WHAT GOD IS FOR HIS PEOPLE AND WHAT THEY ARE FOR HIM
[p. 336] WHAT GOD IS FOR HIS PEOPLE AND WHAT THEY ARE FOR HIM
Numbers 1: 1 - 19; Numbers 2: 1 - 17
JT In order to reduce the time spent in reading, it will be observed that paragraphs relating to certain of the standards have been omitted. In order to fill out the whole section, we should have to read down to the end of chapter 2, but what has been read is sufficient to bring out the thoughts that are in mind, first as to the individual believer, which is in the first part of chapter 1; secondly, as to the local position, which we have in chapter 2; and thirdly, as to the universal position, which is typified in the tent of meeting. The general thought, of course, is to bring out what God is for His people and what they are for Him, but much is said to emphasise the personal dignity of the saints, including priestly dignity. Then in the second chapter it is in mind to bring out the local position, such as London, and then to bring out the universal position which is centred in the tent of meeting, including the Levites, because they were in charge of the tent of meeting, and their position was universal. The first thing therefore is the idea of pedigree, and, in order to bring out the thoughts as to it, the early sections of chapter 1 are to be noted. It says that Moses and Aaron were to take “the sum of the whole assembly of the children of Israel, after their families, according to their fathers’ houses, by the number of the names, every male, according to their polls; from twenty years and upward, all that go forth to military service in Israel: ye shall number them according to their hosts, thou and Aaron. And with you there shall be a man for every tribe, a man who is the head” — notice this — “the head of his father’s house”. And the names are given after that. Then we have in chapter 2, “And Jehovah spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, The children of Israel shall encamp every one by his standard”, — pointing to local position, “with the ensign of their father’s house; round about the tent of meeting, afar off, opposite to it shall they encamp”. Finally, in verse 17, as we have already remarked, we have “And the tent of meeting shall set forth, the camp of the Levites in the midst of the camps; as they encamp, so shall they set forth, every man in his place, according to their standards”. It is thought that stress should be laid on the pedigree; that is to say, the line of descent, and whether the work of the Spirit has its place amongst us, and then the Holy Spirit being, of course, the basis typically, the Holy Spirit is seen in “the whole assembly of the children of Israel, after their families, according to their father’s houses, by the number of the names, every male, according to their polls; from twenty years and upwards”, and so forth. It is thought that the pedigree comes first, and then that the idea of the age, “from twenty years old and upward”, implies the indwelling Holy Spirit, in the names.
JJT “Expressed by their names”; is that the work of the Holy Spirit coming to light in each individual?
JT That, of course, refers to the princes or leaders, but we have the families, and first each person, and the princes numbering them, the princes being associated with Moses and Aaron. If a person has not got the Spirit he is not in the assembly; if he has not got the Spirit he is not born again really, so as to be identifiable, we might say, although he might be born again without having the Spirit, but the new birth has to be identified. Of course, we have to deal with the types as augmenting the New Testament, because we cannot build up things on the Old Testament wholly, we must bring in the New, because the word is “things new and old”. It is not ‘old and new’.
AB Could you say a little more about pedigree, please?
JT It is the line of descent which brings in birth, ancestry. Paul spoke about his father’s house, and so forth, from his outset.
PHH It says a good deal in the beginning of John’s gospel about birth, “who have been born, not of blood, nor of flesh’s will, nor of man’s will, but of God”.
JT Then the 3rd chapter follows on that and should be connected with it clearly.
PHH I was going to ask as to that. The Lord Jesus says, “Except any one be born anew he cannot see the kingdom of God”.
JT And then we get “Except any one be born of water and of Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God”. That is, he is shut out if the work of God has not begun in him, and if it is not being completed too by the presence of the Holy Spirit received into the heart. The love of God is shed abroad in the heart by the Holy Spirit.
Ques Is it in your mind that the expression “from twenty years old” suggests a certain stage arrived at experimentally in the recognition of the Spirit?
