"AMONG HIS PRIESTS"
“AMONG HIS PRIESTS”
Psalm 99:6 - 8; Numbers 16:41 - 45, 1 Samuel 7:8 - 12
JT I was thinking of priesthood and what it is to be regarded as among the priests, what the gain is in the divine answer to our prayers, especially in crises. I thought these passages furnished examples, first of what the priesthood is in this respect, and then of what it effects. I thought we might first consider Moses and Aaron, especially as Moses is included among the priests.
Priesthood is indicated in (Psalm 99). The Spirit of God has a way of honouring the saints in the Psalms, so that the exigencies of the testimony bring out distinctions in those who are engaged in it; and this Psalm covers, we might say, the whole history of the testimony up to David Moses- ministry necessarily includes the whole history in the Pentateuch. What distinguishes him here, is that he was a priest.
PL Would his (Psalm 90) — the prayer of Moses the man of God — suggest how priestly he was?
JT I think so; there is the expression of it there and in many other instances — the great apprehension of God that he had, “Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations”.
WC Does this psalm show that the triumphs of the testimony are through the priests?
JT I think that is the point; and incidentally the idea of priesthood in Moses is typical of Christ Himself, as without limitations. Aaron was object to limitations in entering into the presence of God; although the official priest, he was subject to limitations; whereas Moses apparently never was, and so his service in this way covers the whole period. He carried things down from the beginning from the very outset, “from all generations”.
HH Do you mean Moses was often in the presence of God?
JT Yes; that is what I think; there were evidently no limitations placed in his way; as if in him there was provision typically, personally for maintaining the relations of the people of God, with God.
HH The priests would carry that thought as representing the people; it would be representative on behalf of the people.
JT Yes; in that way as one who cared for them; not as one who was officially appointed, but indicating his moral greatness as one who cared for the people; knowing that Jehovah loved them. His position, therefore, is outside of the realm of limitations, indicated in the type of priesthood in Aaron; he was personally above these limitations.
PL Would it prefigure the mediatorial service of Christ?
JT Well, it does; but I think it brings in His personal greatness as in the gospel of John, He is never limited by regulations; He is here in subjection but He moves from Himself, without waiting for John the baptist to be cast into prison. And He begins to serve us before the Passover, chapter 13. As a divine Person, He moves; He is in subjection to His Father, but not limited by regulations that would govern an ordinary servant.
ADT Does the thought of priesthood as presented in Moses suggest the thought of spiritual rule?
JT What we have here is that they call upon His name; they called unto Jehovah and He answered, them. It would involve spiritual rule, that is, the influence which He exerted as loving the people.
HH It was very evident when he went up the mountain after the sin of the golden calf that Moses loved the people.
JT Exactly. Throughout his ministry we have [p. 226] not only his authority over the people, but his solicitude for them and his access to God for them.
JRS And also his solicitude for Jehovah’s name.
JT Quite.
PL Would you say that in (John 13 - John 17) there is peculiarly set forth in the great crisis, the priestly solicitude of the Lord for His disciples in washing their feet; and then His access to the Father, lifting up His eyes to heaven? There is no limited entrance like Aaron’s; there is perfect liberty.
JT That is the idea of it; so that we are reminded in this psalm of the Person of Christ, of whom Moses is a type, and of the liberty in which He moved in relation to God, as arising from His knowledge of God. Aaron had to wait the appointment, and as appointed he was under limitations; but in Moses we have one typical of Christ personally, and what is said reminds us of what priesthood is as in His Person, and the effect of it. Aaron is brought into it in the calling — they “calling upon his name”.
WC Would calling upon His name indicate what priesthood is? Is that priestly?
JT I think so; the recognition of the name, of what had come out on the part of God. “He answered them”, it says.
WC It would be the divine interests and not just their personal interests that would be implied for them in the name; thus, calling on the name would be priestly.
JT That is the idea. The name implies all that has come out, and the testimony is involved in the calling upon it. The Lord says, “if ye shall ask anything in my name, I will do it”. The testimony would be in view in their petitions.
