THE HOUSEHOLD OF GOD
[p. 453] THE HOUSEHOLD OF GOD
Ephesians 2: 18 - 22; Genesis 32: 9 - 12; Genesis 33: 1 - 7; Genesis 35: 9 - 15
JT The subject of the household of God may, under the Lord, be of help to us. We have the truth in this respect presented as the believer’s household, and the household of faith, and the household of God; the first two merging in the household of God. The first, the household of the believer, may be connected with Noah; the second may be connected with Abraham, who indeed is said to be the father of all believers; and the third is, as we see in these chapters, connected with Jacob: and the Lord may help us to arrive at an understanding of the passage in Ephesians by our consideration of the subject. It is written in Ephesians 2: 18 that through Christ, “we have both access by one Spirit to the Father” and that “ye are no longer strangers and foreigners, but ye are fellow-citizens of the saints, and of the household of God”. This being the case, it is obvious that each of us should inquire as to whether he has practical part in the household of God, for that is where our blessings are in this provisional time; it is where the music and the dancing are, where the brethren are apprehended in their heavenly relations although upon earth, and where the Spirit is thus free to bring in the joys of heaven. And I thought that the section in Genesis, well known to most of us, beginning with chapter 32, would help us to see how conditions that hinder our entrance into house-conditions and house-enjoyment are overcome, for chapter 35 is intended to show that the believer finally reaches the house, and reaches it as pleasing to Him whose it is — pleasing to God; the drink-offering denoting the divine pleasure in the believer.
Ques Is the household of God a distinct thought from the house of [p. 454] God?
JT Well, it brings in the persons who form it more, there is more of a family touch to the word “household”. I think it is the family side where the activities of love have scope; there is room for each to have his part in it. “Whose house are we”, Hebrews 3: 6. Of course the house is the saints, but the household, I think, involves the family touch, more the family side.
EJMcB I thought perhaps the house of God was more characterised by what God is as having His house, but when we come to the household, it is more the kind of people that compose it. Would you say a little as to the thought of Jacob being taken up as illustrative of this?
JT He typifies the believer in connection with the house; it is in connection with Jacob that it appears first in Scripture, so that it is rightly in its initial features connected with him. Ephesians brings in the household, as you might say, fittingly, because the saints are viewed in their heavenly relations. This scripture follows a well-known statement that He “has raised us up together, and has made us sit down together in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus”. That is our final position, and necessarily lends richness to the idea of the household, which is a term that applies to us down here, for the house of God, as also the household, is connected with the earth — it is really provisional.
There is, of course, the Father’s house on high, but that is another thing; the household, and the house, refer to what we are here and involve what we shall be and shall have in the way of enjoyment. So that we get it in connection with Jacob as on a journey. The Father’s house is the terminus of that journey; the house of God comes in as the believer is on the journey of faith, so that, after Jacob enters the house, as you will observe in chapter 35, he continues on his journey. It is, therefore, a great provision for us on the way now, but its greatness is enhanced by the fact that those who compose it are already seen to be heavenly, to belong to [p. 455] heaven, to have a heavenly status in Christ; they are no longer strangers and foreigners, but are fit for the place, and fit for having part in the house. And Jacob serves to illustrate how the believer comes into it experimentally. First of all, it was a dreadful place to him, but still he had better thoughts than that. As the believer weighs things he comes back to sober thoughts and Jacob formally calls it the house of God afterwards, and is encouraged in it to make a vow. That is the initial instruction that we get from Jacob, for, whilst he called it a dreadful place, after all he had better thoughts than that; these thoughts came out in his naming the place Bethel, and then in setting up the pillar and anointing it, and making a vow. It is doubtful if any young believer will ever reach the house save on those lines.
Ques Was Jacob’s heart set in the right direction?
JT He was moving under orders, he was moving under the direction of his parents, and God honoured that.
Ques A few verses were read in chapter 33. Jacob speaks in verse 5 of “The children that God has graciously given thy servant”. Could that be linked up with the thought of the household of God?
JT As we come to that part we shall see how he disposes of his family, for as we arrive at chapter 32 what is in his mind is the brother — an offended brother; his mind is full of the thought of the offended brother. One of the hindrances to our enjoyment of the house is the existence in meetings of offended or offending brothers, either one or the other. Chapters 32 and 33 are to show how that difficulty is overcome.
Ques How is that removed?
