THE SECOND ESTABLISHED (1)
THE SECOND ESTABLISHED (1)
JT The Lord, I believe, will help us in looking at this book as showing how priesthood is reached and how God “takes away the first that he may establish the second” (Hebrews 10:9) The first is seen in the prominence given to the eldest brother, and how the sons and daughters carried on without their father. Their father, on the other hand, exercises priestly service for them. It is said, “Job sent and hallowed them; and he rose up early in the morning, and offered up burnt-offerings according to the number of them all; for Job said, It may be that my children have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts. Thus did Job continually”. He exercised priesthood in regard of his family. In verse 13 we read, “And there was a day when his sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in the house of their brother, the firstborn”. This is mentioned in view of the calamity about to come on Job. We are reminded thus that the natural must give place to the spiritual, and the book of Job shows how this comes about. While the natural is being preserved in Job’s family, the sons of God do their part; they have to be taken into account, for an underlying thought in the instruction is, that God had His family. The sons of God come to present themselves before Him, and we shall see how this works out as we proceed. God had a family in mind before He developed that thought in relation to man. It was, I suppose, an angelic family forming a background for God’s operations on the earth.
LES Where does the book of Job fit into [p. 221] the canon of Scripture?
JT Well, it clearly does fit in. The canon of Scripture has been reached through spiritual intelligence and understanding in the saints, and Job has its place as thus determined. The link between mankind in general and God’s special people who were taken up from Abraham, is clearly set out in the book. The relation between the persons spoken of and Abraham’s family is seen in Genesis, but the book contemplates a work of God outside of this family, for God is not restricted to the family of Abraham. God is never restricted. He always has a free hand and a background of reserves. The sons of God were there and seen in relation to mankind. Job is seen in relation to mankind too, but he had no special link with God as Abraham had. He just belonged to the generations of Noah, and God operated to effect a new family in Job’s house. The background to this is seen in God’s angelic sons. Satan is challenged as he comes up among the sons of God. He had been, he said, “going to and fro in the earth”; not yet attacking Israel as God’s special people; the whole earth is his field, and he is watching what God is doing with a view to nullifying it. There can be no doubt of that; it has developed throughout the history of man. The constant effort of the devil is to set aside what God is doing, but this book shows God’s triumph. “In all this Job sinned not, nor ascribed anything unseemly to God”. The battleground was in Job and God triumphed in Job.
DR Is the final triumph seen in the first being taken away and what is spiritual, the second, being established?, “afterwards that which is spiritual”.
JT That is clearly written in this book. At the end, Job’s second family does not increase in number as his sheep, camels, oxen and asses do, but Job’s family increases in quality. It is an entirely new family. The first is set aside to establish the second; typically, the second is christianity.
LES As to Satan here; what is [p. 222] the teaching?
JT Well, he evidently assumes to be of the angelic line, as one of the sons of God. He was there as they were there, “an angel of light”. In the typical reference to Satan in Ezekiel, he is spoken of as beautiful, one of God’s creatures, raised up above other angels, but he is not seen in that connection here. He is having to say to the human race, and for this purpose transforming himself into an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14).
JD The testimony of the Spirit to this man Job is that he was perfect and upright and one that feared God and abstained from evil. He was all that, and probably contemporary with Abraham.
JT Clearly the history fits in with Genesis, but it shows that God is not restricted to Israel; you may see this also in the New Testament in the wise men from the East. There is no evidence that they knew the Scriptures as they arrived at Jerusalem, but they had light from God through a star. “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the expanse sheweth the work of his hands. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. There is no speech and there are no words, yet their voice is heard” (Psalm 19:1-3). These men were astronomers, probably, and God takes them up in that connection. They understood the stars; they knew Christ’s star. They did not worship the star, but they recognised the King of the Jews and worshipped Him.
LES Knowing God in that way, they fear Him.
JT There was always something in evidence throughout the Old Testament. Take a man like Melchisedec, contemporary, perhaps, with Job; he is “king of righteousness”, not only a righteous man, but king of righteousness, a man with authority to enforce righteousness. He was also king of peace; there was authority in that connection. He is a wonderful type of the Lord Jesus, but undoubtedly a real man amongst men. He blessed [p. 223] Abraham.
JD There is no record of how Job became “greater than all the children of the east”. With Abraham, it is different. He came out of his country and from his father’s house.
JT God had something special in view. He had evidently taken care of Job. Indeed each one of us has the special attention of God in this way; and Satan attacks us accordingly. “And there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before Jehovah”. It is not said that God’s sons were told to do this; but it may have been a fixed arrangement. “There was a day,” literally ‘ the ‘ day; that would seem as if it was an arranged matter. Now for us the Lord’s day is the day of the week. Israel had many days for special convocations. God made time; He used it first, and now it is available for His people. Here evidently the angels have part in time as we have.
