APOSTOLIC SERVICE AND TESTIMONY CONTINUED IN THE SPIRIT
[p. 332] APOSTOLIC SERVICE AND TESTIMONY CONTINUED IN THE SPIRIT
JT This chapter sets before us the inauguration of the dispensation, and the character of it, the gospel being intended to be the outstanding feature of the dispensation, resulting in the formation of the assembly. What the apostle says from verse 32 to the end of verse 41 may be regarded as entering into the whole chapter, the result in detail being seen in the verses read; that is to say, what marked the early disciples, of whom there were more than three thousand according to what is stated. It appears as if God would signalise the inauguration of the dispensation by the immediate result of the gospel, the immediate result being that a great many relatively were affected. Then, in view of what is asserted in authority by Peter in the power of gift, the verses read, beginning with verse 42, tell us how the testimony affected those that believed, and how they persevered, as it is said, in the teaching and fellowship of the apostles, in breaking of bread and prayers. So that what is in mind now is to point out that the apostolic service is stressed; not Mosaic or Old Testament service in all its subdivisions, but what is stressed is apostolic testimony, not Moses’ testimony. Those who believed persevered in the testimony and teaching and fellowship of the apostles.
It is thought that it would be well to be reminded of this fact, of the apostolic service and testimony, and that it continues until now, and will continue to the end; not in the same personnel, but in the power of the Spirit, the same power that marked the early believers is continuous. That is what is particularly in mind in the whole chapter, the power and testimony of the Spirit in these vessels which [p. 333] are prepared for the service. Verse 32 begins with the Spirit. It says, “This Jesus has God raised up, whereof all we are witnesses. Having therefore been exalted by the right hand of God, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this which ye behold and hear”. “And having heard it they were pricked in heart, and said to Peter and the other apostles, What shall we do, brethren? And Peter said to them, Repent, and be baptised, each one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for remission of sins, and ye will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For to you is the promise and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God may call. And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, Be saved from this perverse generation. Those then who had accepted his word were baptised; and there were added in that day about three thousand souls” (verses 37 - 41). So that the whole position is clearly and fully stated, although we know that much had to be added subsequently, and we may say is continually being added. The general truth is here, so that there should be the inauguration of the present dispensation, which is set up in faith, and it was marked by perseverance by the believers in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, and the breaking of bread and prayers.
HW Was it in mind that these inaugural features mentioned in verses 42 and 43 are to be carried down in power in the hearts of God’s people to the end?
JT I would say that, and our meetings, now, having taken the character they have, I mean the meetings of the saints who are subject to the truth, stress the importance of the apostolic testimony, both in the teaching of the truth to the saints, and in the testimony of the gospel to those outside; and it is thought that it is to continue, and the question [p. 334] is whether it does. In one respect it seems to me there is a defect in the fact that there is little public preaching, such as marked Peter’s address. It is quite evident there was no hall large enough to contain the number of persons who were present and listened and received the truth. I think it might be well for us all to have it before us, that there is this defect in the service at the present time, not only in this country, but generally. We have meetings such as we are having at this moment, which I am sure heaven greatly regards and blesses, and then we have fellowship meetings too, in which large numbers of brethren come together, and these are specially pleasing to God; but then the question is whether we are adhering to the original characteristics in the sense of public testimony, or whether we are not tending to confine ourselves to what is merely private.
PL Would Proverbs be in line, “Wisdom hath built her house ... she crieth upon the summits of the high places of the city”, Proverbs 9: 1, 3?
JT That fits in exactly.
JP-sn We see that in the heavenly city the names of the twelve apostles are in the foundations of the wall. The wall would be what is seen outwardly, the apostolic teaching in that way coming to us in view of what is outward as well as what is inward.
JT The wall is symbolic of testimony, and is for the protection of what is inward and most precious. The foundations were of the wall, not in the building as a whole, but of the wall of the city; so that there is a suggestion of what is inward and precious, and this supposes the ministry of Paul, which is protected by the wall, which of course would be a great matter and a public matter. We should take account of that when we come together, and it is very pleasurable to heaven that we do.
