SERVICE AS LEARNED FROM CHRIST
SERVICE AS LEARNED FROM CHRIST
JT The Lord will help us, I believe, in looking at Himself as presented in this prophecy, in regard of our service. We have Him presented by Jehovah as pleasing to Him, which is the first point to be noticed, that in our service God has some part, and that the Spirit is the power in it, and that the servant is not destructive. However small the work of God may be, or, however waning or perishing, He will not quench it. And then — I am just outlining what I see in the chapter — that He brings forth judgment according to truth, and that “He shall not faint nor be in haste, till he have set justice in the earth: and the isles shall wait for his law”. That is, the servant is becoming influential and worthy of listening to. Then, in verse 5, God comes in to support him, justifying him in saying that He has called him in righteousness and that He will take hold of his hand and preserve him, and then further that He will give him for a covenant of the people; that is, he represents the disposition of God. Then the result is something new in the way of celebration: “Sing unto Jehovah a new song”. There are also new things that will come in in his service, so that he will not be stale. As it says, “New things do I declare: before they spring forth will I cause you to hear them”, and then there are the new song and the power of God manifest in the paragraph from verses 10 to 18, and then the magnifying of divine principles and the law. I believe the Lord will help us to look at this subject under those headings.
EJMcB They are very fine headings, but it puts a good deal on [p. 218] the servant.
JT Well, no servant will shrink from the standard the Lord Jesus has set up, as outlined in this chapter prophetically, and brought into the New Testament, as is well known, in the critical period of the Lord’s life when the opposition had mounted up against Him. The Spirit of God quotes these early verses as if to show, in the great opposition that had arisen against the Lord, the necessity of changing over in view of the church, and that the extreme pressure only brought out what is seen here. The more the pressure, the more the excellency in the Servant was disclosed.
So that the first thing we should notice in speaking of this great subject, as applying to us all severally — for no true christian will claim exemption from service — is that God has not got to put up with us as if He had no one else, and that He looks for pleasure in the servant, in the person himself: “Behold my servant whom I uphold, mine elect in whom my soul delighteth!”. It enhances the service in our minds to see that this is the divine thought in it.
PL “Whom I serve in my spirit in the glad tidings” (Romans 1:9), does that enter into the delight afforded God in the service?
JT Yes; his inner being in that feature of it in its nearest relation with God is in it, his spirit. It is not outward merely or perfunctory, but the person is in it in all he is inwardly.
CHW Do you mean that if the Lord is to uphold and support His servant there must be features of delight in him?
JT That is the way it stands in Christ. God sets out His thought. The chapter indicates there had been service before, but not answering to the mind of God. The passage discloses that others had served but had failed, but now we have One in whom God’s soul delights. He had chosen Him, and in every way He answered to [p. 219] the choice.
WC Would the anointing of the tabernacle in all its parts bear on it?
JT Yes. What appears in Exodus 40 is that each part as set in its place is functioning. It is not there merely waiting to be used; it is functioning as soon as it is placed. That is, a saint, as soon as he is placed in the fellowship, in the anointed vessel — as it says, “so also is the Christ” (1 Corinthians 12:12) — is functioning. That is the thought in the tabernacle, and so God says, That is all Mine; He just claims it at once. The cloud covers it, that is, God taking it over, and the glory fills it. There is no discrepancy, corresponding very much with this.
ASM Would the Lord’s service in Luke 4 be a suggestion of all this? “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me ...”.
JT That is a passage that corresponds. The Spirit of God dwells on the details of the Lord’s movements and then on His words, as if the divine complacency is there. Even the Lord’s audience was brought into it; they “wondered at the words of grace which were coming out of his mouth”, alluding to the anointed Vessel. Luke does not quote this exactly; Matthew does, because that gospel has in mind the great pressure that comes on the servant. Matthew has indeed the church before him, and whatever he presents is in relation to the fact that Christ is rejected; he contemplates great pressure, and whether the servant can retain his equilibrium and the beautiful traits of Christ in spite of the pressure. That is, I think, the point he would make, and he quotes this passage in chapter 12.
