HEADSHIP SEEN IN DAVID
[p. 111] HEADSHIP SEEN IN DAVID
Psalm 89:19-27; 1 Chronicles 23:1-6; 1 Chronicles 29:10,11; 1 Chronicles 29:23-25
JT It may be remarked that we considered royalty in David yesterday, so that it seems as if headship in David would be a fitting subject to follow.
In considering the subject of royalty we proceeded as far as David dancing before the ark as it approached mount Zion. Whilst David rises at times to a type of Christ personally, he also represents the royal feature in the saints, for it is only in the saints we should look for dancing before the ark, which is a type of Christ personally, as the power of God and the glory of God. That is, in occupation administratively with the things of God, we are to serve royally, but we come to recognise that the excellency of the power is of God and not of us. Then it was pointed out that there is an additional feature immediately, namely, sonship as seen in the passage in 2 Samuel 7. Sonship is introduced without Solomon being named, although he is alluded to as the seed of David.
The subject of sonship stands allied with what is before us today, for it is a son who is head. If we are to reach headship, we have to follow this line; that is, we come to sonship, and then we enter on an experience of displacement; Solomon the son is in mind as displacing David, but the displacement really implies merging, as this psalm shows. It shows that David was regarded as a son, for it is said in verse 26: “He shall call unto me, Thou art my father, my God, and the rock of my salvation”, and then Jehovah says, “And as to me, I will make him firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth”. So that we have to bear in mind that David is the great governing idea — David viewed as a type of Christ — and as we progress to sonship we must not lose sight of him; David tells us himself in 1 Chronicles 28, that he was made “king over Israel for ever”, 1 Chronicles 28:4.
So that it is David’s throne, but whilst it is the throne of David on which Solomon sits, it is also the throne of Jehovah — which is to be noted in the last chapter: “And Solomon sat on the throne of Jehovah as king instead of David his father”. We are now definitely in the presence of sonship installed on the throne of Jehovah, and it is in this connection that the thought of headship appears formally; David refers to Jehovah as “Head above all”. So that, bearing these things in mind, by the Lord’s help, we may consider David as accepting the substitution of the son for himself in 1 Chronicles 17. Solomon is spoken of before he was born, in chapter 17 and in 2 Samuel 7, but as he is born our attention is called to him: David calls him Solomon, and then he is prophetically called Jedidiah; that is, he is peace to David, but he is beloved of Jehovah. He is prophetically indicated as one whom Jehovah loves. The prophetic word is what brings the thing home to us in its initial stage; that is, Nathan announces him as Jedidiah, and so we are to understand that the one who sat on the throne of Jehovah, is loved of Jehovah.
SH If the thought of rule is connected with what is kingly, would you say what is connected with headship?
JT Headship is in wisdom, in allocating responsibility to all the saints and in the ordering of their service: disclosing the wisdom of God. Christ is said to be “made to us wisdom from God, and righteousness, and holiness, and redemption”, 1 Corinthians 1: 30. He is made that on God’s part, and in due course He comes to be apprehended as allocating responsibility, and then as ordering the various services of the kingdom and the house. So David in chapter 23 installs Solomon his son on the throne with himself. The features represented respectively in David and Solomon run on together; and then you have immediately the number of the Levites, thirty-eight thousand, and their responsibility; twenty-four thousand of them to preside over the work [p. 113] of the house, six thousand for officers and judges, four thousand for doorkeepers, and four thousand singers. That is, the son is on the throne — David yet on it, too — and you have the great general thought of the distribution of responsibility to the Levites; so that headship in Christ becomes apprehended in this way. Romans, for instance, brings Him in as Lord, that is, He is in the place of authority, and then He begins to be personally great to us; “much more” is repeatedly said of Him, so that He becomes increasingly great to us morally. In Corinthians, He is “made to us wisdom” 1 Corinthians 1:30, and in that epistle it is said that His head is God: “the Christ’s head God”, chapter 11: 3. But then in Colossians He is Head to us on personal grounds; He is formally called the Son of the Father’s love, into whose kingdom we are introduced, and He is said to be “head of the body, the assembly”, chapter 1: 18 that is the full statement; so that the believer learns to look to Him for guidance; we hold the Head. That is to say, we have to do with matters that have never been considered before; well, He comes in in that way, and it is not a question of what is commanded, but of what you will get from Christ at the particular time. As we acquire knowledge of Him as Head, we are never baffled, we get wisdom from Him. Then in Ephesians, He is said to be “head over all things to the assembly” (chapter 1: 22); that is, you see the full bearing of His headship.
