THE AUTHORITY OF CHRIST IN THE ASSEMBLY (6)
[p. 255] THE AUTHORITY OF CHRIST IN THE ASSEMBLY (6)
Joshua 1:1 - 18; Joshua 3:11 - 13; 2 Samuel 8:3
JT In our more recent meetings we have been considering the rod of God. We began the subject in Exodus 4 and pursued it to Numbers 20. We saw that the rights of the Lord, and the staff of Moses, or the staff of God, merged into the rod of Aaron that budded and blossomed and yielded almonds over-night in the sanctuary, and that Moses was directed to take that rod and speak to the rock. It was in view of the water being given as meeting the needs of the people. Having finished with that subdivision of our main subject at our last meeting, it was thought that we might pursue the subject into the book of Joshua, with a view to its conclusion, there being only one more reading left of this series. Our present object is to enquire a little as to the place the rights of God have in the entrance of His people into their inheritance. So that the leading thoughts in the two chapters read would be a consideration of the full extent of the inheritance from the Red Sea to the Euphrates in the book of Joshua, with the law representing God’s rights in His new position, as governing us peculiarly; and then unity in the two-and-a-half tribes being pledged to cross the Jordan with the nine-and-a-half tribes to maintain the true principle, and then that the ark is the ark of the Lord of all the earth; His rights over all the earth being in mind.
In David we have that energy which established His rule to the full extent of the territory of the inheritance assigned to Israel. Perhaps the brethren may not see at once what is the position of the book of Joshua in the inspired record, but the rights of God would include the idea of Christ risen, not simply risen as in Romans for our justification, but as known amongst His people;
[p. 256] so that Colossians takes the subject up and presents to us “Christ in you the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27), that is, it is Christ characteristically known, by faith, of course, but known in His ways amongst us. That is what is in mind in the ark; it is a tangible thing, so to speak. It is not a mere testimony; it is a concrete thought; it did not appear at the Red Sea, there it was simply the rod of God, but the ark is Christ known characteristically amongst His people, and the consequence is that, as living, He secures the rights of God, for He alone is suitable in whom God asserts His rights; not only in the representation of God, but regarding what He is personally. He is the only One whom God would have in the land, hence what is seen there is Christ characteristically. So that the ark occupies a great place in the early part of this book, and does so right on to David. We may be helped in this connection to see that God has brought in a new order of man Christ in heaven known there as the old corn of the land, but He is also seen, in the ark, in power amongst His people, and He is to occupy the position. The mystery is, “Christ in you” (that is in ourselves) “the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27). That is the secret of entering into the land, the ark going before.
CAM This important thought of Christ being in you the hope of glory involves also the matter of “with Christ” in the following part of the epistle.
JT Yes; that is the thought. We are risen and quickened with Christ.
CAM Do you look at this as experimentally known in our souls rather than having just the light of it?
JT I think so; what we ought to see is how Christ is to be apprehended, of course in heaven, but among us; as known among His people Christ in you, or among you.
JS Does Christ represent power as seen in [p. 257] the ark?
JT That is the idea; the ark represents power, and the people were to follow after it, for this leads us on. Nothing else was to be admitted in the passage of the Jordan. “Christ”, it says, “in you the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27). All else is to be refused. I think if we grasped that thought as presented in Colossians, we would be helped on to what God would have us occupied with.
AFM Are not the priests that carried the ark identified with it, so that when their feet dipped in the edge of the water, the waters which flowed down from above, stood and rose up in a heap, very far, by Adam. Would not that be a great representation of the power of God in connection with the ark?
JT I think that is what we may see. At the Red Sea there was power also, but it was connected with the rod of God, the direct authority of God. Here we have the concrete thing, but as symbolical of authority, like the sceptre; but the ark goes further than that, it is representative of a Person in whose heart were certain things; such as fidelity to God, and other features marking Him off amongst us.
RWS Why is this entrance to the land worked out with Joshua and not Moses?
JT Well, because he represents that side of the truth, he is that peculiar type of Christ. He was raised up and intended from the outset to lead the people in. He appears for the first time as a military man in Exodus 17; what was written there in the book was to be rehearsed in the ears of Joshua, for the Lord would have war with Amalek from generation to generation. He would be the leader in that kind of war. Moses led in the other wars, but Joshua is the leader in the wars of Canaan; that is to say, what relates to the inward state of the people of God by which we enter into our inheritance. Joshua is the type of Christ in that relation, and he is seen from the outset as with the people; as Moses dies he comes wholly into evidence in view of his [p. 258] work.
