THE PRODUCT OF TRAVAIL
[p. 511] THE PRODUCT OF TRAVAIL
Revelation 12:1,2; Revelation 12:5; 1 Samuel 4: 21, 22; Genesis 35: 18 - 20
What is in my mind to engage us is of a somewhat solemn and exacting nature. It may not be much to stimulate, but rather to sober us and to promote a sense of obligation in regard to the interests of God in this world. Those who, from the outset, had to do with God’s interests on earth since sin came in, have been characterised by sobriety, by gravity, and a sense of obligation, and this comes out peculiarly as we pass through crises. The Lord has been very gracious to His people in recent years in saving us from the wolf who scatters, so that there has been preservation from general scattering of the saints, for which we all should give thanks to God constantly and pray that the measure of peace which we have had may continue and increase. So that we “pray for the peace of Jerusalem”.
There is, however, much in the way of local eruptions and cleavages and these cause their own exercises, and I take the liberty of regarding these exercises as “travails”, so as to bring out, to make clear, that each of these travails is intended to bring forth something — that the state of the meeting is better than it was before the sorrow began, and not worse. If it is worse, it shows there has not been strength to bring forth, as it is said in the prophet, “the children are come to the birth, and there is not strength to bring forth” (Isaiah 37: 3). What is to be brought forth in a general way is a man, not an individual but a man in character. From the outset of the incoming of sin, bringing forth has been by travail and pain, and the Spirit of God takes it up and applies it constantly in the sense in which I am speaking of it.
We use the word ‘exercise’ for the word ‘travail’ which is one of the best words we have and the most [p. 512] useful; but I am not using it now, for it is hardly strong enough for what I have in mind. “Travail” is the word; you find it applied in Galatians where the apostle is in great distress as regards the saints there, for they were missing the point for the moment, the point of sonship: the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free. He applies the word to himself, he spoke of travailing again; he had already had his concern about these same saints, as indeed he had, no doubt, about every assembly formed by his ministry. What he had in mind was that Christ should be formed in them.
Then the Lord Himself uses the figure, at a crucial time, on the eve of His being taken away from His disciples. They loved Him and the very thought of His being taken away caused sorrow, but He clothes them with the great thought of travail, having in mind the result; that there should be gain from that very sorrow. Indeed, He was about to enter into the greatest sorrow. The Lord was entering on the most terrible series of sufferings conceivable, but they were to issue in something. He speaks of what would issue because of the saints’ participation in this, in the measure in which they could participate in it. He says, “I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice” (John 16: 22). They would be better off, there would be as a result a great improvement on their then circumstances. So that He uses the figure of which I am speaking; He speaks about joy occasioned by a man being born into the world. The great accession of gain alluded not so much to Himself personally, as to what is brought forth, His own characteristics developed, brought forth. The book of the Acts shows that the children had not only come to the birth, but there was strength for it — marvellous enduring power in the disciples! — and the great result is brought forth, but not without travail. So I am speaking now,
[p. 513] as I said, in a very sober, solemn way as to these local matters coming up, and they will come up, for we cannot hide from ourselves the fact that they come up constantly; they have come up, they are coming up, and they will come up. It is well to face the position.
Now in regard to the first passage, in Revelation, what is in mind is that in approaching these sorrows as they come — I do not say they are always cleavages or divisions, for there may be attacks from the outside occasioning the same thing, as in this passage in Revelation — but in approaching these crises, whatever they may be, let us see to it that we have right thoughts of the saints, that they are clothed rightly in our minds. Some have turned aside in these sorrows, grown weary, blaming others rather than themselves, and turning away, perhaps glad of the excuse. One has to say that sorrowfully, but it is because we have not learned to clothe the brethren aright. Take any local meeting, however small and feeble, we may not clothe it rightly. Were we to get to the side of heaven, were we to get into heaven and see the heavenly point of view, we would see the meeting very differently, and also each of those who compose it. As we do get heaven’s view, then the matter is settled in our minds because we cannot but stand by and see it through, taking our share in it, with the result that the end is better than the beginning. That there is definite gain, that what is brought forth is in the character of a man, that is to say, a man in the sense of full growth. I am not speaking now of any individual, but of characteristics. The apostle had that in mind in his first letter to Corinth, that there should be men; men, I apprehend, in the order of dignity. God would have men in His house. “Quit yourselves like men” (1 Corinthians 16: 13), he says. You get strength to go with it. That was what he had in mind, that the meeting at Corinth would take on this dignified character in such a way as they had not had it before. I believe Corinth was greater after the crisis than [p. 514] before, and the apostle intended to go the whole way in dealing with the matter there.