LES There is a reference in Lamentations 4:21, to the land of Uz, as well as the three references to the name Uz in Genesis.
JT Yes. It is remarkable that the weeping book should include the land of Uz. It indicates some relation to Esau, and thus with Abraham’s family; and yet Job is clearly to be viewed as outside of Israel. The book of Job stands in relation to man generally.
DR You were speaking of priesthood. What is to be learned in Job’s “burnt-offerings”?
JT That is an indication of priesthood, but in relation to the old order; the first family. He exercised the service himself; the desire for it did not seem to arise with his family; he sent and hallowed them, and offered up burnt-offerings according to the number of them all. Why did he not go and see what was going on? It seems that they were carrying on without their parents. They were celebrating; each one on his day, evidently in relation to the order of nature. “And there was a day when his sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in the house of their brother, the first-born”.
[p. 224] Clearly that is the order of nature which God, in principle, had already set aside in His dealings with Cain: also in Noah’s family, for Shem, although not the elder (Genesis 10:21), had the first place.
WFK Although Job was perfect and upright, and had priestly features, God passed him through discipline so that he might be a better priest.
JT Yes; what is stressed at the end is that he prayed for his friends. They were to go to him, taking specified burnt-offerings with them. “My servant Job shall pray for you, for him will I accept”, Jehovah says. He acted in grace towards those who persecuted him. The spirit of Christ was in him. In principle, he functioned as a high priest, securing divine favour for those he served. “Jehovah accepted Job.” God would bring in another family and another order of priesthood. Cain called his city after his son (Genesis 4:17) — the first time in Scripture that the term ‘ son ‘ is used. Cain pursued the natural line and way, but Adam had a third son, Seth, who accepted man’s status as having sinned, calling his son, Enos; meaning that he was mortal. The purpose of God could not be worked out in him; there must be another man. Christ is needed, who has annulled death and brought to light life and incorruptibility (2 Timothy 1:10). He is eternal life, and it is in Him for us. This contemplates a new order of manhood, a new divine family, in which Christ is Firstborn. He is a new Priest constituted “according to power of indissoluble life”; and “a Son perfected for ever” (Hebrews 7:16,28). All this is in mind in the book of Job.
JD In referring to Job in a priestly way sending and hallowing his children, had you thought that would help them in regard of their affections Godward? “For Job said, It may be that my children have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts”.
JT Yes; but it was done at a distance, and clearly aside from their exercises. He would hold them in a [p. 225] superficial way. Were their exercises Godward at all? It is questionable. They were carrying on in a social way by themselves, evidently leaving their parents out, and leaving God out also. They were taken away most solemnly by “a great wind from over the wilderness”. The first is thus taken away.
DR Jehovah had the spiritual line in view.
JT Yes. He would bring out His own work. There are 29 chapters showing the thoughts of man, but what God said about Job at the outset was true. The two conversations between God and Satan teach us that. In his first efforts Satan was defeated. We are told by the Spirit of God that “In all this Job did not sin with his lips”. Satan utterly misjudged Job; he cannot tell what is in the hearts of believers; he only knows what is in our hearts by our words or actions. In chapter 1:22 we read “In all this Job sinned not, nor ascribed anything unseemly to God”, then in chapter 2:10, “In all this Job did not sin with his lips”. So Satan is not formally mentioned in the book afterwards. God’s work so far is successful. Thus the children of God are manifest (1 John 3:10). They cannot sin because they are begotten of God. This, however, has to be viewed abstractly, for as in their mixed condition, they can sin (1 John 1:10).
Ques What do you understand by the “hedge”?
JT “And Satan answered Jehovah and said, Doth Job fear God for nought? Hast not thou made a hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side?” What Satan said was malicious, and it was untrue as the sequel showed; he would make out that God’s work would not stand alone: that, in fact, Job’s piety was only the outcome of material gain and through God’s favour, and that it could collapse if this gain were withdrawn.
JC How do you understand God’s word to Satan? “There was a day when the sons of God came to present [p. 226] themselves before Jehovah ... And Jehovah said to Satan, Whence comest thou?”
