MANHOOD IN EXODUS (5)
[p. 150] MANHOOD IN EXODUS (5)
Exodus 28:1-4; Exodus 28:40-43; Exodus 29:36-46
JT We shall look at priesthood. These chapters are taken up with much detail. In chapter 28, we have the garments of the high priest and his sons; chapter 29 is the consecration of Aaron and his sons, giving the general conditions that should be in Israel in the verses read. Priests are already recognised as in Israel in chapter 19 and the youths in chapter 24:5 functioned as priests, but nothing said about the garments. In other words, it was just such as they were, just what there was; but now we have come to the end of our subject in regard of manhood, and God would have us to understand His thoughts of manhood in priesthood. I think that is the meaning of the clothes. They are put on and as put on they are in accord with what is there, especially in the high priest. The wise-hearted are to provide these clothes. “Thou shalt make holy garments for Aaron thy brother, for glory and for ornament.” The matter will be easier to consider if we look at these garments as expressive of divine thoughts. They are not put on superficially. The person on whom they are placed is equal to them. They convey divine thoughts. God would have His priests rightly regarded. He knows us and furnishes us with these thoughts of dignity. Insignia of office often denote the dignity of the person, it is a misdemeanour to regard them otherwise. Their clothes are put on. The principle is in the bride, the Lamb’s wife. “And it was given to her that she should be clothed in fine linen, bright and pure; for the fine linen is the righteousnesses of the saints” (Revelation 19:8). She is equal to that. The question is, How do we regard Christ and the saints? We must use our eyes in relation to the dignity attaching to each other, and see that we speak rightly of the saints, because when we get to [p. 151] heaven we will be speaking too, and it would never do to speak other than rightly of each other to God and to Christ. I think in this way the furnishing of the habiliments of the high priest and his sons keeps our minds right.
JD Would you say something on the introduction of the priesthood following the directions concerning the holy oil for the lamp, which is to be kept burning. Is the thought introduced in connection with the maintenance of the testimony before men?
JT Priesthood comes in in this way as it is required; the need for it is obvious. The instruction regarding the tabernacle began in chapter 25. We proceed in the pattern to the end of chapter 27, where we have, “And thou shalt command the children of Israel, that they bring thee olive oil, pure, beaten, for the light, to light the lamp continually. In the tent of meeting outside the veil, which is before the testimony, Aaron and his sons shall dress them from evening to morning before Jehovah: it is an everlasting statute, for their generations, on the part of the children of Israel” (verses 20,21). Then we have service — “And thou shalt take thee Aaron thy brother, and his sons with him, from among the children of Israel, that he may serve me as priest — Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron’s sons”. This is their service; I want you to have right thoughts about them in this service. Everything must flow out from God. These garments indicate His thoughts. The prodigal’s father said, “Bring out the best robe” (Luke 15:22). It is to display divine thoughts.
CT That is why they are called the holy garments.
JT Quite so. “Thou shalt make holy garments for Aaron thy brother, for glory and for ornament”. We are in the presence now of dignity in manhood, really the supreme thought of God in manhood.
AEH These divine thoughts take on the character of preserving what is inward, right feelings, thoughts,
[p. 152] and motives; and on the other hand the shutting out of what is wrong and evil. Priesthood in that way stands in the presence of a great system of evil.
JT God is guarding the dignity of His priesthood, so that every time I look at the high priest I must be careful what I say about him. We talk freely about the brethren, but no matter who they are we must conform with God’s thought.
SMcC Psalm 99:6 says, “Moses and Aaron among his priests”. Would that suggest the dignity of the personnel in the priesthood?
JT Yes. Moses is not called a priest. He really has more liberty with God than Aaron.
SP What is the particular reason for introducing Aaron here as “Aaron thy brother”? In the remainder of the chapter he is just called Aaron.
