THE TRIBES OF ISRAEL (3)
[p. 353] THE TRIBES OF ISRAEL (3)
Leviticus 24:5 - 9; Numbers 1:1 - 4; 2:1 - 9
JT One hopes that the brethren noted the allusions, at our last reading, to Joseph in Genesis as the provider on whom the existence of the tribes depended; that is to say, aside from the great provision made by Christ as gone into heaven, there would be no Israel of God today — no saints existing at all. That is a great general thought applying to all saints.
Then another representation of Christ is indispensable, that of High Priest, which implies that for any part in the service of God or the maintenance of His testimony, there must be sympathy and support — that is Exodus.
At this reading we will consider Leviticus and Numbers. The verses read from Leviticus remind us of something tangible in the tribes. Their names are not given, but we are to understand by the twelve cakes that the tribes are contemplated, and this can be readily followed if we understand what has already been considered. The saints are to regard themselves as having an inside place; not a place merely in a theoretic way, but in a tangible way, so as to be appropriated as food. The type is of fine flour baken into cakes with frankincense on them upon the pure table before Jehovah. They were, as set before Jehovah, a memorial to be food for the priests. Aaron is still in view, not now in relation to the breastplate, but to the tribes seen inside as bread. These cakes are typical of men after the order of Christ, whom God provides for Himself inside.
AFM The cakes were all of like weight and covered with frankincense. Would that suggest the [p. 354] saints being equal as before God in the acceptance and grace of Christ?
JT That is what I understand it to be. There is perfect uniformity.
FL What is the thought of “a bread of remembrance” in this connection?
JT I suppose it is that which recalls Christ to God as Christ was here. I do not understand remembrance in this connection, save that it is to recall Christ: “It shall be a bread of remembrance, an offering by fire to Jehovah”, so that it was severely tested by the fire. The saints are viewed inside after the order of Christ, but as under the heading of twelve. Everything here is most excellent of its kind. There is the fine wheaten flour baken in cakes of two-tenths and set in rows on the pure table; and there is pure frankincense put on each row: it is an offering by fire to Jehovah.
CAM The light that shone on it was pure. Immediately preceding this the candlestick is spoken of.
JT Yes; you are struck with quality here, as is fitting in the holy place; there is pure beaten olive oil, and the pure candlestick, fine wheaten flour, the pure table, and the pure frankincense.
ANW Why is this type so briefly presented in Exodus?
JT It is just the shewbread or “bread of the presence”, in Exodus 25, without the idea of the number. It is more abstract there. The Spirit of God awaited Leviticus to present the more concrete feature; that is, God in His sanctuary is contemplated as approached by His people. As they approach Him according to His thought, they become delightful to Him, and He, so to speak, retains them inside. God, according to Hebrews 10:22, is waiting for His people to draw near. “Let us draw near”
[p. 355] the writer says, and as we draw near, God is pleased with us and retains us within.
AR Is that why you get the idea of order — arranged continually on the Sabbath? What God finds in us, as already seen in Christ?
JT Yes. The sabbath day suggests something to God — that He has found rest in Christ. He rested on the seventh day and was refreshed, and now He has inside that which is after Christ, and in relation to Christ, which He rests in.
FL Would there be a sort of anticipation in the sabbath, of the first day of the week?
JT The connection would be in what is weekly. God rested and was refreshed on the seventh day. It is only a relative day in Genesis 2:2. It is called “the seventh day”. God blessed it and rested on it, but it is not called the sabbath until Exodus 16.
JS God must bring in a redeemed people before the sabbath is formally named.
