SPECIAL BLESSINGS
Genesis 32: 24–32; Judges 1: 12–15; Philippians 3: 13, 14
A.P.D. We have all come into blessing, having received Christ and the gift of the Spirit. These scriptures suggest that it is open to each of us to seek personally a special blessing. Jacob says, “I will not let thee go except thou bless me”. Achsah said to Caleb, her father, “Give me a blessing … give me also springs of water”. Paul sought the prize, “the calling on high of God in Christ Jesus”.
We may have come into the sphere of salvation and blessing in a general sense and be content to enjoy the many blessings connected with the fellowship. These scriptures would suggest what is special in the way of blessing available to us if we have the faith and the energy to go in for it.
P.L.J. So this is not an aspect of sovereignty: it is connected with an exercise on our part.
A.P.D. That is right. It says Jacob “remained alone”. Rachel was not there, Leah was not there and the rest of the family were not there. Sometimes we perhaps live in these family relationships among the brethren and enjoy them but it would be a most rewarding exercise to reach out for a special blessing.
P.L.J. I was thinking, when you mentioned that he leaves all these persons, that it is an individual and personal matter. Do you think that is where we have to start?
A.P.D. Yes, I do. Jacob had a family circle. The next chapter shows that after this experience he sets the members of his family in order with Joseph foremost, that is with Christ having the first place. But he sought a blessing that was special for himself.
D.M.W. That would be an inward matter, would it not? Faith would be one thing. We can acquire things through faith but this is the reality of getting a personal touch.
A.P.D. An experience with God resulted in blessing and the enrichment of Jacob spiritually.
P.L.J. I was struck too by how that the Lord knew just how to deal with Jacob here. He touched the joint of his thigh.
A.P.D. Yes, He weakened him in his natural strength. He was a very successful man naturally.
P.L.J. Would this be a part of that verse that “we are his workmanship”, Eph 2: 10?
A.P.D. The discipline would be that we might become spiritual. Jacob here becomes spiritual. His name was changed, involving that he had received the Spirit, but more than that, he acquired power with God and men. He became a prince of God. He could say, “for I have seen God face to face”. What a blessing!
P.L.J. I was thinking how that chastening is not negative. Do you think it is a part of that workmanship?
A.P.D. Yes, “whom the Lord loves he chastens”, Heb 12: 6. How many of us have sought a blessing? Esau sought a blessing. In Hebrews, “he sought it earnestly with tears” (chap 12: 17). But it says, “he was rejected, (for he found no place for repentance)”.
K.M.P. So this thought of blessing would involve an impartation from God in view of building up our own spiritual aspect.
A.P.D. That is exactly true. Do we earnestly desire to increase spiritually?
D.M.W. Do you think God really initiated what was happening here? I wondered if the man would in some sense be typical of the Spirit. It says, “And Jacob remained alone”, but then it says, “and a man wrestled with him until the rising of the dawn”.
A.P.D. Paul says in Philippians that “it is God that works in you both the willing and the working according to His good pleasure”. If there is any willingness, any desire to acquire blessing, we must trace it back to God’s work in our hearts.
D.M.W. I feel that that is the word that we should consider because we can perhaps live on externals. Sooner or later, I think, if we have the Spirit, something is going to transpire in our souls that will lead us, as it did Jacob here, to ask for a blessing. Do you think the Spirit is set for that?
A.P.D. I think this transaction has in view Jacob now having spiritual desires which take precedence over his natural inclinations.
S.S. Do you think that there is something of sonship attached to the title “the prince of God”?
A.P.D. I think it is more the thought of personality, spiritual personality, rather than relationship.
S.S. I was thinking of the dignity of sonship.
A.P.D. There is certainly a dignity belonging to sonship, and also there is dignity belonging to being a prince. In scripture what is princely involves spiritual influence and personality.
S.S. Do you think that God brings in blessing to those who show themselves real?
A.P.D. Yes, I think Jacob was real. God says to him, “what is thy name?” and he said, “Jacob”. There is an immense amount just in that verse, as if he is saying, I am just Jacob, I have had a crooked history, You know all about me.
