GOD'S LOVE FOR HIS PEOPLE (2)
GOD’S LOVE FOR HIS PEOPLE (2)
JT The address in chapter 2 is to the priests — “This commandment is for you”.
Ques Would these be the responsible persons?
JT Yes, according to this, that is a believer in his relation to God.
Rem The priest had light.
JT We have the light governing the position of the priest brought in in Levi. He had answered to it. The thing that God is requiring is not an abstract principle but has been expressed in some one. Levi answered to the thought of priesthood. In some representative of Levi this is seen. He says, “My covenant with him was of life and peace, and I gave them to him that he might fear; and he feared me” — read verses 5 - 7. This is the way of God in the prophets to call attention to the truth in earlier days. Levi is the expression of the priesthood, it was seen in him.
Ques. Why is this?
JT To show the thing He is asserting is not beyond us; it is attainable, within our reach. Phinehas was a striking exemplification of this. The departure which is contemplated in this book is the outcome of the want of true priestly state. The commandment is for every one of us. All christians are priests. It is a question of each of us maintaining right relations with God. Then we have power to help one another; we have power with God and with man.
W They shall offer up an oblation in righteousness. It is open to us.
JT The second chapter is a commandment; the third the Lord coming in Himself. He comes in in His messenger. The commandment is to prepare the way. Paul could not come to Corinth; the priestly state was not there. He comes to them by the epistle, then he [p. 161] sends Timothy, a representative, before coming himself to set everything in order. Correspondence is a long distance action but effective. It tests us, “He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me”, John 14: 21. They love Him even though He is absent.
EM The commandments bring about conditions to bring Him here.
JT They clean things out and prepare for the Lord. It is not His coming which is alluded to here but the priests’ sphere — the temple. Light comes in in the commandment. In 1 Corinthians the apostle put the obligation on them to put things right, which they did. They might learn in Timothy his (Paul’s) ways as in Christ. One spiritual person in a company is a model the Lord can call attention to. It is a great thing to have one person right. In Timothy at Corinth there was not only a man that could be called attention to but he was Paul’s representative. The Lord in His course called attention to certain ones — “Seest thou this woman?” Luke 7. See Timothy, what a man he is! The spiritual element would rally to Timothy.
Ques Is a messenger of the covenant in keeping with what God is as revealed?
JT The third chapter begins with that — “Behold, I send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me ... saith Jehovah of hosts”. We are not told who this messenger was, “Behold, I send unto you Elijah the prophet, before the coming of the great and terrible day of Jehovah” (chapter 4: 5) applies to John the Baptist. In Mark’s gospel it is rather to bring in the temple service of God and the Levites. The Lord had to do it. This is what He promises to do here, to deal with matters fully in complete measures. The Lord brought in the commandment first; for those, to whom the word of the Lord came, exemplified what they taught. They were what they taught, as in Hebrews 13: 7 — “Remember your leaders who have spoken to you the word of God; and considering the issue of their conversation, imitate their faith”. These not only spoke the word but they were models. One is what one says. The Lord could say — “Altogether that which I also say unto you”.
Rem Paul said “Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do”, Philippians 4: 9.
JT That is very comprehensive — what they had heard and seen, not only among themselves but elsewhere.
A ‘messenger’ here is representative rather — the same word as ‘angel’ — someone who represents the Lord not only in what he teaches but in what he is. That is how the recovery came about, through men raised up and gifted by God, but they were also in keeping with their teaching. The apostle could say to the Galatians — “To whom, as before your very eyes. Jesus Christ has been portrayed, crucified among you”, Galatians 3: 1. He refers to himself.
Ques. In what way?
JT That they should see the idea of crucifixion. He bore it out in his ways. Crucified with Christ is a stronger word than dying, which does not carry with it the ignominy, reproach and shame.
You have the idea of the messenger first and then the Lord Himself comes in and goes to the root of everything. Everything will be dealt with. It is a question now of the temple of God, what is suitable to God. The cleansing of the temple is figurative of what the Lord came to do. No doubt the money-changers, etc., went back again but it was a sign of what was due to God, what He will do permanently later on. No doubt, the disciples afterwards understood it. In John 2 He alludes to the temple as His Father’s house. In verse 19 He says, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up”. The disciples after He was risen understood this scripture as bearing on the resurrection. There is nothing right for God till you have the temple, “The Lord whom ye seek will suddenly come to his temple, and the Angel of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he cometh, saith Jehovah of hosts. But who shall endure the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? For he will be like a refiner’s fire, and like fuller’s lye. And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; and he will purify the children of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver; and they shall offer unto Jehovah an oblation in righteousness. Then shall the oblation of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto Jehovah, as in the days of old, and as in former years”, verses 1 - 4. The Lord Himself does this. We might see how the Lord has come in in our own time. Anyone spiritual will recognise His commandment. The commandment brings the priest to light. The spiritual man is the priest. Following on the commandment the representative of the Lord was there. Then the Lord comes in. It is now what He does Himself amongst us.
Ques. Why suddenly?