AR With regard to what you were saying about the power of Christ, God says to Joshua, “None shall be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life”, Does that correspond?
JT Yes; just so. It is irresistible power; and is a question of making room for Christ, which is emphasised in this chapter. Even the two-and-a-half tribes join in saying, “According as we hearkened to Moses in all things, so will we hearken to thee; only may Jehovah thy God be with thee as he was with Moses. Every one that is rebellious against thy commandment and hearkeneth not to thy words in everything that thou commandest us, shall be put to death. Only be strong and courageous” (chapter 1:17,18). So that the most unspiritual, as you might say, these two-and-a-half tribes, are thoroughly with Joshua. That is a great point now as to our position, as entering on our heavenly portion; for this we need unity. It is not the nine-and-a-half tribes only that are necessary; Joshua insists that the two-and-a-half should be there, that is, representatively; it is these who say these things to Joshua, so that obedience to him is ensured, and aside from that you cannot enter on the inheritance. It is a collective matter.
AFM About these two-and-a-half tribes, would the suggestion be of encouragement to some of us who are not very spiritual, to come into line with the nine-and-a-half tribes and go along with them?
JT That is the lesson, I think, of the chapter. We may have influences that would divert us from our brethren; there are many things that might hold us on the wilderness side, but the chapter would teach us the imperativeness of unity in regard to entering on our heavenly inheritance.
CAM It is evident in the least matter that comes up amongst us, that whilst appearing to weaken things, in result it is removing everything that would not work for unity, would you say?
[p. 259] JT That is one of the greatest lessons in this scripture, that each one of us is to lay himself out for unity; not, of course, at the expense of truth, but unity as essential to our entrance into our greatest portion.
WFK Would the ark suggest leadership? All the people were to keep the ark in view when passing over Jordan. Would that be the idea?
JT When the ark moved, it says, they were to go after it. “When ye see the ark of the covenant o Jehovah your God, and the priests the Levites bearing it, then remove from your place, and go after it; yet there shall be a distance between you and it, about two thousand cubits by measure” (Joshua 3:3,4). It says, “remove from your place”. We might say that is unnecessary; if they were to go after the ark, they must do that, but I think there is point in it. We are all to become detached from what is of the city, or what is local, and move on collectively, but not militarily.
JHE So the prayer of the Lord was, “That they may be one, as we are one” (John 17:22). How necessary that prayer!
JT Well, the idea of unity runs through Scripture. It flows out of what God is; especially as entering on our heavenly portion, it is essential that each should be set for unity by leaving his own place as he sees the ark move.
WFK I was thinking that in keeping our eyes on the ark, a point of unity would be established.
JT That is the idea, so that chapter 3, whilst teaching us this great thought of unity, shows that alongside of that lies the immensity of the inheritance; it is not simply what lay between Jordan and the sea, but the Euphrates. You will notice that Jehovah speaks about the extent of the inheritance: “Every place whereon the sole of your foot shall tread have I given to you, as I said unto Moses. From the wilderness and this Lebanon to the great river, the river Euphrates, the whole land of the Hittites, to the great sea, toward the [p. 260] going down of the sun, shall be your border” (chapter 1:3,4). It is “this Lebanon to the great river”; that is, they are to arrive at this immense position.
AFM It appears that this vast territory was not appropriated until Solomon’s time. Is that so?
JT Well, the verse read in 2 Samuel 8 shows that David established or recovered his dominion there. 1 Chronicles 18 says he went to establish his dominion by the Euphrates.
AFM Would it show that David had already taken advantage of God’s offer?
JT Yes; that David had entered into the full thought of God; and would consolidate his dominion.
CAM Would that correspond with the “Lord of all the earth”?
JT I thought we should see that as “Lord of all the earth” the universal rights of God come into evidence at this point, and shut out all national claims. “By faith” they are all terminated and abolished; not yet actually, but “by faith”. It is a question of how God will dispose of the earth. Already He is disposing of territory for us now. It is a question of His rights in the universe, to dispose of what He will to whom He will.
AFM Do you mean by that, that the heavenly places are available to us?
JT That is what is meant. It is the heavenly side of the position, Canaan, but God’s universal rights are in evidence.
AP Is your thought that the heavenly side is being disputed by Satan’s laying claim to that area, by this certain kind of enemies?
JT That is what Joshua brings out. When we come to 2 Samuel and 1 Chronicles, it is not extermination of enemies, but rather subjugation; that is, the enemies are not viewed as wicked spirits, but as persons to be subjugated and ruled. This looks on to the millennial day, but in the meantime, it is the heavenly side [p. 261] entirely, and so our conflict is not with blood and flesh but with principalities and powers in the heavenlies; that is, God is asserting all His rights in disposing of His territory to whom He will, and to those He loves; this part of the book of Joshua is to show us how that becomes effective.