JT Well, we shall see as we look at these chapters. Jacob is returning, and the angels of God meet him; that is, he is to be impressed with the unfailing divine interest; the God that had met him twenty years before [p. 456] is now impressing him with His interest, two camps of angels are ready to serve him. These witnesses of heavenly interest and attention are calculated to lift us out of the realm of the flesh, what we may have in the flesh that we might rely upon; for we are apt in our spiritual progress to rely on certain fleshly acquirements, belongings or abilities, and God would give us to understand that we do not need to. Reliance on these things will only hinder us, and they are calculated to irritate others; they are also calculated to arouse similar thoughts and feelings in others. We thus provoke one another. Jacob therefore, instead of being affected by this remarkable testimony of heaven, and relying entirely on the power of God, sends a message to Esau conveying that he was a man of earthly means. He sends messengers to tell Esau, “Thy servant Jacob speaks thus — With Laban have I sojourned and tarried until now; and I have oxen and asses, sheep, and bondmen and bondwomen; and I have sent to tell my lord, that I may find favour in thine eyes”. He does not say a word about God. It is not likely that I shall appease an offended brother by telling him how many cattle I have; what a large house I have; or what a large car I possess. It is not likely I shall appease him or make him more brotherly than he was before, by telling him these things; nor is it any evidence that I am much of a brother. How very different would be the effect if you tell a brother, or send a message to him, that God spoke to you last night, that He came in in a wonderful way and impressed you with the fact that you are the object of His care; and then indicate to the brother that God would do the same for him.
Ques Would that establish the thought of fellow-citizenship with the saints?
JT I think so. What is it that gives you status in the house of God? It is not the amount of cattle or sheep you have, it is not the size of your house or garden; God does not attach any importance to these [p. 457] things. It is a question of what you are with God, that gives you status in His house.
The messengers say, in verse 6, “We came to thy brother, to Esau; and he also is coming to meet thee, and four hundred men with him” — probably more than Jacob had, so that there is no headway at all being made on this line. And then he says, in verse 9, “God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, Jehovah, who saidst unto me: Return into thy country and to thy kindred, and I will do thee good — I am too small for all the loving-kindness and all the faithfulness that thou hast shewn unto thy servant; for with my staff I passed over this Jordan, and now I am become two troops. Deliver me, I pray thee, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau; for I fear him ...” and so on. Then the passage says, “he lodged there that night”; that is, his lodging now is where he has prayed; it is a time of heart-searching in the presence of God.
EJMcB Do you mean he has left the sense of his material wealth?
JT That is what I thought: he is in the presence of God; and he lodged there that night.
EJMcB In a way, he got his own measure with God.
JT Quite so. Then, instead of sending to tell Esau what he had, he sends him a large present. That is good; he is giving now; he is like God. Thus he is likely to make some headway.
EJMcB The sense of the bounty of God to him comes out from him.
JT Yes, he had received it from God, and “freely ye have received, freely give”. He is now to this extent like God.
EJMcB Would this line of the household be the line on which we come into the gain of the family of faith, which looks outside all seen things?
JT That is what I think. In turning to [p. 458] God you are impressed with God; and staying there all night gives you an opportunity of receiving divine impressions where you have spoken to God. He gives now deliberately, as you will observe by the number of cattle he sends to Esau — two hundred she-goats, twenty he-goats, two hundred ewes, twenty rams, thirty milch camels with their colts, forty kine, ten bulls, twenty she-asses, and ten young asses — is rather liberal. It seems as if it is to testify to the effect of God’s presence in the soul; that one is really now moving in relation to God and qualifying to have part in His house; you are like Him. And then, following upon that, God moves again, according to verse 24, “Jacob remained alone; and a man wrestled with him until the rising of the dawn”. This “man” — it is God of course, but it is a Man, One like himself in sympathy and feelings; He is giving way to Jacob, as if He would teach Jacob how to give way, because, after all, we must give way. If we are to gain an offended brother, there has to be some giving way, and I think God teaches us how to give way. The Man allowed Jacob to overcome.
EJMcB It is only the one who is right who can give way. Do you look on the wrestling as a further step to his being in the presence of God?
JT Yes, I think it is God approaching him now; he had drawn near to God in prayer. We are enjoined to draw near to God in all our circumstances, and He draws near to us, but He draws near to us in His own way. We are taught how to pray, and Jacob evidently had learnt how to pray; but God draws near to us in His own way; He had drawn near to Jacob in the two camps of angels, but now He draws near as a Man, which is very touching.
EJMcB And of course it leaves a permanent effect on Jacob.
