CONDITIONS FOR GUIDANCE AND TESTIMONY
[p. 170] CONDITIONS FOR GUIDANCE AND TESTIMONY
Exodus 39: 32, 33; Exodus 40: 17 - 38
JT I had before me the conditions under which we get guidance from God and testimony. These passages indicate the part the people had in the preparation for the divine incoming, and I think what is presented indicates too that they represent a condition of full growth amongst the people of God. It is said, “And all the labour of the tabernacle of the tent of meeting was ended; and the children of Israel had done it according to all that Jehovah had commanded Moses — so had they done it. And they brought the tabernacle to Moses”. I was thinking of the great divine thought typically in their minds. They brought the tabernacle — not simply the parts of it; if there is to be the divine presence and guidance, and the testimony that flows from it, the full thought should be with us.
It is quite clear that if there is to be testimony and guidance, the divine requirements must be met, and that not only a matter of light, but substantially. What is to be observed in the book of Exodus, is that Jehovah had entered into covenant, and the covenant was fully ratified between Himself and the people before the requirements of the dwelling were indicated by Him, and not only was the covenant entered into, but certain persons were invited up the mountain so that the divine requirements should be apprehended — “Moses and Aaron. Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel went up, and they saw the God of Israel”; it says, “... And on the nobles of the children of Israel he laid not his hand: they saw God, and ate and drank”. And then Moses is taken up higher and shown the pattern. It is as if God would have the conditions before proceeding.
[p. 171] He had brought the people to Himself, borne them on eagles’ wings, entered into covenant with them and ennobled them, and then, if He is to proceed, and if there is to be guidance and testimony, there must be the conditions for dwelling. That is what I had in mind, and how these conditions are required from the people. They have opportunity to provide and they do provide them, and in bringing the parts, the people brought the tabernacle; the great divine thought was evident.
Ques Have you local conditions in view in suggesting this, or something more general?
JT General and local conditions. The assembly economy is worked out locally. At Pentecost God came in by the Spirit and the tabernacle was set up, and the position was metropolitan, pending the time when the period of God’s patience with Israel should terminate; and then Paul’s ministry provided for the distinctive economy of the assembly which took form in localities, so that all administration henceforth ceased to be metropolitan or universal, and took the form of local service. The letters to Corinth open up that side of the truth, and, in this respect, govern the dispensation. Hence if anything is prescribed it is not for the whole assembly, as such, but for the assemblies: “Thus I ordain in all the assemblies”, 1 Corinthians 7: 17. Therefore, the instruction would work out locally, that is to say, where there are conditions in localities for the divine presence, we may look for divine guidance and corresponding testimony. It is not a mere matter of light. What Moses received on the mount is light and instruction, the pattern is shown him, but from chapter 36 on it is a question of what the people brought and what was constructed. Without the actual substance, there could not be accommodation for Jehovah.
Ques Do you suggest these conditions should mark every locality, or the assembly universally?
JT [p. 172] There is the great general thought in the tabernacle, but administration is in localities. There should be the most careful avoidance of anything like universal administration. There is of course, “One body and one Spirit ... one Lord, one faith, one baptism”, but the economy is in 1 and 2 Corinthians. Numbers opens up the local features, and shows how they work out. The general thought is in Exodus. In Numbers we have the standard of each father’s house, and then each tribe, and then a four-fold sub-division of the twelve tribes, that is to say, three under the standard of Judah in the east, three under the standard of Reuben in the south, three under the standard of Ephraim in the west, and three under the standard of Dan in the north; that is the principle. In the midst of all that was God’s dwelling; but the divine shining would be on any of those sub-divisions. “Thou that sittest between the cherubim, shine forth. Before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh ...” Psalm 80: 1, 2. That is to say, the shining out of the glory is on the saints in their several localities.
Ques Would you say that, however weak numerically a company may be, the assembly is to be fully represented there?
JT That is the thought. All that is administrative now is worked out in localities, as at Antioch or Corinth. At Antioch, in the assembly that was there, there were certain ones who ministered to the Lord and fasted, and the sending out of servants follows, the conditions for this were there.
Ques So the tabernacle is first mentioned here, whereas the ark is first brought in in chapter 25. Would you say something as to that?
JT The ark is mentioned first because it is the leading feature. It refers to Christ, but Christ as apprehended in our souls. In the types, Christ was there in the passover lamb; but He was not apprehended [p. 173] as typified in the ark. What we have from chapter 25 to the end of the book refers to the covenant; it is the outcome of the covenant known and entered into, so that the saints are prepared for a new view of Christ, and He is presented there as the ark of the covenant, that in which the testimony was definitely placed. I do not know what else you had in mind.
