THE NUMERAL THREE IN TESTIMONY (1)
[p. 247] THE NUMERAL THREE IN TESTIMONY (1)
Genesis 18:1 - 10; Genesis 18:16 - 21
JT What is to be observed in the divine operations is that God operates sovereignly, irrespective of conditions; indeed, in spite of them, as in Genesis 1. He also operates because of conditions; because of favourable conditions. This is what appears in this section of Genesis, and what is in mind is that we may see how, as conditions are favourable, we have increase of intimacy, God making Himself known more fully and familiarly, for it is His thought that He should be with men in holy familiarity, and that they should be with Him also in holy reverential familiarity.
It is thought that this passage helps us to see the revelation made in the New Testament of that into which we are baptised. It is said that the nations were to be baptised “to the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28: 19). The events recorded in the gospels are not always in the order in which they happened in the Lord’s life here. They were written later, by chosen vessels, evidently in relation to conditions then existent, such conditions as would enable saints to understand what was written. What the gospels present is largely confirmation of the apostolic testimony. Testimony had been rendered orally, and the gospels, although going further, are the confirmation of it. The testimony being rendered, and having been effective, conditions existed enabling the Spirit of God to present what He intended to present in the several gospel narratives. So in Matthew the Trinity is formally presented after the baptism of Christ, both the Father and the Spirit coming into view. Secondly, in His resurrection, He directs His apostles to make disciples of all the nations, baptising them to the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. The great [p. 248] thought of the Deity is thus set before us in an ordered economy into which the nations were to be baptised, and into which we are all baptised. Obviously the gospel was written because the conditions effected through the testimony of the apostles warranted it. It would be understood. The things alluded to would he intelligible, and hence, in the sense of moral instruction, the Lord would help us to see to conditions. The more they are according to the mind of God, the more spiritual advantages and privileges we shall have, the more divine overtures and incomings. So we might pursue the inquiry, beginning with this chapter as particularly representative of favourable conditions; having the numeral three in mind, as representative of complete testimony from God, here evidently, in regard to Himself. That is, He comes in; there is an appearing; not the first one, but it is a unique one; it is an appearing of three Persons to Abraham. What is seen shows that he was ready for it and was quite equal to it; that is what God delights in. It is a scene that affords great instruction for us in these days; instruction in regard to suitable conditions for God. The number three, applied here to Persons including Jehovah Himself, points to the fullest revelation, at least in figure, that God has made, and suggests that we are to be in familiar relations in that wonderful economy; in holy, respectful, reverential relations. We have in this book — just to make the outline clear — several instances of the use of three as complete testimony in various relations, such as the human race, developed, as we have it today, from three heads — Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Then we have the patriarchs, three of them in Genesis. Then, in the four ministerial books, that is to say, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, we have three ministers, Moses, Aaron and Miriam, formally representative of God in the ministerial sense. So, throughout the later books, particularly the historical books, the same thing will be seen, the full testimony [p. 249] presented on this principle in relation to the various subjects of the books. That is what is in mind.
WJH Had you in mind that each appearing to Abraham was consequent upon conditions, except the first one, which was wholly sovereign?
JT That is right. He dwelt in Mesopotamia when Jehovah appeared to him, and Joshua tells us that he served idols at that time, so that it was a wholly sovereign movement. It was in spite of conditions.
Rem Abraham obeyed the call of God, and as obeying the call of God, suitable conditions were there for further disclosures.
JT That is exactly what came out in Genesis 12. It says that God had directed Abraham to go into the land of Canaan and he came into it — “into the land of Canaan they came” — that is, he obeyed. It took some time, for his father took the initiative at the outset, and Stephen says that it was after his father was dead. That is to say, the natural hindrance was removed; he came to the land of Canaan, and as there, Jehovah appeared to him again, and that would be on account of conditions. He was moving in obedience.
EESL Are these favourable conditions difficult for us to provide for God?
