OUR HEAVENLY PART
[p. 386] OUR HEAVENLY PART
Genesis 22:19; Genesis 24: 62 - 65; Deuteronomy 24: 5
JT We have alluded in our prayer to the opening verses of Ephesians: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in Christ”, so that our blessings are in the heavenlies, and not earthly. Although we are actually on earth, the assembly too, and the Spirit also, yet the assembly is heavenly; the assembly is out of heaven. Then in Corinthians we have, “Such as the heavenly one, such also the heavenly ones”. With these verses in mind, the first scripture is read because it does not record that Isaac came down from the mountain. It records much about his going up, that is going up to die, and after the figurative death of Isaac it is said in verse 14, “Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah-jireh; as it is said at the present day, On the mount of Jehovah will be provided”. Then we read, in verse 19, “And Abraham returned to his young men, and they rose up and went together to Beer-sheba. And Abraham dwelt at Beer-sheba”.
After this, we have recorded the genealogy of Rebecca, who is the assembly in type: “And Bethuel begot Rebecca” (verse 23). In chapter 23 Sarah dies, figurative of Israel’s disappearance off the scene to make way for the assembly, and then the whole of chapter 24 speaks of the assembly in type. This is a very long chapter of 67 verses. The verses we have read refer to Rebecca’s coming to Isaac, and it pictures Isaac, as it were, at leisure, not occupied in any ordinary manner, but just free. Nor does it speak of Abraham at the end of the chapter; it is Isaac, and Isaac is said to be the servant’s master, therefore it is a question of Isaac and Rebecca. These are the great subjects of the chapter, according to the apostle Paul’s comment in Ephesians, “I speak as to Christ, and as to the assembly”. The type speaks of Christ and the assembly, and therefore the assembly peculiarly fits into it, and the Lord’s supper fits into it. The verse in Deuteronomy is read from the books of Moses, that is the typical books, to show in type the Lord as having had a whole year of leisure after He takes the assembly. “When a man hath newly taken a wife, he shall not go out with the army, neither shall any kind of business be imposed upon him; he shall be free for his house one year, and shall gladden his wife whom he hath taken”.
It is thought that this outline would indicate to the brethren what may be profitably before us and that it may tend to lift us up to our heavenly part, especially as we are now in the Lord’s day, the first day of the week.
WH Would the thought of Mount Moriah, and going up to die, that you called attention to, suggest the elevation on which God is working, rather than the meeting of need? Are His own thoughts in view?
JT It would seem so. Genesis particularly affords God such opportunities. It is a book of liberty, not a book of the law, such as Exodus, Leviticus, or Numbers. In Genesis we see men at liberty, free to act according to their intelligence, and according to the liberty which God grants. So Christ and the assembly are peculiarly in it. It portrays the present time, which is not governed by public laws. The world of course is governed by Him in a providential way, but not directly; what He is dealing with directly is the assembly. The assembly does not come under the law in that sense. It is a remarkable period in which the Lord Jesus is seen above; of course, He is spoken of in the doctrine of Christianity as in heaven at the right hand of God, but He is not occupied particularly [p. 388] with anything on the earth or in the universe, but just the assembly and the gospel, which bears on it and has the assembly in view.
AR Would you say what you have in mind in remarking that Isaac is not said to have returned with Abraham?
JT Just that the Lord Jesus has gone into heaven. He will come out too, but not publicly; He comes out for the assembly with the assembling shout; but His public coming is subsequent to that. As it is rightly understood, we should be more taken up with that state of things, and we would be heavenly instead of grovelling down here in earthliness.
Ques Does the thought of divine co-operation come in — “they went both of them together”, as in John’s gospel, the Father and Son moving together?
JT Yes. The matter was between themselves, not a public matter. So the death of Jesus was carried out under divine direction. It was not simply that men did it; but it was by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God. They had taken and crucified Him, but that is how the matter is presented. The death of Christ is a public matter, as the book of Acts records it, but it is a question now of the Father, and the Son on the Father’s throne. All the prophetic public matter is held in abeyance; according to what Peter says, “Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things”, Acts 3: 21. All the prophets since time began are bearing on it, but the fulfilment of their word is in abeyance at the present time.
AR Whom does Abraham set forth in the type in this chapter?
JT I would say generally the Father; God of course, but God as Father; only, when we come to the end of the chapter, he is not in evidence. It is [p. 389] Christ that is viewed in the type as the master of the servant; Abraham is not mentioned at the close of the chapter. It is Christ, and I think that is how the matter stands in the Lord’s supper.
