THE DIVINE STANDARD OF SERVICE (1)
THE DIVINE STANDARD OF SERVICE (1)
JT It was intimated that these meetings had those more or less engaged in the Lord’s service especially in view, and it was thought that this epistle might be considered profitably from the standpoint of service as having special relation to the gospel of Mark. What has especially to be borne in mind in regard of this epistle is the manner in which the servant’s character, as formed after Christ, is interwoven with his ministry, so that the servant and his ministry are strikingly connected, and he is in keeping with what he ministers. So we may see how the great fundamental features of the truth enter into this letter, and the Lord may help us to see the bearing of each feature on the servant, and its bearing on his ministry as a consequence. It occurred to me that we might look at this chapter from the standpoint of personality, a feature which is much emphasised in Scripture in regard to the service of God. It was perfectly expressed in Christ, and those who serve in any measure must be so marked, hence the importance in service of a secret history, as we see in Aaron, who is introduced to us as “Aaron the Levite”. He was known to God as Aaron the Levite, and being eighty-three years of age at the time, there must have been much in the way of secret history before. So with the Lord, His thirty years of privacy may be regarded in the same light; and so with each of us, for it is not the divine intent that we should take short cuts to service, but it is to be the outcome of secret history with God. Mark, therefore, introduces his gospel as the “Beginning of the glad tidings of Jesus Christ, Son of God”. He had already become known, but “Son of God” involved personality, So the apostle presses here that he had preached the Son of God, and he makes it reflect upon his own character — that if the Son of God is true, and the promises of God are yea and amen in Christ, the apostle also is true.
Ques By personality do you mean character formed in secret with God?
JT That is what I thought. Aaron had brotherly qualities known to God, and God makes these known to Moses, who proved them later.
Rem So that the measure of the man would be that which he has been in secret with God.
JT That is it.
RB How do you connect that with gift?
JT I think that gift would have in view the vessel. It is according to one’s “particular ability”, (Matthew 25:15). Hence Paul himself, who is, I suppose, the model for us under Christ, is spoken of by the Lord at the outset as an elect vessel unto Him. The vessel refers to the man — the person. What may be placed in it is another matter; the vessel has reference to the kind of person. Gift is in relation to that.
Ques Would not the gift be ineffective in its full measure without moral character?
JT I think gift is out of setting unless the character suited to it be there; the gift must necessarily be discredited and correspondingly rendered useless unless the vessel be in keeping. So that Luke 4, occupies us with grace in introducing the Lord in His ministry. His movements, reading, and particularly the precious words coming out of His mouth, are noted.
Ques Is that why we get the Servant at the outset of the gospel? “Thou art my beloved Son, in thee I have found my delight”, (Mark 1:11).
JT Exactly. God makes known to the Lord [p. 332] Himself His pleasure in Him. It is important in serving that one should be conscious of the Lord’s approval, and, I suppose, of that of the brethren, too. Scripture records two things presented in the voice from heaven, “Thou art my beloved Son”, and “This is my beloved Son: hear him”, (Matthew 17:5). Applied to us as servants, the former would be to impress us that God is pleased with us, and then in the latter He calls the attention of others to us. He gives us the sense that we please Him personally, and then He will call the attention of others to us.
HFN Is that why Aaron is referred to in Psalm 106:16 as “Aaron the saint of the Lord”?
JT Yes; and he is also referred to as “chosen”, which, I suppose, would allude to God’s pleasure in him on account of His knowledge of him. He is “the heart-knowing God”, (Acts 15:8) and He said to Moses about him, “When he seeth thee he will be glad in his heart”, (Exodus 4:14). The “saint of the Lord” refers, I suppose, to Aaron’s service in the sanctuary.
HFN Is that why the epistle opens with “Paul, apostle”, and then he links himself up with Timothy the brother? Would that fit in with what you said with regard to Moses?
JT I think the two things are combined. Aaron kisses Moses, showing that he represents the love side — that is the brother, and then they both go to the elders of Israel and gather them together; their combined ministry is effective. It was a combination of light and love, and those two things go together for effective service. Authority and brotherly love are seen here in Paul and Timothy as linked together in this way.
Ques Referring to the question as to gift, is it not seen in practice sometimes that sovereign gift may be in a vessel that has become morally unfitted, and thereby mischief and trouble come [p. 333] in?
