small conditions of the tabernacle.

R.S.R. Could you give us another word for 'meekness'? The young people may not understand what meekness is.

G.A.B. You tell us what it means, please.

R.S.R. Lowliness, humbleness, the nonassertion of one's own rights.

G.A.B. It runs completely counter to the common idea of what manhood is. We live in a world where manliness means aggressiveness. The man who gets to the top is the man who brushes aside all opposition.

R.S.R. I was thinking of the Psalm: "The meek will he guide in judgment, and the meek will he teach his way", Ps 25: 9. It seems that as this feature is with us we are ready for guidance and teaching.

G.A.B. Yes, ready to receive admonition. And yet Moses could be angry too. "He went out from Pharaoh in a glowing anger", Exod 11: 8. That is not inconsistent with meekness, lowliness and humbleness. It was only his humility, I suppose, that gave him courage to go in and face Pharaoh, as he acted under the direction of Jehovah, the God of Israel.

J.McL. Peter speaks of "a meek and quiet spirit, which in the sight of God is of great price"; 1 Pet 3: 4.

G.A.B. That is very beautiful, whether it be in sisters or brothers. It is the valuation which heaven has of these features. You will never be a success in this world displaying these features, but this is the wilderness, it is the testimony of God in alien surroundings.

J.R. Would Moses' intimacy with Jehovah and Jehovah's intimacy with him, which comes out in this chapter, account for his meekness?

G.A.B. Yes. You refer to the fact that Jehovah says "Mouth to mouth do I speak to him openly".

J.R. Jehovah says "If there be a prophet among you, I Jehovah will make myself known to him in a vision, I will speak to him in a dream". But this was something besides that with Moses.

G.A.B. I think so. There is Moses' official place as mediator, and that is a wonderful thing too, but there was substance behind what the man was officially.

A.McB. It says "he is faithful in all my house". Do you think that would be in the detail that entered into the tabernacle system? Moses attended to every detail of it.

G.A.B. It is remarkable that Moses made these things. We know that others like Bezaleel and Aholiab and all who were wise-hearted entered into it, but according to Scripture Moses made these things, which, as you suggest, means that he had to do with every detail: "And Moses did so: as Jehovah had commanded him, so did he", Exod 40: 16. He would let nothing go. Is that so with us in our local meetings? There was a divine pattern to be followed and Moses would not deviate from it one inch. It is difficult for us in the conditions in which we are, to grasp the idea of a man who is so faithful that he will not deviate without being arbitrary. Faithfulness and arbitrariness are not the same thing.

W.D. Would not one feature of meekness which comes out in this passage be that there is no self-vindication?

G.A.B. I think so. There is a certain moral glory about it. God was pleased to put a certain glory on the boards of the tabernacle they were covered with gold, as though God approved of it. God owns this kind of man. In another setting, where Moses had to face Pharaoh, God told him "I have made thee God to Pharaoh", Exod 7: 1. He was able to represent God and carry God's full approbation. It is not any man who can do that.

W.D. It is important to let the Lord vindicate in matters, is it not?

G.A.B. You might have a long time to wait. Reference was made to the forty years in the wilderness. Moses' life was made up of periods of forty years.

J.R. We might never be vindicated here. The Lord has not been publicly vindicated after two thousand years, so we ought not to look for it.

G.A.B. I think that is important. We might say, If I wait long enough it will come. But we look forward to His vindication. When He is vindicated that will be soon enough for us.

M.W. Would the fact that this plain of acacias was at the side of the Jordan suggest that this is the road we travel to this kind of formation in us? Was Moses so developed in manhood that he could leave this kind of thing to Jehovah, as all servants can do? He was not affected by this attack, by acrimony, or anything like that. The bearing of the Jordan had its own weight.

G.A.B. Yes. The greatest things were just about to happen at the Jordan - a glorious move. But of course Moses did not go over with the people. The next we hear of him is on the mountain with Christ; that was his Jordan. He was on the other side with Christ in glory, "appearing in glory", Luke 9: 31. Still, the saints are to go through this exercise.

J.McL. The Spirit of God says that Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had taken, but here they do not say anything about that; they bring forward something else. When the Lord was here it was often something entirely different from the real motive that was brought forward against Him.