JT Well I think we may see in the history of Abraham up to this chapter how difficult they are, and no doubt everyone present will recognise that the difficulties that Abraham had are just his. The first appearing was in Mesopotamia, according to Stephen, and it was the appearing of the God of glory. He had another appearing according to chapter 12, and built an altar, and called upon the name of Jehovah. But then he went into Egypt, and that did not afford favourable conditions — he lost ground. Abraham may be taken as representative of a man of faith in the history of his soul, showing what difficulties arise, and how they are overcome. So that he has to come back from Egypt; learning a lesson in that, and much that followed in [p. 250] his controversy with his brother Lot, and the conflict that he entered into to rescue his brother; all that was educational. I suppose every one of us has had to go through it more or less, and each one knows how extreme the difficulties of the path of faith are. So that after the conflict with the kings that fought against the king of Sodom he comes in for divine help, in Melchisedec. Then in chapter 15 we have for the first time the “word of Jehovah”, something perhaps, that has not been observed by us as studying the history of Abraham. There are appearings before, but the “word of Jehovah” is what tries us. It is said of Joseph that “Until the time when what he said came about: the word of Jehovah tried him” (Psalm 105: 19). The word of God enters the inwards. It is “sharper than any two-edged sword, and penetrating to the division of soul and spirit, both of joints and marrow, and a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. And there is not a creature unapparent before him; but all things are naked and laid bare to his eyes, with whom we have to do” (Hebrews 4: 12, 13). That is chapter 15; a chapter we should take notice of. It is a searching, a crucial chapter; it is the word of God. As you will notice it says, “After these things the word of Jehovah came to Abram”.
GCH Is the “trying” process seen in the horror of great darkness that came upon Abraham?
JT That is, I think, what involves the greatest crisis in our lives, that horror of great darkness. It is the outcome of the word. The epistle to the Romans opens it up to us. The word is the mind of God expressed. He earlier opens up great thoughts for us; a great perspective. Then what we are inwardly; what we are in ourselves, and the difference between God and us comes into evidence. The word opens up God’s mind; and we have to compare ourselves with the mind [p. 251] of God.
ESW Is that fully answered to by the Lord Himself in Gethsemane in His words, “My Father, if it be possible let this cup pass from me” (Matthew 26: 39)?
JT There you see that the Lord understood well what the Father’s mind was, and what He had to go through in consequence. There was nothing in Him at all to be disclosed contrary to that, but in the case of each of us there is. It is what is contrary in us that brings in the crisis; can I stand it?
Ques Is that why such stress is laid on the prophetic word in our day?
JT I think so. God is helping us on that line. It is a question of the mind of God at any given time, but particularly His mind as compared with mine. Abraham was complaining, and then he says to Jehovah, “How shall I know?” It says in chapter 15: 6, “And he believed Jehovah; and he reckoned it to him as righteousness;” and in verse 8 he says, “Lord Jehovah, how shall I know that I shall possess it?” “How shall I know?” The way to knowledge; the way to reach the promises that are for us; the way to the purpose of God; all these enter into the answer to this question.
Ques Is the way to the knowledge of the mind of God by first seeing that there is obedience to the word of God?
JT What you get in John 14: 15 - 23 is tabernacle conditions. The Spirit was to come on the ground of the disciples keeping the Lord’s commandments, according to God’s great principles. “He spoke, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast” (Psalm 33: 9). Then in view of remnant times, the Lord says, “He that has my commandments and keeps them, he it is that loves me” (John 14: 21). And when inquiry is made as to how it is that the Lord would manifest Himself to the saints and not to the world, He says, “If any one love me, he will keep my word” (verse 23). The word deals with what I am. It deals with my inward motives. If I am to provide [p. 252] conditions suitable to God I have to deal with myself; my inward motives and so on.
ESW Is the link between love and knowledge seen in 1 Corinthians 8: 3, where the apostle says, “If any one love God, he is known of him”?
