THE PROPHETS (5)
THE PROPHETS (5)
JT It is well to have the opening words of this chapter before us at the beginning of this meeting: “And it came to pass when Jehovah would take up Elijah into the heavens by a whirlwind”, and so forth. The book is thus opened up to us with peculiar stress on the idea of ascension, carrying the thought of a transfer of the centre of operations to heaven. The idea of time is stressed, too, “when Jehovah would take up Elijah”, showing that it is a fixed matter. Peculiar care and emphasis are used to impress us with the great fact of ascension and to indicate how the link with Elisha is maintained through his own insistence, as if we are reminded that great intentness is required for part in what is heavenly. Nothing is to be omitted so that gain should accrue to us in view of the continuance of an order of things other than that with which we have been engaged. It is not repairing what has been damaged in verse 20, but a new cruse — something entirely new, so that undoubtedly the Christian order of things, this dispensation, is in mind.
AEH The first verse of the book, in reference to the rebellion of Moab, is suggestive, in that when the centre of operations was on the earth there was opportunity for the principle of rebellion to come into evidence; but the centre of operations being transferred to heaven there is no possibility of failure. God has reached the moment He has looked forward to feelingly and earnestly, and He would take Elijah up to heaven.
JT A dislocated condition is indicated in chapter 1: Moab rebelled against Israel, and Ahaziah king of Israel fell down. In connection with his fall [p. 357] the idea of idolatry is brought in and immediately judgment is meted out, yet in a modified way for the captain alluded to in verse 13 is spared: “And again he sent the captain of a third fifty with his fifty. And the third captain of fifty went up, and came and fell on his knees before Elijah, and besought him and said to him, Man of God, I pray thee, let my life, and the life of these fifty thy servants, be precious in thy sight. Behold, there came down fire from the heavens, and consumed the two captains of the former fifties with their fifties; but now, let my life be precious in thy sight. And the angel of Jehovah said to Elijah, Go down with him: be not afraid of him”. The idea of mercy is continued, we might say, as a further evidence of grace in God’s continued relations with His ancient people. The entrance into heaven is imminent, the judgment pending is modified; grace is still active and will be active, for it works out in Elisha.
RWS Why does Elijah go with Elisha from Gilgal?
JT I suppose it would point to a lead given, for now Elijah must be in the lead in this way — “the way”, as it is called according to the formula in the Acts. “The way” refers to the fellowship in Christianity, and of course that must be worked out from Christ’s way here, in following His steps. Christianity is Christ, of course, but Christ worked out here by the Spirit in the saints, so that Elijah gives a lead. It is said, “when Jehovah would take up Elijah into the heavens by a whirlwind, that Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal”. It looks as if it is not now that Elisha is to be with Elijah, but Elijah would go with him and he would be with him in all these places. It would, as it were, give Elisha a great advantage in knowing how to act in these places, suggestive of localities in which the testimony had been set out and would be set out again. Elisha [p. 358] is to understand how Elijah would be with him in these circumstances.
AEH Is the principle of the supreme attractiveness of Christ perhaps wrapped up in it? No one is to be forced physically to go along this path. Elijah says to Elisha each time, “Abide here”, as though the only thing that will lead you into this great heavenly current of things is the supreme attractiveness of Christ.
JT I think that is the idea. Christianity is a happy, free state of things; it is not a legal system such as Judaism had been, it is on the principle of attraction. The Lord said, “and I, if I be lifted up out of the earth, will draw all to me” (John 12:32); so that it is on the principle of attraction. Yet the Lord is leading and going with us first, as if the suggestion is that we might learn how things are to be done.
AB Has Elijah in mind the instruction given earlier that Elisha is to be anointed as prophet in his stead?
JT Well, we have not dwelt much on that, but the matter of anointing is important. It is committed to Elijah. He is directed to anoint certain ones: Hazael as king of Syria, then Jehu, and then Elisha; but the liberty that belongs to the position is expressed in the fact that Elijah anoints Elisha first, not last. Hazael and Jehu would bring in judgment, but Elisha suggests grace, and the principle to be learned in the opening of 2 Kings is grace in liberty, not a legal system. The commandments must be adhered to, but there is the liberty in which Christ sets us free. In Matthew 12 the Lord went through the cornfields and the disciples plucked the ears of corn; that was to give a lead.