G.A.B. The Ethiopian woman, I judge, would refer to the assembly. It is not acceptable to the Jew. But in this case that was simply the occasion of it. There must have been something underlying it. Moses is prepared to take it all. It would have made no difference whatever they had said about him. This is personal. If it had been a question of the rights of Jehovah it would have been a different matter. You might have seen Moses "in a glowing anger" over that, but here it is personal so he waits upon Jehovah.

J.R. Here the occasion was the Cushite, but there was a root, was there not? How often it is the case, where there are difficulties, that there is a root unjudged.

D.R. Would there be a lack of appreciation of God's sovereignty? The spirit of the world is a radical spirit, where everyone has an equal say and an equal right. This is what Miriam and Aaron are saying, that they have as much right as Moses. If we recognise God's sovereignty we shall recognise that in the assembly we fill the place God has given us.

G.A.B. The plain of acacias is a lovely thought. Nowhere but in the assembly can we find such a place, where the "trees of Jehovah are satisfied... which he hath planted", Ps 104: 16. You find things working in a way which is quite impossible in man's world. Organisations of men may agree about certain things, generally those which form the basis of their association, but in Christianity everything is held together by the Spirit.

D.R. Each of the sockets of silver is a divine setting.

G.A.B. It is important to grasp that. This kind of thing cannot be developed amongst us apart from a moral element entering into it. The sockets of silver represent that. In heaven everything is divinely perfect - 'Divine perfection in a Man!' (Hymn 20) - but if the saints are to stand up here in the wilderness in manhood according to God it must be in Christ in a moral sense.

W.W. Would that be borne out in the choosing of David by Samuel?

G.A.B. You mean that the men who might have appeared to be the best rulers are rejected. Even Samuel himself had to learn that. Then the time comes when it is unmistakable: "Arise, anoint him; for this is he", 1 Sam 16: 12.

W.W. If God distinguishes Moses it is in view of the help of the saints. In 1 Corinthians 12, where the truth of the body comes out, it says "For to one, by the Spirit, is given the word of wisdom; and to another the word of knowledge" (v 8), and so on. If we appreciate divine sovereignty, not only in ourselves but in others, we would get the greatest possible gain from the truth of the body working.

G.A.B. I think it is very important to say that. The quality amongst the saints should be the same, but the stature is not the same. There are those who have far greater stature than others, and there would need to be readiness to sit down if, as in 1 Corinthians 14: 30, someone else has more than you have. It requires, however, some development of manhood after Christ that you would be sensitive enough to know that.

J.N. Would that feature come out in what is adverse?

G.A.B. I think it would be proved in adversity. It would be there all the time, of course. The reference earlier to the long years of experience with God which lay behind the manhood of Moses is important. Moses was a meek man long before this happened. The crisis arises and there is quality in manhood which rises to meet it.

J.N. That quality goes right through. Moses says in Deuteronomy: "Jehovah was angry with me on your account", chap 1: 37. He was not allowed to go over with the people, as you said, but he receives compensation in that he was on the mount of transfiguration.

G.A.B. He gets the most glorious compensation. Yet even in that scene of glory a cloud overshadowed them, and there was no one except Jesus alone.

D.McG. Does Paul set it out in 2 Timothy 2? "And a bondman of the Lord ought not to contend, but be gentle towards all... in meekness setting right those who oppose, if God perhaps may sometime give them repentance" (vv 24,25). That brings in the divine sovereignty to which reference was made.

G.A.B. That is right. We cannot initiate repentance in anyone, nor can we initiate the work of God in anyone. We can stand by the truth and display the features of Christ. We just have to leave the rest with God.

W.G. Do we see this feature in Ephesians 4 where Paul says "I... exhort you... to walk... with all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love; using diligence to keep the unity of the Spirit in the uniting bond of peace" (vv 1-3)?

G.A.B. That is the wilderness, although it comes into Ephesians. Ephesian believers have to live down here, and it is here that lowliness and meekness are called for. I do not suppose these features will be needed so much in heaven because there is no adversity there. The precious manhood of the Lord Jesus, of course, goes through and will be seen in those in whom He has wrought, but lowliness is needed while we are down here.

W.G. "Bearing with one another in love": if we really have love for one another these features will be seen.

G.A.B. That is what comes out in Moses here. He was a great burden-bearer in many respects. He bore the whole burden of the people.

W.D. Why did the judgment come upon Miriam, not Aaron?

