A GREAT PRIEST OVER THE HOUSE OF GOD
[p. 418] A GREAT PRIEST OVER THE HOUSE OF GOD
Hebrews 10: 21 - 22; Genesis 24: 2 - 4; Genesis 43:16,17; Genesis 43:23,24; Exodus 4: 14 - 16
These scriptures speak of the place the Lord Jesus has in the house of God, summed up in the passage in the Hebrews which speaks of Him as “a great priest over the house of God”. I wish to dwell on these passages with the thought in view that we, as the Lord may help us, may be encouraged to draw near to God. “God is in heaven”, we are told, “and thou upon earth”, Ecclesiastes 5: 2, but that is not because He wishes to put a distance between Himself and us. He has found a means of drawing near to us, and correspondingly of our drawing near to Him, as we see in Jacob, in connection with whom we, have the house of God introduced. We see in the ladder the divine thought of communication: the idea of the ladder would be ridiculous in the eyes of the mere astronomer, but it is perfectly intelligible to faith. Faith understands where the astronomer cannot understand. So God would indicate to us that He wishes us near to Him; not simply as having been brought near from His own side, but that we should draw near from our side, that we should think it worth while to do so. He says, “I have borne you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself”, Exodus 19: 4; but then in the presence of that, He inaugurated a system at mount Sinai in relation to which His people were to draw near from their side, and to draw near not empty but full, for He says, “none shall appear before me empty”, Exodus 34: 20.
Before dwelling on the passage in Hebrews, I would indicate from the Old Testament scriptures how the principle of the house appears early; for, although the house of God was not formally introduced in relation to Abraham, the household of [p. 419] faith was seen in him; and before we can understand the house of God, we must understand the household of faith. The types are largely for young believers; they may seem difficult, but as soon as we recognize the Spirit, and consider what is said, the Lord gives us understanding and the types become wonderful; the things of God which seemed distant otherwise, are brought very near to the eye in the types; so that we peculiarly learn “in part” from the types, but we learn and know how to put the parts together, for that is one great feature of the initial history of the christian — to know how to put things together.
The household of faith is wisely introduced in Scripture before the house of God; and indeed the father of believers is introduced even earlier, his name “Abram” signifying “high father”; that is to say, the suggestion is that his family should be brought up on principles morally greater than the principles of this world. And then later, he is called Abraham, the “father of a multitude”, meaning that he is qualified to be that. So that the epistle to the Romans prepares the believer for the household of faith: it tells us that Abraham is the father of all believers. That is an initial thought, but an important one for the christian, that, believing in the Lord Jesus, he is brought into, and regarded by heaven as in, the household of faith; that is to say, he is where people look at things on that principle.
The astronomers do not, nor do any scientific men as such, look at things on the principle of faith, whereas all believers do; beginning even with the creation therefore they really know more, at least from the divine standpoint, than the scientific men. That ought to appeal to every one, especially to young ones. We are brought into a family that is governed by that principle; not simply having faith for one’s righteousness and salvation, but faith in [p. 420] regard of everything. We are in a dispensation of faith. God carrying on His affairs thus in relation to His people; and so we have access into His secrets, whereas the cleverest minds in this world are outside them. I am not ignoring the Spirit, who has come in in relation to faith, the Spirit is given to those who have faith; so that we have the means, beloved, not indeed of searching the depths of the physical creation (it is to pass away), but “the depths of God”, the depths of the Creator, which is a far greater thing!
So the first point in regard of these scriptures, is that in the household of faith — in Abraham’s house — there is an overseer. He is first alluded to, as you will recall, by name: Eliezer of Damascus. Genesis 15: 2. Abram does not refer to him thus to distinguish him, he is simply a son of his house, born in his house, meaning that he was a domestic; and Abram was distressed that such a one should be his heir. But in chapter 24 the viewpoint is different; we have no name given; it is the steward of Abraham’s house, the eldest of his servants, the man that “ruled over all that he had”. No name is given, because, although now we know who is over the house by the Scriptures, the way of God is to bring us to things before we name them. We have the New Testament scriptures now in which things are named for us, and we may use these names in a very inexperienced way, even the natural mind may take them up; but in the school of God, the principle is, that I learn the thing, I experience the thing, and then I name it.