ABP Would the movement of Elisha as following, despite what Elijah said about his remaining, suggest the truth held in the souls of the saints as [p. 359] loving it and as following instincts rather than mere commandment? Is it thereby typical of the present period, “ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free” (John 8:32)? I thought there was a greater liberty suggested in Elisha’s movements than as merely moving under regulation or doctrine.
JT I think that is what marks the introduction of this book. “And Elijah said to Elisha, Abide here, I pray thee; for Jehovah has sent me to Bethel”. That is, Elijah is under orders, and what is Elisha going to do? He is just directed to abide there. Is it simply that he is to do what he is told, or is he free to move in love and by attraction? What comes out is that he is free to do that. “As Jehovah liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee!” Well, what is Elijah going to say? Nothing: “So they went down to Bethel”. ‘So’ is to show that Elijah is thoroughly willing in the position, for although he says, “Abide here”, when the reply is, “I will not leave thee”, he accepts it. I believe that is the Christian position — that the Lord is attractive, and He is intending to attract us and to bring out what the power of attraction is in Himself and in others. So it is a realm of general attraction and acceptance, a state of mutuality between Elijah and Elisha. The mutual side is stressed and yet all is perfect, there are no moral discrepancies. You might question Elisha’s persistence but there are no moral discrepancies at all. It is delightful to Christ to have us move in this way.
JTJr Would the position of Christ and the apostles in Acts 1 fit in? He charged them by the Holy Spirit and then He was taken up; He was with them until He was taken up.
JT I think so, and He presented Himself living to them; He would make Himself attractive. Then it is added that He was seen of them for forty days; He assembled with them and they made inquiries as to the restoration of the kingdom. He does not [p. 360] answer that; what is in the Lord’s mind is a new matter altogether, it is not that the kingdom will be governed by other principles. So He says it is a matter that has to be left with the Father, but that the Spirit is coming. Then He goes up, they beholding Him. The matter is all carefully arranged so that it is a scene of attraction, a scene of love; the Lord is attractive. Subsequent facts show that it was a scene of love and liberty, for they were able to act and act rightly.
JTJr Being “taken up” would involve Christ’s attractiveness to heaven: “He was taken up”.
JT Exactly, it is heaven’s action. It is not ascension as it is from the standpoint of John’s gospel, it is being taken up; so that it is heaven’s matter now. Heaven must receive Him. And there is abundant latitude for love’s way on earth.
JHE The link in this setting is with heaven, is it not? Elisha says repeatedly, “As Jehovah liveth, and as thy soul liveth”.
JT Quite so; it is almost a swearing attitude, if I might say that. He is so taken up with this thing that it must be so. God loves this, the power of love asserting itself, because it is exactly according to His mind.
MBF Do we see spiritual growth in Elisha? When he was called he was doing something and left it, but now he is going to abide by the position for which he was called.
JT That is good. It directs us for the moment to the matter of the anointing of these three men that are mentioned in 1 Kings 19. It says in verse 19, “And he departed thence, and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was ploughing with twelve yokes before him, and he with the twelfth; and Elijah went over to him, and cast his mantle on him”. I am alluding to this because it brings out that with which we are engaged, and shows the matter of [p. 361] influence from above, the influence of Christ over us. “And he left the oxen, and ran after Elijah, and said, Let me, I pray thee, kiss my father and my mother”. That is not out of place for the moment, but it comes up later. This matter of the young people kissing their father and mother is important; they do not do it much now; they expect all the love to flow from their fathers and mothers to them. “Let me, I pray thee, kiss my father and my mother, and I will follow thee”. This will be in order when Elijah, or whoever acts like Elijah, comes back; there will be much then made of the fathers, but not here; Elijah is not making much of this. “And he said to him, Go back again; for what have I done to thee? And he returned back from him, and took the yoke of oxen, and killed them, and boiled their flesh with the implements of the oxen, and gave to the people, and they ate. And he arose and went after Elijah, and ministered to him”. There is nothing more about a kiss for the father and the mother, but notice his magnanimous attitude in regard to the workmen. And then “he arose and went after Elijah, and ministered to him”. We are told later that he poured water on the hands of Elijah instead of looking after his father and mother. As pouring water on Elijah he is a young brother looking after an elder, so that the beginning is thus seen; it is a model state of things, all under good influence.
