HEBREWS 11 (FIFTH READING)
[p. 111] HEBREWS 11 (FIFTH READING)
CAC It is important for us to see these various actions of faith. They are not merely interesting matters in regard of the Old Testament saints but each feature of faith is intended to mark those who are the subjects of divine calling. We get the divine calling in Abraham; even for him it was a heavenly calling, not in terms but in the spirit of the thing. Abraham understood the spirit of God’s approach to him; he looked for a city. The patriarchs sought a country, they sought heaven. It must have been wonderful to the Hebrews to see that these people sought a heavenly country.
Resurrection is introduced in Isaac; God comes out in resurrection power. Death is set aside; nothing can hinder God carrying out resurrection.
Then we get sovereignty in Isaac blessing Jacob and Esau, and in the way that Jacob blessed the two sons of Joseph. We must learn these great principles — the heavenly calling, the power of resurrection and the sovereignty of God, whether in the soul individually or amongst God’s people. Jacob crossed his hands and Ephraim was put before Manasseh; it was done by faith. That is important as giving the ground for worshipping. Jacob is the only man in Hebrews 11 who is spoken of as a worshipper.
Ques Would you explain that?
CAC We must learn to see that everything of God is in sovereignty, whether it is as to our being brought to know Him at all, or any place we have in God’s Israel — all is determined by sovereignty. Nothing produces the spirit of subjection or subduedness as this does; we cannot be [p. 112] worshippers without those features. None of us worship until we come to the recognition of divine sovereignty. Jacob had his staff; he leans on divine faithfulness. That is what his staff represents. God put his staff in his hand: we never understand God’s faithfulness until we submit to His sovereignty.
Ques Is it specially marked in the history of Jacob?
CAC Yes, it is the result of a life of discipline. Jacob is a remarkable witness for the need of discipline. Jacob was brought in the end to recognise this principle of sovereignty; it was that to which he owed his own blessing. If we accepted that, we should be happy in the place assigned to us in the assembly. If any one is not happy amongst his brethren it indicates he has not accepted the principle of sovereignty. It is right to desire a good place in the inheritance; it is right to covet the best gifts, but at the same time we must accept the sovereignty of God. If we had more love we should more desire to be beneficial to the saints. We should all pray for more spiritual competency — brothers and sisters — that we might benefit the brethren. As we see in Psalm 16, the Lord was perfectly content with what was assigned to Him. In the cities where His most mighty works were done they had not responded, and He says, “Yea, Father, for thus has it been well-pleasing in thy sight”. “I praise thee, Father, Lord of the heaven and of the earth”, that is the spirit of worship. It is a beautiful word; if we do not understand it we shall not understand what the Lord means when He says, “Come to me... and I will give you rest”. We are to come to Him in the restfulness of divine sovereignty, that is the place of absolute satisfaction. It does not mean only coming to Him as Saviour.
Ques Was not Jacob’s history like our history in the crookedness of his pathway and yet in the faithfulness [p. 113] of God?
CAC Yes. An old brother in the truth used to say, ‘Did you ever see Jacob in your looking-glass?’!
Ques In order to bless must we be in the knowledge of the import of resurrection?
CAC Yes. We shall never get outside the shadow of death in our spirits until we come to resurrection. These patriarchs shewed that in the presence of the article of death they were outside it in their spirits and able to bless. In one sense the day of a man’s death is the best day of his life. It says so in Scripture. The day of your death is the moment you are actually free from that which has been a harrowing thing to you all your life. We each have that to contend with which is a great difficulty. A man’s death means that he is severed from the flesh. If we touch resurrection in mind and faith we come to where there is nothing but the purpose of God and we can worship.
Ques Does that enhance the thought of sovereignty?
CAC Yes. It is very important to see that God has set members in the body of Christ as it has pleased Him. We should all understand where God has put us in the body; God would tell us if we asked Him. Saints who have been breaking bread for years sometimes do not know their place in the body! Have I asked the Lord where my place in the body is? Where ought I to function? In Romans we have to act according to our assigned place. If a man prophesies it is to be according to faith, not according to his knowledge of Scripture. If we are not in subjection to the sovereign ordering of God, there will be some measure of activity of the human mind or will and there is sure to be discord; we shall not blend. If we are in subjection to God we shall blend with all our brethren perfectly and every member will function. Manasseh was Joseph’s firstborn, yet he had to be content that Ephraim should be before him. God passes by natural qualities; an able man has often no place in the assembly and the most capable man in [p. 114] the meeting is often the most obscure in the world. It is sovereignty and we must all accept it; until we do we shall never be happy. If I do not want to be anything except what God would have me to be, I shall be a very happy man and serviceable to the brethren. Ephraim means ‘double fruitfulness’.
