DIGNITY OF THE ANOINTING

^[p. 358] DIGNITY OF THE ANOINTING

Genesis 35: 9 - 15; Exodus 40: 9 - 16; 1 Corinthians 12: 12, 13

JT The hope is that we may see through what may come before us the dignity of local companies of God’s people who recognise the Christ and the assembly. The last passage read contemplates the assembly as anointed, so that the thought is not to speak of individuals receiving the Spirit, anointed individually, but in a collective sense. The passage in Genesis helps us to see how the idea took form at the beginning. Abraham and Isaac were anointed as well as Jacob, for it is said, “Touch not mine anointed”, alluding to them, “and do my prophets no harm”. The prophetic ministry attaches to the anointing and, therefore, has a great place in our local companies, at least in the mind of God, and the hope is that it may be in our minds too, more than it has been, especially as to acts, not only prophetic ministry, but acts of discipline. Whatever is done in that sense is in the dignity of the anointing and supported by heaven, so that in having part in these services for prophetic ministry or for discipline in the assembly we have to bear in mind that we cannot speak lightly of what is done, nor can we separate in our minds the individual involved in the discipline from the anointed position. That is what the enemy is seeking to do, to separate in our minds persons who are disciplined or in any trouble from the anointed position. The thing becomes very personal at first, although the collective is in mind, because Jacob said where he anointed the pillar, “This is none other but the house of God”, Genesis 28: 17. Then Exodus connects the anointing very specifically with the tabernacle, and 1 Corinthians connects it very specifically with the assembly: “so also is the Christ” (chapter 12: 12), the anointed vessel. Or if we include in our minds Christ as Head, the same thing is true.

RWS What is the basic thought in the anointing?

JT It is, I think, God’s way of committing Himself to a person or a thing like the tabernacle. The ointment was to be carefully compounded. It was a type of the Holy Spirit, so that the word simply means in the full antitypical sense that the Spirit is come upon us. He is seen, if it be an individual, in the external walk and ways and ministry, but if it is a collective thought it is the dignity in which we hold ourselves in relation to one another, as having jointly the Spirit according to what is stated in 1 Corinthians, that God has committed Himself to us in that formal way.

AR Is there more committal in chapter 35 than chapter 28? God was at the top of the ladder in chapter 28, but here it is spoken of as the place where He had talked with him.

JT Yes; He came down. There is nothing abnormal now between Jacob and Jehovah. There was distance before. Evidently Jacob had but little immediate contact with God earlier, but as at Padan for twenty years he lost ground in his soul so that God directed him to go back to Bethel where he anointed the pillar. That is what God had in mind, that he should come back to the greatness of the anointing. He does not fully appreciate it apparently at the outset, but still he had the idea. It is said in chapter 28: 18, “And Jacob rose early in the morning, and took the stone that he had made his pillow, and set it up for a pillar; and poured oil on the top of it. And he called the name of that place Beth-el”, which means, ‘house of God’. He had the idea of the anointing and a collective thought attached to it; and then when he returns after twenty years or more to Bethel — God has directed him to do so; he tarried ^[p. 360] at Shechem, but he finally came to Bethel — it says “God appeared to Jacob again after he had come from Padan-Aram, and blessed him”. He changed his name, it is said, and made promises. Then it says in verse 13, “And God went up from him in the place where he had talked with him. And Jacob set up a pillar in the place where he had talked with him, a pillar of stone, and poured on it a drink-offering, and poured oil on it”. The drink-offering would mean he was now pleasurable to God. There was no drink-offering in chapter 28 or subsequently until now, which would mean that Jacob, through his experience and discipline attached to his position in Padan-Aram and his going and coming, had gained in his soul. In fact he had wrestled with God in the way and gained in his soul, so that he is conscious now of being of pleasure to God. Then he anointed the pillar after he poured the drink-offering on it. And it is said, “And Jacob called the name of the place where God had talked with him, Beth-el”. It is a greater place to him now than it was before. He is conscious that God is pleased with him and these things enter into the house.

CAM Would you say the right act at the first would make him worthy of being called a prophet, the light of Beth-el coming into his soul? You numbered Jacob as well as Abraham and Isaac among the prophets.

JT I should. Of course, we know he prophesied in blessing his sons. We know that Isaac blessed him and even Esau, and Abraham had that place too, his father. They are all, I think, included in the word in Psalm 105: 15: “Touch not mine anointed ones, and do my prophets no harm”. Abraham is spoken of as a prophet, and he prayed to God, too, for Abimelech.