JT Well, what a day it must have been! How did the sons of God come up? How many were there? Did they know Satan was amongst them? Or were they like the apostles with Judas amongst them? The Lord said, “Have not I chosen you the twelve? and, of you one is a devil” (John 6:70). The apostles apparently did not know, for when the Lord said one of them would betray Him, each of them said, Lord, is it I? Not one of them pointed to Judas. Did these sons of God know Satan as distinct from themselves? Well, if they did not know it, God did. If one at all like Satan comes among the saints, God will expose him. “And Jehovah said to Satan, From whence comest thou? And Satan answered Jehovah and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it. And Jehovah said to Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job ...?” Satan spoke as if he had full liberty on the earth, as if he had right of way there. God says, I have a servant on that earth. Will he give Satan right of way? Will he open his door to him? Satan may assume much more than is true, but can he go up and down in Job’s property? God implies that He has something on the earth. All the pressure only serves to bring out what God has on the earth. This is strikingly true in certain countries today.
Ques Would it be in keeping with what the Lord says to Peter, “Satan hath desired to have you”? (Luke 22:31).
JT He sought to have them all. The Lord prayed for Simon that his faith should not fail. The real Priest had come in then. It is hardly so with Job here. The real Priest comes in for Peter. “Satan hath desired to have you”; the you there would refer to them all; but then the Lord says, “I have prayed for thee”; that is Peter individually; “that thy faith fail not”. The Lord would allow the testing and even the failure with a view to Simon’s gain through the consequent discipline, but He prayed that Simon’s faith should stand.
WFK Here the sons of God present themselves before Jehovah. Would that be like the Lord’s day morning meeting and service Godward at that time?
JT Well, it points to the service of God, which enters peculiarly into the Lord’s day. “And there was a day” — a day on which the sons of God gathered themselves before Jehovah, and Satan knew about it. It is literally ‘ the ‘ day, as already noted.
LES Does this thought of sonship in angels set out that sonship is a primary thought with God?
JT Clearly. God had a family of His own, before man was created. Angels were created before the earth (Job 38:7); but this family is not the final thought of God. Man is the great thought of God, as we see in Psalm 8. Hebrews 1:14 also illuminates the matter. God shows what is in His mind, but the angels are not set aside; they take a certain place in active service as seen in the gospels; they are subservient to men — those who inherit salvation.
There is a certain family sphere seen here, “the sons of God”. Could Job be numbered amongst them? He could at the end of the book. Israel was designated Jehovah’s son (Exodus 4:22), and individually the Israelites were His sons (Deuteronomy 14:1). Job would be a son too, as chastened of God and as made a priest, as in chapter 42. All this awaited the incarnation, for it is in Christ that it took form according to divine counsel (Galatians 4:1-7). In offering burnt-offerings for them all, Job said, “It may be that my children have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts”. The passage does not tell us that he went to inquire. As information is needed about young people, it is wise to ask their fathers and mothers. They are the ones that should know. It does not seem as if Job had found out if they had sinned; he says, may be they have. It is not to be a question of “may be”; we should know. If a young [p. 228] person wishes to break bread, we should ask the parents about them — they are in the position to know, and, as with God, they will know.
Ques Does this have any bearing on the two sons of Eli? Eli did not check them at all.
JT Yes, that would fit in. He failed to restrain his sons, though he knew of their wicked conduct. Job’s sons were feasting, and they sent for their three sisters, but what about their father and mother? “And there was a day when his sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in the house of their brother, the firstborn”. Well, Job was not invited as far as we know, but then, why not go uninvited? It says, they were drinking wine; perhaps they were drinking too much wine. Why not go and find out?
LES Would there be a marked contrast with Abraham? Scripture says he dwelt in tents with Isaac and Jacob (Hebrews 11).
JT Yes; and Job was probably contemporary with Abraham, who dwelt in tents with Isaac and Jacob. Esau was not there. He had the character of Job’s family; he sold his birthright, and thus was not an heir with Abraham.
Ques Job acts in a priestly way, and yet it did not seem to be very effectual.
JT The Spirit of God gives us this account; He mentions that Job offered sacrifices for his family. There is much in it for us. We have talked about the book of Job being in the canon of Scripture, but is it practically in our canon? Is it an inspired matter with us? Every inspired book is written for a definite purpose, and we are to discover this and gain by it. In the book of Revelation the Lord tells John what to write, and it is the same thing here. A spiritual man wants to find out the lesson in it for him.
AD Satan destroys the first family (chapter 1), but there is another family seen in the end of the [p. 229] book.
JT Yes. This is a solemn matter. It is a question of what has place in my house, the first or the second. Am I going to promote what is connected with the first?
LES It is beautiful to note the order of Scripture. Job comes before the Psalms, and what the Psalms indicate.