ER Does it not give us a better conception of what the need is, if we think of His name, because we measure it according [p. 227] to this?
JT Especially as the name was disclosed to Moses. In Genesis you find men began to call on the name of Jehovah, and it was so with Abraham. To Moses the name was disclosed. God made known His name, and that necessarily governed the priests in their petitions. Here the psalm contemplates Jehovah reigning — “Let the peoples tremble ... They shall praise thy great and terrible name — it is holy!” That is the setting in connection with the reference to Moses and Aaron prophetically, in view of the restoration of Israel. God will be known as having resumed His place as of old between the cherubim; that is. He has got His place back, that is the great point of recovery, that God has secured His place. He reigns and He sits between the cherubim; and it is in that connection we get these men. Such ministries secure the divine position.
HH Do you think the thought of resurrection morally runs through this? Viewing it prophetically, it would show you how God comes in in a definite crisis.
JT I suppose, prophetically, this psalm contemplates the resumption of God’s relations with His people on earth, but it is on the principle of recovery. Jehovah reigneth, but He sits between the cherubim; that is. He has resumed His place, for that is, His place. If He reigns in our hearts it is in that setting; it is between the cherubim. The cherubim denote His authority, but resting on the mercy seat. The reign now is the reign of grace.
JRS Then, are you connecting recovery with the priesthood?
JT Well the point is, that these ministries went on, and the Holy Spirit refers back to them as to what they were; and how the testimony was maintained through them; so that in crises amongst us the point is to be among God’s priests, that is a distinction. The victory in the maintenance of what God is in that connection. How is one distinguished? Take Moses, how much [p. 228] could be said of him otherwise, but what is said of him here is that he was “among his priests”; and I suppose you could hardly distinguish him more than in that way, that he carried things in his heart, and called upon the name of Jehovah.
PL So that Deuteronomy particularly shews how priestly he was.
JT I think it does; and so the Levites are regarded as priests in that book, but he is among the priests in distinctive way; that is the position he occupies in the mind of the Spirit retrospectively. In the beginning of his history he sat by the well, which would mean that he had learned that he could not effect anything in his own strength. Earlier he slew the Egyptian and hid him in the sand, as if that were the way; but that was not calling upon the name of Jehovah. After that event he sat by the well, and the sequel was that God honoured him in that position. At the end of 40 years He appeared to him at mount Horeb; he led the flock to the backside of the desert, and came to Horeb, the mount of God. Then God disclosed His name to him, as if He honoured the attitude he had taken up. It was not by might, nor by power, but by God’s Spirit, and I, believe that is the secret, of this ever afterwards he called upon the name of Jehovah. In the crises of his history you find him generally calling on the name of Jehovah, that is, bringing God in, instead of his own energy or wisdom.
WC Is that why he could wait, in the incident we have read in Numbers? It says. On the morrow God will shew. He did not attempt to deal with the situation himself.
JT That is what I thought. Numbers brings it out particularly; although God honoured him earlier, as was remarked. After the incident of the golden calf he took the tabernacle and pitched it outside the camp, and as Moses entered into the tabernacle the cloudy [p. 229] pillar descended, and stood at the door of the tabernacle, and God spoke to Moses, (Exodus 33). All this showed the relation and great power he had acquired with God; He spoke with him as a man speaks to his friend. In (Numbers 7) we find that he goes into the holiest to speak to God; he had liberty to do that. It says, “He heard the voice of one speaking unto him from off the mercy seat ... from between the two cherubim: and he spake unto him”.
JRS Are you connecting that with his knowledge of the beginning? You spoke of the beginning earlier.
