THE PROPHETS (4)
[p. 333] THE PROPHETS (4)
1 Kings 18:30 - 46; 1 Kings 19:9 - 21
JT These passages from the book before us are suggestive in their accounts of the building of the altar and of the anointing which was committed to Elijah; and at the same time in the announcement by Jehovah that He had reserved to Himself a remnant of seven thousand. It is thought that these scriptures looked at in relation to the whole section will help us as to the ministry of Elijah, how it accords with the passage in Acts 3 that we considered in the first reading as to the restitution of all things. The Lord tells us in the passage read in Matthew 17 that Elijah indeed comes and restores all things. So that the restitution of all things is in mind in this section, the purpose of God relative to Israel and the earth; whereas the early part of the next book will help us as to Elijah’s ministry in relation to Christianity, because there it is a question of his going into heaven. In this section we have the altar, an altar built of twelve stones, all Israel being in mind; and then the anointing and the idea of a remnant. God, in view of the restoration of Israel, will begin with a remnant. The whole is in mind, but it begins with the remnant. It may be added that these two sections, the end of 1 Kings and the beginning of 2 Kings, may be regarded as overlapping spiritually. God’s resumption of His relations with Israel has already begun in our minds, at least in the prophetic mind, by the Spirit. But while the resumption of relations with Israel is in mind it is actually the close of the assembly’s history in the dispensation of the Spirit. So that we are to be intelligent, to consider these two thoughts as running in a certain sense collaterally.
First we should consider God’s thoughts as to His ancient people and how the ministry of Elijah affects them on the principle of the restoration of all things. God has that in mind even now, and I believe the Spirit of God is laying it on our hearts, too. It is imminent and we are to be conversant with it and sympathetic with it, at the same time going on in our own dispensation with the service of God. There has been difficulty perhaps in the minds of some in the way the truth has been reviewed in these meetings, but I think the matter became clarified in the last reading. There we were out in the open, as it were, considering a great prophet and a great ministry in its bearing on ourselves. We ought to keep that in mind now and also what has been said as to the section contemplating the restitution of all things, which is now imminent. Hence the prominence given to the altar, not the brazen altar, but one made of twelve stones having the whole of Israel in mind, not simply the priesthood but the whole of Israel; and then the effect on the remnant which also applies to Israel. Collaterally we may look at the same things in relation to the assembly, which is now at the close of this dispensation, whereas the remnant of Israel is in the beginning of the next.
JRH Jacob is brought into view here in the twelve stones spoken of: “according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob”. What is the thought in that?
JT I suppose it is the identification of responsibility in Israel, that the Lord is to rule over the house of Jacob on the same line; the idea of twelve comes in with him, not with Abraham.
JWD Do you link on the last half-week of Daniel with this thought of Elijah?
JT I think we should because his ministry according to the prophets and the Lord’s own remarks would come in there. I should think the [p. 335] closing three and a half days in Revelation 11 show that there is a great ministry in that particular time in which the characteristics of Elijah’s ministry appear.
RWS It says he repaired the altar of Jehovah which was broken down. Does that allude in your mind to Christ being rejected by the Jews? Did that breakdown commence when Israel rejected Christ?
JT I think so. This is not a new movement, it is reparation, the idea of restoring all things; that is, the link is with the ancient dealings of God with Israel. Christianity is a wholly new thing. Israel is not a new thing, it is an old thing revived; so the repairing here would come in under Elijah’s ministry.
JHE Can we apply it to the assembly at Ephesus, “thou hast left thy first love” (Revelation 2:4)? Would this be coming back to lovable conditions?
JT That is what is in mind, that things overlap in a certain sense. The work in Israel has not begun yet, it did, however, enter into the Christian dispensation according to Acts, and gradually disappeared. It is to be revived, but not formally taken up within the period of the Spirit; it will be taken up after the assembly is taken away. That is how the truth stands but we have it in our minds. We are like friends of God who are sympathetic with all He has in mind, like Abraham. The repairing of the altar is clearly the resumption of God’s work in Israel; it is in keeping with Ezra when they set up the altar on its base because of the enemies. We find it in Ezekiel, too, indeed it is prominent there, whereas it is not so prominent in the beginning of Acts, where it is more what stands in relation to the Spirit, the positive side.