JT Quite so. The word here in Genesis 15, the word of Jehovah, leads to this inquiry on the part of Abraham. “How shall I know?” Then God directs him what to do; He says to him, “Take me a heifer of three years old, and a she-goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtle-dove and a young pigeon”. Jehovah did not add more, but Abraham proceeded to carry out the divine word: “he took all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid the half of each opposite its fellow; but the birds he did not divide. And the birds of prey came down on the carcases; and Abram scared them away. And as the sun was just going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, a horror, a great darkness, fell upon him”. That is what the word brings out. I am referring to the remarks as to the humble and contrite heart — that it is the effect of a process, it is a point reached, God looks towards that man. John 14 would show that He comes to that man, and this passage in Genesis 18 shows that He comes in a familiar way, in company, to such a man.
HM On the side of spiritual development, does the tree mentioned in chapter 18 suggest the matured growth of what had been originally planted in Abraham’s soul?
JT That is good. Abraham said to them, “Let now a little water be fetched, that ye may wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree”. There is something there that God, using reverential words, may shelter under. It all brings out the familiarity that enters into the occasion and points to a state in Abraham, the man of faith, that answered to the mind of God. There was nothing in Abraham to repel; on the contrary,
[p. 253] conditions were such as afforded convenience, comfort, and restfulness to God Himself, and those with whom He came.
HM Was not that tree Christ characteristically? It had developed in spite of adverse circumstances.
JT Just so. I was endeavouring, in passing on from chapter 15, to show how the state is reached that God can approve and rest in. Chapter 15 is, I think, the internal process, and that is the most difficult with us, for our minds take in subjective truth much more slowly than what is objective.
GAvS Are you indicating that the horror of great darkness was a necessary exercise for Abraham to pass through if he was to provide these restful conditions under which God would be able to make His communications?
JT That is the truth, and moreover what Abraham passed through was anticipative of what his seed were to pass through. It was included, I think, in the four hundred years. The period that is spoken of as four hundred years includes this extraordinary experience of Abraham and points to the fact that God had in His mind that all His people must come into this. We have to go through this process in order to reach the promises. The very experience is confirmatory. It is said, “behold, a horror, a great darkness fell upon him. And he said to Abram, Know assuredly that thy seed will be a sojourner in a land that is not theirs, and they shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years. But also that nation which they shall serve I will judge; and afterwards they shall come out with great property. And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age. And in the fourth generation they shall come hither again; for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full. And it came to pass when the sun had gone down, and it was dark, that behold, there was a smoking furnace, and a flame of fire which passed between those pieces”. That is [p. 254] the great truth that comes before the soul here. How the whole matter of God’s purpose and of the believer’s condition is solved in the death of Christ, but Abraham had to go through the thing in the horror of great darkness. You have a period here of four hundred years, which does not apply properly to the actual sojourn in Egypt. It is obviously spiritual and includes what Abraham was going through; for four hundred years would be more than, as it says here, four generations. The four generations allude to the actual stay of the people in Egypt, but the four hundred years must include what faith goes through in order to know and embrace the promises, and thus you come out with great property. The “property” is to make conditions for God so that He may be with us (see Exodus 25: 1 - 8).
Ques Would you say that the psalmist gives expression to it in a personal way — “Search me, O God, and know my heart; prove me, and know my thoughts. And see if there be any grievous way in me; and lead me in the way everlasting” (Psalm 139: 23, 24)? Is not that the searching of God and the conditions reached that God finds favourable?
JT I think so. You are enabled thus to call upon all that is within you. The great wealth that we have, refers to what we are spiritually. They came out with great property, the passage says, and if I call on all that is within me, that means I have something to bring forth for God — to afford conditions for God. Chapter 16 is another difficulty, that is to say, the believer seeking to bring about right things but on natural lines, which is very often seen amongst us — efforts to provide things to meet the divine mind on natural lines, natural ability, but in chapter 17 Abraham is prepared for the great truth of circumcision. “We are the circumcision”, Paul says, “who worship by the Spirit of God”. That is a great point reached.
Ques Does the teaching of Romans and Colossians enter into [p. 255] that?