Ques Do you connect vision with headship? I was thinking of the expression, “Where there is no vision the people cast off restraint”, Proverbs 29: 18.
JT A vision is very special — something additional to headship. We have commandments which are the test to us, as set out in Romans and 1 Corinthians in the main; but then Colossians is headship; Christ is the Head of the body, and as we reach that ground, we learn to look for fresh living impulses affording [p. 114] light, guidance and general resourcefulness resulting in increase with the increase of God.
PL Would the test case at the beginning of Solomon’s reign in regard to the two women suggest that line of things?
JT That is a good illustration of what we are saying. In 1 Chronicles sonship is passive, as you might say; it is Solomon coming into view and being recognised. But in 1 Kings it is active; the case of the mothers of the children coming in after David died, is a test case. It is a question of bringing out headship, the wisdom we can rely on in Christ. Such cases come up constantly. There are commandments, that is, great general principles and precedents, but then, there are difficulties not hitherto encountered, and these require fresh light from the Lord.
PL Yes, questions that involve light. Headship involves the solution of such questions, and therefore requires spiritual instincts in us as much as light and intelligence.
JT Quite so. You find that Solomon spoke of life in all its features; I mean, life in its lower grades, animal life and vegetable life; so that as Head, the Lord deals with various movements and phases of life. Difficulties arising, there are great general principles to go by, but we need something which the Lord alone can give, and hence we go to Him as Head. Thus all becomes plain and there is general edification and increase.
PL So that the varied forms of evil in satanic opposition are divinely allowed to lead us to draw upon the wealth of our Head in resurrection?
JT That is the thought. So those two mothers bringing the child may be viewed as applicable to any assembly trouble. Through headship there is discernment as to who is the mother of the child; that is to say, maternal exercises and affections are manifestly a guide. Those that are concerned about the saints can [p. 115] count on this; and they will desire that none should be lost, nor suffer damage.
JCMW With regard to David in 2 Samuel 7, would you say a word as to Nathan’s message, and why he is brought in?
JT Nathan is the prophetic side. We have already alluded to him as indicating Jehovah’s love for Solomon. But now he concurs with David as to his exercise, evidently without seeking the mind of God. David thought he would build a house for Jehovah, and Nathan said, “Go, do all that is in thy heart, for Jehovah is with thee” 1 Chronicles 17:2. But apparently Nathan was below his office; he was simply concurring in what the king suggested, whereas his office was to furnish the mind of God. However excellent our exercises may seem to be, we must have the mind of God; and so the word of the Lord came to Nathan that night. Adjustment was needed, and so he tells David that he is not to build the house: his seed — who should withal be Jehovah’s son — would build the house. Therefore, the thought is impressed upon us prophetically; it is a way that God has of impressing us. Beyond the mere statement of a thing, a prophet impresses you with it as the mind of God. David accepts it at once, and in the light of the prophetic announcement by Nathan he goes in and sits before Jehovah. He is not resentful, on the contrary he accepts the mind of God thankfully; he moves in the light of sonship, for in truth it applies to himself, according to Psalm 89. So he went in and sat before Jehovah; he has liberty not only to go in, but to sit before Jehovah.
WT I was wondering whether Proverbs would give us the details of what you are saying, where a son receives counsel, that he might know instruction and wisdom. Then, in the Song of Songs we have Solomon’s communications in love, and the outcome in both books is that there might be a counterpart for [p. 116] Christ.
