THE SEAL OF THE LIVING GOD
[p. 49] THE SEAL OF THE LIVING GOD
Revelation 7: 1 - 17; Revelation 11: 3 - 12
JT The principle of life is interwoven with all these scenes. The living creatures indicate creation made to live. In chapter 5, the living creatures seen together come before the elders, showing that life leads, being energetic, in relation to the Lamb and in relation to the prayers of the saints. The chapter further says, “And every creature which is in the heaven and upon the earth and under the earth, and those that are upon the sea, and all things in them, heard I saying, To him that sits upon the throne, and to the Lamb, blessing, and honour, and glory, and might, to the ages and ages. And the four living creatures said, Amen” (verse 13), showing that there is sympathy seen in the result of redemption.
We read in chapter 6 of the opening of the seals, and here we see again the activity of the living creatures.
Then, in this chapter, we have the seal of the living God upon His bondmen. The thought of life enters into the idea of bondmen. We are not free agents. I am speaking now of the chapter in its moral application; that is, to ourselves. The bondman is entirely at the will of Another. There are one hundred and forty-four thousand bondmen sealed; so that you have a large number governed by the principle of life, serving in relation to one another as bondmen, entirely under the hand of the Lord. He manipulates according to His wisdom, which shuts out the idea of free independent action in service. According to this, no one can take that ground.
Ques In the twelve tribes, does the principle of life come into view?
JT Yes, they are sealed with the seal of the living God. The twelve sons of Jacob came in in the most [p. 50] incongruous circumstances; there were four mothers, two of whom were slaves in the household. So the setting of the twelve is to remind us that God can work out what it represents, in spite of conditions. He works sometimes because conditions are favourable, but then He shows what He can do when the conditions are adverse. The number one hundred and forty-four thousand, is the idea of twelve greatly expanded, corresponding somewhat to the heavenly city, which is the thought in the most expanded way. The city is a cube; the principle of twelve is there, as you might say, substantially. Here it is seen in a number with the seal of the living God on their foreheads.
ANW Say a word about the seal of the living God.
JT Well, that is what I had in mind as to this chapter: it is a seal conveying the idea of life. There are other stamps of ownership; for instance, the rising in modern times of trade unionism and secret societies, all of which are marked rather by the stamp of moral death; whereas, here, it is the seal of the living God, the principle of life entering into the ownership. There is nothing corrupt or which would cause decay in it. It is the idea of life in the midst of death, and that in the most conspicuous place, the forehead, involving intelligence.
Ques Would the Spirit of God answer to that today?
JT That is how we are sealed. “Now 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” (2 Corinthians 1: 21, 22). Here, it is bondmen of God, showing that we are held for service at His will and not our own. The setting in the number twelve means that I am to serve with others, and that the service is to be mutual. Serving with others is a great matter. I can never serve individually according to God, unless I start with others. The principle is to get one’s setting in relation to the brethren. Saul says, “What shall I do, Lord?” (Acts 22: 10). Being an energetic man, he had the thought of doing something. An energetic man is apt to do things without considering whether they should be done, but the Lord, replying, said to him, “Rise up, and go to Damascus, and there it shall be told thee of all things which it is appointed thee to do”. The greatest servants have to learn from others; so did Saul. He found his setting among the brethren at Damascus.
SWP Like Timothy who came with the brethren.
JT Philippians shows how the spirit of the bondman worked out. The apostle addressed himself to them as a bondman.
RAL Would “Let this mind be in you” (Philippians 2: 5) refer to how their intelligence was to be affected?
JT Yes, that we are to be brought into accord with the descending mind of Christ. “Who, subsisting in the form of God, did not esteem it an object of rapine to be on an equality with God; but emptied himself, taking a bondman’s form” (Philippians 2: 6, 7). It is a bondman’s form. That is the thing to get hold of. He “humbled himself”, we are told in verse 8. This chapter in Revelation is to bring out that we are to serve with others, not simply a local company, but a large number, including all the tribes of Israel.
