THE CONTINUANCE OF THE TESTIMONY
THE CONTINUANCE OF THE TESTIMONY
JT What is in mind is to show that in any new movement of the Spirit of God those used will link on with what preceded; for the testimony is one whole, whether as regards its current rendering or its entirety. The book of 2 Chronicles is selected rather than that of 1 Kings in regard to Solomon, because Chronicles stresses the link with what has been before. What is to be observed in David’s regime is that he had two officers, a chronicler and a scribe. A chronicler would involve the linking on with all that is past in any given testimony, linking on all that is entered into with what preceded it. So Chronicles, it may be observed, begins with Adam and links the testimony on down to Ezra, and speaks of the twenty-four courses of the priests which David inaugurated and which reappear in the gospel by Luke. Luke carries on the testimony to Paul in Rome. So that if we look at this part of chapter 1 of the second book and link it on a little with the latter chapters of the first book we see how one generation, as passing away, being spiritual, links on with the one that is taking its place; and in time the one taking the place of the passing generation is concerned to make much of what there was, and that is what appears in this chapter. As will be observed, “Solomon spake unto all Israel”, then we read, “Solomon, and all the congregation with him, went to the high place that was at Gibeon; for there was the tabernacle of the congregation of God, which Moses the servant of the Lord had made in the wilderness. But the ark of God had David brought up from Kirjath-jearim to the place which David had prepared for it”.
[p. 250] So we have Moses and David linked on here by the incoming generation that is represented by Solomon. In 1 Kings, which, of course, also treats of Solomon’s reign, we shall find much less made of what preceded than we find in Chronicles. That is to say, the Spirit of God would stress in 1 Kings more what was actually existent in Solomon without special reference to what preceded him. It was the great wisdom that he had, and the great beneficence, the readiness, through the wisdom that God gave him, to solve difficulties; for any new movement of God will necessarily involve difficulties, and the wisdom which God gives enables us to meet these difficulties. In order that the link may be clear in 1 Chronicles, it is seen in chapter 23 that David associates Solomon with himself on the throne, showing that the elder ones as passing away or still continuing are ready to work with the younger and in no sense minimise their ability, but rather make the most of it. So much so that in this chapter we find that David reduced the levitical age from twenty-five to twenty, showing that he had full confidence in youth. He would make the most of it. He would not disparage youth. There would be a great many more young Levites on account of the reduction than had the age been left at twenty-five.
PL Paul and Timothy, John and Gains, set out those two thoughts in the New Testament. The parental care of Paul for his beloved child Timothy is seen; then there is all the instruction that love in Paul lavished upon him that he might go forward with the gain of all that had gone before in Paul’s own service.
JT You can see in Paul’s epistles to Timothy, to Titus, and to Philemon that he made the most possible of youth.
JC-S Do I understand that in the various stages of the testimony there will always be moral affinity between vessels of testimony whether old or [p. 251] young?
JT Moral affinity and mutuality, too. The principle with God is that “one generation passeth away, and another generation cometh”, Ecclesiastes 1: 4. It is the incoming one that is seen in Solomon, and the one passing away is seen in David. Love is working in both. David associates Solomon with himself on the throne according to 1 Chronicles 23: 1 “So when David was old and full of days, he made Solomon his son king over Israel”. That is, Solomon was king before David died, and what comes into evidence as we get this statement is youth, the number of Levites and how their age was reduced, as we see in verse 27: “For by the last words of David was this done, — the numbering of the sons of Levi from twenty years old and upward. For their place was by the side of the sons of Aaron for the service of the house of Jehovah”. So that great place is made for youth under these circumstances.
WHU Is this for the carrying on of the service in connection with the testimony?
JT That is so. The total number of the Levites, by their polls, was thirty-eight thousand, and then we are told what they were to do: “twenty-four thousand were to preside over the work of the house of Jehovah; and six thousand were officers and judges; and four thousand were doorkeepers; and four thousand praised Jehovah with the instruments which I made, said David, to praise therewith”,
1 Chronicles 23: 4, 5. Then it says, “David divided them into courses”, and then we have the reduction of the age which would add to the number. The succeeding chapters tell us how they were subdivided into courses and what comes out is that they were all numbered and lots cast for them, “the chief fathers of the priests and Levites, — the chief fathers, just as the youngest of their brethren”, 1 Chronicles 24: 31. They were taken all together. Then later it says, “And they cast lots ... the small as well as [p. 252] the great, the teacher with the scholar”, 1 Chronicles 25: 8. In this way God brings in the mutual side amongst His people, so that we share the work together; love amongst ourselves enables us to go forward profitably.
