THE BOOKS OF MOSES
[p. 41] THE BOOKS OF MOSES
I want to bring before you the thought of the testimony of God in the Scriptures. The ground upon which I go is found in the last chapter of the Gospel of Luke. Christ expounded to the disciples in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself. He was the great testimony of God, so that He could do this. He marks the three great divisions of scripture, that is, Moses and the Psalms and the prophets, with the same object, as containing the things concerning Himself. He gave a comprehensive view of the testimony of God in all the Scriptures. Now it is with that idea that I want to bring the Scriptures under your attention. I take up the books of Moses at this time, and, if I have another opportunity, I will take up the Psalms, then too the prophets.
The object in each is different; but whatever may be prominent in each, the whole is covered by that one word “Christ”. That is what we want to see in Scripture. We are told that “the word of God” is “the mystery”, and the mystery of the Christ is the testimony. The word of God and the testimony are perhaps equivalent, and the testimony of God refers to that which God is going to display. It seems to be the way with God that He displays nothing without having first given testimony; and for a very long time, now extending over some six thousand years, God has been giving testimony of that which He intends to display. If I do not misunderstand the Scriptures entirely, God’s testimony is the one thread running all through, whether it be in Moses, in what we are accustomed to call the [p. 42] Pentateuch, or in the Psalms, which are largely celebrations, or in the prophetic part of scripture. The testimony of God, as I have said, is the word of God. In the highest sense Christ is the word of God, that is, in the sense of being the revelation of God. When He comes into the world He comes as the word of God, that is, as the testimony of God. All that God has fore-ordained, all His counsel, is not only established in Christ, but will be displayed in Him.
One word more: that it is Christ personally that gives character to everything under Him we can well understand, but the thought of God’s testimony is not simply of Christ personally, but of Christ officially, that is, Christ in relation to “all things”. “All things that the Father hath are mine”. “All things are delivered to me of my Father”. You get that thought continually in the teaching of the Lord, and I want to make plain the idea of Christ in relation to “all things”.
In speaking about the testimony of Christ we must bring “all things” in. “All things” is an expression commonly used in the New Testament as denoting all that is put under the Headship of Christ. “And hath put ‘all things’ under his feet, and gave him to be head over ‘all things’ to the church”. Hence we have Christ in relation to “all things”, and “all things” in relation to Christ.
I take up now what may be called the beginning of the testimony. In this chapter God gave details of the testimony which He intended to establish in the midst of Israel. The tabernacle was called the tent of testimony; and the ark of the covenant was the testimony which God gave. God set up, in a figurative way, His testimony in the midst of Israel. Now I do not think I am going too far in saying that if that be so, this chapter is really the most important chapter in the Pentateuch. It is [p. 43] a very common thing in the present day for critics to attack Scripture. Scripture has lost its sacred character in the eyes of people to a great extent. Men assail it, but in general the attacks are addressed against the detail. People will tell you that this detail and that are irreconcilable with what men of science have found out, and that kind of thing. But in coming to Scripture, the point is not the detail, but to know what the mind of Scripture is — what the secret, the spirit of it is. The detail is a secondary consideration, though I have no doubt the detail will be found all right. I venture to say that no person that ever attempts to assail Scripture has any idea whatever of the purpose of Scripture. In regard to that I judge that they are in the dark. They look at the surface, but not being divinely taught, they have no apprehension of what is the spirit and real point of Scripture. The point of Scripture is the testimony of God, and the testimony of God is Christ; but, as I have said, Christ in relation to “all things”. I take up a figure often used: the sun in our physical universe stands in relation to all things; there is no planet in the solar system to which the sun does not stand in relation. The sun may be called the centre of the system. The same thought applies in regard of Christ. Christ is the centre of the whole moral system. Every part of the moral universe refers to Christ, and Christ to every part of the moral universe.
All the detail that God gave in the early part of scripture, and afterwards (a great deal comes out in the succeeding books, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy) refers to what is found in this chapter. God here gave directions for His testimony to be set up among the people; therefore I am justified in saying that this chapter is the most important chapter in the books of Moses. If this chapter were rightly understood, no one would attempt to [p. 44] assail any of the detail that precedes or that follows it. The detail was all leading up to the fact of God taking up a people, and was a type of redemption coming in; then it was that God set up His testimony in the midst of that people. Once the testimony was established, as we get it here and in the early part of Leviticus, everything had relation to that testimony. The children of Israel had to pitch their tents in reference to the tabernacle; and when they went through the wilderness, the ark of the covenant went before them, and God marked out a way for the people; they had to follow the ark of the covenant through Jordan, and the ark preceded them into the land. So too, the ark of the covenant had to be carried round Jericho; everything centred in the ark. I want to touch now upon what God set forth in the tabernacle, not in detail — I am no great hand at detail — but in the general features of it.