ANW Why is the need for courage on the part of Joshua so stressed? Repeatedly, he is exhorted to be courageous.
JT Have you not felt in your experience the need for courage in laying hold of heavenly things, on account of the terrific opposition of spiritual wickedness?
APM Was not Joshua a distinct type of Christ?
JT Just so. He is that, but also a type to show how stress is laid on courage. It is remarkable that even as coming from the two-and-a-half tribes, the word is, “Only be strong and courageous”, as if all the saints are coming in; even the most unspiritual are in it as they see the issue; they want Joshua to go through.
CAM I think it is remarkable that not only should God encourage Joshua more than once in the chapter, but that these two-and-a-half tribes should do so, using the identical words.
Rem There seems to be moral order in that Moses should precede Joshua; its being mentioned in this way early in Joshua does suggest that the authority side must be recognised before we can be in the gain of leadership as seen in Joshua.
JT Yes; I think that is right. Moses’ authority is asserted, as in the Acts it is the name of Christ; everything is done in His name. The writings of Moses, too, are representative of divine authority, running right through Scripture. God brought in that side at the beginning, as an infallible testimony to His rights. In John 5 the Lord says, “If ye had believed Moses, ye would have believed me” (John 5:46). He puts Moses’ writings before His own words.
AFM [p. 262] Would that be true of the whole of the Old Testament? The Pentateuch occupies an important place in that way, and the last chapter of the Old Testament says, “Remember the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel”, Malachi 4:4.
JS In Moses, is it Christ typically known in the soul, as having broken the power of this world over us?
JT Yes, I think so; particularly the power of death; the Lord having broken its power, and asserted His power over it, in His own death and resurrection.
JS We must know Christ in that light before we are prepared to go on to the spiritual side.
JT That is what I was thinking; so that Moses has a peculiar place here, in that the law of Moses is mentioned; it says, “That thou mayest take heed to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded thee. Turn not from it to the right or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest. This book of the law shall not depart from thy mouth; and thou shalt meditate upon it day and night, that thou mayest take heed to do according to all that is written therein; for then shalt thou have good success in thy ways, and then shalt thou prosper” (verses 7,8).
JS Would that be in keeping with the place that the tables of the covenant had in the ark?
JT It is in keeping with that — the tables of the covenant would mean that one Man was bringing in that which was of value to God. The Lord said prophetically, “Thy law is within my heart”,(Psalm 40:8).
CAM The whole book of Psalms stresses this matter of Moses’ law. The Psalms up to Psalm 119 seem to embody this idea.
JT Yes, and therefore the distinction between the book of the law which was to be read, and the ark. The ark is Christ, having the law in His heart, and fits into Colossians; that is Christ characteristically known as cherishing the law. He hid it in His heart. We have [p. 263] One amongst us like that, and the more we understand Him, the more rigid we will become as to the rights of God expressed in Moses.
CAM So that really gives great point to the fact that this thing would be in the saints to start with.
JT That is the idea. So that although you may be exacting as regards the principles governing the house of God, yet the ark goes beyond that, because it represents the love of Christ, as seen in Numbers 10, the ark leaves its place of dignity in the camp and goes before the people to seek out a resting place for them. It is the love of Christ protectively that is known in it too; in Gethsemane He said, “If therefore ye seek me, let these go away”, (John 18:8). That is the peculiar love of Christ that is known amongst us; so that while you have the law insisted upon by the Lord, He is full of grace and truth.
FHL Is that Joshua coming in as head on the privilege side?
JT I think so. He represents Christ in that way, but seen later in headship, where He is magnified amongst us. He himself has to go into the thing so as to be a full type of Christ as in the ark, because Joshua represents one feature and the ark another. The ark really represents what Christ is as known amongst us; that is, in the traits in which He is seen typically; that He had the law in His heart, but still grace was there. In the wilderness the ark went before the people to seek out a resting place for them typically; it was Christ thinking of them.
AFM In this instance, the ark is in the lead in view of the people going over. Would that be a final consideration of Christ for His brethren?
