THE ASSEMBLY (9)
[p. 667] THE ASSEMBLY (9)
Joshua 15: 16 - 19; Judges 1: 12 - 15; 1 Chronicles 2: 4 - 9
JT It is in mind to link on our subject with the historical books. Chronicles has a great place, historically, beginning, as the brethren will know, with the name Adam and running on directly to the reign of David, which is introduced in the third chapter. The fact that the book begins with Adam would show that David had been in the mind of the Spirit from the beginning. The reign of David and the services that he inaugurated have a dominating place, you might say, in the Old Testament. And so this book begins with Adam, as mentioned in chapter 5 of Genesis, and runs on through Seth and Enoch, down through Noah, through Abraham and then, finally, down to David. If we are to read the Scriptures aright, having them before us in connection with the service of God, we need the book of Chronicles, for it leads us on to David who inaugurated the twenty-four courses of priests; and this is linked on, in the book of Revelation, with the twenty-four elders. So that the introduction of David in this way is of great importance in connection with the service of God, which begins, properly, with the Lord’s supper. It is thought that these remarks should facilitate, or help us at this time in connection with our references to books of Joshua and Chronicles. The position of Achsah is of great interest in the types, because it is so surrounded with spiritual thoughts, suggested in Caleb and Joshua, for instance. The passage read from the book of Judges is almost identical with the same narrative in the book of Joshua. It says, “And Caleb said, He that smites Kirjath-sepher and takes it, to him will I give Achsah my daughter as wife. And Othniel the son of Kenaz. Caleb’s younger brother, took it; and he gave him Achsah his daughter as wife”,
[p. 668] verses 12, 13. We should take account of these facts, which are historical but nevertheless spiritual facts, which set out this great type of the assembly. The link with Caleb gives them both a great place, but importance is attached to the spouse. She was Othniel’s cousin, and that is a matter that ought to be noted too, because, as connected with the Old Testament believers, it bears on how we link on with each other in marriage. The apostle speaks of “a sister as wife”.
JTJr Achsah would be a known person in Chronicles. That book seems to have in mind that the persons spoken of are known. They are persons that have acquired a place in the testimony; beginning with Adam. “The daughter of Caleb was Achsah”, 1 Chronicles 2: 49.
JT That idea is seen in the New Testament, in such expressions as ‘I Jesus’ and ‘I John’ and ‘I Paul’ and so forth; persons who are known by their names. And of course we all should be known, and we are known; every christian is known in heaven, our names are written there.
ABP The passages we have read from Joshua and Judges are practically the same. Was there some distinction, however, which you had in mind?
JT It was just to show how Scripture deals with matters, and is not afraid to repeat, if necessary to stress a thing. Why not repeat it if it is worth repeating?
CAM Was it in your mind, in referring to Caleb, that this woman had a very wonderful background?
JT I think that we have been helped in considering the women that enter into these types and particularly in the case of Potipherah’s daughter who became Joseph’s wife. When we considered her recently we got peculiar help. We had not realised that she was so prominent or distinguished a person as she really is.
CAM Would you connect the thought of the Father with [p. 669] Caleb?
JT Well, it suggests God, I think. She so regards him, in the type, as if he was in the place of God.
CAM Would it be right to view her, then, as the gift of the Father to Christ?
JT Well, it is very much like that, and Othniel is worthy of such a gift. If we apply the type to Christ, we can see His worthiness in the way the Father provides for Him. How worthy He is! The Father has provided a spouse for Him. So that, in Revelation 21, John saw the heavenly Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven.
ANW Would the reference to her in Judges be in relation to the fact that Othniel was the first of the judges? She has a setting there, perhaps, in relation to judgeship.
JT Well, yes; and he being of the house of Judah is important, too, because of the place that Judah, through David, has in the service of God, in the types.
JTJr The wife is given on the basis of the prowess of the man; his prowess gets him his wife, so to speak. Is that to bring out the prowess of Christ in dealing with every matter?
JT Well, that is what I was thinking, how God brings in the Lord Jesus as the One who is entitled to everything. “The Father ... has given all things to be in his hand”, John 3: 35. He loves to honour Him. “He that has the bride is the bridegroom”, it says in John 3: 29. That is to say, He is distinguished in that sense; the bride honours Him, gives Him a certain place that no one else has.
SW Would John 17 fit in here? “They were thine, and thou gavest them me”, verse 6.
