THE TRIBES OF ISRAEL (6)
[p. 392] THE TRIBES OF ISRAEL (6)
Numbers 24:2 - 5; 26:52 - 56; 30:1 - 5; 31:1 - 6
ANW You remarked that this book yields more instruction than any other as to the tribes. Is this because it is a wilderness book?
JT That is the explanation of what was said; it is in the wilderness that love is tested, and the gist of our subject is love. We are under the hand of God so that He may manipulate us and use us as He pleases. These wilderness circumstances supremely test our tribal relations. In chapter 26 they are taken account of for the inheritance; “according to the names of the tribes of their fathers shall they inherit”; it is the positive side of things — the testimony that came in early in the book. The spies brought down the tidings of the land, but the testimony was not received in faith — not mixed with faith (Hebrews 4:2); so that instead of entering into the land then, they had to remain thirty-eight years in the wilderness. In chapter 26 another generation is in view.
FL In this way we are led through Romans, Colossians, and Ephesians — the wilderness and the land; the testings and responsibility, and then the purpose of God.
JT Romans fits in with Exodus and the early part of Numbers; indeed, Romans may be said to take us to the end of the wilderness; whereas, Colossians is entering and Ephesians is in the land. Romans furnishes us also with light as to the land, and this is in view in Numbers 26. We are called according to purpose in Romans 8:28; “are led by the Spirit of God” in verse 14; and the challenge in verse 33 is, “Who shall bring an accusation against God’s elect?” These scriptures allude to the types in Numbers, from chapter 21 onwards.
AP Is it not much more difficult to maintain the idea of twelve when there is opposition?
JT We prove that in a practical way, and one effort in opposition is generally to break up unity; but throughout Scripture you have the thought that the twelve tribes must be carried forward, and love will see that this is done. The exercise should always be to have the saints stand with the truth, that none should be lost through the enemy’s efforts.
AFM I suppose we get great help in chapter 21 as to the power that is on our side in view of reaching the point before us in chapter 24.
JT The princes seen in chapter 7 as possessing wealth and disposing of it in unity are now seen in chapter 21 as digging the well, showing that something more was needed than what they had done earlier. Changed circumstances require arduous means, so that the saints may be in them according to God. Digging is attended with great labour, but love is equal to every exigency of the wilderness; it never fails. The princes as digging under the direction of the law-giver, show they are not independent of divine rule.
FL Would there be the suggestion in chapter 7 of the wealth we inherit? In chapter 21 it is exercise in relation to a new condition of things.
JT Yes, Israel had come into much wealth at Sinai; but now, the brazen serpent having come in, the flesh is seen as needing to be dealt with effectively. It stood in the way, hindering the blessing. The digging refers to this — all typifying what we get in Romans 8, and it may be taken to represent the readiness with which those who are spiritual do what is needful for the saints. It is one thing, as in the possession of wealth to be dispensing it to others, but another thing to be digging for them. Love [p. 394] takes on the most onerous kind of work, as may be required.
JS Is it a question of what the people arrived at spiritually in Numbers 21; the water was there, but they had to dig for it?
JT Water is seen to be there always: “For they drank of a spiritual rock which followed them: (now the rock was the Christ)”, (1 Corinthians 10:4). But Numbers 21 brings out a new feature. Typically a new state has come — “Ye are not in flesh but in Spirit” — and so the old has to be set aside; hence the digging of the well; it is the removal of that which hinders the action of the Spirit. The word ‘Lawgiver’ there means that spiritual men will do the most exercising kind of thing under rule, and not in independency.
AFM To dig for water by using staves, would be very exercising work.
JT The word here translated ‘staves’ indicates experience with God, that is, what one leans upon for support in his walk.
ANW Unity is there also, for it says the princes digged the well. There is one well.
JT They are successful, too; Israel’s song shows the princes had reached the desired results. The allusion is to the removal of what hinders the free action of the Spirit in believers.
JS In connection with what lay ahead of them, I suppose new resources were necessary.
JT Yes; the entrance to Canaan was imminent, and now they had power to move forward from one point to another with no evidence of any hindrance; (Numbers 21:19,20). At length they reached “the top of Pisgah, which looks over the surface of the waste”. At this vantage point they were able to take account of all that God had been to them in the wilderness. Earlier Moses was to smite or speak to the rock, but here the task is of digging under the direction [p. 395] of the lawgiver.
