CHRIST IN HIS SERVICE GODWARD
CHRIST IN HIS SERVICE GODWARD
Hebrews 3:1,2; Hebrews 10:19 - 22; Exodus 28:5 - 30
JT The early verses of Exodus 21, which speak of the Hebrew servant, might be linked on with the early verses of chapter 28, which introduce the subject of the High Priest, the Hebrew servant, according to what is stated, being a type of Christ in the exercise of love in service, showing the attitude of mind that He took in becoming Man. Love would go to the utmost limit — although itself unlimited — to exercise the service of love, His love to God, and His love to the saints — the church, then the saints being the children, but in self-abnegation, self-denial, all would be accepted that the service of love required. On the other hand Exodus 28 comes in and views the Lord — the same Person — in dignity, official dignity, so that He is rightly regarded in His service by the saints, by those He serves. That is why I read in connection with these passages the opening verses of Hebrews 3, where the saints are addressed as “holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling”. Then the passage shows that Christ is to be regarded in the light of the statement that He who builds the house is greater than the house. So that whilst He takes up the attitude of bondman in the service to show the lengths to which love will go, we are to regard Him in the house in His dignity as Son; His Person remains unchanged in the service. The garments in Exodus 28 refer to Him in His service; what He was as Man in service is in mind in all these habiliments. The Person is really hidden, the cloak being the long covering garment; He has taken on these things as in service; they are to be known in part, each part representing some feature of Christ in His service.
[p. 2] The next thing to note is that He is not on earth, He has gone into heaven, and the service is carried on in that setting, “minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man”. So that the service He carries on is heavenly, and views the saints as heavenly, partakers of a heavenly calling. Chapters 8 and 9 show how He has become minister of a better covenant, the first being set aside to make room for the second.
Ques Then this service is Godward on our behalf?
JT That is the view we have to take of it here. In chapters 2 and 4, He serves us in the sanctuary, but the Minister of the sanctuary is clearly in the tabernacle; that is the setting.
M Is that the significance of the expression “Such an high priest became us” (chapter 7:26)?
JT That is to call attention to the greatness of the Person who is high priest. The beginning of chapter 8 is a summary of what He has been, and that “we have such a one high priest” who has set Himself down “on the right hand of the throne of the greatness in the heavens”.
Ques Is it representation Godward?
JT The saints are so great — it is a remarkable way to put it. He has made us great, because we are of Him: “For both he that sanctifies and those sanctified are all of one; for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren”. Then at the beginning of chapter 8, “Such a one high priest” is the One “who has sat down on the right hand of the throne of the greatness in the heavens”. Who could do that but God? He has set Himself down. That is a very great position to get into our souls in regard to the Lord as the Minister of the sanctuary, and the true tabernacle, which the Lord has pitched and not man. He leads in the service Godward, I think.
Rem If that thought were realised more fully what there would be in our meetings!
[p. 3] JT It would make room for it.
Rem The nature of the service would be on account of that.
JT Yes, quite.
Ques How would the Lord serve in that way?
JT “Such a high priest became us”. “Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling”. We are a necessary part of the service according to chapter 2. He is Leader of our salvation, we are being led to glory. The great thought is the true tabernacle; the tabernacle is a figure of the heavens and the earth, but in the present time it is the heavenly side only; that is what is in view in Hebrews, going into heaven itself. So that the saints do not take on what is current, the character of earthly religion; they should be different. What is current in christianity is patterned after the old. The idea of the heavenly service is unknown in the Jewish system.
Ques What answers to the holy places today?
JT We have to lay hold of the heavenly side of the thing. What is in mind is Israel’s place and our place; all is worked out in the assembly in the light of the heavenly and the two merge in us. Israel is not in view yet. I think Israel’s service will be outside the veil; ours is inside, that is “heaven itself”.
Ques Is it that our service should be in accord with the Minister?
JT We have to wait for the Minister; things must be regulated by Him. There are certain principles by which we are governed. To serve the living God there must be a living service, and we must wait for the Minister for He is in charge of the service.
