BARNET - READING
BARNET — READING
JT It is remarkable that Satan does not appear at once under the well-known name of Satan, or even “the devil”; it is “the serpent” here. It says “the serpent was more crafty than any animal of the field which Jehovah Elohim had made”. He is seen in his craft. It is a very solemn thing that he is presented in his craft, and as attacking the woman instead of the man, indicating that he always takes advantage of whatever weakness there may be and attacks through it. God takes pains to meet this situation, bringing forward the different ones involved. It is important that we should see how the human race, as we may call it, appears in this way, in view of all the wickedness that has been current, and is current, and how the enemy works through weakness, whatever it may be, taking advantage of it. God nevertheless never gives up His side of the matter, but He meets the enemy, and encourages us to do it too, to do it wisely. Satan’s suggestion was in the way of enquiry. He said to the woman, “Is it [p. 206] even so, that God has said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said to the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, God has said, Ye shall not eat of it, and ye shall not touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said to the woman, Ye will not certainly die”. That is, the serpent opens the idea of falsehood, lying. The Lord said, “He is a liar, and the father of it”. John’s gospel opens that up.
ACSP Does a readiness to entertain any questioning, such as the devil brings in here, lay us open to the more definite attack that follows? I was thinking of what you were saying, that the devil in his craft begins with a question, “Is it even so, that God has said ...” and then he goes immediately to a blatant lie; he says, “Ye will not certainly die”. One could not help being impressed with the audacious character of his attack, as way is made for him.
JT If you were to enquire, as, no doubt, you have, or any of us, as we have opportunity, we shall see how Satan works. The boldness and the audacious character of his attack here are very striking. There are so many we could mention if we wished to, but we should be aware of the character of the enemy we have to deal with, and clothe ourselves with the armour of God in meeting the attacks of the devil. So the Lord Himself shows us the way, in the manner in which He met all the attacks of Satan in the gospels.
Ques Was Paul referring to this when he wrote, in 2 Corinthians 11: 3, “I fear lest by any means, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craft”?
JT Just so.
LFJ The woman goes too far when she says, “God has said, Ye shall not eat of it and ye shall not touch it” (verse 3). God did not say, Ye shall not touch it, in verse 17 of chapter 2. It seems as if she also was affected by the enemy and that she goes further than the truth herself.
AGR Is not accuracy important in regard of what God has said? I was thinking of the Lord Jesus using the word of God in meeting the attack. He was accurate, whilst Satan was not.
JT Just so.
AMac Am I right in thinking that the tree of life is in the midst of the garden, and not the tree of knowledge of good and evil?
JT Well, quite. Perhaps we might read what the devil actually says, “And the serpent was more crafty than any animal of the field which Jehovah Elohim had made. And it said to the woman. Is it even so, that God has said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said to the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, God has said, Ye shall not eat of it, and ye shall not touch it, lest ye die”.
ACSP In the previous chapter it says in verse 16, “And Jehovah Elohim commanded Man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou shalt freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it; for in the day that thou eatest of it thou shalt certainly die”. Verse 9 says, “And out of the ground Jehovah Elohim made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; and the tree of life, in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil”. The woman refers to the tree in the midst of the garden, which was not accurate. It says in verse 2 of chapter 3, “And the woman said to the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, God has said, Ye shall not eat of it, and ye shall not touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said to the woman, Ye will not certainly die; but God knows that in the day ye eat of it, your eyes will be opened, and ye will be as God, knowing good and evil”.
JT Perhaps you would enlarge on the whole matter yourself, and help us all.
ACSP I think what has been touched on will help us as to this need of accuracy, that we should discern that when something that is not strictly in keeping with the word of God is quoted, we need immediately to be on our guard against it, because a readiness to listen may lead us into a more dangerous position and lay us open to attack.
JT Quite so. The thing is to be on our guard as to weak points and be sure to have our armour on. “For the word of God is living and operative, and sharper than any two-edged sword, and penetrating to the division of soul and spirit, both of joints and marrow, and a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart”, Hebrews 4: 12. First the armour and then the means of attack by advance.
Ques In connection with the weak points you have referred to. Peter says, “Ye husbands likewise, dwell with them” (that is, wives) “according to knowledge, as with a weaker, even the female, vessel”. Would that be in keeping with what you mean as to the attack being made through the weaker vessel, the woman?
JT That is right. We know from the facts Scripture speaks of that the enemy will attack. We cannot just account for Satan, where he originated, but we do know that he is ready to attack as he finds opportunity, and that he attacks at the weakest point. The thought therefore would be for us to have the armour or means of protection, and then the power of advance in the sword of the Spirit.