Rem There has been some exercise as to the making of the ark, and I wondered if we could get a little help as to that.
JT With all the other parts of the tabernacle and its furniture it had to be made, because these things are but shadows. The tabernacle is said to be a figurative representation of things in the heavens, and then the furniture — the ark and the cherubim, the mercy-seat, the table and the candlestick, all have reference to Christ and the saints, but the ark is expressly Christ Himself, in figure.
Rem There is a little difficulty with some as to how it works out. Who made the ark?
JT Well, in Exodus 25, it says, “And they shall make an ark of acacia-wood” (verse 10); and then in chapter 37, “And Bezaleel made the ark of acacia-wood”, verse l. Then in Deuteronomy 10, it is said, “And make thee an ark of wood” (verse 1), and then it says, “I made an ark of acacia-wood”, verse 3. That is what Scripture says.
Ques Is the ark in relation to Christ personally, or Christ as formed in the saints in the way of testimony?
JT It is in the wilderness, not in Egypt, that He is thus apprehended as effecting the will of God. You can only understand the types by the anti-types, and the fact is, that Christ was here on earth with the will of God in His heart, before the saints apprehended Him in that light. So, in Exodus, He was there in the passover lamb before He was apprehended, or [p. 174] could have been apprehended, as the ark. It is quite clear that the ark represents Christ personally, from the very outset of His coming into the world. He came in lowly grace: “The Word became flesh, and dwelt among us (and we have contemplated his glory ... )”. The fact of His being there and dwelling amongst men, preceded His glory being apprehended. So as regards later references to the ark, Numbers 10 says, it “went before them in the three days’ journey, to search out a resting-place for them”, verse 33. It went before the people, and it does not say that it was carried. That is Christ personally; no one but He could do that.
Ques Does the apprehension of the saints commence really from Christ at the right hand of God and the Spirit here?
JT A true apprehension could only be from the coming in of the Holy Spirit. I do not believe the apostles and the others who accompanied the Lord apprehended Exodus until the Holy Spirit came. It was in resurrection that beginning “from Moses and from all the prophets, he interpreted to them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself”. Luke 24: 27. The Holy Spirit coming in would enable them to understand what was meant, but all was there. He had already annulled death; He had already gone the three days’ journey to find a resting place for them.
Rem So it is significant that it says Bezaleel made the ark.
JT It is. The first thing is, the people were to do it; then Bezaleel is said to have done it; and then Moses is said to have made it. I think that Bezaleel refers to the Spirit of God as operating in the saints. It is a question of our apprehension of Christ, but what He is is there before I apprehend Him.
Ques Is there a moral correspondence between [p. 175] the first day of the month and the first day of the week in the new dispensation?
JT I think there is; the month had a great place in Israel’s time; but the week was carried over to the assembly and gives character to our time.
Ques Is the ark God’s beginning?
JT It is. It was in the Lord’s mind when He said, “A body hast thou prepared me”. But we do not come into that at once; it is a question of our apprehension. There is no mention of it in Egypt, but He was the same there as in the wilderness. The types provide for the progress of the believer. As delivered from the world he is ready to view Christ as seen in the ark.
Ques Would you say everything depends on our having the Spirit?
JT As to apprehension. It is a remarkable thing that in John 2, where the Lord speaks about raising up His body, it says, “When therefore he was raised from among the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and believed the scripture and the word which Jesus had spoken”, verse 22. The Scriptures in this passage come before the words that He said; but in resurrection He opens up the Scriptures. He began at Moses, and you may be sure that He touched on the ark. The two on the way to Emmaus could hardly take in what He was saying, though their hearts burned while He talked to them on the way. But when He appeared in the midst of those gathered together He “opened their understanding to understand the scriptures”. All that, for us, involves the Spirit; we are to consider what is said, and the Lord gives us understanding; so that the making of the type in itself is secondary; it is a question of Christ as the power of God and the glory of God. Who could these things refer to but the Person of Christ? So it is said that God “gave his strength into [p. 176] captivity, and his glory into the hand of the oppressor”. Psalm 78: 61.
Ques Would you consider the making of the other articles as different from the ark?
