THREE PRAYERS

John Surtees

1 Kings 18: 30-39; Ezra 9: 5-9; Daniel 9: 20-23 (to "beloved")

I would like to speak a little of the prayers of these three remarkable men, and the evening oblation comes into all of them. It was at the time of the evening oblation. We would know that God said that there was to be a continual burnt-offering and with it a continual oblation, in the morning and in the evening. The evening was to be like the morning; it was to be the same measure, the same quality, the same devotedness, a lamb in the morning and an oblation, and a drink-offering, and a lamb in the evening, and an oblation, and a drinkoffering, the continual daily oblation. Of course there was, in addition to that, an individual oblation, ''when one offered an oblation". It speaks, I understand, of the humanity of the Lord Jesus, “fine flour mingled with oil", and upon it was put frankincense (see Leviticus 2). The fine flour would be that which has come within our range; the priest was to handle it, he was to take a handful of it. It is the beauty of the manhood of Jesus that has come within our range, that we can understand, that we can draw near to. There is no quantity specified in the amount that the one who offered the oblation could bring, he could bring as much as he liked; as much as his appreciation of the manhood of Christ he could bring to be offered in the oblation. Then "mingled with oil". It says in Numbers where it speaks of the morning and evening oblation (ch 2: 8) that it was to be mingled with beaten oil. It is that experience with God as a result of the Spirit's work that is brought in, in the appreciation of the oblation. The Spirit of God has come because the Lord Jesus has suffered and because He has been glorified, and it was to be brought in and offered morning and evening. There is a measure attached to it in the offering in Numbers, that is to say it has to be maintained; it is only a small measure. I think it is the same portion as the manna, the omer that was to be brought, or a tenth part of an ephah, which is the same measure as the fine flour that was to be brought for the oblation and that was to be mingled with oil. It was not to be left. The children of Israel throughout all their journeyings were never to miss it; and by way of application, each one of us is never ever to lose sight of the manhood of Jesus, the wonder of it. Here He was, He walked in this scene; He was a real Man, sin apart, and the scripture does say tempted in all things (Heb 4: 15). The reality of His manhood shines for example in Luke's gospel when it says that He “fell asleep". Think of that; He was the Creator, yet here He was in conditions of flesh and blood and it says "he fell asleep" (Luke 8: 23). How real was His manhood, and do I appreciate that?

He knew what it was to feel hungry, and weary, He knew what it was to be rebuked by men, and what it was to suffer unjustly, and what it was to be hated without a cause. I suppose we could scarcely think of the many ways in which He is spoken of in the scriptures as suffering. A brother from this locality spoke recently very helpfully of the five senses of the Lord Jesus, how they were engaged in entering into the suffering, how as Man His senses were all touched by the sufferings that belonged to men. I thought of the Lord at the grave of Lazarus and Martha says "Lord, he stinks already" (John 11: 39). What He had to go through sympathetically in the sufferings of man, in the reality of facing death. There are many ways in which we can take account of the sufferings of the Lord Jesus and all in manhood, intensified by the perfection of what He was.

Now as to these three prayers. Elijah's prayer stood in relation to restoring what had broken down. It tested the people and proved to themselves that there was nothing other than pure idolatry and superstition and sentiment, and all that kind of thing that goes along with idolatry in their offerings to Baal. It comes closer home. How people of the world are swooned into things by music and the like. These things are part of the idolatry that is in the world. It was so here just as much; it had the name of religion, but it affected all the people, they cut themselves and shouted and cried. We know what the flesh is capable of, but Elijah says, now there is another way, "Draw near to me". Elijah drew the people near to him. I suppose he would have the power for that; he was a man with God, he would be attractive to the people. The were exhausted with their day's activity, and it had yielded nothing for them, and certainly nothing for God.

It says that he "repaired the altar of Jehovah which was broken down". He would say that there is a certain order about drawing near to God; it is not haphazard. It involves the way in which God had been made known, it involves sonship, it involved the twelve sons of Israel, the way that God had taken up Jacob and that at one time he wrestled all night with God and with men and prevailed. "What is thy name? Jacob" (Gen 32: 27,28). God would bring us back to our true substance, what we are before Him. God gave him a name in purpose, Israel, a name which would fit into His own thoughts, so that men should call upon the name of the God of Israel. So Elijah uses these people, I think he brings about their sympathy, he gets them to do things. I do not suppose that they particularly wanted to help with this offering, but he was a man of influence. We spoke of that in the reading; he was a man of right influence, he could get people to do things, not necessarily what they wanted to do, but what was going to help in some way to fill out the revelation of the majesty of God. The time of the offering up of the oblation comes. It must have been the evening oblation, the day had gone by, noon had come and gone, the people had been thoroughly exhausted with all their efforts all the patience that Elijah exerted and at that time he draws near to God. The people had drawn near to him, but now he is drawing near to God. He would think of this oblation, think of what was for God, of the contrast with all that he had seen, all these prophets of Baal, cavorting around and behaving themselves as they were, and he would think typically of the Man who was epitomised in fine flour. What a contrast! You think of the handful of fine flour. I cannot appreciate it all, but the priest could take his handful of it and offer it to God. The priest's measure would be in that, what he could take of all that was brought; he would offer what he could to God, and what was left was for his food, he would have it to feed upon and he would delight to feed upon it.