RWS Involving refinement, so that when the sons of the prophets speak about the obvious he says, “be silent!” Is there such a thing as spiritually understanding certain movements without a great deal of detail as to words? The dispensation involves refined feelings so that things do not have to be said in detail; spiritual influence has its own way of affecting a spiritual person.
JT Yes, and those in the new system are superior; you cannot tell them anything. They are in the [p. 362] new system under the influence of Christ. Elisha says, “I also know it”, he knew better than they. The sons of the prophets are at a distance, they do not represent “out and out” men: “And the sons of the prophets that were at Bethel came forth to Elisha, and said to him, Dost thou know that Jehovah will take away thy master from over thy head today? And he said, I also know it: be silent!” They are shut out, as it were.
AEH Is there a sense in which we may be under the grace and power of the anointing with still a great deal of tugging at our hearts in connection with natural influences? Whereas the working out of the heavenly system involves that I am so free in spiritual influence that the tugging does not seem to hinder.
JT It is quite evident. It is a free system of things and yet it is an influence, but it is influence in the sense of authority. Elijah has a purpose; he takes the initiative in the first movement and this must give character to it all. The whole system must take on this feature. So that the sons of the prophets are young people who would talk at the table about this and that but they know only certain truths; they are not in the full secret, others know better.
Ques Do you think they represent an element of unspirituality which always interferes with the development of spiritual thoughts?
JT I think that is the truth. Their fathers are of some distinction, not that some of the young men did not have distinction, too, but they are not characteristically men of originality. They take character from their fathers, not in the true sense of fatherly influence but because their fathers had distinction; for this reason they have distinction, and they profess to know. Elisha rebukes them really and says, “I also know it: be silent!” He knew in his heart that his master was being taken from [p. 363] him.
HB Would it be right to bring in Acts 11 where Barnabas saw the grace of God and rejoiced and exhorted all with purpose of heart to abide with the Lord? Is there a similar principle there in the matter of purpose of heart?
JT Quite so; I think the lesson is fixity in the new system on the principle of attraction, you must be there. “I will not leave thee!” and Elijah accepts it.
Ques Would you say a word as to the order of these places that are referred to? Elijah is moving to them under commandment or direction of Jehovah.
JT “Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal”, that is the first point. They must have been there together. I believe each point is to be noted and it is our privilege to be in the position with Elijah, the Lord is granting us that favour. Although he says, I am going there, he does not ask Elisha to go. It first says Elijah went with him so there must have been some movement with Elisha; the word ‘with’ implies that movement is there, but Elijah is going, too, “Elijah went with Elisha”. He has Elisha in mind in the movement, but then where did they start from? Whatever particular place this Gilgal is geographically, it has the idea of the Gilgal of Joshua 5 and it would refer to where circumcision takes place in a genuine way. We have an example of it in Christ, that is typically Elijah. We learn what circumcision really means from Christ. We begin with Gilgal as Israel did when they entered the land. They began there, which implies the putting off of the body of the flesh in the circumcision of Christ. It really implies Colossians. But the advantage is that you see how it takes place in Elijah, as if he is there with us in each place; that is how the matter stands, he was in each of these places with Elisha. Hence Elisha has an immense advantage as to what these places mean and when he visits them [p. 364] later he knows how to act in them. I believe it is to teach us how to be in localities and carry out assembly principles. This is not a country town, but a city, and Elijah and Elisha are together; but then Elisha is to be there later himself alone. So that when he comes to Bethel he knows how to behave because he has been there with Elijah. The apostle says to Timothy, “but if I delay, in order that thou mayest know how one ought to conduct oneself in God’s house” (1 Timothy 3:15). That is Bethel, of course, so this second point would be suggestive of Elisha learning how things are to be done in the house of God, learning by the way he acted there in Elijah’s presence. We know from the book of Revelation that the Lord walks in the midst of the seven golden lamps; He comes to the localities in which the saints are and we have to learn how to act in our localities by what we see of the Lord in them.