[p. 335] Those who believed were together, but there is more than that. There is need of actual words, or language, or ability to speak, so that people might be affected as directed by the testimony. Of course, the heavenly city confines itself in what we get in Revelation 21 to the testimony of the twelve, but there is not only the testimony of the twelve which is to furnish what is protective, but there is what is precious and private in Paul’s testimony, and that is not mentioned at all. What marks the brethren is generally and mainly and specifically Paul’s testimony, but Paul’s testimony is just the perfecting of that of the twelve, and therefore in calling attention to the twelve, which thought agrees with the foundations, and the wall of the city, we are calling attention to the whole matter. That is how the Spirit of God puts it in Revelation.
HW We find in connection with the four points mentioned, that is, teaching, fellowship, breaking of bread and prayers, there is great enlargement in the ministry of the apostle Paul. It is he who brings in much enlargement in connection with these four matters.
JT That is just what I have in mind, that Paul’s testimony is a great feature, and it enlarges on every one of these four points. The breaking of bread is greatly enlarged. The twelve did not enlarge on it as he does.
HW There is great expansion in what he brings in.
JT Quite so. We could hardly say that what is mentioned of the twelve here, namely, the apostles’ teaching, and fellowship, and breaking of bread and prayers, is just what we have in 1 Corinthians 11.
AWLeS Is Paul’s preaching at Athens what you have in mind?
JT One would have to hesitate a little there, as to whether Paul’s teaching at Athens goes the whole [p. 336] way, because although evidently finished for the moment, and especially as delivered at Athens, yet it does not go the whole way of the truth as affecting the affections of the listeners. It was not a full gospel such as Paul preached later elsewhere.
PL Would that involve the preaching of the Son of God? Paul alludes to himself, and Silvanus and Timotheus as having preached the Son of God, 2 Corinthians 1: 19.
JT Yes. He says, “God ... was pleased to reveal his Son in me”, Galatians 1: 15, 16. That is the secret part of the testimony. The Lord said to Peter, “Thou art Peter, and on this rock I will build my assembly”. The rock of Peter’s testimony was the testimony of the Son of God, but it was never characteristic of Peter himself. That is an important matter. It was characteristic of Peter’s testimony that he never stressed the thought of the Son of God, but Paul did constantly. Paul said, “God ... was pleased to reveal his Son in me, that I may announce him as glad tidings among the nations”. That is what God has particularly stressed in recent times. Peter never mentioned the testimony of the Son of God, except in his second letter where he refers to the transfiguration (2 Peter 1: 17). His testimony is largely the insistence on the fellowship, and other features that are mentioned in his first letter.
WM Would this scripture help, “For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, he who has been preached by us among you (by me and Silvanus and Timotheus)”, 2 Corinthians 1: 19?
JT That characterises Paul’s testimony, and in that he would associate others with him. There were three of them. If they came to this town, Paul would probably give the first address, and then Silvanus might preach, and Timotheus might preach. They were all in it, and that shows that those especially under his influence were stressing the [p. 337] thought of the sonship of Christ, but Peter does not. He never speaks in that way. He speaks about the Christ, and the glories that should follow. He uses the word “precious” more than Paul does, but Paul is the one the Lord took up to stress the idea of sonship.
EB Is Paul a good example in Acts 9: 20, where it says that he preached that Jesus is the Son of God?
JT That was his first testimony, that Jesus is the Son of God.
JP-sn Can you help us as to whether the teaching of the apostle comes into the matter of our preaching today? I desire help as to what is in mind as to the public testimony of which you have spoken, as to the gospel being preached in public places.
JT It affected them at the beginning of the testimony. The beginning of the testimony is traced in Acts 2; they were Pentecostal days, the days of the twelve, not Paul’s days. It waited for Paul to make it the leading feature.
AM As to this side of public testimony, would it link up with the testimony of the Lord Jesus Himself while He was here, which was largely of a public character especially in its closing phases?
JT It was a feature which marked the twelve themselves. The Lord must have spoken in a public sense. He spoke to large numbers.
AM The Holy Spirit has a peculiar pleasure in continuing that kind of service.
JT There is no good reason why it should be given up or ignored in any way.
HW In the service of the Lord Jesus Himself, it is frequently mentioned that crowds came to hear the word of God. When the apostle Paul goes out on his first missionary journey, three times the word of God is mentioned in connection with the apostle’s [p. 338] service. Is that of importance in connection with what you have in mind? In Acts 13: 44 it speaks of the word of God.