JT Quite so. The teaching of Romans is in Genesis 15, but chapter 17 is the teaching of Colossians, and of Ephesians up to a point, though particularly Colossians. “Circumcised with circumcision not done by hand, in the putting off of the body of the flesh, in the circumcision of the Christ” (Colossians 2: 11). So that you find in chapter 17, that God enters into covenant with him, and He says to him, “It is I”. In verse 3 we read, “and God talked with him, saying, It is I”. Then God proceeds to speak to him of the covenant. You will see that God, speaking reverently, is the one party and Abraham is the other. He is coming on to familiar lines with the believer. God gives us to understand that He is dealing with us on personal, familiar lines; and He enters into covenant with Abraham, and changes his name. He changes Sarah’s name also, and says in effect, I will bring you into the nobility and status that is proper to the believer in relation to heavenly things. He finished speaking to Abraham, as you will observe in verse 22; “he left off talking with him; and God went up from Abraham”. Think of that, the Creator of the universe speaking to a man, speaking to him, as it were, on equal terms. He says, “It is I”, and when He finishes the conversation he goes up from Abraham. Think of the dignity of the believer — “from Abraham”. What does Abraham do? He is left to himself. He orders circumcision in his house, and that brings out the state of things seen in this chapter. The divine word is carried out to the letter, and God honours that.
JDU Speaking of honouring it, is there any connection with what is said by the Lord when He was baptised of John — “Thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness”? I was thinking of John, as conveying God’s word to Israel at the time.
JT There is a correspondence there — a very good one, because it brings out the divine approval. As Jesus came up out of the waters, the heavens were [p. 256] opened to Him. That is really the fulness of what we have in chapter 18; the full recognition by heaven of that Person; that Man fulfilling all righteousness. The heavens were opened to Him, and the word to Him was, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I have found my delight;” and the Holy Spirit came down in the character of a dove, meaning that there was infinite complacency there.
HM Speaking of circumcision, is it not most touching that the basis of it for us is the circumcision of Christ?
JT Yes. We are told what it means, that is, putting off the body of the flesh — not a part of it. Philippians brings out the full thought: “we are the circumcision;” that corresponds to Genesis 18. Abraham was not taking it on partially, he took it on wholly as God gave it, and so in principle he is of the circumcision who worship by the Spirit of God. So that the circumcision of Christ deals with the flesh totally, and that is what God is aiming at, that we should reach the full end of the flesh, and thus have conditions such as He desires. We can scarcely limit what God would do for us, if we afford Him these conditions.
Ques Are not such restful conditions suggested at the beginning of chapter 18, and as they are there, we shall be ready for further developments.
JT Well, that is what happened. The first verse is a statement of the fact of the appearing; then we get details of it, as if the Spirit of God would open it up, and it is a beautiful scene. “And he sat at the tent-door in the heat of the day. And he lifted up his eyes and saw, and behold, three men standing near him”. The familiarity of the occurrence is most striking. God himself is present; in a figurative sense, the Trinity is foreshadowed. Three are there, and they are standing near him; they have nothing [p. 257] to rebuke.
WRW Does the fourth verse suggest that we should provide refreshment for divine Persons?
JT That is the next thing. What is so beautiful is that he has the liberty to do this. “When he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent-door”. That is the position; he was at the tent-door in restfulness, and he “bowed himself to the earth, and said, Lord”. You see the intelligence. He is not at all darkened in his mind, or flustered by the extraordinary appearance. He knows whom to address. He says “Lord;” he discerns Jehovah. John says to Peter, “It is the Lord”. It is a question of spiritual discernment.
ESW Why does he change from the singular to the plural in addressing these three? He says, “Lord, if now. I have found favour in thine eyes, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant. Let now a little water be fetched, that ye may wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree”.
JT It is as if he sees that these other men were on the divine side. It is a suggestion, I think, of the Trinity, coming in where conditions warrant it, and Abraham discerns God in one of them and addresses Him as Lord. “To us there is one God, the Father”, and Abraham recognised God, but he recognised the other two, and speaks to them all in a collective sense.