I desire to show you how in the tabernacle God set forth a figurative representation of that which was before Him. What is presented to us in the books of Moses is to a large extent figurative. In the Psalms we have not a figurative representation — for the Psalms are rather prophetic in their character, they are in the nature of celebrations. I would say in passing that in the Psalms we get the thought of a Man capable of going up on high: One who first came down, and was capable of going up, so as to fill all things. In the prophets, again, it is not a question of figurative representation, but of prophetic testimony, all pointing on to the same thing. We see in the prophets the thought of God Himself assuming all the kingdoms of the world. It is no longer safe that they should be entrusted into the hands of man, and God Himself becomes King of the whole earth in the midst of His people at Jerusalem. We read in Revelation 11, “The kingdoms of [p. 45] this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever”. If you put these three points together, the figurative representation of that which was before God, the Man who could come down and could go up, so that He should fill “all things”, and the assumption of the kingdoms by God, so that Jehovah alone should be King, you get the idea of God’s testimony. The great system of the world is to be broken to pieces. God allows it to go on for a moment for wise purposes, but all will be swept away, and it will not take God long to do it. God never interferes until principles are ripened. The present is an accepted time and a day of salvation, and I suppose the character of this moment will continue until men reject all revelation and set up a rival to Christ; then God will interfere and the existing system of the world will come to an end in a moment, but in that moment God will display that to which He has given testimony from the beginning. The system of the world will be put aside by the judgment of God, to make room for Christ and “all things”. The Father’s counsels are centred in the Son, and when the Son is set forth — and the Son is the great subject of testimony — then God will set forth the “all things” centred in the Son.
I will touch now on the things of which God spoke in connection with the tabernacle (verses 10, 16, 17, 23, 31). I refer to the items which formed the furniture of the tabernacle, because they were the things which God set forth before the people. The first and foundation of everything was the ark of the covenant. The covenant was put in the ark, and the ark of the covenant implied the means by which the goodness of God should be available to man in spite of what man was. It was a wonderful thought. In the beginning of God’s dealings with Israel, God took account of man’s condition, which really ruined everything; but what was typified in the ark of the covenant was Christ, and the tables of the covenant were placed there. In Christ you can understand how, in spite of all man is, the goodness of God is available to man. The same sort of thought comes out in the bringing back of the ark to Mount Zion. We are told “Ye are come unto Mount Zion”. When man had forfeited everything by the crucifixion of Christ, God gives back Christ in resurrection to man in His sovereign mercy in the virtue of redemption. Christ was taken and by wicked hands crucified and slain, but He was delivered by “the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God”. I understand Christ to be now both the ark and the covenant (not the ten commandments). He is the true covenant, and the covenant is, that in spite of man’s condition the mercy and goodness of God are available to man. That is the first principle of “all things”. I cannot conceive how “all things” could possibly be brought about without the goodness of God being known and realised. In any household what gives character to the household is goodness in the parents. What is the worth of a household if there be not that? and what is the value of the universe, as God’s house, if there be not goodness in God, and that goodness displayed and enjoyed? Well, what God has designed and brought to pass is that the goodness of God should be available to man in spite of man’s condition. Christ is available to man, and there are two things in Christ — He has accomplished redemption so that man might be relieved of the liabilities under which he is, and on the ground of redemption Christ is able to impart living water to man, to conform man to Himself. That is what I understand by the ark of the covenant. It is on that the mercy seat is founded.