JT It is. Joshua 1 brings us into accord with the brethren, you do not get the ark in that chapter; it is to bring us into accord with it; the third chapter is the ark itself, but the first is to bring us into accord with it, as to subjection and abiding by the commandments of [p. 264] the Lord. It is the book here, not the tables, giving the fulness of His mind. It is the enlarged thought; then the spirituality side presented in Rahab in chapter 2. She told the spies to go out another way, on spiritual lines, and that prepares us for chapter 3 where the ark is moving, and we move out of our place. I lose my local setting. There are those who cherish their local setting and think of nothing else, but they are not Canaan men at all. We want to leave our own places and get into the great thoughts of God as to the territory and the inheritance, and so be with the brethren who are the twelve tribes, not nine-and-a-half. They are complete here.
GMacP We are made fit for sharing the portion of the saints in light according to Colossians.
JT It is the saints in light. So it is love for all saints and love in the Spirit, too, in Colossians.
JS Joshua would set forth Christ to the people, as seen in the ark. He himself would give expression to what was set forth in the ark.
JT That is right; the ark is to be steadily before our minds in all these wonderful movements, so that it is Christ among us, known in that way, and He thus becomes increasingly attractive and magnified in our eyes.
ABP Although we may not be able to visit our brethren very much, there should be a concern with us to know what is going on throughout the scope of the Lord’s work, so as to bear it on our hearts in prayer; would you say?
JT Well, that is what both Colossians and Ephesians teach us — our relation to the universal side of the position; so that it is love for all the saints; Christ among you the hope of glory, and nothing inconsistent with Christ is to be allowed; that is Colossians 1 and 2, and then the new man is seen in chapter 3, which is after Christ — the young, fresh, new man.
[p. 265] WB-w We have to make the passage of the Jordan to reach the glory system.
JT Quite so; hence these facts are presented, so that Christ becomes attractive, not only Christ as in heaven, but Christ known subjectively amongst us; so you begin to see the beautiful traits of Christ worked out amongst the saints.
WB-w But there must be a right state among the saints in order to pass over.
JT That is exactly what these early chapters are for; to lead us on, and to show how we go over.
AP Do you think Rahab was as far on, possibly, as the people? She says to the spies, “I know that Jehovah has given you the land”, in verse 9(Joshua 2:9). That is the whole thought before us in this section.
JT Chapter 2 shows us the spiritual side. It is not what we acquire through teaching or ministry, but through the work of God in us. We should not be neglectful of the ministry, and what Rahab presents is to enable us to value ministry. She did not know either Moses or Aaron; had never listened to them, but she had wonderful instincts, indeed, instinctive intelligence.
AFM May we by any means encourage that work of God in us?
JT That is the thing to do, to make room for it; it lies in the power that worketh in us.
AR Was Rahab representative of a Colossian saint? When the spies came into her house, she hid them, then she told them to go on the mountain and hide three days.
JT That is just the idea. The word “hid” is a characteristic word in Colossians.
JS Whom does she typify?
JT I think the saints viewed as the result of the sovereign work of God. She is not a product of ministry, because she had never sat under Moses or Aaron, or like persons; yet she was possessed of these remarkable instincts. God works in the most unlikely persons,
[p. 266] so that it astonishes you; the gospels bear witness to this kind of people with whom God works.
GMacP It is exemplified in Mary of Magdala.
APT Chapter 2 gives the account of what Rahab did, does it not? It seems that all the spies were doing was hiding.
JT It says, “And the two men returned and came down from the mountain, and went over and came to Joshua, the son of Nun, and related to him everything that had happened to them. And they said to Joshua, Of a surety Jehovah has given the whole land into our hands, and even all the inhabitants of the land faint because of us” (Joshua 2:23,24).
CAM As you said, it is a matter of the sovereign work of God in Rahab, reminding one of the word “new” in Colossians, as if when looking at the thing, it shows itself unexpectedly. Is that how you view it?
JT Quite so; tell us more about it.
CAM I was struck with what you said. If we look at Rahab and the flax, a sort of agricultural idea is suggested; the word “new” seems to be embraced in that and worked out; she being herself an exponent of the flax.
JT As remarked before, she represents God setting what disrupts in the midst of the enemy’s camp, yet it is God’s sovereign act. Who would have expected that God would work in a house like that? — but there it was. What was of God was there in perfect order, too. The flax was on the roof, and the thread of linen in the window — all denoting progress in the activity of God, in righteousness and holiness.
AC Is it not rather interesting and suggestive that Rahab comes to light during Joshua’s leadership?
JT Well, it is; it emphasises the sovereign work of God, without which the greatest ministry, even that of Moses, must be ineffectual.
AC You mentioned that Rahab did not know Moses, but God was especially supporting Joshua in [p. 267] this new move, and the product of His work in this woman’s soul would encourage him.
