DIVINE PLEASURE IN MEN
Genesis 18: 1-8; 24: 12-14, 29, 30; 28: 10-15
Revelation 3: 29
The book of Genesis is a book of remarkable wealth. It has been well said to be the seed-plot of the Bible; for in that remarkable book we have the beginnings of practically the whole scope of truth. The longer we go on, the more wonderful the book of Genesis becomes as lit up by the Holy Spirit. I read these passages because they present to us the Persons of the Godhead deliberately taking up a position in relation to men, as desiring their company and their confidence and service. The more we think of it, the more affecting it is that God should take pleasure in our company and in that which we can furnish for Him. Anything we can furnish to Him, of course, is all of Himself, as David said, “of thine own have we given thee”. At the same time, it is accredited to us and received from us and God takes pleasure in it. The Father takes pleasure in it and the Son takes pleasure in it, and, we may safely say that the Holy Spirit also takes pleasure in it, for the Spirit has feelings and affections. We read of the love of the Spirit and we are charged not to grieve the Holy Spirit, evidently implying the desire that we should afford Him pleasure.
In this first incident in chapter 18 we have Abraham who is called by the Holy Spirit the father of us all. That implies that we are to learn from him, and Abraham is seen in this incident by the oaks of Mamre. Jehovah appeared to him there. Mamre refers to the purposes of God. It is the same place as Hebron, which is a well-known type in Scripture of that which lies in the purpose of God. It was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt, Zoan being a city of learning in Egypt, in man’s world. Hebron represents the wisdom of God as seen in that which He has purposed for men, and Abraham was dwelling there; he was not finding his life in the world that was all around him. We read in a chapter before this of four kings warring against five kings; wars among the nations. But Abraham was not finding his life in relation to those things, nor was he frightened by them; he was not apprehensive, he was dwelling by the oaks of Mamre, the idea of oaks being the stability connected with the purpose of God. If we have in our souls the light of what God has purposed, what He has prepared for those who love Him, it makes us very stable, we are not unduly affected by happenings in the world, not that we are unfeeling in relation to them, but God would deliver us from any kind of restlessness or apprehensiveness. We have the faithfulness of God on the one hand, and the faithfulness of the love of Christ, and the abiding presence with us of the Holy Spirit, and the service of an innumerable company of angels, so that the saints are well equipped to go on in this world in peace and restfulness of mind and heart, in so far as we are like Abraham, dwelling by the oaks of Mamre. And what is more, he was not overcome by the existing conditions. It says that he was sitting at the tent door in the heat of the day. Conditions were such as might easily have overcome him, but, notwithstanding that, Abraham was sitting at his tent door, perfectly ready to receive the visitors who were making their way to him. The Lord would have us in constant readiness for anything He would wish to do. It can only be practically so in so far as the Holy Spirit has His place as holding and controlling our minds and hearts.