We have to act wisely in dealing with evil in local companies, and await the time to deal with it finally, and to go the whole way with the matter. So that the apostle directed them what to do with the gross side of the position, the shameful condition that existed, that a christian assembly should be allowing something that would not be named even among the nations, among the corrupt people of Corinth. The judgment was to be thorough. The sin in question reminds us of what we are capable of in our local companies, and how Satan would bring the testimony into discredit publicly by someone’s conduct in that way. He ordered that to be dealt with and told them in detail what to do — “ye and my spirit being gathered together, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 5: 4). That is, the whole christian economy can be brought into that action, so as to retrieve the position, to lift the testimony from the degradation of such a gross state of things, into dignity. Then he says, “Remove the wicked person from amongst yourselves” (verse 12). That is addressed to the whole company, they had to do that; but then there is much more than that. 2 Corinthians 12 shows that there was much more of the same kind of thing. He did not forget it, he knew all about it and would deal with it in due course. He would prefer that they dealt with it, and wrote to them that they should do so before he came; but he says, ‘It must be done’. The danger is the leaving of things, dear brethren, dealing with them in a certain way and yet leaving them in detail, so that the leaven takes root again and spreads abroad. That is the malady that exists in many cases.
So the apostle says further, “having in readiness to avenge all disobedience when your obedience shall have been fulfilled” (2 Corinthians 10: 6). That is, when the saints generally would come round to obedience, he would deal with the [p. 515] more salient evil, not now only immorality, but bad doctrine and rivalry with himself. Picture a nominal brother in that meeting saying, as regards the apostle Paul, that “his letters ... are weighty and strong, but his presence in the body weak, and his speech naught” (2 Corinthians 10: 10). Think of what was behind that! The apostle did not shrink from saying as to that, “Such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And it is not wonderful, for Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light” (2 Corinthians 11: 13, 14). He would deal with all that in time. What is in mind is that things are not to be left; we may feel powerless, but we must not leave things that way, they must be dealt with, and God will not fail us as we turn to Him.
I am speaking of the clothing of the saints rightly, as a local gathering and generally; so that, in this passage in Revelation, the woman is “clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars”. Now we are to understand what this means, what a realm of governmental glory we are in the midst of here. These are all thoughts attaching to the saints; they attach to Israel, for it is Israel here, poor though she seemed to be as this event took place historically, but the divine thoughts were there. Simeon and Anna and many others in those days recognised what existed in these thoughts. So it is, dear brethren, that our salvation and preservation and participation in the conflict, requires that we should have these thoughts about the brethren, about the assembly. What glories attach to us! Is it not worth standing for? Is it not worth travailing for, so that there may be brought forth something that will maintain it? It has not been maintained: that is the idea. The history of Israel shows that although these thoughts had attached to Israel, they had never been maintained properly. In David and Solomon, of course, they were maintained to some extent, but all that had lapsed, and a very sorrowful state of things existed. Now the [p. 516] time has come for one to be brought forth, and it is a “male son”, meaning, as I pointed out, that the male side, the “man”, is emphasised. That is what is needed. We are living in times when that side is greatly set aside publicly, with the consequent results of weakness in government, and evil allowed beyond anything perhaps ever legalised before. Not only is evil allowed, but it is legalised; it is the weakness of the position. Where evil is legalised, it simply means that there is no power to resist it, to overcome it; and that may creep in amongst us. There are those who excuse what exists and say, ‘Leave it alone;’ but that is only weakness. Wisdom may require that we be patient, but the thing must be met; and in the passage before us it is about to be met, and Satan knows it — he understands what this woman means. He understands what any meeting means, any gathering of God’s people in relation to the name of Christ — gathering together, as the Lord says, “unto my name”. He understands that and is set to defeat it: first by corrupting it, and then, if there be travail as to it, to defeat, to nullify, the normal result of it. That is what he is set for. So that the meeting would be even worse than it was before. Now that is a most lamentable thing, and the secret of it is that we do not go all the way in dealing with evil.