G.A.B. It would appear that she was the leader in the matter. She seemed to be more active than Aaron. Perhaps Aaron was weak. He does not shine so much as Moses in the history of the people. We would learn more from his office than from what he was personally. Miriam seemed to be the leader on this occasion.

W.D. I wondered whether there was something subjectively formed in Moses but a lack of the subjective element in Miriam that we should take account of currently.

G.A.B. That is a very much needed word. I believe that if Aaron had been firm with her when she spoke to him about this, as she must have done, he might have saved the situation. But he allowed this lawless element to go on, as he did at another point in his history. I am thinking of the golden calf. He did not set the thing on but he allowed it to go on. We need headship and we need moral power, and Moses shines as having moral power.

W.D. Miriam is a complete contrast to what Moses sets out.

J.H. Paul had these qualities in view. He says in 1 Corinthians 16: "Be vigilant; stand fast in the faith; quit yourselves like men; be strong" (v 13).

G.A.B. "Quit yourselves like men”. This is the time when that is needed. We are in difficult days, both from without and from within. We are so near the end, and what a success it would be for the enemy if he could sow discord and cause trouble and prevent the saints from getting over into their heavenly inheritance.

M.W. Does not Moses' manhood shine too in that he cried to God for Miriam?

G.A.B. I thought we should consider his intercession. There is not a trace of vindictiveness.

A.T. The scripture in Luke 9 says "two men... who were Moses and Elias".

G.A.B. That speaks volumes; "two men”.

A.McB. It was a very short intercession. I wondered if it bore on what was said earlier as to Moses' intimacy with God. It was short and powerful.

G.A.B. Yes, he said all he needed to say. Sometimes we lose power by saying more than we need to.

R.S.R. Moses is marked by soul when he says "O God".

G.A.B. That is a great feature entering into intercession. I feel in regard to our prayer meetings that we might become perfunctory, but this is a man whose soul Is in the matter. He is thinking not only of this one person but of the progress of the testimony, because there can be no movement until this matter is put right.

R.S.R. He would have that in mind: "And afterwards the people journeyed". The whole camp was held up by this.

G.A.B. What a success that is for the enemy to have everything held up! May none of us be the cause of such a hold-up.

W.W. Would manhood according to God be the expression of the Spirit of Christ? I was thinking of Stephen: "they were not able to resist the wisdom and the Spirit with which he spoke", Acts 6: 10. Then there was the fearlessness of his indictment, his meekness and gentleness as they stoned him and his intercession: "Lord, lay not this sin to their charge", Acts 7: 60.

G.A.B. Yes, he is a wonderful New Testament expression of what we are speaking of.

J.M. Psalm 99 speaks of "Moses and Aaron among his priests, and Samuel among them that call upon his name" (v 6).

G.A.B. That is a very interesting reference in the Psalm, that Moses was a priest. That was not his office but he was that unofficially.

J.R. He had a direct link with Jehovah. Aaron had not. Aaron appealed to Moses. Moses was with God and God was with him. Is not that how meekness is produced and how manhood is produced?

G.A.B. It was evidently a habitual matter: "Mouth to mouth do I speak to him".

D.R. Is that why he speaks of healing? He knows what God can do, that He can not only adjust the matter externally but He can adjust it at its root.

G.A.B. I suppose he must have thought of Miriam's better days when she led the song at the Red Sea (see Exod 15: 20,21). We do not want to see anyone made unsuitable for service. We want to see persons healed and the camp moving forward in power.

D.R. The priest did not go to see whether the leprosy was still there. His reason for going was to see whether there was something of God there, whether there was healing.

G.A.B. That is a word for us. We should be vigilant on these lines.

Now Elijah has failed here. We cannot connect failure with the acacia wood, I am not suggesting that, but his ministry had been one of power, and manhood had shone in it in the face of the greatest and most serious issues, but here his faith has failed. He lapses. But as Mr Stoney said, it is not how the horse falls which matters, it is how it gets up, the direction in which its face is set when it gets up. I thought we might see how quickly Elijah is able to recover himself and proceed with the final phase of his service in power.

A.AB. Peter did not fully appreciate what took place on the mount of transfiguration, but later, when he writes his epistle, he is in the full appreciation of what transpired. He failed, like Elijah, but he was restored and could strengthen his brethren.

