READING 2 CHRONICLES SEVEN
[p. 464] READING 2 CHRONICLES SEVEN
JT I think we have to take account of Solomon in two distinct lights: first, as representing Christ as Head of the millennial state of things, so that in chapter 1 he goes to Gibeon, re-establishing the links with Israel as such. I think this alludes to the time when the Lord shall re-establish divine links with Israel here upon earth, and then, although Israel is recognised as having sprung from Jacob, it will be established in connection with a new order of things, which the temple represents. Then, we may view Solomon as Christ risen and glorified. It is as so viewed the Lord built the assembly. So that the type has a present application. What I would call attention to is, that in chapter 5 the glory enters the house in connection with the ark of the covenant and the songs of praise. Perfect unity having been reached by the trumpeters and singers, the glory of the Lord enters. Whereas in chapter 7 the glory comes in in connection with Solomon’s prayer and the altar. The altar and Solomon are more prominent in chapter 7.
RSS The unity that is reached here, and the response that God gives, would suggest Psalm 133:1 “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!” and then, “there the Lord commanded the blessing, even life for evermore”. Psalm 133:3. It shows God’s pleasure and delight in unity according to Himself.
JT So that the unity found in the priesthood in chapter 5 evidently sets forth the fruit of the Spirit in the saints in connection with the Person of Christ. Clearly the ark, as in its resting-place, is the prominent feature of that chapter, while Solomon’s prayer and the altar come into view in chapter 7. It is rather the Person of Christ, as accorded His place by the [p. 465] saints in chapter 5, whereas Christ viewed as Man Godward, and so man accepted in His Person, is in view in chapter 7.
RSS And you get worship, the people falling down and worshipping God in connection with the latter.
JT And all the people joined in the refrain, “For his mercy endureth for ever”, in 2 Chronicles 7:3. It is Israel, seen in connection with the new order of things, of which the temple was now the centre.
RSS What is the exact thought connected with that which is so often repeated, “For his mercy endureth for ever”?
JT I think it is that God establishes things on the ground of sovereign mercy. The people are resting on the sovereign mercy of God now seen in the establishment of the promises made to the fathers; all the teaching indicated here is based on Christ risen, for it is in Christ risen that we see the sovereign mercy of God.
RSS Mercy seems to be a wonderful thought in Scripture.
JT And it is connected with Zion. In Hebrews 12:22 we are said to have come to mount Zion; Christians rest on the sovereign mercy of God.
FL That was the point, was it not, with Moses, when he said, “I beseech thee, show me thy glory”, Exodus 33:18. He could see the acts of God, but what was the secret spring of it all? What he is shown is, “I will show mercy on whom I will show mercy”. Exodus 33:19. By every right of law the people should have been wiped out, but God is going to carry them to Canaan. Is that the idea?
JT Yes. And for the fulfilment of that we have to see Christ risen. It is the ground on which we Gentiles stand. Israel had to wait for it.
FL I think that was signified by the fact that Moses could not see God. The time was not come [p. 466] for it. He is hidden in the clift of the rock, and he sees what is partial, but what is brought out is the sovereignty of God in mercy. I suppose what we have here and in the expression of praise is that Israel now realises it.
JT Quite so. In 2 Chronicles 7:3 it says, “And when all the children of Israel saw how the fire came down, and the glory of the Lord upon the house, they bowed themselves with their faces to the ground upon the pavement, and worshipped, and praised the Lord, saying, For he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever”.
RSS I think it is helpful to see that mercy is sovereign, but sovereignty is not exactly connected with grace.
JT No, God’s grace is towards all. The grace of God carries salvation for all, and it has appeared. Titus 2:11.
JLJ Love is towards all.
JT I suppose so. “For God so loved the world”. John 3:16.
JLJ Mercy is only brought in when people fail in responsibility.
JT It is God’s resource. God retires into sovereignty. When Israel failed, mercy is brought forward. Israel failed absolutely, so that God has to retreat into His sovereignty, and therefore Israel’s position henceforth will be on that basis. Everything in the future will be established on the basis of God’s sovereign mercy, hence mount Zion represents the great principle on which everything will rest. Christians are said to have come to mount Zion now. No Christian really is in his true place before God, nor in his true state, till he can join in this refrain, “For he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever”, 2 Chronicles 7:3 because the principle of mercy is that which stands at the forefront of the divine system of things. It is like any given country: the fundamental principle of it is what any person desirous of becoming a citizen [p. 467] needs to be instructed in The fundamental principle of the divine system is mercy.