JT Yes, I am connecting it with his sitting by the well first; then there is the revelation and disclosure made to him that was in his soul, so that he had acquired a definite place with God. God had said to him: “Moses, Moses ... put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground”. He had acquired a place with God thus, and used the liberty, that he had. I refer to it, not to dwell upon Moses at length, but to show how things stand in this fourth book of Psalms. It is a question of the kingdom or the reigning; Jehovah reigning and the position He takes up, and the holiness of it; the holiness of God and the praise due to Him in it. It is a restored position and a retrospective view showing how this position is maintained; that is to say, if God has brought us back to the position, and has His rights, and resumes His place among His people, how are things to be maintained? Thus it is not Moses- authority here, but his priesthood; that is the thing.
HH It holds good until the coming of the Lord; this moral outline covers the present moment.
JT It does. It is a question of recovery and of God being accorded His place, and how the position is to be maintained now.
HH That is the fourth book of Psalms; the coming in of Christ to Israel, the coming of the Lord,
[p. 230] the appearing and the kingdom in that way; and these principles having application now and being maintained until the end.
JT And this psalm also helps us as to what God values, especially in crises. What God really takes notice of is those who are among His priests.
PL So Paul seeks to help Timothy in all that is priestly in his second epistle to him, in order to qualify him for the great crises in the church. “Thou therefore, my child, be strong in the grace which is in Christ Jesus”.
JT Quite. How great a thing it is to be reckoned as among God’s priests! You could hardly desire a greater distinction.
HH It is very important in the present day, but very testing to see how far we are among the priests.
JT That is. God classifies His people. He writes up His people. The Psalms have a way of distinguishing the people of God. The way they are used in the New Testament indicates that they are the product of the saints; they are accredited to the saints; they come out through the exercises of the saints; and these men that are mentioned in this psalm tower up like mountain tops. What am I aiming at in my service? What God specially values is this, and it is what is most effectual.
MP What is the force of the word among.
JT That they are distinguished in this connection. They tower up like mountain tops. God thinks of His priests; these are specially distinguished. They were not the only ones, but they were marked off, and these passages in Numbers and 1 Samuel illustrate how effective their service was.
MP Are these the men who keep open the channels of communication between God and His people?
JT Exactly; and they secure His intervention against the enemy.
LE God having enjoined Moses to take the rod of [p. 231] priestly grace, would indicate the way in which things would be maintained.
JT That is right. You are referring to (Numbers 20). That was how the water was to come in, by the rod of Aaron. “Take the rod” — that was Aaron’s rod, the rod of priesthood.
Some of us were noticing this morning an incident in the book of Jeremiah illustrative of what we are saying. Jeremiah was put in a dungeon and he sank in the mire. The vessel of the testimony was let down, down into the mire. It looked as if what was of God was to be blotted out. But there was a coloured man there, an Ethiopian. He was in the king’s house, and had influence there, and he went off to the king. The princes were the instruments of the enemy. The king was more or less amenable to right influences; thus we are to have our eye on the position and not disparage anything that is inclined for the testimony, or disposed to be of service. Ebed-melech told the king with great emphasis that Jeremiah had been put down into the dungeon and would, die. He was, we may say, a priest, being seriously concerned about the testimony. He knew the king is sufficiently to take that liberty with him, “and the king commanded” — that is the idea — the power of one man to bring deliverance, (Jeremiah 38: 10). The king commanded that Ebed-melech should take thirty men with him, and lift Jeremiah up from the dungeon. Now he had I authority he had a command from the king and thirty men with him. Then he began to consider for the vessel of the testimony. So they went into the house of the king and took from under the treasury old shreds and worn-out clothes. The Ethiopian evidently knew they were there. He let them down to Jeremiah and told him to put them under his armpits showing tender sympathy for the vessel of the testimony, Jeremiah is raised up with the aid of these old rags. No one would have thought anything of them, but they [p. 232] were most valuable for that particular service. I think that illustrates what a priest is in a practical way. He knows where needed things are, and what to do, so that the vessel of the Testimony is preserved. And now Jeremiah speaks to the king, that is, the testimony has resumed its place; it goes on. Jeremiah remains in the court until the end of that period. That shows, I think, how things are maintained and how effective the priest is. It is a question of priestly discernment and power with Ebed-melech. He discerned what could be used, so that the testimony could be kept going. You must not suffer it to die out. Use what is available, even worn out things.