JT Exactly; it is preliminary to the ark and Christ having a place, and implies that God and His people in the wilderness had something to rest in, for it comes in immediately in connection with the manna. Now we often misquote the words of the Father: “This is my beloved Son, in whom I have found my delight” (Matthew 3:17), by saying — all My delight — but the “all” is not there. God was leaving room, I believe, for the incoming of the saints. They now come under His eye as after Christ and are equally pleasing to Him, in relation to Christ. I believe that idea enters into this; the cakes were arranged on the sabbath. The word ‘arranged’ alludes to the beautiful order that marked Christ personally, but that order is also true of the brethren as formed after Christ by partaking of His nature. We are thus contemplated in the epistle to the Colossians, and every step we take as we draw near is delightful to God. Leviticus begins [p. 356] with the idea of approach. God speaks “out of the tent of meeting”, with a view to the saints drawing near in the fragrance of Christ. It does not say He spoke to Moses “in the wilderness” in Leviticus, that is how Numbers begins. “Jehovah called to Moses and spoke to him out of the tent of meeting”, in Leviticus.
Then if anyone will present an offering, whether a bullock, or sheep, or goat, or pigeon, God sees him as clothed in the beauty of Christ, denoted in his offering. We read of the “steps” (1 Peter 2:21), of Jesus; but Leviticus provides for “the footsteps of the flock” (Song of Songs 1:8), as they draw near, and God is pleased with every movement. Whether you come with a bullock, a goat, a sheep, or a dove, each is suggestive of Christ, and indicates to God what you are, and that of which you are full.
That is what enters into this subject of the shewbread; God says, I will retain you, so to speak. It is “the children of Israel” representatively here; the assembly (those who form it) is seen before God inside. They are together in love as the result of the work of God. The number twelve — six cakes each in two rows — indicates that the saints are contemplated as formed in love entirely for the pleasure of God, as corresponding with Christ before Him. How delightful they thus are to Him!
AFM Is that why you have the words, “It is an everlasting covenant” — the thought of abiding before God?
JT An expression of that kind indicates something that God is pleased with, that He is going to retain. Allusion was made to the “pure beaten olive oil”, “the pure table”, etc. The quality of the things is emphasised. Then the next paragraph speaks of what is the very opposite of that — a man blaspheming the Name, which shows how quickly the enemy may affect the people of God after they are [p. 357] seen in the most blessed relation with Himself. In verses 5 - 9 they are seen inside, after the order of Christ; outside (verses 10,11), they are seen striving with each other, and blaspheming the Name. The reviler illustrates the unchangeable badness of the flesh.
CAM Acts 26 shows that whatever the outside setting might be, the apostle always had in view what was inside; that there was that priestly service going on in its entirety.
JT Yes — “our whole twelve tribes serving incessantly day and night”; like Anna the prophetess, in Luke 2.
BTF How would you define the inside and the outside?
JT The inside and outside are an instructive suggestion: The subject properly begins with the tabernacle, where God has a sanctuary, or secret place, where He resides. His people are to approach to Him there, and as they come He is pleased with them: “Having therefore, brethren, boldness for entering into the holy of holies by the blood of Jesus, the new and living way which he has dedicated for us through the veil, that is, his flesh, and having a great priest over the house of God, let us approach with a true heart” (Hebrews 10:19 - 22). That is the thought. God would have us near Him, in entire suitability to Himself within. Outside is the sphere of profession characterised by the world, or the world itself. Today the position of the faithful is outside the camp, but inside the veil.
Ques Would inside be illustrated in the prodigal son?
JT It is very much like it. The father was pleased with every step the prodigal took as he wended his way back to him. Luke 15 does not say, ‘Let us bring in’, but, “Bring out the best robe and clothe him in it” (verse 22), because the prodigal himself conveys the idea of the house, which is [p. 358] immediately seen after he is there. The music and the dancing are inside, but the elder brother was outside and would not go in; there is the inside and the outside.
FK Are we responsible to eat in “a holy place”?
JT You have in chapter 10:12 - 14 a holy place and a clean place. The priests were to eat in a holy place and in a clean place. Here it is “a holy place”. Holiness and cleanness in our associations are stressed. It is an important matter, because many Christians are eating in unholy places, instead of in sanctified places.
HSD Is this not like: “For both he that sanctifies and those sanctified are all of one”, (Hebrews 2:11)?
JT Yes; correspondence in sanctification between Christ and the saints.