JT Yes; the whole book of Psalms has Christ in mind. The “second” is in mind from the outset. Did Job in the beginning have the second in mind? He was a very rich man. Each of his sons had his own house; and Job would have his own house, the largest of them all probably. There was great evidence of wealth, but much material wealth tends to shut out the “second” — Christ. The apostle Paul says, trust not “on the uncertainty of riches” (1 Timothy 6:17). Money always promotes show. Job was the greatest man in the East, but what place had Christ typically with Job? There had been evidences of Christ. The Spirit of God preached through Noah, who was a preacher of righteousness (1 Peter 3:19,20; 2 Peter 2:5). Noah had built an ark for the saving of his house. The point for each is, are we going to hold our families? It needs more than outward religious observances; the Spirit of Christ must be manifested in our houses. This came out in Noah in a striking way, and so was a testimony on God’s part which Job should have known.
WFK If we do not take account of this, God will come in in government.
JT Baptism must be brought in; not only baptism to Christ, but to His death. The death of Christ brought into the house will make way for the second; it implies the taking away of the first and the establishing of the second.
JD Satan speaks of the great care exercised by God over this man, saying, “Doth Job fear God for nought?” The following chapters show how far God can use the enemy in bringing about a true priestly state in us. Is it something like the thorn for the [p. 230] flesh?
JT Just so. A messenger of Satan it is called. Satan did not realise that he was doing such a service to Paul. It shows what God may order or allow in His discipline of His people. Every true father and every true mother here knows what happens in this way in families so that the first might be set aside and the second brought in. In speaking of widows Paul says, “Let a widow be put upon the list, being of not less than sixty years, having been wife of one man, borne witness to in good works, if she have brought up children, if she have exercised hospitality, if she have washed saints’ feet, if she have imparted relief to the distressed, if she have diligently followed every good work” (1 Timothy 5:9,10). She qualifies because she has set aside the first in the house. She is brought into the gain of Paul’s ministry; the second is established in the house. Lydia had all this in mind as she asked Paul to come into her house, after she had been baptised. She recognised the necessity of setting aside the first. Cain had no idea of that. He called his son Enoch, which implies education, which would, in his house, be after the order of nature, after the order of this world.
WFK Job is a servant of God, but Satan attacks him through his family.
JT You can see it in verse 13 before there is any mention of discipline. “And there was a day when his sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in the house of their brother, the firstborn”. The Spirit of God sets all this down in that verse. This time it is in the elder brother’s house, the firstborn; they were eating and drinking wine. Did Job go and look in there? If he knew himself, he would know what young people are capable of. They invited their sisters. They would make the most of family connections, but where were the father and mother? Job says, Possibly they have sinned. Why not go and find out? He is aiding them in their worldly course. It is evident they were not married, and hence their father’s house should have [p. 231] been their abode, for it is as married that a man leaves his father and mother (Genesis 2:24).
Rem The children did not invite him.
JT Well, if they will not come to you, you go to them. Of Abraham it is said that he dwelt in tents with Isaac and Jacob. It could not have been for long in Jacob’s case, because Abraham was one hundred and sixty years old when Jacob was born — a matter of about fifteen years before he died. That is generally the most difficult time of a child’s life. Parents must watch them then.
DR Adonijah was not restrained by David and so he wanted to be crowned king in a lawless way.
JT Yes; his father had not grieved him at any time in saying, “Why doest thou so?”. It is Nathan the prophet who comes in to settle the matter; he tells Bathsheba of Adonijah’s aggression; he reminds her of the promises regarding Solomon. Every parent has promises about his family. Indeed, the first commandment with promise is connected with the family (Ephesians 6:2). So Nathan goes first to Bathsheba and prompts her to go to David, and then he himself can augment what Bathsheba says, primarily on the line of promise. That is what the ministry meeting should effect as there is a prophetic touch in it; to bring in correction so that evil that may be current is dealt with.
Ques Who is the messenger in verse 14? “there came a messenger to Job”.
JT There are four of them: verses 14, 16, 17 and 18. They all bring tidings of disaster. Elihu speaks of a messenger, one among a thousand, to show man his duty (Job 33:23). He brings a man to uprightness, in judging himself; he brings about repentance. That would be a messenger, one among a thousand. These bring tidings to Job, which are calculated to cause unspeakable sorrow. It was a necessity to bring out Job’s integrity.
JC [p. 232] In Malachi 2:7, the priest is the messenger of Jehovah of hosts.
JT Each of the messengers who came to Job says, “I only am escaped, alone, to tell thee”. These messengers bring tidings of sorrow. Job did not know what had overtaken him until these men came; but in all this Satan is not successful, although he would do anything to overcome Job.
JD These messages maybe like a prophetic touch in the meeting for ministry. Everything is not destroyed, for one escaped to tell.
