DIVINE COMMUNICATIONS
[p. 338] DIVINE COMMUNICATIONS
Exodus 25: 21, 22; Numbers 7: 89; Revelation 15: 5 - 8; Revelation 16
I desire to say a word in regard to divine communications. God having in Christ One in whom He has made known all His thoughts, it is our privilege, as believers, to have access to His temple, so that we may be in possession of these thoughts. Now, in the scriptures which I read we have the end as well as the beginning. The beginning may be seen, typically, in the book of Exodus, the temple of God having been then introduced, and the end is seen in the book of Revelation, the temple being still the appointed channel of divine light; God’s operations on the earth are thus intelligible to His people.
I speak of it, beloved friends, very simply, because we are living in troublous times, and the heart finds rest in the knowledge of the mind of God. Nothing can happen without Him. Indeed all that does happen, whether in the government of the world, or in the individual circumstances of believers, works out the divine thoughts, and the knowledge of this affords a restfulness of heart in the Christian.
First of all, I want to dwell on Exodus, because it gives us light as to the temple; it indicates what it is. When we understand what the temple is, then we shall resort to it, so as to avail ourselves of the light that is there. The first great feature of the temple is the Ark. We have been dwelling on the Ark in our readings, but the question is whether Christ, through the consideration of our subject, has become more precious to our hearts; whether we have come to regard Him as an increasing object of interest and of love. If we have, we shall learn all the more to appreciate what is said of the Ark here. One whom you have come to know, whose love you have proved,
[p. 339] is the One through whom God speaks. The communications become thus more interesting, they come out through a heart and mind actuated by consideration for you.
The New Testament teaches us that what we have here refers to Christ. What you find is that before God began to speak through Him to man He announced His delight in Him. This took place at His baptism. Then on the “holy mount”, according to Luke, Peter, not knowing what he said, would have made three tabernacles; he saw three men speaking, Moses and Elijah were there speaking with Jesus; he would have three vessels of communication, and so God’s voice from heaven comes immediately. We have heard the assumption that different systems or organisations, adverse in principle the one from the other, may at the same time have the mind of God. It is a false assumption and a misrepresentation of God. Peter’s three tabernacles suggest the very essence of modern Christendom, and hence the voice, which should sound ever in our hearts, “This is my beloved Son: hear him”. Hear him! And as the voice was heard, it says: “Jesus was found alone”, Luke 9:34 - 36. There is no other through whom God speaks.
The One through whom God communicates is the One in whom He finds delight. He has proved in the most unqualified way the Person through which He speaks. And so He is found alone, and He remains alone. Mark tells us “they saw no man any more, save Jesus only with themselves”, Mark 9:8. This passage lays the basis for the truth of the temple as seen in 1 Corinthians 3. The assembly is the temple of God; the saints, being indwelt by the Holy Spirit, are the temple; the light of God is among them. But to apprehend this we must first see that, primarily, all divine communications come through Christ. Hence He is called the “Word”.
God thus reminds us that all He has to say is [p. 340] through Christ, and so in Exodus 25: 22, He says, “I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel”. The children of Israel would thus know that every utterance of God to Moses came in this way. Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers show the frequency of the words, “and the Lord spake unto Moses, saying”. Every one of those utterances to Moses was from above the mercy seat, from between the cherubims which were upon the ark of the testimony. Typically, beloved friends, it is God making His communications to us through Christ. Perfect as they are in themselves, He makes them now through One who, having become Man, has sympathy and feeling with men. We come to know the warmth of the love of Christ. It is in that light one would seek to read Scripture.
It is thus one would seek to apprehend what is presented of Jesus in the gospels, and it is thus one would seek to listen to ministry; for no ministry is of any effect in building up the saints that is not of this character. “If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God”, 1 Peter 4: 11. It is all through Christ, but now mediately in the assembly, the gifts being all included. You may say, “I thought it was through the Spirit”. Everything comes through Christ: the Spirit speaks as He hears: “He shall take of mine, and shall show it unto you”. “He shall not speak of (from) himself”, John 16:13. The communications are through the mercy seat. Think of the greatness of the affection that clothes those communications! Think of Him through whom they come! The Ark of the testimony below speaks of Jesus here for the will of God. The thoughts in the mercy seat and the cherubim are all divine, and yet all came out in a Man and in a perfectly human way.