ANW Would you mind distinguishing between “a holy place” and “the holy place”. Why is one defined and the other not?
JT “The holy place” would be the inner sanctuary, next to the holiest; “a holy place” is more general, but as in the wilderness, you could only find it in the tabernacle. We have to understand these things spiritually. In this sense the Christian is not only to eat, but to do so in holy associations. Eating in a holy place is the great idea to get into the soul; but where are you going to find it? The tabernacle represented these associations.
AFM Would the court answer to the holy place?
JT Yes, anything inside the divine enclosure would be holy. “A clean place” might be outside; see Numbers 19:9. When place in this respect is not defined, it is for us to find it, for it exists.
AR Would you say a word about eating this kind of bread? We often speak of feeding upon Christ, but how do we feed upon the twelve [p. 359] loaves?
JT I am to apprehend and appropriate that kind of humanity: “Such as the heavenly one, such also the heavenly ones”, (1 Corinthians 15:48). I can appropriate that Christ is heavenly and that the saints are heavenly. Again: “Both he that sanctifies and those sanctified are all of one”. (Hebrews 2:11) The appropriating of this great fact is food. The epistle to the Hebrews helps greatly in relation to the types; as you peruse that epistle you get spiritual instincts and intelligence. The types open up a wonderful field. Hebrews is introductory and hardly gives the inside view, although in principle all is contemplated in the epistle. As inside not only do you see Christ, but the saints too, and God sees them there. In Ephesians we are quickened with Christ, raised up together and made to sit down together in Him.
CAM If you go that dedicated way you would understand this wheaten flour.
JT Quite. You see it in Christ and in the saints. We have to learn to take account of the saints abstractly in this way.
ABP Why did David say the loaves were after a manner common?
JT Because the shewbread had just been replaced. David was, as a type of Christ, more a priest than Ahimelech. David’s remarks were made to satisfy the mind of the priest. But as he was now rejected and persecuted, all in connection with Saul’s system was “common”; “the more so” (1 Samuel 21:5), alludes to this, for the words show that something besides the fact that they had been replaced made the loaves of the shew bread common, compare Luke 6:1-5.
FL The two wave-loaves of the previous chapter, (Leviticus 23:17), are not spoken of as eaten. I was wondering what the difference was.
JT They represent the saints, too, but are [p. 360] baken with leaven. The unburnt part of meat offerings belonged to the priests. The shewbread is the saints viewed entirely apart from what they are in the flesh, I think.
APT Is it in line with Ephesians: “holy and blameless before him in love”, (Ephesians 1:4)?
JT Yes, “before him”. Then, in Ephesians, we are also made to sit down in the heavenlies in Christ.
JTJr Does not 1 Corinthians view us as unleavened and leavened at the same time?
JT Yes: “According as ye are unleavened”, is abstract; (1 Corinthians 5:7). In view of the fact that leaven was working there, it is wonderful that God should so speak. It is a great leverage in the soul to take in the abstract idea of how God regards us — like Balaam’s vision of the tribes, he sees them from the top of the rocks, and how beautiful they are!
BTF Regarding the abstract idea, what is descriptive of the soul inside, should it not be true of one outside?
JT John views the believer in his “mixed condition”, and also abstractly, as born of God: “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves”, (1 John 1:8). Our actual condition down here has to be admitted. As remarked, the wave-loaves that were brought from the houses of Israel were baked with leaven — the leaven was owned to be there. That is not an abstract thought, but a practical one — leaven was there, but rendered inactive by the action of the fire; but in 1 Corinthians, “Ye are unleavened”, is an abstract view of the saints. They are entitled to regard themselves in that way through the death and resurrection of Christ. John’s first epistle says that one born of God “cannot sin”, and that as Christ “is, so are we in this world”, (chapters 3:9; and 4:17). To maintain ourselves in this condition in the assembly requires the exercise of the power of the Holy [p. 361] Spirit.
FL There is a sudden change in 1 Corinthians from the actual state of responsibility to what we are in the sight of God according to purpose; “ye are unleavened” is abstract in that way.