JT I think so. It is the idea of manhood. It is not simply that a child is born, but it is any one being born anew, and manhood develops out of that, of course. I believe the “twenty years old and upward” refers to manhood, manhood in the full sense of the word; that is, involving redemption and the reception of the Spirit.
PHH So would the name in chapter 1, as it says, “by the number of the names, every male”, be in line with that thought of [p. 339] twenty years old and upwards?
JT That is what I thought, because twenty years old and upward implies full manhood. It is not a child, but full manhood, and that implies redemption and the Spirit; that is to say, the intelligence is involved in it.
AB Would the man in John 9 suggest one who had reached manhood?
JT I think so. His parents said, “He is of age: ask him”. I think the whole section, chapters 9 and 10, would imply manhood, because the Spirit is implied in it.
AB I was thinking of the expression to which you have referred. “He is of age: ask him”. It is a man who can state things for himself.
JT That is right. Very good. That is what his parents said.
Ques Would Romans 8 bring in manhood, in one who can say, “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set me free from the law of sin and of death”, Romans 8: 2.
JT Very good. “Free from the law of sin and death”; that one is in liberty. Romans opens up the whole subject of the Spirit. The Spirit is mentioned eighteen times in that chapter, so that we should be well versed in the thought of the Spirit, involving manhood.
PL Are “the princes” suggested in the salutations at the end of Romans?
JT I would think so. Very good. There are twenty salutations.
Ques Is there a certain progression suggested in what you have outlined; first the pedigree, birth, and then a certain arrival experimentally in the gain of the Spirit at the age of twenty, and, following that, distinctiveness in the princes that are named? So that in the end of Romans you have persons that are worthy of mention by [p. 340] name.
JT Very good: Then the Levites come in, I suppose, for they surround the tabernacle. They look after the interests of God on earth, indeed in His house. That is the great point, that God’s interests are looked after. The tabernacle is surrounded by the Levites.
Ques By persons capacitated for what they have to do?
AM And they all would go forth for military service. Is that the end of Romans 12? “Be not overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good”. Is that the kind of conflict?
JT Very good. But then we are trying to get at the point of these salutations, the “salutes” to the brethren, before we go further. We are to salute the brethren, and to kiss the brethren with a holy kiss.
HH Would not the names mentioned at the end of Romans indicate good church material?
JT Quite so. I would say that fully. And the mystery is spoken of at the end, too.
AM And is not a sister brought forward first, as representative of the thought of manhood according to Romans, Phoebe?
JT Well, quite. She looked after the interests of the Lord, too, peculiarly. We have something similar in Philippians in those women who contended along with Paul in the glad tidings.
Rem The salutations seem to progress in Romans 16. There are the apostle’s personal salutations, are there not? Then he says, “Salute one another with a holy kiss”, which would be the local position, and then “All the assemblies of Christ salute you”, which would be the universal thought.
JT Very good. And now we must get on with the beginning of Numbers, so as to enlarge on the individual thought, the individual believer who has the Spirit, and who has a pedigree. After that we [p. 341] can proceed further, to the groups that are formed, the universal idea is suggested in the four distinct groups of three tribes each. We have east, south, west and north; so that every point of the compass is touched on, and including the military idea specially in the tribe of Dan, standing out to guard everything; see Numbers 10: 25. The four points of the compass are included in these four distinct groups of tribes.
PHH It says in the very beginning of Numbers that “Jehovah spoke to Moses in the wilderness ... in the tent of meeting”. Are you suggesting that the wilderness is the place where this spiritual manhood is developed?
JT I think so. In fact, I believe in the early days ‘In the Wilderness’ was the name of the book of Numbers, meaning that it is the position we are in every day of the week; not the first day of the week, but all the other days of the week are the wilderness days.
PHH Actually the other portions too, both the local position and the universal outlook, come to light in the wilderness, do they not? We suffer no lack in the position where we are.