JS Would it refer to the hidden resources of the Spirit?
JT I think so. We begin to clear away what hinders the free action of the Spirit. Balaam’s prophecies bring out what God is to His people in a hidden way, corresponding with the action of the princes. Satan discerning that he cannot overcome or hinder us from moving on, because of the unhindered activity of the Spirit in us, attacks us in this way, for there is no hope of his impeding our progress. Believers are here seen in type as having power to go forward by the Spirit in them. The Christian at this juncture has discovered his power and is going into the land on his own feet, as it were. The enemy’s attempt to overcome us by a frontal effort is useless, so he has recourse to hidden means, and Balaam is his instrument; but God is ever greater than Satan and defeats his efforts. Balaam was an unregenerate man who suffers for his sins later, but in the meantime he brings out what God is for His people; One who can turn even such a bad man as that into a means of pronouncing our blessing. He failed to bring an accusation against God’s elect. In the passage we read Balaam does not again seek for enchantments; he “saw Israel dwelling in tents according to his tribes”; and then “the Spirit of God came upon him”.
AFM Does the order in which they appeared to Balaam in tents according to tribes correspond with the place they had in the breastplate?
JT That is what I understand. In truth the intercession of Christ above nullifies the devil’s efforts. Romans 8:34 corresponds. In the vision of the Almighty, Balaam sees Israel as God saw them, they are dwelling in tents according to their tribes. The Spirit of God having come on Balaam, he sees as God sees. It was not his primary thought to bless Israel, but God compels him to do so, and [p. 396] he gives up enchantments. He sees Israel dwelling according to his tribes. That is why I thought this passage contributes to our subject. It is the Israel of God from this point of view, and the order in which they are seen by Balaam.
JS Do we see here the triumph of love in bringing them to this — Israel dwelling in this order?
JT Yes; they are not disconcerted through the vicissitudes of the wilderness. They came out of Egypt five in rank and are now going into the land in tribal order. The Spirit is not said to have been upon Balaam before, but now that he abandons his enchantments and sets his face towards the wilderness (where Israel was), the Spirit of God comes upon him and enables him to see the people in the vision of the Almighty. There is nothing in a way so encouraging as seeing, as we do here, how God can overthrow our greatest enemies apart from us.
AP Is there not much in the book of Revelation to support that, for instance, in chapter 7 — the holding in check of the four winds? The people of God evidently knew nothing about that.
JT “If God be for us, who against us?” (Romans 8:31).
AFM Do you regard this utterance of Balaam as illustrative of what we are in Christ or in the Spirit?
JT It is the Romans position; we are in Christ there, but we are also in the Spirit. “In Christ” is status, but “in the Spirit” is power. “Balaam the son of Beor saith”. The footnote in the New Translation helps as to the word ‘saith’: it has the significance of an oracle. Balaam proceeds: “... who seeth the vision of the Almighty, who falleth down, and who hath his eyes open; how goodly are thy tents, Jacob, and thy tabernacles, Israel”. Now that he has definitely turned towards Israel the Spirit speaks through him.
AR God puts words in his mouth; but in [p. 397] the light of Numbers 21, does not the Spirit enable us to speak?
JT Yes; Israel sings to the well there, but chapters 22, 23, and 24 are to bring out the truth that God is for us, that He overcomes every obstacle or enemy against us.
FL “But thanks to God, who gives us the victory”, (1 Corinthians 15:57).
JT Exactly; in Romans 8 the apostle is triumphant. “We more than conquer”.
TA The position of Israel here typically is, “Ye are not in flesh but in Spirit”, (Romans 8:9).
JT Yes; Israel is viewed here abstractly — according to what they were in the purpose of God. Balak would henceforth know; he would see by what happened how God was with Israel, and hence they could not be overcome.
CAM It is an immense thing to lay hold of the fact that there is a mighty power available to the saints that nothing can overcome.
JT That is what we are to learn from these three chapters. You are ready for them now in that you have come to realise the power in yourself. The digging of the princes means that you have come to find your feet in spiritual power.