CAM You were connecting that with the matter of discipline — this prophetic ^[p. 361] matter?

JT That is what I was thinking. “Do my prophets no harm”, included them all. We know they all did have that place. We know from other scriptures they conveyed the mind of God.

ANW Will you make a little clearer what you have in mind in making the house of God local? Do you wish to stress the local position?

JT It is never local. No local company is ever called the house of God. It is a term that applies to the assembly universally. We never have a plural; there is only one house of God. There are many assemblies but it is the general thought in Genesis, although the locality was in mind, the place that had had another name before. It had acquired a new name, but it means the house. I suppose it runs on in a universal way. David took it up and said that he would not give sleep to his eyes nor slumber to his eyelids until he found a habitation for the mighty God of Jacob. That is, the allusion would be to the fact that Jacob had used the word ‘house’. He had the idea of the house in his mind, so that it is a general thought. There were not two houses; there is only one in the Old Testament. There were many synagogues in the Old Testament. A synagogue had somewhat the idea of a local position, a meeting, but in Corinth we have the local assembly there viewed as taking on assembly character. In 1 Corinthians we have, “When ye come together in assembly” (chapter 11: 18), and it says, “The assembly of God which is in Corinth” (chapter 1: 2), and in chapter 12 it is the assembly in which the gifts are set, meaning the whole assembly. It is simply that in chapter 12: 12, “so also is the Christ”, connects the idea of the anointing with Corinth. “The Christ” is a general thought, but he is dealing with the local company and giving them that character as anointed.

WFK Was the assembly anointed at Pentecost?

^[p. 362] JT That is the idea. It was a public matter. It is what they saw. They saw cloven tongues as of fire that sat upon each of them, and they began to speak with other tongues. The anointing was there.

RWS Is it anticipating too much if you would make clear what you mean by dissociating those under discipline from the anointed position?

JT Well, I have observed that there is but little sense of the anointed position. We speak of persons under discipline, or who have been under discipline and are no longer, as if they are just ordinary people, speak loosely of them, it may be, when the matter is settled and they are reinstated. We still continue to speak of them and of the things that caused the discipline. On the other hand, when persons are still under discipline, the discipline is not recognised and, therefore, the action of the assembly, which is an act of dignity because of the anointing, is ignored. If I begin to speak of a brother under discipline as against the discipline then the dignity of the assembly is interfered with and discredited.

HGH Does the thought of the anointing convey the thought of God’s approval of the circumstances? Your speaking of the assembly as being anointed conveys the sense of God’s approval and thus carries authority.

JT Quite so. The position is there before it is functioning. The position is there, and as soon as the functioning begins, it has to be regarded as dignified, a representative of God. So that in the position in Exodus 40 each part functions as it is in its place. The whole idea, the whole tabernacle is in mind abstractly, and as each feature or element of the whole takes its place it is functioning. It is viewed as functioning, as if God would say, That is My idea. The functioning means there is life; power to act for God.

AR ^[p. 363] If I am breaking bread and I disregard the judgment of the assembly it is questionable if I understand it.

JT Just so. It is worse sometimes if I do understand it and disregard it. My will is at work when I am down to the level of speaking of persons, ignoring the great relation in which they stand in a collective sense.

Ques In Numbers 12 they did not move; the whole system apparently did not move until Miriam became cleansed. Would that be the way she stood in relation to the whole anointed sphere?

JT There was a delay until she was restored. Quite so.

RWS Does David help in his words in his song about Saul? “For there the shield of the mighty was vilely cast away, the shield of Saul, as not anointed with oil”, 2 Samuel 1: 21.

JT That is a good allusion, and involves the kingship which David had come into himself. He is spoken of much as the Lord’s anointed. It is remarkable that the anointing is mainly attached to royalty in connection with the temple; not with the temple itself, but with royalty, whereas in the wilderness the great stress is on the tabernacle and the anointing of it.

AR Are we not inclined to hold in our minds that the assembly is a long-distance speaking place, whereas chapter 35 suggests it is God speaking in the house, and this reference to Numbers suggests that God is here and the Spirit is here speaking? Moses went in to speak to God, but God spoke to him.

JT I think that is good. It is the place where they spoke. “And God went up from him in the place where he had talked with him”. Jacob’s conscience now is greatly affected because he pours the drink-offering on the pillar and then anoints it.