JT Every necessary provision is made, but still it is the wilderness. We have to wait for the land. We have to go across the Jordan. The Jordan really separates the wilderness. The part between the Dead Sea and the Great Sea is the land, the land of promise. It is a small territory but it is the land promised by God to His people. He said He espied it for them (Ezekiel 20: 6), as though from a distance.
HH Is it not to be appreciated that Leviticus comes before Numbers? That is, their approach to God has to be in mind in treading the wilderness?
JT Quite so. We have to get the tabernacle properly located first, and then the position of it in [p. 342] the wilderness. Then finally we get the position in the land, which involves the book of Joshua. Joshua refers to the entrance into the land of Canaan.
CW Why is it that both on the individual side, and in the local position, the thought of military service is so stressed?
JT Because we are in the enemy’s territory and are exposed to enemies. Romans really involves that, although Ephesians is the great book that deals with the warfare in the heavenlies, Joshua, of course, terminating that. Joshua is the great war book, in a true military sense. Joshua is the leader.
Ques This being the wilderness, is there any particular stress on both Moses and Aaron being addressed?
JT Well, there is, and Aaron even at one time in the book is addressed before Moses; see chapter 18. He is addressed before Moses; so that the priesthood sometimes takes precedence of the leader, of the military man. Moses is the mediator. Moses is the great leader. It says in Galatians 3, “ordained through angels in the hand of a mediator”, but the priesthood goes with him. The priesthood comes in after Moses generally, but Aaron sometimes precedes Moses, and that has to be noted too. Every item has to be noted.
PL Moses standing more for light in authority, and Aaron for love and grace?
JT That is right. Of course, Moses represents the mediator. There is only one Mediator; the Man Christ Jesus is the only one Mediator there is. Mediator service may be found in any one of us, in a subordinate sense, but the Lord Jesus is the real Mediator. It says “the mediator of God and men one, the man Christ Jesus”, 1 Timothy 2: 5. It is “man”.
AB Would the military service be called for to protect the dwelling-place of God in the [p. 343] wilderness?
JT Quite so. That is just what it is, and hence the Levites are all round about it. But then the military position is also pointed out here, in those that are able to go forth to war, meaning persons who are twenty years old and upward; but a Levite is to be thirty years old, meaning that he requires more intelligence and experience than the ordinary military man.
PHH Do you think Paul’s insisting on “the Lord” in Corinthians stands somewhat for the military position? He speaks about the fellowship of God’s Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, and then he speaks about our labour being in the Lord, and being married in the Lord. Do you think that would stand for a kind of military position that has to be guarded?
JT I think so. Very good. Will you say more about it?
PHH I was thinking of the title; it is not merely the Person, “Jesus”, and not only the anointing as suggested in “Christ”, but the authoritative position of power, which is implied, is it not, in the title “Lord”. Did not Paul take up the truth from that point of view, in using the phrase “in the Lord”?
JT Very good, and that brings up another point, and that is, the only One of the divine Persons who is said to be made Lord is Christ. The Father is Lord, and the Spirit is Lord, for they are both called Lord, but there is only One that is made Lord, and that is Christ, “the man Christ Jesus”. He is said to be made Lord and Christ.
PHH Would you say, therefore, that when we normally use the word Lord in assembly service, we mean Jesus? If we are speaking of the Father as Lord or the Spirit as Lord, we should have to [p. 344] make it plain?
JT Quite so, make it plain. But, at the same time, James speaks of the Father as Lord, and the Spirit is spoken of elsewhere in that way, but Christ is said to be made Lord. So that the three divine Persons are to be always taken account of, only One has become a Sufferer; One who died, it is Christ that died. There is only One of the divine Persons who has died, and He is the One to lead in everything, except the Father in regard of dignity, according to the economy, Father, Son and Holy Spirit; but the divine Persons in the abstract are evidently all on the same level.
FCH He is the only One that is spoken of as being “made sin”, is He not?
JT “Made sin”. It is very touching.
FCH And made “some little inferior to angels”.
JT Just so. That is to say, He suffered; He is a Sufferer. We are always touched by the fact that it is Christ that died. He is the One that suffered. He lay three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. It should touch every heart, that the Lord should lie in death.