JT This is brought in to warn us. We are to be on our guard and be ready. The apostle could say to the Corinthians “how much diligence it wrought in you, ... what fear ... what zeal”, etc., 2 Corinthians 7: 11. The second letter brings in the covenant. Here it is the Angel of the covenant. In the second letter he says, “Examine your own selves if ye be in the faith; prove your own selves: do ye not recognise yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?” 2 Corinthians 13: 5. Who shall endure the day of His coming? If you are a true man you will welcome it.
TE The Lord said of the woman in Luke 7 “Seest thou this woman?”
JT In you here, in Limavady, as walking in righteousness, etc., the Lord has a person He can appeal to in the town. You have that before you. The woman knew [p. 164] He was in the house. Canticles shows that the true lover always finds out where the Lord is. In Luke 7 He appeals to her. She wept over His feet, washed them, anointed them and kissed them. She was one of wisdom’s children; that is not a mere accidental incident — it is put down by the Holy Spirit for us. They had the same opportunity. Simon as host had very great advantages; he had right of way in his own house. She was an intruder. He was the host and had great opportunity to show attention to Christ. If he had only understood He was the Lord of glory. He did not even give Him water to wash His feet, “Seest thou this woman?” the Lord says to Simon. “She is my ideal; you are the opposite to that”. The Lord had in this woman a model. Are we aspiring to be what the Lord can call attention to?
Rem The apostle said “Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ”, 1 Corinthians 11: 1.
JT He was the model himself. Timothy was the nearest. The apostle could not go to Corinth except with a rod; he would rather let grace prevail. The Lord comes in as Angel of the covenant and then deals with Levi. See how 1st and 2nd Corinthians correspond. Before we are priests we must know the love of God. The covenant is the means. He is the Angel of that. Christ is the Minister of the covenant, and we look on the glory of the Lord. He brings the love of God into our hearts. As the covenant is effective in our hearts we love God and are brought near to God; it constitutes us priests. It goes on to say “I will come near to you in judgment”. It was written for us; we see how it works out today. The commandment supposes you do love — “He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me”. If there be not the love, the commandment does not beget it. He only can bring in the love which is in Christ Jesus. He comes in with it — the Angel of the covenant brings in the love. If you see Christ as the expression of the love of God, He is the [p. 165] most lovable object in the whole of the universe. It is a lover He points to, not one whom He loved. She loved much, “If anyone love not the Lord Jesus Christ let him be Anathema Maranatha”, says the apostle, 1 Corinthians 16: 22. The covenant coming in brings Christ before you. If you have anything of God in you, you love Christ.
Ques At the Supper we are there as lovers of Christ?
JT Companies of the Lord’s people gathered together on the first day of the week to partake of the Supper are delightful to heaven. The Lord calls attention to it, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood”. I understand the glory of the Lord in 2 Corinthians 3 is that He brings in the love of God. He attested it in His death — it is the witness. The thing is to be brought into your heart. He brings it with Him and so it is brought into our hearts and made effective. There is no more delightful service than pointing here to the glory of the Lord. The Lord is that Spirit. He directs your heart into the love of God in that way.
Ques What is the thought of the covenant mentioned in the Supper?
JT To bring the love of God before us. It fills the house like the odour of the ointment. To shed abroad that love in our hearts is His present service. The cup is the witness to it, objectively, to what I have already in my heart by the Spirit. How can we increase that love? The Lord’s supper is for that purpose. You come back to the greatness of the thing as you partake of the Lord’s supper. He laid down His life for you and for the assembly. But what is He to us severally? Every time you look at it objectively you love the Lord more. Self-judgment must go on; nothing must be allowed to divert — “Let a man examine himself, and so let him eat”. That is the time to discern oneself, in eating and drinking. The real formative thing is what is presented objectively in all its magnitude. The hearts of the two going to Emmaus were burning by His words. They [p. 166] did not go back in His company, but went back in the light of having seen Him in the breaking of bread. Seeing Him is when the formation takes place.
So the end of this chapter. Malachi 3, through the commandment and manifestation, brings about a remnant pleasurable to the Lord. The promises are to the whole of christendom; the net result for God is in those who fear the Lord. They spake often one to another. There is nothing in the old economy to warrant this. They know what to do; they love one another. It is extremely simple. They are the net result of all this ministry. We have been dwelling on Genesis as dealing with recovery for God’s pleasure in four features. These closing verses correspond to what is for God’s pleasure. In speaking one to another, there is what is for God’s pleasure. And the Lord hearkened and heard “and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared Jehovah, and that thought upon his name”. That is what there is for God. This would answer to 2 Timothy — those who departed from iniquity and called upon the Lord out of a pure heart.
Ques What is the book of remembrance?
JT To emphasise how precious they were, a book was written before Him for them. He would never forget them; they were constantly before Him. Those who “thought upon his name”, that is, the things which came out regarding Jehovah in the Old Testament, how they would go over these, what He was, all about Adam, Enoch and all the men of faith, as we try to do in our measure. He has come in historically for recovery. The refiner’s fire has been operating in the way of discipline so that there should be priests and Levites according to God.