FL I would be inclined to think that it comes out at the very beginning as soon as sin entered. The Lord God covered them with skins, and indicated that the woman’s seed should bruise the serpent’s head. Covering Adam and Eve was the sovereignty of mercy.
JT It is a great day in the Christian’s experience when he knows God in this light; when he is able to sing: “He is good; for his mercy endureth for ever”. 2 Chronicles 7:3. This knowledge forms him.
JLJ Would you say that it takes many Christians a long time to come to that?
JT Undoubtedly it does; but until we do come to it we are very defective and, indeed, have no true enjoyment of the divine system of things.
WHF Is not that what we have come to today, the sovereignty of God — His purpose and counsels?
JT Yes, and Christ in heaven and the Holy Spirit here are the facts that demonstrate it to you.
WHF Is it not an exceedingly encouraging thing for us, because when failure comes in God falls back on His sovereignty, and so we come in touch with the basis that cannot pass away.
JT In Exodus 33 it is simply God’s assertion. He would have mercy on whom He would have mercy; but in this chapter in Chronicles it is no longer a question of God’s thought, but a fact. Things are established permanently here; in figure at least.
WB Would those two things agree with Romans 9 to 11? You get Exodus 33, quoted in Romans 9. God is sovereign. In chapter 11 it is put into effect: the Gentiles are brought in, and then Israel comes in. They are all put on that ground.
JT “He hath concluded them all in unbelief,
[p. 468] that he might have mercy upon all”, Romans 11:32 and then you get the wonderful doxology, “O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!” Romans 11:33. I think the point is: the Jews were questioning the apostle’s right to go to the Gentiles, and Paul’s answer is that the Jew’s position in blessing rests on the same basis as the Gentile’s, so that he is not going outside of the principle which was already recognised amongst the Jews; that is, that once they had failed (he quotes from Exodus 33) God reverts to mercy.
WJN Is that why Christ is a mercy-seat in Romans?
JT Yes, I suppose so. Christ risen is the mercy-seat. It is Christ in resurrection.
JLJ Does this go with Ephesians 2:4: “But God, who is rich in mercy”?
JT The passage proceeds: “for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ (by grace ye are saved;) and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus”. Ephesians 2:5,6. So that the apostle contemplates all that God has done for us, and I think when you are in the light of that you can sing, “His mercy endureth for ever”. 2 Chronicles 7:3.
FL I think the idea contained in mercy is the exercise of the sovereign power of God, as you have been saying, the sovereignty of God come in to bless whom He will, even if this involve judgment on others. You get the idea in Psalm 136. There Israel rehearses all the way in which the power of God has come in (to smite Egypt, Sihon, Og), and on every occasion of this we get, “His mercy endureth for ever”. It is not merely the human idea of patience and kindness, but the intervention of God’s sovereign power for the deliverance and blessing of His people.
JT It is in view of His counsels, and the accomplishment of these necessitates judgment.
ST What about that passage in Matthew where the Lord answers the Pharisees, “If ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless”? Matthew 12:7.
JT The time had come when God was acting on the principle, “I will have mercy and not sacrifice”. Matthew 12:7. He was not demanding from man, but acting from Himself for the good and blessing of man.
AB That verse in Hebrews 4:16, “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need”.
JT That is something open to the individual. Instead of fretting under things, he draws near to God in boldness and gets what he needs: mercy and grace.
WHF That which he needs by the way.
JT I think mercy in the main, having reference to the individual, has to do with his needs by the way. It is better to go to God and tell Him about them than to fret about them. What we get here in Chronicles is that God has now made good, has established everything as a fact on the principle of mercy. The people did not do it; He did it.
GH They know about it now.
JT They do not attribute anything to themselves; they have not done anything. “He is good; his mercy endureth for ever”. 2 Chronicles 7:3. That is the beginning of proper Christian experience. You enjoy God’s goodness. He has done everything, and it is going to continue.
AAT One who recognises God’s sovereign rights would not quarrel with Him. It is His prerogative.
JT Quite so. “Who art thou that repliest against God?” Romans 9:20. God being what He is, it is the best thing for men to allow Him to act sovereignly.