G.A.B. When he writes his epistle he is encamped in the plain of acacias, just about to go over; he speaks of "the excellent glory", 2 Pet 1: 17.

J.N. Was Elijah's recovery based on the fact that he accepted the divine provision?

G.A.B. That is right. He also accepted the fact that he was to be superseded. I think that is an important feature of manhood, that we are prepared to accept that there are others more capable than we are. That is the secret in which Elijah goes forth to complete his service. He completes it in power. He does not fade out. It happens in men's affairs that certain monarchs abdicate in favour of a son or daughter; they fade out, and the younger one comes into ascendency. But Elijah does not fade out; he goes out in power. In fact he has the distinction of being taken up to heaven.

J.N. I thought that was seen in John 20. Although there was failure there, the Lord says "Come and dine" (v 12). Peter then gets his commission.

G.A.B. Yes. The Lord had a very special place for Peter: "go, tell his disciples and Peter", Mark 16: 7.

J.R. Would the chapter show that the Lord Himself appreciates and values manhood, in the way that He feeds Elijah and keeps His eye upon him? He is not going to let a man like this go to the wall or fade out.

G.A.B. I think that is right. God sees to it. If we are exercised to be developed in these features, we can count upon the Lord to stand by us. Everything was against Elijah here. There was a tremendous onslaught against his person.

W.D. Everything in the chapter seems to hinge on the supply of food which Elijah gets, the cake baked on hot stones and the cruse of water. Would it represent Christ and the Spirit?

G.A.B. Yes, formatively. The water was in a vessel and the cake would be Christ formed in us. The cake would also speak of the assembly, viewed as formed and complete.

W.D. It is certainly an invigorating experience to have our thoughts enlarged concerning the assembly.

G.A.B. He is given everything he needs for the great matter which is before him. He went forty days in the strength of it, so it must have been food of an extraordinary quality. It was of course divine provision.

J.H. Do you think it has a counterpart in the New Testament? There are two eatings. In Matthew 26: 26 it says "And as they were eating, Jesus, having taken the bread... said, Take, eat". The first eating refers to the passover. Then the Lord says "Take, eat; this is my body". It is remarkable that there are two kinds of food to give us strength to move further. Would it also help us to be here for the will of God?

G.A.B. I think that is a very important side of the truth, to grasp what the Lord's supper is as food. There is what is symbolic, but the Supper is food also, not literal or physical as one system might regard it, but it is food of a spiritual nature designed to facilitate the growth of manhood after Christ.

A.McB. Along with the food, Elijah was touched twice.

G.A.B. It is a very fine thing when you can go away from a meeting and say you have had a real touch from the Lord. It should happen every time, but it is specially needful when you are down, as Elijah was here. The man who had faced Ahab with such moral courage finds himself in retreat.

W.W. Immediately after this he was instrumental in bringing forward Elisha, recognising that he was going to take his place. Notwithstanding his outlook at this point is it not beautiful to see how he went up in power and glory? Elisha as replacing him is not exactly resting in the glory that belonged to him but is spoken of as one "who poured water on the hands of Elijah", 2 Kings 3: 11. Do you think that if anyone becomes despondent or discouraged, it is open to any of us to pour water on the hands of such a one to invigorate him again?

G.A.B. It is a very fine service if we are able for it.

J.R. In chapter 18 Elijah thinks and acts for God, but in this chapter he is thinking of himself. It is as if he says to God, You have only me left and soon you will not even have me. Things were so low. Would you link the cake with the seven thousand who had not bowed the knee to Baal?

G.A.B. I thought that. It seems to indicate something that is there in the divine knowledge which Elijah was not aware of. It is there and it is divinely formed.

J.R. And to have all believers in mind, not to be restricted but to have a wider outlook. If we have anything it is for all believers, is it not?

G.A.B. The seven thousand were persons who were in relation with God.

J.R. God says "Yet I have left myself seven thousand in Israel".

G.A.B. Quite so. God had His hand on them and they had their own relations with Him, not through the prophet. He was quite unaware of it.

J.R. I wondered if we should look for and pray for a revival amongst believers in view of the Lord's coming.