JT The words “Paul and his company” are used. It was not a one-man affair, it was a company, and Paul characterised it. At first they did not meet with very great success; they had to wait for the success after they had laboured. The first result was a distinguished public man, and he was amazed at the teaching of the Lord.
AHS What had you in mind when you said there was no good reason why it should be given up?
JT Preaching in the open air. Why should it be given up? Up to the time of the revival public preaching was carried on by such men as Wesley and Whitefield. I have heard of Whitefield preaching to twenty thousand people in Philadelphia, and many others did the same thing later.
PL Do you think we may perhaps, alas, shirk this rough and relatively hard work of tree-felling in view of material for the assembly? I thought that the light of Solomon illustrating sonship would impel us in this character of working.
JT Quite so. It is rough work, but it aims at very gracious results, because the temple was of the highest quality typically. Rough work must have marked it. David was forbidden to build the house; it was his son who should build it; and the sonship of Christ is what we are dealing with.
PL It should impel us to go forth tree-felling.
JT Quite so. You mean cutting down trees. Men have to humble themselves, and fall down, and serve God.
PL Bringing them by water to Joppa would be a reference to baptism, in Acts 2 for example.
Rem Lack of results has deterred us in this [p. 339] matter.
JT There is a reproach about it, and it is not so easy to go out in the streets and testify to Christ, as to have a hall provided for you, and come here or to other halls in this city. But this feature did not mark the early believers. A nice hall and platform did not mark them. But there is that which was characteristic of them at the beginning. The cutting down of trees means that men are bowed down by the testimony of Christ.
PL “Do the work of an evangelist” and “endure afflictions” linked together in 2 Timothy 4: 5 would suggest the mettle that faces opposition in that way in evangelical service.
JT We are all free to refer to that great servant whom God used, J.N.D., and someone told me that he mentioned to J.N.D. that he had been preaching the gospel, and J.N.D. said nothing, he did not answer at all. He told him again, and he still did not answer, and then J.N.D. said, ‘Was there opposition?’ and then he was interested. If there is opposition there is something there that God supports and Satan would object to, and we have to bear the shame and reproach of that testimony.
PL “For a great door is open to me and an effectual one, and the adversaries many”, 1 Corinthians 16: 9.
JP-sn The gospel is preached here in Acts by men full of the Holy Spirit. Do you think there has been a lack in that regard in service which has been taken up? We see power in the testimony that goes out here in Acts, and it should be so today.
JT Quite so; in some sense, anyway. There must be something of that kind, something which would keep up the features of the beginning, with which God began, and it involves reproach. The Lord constantly calls attention to the reproach attached to His testimony, the reproach of Christ.
Ques “And let him that hears say, Come”, Revelation 22: 17. Does that link on with what you have been saying?
JT Quite so; and “He that will, let him take the water of life freely”. That is a gospel feature.
AM The matter arises early in the second epistle to Timothy, does it not? “For which cause I put thee in mind to rekindle the gift of God which is in thee by the putting on of my hands. For God has not given us a spirit of cowardice, but of power, and of love, and of wise discretion. Be not therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner; but suffer evil along with the glad tidings, according to the power of God”, 2 Timothy 1: 6 - 8.
JT A very good passage.
AM It shows the tendency in later days to fall short.
JT In the Acts they persevered in the teaching and fellowship of the apostles, in breaking of bread and prayers. And then we have further details of what characterised these people. “And fear was upon every soul, and many wonders and signs took place through the apostles’ means. And all that believed were together, and had all things common, and sold their possessions and substance, and distributed them to all, according as any one might have need. And every day, being constantly in the temple with one accord, and breaking bread in the house, they received their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God, and having favour with all the people”. The breaking of bread was in the house; it was not in the temple. It was not in keeping with religious customs; it was in the house. And then we have, “And the Lord added to the assembly daily those that were to be saved”. God did His part; the others did their part, brothers and sisters alike, and then chapter 3 opens up the work [p. 341] of two of them, Peter and John, and what resulted from this work.
WSS Would the beginning of Luke be in line with what you are saying, Simeon speaking in the temple, and Anna speaking outside to those who looked for redemption in Jerusalem?
JT Very good; a sister speaking outside to all that looked for redemption in Jerusalem.