TE How do we look at the saints as ‘temple’?
JT In Corinthians the saints are spoken of as the place of light. Here He comes in judicially but brings in the love of God. He cleanses the sons [p. 167] of Levi.
TE Does this apply to the recovery of the saints now?
JT It may be applied. He brought in the love of God and revived the thought of the Lord’s supper, these being so emphasised. There must be the formation of priests. Going on with external things without priesthood was at the back of all this state. The priest is able to distinguish between the righteous and the wicked.
EM A priest in his function is known by his discernment.
JT The Holy Spirit sheds the love of God abroad in your heart. Romans 12 is the answer to Romans 5. It is service on a lower basis but still service. The judgment seat in 2 Corinthians is brought in as a help with regard to what the apostle had in his mind — “We are zealous, whether present or absent, to be agreeable to him”, 2 Corinthians 5: 9. That is priesthood.
Rem “And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers”, Malachi 4: 6.
JT It is beautiful to see the result of all this ministry — “They that feared the Lord spake often one to another”.
W In the midst of the ‘stout words’ these true hearts turn to righteousness.
FI “One to another” — brotherly relations are maintained.
JT In contrast with that there is the territory of wickedness, chapter 1: 4, a people against whom Jehovah has indignation for ever. Where the spirit of brethren is not recognised as present, that is the end; it will become known as the territory of wickedness. The priesthood which the Lord is developing is to have a place where holiness is known. The priests were put under discipline because they were not righteous — “Who shall stand when he appeareth ... He will purify the children of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver”. That is what is going on, “Who shall stand when he appeareth?” — “He that doeth truth cometh to the light”; those who are real welcome it. The refining process goes on so that Levi might present a pure offering. This is of great concern to us, to serve God rightly — “They shall offer unto Jehovah an oblation in righteousness”. That is what He has by him; an oblation of righteousness is pleasurable to Jehovah. That applies to prayer and other things — how you speak to God. We are to pray with the Spirit and pray with the understanding also. You only speak to God in the measure of your appreciation of Christ. He taught them how to pray.
Rem The Lord helps His people to express what they have, but they might have more than they could express. A pure offering is worship acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.
TE Priesthood is not confined to those taking an outward part or sisters would be excluded.
JT Priesthood in a sister is the state of her soul as prayer is offered. Hannah prayed. Worship goes a little beyond sacrifice.
EM As regards sisters if there is priestly state in a company their exercises will find expression in a brother.
JT That is according to the state of the company. The Holy Spirit knows what is there. After all God takes account of what is in our hearts. A cheque is of value according to what is in the bank. In other conditions there is neither male nor female but we are as the angels, that is the kind of being.
This word of instruction here, verse 7, should be noted — “Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith Jehovah of hosts”. “Will a man rob God? But ye rob me”. In alienation of soul there is always disparaging, always questioning and resenting things. God goes on “Ye rob me”. ‘You had things but you did not bring them; you did not bring what was due to Me; you did not fulfil your obligations’ — “Me ye rob, even this whole nation. Bring the whole tithe into the treasure-house”, verse 10. This is an appeal to the whole of christendom. It has gone forth but they have not responded to it. We get the response in the verses at the end of the chapter. I will “pour you out a blessing till there be no place for it” — they were the ones who got the good of all this.
Israel were all put under tithes. Jacob inaugurated that when he volunteered to give a tenth. God accepted it. He will take what you give Him. It became a law. Abraham gave a tenth to Melchisedec and Jacob took it from that.
Rem God accepted the widow’s two mites. He will take anything we give.
JT Here it refers to a known obligation. In Luke 1 and 2 we have those who feared the Lord — Zacharias and his wife, Mary, Simeon, Anna — all in beautiful connection. In going over the ground they would be speaking about the Lord and thinking on His name. They would get an understanding of things. This has a very present application. Luke writes in the present tense.
TE The apostle in writing to the gentile churches does not mention the thought of priests.
JT The ‘priest’ is only a term taken from the Old Testament and used chiefly in writing to Jewish christians. A spiritual man is the same thing — “Ye which are spiritual, restore such a one”. There is the thought of liberty, one qualified to approach God. These conversations with those people would be for their encouragement. Light would come in as they spoke together often. Some districts have no Bible readings at all — a pitiable thing — it does not come up to those mentioned here — speaking often. When you have the opportunity, get together. You are meeting an obligation. God would come in for you. In little companies of God’s people coming together, light would [p. 170] come in. There are no official terms in these closing verses, no priests, no temple; they would realise all these things.
Verse 10. The tithe principle is with us. What we would bring at the Supper greatly affects what we would have to give in this way. We get the windows of heaven mentioned three times in Scripture. The first is in judgment at the flood; the second in 2 Kings 7 — as if God could not make windows in heaven. Here He says Himself He will do it. The great thing is to have a sense that things come down, to emphasise the wealth of heaven. Pentecost is the full answer, the Holy Spirit coming out of heaven. The net broke with the blessing of the Lord.
Hebrews 10 speaks of not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together. It is put as an obligation there. Those here did it and did it often.