THE RIGHTS AND PATIENCE OF GOD IN TESTIMONY (4)
[p. 58] THE RIGHTS AND PATIENCE OF GOD IN TESTIMONY (4)
1 Kings 20: 26 - 43; 1 Kings 21: 17 - 29; 1 Kings 22: 31 - 34
JT In these chapters we have the second phase of our subject; that is, the patient grace of God as witnessed in our own times in carrying on the service of grace in christendom; even employing persons who are not characteristically obedient, but who may at times come under the divine ordering; God thus giving victory after victory, but at the same time discriminating, so that, however much men may be used in the service of God, and through His patience, God “by no means clearing the guilty”, Exodus 34: 7. He gives good credit, but by no means clears the guilty, so the judgment of God finds out Ahab in the midst of the battle, protecting Jehoshaphat. We are told in Chronicles that Jehovah diverted the Syrians from Jehoshaphat, and the king of Israel is wounded, and dies afterwards, and is buried in Samaria, and the dogs licked his blood. It is this side of the truth that enters into these chapters. What would be seen in the passage read from chapter 20 is the use of the word “prophet” in verse 13, and again in verse 22; and in verse 28, “the man of God” — this prophetic service attending on Ahab; that is, as representing the responsible element in the sphere of profession. God uses what there is in the way of prophetic ministry, to augment what is being done, so that every help in keeping with the divine mind is available, and yet He by no means clears the guilty. Although there are those in evil associations who are really the Lord’s, like Jehoshaphat, they are saved only “as by fire”.
HB These persons are unnamed. Do you take them to be Elijah, or others who are raised up?
JT I think others. It is more that kind of prophetic service, without distinguishing anyone, it is in whomsoever it may be seen. Then, besides that, there [p. 59] is the man who values the inheritance, “Naboth the Jizreelite had a vineyard”, and he valued it as the inheritance of his fathers.
HB Are these individuals from amongst the seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to Baal?
JT Quite so, they belong to the seven thousand. We do well to keep our eye on these features, the prophetic features, the man of God, and the man who values the inheritance; and finally, the man who is saved at the end so as by fire — that is Jehoshaphat. We get Micaiah too — another prophet named. Then we get in the last part of chapter 20 “a certain man of the sons of the prophets” acting for God. So that we have a remarkable range of divine agencies augmenting and supporting the responsible element; so that, if anything can be done, they have every facility for doing it, God helping them. Yet it all culminates in the complete destruction of Ahab and Jezebel, but the preservation of every bit that is for God, represented in Jehoshaphat.
Rem You speak of victory after victory; what would those victories be in christendom?
JT There would be many such victories since the Reformation, during the past hundred years, in the sphere of profession; the Lord has not given up His rights in it, nor will He, while the Holy Spirit is here. Whatever is done has to be accredited to God working with poor instruments perhaps, but whatever is done, would have its value, and is to be noted. There has been much work carried on, souls have been saved, and the truth, in very large measure, has been maintained by certain agencies; but God is “by no means clearing the guilty”, and the garment spotted by the flesh is always in view for judgment.
Ques It says, in the address to Philadelphia, “I have set before thee an opened door, which no one can shut”. Is that the resource for this [p. 60] day?
JT That goes a little beyond what we have in these chapters, but of course, it is always true.
PL Is it like Eldad and Medad in the camp, an agency Moses is thankful for?
JT Just so.
WJW What is the thought of the sons of the prophets?
JT They are the product of an earlier generation which God owned. The prophets are formally recognised; but the sons of the prophets are very uncertain — you may find a good one, and you may find others who divert from the truth.
WJW So Elisha found them when they attempted to look for Elijah.
JT Yes, they were diverting from the truth of ascension. Although Elisha knew as well as they that the Lord had taken Elijah away, yet they even influenced Elisha in a wrong direction; so you cannot trust them, yet there may be a good one here and there. “A certain man of the sons of the prophets said to another by the word of Jehovah, Smite me, ...” — that is a good one, that [p. 61] is a useful son of a prophet. “A man of God” is more than is conveyed by the term ‘a son of a prophet’. The order is that, in verse 13, a prophet draws near to Ahab; in verse 22, a prophet drew near to the king of Israel; and in verse 28, the man of God drew near and spoke to the king of Israel: then, in verse 35, a certain man of the sons of the prophets. That is the order in which that subject stands. God has His hidden servants. If we keep our eye on divine territory, that in which God has rights and asserts them, we shall see that He uses whom He will, and we shall not quarrel with any whom God may use — we just accept them. We let God act sovereignly in His own territory, and, as the Lord said to the disciples, “Forbid them not”. They would have forbidden them to cast out demons because they did not walk with, or follow, them; but the Lord says, “Forbid them not”.