But I think before we get to the service actually we ought to consider these features of the holy garments or habiliments for the priest, because they are to bring out what the saints are as viewed in relation to counsel; the breastplate is in relation to counsel. It is not the tribes viewed according to their birth, but [p. 4] viewed according to the counsels of love. The order is not a mere automatic thing, according to birth, but it is according to the sovereignty of God, where He places His people. The two onyx stones on the shoulder mean the saints viewed as a family; we are sustained by the Lord as a family. But there is personal distinction on the breastplate, personal distinction of each one.
Ques Would it be right to introduce the breastplate into Hebrews 9:24, there “to appear in the presence of God for us”?
JT That is the idea of it. The priest was never to go into the holiest without these garments, and we are to be assured that we are never cut off. “He ever liveth to make intercession for them”, as if He never did anything else. We know He does, of course, but it is to assure us of the place we have there.
Ques What is the significance of the breastplate being four-square?
JT It is a universal thought; it takes in all.
Ques What is the thought of its being doubled?
JT To bring out the importance of it. It is not going to wear out; it is going to stand; it was like a pocket really. The Urim and the Thummim, whatever they were, these two things were in the breastplate. You have to understand the principle of the thing is in those two things. It is first mentioned in the general list, “And these are the garments which they shall make: a breastplate, ...” (Exodus 28:4). It is the thing par excellence in the array of garments.
Ques Would the sheet coming down knit at the four corners bear on this?
JT Yes, it is something like Colossians 1:4, love “to all the saints”. The breastplate shows the place we have before God; we need all the saints and we want to have them all in our hearts. These garments are very instructive and each part has its own [p. 5] meaning. It is not so much to bring out the deity of Christ; that is understood; it is the Person covered up. The description in Song of Songs would hardly fit in with this because the actual form in detail is not seen here; it is a question of what Christ is in service. You have to go deeper to see His beauty portrayed, the lines and graces of His Person; they are not contemplated in this cloak. The holy Person seen in His beauty is an inner thing. What is before us now is what He is in service.
Ques Why are instructions given first as to the two shoulder pieces and the onyx stones?
JT I think it is God beginning with us. You are going to be supported; I think that is what they show. We are taken account of according to our birth, and we are to be supported in this matter. We do not bring in human things; we are going to be supported and there is abundance of support in the sanctuary.
Ques Would you get the same thought in Hebrews?
JT Chapters 2, 3 and 4 are in this, that is the size of the shoulder pieces. So that we come boldly to the throne of grace and get all the help we need. We do not need to rely on natural strength in the sanctuary or at any time.
Ques Why are the names on the shoulder pieces according to their birth?
JT To bring out the family thought. In Hebrews 2:13 we get “Behold I and the children which God hath given me”. We are viewed in that light as under His care. Love is in the breastplate; the breastplate is what we are according to divine counsel. Without mentioning their names but according to their names, that is, what you are as the fruit of the work of God; you have your own distinction. Every christian has his distinction as the fruit of the work [p. 6] of God. What he is in the counsels of God is the way he will appear before God.
Ques Why do we have the details given of the holy garments and the materials of which they are made?
JT They refer to the various glories in which we appear, or in which Christ appears. If we take them up in detail we have a wonderful unfolding of the glories of Christ in service, the colour and quality of the material, all bringing the thing out in detail. We know in part, and what a lesson book it is to study by the Spirit these holy garments!
Ques What is the thought of a span?
JT Something that is within your range. Measure is a great thing. It must have been a great matter with God. Accuracy is required in it so that we should know facts; we are too general in dealing with matters.
Ques According to their names, does that suggest the colours of the stones?
JT The glory of the names is in the stones; it suggests great variety in the saints. We are the inheritance of God; that is, we shine on the breastplate of Christ. However little we may be in reality we are great in the divine thoughts; we have the most central place in the heart of Christ.
Ques Would that correspond to the blessing of Moses in Deuteronomy 33?
JT Yes, I think so. The names are not actually given here. It is supposed that you know them by name and what the distinction of each saint is. You do not go over their names literally. There is distinction: Mary Magdalene was different from Peter and every one of them had a distinction.
Rem The tribes around the tabernacle were not according to their birth.
JT No, I think the tribes were placed round [p. 7] the tabernacle according to the breastplate, in rows of threes.
Ques Is the distinction the outcome of sovereignty or moral formation, or do they both go together?