^[p. 364] as if connecting the anointing with what is pleasing to God.

JS Do we see the true Jacob in the end of John 3 — the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of man?

JT The allusion there is to Genesis 28; just so. It is on Christ. In Genesis it was on the ladder. The angels of God were ascending and descending on the ladder, but it is on Christ in John, showing it is a question of the Spirit of Christ. On earth, He was the Object of heaven, now He is in heaven and He is the Object of earth.

JS Is it a divine principle that whatever God has done is always by His Spirit?

JT “By his spirit he garnished the heavens”. I do not know that it is said that they were created by the Spirit. The fine work in the creation is by the Spirit anyway.

Ques Does the fact that Jacob gets his name changed enter into the anointing in relation to the house of God?

JT That is right. He had gained in his soul. The changing of his name is seen in chapter 32, but it is linked on finally with Bethel, showing that God is not honouring Shechem, or Jacob on his journey to Shechem nor on his journey to meet Esau. He is linking on the idea of Israel with Bethel. That is how it stands here. It is a cumulative thought, and the full position of Israel is not reached until he reaches Bethel. He had the name Israel in chapter 32 at Peniel, but that was from God’s side. So that we have here a cumulative thought in the narrative in verse 9. “And God appeared to Jacob again after he had come from Padan-Aram, and blessed him. And God said to him, Thy name is Jacob: thy name shall not henceforth be called Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name. And he called his name Israel. And God said to him, I am the Almighty God: be fruitful ^[p. 365] and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall be of thee; and kings shall come out of thy loins. And the land that I gave Abraham and Isaac, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed after thee will I give the land. And God went up from him”. You do not get this earlier, and yet it is in measure accomplished at Peniel, but the whole matter is now brought into Bethel as if it was a cumulative thought until he reached Bethel. Whatever happens earlier in our lives of importance, you will find there is finality in Bethel, that is, in the assembly. It is there that you get the drink-offering. It is what is for God’s pleasure through discipline and the like.

JTJr The idea of the pillar of stone is carried forward. There is no change in that, is there? Chapter 28 brings that out, too. That abstractly is what may be before us early in our lives which we have to come to later.

JT That is a very important matter, because each of us, if we are able to read our histories in a retrospective way up to now, will have to admit we had things only in an abstract or objective way at the beginning, but God through discipline in our daily lives has brought us to a reality of His presence in the house, the assembly, and that is where we are sensible that we are pleasurable to God.

ANW Is that not the problem? There are so many of us in the process and the process is so long. I was thinking of the baptism by one Spirit into one body. At Pentecost everybody was conscious of it, but is every Christian conscious of it today?

JT I think it is very largely a theory with many, but God knows we are honest in the theory. We are not trifling with it. We say we have the Spirit in an honest way and God puts us through discipline to bring us to it. Not only that each has it himself, but we have it in the assembly. We are all baptised by the power of the one Spirit into one body. That ^[p. 366] is where the great defect is as apprehending the anointed vessel in which we have part. We accept it primarily, but take a long time to come to it, so that in coming to it we are pleasing to God. We have found out how to please God in our walk and ways.

CAM While it is a theoretical idea, he would make a way, and he says, “If God will be with me”, Genesis 28: 20. The presence of God was valued by him.

JT That is a good point — the abstract thought that he had at Bethel; apparently he grew a little bit even while he was there. At first he says, This is a dreadful place, and then early in the morning he has changed his mind, apparently. He says, “How dreadful is this place! This is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven”. Then it says, “And Jacob rose early in the morning, and took the stone that he had made his pillow, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil on the top of it. And he called the name of that place Beth-el”, Genesis 28: 17 - 19. Now it seems as if, through the remaining part of the night after he had the vision, he got help in his soul and became more settled. But then he made a bargain with God. He made a vow and said, “And this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God’s house; and of all that thou wilt give me I will without fail give the tenth to thee” (verse 22). Well, we do not just know how far he carried out that vow. He had considerable cattle as he came back. He decided to give a good part of the property to his brother to appease him, but on the way it would seem as if he were gaining in his soul. So that if we are honest as we start as christians, God will be with us to the final thought. It may be somewhat theoretical at first, but it will become more and more real.

FNW Does chapter 33; “El-Elohe-Israel” indicate they were to expect a measure of discipline? I may act for God in my position, but I must return to ^[p. 367] Bethel.

