THE ASSEMBLY (3)
[p. 543] THE ASSEMBLY (3)
Genesis 22: 20 - 24; Genesis 24:1-33; Genesis 24:50-67
JT Attention should be called to the importance of Scripture, and that the Old Testament has the same relative value as the New Testament; and so also the typical teaching of the Old Testament has its own value, and has the authority of Scripture. I am afraid that there is a danger in certain quarters of persons assuming that the New Testament has greater value than the Old. When the Lord was here He quoted from the Scriptures. In the 10th of John He quoted a scripture, saying as to it, “and the scripture cannot be broken”, verse 35. And so I think it is well to warn the brethren, and we all should be warned, as to the importance of Scripture. We have had it before us that “every scripture is divinely inspired, and profitable for teaching, for conviction, for correction, for instruction in righteousness; that the man of God may be complete, fully fitted to every good work”, 2 Timothy 3: 16, 17. The section now before us is one of the most important sections in the Old Testament as containing typical teaching about the Spirit of God and about the assembly. We must be on our guard not to allow ourselves to slip into error by refusing what is presented in Scripture as typical teaching. A letter was received from a brother in Croydon this very day calling attention to John 7: 37, which I will read: “In the last, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried saying, If any one thirst, let him come to me and drink. He that believes on me, as the scripture has said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water”. Attention is called to the Scripture: “As the scripture has said”. Now this particular scripture can hardly be found, literally, but the Lord says that it is there, and He quotes thus “out of his belly shall flow rivers of living waters”. The chronicler of the gospel by John then records:
“[p. 544] But this he said concerning the Spirit, which they that believed on him were about to receive; for the Spirit was not yet, because Jesus had not yet been glorified”, verse 39. So the Lord quoted something there as Scripture that cannot be determined as such, literally, but still the meaning is there; the Lord means it to be quoted as Scripture; in effect it was Scripture; although as already said we cannot get the literal words in Scripture. Therefore we ought to be on our guard that we may not find ourselves in error as to the use of the Scriptures, but go by the usage that the Lord and the apostles have made of them.
CAM You were referring to the verse, “But this he said concerning the Spirit, which they that believed on him were about to receive”. As you were speaking one was impressed with the fact that the Lord, even though His own words were being expressed at the moment, referred to the Old Testament scripture in order to speak about the Spirit, which was really looked at anticipatively in the Old Testament, was it not?
JT Yes, quite; but in the passage with which we are dealing in John 7 the writer of the gospel explains what is said: “But this he said concerning the Spirit, which they that believed on him were about to receive”. That is, the writer, the narrator of the gospel of John, adds to what the Lord said.
JTJr “As the scripture has said”, would need to be taken into consideration, in regard to every scripture, as to what it is saying, what the scripture itself is saying. And as we are reading out tonight in Genesis 24, it is a question of what that scripture is saying.
JT So that you have the Old Testament, for instance, in Hebrews 3: 7: “... as says the Holy Spirit”. It is not, as said, but “as says”.
EAL Genesis 24 seems to have considerable double emphasis. For example: “Put thy hand, I pray thee, under my thigh, and I will make thee swear by Jehovah”,
[p. 545] verses 2, 3. Later in the chapter other things are emphasised by repetition. Do you think that is notable?
JT Very good, so as to emphasise what the chapter contains, because it is so important, I would think, as a type of Christ and the assembly; and not only Christ and the assembly, but the Spirit of God too; it is a type of the Spirit of God Himself.
ETM Do you think that it is significant to see how the Spirit and the assembly are closely related, both in Genesis and Revelation?
JT Quite so; so that the Lord, for instance, states certain things to each of the assemblies, and the Lord’s own words are implied, but then there are other words added.
AR In the epistle to the Galatians Paul says, “But what says the scripture? Cast out the maid servant and her son” (chapter 4: 30), but in Genesis 21 it is what Sarah says. Although spoken by Sarah, the apostle says, “what says the scripture?”