JFC Is “the man of God” a mature thought?
JT I think so; he stands in a crisis, he can be relied on. Elijah is pre-eminently ‘the man of God’ as was recognised by the widow in her house.
WCG We have to recognise men like Wesley and Whitefield.
JT Yes. Such are not to be despised; but then the garment spotted by the flesh is to be hated, and that appears in all these great movements. God would help us so that the garment should not be spotted by the flesh.
JC In what way do you view Jehoshaphat here?
JT He represents, in this section, a christian in false associations — and there are many of them, alas! But your eye is detained by the persons of these prophets: when we come to chapter 22 we have Micah, a very faithful prophet.
Rem The prophet testifies to the responsible element, corresponding to the Lord Jesus addressing the “angel” in Revelation 2 and 3.
JT Quite so. That illustrates what we are saying that even the last phase of the assembly is given counsel — ‘come and buy from Me’. Those in the systems around are ready to pay for many things; the Lord says, ‘Why do you not buy from Me?’ He has the best things. That is the position today. The Lord’s attitude toward the professing system is still one of grace, but He will by no means clear the guilty; He has His eye on the guilty.
Ques Do you look on the sons of the prophets as taking sides with the man of God? — “And the man of God drew near, and spoke to the king of Israel”.
JT The prophet or the man of God is serving Ahab: he tells him three times over what is to happen, and what to do. What we have to see first of all is the service of the prophet to Ahab, and that Ahab himself is to be the general of the army. ‘You are to be the leader’, the word was. Ahab says, “By whom? And he [p. 62] said, Thus saith Jehovah: By the servants of the princes of the provinces”. It would look as if there is an allusion to those in the country. Our times are city times, they are marked by cities, the growth of cities is remarkable in all countries. But the suggestion here is that success will attend the princes of the provinces, and then he said, “Who shall begin the battle? And he said, Thou. And he numbered the servants of the princes of the provinces, and they were two hundred and thirty-two; and after them he numbered all the people, all the children of Israel, Seven thousand”. There is distinguishment here in the numbering of the servants of the princes of the provinces, the young men; and then the total number, which is perfect — seven thousand.
Ques Is it remarkable that it is the servants of the princes of the provinces?
JT Well, the servants are young men; they are not persons of distinction. We are living in times in which distinctions of learning and ability in the nominal service of God have all the place, but these people have no distinctions of learning or religious distinctions, or anything of that kind; they are just the young men, or servants, of the princes of the provinces.
PL There was a man who came up from the country in another crisis, and he was used — Simon the Cyrenian, to carry the cross.
JT Quite so. He had a great honour: which he did not seek, but there was evidently a result, for his sons appear in the testimony.
Ques Does it show that God can do His own work in His own wherever He has put them?
JT Just so, that is what the record shows. God is operating in His own territory. You may say, ‘Well, the instrumentality is poor; the material is poor’; but then, God acts in spite of difficulties and obtains results; He shows that He discriminates, that He never loses sight of what is against Him — that comes into judgment.
[p. 63] Rem Why does it refer to the perfect number of seven thousand?
JT I think to bring out how God can rule and control things, and operate on His own principles in spite of the difficulties: He secures a perfect number.
Rem Not one lost, in that way; all that is of God comes through.
JT Yes. As we were reminded this morning, there is no doubt a link between the divine answer to Elijah, and the seven thousand reserved, and this seven thousand under the Lord’s hand.
Rem The first reference to the seven thousand is, a negative one; they have not bowed the knee to Baal and their mouths have not kissed him: but here it is the positive side.
JT Yes. Ahab doubtless would not have chosen them: the Lord has such influence under these circumstances that Ahab takes on Jehovah’s selection. I mean, it is the over-ruling influence of God, that He attains His end in spite of difficulties, and the difficulties are very great.
Rem The Lord has all power in heaven and on earth.