Ques Does this thought of overlapping perhaps explain the confusion in the minds of many as to whether there is a half week or a whole week to be [p. 336] fulfilled in the prophetic word? There is a good deal of difference of thought among prophetic scholars as to this. Would your remarks bear on that?
JT They bear on it in the sense of the great place the prophetic ministry of the Old Testament acquired at the beginning of the revival that we have had to do with now for one hundred years or more. Prophetic ministry had a great place then and the prophetic map opened up to the brethren with light as to God’s mind about Israel and the earth. But there is really no suggestion beyond that, no suggestion of positive work or ministry in relation to God’s earthly people at the end of this dispensation, as there was at the beginning of it. I think it entered into the beginning to show how patient God was with Israel. The repair of the altar is an allusion to the actual resumption of God’s work with Israel because it alludes to the twelve tribes.
AEH Is your suggestion that the moral features that will come to light in the remnant are to be found now among us through a ministry like Elijah’s and that these ideas run concurrently with us in a moral and spiritual way?
JT Well, it is a question of how you would connect the moral line of things. I think what was just alluded to implies in itself that the thing has begun, that is, the place that the purpose of God regarding the earth and involving Israel acquired at the beginning of the present revival. It has begun in the sympathies of our hearts and in our intelligences, but I do not think we should go beyond that because the Spirit of God will not leave the assembly. The Lord is not yet free; He is not on His own throne yet, but on His Father’s throne. He is occupied with the assembly, intimately occupied with it. I think the next reading will help us as to how Elijah’s ministry comes into Christianity definitely.
JWD Do you see any link between the overcomer in Laodicea sitting on the Lord’s throne and what you have here?
JT Well, He is about to sit on His own throne.
JWD I was thinking that this sympathetic link means that we are already in a spiritual way moving with Him.
JT I think we are, we are with Him. “Ye are my friends” (John 15:14), He said. Jehovah said Abraham was His friend and I think we are such in that sense, but whether there is anything beyond that, whether the Spirit in any sense has been diverted from the present dispensation is the question. But it is important that we should see the order of Elijah’s ministry in the Scriptures before his ascension. We have to wait for his ascension in the next book and what flows out of it to see his connection with Christianity. In the meantime we are free to consider how God is coming in in Elijah in relation to His ancient people and how the altar is to be repaired.
HB In the first part of Romans 11 Paul speaks about the remnant, and in the end he says, “all Israel shall be saved”.
JT That is what I was thinking. God is telling Elijah before He takes him up the second time that He has a remnant on the principle of sovereignty. “I have left to myself”, He says: that is how God’s work will begin in relation to the earth in the future and, of course, we also are part of the remnant, but a remnant of the assembly. We might be a little confused unless we keep to the point — God’s relations with Israel about to be resumed and the repairing of the altar.
G.McP Does the apostle have this in mind when he speaks of the whole twelve tribes?
JT That is the present time: “our whole twelve tribes serving incessantly day and night” (Acts 26:7). That enters into the present dispensation. We have to understand that spiritually, because the Israel of [p. 338] God is also alluded to spiritually at the present time. But we should keep our minds free and clear for the Israelitish part of the subject at the moment, that is, the earthly part, and Elijah’s ministry in it.
JTJr Would the repairing of the altar go back as far as Noah’s altar?
JT Well, the word, of course, might be linked with it, but I think the twelve tribes alluded to here are a clue to what is in mind. It is not simply the idea of an altar, but the idea of administration on the altar principle inclusive of all the tribes, so that it is really the house of Jacob that is in mind in the administrative side.
JTJr I was wondering if Noah’s altar does not have the whole earth in view, and whether the repairing side might include the whole earth.
JT That is an important line of things, but it is in relation to the rest of mankind, not to a selection out of it. The altar here relates to the selection out of the rest, that is, the house of Jacob, meaning that it is God’s choice; not humanity, but God’s choice out of it.