ANW The Thessalonians are said to serve “a living and true God” (1 Thessalonians 1: 9).
Ques Is there anything in the thought that Dan is left out and Manasseh introduced in this number?
JT It shows that God has a right to change, in that way; but He retains the twelve. He may pass you by and He may pass me by, but He never loses the principle upon which He is working. He leaves out Simeon in Deuteronomy 33, but He has the twelve, nevertheless. Here, no doubt, it has antichrist in view, for Dan brought in that principle early. Later, it is said, he leaped from Bashan. A man with a spring [p. 52] like that can well afford to be out of sight in the ordering of God, who always acts according to His own will and in perfect wisdom.
JWD In the idea of bondmen, do you include all the saints?
JT It is saints taken up in that light. As the Levites were taken up in service from a month old, so I have to grow up amongst the brethren and learn how to serve, not only amongst my local brethren, but in relation to all saints. Twelve is the administrative number — a number that is wonderfully divisible; in fact, the most divisible of the lower numbers. It means that the Lord can manipulate us according to His pleasure. Saul was told to go into the city and it would be told him what he must do; not a word was said about who would tell him. We never hear of Ananias save as sent to Paul. It is to show that I have to submit to persons who may seem to be much less than I am and learn from them, which is an exercising matter.
JTJr Ananias should not be ignored.
JT The Lord had designed that Saul should get the instruction from him. The point is, Saul was told to go into the city — not specifically to Ananias.
Ques Would you see the principle of bondmen carried out in the assembly at Antioch? They were serving in relation to one another. You have certain of them mentioned in Acts 13.
JT Yes, five of them; one of the greatest lessons for us to learn is how to serve in relation to others.
JTJr Saul is last on the list there.
Ques How does this compare with those mentioned in Acts 8 that were scattered abroad, of whom Philip was an example?
JT Philip had place among the seven in chapter 6; in that respect, he was not a novice; coming under the authority of the apostles, he had already been in harness; but then there were those who, having been [p. 53] scattered, went down to Antioch. They did not scatter themselves; they did not take the thing into their own hands, and go hither and thither. They were sufferers for the truth; they spoke of the Lord whose hand was with them. That settled the matter. A great number believed and turned to the Lord.
RAL “I am in the midst of you as the one that serves” (Luke 22: 27).
JT That is the point. When an apostle, who was to take the place of Judas, was to be appointed, he was to be one who could serve in relation to the other eleven; therefore the word was that he must be one who had “assembled with us all the time in which the Lord Jesus came in and went out among us, beginning from the baptism of John until the day in which he was taken up from us” (Acts 1: 21, 22); that is to say, he was to be one who had seen how Jesus had moved in and out in relation to others — in relation to those in whose midst He had served. No one can serve unless he realises how to serve in relation to others — unless he realises the principle centering in the number twelve.
ANW In expanding the service, it is evidently essential all the time to maintain the right relation locally.
SJH In connection with the golden bowls, you have referred to the prayer meeting. How do we get an outlook beyond what is local so that a man is expanded in his outlook?
JT Watch the prayers of the saints anywhere. As you are with God, you become greatly enlarged; a wide outlook comes gradually. You can understand how in Israel the outlook became enlarged; at the outset, each would be tribal, but he would be enlarged. Paul says, “to which our whole twelve tribes serving incessantly day and night” (Acts 26: 7). That is the idea, “our whole twelve tribes”, and they are serving well; God is doing great things with such.
[p. 54] Ques Why did Paul not go up to Jerusalem? He says that he went to Arabia: “Nor went I up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me; but I went to Arabia, and again returned to Damascus” (Galatians 1: 17).
JT He brings that out to show that he was not an apostle by human appointment. In Arabia, he would learn what the flesh is. When converted, he said, “What shall I do, Lord?” If the Lord had wished him to serve apart from the brethren, He would have told him what he was to do, but He sent him into the city; there he came into fellowship, so to speak, and there he began to serve. As a matter of fact, he was not sent out to minister until he had been a year in Antioch; in the meantime he had been in Jerusalem.