GAvS Is such spiritual perception the fruit of what Abraham had gone through, and an indication of how spiritual perception grows with us?
JT Well, that is what is going on constantly. One observes in moving about, how God is working to lead His people on to assembly lines, enabling us to take our place in assembly, and to discern the Persons, and the relative positions of the Persons in the assembly. We are brought into an economy. It is not God as in light unapproachable, it is God as He has been pleased to come out to us, and how He is to be understood in the assembly; how the Persons are to be understood in [p. 258] the assembly.
GCM Would you say why it is that Abraham did not invite Him into the house, but to sit under the tree?
JT I think that what was suggested is right. The tree denotes the growth; it was a tree of Jehovah’s planting. The Lord said, “Every plant which my heavenly Father has not planted shall be rooted up” (Matthew 15: 13). The psalmist shows what the divine planting is, and that the believer, as planted there is like a green olive tree in the house of God, and as a green olive tree he is recognised; God has respect to him. That is to say, God has respect for the spiritual development that is in the assembly.
WJH The oaks of Mamre would confirm the position.
JT That is another thought; another evidence of growth, showing what Abraham had reached in the point of stability as knowing God.
WJH I wondered whether the three preceding chapters really bring us to the thought of the oaks.
JT I think they do. The book of Genesis has the idea of stability, permanence; a point that the believer reaches through the divine process. The apostle says, in 2 Corinthians 1: 21, 22, “he that establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, is God, who also has sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts”. That is to say, the second letter to the Corinthians is stabilising. It is a great point in our history when we become stable; not tossed about, but able to stand up against all winds, and afford shelter to others too. The oaks of Mamre allude, I think, to the progress Abraham had made in his soul, and God recognised that.
GAvS Does that explain how it is that, as the scene develops, Abraham indicates that he has at his disposal valuable agencies such as his wife and his servants, which all combine to produce conditions for the refreshment of the three [p. 259] visitors?
JT That is good. There is a system of things; a proper household condition. It is a “household of faith”, which whilst it may apply to the believer’s house, is properly seen in the assembly, as it is said “that thou mayest know how one ought to conduct oneself in God’s house, which is the assembly of the living God, the pillar and base of the truth. And confessedly the mystery of piety is great. God has been manifested in flesh, has been justified in the Spirit, has appeared to angels, has been preached among the nations, has been believed on in the world, has been received up in glory” (1 Timothy 3: 15, 16). The mystery of piety enters into all this, involving how God could be here in such lowliness; manifested in flesh, but justified in the Spirit. All that was done was in the power of the Spirit. There was justification of the incarnation in what the Spirit did. We have here suggestively that state of things in the house, how all is under the direction of Abraham, and the divine Persons, you may say, are entertained; they sat graciously under the tree, as invited, until the patriarch brings forth what he has prepared.
GAvS Does all this spring from stability, or does it contribute to the stability that is set forth in the oak?
JT Both are true. This visit would be stabilising to Abraham and his house. Every divine visitation tends to stabilise us, and prepare us for further great occasions. It is from glory to glory. God is working to help us to get on more and more. The more the conditions are suitable, the more the overtures from God; the more visitations and privileges. Each visitation prepares us for another.
CSS Would you say that this delightful scene is reached only by obeying God’s word, “walk before me, and be thou perfect”? The apostle speaks of going on to perfection.
JT Well, I think that is the way the truth stands in this book. Enoch had walked with God, but God is [p. 260] looking for more than that from Abraham. He says, “walk before me”. He would see the gait, the proportions of the believer in his spiritual movements, and Abraham answers to it. God honours it here, in that He says in effect, I am going to make him My friend: “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing?” He is viewed as God’s friend here; God had come to him in the familiarity of a friend, saying, “It is I”, and held a conversation with him; now He comes back with two others. It is the idea of divine revelation, the three Persons, and all because of conditions.
CD In speaking of the oaks of Mamre at the end of chapter 13, it says they are in Hebron. Does that not emphasise the thought of divine stability?