RWS Would what you are bringing before us about Israel bear upon our prayers, as of the assembly, in relation to what the Jews are going through now?
JT Well, you can see how our sympathies are aroused. I believe the brethren have felt it, and yet it is only anticipative of what is to come because there is no sign of any subjective work in them at all; and therefore God is not working at all except in a providential way. Here it is the altar of twelve stones relating to the twelve tribes of Israel, meaning that God is returning to them.
AB Does that enter into Revelation 11 that you were referring to? There the temple was to be measured and the worshippers and the altar.
JT That is important to bring in here because I believe we are somewhat defective as to measurement.
[p. 339] Measurement has a great place in relation to the altar in Exodus and in Ezekiel. God is said to be the God of measure. He is said to be the God of many things, but that He should be the God of measure is remarkable. It ought to be a check on us as to what is current, because it is to be according to the measure of faith. If we are serving the Lord in any way, it is to be according to measure; so that each brother has his measure and the brethren ought to know that. If it is a small measure, the brethren ought not to put on him as much as if he had a large measure.
JWD It has been said that all service should be on the model of the greatest.
JT Quite so. It is a question of the general idea. That is the great objective thought, and then there is what is actually true in the sense of the work of God; and that is where the need of measure comes in, how much there is in any person. If a brother is invited to serve on Saturday and the Lord’s day, what is his measure? The brethren ought to have a measuring rule and he ought to have one, too. This is coming up now, and I think rightly, because we are not to be democratic or sentimental. The brethren are not all of the same value, not all have the same measure. God is the God of measure and we should not be without the means of measuring.
JWD I notice you usually pray at the beginning of a fellowship meeting and everyone else who seeks to serve does the same thing. Is that right, or does measure enter into that?
JT There is no question of measuring as to a brother’s prayer.
JWD Is it right to copy any characteristic a brother may have in service?
JT I do not think so. There ought to be much mutual feeling in regard to prayer because prayer is clearly not a gift. We are speaking of measure now in regard [p. 340] to ministry.
JWD I think it has been thought that the idea of measure is recognised, but that we ought to follow the form of the greatest expression of ministry. When you come to — — you break the bread and give a word of ministry, and now that is considered the normal form of service that every Levite, no matter what his measure, should take on.
JT That is not right. If you will pardon me for referring to myself, anything I do is largely because I feel free to do it and feel the brethren are expecting it. I would be glad to leave it for another, but I sense what the brethren expect. The breaking of bread is not a matter of gift; it may be a matter of spiritual power, but there is no reason why any local brother or any brother present should not give thanks for the emblems in the Lord’s supper.
CDeB What is the thought of the apostle saying, “We stretch not ourselves beyond our measure” (2 Corinthians 10:14)?
JT Well, he alludes in speaking to the Corinthians to a measure reaching unto them, meaning his presence in Corinth had had a great result. There was evidence of great spiritual ability in his work, but he did not take up another man’s line of things. Our brother has in mind the brethren taking up another man’s line of things and copying it. Paul did not do that. He had his own measure that God gave him and the Corinthians were the proof of his ability.
Ques Where does this judgment of a brother’s measure find expression? Is it a care meeting matter?
JT I think it ought to find expression in the intelligent, affectionate judgment of the brethren. Let us consult them, not their sentiments, because they may have preferences, but their calm, deliberate judgment before God of a brother’s measure, his ministry. We should each have a judgment. God is the God of measure, and so we should be governed [p. 341] by measure. Measuring must allude to what the Holy Spirit is doing or has done.
Ques I am alluding to the way this would find expression. Would it be a matter for the care meeting, as to inviting a brother, for instance?
JT That might be where it is expressed collectively, but the care meeting ought to be the outcome of a deliberate judgment by the saints of what God is doing. That brings up much, because many have no idea at all of judging anything, but just of attending the meetings. It ought to be a question of what God is doing.
AEH On the other side in regard to the brother invited, if he has an invitation to which he feels he is not equal, or that his measure does not reach so far, would you counsel him not to accept the invitation?