JT The Spirit of God has called much attention to 1 Corinthians 14:23-33. The passage shows what effect the prophetic word has. A man comes in as the prophetic ministry goes on; he falls down convicted of all, judged of all, and worships God. These messengers brought accurate tidings, and all, while testifying to calamity of the most dreadful kind having befallen Job, only brought out the triumph of the work of God in him. “Job rose up, and rent his mantle ... and worshipped; and he said ... Jehovah gave, and Jehovah hath taken away; blessed be the name of Jehovah! In all this Job sinned not, nor ascribed anything unseemly to God”. The testimony to disaster is conclusive, and Job accepted it. He does not say, That cannot possibly be true. He accepted the testimony at the mouth of two or three witnesses. There must be that at our assembly disciplinary meetings. Is the thing so? Paul says, deliver him, “being such” (1 Corinthians 5:5); the witnesses prove the matter is so.
LES The recovery of the ministry meeting is of great importance!
JT God is blessing that meeting. Were you to inquire of the man the apostle alludes to as coming into the assembly, asking what happened, he might say, It was the power of the word as ministered. I was convicted and fell down. I was in the Jewish synagogue, but there was nothing said like what I heard in the [p. 233] christian assembly. The whole meeting is affected, for the person is convicted of all, judged of all (1 Corinthians 14:24,25).
DR In a case of discipline, what is the value of a confession at the assembly meeting?
JT If the person in question seems genuine in his repentance, he should be forgiven.
DR What would you do about the withdrawal?
JT Normally the brethren are sensitive as to good and evil; they would be able to discern whether the confession is real. If a man is repentant, he has executed judgment on himself The assembly should be able to take care of such a case. The person whom Paul mentions would be qualified for fellowship; he worships God.
JD If a person had not heeded the brothers who have visited him, and they find sufficient ground for bringing the matter before the brethren and finally for having an assembly meeting, but at that meeting the person breaks down, would he be cleared at that moment, or would the judgment of withdrawing go on? Would it be too late for such an one to change his mind?
JT It would not be too late. If a person is really convicted, “he is convicted of all”. A sensitive brother discerns that he is truly repentant. If he falls down and worships God, God has accepted that worship, and are you going to ignore it?
JD Should a rebuke be administered or is genuine confession enough?
JT For general effect, especially in view of young people, something might be said. Of course, the circumstances must always be weighed, and these might require delay in formal restoration. What underlies the matter is the work of God, and God values His own work. The cleansing of the leper would help. The priest sees that the sore is healed, but much detail happens after that until the man is anointed. The trespass offering is presented and slaughtered, and [p. 234] the priest puts the blood on the man. When the priest anoints him, the sin-offering, the burnt-offering and the meat-offering are offered, and the man is set up again in the testimony.
LES David, until the child dies, retained an unmistakable attitude of sorrow (2 Samuel 12:16-18).
JT Yes; but when the child had died he arose, and washed and anointed himself and worshipped. Nathan said, “The Lord also hath put away thy sin”. David, however, goes through a great deal after that. The removal of his sin by Jehovah was immediate after his confession, but he did not enter into the house of God to worship until he had gone through the experience described in verses 15 to 20. It is a question of what God does. Of course, we are dealing with this subject in the abstract. Alas, we do not get much of immediate self-judgment in cases of discipline. The records of David’s restoration are particularly instructive.
The point in the second chapter of Job is that Satan is defeated, and we do not find him directly referred to in the book afterwards.
JD “And Job rose up, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down on the ground, and worshipped”. Do you think God received that from him?
JT I am sure He did. He has not come to the forty-second chapter yet, but still his attitude is mentioned approvingly. Satan also would see that expression of response to God. He fell down on the ground and worshipped. God accepts what is genuinely given. God is worshipped and Satan is defeated, although it is a long time before Job reaches God’s end, as seen in the latter part of the book.
JD “Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither”. That is a beautiful note amid all the pressure and sorrow. Would you link that with what has been said as to genuine repentance in persons under [p. 235] discipline?
JT For the moment there is enough to testify to the work of God in the man, and Satan is defeated. The devil is watching, and as defeated he will try another way. Job’s wife said to him, “Dost thou still remain firm in thine integrity? curse God and die”. Another member of the family comes out now. Look at what she suggests! Job does not rail on her, however. A wife might be like that, utterly out of accord with a godly husband. Job says to her, “We have also received good from God, and should we not receive evil?” He reasons with her, You have had part in the good we have received; God has been good to us. Job appeals to her; he was not overcome by his wife. Adam was overcome by his wife, but Job was not. “In all this Job did not sin with his lips”. Thus the work of God in Job so far triumphed.