JT Just so.
FSC It says in Judges 3 that the Spirit of Jehovah was upon Othniel.
JT Just so.
AR Achsah is mentioned first here, to be given as [p. 670] wife, but there is no man in mind. Is it a question of prowess, in order to bring the man forward?
JT Well, he is distinguished, of course, immediately, and she is the prize for him. The one who would take Kirjath-sepher would get Achsah for wife; she is the prize.
VCL In Genesis 24 Abraham stipulates that the wife of Isaac must be of his own kindred. Would kindred be seen, in God’s sovereignty, in that these were cousins?
JT Oh, I think so. As you say, Abraham made that stipulation for the wife that was to be taken for his son, and that principle runs right down to the book of Revelation.
TNW What would you say about that feature being lacking in Asnath and Zipporah, and the Cushite that Moses took to wife? Stress has been laid on kinship, and yet it was lacking in those three cases.
JT Well, Asnath was a gift by Pharaoh to Joseph; the supreme ruler; that gives her great distinction. It is a question of finding the reason. There is always a reason for things in Scripture.
TNW In the case of the Cushite, Moses was reproached by his family, but God justified him, did He not?
JT Well. He did; it was a question of God’s sovereign right.
JHE Chronicles is a great book of records in which people are known and recorded in relation to the Spirit’s activities. How necessary, therefore, that Kirjath-sepher, this city of books, should be destroyed and God’s thoughts brought in!
JT Quite so. Othniel took Kirjath-sepher, which is the city of the book. That is what is in your mind?
JHE Yes. I thought it linked on with Acts 19 where the truth prevailed at Ephesus and the idolatrous books [p. 671] were burned.
JT Those records were of no moral value. “The prices of them”, it says, were reckoned at fifty thousand pieces of silver, but they were really of no value in heaven. There are records in heaven, of course, for the book of life and the books of judgment are there, so that no one will be judged unfairly. God keeps records in that sense. “And if any one was not found written in the book of life, he was cast into the lake of fire”, we are told, Revelation 20: 15. That is to say, the person is known.
CAM I think you were alluding to God’s sovereignty connected with Judah, but is it not a fact that God’s sovereignty is borne out by evidences of moral worth and power as seen in persons?
JT Do you mean in Achsah?
CAM Well, yes; and in Caleb; and then Othniel’s name, I think, speaks of power with God.
JT We have to go back in history with regard to Joshua and Caleb. Caleb was one of those who searched out the land, and brought a true report, and he fully followed the Lord his God. That is the greatest thing that could be said of him. And he is the father of this woman. She therefore recognises him as representative of God; so she moved her husband to ask a field from him. And she added to that, “Give me a blessing”, Judges 1: 15. That is another thing; the idea of a blessing is more than a field.
CAM Those words are rather remarkable: “she urged him to ask of her father the field”. Is that the recognition of headship?
JT Well, I think so; she senses that her father would recognise him. Achsah had been given to him; Caleb gave her himself. She recognises his authority, and urges Othniel to ask for a field; but then she says that she had only a southern land, meaning a place not too well watered, so she says, “Give me a blessing ... give me also springs of water”, showing that she had [p. 672] the true idea of how growth would be introduced, and fruit, too. It is through the power of water, refreshment; that is to say, the upper and the nether springs. The upper springs, doubtless, allude to Christ in heaven, and the lower springs to the Spirit here, to whom so much place is being given at the present time.
SW Jacob served for a wife, and for a wife he kept sheep, but it is a little different here; the matter depended upon the prowess of Othniel; what he accomplished in battle.
JT Well, there are two different viewpoints. We are told that Jacob served for a wife, and for a wife he kept sheep. Othniel served for a wife, too, but it was a military matter; but it all shows how varied the Scriptures are and how full they are, too.
FHL We have been noting in previous types the fact of the women having to do with the well. Here the woman is connected with the springs, in contrast to the well.
JT There is something in that, especially if we connect it with the woman and the well in John 4. How much there is of that in Scripture! It is seen especially in Rebecca. And then wells are connected with Jacob’s wives, and with the wife of Moses too; and now it is a question of springs of water. Just what do you have in mind as to that?
FHL You made a remark as to the upper and the nether springs, referring to Christ exalted and the Spirit here. Is that a further thought than what we had as to the wells?
