2 CHRONICLES 9 (NOTES OF A READING)
2 CHRONICLES 9 (NOTES OF A READING)
CAC We cannot but notice that the thought of superlative excellence is very largely brought out by the Spirit of God in this portion of Scripture, that is, in referring to the fact that in verse 9, “Neither was there any such spice as that which the queen of Sheba gave to king Solomon”, and in the end of verse 11, “And there were none such seen before in the land of Judah”, and at the end of verse 19, “There was not the like made in any kingdom”. That in itself would serve to remind us of the character of the present time.
Ques What particular bearing would it have on the present time if it is a millennial period?
CAC I think if we could forget it was a millennial period for an hour it would not be a bad thing!
Ques You mean it is all substantiated in Christ as glorified?
CAC And in the saints. You could not say that the millennium is the time of superlative excellence in the ways of God.
Rem Like the queen of Sheba, we shall have to say that is a hard question; we cannot understand it.
CAC As regards the ways of God with the earth, of course the millennium will be the crown, it will be the sabbath. But a wonderful period has come in which excels that in a spiritual way. The present time is the period when God is bringing souls to appreciate Christ glorified, and to have links with Him that are more precious and more wonderful than any links people on earth will have with Him in the millennium. But really the assembly period is the most wonderful period in the ways of God as bringing out things in a most excellent character such as never were before, or ever will be again. There never were before and never will be again such offerings to Christ or praise to God as are going on at this present time.
Ques Would 2 Corinthians 3 bear on it, the glory that surpasses, and the Spirit of the new covenant?
CAC Yes, that is what I was thinking, and the supremacy of Christ is known today by the saints of the assembly, of course speaking of it from the divine side, as any of us may stop short in our knowledge of things. According to the divine mind there is an excellence attaching to this dispensation not known before or after, whether in relation to the saints, or if we think of it in relation to Christ. I suppose the spices, choice spices, surpassed everything else, and the sandal-wood, of which none such had been seen before, typifies what is secured in the saints; but the “great throne” speaks symbolically of what is secured in Christ.
Ques Do the three things suggest what is formative in the queen of Sheba, as she receives impressions of Christ?
CAC Yes, I think the secret comes out here of how these precious things are produced.
Rem One feature of importance at the present moment is that this divine work goes on in the saints, and the results for God are seen correspondingly.
CAC And I think all christians would like in a general way to yield what is fragrant — the spices — but we do not always go the right way to secure it. The spices of superlative excellence carry us back to the holy anointing oil, as we read in Exodus 30: 22 - 25. It was put on the tabernacle and the ark and the vessels and, in verse 30, on Aaron and his sons. The fragrance of it was put on everything that belonged to God.
Ques Would you say exclusively Christ and the church?
CAC Yes, it was not to be imitated, or put on the flesh, showing it spoke of certain spiritual features that could not be found in the flesh. How wonderful to think that at the present time God is working that features of superlative excellence should come out in the saints under the influence of Christ.
Rem The spikenard of Mary of Bethany was the result of sitting at His feet, being under His influence.
CAC I think it is to bring out that the effect of acquaintance with Christ is that all this spiritual fruit will come out in us. The thing to pray for is not this grace or that grace, but the thing to pray for is acquaintance with Christ. Many saints are desirous of developing features that are spiritual and pleasing to Christ, but work from their own side in the matter; but the thing is to become acquainted with Christ, and these things come out, one might say, naturally.
Ques Then does discipline come in so that the spices may flow forth?
CAC Yes; it comes in to help. It is the people who are going right who get discipline, not those who are going wrong. I remember once saying to J.B.S. of a brother who went sadly wrong: ‘Will he not get some terrible discipline?’ ‘No’, he said, ‘not till he goes right — then he will’. That is, discipline comes in to help us, to help us in what we really desire.
Rem The branches are pruned to bear more fruit.
Ques What is the difference between ‘acquaintance’ and ‘communion’?
CAC Communion is a word not found in Scripture in the common use of it. People speak of ‘being in communion’ and of ‘holy communion’, meaning when they are happy; and when they are not, they are ‘out of communion’. Scripture does not use the word in that sense at all; there is no single example of it. Now God affects us by bringing Christ within the range of our knowledge, as He brought Solomon within the range of the queen of Sheba’s knowledge. And I think I would not be wrong to say her spices were the result of her knowledge of Solomon. She heard by report of him and brought the gold and precious stones and spices. It is not whether we are ‘in’ or ‘out of’ communion. It pulls us up as to how much we know of Christ. What is Christ to me? How do I know Him? In what way have I come to apprehend Christ? Some will say, ‘Very little’; so there will be very little spice or sandal-wood. It is all developed in the soul — what God communicates of Christ to the saints. The Spirit of God uses a unique word as to it, showing the impossibility of translating it. But what was it that produced it? It was Christ who produced it. I feel more and more we need to pray for acquaintance with Him. Paul prays, “To know him” (Philippians 3: 10), after he had known Him twenty-five years and more. If I know Christ something very excellent will be developed in me. There is the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians and there are the beautiful features mentioned in Colossians; and things are coming out now in the church period that surpass anything that will come out in the millennium, and that is the Spirit of the glorified Christ. All Scripture is transformed if you read it in the light of a glorified Christ.