FES You have been drawing a good deal of attention to the need of discernment recently, I was wondering whether the background here of Satan’s craftiness would be met by the Spirit helping us with the quality of discernment, and whether the way in which wisdom is available to us, as in Proverbs, would help us in relation to this very matter.
JT That is good. Will you tell us what you are alluding to in Proverbs.
FES I was thinking of the earlier chapters. It says in chapter 4, verse 5, “Get wisdom, get intelligence”; and then in chapter 8, wisdom is presented as so surely available.
PL “The path of life is upwards for the wise, that he may depart from Sheol beneath”, Proverbs 15: 24.
JT Just so. So that Satan’s attack is very [p. 208] plain.
AM Would that enter into Adam having named this creature, the serpent, as having some knowledge of its character?
JT Quite so; but no doubt you have something more to say.
AM I was wondering if Adam perhaps was more discerning than his wife.
JT Quite so, but we have to take the facts as they come; it says in verse 2, “And the woman said to the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, God has said, Ye shall not eat of it, and ye shall not touch it, lest ye die”. There is clearly inaccuracy in her remarks there. Then we have the serpent’s further attack; he said to the woman, “Ye will not certainly die”. That is a barefaced lie, but it shows what we have to contend with. Then he further says, “but God knows” as if he pretended he knew what God knows, “that in the day ye eat of it, your eyes will be opened, and ye will be as God, knowing good and evil”. Well now, there is the attack, and it is marked by a downright lie. Whoever may be the instrument of it, that is the kind of thing we have to deal with, and therefore the need is to have the sword of the Spirit — the word of God.
ACSP Is it significant that the references to the armour and the sword of the Spirit, in Ephesians 6, follow so closely after the apostle’s speaking as to Christ and as to the assembly, as though the devil would attack immediately the choicest thoughts of God are brought out?
JT Yes, and another thing too is the first epistle to Timothy, where we have the idea of man and what man is according to God.
AH Are you thinking of 1 Timothy 2: 14, “And Adam was not deceived; but the woman, having been deceived, was in transgression”. And verse 11,
“[p. 209] Let a woman learn in quietness in all subjection; but I do not suffer a woman to teach nor to exercise authority over man, but to be in quietness; for Adam was formed first, then Eve”.
JT Well now, the whole position is laid bare there. It is the character of the woman, and Satan is seizing that in his attack here. So it is a question now of our getting instruction, because we are in the midst of this sort of thing, whoever the agents may be; we are in the midst of this sort of thing and we ought to be ready to meet it, and clearly we must have the armour on, which Eve did not have. And then we have to have the means of advance and attack, so that we can advance when there is attack made. That is to say, we need the word of God, which is quick and powerful, “For the word of God is living and operative, and sharper than any two-edged sword, and penetrating to the division of soul and spirit, both of joints and marrow, and a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart”.
PL Is “the helmet of salvation” that wherewith the man would rebut the foe’s insinuations?
JT Very good.
PL I thought the moment she listened she was gone, in principle, so to speak.
JT Yes; she listened; quite so; and we should note the plausible phraseology that often accompanies an attack of this kind.
Ques Paul speaks in 2 Corinthians 11: 3, “But I fear lest by any means, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craft, so your thoughts should be corrupted from simplicity as to the Christ”. Do you think the enemy here, the serpent, was on that line with Eve — he was corrupting her thoughts?
JT So that she should have hidden in her proper place. She was not first formed; Adam was first formed. She should have hidden behind that and not listened to the serpent at all, or, at least, she [p. 210] should have referred him to her husband. She did not appear to do that; she listened to him and acted, and then deceived her husband too, but she was in the transgression.
HWS I would like to ask if the parable of the sower helps in this matter, as to whether the woman did not deliver up the word that was sown in her heart. The Lord says, “These are they by the wayside where the word is sown, and when they hear, immediately Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them”, Mark 4: 15.
JT Sown in the heart; not in the mind but in the heart, the place of affection. The mind is often put before that, and, of course, the mind is particularly alluded to in connection with the Lord’s supper — ‘Do this for a calling of me to mind’ — but the heart is the seat of the affections. It is safer to trust the mind at times, because the mind is formed with great intelligence. It has more intelligence, of course, because the very word ‘mind’ would indicate that, “We have the mind of Christ”, and that is the idea, to hide behind the position in which we are set, where obedience is required. “Obedience is better than sacrifice, attention than the fat of rams”.