JT Yes. John 4 enlarges on the thought of the woman and the well. The Lord reduces the thought to the great fact that the water that He should give would be in the believer a well of water springing up into eternal life. Springing up would lead to the upper springs — springing up. And, of course, the gift of the Spirit involves that Christ [p. 673] is glorified.
ANW Do not all these different phases referred to show how great the vessel, the assembly, is? On the male side, the greatness of the Person of Christ combines what is set out in Adam, Moses, Othniel and all the other types. He embodies them all. Does it not go to show that we cannot see all in one type?
JT Yes; it is a question of variety; the wonderful richness of Scripture. And in the springs there is the idea of being watered. This type of the assembly, as set out in Achsah, shows that the assembly, that is to say, ourselves, those who form it, think of water and of being refreshed in view of growth and fruit, as we are, perhaps, in a little way at this time.
WAT Achsah was marked by energy. It says that ‘she urged‘ and ‘she sprang’. It would seem as if she knew the opportunity was there and she seized it.
JT And so with Rebecca; she sprang from the camel as soon as she saw Isaac and had enquired about him. Then she took a veil and covered herself, but she had already sprung down, as it were, in recognising the distinction of the Lord Jesus, in type.
ABP On the day of Pentecost, Peter says in regard to Christ, “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”, Acts 2: 33. Would that be like the upper and the nether springs?
JT Well, just so; and so, while the Spirit was in heaven, He has come down here; and I think the lower springs would refer to Him as down here. Christ remains in heaven.
ABP So that the pouring out would be like the upper springs and the Spirit’s operations here the nether springs?
JT ‘Pour’ is a remarkable word; it shows the richness of things.
AR It says in Ephesians as to the Spirit: “having [p. 674] believed, ye have been sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the earnest of our inheritance to the redemption of the acquired possession to the praise of his glory”, chapter 1: 14. Would that be the answer to our chapter in Judges bearing on acquiring the inheritance?
JT Well, quite so; and so in 2 Corinthians 1: 21 we are told: “he that establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, is God, who also has sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts”.
AR Achsah and Othniel were concerned as to the inheritance. Caleb was similarly marked; he wanted Hebron. Is it therefore a question of understanding what our inheritance is and as having it, making way for the Spirit as the springs would suggest?
JT Quite so; of course, we might add that Hebron was older than Zoan in Egypt; Damascus was an old city, but not so old as Hebron, which was before Zoan in Egypt. Figuratively, it antedates the world. It refers to what God has planned before the world, and it is for us, it is our inheritance.
AR We should understand that the land represents our inheritance which we enter upon now, by the Spirit.
JT It is a great matter to have something that was before the world. In John’s first epistle he appeals to the young men not to love the world: “If any one love the world, the love of the Father is not in him”, chapter 2: 15. But Hebron was before the world, and it refers, typically, to our portion or inheritance, and that it preceded the world.
JTJr Would the reference you made to the anointing, the sealing and the earnest in 2 Corinthians connect with the lower springs especially? That alludes to what is here, does it not?
JT Quite so; I think that is the way it works out. The upper springs refer to what is vested in Christ [p. 675] above, so that we are said to be raised up together, and made to sit down together in the heavenlies in Christ. We are coming into that heavenly exalted position. In the meantime we are content to be here, where the Spirit is, because He is here with us to take care of everything for us.
AAT Is the principle of asking involved in this? This sister asked, and the blessing was given to her; she got the upper and the nether springs. And in John 4 do we not see the same principle operating? “If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that says to thee, Give me to drink, thou wouldest have asked of him”, verse 10.
JT Very good; the word is: “ask, and ye shall receive”. Achsah knew that, clearly. She knew whom to ask, too. So that the Lord says, “how much rather shall the Father who is of heaven give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?” Luke 11: 13.
ANW There was alertness with Caleb, too; indeed the whole position is alert. He says, “What wouldest thou?” He was ready, he was inviting the request. Should not that be so with us? The Lord said, “If thou knewest the gift of God ... thou wouldest have asked”.
JT The living water would be within the range of the gift of God. Achsah knew that, in type. She knew that it was in her father’s power to give her springs of water, and he did so. And she regarded them as a blessing. 1 Corinthians 10 tells us about the blessing — the cup of blessing.
SW Would you say that enjoyment of our inheritance depends upon the upper and the nether springs?