JT Undoubtedly. One may become official through his gift, and if he goes on, he will be sure to damage people. It is seen in a man like Aaron — most excellent at the beginning, but he fell under the power of evil; (Exodus 32). But it is helpful on this line to see what knowledge God had of Aaron so that he is introduced as actually in service. We get the genealogy of Jacob until we arrive at Levi, and the genealogy of Levi until we arrive at Phinehas, so that the priesthood was secured effectively on that line, whatever may have happened in the interim in Aaron. The service was secured perpetually in Phinehas, and then the Spirit of God adds, “This is that Aaron and Moses” (Exodus 6:26), and again, “This is that Moses and Aaron” (Exodus 6:27), showing that that is what is in view in Exodus. In Genesis we have personality in the patriarchs, but the mother side is wanting. In Jacob’s house there were four mothers but in Exodus the line of service is from a man of Levi who married one of the daughters of Levi, and from that union we have Moses and Aaron and Miriam, that is to say, the service is linked up, not only with a right father, but with a right mother; one father and one mother.
JMcM The apostle puts grace before apostleship in Romans. “By whom we have received grace and apostleship”, (Romans 1:5).
JT That would prove what we have said, that grace alluded to the vessel. There was much history in Paul before he was called formally by the Spirit. I think the allusion to the Spirit in Acts 13 involves intimate first-hand knowledge. The Holy Spirit being here involves the most intimate knowledge of all of us. Not that God at a distance, as it were, does not know all, but He would give us to understand that He knows first-hand; He knows us well, as here in the Spirit; there is nothing omitted. He came down to see the tower of Babel; He came down [p. 334] to see the cities of the plain to show that He would have first-hand knowledge; so the Holy Spirit in calling out Barnabas and Saul intimates a perfect and intimate knowledge of the persons before calling them out. We have considerable history of the two men, how they wrought together, and how they served the Lord in the assembly at Antioch, their service being effective. Then we have a list of the prophets and teachers in the assembly there, showing that the selection of those two brothers — one is mentioned first and the other last — by the Spirit did not weaken what was local. He knew what would suit for the work, but he would not weaken what was local. There was enough left to carry on and to minister to God at Antioch, which is an important matter. The Holy Spirit was intimately acquainted with what was there in each of them and there was enough to carry on. In ministry we must not overlook the needs of our own localities, for that is really the first incumbency.
Ques What is the bearing in a practical way now of what you remarked as to a right father and a right mother?
JT That service in human organisations cannot be effective. I refer to the religious systems of christendom. You cannot have the service of God in any of these organisations. In this connection the idea of the mother is a system that gives character to one. It is only as brethren are brought into the light of Christ and the assembly that you can have the service of God properly. I have often thought many are like the man with the withered hand; they have only one effective hand, and so cannot act according to God. The idea of a vessel for God is that a man has two hands, and so in the gospels, particularly in Mark, the man’s hand is restored before the Lord calls out the apostles. Of course, much may be done with one hand, but a one-handed man does not [p. 335] convey the idea of a complete vessel. At best he can only present truth objectively.
HES Is that why particular attention is called to both the father and mother of John the baptist?
JT No doubt. Things were in order outwardly; Zacharias, serving in the order of his course, was at the altar of incense inside, and the people were praying outside, and yet there was a state of unbelief in Zacharias. So it is said that Gabriel was seen standing at the right side of the altar of incense, as if God would suggest that if He is to have service He will have the best. Zacharias has to come to that, and what he comes to is a recognition of heaven’s thought in John. The friends and neighbours being governed by natural feeling would call him Zacharias; Elisabeth says his name is to be John, and Zacharias writes, “John is his name”, (Luke 1:60,63). So he came through discipline to the divine thought; John was the name given by Gabriel.
FHB Your thought is that moral character would be formed by coming under the influence of the mother.
JT That is right. You cannot get the service of God in a scriptural sense in human organisations. It is only in those who hold Christ and the assembly. In Exodus 2 we have Moses’ parents given as a son and daughter of Levi, and in chapter 6 their names are given. The importance of the matter is thus seen.
Ques Would you say a little more as to the application of service locally?
JT In Acts 13 the allusion to Antioch shows that we begin locally. Each servant has his local setting, and his first obligation is there.
Ques Supposing a servant has not a local setting, what then?
JT I should say he is remiss. Although Saul was of the city of Tarsus and was educated at Jerusalem,
[p. 336] yet the Holy Spirit gives him a local setting at Antioch. He was a whole year there before he was sent out.