JS Are the people now viewed as in the Spirit, like Romans 8?
JT Yes; that is the position. “There is then now no condemnation” (verse 1), and “ye are not in flesh but in Spirit, if indeed God’s Spirit dwell in you” (verse 9).
JS With regard to Israel, there might be a tendency to discredit conditions in the camp; whereas, here we see the prophecy of Balaam in favour of the people as they dwell according to the tribes.
JT That is right. We are too ready to speak negatively about them. If you apply the antitype, normally, what is inside is pleasing to God. Christians [p. 398] who recognise the Spirit fulfil righteousness, whether in their houses or in their assemblies. They are as delightful inside as they are outside if love is active. This section of Numbers contemplates the presence and work of the Spirit in the saints. Thus in principle, at least, what Balaam says here corresponds with what the saints are practically.
AFM In result, these people can now be numbered, as in chapter 26.
JT They are numbered after the question of Balaam’s efforts against them is dealt with; and also a later effort through “the counsel of Balaam”. The latter was met by Phinehas — not princes now, but a priest who deals with the working of the flesh in its hideous efforts through social links; chapter 25. Then in chapter 31, all the tribes are brought into this great conflict with Midian. This attack, which Phinehas settled morally, is now met to the complete overthrow of Midian — the instrument Satan had used.
Now between chapters 25 and 31, you have the numbering for the land in chapter 26, and the morning and evening sacrifices, etc., in chapters 28 and 29 — the latter showing how God is considered for by us. Then the question of vows in chapter 30, and the war against Midian by the tribes. That is the order of the truth of these chapters.
FL It is really dealing with a new generation. The old having gone, and now “all things are become new”.
JT Romans lays the basis for that — a new generation in the Spirit. That is what is in view in Numbers 26.
AFM It is a great thing in our histories when we are able to take account of ourselves in that way; as not in the old but in the new. We are a good deal hampered by the flesh, but we should allow the Spirit to work in us and form us so that we are with Him [p. 399] in what God has wrought, as it says, “If any one be in Christ, there is a new creation”, (2 Corinthians 5:17).
WB-w Is there a difference in these positions? In chapter 22 Israel encamped in the plains of Moab; here in chapter 26, it is by Jordan near Jericho.
JT We are now very near Canaan. That ought to thrill every heart. See how God has brought us through! All this is preliminary to going in.
WB-w Why do we have Phinehas the priest in chapter 25?
JT To call attention to the priestly side; without the priestly state there is no possibility of going forward.
JS Why is it a thousand for each tribe; chapter 31?
JT It would be a full representation of each tribe. Then Phinehas with “the holy instruments” would call attention to the priestly side; not so much officially, because Eleazar was still the high priest, but the reality of the priesthood in a young man, answering to: “Youthful lusts flee, and pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace, with those that call upon the Lord out of a pure heart”, (2 Timothy 2:22). We cannot get on without this element — of holiness involving power to overcome.
JS Marked by spiritual vigour.
JT Also skill in dealing with evil.
WB-w Phinehas becomes a military man.
JT In chapter 31 he represents the priestly element in war, because we are so prone to be natural and to allow natural feeling in conflict. The overthrow of the Midianites should be complete on the lines of holiness and yet, as the chapter shows, there should be nothing lost that is of value in Midian. The spoil is enormous and everything that can be used in the testimony of God is preserved through this war; the chapter is a very [p. 400] remarkable one.
ANW Will you set the thought of this vow in its place — chapter 30?
JT We have spoken of chapters 25 and 26. Chapters 28 and 29 refer to what is due to God at this juncture. Are we lovers of God, and hence provide His offerings every day? The principle is: Can we consider for God a whole day, a whole week, a whole month, and a whole year? Chapters 28 and 29 stand together. Chapter 30 is a question of whether we are men and women, so to speak; whether we are quitting ourselves like men; that is to say: Am I as good as my word, or am I a mere covenant-maker and covenant-breaker?
AFM It says, “Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay”, (Ecclesiastes 5:5).
JT This is a very important part of the truth because we are so fickle, so mean in making a covenant and not living up to it.
AAT Did Hannah make a vow in connection with Samuel?