JT That is right, and He shows it here. Ahab, the military man, would hardly have selected these; there is no evidence that they were military men specially, there are two hundred and thirty-two of them, they are distinguished by being numbered.
PL Would the fact that they are referred to as flocks of goats suggest an element of separation with them?
JT That comes in in the next battle. We have progression here. The first thing is, these men have no special distinction, yet they are the successful ones in the work of God.
FI Does it go to show that God is with the saints as a whole? Is that what sustains things here under the hand of God, rather than the administrative side? You [p. 64] made a distinction between the provinces and the cities the cities are more on the administrative side.
JT You can see how that works out today. The administrative side, from the standpoint we are taking now, is the hierarchy; “the metropolitan”, for instance, that is the administrative side; but God takes up something else, and that something else, has no outward distinction. It is composed of young persons in service, and they belong to the princes of the provinces, persons who are not specially related to the administrative side but belong to the company.
PL Would the persons named at Antioch be set off against Jerusalem, the metropolis?
JT Just so — Niger and the others. They were drawn from very different parts of the earth.
PH These servants of the princes stand in contrast to the great company of Ben-hadad and the thirty-two kings.
JT Quite so. Think of the number of kings! that is the kind of thing in the world; it is the power of the world in royalty that Ben-hadad represents. But these young men are simple. Religious administrative leaders would not pay any attention to people who meet as we do.
Rem As the apostle says in 1 Corinthians — “things that are not, that he may annul the things that are” (chapter 1: 28).
Ques Is this for the protection of the inheritance?
JT That is what we come to, the inheritance is in view, and the divine inheritance was being invaded: this is the great general territory of God which He still holds to, and Ben-hadad is invading that. God is going to meet him, notwithstanding the poor material He has. The general testimony God has in christendom — it is all that God has, but the successful part lies with these young men, having no special distinction. We ought to get clear about these young men who have no status religiously. No doubt, in coming out of Samaria,
[p. 65] the thought is not exactly reproach, but rather that they are brought under administration; they are not without administration. They come out of the city, and then the king of Syria says, “Whether they be come out for peace, take them alive; or whether they be come out for war, take them alive. And these servants of the princes of the provinces came out of the city ...” — which I apprehend to allude to the fact that they are not without administrative order. God has His eye on them. He has given them the service, and they are successful; so that it says, “they slew every one his man”. They are in single combat, which, I understand, is the most testing of all features of war — hand to hand combat, “And they slew every one his man; and the Syrians fled, and Israel pursued them”. I understand what is brought out is that these are men, they are not only able to fight together, but they can fight singly. They were quitting themselves like men.
Rem These are the moral qualities that were so desirable in Timothy’s day. Like the faithful men to whom Timothy was to commit things.
JT Quite so, to faithful men.
HCL It was the servants of the princes of the provinces who were to bring in deliverance, but these seven thousand referred to were Ahab’s selection. Will you say a word as to that?
JT The people were numbered — seven thousand, they were “the people” — those that were there. That does not mean that all Israel was numbered, it means those that were available at the moment for war. I think the perfect number is to be noted; there is no credit to Ahab, it is what was there. It was God in His overruling power and influence, who brought all this about in spite of the most adverse conditions. So the victory was complete.
Now the next thing is the question of whether God can be limited. Read verses 22 - 24, “... take the kings away, every man out of his place, and put governors in their stead”. That corresponds to the modern removal of royalty and putting up of presidents and the like, persons of less note. But the issue was, Is He not a God of the valleys also? Does His power not extend to the valleys, the plateaux? And that brings in the question of the resurrection, for Jesus went down into the depths, the power of God is seen there: He is not only God above, He is God below. So that the whole truth as to God and His power is in question.
HB The power of the world in its democratic or republican phases is no greater against the testimony than in its royal form.
JT It seems as if they suggested a wise thing, but it did not avail anything against God. So it says, “The children of Israel were numbered and victualled, and they went against them; and the children of Israel encamped before them like two little flocks of goats” (chapter 20: 27).
Ques. Why two?