JT Showing that God is honouring His children, quoting what they say, and that is found in the epistle to the Hebrews particularly, especially in the first chapter.
ABP There is a striking passage in 1 Corinthians that illustrates how the apostle Paul regarded the Old Testament: “In the law ... it is written, Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that is treading out corn. Is God occupied about the oxen, or does he say it altogether for our sakes? For for our sakes it has been written”, 1 Corinthians 9: 9, 10. The apostle’s use of Scripture confirms what you are saying.
JT Quite so.
ANW And so Peter says, “the scope of no prophecy of scripture is had from its own particular interpretation, ... but holy men of God spake under the power of the Holy Spirit”, 2 Peter 1: 20, 21.
JT And you mean that [p. 546] is Old Testament prophecy?
ANW Well, it clearly is so.
SW What had you in mind in reading the verses in chapter 22? After Isaac had been offered up Rebecca comes into view as a type of the assembly?
JT It is to bring out that she is there. The Spirit of God is placing her there because she is about to be spoken of as the bride that is sought out for Isaac. And so the Spirit of God mentions her in the verses read in chapter 22.
SW Rebecca did not come into view until after Isaac had been offered up. I thought that Isaac being offered up typified Christ having died, and indeed risen, because Abraham is recorded as coming back with the servants from the mount, but Isaac is not so mentioned.
JT Quite so; and the verse read says, “And it came to pass after these things, that it was told Abraham, saying, Behold, Milcah, she also has borne sons to thy brother Nahor: Uz his firstborn, and Buz his brother, and Kemuel the father of Aram, and Chesed, and Hazo, and Pildash, and Jidlaph, and Bethuel” — and now there is a bracket here: “(And Bethuel begot Rebecca.)” It is clearly to identify the one who is to be the bride of Isaac.
EAL And then Rebecca, in chapter 24: 24, said to the servant, “I am the daughter of [p. 554] Bethuel, the son of Milcah, whom she bore to Nahor”. She brings in all that of herself.
JT Showing that she was clearly intelligent as to her genealogy and that she was a genuine person, fit to be the bride of Isaac.
RWS In a previous reading, in the great type which we have in Eve, sin had not come in, but here sin had come in, but the sisterhood seems to be true and of a wholly right seed. I wondered if these conditions rightly preceded the introduction of the Spirit and all the wealth of this wonderful [p. 547] chapter.
JT Well, sin having come in, God brought in the idea of sacrifice, the sin-offering, as He calls it, in speaking with Cain. It lay at the door; redemption had been accomplished in principle, so that God could go on with His work. And hence Rebecca is a suitable person to be the bride of Isaac. God was not baffled at the incoming of sin; He immediately made provision for it so that He should go on with His work. Therefore the counsels of God must go forward.
CAM Would it be right to say that certain things had occurred, in view of Rebecca’s coming on to the scene? Rebecca and the generations before her are not referred to by the Spirit in this way until after the sacrifice of Isaac is brought in.
JT But then the idea of sacrifice came out very early; it came out in Genesis 3.
CAM Yes; but would you say that the whole matter of the sacrifice really becomes increased so that a beautiful aspect of it is seen in chapter 22?
JT So that God has it in mind and Rebecca is brought in on the ground that she is suitable for Isaac.
FSC It says in Hebrews 11: 18: “In Isaac shall thy seed be called”. This chapter makes way for that.
AR Are counsels in mind in that the first suggestion about the bride comes from Abraham, who may be said to represent God? Are the purposes of God in mind?
JT It is not Abraham that is particularly in mind, it is Rebecca; she is fit to fill out the divine purpose. Rebecca is in mind here, it is not simply Abraham’s seed. She was related to Abraham, of course, but that is not the point, exactly.
AR The suggestion about getting a wife for Isaac comes first from Abraham. I wondered if that suggested the idea of fulfilment of purpose and counsel.