JT In chapter 35, as has often been remarked, it is El-Beth-el. He built an altar and called it El-Beth-el, because, it says, “there God had appeared to him when he fled from the face of his brother” (verse 7). This happened at Beth-el. Before that the one at Shechem was just “the God of Israel”. He connected God with himself, whereas now he is connecting God with the house of God, which is a great move forward.

WWM Do you think the great blessing is in connection with discipline? I was thinking of Matthew 18. The Lord anticipates what will be taken up later, but the idea of discipline is not to get rid of people but to bless them and bring them into the blessing.

JT That applies to Jacob in all the twenty years. Why did he stay so long in getting to Beth-el? He remained until he had a large family, a large number of cattle of all kinds, and even when he came back to Canaan he was directed to come back. God said, “Where thou anointedst the pillar”. He was so long in doing it, so loth to leave Padan, and then when he came to Shechem he remained there. Why was he so slow? Is it not written down in this way so that we might examine our own histories and see why it is we are so slow in getting into the truth of the assembly, that when anything comes up we are not able to deal with things? In the assembly we are never pushed to the wall. We are always able to settle matters. God is with us in the assembly and, therefore, the question should be, Why am I so slow in getting into this great matter of being sensible of God’s pleasure in a collective way, and then the anointing in a collective way, so that whatever comes up we are able to face it and settle it, the Lord being with us, and when it is settled in that way, it is settled? Let nobody attempt to ignore it. The thing is settled because it is ratified in heaven. Therefore we can move on with good consciences and be happy with one another, and not ^[p. 368] bringing up things that have been settled as if they were not settled. There is plenty to occupy us in a good sense and to move on, because it is said here that they journeyed from Bethel. That is, we move on spiritually after things are settled and the position is clear.

AR You come onto a Benjamin.

JT It is a chapter of burial here, but it is a chapter of finalities. That is, this thing is settled. The position at Bethel is now a ratified thing, and then it says they journeyed from Bethel. Well, you say, are you leaving Bethel? You are not leaving Bethel; you are going into the heavenly side. The house of God is down here, not in heaven. He went on until he came to Isaac. Isaac is the great objective, because he is the centre or vessel of the promise while he is alive; that is, Christ risen from the dead and now in glory. That is the great objective for faith. So that when we settle a matter in assembly it is settled. We do not need to revert to it any more except as an example of God’s help. We journey and go on to the highest point God has for us.

CAM Your allusion to Isaac — is that the end of chapter 35?

JT Yes; that was the end of the journey.

CAM It seems to be all in sonship. Even Esau is referred to there in that way: “His sons Esau and Jacob”.

JT Isaac is the depository of the promises, and he is the objective for faith; that is, Christ risen and now glorified. That is where we are journeying to.

AAT The care meeting is not the place where matters can be settled?

JT Oh, no. You must have the brothers and sisters together in assembly for the anointed vessel where the Lord is, where, you might say, God is. The thing is done by divine sanction. Although God ^[p. 369] is in heaven, there is a sense of the Lord being with us.

ANW Is there a certain conclusion reached in the care meeting?

JT No; it is all tentative, on the line of investigation, but ratification and divine sanction is in the assembly as we are together in holy dignity, and to interfere with its conclusion is where the evil lies that we are dealing with.

AAT Would the interference be on the part of the one under discipline or those who form part of the assembly?

JT More generally the latter. It is principles we are dealing with. Of course, we do not overlook the state of the persons, but the anointing relates to the principles governing the assembly, and we are to abide by them and act according to them.

JTJr It is the assembly of the living God, and is the pillar and base of the truth. God appeared to Jacob here. He is living, and the truth stands in relation to the assembly as coming out and governing us.

JT Just so; Benjamin is said to have been born here. Rachel called him Benoni and his father called him Benjamin, which means the son of his right hand.

JS Would that represent a moral journey for us to take?

JT An assembly action or an assembly meeting is not the end. It is the end for the time being. We have reached the end provisionally but we move on after that. As it was in the wilderness, they decamped and moved on from place to place. Well, each assembly gathering is an encampment but then we separate and go out with a heavenly touch, in greater power and lustre than before we came together, but still the principle is movement. The whole principle down here until Christ’s coming for ^[p. 370] us is movement. If we encamp and have an assembly meeting, it is a provisional thing. We may reach the heavenly side of things, but it is only provisional. There is movement. We decamp and go on. So here they journeyed from Bethel. Isaac is the end typically here, because it is a question of Christ, I think. Christ is the Centre of the promises and heavenly relations.