JWD Do we not find out what particular service we, individually, are qualified for?
JT I think we do. The Lord would help us to find out what we can do best; gradually it comes to us, but it takes a great while before one is fit for a commission. The apostle Paul, after all his previous experience, did not get it until he was a year at Antioch.
AHP In the Old Testament would the Levites serve to set out this principle? As set around the tabernacle and in their relation one to another, there would be a universality of their service.
JT Just so.
Ques The angel mentioned here, who had the seal of the living God, was ascending from the sun-rising. What would you say about that?
JT There is a suggestion of hope in it. The Lord would come in from that point; service has the outlook of the coming of the Lord. We are to “abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit” (Romans 15: 13). What I am doing, I am doing in the light of the coming of the Lord. The Jewish remnant will be looking out for Him — not seeking to reinstate themselves as a nation with a place in this world, as the Jews are trying to do now. “Lift up your heads, because your redemption draws nigh” (Luke 21: 28). There was hope there. The Thessalonians were waiting for God’s Son from heaven.
ANW Anna was serving in that light, day and night; she was of the tribe of Asher.
JT She spoke of Him to all that looked for redemption. There was hope, and she ministered to it.
Rem In Mark 13: 34 we have the parable of the man giving authority to his bondmen, and to each man his work.
JT That is the idea covering the present time; all is in view of His return.
SJH Does this sealing in Revelation 7 include all believers today?
JT Oh, I think it is for all. There were twenty-three thousand Levites taken up for service from a month old: only eight thousand were in service, but they were all held.
SJH Sisters and brothers, too?
JT Yes, all are held for service today. Each, so to speak, is to have the seal of the living God in his forehead. The word “living” suggests that the idea of life is in each of those sealed.
Angels are seen in this great transaction; the winds are held up; everything is favourable to those sealed. And another thing, from God’s point of view, the number suggests that there is not to be one more, or one less than what is in His counsel; whereas in the second part of the chapter a “great crowd” is mentioned, not a number. The second part of the chapter is to bring out that there are those who, in a spiritual sense, help themselves. In the first part of the chapter, we see that God takes up certain ones and seals them with His seal; but the second part of the chapter shows that there are those who take advantage of what is available from God and use it; that is [p. 56] the other side.
Ques One underlies the other?
JT Yes, the number must underlie that. However many people may be converted, they must all conform to the principle of election.
JWD That is why Judah comes first?
JT Yes, it is the sovereign side.
Ques Will you say a word about the command to the angels in bringing judgment? They were ordered not to hurt the earth and the sea.
JT That is to show that, providentially, certain things are held up so that something may happen in the way of service.
GWH-n How would you conduct yourself where local disunion is found?
JT Philippians indicates the way of adjustment. Although the Philippian assembly was sympathetic with Paul in the gospel from the very beginning, yet there were at least two sisters there who were not united; so that the apostle entreats, “That ye may think the same thing, having the same love, joined in soul, thinking one thing” (Philippians 2: 2), and “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus” (verse 5) — the descending mind. If one goes down, he makes way for unity. I think recovery is always on the principle of leadership; the leader is one who goes down, who follows Christ. The nearer we get to the bottom, the less cause there is for contention.
Ques It is not that you sacrifice what is right in going down?
JT You cannot do that. You must make righteousness your leader, but you can afford to go down; and if it be any personal matter, you can afford to waive that.
Rem In Corinthians, they were on the principle of going up.
JT Yes, it was a question of being big men, of comparing themselves with themselves. “But these, measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves with themselves, are not intelligent” (2 Corinthians 10: 12). What one finds is that many of these differences arise because of personal preferences; persons are made more of than principles. If we get the principles right, the persons will find their relative values and positions.
ANW According to 2 Timothy, a believer who is on individual lines is not following divine principles.