HWA Do you mean by that He would neither faint nor be discouraged, as seen in chapter 11, in the way He addresses His Father? And, in chapter 12, He quotes this, “Behold my servant, whom I have chosen, my beloved, in whom my soul has found its delight”. Does that amplify what you have in [p. 220] mind?
JT Exactly. After upbraiding the cities wherein most of His mighty works were done, the opposition being complete, He rejoices in spirit at that time, showing that He did not faint nor was He discouraged.
AMP And would the reference to the servant of the Lord in 2 Timothy 2:24 indicate that the quality of the service is sustained under the great pressure of the last days? “The servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient”.
JT That is, he is not quarrelsome, nor does he take pleasure in conflict.
EJMcB He is not contentious.
JT Exactly; not that he will not stand for the truth, but he is not marked by contention.
PL A good soldier, but a meek servant.
JT Yes. A good soldier does not always keep firing; he fires under orders; he is one that is under command, and knows how to control himself.
Ques Is this feature of the delight of God in the servant seen in Caleb and Joshua? “If Jehovah delight in us, he will bring us into this land” (Numbers 14:8).
JT That is good. The Lord is not only pleased with the way a preacher maintains the truth, but He is pleased with the servant himself. God has His portion in the servant, which lifts service into a position of dignity, that God, as it were, feeds upon it; He has His pleasure in the persons who serve.
EJMcB It says of the day to come, “His servants shall serve him, and they shall see his face; and his name is on their foreheads” (Revelation 22:3,4), which would indicate what they were to Him apart from their service.
JT Quite, and what He was to them, His name on their foreheads. Their intelligence would be identified with that. The forehead is the most prominent part, and the book of Revelation stresses [p. 221] it in a time of apostasy such as ours, that we are not hiding things, but making clear whence we draw our support and what we are identified with. It is the Lamb’s Father.
JOS When Matthew quotes this passage he changes the word to ‘chosen’. In Isaiah, it says, “Behold my servant whom I uphold”, but in Matthew, “whom I have chosen”. Does that bear on the subject of God’s pleasure in the servant?
JT It does. The allusion is plain enough to the heavens recognising Christ as He came up from the waters of baptism, the Spirit coming upon Him: “This is my beloved Son, in whom I have found my delight”. The servant is the Son, and that is the clue really to what we get here.
Ques Would you say that God’s getting His portion from the servant would guarantee that the saints would get their portion in the service?
JT Yes. I think the saints should find enjoyment in a brother’s ministry. Of course, the enjoyment will not last much beyond the hour of the ministry, but it is important it should be there. What he says is supposed to last longer than that, or ministry may be regarded as a passing song, as in the case of Ezekiel (chapter 33:32). Some brothers and sisters come to meetings like this and they enjoy the time, may enjoy the brothers who are ministering, and that is the end of it. But what they say is the great thing, and that should not end with the meeting. The divine impressions conveyed should remain, but there is such a thing as enjoyment both for God and the saints in the minister. I believe that is what the Lord represents, and what is presented here is what Jehovah found in His Servant, and in Luke it says of those persons who did not perhaps love Him, who would have murdered Him afterwards, that they marvelled at the words that came out of His mouth, “words of grace” they [p. 222] are called.
PL So both Moses and Joshua, as about to die, are particularly called Jehovah’s servants. Does it suggest what they afforded Him to their last breath, so to speak?
JT That is good. The book of Deuteronomy, I suppose, among other things, is intended to convey to all servants from that time, how freshness is to be retained as old age creeps on. It is a matter of importance that all the saints, those who serve particularly, should have in mind that old age is calculated to dull us and make us stale and perhaps perfunctory in our service, or inclining to superannuation. I believe the book of Deuteronomy is intended for all who followed on, to show that service is to continue in freshness until the last breath, as you say. Moses tells us expressly in the song in chapter 32 that his speech should be like the dew and come down as the fine rain. There was not the least evidence of old age in that sense: “His eye was not dim”. “Who is blind, but my servant?” it says here. That was not Moses. Service was set out in Israel, but there was no blindness in Moses, and his natural force as a man was as strong at that time as at the beginning when he began to serve.