You come to a climax in Joseph. He called to mind the going forth of the sons of Israel; he has before him the purpose of God. He has before him the thought of the sons going from bondage and distance into the blessedness of divine purpose. He cherishes the thought of the purpose of God for His people. There is a hint in it of resurrection: he gave commandment concerning his bones. If one thinks of the sovereignty of God it brings one over to the divine side at once. Think what God has in His mind and heart for His people! That is Joseph; he had in mind what God was going to do. He comes out as giving the complete idea realised by a man far away from the land of Canaan, but he has the complete thought of God in his mind. God was going to bring the children of Israel out of bondage and distance and bring them to the favoured spot which was in His purpose for them. The fact that Joseph gave commandment concerning his bones shews that he had the thought of resurrection in his mind. This would tend to free us from living in what is providential. Most of us live in the sphere of divine providence. We are fairly comfortable, have plenty to eat and drink and prove God’s goodness every day, and there is a danger of living just in the sphere of providence. In a brief time we shall have to leave that sphere: what is going to abide is the sphere of divine purpose. If we live by the word of God, that is outside providence; the word of God connects us with the unseen, and faith does too.
It is important to see what follows in regard to Moses, where the process of going forth morally is presented. All [p. 115] the elect are going into divine purpose when they die but God would have us go there before we die, in divine purpose and faith.
Ques How can we get out of living in the providential sphere?
CAC The way out of the providential sphere is the death of Christ. He came into death to make a way out. We go out to the sphere of purpose.
Ques Why are so many of us found merely in the providential sphere?
CAC Because we have not seen anything better. If we saw the purpose of God in its glory we should be delivered from the providential sphere. “It became him... by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory”. Have we seen that? Suppose we had the nicest house and garden, the best of health and plenty of means, what is that compared with many sons being brought to glory? We are going to leave the providential sphere, perhaps in five minutes, and what is going to abide? The sphere of purpose. By faith the children of Israel passed through the Red Sea; they went out with a high hand in the sight of the Egyptians — it is fine!
Rem We do not begin to live until we get on to the purpose side.
CAC That is right. Life is connected with purpose; life was connected with the brazen serpent which came at the end of the wilderness. Life is for the land, not for the wilderness. Discipline comes in so that you should not get unmixed good in the providential sphere; otherwise you might be content to settle down. God sees that we have food and raiment and a thousand comforts by the way, but along with that we get His discipline, so that we may remember that this is not our rest. Jacob said that he would give a tenth of what he possessed to God, but all he had was a walking-stick!
[p. 116] In Moses we see the practical way the thing works. In Joseph we have a climax, a man with the purpose of God in his mind and connecting it with resurrection. In Moses we see it worked out. It begins with a beautiful child, too beautiful for Egypt. “They saw the child beautiful” seems to suggest the idea that God secures by His own sovereignty something for Himself. You see the true levitical thought in Moses; a man from the house of Levi took a daughter of Levi. Moses is the personification of the levitical idea, something for God. Levi represents what is for God, and what is for God is beautiful, far too good for this world. God took the Levites in the place of the firstborn; the levitical tribe represented what was for God. Here was a babe of a few days old and they see it beautiful! Stephen says the child was exceedingly lovely. Moses’ parents were a fine couple. We cannot always tell from parents what the children are going to be, but you can tell from the children what sort of parents they have! There is a treasure on which God’s heart is set but He hides it. It is not something to glorify this world; it is too beautiful for the world — it is for God. It should be the holy ambition of christian parents that their children should be for God, not simply that they should be converted and go to heaven, but that they should be for God. How delighted they would be when they saw some features of divine beauty appearing! What is spiritual must go forth; it is too good for this world.
Ques Why did they hide Moses three months?
CAC It was a certain period of faith. The Spirit of God in this chapter is dwelling on the triumphs of faith. We might say that Isaac was deceived into blessing Jacob, but the Spirit of God says by faith he blessed Jacob. “By faith Moses, when he had become great, refused to be called son of Pharaoh’s daughter”. He had a great opportunity, but he chose by faith to suffer affliction with [p. 117] the people of God. Another exercise of faith was in their putting the child in the ark, into the water. They thought what was beautiful under the eye of God must be brought out from the place of death. Both the ark and the place where it was put represent the death of Christ. However beautiful the child was, he must be drawn out of the place of death. It is lovely to see that. Atonement is the same word as is used for pitch in Genesis 6: 14; it is the thought of covering. If there is to be any product for God it must be under cover of the death of Christ. God gave Moses a great providential place in order to give opportunity to his faith to abandon it. Moses gave up the greatest providence that could be proved by anybody; he gave up his lot as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter to take up his lot amongst a despised people. Faith is sometimes put to the test that we may see whether we are prepared to abandon what is providentially favourable.