HOUSEHOLD OF FAITH LEADING TO THE HOUSEHOLD OF GOD AND HIS SERVICE (3)
[p. 9] HOUSEHOLD OF FAITH LEADING TO THE HOUSEHOLD OF GOD AND HIS SERVICE (3)
Genesis 29: 1 - 20; Genesis 37: 3 - 10; Genesis 48: 8 - 22
JT Today we might look at spiritual development as brought out in Jacob. Spiritual development is a great feature in the household of faith. It is reserved by the Spirit to be brought out in Jacob and his house. It is in the house where contrariety dominates for a long time. In Abraham’s house that element is cast out; in Jacob’s house it is overcome. Overcoming calls for patience with our brethren.
Joseph represents the spiritual side, and there is contrariety to the extent of hatred towards him; but love triumphs. None is lost. What we have had before us enters into this — the trained servants, and going even to near Damascus for a brother. We cannot afford to lose a brother.
Ques How do you view Laban in chapter 29?
JT He is a relative. I suggested this chapter so that we might see how we may secure our relatives. All the christians in the systems are our relatives. This chapter shows us how to reach them.
Ques. How is that done?
JT It is worthy of note that Jacob starts out from Beer-sheba under orders, and that in this connection the house of God comes to light (chapter 28: 17). Then in the light of the house of God chapter 29 comes before us. Note the stress laid on the relationship: “And it came to pass when Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban his mother’s brother, and the sheep of Laban his mother’s brother, that Jacob went near, and rolled the stone from the mouth of the well, and watered the sheep of Laban his mother’s brother” (verse 10). Thus a good way to reach our relatives in the denominations is to claim them as our brethren.
[p. 10] Then the next point in securing them is to serve them. It says, verse 14: “And he abode with him a month’s time”; that is minister to them and they will then recognise their obligations to you. During this month Rachel was Jacob’s cousin and Laban his uncle only.
Ques What is the force of the month’s time?
JT You do not force things in approaching your relatives in the denominations. We too often make them shy by condemning right away. They think we are pulling down, and we should build up. I do not think we should bring in the assembly or fellowship immediately. Of course you hold the assembly and fellowship in your mind, but there is a whole month — something fresh can be brought out each of the thirty days. Paul at Ephesus is a good example of what I mean. He finds certain disciples and discerns that they lack the fruit of the Spirit. So he inquires: “Did ye receive the Holy Spirit when ye had believed? And they said to him, We did not even hear if the Holy Spirit was come. And he said, To what then were ye baptised? And they said, to the baptism of John. And Paul said, John indeed baptised with the baptism of repentance, saying to the people that they should believe on him that was coming after him, that is, on Jesus. And when they heard that, they were baptised to the name of the Lord Jesus”. Then Paul reasoned and persuaded concerning the kingdom of God, then separated the disciples and reasoned daily in the school of Tyrannus.
Ques What does the stone at the well’s mouth represent?
JT It is representative of the denominations. The sheep are there, the well is there, but there is no water flowing. The flocks are really not watered in the denominations. It is worthy of note that Jacob does not do anything until he sees Rachel. She corresponds with [p. 11] himself.
Ques Will you say a word about verse 5?
JT It means that christians are known. They are known even in denominations. They are the preserving element there, and you may be sure they are known and marked. “They said, He is well; and behold, there comes Rachel his daughter with the sheep” (verse 6). That is, the evidence is there with her.
Ques Is that the reason our meetings do not grow more — we are not sufficiently interested in our relatives in denominations?
JT In going into a district you should look around for your relatives. Jacob does. It is the first thing he does. And then he sees something cognate with that — the well, flocks of sheep, Rachel. One hundred years ago this thing went on; they looked and they found them. The early brethren claimed their relatives and showed their love for them, and they were blessed in doing it.
Feelings must enter into it. It says (verse 11), “And Jacob kissed Rachel, and lifted up his voice and wept”. He kissed her as a cousin. The idea of a well occurs frequently through this book, beginning with Hagar. The Holy Spirit is in christendom, but the stone must be rolled away. It is a good idea to invite our relatives to the fellowship meetings.
Every name in Jacob’s family has a meaning. Each represents some circumstance of the child’s birth. Every christian has a name, too. It is what is potential. In Jacob’s house we see what God can do despite adverse conditions; He will bring out the spiritual line. The thought of the numeral twelve runs through the Scriptures. It is seen in the heavenly city; it means nothing is lost. It is flexible, it can be manipulated; it may be divided by six, four, three, two, and by itself. God can work out every intricate problem with that numeral. Every question will be solved in the kingdom.
[p. 12] Now we come to chapter 37. Joseph here represents the Lord Himself. His brethren could not greet Him with friendliness. What had Joseph done? Nothing, only it says that Israel loved him. If a man is persecuted he will prosper.
Joseph has a dream, and then another, showing that there is no subtraction but addition. Those who hate him are brethren, yet not one is to be lost. The dreams are the test and they bring out the flesh in the brethren; how humbling! and yet in Acts 7 they are called patriarchs.
It says in verse 11, “His father kept the saying”. Mary the mother of Jesus “kept all these things in her mind, pondering them in her heart”. She was not against Him.
The first dream represents the resurrection of Christ; the second His ascension. There is a suggestion of Christ in Joseph from his birth. Jacob moves after the birth of Joseph. God will always develop conditions for spirituality to become manifested.
In chapter 48 we have the supreme expression of spirituality in Jacob. Every one of his sons is blessed despite apostasy. Yet he does not spare them. The divine thought is to be maintained despite adverse conditions. Even Dan is blessed.
It says in verse 8: “And Israel beheld Joseph’s sons, and said, Who are these? And Joseph said to his father, They are my sons, whom God has given me here”. They are not mere relatives, as with Rachel, but “my sons”. And then Jacob kisses and embraces them. Embracing means power, not only affection. Paul embraced Eutychus. Joseph’s bringing them out from his knees would show that they are objects of affection with their father.
Jacob is superior to Joseph in this chapter. This is the only recorded time of failure in Joseph. It comes out in the superior spirituality of Jacob. He was claiming them, and the father would intrude, as if to say, ‘they belong to me’. Joseph overlooks the patriarchal side. It says (verse 17) “It was evil in his eyes”, and this is a most serious thing. We are tested in the presence of superior spirituality. Joseph had never met a greater than he — think of all his power and authority in Egypt — yet he resorts to an act of violence. “He took hold of his father’s hand to remove it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head”. Jacob’s hand was the hand of God. Here we are in the presence of the two greatest men on the earth, and Joseph is on the line of nature. God will not brook any interference, so that despite Jacob’s natural vision being gone he is acutely sensitive spiritually.
Ques Would Ephraim suggest the thought that there is something beyond the twelve? You have the twelve apostles, but then Paul is brought in.
JT Very good. Isaac likewise fails in his vision. Amos speaks of the high places of Isaac (Amos 7: 9). It means being on heavenly ground and yet wanting in the features proper to it; but in Jacob we have a failing man who rises to a high note — the highest peak in the range of the book. His name is changed; he has been emptied from vessel to vessel.
Ques What does chapter 48: 22 mean?
JT It is the first-born’s portion, I think. It is a spiritual allusion, meaning something taken in conflict and given to the first-born, a double portion. It no doubt alludes to what Christ has as First-born.