JT Quite; it is a great thing to be able to hold yourself, even for a moment, in the sense of that — that you are unleavened.
AFM It is as in that state that we are viewed in the assembly as over Jordan.
HSD Is that in connection with new creation?
JT Yes. It is one thing to get the light of the abstract idea and another thing to maintain yourself in it. The Holy Spirit enables you thus to hold yourself.
GMcP Would “a man in Christ” suggest the abstract idea?
JT Yes. Paul, as in the third heaven, was consciously abstracted from what he was in the flesh. He says, “... but of myself I will not boast”, (2 Corinthians 12:5). He contrasts himself (that is, as in his condition of flesh and blood) with what he was in Christ. The idea of the abstract is that you are able to regard yourself in one state, or connection, apart from other conditions whatever they may be.
CAM This is not a visionary thing, but real, although out of sight altogether.
AR Is not the idea of the twelve loaves in the holy place a concrete thing?
JT God is intimating what Leviticus means, and what He has in those that draw near Him.
AAT Where does the thought of food in the twelve cakes come in?
JT It is the idea of something that you appropriate and enjoy. Eating is a figure of appropriation in a spiritual way. In Leviticus 11 many creatures are used as figures of what we may appropriate. They represent the work of God, and what is not the work of God. The clean animals represent true Christians.
[p. 362] They are the subjects of the work of God. What enjoyment there is among the brethren in this sense! The very thought of godly, spiritual men and women rejoices your heart.
JS What is set forth in the measure two-tenths, and then in the position, two rows of six?
JT It is God showing that there is manipulation according to His wisdom inside. Order according to God (Colossians 2:5), is seen in the two rows of cakes. The frankincense is on each row, indicating the fragrance of life. It is God delighting in the order and love that He sees in the saints as quickened with Christ.
APT Is that why it does not say “one-fifth”?
JT Just so. It is two-tenths; that is the idea where you get such divisions, it is God opening up the thing. You get more out of it, as it were.
WB-w There are those answering in the way of responsibility to it — the actual testimony down here in the saints.
JT That is right, what the saints are inside, under God’s hand. They are to be arranged. In Exodus the cakes are called shewbread; here you have their order and excellence. Leviticus is the saints coming near to God, and He is indicating how He regards them — what they are to Him, and how He loves to have them before Him. The Lord says, “Come and see ... and they abode with him that day”, (John 1:39).
CAM A tenth is suggestive of what is for God.
JT That was the idea in Jacob. So that two-tenths is full testimony to the saints’ correspondence in nature with Christ.
AFM I suppose we may view this section in the light of the earlier offerings of the book, which Israel brought; each offerer had the sense of the value of the offering in his soul and this would be like a culmination [p. 363] of that.
JT Yes; these twelve loaves represent the whole — the excellence of what God has in the saints. As it says, “... his inheritance in the saints”, (Ephesians 1:18). How great a thing it is! Now we may go on to Numbers, which is not an inside view, but an outside one of the same people we have seen inside.
JS They are to be outside as a result of being inside.
JT It is the same people as in Leviticus, only outside now to bear the responsibility of the testimony in the wilderness.
CAM God starts with the inside; I think sometimes we try to get the outside right before the inside, but Leviticus comes before Numbers.
JT Quite so; the Lord speaks of going in and out; (John 10:9). If we must contend with cold, outside conditions, we should enter into them warm.
In Numbers 1 it says, “Jehovah spoke to Moses in the wilderness”. We should specially notice that. He “spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai in the tent of meeting”. God is virtually saying, “You are in wilderness circumstances and I know it”. What God wishes to convey to everyone here today is that He knows how adverse our circumstances are. The book of Numbers is intended to encourage us in this respect.
JS So we now view the movements, typically, of a heavenly people.
JT That is right. In Numbers 15, you get the instructions regarding the “ribband of blue”.
FL This speaking here was just one month after the setting up of the tabernacle; so that in this short period the meaning of the tabernacle would become emphasised and defined to the Israelites.