PL “The Lord gives the word, great the host of the publishers”, Psalm 68: 11. Mr. Darby points out that the word publishers there is a feminine one. Mr. Stoney used to refer to the sisters as retrievers going after the wounded.
JT The third chapter opens up with something to be noticed, because the history here is developing. It is a history marked by development, and the development is in these two men. “And Peter and John went up together into the temple at the hour of prayer, which is the ninth hour; and a certain man who was lame from his mother’s womb was being carried, whom they placed every day at the gate of the temple called Beautiful, to ask alms of those who were going into the temple; who, seeing Peter and John about to enter into the temple, asked to receive alms. And Peter, looking steadfastly upon him with John, said, Look on us”. The allusion is to what is to be seen in those men; not in the temple, not in what was religious in character, but in those two men who were under reproach; the opposers said they were ignorant persons, but they were there in power, and they were to be looked on. It is a question of what is to be seen, so that if we go out with the truth, let us see to it that there is something to be seen in us as witnesses. Peter says, “All we are witnesses”. Acts 2: 32.
Ques. What is to be seen?
JT Three thousand had come into it, but these two are signalised, and the first thing they call [p. 342] attention to is what is to be seen. “Look on us”, not on the three thousand, but on these two men, because there is something there of particular beauty in the mind of heaven, two of them together, Peter and John.
AM Is it not one of the first features of the work of God coming to light in an initial way, that one is not ashamed to come out in the open on the line of confession, as mentioned in verse 37?
JT The witnesses of it are attractive. They are something to call attention to. There are large numbers now as there were in the beginning, and we thank God for them. If they are with God, they are not too large for us. We are not afraid of the size of the meeting — Peter had to inaugurate things with the idea of three thousand persons. The principle is enlarged greatly later on in the book of Acts.
TP Is it right to link it up with the scripture, “How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!”, Romans 10: 15?
JT That would apply to the Lord, and it would apply to the apostles. The woman in Luke 7 kissed those feet, and anointed those feet, showing that the Lord’s attractiveness had gone down to the feet.
JP-sn Would Peter and John be like the two pillars at the entrance to the temple? They set forth the testimony, but there was something far greater inside. Is that what there should be in the gospel testimony?
JT What was inside was greater; that is, the ark of the covenant, and the other features of the holiest. Those are the things especially in the mind of God.
JP-sn So Peter and John, as two of the apostles, set forth this testimony, but Paul brings in the greatness of the service of God and all that goes on [p. 343] inside?
JT Yes. One wonders that Paul is in such liberty to call attention to himself. We marvel at the number of occasions he mentions himself, and that he is allowed, and did take liberty, to speak of himself. The question is now whether there is anything that can be used in a public way, that can be used in the service of the gospel, that can be called attention to. It is a question of Paul’s features reflecting what Christ’s features are, marking the beginning of the dispensation.
WSS In Colossians he says he is minister of the gospel (Colossians 1: 23), and minister of the assembly (Colossians 1: 25). In Ephesians 3 he speaks of his intelligence in the mystery and says, “To me, less than the least of all saints, has this grace been given, to announce among the nations the glad tidings of the unsearchable riches of the Christ”. Those two thoughts are brought together in his ministry. I had in mind the balance of the mystery of the assembly and the intelligence in the mystery, and the announcement of the riches of Christ.
JT He could say, “I reckon that in nothing I am behind those who are in surpassing degree apostles”, 2 Corinthians 11: 5.
PL “Mercy was shewn me, that in me, the first. Jesus Christ might display the whole long-suffering, for a delineation of those about to believe on him to life eternal”, 1 Timothy 1: 16. Was that a portrayal?
JT Yes, they are beautiful traits, and Paul thought of all that were about to believe to life eternal. He represented the whole thought of God’s work, both the present dispensation and the coming one.
ARG Is this matter of attractiveness in the person presenting the word, a safeguard against souls being converted and drifting to nowhere particular; that is, souls being converted and not attached to [p. 344] the assembly?
JT Do you mean that there is that danger in the case of a person converted by public preaching?
ARG I thought of that as not giving them a start in the assembly, but is the matter of the attractiveness of the person presenting the word a safeguard against that?