CH Referring back to the reference to Corinthians, Paul exhorts them to “be vigilant; stand fast in the faith, quit yourselves like men, be strong”. The position seems to require manhood, does it not?
JT Very good. It is manhood, exactly. “Quit yourselves like men”. It is manhood, not boyhood, although boyhood is attached to believers too, in Acts 20, where it says “they brought away, the boy alive”. The Lord is said to be a boy, too, in Luke, while in Matthew He is spoken of as “the little child”.
ECM Does confessing Jesus as Lord, with the mouth, link up with the military thought?
JT That is right. Every one that goes forth to military service confesses with the mouth the Lord [p. 345] Jesus, and believes in the heart that God raised Him from the dead. That is the ground of salvation.
ADT Would the word of the apostle Paul to Timothy, “Thou, O man of God ... strive earnestly in the good conflict of faith”, enter into this matter of military service?
JT Well, there are certain things that are said in the Old Testament on that point. Daniel is spoken of as a ‘man’, and Elijah and Elisha are each spoken of as a ‘man of God’, and Ezekiel especially is spoken of as ‘son of man’. These are titles which, in a certain sense, belong to Christ, especially the ‘Son of man’. The Lord uses that of Himself almost constantly, but ‘a man of God’ is not spoken of much in the New Testament. I think Timothy is the only one that is called ‘a man of God’ in the New Testament. But clearly the idea is one who cares for the interests of God. He is a lover of God. He is a man of God. “Thou, O man of God”, is a distinct title given to Timotheus.
Ques Would that involve not only the twenty years old, but the thirty years?
JT Quite so; the Levites would come under that heading.
PHH Does manhood begin earlier nowadays?
JT It is for the young men to say. I think the young men ought to aspire to it, and that would mean that they ought to keep to the elder brethren as much as they can, so as to take on their character.
Rem There is such a thing as learning by observation as well as by experience. The man of God in 2 Kings has a peculiar place, and I think it well worth while to mention it. Elisha is given a great place, and he was characterised by companying with Elijah.
WC Would you say something about the names of the men that are actually mentioned. “These [p. 346] are the names of the men that shall stand with you”. What place would they come in today?
JT They are princes, I think. The point is dignity, and perhaps we are very slow in according the respect that should be accorded to those who are serving the Lord in this sense, because they require respect. They are not to be reduced to smallness, but they require respect.
WC You were speaking of the older brethren, and the young ones moving with them. I wondered whether this fitted in with what you were saying?
JT Well, I think it does, because they are princes.
Ques Referring to the remark as to learning by observation as well as by experience, had you that in mind in referring to Elisha and the wealthy woman of Shunem? She said, “I perceive that this is a holy man of God”.
JT Just so. That is what I was thinking of.
Ques I was going to ask you, in that connection, did not Elisha learn that the staff was not enough? In 2 Kings 4 you have Elisha, and the boy that was given to the Shunammite dies, and the prophet sends Gehazi with his staff, but nothing happened on that score until he came, and then he identified himself wholly with the condition he had to meet, and God came in and there was life given.
JT Are you not intending also to include the fact that Elisha walked about the house?
Rem That is said as well, of course.
JT Perhaps many of us do not understand why he should walk about the house. Elijah stretched himself on the boy, but Elisha walked about the house, as if there were bad books lying about that young people could read and be defiled by. Now, please continue.
Rem I was only trying to emphasise what you were already saying, in regard of the prophet being called “the man of God”. Elisha constantly through that chapter is styled “man of God”, and I wondered whether it showed the lesson we have to learn, that it was not mere authority that affected the resuscitation of the boy, but the substance was in the man of God.
JT Well, now, I think we might as well touch on what Elijah did too in regard of stretching himself on the boy.