JT just so; in truth the whole book of Proverbs enters into our enquiry today; for, as Colossians says, the Father has “translated us into the kingdom of the Son of his love” Colossians 1:13, and it is in that setting you get headship. The epistle goes on to tell us that “he is the head of the body, the assembly” Colossians 1:18. The book of Proverbs leads on to headship, opening up wisdom as applicable to various conditions with which we have to do.
WF Would the prayer in Colossians 1 be in line with what you are saying? — “That ye may be filled with the full knowledge of his will, in all wisdom and spiritual understanding”, verse 9.
JT Yes. We have to come to it, to get as it were beyond commandments, and yet not beyond them, for principles always stand. It is more important really to retain the principles than the persons with whom we are linked. John would stress persons; and they are all great persons — a hundred and fifty-three great fishes. But without minimising the value of the saints, the principles come first morally, and if we put the persons before the principles, we shall probably lose both. We may keep the persons, but we will keep them to their loss and ours too. The levitical family of Gershon had to do with the curtains of the tabernacle and such features, which would mean the principles governing us; whereas Merari had to do with the boards and the pillars and such things, which refer to persons.
AN Would you say that the only way in which persons can be preserved is by being true to the principles?
JT That is right. We may preserve them literally by putting them before the principles, submerging the principles to keep them, but in truth we do not preserve people in this way: they can be kept according to God only by maintaining divine principles in relation to them. Faith would maintain the principles at all costs.
AN In connection with Levi in Exodus 32, when it was a question of principles they used the sword,
[p. 117] but ultimately it became the preservation of the people.
JT Yes. The use of the sword there, as you say, was to maintain principles. They slew the persons, but in maintaining the principles they maintained the whole position for God.
WSS In connection with the thought of headship, I would like to ask as to the way in which it is reached. In the case of David, he had been through the conflict and was victorious before the thought of headship came into view.
JT Already you have Solomon in a small way. First, you have him announced prophetically in chapter 17 of this book and chapter 7 of 2 Samuel, but in chapter 12 of 2 Samuel he is born, that is, he is there is a small way. He has come upon the scene after great suffering on David’s part. What will David call him? He called him what fitted in with his own state at the time; he called him by a name signifying peaceful. But the prophetic announcement comes, that he is “beloved of Jehovah”. Those are two elements in the soul that lead on to headship.
WSS I was thinking that the principles that have been spoken of had been settled in the conflict of David prior to this time.
JT Well, they had been settled to a point, but much in this respect transpired after sonship was announced in 2 Samuel 7. David immediately has to enter on fresh wars, and before the birth of Solomon there is his own great crime, which he fully owns. Then, after the birth of Solomon, you have the terrible sword of Jehovah in David’s own house: the sword should never depart from his house. He had to learn that, and go through the awful experience involved in Absalom’s rebellion, bringing out very great principles. So that you have the thought of sonship in a small way, and prophetically, and then it is gradually developed; and what is really in view in 1 Chronicles is to bring us on to the fulness of it. First he is on the throne alongside [p. 118] of David; David is still on the throne in chapter 23, but in the end of the book David dies. But for the full type we have to regard the death of David rather as sonship in him, merging in Solomon, that is, from the standpoint of Psalm 89; thus we have come on to the full thought of headship in Christ; that is, He is on the Father’s throne, but He is there as the Son.
AHG In speaking of Solomon introduced in a small way, were you linking that up in your mind with the apprehension of Christ as Head in Romans?
JT I was. He comes in there informally, but nevertheless forcefully. It is the “much more” of chapter 5; it begins to grow with you. Romans begins with sonship; it is the gospel of God’s Son, and in the early part of chapter 5 we have received the reconciliation through the death of God’s Son. He is there in that way, but it is the “much more”, I believe, that begins to dawn on you, that this Person who is your Saviour, is the One you can turn to in everything; hence in chapter 7 we are to be to Another, who has been raised from among the dead.
WF Would it be in line, that in the latter part of chapter 5 the new Head comes in in contrast to Adam?
JT Yes. It is the “much more”; you can reckon on all that is needed being found in Him.