Ques What is signified by the camels?
JT It is another type of the Spirit. There are several types of the Spirit in the chapter, and the camels are a type of the Spirit as the power by which the assembly is taken to Isaac, and the servant, of course, is a type of the Spirit. He does everything for Rebecca, and what is remarkable about him is that he is astonished at what he finds in her, that is, in the assembly. Then Beer-lahai-roi would refer to the Spirit as enabling us to rise up to the heavenly position, the position proper to Christ and the assembly. It had to do with Hagar; the well was in connection with her, but Isaac was occupied with it; he was coming and going to it. There is some allusion to it in the margin, literally ‘came from coming to’, as if it were the prime thought in his mind. He is meditating in the field; he has nothing special before him. The one thing in his mind is Rebecca, hence what he remarks is not that Rebecca is coming, but that camels are coming. They would suggest to us the power by which we are brought to Christ.
AR What is meant by the servant saying, “That is my master!” What have you in your mind as to it?
JT It is not Abraham. Abraham is his master at the beginning and of course, in the antitype, he represents the Father. John makes everything of the Father, in his gospel particularly, but in the Lord’s supper the Lord is supreme Himself. It is not God’s supper, nor the Father’s supper, but it is the Lord’s supper.
AR You are connecting this with our assembly position and the point where things pass over to where Christ is supreme, where “That is my master!” would come in, where Christ takes full control.
JT Exactly. It is hardly understood by brethren, because constantly we hear of God, and the Father too, being approached very early, before the Lord’s supper is finished; whereas it is the Lord’s supper. The book of The Song of Songs corresponds in the Old Testament in that it is a question of the bride and the bridegroom, whether it be the assembly or Israel; although God is mentioned in it, but only by the name of Jah, chapter 8: 6.
WH Would you say a word regarding the covenant in the Supper as relating to Christ rather than to God?
JT The Lord says, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood”. “My” connects with Him. That is all I can say; of course much may be said of that, and it is open to us to say it, because the new covenant in Christ’s blood implies liberty. Paul says that God had made them able ministers of the new covenant, not of letter but of spirit, meaning that it gives liberty; “where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty”.
AR Does not the cup in some sense connect us with God, and with the love of God?
JT It is a question of a brother taking liberty to bring God into it; but the covenant here suggests the Lord, it is not the covenant of God; the Lord says, It is in “my blood”. In the early part of the service of God it is a question of Christ and the assembly.
AR Would you say that one would address the Lord in regard to the cup, and not God, but it might suggest to our hearts the love of God, as well as speaking of Christ’s blood shed for us?
JT It would, but it is well to keep it as it is. It is a question of Christ and the assembly.
[p. 391] Rem The cup is for a remembrance. “This do in remembrance of me” is said both in regard to the bread and the cup.
JT In the final light governing the Lord’s supper, which the Lord gave according to Paul in 1 Corinthians 11, that is added in regard of the cup. It is not found in the gospels, it is only found there. It seems to be an additional thought which the Lord is pleased to add, in furnishing the light as to the Supper to His servant Paul. I think we should pay attention to that. It is connected with Christ; the whole clause is connected with Christ Himself, not God or the Father.
Rem In regard to 1 Corinthians 11: 23, “I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you” suggests that the apostle had this directly from the Lord Himself.
JT Quite so. It is not anywhere else, but just there.
HB Does that link on with Matthew 16, when the Lord speaks of His assembly?
JT Yes, just so. It is God’s assembly too, but in that passage it is Christ’s assembly.
HB What you have before you is to introduce us into that setting, so that we are with Him in connection with His assembly?
JT It is what He is getting. You might say He has not anything else now. He has not got Israel, or the nations. He is “caught up to God”, Revelation 12: 5. I believe the assembly is caught up with Him. The One who is caught up is to rule the nations with a rod of iron; that is pending, but He is waiting; in the meantime He is occupied with the assembly.
RB Why does it say that Isaac saw the camels coming? It does not say he saw Rebecca coming.
JT There is the fact that everybody should see. You would think he would be looking for Rebecca, but he saw the camels coming. Possibly it might [p. 392] be said that, looking across the desert, the camels would be more obvious, but Isaac knew, and the type would imply that Christ knows. I think the point in the passage is that it is a question of the power by which she is carried. “Rebecca arose, and her maids, and they rode upon the camels, and followed the man. And the servant took Rebecca and went away” (verse 61). Now in the next verse we read that Isaac had just returned, and, verse 63, “he lifted up his eyes and saw, and behold, camels were coming”.
