ANOTHER DAY
Norman Henry
Exodus 31: 1-5; 35: 30; 1: 15-21; 2 Samuel 17: 15-19; 2 Timothy 1: 3-5
I wish to speak about 'another day' and how persons prepare for it. I hope every person here is looking for another day. It has been said that Jacob was a man who could await his day. Esau was a man of the field - hunting. He looked for immediate results but Jacob could wait for them. Therefore, Jacob wanted the birthright and he obtained it. Why did Esau despise it? He said "of what use can the birthright be to me?", Gen 25: 32. His day was now and it was going, disappearing, but Jacob could wait. God had great things in mind for Jacob. What a tortuous journey he took to reach it, but nevertheless God had great things in mind for him. His day would come, and he is prepared to wait for it. I wonder if we are. I wonder if you and I are persons who can genuinely wait for another day. It will change your life if it has not already done so; you will wait for another day. Is that not wonderful?
I started in Exodus because I thought something must come out in God Himself that, we might say, opens our eyes as to how He prepares for another day. In Ezekiel the magnificent outline of the house and the temple are given but these are not given in the recovery books. Why was it given to Ezekiel while they were still there in captivity? I think God always sets a thing out before us and I need to take a step. That is a principle with God, that He will set a thing out before He requires man to take one step in the right direction. Is that not wonderful? God prepares for a coming day. Ah! Think of even Jesus having gone to prepare us a place! That is for a coming day. You are not there yet. You are not in the Father's house yet: that is an eternal thought. We can touch it by the Spirit, but really it is an eternal thought. And He has gone there to prepare a place for you. That shows that divine Persons prepare for a coming day. It makes you think, because man's life is taken up, characteristically, with the present. That is all he knows. He cannot see beyond. Only faith takes us beyond. Faith as given to the believer can take us beyond. Instead of seeing the wilderness, faith sees God; natural man sees the wilderness. But the more the coming day comes into my soul, the more it will change my present steps. Of that I can be assured. So Ezekiel goes over all the steps going into the house, the seven steps and the eight steps. What is set out in Ezekiel, chapter after chapter of immense detail, is interesting, but it still awaits the actual fulfilment of that prophecy.
In Exodus I read of Bezaleel. I presume his grandfather was the one who appears in Exodus 17 in the conflict with Amalek. In Exodus 24 Moses said as he was going up the mountain that, if there was any matter which required guidance, "Aaron and Hur are with you". That is the last reference you get to Hur - whose name means purity. Certain things are never replaced. What Hur represents as far as Israel went was lost. They opened up a door tor idolatry. In Bezaleel, I think, God gives a hint of how He would achieve things. Once the church became earthly it remained that way publicly. It has become joined to the world. In no time at all the thought of the water aspect of the death of Christ was given up. There was no demand on purity or cleansing in view of having to do with the things of God. Publicly that remains. God nevertheless shows that in His ways there would be inward revival, and that has happened. Through divine grace we find our part in it. It is a wonderful favour for you and me to find our part in the time that we call the recovery to the truth. I wonder if we appreciate it enough, to be able to handle divine things in an atmosphere where there is respect and godliness.
So, as I say, Bezaleel comes up. God already had gone over the whole thing in Exodus 26 to 30 before He introduces Bezaleel. He speaks about the ark; He speaks about different objects that were going to fill His tabernacle. Movement was in His mind because the staves were going to be there. Are God's thoughts going to be lost? No! Bezaleel is taken upon the principle of sovereignty. It is in the beginning of 2 Timothy that it says "who has saved us, and has called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given to us in Christ Jesus before the ages of time, but has been made manifest now by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ", 2 Tim 1: 9,10. God casts Himself back, we might say, on the principle of sovereignty; so He takes up Bezaleel. Now Bezaleel was a valuable man, a needed man, because not only was he gifted and skilled, but he was going to teach others to be so (see chap 35: 34). That is what Bezaleel was going to do. He was going to bring in teaching. What a valuable asset in the setting up of the tabernacle was a man who not only had the skill himself but was going to infuse, was going to teach persons what was necessary tor this work. One thing about Bezaleel is that he made the ark; that was unshared. You see how God prepares tor, you might say, a coming day. Was this whole matter going to fail, having taken the people out of Egypt, having brought them into the wilderness and having given some insight of His thoughts to Moses having shown him the pattern in the mount? Was the thing going to founder? No. You might say on the eve of breakdown God threw Himself back on the principle of sovereignty. He had one man who could take the matter up for Himself and for Moses, and that was Bezaleel, a man who was skilled and able to do the job. I love to think of that, a man available who was going to bring into actuality what was made known to Moses on the mount before the failure came in. Is that not wonderful, that persons, even when breakdown has come in, hold to the original? If we are committed to anything it is to the original. We know there has been breakdown, but we must hold to first principles. That is how things are established. In the assembly things are established. We speak about walking in the light of the assembly. Where do you see the assembly? Do you see it in the public position? No! You do not see it there, but many of the personnel of the assembly are scattered there. Every true heart will be taken out of it. They will be raptured. Thank God for that! But in the meantime to know how to walk you have to go back to what you might say are first principles, and they are set out, thanks be to God, in His word. So Bezaleel could put into practice what had been spoken by God before breakdown. I love to think of that. God is not thwarted by breakdown.