JT Quite so; it refers, as already stated, to the sovereign work of God in any one of us. There is not a single Christian who has not occasioned surprise as soon as the work of God began to take genuine and manifest effect in the soul. It has surprised people as nothing else has done, to see the direct evidence of the work of God. It does not matter whether such a person is brought up in religious circumstances or in the most worldly ones, as soon as God begins to work, when it is seen, it has its own voice. Without that, all the ministry is in vain; for effectualness, we must have that.
AP So there is really a double result; one in the sovereign work of God and the other in the ministry which brings it to light.
JT Quite so; nobody knew better than Joshua what Moses had taught. He was a young man constantly near him, as his minister; possibly, he could give you a better account of Moses than anyone. That is one side, but here is a person who had never met Moses. I would not say she had not heard of him, but she had never seen him. Yet it is wonderful to note that she could talk with these men, and leave an impression on their minds. Apparently she is the only Canaanite they had met, and they go back to Joshua greatly affected, bringing this wonderful report.
AP The strategy that she used was unusual. She received them by the door, so to say, and sent them away through the window.
JT You may be sure where the unusual is not operating in us, and among us, we are governed by other principles; that something is hindering the work of God, and therefore it is dormant. This chapter greatly encourages us as illustrating the sovereign work of [p. 268] God.
AFM Does that work in us enable us to take in the ministry; while the ministry itself really tells us what we have received in relation to the work of God?
JT Well, it does; we cannot be without the ministry, but God would show what His own work is by itself, and that is what she represents.
ANW No one could value the ministry of John 10 like the blind man of John 9. The work of God was in the man in chapter 9, and he would value, as none other, the ministry of chapter 10.
JT You can understand what a time he would have after that; how ready he was to listen to the Lord, after He raised the question, “Dost thou believe on the Son of God?” (John 9:35) What a fine start he had as the Son of God was disclosed to him!
CN Does John 3 support what you have been saying? Nicodemus came with an enquiry to the Lord, but He immediately said to him, “Ye must be born again” (John 3:7).
JT That is the idea exactly, because at the end of chapter 2, as we have often remarked, the Lord did not trust the many, although they had believed on Him because of His miracles. You cannot trust anybody who is not a subject of the work of God. But here is a man, Nicodemus, a different man, and I am sure it was pleasing to the Lord, the way he came to Him.
AR Reference was made to Colossians 3, to what is new. It says in verse 11, “Christ is everything, and in all” Colossians 3:11. Is that not what the Colossian saints would arrive at — Christ would be everything, and in everything to them?
JT That is the thought; we will see, as we progress in this book, how Joshua is magnified in the eyes of the people. The ark is hardly noticed in the book after chapter 6, because you have the full thought of it brought out in Joshua, and all merged in what Joshua was, so that heaven hearkens to the voice of a man in chapter 10; that is, a Man known amongst us.
AFM [p. 269] Referring to the authority of Christ in the assembly, would those in Israel bow to that authority as vested in Joshua?
JT Well, they did. It is remarkable how subject they are to him; you hardly get a rebellious act towards Joshua throughout the book; they rebelled against Aaron earlier, but not against Joshua. It is striking to see how he stands out as a type of Christ throughout the book, in that way, he answers to “Christ in you”, of Colossians; that is, it is Christ, in the whole book, seen amongst us, Christ Himself, of course, in a spiritual way, but characteristically; so that the whole scene becomes attractive, and you say, ‘Well, Christ is here, and Christ is all and in everything’.
FHL The suggestion is beautiful as to Joshua and the ark coinciding.
JT This book is of immense importance to us as showing how things converge in Christ in the assembly; how He becomes everything, and in all. I think that is the idea, that you come into an order of things where everything is wonderful. It is not a question of this person or that person, but there is someone who controls everything, and is everything; that lays hold of the soul. This book impresses you with Christ magnified. God says, ‘I will be magnified in the eyes of the people’; and the most unspiritual, that is, the two-and-a-half tribes are the ones to urge that Joshua is to be obeyed.
ANW I am afraid we put that very much forward to the future — Christ everything, and in all — but you are making it present.
JT I think that ought to be clear to all. Perhaps we will read those verses in Colossians 3: “Do not lie to one another, having put off the old man with his deeds, and having put on the new, renewed into full knowledge according to the image of him that has created him; wherein there is not Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian,
[p. 270] bondman, freeman; but Christ is everything, and in all” (Colossians 3:9 - 11). That is, it is what Christ is in the assembly; it is the new man here. The word “new” is young and fresh, and “renewed” is another word; there was nothing like it before. There it is “renewed into full knowledge according to the image of him that has created him” (Colossians 3:10); that is the new man. There is only one, and that is, I think, what we should see, that it is one idea you get among us. The idea is that it is not one or two brothers conspicuous, but it is Christ in this characteristic way, first in freshness among us, the new man, and then renewed in knowledge, a different kind of knowledge is what is meant, but it is after the image of Christ who created him, and that only strengthens what we have in chapter 1; that is, Christ among you, Christ in that characteristic way, and that is how we move on together. There is only one Man; this all works against partisanship, because it is a question of Christ.