Rem. He would not let God go.
A.P.D. That is very fine. He said “I will not let thee go except thou bless me”. I think this was delightful to God.
P.L.J. Was God drawing Jacob out when He asked him “What is thy name?”
A.P.D. That was his name in responsibility. His responsible history must have come before him but God says, I am going to call you Israel.
K.M.P. When he says, “Jacob”, would you connect that somewhat with the thought “if we confess our sins”.
A.P.D. Yes, and his sinful history.
Rem. Is there a similar thought with Peter when he says, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, Lord”, Luke 5: 8?
A.P.D. Yes, he says that when he fell at Jesus’ knees involving the intercessory service of Christ. He became a product of the Lord’s own work.
In Judges, we have a sister desiring something special. “And Caleb said to her, What wouldest thou? And she said to him, Give me a blessing; for thou hast given me a southern land; give me also springs of water”. Have we desired such a blessing?
P.L.J. The blessings here are dispensed in the light of exercise and desire?
K.M.P. That is helpful because with Jacob it seems to be the thought is more general. He says, “bless me”, but here it is “give me a blessing”. It is more specific. This would be progressive: it has progressed a bit from what Jacob was taking on.
A.P.D. She had a specific desire: “give me also springs of water”, something to sustain her in the southern land. This is written in a book where decline has come in. It is also referred to in Joshua, a more normal setting, but in Judges, in the midst of conditions of general decline, how are we going to be sustained in relation to our heavenly inheritance? It must be by the Holy Spirit.
P.L.J. This desire for the springs of water is in the light of what had already been given, would you say – “for thou hast given me a southern land”?
A.P.D. A place of great favour, “a southern land”.
P.L.J. This should be an exercise even in a day of ruin and scattering, do you think? “Thou hast given me a southern land”.
A.P.D. Yes, indeed.
D.M.W. Caleb is like the head here: things are dispensed by him. I wondered if it did not in some sense foreshadow the present period of time when we draw from our Head.
A.P.D. Yes, but he also is a type of the Father - “Who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in Christ”, Eph 1: 3. There is a great dispensing of blessing but then have we entered into the blessings that are available in the energy of faith? What do you think the upper springs and the lower springs represent?
P.L.J. No doubt that is what is needed to really enjoy this wonderful portion.
A.P.D. I think so. The upper springs would be power in our souls to be engaged with Christ where He is.
K.M.P. And the lower springs would be in relation to what is down here.
D.M.W. It is like the double portion of the spirit of the heavenly Man. It is what Elisha got when Elijah was taken up, a double portion, so that things could proceed here that the heavenly side of things could be enjoyed.
A.P.D. Yes, it is a very full thought as to the refreshing and sustaining power of the Holy Spirit.
S.S. Do you think the upper springs are what sustains us and helps us in the service of God but the lower springs are what sustains us through the week?
A.P.D. That is good. Have we ever asked for this blessing, to know this as a conscious experience?
K.M.P. What she ultimately got was what she had originally in her heart because it says, “And it came to pass as she came, that she urged him to ask of her father the field”, but she gets this blessing of the upper and lower springs.
A.P.D. She got a southern land. It is like Ephesians 3, “But to Him that is able to do far exceedingly above all which we ask or think” (v 20). She has a desire and he gave her more than what she desired.
D.M.W. Do you link the southern land with the sphere for the upper and lower springs?
A.P.D. The southern land may be suggested in such scriptures as Ephesians 1, “wherein He has taken us into favour in the beloved” (v 6), and also “to know the love of the Christ …” (chap 3: 19). In the last reference “to know the love of the Christ” the previous verse refers to the “depth and height” (chap 3: 18). This may link with your thought as to both the upper and lower springs.
P.L.J. These go together, the upper and lower springs. It is not one and the other added but really all one thought.
A.P.D. Both referring to the Holy Spirit, a very full suggestion.