J.W.D. How does He come?
JT It is a spiritual matter now, of course. John 14 says, “I am coming to you”. Chapter 20 tells us that He came to where the disciples were, they were in an upper room in Jerusalem and they would learn from Him. Luke gives us more as to what He did when He came in: He ate before them, He would teach us how to eat. They did not know how to eat the Lord’s supper in Corinth. This is a very important detail, to know how to eat in localities. Their conduct was disgraceful at Corinth. If you apprehend the Lord as coming in you know what to do.
AAT Is it right to think of the Lord’s movements in the assembly in the same way in which we are thinking of Elijah in his movements?
JT That is what the lesson is, we are to know how Elijah acts. It is a well-known matter in heaven that he is going up there, and going in a certain way, too — by a whirlwind. The Lord did not go up in a whirlwind, there is nothing about the wind there, so [p. 365] that there is a difference in the dispensations; but the principle is that Elijah is going up and heaven knows it and is prepared for it. There are some places Elijah has in his mind to visit first and that is to bring out the heavenly way. Elisha is to remain here, and he is to know how to behave in these places.
JTJr Would the apostle in a sense take us to Colosse and show us how the saints behaved themselves there, what the condition was, their faith and love in the Spirit, in order that we might be affected?
JT Quite so. Paul says to them, “rejoicing and seeing your order, and the firmness of your faith in Christ” (Colossians 2:5). That is what marked the Colossians, but still he has something to write to them in the way of adjustment. But he also writes a letter to Laodicea, and that letter was to be read at Colosse, and the one to the Colossians was to be read at Laodicea; as if the Lord would say, The behaviour I am looking for in Laodicea I am looking for among you. “Thus I ordain in all the assemblies”, Paul says (1 Corinthians 7:17); the conduct must agree. We are not to be congregationalists. This doing as we like in localities is not to be considered — the heavenly way is to be universal, in all the assemblies.
FC Linked with knowing how to behave oneself in the house of God is “the mystery of piety” (1 Timothy 3:16). Does that enter into this matter of mystery?
JT Quite so; we had that previously, the mystery that enters into the history of the heavenly saints. We have a record of those that have gone up there. For instance, there were those that arose and entered into the heavenly city after the Lord arose. You might have met them on the street, but they would not be looking in the shop windows, not spending much time there; nor would Phoebe take notice of the great stores in Rome. She was there in relation to the saints. As to these that entered into the holy city and appeared to many, if any one of us [p. 366] had met them we should have seen that they were real men, but there would be a mystery about them. What happened has not been told us, but we can easily learn from other facts that they were taken up to heaven in some sense. They lodged there. This is a mysterious thing; they were not disembodied, they were in their bodies, they were risen. The blind man in John 9 was sent to Siloam. How did he find the way if blind? Well, it is mysterious, but he found his way to the washing place. You could have met these persons in their bodies. What a sight it would have been! It was said of Lazarus that many came and believed on the Lord Jesus because of him, but he was raised in his flesh-and-blood condition. These persons were not in their bodies of flesh and blood; they were saints in the bodies in which they were raised out of their tombs, and they entered into the holy city and appeared unto many. What would you have seen in them if you had been in fellowship in Jerusalem? Who are these, you would have said, what is their conduct? I believe that is the way to get at these things. Elisha is to know from Elijah how to be in Bethel.
AEH Is there any sense in which a visit to these places suggests the development of the knowledge of God that we would get in intimacy with Christ, and in His attractiveness to us? If Christ is attractive to us and we are near to Him we get the unfoldings of the knowledge of God from Him; we learn from Him and the full glory of the dispensation opens out to our souls.