JT I suppose it would be the idea of testimony to the thought involved. Goats take an individual path — it is the idea of separation. That is brought in in 2 Timothy. Timothy is the goat, he separates, but he does not remain separated, 2 Timothy 2: 19 gives us the goat — let him “withdraw from iniquity”; he withdraws from the evil: he is isolated, but he does not remain isolated, he follows “righteousness, faith, love, peace, with those that call upon the Lord out of a pure heart”. I think that brings in the two little flocks of goats over against the enormous area of opposition — “the Syrians filled the land”, it says. Outside these two little flocks of goats there is not one to take God’s side. I think God is narrowing things down, as it were, where He had been operating; the denominations are becoming of less and less account, they are becoming honeycombed with evil; apostasy is already there, and there is very little going on. But over against the country full of Syrians you have these two little flocks of goats.
[p. 67] Rem It is not natural for goats to be in flocks.
JT No, they serve in the way of separation, but they do not remain separate.
PL So that before the bride in Canticles can be really united to Christ, 2 Timothy features have appeared. “Thy hair is as a flock of goats” (chapter 4: 1). Hair speaks of strength.
JT These two little flocks of goats are very striking. God gives the victory. Whatever is going on today for God, I believe the testimony is maintained in smallness, in little flocks, like these two flocks of goats, having no apparent power at all to cope with what is against them, but God is on their side.
Ques Have the flocks individually to maintain the characteristics of separation?
JT I think so. We can understand it now in the light of the New Testament; all the Scriptures were written for us; we can see how the whole truth is being maintained by those who are in separation; you cannot trust any others.
Ques Is that the result of the numbering and victualling?
JT That is very beautiful. They were numbered and victualled — they are fed. You do not get that before; they are fully provided for from God’s point of view, so that they are not overcome.
PL The Lord, in John 17, speaks of “the men whom thou gavest me”. Has He not numbered and victualled them?
JT Exactly. A century ago this little flock came to light; God numbered them and gave them great light. That light is for christendom: the Collected Writings by J. N. Darby are for christendom; the great victory was for every person in christendom; but what use do they make of it? Ben-hadad represents the responsible side of the opposition; but Ahab spared the world, and accepted it on its own terms. In the history of christendom [p. 68] they have accepted the world on its own terms, which is what Ahab did here.
Ques Does that emphasise what you have spoken of? God will by no means clear the guilty. The acceptance of such things will bring down God’s judgment on it.
JT It will. All that light of the last hundred years will bring God’s judgment on these men; every society and association will be brought into judgment. The question will be, ‘Why did you not profit by all this light?’ Instead of that, they accepted on its own terms the world which the light condemned.
PH Is the contrast to that, having the God of the valleys with you as seeking to walk in the path of separation?
JT Quite so, we ought to understand the God of the valleys — Gethsemane, and how God came in in power there. The next thing is, Is Ahab, the responsible element in christendom, to be allowed to go without rebuke? That is the service rendered by “a certain man of the sons of the prophets”: but, in order to render the service, to rebuke Ahab, he has to suffer himself. This is another matter. If I am to be of service in this way, I have to suffer myself; in other words, I have to bear in my body the brands of the Lord Jesus. He says to one, “Smite me, I pray thee”. If I am a loose kind of brother, and not sympathetic with the testimony, I will not smite another in this sense; and if I follow that out fully, it would mean, Why should God smite Jesus? That is what that means, that is in the man’s mind; yet he seems to be a nice kind of man. If I do not learn to smite people in the sense spoken of here, I am of no use to God. God smote Jesus — “they persecute him whom thou hast smitten”, Psalm 69: 26, “Smite the Shepherd” — Jesus had to be smitten.
PL God “hewed them by the prophets”, Hosea 6: 5. Is that the smiting?
JT Well, it is. The smiting of course is not with [p. 69] literal swords now; it is by the word of God we smite people. Natural sentiment would say, ‘No, you must not be so severe on people as that’.
PL “Pity thyself, Lord!”
Rem You mean, you would tell a man that if he continues on his present path he will come into judgment.
JT I am to judge him by the word of God — that is the principle.
FI Does being consistent with the Timothy principle bring in suffering, but at the same time you would stand out as one who condemned the systems around?
JT That is the way it stands. One has to bear in one’s body, as Paul did, “the brands of the Lord Jesus”, Galatians 6: 17. If I am to be in the hands of God to minister rebuke to christendom, I must do that.
PL I must be in the hands of God to rebuke the offender if I am to be used of Him to recover the one who offended? Paul would have things committed to faithful men.