P.L.J. I wondered if you would apply that to the Spirit leading us into the heavenlies, heavenly things, as well as supporting us and sustaining us here?
A.P.D. Yes. We are maintained therefore in power and freshness. It is a very fine land which we come into as the Father’s gift.
D.M.W. “Taken … into favour in the Beloved”.
P.L.J. That is the southern land.
D.M.W. No doubt it has to do with the sphere of the assembly.
A.P.D. That would be where we experience it fully.
P.L.J. It is wonderful to be led into the upper springs but we need the lower springs too, the Spirit, that is refreshment and strength for down here.
A.P.D. That is right. The Psalm says “They go from strength to strength” (Ps 84: 7). That would involve the help of the Spirit here.
Maybe we could refer to the scripture in Philippians, something very special to gain. “Stretching out” would be an athletic figure.
S.S. I think what you have said is helpful. I speak especially for myself, as to asking for a blessing. All three of these portions we have read involve exercise and persons specifically asking. We have been marked out for it, but we have to take it. We have to ask for it to receive it.
AP.D. That is just what is in mind.
K.M.P. When Paul says, “I pursue”, it gives the thought of energy.
A.P.D. Yes it does. We know the scripture well. “Not that I have already obtained the prize, or am already perfected, but I pursue, if also I may get possession of it, seeing that also I have been taken possession of by Christ Jesus”. That is a beautiful reference, “taken possession of by Christ Jesus”.
K.M.P. I have been especially impressed as to what is for God and for His pleasure and in providing what is pleasurable to Himself, we are blessed. I do not think I have thought much about asking to be blessed. When we are asking to be blessed, it is really ultimately in view of an increase for Himself.
A.P.D. Oh, yes. It involves the impartation of something special from God. David says, “Of that which is from thy hand have we given thee”, 1 Chron 29: 14. What we receive from God becomes available as substance to present to Him for His pleasure. These blessings are not easily acquired but they are all the more worthwhile.
P.L.J. I have not noticed before that the word “possession” is used three times in the two verses, 12 and 13. “If I also get possession of it”, “I have been taken possession of by Christ Jesus”. “Brethren, I do not count to have got possession myself”.
A.P.D. In relation to the inheritance, the children of Israel had the light of it but had to take possession for their enjoyment. This involved dispossessing the inhabitants of the land.
K.M.P. Would you say that involves being in the good of things now?
A.P.D. That is what it means, I am sure. We have to make room for God’s thoughts. It involves the displacement of what may hinder. This is not an easy exercise. I am struck by the reference in 2 Kings. This scripture was referred to earlier, “thou hast asked a hard thing”, (chap 2: 10). We may readily take on what is easy and near at hand but the exercise in Philippians involves the energy of faith; the determination to get the prize, not by human effort but by spiritual.
D.M.W. In one sense perhaps the Lord provides fellowship. He makes some things easy for us. The Spirit’s activity, I would think, would be to have us conformed to His death and that would mean a displacing, so that there can be this possession. I understand that possession would be full correspondence to Christ involving what is spiritual. What would you say?
A.P.D. Very good, I would say that fully.
K.M.P. That is interesting. If we are wholly in correspondence to Christ, we could be no more pleasurable to God than that and that is the ultimate goal. I was wondering if this thought of “I pursue” is really the exercise to receive a blessing or a spiritual impartation that would enable us to continue to progress towards the goal.
A.P.D. Our eye is on the goal, but there is a prize; “the calling on high of God in Christ Jesus”.
Rem. Paul say, “but one thing …” I was wondering if that does not link on a little with verse 15 when he says, “as many therefore as are perfect, let us be thus minded”.
A.P.D. It involves full growth.
D.M.W. I think John writes, “which thing is true in him and in you” (1 John 2: 8) abstractly but then there is the working out of it so you get the “willing and the working”.
A.P.D. He says, “because the darkness is passing and the true light already shines”. There is a manifestation of the true light even now.
P.L.J. Would you say this getting possession would be making it truly yours because it says, “seeing that also I have been taken possession of by Christ Jesus”?