JT She did; she is a good illustration of a person who keeps a vow. Her husband did not say no to it. It is a question of whether a woman’s father or husband says no, or is silent as to her vow. It applies to the general profession — people are baptised and profess to partake of the Lord’s supper in Christendom and God does not say no to them, but lets it stand. The position for the whole of Christendom is a solemn one — the vow, so to speak, is allowed to stand, and they are responsible.
FL We are brought back to the covenant every Lord’s day. The thought of this should stir us up as to how far we are faithful to the covenant of God.
JT We have already seen in Exodus 24 how God entered into covenant with His people and how they accepted it, and entered into it too. Numbers 30 is to bring this home to us. God says, as it were:
[p. 401] You have been baptised and have partaken of the Lord’s supper and I have not forbidden you, all that is involved in it stands. There is no escape for Christendom, there is no escape for any of us if we are untrue to the covenant.
JS Do you view social and religious conditions in Christendom as set forth in Moab here?
JT Quite. We have to understand how to go to war with the Midianites and how to get the spoil. One would urge the brethren to read chapter 31, it is a remarkable chapter, the detail with which the instructions are given as to what is to be kept and what is not to be kept for use; the things that are kept are passed through fire and water; and then it ends with an enormous spoil in which Jehovah participates. The spoil we have today from wars similar to this is very great.
WB-w Are we responsible to get those spoils?
JT I think so. It is a question of the revival of the truth of the assembly. Phinehas represents what one man may do. The war is extended, including all the tribes. God used one man, at first, but when the warfare is entered into, the whole assembly is involved; it is a question of taking what is of God out of hands in which it should not be.
AFM Who does Eleazar represent?
JT Eleazar is the official priest, or Christ personally, but Phinehas is the element of priesthood in the youth. There is no hope of our success aside from holiness in the young people; that is, power to deal with the flesh. One man is used to deal with things morally, but you cannot confine the testimony to one man; it is Christ and the assembly — all Israel, including Moses and Eleazar. That is the ground we are on now. It is the full position.
FL That is what the Spirit of God signifies in Malachi, this position of Phinehas and [p. 402] what follows.
JT Yes. It is in Malachi you get what God commanded Moses for “all Israel”.
JS Reverting to the warfare, does it set forth the fact that all Israel takes part, representing what we should do in a universal way in relation to the testimony?
JT That is the idea. It is the wide position that we are on. Chapter 31 is most important as showing what great results may accrue to us in dealing with Midian; that is, all social things that are so destructive to spirituality amongst us. It is seen full-blown in the Protestant denominations, especially in the Anglican system.
WGT Do you regard Midian as a class as better than Amalek?
JT Well, they are more respectable people, as we say, Amalek would not succeed where Midian would. It is a question of social distinctions. The Anglican Church corresponds throughout with the world in its social gradations. And yet there is — or, rather, was — in that system much that was of God. Amalek is specially a wilderness enemy. It is Satan operating in the flesh, attacking especially the hindmost, all those that are lagging behind among us, see Deuteronomy 25:17,18. Amalek is the kind of enemy that attacks Christians who rarely attend the meetings, who are on the edge of the camp — stragglers and weaklings. But Midian is the social side. Phinehas slew a prince of Israel and a princess of Midian, in jealous zeal for Jehovah.
AAT Midian then stands for social distinction.
JT Yes. The Midianites were distinguished in that way. Kings and princes are specially prominent in their history. Here five kings of Midian are said to have been slain. They were also marked by much jewellery.
APT Is the attack of Midian more frontal than that of Amalek at the rear?
JT That is right. Amalek’s would seem to be a harassing sort of movement. He will not succeed where there are spiritual people, but where there are unspiritual people; the opposition of Midian is against a spiritual people. The Spirit typically had been recognised by Israel. This may be true of some, and yet they make much of distinctions in the flesh. Satan can work very successfully in such an atmosphere as that. Christendom, as we said, is largely built up on such distinctions. Those in the revival of the truth a hundred years ago had to face this opposition. It was just the world and all that goes with it christianised; both status and education had a place among Christians.
APT In chapter 25 Midian came in by the front door, as it were. It says, “in the sight of Moses and in the sight of the whole assembly”, whereas Amalek would get in insidiously, or by the back door.
