MATERNAL FEATURES
[p. 204] MATERNAL FEATURES
Galatians 4: 26; Genesis 21: 9, 10; Genesis 27: 6 - 13; Judges 5: 6, 7; 2 Samuel 20: 16 - 19
These scriptures present to us the maternal idea which has great significance in the mind of God, and which most believers understand, and hence the loss as in the churches of Galatia, one idea being that the mother, as the wife, is trustworthy and is counted upon to look after the affairs of the husband in his absence. At all times, of course, but there is no need of accentuating the idea when he is present. It is always there, but it is in the absence of Christ that the mother feature is emphasised, and the absence of it became apparent in the assemblies of Galatia. Whilst the apostle was there he was professedly greatly valued; they would have plucked out their eyes to give them to him, and they received him as an angel of God; he represented the authority of Christ among them, but in his absence the mother spirit failed.
The mother spirit is presented typically in Sarah. It is that spirit which pervades the assemblies that would discern in detail the activities of the bond-slave — of Hagar and her son. The gatherings of the saints are exposed in that whilst there may be full recognition of government and even leadership, all goes well while such are present and in action, but in their absence there is want of the acceptance of responsibility to care for the Lord’s interests. There is the absence of vigilance, not in certain distinguished ones in the gatherings, but in all forming the gatherings, so that all working of the flesh is not discerned and is allowed to work until those who have the special ability to deal with it reappear. There should be the dealing with it promptly, for, although the gatherings of the saints may be wanting in individuals of moral power, there is always the opportunity of recourse to prayer and the resolve that this must not be. If I cannot deal with it, it must not be; the Lord can and will.
[p. 205] So that in Sarah we have the great initial idea, and first in her faith. She is reckoned as having faith in regard to the birth of Isaac. If we have faith as regards the work of God in our localities, we shall appraise the result of it. Even although it be a weak brother he must not be destroyed; he is valuable in our eyes. Faith understands at what cost he has been brought about, and so Sarah being vigilant discerned the mocking. Ishmael was not persecuting Isaac corporally; he was not striking him; there was no evidence of that. What he was doing might pass without notice by an unspiritual eye. It might be a matter to be passed over as of little or no consequence, but not so with a true mother. Fleshly elements springing up, especially amongst the young, are passed over very often by the unspiritual, but not by the spiritual. I could perhaps enumerate evidences of it more or less present in every gathering represented here. Whereas the true Sarah would discern it at once. It is the element of the mother in regard of the saints viewed in their infancy, as I may say; not viewed according to the relative value of infants, but according to the mind of God about them. Isaac is viewed by Sarah in the light of the mind of God, and it makes an immense difference whether I view a believer according to his stature and spiritual power or whether I view him potentially.
The weaning time had come, the weaning time of Isaac — the child of promise, that is, a child previously spoken of, a child spoken of prophetically, and every one of us has been previously spoken of. How far back I cannot tell, but we have been previously spoken of, our very names have been matters of counsel. It is as viewing the saints thus that their potentialities become great, for we have all been previously spoken of in relation to counsel. Hence his value, and we cannot afford to have him damaged; we cannot afford to have such persecuted, for Ishmael was persecuting the child born after the Spirit. Isaac had been previously spoken of, and he was [p. 206] born after the Spirit — his very nature, so to speak, is spiritual, viewed in that way, for we have to understand it spiritually. So the initial idea of the mother is in Sarah. She understands the previous thoughts in regard of the child. He has been placed in the divine counsels; he has been spoken of with affection; he has been the occasion of joy — his very name signifies that, so that it is of the greatest importance to the continuance of the gatherings — not in so many persons, but in the spiritual sense, the sense in which Isaac typifies them — that this maternal element should exist, and that no one should disclaim responsibility as to it.
So Sarah saw. It does not say that Abraham saw. Abraham is the specially responsible side, the father, but the mother is with the children all the time. That is the principle. She knows them from the very outset, she sees all that happens, and she must not disclaim responsibility. Let no one assume irresponsibility if anything dishonouring is seen. We cannot say it belongs to the elder brethren. I am responsible, even if they do not see, and if I see I act, and God respects my action. This mother principle brings all into responsibility and consequent vigilance, and not only vigilance, but action based on vigilance, based on what is seen. So that Sarah says, “Cast out this handmaid and her son”. Ishmael is not to “inherit with my son”. If things are to continue according to God, all that is of the flesh in its activities must be expunged in the gatherings of the saints.