Now, it is a “male son” that she is about to bring forth. It does not say that the enemy knew what the product would be, but whatever she would bring forth he would destroy it. He knew what she represented. All these things were there potentially, but they were not carried through and maintained, as in the days of David and Solomon, nor as will be in the glorious days of the Messiah, when He will take up the government, when God will judge the world in righteousness by that Man whom He has ordained. The government had lapsed, and Satan knew that that woman, Israel, represented what was in the mind [p. 517] of God, and he knew that anything she would bring forth must be destroyed, or his schemes would be overthrown. But the Spirit of God tells us that it was a “male son” she brought forth; it was a completed matter, the exercise was completed. So that we have One whom God is pleased with, and He is caught up to heaven. Any exercise short of this, any product short of this in our exercises, dear brethren, is not sufficient. It is a matter of what God can take up into heaven, what pleases Him. He took the Son born, up to heaven, to His throne. There can be no doubt that prophetically the assembly was included in this, for it is what is out of Christ, all that belongs to that great result is caught up to God and to His throne, beyond the reach of Satan. I am endeavouring to apply this in a simple way to our local meetings, for if in these crises that we go through, the result is not morally great enough to be caught up to heaven, there is nothing gained. If the state of the meeting is not better than it was before, ground has been lost, and the secret is that we do not go the whole way in the matter.
Now I turn to Samuel, to show how a women had a right judgement of the thing negatively. It was one of the darkest days in Israel’s history, and meetings have their days of that kind, God orders them so as to make men out of us. I say, God orders them; you may say, He allows them, but it is more likely that He orders them to bring out what is latent, what is not active. He would bring out what there is of Himself and make the most of it, and very often a conflict does that. I need not dwell on this dark day in the early chapters of 1 Samuel, it is well known amongst us, I doubt not. Samuel is not seen here; he is seen in the previous chapter; he is ready; he is there. The prophetic ministry is available, but he is not seen in chapters 4 to 6, not till chapter 7. Now what is in mind in these chapters is that every saint, every nominal christian,
[p. 518] every person in the meeting, is to take things to heart, and not to rely upon a Samuel. God has His Samuel, for which we thank Him — he may not be known to all, but he is there. Before His Samuel takes up the matter, the saints have to be brought into it, they have to go through the things they have brought upon themselves. It will not do to bring in a powerful ministry, and carry things on for a time over the heads of the saints; God wants to bring every one of us into it, the youngest in the meeting.
Now this woman — the wife of Phinehas — represents that side; she feels and names the conditions. She dies, alas — it is a sorrowful scene — but in her death we have brought to our attention that the condition of things in which she lived will not do for God. She died; she represents in a typical way the feeble state of things. There were those who were content with that state of things, but God was not, and the point is to get into the mind of God. He had already revealed to His prophet, that is to Samuel, His mind about the matter — a young man, a boy, you might say, receiving the mind of God about an old man, about Eli. The mind of God was disclosed, that is the background; and the man to whom it was disclosed was there — he is a potentiality, he is there. Faith always looks for this, but then, faith looks for the saints to be brought into it first, because before you get a deliverer the saints should feel the need of a deliverer. This woman died, as I said: it is solemnly and sorrowfully stated, she died in her travail. You might say, she died for the people in that sense, to bring home to them what the state of things was. It is often so in our meetings that one has to accept death to bring home to all the state of things, for God is bent on reality amongst us, and He would draw all the saints into what He is about to do in these last days. As this woman dies in the travail, what does she bring forth? A son — alive: the great product of travailing.
[p. 519] And what is his name? Ichabod. Though not positive blessing, it affords light in a negative sense: a solemn humbling fact, but that is the state of things — there is no glory. What is our service? What are our preachings? What are our morning meetings, as we call them? What are our Bible-readings — if there is no glory? God’s thought is that there should be glory. He is spoken of as “the God of glory” in calling out Abraham. He is the God of glory, and the assembly is the residence of it. Every meeting having in principle assembly status is intended to be the residence of glory.
Now, what a great thought this is, dear brethren! How it brings the thing close to us! It is not an abstract thing, the assembly is the residence of glory. Well, this woman in her dying moments says, No glory! Where is it? That is the meaning of Ichabod. She says, “The glory is departed”. It was once there, thank God for that! There are many so-called meetings of brethren that never had the glory. How could a meeting set up in independency have the glory of God? It has not any, whatever its pretension; those composing it have departed from the glory. Any person or persons moving away from where God is, have departed from the glory; so they are left! We need not speak of them, save to enlarge on what is in mind here; they never had the glory, the glory was never part of these independent meetings; they have left the sphere of it in independency. But those who follow righteousness, faith, love, and peace, calling on the Lord out of a pure heart, may count upon the glory; it comes in constantly.