WC As he moved he found divine support, and a way was made for the desired end.
JT Quite. You do not cast off what is old You may say certain ones are old and worn out, but they may be found useful.
HH And we are very thankful for the coloured ones in the West Indies. Ebed-melech was an Ethiopian.
Ques Do you suggest that the priest brings into the testimony the power suited to God’s house?
JT I think so. He calls on the name and that brings in an answer. The answer is according to the name. The name implies what the dispensation is; and that is another great feature in crises — not to act in any way out of keeping with the dispensation, but to maintain it. Act so as not to discredit the dispensation. God is thinking of what He has set up in Christ, and His name implies that.
LM Does (Hebrews 5) suggest how these things came out in the Lord? Speaking of Him as Priest it is said, that He offered up supplications, and was heard because of His piety.
JT That is so. “Having been heard because of His piety”. You see it particularly in these two instances in 1 Samuel and Numbers. In (Numbers 16) we are told [p. 233] that Moses and Aaron fell on their faces in a crisis, and how they were answered; the cloud coming down and the glory of Jehovah appearing. God met that uprising in answer to His servants calling upon His name, as among His priests.
ADT The passage shows the seriousness of murmuring against the priests.
Ques Is what you are speaking of open to each of us or only to certain individuals, such as Moses and Aaron?
JT It is a question of being among God’s priests. Of course, believers are all priests from the divine side, as having the Spirit; but when God looks upon His people He takes account of them according to their stature, too; that is the point of view here. There were many priests, but these three persons are mentioned as towering above the others, Moses, Aaron and Samuel.
Question. Is your thought, then, to encourage each of us on these lines?
JT Yes, that is the thing; that is essential if the testimony of God is to go on, to be among His priests.
MP In Malachi it speaks of those “that thought upon his name”. Would that be an example in extreme weakness, and is it open to all who think upon His name?
JT I think Malachi brings out the thought of the priests in a beautiful way. It says in chapter 2: “And now, O ye priests, this commandment is for you”, that was the official, priests, but those “who thought upon his name” were the real priests, whether sons of Levi or otherwise, “They feared the Lord and spake often one to another, and the Lord hearkened and heard”. They were the priests.
Ques Do you mean that being among the priests is necessary for the continuation of the testimony?
JT The end of Malachi shows the kind of thing that God values. He spares them as a man spares his son. They were among the priests, and Luke takes up [p. 234] the thread and shows who are among the priests, when the Lord came, so that the question now is, who is among God’s priests? I think it is one of the greatest things to aspire to, to be among those who call upon His name; that is, in speaking to God, you speak in relation to the whole position, the whole position is implied in the name; and there will be an answer in power to correspond.
WC I suppose we see the possibilities in the reference to these three; they called and they were answered.
JT You could hardly conceive of greater crises than those referred to in (Numbers 16) and in (1 Samuel 7), but in both cases you see how God answered them; and the testimony was preserved and the people preserved with it.
Ques Does Moses himself suggest, at the end of Deuteronomy, the way to be maintained among the people of God? “The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms”.
JT Quite. That is in keeping with what has been remarked about (Psalm 90).
WC Some of us were looking at 2 Timothy the other day and this passage in Numbers was referred to in connection with the words, “Let every one who names the name of the Lord withdraw from iniquity”. Do you think that refers back to this chapter in Numbers?
JT I think so; that is the link with Numbers.
WC Then, secondly, it speaks of persons becoming “serviceable to the Master”. That is the priestly condition, is it not? In withdrawing and separating himself from the vessels to dishonour, he is one whom the Master can use. That would show how we are brought into priestly conditions.
JT The next thing is, “Follow righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call upon the Lord out of a pure heart”. Those are the priests. It is not simply naming the name of the Lord, that is the ground of our [p. 235] confession; but calling upon the name of the Lord is priestly. Certain ones are calling upon the Lord out of a pure heart, and He answers them. They are not looking elsewhere for help or protection.
