WOMEN OF WORTH
[p. 175] WOMEN OF WORTH
Matthew 28: 5, 6; 2 Kings 4:18 - 24; 2 Kings 4:30 - 37
These scriptures, as you will readily notice, concern sisters in the Lord; they concern them greatly, but they concern all, in view of the significance of the feminine element; that is, it refers to what is effected in us by the Spirit of God; if it be in a bad sense, it refers to what is effected by the spirit of the world.
The book of Proverbs contemplates both these features, it contemplates the wise woman and the foolish, it contemplates the woman of worth. It is in this latter sense that I would treat these scriptures, as referring to the married woman of worth, according to the end of the book of Proverbs. It is a matter of great importance that there is that in this world, heaven looking down cognisant of their worth indicated, the opposite of which is a deep ditch, as Proverbs teaches us, of wickedness. Regarding this woman of worth, or virtue, as implying the assembly, the matter becomes of the very greatest significance as to the circumstances under which this formation and development or growth, proceeds; that is, there is what is objective, for God works in us according to what He presents to us. The passage in Matthew is significant as in that gospel. The objective side in chapters 27 and 28 is of the most solemn and searching nature; nothing could be more solemn and more searching, more subduing, than the objective facts presented to us in those chapters. Matthew 27 has, at the close of it, certain groups. The great objective fact is the Lord Jesus, the Lord of glory, crucified-the Lord of glory that He should be seen in the most ignominious position, marked by the most excruciating sufferings, inclusive of that one great occasion of suffering, the forsaking of God, transcending all else, calculated to [p. 176] affect every intelligence in the whole universe. But there were certain groups, I think: the first, a jeering group; the second, a believing group, persons who were affected at the moment who had not hitherto been affected; the third, a group of women, “many women” standing afar off from the cross, but standing in relation to it: He who hung there was supremely their object. John says they were standing by it; Matthew says many of them that had come from Galilee were beholding from afar off, they had been accustomed to minister to Him who hung there of their substance. Then, in the close of the chapter, we have one man, a rich man, burying the body of the Lord. So that you can see, dear brethren, what groups there are at that solemn moment in relation to that cross. These women are most interesting, not only on their own account, but on account of whom they represent; they were to become, at least in principle, the great maternal element in the structure that was about to be reared up by the Spirit of God, by the Lord, by God Himself. They were to represent that in its maternal instincts and feelings and affections; these were to be begotten in the presence of the most momentous occurrence in all history, in all time, in all eternity; they were to be affected and the formation was to be in accord with what was presented to them objectively; they were, as it were, begotten spiritually by the elements presented to them. There were no such women, no such persons, in history as these. The Marys were all there, that is, those who understood suffering, bitterness. John would tell us there were three Marys there, as far as I read; and Matthew says there was the Magdalene there and the other Mary, as if there were just two outstanding Marys. Now these are the ones, dear brethren, and the angel, representative of heaven, knew all about these women. The communications of angels to women in the Scriptures form in themselves a subject [p. 177] of the deepest interest, direct communications of angels to women. I believe all of them have in mind what I am speaking about, the formation of that side that endures, that goes through all circumstances out of affection. A Ruth, for instance, would not be turned aside, she would go through the full way, the whole way, of love. And so all culminates, I believe, in these women, these Marys. The name, I believe, arises at the Red Sea, the bitterness of death experienced, the waters of death round; these are the ones, the church is formed, fashioned, in this way, she is to be the bride of the Sufferer, and the Lord is speaking to our hearts, dear brethren, at this present time, as to correspondence with Him in this respect. This Mary and the other. And now the angel, whose look caused terror in others, would occasion no terror in their hearts: he says to the women, “Fear not ye”-’I know what you seek’. How very touching and comforting that he knows, heaven knows-for that is the idea in the knowing-an angel conveys what is in heaven, heaven’s thoughts. “I know”, he says, ‘what you seek’, I know. Whatever others may think, how comforting that heaven knows what is in the depth of our hearts. He says, “I know that ye seek Jesus the crucified one”. What was in their hearts was in correspondence with that, the crucified One. What an appeal that is as to what is going on in our hearts, as