WJN And so the Jew who was disposed to dispute God’s right to show mercy to the Gentile finds that he has to come in on that ground at the end.
JT And then he delights in it, as this chapter shows. He says, “He is good; for his mercy endureth for ever”. 2 Chronicles 7:3.
WJN They will sing this in a coming day.
GFW What will produce that in our souls today?
JT I think we have to become acquainted with the constitution, so to speak, of our country. You can never become an intelligent citizen of any country till you learn the constitution. So in this country they will not admit a man as a citizen unless he knows something about the constitution, and it is right in principle, because he cannot be intelligent in that way otherwise.
GAT Mercy is there for us, but what we want is to be brought into the good of acknowledging it.
JT Every Christian should become acquainted with the constitution of the divine system.
FL You mean that God reigns in absolute sovereignty and divine power, but He gives us light as to His character and what are the springs of His action, so that, though we do not see Him acting, we are not left in entire ignorance of the motive springs which produce these actions; but knowing the constitution of the country we must know and see this, that whatever God does, He does in virtue of His own absolute sovereignty.
JT Quite so. “God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love”. Ephesians 2:4. But directly you are admitted into the divine system you have to learn that there is no demand upon you. Everything is on the principle of sovereign gift. That is what I understand by [p. 471] mount Zion.
GH What effect does that have on you?
JT It makes another man of you.
WB Psalm 132 brings in wonderful blessing after Zion is spoken of, and then unity in the next psalm.
JT That is clear. One would like to see every believer intelligently and from his heart taking up this refrain; “He is good; for his mercy endureth for ever”. 2 Chronicles 7:3. It is that which forms you subjectively; so that instead of being dissatisfied you are content, resting in what God is, as thus known.
GAT Should we say that if He brings trouble in upon us?
JT Knowing God in this light, nothing disturbs you.
GAT I suppose Job was in the good of it; “the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord” Job 1:21.
FL I was thinking of John 3:16 as a very good illustration of the point you are making; the end in view, that we might have eternal life. It is the sovereignty of God in love shown in the gift of His Son, but the end in view is eternal life.
GFW When a man becomes a citizen of this country and understands the constitution, then he never questions any act of this country. If they go to war he goes.
JT He is committed to it.
GFW Is there something like this in the divine system? We learn that God is good, and in the knowledge of that we never question any of His acts whatever they may be.
JT This passage is based on known goodness. When people come to this country from Italy or Germany they do not find everything on the principle of sovereign gift; whereas, when I believe the gospel and come into the divine sphere of things that is just what I find; that all that God has for me is on the principle of sovereign gift, God having secured [p. 472] everything of Himself, and by His own power, when man had utterly failed. But then, there are many other things that you learn afterwards, and I think you are qualified to learn them when you have learned mercy; so that after Zion you come to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem.
GFW If you learn that God is good, no circumstance that you can come into can call that in question in your soul.
JT Yes; even discipline is accepted.
RSS What had you in your mind when you said a moment ago that you desired that every one of us might be able intelligently to say that God is good, His mercy endureth for ever?
JT I think it is when the believer sees Christ at the right hand of God, and that the Spirit is here, that he can say that truthfully. I think a believer who really understands the place which Christ has as Man in heaven, and that the Holy Spirit is here in consequence of that, can say it truthfully; not as a matter of light, but of conscious enjoyment, as having it by the Spirit. He is enjoying good from God and he attributes it all to God.
RSS Does it further contemplate a system of things which has been brought about for God’s glory and for the good of the people?
JT Yes. In Hebrews 12 you get the features of the system to which believers are said to have come, and there can be no more interesting consideration for any Christian than to take up the things mentioned there, and to get hold of what each refers to; thus you become practically a citizen of the heavenly country, and the heavenly stamp is upon you.
RSS Those things that are mentioned in contrast with mount Sinai.
FL And then it becomes true to you what Paul says, “Our citizenship is in heaven”. Philippians 3:[p. 473] 20.
JT No matter what this world presents to you, you see God has something greater that answers to that. You have a political centre too, answering to the political centres of this world. You have a city. This brings in restfulness. You have a city and you can give an account of it. I think it is God’s city that delivers us from the political world.
GFW So in a sense we do not feel we are homeless strangers; we have possessions.