JT No, all had to be made, being only types. Some of them involve the saints. I think the tabernacle itself, that is to say, the curtains, refers to the assembly in the anti-type; Hebrews speaks of a “better and more perfect tabernacle” “which the Lord has pitched, and not man”. That involves for the moment the assembly and that is what we are considering now, to see that what these types signify exists in our localities, so that there may be guidance from God and testimony for Him.
Ques What would answer to the “work of the tabernacle”?
JT The great primary thought of it is at Pentecost, and what was there included the Lord’s work before He went up. It is always existent since Pentecost, and includes all those who have the Holy Spirit.
Ques Has the work spoken of in Corinthians anything to do with it?
JT I think so. The apostle says that as a wise architect he had laid the foundation and others were to take heed how they built upon it; 1 Corinthians 3: 10. There was not much else there, beyond the foundation. It is a question of our working with God, as having part in the service of building.
Ques With regard to the tabernacle being completed, how do you look at that?
JT Well, practically, it is a question of our apprehension, with the consequence of formation through suitable exercise. Thus there is material. It really works out in a state of practical unity in any locality. In approaching the Lord’s supper the apostle said, “I speak as to intelligent persons: do ye judge what I say”, 1 Corinthians 10: 15. That is how it stands; and so in the beginning of the first letter to [p. 177] the Corinthians he seeks to check the natural mind of man, that is, mere human wisdom. His great thought is to eliminate that because it had found a footing amongst them; his ministry is to get out from our minds man’s wisdom, for it interferes with the working out of the truth of the tabernacle, and he brings in the wisdom of God. So that in chapter 2, he determined to know nothing among them save Jesus Christ and Him crucified (verse 2), and then he proceeds to show that the princes of this world knew nothing of the wisdom that God prepared for us before the world. It was a question of making room for the Spirit; and I believe what is needed in our gatherings is to make room for the Spirit of God to bring in the wisdom that God prepared for our glory, before the world. Well, that is chapter 2: and then in chapter 3, you have the temple of God, where His mind is opened up. So that I think the epistles to the Corinthians enable us to apprehend what is in the mind of God for each locality, that is, the character of the thing. It is the assembly, not in an absolute way as including all, but in character. We are “temple of God” and “body of Christ”. Then there is the anointing, so that there is, in principle, in every locality where saints are truly gathered, what answers to the tabernacle; that is, they can have a part in that in which God’s glory resides, and in which there is guidance and testimony.
Ques Is that to be recognized by knowing no man after the flesh?
JT That is what he comes to in the second epistle. The tabernacle is not of this creation; it is a new creation: “If any one be in Christ, there is a new creation”, 2 Corinthians 5: 17. We come on to that.
Ques Would you say that the working out of the divine system is to be seen in local companies?
JT That is what we were remarking. What is to be worked out in the assembly as a whole is millennial,
[p. 178] and the assembly is there seen coming down from God out of heaven. Then it is universal administration; but at the present time it is administration in localities.
Ques So the tabernacle has a universal aspect?
JT It has. Ephesians contemplates the assembly in its universal character, but administration now is according to 1 Corinthians. We must keep the whole assembly in view, of course, but when it comes to the administrative feature, it is the assemblies.
Ques Would you say it is God’s way to have administration carried out separately in each locality all over the world today?
JT Yes. It is a wonderful thought that all are governed by the same principles. That is to say, the epistle to the Ephesians prepares us properly for 1 and 2 Corinthians. If we apprehend “there is one body and one Spirit, as ye have been also called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all, and through all, and in us all” (Ephesians 4: 4 - 6), then we understand how to work all that out locally, but as set in relation to the whole. We never lose sight of the whole; and I think it is very wonderful that in our own times God has gatherings of His people in many parts of the world, holding them together with the same thoughts and principles and affections. The working out of these things is thus going on all the time.
Ques Is that why it says that the Spirit speaks to the assemblies in Revelation?
JT It is the same idea: “what the Spirit says to the assemblies”; He has something to say to each of them. But all are to know what is said to each.
Ques Does not the complete thought of the tabernacle involve a good deal, whilst in localities we may have certain features and lack others?
JT I ventured to suggest this scripture because [p. 179] it corresponds somewhat with Ephesians, conveying what is essential to the divine dwelling, so that it might be seen as worked out in a locality. It is necessarily on a smaller scale in each locality, so it is more the character of the thing, and therefore we must not look for too much. The thing is to have the great thought before us, as we have it here. The tabernacle is the great divine thought, and we are to understand how far that can be worked out. The features of the divine dwelling are worked out locally, with the consequent guidance and testimony. So in Exodus 40, the tabernacle is reared up, and as each part is mentioned it is actually in function. So that no brother or sister in fellowship, as we speak, should be inactive; the point is that each in his place should be functioning.
