THE GROUND OF GATHERING

^[p. 128] THE GROUND OF GATHERING

Exodus 33: 4 - 11; John 12: 31 - 33

JT The thought I had was that we might consider the ground of gathering, and what that involves is the ground on which the assembly stands in the world. There are two settings in which we can take account of the assembly: first, the light in which it is in the world in testimony, and then the light in which it is in the counsels of God. This passage in Exodus helps as indicating that gathering necessitates separation. Before we can stand in relation to what is of God, we must be detached from what is not of God. We have to come out to principles. I believe many come out to the company that is gathered, instead of to principles; and, consequently, if the company goes wrong, they go wrong — they do not stand.

Moses on the mount received light as to the mind of God, but when he came down from the mount, the question was as to whether he could connect these thoughts with the people in the camp. Evil was there, and so these thoughts could not be connected with the people in the camp. There had to be separation from evil; and if we stand by the principles, God will bring in the people; of course we have to seek them also. The book of Revelation shows that however few there may be at a given moment, God will have a complete number, and there will be many. God will bring in the people; and so we get the great multitude which no man can number; Revelation 7: 9. As to how He will do so and when, we have to wait upon Him.

Ques What do you mean by standing for principles?

JT Moses did that here. He pitched the tabernacle outside the camp. It was not the tabernacle of which he received the pattern on the mount, but it ^[p. 129] represented it in his mind, and he gives it a name; he calls it the “Tent of meeting”. This implies that there would be people. He had not a command for what he did as far as we know, but he acted on principle.

Ques Must you not have persons as well as principles?

JT The working out of principles necessitates persons, but the principles necessarily come first in the mind. There was no room in the world for the working out of divine principles, but the Lord says, “I, if I be lifted up, ... will draw all to me”. Those that are drawn to Christ become the people in which the principles are worked out.

Ques Do we not come out to the Lord?

JT Of course we do: we are to “go forth to him without the camp, bearing his reproach”. Hebrews 13: 13. This passage indeed corresponds with what we read in Exodus 33. It is because of the allowance of evil in the camp that you come out. What compels you to leave any association is the allowance of evil in it. It is the working of principles in your soul. The lifting up of Christ shows there was no place for Him here. God had owned the Jewish world, but He had to abandon it because of evil; but now He has another world, and it is brought to pass in testimony now on the principle of gathering. One would not minimize in the least measure the place the Lord should have in our affections. We are to go forth to Him without the camp bearing His reproach — but bearing His reproach is a principle. If there is love to Jesus, you take account of the world in regard to its treatment of Him, and that is where the principles lie.

It is magnificent to consider Moses coming into the camp in all the light of the mind of God with regard to the people, and then taking the tent and pitching it outside the camp. Separation from evil is one of ^[p. 130] the first divine principles. It is negative, but in this sense the assembly is set up on that principle. It is not a principle peculiar to the assembly, for as we are saying, it is seen in Moses, and also in Abram. God called Abram out. When we come out, the Lord gives indications by which we are guided. Directly Israel began to move, the glory came down — there was guidance. Moses anticipated all this here, as we see it later in Numbers, when he called the tabernacle the “Tent of meeting”. He could not have had in his mind how many would come. His concern was to act for God, and in doing so he did the best thing for the people; he had faith, so he called it the “Tent of meeting”. If you come out on these principles, there is room for the working out of the features of the assembly.

Ques How does the light of purpose affect the position of separation?

JT I do not think that you come into the light of the assembly according to purpose, until you are in the light of it as apart from the world on moral lines here upon earth. The assembly is founded on the judgment of evil. The original word for assembly signifies that it is formed of a people “called out”; and this is really because of evil in that out of which it is called. The assembly viewed in the light of divine purpose is not in connection with evil, it has no past history of evil; but in the assembly as called out of the world, evil is recognized as existing, but it is rendered ineffective by the presence of the Holy Spirit; Leviticus 23: 17. “He that sanctifies and those sanctified are all of one” — that is the assembly viewed in the light of purpose. It was a wonderful triumph of God to have a company, and sin recognized as there but with no power to act. This side of the truth is contemplated in the epistles to the Corinthians, but Hebrews 2: 11 refers to the heavenly side and underlies Colossians and Ephesians.

