"JERUSALEM ABOVE ... OUR MOTHER"
“JERUSALEM ABOVE ... OUR MOTHER”
I wish to speak, dear brethren, of Jerusalem above, viewed as “our mother”. She is spoken of thus in the passage read. She is alluded to elsewhere as the heavenly Jerusalem, and as the new Jerusalem, and as the holy Jerusalem, but I think of her now as “above”, the title under which she is spoken of as “our mother”. The idea of the mother runs through Scripture; sometimes it is representative of a system. We should not hesitate in the use of the word ‘system’ as applied to Jerusalem, for God always operates systematically; and the want of system in the right sense is necessarily weakness, and tends to individualism and independency. One has not to go beyond one’s physical constitution to understand that God works on that principle; and so in the wide universe all is on that principle, as apprehended by faith; for “by faith we apprehend that the worlds were framed”, alluding to what we call the universe. The very word signifies organisation and organism. It is very evident that the idea of the mother, as applied to Babylon, or the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth, is systematic; outside of the divine system there has not been anything like it in the history of the world: “Mystery, great Babylon, the mother of the harlots, and of the abominations of the earth”, Revelation 17: 5.
It behoves us, dear brethren, to understand and have in evidence what is of God from the ‘mother’ standpoint. It is a matter of interest and instruction, that Samson took his father and his mother with him; they went with him, but it is said after allusion is made to them, that his father went down to the Philistine woman whom he was to marry. The [p. 519] mother was omitted. It is in that omission that the history of breakdown in the church, I believe, is illustrated. We may go a long way with the father, and find ourselves in association with what is evil. Then we have a feast instituted, and the disclosure of the secret. The Philistines became possessed of the secret, and the enemy has made much of that secret. We find that what belongs to the mystery, is now degraded abroad in what is called religion but which is really heathen idolatry. That is a very solemn and striking fact.
God “maketh the barren woman to keep house” (Psalm 113: 9); to attend to the house she is one in whom the heart of her husband doth safely confide — that is the thing, dear brethren, and that is moral love. The mother, according to what I have been saying, lives above the level of this world, and maintains what is due to the Lord. She maintains secrets. It will be remembered that in the case of the woman I have mentioned — Samson’s mother — the angel came to her, so that obviously there was some neglect in the father going alone with him; this was seen in the consequent disaster.
I want to show from the scripture in Galatians, the traits of the mother, our mother, which is Jerusalem above. The reference here is to Sarah. I was speaking of the idea of the mother running through Scripture, and I think I may safely say that whilst we find it in Eve, it is particularly developed in Sarah. In the midst of disaster we have this brilliant gem set Adam called his wife’s name “Eve” — a very fine word of Adam. What brilliancy is in that gem! He called his wife’s name “Eve” when God told him he was going to die. What a fine thing it is to be able to speak of life when we are going to die — death is the judgment but life is the blessing. Life is no afterthought; eternal life is no afterthought. It was no improvised thing. “In hope of eternal life, which [p. 520] God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began”, Titus 1: 2. One loves to go back to the beginning of things. How restful! The hope of eternal life stretches back to past eternity. Eve was to be the mother of all living. How different from that system of which I have spoken, of which it is said, “I will kill her children with death”, Revelation 2: 23. It is a solemn thing to be the child of religious organisations. In Eve the features of the mother were not evident. She named her children, which, in itself, was out of keeping with the mother, for Adam was to name the creatures. Then if we come down to Enoch there is nothing said about his wife. When we come to Noah’s wife there is nothing said about her as possessing motherly or spiritual traits. Had the wife the features of the mother you may depend upon it that the Spirit of God would not overlook it. But when we come to Sarah we have remarkable distinction. Peter refers to her as a model for all wives. But I am speaking of ‘mother’; unless there be the wifely quality there shall be no motherly qualities. Sarah stands out as the wife. She is called a holy woman and she is distinguished. God would train us in making us wait, and wait in faith. She was a true mother. She cast out the man after the flesh. That is the true mark of the mother in the saints. Ishmael was the son of Abraham equally with Isaac. He was some fourteen years older. Abraham had spoken well of him, and God promised to bless him, to make a nation of him, but the Holy Spirit says “he ... was born after the flesh”. How many there are that can be spoken of as distinguished, and yet born of the flesh — the flesh cultured, and mocking and despising Christ. The true mother will not have that. There would be a refusal of that. The casual judgment of brethren is very unreliable. We should never be casual in regard to divine things; every moment is a crisis in regard to the man of [p. 521] God the war is always on. We have to be on our guard about being casual, but, in order to check our casual discernment, God blows a trumpet. You will remember the silver trumpets in Israel. In the Revelation, John was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and there was a great voice as of a trumpet behind him. The Lord was calling attention to the terrible things that were coming in among the saints. If the trumpet is sounded we must pay attention and look into matters. Apparently Abraham did not notice the mocking of Ishmael. Even prominent brethren do not see it, but if it is to be seen, why do I not see it? It is from want of eyesight. We brethren ought to take notice of it. Then Abraham was reluctant, he would retain Ishmael. But what did Sarah say — but the Holy Spirit quotes Sarah as Scripture? What says the scripture, “Cast out the bondwoman and her son”. How important to see that the very words of the mother in her care for her son are quoted as Scripture. So the word to Abraham is, “Hearken to her voice”. The son of the bondwoman is not to hinder the son of the free woman.