JT Well, you cannot speak of it in a cut and dried way because God may come in and help a brother beyond his expectations; but that would be exceptional. To measure a brother’s ability you would have to bring in time, what has been proved in him.
AEH Are we to look for some real, substantial, and concrete results in the service that will help to guide us in taking a brother’s measure?
JT Quite so. That is what I was alluding to when Paul said he had a measure reaching unto the Corinthians; and then confirming that he says, “Ye are our letter, written in our hearts, known and read of all men” (2 Corinthians 3:2). The letter that Paul had to commend him to the brethren was the work at Corinth. Anyone going to Corinth would say, It is Paul’s work. So he says, See to yourselves, whether you are really converted at all, because if you are converted it is through me.
AB Would you say we have to be governed by the results as well?
JT The results are there at Corinth. There was [p. 342] a great work at Corinth. Paul says, “Ye are our letter, written in our hearts, known and read of all men”; which means that he spoke well of them wherever he went.
JTJr Would Paul’s judgment of a brother enter into what we are saying? For instance, “Take Mark, and bring him with thyself for he is serviceable to me” (2 Timothy 4:11). That is after Mark failed, but we cannot hold that in our minds against a brother.
JT No, it is what he is now. Even Peter failed, and you might say, Look at that sermon at Jerusalem! It is only a few weeks since he denied the Lord. But Peter would say, I am not doing that now; and Paul would say the same thing as to Mark. Look at Peter’s work — three thousand persons affected! Who can question it? That is the way the divine measure comes out.
AL In regard to the measure of a brother in serving over a weekend, should that not be a two-fold exercise? Sometimes we see a brother going somewhere to serve about whom we perhaps have an exercise locally. Another meeting may not be conversant with what the brother is locally.
JT Well, they should be, and a good deal enters into it — how he regards the brethren, how he speaks of them. “Ye are our letter, written in our hearts, known and read of all men”. It was the place they had in the heart of Paul. If a brother speaks ill of the brethren his ministry is not much, because love for the brethren must go with the work of God.
RC We often hear that a brother has been used in another locality and the brethren were encouraged, so we invite the brother. Is that a true judgment?
JT It may be, because we have to go largely on testimony as to these matters. We have to believe what we hear if it is fairly well accredited. We can judge. We ought at least to have confidence in our brethren who tell us about a brother who serves;
[p. 343] but then there is the idea, too, of experience. If he has been among you, you have actual local evidence.
Ques Would you leave room for a brother to write and say he wishes to come?
JT If he does, where are his credentials? Paul refers to credentials, “Ye are our letter, written in our hearts, known and read of all men”. He can write anywhere; anyone being at Corinth could tell you about Paul’s work. It is a most important matter because of the question of the work of God in a subjective sense, not what God has wrought in Christ, but what He is doing among the brethren.
Rem Evidently there is a great lack of judgment among the brethren generally as to distinction of measure.
JT That is what I was remarking, that brethren do not stop to think whether they should measure at all, whether they should or should not invite. Most think of just having ‘a good time’.
JRH How far would you say the matter of being conversant with local need should enter into the selection and invitation of a brother?