RB Does that link on with what we have in Song of Songs? “Who is this, she that cometh up from the wilderness like pillars of smoke?”
JT That is what I understand. It is mentioned twice, and it is described in chapter 3.
Ques In 1 Corinthians 11 are the affections of the saints engaged with the Lord Himself, and the way in which He presents Himself to us, so that we are led from one point to another in the service Godward?
JT That is right. There are sections, so to speak, in the service of God, for it extends beyond the Lord’s supper, but the Lord’s supper is taken, and was taken from the beginning as the inauguration of the service of God. It is said in Acts 2, they were “breaking bread in the house”. That is what marked them “in the house” in contrast to the temple. It is detached from the Jewish system even from the beginning.
Ques Would we discern the movements of the Lord, as coming from and going to the well, thus touching the hearts of the saints, until all are engaged with Himself?
JT Well, I should say His coming from and going to the well would be stressing the place the Spirit has: the Lord is indicating that we are not relying on the Spirit enough. The Spirit’s power [p. 393] underlies the Supper, and if we take it aright we must recognise Him. He occupies us with the Lord. It suggests that we do not recognise the Spirit enough.
AR You are suggesting then that at the early part of the meeting we address the Lord.
JT Yes.
AR But the Spirit would be conducting; He would lead us on to the point when Christ comes into control, and when He is supreme.
JT Well, yes. Only that the Spirit would be there all the time. We rely on the Spirit; things are done by the Spirit. He is viewed as the Spirit of God, or, to be more accurate, just the Spirit by Himself. Then, later on, He is the Spirit of adoption, whether relative to our place as the brethren of Christ or as the sons of God.
Ques The feature of the lifting up of the eyes is prominent in this chapter. What would we gather from this?
JT It is the action of Isaac himself; he lifted up his eyes and saw, and behold, the camels were coming, and then it says that Rebecca lifted up her eyes and saw Isaac; she sees him alone, and she sprang off the camel. That would be another suggestion of the spiritual power she had: suggesting Christ’s occupation with the assembly and the assembly’s occupation with Him.
Ques Would the upper and nether springs of Achsah apply to this?
JT It is somewhat similar, only that Caleb gives Achsah his daughter the springs, but I think we should not pass too quickly over chapter 22. The fact that Isaac is not said to have come down characterises the assembly period, it is a period, a nondescript sort of dispensation, things not being named specifically, but they are there. Everything is there, only we are supposed to see things and know [p. 394] things, to find things out, and hence, when the Lord’s supper is in question, Paul says, “I speak as to intelligent persons”, appealing to our intelligence, as if we should know things, and then he says, “Do ye judge what I say”, 1 Corinthians 10: 15.
GD Does the Lord’s supper produce this spring and energy with us, as seen in Rebecca springing off the camel?
JT I think it does, as when the movement is felt in the assembly, when the Lord is apprehended as coming in. “It is the Lord”, as John the beloved said. When Mary Magdalene brings her message there is nothing very formal; she told the disciples that she had seen the Lord. I think things are informal; everything is free. The suggestion is that we are to be intelligent in everything.
AM Referring again to chapter 22, is the reference to Beer-sheba a reference to the Spirit here in the absence of Christ?
JT I think it would be a reference to the faithfulness of God. Beer-sheba is the well of the oath, therefore of the purposes of God. Abraham and his young men dwelt there.
AM Do the dwelling conditions at Beer-sheba involve the Spirit of the dispensation?
JT Yes. The first and second epistles to Corinth are to establish us, especially the second epistle. Hence the apostle says, “Now God is faithful, that our word to you is not yea and nay. For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, he who has been preached by us among you... did not become yea and nay, but yea is in him. For whatever promises of God there are, in him is the yea, and in him the amen, for glory to God by us. Now he that establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, is God, who also has sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts”. That is the idea in these two assembly letters, and they are intended to correct [p. 395] us and adjust us, and establish us. I believe that is the idea of the well of the oath, so that God is said to be faithful. In the first and second epistles to Corinth there is thus an allusion to Beer-sheba. The Spirit is here to establish us, and hence the great prominence given to the Spirit in these epistles.
FI Have you in mind, when referring to Isaac not coming back, that we should, in moving towards the Supper, have our eyes upon the Lord as He is in glory, so as to have the power to enter into all the Supper leads to?
JT Yes. We leave our houses, and we come to the meeting place; we meet the brethren first of all, we meet one another; it is a question of love, where we really value one another. We sit down together in love. All that is in the light of Christ in heaven, the rejected Man, cast out here, but glorified there. Then His movements are towards us.