to what we seek. “I know that ye seek Jesus the crucified one”; there is no occasion for you to fear. And then he says, “Come, see the place where the Lord lay”. That is what I want to direct your minds to, where He lay. Heaven is inviting them to see the place where He lay; this place is to enter into later instruction; it is of great spiritual significance, the place where the Lord lay. Were it known now, how sightseers from the ends of the earth would repair to it! The crucifixion has become an incident in human history; human history is not [p. 178] fit for such a jewel. It would command the greatest interest from sightseers were it only known where the Lord lay. It is known to heaven, it is known in the heart of the church; it will not be sought there, the church in its true significance has no interest for the world. “Come, see the place where the Lord lay”. They had come to see the sepulchre indeed, a poor thing in itself, but still, that was what they had come to see; but the angel said, ‘I know what you seek. You seek not the sepulchre alone, you seek Him whom you think is there’: but, he says, “Come, see the place where the Lord lay”. That is the end for faith, that is the end of all the trouble, the vicarious burial of Christ. His burial was vicarious-why should He be there otherwise? “Where the Lord lay”. Why should I look down to where He lay? His position there was vicarious, it was my place; the church understands; baptism places us there. “Identified with him in the likeness of his death” (Romans 6: 5); that is not the position on the cross, it is the position in the grave. Not indeed that we are not crucified, for Paul says, “I am crucified with Christ” (Galatians 2: 20); but where He lay is the end of all moral history here; I mean to say, it is the end of all the trouble. The church begins on that foundation, in one sense, and the understanding of it would be the end of all the trouble personally and collectively, locally and generally, amongst the saints. And so, dear brethren, one would invite you, as the angel did here, “Come, see the place where the Lord lay”. It was the Lord of glory, but Matthew is concerned about authority; the Lord lay there; He is not there now, He is made Lord and Christ in heaven, but it is where He lay. And so these women form that element that goes through, that virtue that corresponds with Christ; they have gone to the bottom of things-that is the idea of the Son of God, the rock. But there is the termination of the moral element that causes the [p. 179] trouble, the thing that causes the trouble. David was conversant with it; he was a son of peace indeed, but he, at one time, became a troubler of a most serious nature. We are all liable to that, the most spiritual. He lay on the earth while the child lived. That child represents the trouble. There was a dead Urias. Think of that, a devoted man, one of the mighties! Think of being the occasion of the death of Urias on the field, slain by the sword of the children of Ammon at the behest of David, the trouble-maker for the moment. The occasion of the trouble has to be dealt with and the child dies. ‘The child is dead’, says David, ‘he will not return to me, I shall go to him. I go that way’. No doubt he had felt in his soul, ‘I should have gone before him!’, but he says, ‘I go that way’. And Solomon is born, and he says,’Peace’; what a change from the trouble, the working of the flesh, of which we are all so capable! What a change! Immediately he says, “Solomon”, meaning Peace now; the occasion of trouble is gone. That is what God is constantly, day in and day out, dealing with amongst us; He is dealing with the occasion of the trouble to make room for the Prince of Peace. How the Lord loves to come in in His Solomon character, how He loves to come in and say, “Peace be unto you”! ‘See where He lay’, the angel says: the vicarious death and burial of Christ is the termination of all the trouble for the glory of God, and these women saw that. Would that every one of us, every sister and every one of us, might see that. It is the great feature of things foundationally amongst us, how the trouble is dealt with; these women saw that place; they saw the darkness, they heard that loud cry, they saw the place where He lay, shown by heaven. We hardly ever see anything rightly except it is shown us: “Come, see the place where the Lord lay”. But the Lord presently appears to them, as the chapter shows, but I do not go on to that. I am [p. 180] speaking now of this important principle so essential to us in dealing with the occasion of the trouble, so that there shall be peace, the Prince of Peace. David says, “Solomon”, God says, “Jedidiah”, that is the beautiful thought of the Person of Christ apprehended in resurrection. Peace-Jehovah loved him-He would take us from the occasion of the trouble into a realm of peace and love. That is the realm proper to the assembly; the Lord says, “Peace be unto you”, and it says, “Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord”, a great matter. It is the service of Jesus to gladden our hearts. Much is on this line, dear brethren. The Lord gladdened their hearts and said “Peace” to them.