JT The Lord’s day is remarkably constituted. We have the breaking of bread, and then we have these readings on Lord’s day afternoons, and the day is pretty well filled up; and then the preaching, preceded in recent times by prayer in the houses of the brethren. That is a great guarantee of success, even if you only get one soul, but there is something there that should affect him; that is to say, the teaching of the apostles, and the fellowship of the apostles, and the breaking of bread and prayers. Monday night comes in after the Lord’s day, and if he is at all affected by the testimony which is rendered, he will not forget the assembly. He will be brought into it.
ARG In relation to the attractiveness of the person presenting the word, this man clave to Peter and John. He did not want to leave them.
JT He did not go to any other religious position; he kept to them. He did not fall away, but clave to them. He held them; he held both of them, he was not a partisan. He held them both, and he became a testimony and the devil attacked it at once, and this man is twice alluded to by Peter.
WSS He entered with them into the temple, which suggests in our day that he came into the light of the assembly.
PL And he held Peter and John.
JP-sn Are we helped in this manner in speaking to souls as to the sphere of salvation to which they may be brought, especially as we see the darkness of what is around?
JT “Come and see” is the other side of things. To come and see is to come and hear. But come and see, see what God’s work is in its beauty. You are encouraged to say “Come and see”, because you know the brethren walk in the truth, and there is something to see.
Ques Would the preaching in public testimony be of the same character as that in our halls, and on the same level?
JT We have to allow for the difference in the congregation. They just pass along and listen; they have ears as well as eyes, and now and again we hear of someone being attracted, and it is worth while, even if it is only one. Gold is there, and we know what gold means. People know the colour of it, and what it means.
WB The apostle could say, “Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do”, Philippians 4: 9. Is it essential that the speaker should be the exponent in himself of what he presents?
JT Quite so. What they heard and saw in him, they were to do. And so it is said, “All things which Jesus began both to do and to teach”, Acts 1: l.
DJ Seeing that Peter and John were uninstructed men, they wondered, and they recognised them that they had been with Jesus (Acts 4: 13).
JT That shows what the public testimony may be, that these men who were preaching suggested the Lord to the hearers. They did not preach as some do; they did not have to wear any garb to signalise themselves. It is a question of what they were morally. That is the testimony.
HM Is it noticeable that Peter and John appeared as those who had something worth while to give? “Such as I have give I thee”.
JT That is another feature of the testimony, that God is a giving God. John himself comes in to confirm [p. 346] and support what the others are saying. “God so loved the world, that he gave”, John 3: 16. It is a question of what God is. That is for John, not for Paul; that enters into the public service of preaching.
AM Is there another feature of the public testimony, that the preaching and teaching are seen in the walk of the saints? It is emphasised that this man walked. Does the question of walk enter into the last few verses of Acts 2, the way the saints behaved, and the things they did, their gladness and simplicity, their feeding, and so on?
JT “A certain man who was lame from his mother’s womb was being carried, whom they placed every day at the gate of the temple called Beautiful”, Acts 3: 2. Notice that he was carried. It does not say that he never walked. If one may refer to chapter 14, another similar passage, “And a certain man in Lystra, impotent in his feet, sat, being lame from his mother’s womb, who had never walked” (verse 8). That is not said of the man in chapter 3. In chapter 14 we have a gentile feature, and he had never walked. The gentiles never walked. They did not know anything about God. The Jews did, and the man in chapter 3 evidently knew something about God. What the man saw in Peter and John should be reflected in him, and it was, he held Peter and John; he clung to them, and he was seen together with them. The brethren are attractive, and if God is working in men and women and children, they will be attracted to the brethren, and walk with them, and do what they do. We should be able to show what should be done, and so attract them.
PL Have we the same thought in Acts 14: 1, where it says that Paul and Barnabas “entered together into the synagogue of the Jews, and so spake that a great multitude of both Jews and Greeks believed”? “So spake” would show the spirit as well as the [p. 347] substance?
JT Quite so. A great multitude believed. There were two of them together. “It came to pass in Iconium that they entered together into the synagogue of the Jews”.
JO Have you in mind that at the end of this dispensation, when the service of God has been established, the Lord is going to lead the saints out in testimony? Before the people of God went out of Egypt, they had light in their dwellings, and God gave them favour among the Egyptians, and they obtained vessels of silver and vessels of gold, which were largely used in the tabernacle system.