JT Yes; it is learning how to be in any locality.
JB The last chapter of Luke speaks of the Lord leading the disciples out as far as Bethany. Would that be that they might know the conditions there?
JT The allusion is to the place of love. The Lord would honour Bethany, He had been there in the days of His flesh; it was the village of Mary, Martha,
[p. 367] and Lazarus. The Lord led the disciples there as He was about to ascend to heaven. We are to learn how to be in these places from Him. In John 12 it says that “Jesus therefore, six days before the passover, came to Bethany, where was the dead man Lazarus, whom Jesus raised from among the dead”. People would come then to see Lazarus, but now in Luke 24 it is Christ Himself. He leads the disciples out as far as Bethany. I believe the love that had been in Bethany is what is in mind.
ABP Would you say Paul discerned the way in which the Lord was Himself judicially among the saints at Corinth? He says, “On this account many are weak and infirm, and a good many are fallen asleep”. He also says he will be in spirit with them in their assembly meeting for discipline (1 Corinthians 5:4).
JT Quite so. The Lord appeared to Paul in Corinth. It is remarkable the details we have as to the work in Corinth, and surely the apostle was to be fortified for this work. The Lord appeared to him there and said. “Fear not ... I have much people in this city”; so that Paul would have that in his mind. The great thing was to find the people in the place. There is not much success in that now; there are many Christians in the cities around us, but the great point is to find them — that they should be gathered together.
RWS It would appear that Elisha is acquiring personality after the very first locality visited. In verse 4 his name is spoken by Elijah: he said to him, “Elisha, abide here”.
JT It is the first time you get that. I think it is to bring out the idea of mutual feeling. The Lord would love to impart mutual feeling, to call us by name. Elijah says, “Elisha, abide here”. One would like to have heard the Lord address a loved one by name; how He would speak to John, for [p. 368] instance, calling him by name. We ought to learn to call one another by name, “Greet the friends by name” John says (3 John 14). Of course we say Mr. So-and-so, but the names mean much spiritually, and no doubt Elisha would remember this and call to mind every detail of his loved master. He would not forget that he called him Elisha. He did not call him Elisha at the start, he just cast his mantle on him, a matter of influence and power; but now he calls him by name. The Lord “calls his own sheep by name, and leads them out” (John 10:3).
AB It is very beautiful to think of Elisha entering into this whole matter. The sons of the prophets say. “Dost, thou know that Jehovah will take away thy master from over they head today?” He is not now ‘master’ to Elisha, he says, “My father, my father!” A great relationship is established there.
JT Quite so, and that is carried down in a later day; Joash uses the same words in chapter 13, applying them to Elisha himself. These terms of affectionate respect come down and apply in Christianity and we are to use them. It is a question of the inheritance. Now we have touched on the points visited and how Elisha was to learn in what he saw there; and then in verse 6 it says, “And Elijah said to him, Abide here, I pray thee; for Jehovah has sent me to the Jordan. And he said, As Jehovah liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee! And they two went on”. It is worth while to notice that, not only the idea of mutual liberty and feeling, but how we go on. They two went on. We have it again in verse 8, “they two went over on dry ground”. We have here a beautiful example of two; it is not mentioned at Jericho or Bethel, but when the Jordan comes into view we have the idea of the two going over on dry ground, that is, going over into resurrection. You might say the suggestion is that we are [p. 369] raised up together and made to sit down together in the heavenlies, learning to move together, to go up together.
ABP Is that reached in the end of Luke, “To-day shalt thou be with me in paradise”?
JT Just so. The Lord went first.
ABP I was thinking of the crossing of Jordan; although they did not cross together, it is the idea of being with Him. Is there something equivalent in casting the mantle on Elisha to anoint him? The mantle is very prominent in this section.
JT Quite so, that is another thing. But this thought of the two is most interesting, “And Elijah took his mantle, and wrapped it together, and smote the waters, and they were divided hither and thither; and they two went over on dry ground”. The mantle is seen here and it is seen later in the hands of Elisha; it is seen earlier in the hands of Elijah when he cast it on Elisha. It must be an allusion to an outer garment, a characteristic garment; but that garment is expressive of power, the power of God seen externally.