JT It is to bring out the link between him and the mediator. Christ is both Moses and Aaron in the New Testament, “the Apostle and High Priest of our confession” (Hebrews 3:1). The link is here in the brother, not simply Aaron, but “Aaron thy brother”. The thought runs through the epistles to the Corinthians. The brother is linked with Paul in the writing of those letters, so modifying the element of authority. Aaron is the modifying element. In chapter 16 when the people wanted to go back into Egypt, Aaron, not Moses, speaks to them. While Aaron is speaking they turn their faces away from Egypt and towards the wilderness. The gospel of Luke represents that feature of Christ. If Matthew and Mark do not succeed, bring Luke in. Luke is helpful to people who are in a bad way. Luke will always give you something hopeful about them, therefore you can follow that through to recovery. Keep on patiently. When Aaron spoke they looked toward the wilderness and they saw the glory which then appeared for their support in that view. Luke’s side of the position is very important because it is the hopeful side. There are so many delinquents amongst [p. 153] us, alas! Matthew is usually severe, cuts people off quicker, and makes punishment more severe. He brings in Gehenna. Luke is always hopeful. Luke begins with a delinquent priest, Zacharias, but there is something hopeful about him and he is secured. After nine months he is ready for recovery.
GAT Luke is the physician that would go with him.
JT Just so, he would diagnose the case. The man at Corinth was recovered quicker than they expected.
JD We are so liable to think of those who have turned aside as impossibilities, but Zacharias is an unbelieving priest and Luke is hopeful. This ought to encourage the brethren to keep on praying for anyone we might think an impossibility.
JT It is very interesting to look into hopefulness in Luke.
EGMcA You mean Luke handled the case of Zacharias with these garments in view, although he had to give an account of his unbelief?
JT I think so. When John the baptist is born the neighbours would bring in natural thoughts and call him Zacharias after his father. That is a poor thing to call him after a man under discipline. Elizabeth says, “No; but he shall be called John” (Luke 1:60). Is the father on natural lines? “He wrote saying, John is his name”. Heaven had announced his name.
JD “Thou shalt speak with all that are wise-hearted, whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom, that they may make Aaron’s garments to hallow him”. We are coming over to God’s side and viewing the saints accordingly, when we clothe them with these priestly thoughts.
JT Take Luke’s gospel, how he clothes Zacharias, and the shepherds watching over their flocks: “An angel of the Lord was there by them”. They deserve it; they have status already, light from God about the birth of Jesus. The multitude that comes in joins in that. What do they do now? They say, “Let us make our [p. 154] way then now as far as Bethlehem”. They are priests and praise God about it. We do not hear of either Simeon or Anna until the second of Luke. They are clothed properly. A divine thought was revealed to Simeon “a man in Jerusalem” — “that he should not see death, before he should see the Lord’s Christ. And he came in the Spirit into the temple”. The Spirit of God clothed him with priesthood immediately. Anna is also thoroughly fit for the clothing. In the Acts the saints come into view in the same way. “Barnabas ... a Levite, Cyprian by birth, being possessed of land, having sold it, brought the money and laid it at the feet of the apostles” (Acts 4:36,37). This is the first time he is brought in and he has already sold the land. What can you say about him? He is a son of consolation. His status is settled. Right through the Acts you see that.
JTJr Of Saul it says, “Behold, he is praying” (Acts 9:11).
JT That is a priestly garment. The Lord clothed him so that Ananias would know his status.
SP Barnabas in disposing of his property would ornament what the saints would see.
JT He gets the name, “Son of consolation” from the apostles. They put the garment on at once.
CT Moses strips Aaron of the garments. Are they the same garments?
JT We have a word as to them here in chapter 29:29,30. It says, “And the holy garments of Aaron shall be his sons’ after him, to be anointed therein, and to be consecrated in them. The son that is priest in his stead shall put them on seven days, when he cometh into the tent of meeting to serve in the sanctuary”. He is to become accustomed to them. Will he act as his father did? It is a question of what he can do. Eleazar did very well and Phinehas did very well. He is the one the genealogy terminates in. He knows how to dignify his office. “I glorify my ministry”,
[p. 155] Paul says in Romans 11:13. You do not detract from it. We have to begin with Christ; that is the way the chapter proceeds. The sons are mentioned at once, but you do not get their clothes until the end of the chapter. It is not Christ only, but also the sons. So that heaven says, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I have found my delight” (Matthew 3:17). It is not all my delight — God reserves space for the sons. That is the idea here; the sons are mentioned at once, but you do not get them clothed until the end of the chapter. Aaron is the first one to be occupied with. It is a question of Christ through the chapter. See how careful God is that the saints should have His mind about Christ, that is clothing Christ with divine thoughts. God would bring us into that. We are to have wonderful thoughts of God about Christ. “God, thy God, has anointed thee with oil of gladness above thy companions” (Hebrews 1:9).
W.B — w. “Serve me as priests”, not as sons, it is the priestly side here.