JT But Abraham did not prescribe who the wife was to be, he waited for her to appear. [p. 548] She comes out immediately, however, as Abraham’s servant speaks to her.
ANW Does not verse 15 confirm what you say? The Holy Spirit guides the writer to say almost the same words as are in chapter 22: “behold, Rebecca came out, who was born to Bethuel, son of Milcah the wife of Nahor, Abraham’s brother”; she is precisely the one.
JT Quite so.
TNW Is there a possible confirmation in verse 27? The servant says, “I being in the way, Jehovah has led me to the house of my master’s brethren”. It is not exactly to Rebecca herself.
JT He was led to the brethren of Abraham; that was through Jehovah’s guidance.
JTJr The way Jehovah is brought into this is very impressive. The servant speaks of that immediately. Then, in verse 51, Laban and Bethuel say, “... as Jehovah has said”. Even Laban recognises that and says that Jehovah had said that Rebecca was to be the wife of Isaac: “Behold, Rebecca is before thee: take her, and go away; and let her be wife of thy master’s son, as Jehovah has said”. It is a very impressive thought; and it shows that God was active in the matter.
JT Yes, and it is not simply that she is a relative of Abraham, but she is Rebecca. She is the one that is fitted for Isaac.
SW In that way, though we are chosen sovereignly, yet we are selected?
JT Quite so.
ANW The meaning of Rebecca’s name is given as ‘captivating’, according to the note. She herself was captivating.
JT Showing that she was personally attractive. That will come out later.
FHL Not only is wisdom and intelligence moving [p. 549] but love is behind this matter, because, as we know, the first mention of love is in connection with Abraham and Isaac, and now the second mention is in connection with Isaac and Rebecca.
JT Quite so; Isaac and Rebecca.
RWS Does Rebecca typically have the graces of the Spirit, even as she is approached by the servant? Allusion is made in the chapter to two wells, and to camels, and the servant, which would allude in some way to the Spirit, but I wondered if she was really marked by the Spirit before the servant and the camels came.
JT Another well is alluded to in chapter 24. “And Isaac had just returned from Beer-lahai-roi; for he was dwelling in the south country. And Isaac had gone out to meditate in the fields toward the beginning of evening. And he lifted up his eyes and saw, and behold, camels were coming. And Rebecca lifted up her eyes and saw Isaac”, and then we have the servant saying, “That is my master!” But he had been coming from the well Beer-lahai-roi. So that it is a scene of refreshing, a scene of water. And no doubt what is said in John 7: 38 would indicate that the scripture points to it. “As the scripture has said” would link on with this very passage.
RWS Is there then greater wealth connected with the Spirit in Rebecca as a type of the assembly, than in the other types of the assembly in the Old Testament? Is the Spirit seen in a more extended way in relation to her than in the other types?
JT Yes, the types are very strikingly illustrated in this chapter.
AI Is the death of Sarah in view of making way for Rebecca?
JT In a certain sense that is true. You get Sarah’s death in chapter 23. Abraham made a point of getting a burying-place [p. 550] for her.
JHE Apart from the servant’s work there would be no bride; today, through the Spirit’s work the bride is formed.
JT Very good. The bride exists because of the Spirit having effected her.
JHE I was thinking of that verse you quoted from John, “out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water”. Look at the water that Rebecca was able to furnish, not only for the servant but for the camels also!
JT What a lot of it she furnished! There were ten camels to be watered.
FHL Giving a drink to ten camels was almost a miracle for a young woman, and yet that is a part of the test which the servant suggested in verse 14.
JT She does not hesitate; she said she would give drink to the camels also. The servant asked her only for a sip of water at first but she was ready to draw water for the camels also.
ABP Would the attractiveness of Rebecca, which the servant observed and wondered at, be typical of the handiwork of the Lord Himself which was seen in the one hundred and twenty when the Spirit came down at Pentecost? Would that be a dispensational application?
JT Just so.