JTJr Is that side of things continued in the present dispensation, the side of power as here in the mantle?
JT That is the idea. It says, “Then he took hold of his own garments and rent them in two pieces. And he took up the mantle of Elijah which fell from him, and went back and stood by the bank of the Jordan; and he took the mantle of Elijah which had fallen from him, and smote the waters, ... and they parted hither and thither, and Elisha went over”. It would be a suggestion of a continuance of the power of Christ, as Paul said, “that the power of the Christ may dwell upon me” (2 Corinthians 12:9). That power of Christ is used by the believer. Elijah uses the process of wrapping the mantle together, which would suggest [p. 370] handling it as an instrument or the like. It is something that can be used against death.
Rem It does not say that Elisha wrapped the mantle; it says that of Elijah.
JT Yes, Elijah used it divinely, as you might say. It is an external garment, a characteristic garment, but now used in a peculiar way so as to have force in it. It is a condensed idea and in this sense corresponds with the Jordan itself. It is an instrument evidently that faith, especially in Elisha, lays hold of and connects with God.
Ques Would it allow for the distinctiveness of Christ in the way Elijah used it, the way he goes through the Jordan?
JT I think that is the thought, how he did it, how he went through; and Elisha was with him. Then there is the idea of displacement in Elisha’s action, that I have not recourse to any power in myself to use in the service. He rends his own garment in two pieces and takes this one; and he uses it saying, “Where is Jehovah, the God of Elijah?”
AEH Is it instructive that Elisha does not really ask for Elijah’s mantle? He asks for a double portion of his spirit, but he gets the mantle also.
JT To have a double portion of Elijah’s spirit was his own idea, so to speak. He learned by observation, his desire for this was the outcome of observation. He had seen how Elijah acted; as he poured water on his hands he had learned the spirit of Elijah, and he would see what there was to be dealt with that was contrary. So Philippians 1:19 speaks of “the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ”; it is a supply, the idea of quantity. I think Elisha learned to value it and would have the idea of quantity; the supply would be involved in the “double portion”.
AEH It is not that he desires to wield special [p. 371] power, but the supreme desire is in relation to Christ. I should like to be like Him. And added to that is the power of the mantle. I wonder if that is the way it works out?
JT That is just the way it works out. He needed the power. Death was still there, but he had this garment. One does not rely on just anything — “Then he took hold of his own garments and rent them in two pieces”. I suppose he did not patch them up again, they were done with, as was the jawbone of the ass wielded by Samson. It was discarded. Here it was the giving up of a thing he had used for the sake of another thing, and this other thing was the mantle that he had seen used by Elisha.
ABP He would be wholly “in the spirit and power of Elias”.
JT That is the thought, he would not look for new instruments, he just took up what there was. He saw how the spirit of Elijah wrought, what success accompanied it in these different places. Now the Jordan has to be faced; it seems impossible, but it is not. Hence we have to notice the process, how the mantle was used; it is an instrument that can be used and it is used successfully on the return journey.
JTJr Does it enter in to the exercise of gift, for instance, into the way a brother serves in the gospel?
JT Yes. We learn from Christ and even from the brethren. Timothy learned from Paul and the Corinthians were to learn from Timothy; Paul says, “For this reason I have sent to you Timotheus, who is my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, who shall put you in mind of my ways as they are in Christ”, (1 Corinthians 4:17). So the heritage that has come down from Christ having gone into heaven and the Spirit being here is immense, and I believe we have to connect it with the inheritance of Naboth. Jezebel took it away by murder, but still it is restored to us [p. 372] by the truth of the Spirit, who is the earnest of the inheritance. We must not give up the inheritance that has come down to us.
AB The coming to light of Elisha is connected with the twelve yoke of oxen; in principle he learns Matthew 11, “Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me”. He was yoked with Elijah here, going through with him. I wondered if the movement side was involved in the places visited, but the spiritual side was connected with the mantle.