Ques You remarked that the ministry did not last much longer than the time the minister was speaking. If we had in view that the ministry was concerning Christ and the church, would it not last longer?
JT What is said is to abide, but the saints should not be bored. I mean, the minister ought to have in mind that he should afford pleasure to them in his ministry. Jehovah had pleasure in the minister here, the Lord viewed in that light, and, as remarked in Luke 4, there is full evidence that if you were there you would have been delighted to hear the Lord as He said, “To-day this scripture is fulfilled in your ears”. That was to be retained; that was for the [p. 223] conscience and for the heart, but the enjoyment would be there.
Rem I wondered whether the first verse of this book would help: “which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem” — Christ and the church.
JT In any case our ministry should have Christ and the church in mind. No greater subject can be presented for the satisfaction and enjoyment of the saints than the Bridegroom and the bride.
CHW What is the source and spring of this character of ministry that you are suggesting?
JT God is the source of all, you know. “For of him, and through him, and for him are all things” (Romans 11:36). But He says here, “I will put my Spirit upon him”. All is carried on in the power of the Spirit, and that is the ground the Lord takes in Luke 4: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me”.
CHW Why does Paul, in writing to Timothy, say, “Rekindle the gift of God which is in thee” (2 Timothy 1:6)? Would it seem to be in danger of diminishing?
JT The gift was darkened to some extent, but the source of all things is God: “Of him, and through him, and for him are all things”, and that applies to the servant. The servant is of God, and for God, and the service is carried on by God’s power, as this chapter shows. So the third paragraph here brings out the result for God. It says, “Sing unto Jehovah a new song”.
WCG You have spoken of the pleasure of God and the pleasure of the audience, but John 4:32,34 gives us the pleasure of the Servant Himself. “I have food to eat which ye do not know ... My food is that I should do the will of him that has sent me, and that I should finish his work”. The Lord had great pleasure in the ministry, and should not a servant find delight in what he is to God?
JT Quite so, and with results too. What it must [p. 224] have been to the Lord to find that lone person. His disciples had gone into the city; they did not know, but the Servant finds sustainment in that way, even although He may be alone.
WCG An audience of one.
PL She was a bruised reed, was she not? Then, in verse 4 here, you get his influence extended. Do you have that suggested in what the Samaritans, coming out of the city, say about Him?
JT Yes. It says here, “The isles shall wait for his law”. That would mean that the servant’s reputation is being extended, as it was at Samaria. “We have heard him ourselves”, they say. They listened to what the woman said, and were affected by it, but now, “we have heard him ourselves”. No doubt they would be impressed with the change in the woman, for she was changed; her manner of speech would be changed. In fact, in leaving her waterpot, she implies that she was the waterpot herself. But now, “We have heard him ourselves”, and moreover, “We know that this is indeed the Saviour of the world” — the bearing of His testimony and what He was. Here it says, “The isles shall wait for his law”. That, applied to any servant, would mean that his reputation is extended and what he says is known to be of value. All these things should enter into every servant, every saint indeed; they are the divine standard.
EJMcB You had before you, I think, the necessity of a servant being careful in a place where there may be very little — in regard of the bruised reed and the smoking flax: would you say a word on that, preserving what is for God?
JT At the present time, and for some years back, the enemy’s effort has been to stir up local troubles. Wherever you go you find more or less of that, and a disposition to discredit even what there may be of God. When local troubles arise there is a [p. 225] lot of dust in the air all the time which dims the vision and causes personal feeling and prejudice, and party spirit too, maybe. All those things are darkening and the danger is to discredit everything and ignore what there may be of God in the midst of all those darkening circumstances. There may be something; it is likely there is something, for Satan would not attack so vigorously if there were not something, however small, and it is the servant’s business to find that something, and not allow it to be destroyed. What is to be noticed here is the word ‘judgment’ all through. How important it is! a clear discernment, distinguishing between things that differ, and not generalising everything, but going into detail. However small the gold is, find it and preserve it. Do you not think that is important?