WSS So the “much more” would link on with the last chapter of 1 Chronicles. You have Adam to begin the book, and Christ in type as Son at the end.
JT That is it. In the end of the book you see how the line runs on; it is the son on the throne, and not now the throne of David, but of Jehovah. I think it is the first time you have the expression, “the throne of Jehovah”.
JMcK Why is it on the throne of Jehovah that royal majesty is vested in Solomon? Is that the thought of the merging you spoke of?
JT Yes. It is to stress the full thought of sonship. Solomon being still young, it is not a question of [p. 119] maturity, but the carrying forward of sonship. From the time of its introduction in this book the idea of sonship is growing in your mind, until you come to its fulness, and you have such majesty as had not been before; later on in Solomon’s reign you see it even more fully. It shines in the building of the house and the setting up of the service of God there.
JMcK Would you say a word as to the difference between royalty and majesty?
JT They are very nearly alike. The word for royalty is simply that it is kingly, and the idea of a king is a man who is able and can do things. So we begin to see it in Christ, how He did things, with what dignity He did them, the unselfish dignified power that marked Him in doing them — you have all that allied with majesty. Peter says, “having been eye-witnesses of his majesty. For he received from God the Father honour and glory, such a voice being uttered to him by the excellent glory: This is my beloved Son, in whom I have found my delight; and this voice we heard uttered from heaven, being with him on the holy mountain”, 2 Peter 1: 16 - 18.
GM Do you get this thought reflected in “the princes, and the mighty men” here?
JT Just so.
Rem They submitted themselves to Solomon.
JT “And all the princes, and the mighty men, and all the sons likewise of king David, submitted themselves to Solomon the king”. All such princely power is seen submitting to this supreme power. It is not merely official, it is superior. Anyone who saw the Lord Jesus on the mount would perceive this superiority in Him owned as Son. Peter expresses this in the passage just quoted.
Ques Do I understand that in headship we have all the resources of wisdom and that in what is prophetic we have the mind of God for any given [p. 120] moment?
JT Yes. Nathan represents this side of prophecy; he brings in the mind of God at any given time. You do get “the book of Nathan” mentioned, but it is not extant; his was current prophetic ministry, the mind of God for his time. So when David sinned, Nathan spoke his parable and said to David, “Thou art the man”. It is the present moment with Nathan. Then, when Solomon is born, it is said that God “sent by the hand of Nathan the prophet; and he called his name Jedidiah” 2 Samuel 12:25; that is a present thing. It is a great matter to have a prophetic ministry of this kind. It means that the truth for the moment is driven home as from God; there is power in the ministry of prophecy, compare 1 Corinthians 14.
Ques Would you say that it was kingship when Jesus spoke to Saul of Tarsus on the way to Damascus, and headship when he sent Ananias to speak to him?
JT Just so, although I think we might really include the thought of headship in the word to Saul: “I am Jesus, whom thou persecutest” Acts 9:5. His body was implied, but then the situation in Damascus was complicated, and it fits in, as you suggest. But the Lord’s authority is evident in each case. Today constant difficulties arise involving complications which are the result of local conditions among the brethren, so that there is always something to adjust. The Lord says to Saul, “enter into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do” Acts 9:6. But then, what is in the city? If we have to do with any meeting, what is in the meeting? Here is a matter to be settled — is there a priest there? Was Ananias a priest? Could a convert be entrusted to him — an “elect vessel” indeed, in his early stages? No, and yet the Lord says, “enter into the city”. He did not say, Go to Ananias. He had something in the city; the Lord will see to that, He controls it, and if any meeting has to deal with a complicated matter He will qualify the brethren, as they are subject, to deal with it. So He goes before and speaks to Ananias; He calls [p. 121] him by name and he hearkens — meaning that the Lord knows the saints by name in the meeting. He tells him about Saul and says, “go into the street which is called Straight, and seek in the house of Judas one by name Saul, he is of Tarsus: for behold, he is praying” Acts 9:11. What a subject that is for a priest! A new convert, and he is praying, and the Lord is sending him to him. But Ananias did not move as a priest. He said, This man is so and so; he went back to earlier history, but earlier history is nothing, it is what the man’s state is now. And the Lord says, “Go, for this man is an elect vessel to me” Acts 9:15. He adjusted Ananias, and Ananias went and acted as a priest. So, as you take up things locally, the idea of wisdom or resource comes in there, in the way the Lord prepares us for serving others.