JC-S If God is introducing younger men there is often some resentment on the part of the older men. Do you think they are considering for themselves rather than for God?
JT Yes, that is evident. I think we should welcome our younger brethren. How beautifully David sets this out in taking one of them to have the same status as himself on the throne, for Solomon could not be much older than twenty at that time.
CAI Might there be different features coming out in the young in a new phase of the testimony being presented?
JT It is usually so. You get the evidence of life and freshness in youth, and the combination of the elder brethren’s experience that marks this service and gives the ornamentation and freshness that goes with life of all ages, all of which is needed in the testimony of God.
CAI The Levites have no longer to carry the tabernacle. That phase is past.
JT They are viewed as in the land. The application would be more for the saints who come together in the assembly where the land is in view.
WHU Do we get that in connection with the establishment of the covenant in Exodus 24, where Moses sends young men to offer the offerings (verse 5)?
JT That is the same as here. Exodus begins with old brothers in the service. Moses and Aaron were old, but the youths are immediately introduced as offering and serving as priests. And then we have Joshua, expressly called a young man, in the tabernacle. He is said to be Moses’s attendant.
EBMcC [p. 253] In Solomon we see a great enlargement of the offerings and of the holy service of God. It was so great that he had to establish fresh courts for the offerings.
JT Yes. What strikes you is the magnificence and bounty of the whole position where these conditions prevail. The Spirit of God enlarges on it, Solomon actually being king now, David having died, “And Solomon the son of David was strengthened in his kingdom, and Jehovah his God was with him and magnified him exceedingly”. That is the next thing where God is putting forward younger men, He is manifested as with them — are they making room for Him?
JC-S You referred to the elders as having power to make room for the fresh development. Their experience would greatly help the young men by guiding them and holding things in order.
JT Quite so. I think that is how the twenty-four elders (for the allusion in Revelation is to 1 Chronicles) are looking on. They sit on thrones and they have crowns, and when they see the living creatures recognise God reverentially they fall down and worship (Revelation 4: 9, 10). They are only too pleased to see the young come forward in effective service.
EBMcC 1 Chronicles 23: 28 would show that the Levites, in serving, were governed by priestly feelings of love and affection although they were young men.
JT Yes. “Their place was by the side of the sons of Aaron for the service of the house of Jehovah”; it was their appointed place.
JC-S One is struck by the way Samuel grew up under the wing of Eli without any resentment on the part of the latter, nor conflict between them.
JT It is a remarkable instance of what we are saying; he represents the side of growth, “the boy Samuel grew on”, 1 Samuel 2: 26. Some of us were speaking of youth as seen in Joseph in connection with the father in the patriarchal setting of the book of Genesis; and then youth in relation to the mediatorial system in Joshua, for he departed not from the tabernacle (Exodus 33: 11); and then in Samuel in relation to prophetic ministry, and lastly in relation to royalty in Solomon. It is a fourfold view of this great subject, the place that youth has in relation to the testimony in every setting of it. So that, even in regard to Eli, Samuel is most respectful to him as the high priest, but in due course Jehovah has to speak to Samuel and reveal matters to him, informing him of the misdeeds of Eli. We might say that should not have been told to the young brother, but Jehovah knows better than we do, and He puts the information where it should be. Samuel did not abuse the privilege thus conferred upon him, nor did he make any mention to Eli of the information God gave him, until Eli asked him about it. This was very seemly.
EBMcC We can see the thought of the apostle Paul in giving Timothy direction as to the qualifications of bishops and deacons and instruction as to how to speak to them; he had full confidence in Timothy as a young man.
JT It is remarkable that he trusts him to select the bishops and the deacons.
PL In Samuel’s last allusion to Eli, he seems to go out of his way to say what is creditable of him, putting on record that when mention was made of God he fell from off the seat, and that he had judged Israel forty years (1 Samuel 4: 18).
JT Apparently he gave him credit in relation to his last days. You mean that the young brother should make the most of what the old brother has been; even if there have been misdeeds, you never [p. 255] forget what he has been. Bring the whole history down, as Paul says to Philemon, “every good thing which is in us”, Philemon 6. So that we have maturity in youthfulness in Solomon seen in the fact that he spoke to all Israel. He had no favourites; he did not move on the line of special friendships. “And Solomon spoke to all Israel, to the captains of thousands and of hundreds, and to the judges, and to all the princes of all Israel, the chief fathers; and Solomon, and all the congregation with him, went to the high place at Gibeon”. We see there how maturity should appear in youthfulness, so that all the saints are carried in what is done. In another case, that of Rehoboam, he took counsel with the old men in the first place, and then with the young men, but he rejected the counsel of the old men and acted on the counsel of the young men (2 Chronicles 10: 13, 14). That is to say he was moving on partial lines and ended in disaster. Here we have all Israel carried by this young man, Solomon.