JT It certainly should enter into it, as to whether the brother is capable of meeting local needs. Experience shows whether he is. But we have launched on a subject that was not intended and perhaps we can now leave it. The point here is the altar, not the measure of it, but the number of stones. In Exodus and Ezekiel the altar is measured, but in Ezra it is not a question of measure, it is just the altar and the place it occupied. It is on its base. Here it is the number of stones that Elijah used, meaning that he is now thinking of administration; not only of the service of God in the sense of offering, but administration in the number twelve. And so a most important line of truth comes up. “Elijah said to all the people, Draw near to me”. God has wrought in a most significant way in Elijah. He is directed to show [p. 344] himself to Ahab; his person is to be shown. Ahab is to meet him and see him and the result is that Elijah acquires great dominance over the king so that the king becomes subservient to him. At his demand the false prophets are brought together, and the people, and Elijah says, “Draw near to me. And all the people drew near to him”. That is remarkable, that a brother is so attractive, that he has such power, that the people all come to him and he can affect them. Here is one man in the presence of the king of Israel and of those eight hundred and fifty prophets and of all the influence of Jezebel, and he says, “Draw near to me. And all the people drew near to him. And he repaired the altar of Jehovah which was broken down. And Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of Jehovah came saying, Israel shall be thy name; and with the stones he built an altar in the name of Jehovah, and made a trench round about the altar, of the capacity of two measures of seed; and he put the wood in order, and cut the bullock in pieces, and laid it on the wood. And he said, Fill four pitchers with water, and pour it on the burnt-offering, and on the wood. And he said, Do it the second time. And they did it the second time. And he said, Do it the third time. And they did it the third time. And the water ran round about the altar; and he filled the trench also with water. And it came to pass at the time of the offering up of the oblation, that Elijah the prophet drew near, and said, Jehovah, God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel, and that I am thy servant, and that I have done all these things by thy word. Answer me, Jehovah, answer me, that this people may know that thou Jehovah art God, and that thou hast turned their heart back again. And the fire of Jehovah fell, and consumed the burnt-offering, and the wood, and [p. 345] the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. And all the people saw it, and they fell on their faces and said, Jehovah, he is God! Jehovah, he is God!” I think the Spirit of God would lay the significance of this scene upon our hearts, how the restoration of all things will come about. What a ministry will be effective there! The ministry which is accredited to Elijah according to Malachi.
JB “Remember your leaders who have spoken to you the word of God; and considering the issue of their conversation, imitate their faith. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and today, and to the ages to come” (Hebrews 13:7,8).. Would this passage suggest what you have said as to the power of attraction in Elijah? Then later you have the altar and the sacrifice which is pleasing to God.
JT Well, there is a connection there, clearly. However, what is to be noted here is the feeling that enters into this matter in one man, what God can do by one man. And so we understand how the times of the restoration of all things will come about; the Lord Himself will do it. God has appointed a day to do things by this Man whom He has ordained. Elijah has his own line of things. The twelve stones, and Elijah’s appeal to Jehovah as the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel and the place that Jehovah has with him — that he has with Jehovah, too — how all that is intended to affect us at this time! It is what God can do, and what He will do in a coming day and at any time, by one man.
AEH There is some kind of stir in the camp of Israel now, we might say, some rabbis making public statements as to Jesus being the Messiah. Do you connect that with the beginning of the work of God, or is it merely a matter of providential circumstances forcing them to their knees?
JT You are alluding to providential matters. I [p. 346] do not think this is a type of that, really. We may see something in them of what God may do providentially, but what is in mind here is the direct intervention of God in taking up the earthly side of the testimony. If we use it in regard to ourselves, it is to show what God can do through one man now.
AEH We are not to look for anything like this until the assembly is gone. Our link with Israel is in a sympathetic way and to get the moral bearing of the truth on ourselves.
JT Quite so.
AB The dearth is still prevailing here. Elijah had to acknowledge that there was water with the widow and now he is here making a discovery of water during a great dearth in relation to his ministry. We might have been on the line that this use of water was a great waste, complaining as they did in John 12, but there is a plentiful supply.
JT There is no inquiry here as to where the water is coming from. The torrent had dried up because there was no rain, but there is plenty of water here, as Elijah needs it. I think it is to remind us of the resources of God. That is what Elijah represents here, a man acting according to faith and God with him.
RWS You alluded to the feelings and power of Elijah in this section. Will the restoration of all things be in this same feeling and powerful way?
JT That is just what is meant. “The spirit and power of Elijah” was to mark John the baptist, and the Lord says, “If ye will receive it, this is Elias, who is to come” (Matthew 11:14). There is an ‘if’ there, but in Malachi it is stated that Elijah is to be sent.
JH-t Would the feeling expressed in Psalm 115 link on with this? The psalmist speaks of idols having hands, ears, and feet, but there is no movement [p. 347] or activity. But Jehovah feels for Israel; he says, “he is their help and their shield” (Psalm 115:9).