JT In the word at the beginning of the book, “Let my son go, that he may serve me” (Exodus 4:23), God is saying, although the son is there he must have these garments. That is, priesthood is to mark us, and holiness. It involves holy garments.
JD One feels the deep necessity for manhood in matters of discipline. “Take heed in the plague of leprosy, that thou take great heed, and do according to all that the priests the Levites shall teach you: as I commanded them shall ye take heed to do” (Deuteronomy 24: 8.
JT Yes. The Levites and priests have a great place in Deuteronomy; hardly any distinction is made between them. The Levite is elevated in Deuteronomy. The actual bearers of the ark were Levites, but called priests there. Certain books bring in these high, rich thoughts, books equal to them.
APf Paul writes, “But I commend to you Phoebe, our sister, who is minister of the assembly which is in Cenchrea” (Romans 16:1), there clothing her and all the rest of those mentioned, in priestly garments.
JT Quite so. J.N.D.’s note says, ‘ She did the needed service [of a deaconess] in the assembly there; she was not properly a servant ‘; see also the note to 1 Corinthians 4:1. It is a question of what a sister can do, and if she does it, it will clothe her. Bring in this idea of clothing to maintain proper dignity amongst us.
EGMcA In letters of commendation proper clothing is necessary.
JT In writing Paul speaks well of Phoebe and many others. She did the needed service.
JWD Where we see these qualities, the priest blesses God in relation to them. Something concrete that you see amongst the saints fills the heart with movement Godward and thus creates a living point of affection.
JT Phoebe carried the epistle to Rome. She is a worthy messenger. The epistle would be read, and chapter 16 has about twenty salutations. God is clothing His saints with dignity based on what they are and what they do. We will get full recognition both in heaven and among the brethren according to what we are.
GAT Martha has been doing the needed service but complaining.
JT Martha fails Luke here. He does not finish with Martha; he leaves her in a bad way. She received the Lord but criticizes Him and her sister; that is not priestly clothing. The next thing is the Lord is seen praying. I suppose He would pray for her, for Luke 11 is assembly furnishings and undoubtedly He was thinking how poorly she acted. John comes in and gives us a full view of Martha serving rightly. She adorns the position in the feast at Bethany.
JTJr What is the thought in Luke giving us no more than [p. 157] that?
JT He would go as far as he could — the Lord’s prayer was answered in John’s gospel.
AL We are clothed with what we are and what we do. David would not keep on the dress that Saul gave him. He did not try it but went wearing his ordinary clothes.
JT The clothes he had used in slaying the lion. We see here how all this applies to the sons of Aaron, who are mentioned by name, “Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar”. Keep your mind on the high priest. One man draws out the mind and heart of God, nothing unsaid, perfectly clothed priests.
JTJr Peter in preaching in Cornelius’ house says, “Jesus who was of Nazareth: how God anointed him with the Holy Spirit and with power; who went through all quarters doing good” (Acts 10:38). Peter turns their minds to Christ, converging them on the High Priest.
JT “God was with him”.
EGMcA “And these are the garments which they shall make ... that he may serve me as priest”. There is something in connection with the Lord’s people which gives more liberty for the priest.
JT That is just it. For instance, the Lord brings us here today and the brethren are very sympathetic with what is being said. The Lord is able to do much more in those conditions. At Corinth, the apostle indicated he could not get along because of conditions. He could not open up the mind of God for them. He waited until they were generally right themselves. The Lord is hampered when there is a low state amongst us. We must clothe all the saints as mentioned, so that Aaron may minister, he would be hindered otherwise.
JD “Epaphras, who is one of you, the bondman of Christ Jesus, salutes you, always combating earnestly for you in prayers, to the end that ye may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God” (Colossians 4:12). Do you think Epaphras is a good example for [p. 158] us?
JT He is an excellent example, an approved man. He combats in prayer. There was great opposition to what he had in his mind.
HB There is much said in verse 4 as to the turban and breastplate, etc.