AR Would you say there is a point when we ought to realise the Lord’s coming in amongst us?
JT I would. I believe there is a stirring in our affections when that happens. The Spirit would never fail to occupy us with Christ, especially when there is anything like presentation, and so it is said that He presented Himself to them living, as if He would say, It is Myself. Your eye would be directed to Him.
Rem It was when she saw Isaac that she sprang off the camel.
JT That is the point. It suggests spiritual energy.
AR Then would you say that we would not address the Lord as in heaven, but rather as present amongst us?
JT I would say that.
AR One has been concerned lately as to addressing the Lord as in heaven after the breaking of [p. 396] the bread and the sense of His presence has been realised.
JT I think we should keep before us that we are in the Lord’s realm, so to speak, and then in the Father’s realm. First of all, we are in the Spirit’s realm; He is here to take care of us. As the Comforter He abides with us. The Lord is up there taking care of our interests there, but the Lord has the right in His own Person to move, and I believe that Isaac represents that in the passage read, coming from and going to the well, and what he notices, and how Rebecca comes into view as having reverence for him, veiling herself, as if to say that she is not to be occupied with anyone else. She is wholly for him, as Paul said, “I have espoused you unto one man, to present you a chaste virgin to Christ”, 2 Corinthians 11: 2. We are there for Him.
RMcK With reference to the energy in Rebecca, is the idea the same as Dan springing forth from Bashan (Deuteronomy 33: 22)?
JT He leaps from Bashan; it is power to get out of an awkward position. It is not to Christ, it is from Bashan, from some place. I do not know if that is in your mind.
RMcK I just wondered if the wilderness is the place where we break bread, and there is power to move over into the land.
JT The idea is that there is power in us. The Spirit is the power.
JM What movement of the Lord is suggested by Isaac walking in the fields to meet her?
JT Isaac had just returned from Beer-lahai-roi, for he was dwelling in the south country. It was a position of favourableness and liberty. We pointed out that Joseph was a man of affairs, he was lord over all Egypt, and he had many things to administer; the immensity of the work has been noted. When he would come to show himself to his brethren [p. 397] he comes in at noon as if to lunch, speaking simply. He has plenty to do and is going back to do it, whereas Isaac is not employed thus. He is at leisure, and all that accompanies that fact is presented to bring out the present dispensation, how the Lord is free now. He is not occupied ruling the universe, or the nations. He is not on the throne of David, not even on His own throne, but on His Father’s throne. He has time and leisure, as you would expect, the liberty of the Son, and so the dispensation goes on for centuries. We wonder why He is so long detained at this period when Israel and the nations and Christ’s place in creation are in abeyance, but He is occupied with the assembly, and the point for us is to be exercised to answer to it, to be like Rebecca. She had come a long way at the behest of Abraham; she is to be for Isaac, and she knows it, and she says in effect, I am for you only, and she takes the veil and covers herself.
Ques What would be the thought of Isaac going to the field to meditate? He would be fully aware that the servant had gone to get a bride for him.
JT He would. The Lord is perfectly aware of everything, but He is seen in a subject attitude, and yet He is not subject on this particular occasion. He is the master, and He has a free hand; He is not occupied with other things. He is ready for us all the time and we want to be ready for Him. That is the point Rebecca makes; she is ready for him.
HB In that way we are occupied with the activity of love, seeking to introduce one another on to assembly ground, and into assembly function.
JT That is right. We come together to meet one another; we go there because we love one another and there is much done in the beginning of the meeting which bears on the general position of Christ’s interests on earth, it is not yet the ruling of the nations; we have nothing to do with voting or the [p. 398] like, secret societies, or social functions. Business is of secondary importance, especially on the first day of the week; we are all ready for Him and the idea is that we have power over our own minds: “I myself with the mind serve God’s law”. We have power over our minds, so as to occupy them with certain things for a certain time, and that is with Christ.
AS Would Rebecca’s question be of importance, “Who is the man”?
JT That brings out something else, it says, “she had said to the servant, Who is the man that is walking in the fields to meet us?” That is an historical thing, another matter to be considered, a matter of history in regard to Christ. The question who the Lord is enters into the service. The servant said, “That is my master!”
JB Does verse 65 precede verse 64 in that sense?
JT No doubt historically it did, because it says, “she had said... Who is the man...?”
JST Was Mary ready for the Lord when He called her by name?
JT That is it. That is when she comes in to the thing fully. She says “Rabboni”.