ANW In connection with John 7, would the spontaneity with which she acted show that it operated from the inwards; not doing merely what she is told, but working in a spontaneous way? Would that connect with John 7: 38: “out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water”?
JT Yes; you are struck with the agility with which she moves, and draws out the wonderment of the servant; he wondered at her. That is another thing that we might as well take notice of, because the servant is a type of the Spirit, and he marvelled at Rebecca.
AR The first thing she does is to give the servant a drink of water. He says, “Let me, I pray thee, sip a little water out of thy pitcher. And she said, Drink my lord! And she hasted and let down her pitcher on her hand, and gave him to drink”. That is, he gets refreshed first.
JT Quite so.
JHE Would this be the principle of excess? He asks for a drink, and she says, “I will draw water for thy camels also”.
JT Consider the capacity of a camel for drinking water. You marvel at what happened here.
AAT There seem to be several types of the Spirit in the chapter — the servant, the camels, and the well, and probably more.
JT There are two wells; and the camels are a type also, because of the carrying power involved. They were to carry Rebecca to Isaac.
JTJr That is an interesting reference to the wells, because there is a well at the end of the chapter as you pointed out, and in the early part reference is made to the well of water. The servant says, “Behold, I stand here by the well of water”. And then Isaac is seen as coming from the well Beer-lahai-roi. The Spirit being alluded to in these connections shows the great variety there is in regard to Him — how He presents Himself.
JT And it is a question whether we are awake to it. I was alluding to a letter received today, which illustrates how the brethren are awaking to this great fact of the Spirit as a feature of the last days.
GAL What would you say about the passage in Jeremiah 2: 13 where Jehovah refers to Himself as the fountain of living waters? “For my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, to hew them out cisterns, broken cisterns that hold no water”.
JT The Lord in John 7: 38 in saying, “as the scripture has said”, would, doubtless, have in His mind [p. 552] these very passages in which the Spirit is seen in the figure of fountains and wells and rivers. He uses the very word, “Out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water”.
JTJr It is remarkable that this city of Nahor in verse 10 is connected with that. The footnote says, ‘Syria of the two rivers’.
JT Very remarkable. They would be, I suppose, the Tigris and Euphrates.
AI The servant here speaks of standing by the well; it is mentioned several times. Is there any significant difference in Moses sitting by the well in Exodus 2: 15?
JT I believe the stress is on standing as in chapter 18: 2, as the note says.
CAM You were speaking of the fact that the servant wondered at Rebecca in verse 21. Is not that a touch of the feelings of the Holy Spirit, for which we are really dependent upon the Old Testament?
JT The wonders of the Old Testament are reflected in the New, although it is quite right to say New and Old. The New comes first.
CAM So that having the Holy Spirit before us as in the New Testament, we are rightly dependent upon the Old to fill in touches of feeling and love with regard to such a divine Person.
JT And so with respect to the title Jehovah Elohim; in chapter 2 of this book we have this double name. In chapter 1 it is just God — or Elohim. But then we have the Spirit there immediately, brooding over the face of the waters.
VCL It says in verse 19, “When she had given him enough to drink”, and then, concerning the camels, it was “until they have drunk enough”. Would that indicate that we should seek to satisfy the Spirit?
JT Well, it is the sort of thing that ought to belong to the assembly. If there is anything being done in [p. 553] the way of liberality or entertaining, then it is done well — plenty of it. That is, we are not niggardly in what we are doing, we are acting graciously and liberally with the brethren.
JTJr So she fully meets the requirements that are in the servant’s mind. The servant had stated in his prayer what he would say, and what he would expect the damsel to say; it is a remarkable reference to conversation. The matter of conversation should help us in regard to what we have been considering in this great subject of the Spirit.
JT The Spirit of God is here viewed in type as holding a conversation with the assembly; that is to say, the servant converses with Rebecca.
AR It says in verse 21, “And the man was astonished at her, remaining silent”, as if he was giving her all the opportunity he could.