JT Well, we will not be refreshed if we do not get the water. The woman in John 4 said, “give me this water, that I may not thirst nor come here to draw”, but the Lord said, “the water which I shall give him shall become in him a fountain of water, springing up into eternal life”. That is a great feature in John’s gospel.
AMcD And would it not help us greatly in connection with the service of God? The Lord spoke to the woman about worship.
JT She raised the question of worship, as if it was intended that she should, and the Lord took it up and spoke of those who worship in spirit and truth, saying, “the Father seeks such as his worshippers”, John 4: 23.
ANW Does the plurality of springs in our passage suggest that there is a kind of system of them? In John 4 there is one spring, or fountain, springing up, but there seems to be a system of springs here — the upper and nether springs.
JT I think the idea is traceable from the history of Abraham. The Philistines contended, but Abraham reproved Abimelech concerning it. There was a system of wells, as you say, and Abraham had dug them. The devil sought to stop them up, but Isaac unstopped the wells that his father had dug. And so, when Isaac had to do with the Philistine king, and his friend Ahuzzath and Phichol the captain of his host, he was able to send them away. He was powerful in the sense that he was not overcome by the Philistine, nor his friend, nor his military man.
JHE Christianity is characterised by springs. The source of a spring is higher than the well in which it is found.
JT Well, quite; and so in God’s consideration for man, as Creator, He provided a river that went out of Eden and it became four main streams. These, you might say, covered all the known earth, possibly including Egypt, for it would appear that the Euphrates, and the Tigris, and evidently the Nile were in the mind of God. Whatever may be said about it geographically, God had His own mind about it.
ETP You alluded to Isaac and the wells that he [p. 677] digged. One well was called Rehoboth, meaning ‘Broadways’. I was wondering if that would be like what we have come to today — scope in the Spirit.
JT Well; God had made room for Isaac, and He has made room for us; that is what the word ‘Broadways’ signifies: “now Jehovah has made room for us”.
AEW And Achsah was provided for and given scope. She seemed to appreciate what was there, so that in addition to the south land she asked for springs.
JT Quite so; she got what Caleb wanted to give her, for the giving of God is from His own point of view, not simply what we ask or need, but He gives from His own point of view.
JTJr Would Romans 8 be the opening up of the ‘Broadways’ in that it deals with what we have in the Spirit?
JT There are seventeen references to the Holy Spirit in Romans 8, showing how prominent the idea is in that great fundamental epistle.
VCL Apparently Othniel asked for the field and Achsah asked for the springs. The Lord says in John 16, “I say not to you that I will demand of the Father for you, for the Father himself has affection for you”, verse 26.
JT Very good; John 15, I think, opens the matter up further. The Lord says, “Ye too bear witness, because ye are with me from the beginning”, verse 27. But then the Spirit was to bear witness; He was to be the main Witness. He proceeded from the Father. That was the idea. He “goes forth from with the Father”. And He bears witness, and He is doing it now. But the twelve did it too because they were with the Lord from the beginning. They had a peculiar place as John’s epistle shows, but we have what the Spirit has made available to us in a universal way. It is for all of us. So that He proceeds forth from with the Father; He comes out from where Christ has [p. 678] been glorified.
ABP In Luke 15, after the famine occurred, the prodigal said, “I have sinned against heaven”. Would that suggest that for him the upper springs had been momentarily cut off because he had misused the blessing?
JT He had “sinned against heaven”. I suppose it implies that God was acting from heaven at that time as well as on earth, and the prodigal had sinned against heaven, which is the place of resource from the divine side.
DP Would the gift of the south land and the springs of water maintain Achsah in dignity in the land?
JT Well, quite so; although the idea of the field was there, she was concerned about the blessing. What blessing was in her mind? Not the field alone, but springs of water. Therefore she enlarged on the thought, it was expanded in her mind; she said, “Give me springs of water”. And Caleb, her father, acted like God and gave her what she needed in abundance; and so we have the thought of abundance in the prophets as connected with the Spirit.
WAT Would the idea of abundance be seen in Titus? It says, speaking of renewal of the Holy Spirit, “which he poured out on us richly”, chapter 3: 6. Is that the abundance?
JT Just so. And we have it in regard to the water which Moses drew abundantly for the flocks of Jethro.
ABP When Elijah prayed there was the sound of abundance of rain.
JT Very good; and in the gospel of John, “I am come that they might have life, and might have it abundantly”, chapter 10: 10. That is a grand thought in John’s gospel.