We have the mother also in Rebecca. I touch on a few mothers to show you how the idea of the mother is worked out in Scripture, so that we might see how practical it is, and that our mother is above. She is necessarily above. She is morally above now, as she will be by and by. Rebecca is remarkable. She had a word from God before her children were born. The elder should serve the younger. The ‘mother’ spirit must pay attention to the voice of God, the prophetic word, otherwise how is she to know what to do? Rebecca was a woman that had faith and prayed, and God answered her, and of the twins she loved Jacob, Isaac loved Esau. Some say the church teaches, but it does not. The church is taught. But the church is a voice, and viewed in that light we do well to pay attention to the teaching,
[p. 522] that we may know what to do. Isaac loved Esau; he loved his venison. Natural taste may be seen even with old brothers. Isaac loved Esau. That kind of love in the assembly is disastrous. Rebecca loved Jacob; he was a plain man, but God had spoken to her about him before he was born, and she cherished it. The prophetic word coming before his birth governed her heart. However much the flesh marked him, Jacob valued the inheritance. The christian loves the meetings, he loves the brethren. So Rebecca takes upon herself to secure the blessing for the object of her affections. Her ways were truly crooked. But she loved Jacob and she would secure the will of God for him. She would have him blessed and she says to him, “On me be thy curse, my son!” O, for such a spirit! The bride is the bride of the Lamb, the suffering One, and if need be she will suffer.
Rebecca secured the blessing for Isaac, but Moses’ mother would secure him from the world. That is another feature of the mother, to keep her children from the world. She saw that he was a proper child; she saw that the child was beautiful. She had discernment of what is of God. This is not a question of the leading brothers amongst us, but of the saints generally. Is not every young believer beautiful? There is something there, some ray of beauty that the eye of the true mother can discern, and she would put him in the ark, and in the water. The only way to carry that through is in the death of Christ. Moses went into the world but he did not stay in it. As soon as he became great he made a decision. Where were the roots of that? In the mother. When he became great he refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. His mother had preserved him. As the Lord says, “Ye are the salt of the earth”. The element of preservation marked the mother of Moses.
Then Deborah arose “a mother in Israel”. She is a typical mother. Our natural judgment is not to be trusted, but where attention is called to a thing and the brethren come together before God, there judgment is to be trusted. Here is a woman that has judgment. She says, “Hath not Jehovah ... commanded?” “He that has my commandments”, said the Lord, “he it is that loves me”. Is there not a word for every emergency? Judgment is a very prominent word in Scripture.
Then take Hannah. What a mother she was! It is a question now of the house of God. Eli sat around; he is old and fat. Hannah was concerned; she wanted a son. She did not want him for herself, she wanted him for the Lord. That waiting process spiritually is a very fine process; relying in faith on the Spirit of God. The mother can only go so far. But she did not neglect him afterwards; she made a coat for him every year. She saw that he was properly clothed. A good many of our young are not properly clothed. Samuel was clothed according to his growth.
These women, I believe, constructively present to us the thought of the ‘mother’. And as we consider all these traits we can understand that that is our mother “which is above”, and that she is a free woman. As Christ is free, she is free. She is in sonship, and her place is in heaven.
What I am speaking of is spiritual. These things are to appear presently, and we shall see how as the complete work of God, the assembly will come down invested with divine glory. She fills the whole scene with grace and liberty. Her light is most precious. It is for us to have our eyes open to see these features and how they are worked out as I have indicated in these women in the Old Testament, that we may see how they take form, particularly under Paul’s [p. 524] ministry, so that the assembly cares for the interests of Christ in His absence, and presently she will come down fully robed in suitability to Him, as the holy Jerusalem.
May God bless these thoughts.