JT Quite so; you marvel at it, especially as bringing in the thought of whom he represents in the type.
JAP Would you think that Paul’s remarks as to the liberality of the Macedonian brethren bring out this feature of the assembly? In 2 Corinthians 8 and 9 and also in Philippians 4 he refers to this and that they had ministered twice to him, as if he wondered at their giving which was out of their “deep poverty”.
JT Very good.
RWS Among the questions that the man asked Rebecca in verse 23 is the query: “Is there room ... to lodge?” And she answered, “There is straw, and also much provender with us; also room to lodge”. Then, in verse 31, Laban said, “I have prepared the house, and room for the camels”. Is it a question now of how much room we are going to make?
JT She has no hesitation in answering. The servant says, “Whose daughter art thou? tell me, I pray thee. Is there room in thy father’s house for us to lodge? And she said to him, I am the daughter of Bethuel the son of Milcah, whom she bore to Nahor. And she said to him. There is straw, and also much provender with us; also room to lodge”. There is plenty of everything. It is an illustration really of what the assembly should be.
JAP Is there a link between what you have just said and Acts 16: 15, where it is said of Lydia, “And when she had been baptised and her house, she besought us, saying, If ye have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house and abide there. And she constrained us”?
JT “Come into my house and abide there”; quite so. And then later, in verse 40, it says, “And having gone out of the prison, they came to Lydia”. She was a liberal woman; she was an assembly woman.
JAP I was wondering if these features which are seen in this woman in Genesis 24 come out in Philippi. And then, the way the jailor acted after his conversion! Does it not fill out what we get in this chapter?
JT Yes; the jailor laid the table for them.
ANW And does not verse 22 of our chapter show how the Spirit affords compensation? “And it came to pass when the camels had drunk enough, that the man took a gold ring, of half a shekel weight, and two bracelets for her hands, ten shekels weight of gold ...”
JT That is, he did not belittle the camels, any more than he would himself. He waited until they had enough.
ANW Is it right to link the camels with the ministry? I was thinking of that word in Ephesians 4: 13: “... until we all arrive”.
JT “Until we all arrive at the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, at the full-grown man, at the measure of the stature of the fulness of the Christ”.
ANW I thought there might possibly be a link [p. 555] between this thought of the camels and the Spirit’s part in the ministry.
JT Yes, the camels are great carriers as we have said.
ANW And does not verse 10 help us, if we need further help, to identify this wonderful unnamed person with the Spirit? “Now all the treasure of his master was under his hand”. Is that not a close link with 1 Corinthians 12: 11, which says, “all these things operates the one and the same Spirit, dividing to each in particular according as he pleases”?
JT Yes; showing that it is the Holy Spirit that is down here looking after things for us. He is down here by us looking after things for us. It is really the idea of the Comforter, one who manages our affairs for us.
WWM It says in verse 22, “And it came to pass when the camels had drunk enough, that the man took a gold ring, of half a shekel weight, and two bracelets for her hands, ten shekels weight of gold, and said, Whose daughter art thou?” Then in verse 28, “And the maiden ran and told these things to her mother’s house. And Rebecca had a brother, named Laban: and Laban ran out to the man, to the well. And it came to pass when he saw the ring and the bracelets on his sister’s hand, and when he heard the words of Rebecca his sister, saying, Thus spoke the man to me ...” I was thinking that this is like the adornment which the Spirit would effect in the saints. Would you think so?
JT The whole scene is marked by enrichment; you are impressed with Abraham and his patriarchal age; indeed, you are impressed with the richness of the whole position as seen in the households, but especially in Abraham. And there is another thing that was already alluded to: “And he arose and went to Aram-naharaim, to the city of Nahor”. That is said to be ‘Syria of the two rivers’. The idea of rivers and wells [p. 556] is there. The great enrichment of the place is striking. The assembly is set in that place of spiritual wealth.
EAL Do you think that Abraham is really marked by confidence in the servant? He gives no instruction in detail; the servant works out the whole plan of discovery of Rebecca and confirmation of her.