Rem In verse 29 of 2 Kings 4 Elisha said, “lay my staff upon the face of the lad”, and then in verse 31, “And Gehazi passed on before them, and laid the staff upon the face of the lad; but there was neither voice, nor sign of attention. And he returned to meet him, and told him saying, The lad is not awaked. And when Elisha came into the house, behold, the child was dead, and laid upon his bed. And he went in and shut the door upon them both, and prayed to Jehovah. And he went up, and lay upon the child, and put his mouth upon his mouth, and his eyes upon his eyes, and his hands upon his hands, and bent over him; and the flesh of the child grew warm. And he returned, and walked in the house to and fro; and went up, and bent over him. And the lad sneezed seven times, and the lad opened his eyes. And he called Gehazi, and said, Call this Shunammite. And he called her; and she came to him. And he said, Take up thy son”.
JT Well now, would you mind touching on Elijah, and the same sort of thing happening.
Rem It says in 1 Kings 17: 17, “And it came to pass after these things, that the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, fell sick; and his sickness was so severe that there was no breath left in him. And she said to Elijah, What have I to do with thee, O thou man of God? art thou come to me to call mine iniquity to remembrance, and to slay my son?
[p. 348] And he said to her, Give me thy son. And he took him out of her bosom, and carried him up into the upper chamber where he abode, and laid him upon his own bed. And he cried to Jehovah and said, Jehovah, my God, hast thou also brought evil upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by slaying her son? And he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried to Jehovah and said, Jehovah, my God, I pray thee, let this child’s soul come into him again!”
JT Now, notice that, “child’s soul”. That is something to be noted. I think what we may remark is the connection between these two prophets, and the similar things that happened in their histories. It is a reminder for us, I think, of how brethren should move together, and even imitate one another if necessary. If one brother has something particularly good, not to be ashamed to bring it forward in ministry, even if another has said it.
PHH Would the fact that we have a brother linked up with Paul, and sometimes more than one, when he writes his epistles, be somewhat similar? It says, “these are the names of the men that shall stand with you”. So we have Paul and Sosthenes, and Paul and Timothy, and Paul and Silas.
JT Just so. You might say they were particularly Paul’s children; they were begotten by Paul, and that involved that Paul had a certain authority over them, that he did not have over others, not even over Apollos. They were peculiarly under Paul, and such a thing as that must be existent amongst us as to the service of God.
Rem So that Elijah and Elisha are linked together in a peculiarly intimate way.
JT That is what I thought. It serves to illustrate that brethren should associate with each other. Sometimes the disciples are sent out two and two, and then again singly, and again in Matthew it says,
“two of you”. To get the truth according to Matthew you must get two, two disciples. So that we ought to be linked up with one another in association and in love one towards another.
PL “The same steps” — Paul and Titus.
JT Just so. “Have we not walked ... in the same steps?”
JSE Could we have a word as to the four camps, involving three tribes in each?
JT It is to bring out the thought of what is threefold, and four times three would be twelve, which is the administrative side. Then the Levites are in between, abiding by the tabernacle. A three-fold cord is not quickly broken, it says, and I think the idea of three has a great place in association with one another in the divine service.
Ques Is there the basic idea of meetings associating with one another in the three?
JT Not unless in a local sense. That is the only sense in which they could be grouped together. Maybe you have twenty meetings in London, but you cannot go beyond what is actually within the bounds of the city. We should not go beyond that.
HH And the whole twenty is to be called the locality, not just one of the twenty; that is not the locality really, is it?
JT You mean the whole twenty in London? Quite so, but not more than that. No meeting should be called London, unless it is within the boundaries. The boundaries are ordered by the authorities; they are not our boundaries, but what the authorities limit, because the city is not established by us, it is established by the authorities.
ECM So it is “the assembly of God which is in Corinth”.
JT That is right. That is just it.
ECM That establishes the local position.
JT Quite so.
[p. 350] Ques Is the point here in the four points of the compass being mentioned, that every possible avenue of attack is protected?
JT I should think that is the idea. Take, for instance, Paul himself, his nephew covered him at one time, his sister’s son. That shows how even relatives, whatever they may be otherwise, may be used to help the testimony in that sense.