[p. 47] The mercy seat could not have been founded on the ten commandments, it could be founded only on the ark of the covenant. Christ magnified the law and made it honourable. He was the righteous One, He hated lawlessness and loved righteousness, but that would not have been available to us had He not accomplished redemption. He had to taste death for everything, and on that ground He imparts to man living water, so that man may be conformed to Him. God has to say to people about their sins, but it is to announce forgiveness. If in preaching you make an effort to bring home responsibility to man, the reason is that God’s mind in regard to man is forgiveness. When Christ was here God was not imputing trespasses, indeed occasionally we find the Lord forgiving, but in general the principle was that God was not imputing, He was reconciling. Now God goes further than that, He announces forgiveness, “Through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins, and by him all that believe are justified from all things”. The mercy seat is established upon the ark, and hence it is that God’s mind in regard to all men is forgiveness of sins, and the point to be reached is that man may be brought into the enjoyment of the goodness of God. Were it not for redemption, and the ark of the covenant, man’s condition would have been an impassable barrier to his knowing anything at all about the goodness of God. God has wrought that His goodness may be available, and enjoyed and delighted in by man. The condition of man has been met in redemption, and Christ is the mercy seat, so that in Him God can put Himself in contact with man. In the mercy seat we get the declaration of the rights of God’s mercy; and where those rights are recognised man receives forgiveness in the gift of the Spirit. That is the first principle of God’s universe. By the ark of the covenant and [p. 48] the mercy seat God establishes the universe. You could not talk about God being in moral contact with this present world. I admit there is a testimony of God to man in this world. God puts Himself in contact with man, but by what belongs to another world, by the ark of the covenant and the mercy seat.
In the furniture of the holy place you get two important items — the table of shewbread and the candlestick. There was also another item in the holy place, the altar of sweet incense. That comes in another connection; you do not get that in this chapter. In the detail of the furniture the altar of sweet incense is brought in last. What we get in this chapter presents in type that by which God intended to establish the universe, and as I have said, the first thing in that is the ark of the covenant. Christ is seen in that light. The table of shewbread and the candlestick present two great principles, what I may speak of as administration and light. They will come out not simply in Christ but through Israel, that is, so far as the world is concerned. All that was in the first tabernacle related in a way to Israel, and the proof of that is that the priests in Israel went always into the first tabernacle accomplishing the service of God. The things with which they dealt in the first tabernacle were the things which related figuratively to Israel; although the table of shewbread and candlestick represent Christ, yet I take it they represent Christ in connection with Israel. Israel will, in the ways of God, be a vessel of administration, and the great light in the midst of the world. In Isaiah 66: 19 we read, “And I will set a sign among them, and I will send those that escape of them unto the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, that draw the bow, to Tubal, and Javan, to the isles afar off, that have not heard my fame, neither have seen my glory;
[p. 49] and they shall declare my glory among the Gentiles”. One cannot doubt that in the ways of God, Israel, in connection with Christ, will have a remarkable place in the earth both in administration — that is, in the administration of spiritual food, for the declaration of God’s name is really food — and as a light in the world.
But I will proceed to the court of the tabernacle. In the court of the tabernacle was the altar of burnt offering. The altar of burnt offering is a type of Christ, but in another light, that is, in that it presents a place of acceptance for man on the ground of sacrifice, so that man may find acceptance with God. There is that now set forth in Christ. Man does not come into the favour of God by his own conduct, but is accepted on the ground of sacrifice. That ground of acceptance will subsist in the world to come. The altar of burnt offering will be available for all when the system of the world to come is established. The world to come will be set up on that ground. This is seen in principle in the offering of Abel. There will be another principle true in the world to come: all will be pervaded by the Spirit of God. The tabernacle was anointed with oil. God will pour out of His Spirit upon all flesh. The Spirit will be in that day the subjugating influence in regard to man. That is the testimony which God gave. In the construction of the tabernacle and in the details of the furniture God set forth in figurative representation what was before Him in regard to the world to come. From beginning to end Scripture has in view the testimony of God, that which God has purposed to display. It is not that this came in when everything had failed in the hands of Israel, but God showed in Israel what He had from the beginning before Him. The people did not understand it, very few at any rate; their minds were veiled to a large extent; they did not [p. 50] understand the figurative character of these things. They took them all up in a material way. It is we who get the benefit. “Whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning”. We can understand these things because Christ has been presented in whom all is established; and God has given to us His Spirit that we may have intelligence in regard to all that is before God. My object in taking up these things is that the great design of God in Scripture may be seen, so that none may be terrified by attacks that may be made upon this detail and that detail. You will not think very much of these attacks if you see the great underlying principle and purpose in Scripture. But there is another object before me, and that is that the attention of saints may be diverted from the course of things transpiring in the world and fixed upon that which God presents to us. All is comprehended in the great fact that Christ is before God.