Ques Would brethren dwelling together in unity provide those conditions?
JT I think so; the unity of the Spirit involves an intelligent apprehension of what is presented in Ephesians 4: 4 - 6.
Ques Are the movements of the cloud intended to bring about practical unity in local companies?
JT Yes. In speaking of local conditions, we never forget the one great divine thought in the word “tabernacle” as worked out in Ephesians; lest there might be a tendency to so-called congregationalism, that is, each company acting for itself. That is not the unity of the Spirit at all. The unity of the Spirit means that if a local company acts, it acts in relation to the whole.
Ques What would answer to the cloud and its movements today?
JT It is a general thought. When you come to the cloud and the tabernacle, as a whole, you are on Ephesian ground, not, however, in its bearing on “the land”, but as it enters into 1 Corinthians, which is the wilderness position. It is a question of the [p. 180] bearing of that in any locality. The movement of the cloud would refer to any special form that ministry might take. God, from time to time, stresses certain features of the truth, and the point is to have such discernment that you see what is in His mind and move with it, not merely locally but as with the whole position.
Ques Does what you say emphasize the necessity of a care-meeting in every locality, however weak numerically we may be?
JT I think so. Care-meetings are very important, because they ought to furnish eyes for the assembly. The elders watch for the souls of the saints; and we ought to have a lively look out for any working of evil and any working of good too; all that is brought to the attention of the assembly and the assembly acts on it. The care-meeting is not executive but investigative.
Ques Would it be right to say that while things are worked out locally, the headquarters are in heaven?
JT That is right. That is what Matthew would emphasize; so too in Acts you have the sound from heaven, and then the voice from heaven, and then the sheet from heaven; all that would indicate that the centre for the assembly is in heaven. The movements of the cloud, primarily, refer to the change from the ministry of the twelve, and involve the moving out of God toward the Gentiles. I think that is where you get the most concrete evidence of it. It was a very distinct move on the part of God, and a very distinct departure in His testimony and ways.
Ques Does the repetition of the words, “Jehovah had commanded Moses”, suggest to us the practical way it works, that, however small a company, every detail is to be carried out under the direction of the Lord?
[p. 181] JT That is very good; and the typical books — Exodus. Leviticus and Numbers particularly — greatly stress the necessity for obedience to the commandments.
Rem That seems to be where our dear brethren in the systems around us fail. They may be very careful about some features and have some truth which they follow and treasure, but, as you say, it needs every detail. Even the smallest assembly should be in the light of the tabernacle as a whole and moving in it.
JT That is right, and I think that is what you get here. It says, “And all the labour of the tabernacle of the tent of meeting was ended; and the children of Israel had done it according to all that Jehovah had commanded Moses” (verse 32), and then again, “And Moses saw all the work, and behold, they had done it as Jehovah had commanded — so had they done it; and Moses blessed them”, verse 43. That is how the matter really stands as to the requirements, and the blessing comes in from the Mediator; the Lord has great delight in it.
Rem So in Corinthians His commandments are emphasized.
JT Exactly. “If any one thinks himself to be a prophet or spiritual, let him recognise the things that I write to you, that it is the Lord’s commandment”, 1 Corinthians 14: 37. As was remarked, some of our dear brethren have some of them. We are glad that they observe anything of the divine will, but then here we have the word “all” emphasized: “all that Jehovah had commanded”. I think the Lord would encourage us to seek out our relatives in the systems, but it would be to bring in the commandments.
It is really the working out of the number twelve, as I understand it. Jacob going into Syria found himself in circumstances that are very analogous to what we find around us today in any of the denominations.
[p. 182] He found himself with three flocks by a well, but with nobody to take away the stone from the well, and therefore, though the well was there, there was no water available. Jacob could tell them to water the flocks, but he did not do it himself until Rachel came into view, and then he rolled away the stone and watered the flock, and expressed affection for her. Then Laban comes and expresses his affection for his sister’s son, and so Jacob is in the midst of his relatives; but they are not in the land of Canaan. Following upon that, the number twelve comes into evidence; he has twelve sons but by four different mothers. They were incongruous conditions; but God vouchsafed to work out His thoughts in spite of those conditions.