At that time Elijah draws near, "Jehovah, God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel", if things are going to be restored for God, it involves God's outlook, the God of Israel, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac. The Lord says in Luke in relation to these patriarchs that he is not God of the dead but God of the living (ch 20: 38). Elijah says "let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel". He would affect them. I suppose they would not have been ready for this before, but he affected them, he drew them near, and then he had them find these pitchers and fill them and pour them over the offering. It was a time of famine, the famine was in the land for three and a half years. It does not say where the water was obtained, but they found it, there was exercise in it, and he had them do it again and again. He would make them ready, make them expectant for what was going to happen. He draws near and says "Answer me Jehovah, answer me". Can we speak to God like that? What faith there was in his soul! There he was before these hundreds of prophets of Baal, all of them having some name, I suppose, or some previous skill in their disgraceful conduct of idolatry, and there was Elijah drawing near to God and saying "Answer me, Jehovah, answer me". Would God not be affected by one who had drawn near in this way? There would be some feature of Christ, some feature of the Man about whom the oblation spoke. "Answer me, that this people may know that thou Jehovah art God, and that thou has turned their heart back again". Elijah had faith as to this, faith that what is of God in Israel is going to be brought to its real function. And it says “the fire of Jehovah fell and consumed the burnt-offering, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench". What a triumph! There would be nothing left, no water in the trench, no offering, no wood, nothing left. There were these people and there was God having made manifest His power and His love. All was consumed, the people would see nothing there. God had made known His power, His glory, but apart from that I think He had made known His love in relation to His people Israel. It says "And all the people saw it, and they fell on their faces and said, Jehovah, he is God! Jehovah, his God!" Elijah uses the people. They were convicted, they had sorrowful histories, all had been known persons in this conduct before, and now they were converted, all touched, all affected by what was due to God having been brought in again. It refers to the restoration of Israel. John the Baptist speaks of one who comes in the spirit and power of Elias, he would come to restore what is of Israel, and a very great restoration it will be. You think of the remnant of Israel after the church is gone, as we speak, and when the days come of which God says, that if He did not cut short those days no flesh should have been saved (Mark 13: 20), that in the teeth of that violence and bitterness, and warfare, in which the whole globe will be engaged, the godly remnant of Israel will evangelise the world, go round through tremendous suffering, and sorrow and persecution of all kinds, and it will be in the spirit and power of Elias. It will be like this man who could turn to God at the time of the evening oblation and say "Answer me, Jehovah, answer me". Are we able for that? Is the testimony on our hearts? Do we see the breakdown, the public side of it and the activities of men, so organised and uniting together, bridging language and finance arrangements and time-scales, all those things to activate what is commonly against God. The world is full of that and it will get worse. Someone will arise who will co-ordinate it all: that person is spoken of in scripture. It says more than once that he will be blasphemous along with other similar characteristics. But before that it is within our understanding to think of what is for God that is to be restored for His own pleasure and to be able to speak to Him about it.

When we come to Ezra there had been considerable development. They had come out of Babylon by the ordering of God; they had built the house and Jerusalem was beginning to be restored. There were those who came out with Ezra - a remarkable man Ezra was, a priestly man, a chronicler. Not much was missed by Ezra, he would know the Scriptures, which is a test to me and he contributed to the Scriptures, God used him for writing part of the Scriptures and transcribing and giving the sense. There had been good progress in Jerusalem so far and then it comes to light that there is an underlying state of corruption. Ezra is rightly affected by that. What strikes me in this scripture is that it says "at the evening oblation I arose up from my humiliation". Ezra would know what was due to God. He was feeling stunned by the revelation of what was going on, persons no doubt whom he would be surprised about even the priests and the levites, affected by it. It affected and corrupted most, if not all who had been so successful and helped of God in building the house. Ezra felt that, but nevertheless "at the evening oblation I arose up from my humiliation." Ezra would know that what was for God had to go on. He would understand that somebody has got to maintain the service of God in purity, somebody has to be available to do that. He would not say, I cannot go out today, I am so much depressed by all that has come into my ears, and I am affected by it; it has made its in-roads in my household and in my family, and in my circumstances, it has knocked on my door and it has found an entrance into my life (I would have to say that) I could not possibly go out today. He does not say that; he says "I arose up from my humiliation". He would know that there is such a thing as examining ourselves before God, as being able to take God's side against whatever comes to light, not in any sense making little of it. He says "our trespass is grown up to the heavens. Since the days of our fathers, we have been in great trespass to this day; and for our iniquities we, our kings, our priests, have been given into the hand of the kings of the lands". He can see the government of God in relation to it. What they have to do to put it right is very drastic, Ezra does not minimise that. He does not say, we cannot deal with those things because it is all around, it is accepted as normal practice. He did not say that sort of thing. They had to deal with the things that Babylon had taught them. Ezra goes on and looks forward to what God may do "now for a little space there hath been favour from Jehovah our God, to leave us a remnant to escape, and to give us a nail in his holy place", something upon which the glory of Christ would eventually come, a nail in a sure place. They had been given a little opportunity once again, just a remnant, in the present situation to keep something for the Lord's heart, to keep it for Himself, to enable it to function as it should function. Ezra understood this and he would understand that this is all part of the lamb in the evening. The lamb in the morning has been sacrifice. We have seen the lamb in the morning; we see it especially in the Acts, the morning lamb and the morning oblation, a wonderful tribute.

