THE MAN AND THE WOMAN

A. Buchan

Genesis 1: 27; 2: 15, 18–23; Exodus 2: 1, 2, 15–22

In Genesis 24 it is said that “They sent away Rebecca their sister, and her nurse, and Abraham’s servant”. I think that verse would indicate our feelings at the present moment in relation to our sister. I think that the sending away would be with the best that heaven can provide.

So we begin with God’s choicest thoughts in relation to the man and the woman, before sin came in. It is wonderful to look at these early chapters and see the concept in the mind of God Himself, and also the consummation of them, for God is equal to carrying through His thoughts in relation to man and woman, seen fully in Christ and the assembly. There can be no thought of failure; it is going right through. We were reminded on Lord’s day that Jehovah Elohim built the rib that he had taken from man into a woman and brought her to man. I think that is the consummation of God’s thoughts in relation to Christ and the assembly. He

“brought her to man” is a wonderful thought, beloved.

In this chapter it is Jehovah Elohim who is operating and He is equal to this great thought of the man and the woman. There is plenty of failure around in the world, but in the assembly we are to lay hold of God’s original thoughts and see that God is equal to them; and as we are with Him we are to be equal to them. He took man and put him into the garden of Eden, to till it and to guard it. It is what God did. He put man in this sphere.

It suggests where we are tonight, in the garden, in the assembly, in a sphere where things are worked out in the tilling, involving Pauline ministry in the opening up and the laying down of the truth. How wonderful it is for our brother and sister to be set in relation to these great thoughts. Paul says, “This mystery is great, but I speak as to Christ, and as to the assembly”.

Lay hold on it and it will give colour to your whole married life together. It is God’s original and prime thought and He is going to carry it through to completion. He is equal to it at the present time in the midst of all the confusion that is around in relation to the marriage bond.

He will carry it through in our brother and sister. He will give them the power to be with Him in it.

“Jehovah Elohim caused a deep sleep to fall upon Man”, that is the death of Christ viewed in relation to God’s purpose before time was. It is in relation to the feelings in the heart of the man that God says, “It is not good that Man should be alone”. God saw it. I think that our brother has found that in his exercises. God says, “I will make him a helpmate, his like”; nothing inferior, the assembly is morally equal to Christ, as of Him it is His like. It is His counterpart. It is Himself over again. Our young people need to lay hold of the greatness of it.

It is what God has done through the deep sleep. Then it says that He built the rib that He had taken from man into a woman. That is where the woman came from; she is of the man; she is like him because she is of himself. Then He “brought her to Man”. So it anticipates the consummation of all God’s thoughts in relation to the assembly and the immediate answer is,

“This time it is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh”. Man had named all these animals, which brought out his intelligence, but this operation brings out the affection in the heart of the man.

It was a time of supreme joy and satisfaction, “This time ...”—no other time like it, and that is the time we are in, beloved, when the answer to the heart of Christ has been secured.

When we come to Exodus it is our side of the matter; it is not only that God is equal to carrying through the thought of marriage, but a man is equal to marriage. Later Moses was given a wife but here it says, “A man of the house of Levi went and took a daughter of Levi”.

He had laid hold of God’s great thought in relation to the man and the woman and was operating responsibly, having his affections under control. He is deliberate in his action. Our young people need to listen to this. He is operating within a certain area, not amongst companions outside but within the confines of the fellowship. Not only have we the scripture but we have here in our brother and sister the setting out of it in practice. These meetings are for ministry in view of instructing our young people. It says, “The woman conceived, and bore a son. And she saw that he was fair”. That shows that the continuance of the testimony depends on these exercises.

We go on to speak of Moses. It says, “Moses fled from before Pharaoh, and dwelt in the land of Midian. And he sat by the well”. It is a wonderful thing to have the confirmation of the Spirit in your exercises. The seven daughters say he “drew water abundantly for us”. There he is, as it were, in the local setting and he is concerned about the bringing in of refreshment by spiritual ministry, but there is something here that hinders; you will find that. “But Moses rose and helped them, and watered their flock”. There is power to bring in the refreshment that is needed at the right time. So we have these daughters, seven of them. We have quite a lot of daughters

here tonight. It is good to look round and see them. You young men, keep your eyes within the field we have here, do not stray outside of it. The word is that “Moses consented to remain with the man”. You consent to remain there. It may be you would be better off financially somewhere else but the great thing is the local assembly—Zipporah. She may not be as good-looking as some of the other types, but it is the working out of things in the in-law position, the legality of our position, and we need to cherish how the truth of this has come down to us.

Underlying this is the feature of contentment. We read that “piety with contentment is great gain”, 1 Timothy 6: 6. I would like to encourage our young people to be pious, to bring God into every matter. Be content in the place where God has set you and work it out in your exercises with God. You find your locality, you find where your roots are, and, as our brother has done, you find a wife who can be a help to you in it. Locate the priestly element in the local setting, persons who are thinking for God all the time, not thinking of advancement here but thinking of what is for God. O, you young people, set yourselves for it. I have no doubt that you will find things that will be trying. The enemy is always against the assembly. So be content and find, as Moses did, that power comes in relation to committal.

Reuel gave Moses his daughter as wife, suggesting the local assembly. “And she bore a son, and he called his name Gershom”. He begins to name things, he knows what things are, and says, “I have been a sojourner in a foreign land”. That is, he finds comfort. Our brother and sister will need comfort as they go on with these exercises amongst the saints. Moses was a sojourner; his position was like ours currently; we are only here as sojourners until that glorious moment when we are to see the Lord Jesus face to face, when He will have the whole assembly for Himself for the first time. What a moment that will be!

Let us look forward to it. Mr. Taylor said, ‘There is a man up there and His heart is beating in relation to the assembly’. He has one objective and very soon, beloved, He is going to present the assembly to Himself without spot or wrinkle or any such thing. What an anticipation to have before us! Let us be concerned to work together in our local settings in view of something thus being secured for the heart of Christ now, for His name’s sake.