EJMcB I do, indeed.
PL So you get in chapter 41:19,20: “I will give in the wilderness the cedar, acacia, myrtle, and oleaster; I will set in the desert the cypress, pine, and box-tree together; that they may see, and know, and consider, and understand together, that the hand of Jehovah hath done this, and the Holy One of Israel hath created it”. Is that the thought, that in desert conditions God is at work and we need to discern it?
JT Yes, and you notice here it says, “Thus saith God, Jehovah, he that created the heavens and stretched them out, he that spread forth the earth and its productions”. God makes much of what it produces in fruitfulness. He looked on the creation with pleasure, according to Genesis 1; everything was good — the production of the earth. Well, viewed spiritually, we want to get that, what the earth produces. “Let the earth cause grass to spring up, herb producing seed, fruit-trees yielding fruit after their kind” (Genesis 1:11). Well, that is the thing for the servant to have his eye upon and to be on the look-out for, however little. “If there be any virtue and if any praise” (Philippians 4:8), find that out and follow it. However small the production is, God gives a lead as to where life is; the production is a question of life.
HWA Would you say that one great thing for a servant in such conditions as you have described is to see that he does not come under the power of them, but his great concern is what is due to God? I was thinking of Moses in Numbers 20, that his great concern on that occasion should have been to have hallowed Jehovah’s name, but, in the circumstances, he seems to have come under the power of the people’s then condition. The condition of things outlined is very obvious today, alas! in many meetings, but the servant has to consider first of all for God. It gives an opportunity for faithfulness.
JT If we are at all with God, He will intimate things to us beforehand, if we are on the look-out. He says here, for instance: “Behold, the former things are come to pass, and new things do I declare: before they spring forth will I cause you to hear them”. Now, Moses got an inkling before he actually came down into the midst of the trouble; God apprised him, and I think He does give an inkling if one is concerned about any of these matters before they spring forth. So you are on the look-out for things; you are not surprised, and God helps you in view of the conditions. I think the word ‘judgment’ here should be particularly before us. It says, “I will put my Spirit upon him; he shall bring forth judgment to the nations. He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment according to truth. He shall not faint nor be in haste, till he have set justice in the earth: and the isles shall wait for his law”. Later it says, “He hath magnified the law, and made it honourable”, as if [p. 227] God would stress the great importance of principle in these circumstances. There will be productions which we ought to look for, but the principles are the great highways which keep us right, and hence judgment and justice are so stressed here.
Rem You see a close parallel in the history of Joseph: first of all his moral worth under pressure yielding delight to God, and then the extension of his moral influence: “a man in whom the Spirit of God is”, it says (Genesis 41:38). Then, Pharaoh says later, “I am Pharaoh; and without thee shall no man lift up his hand or his foot in all the land of Egypt” (verse 44), and he becomes the sustainer of life in the country.
JHS Would Jeremiah 15:19 bring out a little what you are saying? “Therefore thus saith Jehovah: If thou return, then will I bring thee again, thou shalt stand before me; and if thou take forth the precious from the vile, thou shalt be as my mouth”. You see what is of God there.
JT That is an important thing to be able to do, the need to have an eye for what is of God, the productions of the earth, the very fruit. “If there be any virtue” — that is a clue which gives you a lead, well, follow that up. There may be other things, but follow that up. So that the bruised reed is not broken and the smoking flax is not quenched. There is some hope yet. The servant’s business is to see to that.
WCG It inspires the spirit of confidence: “And in his name shall the Gentiles trust” (Matthew 12:21).
JT That is a great point, that the servant becomes known under these circumstances as having something worth listening to; they wait for it.