JT Yes. If it is a question of the power of the flesh, he is limping, that is, he is weaker outwardly; but he is stronger inwardly.
[p. 459] Ques Say a little more about this matter of giving way. In what sphere would this yieldingness be seen? Are you thinking of questions of judgment?
JT Well, you cannot give way, of course, if it be a question of right or wrong, but you can give way if it is a question of any right of your own, do you not think?
Ques Do we sometimes deceive ourselves into thinking we are standing for the truth, when we are only really standing for ourselves?
JT That is it.
Rem Self-judgment is behind giving way.
JT Exactly. I think it is God teaching Jacob, in a Man, how to give way. The Lord showed it in His manner down here; Mephibosheth indicated it too. Where it is a question of one’s own rights or feelings, one can readily give way. It is the one who is right at bottom who can do that. The greater one is spiritually, the more ready he is to surrender where divine principles are not involved; and I believe that most of the difficulties amongst the brethren do not really arise from divine principles being transgressed, but rather because our own feelings have been affected.
Ques Would Paul’s epistle to Philemon be an example of how to encourage one to give way in order to promote the household atmosphere? When Onesimus went back to Philemon, this very thought of yieldingness would be called into play.
JT Yes, I think the epistle is full of this thought. I think Paul is teaching Philemon in his own spirit and manner, in the lowly attitude he takes up towards him, how Philemon should act towards Onesimus.
WCG Would the fact that the sun shone upon Jacob as he halted on his thigh give him spiritual strength?
JT Just so. It is a remarkable testimony from heaven again; “as he passed over Peniel, the sun rose upon him”. I think God gives you such a sense of His [p. 460] interest that you feel you are valuable in His mind; you feel yourself almost alone as an object of God — the sun rose upon him. It rose upon millions of others, but it rose upon him, at that particular point as he passed over Peniel, and “he limped upon his hip”. The deeper the sense of God’s love and interest in one, the more one can accept the weakness, the crippling; for, although the Man had given way to Jacob, he succeeded in all that he intended to do. He weakened Jacob, he strengthened him inwardly, but weakened him outwardly; that is, he is making him more and more fit for the house, and correspondingly more fit to meet his brother.
Rem He was conscious he had seen God face to face.
JT He was. It was great inward gain, and then the sun shining upon him was heaven impressing him that he was the object of its interest.
Ques Does Jacob here acquire firstly a sense of mercy; he says he is not worthy of the least of God’s mercies, secondly, in this last incident, does he get a sense of dignity as having to do with God, and having his name changed?
JT Exactly. He is being ennobled, he is being made greater and greater. Then in chapter 33 you see the disposition he makes of the family, he reserves Joseph for the last, and Joseph moves before his mother. All this points to the increase of spiritual understanding and sensibilities that Jacob was acquiring. It will be observed that in verse 7 it says, “lastly Joseph drew near, and Rachel, and they bowed”. Earlier it says, “The maidservants drew near, they and their children, and they bowed. And Leah also, with her children drew near, and they bowed. And lastly Joseph drew near, and Rachel, and they bowed”. Rachel is after Joseph; another Man is coming into view now; there is the principle of displacement of what is according to nature. The disposition of the children in verse 2 is that [p. 461] he puts the maidservants and their children foremost, and Leah and her children after, and Rachel and Joseph hindmost. They are all put into an order of nature first, they are all disposed of in that way, but as they actually approach Esau, there is liberty for Joseph to move forward; that is really what is meant, that spiritually under these circumstances Christ is becoming prominent — for the thing that matters in all these things is that Christ is becoming prominent. It does not say Jacob was told to put Joseph forward — he did it, this feature of Christ came into evidence.
Ques Is it putting on “bowels of compassion, kindness, lowliness”, Colossians 3: 12?
JT That is the thing. If there is room for the Lord, you will say, We had a splendid time, for there was room for Christ. It is not a question of either Jacob or Esau, but Joseph; for that is the point, after all, in the house, that Christ must be supreme; He is Son over it. We can have no enjoyment of the house till Christ has His place.
Ques In chapter 32 he divides the company into two troops. Is that the party idea, when there is no room for Christ at all?
Ques When you come to chapter 37: 2, you have, “These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph ...” Is that the same thought as to Joseph?