JT We have a city, and there are “myriads of angels, the universal gathering”. Hebrews 12:22. That is great enough for the largest mind; myriads of angels.
RML How does the city deliver us from the political sphere of things?
JT You have in you that which is in every man, a political element. God does not despise this, but He rather produces it in us, so that we have aspirations after the country and system of government which He has before Him.
RSS Do you mean love of country?
JT And government.
JC Rule.
JT Yes. You see that God has a centre of government, and you regard that as your centre.
RML Abraham looked for a city.
JT He refused man’s city. Babel was the centre of the country out of which Abraham had been called. He looked for a city built by God, and God meets his desire by preparing one for him.
RML Would you say the world in the political aspect is Babylon to us?
JT Certainly.
RSS These things in Hebrews 12 are the unseen things that are spoken of: “While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal;” 2 Corinthians 4:[p. 474] 18.
JT And you can connect it with Colossians 3:2, “have your mind on the things that are above, not on the things that are on the earth”.
RSS As an illustration, I was thinking of Elisha when the hosts of the Syrians compassed him about, and the young man, his servant, was in distress and said, “Alas, my master! how shall we do?” And he answered, “Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them”. 2 Kings 6:15,16. And then the prophet prayed that the young man’s eyes might be opened, and he sees the mountain full of horses and chariots round about Elisha.
JT That is a great thing — that our eyes should be opened to what is unseen. That is what the Spirit is leading on to in Colossians; that in Christ risen there is now set forth a new system of things, and these things are the things above. We should be exercised that as saints our eyes should be opened to see these things. God has provided, in His goodness, a system of things, and it counteracts the influence of the present world in its varied features.
RSS Because people go in for the world, but God says, ‘I have a world for you’.
JT So if you want fellowship, what can be a greater thought than the spirits of just men. We have been brought to these. In the world you get the spirits of corrupt men, whereas we are brought to the spirits of just men made perfect.
AI What had the Lord in His mind when He said: “that they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent”? John 17:3.
JT There it is the knowledge of Persons rather than of things. We are privileged to know divine Persons; but then there is also the knowledge of divine things.
RSS And the knowledge of divine things greatly helps in regard to the knowledge of divine Persons.
[p. 475] JT You get a good illustration of that in this book in the case of the Queen of Sheba. Solomon’s personal greatness was greatly enhanced by his things that surrounded him. You may depend upon it, that if God has ordained a world in which He is to shine, every feature of it is in keeping with Himself.
WJN Solomon’s wisdom came out in his surroundings.
FL No greater contrast could be drawn between the people of the world and the people of God than that one of the points of blessing mentioned as what we have come to is, “God, the judge of all”. Hebrews 12:23. How could that appeal to the world? It shows how completely we have been severed from one order of things and brought into another sphere altogether.
JT The conscience of the believer has passed the brazen altar, hence he is not afraid of the Judge; to come to Him is privilege now.
LEM What do you mean by divine things?
JT What we have been saying: “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God”, 1 Corinthians 2:9,10. As revealed, they are available to us, and I think the Scriptures give an account of them, as we have been seeing in Hebrews 12; that chapter furnishes us with a very concise account of the things of God.
GAT Are these the things the Lord speaks of in Matthew 13:17: “many ... have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them”?
JT In principle they are, the wonderful things they were witnessing in connection with the Lord’s ministry.
GAT Is it not a solemn thing if we pass by these things lightly? We have been given more light here, and it is a solemn thing if we forget [p. 476] it.
JT I think the effort of the Holy Spirit is to direct our hearts and minds into divine things.
JLJ That is the point in John 16:14; “he shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you”.
AAT How do you connect the thought of unity with these divine things?
JT 2 Chronicles 5 shows how unity is seen in a collective way amongst God’s people, and the ark of the covenant is the occasion of it. See verse 13: “It came even to pass, as the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the Lord; and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music, and praised the Lord, saying, For he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever: that then the house was filled with a cloud, even the house of the Lord”. To my mind, that is a most wonderful picture. I take it to set forth how the Spirit of God in us produces a divine jubilancy. We praise.
GAT John 12; the house filled with the odour.
JT But here it is praise — unity of song. It is noticeable that when they made one sound of praise the glory entered.