AN If a local difficulty is prolonged, would that indicate any defect on our side, as to our condition? The resources are there in the Lord as Head, but evidently we are unable to get the benefit of it. Why is that?
JT That leads us to what we are seeking to understand. If we have come to the idea of Solomon in a small way in our souls, even in the small way of 2 Samuel 12 as a babe, he suggests peace to us. That is one great feature leading up to the good of headship. Are there sons of peace? The Lord stresses the thought of “sons of peace”. You can have no assembly features aside from “sons of peace”. That is what David meant in naming the child Solomon; he saw peace in the child. But then alongside of that, he is “beloved of Jehovah”, and that is another element. If I have these in my soul, they will help me to make room for the Head. I am a son of peace and I apprehend love. The Father loves the Son, and He loves all that are related to Him as sons; for as we have often remarked in regard to “Thou art my beloved Son, in thee I have found my delight”: it does not say “all my delight”; there is room left for all the saints, and we come into that.
[p. 122] The more we come into those two thoughts, the more room is made for Christ as Head: the thought grows on us. David went in and sat before Jehovah in the liberty of sonship. Any of us can do that, and so he moves on until — according to 1 Chronicles 29 — the son is on the throne in absolute dominion; and we may be sure that if the Lord has right of way, every matter will be settled. It is because He does not get His way that matters locally are prolonged and not settled. Solomon sat on the throne of Jehovah, which means absolute dominion for sonship.
WSS David, we may say, faced every difficulty, and the result of that was that in 1 Chronicles the truth of sonship came to light.
JT Just so; he is a man that is effective in that way; but then, these elements come into our souls, the element of peace and of being beloved of the Father. Jehovah said of David, “I will make him firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth”, Psalm 89: 27. That is the idea; sonship applied to David and is now, as merged in Solomon, seen absolutely dominant in the end of chapter 29 — every power is subject.
AHG You referred to headship in Corinthians — I was wondering whether you linked that up in your mind with what you were saying as to difficulties.
JT That epistle shows how difficulties are met; they are met in wisdom; wisdom is introduced at the outset in that epistle.
JCMW Would chapter 23 show that the gathering of the princes, priests, and Levites is essential for the gain of headship?
JT That is what we ought to seek to get clear. Chapters 23 to 27 are set directly in relation to Solomon as on the throne with David. That is, David is still there, but Solomon is also on the throne, and the first thing you get is the numbering of the Levites and their work allocated, and then, speaking in a general way, you get the number twenty-four. I believe that number [p. 123] has to be understood if we are to understand headship. It is, as it were, double what you had before. The first twelve would be Moses, as I understand it; that is, applying the thought to the New Testament, the first twelve is Romans and Corinthians. The thought of headship was suggested in Moses, but in general, it is in the second twelve that I apprehend headship. I believe the second twelve is not understood. We can understand the commandment, but to have something beyond that, something additional that is always available, is what we do not understand, and that is what runs right through all these chapters from 23 to 27. You have the priests divided under that number, and the singers, and the doorkeepers and the military; they are all under that number. That is, everything is not only dominated by commandment, but by the additional thought of wisdom. You have wisdom in sonship now on the throne in Solomon alongside of David — that is the additional thing. Both had existed in David, but now they are merging in Solomon, who represents fully the thought of sonship.
NKM Why are we so lacking in the understanding of headship?
JT I think we do not keep near enough to the Lord; we are not enough in personal touch in making known our requests and holding converse with Him about matters. It begins in a small way, as I said before, but it grows until He is absolutely dominant. David dies, and Solomon is on the throne of Jehovah.