JT It is Elijah going up that is stressed in the introduction to 2 Kings, the idea of ascension, of going up to heaven. It is what is seen going up and the intentness that is required so that it shall be understood, and as understood it becomes a double portion. Elisha goes back over the Jordan on the principle on which Elijah went over, and then he visits some of the same places. How is it to be done? It is simply Elijah over again, Elisha and Elijah. So that Christianity takes on all these thoughts of impersonation. Surely it is morally and spiritually right to learn from the brethren; in due time we shall perhaps be original, we are not too wise to attempt to be original before we have learned the principle of action. It is just as well to learn from others.
HB Paul says, “have we not walked in the same spirit? Have we not in the same steps?” (2 Corinthians 12:18).
JT Just so.
LCR “Remember your leaders” (Hebrews 13:7).
JT That is just what it is. It is not a matter of physically following, but morally you follow their ways. Paul said to the Corinthians, Learn from Timothy, “my ways as they are in Christ” (1 Corinthians 4:17).
AB The mantle does not go up. Is there something important in that?
JT I think it is Christ as He was down here. According to John’s epistle it is His spirit and ways [p. 373] worked out down here. This matter of the power of Christ in death seems to be a great point reached on the road to heaven, how to acquire this power so that death is ours, as it were. “And the sons of the prophets who were at Jericho on the opposite side saw him, and they said, The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha”. So the thing is established now; it is fixed. It is the idea of resurrection being reached in view of Christianity set up down here according to Colossians: “If therefore ye have been raised with the Christ, seek the things which are above”. Now we have the heavenly man observed; the sons of the prophets saw him and they knew enough to say, “The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha. And they came to meet him and bowed themselves to the ground before him, and said to him, Behold now, there are with thy servants fifty valiant men; let them go, we pray thee, and seek thy master, lest perhaps the Spirit of Jehovah have taken him up, and cast him upon some mountain, or into some ravine”. This “upon some mountain, or into some ravine” — what a medley of darkness in these sons of the prophets! And yet they are able to say that Elisha has the spirit of Elijah. This is what we have to meet. These are sons of the prophets and they are said to be valiant men, too, fifty of them.
JTJr The sons of the prophets seem to be in every place except Gilgal.
JT Quite so, they did not start there. They are valiant men, mighty men, well read, no doubt, they can tell you of many things, but they have darkening influence and the sorrowful fact is that even the prophet Elisha comes under their influence. That is a sad thing; the most spiritual of us may come under their darkening influence.
ABP “But seeing the boldness of Peter and John, and perceiving that they were unlettered and uninstructed men, they wondered; and they recognised them that they were with Jesus” (Acts 4:13). Would that be the same thought?
JT Well, I would say so, in general. They were with Jesus. Whether “with Jesus” there would have its full meaning in the ordinary mind is a question; I would think it was more outward. They would recognise that historically they had been with Jesus in the days of His flesh.
APh “And Joshua the son of Nun was filled with the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands upon him” (Deuteronomy 34:9). Would that be something like the mantle?
JT Quite so. That is a formula that runs through Scripture, the laying on of hands. It is a question of identification, power communicated by that means, by complete identification. So Paul says to Timothy that he had received certain gifts by the laying on of his hands and of the hands of the presbytery. That the idea of physical touch enters into Christianity is a remarkable thing.
RWS These sons of the prophets seem insistent: “And they pressed him till he was ashamed, and he said, Send”. Is there something like that generally in the testimony today in connection with what is heavenly, even among those in fellowship? Would these sons of the prophets be nominally in fellowship?
JT I would say that, but they had a darkening influence and even the prophet himself comes under it. They are fifty valiant men but they have to use the word ‘some’, “some mountain ... some ravine”. How like modern so-called science that is! Where is the truth of Christianity in such language? So the prophet has to say humbly, “Did I not say to you, Go not?” He should have been more definite. Surely there is something to learn there as to definiteness. If suggestions are offered that are not based on right principles, let us be more definite in rejecting [p. 375] them.