JT Yes. The prophet is at his height here, and therefore it is a question of our getting instruction through this passage as to God’s resumption of His operations with His ancient people in the future and the power by which all this will come about. Therefore we have to look for persons such as the two witnesses in Revelation 11 and even John the baptist. It is what will be on earth, because it is not a heavenly matter here. We shall see Elijah from the heavenly point of view this afternoon, but this is not the heavenly side; it is the great prophet coming in, Elijah the Tishbite from Gilead, and exhibiting such power that he dominates the king and all the people, and whatever he says is done. The power of God is there and it is there on the principle of restoration.
JRH Is it to express the true thought of the name ‘Israel’, power with God and men?
JT It is the restoration of all things that is suggested. It is the true restoration of Israel, nothing left out. The result is a wonderful success. Only God could give such success; and the millennium and what precedes it will be a divine success and overwhelming. We are to be ready for these things, we shall have part from the heavenly side. We shall not be onlookers; in fact, we shall have part in the rule of cities.
CN The apostle says in Romans 9:27,28, “But Esaias cries concerning Israel, Should the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, the remnant shall be saved: for he is bringing the matter to an end, and cutting it short in righteousness; because a cutting short of the matter will the Lord accomplish upon the earth”. Would you help us as to how this matter is cut short?
JT The principle of cutting short is not stressed here because the book continues on with the patience [p. 348] of God. Ahab, wicked though he is, God takes on, and gives him victories too, as a military man. So we have to allow for the patience of God in all these circumstances. God is always God. He began with patience toward Israel and it will come out in regard to Israel in the future, patience in regard to His intervention. But what we have to consider now is not what follows in the succeeding chapters and Elijah’s power in that, but his power in this remarkable scene. What power there is in one man who comes out from a section that is in a way under reproach! He comes from Gilead beyond the Jordan; he is one of the inhabitants of that place, nothing more, called the Tishbite, and he says there shall be no rain except by my word. Then in chapter 18 he is to show himself to Ahab. “The word of Jehovah came to Elijah in the third year, saying, Go, shew thyself to Ahab”, as if the prophet’s person should be in evidence. He is to show himself and in doing so he becomes dominant, so that the king gives way. The prophets and people are to be there and everything that is required by Elijah is supplied. All this is to remind us, as already said, what God can do with one man, and what He will do; what He has done in our own times, too, with one man. I am speaking of the servants that God raised up in the revival of a hundred years ago, and we are profiting from them now.
JTJr It will be a great current matter publicly when this man in the spirit and power of Elias comes to light on the earth. Men of the world are known through their exploits, but this name will eclipse all others.
JT So that the two witnesses in Revelation 11 illustrate what it will be. They are slain but they revive and the spirit of life comes into them and they go into heaven.
GMcP Do these conditions of Elijah’s ministry just precede [p. 349] the millennium?
JT That is what we are saying. It is the introduction of God’s resumption of His relations with His earthly people.
JWD Will the last great war be against God and His Christ? It will be a very great and well-known issue as our brother suggests.
JT That is good. Present matters show that antichrist is not yet dominant. His spirit has asserted itself but he is not dominant. We are, of course, alluding to what is called the Atlantic Charter; it is not an anti-Christian charter, although it may work into that, but it is not that yet. The same thing is seen in these chapters: we have a wicked man and we have Jezebel who is an awful person; both are here and yet God is using Ahab and using him victoriously, too, for the sake of His people. Not only that but though Ahab becomes ultimately worse and worse and attempts to take away the inheritance of God and of His people (chapter 21:27), yet he humbles himself before Jehovah through the ministry of Elijah and God changes matters and mitigates his punishment. That is remarkable. There is a spirit abroad now that is of God and that is going on in spite of the wickedness; the prayers of the brethren support it, too. That is the way 1 Kings finishes. In the presence of Ahab and Jezebel we find the patience of God in regard to His people pending the next book when we find Elijah going up into heaven. That is, we are coming back to real Christianity as it was introduced by the incoming of the Spirit.