Well now, I want to show how the Old Testament exemplifies this in the history of this remarkable woman called the Shunammite. It is not now a question of a trouble-maker; Achan is the great troubler of Israel, he represents the trouble-maker, and all Israel had to say to him in the valley of Achor, but it becomes the door of hope. You see the process is going on, merging from sorrow to joy. This boy, or child, as he is called, is not an Achan, he is a Colossian believer, to be simple. The history of this chapter in 2 Kings embodies the truth of Romans in the paying of one’s debt by the Spirit, and the truth of Colossians, seen, as I hope to show, in this child, and the truth of Ephesians in the man from Baal-shalishah. God studs the whole face of Scripture with His own thoughts, dear brethren, if we only have eyes to see what He sets down before us. One has been greatly struck lately with the thought of the land, how God stresses it from the very outset of its introduction after the flood, the land. The adjectives in the language are exhausted in the vocabulary of God to stress the richness and greatness and beauty of that land, to allure our hearts out of this world to the realm of His purpose, into a land of water-brooks,
[p. 181] deep water-springs and hills and valleys. The Spirit of God uses such descriptive words to lead beyond what Palestine ever could be or ever will be; it is just taken as a figure by the Spirit of God to lead our hearts into what is altogether beyond what any territory on earth could ever be, this spiritual realm that God would allure our hearts into, and the Scriptures are full of it. Colossians is not exactly the land; it is entering into it, it is a tentative epistle, if you understand. It is collective, but it is a tentative sort of position. You are going in, you may not go in, but you are just crossing over; it raises incentives presented objectively in Christ. “Seek the things which are above, where the Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God: have your mind on the things that are above, not on the things that are on the earth; for ye have died, and your life is hid with the Christ in God. When the Christ is manifested who is our life, then shall ye also be manifested with him in glory”. It is to draw us in, that is the thought of Colossians, and to adjust us according to God by the application of the death of Christ, the circumcision of Christ and the burial of Christ, in baptism. That is what Colossians is; it is, as I might say, where the Lord lay, it is the end of things here. “Buried with him in baptism, in which ye have been also raised with him through faith of the working of God who raised him from among the dead”. Quickened with Him, too, out of death, made to live with Him. And so it is the closing of the door-that is the idea; John 20 is the closing of the door and 2 Kings is the closing of the door. It is a secret matter, it is not exactly dealing with trouble-makers, but with the power of death working. It can only be cured in one way, by being brought into correspondence with Christ. It is no question of paying debts, beloved brethren; it is a question of a dead boy or a living boy. That is Colossians, and we see the agonies of Paul about the [p. 182] Colossian saints. They were a very remarkable company, like Laodicea, which place Paul had apparently never visited, but he had agonised about the saints there. What is needed is that sort of thing, dear brethren, to get the saints into life by placing them where the Lord lay, so to speak. And so I would point out that this remarkable woman is equal to this experience. She was promised this boy, and she had him presented as the prophet says, “Thou shalt embrace a son”; he knew what that would mean to her heart, not simply ‘You will have him’, but, You will “embrace a son”. A son is worth embracing; a woman is not worthy of the name of a mother if she does not embrace a child; it is the affections that are proper, and especially in a spiritual sense; to embrace is the expression of affection. “And when the child was grown, it fell on a day, that he went out to his father to the reapers. And he said unto his father, My head, my head”. This boy is in a serious condition, it is a head condition. Young men and women should take notice of this, because our heads are very often much in advance of our feet; I know that well; each of us knows it. And the father’s side could do nothing; he knew enough, however, to send the child back to the mother; he was promised to the mother, not to the father. What is to be done is to be done by her; it is all a question of the development of the truth. Here is a great woman, she is devoted to the testimony, what is to be done for her? Give her a son, she is to embrace a son; that is spiritually, dear brethren, the assembly; you can see the force of it, the supreme object of affection. But there is this trouble, and the father sends him to his mother by the hand of a lad-it is a youthful state of things-and the mother takes him on her knees and he dies at noon; when he should be in vigour, he dies; when we should hope, death comes in-these are sorrowful considerations! What exercises the people of God [p. 183] have to go through, and where are we in regard of these exercises? The formation is in relation to these exercises, persons who have feelings, who go through things. Well, she knew what to do; and that is the point, dear brethren, that the mother knows what to do. It is a question of the local assembly knowing what to do. What am I going to do in this? It is not a matter to be dealt with in discipline, it is a question of a state; not conduct, but a state. Well, there is a man of God who has got a bed; it is where he lies, where he lay; he is not lying