Now, in the beginning of Exodus we get women preparing for another day. These midwives had regard for God and they feared Him. It says of them, "But the midwives feared God, and did not as the king of Egypt had said to them, but saved the male children alive". The males were needed. The priesthood in Exodus required male children. Moses was required. Moses does not come in until the next chapter, but the principles of what these women stood for preserved Moses. In principle they prepared for another day when men would be required. The principle of manhood in the tabernacle system was essential for it to develop and the king of Egypt was after its destruction. That is what the world's system is after, to destroy what is functioning for God. You remember that in Titus it refers to the enemy as subverting "whole houses", chap 1: 11. That involves ruining the household. How successful that has been in the world itself! But he is after the moral breakup of the households of believers. The enemy is after the destruction of households here, but children are born. The midwives say, the Hebrew women are stronger. It says that God dealt well with them. God honoured persons who were preparing for a coming day. I love to think of it. What lies ahead none of us knows, but we can trust in the One who does know. It is God who knows what lies ahead. We have to do our part.
Now in Samuel there is something going on in this house at Bahurim. Bahurim is an interesting locality. I do not know what encouragement they would get in the place, but there was a man there ''who had a well in his court", and it says of the woman that she spread ground corn on it. I do not know if Shimei was their neighbour for he came from Bahurim, but they certainly would never have received sympathy from him. When it comes to what you do for Christ, you have to ignore those that are against Him. Although Shimei was characteristically against David, David did not pronounce judgment on him but Solomon did. This was the time of Absalom's persecution of David. This was very close, his own son, and it appears as if he has the upper hand, and David is fleeing. Then Shimei railed at David and cast stones at him. Shimei says, in other words, you were not true under Saul and you are not true under Absalom either. He more or less put it that it is judgment on him for the way he had been. Abishai was going to cut off his head but David says ''for Jehovah has bidden him", chap 16: 11. This is part of the sufferings of David and reminds us of the sufferings of Christ. So Shimei is from Bahurim and that type of spirit probably prevailed. He was that kind of man. It would have prevailed in the town. But there is one household which was true to Christ in principle and they had a well in their court and they had ground corn. I think they did not know when they were grinding the corn that they were preparing for another day. What they did was instrumental in diverting the enemy. That woman diverted the enemy and preserved the testimony. David got clear, and he was not overrun or overcome. Wonderful! Be true to Christ in your household. You do not know the good you are doing or the moment when that will be required. You are preparing for another day. When reading the Scriptures in the morning, sometimes you get something and at other times it seems a little difficult, but keep at it! It is the grinding of the corn. Some day that is going to be required and God knows when that day will be. Your day will come. You are preparing for it. Think of our young children; they sit round the table and they listen to what is read. They listen to the prayer, the giving of thanks for the food. They listen to everything and I am assured that more goes in than we realise with children. You are preparing persons in your household for another day. If the Lord does not come these young people will be required in the testimony and they will have to be strong in it.
Finally, in Timothy, Paul speaks about unfeigned faith. He says, "which dwelt first in thy grandmother". Timothy's mother was spoken of as a believing woman, but of the grandmother it says that faith dwelt first in her. She must have been characteristically a person of faith. I love to think of faith dwelling in a person. Sometimes we judge faith by some act that somebody does and we say, that was an act of faith. A person goes forward and relies on God and you say, that was an act of faith. But in this woman, this grandmother of Timothy's, it dwelt. That is a woman to listen to. Would she have left her knees for Timothy? She would bring up her daughter Lois and then there would be the grandson, Timothy, and she would be well aware of his father being a Greek and of everything that stood against her grandson, but her faith was rock-solid. It dwelt in her, and she would have an insight by faith that lays hold of what is unseen. That is what faith does. She was preparing for another day. It is more assured than anything else in this world that that day will come. Timothy's day did come. Firstly what happened was the warm feeling that arose between Barnabas and Paul, previously so close together in service, and suddenly warm feeling comes in, and Barnabas eventually goes off - really to the natural. You say the testimony as well as Paul and his company are weakened in some way. But, no, this grandmother, this woman, had obviously considered that that day would come and of Timothy it says, "Him would Paul have go forth with him", Acts 16: 3.
There was a certain requirement that Timothy was drawn into the company. Dear brethren, it may not be obvious or immediately clear what things are, but go on with God and with what is normal and look to a coming day which in principle must be His day. Scripture speaks about the day of Jesus Christ and about the day of God. God has these times in reserve, and He wants you and me not to act and live just in the present, although we thank God for what we do touch in the assembly. Even our weeks commence with announcing the death of the Lord, until he come (see 1 Cor 11: 26). We make an announcement, awaiting the coming day, the coming of Christ into His rights. Why should Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and the other days not have the same character, that we are looking for that day? While we await the return of our Lord Jesus Christ go on with God, the grinding of the corn and the protection of young people required for the testimony. That is why we should prepare for a coming day.
That is all I have to say. I trust we will be encouraged and exercised by it. For His Name's sake.
BRECHIN
23 May 1992