APT In chapter 2 Rahab says, “Jehovah has given you the land” Joshua 2:9. Is that a collective idea? Not only these two spies, as addressed, but all Israel.
JT Quite so; they say to Joshua, “Of a surety Jehovah has given the whole land into our hands” (Joshua 2:24). The whole land was in their hands; and mark it, they had not struck a blow as yet, but faith says, All is ours; God has given it to us.
AR Is that not the way the whole position is really taken on in the assembly, that when Christ comes in as everything, the whole vista of purpose opens up before us?
JT That is right. We do not set aside the Person of Christ in heaven, but it is Christ known here, known in character; that is, that He is in such and such a believer — Christ among you.
CAM Regarding this matter of partisanship: it is all very well to speak of it and say we should not be partisan in our feelings, but were we to see our brother [p. 271] in this heavenly light, he would look so beautiful that we would be taken out of ourselves; we would have such admiration for him and for all the saints.
JT The saints then become clothed in your mind from that point of view — “Jehovah has given you”. Who are the “you”? Every true Christian belongs to them and I want to clothe them in my mind with divine thoughts; however objectionable they may be to me naturally, I must clothe them with spiritual thoughts. Otherwise there is no possibility of unity.
RWS Philemon and Onesimus sat down together in Colosse and broke bread.
JT Exactly; if unreleased by Philemon, his master, Onesimus was still the slave, but in the assembly they were one.
CN Is your thought that it is this view of Christ amongst us that would enable us to take hold of the heavenly position?
JT That is right; so the thing is right before you. The word is “Christ in you”, which may be rendered “Christ among you”. It is the power of God that has brought us forward to move along on those lines, and you look for those traits in every saint.
NP Referring to the clothing, mentioned a little while ago, would it be what you get in verses 12 and 13 of Colossians 3? “Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of compassion, kindness, lowliness, meekness, longsuffering; forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any should have a complaint against any; even as the Christ has forgiven you, so also do ye”, Colossians 3:12,13.
JT Quite so. Also go on to love; do not forget that! It is the great point of attractiveness. So that this holy bond in that sense, in Colossians and Ephesians, is to bring about unity before God; therefore it embraces all the saints; it is not only local, but universal in its bearing.
CAM The Father’s making us fit for sharing the portion of the saints in light, would show we are an indispensable part of this thing, would it not?
JT Quite so, having in view our present translation into the kingdom of the Son of His love.
AR You would think that verse 12 of Colossians 3, applying as it does to bowels of compassion, would help to regulate us in our affections toward one another. Would it be the inward organs working out practically?
JT So that this is worked out in our inward affections toward one another as those who are going on towards the inheritance, but as being invested with the inheritance now. It is therefore a final thing, an eternal thought, really. We are going to be for ever with one another; we have been raised up together and made to sit down together in Christ. Love would say we do not want to leave one out; so that as saints, we clothe one another in this way, which is exclusive of partisanship. There are difficult things about some brethren (some are hardly lovable at all), but if you can see something of God in a brother, you are bound to regard him in this heavenly light.
GMacP Has Paul the same thought in mind when he speaks of Christ as Head of His body, the fulness of Him who fills all in all?
JT That is right. The complete thing is in view, the assembly is His, and for the expression of Himself.
ANW You wonder that the two-and-a-half tribes could go back after such things are presented, as you have suggested.
JT It serves to bring out that there are those, alas, who are on such low spiritual ground that they prefer to live on the wilderness side of Jordan, but I think we have to bring in the assembly here and take on what is proper to it. We may go back from it later, as the two-and-a-half tribes did, but I think everyone will see how beautifully they acted toward Joshua. He had said to them, “Your wives, your little ones,
[p. 273] and your cattle shall abide in the land that Moses gave you on this side of the Jordan, but ye, all the valiant men, shall go over in array before your brethren and help them, until Jehovah give your brethren rest as to you, and they also take possession of the land which Jehovah your God giveth them; then shall ye return into the land of your possession and possess it, which Moses the servant of Jehovah gave you on this side of the Jordan toward the sun-rising. And they answered Joshua, saying. All that thou hast commanded us will we do, and whither thou shalt send us will we go. According as we hearkened to Moses in all things, so will we hearken to thee; only may Jehovah thy God be with thee as he was with Moses. Every one that is rebellious against thy commandment and hearkeneth not to thy words in everything that thou commandest us, shall be put to death. Only be strong and courageous” (verses 14 - 18). See what they can say here! “Only be strong and courageous”. I think that is a fine speech; it really contemplates, with other scriptures, those that are on low ground spiritually, but see how well they speak as coming into the land.