[p. 341] Well may we, therefore, understand the evangelists, Luke and John, employing the expression “The Word”, for He was the expression, as a Man down here, of every thought of God. That is what the temple really means, and when the apostle says to the Corinthians, “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God”, 1 Corinthians 3: 16, it does not mean anything different from that. There are no communications from God save through Christ; but, seeing He is not here personally, He speaks by the Spirit in the assembly. The light of God, as it shines in Christ, is there; Christ has His place among the saints, and thus room is made for the Holy Spirit; thus we have the temple. The Spirit is not free where Christ has not His place; there is no room for the Spirit if there is not room for Christ. The freedom of the Spirit is dependent on the place that Christ has among the saints.
If Christ has His place as the Ark in the affections of the saints, then the Holy Spirit is free, and you get divine communications. Not perhaps new thoughts now, but you do get the thoughts of God in freshness and vigour. What we want is to be sure about things; and where the temple of God is recognised there is certainty and liberty in ministry.
In the book of Numbers you get the other side, namely, Moses taking up his privilege of access. And it comes in at the end of a long chapter, the whole of which is occupied in calling attention to the fact that Christ (typically) had an undivided place in the affections of the princes of Israel. The princes of Israel were representative men; they represented the congregation. There was one prince over each tribe, and, in looking through the chapter, you will find that they were all affected alike, they all thought of Christ in the same measure — I am speaking typically. They all offered alike, and their offerings were representative of their appreciation of Christ.
[p. 342] The essence of Christianity, beloved friends, is unity in love: “the unity of the Spirit”, Ephesians 4:3. That is a very great thought; it is a universal thought. There is only one Spirit, and the thought of God is that the saints, in the different companies in which they are found, in different localities throughout the world, are to maintain “the unity of the Spirit”. And consequent upon that is the thought of “the unity of the faith”, Ephesians 4:13. This implies that the saints hold the truth in faith; that they think and speak the same things. The disposition, often in evidence, to have something different or new is not in keeping with the unity of the faith. Of course, if ministry is in spiritual energy, features of the truth hitherto unnoticed will come forward in freshness and power, but different or “new” things are not always true, alas! When the truth is presented in the power of the Spirit the saints, if with God, recognise it; but lines of thought, however clever, which becloud or confuse the mind should be avoided; they are not in keeping with the temple of God.
The passage already quoted from Peter should be well noted by all who take part in ministry, “if any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth”, 1 Peter 4: 11. I refer to all this in regard to “the unity of the Spirit”, and “the unity of the faith”.
Referring again to Numbers 7 we see in Moses one who availed himself of the temple. It says, “When Moses was gone into the tabernacle of the congregation to speak with him, then he heard the voice of one speaking unto him from off the mercy seat that was upon the ark of testimony, from between the two cherubims; and he spake unto him”. That is, Moses heard God’s voice, and then he answered; he spoke to God. It is a principle of Christianity. God speaks to us and we speak to Him; as we read,
“God’s word and freely addressing him”, 1 Timothy 4: 5. Moses had freedom of access. God had told him He would communicate with him from above the mercy seat, and so he goes in to speak with God. Beloved, what a privilege that is! “We ... have access by one Spirit unto the Father”, Ephesians 2: 18.
In connection with what has been said, I refer to Revelation 15. As you will observe, what was about to take place is connected with the temple. It says, “Behold the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened”. Now, in turning to Revelation one finds in it that God is making His mind known as to coming events. He covers the whole period until the coming of the Lord. It is divided up, in the Lord’s own words by: “the things which thou hast seen, the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter”. This chapter comes under the last heading, that is to say it refers to “things which shall be hereafter”. We take account of assembly events in the light of chapters 2 and 3, so that we become intelligent as to where we are, and what the Lord’s mind is in regard to the period in which we are living — a very great matter surely. And then we look outside of assembly events and see other phases, and things developing in the world. We cannot say God has nothing to do with these things, for he has. As having access to the temple we know his mind about them.
From the fifth chapter of this book to the end we see Christ as the suffering One; it is a period of suffering. The Lamb is in the midst of the throne, standing as it had been slain; with all the symbols of divine power, yet, He is the Lamb. As the Lamb He thinks of the saints. Let us be sure that no happening can really damage the saints, for the Lamb is in control. He has by Him all the symbols of divine power, “seven horns, and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God”, Revelation 5: 6. He opens [p. 344] the seals, and after the sixth seal the saints come to light; they are sealed with the seal of the living God. “Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads”, Revelation 7: 3. Men may think they are accomplishing great things, but “the bondmen of our God” will be used in accomplishing the great things of God. They number an hundred and forty and four thousand. They represent a certain company whom the Lord will employ in His administration. He is going to take things up here, hence this administrative company. These have to suffer, as their great Leader did, but they have an outlet in prayer. Be sure, beloved brethren, that divine intervention now is on account of the saints. The surest way of bringing in relief, is by prayer.