JT The breastplate is the prime thought in the list. “And these are the garments which they shall make: a breastplate, and an ephod, and a cloak, and a checkered vest, a turban, and a girdle; and they shall make holy garments for Aaron thy brother, and his sons, that he may serve me as priest. And they shall take gold, and blue, and purple, and scarlet, and twined byssus, and shall make the ephod of gold, blue, and purple, scarlet and twined byssus, of artistic work” (Exodus 28:4-6). The ephod is generally the idea of priesthood. The breastplate cannot be put on without it. It is dependent on the ephod which refers to the general idea of priesthood. Then there is the long cloak that goes with it, completing the covering of the priest. The next thing is the two shoulder-pieces. “It shall have two shoulder-pieces joined at the two ends thereof, where it is joined together. And the girdle of the ephod, which is upon it, shall be of the same, according to its work of gold, blue, and purple, and scarlet and twined byssus. And thou shalt take two onyx stones, and engrave on them the names of the children of Israel: six of their names on the one stone, and the six names of the rest on the other stone, according to their birth. According to the work of an engraver in stone, as the engravings of a seal, shalt thou engrave the two stones with the names of the sons of Israel; surrounded by enclosures of gold shalt thou make them. And thou shalt put the two stones upon the shoulder-pieces of the ephod as stones of memorial for the children of Israel; and Aaron shall bear their names before Jehovah upon his two shoulders for a memorial. And thou shalt make enclosures of gold; and two chains of pure gold; of laced work shalt thou [p. 159] make them, of wreathen work, and fasten the wreathen chains to the enclosures” (Exodus 28:7-14). That is one great thought after the ephod is mentioned, these two shoulder-pieces on which are engraved the names of the children of Israel according to birth. It is the great general thought of Christ upholding the saints as the family of God, not yet in testimony, but as a family according to their birth. The breastplate is not that, although the same people are repeated in twelve precious stones in a square. Their names are not actually given at all. It is the names of the saints according to the position of each in the testimony from divine counsel and selection as they surrounded the tabernacle. They are all wonderfully precious in the mind of God, it is a question of His counsel. Beginning with Judah each has his place in the testimony, and the eternal position too, that is the breastplate. The Lord has them there before Jehovah, we are supported as a family and we are supported in the testimony as well, that is the idea of the breastplate.
WGT The Lord would have this chapter in mind when He said to the disciples, “Rejoice that your names are written in the heavens” (Luke 10:20).
JT He had the Levites in mind. It is a question of a ‘ Who is who? ‘ book up there. He would say, each of them is like the firstborn — not first, second and third, as on the shoulder. In the family, properly, Christ is the firstborn, but from the Levitical point of view everyone has the same dignity and status. Every Levite represents the firstborn in Israel. Every Levite is firstborn. There could be nothing like it in the universe. This chapter is worth taking in. It gives us equality with each other and promotes mutuality.
GAT They are set in carefully, and are not to die out.
JT They are there according to birth. Reuben would have the first place in the shoulder-pieces. When it is the family, there is firstborn and second born,
[p. 160] but when it comes to the breastplate there is no firstborn at all; Judah has first place. In Numbers there are four sets of three each surrounding the tabernacle and the breastplate represents them as they stood there.
EGMcA “To the assembly of the firstborn who are registered in heaven” (Hebrews 12:23).
JT That is an allusion to the Levites. It is the plural word for firstborn.
WB-w When I come together in assembly with the brethren I look at them all as firstborn ones, not in responsibility as a family.
JT We come into the family according to our birth.
APf What is the difference between Christ the firstborn and the firstborn ones?
JT “When he brings in the firstborn into the habitable world, he says, And let all God’s angels worship him” (Hebrews 1:6), “firstborn of all creation” (Colossians 1:15). He is also “firstborn among many brethren” (Romans 8:29). It is a question of Christ’s personal dignity. No one else could have it, but He. Coming back to our chapter this position on the shoulder-pieces supports us in the family, and the position on the breastplate supports us in testimony, as set there according to divine selection. Paul is brought into it later on. He has a prominent place.
JTJr The disciples questioning who would be the greatest, in Luke 22:24, indicates what is apt to be in our minds. The Lord brings in the great thought of service.
JT In Matthew 20:20 the mother of the sons of Zebedee wanted a place. The Lord says, that is the Father’s matter, a question of divine counsel. When it is a servant, see the provision the Lord made for Paul, a wonderful place on the breastplate. Paul says, “Who has loved me and given himself for me” (Galatians 2:20). He was to endure. “Thou hast testified the things concerning me at Jerusalem, so thou must bear witness at Rome also” (Acts 23:11). No one really suffered [p. 161] more than the apostle Paul, apart from the Lord Himself. What a place the apostle Paul had in the Lord’s mind, and He supported him peculiarly day and night in his service.
CT Why is the breastplate square?