JSE Is not the whole matter of headship at stake here, and the serpent brings forward a challenge to it and acquires his greatest success?
JT Very good; so the idea of headship enters remarkably into the instructions as regards the Lord’s supper. It is a peculiar fact that the first epistle to the Corinthians provides for the mind. The Lord mentions it in connection with His Supper: ‘a calling of me to mind’. The mind is taxed, as it were, to be used in meeting the enemy, and so the head of the woman is the man, “I wish you to know that the Christ is the head of every man, but woman’s head is the man, and the Christ’s head God”, 1 Corinthians 11: 3. It is remarkable instruction at [p. 211] that particular point, because it is a question of what leads up to the service of God. The full thought of the service of God begins there.
Ques Would it be right to say that the serpent is really attacking the man through the woman?
JT Just so. He attacks at the weakest point that opens out in any given circumstance. If there is an attack being made, the weakest point would be attacked by the devil.
Ques So that his attack against the assembly is really an attack against Christ? Christ is the objective?
JT Quite so.
FES Does not this scripture emphasise the importance of what you have drawn attention to elsewhere — the question of the token? Is not that principle seen here?
JT Just so. That is a point that always comes up in these circumstances; and so the woman is to have authority, a token, on her head because of the angels. That is a protection, that she is under authority.
ACSP And that teaching comes in in connection with the remark: “Man was not created for the sake of the woman, but woman for the sake of the man. Therefore ought the woman to have authority on her head, on account of the angels”. Does it really show the wisdom of God that has arranged things so as to get the very best for Himself and for the Lord Jesus, and do we need to recognise that order in every detail, whether it be the general ordering of creation or the family relationships which Ephesians deals with — fathers and children, and husbands and wives?
JT Just so; and so that raises the question of mediatorship, that Christ is the Mediator of creation, and then all else. He is the Mediator of everything. It says, “the mediator of God and men one, the man Christ Jesus”. The idea of mediatorship is in Christ, and it is through Him we are saved. In an attack being made, we can take shelter under the Lord’s leadership. He is Mediator.
PL “The name of Jehovah is a strong tower, the righteous runneth into it, and is safe”, Proverbs 18: 10.
JT Quite so. “The mediator of God and men one, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself a ransom for all” — the heart is secured in that way — “the testimony to be rendered in its own times”. That is to give assurance.
RB Is it to be noticed that at the end of Revelation, immediately after the devil is finally disposed of in the lake of fire, you have the heavenly city coming down, “prepared as a bride adorned for her husband”? I was thinking of what has been said as to headship.
JT Quite so. The chapter really opens up so much. It is the very beginning of the truth, and man is the centre of it here, the word ‘man’ covering man and woman, according to the word, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion”. The plural is there at once — the man and the woman. The man comes first and then the woman, but they are both together, “let them have dominion”. They are united in it, and that will run through the Scriptures.
ALRT Would you help us as to how this matter might take form practically as referring to Christ in the face of an insidious attack of Satan. How would it be met according to the truth? I was thinking of what you said just now, that she failed in not referring to her head, she presumed to answer Satan herself for them both. How would that apply today in a practical way?
JT I think instruction on these chapters would help us in these matters because these chapters are [p. 213] intended to set out the beginning of man, the beginning of the Christ. Someone wrote me today to say that he heard that I said that man was created before angels, which was not the truth. It is an untrue statement, but that is the way things are said; and the thing is to be bold and open and frank in answer. The suggestion that man was created before angels is absolutely untrue. We do not know when angels were created, but we do know when man was created, because we have it in the first chapter of Genesis, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion”. So we get instruction as to what is to be done. It is first man and then the woman. God has given instructions; therefore the thing would be to abide by the instructions. So in the attacks of the devil against the Lord in the gospels, the Lord’s answers certainly afford immense instruction for us as to all these matters.
AH You referred to the word of God. Does that come in here in verse 8, “And they heard the voice of Jehovah Elohim”? Is that the great antidote to the subtle lies of Satan?
JT Just so. It says “they heard the voice of Jehovah Elohim” — we have both names — “walking in the garden in the cool of the day. And Man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of Jehovah Elohim, in the midst of the trees of the garden”. Well, why should they hide themselves? God had shown His beneficence to them. It is a matter of frankness in all these matters, and, of course, declaring the truth, “abundantly declared the thing as it is!” Job says (Job 26: 3). Whatever it is, declare it fully.
Ques Is not the fear of exposure a very basic thing? We should not be afraid of exposure in God’s [p. 214] sight.