In chapter 8 it says: “Another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer”. Everything is official now; golden altar, golden censer, and a Priest. What does it speak of? The sympathy of Christ, our great High Priest. He knows. One of the most comforting scriptures is the Lord’s “I know”. He knows where you are, and what you are going through. The angel takes the censer, and presents it full of incense, with the prayers of all the saints, before God. The smoke of it ascends up to God, and presently there are thunderings and lightnings — divine intervention — the earth is dealt with judicially. I only refer to it as an instance of God’s answer to prayer.
In chapter 15 the judgments of God issue from the temple. “The seven angels who had the seven plagues came out of the temple, clothed in pure bright linen, and girded about the breasts with golden girdles”. The first angel “poured out his vial upon the earth; and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast, and upon them which worshipped his image”, Revelation 16: 2.
[p. 345] What is dealt with here has already an existence, and the saints have suffered from it. God takes account of this, and so the first judgment falls on those who have the mark of the beast.
The next vial is poured out upon the sea — the masses of men. There has long been an effort to elevate the “masses”, but it is a dangerous procedure. The only true elevation is in Christ; He who was rich became poor, that we might be rich. In the assembly the rich and poor are brought together. The rich glories in his humiliation, and the poor in his elevation. True elevation is in the Spirit. “Let not the rich man glory in his riches, but let him that glorieth, glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me that I am the Lord which exercise loving kindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth”, Jeremiah 9: 23, 24. “The Lord of glory” gives rich and poor a place with Him. That is elevation of the finest order. “Rich and poor meet together; the Lord is the maker of them all”, Proverbs 22: 2. Let us dismiss from our minds the thought that there is anything for God in what is called “the elevation of the masses”. It is a feature of the present time; God is left out of it, and so apostasy is the result. The second vial therefore is poured out upon the sea: “and it became as the blood of a dead man: and every living soul died in the sea”. It is the awful condition that is coming on the masses, as rejecting the light of the gospel.
And then the third vial is poured “upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became blood”. The enemy has corrupted men and women by “higher education”, including infidelity, and all that goes with it. Universities, religious and secular, and all other sources of influence, as vitiating the public morals, are in view here. Judgment is poured out on them.
“The fourth angel poured out his vial upon the [p. 346] sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire. And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast”. That awful being, who is energised by the devil, claiming to be God, a public rival of Christ, is in view here. What does God say to that? “The fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast”. That ancient throne (Rome) representing accumulated wickedness, comes under the eye of God, and we read, “his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain”. God knows how to bring all these things about — “they gnawed their tongues for pain”. The seat of the beast is dealt with in that way; God’s judgment is poured out upon it.
Then the “Eastern question” comes into view; the question that now fills men’s minds. “The sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared”. We understand that question as we go into the temple. We see from this sixth vial how the barrier between the east and the west is removed, to make way for the kings of the east, and so they are gathered together for the great battle of Armageddon. As having access to the temple, we have understanding of all these features of an apostate world, as they are now developing, and we see that God judges them according to the temple. They are not judged arbitrarily, but according to the exigencies of His nature as seen in Christ, of which the light of the temple is the reflection. As through Christ we enter the temple, we have part with Him by the Spirit in regard to all. You have no doubt about anything; the end is as clear as the beginning, so that you are perfectly restful in regard to current events.
“The seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done”.
[p. 347] The powers of the air and of the heavens are all dispossessed in the judgment of God. We know it by faith already today. “Rise up, Lord, and let thine enemies be scattered, and let them that hate thee flee before thee”, Numbers 10: 35. We know that He has spoiled principalities and powers by His death, and that He is head of all. This is the light that the epistles of Colossians and Ephesians afford us, and the passage before us teaches that the principalities and powers in heavenly places, which now fight against us, shall be cast out by the overpowering judgment of God. All this judgment makes room for the assembly to be employed in its glorious administration in heaven, and the one hundred and forty-four thousand shall exercise their similar functions on earth. The one hundred and forty-four thousand are said to be with the Lamb on mount Zion. That is, they are with Him in relation to the purpose of God in regard to the earth.
I have spoken simply, just to make it plain that the temple of God is available to us, so that we should not be disturbed by current events, but be restful in the knowledge that He will carry out His will.
May God bless His word!