AHW Does the fact help that Paul returned to Antioch and reported the result of his mission to the brethren there?
JT Yes; and he stayed there a good while afterwards.
Rem And he started each of his early journeys from Antioch.
JT What is striking is that after returning from the first he remained there a considerable time. “And they stayed no little time with the disciples”, (Acts 14:28). That the Spirit records this is noteworthy.
MWB In connection with a servant having a local setting, is it not very desirable to keep in touch with local exercises, and not only go forth from the local gathering?
JT Yes, I agree with you. What is important is to get the scriptural principles governing anything, and I think in Paul’s history we get the right levitical principles. He was a whole year at Antioch, and then the Spirit of God puts it on the brethren there to separate unto Him Barnabas and Saul, as if they had to be respected; then we read that they laid their hands on them and let them go; then their return was to Antioch “whence they had been committed to the grace of God for the work which they had fulfilled”, (Acts 14:26). They had done something. In his service one is accountable to God, but fellowship implies that he is also accountable to the brethren. These two had fulfilled the work and they stayed there, as we read, “no little time”. One can understand there would be a remarkable refitting and readjusting in them staying there some little time with the disciples, but not, of course, in any official [p. 337] way; nor is it ever hinted that the assembly controls or commissions a servant.
Rem The reference to letting them go would show they were valued.
JT That is so. They did not want to get rid of them; they valued them.
JS On returning they would not take the same place they had had and overshadow what was local.
JT What is recorded is that they were contending against the false teachers that came from Judaea. Peter and John, after their service in Jerusalem, went to their own company, and as they prayed the house was shaken, and then with great power the apostles witnessed; not only those two, but the apostles. The Lord keeps the balance amongst us. Christianity is not a one-man or two men affair; it is a question of mutual feeling and co-operation; there is thus room given for the Spirit to develop the mind of God. He is intimately acquainted with all of us, and He brings out in due course what God effects in one and another.
Rem One sees the great importance of those who are gifts, that they should have this local experience and exercises. Paul, for instance, carried the cares of all the assemblies.
JT It is of immense importance. Lazarus was said to be of Bethany; that was his local setting. Much happened in connection with that locality, and all that was in view, so that later the Lord comes to Bethany in relation to him. If he were absent, you can understand how things would be. But he was not absent, he was there and in full accord with the Lord’s mind; he was one of those who sat at table with Him.
EM Would not the truth of the body come into play in the way of adjustment as not giving to any one a distinguished place, whatever the gift might be?
JT I think that is right; “God has set certain in the assembly”, we read (1 Corinthians 12:28). The truth of the body precedes that in 1 Corinthians, but it involves the assembly. The idea of gift is, “God has set certain in the assembly”; if a man is set thus as a gift in the assembly he belongs to the body as much as ever, and his spirituality would be seen in the manner in which he can retire into that. So in Acts 20:7 the writer says, “And the first day of the week, we being assembled to break bread”, the “we” meaning that all those distinguished brethren, including the apostle, were there together, as of the body, to break bread.
Rem So there is no such idea as a free lance acting away from any base. In time past we have known something of that spirit and it has done much harm.
JT No. I think the balance is in the labourers on returning to their respective localities taking their places as of the body, and remaining “no little time with the disciples”, (Acts 14:28) with their brethren there. Indeed, the Lord’s supper regulates us in this connection as in others.
Ques Is the principle illustrated in the Old Testament in David, before going down to battle, leaving his sheep in the hands of a keeper?
JT That is an excellent illustration of a man having the sense of responsibility. He does not leave what is under his hand without seeing it is cared for, and I believe that is what the Holy Spirit means when He records that there were certain prophets and teachers at Antioch — reliable men — and that they ministered to the Lord and fasted; He selects the first and the last of them and sends them out.
Rem The prophet’s ‘own country’, where he is of least account, is a very valuable sphere of education.
JT That is a good suggestion. The Lord said that on starting out at Nazareth, and you find your measure when you are ministering among those who know you best. In using us the Lord is not thinking of you or me so much, but of His people, and He uses [p. 339] what is available. In active service there is much more power than you have ordinarily, and if you go back to the locality where you are not so much honoured, perhaps, you have to settle down to your true measure. So the Lord said to the disciples, “Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place and rest a little”, (Mark 6:31). There was no need to cast out demons or to preach there — thus the power for that service would not be active in them.