Now I come on to Rebecca, because she represents maternal vigilance in regard of the saints viewed in their responsibility. Jacob was not a babe, he was a full-grown man at this juncture. Rebecca is not classed with Sarah as a mother; she is not said to have become a mother by faith. Sarah became a mother on the principle of faith; Rebecca became a mother on the faith of her husband, but she had maternal instincts, not only in regard of her young babes, but in regard of the grown-up [p. 207] ones. Esau is not persecuting Jacob. Isaac was seeking to fix the blessing on the wrong man. We see that often, dear brethren. We see certain brothers pushed forward in meetings for distinction, a thing to be abhorred. Let the Lord do that; it is His right to bring brothers forward for leadership or whatever it may be. Abraham had failed in regard of Isaac; now Isaac is failing in regard of Jacob — the specially responsible element is failing. What about the mother element? the generality of the saints, as we say? Here is a brother pushed forward, he is to be the leader. Who is doing this? Spiritual instincts set themselves against it. It is a question of the rights of the Lord, a question of divine rights; the Lord reserves that for Himself. It is almost certain that a mistake is made if anyone is pushed forward. The Lord has His own reserves. Jacob was a plain man; he dwelt in tents. Esau was a man of the field. He was much more commendable to the natural mind, and may be, had more parts, as we speak, than his brother. But Rebecca understood, and she was not deceived. She had her ears open; she heard what passed. The true mother will have her ears open to what passes. It is not a question of mere gossip. She heard what Isaac said, and she understood what Esau was doing. She had the mind of God; she understood that the elder should serve the younger, and she determined that the mind of God should go through. We must have the mind of God. If the divine choice does not go forward the enemy has the advantage. Nominations for prominence on the part of the people of God are most abhorrent to heaven, and heaven will not admit of them at all, nor will the spiritual. The spiritual may have to suffer, but suffer they will.
So Rebecca directs Jacob. Jacob questions the wisdom of her counsel, for you can quite understand that he saw it involved great danger, but the true mother says, “On me be thy curse”. That is, the spirit of Christ will suffer rather than let the mind of God and the divine choice be passed by.
[p. 208] Now that is another side, but an important side. It is not a question of infant Isaacs now, but of grown-up Jacobs. They were twins, as we say, but not in the mind of God; there was really no relation between them. Jacob supplanted Esau at the outset, for that is what his name means; he was a supplanter, but rightly so; it was spiritual. That is to say, the man after the flesh must be supplanted. But how? Only by spiritual power. But I am speaking of Rebecca, the motherly spirit that heard what passed in the house; it did not miss her; she heard what Isaac said to Esau, and she immediately set about to frustrate the work of the enemy, and so she says, “On me be thy curse, my son”. She is willing to go that far. That is the spirit of Christ in the mother.
So we find in regard of Jacob afterwards that Esau himself has to recognise that he obeyed. You may depend upon it, the secret of promotion in the service of God is obedience, not only to the father but to the mother. Esau had to recognise afterwards that Jacob “had obeyed his father and his mother”, Genesis 28: 7. There can be no promotion in the service of God aside from subjection, not only to the Lord but to the brethren. For that is the idea — submission to the brethren. “Submitting yourselves to one another in the fear of Christ”, Ephesians 5: 21. It is the way to promotion; if there is to be effective service there has to be obedience to the father and to the mother. When I say the father, I refer to divine authority, whether it be in Christ or in others here, those who represent Christ; but when I speak of the mother, it is a subjective thought, what there is in all the saints, whether locally or generally. So that Esau has to own that Jacob obeyed his father and his mother. That is the way the matter stands in regard of the saints, viewed individually first in their infancy spiritually, and then in their grown-up relations, when the time has come for them to be taken up to be distinguished, to receive the blessing.