JT Yes. It is a question of the purpose of God. As we have often seen, Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt. It refers to the purpose of God; what He is to have, and Abraham is now in the light of that, as it is said in 1 Corinthians 2: 7, “wisdom which God had predetermined before the ages for our glory” — hidden wisdom. In verse 19, God says, “I know him”. The apostle says, “if any man love God, the same is known of him”. Abraham is a typical lover of God, and God says, “I know him that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of Jehovah, to do righteousness and justice, in order that Jehovah may bring upon Abraham what he hath spoken of him”. We see how God is taking account of the patriarch, who is considering for Him. He commands his children after him. That is, conditions provided by faith are to go on; God says “in order that Jehovah may bring upon Abraham what he hath spoken of him”. We reach a definite end on the ground of the provision of suitable conditions here, and that is what marked Abraham. In commanding his children after him he is thinking of the future, until the end is reached of the purpose [p. 261] of God.
MH Would you say Abraham was in the enjoyment of perfect love when he ran to meet God — “perfect love casts out fear”?
JT Just so. What one often observes in the assembly meetings is the want of it. If divine Persons come, They are to be understood. That is the point one would seek to have before us. Divine Persons are known in Their respective relations in the assembly, and, as discerned, there is movement. “He ran to meet them”. When he saw them he ran to meet them from the tent-door. That is, the position is right and he has liberty in it. The scene illustrates how “perfect love casts out fear”.
WJH The conditions are so right in his tent, that it is evident that the very best that Abraham had there was devoted to God.
JT Then see the beautiful interchange of thought. He changes, as was noted, from the singular to the plural, and says to them, “Let now a little water he fetched, that ye may wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree. And I will fetch a morsel of bread; and refresh yourselves; after that ye shall pass on; for therefore have ye passed on towards your servant. And they said, So do as thou hast said”. It is not, Jehovah said.
ESW Is this intimacy with divine Persons learned first in our household settings, and then transferred to the assembly?
JT I think that is right. God has greatly helped us on the line of the household — what Paul in Galatians calls “the household of faith”. He has greatly helped us in regard to baptism, and bringing up the children, and He is giving great results. It is a constant theme of thanksgiving amongst the brethren; the great results God is graciously giving to His people in their children. I believe it is that He is honouring the “For I know him that he will command his children and his household after him”.
[p. 262] Parents are thinking of that, and God is thinking of them and honouring them, and showing them that He will continue the testimony, according to His pleasure. He means to carry on, and is honouring His people on that account.
GAvS What Abraham proposes to do here is much exceeded in what he actually does, and I am wondering whether that gives us an indication of why the Lord assented to his suggestion.
JT He values our bounty and particularly the increase of it. What you find here, too, is that as Abraham ministers to his great visitors, they say to him, “Where is Sarah thy wife?” as if the question of the assembly is now raised. They said this, and then we have the bringing in of Isaac, that is, of Christ as Man, typically, and then the next thing is the removal of the world, as typified in the destruction of Sodom. God is going to have a world of His own. He is working out all this. The promise of Isaac is renewed; there is no doubt about it, and God regards Abraham as His friend; instructing him in regard to what He is going to do with the world. It is to be judged, and for what purpose? To fill it with Christ, and all the purposes of God in relation to Christ. In the patriarch there is no exulting over this, that Sodom was to be judged, though he knew how wicked it was, but rather he is anxious that the divine patience should continue. So Abraham becomes an intercessor. We have the great principle of intercession brought out in this setting. How patiently God allowed Abraham to go down as far as he wished in regard to the number of righteous persons that might be in Sodom, and then it says in the last verse: “Jehovah went away when he had ended speaking to Abraham; and Abraham returned to his place”. Jehovah does not go up to heaven now, as in chapter 17. The position is that God in going to judge the world at any moment; the judgment is imminent. Jehovah “went away”. He does not go up here, but [p. 263] carries out His will on earth. Abraham is His confidant. We have established here a great principle of friendship with God. What it is to be the divine confidant, to know what is to be done in regard to the world!