JT I am sure that is a very important thing, because if I have man before me instead of principles, I will be influenced by personal feeling. Of course, Christ is the embodiment of the principles, but then we are to “pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace, with those that call upon the Lord out of a pure heart” (2 Timothy 2: 22). As you say, it is “with those”.
RAL “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the compassions of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God” (Romans 12: 1).
JT That is our intelligent service. Then the apostle says: “For I say, through the grace which has been given to me, to every one that is among you, not to have high thoughts above what he should think; but to think so as to be wise, as God has dealt to each a measure of faith” (Romans 12: 3); and then he goes on to say, “We, being many, are one body in Christ” (verse 5). That is the way unity is reached.
ANW When I am asked why I cannot do certain things, I give a living answer; I have the seal in the forehead.
JT There is something about life wherever you may see it, even in a natural way, that is very attractive. The Lord says, “I am the light of the world; he that follows me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life” (John 8: 12). The evidence of life in service is that a man’s affections are active in his care for the saints. I think the seal of the living God in a man’s forehead involves that thought.
This “multitude” is very interesting; they are people who do for themselves. God has provided a means of cleansing, and they use it. There are those who claim that they are not being cared for, but these do for themselves. “These are they who come out of the great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and have made them white in the blood of the Lamb”. They have done it; they appropriate what God provides.
Ques Is that energy of life?
JT Yes; this is one of the features, that one appropriates what God provides; he does not wait to be served. Then other features come in. All the angels are attending. “And all the angels stood around the throne”. The angels are “ministering spirits, sent out for service on account of those who shall inherit salvation” (Hebrews 1: 14). The thought is that the angels will be attendant on persons such as that; all heaven is deeply interested in them.
AHP What do you understand by “white robes”?
JT I suppose, their circumstances; that in which they appear. Palm branches would represent victory, for these people had come out of great tribulation. They are victorious believers. Amongst the saints, there is much of the “groaning lizard” element, people who groan and think others should act for them, and they groan because others do not act for them; whereas, the angels are great ministers, and they are all present here in relation to people who act for themselves. These people are already victorious, and there is not a word said about their having been helped.
SJH They are overcomers.
JT Exactly. It says, “And they cry with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God who sits upon the throne, and to the Lamb. And all the angels stood around the throne, and the elders, and the four living creatures, and fell before the throne upon their faces, and worshipped God, saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and [p. 59] power, and strength, to our God, to the ages of ages. Amen”. And then one of the elders inquires from John as to who these are, and he says, “My lord, thou knowest”. Then it says: “And he said to me, These are they who come out of the great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and have made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple, and he that sits upon the throne shall spread his tabernacle over them. They shall not hunger any more, neither shall they thirst any more, nor shall the sun at all fall on them, nor any burning heat; because the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall shepherd them, and shall lead them to fountains of waters of life”. What we may see is the great expansion of divine interest shown in these believers in white robes; their character having been stated. The fountains of waters of life are to maintain them in the freshness of power in which they appear.
JTJr A change had taken place in them; they had washed their robes. Jacob said, “Cleanse yourselves, and change your garments; and we will arise, and go up to Bethel” (Genesis 35: 2, 3). His house would then be different from what it was before.
JT The change is from the inside.
Ques Does that make it a very individual matter?
JT It does. You like to see the brethren help themselves. I am sure there is a word there for us.
Ques Would this provision of God be the expiatory work of Christ?
JT Yes, and the sinner, by faith, avails himself of it. In Revelation 1: 5, Christ does the washing. “To him who loves us, and has washed us from our sins in his blood”. Here, the needy one does the washing. “These are they who come out of the great tribulation, and have washed their robes”. In both these instances, it has been done. In Revelation 22: 14, it is a continuous thing; it is being done. “Blessed are they that wash their [p. 60] robes, that they may have right to the tree of life, and that they should go in by the gates into the city”. It is not for those who have washed but those who wash. You are never otherwise than washed, and that gives you the right to the tree of life and to go in by the gates; it gives you inherent right.