^[p. 131] Ques Is it the idea you have of purpose that shapes your course first?

JT I think so; you take heavenly ground as anticipatively there, but as actually down here, we recognize that leaven is in us individually, but it should not have any power. How can you arrive at the divine thought as to the assembly unless there is separation from evil?

Ques Must we not see something on the side of purpose before we separate from evil?

JT As judging sin I am on the moral line, worked out in Romans, especially chapters 1 to 7; I reach holiness. It is a question of what God is in this connection: “Be ye holy for I am holy”. They were called out from Egypt to go to Canaan, but then separation from evil is that God may have a dwelling-place here where evil is recognized; He dwells here in spite of this.

Ques Why does this separation take place at Horeb?

JT Because of the sin that occurred there. They had worshipped the calf there. It was the spot at which the service of God was to be commenced. It is important to distinguish between going to heaven, and the question of God’s tabernacle. The former renders you a pilgrim and a stranger; but when it is a question of God’s tabernacle, that is another thing; evil has to be faced and judged, not only in myself but as it is around me. You do not simply judge the evil and stay in the association; you leave the association because evil is allowed there. It pleases God to leave the assembly down here as a provisional order of things, as that in which He sets forth His order as a testimony to what is coming. It is what you get in Numbers — it is not a question of the land, but of what God has here now. Exodus is the saints taken out of the world as such and set in relation to the tabernacle on the ground of the ^[p. 132] covenant. Numbers is the people in relation to the order of God publicly. Leviticus is occupied with the priesthood, and approach to God. In Deuteronomy it is a question simply of God and the people — they are His sons — there is very little about the tabernacle or the priesthood in Deuteronomy.

Ques Does the additional covenant given to Israel in Deuteronomy 29: 1, supersede the first, or is it a development of it?

JT It is “besides the covenant that he made with them in Horeb”, but it is also a development, it is to prepare us for the land. In Deuteronomy the expression “As the Lord commanded Moses” is not prominent as it is earlier — the point is what Moses said or taught. Deuteronomy is almost headship, although this properly attaches to David as a type. Moses is preparing the people for the land according to the wisdom he had. Christianity initially was marked by the recognition of authority. The believers continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship. It was a question not only of what was taught but of the authority of the apostles. But when you come on to spiritual growth in the saints, it is Christ as Head. Joshua is a type of Christ as the spiritual military Leader of the saints. Moses represented the authority of God right up to the banks of the Jordan. David is a type of Christ as Head — in wisdom arranging the service of God, etc.

Ques In what way can we leave the camp now?

JT 2 Timothy 2 instructs as to this. You withdraw from unrighteousness, today largely seen in organized religion. The camp applies to Judaism primarily, but there is today organized religion on the earth which corresponds to the camp, and you must go forth to Christ outside the camp. The assembly and the breaking of bread stood in relation to Judaism at the beginning, and Judaism was a divinely-organized system, but notwithstanding the ^[p. 133] grace shown, as seen in Acts, persecuting hatred to Christ and the assembly became manifest: thus there was nothing for the faithful to do but to leave it — to go outside the camp. There is no room for the working out of assembly principles in organized religion; but when you find two or three loving one another, there is room for the development of the assembly. The sum of the law is: “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself”, and you have there the thought of local responsibility. It is your neighbour you have to love; your brother might live very far away but he would not be your neighbour. It is the one beside you that tests you. That is where the working out of assembly principles comes in, and if that is not answered, you cannot have the principles of the assembly. You may have the principles as a matter of light, but you want material — those with whom you can work them out.

Fellowship not only supposes that evil in the ordinary sense is here, but that murder is here. It is the fellowship of Christ’s death.

It is very interesting to see how the collective thought is introduced in John’s gospel; the individual thought runs on to chapter 9. In chapter 10, He gathers the sheep together; in chapter 11, He dies to gather together in one the children of God.

As a sheep, men despise you and take advantage of you, just as they did with Christ; they will take away your wool. But you accept the killing — and it is “all the day long”. “For thy sake we are killed all the day long”. When you come to the thought of children of God, you are hated, because you exhibit the nature of God; the children of God are marked by righteousness and love. In John 12, you get a universal thought, “I, if I be lifted up ... will draw all to me”. It is the kind of death He died; and it is on the ground of that He is a centre of gathering for the whole world.