AFM I suppose there was room for the two-and-a-half tribes in Canaan; although the land on the wilderness side would suggest our responsible life here, such as wives, children, cattle, which must be looked after.
JT There was room in the land for all Israel, really. They elected to stay on the other side of Jordan, and it is to be noticed here that Joshua does not in any way discredit them or say anything to belittle their position. He puts them on the ground that they were given their inheritance by Moses.
GMacP Would that be like God clothing us wit His own thoughts?
JT I think so, and that helps to the working out of the great bond among us, clothing each other with divine thoughts; even the youngest amongst us, or the [p. 274] most unspiritual, has something if a Christian; he is assigned a place in the inheritance.
ABP We commit ourselves to that when we receive them to break bread.
JT We allow them their right rather, because that is what it is. They have a right to the tree of life to enter in by the gates into the city.
APT The territory of the two-and-a-half tribes is said to be “toward the sun-rising”; that is the positive side, is it not?
JT Yes, and that part of the territory is not discredited in Joshua. It is in Numbers, but here the Euphrates is the eastern boundary; hence they are in the territory assigned to them, from this point of view. Hence you say as little as you can to discredit any saint: make the most of him, because in some sense he has part in the inheritance of God.
JS East and west is more in view here than north and south.
AP The murmuring was missing with the two-and-a-half tribes; they were prepared to go forward and honour Joshua, so that they really can be taken account of in this positive way.
JT Quite. That is very striking.
ANW And only enforces your suggestion earlier about unity.
JT I think it does. The only way to get on together is to see that God clothes us as possessors of the whole land. ‘He has given it to you’, says Rahab, and we do well to regard each other as the fruit of such thoughts. In that way, I believe, we are led into unity, and endeavour to keep it in all lowliness and meekness, bearing with one another in love, endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the uniting bond of peace. There is only one other thought to be added, and that is David’s energy in laying hold of the fulness of the territory. As we read in 2 Samuel 8 the question of subjugation [p. 275] begins — not extermination; those subdued are garrisoned, so as to hold the territory in a living way, and then what comes in as spoil after taking the territory is dedicated to Jehovah. You will notice it says, “And Jehovah preserved David whithersoever he went. And David took the shields of gold that were on the servants of Hadadezer, and brought them to Jerusalem” (2 Samuel 8: 6,7). And then again, “He brought with him vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and vessels of bronze. Them also king David dedicated to Jehovah, with the silver and the gold that he had dedicated of all the nations that he had subdued: of the Syrians, and of the Moabites, and of the children of Ammon, and of the Philistines, and of the Amalekites, and of the spoil of Hadadezer, the son of Rehob, king of Zobah” (2 Samuel 8:10 - 12). So that this eastern part of the territory which from the standpoint of the book of Numbers they thought little of, now becomes a source of dedicated things. It is the subjugation of saints who may be regarded lightly, forming part of the territory; they begin to yield as soon as we lay hold of the extent of the territory.
CAM This matter of working eastward is a sort of complementary idea of the whole thing, and seems to have in view the whole earth. If David recovered his dominion by the Euphrates, we may take it for granted that all westward had been conquered. Here David and his men were really working eastward so as to include the whole earth.
JT That is good; it brings out the position today, that God is endeavouring to lead us on to the whole idea of what He has in His mind, in view of our entrance into the heavenly portion, and presently being translated; He would instruct us as to the whole idea. So I think Euphrates as the eastern boundary is the limit, rather, that God has assigned to us. There are other parts, of course, in view of the millennium, but He has assigned a part to us and He wants us to come into it;
[p. 276] we are therefore to grasp the immensity of the inheritance.
WFK Are these all subjugated to the rule of Christ, as Head of the assembly?
JT That is the idea; it is not a question of extermination as in Joshua, but one of subjugation. That is, the Lord brings us into subjection, and if He does that there will be something for Jerusalem, the house of God, in the way of dedicated things.
AP Does it require greater skill to subjugate than to exterminate?
JT Subjugation requires skill; you want to save as many as you can whilst overcoming them.
CAM Whatever may come in by and by, yet the comprehensive things that are said about the assembly have the most glorious largeness.