Rem So they would be humbled as adjusted there.
JT That is the thought; they would be there just in their ordinary spiritual measure. Paul says, “I am what I am”, (1 Corinthians 15:10). It was what he was by the grace of God.
Rem Then there is another very interesting principle in Mark 6:30 “They related to him all things, both what they had done and what they had taught”. Should not all servants go back and review what there has been in the way of activity and teaching?
JT That would induce practical fellowship, as bringing the saints into what God is doing generally.
WRP In Acts 14 there is rehearsal with the brethren. Would not the two go together?
JT Quite; the brethren are brought into it. It is to be remembered in service that the edification of the assembly is what is in the mind of God, not to set up a clerical system. God never had that in mind; He had in mind in regard of gift that it was to be subservient to the assembly; hence in this epistle we get: “Ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake”, (2 Corinthians 4:5). The assembly is what is in the mind of God, and after all, the best gifts are but a scaffolding to the building. When the building is complete, they cease to exist as such; that gives the thing its right setting. It is thus greater to be in the body than to be set in the assembly as gifts; see 1 Corinthians 13:8.
FSM So whatever a servant may be as to gift, he should be primarily a brother in his own [p. 340] locality.
JT Exactly; that is the idea. I am sure Paul and Barnabas would be that. They retained the full confidence of the saints on returning to Antioch. They arranged that “Paul and Barnabas ... should go up to Jerusalem”, and they were set on their way by the assembly; (Acts 15:2).
Ques Is there not an excellent opportunity furnished at the time of meeting for prayer in your own local company to mention things which are of interest and which have engaged one, and thus the whole company is brought into the knowledge and sympathy of it?
Ques How would it be if the servant in his locality is not received so well with his brethren there?
JT That is what happens sometimes, and the brethren may be at fault, and it certainly would cast one on the Lord. But there is no situation that can arise that the Lord cannot meet; Paul certainly was not in good favour at Corinth when he wrote his first letter. Influences were at work there to discredit him, and were successful. He alludes to this in his first letter, but now he is evidently in better favour; God had been working at Corinth through his letter; and I think God had been also working in the apostle himself. He refers here to certain experiences he had that were very severe, (see verses 8 - 10). He had been down very low and you may be sure a man with that added experience would be more commendable, and if we are not in favour in our locality and God helps us to go down, we shall become more acceptable. I have noticed in the case of Abigail, Nabal had incurred David’s wrath and he was about to execute judgment, but it is said that she came down to meet him riding on the ass, and then he came down on the other side of the hill; (1 Samuel 25:20). They were both going down, and that, I believe, is the secret of the solution of difficulties, that is, to get both sides to go down. David perhaps did not need to from his [p. 341] point of view, but as a matter of fact, he was going down and she met him as she was coming down, and there was a very happy solution to that difficulty. I believe the secret is in going down. The arrival of Titus showed the apostle that the Corinthians were coming down.
Rem If a servant has a secret history with God, and understands a little what it is to be a brother in his own locality, it leaves room for the Spirit to make His selection and the saints to be in harmony with that.
JT Quite. You have to spend a whole year with the brethren. That is what happened at Antioch, and then, when the apostles come back again, they did not go off immediately, but the Spirit of God says, “They stayed no little time with the disciples”, (Acts 14:28). On the other hand, brethren should be much concerned to be free from personal feeling, so as to lay their hands heartily on one whom the Lord may select from their midst.
JS If you go back amongst them and always figure as a gift, they may be rather willing to let you go.
DLH But is it not sometimes the case that a man’s gift may be very excellent and used of God as he goes here and there, but locally he may not exactly find a sphere for his peculiar gift, and he may begin to take up things that he is not qualified to deal with at all, and consequently difficulties arise?
JT What I think is important is the principle set out in Scripture at the beginning as governing any subject. That governing service is set out in its full bearing in Acts 13 and 14. Later on we can see Paul is not connected with any locality, but we have the principle for every brother at the outset. As he moves on he is approved of God, and he is his Master’s servant, and the brethren recognise that what he is doing is of God and there is no question about it. If [p. 342] we have the principles right to start with, we shall know what to do throughout.
DLH I think that is right.
Ques If I understand the question aright, would it be that gift and administration are not necessarily linked up in the same person?