Abraham was seen in this condition of readiness and it says, “he lifted up his eyes and saw, and behold three men standing near him”. Now it is that word “standing” or “stationed”, that comes into the passages I have read, and in each case the force of the word is not a mere casual standing, but a deliberate action in stationing oneself in that position. These three men had stationed themselves in this position and one of them at any rate was Jehovah Himself; the other two are called angels. One of them definitely was Jehovah. It may well be that the fact that Jehovah had two angels with Him was intended to give an impression of the Godhead. At any rate God—as there, desiring to pay a visit to Abraham and to receive what Abraham was able and willing to provide. A most touching thing! That is what is worked out now among the saints, dear brethren, especially as together in assembly. It is a remarkable thing that if there were three men who presented themselves to Abraham, the incident tells us of three persons who were available to respond to that movement. There was Abraham, and there was Sarah, his wife, and there was the attendant, the three persons suggesting that there is a system on earth among the saints which is designed to meet the requirements and desires of the Godhead itself. Now that is what the saints are capable of as under the hand of the Lord Jesus and by the power of the Holy Spirit; they are capable of responding to the desires and the thoughts of the Godhead. So it says that Abraham “ran to meet them from the tent-door, and bowed himself to the earth, and said, Lord, if now I have found favour in thine eyes, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant. Let now a little water be fetched, that ye may wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree. And they said, So do as thou hast said”. It has often been remarked that Abraham was very lowly and modest in the way he described what he could present. Actually what he presents is, you might say, sumptuous, but he himself describes it as a little water and a morsel of bread. That is befitting to us at all times, dear brethren, that even when we are conscious of being most helped by the Spirit of God we are made to feel that what we have to present is after all but small. But the grace of it is that God is prepared to accept it. They say to Abraham, “So do as thou hast said”. God has come down to place Himself before men as near to them, near to be served, but accepting whatever they can provide, laying down no conditions as to what they should provide, but finding suitable conditions with Abraham, because, as I say, he was by the oaks of Mamre, sitting at the tent door in the heat of the day. Abraham ran quickly into the tent, desiring to bring Sarah and the attendant into the matter. This is a most important matter for us to take account of in our assembly service. The thought is that all should be brought into the matter, that all should have a part in providing that which the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit can receive with pleasure. In Luke 24 the Lord presents Himself to His disciples and He says to them, “Have ye anything here to eat?” and they gave it to Him, “part of a broiled fish and of a honeycomb; and he took it and ate before them”. He would graciously assure them by receiving whatever it was they were able to provide. So here we read of Abraham hastening into the tent to Sarah and saying, “Knead quickly three seahs of wheaten flour, and make cakes”. It is a question of being quick. Abraham hastened and told Sarah to “knead quickly three seahs of wheaten flour, and make cakes. And Abraham ran to the herd, and took a calf tender and good, and gave it to the attendant; and he hasted to dress it”. The whole scene is one of activity, not restless activity of the flesh, but the kind of activity that the Spirit as unhindered in us would produce, the readiness in liberty to bring forward that which God can take pleasure in and to present it. This is a very significant thing, and if the chapter is read carefully it would appear that what Abraham told Sarah to prepare was never prepared, or never presented. We are told that he told her to “knead quickly three seahs of wheaten flour, and make cakes”, but actually what Abraham took was “thick and sweet milk, and the calf that he had dressed, and set it before them; and he stood before them under the tree, and they ate”. It would appear that Sarah was not equal to what Abraham suggested. Though we may have the Holy Spirit, unbelief having place in our hearts may hinder the Spirit from bringing forward that which God would desire to have. Sarah at this moment is evidently remiss, for though told by Abraham what to do and do it quickly, the Spirit of God does not record that any cakes were presented, but later in the book (chapter 21) she is marked by energy of faith, distinct energy, so that God says to Abraham, “In all that Sarah hath said to thee, hearken to her voice”. So she is recovered, but at this point she is unbelieving, and so it is not said that she contributed anything to the occasion although she was told to do so. But, on the other hand, Abraham “took thick and sweet milk, and the calf that he had dressed, and set it before them ... and they ate”. A most attractive picture of God Himself receiving and taking pleasure in what the saints are able to bring forward.
Now I pass on to chapter 24, for we get a similar statement in regard to the servant who, as we know well, is typical of the Holy Spirit, for the Holy Spirit has been sent from heaven. He has come as “another Comforter” to be with us for ever, and never to leave the saints, but to guide us, as it says, “into all the truth”. He is given by the Father in response to the request of Christ; He is sent by the Father in Christ’s name; He is sent by the Son from with the Father; He is sent by the Father in Christ’s name for a definite commission, all the interests of Christ being placed in His charge. This is all most attractive in regard to the Holy Spirit, and His mission is to secure the assembly for Christ at this present time. He has in mind that she should be available to the heart of Christ, and that will, in due time, make her available also for the service of the blessed God, so that it links on with chapter 18. This is the way by which the assembly is brought into the position in which she can afford pleasure to the heart of God. She is first secured in responsive affection for Christ and in the joy of union with Him.