Now I pass on to Deborah, because I wish to show [p. 209] you how this principle extends from individuals to the general position — “a mother in Israel”. A mother in Israel is more than a mother in a local meeting. She is universal, that is to say, it is when the saints become enlarged and begin to think of things universally, of all the interests of Christ on earth. In speaking thus one is reminded of what one observes in attending meetings for prayer. It is one’s privilege to attend many meetings, perhaps more prayer-meetings than many brethren attend, and it is in the prayer-meeting that this mother spirit is seen. It is there you begin to feel the power of it, and what one longs for is to see more expansion, prayers inclusive of all the interests of Christ on earth, for that is the idea of a mother in Israel. There is only one Israel, and that is the “Israel of God”. I have no doubt the apostle had that in mind when he said to the Galatians “Peace upon them and mercy, and upon the Israel of God”, chapter 6: 16. That is a spiritual thought. Our prayer-meetings should exhibit the spirit of the mother in relation to the Israel of God. That is to say, a saint in the Antipodes is as valuable to Christ as a saint in this country; he is of the “Israel of God”. We do not want to make saints inferior to one another because of their geographical position; that has nothing to do with our value or our place in the counsels of God or in the testimony down here. Some may occupy the outposts. How much do we think of the brethren who under the will of God are driven out into isolation, unprotected by the fellowship and society of their brethren, but they are of great interest to heaven. They deserve our prayers; if we are mothers in Israel we shall pray for them; they belong to Israel.
So what you find with Deborah is, “In the days of Shamgar the son of Anath, in the days of Jael, the roads were unused, and the travellers on highways went by crooked paths. The villages ceased in Israel”. The idea of highways links up with what is universal. We do not [p. 210] want them closed up, nor do we wish to see them grass-grown without footsteps. There are the “footsteps of the flock”, Song of Songs 1: 8. They are seen, so to speak, around the meeting-places of the saints, but then the highways are for travellers, not only persons who take tickets by train or by sea, but persons who travel by faith, who travel by prayer, who in the wakeful hours of the night travel throughout the world and think of the isolated ones and the small villages, so to say, that are apt to cease in Israel. Highways are great principles that extend throughout, you see. They are not bounded or hindered by national barriers at all. A spiritual highway of God has nothing to do with national barriers. And so Deborah refers back mournfully to the days of Shamgar, great man as he was who slew with an ox-goad six hundred Philistines. It was a great exploit, but he paid no attention apparently to the highways. We may do exploits and forget the highways, but, as I say, in the wakeful hours of the night we may travel the highways. We may do exploits on the platform, but the highways are to be traversed in faith, linking up the Israel of God. They were the highways of God, but the people went in the byways. You may be sure that where the highways are neglected, where the mothers in Israel cease, the villages will cease and the people will go in byways leading nowhere in regard of the things of God. I urge this, dear brethren. Deborah represents the opening up of the highways of God; she represents the formation and maintenance of villages, that allude in a typical way to meetings, but meetings linked up, not in isolation, not congregational assemblies, but catholic assemblies, assemblies in which, as the apostle says, the principles of God are recognised: “Thus I ordain in all the assemblies”, 1 Corinthians 7: 17. That is the idea of Israel, the catholic spirit that overthrows national boundaries, sectional boundaries and family boundaries, and thinks of the Israel of God. That is Deborah.
[p. 211] You say, How does it happen? It is very simple. She was a believer that took account of things and felt them. Dwelling between Ramah and Bethel, she dwelt in a healthy neighbourhood spiritually, and she dwelt under her own palm-tree. She was not a plagiarist or a borrower; she had the sense of victory by her own faith. That is what she was, and when war has to be made, she is ready for war and takes the lead in it. She says to Barak, “Hath not Jehovah the God of Israel commanded?” That is the idea of opening up the highways of God, “If any one thinks himself to be a prophet or spiritual”, says the apostle, “let him recognise the things that I write to you, that it is the Lord’s commandment”, 1 Corinthians 14: 37. That is how the principle of Deborah is developed; it is in having recourse to the commandments, “Hath not Jehovah the God of Israel commanded?” We must obey the commandment. As the Lord says, “He that has my commandments and keeps them, he it is that loves me”, John 14: 21. Then she is the first to speak about lovers of God in the book. She says, “Let them that love him be as the rising of the sun in its might”, Judges 5: 31. The sun is not local, it is universal; there is nothing hid from its heat, and that is her desire for lovers of God, that they may be as the sun in its might. That is Deborah, a most important side of the maternal feature — a “mother in Israel”.
Now the wise woman of Abel is the last illustration that I have selected, and a most important one, because it is she that faces Joab. The history of Joab enters into this, but I cannot dwell on that now. Joab is a man that represents that element that is always professedly on the side of Christ, but with selfish motives, a most dangerous thing. You may always be on the line of the truth, the last word of ministry you may espouse, but you may have a selfish motive all the time and be hard in your spirit. That is Joab — sometimes too hard for the spiritual, for David has to admit that the sons of Zeruiah were too [p. 212] hard for him, but then he was always avowedly on the right side. And he is now on the right side. He has just killed a man in cold blood who stood in his way. That is Joab, yet he is on the right side. If he were at a care-meeting, he would say this man must be slain, must be put out of fellowship, as we speak. But what about himself? He has just murdered a man.