PL Was there another cross-current at the time, the rival usurper making his partisan selection and leaving out men of God, like the priest and the prophet — Zadok, Nathan, Benaiah, and so on? (1 Kings 1: 26).
JT You mean Adonijah, selecting some and rejecting others. You see here the maturity of the young man carrying all the people with him. “Solomon, and all the congregation with him, went to the high place at Gibeon”. They are all being linked on with what came before. The tabernacle at Gibeon represents here the previous testimony even including Moses.
JC-S I think that you are touching something of vital importance for some localities, for it is often discounting what has gone before that leads to [p. 256] the difficulty.
CFI Does that suggest the value of having things spoken of in a full care meeting rather than by just a few?
JT You mean that he spoke to the captains of thousands, and of hundreds, and to the judges, and to all the princes of Israel and the chief fathers. He spoke to them all.
CFI Sometimes there is a tendency to talk over things with some favourable to a course.
JT I think so. God is giving the care meeting a great place amongst us. Time was, since the revival, when the elder brothers had more in their hands, but in recent years God has stressed the Corinthian side of the position and the addresses to the assemblies in Revelation. Paul sent for the elders of Ephesus but in writing does not refer to the elders at all. In Revelation John writes to the angel, being representative of the whole. It was a question of the assembly and so 1 Corinthians is stressed now rightly because it is a question of the assembly of God which is in Corinth, and that necessarily includes everyone in the assembly. Each one is responsible though we are told that sisters are to be quiet in the assembly. There are certain provisions for brothers to come together to talk over matters and I believe Solomon may indicate that the Spirit of God has this in mind. All classes of the brethren are there and, of course, as there the elder brethren, being formed in experience and in the knowledge of God are sure to be valued, as whatever God has made a man, that he is, and in conference it will surely come to light. We need have no fear of radicalism. Normally the young would be subject, that is how the matter stands; for we talk over the matters tentatively at a care meeting. The care meeting has no executive authority at all; it is a question of the assembly. The epistles to the Corinthians require that the assembly is the executive [p. 257] power.
JC-S The care meeting does not finalise the judgment, the matter is brought to the assembly.
JT That is the thought, exactly.
EBMcC All you have named here, the captains, and the princes and the chief fathers, all merge as the assembly.
JT That is it. “Tell it to the assembly”. The care meeting is only tentative, leading up to that; even if it be a trespass of one brother against another, the procedure leads up to the assembly; if it cannot be settled tell it to the assembly.
PL The supreme final court of appeal.
JC-S It would be a serious matter not to hear the voice of the assembly.
JT It is to be heard.
CFI Would the care meeting ascertain the facts that would be presented for judgment?
JT That is right: “in the multitude of counsellors there is safety”, Proverbs 11: 14. There is safety in all the brethren looking into matters. In this dispensation of grace safety is in the multitude. The more general the information, and the less left with one or two, the better.
CFI Do you mean even in regard to the care of the needy?
JT All ought to be a matter of counsel. There is safety, as has been said, in the multitude of counsellors. The tabernacle was in view here and Solomon had the whole congregation with him. That is, the movement carries all the saints.
JC-S The tendency is sometimes to have those who are sympathetic on certain lines together and to leave out those who do not run along with them.
JT That is what we are trying to meet. “Let us therefore ... be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you. Nevertheless, whereto we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing”, Philippians 3: 15, 16. The point is to get all the saints moving in the same way, and to avoid strenuously every evidence of partisan feeling.
IL In some cases it has been the practice to leave the distribution of money for cases of need in the hands of one or two. I gather that that is not the best way.
JT No. It does not seem that there is any ground for that any more than leaving any other matter in the hands of one or two.
JC-S I think that has been done in some localities, as in some of our cities, where certain brothers have, without reference to the care meeting, met need if it is urgent.
JT That is quite all right; that is on the principle of confidence. I think what our brother is referring to is more than that.
IL It has been the custom for two to look into these matters and to report at the general care meeting.
JT The disposition of the money would be safer in the hands of the care meeting. You have the counsellors and better information would be gained in regard to each case, as mentioned when the brethren are together.
EBMcC What would you do if the brother were present who was the needy one? You might not care to bring his name forward.
JT Why should it not be brought forward? It is a matter of love. I think that above all things in relation to money matters everything ought to be open and stated so that all may understand.