FL Mr. Newton taught in Plymouth that the Spirit of God in this age would work through gentlemen and not through the poorer classes.
AFM Tell us how all this spoil could be taken from the Midianites, and yet become serviceable for God and the people of Israel.
JT The great religious bodies that existed, say, a hundred years ago, were possessed of a great deal of wealth. The Church of England, for example, had nearly all the truth professedly, and so had the Presbyterians. The idea is to get all that was possessed by these bodies and bring it through the fire and water; that is, all is to be purified by the application of the death of Christ. Any element that tended to damage Israel must be destroyed; all else must be saved. That is, I believe, the meaning of the great spoil in this chapter.
AFM They had not right thoughts about the sonship of Christ, for they held that He was begotten before all worlds as well as in time.
[p. 404] JT The thought of His sonship they have, but beclouded by the error you mention. Generally, they had nearly all the great features of Christianity.
ANW The truth of the Lord’s sonship was not totally unknown a hundred years ago.
JT No; it was held in the eighteenth century, and certain men early in the nineteenth century had it, too, and it has been held from time to time ever since.
AP They had it in the first century!
JT That is the most important fact. There is no assertion of our Lord’s sonship either by Himself or the apostles other than what is involved in His incarnation. As far as Scripture shows, Paul was the first to announce Christ’s sonship and he “preached” Jesus, that He is Son of God; (Acts 9).
CAM This action of the water and the fire has been going on through all these centuries.
JT I think it has been more drastic during the last one hundred years than in any period since apostolic times. God has been applying the truth of the death of Christ by the power of the Spirit either as fire or as water. The warfare with a thousand out of each tribe did not take place at the Reformation; it did not come to light there. There was no proper recognition of the assembly at that time. “The wars of the Lord” would, of course, include the Reformation, but the type before us goes further. It is a very formal matter carefully ordered under Moses and was his last battle. Full official divine authority, tribal unity, priestly intelligence and holiness mark this conflict; and the results are in keeping with the forces employed.
ANW Say a little more as to why a thousand men are secured from each tribe.
JT I think it would mean that the saints are to be secured as of the assembly. That is, to get them in relation to the working of love. The assembly [p. 405] today is the divine formation for the working of love, corresponding with the tribes of old. So we seek to get our brethren for the assembly, that is the idea; and we are to move together as of the assembly.
WB-w We are lined up locally.
JT Yes, and generally, too. The order of combat is universal.
JS The spoil we have today is the deliverance of God’s people from these systems.
JT That is right. We want to get them all, and God’s terms are water and fire.
AFM What about the water? I can understand the fire.
JT Fire is more drastic; both refer to the death of Christ. The two figures are for differentiality as to certain elements that are recovered. We are to snatch people out of the fire, hating the garment spotted by the flesh. It must be hatred of evil because it is evil, and has to be judged drastically as we rescue from it what is of God. Fire would destroy garments, while water would cleanse them; but fire will not destroy gold but purify it.
WB-w “Harassed the Midianites”. Why harass them?
JT Do not let them rest; now it is by the steady ministry and practice of the truth.
JT Harassing is ordered in chapter 25, but in chapter 31 it is avenging. God hates what the Midianites represent. Our feelings as to evil are generally shallow.
JWD In what way would warfare such as you get in Ephesians 6:12 be different from this? It says, “Because our struggle is not against blood and flesh ... but against spiritual power of wickedness in the heavenlies”.
JT That is in Canaan.
JWD What form would that take?
JT Midianitish warfare is Corinthians. [p. 406] The Midianitish element had got in at Corinth. Ephesian warfare is in the land; the instruction as to it is largely as to armour, but there is power to strike out in a positive way with the sword of the Spirit and in the gospel.
Ques Would the house of Stephanas represent Phinehas?
JT Just so.
JS “Come out from the midst of them, and touch not what is unclean”, (2 Corinthians 6:17).
ANW Referring to our brother’s question, do chapters 23 and 24 give the character of Ephesian warfare? It was of a “spiritual wickedness” character.
JT God is doing the fighting there. It is a phase of wilderness conflict. Numbers is the wilderness; the conflict in the land is Ephesians.