FNW Does Paul’s word in Philippians link on with this? He speaks in chapter 1 of the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, and at the end of the book he says, “But my God shall abundantly supply all your need according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus”.
JT That is very fine phraseology: “my God shall abundantly supply all your need according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus”.
FHL In line with this, it says in Luke 11, “how much rather shall the Father who is of heaven give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?”
JT That passage is well worth repeating; we have had it already, but a good thing is worth repeating, and it is right to do so if necessary.
ETM In the offering of the princes in Numbers 7, when the tabernacle system was set up, the same offerings were repeated twelve times. Does that show the pleasure they were to heaven?
JT Very good.
AAT Did you have in mind 1 Corinthians 12 as the blessing? The Spirit is mentioned many times in that chapter.
JT No, I had in mind chapter 10: “The cup of blessing which we bless”. That is the great thought in the Lord’s supper. “The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of the Christ?” That is what I was alluding to. The Lord’s supper belongs down here, so to speak.
ABP In Matthew 13 the Lord speaks of the treasure being hid in the field. Would that be the sphere of divine operations in the present dispensation, linking on with the field that Achsah had in mind?
JT Yes; and it would link on with the woman of worth in the book of Proverbs; she acquired a field.
ANW Would the field suggest what is potential, but the springs of water, the Spirit’s operations which produce fruitfulness?
JT Quite so; there would be no fruit from the field if there were no water.
AMacD Is there a specific field in Judges? In Joshua Achsah urged Othniel to ask for a field, but in the book of Judges it [p. 680] is the field.
JT The field is a definite idea. The distinction you mention confirms me that we were right in reading the two passages. They are not simply corroborative of one another, there is an addition there in the reference to the field. And so in the reference to: “this is the eternal life, that they should know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent”, John 17: 3. The article is there too, making the blessing definite.
ABP Naomi warned Ruth that she be not found in any other field.
JT Very good.
CAM Is it right to view the inheritance in Joshua as our blessing, the blessing that the saints come into, leading on to the time of David when God’s inheritance is seen in the saints?
JT Well, quite so; and the idea of blessing comes in very early in the Scriptures; it is said, “And God blessed them”, in chapter 1, but to Abraham God says, in chapter 12: “I will make of thee a great nation, and bless thee ... and thou shalt be a blessing”. That great idea came in in Abraham and runs down. Abraham is blessed. Jehovah says, “I called him when he was alone, and blessed him”, Isaiah 51: 2.
Ques Is there any connection with Malachi, where it says: “prove me ... if I open not to you the windows of the heavens, and pour you out a blessing, till there be no place for it”, chapter 3: 10. That speaks of superabundance of blessing.
JT Quite so; we have to look into the Scriptures to find the extent of the blessing, and it is remarkable that the idea comes into such prominence at the very end of the Old Testament.
ETP In Acts 19 Apollos was at Corinth, but Paul passed through the upper districts and came to Ephesus. Would those two positions suggest the upper and the nether springs?
[p. 681] JT Very good; Ephesus suggests the upper line of thought, and the lower line would be seen in relation to Corinth. That is to say, the Scriptures that are opened up in the Corinthian epistle would show the lower line of blessing that we come into in the assembly, but the upper line is set out in Ephesus. The blessing in Ephesus is opened up in Acts 20; it is a wonderful chapter. The way things are opened up there is remarkable.
WAT Was Caleb on the upper line when he wanted the mountain, and did his daughter take character after him?
JT He was one of those that searched out the land. He and Joshua stood for the truth in the book of Numbers, as those that brought a true report of the sphere of blessing; they had the full thought of the inheritance.
VCL In Deuteronomy 8 Moses said that the land was a place of water-brooks, of springs, and of deep waters, that gush forth. Would Achsah be one that was in the good of the economy so that she came into it experimentally?
JT Very good, I would say that is excellent; that is a wonderful passage. We should all understand Deuteronomy in regard to blessing. Achsah came in as the land of which Moses spoke was being possessed, so that you might well link her with that wonderful chapter. Moses was the author of Deuteronomy. In that book he unfolded the law; not simply wrote it, but unfolded it. He was filled with the greatness of it, the blessing of it.
ETM Does Caleb anticipate Achsah when he asks, “What wouldest thou?”