So the conditions today are extremely difficult, because our brethren are found in those denominations around us which, so to speak, allow of different mothers, and difficulties are formed and we do not understand one another. So there was the great conflict between Jacob and Laban, but nevertheless, he came back to Canaan with his twelve sons. He had great sorrow on the way, disastrous things happened; but he got to Hebron with his twelve sons, to the place where Isaac was and where Abraham had been. That is how the matter stands.
Then you get the history of Esau, the man after the flesh, and then the generations of Jacob, and the only one mentioned is Joseph; it is Christ, in figure, who was to bring the sons into accord with one another. That is, the brethren are brought together under the influence of Joseph, and I believe that illustrates conditions among the people of God today. It is a question of getting amongst our relatives and giving them water, and then love flows out; it never fails. The difficulties are dreadful, but “Love never fails”; and the twelve, issuing from Jacob under those circumstances, are in view [p. 183] throughout Scripture, showing what love is, and how it works out the divine thoughts, in spite of the difficulties. I suppose there never was a time more difficult than the present: “difficult times shall be there”, 2 Timothy 3: 1, but love works to bring in the full divine thoughts, to make a habitation for God.
Ques Was the result in our chapter the outcome of all those conditions?
JT Figuratively, you have here what love is. Love works out in Israel so that God is pleased. We have most remarkable language in verse 33: “And so Moses finished the work. And the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of Jehovah filled the tabernacle”. It is most inspiring language, and I am sure if we once get a taste for the divine presence in our localities, we shall not be content until we secure it permanently. We cannot do without it; it is not only a matter of light, but of the blessedness of the divine presence. God is now, in suitable conditions, dwelling among His people.
Ques What do you understand by the expression “Love never fails”?
JT It is equal to every emergency. Scripture says it never fails; it certainly never failed in God.
Ques Is it because it is the divine nature?
JT Just so. “God is love”; that is what He is. “There failed nothing of all the good things that Jehovah had spoken to the house of Israel: all came to pass”. Joshua 21: 45.
Ques Is the fire coming in by night an additional thought?
JT Yes. I think the allusion in Deuteronomy 33 is to the cloud. It says, “From his right hand went forth a law of fire for them”, or as others read, “a fire to guide them”, (verse 2). The beginning of that chapter is magnificent, in that it shows the auspicious circumstances under which the wilderness journey was begun. It says, “Jehovah came from Sinai, and [p. 184] rose up from Seir unto them; he shone forth from mount Paran, and he came from the myriads of the sanctuary; from his right hand went forth a law of fire”, which I think alludes to the cloud and the pillar, because the actual law is referred to later. “Moses commanded us a law, the inheritance of the congregation of Jacob”, verse 4. What Moses commanded was the law, but these wonderful features marked the beginning of the wilderness journey of the people, because, as it says, “He (Jehovah) loveth the peoples”. Divine love never fails us; what He is from Sinai, and from Seir, and from mount Paran, and the myriads of the sanctuary, and in the pillar of fire to guide, is all what He is as love.
Ques Would the end of 2 Corinthians correspond at all? “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit, be with you all”.
JT I think so; the “love of God”. There we have it in its beautiful mediatorial setting.
Ques Would the fire bring in any thought of discipline, the thought of the jealousy of love?
JT Yes; it would be a reminder of what God is in that sense. It guided them by day and by night. What we should see in what has come before us is the importance of spiritual substance, not simply that we have right terms and right hymns and so forth, but substance. God has regard for that, and if we have not love, as the apostle says, we are nothing.
Ques Would it bring in the idea of judgment beginning at the house of God?
JT Just so. But the assembly is not founded in judgment; it is really founded where the sword of judgment is sheathed. In 1 Chronicles 21, David could not go to the tabernacle at Gibeon because of the angel (verse 29, 30); that is to say, the old system involved judgment, but the new system was on the [p. 185] threshing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite: there the sword of judgment was sheathed; and David said, “This is the house of Jehovah Elohim, and this is the altar of burnt-offering for Israel”, chapter 22: 1. That was the place, and the building of it was not by a man that executed judgment, but by a man of love and peace — Solomon. The house of God is therefore the residence of love, but then love is jealous and judgment does begin at the house, but the house itself is not the subject of judgment.
Ques How do you distinguish between the moving of the cloud and the blowing of the trumpets? Both are referred to in regard of journeying?
JT The cloud was the symbol of the divine presence. The silver trumpets were a means of testimony. The cloud was permanent, but the blowing of the trumpets was occasional, that is, as needed; some form of ministry in which God calls special attention to something. The two things go together; you get them both in Numbers 10.