Now with all this in view, the servant says, “Jehovah, God of my master Abraham, meet me, I pray thee, with thy blessing this day, and deal kindly with my master Abraham. Behold, I stand here by the well of water, and the daughters of the men of the city come out to draw water” and then in the verse later on in the chapter it says, “Behold, he was standing by the camels, by the well”. So the Spirit of God, as typified in the servant, deliberately takes up His stand by the well, and then further he is seen deliberately in relation to the camels and the well. I need not say, dear brethren, that the servant and the camels and the well are all types of the Holy Spirit from different standpoints, but the point is that the Spirit is charged with a mission to secure the assembly for Christ in present responsive affection. The first thing he says is, “Behold, I stand here by the well”. We can easily see, as we picture the scene, that any young woman who did not come to the well would have no part in the matter at all. The very fact that she did not come to the well would rule her out, because the servant was to find that for which he looked from among the daughters that came to the well. In the East coming to the well would be an habitual matter every day, it would be the manner of their life, they would be dependent for their water on coming to the well. We can easily see what the import is. It is a question of the principle on which we live, whether we live after the flesh, or after the Spirit. Do we live and walk by the Spirit? It is a question of what is in fact habitual and characteristic with us, and the Spirit of God is stressing it, because unless we know what it is to afford room in that way for the Holy Spirit, we shall never become spiritual, and never be in a position to recognise the Spirit’s movements and guidance. The servant says, “I stand here by the well of water”. The whole chapter is suggestive of the need of spirituality, and, after all, the thought of spirituality need not frighten us, even though we would all feel and be ready to admit that we are not as spiritual as we would like to be, or ought to be, but at the same time the Holy Spirit has come in for that purpose, in order that we may become spiritual. He has come in in order to affect us in our tastes and the direction of our thoughts and outlook and affections, so that we are transferred from finding our life in what is natural and looking at things from a merely natural standpoint. He is transferring us from being on that line and setting us definitely on the line of what is spiritual. Let us remember that when God began to work in us, He began on the line of what is spiritual. New birth is spiritual; new birth has nothing natural in it. “Except anyone be born anew he cannot see the kingdom of God”. “Except anyone be born of water and of Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit”. The two are as different from one another as anything possible, and when God began to work in new birth, He began on the line of what is called spirit. The Spirit of God has come in and has taken up His abode in us, in order that we may be helped to move characteristically on the lines of what is spiritual.
So the servant says, “I stand here by the well of water” and he says, “And let it come to pass, that the maiden to whom I shall say, Let down thy pitcher, I pray thee, that I may drink, and who will say, Drink, and I will give thy camels drink also, be she whom thou hast appointed for thy servant Isaac”. That is, the servant is on the look-out for those who are spiritual and are ready to minister refreshment to the Spirit. How may we do that? I think it is simple. The Holy Spirit has taken up His abode in us and therefore we shall minister refreshment and gladness to His heart as we consider what is pleasing to Him. Every time the saints are moving in love, the working out practically of the divine nature, I am sure it affords the greatest pleasure to the Holy Spirit, for the Holy Spirit is come and He is dwelling in us, and nothing can please the heart of God more than to find a heart governed by what is of Himself; and He being love, nothing pleases Him more than to see the saints moving out in the exercises of love. It may work out in one hundred different ways, but the activities of love, provided it is not mere natural kindness, are pleasing to the Spirit of God; God Himself is dwelling in us in the Spirit. Here the servant is looking for one characterised by recognition of the Holy Spirit.