JOS Do you see that in Paul’s concern with regard to Onesimus in sending him back to Philemon,
[p. 228] that the work of God in Onesimus might not be hindered by harsh treatment?
JT He was very careful about that, and it indicates how valuable one brother may be. Then there are these new things. “I, Jehovah, have called thee in righteousness, and will take hold of thy hand; and I will preserve thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the nations, to open the blind eyes, to bring forth the prisoner from the prison, them that sit in darkness out of the house of restraint”. It is God coming in to justify the servant: “I ... have called thee in righteousness”. He called Him because He loved Him and His soul delighted in Him, but it was right. There is no better, because the choice is the best; it is a choice in righteousness. And He says, “I will ... give thee for a covenant of the people”, which would mean that He represents the disposition of God; not simply a mediator of something, but that He is Himself the disposition of God, what God is towards His people. How great a matter that is, that one accepts the position, and it is a question of the representation of God, that is, the spirit and manner representing God. Then there is this matter of a prison and restraint. There is much needed in that way. The idea of a prison, I suppose, is important, to restrain lawlessness, but then, we may keep a person in prison too long, like the man in Corinth. The spirit of a jailor may lay hold of us, but the spirit of the servant is not that of a jailor; he has no pleasure in keeping people in prison; he wants to let them out. In fact, that is the point here: “To open the blind eyes, to bring forth the prisoner from the prison, them that sit in darkness out of the house of restraint”; bring them out according to God. If nothing of this kind can be done, and if the prison doors have to be kept locked all the time, the spirit of the servant is not there.
PL You say to them, “Turn again to the stronghold, prisoners of hope!” (Zechariah 9:12).
JT That is the idea of a christian being in prison; he is in a pit without water. That is what you get in the prophet. A pit without water is a place of restraint where there is hope, and his exercise is to get out, and the servant’s exercise is to let him out.
EJMcB Would that be why the servant is to be for a covenant, that he brings in the liberating power of God?
JT He represents God. God has no pleasure in the prison or in restraint.
WC Would that principle run through Luke’s gospel? I was thinking of chapter 7:16 where the young man is raised up and the people say, “A great prophet has been raised up amongst us”. Would that be life-giving ministry?
JT Very good. It runs right through Luke; God has come in in Christ. As the anointed One, the Lord announces deliverance to the captives.
WC The reference to the prophet would show it was referred to spiritually: “A great prophet has been raised up amongst us”.
AMP And is not the effect of the Lord’s ministry in Luke to set free glory to God? Would the ministry of the servant here make room for the new song that follows?
JT That is the way it works. What the servant is as representative of God is set out in the paragraph, verses 5 to 9, in the New Translation. That is, the thought that new things are coming up, fresh things, and he gets an inkling of them when they come up. They are enlarged, of course, but he gets an inkling of them, and then, in the next paragraph, we have results for God: “Sing unto Jehovah a new song, his praise from the end of the earth, ye that go down to the sea, and all that is therein, the isles and their inhabitants”. Ministry according to God is universal in its bearing, and it results in praise to God, a new song.
JOS Do we see that with Paul as he recounts his commission to King Agrippa? He says, “For this purpose have I appeared to thee, to appoint thee to be a servant and a witness both of what thou hast seen, and of what I shall appear to thee in” (Acts 26:16). That would be the new thing that would follow on.
JT Just so: “what I shall appear to thee in”. That is a very great matter in service, to have new things, not exactly revelations, but freshness, things that the Spirit gives.
PL Do you have the thought in Hebrews, getting the Hebrew christians out of the Jewish prison? The apostle speaks so much there of what is new, the new covenant and so on, and then the universal system connected with mount Zion, and finally the service of praise in chapter 13.
JT That is a very good order. You notice here it speaks of “former things”, what one has been going on with, applying it to the servant: “the former things are come to pass”. That is, the earlier service is not done with, but things are fresh, and I will get an inkling of them before they spring up.
EJMcB Would that not suggest the servant should move on himself, as well as expecting the hearers to move?