Rem Then the brethren let him down through a window in a basket on another occasion, so that many extraordinary means may be used, but every point of attack is met.
JT Quite so, and that is why you get the three fours here, surrounding the tabernacle, but the Levites immediately round about it. They represent the universal idea, spiritually, not physically but spiritually. If we talk of London, that is physical, but if we talk of universality in regard to fellowship and the like, that is spiritual. Universal fellowship is spiritual. I hope I am not saying what is not intelligible, but I would say that we should make a distinction between physical position and boundaries, and spiritual boundaries, because what is spiritual leads up to heaven. We have the idea of the Lord going up, and we cannot tell how far He went. It says, “A cloud received him out of their sight”. But He went up, and there would be a link in the word up between what is in heaven and what is down here, in a physical sense.
PHH When Paul writes to a local company like the Corinthians, he seems to have the universal outlook in his mind, and something exceedingly elevated on the line of what is ‘up’, would you say?
JT Just so. So that, the expression “with all that in every place” implies the universal position as over against the local position. “The assembly of God which is in Corinth” is the one local position.
[p. 351] Rem And he does not overlook the personal side, because he adds, not only “to the assembly of God which is in Corinth”, but “to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called saints”. So that he includes the personal, the local and the universal position in the letter.
JT Yes. Just so.
GWB Would the reference in 1 Corinthians 11 to “the assemblies of God” be the universal? It says, “We have no such custom, nor the assemblies of God”.
JT That is the universal thought. Quite so. “If any one think to be contentious, we have no such custom”. There was no custom such as that acknowledged by Paul.
CH So that none of these tribes and their standards and dispositions would be centres to themselves. The central thought would be the tent of meeting?
JT That is right. The tent of meeting is properly called the tabernacle. It is where God is, as John says, the Lord Jesus tabernacled amongst us. That is the great spiritual thought of being in the midst.
FCH The Levites live together and move together, yet every one is in his place.
JT That is the idea, and hence the many things that have been raised in years past in regard to the local positions, and brethren being in localities. They have their relation to the universal position, but they have a local relation as well. That has been much canvassed during the past fifty years, and God has greatly helped us as to the local idea and the universal idea, and the brethren would do well to keep to that, and I think Numbers is intended to help us to keep to it.
JOS Is the local idea maintained in the four rows of three on [p. 352] the breastplate?
JT We would have to go back, of course, to the Old Testament, but I think you are right. The priest’s garments must have something to do with all this.
PHH Say some more about the Levites, please. It says, “The tent of meeting shall set forth, the camp of the Levites in the midst of the camps” (verse 17).
JT That is what I was thinking of at the beginning, and now I would be glad if the brethren would touch on it because the tent of meeting is the great central thought in the service of God. That is to say, the tabernacle is where God is, and the Lord Jesus Himself takes up that attitude in the first chapter of the gospel of John. It says, “And the Word became flesh, and dwelt” (or tabernacled) “among us (and we have contemplated his glory, a glory as of an only-begotten with a father), full of grace and truth”. That is the central and wonderful thought for us, to keep always in our minds. It gives character to the gospel of John, because it works out into eternal life.
AM Why is the tent of meeting in the middle between the two camps in front of it and the two behind?
JT Oh, it is just the idea of it being central. By Christ we have access by one Spirit to the Father, but the Father is the great thought. We draw near to the Father. It says in Ephesians, “Through him we have both access by one Spirit to the Father”.
Ques Would that not help the levites to maintain a universal outlook?
JT Quite so. It means that we are touching on the priesthood. The priesthood is a great thought, spiritually, but the levites are the attendants on the priesthood, and then the common people are an outer circle in relation to that.
[p. 353] Rem A levite has a location in a local setting, but his outlook must not be local, because the more he is with God in the centre of things the more he has a universal outlook on the saints and the interests of God.
JT Quite so, and so we should not go away too much from our localities. We should be at home sometimes, some Lord’s Days, anyway.