JT Quite so; everything was under his hand; all his master’s goods and treasures were under his hand.
EAL Also, he speaks of Jehovah as “God of my master Abraham” and says, “I am Abraham’s servant”, but then at the end of the journey he says of Isaac, “That is my master!”
JT That would suggest the interchangeableness of the names of divine Persons, that Abraham, typifying the Father, and Isaac as typifying the Lord Jesus, can be interchanged. In the first part, Abraham is his master but now Isaac is his master. That gives us the latitude and the liberty that belongs to us as of the assembly, the enrichment that marks the position.
JTJr Would the place of subjection of the Spirit come out in the servant here? The Spirit is here in such a lowly way, bringing out what is needed, as seen in these things which he gave to Rebecca — and the camels also; it says he made them kneel down. Is this what is required in those that seek to be with the Spirit in what He is doing?
JT Quite so, he made them kneel down, as if they were subject to him. Very often we find young people are not subject; they have their own way, and say what they like to say. Whereas they ought to be subject and go by the Scriptures.
RWS Is not Laban a little like that? Laban does not really seem to be going along with what was in the servant’s mind. He seems to be a sort of aggressive brother.
JT Well, we will hear of him later. We will learn more of his history later in relation [p. 557] to Jacob.
RWS The servant is asking questions, and Laban is saying things. He seems to take precedence over his father.
JT Well, he did, and it was he and his mother who raised the question of keeping Rebecca a while; it says, “Let the maiden abide with us some days, or say ten”. Well now, that is not a good sign. He wants her to abide with them, and who knows what would happen in ten days. It is better, whatever the word is, to go by it. Hearken to the word, is the point.
RDG Does he not do well, however, in verse 31? He says, “Come in, blessed of Jehovah! ... I have prepared the house”.
JT Quite so, he shows up well; he would be up to the mark, but at the same time we have to await his later history to see what he was to Jacob.
JTJr He is a remarkable man and takes precedence over his father. He says the right thing at the beginning, but he does not say the right thing later.
JT So that we should watch men’s histories, what they have been, and what they are.
SM There is a remarkable passage in verse 33. The servant says, “I will not eat until I have made known my business”, showing the urgency of it.
JT Quite so.
FNW Would that word ‘business’ allude to the great objective in the Spirit’s mind — to bring testimony as to Christ? But is it not right also to see in this section how He rightly expects something for Himself?
JT Well, quite so. The business on hand was important. What can be more important than the business that engages the interest of divine Persons? And we have that on hand here tonight. Whatever we may be, or are thought to be, we have on hand the greatest business there can be.
JTJr The servant wanted to get away from this position, he was firm about that. “Send me away to my master”, he says. He wanted to lead her on to this great meeting with Isaac.
ABP Do you think that it was necessary to get the saints outside of the influence of Jerusalem to unfold the full doctrine of the mystery?
JT Very good. So you wait for the epistle to the Romans for that; that is where you get the mystery first.
ABP Yes; and I thought that Nahor, Laban, Bethuel and the others represent the limitations of Jerusalem outside of which the Lord opened up the mystery through Paul.
FHL Would you mind saying what would be suggested in the precious things in verse 53, which the servant left with the mother and the brother?
JT Well, I think it would typify the “Things which eye has not seen, and ear not heard, and which have not come into man’s heart, which God has prepared for them that love him, but God has revealed to us by his Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God”, 1 Corinthians 2: 9, 10.
ETM Is this matter of making room particularly important in view of what is now being ministered? The apostle Paul said, in 2 Corinthians 6: 11: “Our mouth is opened to you, Corinthians, our heart is expanded. Ye are not straitened in us, but ye are straitened in your affections; but for an answering recompense, (I speak as to children, ) let your heart also expand itself”. Was he concerned about making room?