G.A.B. Perhaps if that were so we would have more constructive thoughts. The cake is something which is unbroken, it is a whole idea, it is freshly baked. The assembly has been here for nearly two thousand years, but there should be a certain freshness in our gatherings, so that however few are available there would be something of this character of what is complete and fresh. If this light were shining brightly in our souls and in our gatherings we might be able to attract some of the seven thousand. If persons are the objects of the work of Christ and have received the Holy Spirit they belong to the assembly. So let us work to the end that there might be more available. We need to have the divine ideal before us; this was what Elijah needed at this point. He thought that he was the only one left, but he gets this view of what the saints are to God and that seems to give him this surge of power in which he goes on to complete his ministry. Another scripture speaks of "the spirit and power of Elias", Luke 1: 17.

J.M-l. There was a wind, an earthquake and a fire, but it was the soft gentle voice that affected Elijah.

G.A.B. It says that Jehovah was not in the earthquake. We tried these methods in the past, but the "soft gentle voice" is more effective. Elijah was coming to see this, and I think his meekness comes out in the fact that he readily goes to anoint his successor. He is told to anoint the king of Syria first, then Jehu is to be anointed king of Israel, and thirdly he is told to anoint Elisha in his stead. But he accepts that and goes and anoints Elisha first of all.

T.R. Why were the cake and the cruse of water at his head?

G.A.B. Do you think he needed adjustment in his thinking? He was thinking small, on ever declining levels. His thoughts were going down instead of rising. But I was not thinking so much of his failure but rather of how quickly he is able to rise to the divine thought when it is brought to his attention, and with what power he goes about the final phase of his ministry. It is fine to see a man who has come to the end of himself. His successor is anointed so there is no question of any increase in Elijah's place in the testimony. It is a question of 'all thought of self' now being for ever over (see Hymn 247). That is the secret of his power as he goes on to the conclusion of his ministry.

 

GRANGEMOUTH

17 September 1983

 

Key to initials

A.A.Brown, Grangemouth; G.A.Brown, Edinburgh; W.Dickson, Edinburgh; W.Grosse, Edinburgh; J.Harthill, Glasgow; A.McBride, Grangemouth; D.McGregor, Lochgelly; J.Mclaren, Dundee; J.Munro, Grangemouth; J.Marshall, Edinburgh; J.Newberry, Hamilton; D.Robertson, Cumnock; J.Renton, Edinburgh; R.S.Renton, Edinburgh; T.Rogerson, Alnwick; A.Thomson, Lochgelly; M.Wood, Dundee; Wm.Wallace, Grangemouth; W.Wallace, Hamilton.

MINISTRY IN GLASGOW

HYMNS

A.Taylor

Isaiah 38: 19,20; Habakkuk 3: 18,19

I have been thinking since Lord's day about the value of the hymn book, and the way it is used in divine service, especially the variety that comes into it, and how it helps us to respond to the way in which God has made Himself known. We can say that no two Lord's days are the same. It shows the great variety there is in the hymn book itself although it is limited to four hundred and fifty six hymns. There is great variety in divine service; the richness and value that there is in the hymn book impresses me, and it is something that we should greatly value. It helps us to take our place alongside of Christ; it helps us to respond to Him; it helps us to answer to the Spirit and to the Father. There is a fulness attaching to divine service, and the hymn book is a tremendous aid, I would say, to the understanding of divine service, and the response to divine Persons.

That is why I have read these passages because they refer to stringed instruments; I think that these instruments relate to persons. There are wind instruments and stringed instruments but in heaven only stringed instruments are referred to - harps. The reason behind it is that we can not only play but we can sing, we can do both; you cannot do that with a wind instrument. A wind instrument is for testimony but a stringed instrument is in view of taking our place alongside of Christ, in view of answering to Him in His own precious thoughts. The Scriptures are so magnificent; they clearly set out certain things that are surely for our understanding and to help us. So we have these passages which peculiarly bring out the greatness of what is available to us, what there is in one another, because the strings on these instruments, in a certain sense, relate to persons, one person has one particular impression and another has another impression, and as we merge together there is a complete answer to the thoughts of God. We might say how much each has gained through the experiences in their links with God and with the Lord; how much each one, therefore, has accumulated in spiritual wealth and substance; even the children have part in these things. There is room for the very simplest impression. Mr Taylor spoke about the choir, and the choirmaster realising that there was one little note missing. He said, Where is the little piccolo? It was a short sharp note, but helping to give tone and character to the service, so vital, you might say, to the singing. Every voice is so necessary, every impression so essential in view of the working out of things.