PL It would elevate the collections in that way above the level of religious philanthropy, to the high dignity of the giving vessel, Christ’s glory.
JT That is the ground on which it is put. We have in the instructions with regard to giving that “they are deputed messengers of assemblies, Christ’s glory”, 2 Corinthians 8: 23. It is to be on a very high level, and the apostle himself would have some of the Corinthian saints to go with him in taking the money. It should not be left in the hands of one person (1 Corinthians 16:3, 4).
Ques Are they responsible to give an account to the assembly?
JT They are being entrusted with the bounty of the assembly, and the principle is, the assembly is to know what is being done.
Rem I suppose if we were more concerned about the matter, it would bring about greater sympathy.
JT I think so. There would be no question about it, no possible question about it, if everything is spoken openly. There is no more ground, so far as I see, for deputing indefinitely a service like that to one or two brothers than there is in committing any other matter in relation to the care of the assembly in general into the hands of two brothers.
GF Was not something of that kind done in Acts when they appointed the seven deacons?
JT They were appointed by apostolic authority. That could not be so now, otherwise we should have elders. There is no warrant for appointing deacons and bishops.
FW Where do you fit in Ezra’s remarks; certain of the chief fathers sat down to examine the matter (see Ezra 10: 16)?
JT That is a question of persons of experience, so that in the New Testament “the apostles and elders were gathered together for to consider of this matter” (Acts 15: 6), but executive authority belongs to the assembly, consideration is tentative.
GF I thought the appointment was by the brethren, not by the apostle.
JT The selection of the men was to be by the brethren. They were chosen as nominees; the appointment was to be by the apostles: “Whom we will establish over this business”, Acts 6: 3. They were to be men full of the Spirit.
JC-S All that you are speaking of now would help us to carry more responsibility in matters instead of leaving things to one or two.
JT I think it is much more wholesome if brethren came together to consider matters — and that is the idea. The apostles and elders came together to consider matters. Why not have all these matters, money above all, open? Our hearts are so knavish that we are exposed to the enemy unless we are open and under the eye of the brethren in what we are doing with money.
RMD Would this put the responsibility on every one in the locality to know what was done with the money?
JT That is the idea.
JCS Nothing is done in a corner.
JT “And Solomon spoke to all Israel, to the captains of thousands and of hundreds, and to the judges, and to all the princes of all Israel, the chief fathers; and Solomon, and all the congregation with him, went to the high place at Gibeon; for there was God’s tent of meeting which Moses the servant of Jehovah had made in the wilderness. But the ark of God had David brought up from Kirjath-jearim to the place that David had prepared for it: for he had spread a tent for it at Jerusalem”. See how the old brothers are taken care of by Solomon. Solomon and all the congregation go back as far as the tabernacle in the wilderness, so we are on sure ground — on apostolic ground. The whole testimony is carried forward in a cumulative way, and now we can proceed. We have the assembly in principle.
JC-S It would be dangerous for the young men to consult with one another.
JT Most dangerous. This passage is to preclude that. The assembly is formed of old and young,
[p. 261] men and women; all are to be carried. It is a question of moral weight and wisdom in what we are doing.
EBMcC We see the young men and the elder men in different camps in what we were citing as to Rehoboam.
JT That is a very sorrowful instance, over against this, of young men acting in a preferential way, and consorting with those of their own age and class. Had Rehoboam called the old brothers and the young together, he doubtless would have had good advice. God would have held them. But he rejected the counsel of the old men, and acted on the counsel of the young men; those who were brought up with him, not with Solomon. He had a coterie of young men around himself, even before his father died.
Here you have beautiful touches as to what preceded; what David had done, how he had come from Kirjath-jearim and brought the ark and spread a tent for it. And moreover it says, “And the brazen altar that Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, had made, was there before the tabernacle of Jehovah”. What a fine piece of work that was, the workmanship of Bezaleel!
JC-S It is hardly in keeping with the spirit of truth to discount the work of those who have gone before and regard it as obsolete.
JT Quite so. No spiritual man would do that, he would make the most of what preceded him. I think it is very beautiful what David did in going to Kirjath-jearim. Psalm 132 tells us what beautiful exercises David had about this: “I will not give sleep to mine eyes, slumber to mine eyelids, until I find out a place for Jehovah, habitations for the Mighty One of Jacob ... . Behold, we heard of it at Ephratah, we found it in the fields of the wood” (verses 4 - 6). It is a fine reference to the exercises of a godly man. Then there is Bezaleel, the skilled man [p. 262] of the wilderness; what he did is brought forward here. The testimony of God is all one thing. There are developments with David and now with Solomon and so it is that every generation brings its own peculiar freshness; every young brother and every sister has something distinctive. It is the working out of glory in the assembly.