JT They demanded of the Egyptians. They had certain rights, and the Egyptians gave them certain things, silver and gold. Surely God was working, to give them favour in the sight of the Egyptians.
JP-sn So in Solomon’s kingdom there is one, the Queen of Sheba, who is directed in relation to Solomon and to his service, and she brings wealth in her offering.
JT No spirit was left in her. She never saw such a sight anywhere. There was no such sight to be seen anywhere as in Jerusalem, and there is no such sight to be seen now. Is there anything that is different in us from the religious bodies around us? God means that there should be.
JP-sn The effect of Paul’s ministry upon us causes conditions in the way of illumination, so that souls are attracted and brought to Christ Himself, and the truth of the assembly.
Ques The special feature in relation to Paul’s preaching was the opposition which marked it continually. Do you think we should be more prepared for, and expect to have, opposition to our preaching?
JT That is a question for every one of us. One feels it as to oneself. We are most of us business men, and all these things add to us according to men. The question is whether the suffering [p. 348] is there.
WSS Does what you have been saying to us challenge our hearts as to how far we are really in the good of the teaching of the assembly? Here we have the temple connected with the testimony. In Paul we have the ministry of the assembly connected with the ministry of the gospel, and as you were pointing out, the gift of the evangelist is found in Ephesians and not in Corinthians.
JT That is all very instructive. There is no doubt that the Lord is especially using the brethren, whom we speak of as the disciples of the Lord, because the word ‘disciples’ is a most expressive one, to bring out what was in His counsels before the world was; that is, the assembly; to bring out what it is composed of, and what it is to be now in a time of suffering. We are protecting what we value so highly, and we do not give it away to the natural man to make use of. We do not cast our pearls before swine. If we are not careful we are sure to provoke imitation. Imitation continues, but we are not to add to that imitation, but to be careful. These things are of God, and they are not to be imitated. The natural man can imitate them.
AWLeS The prophet said, “He is despised and rejected of men”, Isaiah 53: 3.
JT Peter says, “Silver and gold I have not; but what I have, this give I to thee: In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazaraean rise up and walk”. Peter is not hiding the reproach attached to Christ. He was crucified. He was the Nazaraean, a suffering one.
AM Does the tabernacle system portray this? On the outside of the tabernacle there were badger skins, but the more precious features were inward, and were hidden.
JT Very good. That is the public position in the wilderness, whereas Paul’s ministry in its fulness leads to the land.
AM The building of the tabernacle was marked by goats’ hair, and rams’ skins dyed red and badger [p. 349] skins. The entrance of the court suggested how beautiful it was within.
JT Quite so.
PL And would the quantity of byssus in relation to the court suggest the feelings for men? Paul’s going into Europe is connected with the Spirit of Jesus. Does that engagingly play a part?
JT The Spirit of Jesus not allowing him to go to a certain place, but He would have him go to another place. The inner side was there, although not exposed to the natural mind.
PL The delicate Egyptian byssus would speak of that tender, compassionate feelings for men, seen in that way. Was not the door connected with the byssus?
JT I think it refers to it as the “gate”.
AM Exodus 27: 9 reads, “Thou shalt make the court of the tabernacle. On the south side, southward, hangings for the court of twined byssus; a hundred cubits the length” and so on. Verse 16 refers to “the gate of the court”. I was wondering if the byssus would not be the side of righteousness in the testimony.
JT It is the fine quality of the Egyptian cotton that is in view, and therefore it is a type of refinement, refinement in the texture of it. It has to be carefully examined to know what it really is. It was to be seen in the Lord Jesus, and it is to be seen in the saints; it is a question of the Spirit operating in the saints.
WSS There would be nothing about the byssus, or fine cotton, to repel?
JT No. It is very different from the goats’ hair. These things have to be compared. They have teaching in them, and that is what the byssus means, that you have to examine them closely to find out the teaching in them. That is why you have so much said about these types. There is so much to interest, but you have to examine [p. 350] them closely.
Ques Were you referring in verse 16 to the gate?
AM I referred to that as the outside position, as compared with the inside position. Some suggestion was given in the hangings of the gate as to what was within.
JT The outside is in keeping with what is within. The acacia wood is to be compared with the quality of the byssus. The acacia is not a showy thing, but strong. There is great strength in it.