AB You referred to ‘power’ in Revelation 11:3. According to the note it is ‘efficacy’ in relation to persons, apparently a matter of great influential power. I was thinking of how the chapter proceeds: “Come up here”, is the great final note, “and they went up to the heaven in the cloud, and their enemies beheld them. And in that hour there was a great earthquake, and the tenth of the city fell, and seven [p. 350] thousand names of men were slain in the earthquake. And the remnant were filled with fear, and gave glory to the God of the heaven”. It was a great victory.
JT Quite so; that is Elijah. The ministry of Elijah is in them and then they go up into heaven. We shall see that later. But what you say as to power should be noted, what one man can do. In this chapter Elijah is not yet taken up to heaven; he fails, alas, but before that we have the altar. That is, the official thing is set up, the mind of God is represented in the altar. That must be kept in mind and then the slaying of the false prophets, because what comes out in this section is the overthrow of idolatry in Israel. But Jezebel is not overthrown, that is a solemn thing. Jezebel is still at our doors in Christendom. The Lord says to Thyatira, “I have against thee that thou permittest the woman Jezebel”. That is what Ahab is doing. He has a certain influence but he is not restraining her, and what we see here is that these things exist. Jezebel exists and Ahab exists, but the work of God goes on. So that Elijah goes to Carmel after telling Ahab that plenty of rain is coming. There is no reproof now, he goes to Carmel and we are told how the rain comes; it comes gradually but it comes through prayer. “Again he prayed” James 5:18 says. That is a beautiful word — the extension of the praying time. Let us keep on with it. God has given it a great place at the beginning and end of the week, a praying time. That is what comes out the second time he prayed — the heavens gave rain.
TW He prayed in spite of the fact that God had said in the first verse, “I will send rain”.
JT Quite so.
AEH There are certain public occurrences that seem to give increasing prominence to Jezebel. Would not the prayer of Elijah fortify us so that we should not be caught in Elijah’s run-away spirit, trying to get away from Jezebel; but instead bringing God in? The meaning of his own name, “Whose God is Jehovah”, should have fortified him, and the answer to his prayer should have further fortified him against giving way to these public things that give such prominence to Jezebel.
JT That is important to consider, and what comes to mind is that the law made nothing perfect. The prominence given to the failures of Old Testament saints and servants is striking. Elijah’s failure is a very painful one, not a gross sinful condition, but the want of faith. That is because of the fear of Jezebel; she is the only person he feared, and that only at a particular time. Ahab told her what Elijah had done and in detail how he had slain all the prophets with the sword and Jezebel sent a message saying, “So do the gods to me, and more also, if I make not thy life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time! And when he saw that, he arose, and went for his life, and came to Beer-sheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there”. Now she is bolder and bolder, that is what marks this system. There is no restraint at all, she is more and more brazen. What is she doing today? We are in the presence of it; she is at our doorstep, so to speak; Ahab is here, too, in his weakness, but she is the instrument of the devil. She is held in abeyance just now, but her time is coming quickly. So it is a question now of how the brethren are to meet all this. If Elijah had continued in his praying he would not have fled. Evidently he gave up his faith in God, but we learn from this to keep on praying. Revelation 16:19 shows that it comes into God’s mind to deal with her, and He puts it into the minds of the ten horns and of the beast to hate her and to eat her flesh and burn her with fire; chapter 17:16,17.
FC Do you think we should feel free to pray to [p. 352] God that the power of Rome might be weakened and restrained at the moment?
JT I think so, not to be extreme, but to keep it in mind in prayer. See what is said: she comes into God’s mind, as already noted in chapter 16:19, as if to say He had left her out of His mind for a time; but she is coming back into His mind to be dealt with finally and for ever.
JRH I think you are acquainted with the fact that in Ontario we are greatly troubled with Jezebel features, I mean in such a thing as clerical domination in the matter of marriage. That is a Jezebel feature, I judge. Your remark as to continuance in prayer helps.