JTJr Laban is left a long way behind. I suppose if he could have voiced what he knew about Jacob he could say plenty to criticise him.

JT You may be sure he could.

CAM Numbers 33 has a lot of encampments. They went from one place and encamped somewhere else. The Holy Spirit puts down a very large number of places.

JT Very large. You are impressed with that, as if God made a note of every encampment; what He has in the encampment as well as what we have, but we are journeying on to the final place. So that rest in the final sense never attached to the ark until it was set up in Solomon’s building. I think that is important to get into our souls, and what is consummated in any encampment has the character of the assembly action which heaven ratifies. Then there is the moving on in positive things, because they moved on positively, carrying the things of the tabernacle. The Levites carried them. So that the idea of the assembly, even while we are moving, is there, only waiting for another encampment, and we carry with us all the gain of the previous encampment. So that it is a series of encampments, and the number of them that you get in Numbers 33 is remarkable.

Rem So that after the settlement of the matter of Ananias and Sapphira it is said that believers were more than ever added to the Lord.

JT That is just the point. They moved on. The apostles became greater and greater. Whether ^[p. 371] it be the service of God on Lord’s day morning or in the matter of discipline, it is the assembly in her character.

JS They moved on here after Rachel is buried.

JT Yes. If we go to the beginning of the chapter, God said, “Arise, go up to Bethel, and dwell there, and make there an altar unto the God that appeared unto thee” (verse 1). That is one thought. It is as if it were finality, because the thought in mind would lead us to that. It might be a final thought, but if we decamp there is another journey. So he went to Bethel and in verse 16 they journeyed; then in verse 18 we have the birth of Benjamin and in verse 21, “Israel journeyed and spread his tent on the other side of Migdal-Eder”. And then they go on. Jacob came to Isaac, we are told. That is final in verse 27, “And Jacob came to Isaac his father to Mamre”. We come to a final position now.

AR There can be no difference of opinions in Hebron.

JT The point is that you come now to an out-of-the-world condition where Christ is risen and glorified. Of course, it is just a dim picture, because Isaac dies, but according to what is said to Jacob later, “The God of thy father, Isaac”; in Him every promise is yea and amen. We have come to finality, which is a very great thought to get into our souls.

FNW The assembly meeting is not exactly the place for the bringing forward of the pros and cons of the case, is it? Should not a certain judgment be arrived at in the care meeting?

JT That is the idea. The assembly is the place for action, for execution. It is an executive idea, and that is final. It is done representatively, and the promise from the Lord is, “Whatsoever ye shall bind on the earth shall be bound in heaven”, Matthew 18: 18.

ANW Turning “the battle to the gate” would relate to the care ^[p. 372] meeting.

JT That is it. The place of judgment is at the gate. Let us take it up in the assembly. That is where the victory is, “to them that turn the battle to the gate”.

RWS Does the Lord normally give the clue there?

JT I think He does. He is with us and heaven ratifies what is done, so that bringing it up again and reciting what we had to do with the person or persons earlier, before the settlement, is only reviving the matter. Are we going to keep on at it for ever? Is there no point of settlement where we are in union with heaven, so that we can journey on in the things of God?

AAT Going back fifteen or twenty years, is it not so that matters were taken up by the elders and stopped there?

JT In some cases. There are some assemblies that do that, when one or two brothers settle matters. That is not the idea at all. We must have deliberation and investigation, and then authoritative assertion of the thing to be dealt with, and dealt with according to God in assembly, and it is finished.

AAT You cannot call it an assembly action at all if just a few brothers take it up.

JT Well, it is not. The facts ought to be stated and the thing weighed over by the brethren, and after investigation you arrive at the truth of what it is and the brethren agree. The principle of the anointed vessel is that we are in unity. That is what 2 Corinthians teaches.

AAT Supposing a case happened twenty years ago and we know it was badly handled, should it be taken up now?

JT Well, the facts are all changed. What about the person? Every minute brings about a change. We have to deal with what is there, not what was, because the person may be changed and ^[p. 373] God may have adjusted the thing Himself in His own sovereign way.

ART I think you have heard of cases handled twenty years ago, which, if they were handled today would be handled differently.