JT They go together; that is, the moral formation is in agreement with divine counsel. When the Lord said to Peter, “Thou shalt be called Cephas, which is by interpretation, A stone”, in John 1:42, that was in the mind of God for him.
Ques Does the dignity referred to here come out in the heavenly city in Revelation 21?
JT They are on the foundations there.
Ques Would the bearing of this now be as taking account of one another as according to God?
JT That is the thought, to see what is in the mind of God. You may say, He is not like that now, but God will bring him to that — you do not want to hinder God’s work. The salutations in Romans 16 indicate that this remains and abides. Paul mentioned the persons according to their qualities. Phoebe’s name was Phoebe but really a name embodied in the quality of the person.
WG This is rather preparation for happy functioning in the assembly.
JT I think so, we learn in these things what the saints are. They are “all glorious within”. Her clothing is “of wrought gold” (Psalm 45:13); that is in the king’s apartments, our place in the sanctuary.
Rem These garments are for glory and beauty.
JT These are not the saints’ garments properly. The saints are only spoken of as on the breastplate. These garments are the garments of Christ; the garments of Aaron’s sons are mentioned later. No saint has these garments mentioned here, they are garments that Christ alone can wear. So that the subject really is what Christ is as the Minister of the sanctuary. We have to apprehend Him in these garments, they are just qualities marking Him in that setting, as in [p. 8] service. And we are assured of our place because of the onyx stones on the shoulder pieces, and the breastplate. God is the object of His service primarily, it is “to serve the living God” (chapter 9:14); that is what we get in the section in Hebrews.
Ques Would you say a little on the Urim and the Thummim?
JT The first is said to be light and the second perfection. In Deuteronomy 33, the Thummim comes first because there it is the work of God in the saints, what God has wrought at the end of the wilderness; therefore the idea of perfection comes first. The light radiates perfection, light in its application to us. The action of light, what the light is, is the second thought.
Ques How was that lost in Nehemiah’s day? They had to wait till the priest came in with the Urim and the Thummim.
JT I think it would be the waning of the light in the appreciation of it amongst the people of God. How much the saints lost in the strivings of the wilderness!
Now Hebrews 8 is the full setting of the service of God; it is not our need so much there. The service of God is in mind, and the Minister of the sanctuary. That is touched on in chapter 2.
Ques Would it be right to say that if peaceful conditions are to be maintained with us locally, and God is to be served, the various features seen in these garments are to be understood?
JT I think so; God has given to us in part, and we are to learn in part and put it together in our souls; we are to know what each part is. We are to see how the Lord moves and follow Him.
Having introduced the great subject in the earlier verses, the apostle reverts to the covenant, down to the end of chapter 10:18. It is in view throughout, because this great Person’s service required that we [p. 9] should be liberated, and the covenant will liberate us. Perfect love casts out fear so that we may join in this great service. So that it says, “Let us draw near” (verse 22).
Ques Would it be out of place to ask what is conveyed in the expression, “that this man have somewhat also to offer”? Is it the praises of His people?
JT I think it is that what He offers is of Himself; the idea of offering is not classified but the quality, that He has somewhat to offer. Even if you bring in the saints how much have we to offer? He brings it all in.
Rem That is you would include the whole.
JT That is the thought I think.
Ques Do we not come together with the holiest in our hearts?
JT The entrance into the holiest is just to bring it down to us. The Jewish believers were very low down. The apostle is endeavouring to bring them to the initial thought in verse 19 of chapter 10, and follows it up with directions as to the way to serve. The entrance to that is in the holiest. “Having ... boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus”. “We have” is one of the leading phrases in the epistle. Each has right to enter by the new and living way, the blood of Jesus. How beautiful that is, coming down to the very youngest, “by the blood of Jesus”. What has the blood of Jesus done for you? Washed away your sins. And you enter into the holiest by it, too.
Rem I am not quite clear as to what it means when it says He must have something to offer.
JT I would not like to define it.
Ques You do not view it as Aaron who offered what was brought to him?
JT Christ “by his own blood, has entered in once for all”. That is the principle of having something to offer, the principle, the whole position is marked by that. He “offered himself without spot to God”. If you look at Aaron as he entered, it was not by his own blood, but Christ as High Priest entered “by his own blood”. All that enters into it, what the priest is as offering, as serving in the sanctuary and the richness of what He offered. It is the great general thought that we have in mind.