JT That is so. Former things will not do now, but new things, and I believe that is the ground taken by the apostles: “Our fellowship is indeed with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ” (1 John 1:3). God honoured that. What freshness there was in that! “These things write we to you that your joy may be full” (verse 4). What freshness there must have been in that ministry! Then, in the next paragraph, we have the results for God in the [p. 231] way of praise. I think that is the order in which any servant’s service is carried on if God is with him. The service of God is augmented by his ministry, so that there is the song. “Sing unto Jehovah a new song, his praise from the end of the earth, ye that go down to the sea, and all that is therein, the isles and their inhabitants. Let the wilderness and the cities thereof lift up their voice, the villages that Kedar doth inhabit; let the inhabitants of the rock sing, let them shout from the top of the mountains: let them give glory unto Jehovah, and declare his praise in the islands”. There is some extent there, some volume in that passage.
PL It sounds a little like, “Let everything that hath breath praise Jah” (Psalm 150:6).
JT Just so.
WCG It is in the power of the new access to God that they relinquish their idols according to verse 17.
JT That idea of graven images or idols runs through the chapter. We are coming on in the next chapter to Cyrus who would overthrow all that. That is, the coming in of Christ would overthrow all that, but the servant’s business is to see to it now.
PL And are the prisoners to be released to augment the praise?
JT That is the object you have in mind.
WCG The power of the minister is to give them something better.
JT I suppose a prison-keeper would be the Philippian jailor after he was converted. That is the kind of prison-keeper God would use.
PL In spreading the table for them, would he see that they got food?
JT And he washed their stripes.
JRS Do verses 13 and 14 bear on a servant’s zeal that lies underneath what he has to say?
JT It says, “Jehovah will go forth as a mighty man, he will stir up jealousy like a man of war: [p. 232] he will cry, yea, he will shout; he will shew himself mighty against his enemies”, and so on. This is what a servant may reckon upon in regard of the general conflict, what God is to him, so that the thing can come in. However mighty the foe may seem to be, God, as it were, clothes Himself in a figurative way to assure us that nothing can overcome Him, and the servant can count on that.
WC So Matthew, in quoting this passage, says, “Until he bring forth judgment unto victory” (chapter 12:20). The word ‘victory’ is not used here. Is it the line of Matthew’s gospel?
JT Quite so. I suppose the Spirit of God employs whatever translation was current, but it conveys the sense. If the Spirit of God quotes it, you may be sure it is right. He may be putting more into it than the primary translation. So, if the Spirit of God is speaking today, He has a right to quote words of Scripture according to the needs of the moment. That does not give latitude to the servant, but spiritual ministry would quote the words of Scripture as needed to meet current needs.
Ques So you suggest that underlying this passage is the representation of God in those who serve?
JT That is the thought. Is it not very encouraging? Let the waves come up; God is greater than them. It is a remarkable figure here that God uses. “Jehovah will go forth as a mighty man, he will stir up jealousy like a man of war: he will cry, yea, he will shout; he will shew himself mighty against his enemies”, and it goes on to say, “I will lay waste mountains and hills, and dry up all their herbs; and I will make the rivers islands, and I will dry up the pools. And I will bring the blind by a way that they know not, in paths that they know not will I lead them; I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight”. That seems to me to be very stimulating in the service of God.
PL Is it “the Lord working with them” (Mark 16:20)?
JT Yes, with “signs following”. This same thing would appear. Look at Philippi and other instances in the Acts, for instance, the power of God coming in in support of His servants.
P Were these features not expressed by the apostle Paul in his movements and his preaching?
JT I suppose he came nearer to Christ than any other servant. He is intended to represent what service is according to God. Then we have the thought that “he hath magnified the law, and made it honourable”. Applying that in a practical way, it is that the principles of God are not falling to the ground; they are not despicable in peoples’ eyes. It is in keeping with the change in the New Testament quotation, that the divine principles are brought out, so to speak, in the ministry according to God in a magnified way. Instead of being discredited, the things we hold or stand for are magnified and made honourable, that wherever God is working they will be recognised. That is a very important thing.