JT That is contained in Colossians and Ephesians, do you not think? It is love for all saints, and raised up together; which means that all saints are so raised up.
APT God uses this wonderful idea of subjugation to Himself in connection with His beloved servant, does He not? He does not annihilate him, but subjugates him in view of the great work he was to accomplish.
JT You refer to Paul? What God is now doing is to bring some of us, at least, into the light of the whole territory, because He has so many that are not subjugated. He wants us to reach out to the entire limits of the territory so as to get all He can for Jerusalem and the house.
AP This is beyond the gospel but secured through the gospel?
JT Well, it is rather getting those for dedication in the territory who are there ostensibly, but God has yet to have them in the way of dedicated elements.
ABP Is the full thought of unity entered into as we apprehend the assembly as Christ’s fulness?
JT [p. 277] Quite so.
ABP I suppose it works out locally in companies, where we are tested by the neighbour, but finds its full thought in the universal idea.
JT I think that is how we reach up to the greatness of the assembly, as we pass out of the local setting into the universal one. That is what I think this chapter, 2 Samuel 8, would bring before us, and it will be remembered by the brethren that it follows the line of sonship in chapter 7, where David went in and sat before Jehovah. What a grasp of things he got there! So that from all the wars that followed that occasion, David’s thought would be to get more from them for God.
ANW It is said that David went to “recover his dominion” — a very suggestive word.
JT Quite so. Showing that he was in keeping with the extent of God’s purpose for Israel.
ABP The thought, “from the rising of the sun even unto its setting” (Malachi 1:11) has greatly helped to bring the vast extent of purpose before our minds, do you not think?
JT Quite so; “From the rising of the sun even unto its setting” (Malachi 1:11), is very suggestive, as showing what God would get from the assembly today — incense and a pure oblation.
WB-w How does this thought of measuring work out in 2 Samuel 8, to keep alive by measurements? Would the measurements work out in the assembly, too?
JT I think Romans is suggested in making them lie down on the ground. It says, “And he smote the Moabites, and measured them with a line, making them lie down on the ground; and he measured two lines to put to death, and one full line to keep alive” (2 Samuel 8:2). The two lines, I think, would answer to the law, perhaps, and the prophets, but the one full line to keep alive would be Christianity.
GMacP The recovery of David’s dominion is a very interesting theme; he really occupied a dominical sphere.
JT Well, it is that; and he did not allow it to recede from him.
ANW You were speaking of the extension of the sphere; I was enjoying the thought of the recovery of his dominion. It is his dominion.
JT And, as was said of the Supper, it is the Lord’s supper, the dominical supper. The Lord dominates, and we own His rights over us. Then David proceeds to Jerusalem, as it says, “David took the shields of gold that were on the servants of Hadadezer, and brought them to Jerusalem” 2 Samuel 8:7. And then we have the present of Toi, king of Hamath, for David. It says of Toi, “He brought with him vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and vessels of bronze. Them also king David dedicated to Jehovah, with the silver and the gold that he had dedicated of all the nations that he had subdued: of the Syrians, and of the Moabites, and of the children of Ammon, and of the Philistines, and of the Amalekites”, 2 Samuel 8:7; 2 Samuel 8:10-12. It is a dedication of precious things to Jehovah. The result is for Jehovah, and I think that is how the service of God in the assembly works out; the Lord comes in in His dominical way as supreme, but then He works things out as the antitype of David in Jerusalem, for God and for the Father.
GMacP Would that be like the book of Acts, where first three thousand, then five thousand believed and formed part of the assembly? They were dedicated in principle.
CAM You get sonship in Jerusalem in the next chapter, too; you referred to sonship in the previous chapter.
JT Quite so, in connection with Mephibosheth; this chapter 8 is in the centre of rich thoughts of sonship. You feel how sonship greatly stimulates us to [p. 279] lay hold of the whole territory; it is for all the saints, you know.
AFM Do you refer to Jehovah’s promises to David and Solomon in 2 Samuel 7 when you speak of the house and sonship?
JT Yes; in chapter 7. It is in the light of that chapter David goes in and speaks before Jehovah.
AR Would you say the Lord, as David, seeks to secure all of us for God. In verses 1 to 9 he took the things, and then would transfer them to the Father?
JT That is right; David secured all his people for Jehovah. We want all the saints, we love them all; but the Lord wants us on His own terms; so the first thought is His dominion and then Jerusalem, and then God as Jehovah, and the dedicated things.
Pages 280 - 544 — “Administration in the Assembly”, 1937 (Volume 139).