PL “Star differs from star in glory”, 1 Corinthians 15: 41.
CAI So this would be a greater day than any preceding, having additional fresh features.
JT That is what is going to be shown out of this great development in this young man. The basis is laid here, and he is making the most of what preceded it. It is all one whole. And then in each generation it is in effulgence. “The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham” (Acts 7: 2), means that God had glory in His mind, and in calling out Abraham He meant to work it out, and each young brother and sister as they come in add their quota. What a wonderful effulgence of glory there is right on to the present moment!
PL Does Hebrews 11 suggest something like that, which is all gathered up in the beginning of chapter 12: “looking stedfastly on Jesus the leader and completer of faith”?
JT The totality of it is there.
JC-S If one thinks of the young men coming out, it would not curtail the older men; it would rather add to them if they make room for the younger in a gracious spirit.
JT They shine in beautiful lustre alongside the young men, more than by themselves.
Rem Experience which is with the old is valuable amongst the younger men.
JT That is what you get. Solomon is on the throne with David, but David is doing everything. The section of Scripture from chapter 23 on is remarkable,
but it is all David’s doings. Now it is Solomon’s doings. Solomon is alone now that David is dead. He is making the most of David and Moses and Bezaleel, and in the presence of all this it says in verse 7, “In that night God appeared to Solomon, and said to him, Ask what I shall give thee”. With all we have had here he now needs something more, and God puts it upon him.
DHR Solomon would be in a very favourable place to work things out.
JT Yes. He would see how David had commenced, how David did things, and the most spiritual things come out in these chapters.
DHR God gives him this privilege of asking what he will. “Ask what I shall give thee”.
JT He is being tested as to what he would like, as if God were to say, ‘You are on your own and what would you like?’ Solomon’s reply to God is very beautiful, “Thou hast made me king over a people numerous as the dust of the earth. Give me now wisdom and knowledge, that I may go out and come in before this people; for who can judge this thy great people? And God said to Solomon, Because this was in thy heart, and thou hast not asked riches, wealth, or honour, nor the life of them that hate thee, neither yet hast asked long life; but hast asked for thyself wisdom and knowledge, that thou mayest judge my people, over whom I have made thee king wisdom and knowledge are granted unto thee; and I will give thee riches and wealth and honour, such as none of the kings have had that have been before thee, neither shall any after thee have the like”.
We see how Solomon brings in his father in this matter, and that his position is according to what God said to David. What I need is wisdom. Elsewhere we are told he said to Jehovah, “I am but a little child: I know not to go out and to come in”, 1 Kings 3: 7. How beautiful this is as acknowledging our [p. 264] own inability to do anything aside from what God gives us!
JM Did Solomon come to the throne because he was the son who gained most from the wisdom and experience of his father?
JT Yes, I think so, “I was a son unto my father” — he had respect for his father — “tender and an only one in the sight of my mother”, Proverbs 4: 3.
JC-S Do you think he affords a model for young people, insomuch that he has regard for the things of God?
JT I think he had regard for the people of God “this thy great people”.
PL Must you not connect that with the ark and the tabernacle? Jehovah would clothe His people with great thoughts. The apostle says, “ourselves your bondmen for Jesus’ sake”, 2 Corinthians 4: 5.
JT So that Solomon is just to serve this great people.
PL The great unifying ideas of christianity, the thought of God dwelling, the place of Christ as the ark of God, the Spirit maintaining self-judgment, are great, unifying and harmonious features in which we can go forward in the testimony.
JC-S Do you think God allows circumstances to eventuate to test what is in a young man? God refers to what was in Solomon’s heart. The test brings out what is very pleasing to God.
JT It is all mentioned in verses 1 - 6. It is very commendatory of Solomon, and now what is in his heart in the presence of all this comes out relative to the great work he has to do. Nehemiah says, “I am doing a great work”, Nehemiah 6: 3. Solomon could not help feeling that a great task lay ahead of him; such a great matter lies before every coming generation, every young brother or sister. What do I need for it? What is in my heart? That is the point.
[p. 265] Solomon shines in the fact that he asks for wisdom, and God gives it to him.
DHR Did God give Solomon wisdom according to His estimate of what he needed?
JT From His own point of view. God knew what was needed even more than Solomon. The book of Kings opens up more in this respect. God loves to bring out what is in our hearts. James says, “If any one of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all freely and reproaches not”, James 1: 5.