WHF In the divine system there will be more than one unity, mount Zion; and the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem; and an innumerable company of angels, the general assembly; and the church of the firstborn, etc. There will be many unities.
JT There will be, but chapter 5 contemplates what goes on inside of the house; whereas chapter 7 contemplates what goes on outside of the house as well. So that chapter 5 bears more directly on our position. It shows the ark of the covenant in the house, and the priests are engaged, whereas in chapter 7 the ark is not in view, but Solomon’s [p. 477] prayer, the offerings, the altar and the congregation. It is a wider view.
WHF What we require to see is the application of these things to us now, so that we may come in touch with the reality of them.
JT It is significant that, as the ark is brought in, the priests become active, and the musical instruments are used, and when they reach a point of perfect unity the glory enters.
RSS There was nothing discordant. Music seems to form an excellent idea of unity. Neither was there anything prominent, It was all as one song. In a musical instrument, although several chords are touched, you hear but one tune. No one note is specially prominent.
FL I suppose the idea of music in Scripture is one expression of unity. There may be two instruments, or many, engaged, but they produce one whole effect of harmony.
JT The Holy Spirit takes up many different individuals; different kinds of instruments, so to speak.
FL But the result is all one harmonious whole, and so there is music in the house. Another idea of unity is the effect produced by the Holy Spirit in believers, so that their faces shine, as anointed, Psalm 133.
JT Just so. Here it is that which reaches the divine ear. Music is evidently for the ear, not for the eye, whereas shining would be for the eye.
FL In Ephesians 4 we are exhorted to keep the unity of the Spirit in the uniting bond of peace; and we are told there is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in us all. As all these blessed divine things are enjoyed in common, there will be the unity of the Spirit.
JT [p. 478] And I think that state of things results in the development of gift amongst God’s people. It is beautiful here that you have that which reaches the divine ear. Music is for the ear, and no music can be pleasing to God but that produced by the Spirit in the hearts of men.
RSS I was present in a meeting in which Mr. Darby was asked the question as to what he thought of instrumental music in the worship of God. His answer was, “The human heart is the instrument upon which the Spirit of God delights to play”.
JT I think it was a beautiful answer.
FL “Singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord”. Ephesians 5:19.
JT God hearing that, comes in, and in such a way that the whole house is filled with the glory, so filled that the priests could not stand to minister. God Himself was there, and in such a way that even priestly service was precluded.
AAT It is possible to mar unity, is it not?
JT Very easily. Perhaps nothing forms a better illustration of that than a company of people singing. How easily a false note struck throws everything into confusion! But when there is a company of people wholly subject to the Holy Spirit there is perfect harmony.
GH And then there is the divine answer.
JT God comes in Himself.
GAT Blessing goes out from such a company.
JT That is always the effect of God’s presence. But what is exceedingly interesting here is that the divine presence is secured by the harmony.
JLJ Harmony comes about by the Spirit occupying souls with Christ.
GH What is meant by “the priests could not stand to minister”? 2 Chronicles 5:14.
JT It means that God’s presence was so real and in such power that man’s activity was not [p. 479] necessary for the moment. When you realise God’s presence in that way you do not want ministry.
JC You want quietness.
JT You want to enjoy God.
AAT Ministry is to bring you to that end.
JT But in His presence there is no room for ministry; the saints then want to be quiet and to enjoy God.
GFW In the assembly, if things were in the full power of the Spirit we should not have any ministry.
JT There would not be room for it. If God were known as so near to us as to awaken in us a worshipping spirit, ministry would be an intrusion.
GH There only to adore.
JT That is it exactly. In heaven, in the presence of God, a spirit of adoration will possess us.
GFW And when in that state it would not be a question of priesthood.
JT It is being with God, conscious of His presence, everything pervaded by the presence of God. There only to adore.
GFW It would not then be a question of entering; we would be there.
JT When you are there it is God Himself who engages you.
AAT The priest is for service.
JT They were to minister to Jehovah in the priest’s office, but when God Himself is known in our midst there is no need for that.
GAT This is the privilege of every simple Christian, not only of a teacher or leading brother.
JT Quite so.
AI What did you say a little ago about burnt offerings and sacrifices?