JT Exactly. We should have confidence in God. Even if there is exposure, well, God is God, and He has shown men here in Genesis that what comes out as to Himself is always to inspire confidence in Himself on the part of man, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion”. God is indicating what His thought about man is at once, so the word ‘Man’ is written with a capital letter because it is ‘the Man’ really. In God’s mind the idea of man is to be respected, because man is man, and God made him superior to the woman, although the same word covers them both, only that man comes first; man was formed first, not the woman.
JSE Is it not a fact that we are called upon to face the situation as it is now that superiority is placed before us at this juncture in the history?
JT That is just what I was saying — abundantly declaring the thing as it is. The conditions generally are so serious that it behoves us to be transparent and open in what we are saying, especially in speaking of the things of God. We are to be accurate in what we are saying, quoting Scripture properly; and the Spirit of God is with us from the very outset, because the word is, at the beginning of this book, “The Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters”. That is the full thought of the Spirit. He was there from the very outset, with all indication that He is God. He is the Spirit of God. He represents God in the fullest sense.
ACSP Is the suggestion that even as God begins to operate with man in view, there is abundant resource available already to meet the worst that the enemy can do?
JT Just so. There is abundant resource, so that we can afford to declare the thing abundantly as it is. Give plenty of information if it is needed, because language is for us too. Language is the most wonderful thing of God’s handiwork. It is God’s provision, and how man is taught to use it.
PL Let the worst be known; it will only make room for God bringing in the best.
JT Just so. God is God, and already He has shown in the first few pages that He is beneficent, and ready to do good. ‘God is good’.
AH At Maidstone you made a very striking remark, which I wonder if we might repeat here, that the word of God really is God Himself. In plentifully declaring the thing and bringing in that word, is that how the situation is met?
JT Yes. Just so. If you read it through you will see how accurately it is stated, in Hebrews 4.
ACSP “For the word of God is living and operative, and sharper than any two-edged sword, and penetrating to the division of soul and spirit, both of joints and marrow, and a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. And there is not a creature unapparent before him; but all things are naked and laid bare to his eyes, with whom we have to do”.
JT I think that is a statement which we should all take to heart. What do you say about it, Mr. H.?
AH I was greatly impressed myself when you made that remark, that the word of God really is God Himself, inasmuch as the scripture you have just asked to be read from Hebrews 4 goes on to the reference to His eyes. God’s eyes, indicating, do you think, that God Himself is brought into the matter as His word comes to bear on us?
JT Just so — the eyes of him “with whom we have to do”. That is God Himself.
Ques Does the reference to His voice, “the voice of Jehovah Elohim”, suggest that His heart is in this matter, searching His creature?
JT Just so. ‘Elohim’ is simply God. ‘Jehovah’ is the name furnished later, in Exodus. It is a [p. 216] softening down of the thought of God by the addition, so that we should have all the more confidence in Him.
ALRT I was thinking of the reference to His voice. Does it not imply really that His feelings were in this matter as He was seeking His creature?
JT Well, just so. If you are thinking of His voice conveying His feelings. It conveys affections. God’s voice, what is it like? We have the word in 1 Samuel 24, “Is this thy voice, my son David?”
ALRT Would that apply too to the Spirit, “Thou hearest its voice” in the allusion to the wind in John 3?
JT Quite so, “Thou ... knowest not whence it comes and where it goes, thus is every one that is born of the Spirit”. There is the power.
Ques Is the setting here “in the garden in the cool of the day” to emphasise the softening way in which God moves?
JT Just so. He comes down to where we are, to indicate that He is not far away from us. The word in Philippians is “The Lord is near”. A beautiful word! He comes down to give us assurance that He is near and ready to help us.
Ques Would the question, “Where art thou?” indicate the deep feelings of God as having lost His creature man?
JT I think so. But we ought to proceed. We have already touched on what the woman said, and what the serpent said. Then again we have in verse 6, “And the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a pleasure for the eyes, and the tree was to be desired to give intelligence; and she took of its fruit, and ate, and gave also to her husband with her, and he ate. And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig-leaves together, and made themselves aprons”. Well now,
[p. 217] that shows clearly enough what we have to deal with in Satan’s effort and in the weakness of the woman, and then Adam coming under her influence, for he was remiss too, and it runs right through the Scriptures.