JT It seems to be the point with Elijah. He prayed, and he prayed again. It is the continuance of prayer and the heavens come in after the second prayer and give rain. Now it is in the presence of this that Jezebel’s continuance is stressed; she is continuing and using her usual sagacity to do her will, and the word to Thyatira is, “thou permittest the woman Jezebel”. That is what the Lord Jesus said in relation to the assembly, and the professing church is suffering it and indeed making much of it. But it behoves us, the few of us who are in the light of these things, to keep on praying. Praying ‘again’ would imply that the time for prayer is still open. So that what follows, as we have said, is that Ahab is used in a military sense successfully; but then he wants to lay hold of the inheritance of Naboth. Naboth is a typical person as representing those who have an inheritance, and Israel has an inheritance. The earth is disposed of by God in relation to Israel; in whatever the nations do she has her place. But then this thought enters into our own position, too — we have an inheritance. What comes out here is that Jezebel becomes more and more wicked in this matter; she suborns men to lie publicly so as to get [p. 353] Naboth destroyed. Will she have recourse to public lying again? The Middle Ages were marked by it.
JWD Do you think we may have to face much more serious issues than we do now in regard to our public position of conscience in military service?
JT We may. It is significant that there is a certain sinister influence working in relation to the government of Canada and it is somewhat linked with the government of southern Ireland. It is very significant how that system influences those two spots, and it is to remind us that the praying time is still here and we are to keep on in it. It is a question of what God can do. God has brought out the truth of the Trinity, involving sonship, in a most remarkable way, and as understood works out in prayer.
RWS Elijah’s servant said as he looked at the heavens, “There is nothing”. And Elijah said, “Go again seven times”.
JT That is the idea, it is the continuance of the exercise; as Paul says, “For this reason I bow my knees to the Father” (Ephesians 3:14).
JRH You are setting this over against the idea of ‘permitting’?
JT She is being suffered; the government of Canada is allowing the thing.
JRH There is a danger of that among ourselves.
JT Quite so, there is a danger of tolerating that sort of thing. The High Church of England is of a piece with this, and God is going to have to say to the whole matter. But something else is current now and God is answering our prayers and is going to give deliverance for a little while. This book ends with the prolongation of grace in spite of Jezebel and Ahab.
Ques In the summing up of this matter as to Jezebel and Ahab, while she urged him on Elijah’s ministry is urging him in another way, a right way. Would this be a basis for us not to accept entirely [p. 354] that Jezebel is to control the governing powers, but that we might urge them somewhat in the spirit and power of Elijah to do right; to grant us liberty of conscience, for instance?
JT Well, if we can effect it by prayer. Something has been done in Canada, no doubt, by presenting the facts to the Government as to the young men, but whatever relief comes is through prayer. And relief has come, so that Ahab is influenced in a way by Elijah, and Jehovah says, “Seest thou how Ahab humbleth himself before me?” That is very striking and God prolongs or extends His patience and mercy towards the king. I think we ought to be encouraged to keep on during the acceptable time. Elijah prayed again, James says. Putting our faces between our knees is serious exercise; “For this reason I bow my knees”, Paul says.
AD Would the apostle Peter in his first letter have this in mind? “But the end of all things is drawn nigh: be sober, therefore, and be watchful unto prayers” (1 Peter 4:7). Do we need sobriety as well as the continuance in prayer?
JT No doubt. The point in Revelation 18 is that “God has judged your judgment upon her”. I understand that would mean the judgment of the brethren. God takes account of that and judges accordingly.
JWD In addition to prayer would there not be some real public representation to the authorities at all times? If you are in a factory and the question of unionism comes up, you would stand against it, would you not?
JT The question is whether we have wisdom enough in each case to do it.
JRH I believe you have touched a vital point in the matter of the judgment of the brethren. Have the brethren arrived at a judgment generally regarding [p. 355] it?
JT The idea of judgment is very little thought of among us and less exercised. Samson became thirsty after a great victory, but the water that he needed was supplied by God and it is added immediately that he judged Israel for twenty years (Judges 15:18 - 20). We need the support of divine grace to judge, and not only to judge what is among us, but what is in Christendom generally.