JT When you come to chapter 7 Solomon has been praying, and you are on a different footing. The house is again filled, but it is rather filled in consequence of Christ’s place on man’s behalf toward [p. 480] God. Man is accepted in Christ, and the proof is that the fire consumed the sacrifice on the altar, and the glory filled the house. So I think the house is filled the second time on account of man being accepted. Chapter 5 is the highest point. Chapter 7 is rather Israel. It is the millennial state of things that is in view.
RSS Why does the glory fill the house in chapter 5?
JT It is in consequence of the saint’s occupation with Christ by the Spirit. Whereas in chapter 7 is in consequence of man’s acceptance with God in Christ on the ground of His sacrifice.
GFW In chapter 5 it is Christ personally.
JT There is no altar in chapter 5. There it is the ark, and the priesthood, and the trumpeters, and the musical instruments.
WHF Is chapter 5 giving Christ His place?
JT Clearly. Well now, to proceed a little in chapter 7, it affords us a very good illustration of what God’s house is as a divine institution upon earth. That is, it is a place where God’s name is, and where prayer is, and where prayer is answered.
FL I was thinking how beautifully it comes out in connection with the Lord entering into the temple in Luke 2. That is very characteristic. In a sense the latter glory of the house, as greater than the former, was realised there. You get the principles of the thing there.
RSS What are those principles spoken of in Luke 2?
FL They were the things about which our brother was speaking: the attitude of waiting and expectation and prayer; and then the Lord comes in to that place, as the ark coming into the temple. The Lord comes into His holy temple, and fulfils in a sense the word of Haggai, that the latter glory of the house should be greater than the former. There [p. 481] was thanksgiving and praise on the part of Simeon and Anna.
JT Chapter 5 would, in a sense, correspond with Luke 2: Simeon taking the Child into his arms; a beautiful figure of a resting place for the Lord.
FL And then there comes the praise.
GFW Solomon prayed for all nations.
JT And in 2 Chronicles 7:12 to 16 we read: “And the Lord appeared to Solomon by night, and said unto him, I have heard thy prayer, and have chosen this place to myself for an house of sacrifice. If I shut up heaven that there be no rain, or if I command the locusts to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among my people; if my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. Now mine eyes shall be open, and mine ears attent unto the prayer that is made in this place. For now have I chosen and sanctified this house, that my name may be there for ever: and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually”. I think all this is a great help to the understanding of what God’s house in His mind is at the present time.
WHF A house of prayer for all nations. I suppose we get that in connection with the house of God now; men praying everywhere.
GH So what you meant last evening about God reserving the right to answer when and where is seen here.
JT He answered in the case of Jacob in the house. Jacob had asked Him for His name in Genesis 32, and He answers him in Genesis 35 in Bethel.
FL It is very interesting to see the way in which all this is taken up and made good by the Lord. He came into the temple and said, “Is it not written,
[p. 482] My house shall be called an house of prayer for all nations?” Mark 11:17. Then He exposes what they had made it, and goes out of it; and going up on high, He leaves the material which is to be gathered by the Holy Spirit; and so the house is carried on and becomes the house of prayer for all nations.
JT That is the light in which 1 Timothy takes account of it.
JC What did you say was characteristic of the house about prayer?
JT The chapter serves to show that prayer is a practical feature of the house. Of course, other things are also seen there. That is what we have been speaking of: the songs, etc. It is exceedingly interesting in 1 Chronicles to see how David had ordained the Levites to look after the song in the house of God. On the other hand, there is this feature which Solomon expresses — prayer; chapter 6 is engaged with his prayer. So God says, “I have heard thy prayer”, (2 Chronicles 7:11) and there would be an answer to it.
WJN As to prayer for all nations. I notice here that even Solomon’s prayer begins with the people of God. He commences with the people of God and then goes out to others.
GH Do you find the solution of your difficulties in the house?
JT I think so. It is wonderful how your difficulties are solved as you recognise Christ in relation to the saints. I think most of the things that have been brought out for God’s people have come out in connection with the temple.
JLJ Would you say when we get into the good of the house we are not seeking our own interests, but praying according to God’s interests?
JT One’s individual prayers are often answered in the assembly. Very often people have individual troubles, and pray about them, and when they least [p. 483] expect it they find something is brought to them when among the saints that solves everything.
GAT The afflicted pray.