AM I was going to ask in that connection as to the difference between the stationary position in the four points of the compass and the moving position as when they were setting forth, the two in front and two behind, whether that applies to the testimony today?
JT I am not so sure that the word ‘behind’ is properly used.
AM It says of the camp of Dan on the northward that when the camp set forward “They shall set forth last”.
JT Well, it was the order that God gave them. We have the order of the encampment, but then it is a question of movement from the encampment. The encampment is a place for some changing of thought, or taking advice, and so forth, but when it is a question of movement, Dan, of course, is the last. He is spiritually the last. Four is the number covering the whole matter, corresponding to the four points of the compass. The west is, what I might say, a somewhat difficult, dark position, whereas Dan’s position on the north was a dangerous position. It was a cold region, a suffering region.
WC Is the idea of the camp of Judah moving forward first a spiritual lead which could be followed universally?
JT That is the idea, and gift comes in immediately to strengthen the position, in the Levites, and therefore they are nearest to the tabernacle, where the spiritual idea is, indeed where God is. God [p. 354] dwells there, and that is the place to be, because the strength and the liberty and the joy come out from God Himself. As we have just quoted, “Through him we have both access by one Spirit to the Father”. That is the greatest place of privilege.
PHH Does the term “one Spirit” refer not only to what we enjoy in privilege, but all the truth that comes out in the testimony? There are not two lines of truth working at one time.
JT Quite so, but the Holy Spirit is in mind in that passage.
PHH Yes. I meant that. These positions round the tent of meeting would save us from becoming too local and hanging on local customs.
JT Quite so. That is right.
CW We have the individual side, and then the locality, and then the Levites, but then it comes back to “every man in his place”. Is that to be maintained right through?
JT Quite so; maintaining each man’s position, so that each man has his place and service, and he ought to be always ready to be found, because he is a travelling man; he is a Levite and a hard-working man. That is the word that comes in, in regard to the Levites later on in the book. It is hard work.
RSW Is that the work of God? It says in 1 Corinthians 12, “God has set certain in the assembly”.
JT Just so, “certain in the assembly: first, apostles; secondly, prophets”; and so forth.
Rem Paul seems to bring the whole of the Corinthians into the thought of toil, “abounding always in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord”. That involves hard work, does it not?
JT Just so.
PL Is it service to which one is subjected, as it says elsewhere, involving labour, suffering, military service and [p. 355] so on?
JT Just so. I am glad you said that, because it is hard work. The sisters and brothers should all know that, and those who are not engaged in it should realise that it is hard work. Even going about and staying in houses, sometimes it is quite irksome. So we have to be patient, and then respectful as to those who are serving, for they have hard work to do.
ECM The Lord speaks about the harvest being great, but the workmen are few. Would the idea of ‘workmen’ link on with your thought?
JT Just so. So that we have the word in the Scriptures that God helped the Levites.
Ques Is it not interesting that in the passage you quote, where it speaks of God helping the Levites, it was at their work of bringing the ark into the midst of the tent?
JT That was in David’s day. Quite so.
Rem It was particular work to exalt the Person of Christ as the Centre of the divine realm.
PL The Levites throwing their full weight into what is distinctive in the divine movement at the moment.
JT Quite so — their full weight.
AB Would the movement of the Levites be dependent on the movement of the cloud?
JT You get that in chapter 9.
AB I was thinking of the lead the Spirit of God is giving, and the service of the Levites following on the movement of the Spirit of God universally.
JT Just so.
CH The word of Haggai to Zerubbabel and to the high priest and to the people is to be strong and to work, and does it not seem to be specially called for in days of smallness, when so much has to be done and when there are so few to do it?
JT Quite so.
PHH And the Lord’s appraisal in the addresses to the assemblies, “I know thy works”, as if He is watching what is being done everywhere.
JT Very good.
Rem Do we get that in Acts 20? “I have showed you all things, that thus labouring we ought to come in aid of the weak”.
JT That is very good. “Thus labouring”. Then we have “knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord”. That is another word to be thought of.