JT Giving them an opportunity to draw near to Jehovah during that period. “And Jehovah called to Moses and spoke to him out of the tent of meeting”,
([p. 364] Leviticus 1:1). That is, the tabernacle is seen as set up and God is calling His people to draw near to Him. The date of the book is not given.
GMcP Would the ribband of blue on the garments suggest that there is a confirmation outside of what was inside?
JT Yes; you get the heavenly colour in Numbers. How very comforting it is that God, in opening up Numbers, speaks in the wilderness. Showing that He would be in it Himself with His people, and that He knows exactly what our circumstances are.
WFK Why is it the wilderness of Sinai? Does it suggest the government of God?
JT I think so; it is the place of the assertion of divine rights.
JS So that time and place are prominent in Numbers, movement being in view.
CAM It is a sort of working out of the truth in this book. You do not have the inside place in the tabernacle, but in the wilderness. There is history seen there. In the history of our souls, I suppose, God takes account of every day.
JT He does. This is the book that tells you about the encampments of Israel; all are written down; (chapter 33). The account is very touching. It is in Numbers also that Israel communicates with Edom as “thy brother Israel”, and gives an account of himself. He now has experience with God and speaks of it feelingly; (chapter 20:14 - 16).
JS Knowing God thus, we can approach men sympathetically, as Israel did Edom.
JT If you approach them in that way you will affect them, if they are to be affected. Edom was not affected, but had a fine opportunity of helping Israel. Israel says, “We are at Kadesh, a city at the extremity of thy border”. They knew exactly the territorial position and were able to speak of their history a long way back; they could speak of how God sent [p. 365] an angel and brought them forth out of Egypt. Numbers presents a people, not only privileged as inside, but a people who have had experience with God in a world of contrariety, a God who in His faithful love has brought them through all difficulties.
AFM They said they would go through by the highway; that was an important point; and that they would pay for the water they drank.
JS Would that not show moral qualifications for spiritual warfare?
JT What we see at this juncture, i.e., at the end of the wilderness, is that Israel are now men. Paul says, “Quit yourselves like men; be strong”, (1 Corinthians 16:13).
WB-w Does it now show us, too, that as we get experience we learn not to fight with our brethren, whilst there are certain people we are to fight with?
JT That is a good point. Those who are in the position of brethren, we are not to quarrel with, but to give them a full account of our history, as showing that we are not mere professors. Israel says, in principle, “I have been through things with God. I have been in Egypt, but God has taken me out of it. I now wish to go through on my own feet on the highway”. That is the testimony God would have us render to our brethren today, whatever their association.
WB-w The Amorite was a different matter. He was a usurper in the land of Canaan.
JT Quite so. It is important to distinguish between those you are, and those with whom you are not, to fight.
WGT It was eleven days’ journey into the land by way Mount Seir. Would that be the way to go?
JT Yes; but Israel had, at this time, (chapter 20), been forty years in the wilderness. Had their journey taken only the eleven days, they could hardly have spoken to Edom with such [p. 366] intelligent feeling.
AFM This section, chapters 1 and 2, furnishes a numbering for military service.
JT That is the first view of the tribes you get in Numbers. It is the military side; they are numbered for military service. “Twenty years and upward”, is an important word for all young people here. It includes older ones, too, but the young ones are especially in view. God is calling upon every one of them to be a soldier.
AFM What does the age of twenty indicate?
JT I think it is manhood, but not mature manhood. It has in view those who are converted and have the Spirit. Only such can show their pedigree.
APT Is it conscription?
JT Yes. It was not voluntary or optional with any Israelite.
JHE Twenty is twice ten. Ten is responsibility.
JT In children twelve is the age. The Lord was seen in the temple, speaking, at twelve. It is obvious that people at the age of twenty have come into manhood or womanhood. They are not up to thirty, and so are not fitted for Levitical work, but they are fit for the army. They are confessors of Christ, and have an assigned place in the army.
WGT The age of the Corinthians in the first epistle would not be much more than twenty.