WG Do not we come together in the assembly with the holiest in our hearts?
JT I think so. The holiest is rather an individual thing. That is why I thought it extends to the weakest and the youngest for every christian has a right to enter by the blood of Jesus.
WG This qualifies you for the spiritual order of things.
JT I think it does. We are able to see what is inside before God delivers us from an order of things outside.
WG The assembly convened tests us as to what we have got.
JT Yes. Like Asaph under a new regime under David (1 Chronicles 25:2). Asaph may be taken as a sort of type of most of us, somewhat like Psalm 73. I think that Asaph is a kind of lead for us.
The Hebrew christians had got down so low: they had reverted to the old things, as christendom has done. The apostle is getting them to draw near, to see what is before God. Jesus, whose blood had washed away their sins, had gone into heaven. Inside the veil is what Jesus is before God. I am not going on with anything else than Jesus in heaven, not what He was here on earth, but in heaven carrying on the service of God. The third book of Psalms (Psalm 73 - Psalm 89) would be a great help in regard to these verses in Hebrews. Entering the sanctuary, I see what things are.
Ques Would it be right to bring in the breakdown of Aaron? He was not able to wear the [p. 11] garments.
JT He is only a type; Christ does not break down.
Rem It enhances the glories of Christ.
JT It does. We have His personal dignity set out in chapters 4, 5 and 7; they deal with the greatness of His Person. He is Priest on the principle of the oath, “a priest for ever according to the order of Melchisedec” (chapter 5:6). The summary is in the beginning of chapter 8, “We have such a one high priest”.
Rem I am sure we need to have an enhanced idea of the value of the blood of Jesus.
JT It is within the range of every christian. Everybody may understand the blood of Jesus, it is by the Spirit we have access to Christ, by one Spirit. The divine idea is Christ risen and glorified, and the Spirit in the saints. We have got to translate the language of Hebrews into the language of Romans, Colossians and Corinthians. I believe many christians are puzzled by the language of Hebrews because it is language taken up from the Old Testament; the epistles are written in our own language. The blood of Jesus is a beautiful term; nothing is more beautiful and touching than “the blood of Jesus”.
Ques What is the idea of the house of God coming in here (verse 21)?
JT The idea is that what is moral stands in relation to the house of God; we do not want to let in sectarian thoughts here; there is only one house composed of all christians.
Ques Do you view the saints here as in wilderness circumstances?
JT It is spiritual, because it contemplates the saints getting into a spiritual realm. Many of the saints’ children are in the wilderness; they cannot go to Egypt and they do not want to go to Canaan.
Ques What is the thought of “consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh”?
JT It is the death of Christ. He goes through [p. 12] the veil; the veil is still up for the Jew. It is a question of spiritual understanding. Christ having died and risen and gone into heaven, there is a way in through the veil. Christendom has put itself outside the veil. It requires faith and the Spirit’s power, “a new and living way” by the Spirit. As we get in Ephesians 2:18, “Through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father”. That is on a high level but it shows somewhat of what is meant. We go in, but we go in in that way through Christ.
WH If we are to have part in the service we are to move on that line outside of the ordinance of man.
JT That is the idea, it is by the Spirit, a living way by the Spirit. So here, “having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water”, sets the heart at liberty, so “Let us draw near”.
Ques In chapter 8 when the Lord is spoken of as Priest, the throne is mentioned, but in chapter 9 it is not mentioned; why is that?
JT It is in the heavens in chapter 8, “the throne of the greatness in the heavens”. There are four references to the throne in Hebrews: in chapter 1:8; chapter 4:16; chapter 8:1; and chapter 12:2, whilst in chapter 10:12 it says, “He ... sat down on the right hand of God”; they are like four great pillars — “the throne of the greatness in the heavens”. He is great enough to sit there.
Rem I suppose the greatness in Hebrews is in contrast to the smallness of judaism.
JT Yes, that is the idea. There is no outward smallness about christendom and judaism. When we come to chapter 11, entering for us is suggested by the whole cloud of witnesses, brought into the realm of life. They have passed out of death into life. Their actions indicated they were living men, living in the light of another world, the living way, a living state of things, that is the idea.