JT That is the way the truth develops in Genesis. First in chapter 30, as Joseph is born, Jacob proposes to come back to Canaan; it is a very slight suggestion of Christ: but here Joseph himself moves forward, it does not say Jacob told him to, the point is there is liberty for him to go before his mother, and the generations in chapter 37 refer to Joseph only, as you say; and his brethren all come back to Joseph in chapters 45 and 46. In the generations of Jacob, Christ must have His place; for, after all, what are our gatherings and meetings unless Christ has His place — unless there is room for Christ? And that is [p. 462] the point here.
WCG Do you think the fulfilment of Peter’s word, “be clothed with humility”, is seen in them all bowing? Where there is complete humility there is room for Christ.
JT Just so — binding on humility.
Ques Would this be the working out of Ephesians in a practical way — Jesus Christ the cornerstone?
JT That is it exactly. Do you not find that must be so in a practical way, for, after all, what are the meetings if He has not got His place?
Ques Would this result in spiritual education for us, that we might be found intelligently in the house?
JT That is what is in mind. It may be in only a little way, but you see Christ is acquiring place in the meeting. He has liberty to move. It may be a brother who has not been accustomed to say much, at some meeting has liberty, and speaks beautifully — that is the thought, there is liberty in the house, Christ is having His way.
EJMcB You mean that conditions have come to light that allow Christ to disclose Himself in that way?
JT That is right. You see the number of bowings here — Jacob leading in bowing seven times. Esau is the offended brother; he is a man to be appeased, and he is appeased; he ran to meet Jacob, that is in the presence of all this grace and humility.
Ques Is Jacob here adding the fifth part, so that there is increase?
JT Just so. Then we see after this another thing, that is, there must be tenderness, there must be consideration in the meetings. Esau would have Jacob go with him, but he says, in verse 13, “My lord knows that the children are tender, and the suckling sheep and kine are with me; and if they should overdrive them only one day, all the flock would die”. That is a fine thought brought in; and Jacob has his way on those lines. So that Esau goes off to Seir. Jacob had said, “the children are tender, and the suckling sheep and kine are with me” — the true shepherd spirit comes out. There must not be overdriving in our meetings.
Ques Would that link on with what the Lord says in Luke 12, a faithful servant whom the Lord sets over his household?
JT Yes.
Then the next thing in the history is, “Jacob journeyed to Succoth, and built himself a house, and for his cattle he made booths”. Now he is overcome: he has secured his brother, but he is going to settle down; he built a house before he came to God’s house. Our houses really should be patterned after God’s house. In Exodus, God made houses for the Israelitish midwives in Egypt, that is, He gave a pattern, but then afterwards He gave instructions to build His own house. Jacob builds a house for himself and connects God with himself in his house, so that he misses Bethel; Bethel is deferred, and Jacob gets into terrible trouble in chapter 34. What is pointed out is the danger of settling down in our houses, and in providing for ourselves and our cattle, and failing to go on to the house of God.
EJMcB Really giving up the path of faith.
JT Well, exactly. It is a “house”, it is not a tent. Earlier he was characterised as a plain man dwelling in tents, which means, I am moving on, but now he builds a house, which implies that he was settling down.
WCG Is that why, in the night of wrestling, God would not reveal His name to Jacob? Was it because he was not yet equal to it?
JT Yes, I think he reserves it for His own house.
WCG For in Abraham’s case the new name given him was in conjunction with the name Almighty God — they go together in Abraham’s case.
JT Here Jacob asks for his name and God refuses to give it him; and I think it is because of what is in Jacob’s mind. He had in mind to settle down, and you are not going to get any disclosures with a mind like that. You may succeed in reconciliation with the brother [p. 464] and have matters settled; and both may settle down. God knows what is in our heart; He is the heart-knowing God, He knows what we are purposing to do, so that He reserves His own name, until Jacob reaches Bethel. It says in chapter 35: 9: “God appeared to Jacob again after he had come from Padan-Aram, and blessed him. And God said to him, Thy name is Jacob: thy name shall not henceforth be called Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name. And he called his name Israel. And God said to him, I am the Almighty God ...” I think that God disclosing His name in His own house is appropriate, it is where it should be disclosed. The Lord said, “I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it” — it is in relation to His own side of things.
EJMcB Is not the appeal of the prophet Malachi on this line, that the people should put God and His house first?
JT Exactly; and there is the same appeal in Haggai.
Ques Would the strange gods at the beginning of this chapter suggest the difficulty with Jacob?