Now we come in at the time of the lamb in the evening. Ezra says there is a little time, a little opportunity, a little reviving and he speaks of a wall: "to give us a wall in Judah and in Jerusalem". That would be in line with what was to be preserved. If this cleansed city area, where the house of God was built, was to be maintained and the people in it, and the function is to be maintained it would need to be preserved. He looked on to the time when there would be a wall. I often say to our own family and others, do we really value the truth of separation? It is nothing to be afraid of. Supposing we had given up the truth of separation, where would our young people be now? If we had not been helped in our earlier days by the elder brethren who were present in the place where I was to maintain separation, where would they have been? Where would any one of us have been? Do I love the truth of separation? It is not about always saying 'No'. It is about preserving the truth, preserving what is for God. He says "to give us a wall in Judah and in Jerusalem". This was the place of privilege. This was the place of God's own privilege, Judah. It is where the Lord Jesus walked in Jerusalem. It was the place where David reigned and God said it would have a king reigning in righteousness there. In that privileged position they were to be given a wall or preserve what was within it. I would like to encourage all of us that this is part of what really belongs to the evening oblation in the time of which we live.

In Daniel, Daniel is confessing his sin and the sin of his people Israel, going far back as he did, he was speaking at the end of the captivity. The captivity ended in the first year of Cyrus. God stirred up the spirit of Cyrus to send those out with Ezra to build the temple. Daniel was speaking right at the end of that captivity and he was going over the history, why were the people of God in such bondage? Why were they in captivity? He did not say, they, they, they: it is we, we, we. More than that it is my, my, my. It is not that they did what was wrong, not even, what we did was wrong, I think it is that before God, as Job says "I am nought" (ch 40: 4). "In me, that is in my flesh, good does not dwell". It is no good looking for it, it is no good trying to excuse it or explain it or anything like that, it is just not there. Man has fallen, he has a fallen nature. We have a nature, as we know, however pleasant or successful or clever or adventurous, it is a nature which is sinful. It responds to sin, it is fallen. Daniel was speaking, praying and confessing his sin. It is very full. I do not think Daniel's sin is ever recorded in the scripture for us. Perhaps he was looking into his heart and finding that it was deceitful "our hearts are deceitful above all things and incurable" (Jer 17: 9). Daniel would be looking into his heart and finding these things. Nevertheless he is presenting his supplication before Jehovah his God, for the holy mountain of his God. It was while he was going over these things that Gabriel appears to him and talks with him and said "Daniel, I am now come forth to make thee skilful of understanding". That was at the time of the evening oblation, although it clearly would never have been celebrated in his time. There would be some there that could remember seventy years ago, Daniel would be one, he could have remembered it because he came as a young man into Babylon. At the time of the evening oblation this man Gabriel appeared and he says "thou art one greatly beloved". Fancy God speaking to such a one like that! Is it not a feature of Christ, the Father's love, the Spirit's love, the love of the Lord Jesus, ''thou art one greatly beloved", loved by God. What a thing it was! There was Daniel in all his loneliness, and yet he was a busy man, he had a big realm of responsibility, he was effective in running the country, he had a certain section of the country to administer, and he would be very busy and occupied, but he found time to stand before God and Gabriel says "I am now come forth to make thee skilful of understanding". That was God's prerogative. I greatly desire that. The Lord opened their understanding in Luke, to understand the Scriptures. There is scarcely anything that one desires more than to be able to understand the Scriptures. Daniel is given understanding, and Gabriel goes on to say ''thou art one greatly beloved". What a commendation to have the sense in a fresh way that God is looking upon us, not only in His purpose because he is love, but looking upon us because of what He sees as features of Christ in the saints, calling out his love, "one greatly beloved".

I would like to close with that thought that it is available to us all. Children, do not pass it by, the time may come when you will be attracted to things in the world and tempted by them; do not get drawn into that. Daniel was maintained as being one who was greatly beloved because he determined in his heart that he would not pollute himself with the king's delicate meat. He was preserved in relation to the purpose of God and the pleasure of God at the present time.

In the name of the Lord Jesus.

EDINBURGH

25 November 1995