EJMcB Do you think that might in principle apply to the great principles that have led the people of God on, and that, as the flesh is given up, these principles get magnified in our minds?
JT They do. I think this enters into the care meeting, as we call it. To care for the saints we must maintain divine principles. Two meetings of great importance to my mind are coming up. There is the ministry meeting, as it is called, and I think rightly, which ought to take the character of prophecy. That is the intent of it in 1 Corinthians 14, that it brings God in, dealing with the conscience, so that people fall down. Instead of rising up in our assumed dignity, we fall down and recognise that God is there amongst His people. The other meeting is the meeting for care. It is a love meeting really. The [p. 234] shepherd has to go out in the service. It is burdensome and onerous; it may last long and one may have to sacrifice one’s comfort to attend the care meeting, but it is an important meeting and is increasing in importance, for it is a question of caring for the saints. As in John 10, the Lord as the Shepherd looks at the saints as needing care, and He expends all that He has upon them. That is the idea of the meeting for care. It says of Timotheus, “I have no one like-minded who will care with genuine feeling how ye get on” (Philippians 2:20). That is really what the meeting means, and divine principles enter into it. Divine principles should become magnified and made honourable in that meeting. We should learn how to apply them, discerning between good and evil in applying them.
PL So the Lord walks in Solomon’s porch in winter just after referring to Himself as the Shepherd in John 10. Would that link up with the love that has a judgment according to God in regard of the saints?
JT That seems to be the intent of the introduction of Solomon’s porch there. It is also found in Acts 5 where the severest discipline had just been executed in the case of Ananias and Sapphira. It says, “They were all with one accord in Solomon’s porch, but of the rest durst no man join them, but the people magnified them; and believers were more than ever added to the Lord, multitudes both of men and women”. They were in the recognition of judgment.
AMP Do you think the book of Ruth indicates how the law is made honourable in a day of weakness, how Boaz searched out the law in regard of redemption?
JT “He went into the city”, in chapter 3:15. The Authorised Version says, “she went into the city”, but it is not right. “He went into the city”,
[p. 235] meaning the place of divine principles, where law and order were, and he searched out what the custom was in Israel in regard of redemption.
PL “Thou, such a one, turn aside, sit down here” (Ruth 4:1), is that the care meeting?
JT That is it. That was in the gate. So that things are done in that chapter according to the custom in Israel, the custom governing redemption, a very great matter.
RAE It says, “The man will not rest until he have completed the matter this day” (chapter 3:18).
JT That is a good word for us in regard of the care meeting, to see the thing through. So much is taken up casually. Anything that comes up ought to be seen through to its ultimate issue, and that must be for the good of the saints.
JRS You have mentioned those two meetings: would you say a word as to the place that sisters have in regard of them?
JT The prophetic meeting is for them, of course. They are enjoined in the chapter in 1 Corinthians not to teach, but they are to be there. They represent the affectionate, subjective side which is always necessary for the assembly. Then, in regard of the care meeting, their business is to find out what happens. If they are exercised, they will find out. Anna represents that; she would find out what happened.
JOS Are you suggesting that there are no secrets at the care meeting?
JT I do not think there should be. There is wisdom, of course, but in the church the principle is, “I speak as to intelligent persons” (1 Corinthians 10:15). Every member, every person in it is responsible.
PL So that the faculty of judging is to come into play at the ministry meeting, for instance.
JT “Let the others judge” would include them. Sisters that are singled out and put forward in [p. 236] Scripture ought to be noticed. Sisters like Anna and Lydia and Mary Magdalene are set out as models.
FPS Does verse 22 that follows represent God’s feelings? “But this is a people robbed and spoiled; they are all of them snared in holes, and hidden in prison-houses; they are become a prey, and none delivereth, — a spoil, and none saith, Restore”. God is after the recovery and restoration of those held in bondage.
JT Quite so.