JT It is very regular this universal thought embracing all the saints; it is particularly a matter of the testimony. They were located around the tabernacle on this principle.
WB-w Why is it the Urim and Thummim?
JT We have already spoken of the mystery. It would bring in the mysterious side of the matter. The Urim and the Thummim is a very mysterious thought. The Urim is sometimes mentioned by itself. It is a remarkable thing. You can enquire there; where love is in a regular way, where the saints are taken account of according to divine counsel and arrangement; and get light from God. A right state among the brethren opens up the way for the unfolding of divine thoughts. Moses had much more liberty in unfolding his thoughts about the tribes in the end of Deuteronomy, than Jacob had in Genesis 49. Jacob had nothing like the atmosphere Moses had. Moses was king in Jeshurun in Deuteronomy 33:5, the people all loved him. Then the idea of the Urim and Thummim is light and perfection. There is liberty if a right state of things exists among the brethren.
AEH Is it perfection toward God, and light toward man?
JT Quite so.
JMcK “And thou shalt put into the breastplate of judgment the Urim and the Thummim, that they may be upon Aaron’s heart when he goeth in before Jehovah; and Aaron shall bear the judgment of the children of Israel upon his heart before Jehovah continually” (Exodus 28:30.
JT Yes. In Moses’ blessing, when he comes to Levi, he says, “Thy Thummim and thy Urim are for thy godly one” (Deuteronomy 33:8). That is remarkable because the Urim is first here. It is to bear out that if conditions are good you have perfection before light, that is the state of the saints.
WGT Levi represents spiritual people.
JT That is how he is mentioned, “Thy Thummim and thy Urim are for thy godly one”. That is Levi. I think the order of Paul’s epistles help us, because where there is a good condition locally the Spirit of God is freer to open up things. “Thummim”, that is perfection and then if you have Urim the light shines.
JD Numbers 27:21 helps. The Urim is sometimes mentioned by itself. “And he shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall inquire for him, by the judgment of the Urim before Jehovah: at his word shall they go out, and at his word they shall come in, he, and all the children of Israel with him, even the whole assembly”. It is a question of light coming in for the saints.
JT Quite so.
WB-w “And the Tirshatha said to them that they should not eat of the most holy things, till there stood up the priest with Urim and Thummim” (Nehemiah 7:65).
JT Israel still waits for that, it is future.
GAT We should be right together first before we expect light from heaven.
JT Local conditions have a great deal to do with it. Local conditions hindered Paul at Corinth.
NB The linen comes in at the end of the chapter.
JT And then as to Aaron’s sons it is said, “Thou shalt make vests”. The vest is not a public garment it is an inner one. It is a question of what the man is inwardly. “Keep thyself pure” (1 Timothy 5:22). “But youthful lusts flee” (2 Timothy 2:22). The vest is mentioned first. What young people need is this inner state of purity, to be in the service of priesthood. And then the girdles, they are recognised as servants. The high caps would stand for intelligence, governed by [p. 163] priestly dignity. The high priest has a turban, it is a remarkable head covering. “And thou shalt make a thin plate of pure gold, and engrave on it, as the engravings of a seal, Holiness to Jehovah! And thou shalt put it on a lace of blue, and it shall be upon the turban — upon the front of the turban shall it be. And it shall be upon Aaron’s forehead, and Aaron shall bear the iniquity of the holy things, which the children of Israel shall hallow in all gifts of their holy things; and it shall be continually on his forehead, that they may be accepted before Jehovah” (Exodus 28:36-38), — bringing out holiness of mind, how you speak about the things of God. Paul had to combat the opposite to this in the Corinthians. They used their own minds in the things of God.
HB Would the high cap be seen in Romans 1:9, God “whom I serve in my spirit in the glad tidings”?
JT Quite so. Chapter 29 brings the altar in as anointed; verse 37 refers to the general condition in Israel, only the altar is specially mentioned as anointed seven days. The place of sacrifice among the people of God is holy. Seven days would bring it into accord with Christ. In Leviticus it is said to be anointed seven times, alluding to the Lord Himself. That is the general thought in sacrifice and suffering. All this is to bring out the dignity of things, and holiness is needed in dealing with them. It is outside the world and must not be brought down to the level of man’s ways at all. Looking after the meeting room is a dignified service, not common. “And thou shalt weave the vest of byssus; and thou shalt make a turban of byssus; and thou shalt make a girdle of embroidery. And for Aaron’s sons thou shalt make vests; and thou shalt make for them girdles; and high caps shalt thou make for them, for glory and for ornament. And thou shalt clothe with them Aaron thy brother, and his sons with him; and shalt anoint them, and consecrate them, and hallow them, that they may serve me as priests. And [p. 164] thou shalt make them linen trousers to cover the flesh of nakedness; from the loins even to the hips shall they reach” (Exodus 28:39-42). This is the general everyday condition among the people of God, contemplating manhood in priesthood in sonship, indeed in brotherly relations, with all these glorious thoughts put upon us by God, and we subjectively answering to them. What a time God has and heaven has every day among the saints here below!