HH Do you think it is something like the sucking lamb that we read of? It is something small, but I wondered if it was the thought of faith and confidence in God in a crisis, something which God could answer.
JT Exactly; so that in 2 Timothy we are brought on to (Numbers 17). In chapter 16 we get the solution of the rebellion; that is. God answered them by acting against the rebels, so that they were able to go on; but they go on under priestly conditions. Aaron comes in between the dead and the living and the plague is stayed. The point is to establish the priestly authority and influence. Then the rods are taken and the rod of Aaron buds, blossoms and yields almonds. That is the position that is secured after the rebellion we go on under priestly conditions. Hence, as our brother remarked, in (Numbers 20) the point is to take the rod of Aaron, that is the rod now, not Moses’ rod, but Aaron’s — the one that budded; that is the effective rod now; so that in recovery we are set up again under priestly conditions and they remain to the end. According to 2 Timothy we name the name of the Lord; that involves His power, and we cannot go on with evil because of that. And then we are vessels sanctified and fit for the Master’s use, and we follow righteousness, faith, love, peace with those that call upon the Lord out of a pure heart; that is as priests moving on under the protection of Him on whom we call out of a pure heart. No other power avails.
HH So that there is something gained in God’s mercy through these crises that all can benefit by. You touched on that in prayer.
JT Quite. Then in the passage we read in 1 Samuel as to the sucking lamb, we are brought down to something small but intrinsically precious. It is not [p. 236] a yearling; that is the passover age, but in Samuel we are brought down to a sucking lamb; that is to say, Christ in His intrinsic worth, but dependent — the sucking lamb is dependent on another. But it is a whole burnt offering; it is a whole idea. You start with what is intrinsically precious but entirely dependent; it is really John’s gospel as I understand it, only (1 Samuel 7) has the state of the people in view.
AJG I was just wondering whether that idea of dependence was involved in calling on His name. Does not calling on His name involve that there is no other resource than that?
JT Exactly.
LE Do you meet the Philistine with that?
JT The Philistine is a big man, and you meet him with something very small — intrinsically precious, but dependent. What power has a sucking lamb outwardly? You begin with that, that is the key to Samuel’s ministry, he began with it. If you begin in that way you could never think of anything big outwardly. But God answers in an overwhelming way; you could not get anything more overwhelming than God’s thunder (Job 37:4,5)(Revelation 10).
PL Would you say that David had an apprehension of the thought of Christ as the sucking lamb? “Thou didst make me hope when I was upon my mother’s breasts. I was cast upon thee from the womb”. He was the one who overthrew the Philistine.
JT Well, quite. It was Christ Himself; that is the idea. We begin with nothing outwardly big, but we call upon the Lord. Samuel was among those who called on the name of the Lord and He answered him in a most remarkable manner. It says: “And as Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, the Philistines advanced to battle against Israel. And Jehovah thundered with a great thunder on that day upon the Philistines”. It is [p. 237] very affecting.
JRS Samuel brought in that from which Jehovah could not restrain Himself. It was such a presentation that it called forth His activities against the Philistines.
CG So that recovery follows not on the line of what is outwardly great or official, but on what was morally excellent. However small it may be, it is there.
JT And dependent — a sucking lamb.
HT You would desire to see that condition of things among the saints — something corresponding to the appreciation of Christ in this way?
JT That is what I had in mind in this proposal this afternoon. That we might see that Moses- distinction is that he was among God’s priests — not a great deliverer, but among the priests; that was what underlay his delivering power.
WC What do you think about the stone? Is that a kind of landmark for the saints?
JT “Eben-ezer”, quite. “Hitherto hath the Lord helped us”. That covers all that went before. The priest brings what went before into the present time.
ER That keeps you ever in dependence.
LE I would like to ask whether the apprehension of the Lord as presented in John would be entirely outside all mere mentality and be what is spiritual?
JT Quite.
WC That is the ark in the temple of Dagon. The ark brings down all the culture of man. The head and the hands of Dagon were cut off in the presence of the ark.