DLH A man’s gift may be greatly owned of God as he goes abroad and ministers, but when he comes back he may take up questions of administration that he may not be qualified to touch, though he may be eminently qualified to exercise his gift anywhere.
JT That is very important, for the local brethren who have no gift may be better qualified, through experience and continual knowledge of the things in question, to deal with assembly matters. At the same time, no brother, however much he may travel, should assume to be without local responsibility. It is his privilege to carry everything with his brethren as one of them.
JHT Would you say the gifts are mentioned specifically in 1 Corinthians 12:28 and Ephesians 4:11,12, in connection with the assembly, but the personality is seen in Colossians 4:12 with Epaphras, “who is one of you”?
JT Exactly. Corinthians is the local setting; it is the epistle that governs us locally and also universally as regards church government, and so we have the gifts set “in the assembly”. The Corinthians would therefore be given to understand that if those men they were gathering around and making into leaders were really gifts, they belonged to the whole assembly, God having set certain in the assembly. That does not mean the local assembly at Corinth, but the whole assembly. Gift, therefore, emerges from the local setting and belongs to the whole assembly. It is not given only to a local assembly. The person who has the gift is connected [p. 343] with the locality, but as regards the exercise of his gift, it is universal, and the Corinthians were to know that. Now Ephesians introduces the gifts as from Christ. It is not how they are set, but that they are given; that is, the gifts in Ephesians are seen as the effect of love, the love of Christ for the assembly, and as given for the edifying of His body.
Rem “But to each one of us has been given grace according to the measure of the gift of the Christ”, (Ephesians 4:7).
JT That is every one of us, but then there are specific gifts mentioned. Every one has not got one of these. “Some apostles, and some prophets, and some evangelists, and some shepherds and teachers”, (Ephesians 4:11). There were no evangelists mentioned at Corinth.
SJBC It has been said that gift is universal and office is local.
JT That is right.
SJBC What about his local responsibility?
JT His gift is universal and he is sent, but he himself has a local setting, and, as was said, shares local obligations as far as he can.
SJBC He is sometimes charged with neglecting his local responsibility.
JT Such charges are often very well founded. If one loves Christ, he will care for His interests under all circumstances.
FHB Is not administration more connected with the assembly than with gift? “Tell it to the assembly” (Matthew 18:17) is a matter of administration.
JT Exactly; but that would include him who has gift. The assembly includes all.
Ques Would the exercise of gift be under the direction of the Lord, and if you leave room for that, the Lord may indicate a service in one’s local setting?
JT I think He does. I think that is usually the way. You find how the Lord supports you, and the brethren soon come to recognise that.
[p. 344] Ques What you said about a servant having the confidence of his local brethren is most important, but even the waiting for that would be very valuable, would it not?
JT Yes, and we should wait for it.
Rem And we should be slow to do anything if we have not the confidence of our local brethren. While the specific gifts referred to follow, I suppose most of us here who serve would do so on the line of the measure of the gift of grace we have received of Christ rather than of specific gift.
ASL Is it not important for gifts moving about in various places to be careful not to be inveigled into a settlement of difficulties in these localities? There is a tendency on the part of brethren to refer to such, which in a way is right, but brethren going around should be careful to leave local matters to the responsibility of brethren in the locality.
JT That is wise. But it has always to be borne in mind that whatever you are is available to the assembly — your very best is available; so if you have experience that would help in a locality, you make use of the opportunity if the door is opened to you. If you have experience from God, and you are in France, why not let the brethren have the benefit of it in a simple way? for, after all, the body is universal.
ASL If you have a word of counsel or wisdom in such case, you are happy to give it, but you would agree it is not for brethren constantly moving around to dabble in local matters. But, as you mentioned France, it was directly and deliberately the custom for years for certain leading brethren to come together in conference and settle all kinds of local matters and send out their dicta.
JT It should be kept in view that assembly economy is entered upon and worked out in localities, and the Lord has His place if we recognise that.
[p. 345] There was disregard of this entirely on the Continent. Seeking to help saints in local matters, as identified with them, is very different from directing them from a central position.
ASL So what we are having is most valuable, for in those days it was absolutely unknown to the brethren in those parts, and so it was a regular practice for brothers at the work, as it was called, to take up and settle matters of all kinds.
Ques Is it not important in moving about that one should studiously avoid any interference in local matters, but if asked as to any principle that would be general to the whole church of God, one would be thankful to say what one knew of general principles, avoiding any touching of local difficulties?