Then he is not only seen as standing by the well, but as standing by the camels. Laban comes out to him and it says, “Behold, he was standing by the camels, by the well”. Now the camels represent another aspect of the Holy Spirit and another most important feature entering into our service in the assembly, because they represent the power by which we move toward Christ as together. You remember at the end of the chapter it says that Isaac went out into the fields at eventide, “And he lifted up his eyes and saw, and behold, camels were coming”. The first thing that attracted his attention was the camels and it says “behold”, as though it affected Isaac to see it. It is as though as he caught sight of it his heart was moved—“behold, camels were coming”. What does that mean for us? It means that the saints, as come together in assembly, are really moving towards Christ in their affections in the power of the Holy Spirit, involving that we are unified in the Spirit. The assembly is one entity, not so many separate individuals but one entity, with the same thoughts, the same feelings towards Christ, and this comes into evidence. The Holy Spirit is here for that very purpose, that we might be unified in our thoughts ,and affections and might move together as one towards Christ; and as Christ sees it, I think I may say reverently, His heart is moved. The servant was standing by the camels as well as by the well. He definitely commits himself to that feature of his service as though, while the man is under commission to secure the assembly for Christ, this will not be realised unless both the well and the camels have their place with us.
So we come to chapter 28, where Jacob has this dream. He is starting out on a history of experience. Jacob is one of the most encouraging persons in Scripture, for we know what he was naturally, but, on the other hand, we know that he was the subject of divine sovereignty, so that before he was born God had said that the elder should serve the younger, and Jacob was the younger. As a matter of pure sovereignty God had marked out Jacob for the best place. We can always fall back on the thought that God has sovereignly committed Himself to bless us and therefore He will carry His thoughts through, and Jacob represents that side of the truth. In chapters 18 and 24 we have had more the side of the divine thought of what is open to us, what God has in mind, but Jacob presents the side of how we are to be brought into it, and therefore I say he is most encouraging, for no one finished better than Jacob. He finished in a most glorious way as a worshipper and a blesser, perfectly contented.
Now at this point in chapter 28 he is starting out on a history of experience. We all have to have experience with God, but the intention in the experience is that we should really know in power and joy all that God has in His heart for us. Jacob did at the end, but this is the beginning, and he had this dream, “and behold, a ladder was set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to the heavens”. You can understand that as Jacob had this dream and he saw this ladder which was set up on the earth, his eyes would run up the ladder and the first thing he saw was the angels ascending and descending, and then the next thing he saw was God Himself—“Jehovah stood above it”. It is the same word “stood”, ‘stationed Himself,’ God taking in hand to pay particular attention to Jacob. It is now an individual believer as the subject of personal care and attention on the part of God, and also of angelic service for “angels of God ascended and descended upon it”. That is, they were ascending to heaven in order to receive their instructions, and descending in order to carry them out. Jacob was the object of divine interest. So now Jehovah speaks. He says, “I will not leave thee until I have done what I have spoken to thee of”. What God spoke to him of was pure blessing. There was not a word of anything but pure blessing and He said, “I will not leave thee until I have done what I have spoken to thee of”. That is a very important matter for us to get into our souls. I think it brings in peculiarly the Holy Spirit—not that one wants unduly to distinguish between the Persons of the Godhead, because the Father has unceasing interest in us and exercises unceasing care, and His love is our portion, as Jude says, “beloved in God the Father”. The Lord, I need not say, has unceasing interest in us; He loves us too. But then the Holy Spirit has taken up His abode in us. That is a most touching thing, a thing of which we are only just beginning to realise the importance and blessedness. Here God says to Jacob, “I will not leave thee until I have done what I have spoken to thee of”. That does not mean that He would leave him when He had done that of which He had spoken, but He would go through with him in everything to completion. The Holy Spirit has taken up His abode with us and He is going to see things through to completion.