NKM Would you see it set forth initially in Mary of Bethany sitting at His feet, and then anointing His head?
JT Yes, she embodies the thought. On the mount of transfiguration, Luke 9, the word was, “Hear him”, and Mary is the example of that in chapter 10; she is listening to what He is saying.
WSS Is it also a question of the sanctuary? Would the second twelve be learnt [p. 124] there?
JT That is what David had in mind. As soon as Nathan’s word comes to him about sonship, he goes into the sanctuary and sits there.
WSS I was thinking of the psalm read. In the third book of Psalms, where they are mostly by Asaph, the sanctuary is prominent. In the first psalm of the book the writer goes into the sanctuary.
JT This Psalm 89 is by one of the four wise men, Ethan the Ezrahite. It is an important psalm in that way. Ethan is eclipsed by Solomon, who is said to be wiser than he, 1 Kings 4: 31; but he is not resentful of this. He is speaking about David, and his supremacy. He would fully recognise the superiority of Solomon’s wisdom.
PL Have we that in Colossians? “Let the word of the Christ dwell in you richly, in all wisdom teaching ...” Colossians 3:16 — would that be the place that Solomon has? And then, “... admonishing one another, in psalms, hymns, spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to God” — is that the language of Ethan, who has been eclipsed by Solomon, but as still rejoicing in him?
JT Just so. The wisest submit to Solomon; he is superior, no one can compare with him, and I think, as was remarked just now, it is a question of going inside, as in the third book of Psalms. The commandments are written down; we must stand on them immovably in maintaining for God, but then, there is the additional twelve, and I believe that is what David meant. When Nathan announced sonship, David went in and sat before the Lord. We do not follow that example sufficiently.
PL Are we amongst the additional twelve in the Colossian epistle? Paul and Epaphras of the sanctuary in their prayers, and Tychicus and Onesimus the beloved brothers, and then Luke the beloved physician. All these would be in the acknowledgment of headship?
JT Yes. It implies liberty of approach, [p. 125] so that we may be near the Lord, so that His mind is conveyed to us. David went inside and sat there. It is not exactly a priestly position, for the priest stands in the house, as serving; Psalm 134. But the son sits, and in sitting he speaks beautifully; he is pleasing to God. Headship involves Colossians and Ephesians. We are to be “filled with the full knowledge of his will, in all wisdom and spiritual understanding” (Colossians 1: 9); and the first prayer in Ephesians is that we might have the “spirit of wisdom and revelation in the full knowledge of him” (Ephesians 1: 17); and then, that we might be “strengthened with power by his Spirit in the inner man”, Ephesians 3: 16. These are conditions in us that enable us to be inside to gather up divine thoughts; and you make them effective as in the assembly. David tarried there. What impressions would come into David’s soul as sitting before God! Referring back to chapters 23 to 27, one would like the brethren — as they have opportunity to look into them, because they bring out what headship implies, how all the brethren, old and young, are considered. In the instructions as to the Levites, for instance, you will find the young are specially provided for, as at the end of chapter 24, “These likewise cast lots just as their brethren the sons of Aaron before David the king, and Zadok, and Ahimelech, and the chief fathers of the priests and Levites, — the chief fathers just as the youngest of their brethren” 1 Chronicles 24:31. Then again, in the next chapter, “they cast lots with one another over the charges, the small as well as the great, the teacher with the scholar” 1 Chronicles 25:8. That is to say, headship does not restrict itself to what there may be manifestly in the meeting. You may have brethren of age and experience, and it is manifest that they have been approved; but then there are potential elements in the meeting, there are young people who have not proved themselves — but headship will provide for them. We need them, for if there are no young the testimony will die [p. 126] out.
CWD Is it right to assume that ability for headship is in germ in the young?
JT Certainly, it is there potentially as soon as one receives Christ.
PL “Give this one the living child” 1 Kings 3:27 — is that wisdom taking account of the potentialities for God?
JT That is right; potentiality is a great feature in the things of God. It is confirmed in the measure of the manna, an omer for every person in the house, old and young the same measure. Full-grown persons would eat more than the young children, but in the mind of God, the young children were to be of that measure, and as the meal was finished there was none over.