WS When the servant said; “That is my master!” then Rebecca veiled herself. Would that suggest the spirit of devotedness?
JT Just so, and that we are exclusively for Him. I think the veil would mean that she was fully for Isaac.
RB Does she answer to the pearl at this juncture?
JT She does. Because that also is a matter of history, what he gave for her (Matthew 13: 46). That is historical: he “went and sold all whatever he had”; but in verse 44, speaking of the treasure, it is the present tense; for joy he “goes and sells all whatever he has”. Therefore verse 46 is greater, because it alludes to the counsels and purposes of God. “Whatever he had” was historical; he sold all to have the pearl.
GL Would this be seen in Psalm 45? The King greatly desired her beauty.
JT Just so. That is, of course, on moral grounds. “Forget... thy father’s house”. What is said to her is not like the pearl; it is a question of what she forsakes, meaning that you will give up mere nature for Him, and the King will desire “thy beauty”. But as to the pearl nothing is said about it in that sense, it is what it is essentially, it is of great price. The merchant would understand that.
Ques Can you tell us why the thought of securing a wife for Isaac originated with his father?
JT That is understandable. In Matthew 22 the king would make a marriage for his son. I mean, the Father was in that. Still, in figure, the Lord seeks a wife. We see that in Adam. God thought of it before him. It was not good that he should be alone, but he did not find anybody suitable, as if he were looking for one, showing how the truth runs concurrently, the truth bearing on divine Persons.
JL Could we have a word on Deuteronomy?
JT It is just to confirm Genesis, because Genesis is unique in the five books of Moses. I have no doubt the five books of Moses are like the five books of the Psalms. There is more latitude in the first book. In Genesis persons are shown as doing things of themselves, but when we come to the typical books we are on narrower ground, and it is what we are told to do; it is not what the person does but what he is told to do. “The Lord commanded Moses”, for instance. In Deuteronomy 24 we have a reference to marriage, and it runs on down to the end of verse 4, and then we have, “When a man hath newly taken a wife”. It is clear that it is a picture [p. 400] of something, and I think something in Genesis. I think all this would refer to Christ and the assembly. He is free from ordinary things that belong to Him, as we have already said. Israel belongs to Him, the nations, and the universe too; He made it, and He is to rule it, but He is free from all that at the present time, a remarkable figure. And He is to be in His house, which would be the assembly. Hebrews speaks about the Son, and that the Son is the builder of the universe, and the universe is God’s house, and the Lord has right to it, but He is confining Himself now to the assembly. He is occupied with the assembly for a whole year. “He shall be free for his house one year, and shall gladden his wife whom he hath taken”.
JB What is the extent of one year?
JT It is used elsewhere for an indefinite period. The acceptable year of the Lord has lasted eighteen or nineteen centuries, and it is called a year.
Ques Do you link this verse in Deuteronomy with Isaac dallying with his wife Rebecca?
JT Quite so. It suggests what He has in the assembly; He is free to be occupied with us, not having any business on His hands. This is most suggestive and most touching, that He is with us and we are with Him, yet He is the maker of the universe. Joseph was called, The sustainer of the life of the world. Well, the Lord Jesus will be that, but He is now confined to the assembly.
WC Is that suggested in what Abraham says to his servant, “Bring not my son thither again”?
JT Yes. Isaac was to be a type of Christ. He is not to be brought back into the world yet, but God is going to bring the First-begotten into the world, we are told. The coming of the Lord is the fulfilment of this. We are enjoined to love His appearing, because it is the time He comes into everything that is His. In the meantime He is telling [p. 401] us how much He loves us, and He wants us to be with Him and so He is going to take us up with Him to receive us unto Himself.
AR In Genesis she became his wife, and he loved her and Isaac was comforted after the death of his mother, but in Deuteronomy it is from his side. He shall gladden his wife whom he hath taken. Does that suggest that it is reciprocal?
JT Yes indeed. And hence what a time the first day of the week is! Luke says in Acts 20, “And the first day of the week, we being assembled to break bread”.
Rem “Newly taken a wife” — that is a beautiful touch; there is nothing historical about her.
JT Quite so, it is the newness of it. It is a new matter in his experience.
Rem The bride says in the Song of Songs that the bridegroom is altogether lovely. Do you think that the assembly should take on these features, what the Lord is to the assembly?
JT Quite so, and in the Song of Songs we have also, “Thou art all fair, my love”.
Ques Does this bear on the gospel of John in a particular way, where the Lord has so much to say to His own in chapters 13 to 16?
JT Yes. He spends far more time with the disciples in John than He does in the other gospels.