EGMcA What is the altar today?
JT It is the power of endurance, continuance in suffering, in a holy way. Christ alone is the full expression of it. The measurements indicate what moral power there was in the Man, what He could endure in the way of sacrificial judgment.
GAT You were speaking about taking care of the room?
JT That is not a common thing, it is not like working in your own house. We are in relation to the house of God in these matters.
AB The household of Stephanas devoted themselves to the saints for service. The footnote says the verb is connected with the saints, rather than service. This amplifies what you are saying.
WGT In Matthew 5:23,24 you cannot use the altar if you have anything against your brother: “Leave there thy gift before the altar, and first go, be reconciled to thy brother”.
JT That is a good illustration. You would discredit the altar if you offered on it knowing a brother has ought against you. “Then come and offer thy gift.” The morning and evening lamb would stimulate the heart of God. It is very beautifully taken up in Numbers. That is to bring out the general position for God amongst His people when manhood is secured in sonship in the Lord Jesus. The position is fixed immutably in Christ. It is the state of things that God gets every day as a result of the morning and [p. 165] evening lamb.
JTJr In the early chapters of the Acts, they go to their own company after being threatened. We find that we go to our own company, into the midst of those who have the same feelings.
JT Read us what follows that in the Acts.
JTJr “And they, having heard it, lifted up their voice with one accord to God, and said, Lord, thou art the God who made the heaven and the earth and the sea, and all that is in them; who hast said by the mouth of thy servant David, Why have the nations raged haughtily and the peoples meditated vain things? The kings of the earth were there, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against his Christ. For in truth against thy holy servant Jesus, whom thou hadst anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the nations, and peoples of Israel, have been gathered together in this city to do whatever thy hand and thy counsel had determined before should come to pass. And now, Lord, look upon their threatenings, and give to thy bondmen with all boldness to speak thy word, in that thou stretchest out thy hand to heal, and that signs and wonders take place through the name of thy holy servant Jesus. And when they had prayed, the place in which they were assembled shook, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and spoke the word of God with boldness” (Acts 4:24-31).
JT That is exactly what we are at here, the general state of things in the company.
WB-w “It shall be a continual burnt-offering throughout your generations at the entrance of the tent of meeting before Jehovah, where I will meet with you, to speak there with thee”. It is a collective setting at the finish.
JT There are communications under these conditions. The tabernacle enters into all these things.
EGMcA In that passage in the Acts all are filled with the Holy Spirit, as seen in verse 45 here, “I will [p. 166] dwell in the midst of the children of Israel, and will be their God”.
JT How successful the apostolic service was, and then Barnabas, an addition, ornamentation coming in. God says, “It shall be hallowed by my glory”, a wonderful scene! glory present. Think of that, God sanctifying everyone of us, because of conditions. And then it goes on, “And I will hallow the tent of meeting, and the altar; and I will hallow Aaron and his sons, that they may serve me as priests. And I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel, and will be their God. And they shall know that I am Jehovah their God, who have brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, to dwell in their midst: I am Jehovah their God”. It is a wonderful ending to this great subject, manhood now, the full thought of it in Christ and His people, the sons of God.
JD The Philippian assembly would be an answer to this, the opening up of the bowels of the servant. The apostle found a congenial state where he could open up what would answer to this.
JT Paul’s epistles help us on this line. In Colossians Paul was able to open up more than in Corinthians, and the Ephesians furnished the apostle ample room to open up his thoughts.
EGMcA God takes delight in dwelling in the midst of this service.
GAT It is very important what company we are found in. “And having been let go, they came to their own company” (Acts 4:23).
JT Quite so.
CT “I am Jehovah their God.”
JT To make clear who He is, go back to Exodus 3. “To us there is one God, the Father”, (1 Corinthians 8:6).