JT You cannot bring in twenty years ago. Think of the weakness of our memories. What exists today? As the apostle says, “being such”, not ‘having been such’, but “being such”, in 1 Corinthians 5: 5: “To deliver him, I say, being such, to Satan”. “For I, as absent in body but present in spirit, have already judged as present, to deliver, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ (ye and my spirit being gathered together, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ), him that has so wrought this: to deliver him, I say, being such, to Satan for destruction of the flesh”. The word ‘being’ may be left out making it all the more present. It is the state of the man as he is, not as he was. It is a question of the person and the principles that govern the state of that person. What is his present state? That is how the matter is reached. Who can tell what happened twenty years ago? How many of us can remember? It is the present time that you are conscious of and sure that what you are saying is the case. What is his state now? Is he repentant? Well, if he is not then there is nothing to say. If he is, it is a question of his present state.

JS You have always recovery in mind.

JT It is a question of the present state, “Being such”. You are dealing with a person as to what he is now.

JS In this chapter you come to a fixed position in Benjamin: “Son of the right hand”. The authority is there.

JT The authority is there. God is there, really, in a previous paragraph. God is there Himself in Bethel. The matter is settled. He is God. By and by heaven is brought into it, but we are now dealing ^[p. 374] with the person that may be involved. What is his present state?

Ques In John 4: 27 it says, “And upon this came his disciples, and wondered that he spoke with a woman; yet no one said, What seekest thou? Or, Why speakest thou with her?”. Does it seem that the case was settled in the anointing? There was no need to find out any more.

JT You might ask many questions. What about those other five husbands? What about the one she has now? Well, the Spirit of God does not tell us, but He does tell us that the Lord told her He was the Christ, and that He could do everything, and all these matters of her previous husbands and her present husband would be settled. She herself is settled, because she left her water-pot and went her way into the city and went to the men. She says, “Come, see a man who told me all things I had ever done: is not he the Christ?”. He is the One that will settle the matter if you give Him room.

JS Had He not got something, too?

JT That woman’s case would be a settled matter, you may be sure, if she came into fellowship. Christ would see to that. The anointing settles things.

CAM That is a very helpful thing to say. You could have gone into all sorts of detailed history about it, but it would only becloud the mind, because after all Christ is Son over God’s house, whatever things we may think about in the past.

JT I am sure things will become solved in our minds as we accept the anointing. The Lord said He was the Christ to her, and she asked the men to come and see if it was not so.

JTJr I suppose Nehemiah had to contend with very difficult circumstances, and it speaks of the nobles of Judaea who wrote to Tobijah. How they would hinder the work, and Nehemiah had to act very severely in the thing, bringing the judgment in ^[p. 375] himself. He exercised such severe measures against those people. Do you not think the nobles sometimes hinder the matter? You cannot get a judgment because there are undercurrents.

JT I am sure that is true. Nehemiah was a very unselfish man and a very great man, and a man who took counsel with himself and knew what to do, and went about to do it. That is the thing, to do things, as also in the book of Esther. If we add the idea of the anointing to these books, we can see how they may be brought into our own circumstances, and the anointing is the solution of every difficulty. We will solve it if we recognise the anointing and not pull down what has been done, but stand by it. Of course, we have to recognise facts if they have been overlooked, but we are speaking of their not being overlooked but investigated and everything declared as it is. As Job says, “The thing as it is”, and Paul says, “being such”. That is, all the matter that may be said about that thing is out, and he is reaching that with the Corinthians. It is for them to know that, whether the facts are true; “being such” involves that. So that we move forward on those lines. It is a settled matter and should be left a settled matter. Interference with it is simply the enemy’s work.

JS The moral question is settled in John 4.

JT She was settled herself, anyway, and as regards the details that the Lord Himself had mentioned, the Christ would settle all that, if He is recognised. The men would recognise Him. “It is no longer on account of thy saying that we believe, for we have heard him ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Saviour of the world”. You have assembly material when the Holy Spirit comes into Samaria.

AR Generally speaking, those who are received do not cause difficulty normally, but those that are withdrawn from. Sometimes the work of God is held up in their souls because they get ^[p. 376] sympathy.