JT He was concerned as to what she wanted; she sprang off the ass, it says. She had respect for her father, which each of us should show when we have to do with God or those that represent God. She sprang [p. 682] off the ass in respect for her father, and then he asked, “What wouldest thou?” She wanted a blessing; she wanted springs of water, and he granted them to her. He was like God. That is the idea in the type.
CFE Was Achsah marked by intelligence when she said, “Give me a blessing”?
JT I think so; she knew the resources that her father had; undoubtedly she knew that he could give her a blessing and that she would not impoverish him by her request. God is rich toward all that call upon Him. And she called upon her father, and she got the blessing. Her father was able to give it to her, and he did.
Rem Achsah was like Rebecca in that Rebecca sprang off the camel when she came to Isaac.
JT Yes; we referred to that, but it is good to have it again.
AR Verse 20 of our chapter reads, “This is the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Judah according to their families”. Our inheritance is amongst the saints, is it not, according to Colossians, but then, God’s inheritance in the saints is seen in Ephesians. We should understand the value of our inheritance — “the portion of the saints in light”.
JT And then, “the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints” comes in in Ephesians 1: 18. You alluded to that?
AR Yes; I was just wondering if we understand what God gets out of these meetings we are having.
JT I am sure He gets great pleasure out of the saints being together like this.
SJM Would the south land be a place of favour? God gets His portion.
JT Well, I think she does not speak of it in that way, but rather as if it were not enough, that is the way she spoke of it to her father. Besides having that field — it was a south land — she wanted a blessing. It may not have been well watered, and she knew [p. 683] that her father was capable of furnishing the water that was needed.
SW Would it suggest that she had the service of God in mind?
JT I think so. And she would be thinking of her husband, for she moved him to ask for the field. She evidently had confidence in him, for they must have had some knowledge of each other; and she would say, in principle, We must serve God in all this, and to do so we must have plenty of water so as to have growth and to produce the means of serving God. And the great thing in anything that we have from God is that it may return to God Himself for His service.
ANW That is very striking! She is very avid; she urges her husband, but she also asks; and she is lavish in her asking. It is a wonderful atmosphere to be in.
JT Her asking was direct, and so in Ezekiel God says that He will attend to matters Himself. That will be in judgment, but here it is in blessing. And God loves to bless.
RFD Another aspect of the land, as described in Deuteronomy, is that it “drinketh the rain of heaven”. What is the difference in meaning between that and the waters that “gush forth”?
JT The rain of heaven is fresh; the freshest kind of water is that which comes down from the clouds. That is a matter, of course, to determine by fact, but I think that is the way it is presented in Scripture. The expanse divided the waters from the waters. The waters above the expanse would be fresher, I would think. And that would be involved in the upper springs.
ABP Ephesians 5 connects the use of water with the Lord as Head of the assembly; He is said to wash it with the water of the word. Might that connect with the upper springs?
JT We have been thinking of drinking. Washing [p. 684] is one thing, and being refreshed or watered by drink is another.
ABP Yes, I can see that, but I thought that the Lord is seen as Head of the assembly in Ephesians, and water is available to Him.
JT Quite so; so that there is the washing of water by the word.
GH At dawn there is often dew on the ground. Is that suggestive of the Spirit?
JT Well, yes. It is a very refreshing thing in the summer time to get the dew; you are thankful for dew. And so we have the idea of being watered by the dew of heaven. In the case of Nebuchadnezzar it was rather detrimental. He was like a beast — made to eat grass like a mere animal — and the dew of heaven came upon him. But when he came to the truth he was recovered and his reason returned to him and he extolled the King of the heavens.
FNW Later on in this book the dew appeared to Gideon. Would that indicate that the Spirit of God has made Himself known in a limited way since the decline of the church, but now we are being helped as to original thoughts?
JT Well, quite so; in that case it was on the fleece and not on the dry ground in one case and vice versa in the other case. He asked for that sign and got it. Wherever the dew was there was blessing. Gideon wanted to be assured that God would do certain things for him.
CAM There is an allusion to dew in connection with the manna. In the morning the dew lay around the camp. Would it not be right to feel that the Spirit should have a place in the beginning of our days? The apprehension of the Spirit is increasing in what we are enjoying now. There is an apprehension of the Spirit in an increased way.
JT And there is a very great advantage to [p. 685] the saints through it. One hears from all parts of the earth of the advantage that has come to souls because of the way the Spirit has become known to us through the ministry of the word. So that the question should arise with each of us as to whether we are appreciating it here. I believe we are.