JT That is another thing. There are many things involved; chapter 34 is a chapter of disaster, and now God comes in after that and says, “Arise, go up to Bethel, and dwell there, and make there an altar unto the God that appeared unto thee when thou fleddest from the face of Esau thy brother”. And Jacob immediately responds now. What I think we ought to see is, that in making a house before we come to the house of God, the pattern is sure to be wrong; we ought to get the idea of a house from God’s house. That thought is brought in in Exodus, that if God makes a person a house, then he ought to pay attention to what kind of a house it is; and then, if God makes Himself a house — which He does in Exodus — I ought to pay attention to what kind of a house it is. If I am to make a house for myself I must consider God’s house.
[p. 465] Rem That seems to come out in Solomon’s case in that he was seven years building the house of Jehovah, and thirteen years building his own house.
JT It seems to me that in all these things we come out from God, whether it be into our houses, or into our businesses, everything must take colour from the fact that I belong to the household of God. It ought to govern me in all my relations and doings. We see how Jacob’s building a house for himself, and booths for his cattle, before he reached Bethel, meant disaster. You may depend on it he built them according to the current local style; he probably went to some architect, as we speak — what else would he do? The setting shows that there were links with the world immediately.
EJMcB The door was open to the flesh.
JT Quite so. The more my house is patterned after the world, the more I invite links with the world.
WP The situation is not hopeless. As soon as God speaks to Jacob, Jacob speaks to his household, and then they journey.
JT That is the great comfort today, the situation is not hopeless. There is a great deal that needs washing, but the situation is by no means hopeless, because faith underlies; God is with His people, and His constant exhortations lead to results; we see the results constantly, and it gives every encouragement to go on keeping the mind of God before the brethren.
Rem God said to Jacob, “I will not leave thee until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of”
Ques Does the name he gives his altar at Succoth shows his thoughts centred round himself? In chapter 35 he makes an altar to God in the house of God.
JT That can never be pointed out too often. That is, in building his own house, he connects God with himself, making himself a centre; whereas in chapter 35 he makes God a centre — it is God’s house. And then, it is very beautiful to see how after all this exercise and sorrow, the verses 9 to 15 give an epitome of the [p. 466] whole matter, as if God were to say, After all this I have reached My point. It is a question of His patience — it is a paragraph by itself. It is an epitome of the whole matter, that God has reached His point, and how encouraging that is, so that He discloses His name to Jacob, and then it says in verse 13, “God went up from him in the place where he had talked with him”. That is the house; it is where God talks with His people, where there are communications. It is very beautiful, I think, and it must have afforded God great pleasure to record these few verses, that He had reached His point with Jacob.
EJMcB Do you mean He will do that with each one of us?
JT Yes. He glories over us as having reached His end in any matter.
EJMcB And it is very beautiful to see the way Jacob referred to it — he “called the name of the place where God had talked with him, Bethel”.
JT Showing how he had come round to God’s thought; and God went up from him there. And now he sets up a pillar in the place where He had talked with him, “and poured on it a drink-offering, and poured oil on it”. You will notice it is not simply a stone he set up now, it is “a pillar of stone”, that is to say, it is a greater thought than merely setting up the stone he had used for his pillow; there is more dignity about it. He sets it up in the place where God talked with him, and poured a drink-offering on it, that is to say, he is sensible now that God has reached His end with him, and that God is pleased with him.
EJMcB Would it have any connection with the sense of the appreciation of the “chief corner stone” in his soul?
JT I think so. A stone pillar is not something for a moment only, it is to be permanent; and the drink-offering would mean that Jacob had the consciousness that God was pleased with him. God loves all [p. 467] His people, but then He specially loves those who are lovable; it is a great thing in the house, to have the sense that I am lovable to God.
EJMcB When the Lord comes down Himself, as in John’s gospel. He says, “Give me to drink”; and Jacob here is able to give the drink-offering.
JT Just so. And then a drink-offering is more than water. It is stimulating, according to the types, that is, spiritually it means that a christian who is after Christ in these circumstances stirs the affections of God, speaking reverently — he stimulates the heart of God, as Christ did when He was here.
EJMcB “New wine which cheers God and man”, Judges 9: 13.
Ques When you said the Father’s house was a terminus, what did you mean?
JT That is what the Lord says in John 14, “In my Father’s house are many mansions”; it is the end in view; it is not something on the way; it is a future thing, the Lord comes and takes us there.
Ques Were you contrasting it with the house of God and the household of God?
JT Yes.
Rem Every family is there.
JT Quite so. There are “many mansions”; there is no such thought as many mansions in the house of God now.