A.P.D. I think that took place on the Damascus road.
P.L.J. Yes, he was fully His.
A.P.D. Yes, and He needs to be fully ours.
K.M.P. It would link with the thought as to the “calling on high of God in Christ Jesus”, that is to be in correspondence with Christ because he says, “if also I may get possession of it”. It seems that he wants to be in correspondence with the desires of divine Persons in relation to taking possession.
A.P.D. The great prize is “the calling on high of God in Christ Jesus”. What is this prize?
D.M.W. I do not know that I can say a lot about it, but it seems to me to be what God has in mind in Christ. “In Christ Jesus” is the position unquestionably but whether or not we are in correspondence with it is the present exercise. What would you say?
P.L.J. Do you not think in Philippians we have a lot of expression as to feelings, not just what you may have as objective doctrine but a subjective response? I was thinking of that in regard to it being a prize. The goal is an object but the prize is something you would be attracted to.
A.P.D. Yes, you receive it as having completed the exercise.
D.M.W. Do you think it is Christ?
A.P.D. I would suggest that it is the realisation of the full thought of sonship: “we know that if it is manifested we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is”, 1 John 3: 2.
D.M.W. I think so. It is to be like Him. That is the impression I had.
A.P.D. It is just a step. Paul had just a step to go into those circumstances actually. For us, is it just a step or is it a long distance? I think Paul came to the point that it was just a step to go into those conditions of finality and glory and he really reached it through exercise. It is not an easy way. Are we prepared for the path that leads to glory?
D.M.W. Does it involve what we had earlier, “to know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being conformed to his death”? That would be one side but resurrection is touched here so that we get over to the line of things where the humanity that God has in view is what is before us, that Person in that order of things. So, as you say, it is an exercise but Paul could not say he had got possession. He was pursuing so that he was just a step away from it.
A.P.D. The full realisation will be when we are actually with Him.
K.M.P. We have had the thought of correspondence with Christ. The prize would seem to have in mind the thought of perfect correspondence with Christ, the thought of perfection. I was wondering if it would be a similar thought that we have as to “the perfecting of the saints … until we all arrive at the full grown man, at the measure of the stature of the fulness of the Christ”, Eph 4: 12,13. I wondered if that would be involved in this prize.
K.M.P. Although ministry would be one way that we receive blessing we may all hear the same ministry but all may not receive the blessing.
P.L.J. And sometimes ministry may come forth as beyond us and there has to be a stretching out for it.
A.P.D. It is good to see that. We may feel that the truth ministered is beyond us. Paul says, “Think of what I say and the Lord will give thee understanding in all things”, 2 Tim 2: 7.
S.S. So I should feel a bit better about the fact that sometimes I read ministry and do not understand what I have read.
A.P.D. I think we all have that exercise.
P.L.J. But you want to get possession.
A.P.D. You want it enough to go after it and that would involve surrendering other things. Paul tells us earlier in this chapter how must he surrendered to gain Christ.
At the end of this chapter he says, “from which also we wait the Lord Jesus Christ as Saviour, who shall transform our body of humiliation into conformity to his body of glory” (vv 20,21). No doubt that would be in his mind and heart as he stretched out in relation to this wonderful goal, that the “prize of the calling on high of God in Christ Jesus”, may be his. I think it is the full thought of sonship including our glorified bodies. No doubt we enjoy sonship now provisionally, but then it will be the full and final thought that we will enjoy without any hindrance.
D.M.W. It is not really becoming to us if we say, I wish we had something simple.
A.P.D. We may be trying to reduce the truth into kindergarten terms. We would certainly seek to help one another to understand. In ministry which is of the Spirit, there would be some spiritual depth and fulness which would promote exercise and a desire to understand. How ready the Holy Spirit is to open up the truth to exercised hearts. He “searches all things, even the depths of God”.
DENTON
28 September 2000
Key to initials:
A.P.Devenish, Edmonton; P.L.Johnson, K.M.Pearson, S.Selman, D.M.Welch