Now if we can run on in our minds for a moment to chapter 32 of this book—the incident is well known: Jacob wrestled with a man until the dawning of the day. There it says it was a man with whom he wrestled. In Hosea we are told he wrestled with God and in the same passage we are told that he wrestled with the Angel, and so it is a three-fold presentation of the One who wrestled with Jacob. We can say it is the Lord, we can say it is God, we can say, rightly, it is the Spirit of God, for the Spirit of God does wrestle with us and He may even strive with unbelieving men. God says, “My Spirit shall not always plead with man”, but He often wrestles with us, believers. There is much unbelief with us, very much that stands in the way of blessing and often the Spirit of God has to wrestle with us and the Lord has to deal with us, but what resulted from the incident in Jacob’s history was that, in the presence of God, he comes to the full acknowledgment of what he was. God said to him “What is thy name? And he said, Jacob”. Jacob came to it, and it is a good thing to come to it, to recognise it in the presence of God and acknowledge that flesh is flesh. When we come to the recognition and confession of that, we come to what God Himself knew. As soon as he came to that point God said to him, “Thy name shall not henceforth be called Jacob, but Israel; for thou hast wrestled with God, and with men, and hast prevailed”. From that point on Jacob was in principle to understand that God had given him the Holy Spirit and that in the Holy Spirit he was really ennobled, for Israel means “a prince”. In the Holy Spirit we are no longer in Adam but in Christ, no longer in flesh but in Spirit, we are set up in a new power; not that flesh will ever change but, thank God, we shall leave it behind when we go to be with Christ. The only power to keep it in its place is the power of the Spirit of God, and He has come in for that very purpose, that we should be held for Christ in our heart’s affections, and should understand that before God we stand in the unclouded favour in which Christ is. The Spirit is the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, and He is able to make that life effective in us. That means we are made free. Paul says, “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set me free from the law of sin and of death”. We can be made free, and it means liberty, wonderful liberty, and further we are to become representative of God. All that is in mind in this dream that Jacob had. He saw Jehovah standing at the top of the ladder as though God would give him a sense that he, Jacob, personally, was at that moment the object of God’s own interests and God committed Himself to him, and said, “I will not leave thee until I have done what I have spoken to thee of”. So we may take courage that whatever God has purposed for us He intends that we should know, and the Spirit of God has come in for that very purpose.
I have only a word to say on the last scripture. That is a remarkable appeal of the Lord Himself and He says, “I stand at the door and am knocking”. The word “stand” there has just the same meaning, ‘stationed Himself,’ taking up a particular position. Nothing can be more affecting than that the Lord should graciously take up a position outside the door that is shut on Him. If any have shut the door on Christ and would not give Him the entrance He desires, He wants to see that anything that has been a barrier hitherto is overthrown. He says, “I stand at the door and am knocking; if any one hear my voice and open the door, I will come in unto him and sup with him, and he with me”—a most touching appeal, as though the Lord would say, ‘I do not want anyone to be outside of the blessedness that may be had at the present time’. Laodicea stands for a condition of heartlessness and lukewarmness in the midst of the recovery of the truth and the Lord feels it. In Luke 7 the atmosphere of Simon’s house was in contrast to the appreciation which the woman afforded Him. The Lord said, “Seest thou this woman? I entered into thy house; thou gavest me not water on my feet, but she has washed my feet with tears, and wiped them with her hair. Thou gavest me not a kiss, but she from the time I came in has not ceased kissing me feet. My head with oil thou didst not anoint, but she has anointed my feet with myrrh”. That shows, dear brethren, how the Lord appreciates response to Himself in contrast to the heartlessness of professing Christendom that He feels so much, and, indeed, Laodicea may apply to more than profession. There may be some who are true believers at bottom but who are in a Laodicean condition, and if it be so, the Lord would say, “Behold, I stand at the door and am knocking; if any one hear my voice and open the door, I will come in unto him and sup with him, and he with me”. May the Lord grant that we may appreciate how much divine Persons are ready and available to serve us in order that They may find their own pleasure in what we can be to Them in our affections and in our intelligent appreciation of all that is given to us in the Holy Spirit!
WALLINGTON
22nd October 1949
From Words of Grace and Comfort
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