JT That is the idea, “A certain man of the sons of the prophets” is a faithful man. This brings out what has been before us, what God had, “He found another man” — the first man would not do it, but there is another man — and he says to him, “Smite me, I pray thee. And the man smote him violently, and wounded him”. Now why did he do that? He did not ask him to smite him violently, but he represents the idea; God smote Christ violently in judgment when He took our place, so that we must not be easy on the flesh if we are to be of service to God.
Ques Did Paul smite Peter when he said, “I withstood him to the face, because he was to be condemned”, Galatians 2: 11.
Rem It says, “rebuke with all authority”, Titus 2: 15.
JT Quite so. So this man is to face the king of [p. 70] Israel and he is to face him as a man smitten; that is the gospel. He is smitten himself — the king of Israel is obliged to state the truth, he says, “So is thy judgment: thyself hast decided it”, showing that he knew the truth; and these men do know the truth, but they do not obey it. So that the man of the sons of the prophets “hastily took the sash away from his face; and the king of Israel discerned him, that he was of the prophets”. There it was, he was of the prophets, he belonged to that class. Instead of the king being convicted, it says, “the king of Israel went to his house sullen and vexed”. He gets no good out of all this: he is drawing near to his end, he is not profiting by the testimony brought to him.
Ques The psalmist says, “Let the righteous smite me, it is kindness; and let him reprove me, it is an excellent oil which my head shall not refuse”. Psalm 141: 5. Would that be the same principle?
JT Quite so. This man who smites violently is a man we have to reckon with.
HB An interesting word appears in these chapters, the word “found”. He “found Elisha”; then this man “found” a man who would smite him. Is that a feature of the present day — finding suitable persons?
JT I think so. In the first case, he “said to another ...” — that is anyone; but this man who smites violently is a “found” man, as if he had to be found; it was not anybody in the street who would do this.
Rem Would you link him with the man who knew something about the cake and the cruse of water? He could smite violently in relation to the official system that Ahab represented.
JT Exactly, the violent smiting had that in view. It was something very wrong, and this man who is smitten is in a vicarious position. But if Jesus had to suffer, smitten of God and afflicted, shall I escape if I continue in the path of self-will? That is what Ahab had to learn, that is the testimony. He “went to his house sullen and vexed”; but then the bow at a venture reached him, the judgment of God reached him.
PH Were these the exercises that reached the Galatian saints as Paul came before them? He spoke of them as desiring to have a fair appearance in the flesh. Bearing in his body “the brands of the Lord Jesus” — would that be his power to put them on different lines?
JT I thought that was why it was brought in there. It was a question of suffering, not the literal circumcision, but the suffering for Christ.
Ques Would it connect with what we have in 2 Corinthians, chapters 4 and 5 — “Always bearing about in the body the dying of Jesus”?
JT That would fit in.
Ques How would it be made practical in local circumstances?
JT You are brought into accord with Christ — “Bearing about in the body the dying of Jesus”.
HB Do you think the vineyard in the next chapter is a further thought?
JT It brings in a higher thought, as if God is generalising in this chapter, giving the responsible leaders in christendom every advantage, but now God is at issue with Ahab. There is an issue between the man who has the inheritance and values it, and these leaders. They want what you have.
PL Is the thought of their wanting your inheritance like Laodicea, the imitative system seeking to steal the Philadelphian features?
JT Yes, they would be glad to have what those have who are subject to God, who keep His commandments; such persons get wonderful things from God by the Spirit. These leaders would take all that without paying the price, without going through what is necessary to that end.
Ques Would they not use the inheritance for their own fancies, making it a garden of herbs?
[p. 72] JT It is only recently I have seen a letter from a brother who has been much before us, in which he said he valued the fellowship, but was not prepared for the responsibilities entailed. There he is writing down his own condemnation. I mean one like that is doing so. The inheritance is something to be valued, and we are not to give it up on those lines.
WCG Jacob was one who valued the inheritance.
JT Yes, he valued what came down to him, the birthright, and God values a man who appreciates the birthright.
WCG So we ought to value our position.
Rem Ahab would have turned the vineyard into a garden of herbs, thus he would limit it to his own use.