WL How are these potentialities to be fostered and developed in our local companies?
JT These chapters provide first of all for them. It is a great step in advance when young brothers and sisters are given to understand that they are not mere members of a congregation with no responsibility, but are actually covered by this number twenty-four. It is wisdom’s ordering, for it follows the statement that David “made Solomon his son king over Israel”. A young person ought to see that it gives him dignity in responsibility. It is the order of wisdom, and if we are in our places in it, we shall see how perfectly it works out.
We may notice that after the idea of the number twenty-four is fully set out, “David assembled all the princes of Israel, the princes of the tribes, and the princes of the divisions that ministered to the king, and the captains over thousands, and the captains over hundreds, and the comptrollers of all the substance and possessions of the king and of his sons, with the chamberlains, and the mighty men, and all the men of valour, unto Jerusalem. And king David stood up upon his feet ...” Throughout these two chapters David speaks in great power and wisdom. The great thought [p. 127] of headship is in his mind; he speaks of God as Head, and Solomon the son is seen on the throne of Jehovah. It is now in the Son and is dominant: it is, in type, Christ glorified embodying and establishing all that came out in Him in suffering here on earth.
Ques Why do we get the number twenty-four in the Revelation?
JT The allusion is to this section. The position is that John is called up into heaven. God is about to resume His relations with the earth, and the throne is marked by the rainbow, and so forth. The allusion is to Genesis 9; it is God’s relations with creation. But then, if that throne had been introduced in Genesis 9, you would have had no twenty-four elders. God was there, but the twenty-four elders were not there. The allusion is to this section; the twenty-four elders allude to the knowledge or experience acquired with God in the course of His testimony; In Revelation 4 He has the full result of His testimony around His throne. The elders know what to do and what to say; they can give an account of things not otherwise understood.
Ques Is that the great idea of headship, that you know what to do?
JT That is it. The twenty-four elders represent it as having had experience with God in the course of His testimony, of nearness to Him so as to have acquired a knowledge of His mind.
JMcK In chapter 28, David committed to Solomon the particulars and design of the house and the porch, including the mercy-seat.
JT I am thankful you mention that. The time has come for it now, and it is all handed over to Solomon. You get no such unfolding as this anywhere else in the types. It is not like Moses; things were shown him on the mount. David had this by the Spirit, verse 12. Then, added to that, the dedicated things in chapter 26; every dedicated thing, whether of Samuel, or Saul, Abner, or Joab — every dedicated thing is there; they [p. 128] are held by the store-keepers. There are the doorkeepers and the treasury-keepers, those that look after the dedicated things, so that nothing is lost, everything dedicated is available for service.
Ques Does the blessing of Asher in Deuteronomy 33 show how what we have been speaking of may be maintained? “Asher shall be blessed with sons; let him be acceptable to his brethren, and let him dip his foot in oil. Iron and brass shall be thy bolts; and thy rest as thy days”. Deuteronomy 33:24 - 25 He is blessed with sons. And if you connect that with his blessing in Genesis 49, it is remarkable how it refers to both subjects — royalty and sonship. He is said to yield royal dainties, and now he has sons.
PL Does the thought of the Lord’s Person on which the Spirit of God has shed such light of late, link up with all this that had been in reserve coming to light when Solomon gets his supreme place? The light of His Person as revived and stressed at the end throws peculiar lustre upon every feature of the truth.
JT Hence the great need of being subject to Him so that we get the full bearing of what He is bringing before us. Every one is subject to Solomon here; there is no adverse thought at all, and if that state of things can be maintained amongst us, the Lord will do great things for us. If sonship is dominant there is great scope for the unfolding of the mind of God.
Ques Is that what was in the apostle’s mind in pressing in Hebrews the greatness of Christ as the Son, in contrast to everything else?
JT The sonship of Christ is the great distinctive feature of Hebrews. In the first chapter His greatness is filled out from the Old Testament, showing how God honours the Old Testament.