JT It was not even that. They were babes, (chapter 3:1). But Paul said to them, “Quit yourselves like men; be strong”.
JS Having moved through Exodus and Leviticus and coming on to Numbers, would the believer be in the conscious knowledge of having the Spirit?
JT I think so. A person has all of his faculties developed at twenty; this age would therefore imply that believers having the Spirit are contemplated here.
AC According to what you have said, the military side would come before the Levitical.
JT That is right. The former includes believers [p. 367] as they receive the Spirit and confess Christ; now each is enrolled in military service, having an assigned place. There is nothing more practical than this. Of course, all believers are in view, but “twenty years” denotes that one has reached manhood, spiritually.
FL He knows his Commander-in-Chief, but otherwise may need much instruction.
WGT Do the fathers’ houses refer to local companies?
JT Yes; that identifies the person in a family way. Then when we come to chapter 2 he has to take his place in a wider sense. He is not only known by his father’s house, but as in a camp of three tribes he has a wider sphere. There are four sets of three tribes each in chapter 2.
FL Corresponding to the breastplate.
JT That is what I thought. The outside position is according to what we are inside.
AR Would we have the gain of the shoulder-pieces in chapter 1 and of the breastplate in chapter 2?
JT Pretty much. Chapter 1 includes every saint, and chapter 2 refers more to where I am as set by the will of God.
Ques As in testimony here?
JT Yes. My position in the testimony here is as fixed as my position in the land.
WGT Reuben has fourth place according to chapter 2.
JT That is right. As you read the breastplate you begin with Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun; these are on the top. The next row would be Reuben, Simeon, and Gad; the third row would be Ephraim, Manasseh, and Benjamin; and the fourth row, Dan, Asher and Naphtali. It seems clear that as the names on the breastplate were according to the twelve the tribes would be in the order in which they were set in relation to the testimony, and not according to the birth of the children of Israel as on the [p. 368] shoulder-pieces. The wilderness position would be specially contemplated in the breastplate, as the shoulder-pieces and breastplate do not appear to be mentioned later.
WB-w God looks at our place in Christ, and this corresponds with our place in the testimony.
JT That is right. The inside and the outside thus correspond.
WGT The same principle would work out in the twelve apostles.
JT Yes. We scarcely get mentioned more than the work of Peter, James, and John. There is not much stated of the others, but we may be sure that every one had his own assigned place in the service.
ABP By the same reasoning, would you say Peter’s name would be in the first foundation of the wall of the heavenly city?
JT I suppose so. The order is, “first Simon, who is called Peter”, (Matthew 10:2). It is remarkable that we do not get the actual names given in the breastplate. It is just a general reference to the names of the children of Israel, but it is according to the twelve tribes; not according to their birth. For the order of the names upon the shoulder-pieces we go to Genesis; but as the tribes were reconstituted in the sovereignty of God, it is clear that the breastplate would be in correspondence with this.
CAM After the captivity certain things had to wait until the priest stood up with the Urim and Thummim. Could you apply that today?
JT I think so. Christendom during the middle ages was a conglomerate state of things. Christians were all in human organisations and their pedigrees were not clear, but now a priest has stood up, so to speak, with the Urim and Thummim; that is to say, Christ has come in and made all clear. The original order of God has been restored, the true priests brought to light, and the levitical service re-established.
[p. 369] Fellowship enters into all this. People ask why every Christian should not break bread; but then what about the pedigree? This book is ignored in such a question. Generally spiritual pedigrees may be determined, but some need the Urim and Thummim. Around some persons there is a cloud, and special discernment is needed.
The Urim and Thummim now implies the presence of the Holy Spirit as free among the saints. Thus there is true priesthood and hence power of discernment, so that people do not escape. Paul says, “Of some men the sins are manifest beforehand”, (1 Timothy 5:24). There is generally no difficulty about those. “Some also they [the sins] follow after”. Thus we are to “lay hands quickly on no man” (verse 22). Great care is needed. Sins may exist, but they are covered over.