AR What is the idea of the gold in the end of the chapter being offered up to Jehovah and then being put into the tent of meeting as a memorial (verses 48 - 54)?
JT It shows how our place with God is enhanced by such spoil from conflict. It is a memorial of the children of Israel before Jehovah in the sanctuary. Thus the saints become greater practically through such conflict; we are consciously richer in the assembly through it.
RDG The spoil of Gideon from the Midianites became a snare to him.
JT Just so, this is brought into the sanctuary by Moses and Eleazar; but Moses and Eleazar were not with Gideon, and things were on a much lower ground in Judges. The sanctuary is scarcely alluded to in that book.
RDG How would that apply today?
JT If you do not devote the spoil of conflict to God, the flesh will take pride in it, and it will become a snare.
[p. 407] There are one or two things more that ought to be noted before we close. First, the daughters of Zelophehad claiming their inheritance. This is an important subject, coming in after the second numbering of the people; they came forward to claim their inheritance, and in doing so, confessed that their father died in his own sin, that he was not in the band of Korah, and so was not a party man. Jehovah says, “The daughters of Zelophehad speak right”. (Numbers 27:7) There were five of them and their speaking brought in a new law, or principle, in Israel, which honoured them in this way.
JS How would you apply that now?
JT It is seen in God distinguishing persons who value what He gives, for He has His own way of distinguishing us. These women ask for a possession among the brethren of their father, and Jehovah accordingly establishes an ordinance that if a man die and leave an inheritance and there is no son, his daughter should have it. Here these daughters valued it, and they should have it. That is, what comes down to us as from God we value, and He says we shall possess it.
JS The claim being by women would represent the subjective element.
JT Yes. They claimed it, and God valued their claim. In the last chapter of the book the heads of the tribe to which these women belonged said in effect, “This is not balanced, our tribe will suffer”. I mean, you get the idea of a tribe valuing itself, so to speak; that is to say, a Christian valuing the place he has in the counsels of God, does not want it impaired or minimised. He is not like Benjamin, who became almost annihilated through his folly. The tribe of Manasseh wanted to be maintained according to God, so that another principle arises in that chapter, that these women who came in for the inheritance must marry within their own tribe;
[p. 408] they must not go outside; it might be said the tribe was selfish, but it was not; it is love working to keep things as God would have them, according to His counsels.
TH The “self-building up in love” of the body in Ephesians 4:16 — would that correspond?
JT It would. The thought of God in the body is apprehended and we build accordingly.
AFM So they marry in their own tribe; is that not an important word for us today?
JT Yes; it is a very fine ending for the book of Numbers. In chapter 1, they are numbered; in chapter 2, they are set around the tabernacle militarily; in chapter 7, their princes are seen in their wealth in unity offering for the dedication of the altar, that is, their minds are set on suffering. It is a beautiful setting for the start in the wilderness. Then you have the spies, one from each tribe, their testimony as to the land coming in — the gospel of heaven, as we might say; “the glad tidings of the unsearchable riches of the Christ”, (Ephesians 3:8). The spies brought down that testimony, but it was not received. Then the princes are seen digging; that is, they resort to other occupation to meet the new exigency in the wilderness. There must be water in this way, not by speaking to the rock, but by digging; that is, to get rid of what hinders the Spirit when Satan attacks through Balak. It is a question of accusing God’s elect. At that point the beauty of Israel comes to light in the vision of the Almighty, as if God would say, ‘How lovely they are!’ Thus instead of cursing Israel, Balaam is forced to bless them “altogether”. The next thing is, Can Satan corrupt the saints through the flesh? Yes, he can, and uses Balaam who taught Balak to cast a snare before the sons of Israel. All that is dealt with by the tribes militarily, but by a limited number; not six hundred thousand, but twelve thousand; that great [p. 409] conflict secured immense spoils, so that the saints are enhanced by it in the tent of meeting.
Then, the inheritance is a collateral thing. The saints, at this point, as having recognised the Spirit, begin to value Canaan. The daughters of Zelophehad show they want a place there; they did not want to lose anything of their inheritance; and the tribes, as answering to the mind of God, are preserved intact in the last chapter.