CN Would you say a word about this new cruse and the salt in connection with the healing of the waters?
JT That is the last point we have before us now. The expression ‘new cruse’ implies that it is not something already in use or repaired; it is a wholly new thing and it points to Christianity. So as to our own times, the principles must be right, in keeping with the beginning. The men of the city say, “Behold now, the situation of the city is good”. Here it is not the sons of the prophets but the men of the city. They are a different set and perhaps commanding more respect — local brethren, as we might say. They are likely to be good ones too, as beginning in this way: “the situation of the city is good, as my lord sees; but [p. 376] the water is bad, and the land is barren. And he said. Bring me a new cruse, and put salt in it. And they brought it to him. And he went forth to the source of the waters, and cast the salt in there, and said, Thus saith Jehovah: I have healed these waters: there shall not be from thence any more death or barrenness. And the waters were healed to this day, according to the saying of Elisha which he spoke”. This seems a good opportunity to finish our series of readings with the suggestion of what is new, fresh, a new vessel. The salt is not new but the vessel in which it is contained is new. Much is made of the idea of vessels in this section. Here it is a new cruse with salt in it, and the salt is cast into the waters. We are reminded of what happened to the Lord; then of what happened to Jonah, he was cast into the sea; and the wood was cast into the Jordan; and here the salt is cast into the waters. It is the action on us of another, we are to be amenable for use. I think that is what may be learned, it is what happens to us by the will or judgment of another.
AEH If ministry comes from any with an unjudged, disgruntled, irritated spirit, it means that the water is bad and the land will be barren. So there is an essential need for all ministry to flow from a personally self-judged condition of things.
JT Quite so; and that you and I shall be available in this sense of casting things. The mantle is cast on Elisha: “And Elijah ... cast his mantle on him” (1 Kings 19:19). That is, we are amenable to being treated in a certain way, with violence in a sense. It must be done and you must be amenable. You must not always be asserting your own will or always think you are right; you must admit of things being done that may irritate you.
JTJr The administration of this city would no doubt be called into question for having such water. You would have to get to the source of the trouble and that is what the prophet does; he goes to the source of the trouble.
JT It is imperative. The water is not good; there is no room for argument by anyone as to this fact. It is by universal consent that the water is not good; something must be done and done at once. We do not ask leave, so to speak. The men of the city could not do it; Elisha did it. If there is an Elisha, let him do it and we shall have results.
RWS Is this city Jericho?
JT It would look so.
RWS If that is so, and remembering that it was under a curse, the end now is that the waters are healed.
JT Or if we suppose that it is typically Jerusalem at the beginning of our dispensation, how beautiful it was in the eyes of the Jews! But what kind of water had they? What reading matter? What did the schools teach? What of the table talk? The truth is that the moral conditions were bad and it required violence to deal with them. Of course, what is in mind is local positions, that is what is in the section — local positions. Christianity is set up in localities [p. 377] represented in the seven assemblies which are in Asia. These seven assemblies need to be dealt with and the Lord is severe in some cases. So here severity is needed — the salt is cast into the waters.
JRH I have been impressed with the matter of holiness. Would that be salt?
JT Salt is more than that, it is what preserves or purifies. The truth that the Lord Jesus brought in would not stand without this principle in us — having salt in ourselves and being at peace with one another. Of course, it can only be by the Spirit. Jerusalem is set up again, according to Galatians, as having more children than she that has a husband.
GMcP Would you suggest that the salt is a living condition among the saints supplied by the ministry?
JT I think so; the only real preservative is life. Corruption can only be stayed by life.
Ques Have we here an example of local judgment as referred to this morning? They discerned that this was the man who could meet the situation and help them.
JT Quite so, and how skilfully and perfectly it was done! It is a very fine passage to finish with. Let us begin over again, as it were. The Lord has been saying rather rough things to us and no one is exempt. There is something in it as to whether we are giving up the old garment and learning the way of love — “a way of more surpassing excellence” (1 Corinthians 12:31). I believe the Lord has been trying to show us this way of love.