Now I will say another word in regard to man. Some would perhaps observe, Yes, all these things are before God — the ark of the covenant, the mercy seat, the table of shewbread, the candlestick and the altar, but there is no man. In Ephesians 3 we read, “Of whom every family in heaven and on earth is named”. God has evidently designed to have many families before Him. In the ways of God Christ is the centre of many circles; all the circles have reference to the one centre. When you come to the detail of the holiest of all you do not find any man spoken of save Moses; so in regard to the holy place, there is no mention of any man, it is simply the furniture. The furniture is what God set forth before man. When you bring in man, the point is man before God. But if God is before man, presenting things to man, there must be a response to it, that is, that man [p. 51] should have a certain place before God. That came out in the priests of Israel: they went always into the first tabernacle, accomplishing the service. But all that was to pass away. I suppose at the beginning of the system Aaron may have had liberty to enter into the holiest of all. Moses could approach the mercy seat, but Aaron was not allowed to enter at all times; the high priest went in once a year, and under certain conditions, and for a certain purpose. Now I say that, in order to bring in perfection, the priest must touch the ark. The two must be brought together. You must have the covenant of God brought into conjunction with the man that approaches God. The priest is the man who approaches God on behalf of man; and to complete the system, we must have the man who approaches God on the part of man joined with the One in whom God set forth His pleasure in regard to man. That never could be fulfilled save in Christ. You could not have any one really to approach the ark of the covenant until Christ. If we look at Christ on one side, He is the ark of the covenant on the part of God. In Psalm 40 He comes forth from God with God’s law in His heart; but in another point of view Christ was the priest taken from among men, He sprang from man in the ways of God. He was made of a woman, made under law; He was to approach God in that light, and hence we find in Christ the two things brought together — the ark of the covenant, and the man that could approach God on behalf of man. Christ does not take up priesthood until after resurrection; but still, the moment He was born, the Priest was there, the One who could be joined to the ark of the covenant; the two are brought together. The practical result is that you get many families. They all have to come in by Christ. The great High Priest has entered the holiest in the virtue of [p. 52] His own blood, and, as a result of that, many families may come in, really because they are joined to Christ. They do not come in on any title of their own, on any hereditary principle or ground of personal excellence. Every family which approaches (and many will) approaches in connection with the great High Priest. I can understand that when God was giving the detail of that which He saw fit to set forth before man, we do not get any reference to families. Families come in on the other side, in connection with the high priest who could go in and touch the ark of the covenant. In Hebrews you get the idea of the holiest, and the ark of the covenant is there, that is, what God saw fit to set forth in Christ, the apostle; but there is another thought, Christ has entered once into the holiest by His own blood. The priest has touched the ark, the two are bound together, if I may use the expression, and now you get the various families. At the close of Hebrews we have the church of the firstborn and the spirits of just men made perfect; all depends on the priest having entered in once in virtue of his own blood. The inmost of these families is the inmost circle, the companions of Christ. In Hebrews we are told that we have become companions of Christ. “Both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren”. The priest is as great as the ark. In Israel the priest was not so great as the apostle. Moses was faithful in all God’s house. Aaron was hardly that. For the reality of things you have the priest as perfect as the ark of the covenant. In virtue of the priest having gone in, every family can be named, and every family can in measure approach God. “Through him by one Spirit we both have access (Jew and Gentile), to the Father”. We do not go in because we are very advanced Christians, but [p. 53] simply as companions of the high priest; very much akin to the sons of Aaron. One word more: in times gone by the holy place was the place of service, but the holy place no longer has that position, the place of service is the holiest of all, the veil has been rent. When the holy place was the place of service there was no other service. But another service has come in: we have liberty to enter the holiest by the blood of Jesus. The holy place never will again, I suppose, be the place of service of God; all the service will take its character from those who enter the holiest of all. In Revelation 14 there is a company here upon earth who hear the voice of harpers harping with their harps in heaven, and they learn the heavenly song. There will be earthly families as well as heavenly, and the service of God will take its character from that which transpires in heaven.
It is important to see that the scripture is the book of God’s testimony, and that God’s testimony has reference to that which God intends to display. Christ is not yet displayed in glory. According to God’s counsel He is to come out in that light, and when He comes out “all things” will come out. God will bring to light the extent of “all things”, the breadth, depth, length and height. My point is, that from the outset, from the moment that God had a people and a type of redemption, God gave testimony, figuratively, of that which was before Him and which He intended in due time to display. We can understand these things because we have before us the reality, Christ having come in. We can understand the Scriptures, the Spirit of God having been given to us, so that we can enter largely into that which the Spirit of God indited. Scripture is a wonderful book. Do not think you have got to the bottom of it. People are often content with the surface of it. Few go much beneath the surface.
[p. 54] The great point is not the detail, which is given wisely, but the great principles of truth which are found there. I believe they are summed up in the testimony of God, and the testimony of God is comprehended in one single word, that is, Christ, but in relation to “all things”. The last word of the Old Testament is, “To you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall”.