I suppose the spices represent these precious features that are developed in the saints down here and will not have any place in heaven. There will be no place in heaven for forgiving and forbearing one another in love, nor if you have a complaint against anyone at the present time. Forgiving is a delightful thing down here; I would not like the thought of it in heaven. These things are brought out under the influence of Christ. Let us pray that we may be more under His influence and that He may be more to us. These incomparable spices come out here. And we know how we are tested, not when things go as we like, but when things are contrary. Do the contrary things bring out Christ in you? I feel I cannot say much on that line.
Rem These things are mentioned after a person is settled.
CAC Yes, every moral question is settled.
Rem She gave the king these things.
CAC Then I think the sandal-wood is a further thought, because it is evidently material that provides for upward movement. Solomon used it (there was none such seen in Judah) for the stairs (verse 11). In each case it has to do with upward movement. The highest possible feature of going up marks the present time. The language of Scripture is very simple after all. A child can understand that stairs mean going up to a higher level. Spices have to do with what comes out, if you may say so, on the ground floor. That is, if under the influence of Christ these incomparable graces are coming out in us during the week, should we not be wonderfully free to go up the stairs on Lord’s day morning and use the instruments? Sandal-wood is material that lends itself to the service; it represents what the saints are as made to live by the One who is in heaven.
Rem It is striking that in Colossians after the features mentioned there, it goes on, “Singing with grace in your hearts to God”.
CAC Yes, it is the going up, is it not? The spices are really preparatory to going up. If I have been bad-tempered or self-willed during the week, I must not think of going up on Lord’s day. It would only be artificial if I attempted it. If we are not right on the level where these graces display themselves in circumstances of contrariety, we cannot go up. We sometimes forget the process of self-review that would enable us to judge them, so that we should be delivered from them. It is wonderful to think that we have been made to live by a glorified Man in heaven, who is the last Adam. Whether I have taken it in or not, that is the truth. And this constitutes us the “heavenly ones”. That is like the sandal-wood, it comes from a far-off clime; and as the saints understand, they have been quickened by a glorified Man. If He quickened me, what has He quickened me for?
In the principle of it in John 20, He is ascended, and He breathed into them, showing they were to live of His life, and that is how we become heavenly ones, as quickened and made to live by the heavenly One. If so, I can go up, and I can sing, and use the instruments. It is an ascending movement. Who can go up unless he understands he is quickened for heaven? It was a wonderful thought when it first dawned upon me. Saints here in the millennium will never have that, God will never get it from them; but God is getting it from His saints today. It is a matter of life, because it is “quickened”, or “made to live”. The point is that to enjoy it, we have to shake off the things that weigh us down to earth. We have to be shaken up. The patriarchs sought a heavenly city, but they did not know that heaven was their native land.
Ques It is remarkable the harp coming in. Does it show how sensitive it would make us if we understood?
CAC And the harp is the only instrument in heaven, is it not?
Rem I suppose acquaintance with Christ makes us sensitive.
CAC We cannot get anything in any other way. The thing is to awake from among the dead and let Christ shine on you. The secret of everything is to be in the shining of Christ. These are things to pray about, rather than to discuss.
To continue our chapter, the house of the forest of Lebanon is an important matter to take account of. It is obvious there are three houses; the house of Jehovah, the house of Solomon and the house of the forest of Lebanon. They are described to us separately, and the assembly answers to all three of them. We may think of the assembly in its relation to God, that is the house of Jehovah; in its relation to Christ — “My assembly”, He says — that is Solomon’s house; and then the house of the forest of Lebanon is characterised by the presence of all these shields, showing it represents the defensive position.
Ques Why are the shields of gold, not brass?
CAC I suppose to give us to understand that the defensive position can only be held in a power that is of God; we know gold represents what is purely of God, as is seen everywhere in the house. So these shields are placed in the house of the forest of Lebanon, and characterise it. Paul is set. He says “I am set for the defence of the glad tidings” (Philippians 1: 16), and “In the defence and confirmation of the glad tidings ye are all participators in my grace” (Philippians 1: 7); he says to the Philippians, as it were, ‘I am in the house of the forest of Lebanon, and so are you’.
To stand in defence of what is of God is really a greater thought than getting people converted. The apostle lays that down as the great principle of his life, “I am set for the defence of the glad tidings”. The glad tidings represent the whole cause of God in this world, and speak of most wonderful things being made known by God; and the saints here are to stand in defence of them. As long as Paul lived there was one spot at any rate on earth where what was precious to God was defended. He was an old man in prison, he could not move about, and he says, “I am set for the defence of the glad tidings”; and his Philippian children were all set for it too; they would not be moved by any influence from the gospel as brought by Paul to them. There are times when it is most important to stand on the defensive, using the target all the time.
Speaking generally, there is a very widespread idea of getting people converted; but they may be converted in such a way that they have very little knowledge of what the thoughts of God are. Men should know what the thoughts of God are, to witness of what God is, that is the great thing, and I think the house of the forest of Lebanon represents this side of things. It is the testimony set up here as to what is in the mind of God, to be held against all opposition, against all that is adverse.
Ques Would it be the care meeting?
CAC Yes. It should be worked out in every kind of service. There may be few at the preaching but it is a wonderful thing that God and all His thoughts for man should be asserted and maintained in the face of all the darkening thoughts in this world: it is something for God. The children of Israel gave up their aggressive action, and very soon their defensive position, and succumbed to idols. And so it has been in christendom; things have dropped to a very low level because the defensive position has been given up. A very great part of J.N.D.’s service was the defence of the glad tidings against modernism, ritualism and worldliness. It was given to him to restore to the church Paul’s gospel, and having preached it, he stood in defence of it all his days; and he has given to us the privilege of occupying the house of the forest of Lebanon.