JWD It says, “the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1: 7); it is not ‘has cleansed’.
JT Its efficacy is in view, but am I using it? Chapter 22 is not washing by blood, but by water. The blood came out of Jesus’ side, but so did water. I think chapter 22 is water washing; by it, I am kept purified.
Ques Would self-judgment be the same thing?
JT It goes with it, but the washing of the water is by the word. I may judge myself at twelve o’clock, but I have to wait for the evening to be cleansed; self-judgment is not all. There is an after effect that I must not forget, and that has to be removed by the water. The water and the blood are both applied. “This is he that came by water and blood, Jesus the Christ” (1 John 5: 6). Blood is judicial cleansing; it satisfies the conscience before God, but my practical state has to be dealt with, and that is what is alluded to in chapter 22 and which gives you the right to the tree of life. It is not simply a question that I was converted five years ago; it is a question of my present state if I want to come into fellowship: not that I have washed, but that I wash. If a brother or a sister is seeking to be in fellowship, we do not patronise them. If they are washing, they have a right to the tree of life. It is present continuous action, and that is what gives one the right to be among the brethren in fellowship, the right to the tree of life, and the right to enter by the gates; nobody can question his right.
Ques Will you say a little more about being unclean until the evening?
JT [p. 61] If you do something during the day that is not of the Lord and which affects your conscience, you judge it; of course, you should judge it immediately. Peter went out and wept bitterly, but he had to wait, so to speak, till the evening for full relief. Take the case of the leper; there was a great deal more than washing needed; there was the anointing with oil, and shaving, and standing outside his tent door for a while before he could enter into the presence of God; so that, “unclean until the even” means that I have to suffer a certain consequence or penalty for the sin and the dishonour that I have done to the Lord. I may know forgiveness, but I am unclean until the evening.
RAL Does it mean actually the evening?
JT It is a certain process that has to be gone through.
SJH Does it connect up at all with the evening sacrifice?
JT Under certain conditions, it would. The evening lamb in Numbers 28 is equivalent to the morning lamb; it is the same age, and the accompaniments were to be the same; this means that in the evening I am supposed to be equal to what I was in the morning. If something should happen during the day to make me unclean, then I am not equal to it; therefore the point is to maintain the spiritual level throughout the day, and walking in the power of the Spirit enables me to do it.
AHP It would be wonderful to be able to speak about the brethren as one of the elders answered John.
JT Yes. The inquiry from the elder is to bring all these facts about saints out. He knows what marks this redeemed multitude, and wishes to bring it out, and so he asks John who they are, and John says, “My lord, thou knowest”. They represent a result of Christ’s death not hitherto spoken of. They are seen now as before the throne, and the Lamb shepherds them and leads them to fountains of waters of [p. 62] life.
Ques Being led would entail submission?
JT Quite so. He leads them to fountains of water; they are maintained in freshness; the Lord would ever maintain us in freshness. You will observe here, that they are before the throne. “Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple, and he that sits upon the throne shall spread his tabernacle over them”. Much stress is laid on what they are and where they are, and the consequences of that: how God looks after them. He spreads His tabernacle over them. How beautiful it is! You feel, as in the assembly, that God is spreading something over you. And the Lamb leads them. As we sit down at the Lord’s supper, the sense of the Lord’s authority and the spreading of the tabernacle over us make us restful. If there are several present and only one loaf and one cup, considerable time is consumed, but it is delightful to be sitting, as it were, under the tabernacle of God, so that the time is not long. And then it says, the Lamb shepherds them. “They shall not hunger any more, neither shall they thirst any more, nor shall the sun at all fall on them, nor any burning heat; because the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall shepherd them, and shall lead them to fountains of waters of life”.
Ques All this is while they are before the throne?
JT Yes, it never loses sight of that. The throne is the great central thought in chapter 4, and it gives character to the succeeding chapters.
