EXTRACTS
Then all the things were numbered and counted (Exodus 38: 21). It was the work of the Levites under priestly direction to take account of all, and to see that nothing was missing.
This is important. There has been a great lack of this. Many things which are clearly the commandment of the Lord are often missing. The Levites have failed to count, and things have dropped out. But every detail of the divine system is part of the glory of Christ, and is really essential to the true knowledge of God; we cannot afford to lose account of anything. If we let one detail drop out of account we have lost a ray of the glory of Christ and of the glory of God.
People talk of essentials and non-essentials, but then they do you may be sure they are only thinking of man’s side. Every detail of the divine mind is essential to the glory of God in Christ. A missing peg would mean slack cord, and a slack cord would mean a curtain out of place, and so the disorder would spread. Indeed the whole tabernacle would suffer if one detail were out of place. How often do we find the words in these chapters, “As Jehovah had commanded Moses”! A brother who can put in a word to prevent things getting slack, and a Levite who can count and see what is missing, render valuable service. When the remnant returned with Ezra from Babylon, the silver and the gold and the vessels were numbered and weighed at the river, Ahava, and again when they came to Jerusalem. It was day of weakness—a remnant time—but they regarded the principle of numbering and weighing, and they were exercised that nothing should be lost by the way.
Then the gold and silver and copper were all taken account of by weight. It suggests to me that we should not be content with terms and statements, but that we should have in our souls the true value and weight of things. We may have a good deal to say in relation to divine Persons, but there needs exercise that all such things should have their due weight. So that what we say represents not merely what we have heard or read, but what we truly know of God. This alone has weight according to the shekel of the sanctuary”.
C. A. Coates (‘An Outline of Exodus’, pp. 313, 314)
MWB You referred just now to the “unity of the Spirit” and the “unity of the faith” in special connection with this. Would you say a little how that works out?
JT I think that is very important because it is a universal thing here; it—is universal and collective. Of course we are in the greatest weakness, but the chapter is light for us as to how we are held, together in the overthrow of all that marks the world. The world is being led on to the idea of a head and a central position, which is working out now on the Continent.
The most potent opposition is organised opposition, and God meets that by organisation.
Matthew shows that the Lord met two demoniacs, two blind men, and so on. It is a question of organisation. Chapter 4 of this epistle is divine organisation: That is to say, we are bound up in spiritual affections—which would mean that I cannot afford to lose my brother. And so you have the word to Paul on the ship, Acts 27, that God had given to him all that sailed with him. That ought to be the desire of every one of us—not to lose one. Well, that implies the unity of the Spirit; it is a question of affection. As we saw yesterday, Absalom’s kingdom was thus overthrown in Jerusalem. For that you have the unity of the Spirit, but then there is also the unity of the faith, which would mean the superiority of Christian truth, the truth that God has restored—the wonderful unfolding of the mind of God before which no philosopher could ever stand. The books were burnt because they were shown to be fallacious. This was because of the great superiority of the truth. Paul’s ministry at Ephesus involved the most wonderful unfolding of the truth and counsels of God, so he says, “I have not shrunk from announcing to you all the counsel of God”. Hence the intelligence the Ephesians had, and that I think is what is involved in the unity of the faith; so that you have the unity of the Spirit, and the unity of the faith, and the self-action of the body. Instead of being overcome you have a system of things that is invulnerable. Walking in the light and practical acceptance of all this, God gives us the victory in the conflict.
J. Taylor (Vol. 33, pp.303, 304)
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