HWS It says in chapter 2 that “Jehovah Elohim made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight”, to show us that it was a thing to be desired. Is that in line with James, where he says, “Let no man, being tempted, say, I am tempted of God. For God cannot be tempted by evil things, and himself tempts no one. But every one is tempted, drawn away, and enticed by his own lust; then lust, having conceived, gives birth to sin; but sin fully completed brings forth death”. Was it in that order, that there was lust, and then sin, and then death?
JT Just so. He was remiss in listening to the woman. He ought to have known too, and asserted himself. The man ought to assert himself. He has the superior knowledge, and he ought to take the lead. Therefore the place women have just now in the world is altogether contrary to the truth of these chapters, and we have to be on our guard not to be drawn into this way of doing or thinking, because God has set the man over the house. The man is head of the house, but the woman fits in there; she is to do things, for she guides the house. She is not the head of the house, but she guides it. It is a very beautiful thought. It encourages confidence that the right words and thoughts are conveyed here. It is where they are needed.
JSE Does the history of Vashti come to our aid in this matter? That broken commandment did not alter this principle. I was just thinking of the reference to her in the book of Esther. When she was called that her beauty might be displayed, she refused to come. That is, she disregarded this great matter of headship as to herself, and the word was [p. 218] that something must be done to put this right in order to maintain the principle of a man bearing rule in his own house.
JT That is right. We have that especially in that book.
PL It says in that passage, “All the wives shall give to their husbands honour, from the greatest to the least”, and then later it says, “Every man should bear rule in his own house, and should speak according to the language of his people”.
JT Very good. Another thing that comes up there — is whether prayer is mentioned in Esther or whether it is just fasting that was called for in a time of great need.
PL You are referring to the verse “Go, gather together all the Jews that are found in Shushan, and fast for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day: I also and my maidens will fast likewise”, Esther 4: 16.
JT I am only calling attention to that so that we might pay attention to the actual accuracy of Scripture. We often say, ‘Let us pray about it’, but there are other things. Sometimes it is not prayer; what is needed is fasting.
ACSP Do you mean there are some things where the truth is so plainly known that it is not a matter of prayer, but of acting?
JT Just so.
PL Is that why Joshua is told to get up and act? “And Jehovah said to Joshua, Rise up; wherefore liest thou thus upon thy face? Israel hath sinned”, Joshua 7: 10.
JT That is the point, “Rise up”. You should know what to do, and do it!
FES In God’s approach to the woman here, is there a certain model for us as to the way in which things should be done, coming in the cool of the day, in the garden? I was wondering if there is not some [p. 219] pattern for us in seeking to get to a person’s conscience, where there is need of recovery.
JT Just so. Then what happened? “Man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of Jehovah”. That is where the defect lay; they were not transparent.
FES I was only just thinking of the principle, that in seeking to get at a person’s conscience in view of recovery or adjustment, where there is this attitude of drawing near so to speak in the cool of the day in the setting of the garden, it would all help to put them at the very best advantage in relation to the matter.
JT Yes, but all the facts have to be mentioned, whatever the case may be. It says in verse 9, “And Jehovah Elohim called to Man, and said to him, Where art thou? And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I feared”. Why should he say that? He is not transparent. He is not open in what he is doing. Neither is she either. These are defects that are to be faced when an attack is made.
JSE Do we not always fear when we surrender headship? Are we not always at ease when we accept it and move in it? I wondered if that is why the word ‘I’ and not ‘we’ is emphasised here. It is the actual man himself who answers.
JT He hides behind the fact that the woman did it, but he should take on the responsibility. The man is head, and the responsibility rests with him. Really he did not face the thing. There was not integrity and openness and honesty, and these are things we have to deal with in assembly matters. These are the very things we have to deal with, and we can get correction now in the scripture before us.
Ques In dealing with the matter, does not God bring it back to them? While He first addresses Himself to the man and then to the woman and then to the serpent. He works back again and addresses [p. 220] Himself to the woman, but finally completes the matter with the man and places the responsibility there.
JT Just so. He places it where it should be.
Ques So that whatever failure there is in headship, the man is held responsible?
JT Just so. ‘Responsibility’ is the word, and we should face it, if we are responsible. Let us face the matter and be open, honest and transparent.
ECL He says to the man, “Where art thou?” He says to the woman, “What is this thou hast done?” Is there something in that?
JT Yes, indeed.
ECL The question of departure having come in in the man too.
JT I think Mr. Darby makes a good deal of that in certain writings of his. It is a question of where are you morally and what governs you? “What is this thou hast done?” If there is a confession to be made, make it at once.
Ques Would there be two things really to face? First, the preparedness for exposure, and secondly, the acceptance of responsibility?
JT Just so.