Rem The rights of God, I suppose.
JT Exactly. I think we might just touch on chapter 11, to show how this thought is carried through; that where you have bondmanship, and life marking bondmanship in the one hundred and forty-four thousand, you have testimony; the two witnesses imply adequacy of testimony. But they are wonderful witnesses furnished with power to enforce the rights of God, and they suffer death, martyrdom; and having [p. 63] died and been slain for the testimony which they bore, the spirit of life from God came into them, meaning that we are honoured where we suffer. It is as sure as anything that if I suffer in the testimony, I will be honoured there by God; so we do not need to look for honour from one another; we shall be honoured where we suffer.
SJH The two are a subdivision of the twelve?
JT Exactly; divide by six and you will find that result. The scripture, in its prophetic setting, alludes to the testimony that will be rendered by the remnant, and which will involve persecution. It goes on for twelve hundred and sixty days; nevertheless, they are not slain until the testimony is over. God does not allow the persecution until the testimony is over. What that persecution might be now, is a question for each one to discern. The authorities are not persecuting us now, but the enemy finds a way to get in amongst us. The keenest kind of suffering may arise from a brother. We may persecute one another without meaning it, and cause real suffering.
Ques Why are trees spoken of? It says that the angels were restrained from hurting the earth, and the sea, and the trees.
JT The symbol means that God is discriminative in what He does. Trees would allude to prominent personages that God may be using providentially. The earth is an ordered condition of things. It is a question of order here, and there is no upheaval; the sea is kept under, too. Accordingly, in this restriction, the Lord is making way for His servants, which is very comforting. In Revelation 6:6 it says, “Do not injure the oil and the wine”. That is under the restriction of God, and we ought to recognise that God discriminates and restrains; He allows just so much.
JH What character is this testimony today? Here it seems to be in the nature of plaguing [p. 64] the people.
JT It has the character of Elijah’s ministry, corresponding to what is said later, “Behold, I send unto you Elijah the prophet, before the coming of the great and terrible day of Jehovah” (Malachi 4: 5). These witnesses have great powers, you will observe. “And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth. These are the two olive trees and the two lamps which stand before the Lord of the earth; and if any one wills to injure them, fire goes out of their mouth, and devours their enemies. And if any one wills to injure them, thus must he be killed. These have power to shut the heaven that no rain may fall during the days of their prophecy; and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood, and to smite the earth as often as they will with every plague. And when they shall have completed their testimony, the beast who comes up out of the abyss shall make war with them, and shall conquer them, and shall kill them”. They have means of carrying on their testimony, power in themselves, as often as they will. It is remarkable. It reminds you of the Lord conferring power upon the disciples. “Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted to them; whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained” (John 20: 23). It was full power as to the matter mentioned.
Ques Why are they clothed in sackcloth?
JT It shows that they felt the general conditions; they were not only telling people what to do; they felt the things themselves.
Rem That is what always marked the true prophets.
JT Quite so. You see that right through the Old Testament. The prophet Jeremiah, particularly, feels the thing which he rebukes in others. The bodies of these witnesses lie upon the street of the city for three and a half days, and then we have a most remarkable occurrence. Their enemies rejoice, but the spirit of life from God enters into them. “And after the three days [p. 65] and a half the spirit of life from God came into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon those beholding them. And I heard a great voice out of the heaven saying to them, Come up here”. What a victory that is — what honour! “Come up here”. They stand up; they are living in the spirit of life from God. Can their enemies kill them again? — Not any more than they can kill Christ again. They are standing on their feet risen, and now heaven calls them up. Heaven thus wonderfully honours them. I think we ought to be encouraged in bearing testimony, that God will honour us where we suffer.
SJH Is this similar to the saints being called away, but their enemies do not see them?
JT Quite so. The Lord’s enemies did not see Him after He arose. I think it is an exceptional way of showing how God honours those who suffer in the testimony. In whatever small measure we suffer in the testimony, He will not fail to honour us.