there now, he is in Carmel-a very different position, the place of fruitfulness, the place of victory, too, denoting the intelligence of heaven, for heaven is ready to intervene whatever it is. We are never pushed to a wall, heaven will come in. It is a good thing to turn our face to the wall, like Hezekiah, at times saying,’I can do nothing’; but heaven can do much. So she puts the child on the bed of the man of God; she laid him there. That is a very important reflection. “And she called unto her husband and said, Send me, I pray thee, one of the young men, and one of the asses, that I may run to the man of God”. Her husband is a poor sort of man, he did not look after the reapers; it is the responsible element, very often extremely lacking, unable to do anything spiritually. And here this husband says, “It is neither new moon, nor sabbath”; he is a sort of ceremonialist, a man who observes certain things, very important in their way; the new moon, the recovery of Israel by-and-by; and the sabbath, a future thing. But it is a question of the present thing; what am I going to do now? What God will do in the future will involve the exercise of mighty power bringing a nation into power in a day and restoring everything: but here is a dead boy on whom the affections and the hopes of this dear woman were set, and her husband is talking about set feasts. Set feasts are valuable, of course (like this one) the [p. 184] Lord specially works in them; but it is a question of every day, this happened “on a day”, it says, on an ordinary day; what am I going to do? Well, there is a man of God; the hope of the universe, as it were, is here. We have been speaking about Moses; it is Moses that is talking. The man of God is not here where the child died, or perhaps the child would not have died. Well, he is in Carmel, he is reachable, and this man’s foolish obstacles are just brushed aside. “She saddled an ass, and said to her servant, Drive, and go forward”. The man of God here drops below the level of Christ, for the Old Testament types do not always hold. He thinks Gehazi and his staff will do. No, the door is shut-it might as well have been shut to Gehazi, he did nothing, nor did the staff do anything. There was little link between Gehazi and the staff of the man of God; they are occupied with external things-spiritual men often drop to that too. But there was the mother of the child. The great thought in Scripture is that she is not going to leave; she has no confidence in that staff; such measures are not to be trusted; we want more than experience now; I have no doubt that is what the staff means. But this is a new matter, and the woman was above them all; she was more spiritual than any of them at the moment. She says to the man of God, “I will not leave thee”. She would bring Christ in, and Elisha goes with her. “He went in therefore, and shut the door”. I beg of you to notice this, dear brethren, shut the door; that is Colossians, corresponding with the raising up of Jairus’s daughter. It is the elimination of what might, what would, hinder, and the retention only of what would help. It is a spiritual matter, and Elisha has to go through the thing too, for in these cases we, through the grace of God, are brought into correspondence with Christ, we are forced into correspondence with Christ; there is no way out of it otherwise. The Lord says, “I am the way”; there is no other, and Elisha recognises this. He stretches himself on the boy; well, he becomes warm, that is something, a little bit of heat where there was coldness. Young men and young women often get away like this with their heads; and it is touch, direct touch, spiritual touch, that is needed. The man of God has to walk up and down the house; what kind of house is it? He can see all that is in the house, not only in the room. Maybe there are things there that have to be dealt with; but he walked up and down the house. Suppose his eye rested on a novel! There were certainly none in the room that he occupied, it was no lavishly-furnished room. Suppose his eye rested on any other thing that the enemy might have brought in that house! “He went up, and lay upon the child, and put his mouth upon his mouth, and his eyes upon his eyes, and his hands upon his hands”; how personal it is! He is brought into direct touch with Christ-the man of God is typically Christ. He is lying there in the place of death, as it were, and he is now concerned about the boy, “And the child sneezed seven times, and the child opened his eyes”, and he delivered him to his mother. This is one of the most interesting incidents of the kind in Scripture, and it is needed every day amongst us. The Lord would give us understanding of this maternal formation and the instincts and the intelligence and decision, the knowing what to do, that belong to it and are not to be turned aside, even by a husband. It is not any particular day, it is “one of the days”, and she is going to attend to it on that very day, and she does, and the end is reached. “Take up thy son”, says the man of God, and she “took up her son, and went out”. What would he have been to her!
That is all I had to say. I hope the Lord will use this line of thought as to local companies dealing with evil according to what is presented in the cross, where [p. 186] the Lord lay, the termination of everything that causes the trouble; and that love would have a son to fill the house, not only a son living, but a son having died; not only a son given, but a son having entered into death and come out of it. The mother of the child took the boy and went out-she had got him.
May the Lord give us to understand. “Whoso is wise, let him observe these things, and let them understand the loving-kindnesses of Jehovah”, Psalm 107: 43.