JT Clearly; the expansion of the hearts of the Corinthians would make room for the apostle and his ministry. The expansion of the heart makes room for another. Really the making room is making oneself small, that you are not taking up too much room, you are reducing yourself. I believe that was largely the idea of making room at Corinth. The whole chapter enlarges on what was [p. 559] needed.
DP Does Rebecca respond to the touch of the servant by letting down her pitcher on her hand and giving him a drink?
JT She made the pitcher available to him for a drink.
DMcD This whole chapter seems to be an urgent matter; it speaks of Rebecca running, and Laban running, and then the servant says, “Do not hinder me”.
JT The idea of running is remarkable; we get it also in John 20. Mary of Magdala ran. Peter ran, and John ran too; in fact, he outran Peter. The idea of running is very important in the things of God.
FSC It says, also, as to Rebecca, that “she hasted and let down her pitcher”.
JT She was alert and ready to give the servant and the camels drink; quite so.
WWM Would you say that one of the great services of the Spirit is to detach us from our natural relations and surroundings? He says, “Send me away to my master” verse 54, and then again in verse 56 he says, “Send me away, and I will go to my master”, as if the Spirit would detach us so that He can attach us to Christ. Is that the idea?
JT Quite so. And the question of giving to the saints, and being liberal toward them, is a great matter; it is specially stressed here. You are impressed by the chapter, by the length of it and how much it contains; but there is no loss of words, every word is of importance.
FSC Is there not a great deal of meaning in the request of Abraham, “Bring not my son thither again”?
JT He was not to go back to the natural relatives. One has been impressed that the Lord, especially in John’s gospel, indicates His relatives were out of accord with Him. Ultimately, according to Acts 1, his brethren were in accord with Him. And that is a very great comfort as to our relatives, for if we remain faithful [p. 560] and are patient the Lord may give them to us. It says in Acts 1: 14 that the Lord’s brethren and Mary His mother were there, and certain other women too.
RWS If I remember correctly, you have spoken of Isaac as being a type of the heavenly man in testimony. Would Rebecca be his fulness?
JT I think she would.
RWS As a product of the Holy Spirit’s service and teaching, her conversation in verse 65 might link on with Revelation 22: 17.
JT You can see what scope she had, and how scope is made for her; that is to say, she goes into his mother Sarah’s tent. That is a distinguished tent. Isaac leads her there, so that she is thus amply provided with all she needs as his wife. I think that, typically, she dignifies the position. The line comes down to her and she dignifies it. It is a question of the persons through whom the line runs — our antecedents — and whether or not we are filling out the position as following in their steps.
JHE The servant says, “And let it come to pass, that the maiden to whom I shall say, Let down thy pitcher, I pray thee, that I may drink ...”. Rebecca does exactly that. She is in accord with the servant’s thoughts. And the assembly will be when the Spirit and the bride say, “Come”. We will all be in accord.
JT “The Spirit and the bride say, Come”. The bride is saying the same thing as the Spirit.
JTJr And verse 46 is very impressive; the servant says, “And I drank”. In all meetings of this character we have the suggestion of drinking, and that the Spirit has refreshment, too.
JT There is an allusion to drinking in 1 Corinthians 12: “For also in the power of one Spirit we ... have all been given to drink of one Spirit”. That shows how important the idea of drinking is, and what we drink.
BT Would the two wells in this chapter suggest [p. 561] what is spoken of in Judges 1: 15 — “the upper springs and the lower springs”?
JT I would say that. The next thing would be to locate them; Ephesians would be suggestive of the upper springs, and the lower springs would be seen in Romans.
RD In verse 61 of our chapter it says, “Rebecca arose ... and followed the man. And the servant took Rebecca, and went away”. Is that dual thought carried down to our day?
JT I think it might be said that the feminine side has to be brought into these matters. It says, “Rebecca arose, and her maids”. We have to understand what the maids mean. They represent the feminine side of the position. Of course, Rebecca represents that, but in such circumstances it has to be amplified, as with Abigail, 1 Samuel 25: 42.