ASL As a matter of fact, local matters can only be known to people in the locality, and can only be properly dealt with by the brethren in the locality.
JT Quite. The Lord would not pass them by unless there is some good reason for it. But there is the other side, which it is well to bear in mind, that whatever you are by the grace of God you belong to the assembly, and in humility you are to be available to the brethren; hence, if I were in a place where there was a care-meeting, I should feel it if I were asked not to be present. I should regard it as an evidence of want of understanding of the constitution of the assembly.
ASL Of course it is perfectly legitimate for brethren to ask counsel of any brother present.
Ques Are you making a distinction between gift and oversight?
JT Yes. Under the heading of gifts (1 Corinthians 12:28) we have, “helps; governments”. These should be available to the saints in a general way. All gifts are general in their bearing. The recognition of this and [p. 346] of the truth of the body saves us from congregationalism, which is often apparent.
PW Why is such importance attached to prophecy?
JT “Touch not mine anointed ones, and do my prophets no harm”, (Psalm 105:15). Those two things go together. One is representation, the other prophecy, that God’s mind may be known. God is pleased with one and anoints him, and so commits Himself to him, but then, the gift of prophecy is that His mind may be known. The anointing is one of the earliest things we get about the patriarchs in Psalm 105. There were those, such as Abraham, personally pleasing to God, to whom He committed Himself. He “reproved kings for their sakes, saying, Touch not mine anointed ones, and do my prophets no harm”, showing how much importance He attaches to representation in the servant and that His mind might be known; the latter is what prophecy implies. It is not that you think one thing and I another; prophecy is a word from God; it is authoritative. That is what prophecy always implies; it is given so that God’s mind might be known, and that is a great and important thing.
Ques Does all this come out fully in Christ personally? Is that why He comes before us as the Servant Prophet?
JT Yes, I believe so. God is pleased with Him, and that is what I thought about personality. The Lord, I am sure, would help us as to this for we cannot but be conscious of how much the littleness of the flesh marks us, whereas moral dignity should be seen in those who serve God. As owned by heaven the Lord was praying, being baptised. He was fulfilling all righteousness. Hence, “Thou art my beloved Son” (Luke 3:22) — that is personality. As answering to this, God is pleased with you, and then the anointing is that He commits Himself to you, and you are qualified to represent Him. I do not think there should be [p. 347] service without representation, and representation is that I am pleasing to God. Then, another thing, the Lord says, “The time is fulfilled”, (Mark 1:15). The prophet knows the time in which he is ministering and he knows what governs it.
Ques What form does prophecy take today?
JT The communication of the mind of God. “Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others judge”, (1 Corinthians 14:29). That is what is contemplated in the anointed vessel in Corinthians. The prophets are regarded as so sensitive spiritually that if one is speaking and another has a revelation, the first one will sit down. It supposes that you are conscious of that, and indicates you are very sensitive. The assembly, being marked by subjection, is a place of great sensitiveness, hence there is room for the prophetic spirit. If another has something revealed to him, I sit down.
Ques Is it in connection with teaching, or doctrine, or administration?
JT It is a question of speaking. “If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God”, (1 Peter 4:11). “Let the prophets speak”.
EuR Have you in mind that there is a link with Mark’s gospel, the apostle having preached the Son of God here?
JT I thought that, but we shall perhaps have to take it up later. It is an important part of the chapter because it shows the elevation on which levitical service is carried on.
AHW Do we get the two features you have mentioned in Enoch, the sense of being pleasing to God and prophecy?
JT Yes. He had the testimony that he pleased God, and although the prophetic word in him was not spoken of in the Old Testament, yet it was there.
Rem “Do my prophets no harm”. I suppose you would have to go a little further back even than [p. 348] Enoch, for Abel was a prophet, and the Lord so speaks of him. He brought the voice of God, and the first thing done to the first prophet was to do him harm.
JT I think, however, the anointing in view of prophetic ministry comes out in Abraham, that is, he was one to whom God could manifest Himself. “The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham”, (Acts 7:1). That was the beginning of the service of God. It began with the God of glory and comes right down the line, and so God graciously regards him as His anointed.
MWB Do you link the thought of representation with the anointing?
JT Yes. Before God anoints anyone he must be pleasing to Him, and that comes out supremely in the Lord. The Lord is the model for us “in whom I am well pleased”.