JT Just so. Then we get what Jezebel would do. She comes to the aid of the leading man and kills Naboth, puts him out of the way. We must not assume that such a spirit is not abroad today, for there is that murderous spirit; if it could only do what it would wish to do. So that all this brings out the position of the saints, those who value the inheritance; they are exposed to the bitter hostility of Jezebel.
Rem We would value it more if we took account of the fact that it has been handed down to us by our fathers who went through the warfare.
JT Quite so. Naboth said to Ahab, “Jehovah forbid it me, that I should give the inheritance of my fathers to thee!” God greatly values that. It is the finishing touch here; a man who values the inheritance and dies at the hand of Jezebel because he holds to it.
PL He has the tenacity of a Philadelphian — holding fast.
JT That is the thought — holding fast; you must not let anything go.
Rem The false witnesses make an untruthful statement against the man who holds the inheritance; we find that today.
JT It is distressing that persons known as brethren [p. 73] should descend to such untruthfulness as may be seen in current attacks on the truth. These men set up by Jezebel were deliberately untruthful.
Rem Alexander the coppersmith greatly withstood the word of Paul, and we have men like that today.
JT I believe the enemy has sought to take away our inheritance by a very circuitous route recently; to take away the rich inheritance that has come down to us as to the principles of fellowship. The enemy has endeavoured to bring in false principles that have been fought against by those who have preceded us, and through whom we have handed down to us the principles that govern the house of God — a rich inheritance. The enemy has by a very round-about way endeavoured to rob us of it, and to weaken the young amongst us who know little or nothing about the conflicts that have preceded in the maintenance of the truth governing the house of God; and there is a constant effort to lessen the value of these principles in our minds when we do know them. So that Naboth is an outstanding testimony and witness to those who value the inheritance and hold it fast. Naboth did not want to barter his inheritance at any price. We cannot surrender the inheritance, it is priceless.
PH Would the meeting for ministry be the way in which the Lord is seeking to establish us?
JT I think a meeting for ministry is good. It is for all the saints in a place gathered together; so the prophets have opportunity for ministering what they have, one after another. There is no doubt, if we are true in these meetings (for it really is a question of loyalty to one another, that we do not take advantage of one another) I believe the Lord will give a prophetic word, so that people will fall down and say, “God is indeed amongst you”.
JG Is there any light in Scripture to regulate us as to when we should have such meetings?
JT [p. 74] Any convenient time. The order in 1 Corinthians is:- Chapter 10, the great general thought of fellowship.
Chapter 11, the inclusive thought of the Lord’s supper.
Chapter 12, the organism, the unity — it is called “the Christ”, in verse 12, it is dignified, which would mean that the flesh is not allowed, we “have all been given to drink of one Spirit”, that is, we are all satisfied, we are satisfied in the position.
Chapter 13, love, the way of surpassing excellence, love amongst ourselves.
Chapter 14, the ministry of the gifts — prophecy is especially commended, and it is, when “the whole assembly come together in one place”.
In chapter 11, it is not the whole assembly, it is “when ye come together in assembly” — it is in function there, and may include several subdivisions in a city, as you have here; but chapter 14, is when all the saints are together, the whole assembly is together in one place; not exactly in assembly, but in one place. All the saints may be there, and there is room there for ministry; however many the saints may be, they should be there.
PL So that the Lord’s voice to the city as such may be heard assemblywise.
JT Yes, however many there are in the city they are to be there — the whole assembly in one place.
HCL It does not exclude any. If, for instance, I was in such a meeting here, having come from another locality, would it be open for me to take part?
JT Surely; the truth of the body would cover that. As coming together in this way an unbeliever may come in and be so affected by the presence of God through prophetic ministry, that he falls down and acknowledges — not simply his [p. 75] guilt, but — that God is there. That is the point — God is in the assembly.
AEL The secrets of his heart are manifested.
JT Quite so, but the point is that God is recognised to be there through ministry.
PL Should it be part of the temple services, on the local assembly calendar, as you might say, and be comparatively regular?
JT I think it is mentioned as though it were regular.
Ques Should two cities come together?
JT It should always be local; it never loses its local setting. If others come in, it does not lose that character.
Ques What would you call a district?
JT A district would be County Down as this whole district, including Holywood. Bangor, etc. Scripture does not warrant that for administrative purposes. Paul speaks to the assemblies in Galatia to rebuke and correct them, but he does not constitute the province of Galatia an administrative area.