TNW And this would apply to our sisters too; it is a matter of what is substantial in the assembly taking on appreciation for the Spirit.
JT Very good. I have received several very important letters from sisters — a remarkable one from an elderly sister in Scotland. And I just received a remarkable letter today from an elderly sister in England recording the effect of the Spirit’s service in the light of the truth that has come to us lately. This was from a place where there had been considerable opposition heretofore.
CAM Though there may be a certain slowness with some to apprehend what we are speaking of, yet, the very thought of occupying with the Spirit is proving to be of great benefit to the saints everywhere.
VCL Is there not a suggestion here that the liberating of these springs, and all the fruitfulness they provide, allows the conflict to go forward in power. Judah goes out with Simeon in the conflict in verse 17.
JT Quite so. Well now, let us say something more about the woman herself; she is a distinctive person. The first book of Chronicles would show that; we should know her by the mention of her name without anything further being added. So that we all should know that she is a type of the assembly; she represents features of the assembly, because she is a type of the assembly and we should be able to speak of what she is in herself.
JHE The writer of the Song of Songs says, in chapter 4: “A garden enclosed is my sister, my spouse; a spring shut up, a fountain sealed”, verse [p. 686] 12.
There was something there for his peculiar delight?
JT Well, there is a little question as to the idea of the fountain being sealed in that passage, but I think the correct wording is used in the New Translation.
ABP The passage says that Achsah’s father gave her to Othniel, but it also says, “And it came to pass, as she came”. It would seem that she was fully in the matter; she was prepared to take on the link.
JT I believe the idea is that she was there; it is not simply that she came to her husband, but that she came. She filled out the scene; indeed, she was necessary for the scene to be filled out. That is the idea of it, I think. And so it will be in the millennium; the assembly will come into the scene. God will place her there. He has made her the greatest family in the universe, and she is to be there and to be known.
ABP John saw her coming down.
JT Quite so. He says in the book of Revelation: “I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of the heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband”, chapter 21: 2.
AR In the Song of Songs the bridegroom is described and also the bride. Should we understand the assembly’s affinity with the Bridegroom? In Chronicles Achsah is known; I wondered if the Song of Songs works that out. It says, “My dove, mine undefiled, is but one; she is the only one of her mother, she is the choice one of her that bore her. The daughters saw her, and they called her blessed; the queens and the concubines, and they praised her”, chapter 6: 9.
JT Very good. During the last fifty years the Song of Songs has become, so far as my knowledge of things is concerned, one of the parts of the Old Testament that has been most used for the opening up of the truth of the assembly in the service of God. No other book in the Old Testament has yielded so much, considering its brevity, as the Song of [p. 687] Songs.
WAT Was Achsah an inspiration to Othniel? She inspired him to great efforts; she urged him on. Was not the assembly, in one sense, an incentive to the Lord? It says: “Who, in view of the joy lying before him, endured the cross”, Hebrews 12: 2. And then the merchantman of Matthew 13, “Having found one pearl of great value”, could sell all that he had in order that he might buy the pearl.
JT She is truly the woman of worth, according to Proverbs 31: “Who can find a woman of worth?”
Ques Why does Achsah, not Othniel, take the active part in asking for the springs of water?
JT Well, she is aware that they are needed; that is the idea, and her father discerned it. She asked for springs of water, but he gave her the upper springs and the nether springs. He gave her more than she asked.
FHL And is there a touch of what is Solomonic in that? After he became Israel’s saviour, in chapter 3, the land had rest forty years. Does that carry the type through?
JT Very good; I would say that. The land had rest forty years under Othniel’s influence.
FNW Is there something unique in this type of the assembly in that it is not so much that the man is there, but it seems to be a question of finding a man worthy of the woman?
JT Well, it says that she came; not simply that she came to her husband; you might expect that. But she came as entering into the great scene that was opened up to her, and she filled it out, I think.
JTJr The idea of fulness would come in here?
JT That is just it; the idea of fulness. The assembly is “the fulness of him who fills all in all”, Ephesians 1: 23.
ABP It says as to her that, ‘she came’, then ‘she urged’, and then ‘she sprang’, and also that “she said”. Is it not like the woman in Mark’s gospel of whom the Lord said, “What she could she has done”, chapter 14: 8.
JT Very good.