APT In the case of Simon Magus, hands were laid on him suddenly.
JT That is a case in point, but Peter discerned him.
CAM It is remarkable what discernment Peter had.
JT He discerned Ananias and Sapphira also.
WGT Eleazar was to inquire for Joshua “by the judgment of the Urim before Jehovah”, (Numbers 27:21).
JT Inquiry by the Urim and Thummim makes things clear. It is understood among the saints of God where true priesthood is.
AP-f Do you refer to persons seeking fellowship as needing a pedigree?
JT It says, “And they declared their pedigrees after their families, according to their fathers’ houses”, (Numbers 1:18).
AP-f What is that today?
JT Well, one, to be recognised, has to show that he is a believer having the Holy Spirit. At Pentecost this must have been manifest in the three thousand [p. 370] that were added in one day. Of course, the Urim and Thummim were present and unhindered. “Repent, and be baptised, each one of you” (Acts 2:38), was Peter’s word. What a day it was — here were three thousand people all indicating the Spirit of Christ in their movements!
AFM Would the meaning of the words Urim and Thummim — light and perfection — afford help in connection with discernment?
JT Yes; as we see the Urim and Thummim in Christ, and come into accord with them, our discernment will be keener.
AP-f What should you look for in a believer who desires to break bread?
JT I should look for the evidence in him of the Holy Spirit. Of course, things precede that — repentance, remission of sins, and baptism; but a Christian wanting to be numbered among those in the fellowship of God’s Son ought to have the Holy Spirit.
What we may notice here, in addition to what we have been remarking, are the twelve “princes of the tribes ... heads of the thousands of Israel” (Numbers 1:16), that are mentioned. These twelve men are as representative of God as are the twelve cakes inside, but are, of course, typical. Jehovah says, in verse 4, “And with you there shall be a man for every tribe, a man who is the head of his father’s house”. A man who is — not one who should be, or who is officially, but who is. It is the man himself; and then it says, “These were those summoned” (verse 16); according to the footnote in the New Translation it is “those who were habitually called to undertake the matters of the assembly”. These are capable men, representative of conditions essential to the order and safety of the assembly. Heaven, as it were, knows them and regards them. These men are representative of moral weight and power amongst the saints.
APT Your thought in bringing these twelve men [p. 371] before us was not to limit it to twelve, but what is expressed in the idea universally? Those that may be received to the breaking of bread next Lord’s day are of equal interest to Christ in their sphere locally as the assembly universally.
JT That is right; there is but one fellowship, which as to administration work locally. There is a link between these men out amongst the tribes, and what is inside.
CAM You are looking on the tribes in this connection, as twelve tribes speaking of the saints in a universal way, rather than looking on any local company of people?
JT The instruction is in seeing how love in many, works. There is spiritual intelligence in unity in the administration of divine things. We have to leave aside the mere number twelve; it is a type. God wishes to convey to us that He looks upon us formed in love so that He can manipulate us at His pleasure; none of us will resist. We will just bow and accept “the good and acceptable and perfect will of God”, (Romans 12:2). These twelve men knew that, and any time they were summoned they were ready, as men of experience, formed in the divine nature. They think not of themselves, but of the welfare of the saints, and of what is due to God in His assembly. They are “expressed by their names”, (verse 18).
JTJr Does all this apply in every local meeting?
JT Surely. The book of Numbers takes up the local and general side. You find in 1 and 2 Corinthians the antitype of Numbers. There is more about the tribes, in Numbers than in any book. The subject in this respect is important because it is the outside position where there is to be divine control. God would say to us, “If you are not governed by love, I cannot do anything with you”. In 1 Corinthians 13 it says. “... the greater of these is love”. Love is set forth like a picture for everybody to look at in that chapter. It is the “way of more surpassing excellence” (1 Corinthians 12:31) shown!
CAM It would never do to lower the standard, because this is the day of love. We must not lose sight of the twelve tribes.
JT Exactly. Paul held to that when he spoke of “our whole twelve tribes serving incessantly day and night”, (Acts 26:7)