So Hezekiah is brought forward as one who is rich in experience and yet his experience was such under the hand of God that he is told he is about to die: "Set thy house in order; for thou shalt die and not live", Isa 38: 1. What a solemn statement! But he was allowed to go through an experience so close to death in view of something coming out in life, something that was worked out through the experience that he went through himself that gave him an added impression of Christ. How wonderful it is that each impression and whatever we pass through is intended to affect us and result in something precious for the heart of God. So he says "The living, the living, he shall praise thee, as I this day". He was given an extension of life - fifteen years. What an extension of life! What a testimony to the Spirit's power, and the Spirit's resource, and the Spirit's supplying! We sing:

'Blest Spirit, we would sing to Thee,

Thou source of life and liberty'

(Hymn 261)

O the preciousness of relying on the Spirit of God in view of there being something formed in us that we can take up and simply express before God in view of answering to the heart of God! That is what Hezekiah does. "The father to the children shall make known thy truth": something is going to come through in the coming generation as it is passed on, by the fathers, by those with experience, by those who appreciate and value and realise that as one generation passes another generation is coming on. And what do they take on? Surely they take on the impressions that have been seen and demonstrated in the fathers; surely they take on something of the spirit of the father. How important it is that scope is made for the enlargement of what there is available amongst us! How important it is tonight that they are here! Is it not an encouragement? Is it not an enrichment? Something being given by way of an impression from the fathers to the children: "the father to the children shall make known thy truth". O, how precious "thy truth"! The truth has been so clearly set out for us right through from Mr Darby's day, and even further back than that; it must be further back than that because it says "Jehovah was purposed to save me". Then he adds "And we will play upon my stringed instruments all the days of our life, in the house of Jehovah". It is not just 'I will play' but "we will play", that is that everyone joins in, brings in their impressions, and there is an answer cumulatively that results in something for the heart of God. That is the intention as we come together Lord's day by Lord's day, that some impression is gathered up, some impression of the preciousness of what Christ has secured; not only what He has undertaken but what He has secured as loving the assembly, and as having Himself the opportunity to display some manifestation of His glory. And that impression remains with us as the week proceeds, and it gathers up as we go along in view of something further being added to us. Such is Hezekiah.

I want to speak of Habakkuk in relation to what is gathered up in recovery. One of the most interesting things about this short prophecy is that there is a verse in it which has been taken up right from the inception of the recovery of the truth; it is brought forward three times in the New Testament, so important it is, so valuable it is, so vital it is; and it is a principle which has been held to through the centuries right to the present day: "the just shall live by his faith" (chap 2: 4) - 'the just shall live by his faith'. How important the principle is! Let each one of us grasp that we can be here in faith, we can be here as set up, justified, perfectly clear of every moral issue on account of our faith that the Lord has gone on high. Then Habakkuk enters into this wonderful prayer which ends up with a song. He says "Yet I will rejoice in Jehovah, I will joy in the God of my salvation". You can see how burdened he is, how keyed up he is as he realises what will come in in a day yet to come! But "Jehovah the Lord, is my strength, And he maketh my feet like hinds' feet, And he will make me to walk upon my high places". It relates to what we reach in assembly service, what we touch in response to divine persons - "my high places". "Go to my brethren and say to them, I ascend to my Father and your Father, and to my God and your God": it relates to that side of things, as the Lord comes in leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills. Just think of it! He is moving in the high places, reaching one locality after another Lord's day by Lord's day, moving on, you may say, but giving each one a sense of what it is to enter upon these high places, these heavenly places. We shall soon be with the One we love, the One we know. Then it says "To the chief Musician"; it makes you think of the Psalms, psalms that bring out the quality of spiritual wealth. "On my stringed instruments" - how many are there? How many psalms to the chief Musician? How many relate to the stringed instruments? It is worth looking into because there is profit in delving into the Scriptures and finding the richness and resource that is there, not only just for knowledge but in view of acquiring something in the way of wealth in our souls that will help us to respond to the One who is the Chief Musician. It relates to the Lord Jesus Himself, the One who is ready to take up every divine answer and then to relate it to what is for the Father and for God. "On my stringed instruments": that is how He views the local assembly; He claims it for Himself, and then He says He is going to have an answer from every one in view of something being reached in assembly service. May this stimulate us and encourage us just to look into these precious things and acquire these impressions that will add wealth to us, for His Name's sake.