Now, this woman had a clear view of the position. She says, “The glory is departed from Israel”, and her product has this stamp on him; everyone who speaks of him by name is reminded that a change has come about, that the glory that once was there is gone. That is the secret of the recovery: one dying with the sense that the glory has departed — acknowledging it, naming the product of her travail in that way. He is, as you [p. 520] might say, a living testimony in Israel to the shame of the condition that existed, and that is the secret of recovery. Samuel comes in and the Philistines are routed, but that is later on, not before this, not before you have an Ichabod. It is a product, in a negative way, of right feeling as to a bad state of things amongst us. God intimates in the history here that He sees to that, He acknowledges the confession of this dying mother, by coming in. He awakens as a man out of sleep and shouts as a strong man by reason of wine, and puts His enemies to a perpetual reproach, and brings the ark back. He had delivered His strength into captivity, and His glory into the enemy’s hands, but He brings it back (Psalm 78: 61 - 66). He sees to it Himself, without a priest, without a Levite; He brings the ark back, showing what God can do, but He does it evidently in the light of this confession; this acknowledgement that the shameful state of the people caused the glory to depart.
Well now, I go on to Genesis, to bring out another travail — that of Rachel. She is the wife of Jacob. It is Israel again; but Jacob is travelling on the way from Bethel to his father Isaac, and this occurs near Bethlehem. It is a prophetic scene, having its results later, for Rachel is carried down honourably through Jeremiah into Matthew’s gospel. Her weeping is connected with the place of the birth of the Lord Jesus — “Rachel weeping for her children”, not for her son, but for her children, thus referring to Israel — the remnant. She is Jacob’s wife, his first-loved; that is, it is Israel that is loved. She is not here clothed with the sun. It is a question of Jacob’s affections, that is to say, it is the meeting, as I have been speaking of it, if you will allow me to use the figure. It is the meeting that is the object of Christ’s affections. He loved the assembly and delivered Himself up for it. It is an honourable state of things, so far; but Rachel dies, and I speak of the product, how that Benjamin,
[p. 521] the product of the exercise, is a full type of Christ — that is, in an active sense. His name is Benjamin. The name of the child in Revelation 12 is not given; it is a “male son”, which faith understands. Here it is Benjamin, and, dear brethren, this is the final thought I have, that she who travails is loved by Christ. It is not the glory attaching to it, as in Revelation 12, but one loved by Christ. The Lord has great pleasure in our meetings in this aspect, and He would make them better. The apostle Paul stresses the thought of increasing more and more, and the exercise is to make the condition better, that there may be more to be loved than there was, before.
Rachel dies in a very sorrowful way, and she names her child Benoni, as she dies — the son of my affliction. That does not go far enough, dear brethren. If we have what only represents Rachel’s sorrow, we have not the needed result; that does not go as far as she had prophesied of this son. She had said when Joseph was born, “Jehovah will add to me another son”. Well, we must understand what this other son means, that it is not terminated in the remembrance of a mother’s sorrow, but in the completion of a divine thought. Now that is what I want to make clear, that in our meetings there should be some idea of this completion of a divine thought. It is a great thing not to move along in a day-in-day-out sort of way, but to have a true conception of the divine thought in the position in which we are set, one that is complete: it is a question of twelve. The woman that was with Rachel said, “Fear not; for this also is a son for thee”, that is to say, ‘Your own thought of addition’. It is a question of God’s thought, that God would have twelve tribes. How great it is to get to the divine side in our sorrows, and to see that the result, the product of the exercise and travail is a complete thought! The woman says, “This also is a son for thee” — it is what you ought to expect. The dying woman was not equal to [p. 522] it, she called him Benoni; but Jacob was equal to it, he called him Benjamin. When Eve bore Seth she called him Seth, and Adam called him Seth; she went the full length, she had learnt from experience. Jacob does not call his twelfth son Benoni, he calls him Benjamin, that is, he has the mind of God — Benjamin is son of the right hand.
This is a remarkable chapter; there is much death, but we have a Benjamin, symbolic of power. Jacob is on his way to Isaac, and he names the child Benjamin, implying that he is son of his father’s right hand. It involves a divinely complete thought, for in the number twelve, Benjamin being the twelfth son of Jacob, we have what God can use in the effectuation of the counsels of His love. And in the son of His right hand, God will do the best for us. If there be need of ministry or the like amongst us, it is a question of travailing for it, having intelligence as to what is needed, and God will give us what we need, that is to say, somebody that can do the thing that is needed, that is Benjamin, the son of his father’s right hand. The right hand is the symbol of power; God’s heart is there, His heart is at His right hand (Ecclesiastes 10: 2); that is, all His power is subservient to His love. Now He has a man He can use. Benjamin is a remarkable type of Christ, but what I am speaking of is Christ in character coming out amongst us, generally and locally: that which God can use to do what is needed and to do it well and in power; like the Lord in the gospel of Mark, for Mark sees “the kingdom of God come in power”. Ministry requires power: it is Benjamin, the son of the father’s right hand, as the product of exercise.
May God bless these thoughts to us!