JAP What do you say about the men that the servant had in verse 32: “... the men who were with him”
JT Well, they would be persons marked by manly qualities, I would say, and capable of doing things, just as the servant was able to do things, in a supreme way. These men are like the men in John 17: 6: “the men whom thou gavest me ...” They would quit themselves like men and be strong.
ETP The servant says, “Do not hinder me, seeing Jehovah has prospered my way”. These men would have part in prospering the Spirit’s way in His movements;.
JT The prosperity was from Jehovah. Paul plants, Apollos waters, but God gives the increase.
EAL Does the presence of these men make us wonder all the more at Rebecca’s service in watering the camels?
JT Quite so. You marvel at it. I think we have to understand what the assembly can do, for we are to [p. 562] consider her here as representing the assembly. Think of what the assembly is capable of; what a vast thought it is!
SW Would the Spirit expect us to minister to Him as Rebecca did here in order that He might be gratified?
JT Quite so.
WWM There is a verse in Romans 15 which reads: “But I beseech you, brethren, by our Lord Jesus Christ, and by the love of the Spirit, ...” verse 30. Would that have in mind, not only what the Lord Jesus had done for them and what He was to them, but what the love of the Spirit meant to them?
JT I would say that; it is the volume of it — the love of the Spirit. It is a remarkably rich suggestion.
WWM That is a word that would bear enlarging on in our chapter; the love of the Spirit.
JT Yes. It goes along with the thought of “the communion of the Holy Spirit”. The love of the Spirit is the greater thought.
ABP Is that why the Spirit is the blessed means by which the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts? The Spirit loves and therefore is able to shed God’s love abroad in our hearts?
JT Quite so, but it is just as well to say that this is the Spirit’s love, “the love of the Spirit”; we might as well just keep to that, as it were, and give the full credit to Him. The passage quoted refers to the love of the Spirit, not the love of God.
ABP How is that experienced?
JT Well, we have to distinguish between divine Persons. That is another thing that has come into prominence of late, that we are to be able to name divine Persons in what They say or what is said of Them. In the Collected Writings of J.N.D., Volume 24, page 46, there is distinction made between the work of the Father, the work of the Spirit, and the work of the Son. They are all distinguished for us [p. 563] there.
AMacD In verse 58 the question is asked, “Wilt thou go with this man?” It says, in verse 61, that she “followed the man”. In the type, much is made of the Spirit.
JT Quite so, she followed the man. He was the leading One in the whole movement.
EAS So the matter is completed inverse 61: “And the servant took Rebecca”.
JT “And the servant took Rebecca, and went away. And Isaac had just returned from Beer-lahai-roi; for he was dwelling in the south country. And Isaac had gone out to meditate in the fields toward the beginning of evening. And he lifted up his eyes and saw, and behold, camels were coming”. That is the thing to notice. Why should not the camels be noticed? They are the power by which she is coming; that is the idea, and we must not use any other power; it is the power of the Spirit.
ANW And is not that compensation? They were ministered to when she gave them drink enough at the first, and now they serve her in bringing her to Isaac.
JT Notice that; it is a question of the Lord taking account of the power by which we are carried — whatever it is that governs us, by which we are carried. We are not going in for any religious organisation or the like, we are relying on the Spirit of God; that is the idea.
AR The word ‘power’ is used in 1 Corinthians 12 in connection with the Spirit’s operations. What is done in the assembly is to be in the power of the Spirit.
ATD “The servant took Rebecca, and went away”. Would that be like “the way” referred to in Acts 9: 2?
JT That is the Spirit’s way; and it is the Spirit all the way through here. The Lord says, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life”, but then this is the Spirit’s way. There is a way that the Spirit has too.
AR Referring again to 1 Corinthians 12, there is a [p. 564] variety of operations, but the power of the Spirit is the power by which things are done. Things cannot be done in any other way in the assembly.
JT I am sure that is the truth.