JT Exodus is a great book in this way, because we are furnishing the material. The material really in the antitype is the saints themselves, whatever it be. They are providing this material, and presently the material is there, plenty of it, and the workmen are there, and everything is done, and Moses passes on it all. It is good material, and now it is to be set up as a united thing and the anointing is brought in as a statement of the inauguration or setting up of the tabernacle. So that it says in the verses read, “And thou shalt take the anointing oil, and anoint the tabernacle, and all that is in it, and shalt hallow it, and all its utensils; and it shall be holy”. Holiness underlies the anointing. “And thou shalt anoint the altar of burnt-offering, and all its utensils; and thou shalt hallow the altar, and the altar shall be most holy. And thou shalt anoint the laver and its stand, and hallow it. And thou shalt bring Aaron and his sons near, at the entrance of the tent of meeting, and bathe them with water. And thou shalt clothe Aaron with the holy garments, and anoint him, and hallow him, that he may serve me as priest. And thou shalt bring his sons near, and clothe them with vests. And thou shalt anoint them, as thou didst anoint their father, that they may serve me as priests. And their anointing shall be to them an everlasting priesthood throughout their generations. And Moses did so: as Jehovah had commanded him, so did he”. Well now, this is just a concise statement of the anointing in the chapter, and everything is seen functioning, and then it is said, “And the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of Jehovah filled the tabernacle”, Exodus 40: 34. So that we have a complete collective idea anointed; a representative of God in the wilderness which corresponds with what we have in 1 Corinthians 12: 12: “So also is the Christ”.

JS What would you say of the use of water?

JT ^[p. 377] That is a current need always, being in the wilderness. We need that, as the Lord says to Peter, “Unless I wash thee, thou hast not part with me”, John 13: 8. It is a question of the priests, in order that they may serve as priests.

TEH When Paul and Silas were in the prison at Philippi, did the truth of the anointing and the suffering that went with it help to set up an assembly at Philippi with all the features of joy and restfulness before God?

JT That is what the facts of the epistle show, the sufferings must have entered into the very constitution of the assembly, but I think this anointed position is one of the greatest things that could be before us, however feeble we are, that we have the thought in our hearts, and when a thing is settled, let it be settled, and these settlements take place in localities. The Lord indicates that things are never settled now on the principle of a general council, but in localities, and if I come into a locality I recognise what has been done before I came, and I do not interfere with it unless I have some new facts. Otherwise I am doing harm by bringing up old facts that are already known. We are to go on in positive things. We have plenty of positive things to go on with.

AAT Was not Acts 15 a general conference?

JT That was the last one. God honoured Jerusalem as the great centre. There were none after that. There were plenty of councils after that, but that was the last one that had God’s approval. Paul brings out local companies: “Thus I ordain in all the assemblies”, 1 Corinthians 7: 17. All matters are settled in local assemblies and they are ratified in heaven, and, therefore, should be recognised by all and not interfered with. The Lord is able to make the thing stand, if it is right and it is ratified in heaven.

^[p. 378] RWS Does the principle of this country make the accomplishing of this more difficult? I wondered if the ministry we are having on this from year to year would be that the independency and form of government and all that might lead to the despising of what is small and the ignoring of the authority of the assembly possibly more so than in other parts of the world.

JT Of course, this country was started in that way. It was started on a negative principle of revolution, resistance to an existing government at the time. Of course, God has changed all that now. God is with this country, but the constitution of the people is radical. That is the sort of thing and we have to be on our guard against it because whatever marks the natural mind is leaven.

RWS As knowing that, the Spirit of God would help us to honour the assembly as over against the military and the nation.

JT God would bring up graciously His idea in the anointed position. It has been here for many years, probably nearly one hundred years, and it is here, and we should cherish the thought that we have part in it, and not interfere with it by any meddling.

CAM Our trouble is our slowness to learn. “In order that thou mayest know how one ought to conduct oneself in God’s house”, 1 Timothy 3: 15. We are very slow to know how to behave properly.

JT Quite so.

ANW We should certainly have seen the gain of the recognition of it practically.

JT We have seen it. The Lord has been with the brethren, and will be with us, but He will be with us on those lines. The last is the great central thought of the wilderness, and that is our position.

AAT I notice how we have been dwelling on the thought of discipline, but in Exodus is it more “Serve me”.

JT ^[p. 379] That is the main thing. That is what it says here: “That they may serve me as priests”. That is the primary thought of the priesthood in chapter 28 of this book.

FNW Is the service of God in this chapter contingent upon the setting of things in order in verse 4? Would that link with Paul’s instructions to Titus, setting things in order and putting elders in every city?

JT “And thou shalt bring in the table, and set in order the things that are to be set in order upon it”. Well, that is good.