But here is a woman and she causes him to listen to her. He had not been accustomed to be spoken to like that. Even David at times could not speak to him like that, but he has got to listen to her, and he has got to tell her his name. This is a woman of power. How much it is needed! — persons who are free from the fear of man which always brings a snare. Had she cowered before him the position would be lost, and the city destroyed, for Joab was sapping the strength of the city. He was no mean general but he had to meet this woman. She represents an element of courage, of confidence in God, and an element that respected what was at the beginning, for she says, “They were wont to speak in old time saying, Just inquire in Abel”. That is to say, she calls attention to first principles. It is not only now, as it was with Deborah, a question of obedience to the commandment, but what they did at the beginning. It is the setting aside of all human innovations in the church of God, and oh! how much there is, and how easily we let them in too, even in a small way in our gatherings. But not for this wise woman. She says, “They were wont to speak in old time saying, just inquire in Abel; and so they ended”. There is no long argument with this woman, no heated disputations, no quarrels in the care-meeting; with her; there the matter ended. We want the end of the matter.
Who is this woman? She is a mother in Israel. Joab has got to stand by and answer to his name. Oh! how that courage is needed, that confidence that will challenge the most renowned when it is a question of what is right and wrong, when it is a question of a city — for it is not a [p. 213] village here. Deborah spoke of villages; this woman deals with the city. She has the radiation of government in her mind; she has a great view of the assembly typically. However little, it is no less than that which will come out of heaven — our true mother — radiating light to the universe. That is what she had in her mind typically — a city, and a mother in Israel.
Joab in his ruthlessness was about to destroy it. He might have rightly said there was a wicked man there. True enough, but there was some other way of getting at him besides destroying the city. The great principle in warfare is to destroy as little as possible and to save all possible. The last great battle that Joab fought was in the wood of Ephraim, and there were twenty thousand men destroyed by the wood alone. A wood has no heart, no conscience, no intelligence. Why should people be destroyed on that principle? If people are to be destroyed let them be destroyed in righteousness. Why destroy a city? That is what he was doing. He was sapping the city to destroy, and the woman would go down with it. Sheba of course would go down, but the woman would go down too. See how easily by our self-will we may destroy what is so precious to heaven — a city and a mother in Israel. But she saves the position courageously; she makes that man answer to his name. She asked him to listen, and he does listen, and she charges him with what he was doing.
Well, dear brethren, you can see how important this is, and how the Lord would bring every one of us in our gatherings into these great principles. If we are true to them, we shall stand and the position will be invulnerable. And as I said, the idea of the mother includes everyone in every gathering, and Israel includes all. The “Israel of God” is a great catholic idea; it includes all the saints viewed spiritually, and the mother in Israel would be concerned about every one of them, every gathering in the world and every saint in the world. If we cannot take [p. 214] the highways literally we can take them in faith, maintaining the connections between the gatherings of the saints and maintaining the connections between them individually, and in the spirit of Rebecca, die rather than have the idea blotted out. The position is open to anyone. Some of us understand the greatness of it, and one would seek that everyone understood the greatness of the position. It is no less than the Israel of God, and a mother in that is an immense thought. She secures the thing; she has first-hand knowledge, as I said. The mother takes care of her husband’s affairs; she is there all the time, so to speak, “The heart of her husband”, it says “confideth in her”, Proverbs 31: 11. She looks after his interests; she knows all about the children. That is the principle of the thing. From the very beginning she knows. She watches over them till they grow up, and then she has an eye to all the interests of her husband. She is a “mother in Israel”.
May God help us as to this. There is a word in this, that the sisters — the young ones especially — may not assume that they have no responsibility. It attaches to every brother and every sister, young and old, to watch for things, and thoroughly deal with the incoming of the flesh, however small. As this wise woman said, “I am peaceable and faithful in Israel”. How God loves such as that, persons who are peaceable, that is to say, sons of peace. But then it is not peace at any price, but peace with faithfulness, and peace with honour, peace that maintains what is due to the Lord Jesus Christ, for we are to follow righteousness, faith, love and peace — righteousness first. May the Lord bless these thoughts to us.