JT Of course the elders in the assembly would have a distinct sense of responsibility in regard to things. They would feel things. I think the meeting for prayer among the saints is above all meetings a meeting for Levites. Every believer ought to be that. He ought to have a sense of obligation to carry something of the things of God, and if he feels the burden he comes and prays. “Lord, remember David, and all his afflictions”, Psalm 132:1. David was afflicted in regard to the house. He said, “I will not give sleep to mine eyes, or slumber to mine eyelids, until I find out a place for the Lord, an habitation for the mighty God of Jacob”. Psalm 132:4,5. So it seems to me that every believer ought to be afflicted in regard to the house of God, and as carrying what has to do with God’s interests you find great relief in the prayer meeting. You make known your supplications to God. The burden doubtless is heavy, and we read, “God helped the Levites” 1 Chronicles 15:26; that is, every one who is carrying any of His things; and I think He gives you the consciousness of His help in the meeting for prayer.
AAT On a previous occasion you were saying that sisters had the privilege of being Levites.
JT That is true, but then we have an injunction that they are not to pray in the assembly; but their afflictions will be voiced by someone.
FL I think the Lord’s encouragement as to prayer is that if you have a need, give expression to it; and so if you have not any bread in the house when someone comes you go and ask very urgently; the widow who had a sense of unrighteousness goes to the judge about it.
JT I think individual needs should be prayed for at home. They are not strictly Levitical needs.
[p. 484] It is not Levitical work to carry the cares of your business and family, and yet God would help you as to these.
FL And yet in regard to the things of the family, one would take them up in such sense, because they have a bearing upon the assembly.
JT In so far as the moral training of your family is concerned, it has reference to the assembly.
FL I was only wanting to make that distinction because we should miss a good deal if we did not take up what the family is in relation to the assembly.
JT Each individual has a separate path, and a business or family in common with all men, and he may expect that God will help him as to them for He is the preserver of all men, especially of those that believe; but Levitical work has reference to the assembly, and in the prayer meeting we ought to be engaged in the things the Levites are connected with.
GAT I find some object to an appointed time for a prayer meeting; they say if you are afflicted you should come together, but not have an appointed time.
JT Then they would mean that you are not always afflicted. I take it that the Levite is always afflicted. He is always bearing a burden.
WHF Is that burden in reference to the testimony?
JT It relates to the saints.
E Is there no time that he is relieved?
JT He is only relieved in resurrection. A Levite sets forth in type a believer as here in the flesh, carrying the things of God in the wilderness. A Levite is not a believer viewed as risen with Christ; he is a man here in flesh and blood maintaining things for God. “They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength”. Isaiah 40:31. You feel the need of having it [p. 485] renewed.
WB Jeremiah and Daniel would be good illustrations of that. They felt the state of things.
JT Daniel is a very good illustration of it. He opened his windows three times a day towards Jerusalem.
FL That is, he had an appointed time.
JT It is a singular thing that anybody should object to a stated time for prayer.
GAT Why is it that so few attend the prayer meeting?
JT I think it is because people are not exercised about the things of the Lord. If each took up his burden they would be glad of the prayer meeting. But very few take up divine things and carry them.
WJN The prayer meeting is really a test of our state.
JT They tell how many Levites there are; it is not only the elders, some of them might be very young. It does not require a man to be old to be a Levite, because in David’s day a man of twenty might be a Levite.
JLJ Would that mean a man of thirty?
JT That was the age required in the wilderness, but even that is not an old man. Whereas an elder is an elder. A man of thirty could scarcely be an elder.
AI Was he free when he was fifty?
JT Yes. He was exempt from regular Levitical work.
GAT The idea of the elders has been ridiculed.
JT I think there is a good deal of radicalism and a lack of recognition of what the Spirit has formed amongst us for eldership.
JLJ Would you say believers do not get on unless they recognise those who are qualified?
JT If God raises up a man of strength amongst us, we deprive ourselves of a very great advantage if we do not recognise [p. 486] him.
EHT Will you say a word on the vessels in the house.
JT Vessels are for God’s use. A vessel is the saint viewed in a different light. Every believer is a vessel.
JLJ What is the difference between the house and the assembly?
JT They are identified in 1 Timothy. The house is the place where divine affections are seen; also order. The assembly suggests rather strength and intelligence — a place for deliberation.
WHF “The pillar and base of the truth”. 1 Timothy 3:15.
JT Quite so.