In Genesis 24 the point is to stress for the young believer that there is such a thing as this kind of overseership in the household of faith, someone who rules over all that is there, over all that Abraham had as the great father. He is evidently not an austere kind of person, he does not rule with severity,
[p. 421] but the believer comes to discover in due course, as he believes the testimony of the gospel, that in the household of faith, latitudinarianism and looseness and general independency of thought and action are foreign to this new family into which he is brought. He begins to see that there is a gentle, but nevertheless definite, rule in it, and also that it is for his good; that, as a matter of fact, the service of this ruler is to discover in the believer what is pleasing to Christ; that he is looking out for something that the Lord Jesus Christ died for, and is putting forth his rule in a gentle but yet definite way to bring that to light. He is over all the house — all that Abraham has — and he is concerned about what is dear to Christ. That is his particular business in chapter 24, and he carries out his service admirably and most successfully. If we give him place, he will discover in us, and give us to understand that there is in us something very pleasing to Christ; and it is a great day for the soul when the thought comes into it, that there is something there that is pleasing to the Lord.
So this steward of Abraham’s house undertakes his ministry with the greatest care: he understands the difficulties of the way — and who that has had to do with young believers, among whom we all have had our part, does not well know the difficulty of getting at what belongs to Christ in them, at what He cherishes? Now that is the ministry of this steward of Abraham’s house in Genesis 24. You will observe that Abraham is very old here, whereas the person to be sought out was to be young; and the steward is old, too, but he has got universal sway in the household of faith; the older the better so long as he has his faculties, and this steward had his faculties and knew exactly the difficulties he had to contend with in his mission; but he overcomes them, not in a harsh way, but in a careful, calculating way and on the principle of dependence on God.
[p. 422] What a fine thing it is to come in contact with this experienced element in the house, marked by dependence on God, and yet persistently seeking out that which Christ cherishes. The Lord has bought the field as we know, according to the parable, because of the treasure in it, and has also bought the pearl. He has bought the field in relation to the treasure, and His eye scans it to discover the treasure, so that He might have it free from all admixture and encumbrance.
Now that is the idea in this type of overseership, of one being over the household of faith; so that the servant is not occupied with himself — as remarked, his name is not given — the point is to carry out the wish of Abraham, to secure what Isaac needs; and he succeeds. The object of his service is young, a maiden, typical of the young believer, but the young believer viewed as the assembly in principle, what the Lord is seeking. So that this element is active constantly to secure what the heart of Christ is set upon in believers, and he does it; the type shows the end — he finds Rebekah, so that we might be encouraged that the end will be reached. The story is well known but it is one that should be studied from this standpoint, as to the bearing of it on the young Christian; so that he sees the wisdom of this old, experienced authority, involving an example for him in dependence. He sees the wisdom of it in the way it has reached him, and the way it has secured him for Christ, to have part in the assembly; and what could be greater, beloved, than that we should have part in that upon which the Lord Jesus has set His heart, and for which He gave Himself?
The next feature of this rule, is in Joseph’s house. It is a bit further on, as to the place it has in the history of the believer, but is of equal importance with the one I have just dealt with. It is the same kind of rule, but in relation to the securing of the [p. 423] brethren; the believer comes into the idea of the brethren, that is to say, the brethren of Christ. We need this rule if we are to reach that end. And so you find that as Benjamin comes down with the brethren, with Jacob’s sons, and comes into the view of Joseph, we get the mention of this man or overseer of his house. Scripture is infinitely accurate, whether it be the New Testament or the Old, and it bears on us, every line of it was written for christians. God is working out such a wonderful scheme at the present time, such a wonderful result, that all the Scriptures were intended for us, and so we get the thought of one over the household of faith, this steward. Then we come on to the thought of one over the household of him who brings the brethren into right relations — Joseph, who is Christ more directly as a type, than Abraham. Abraham was the great father; but Joseph is the brother; representing Christ as the One who has brethren. One who would have them, and who will not be satisfied until He has them all, for He needs them all. Every one of us is needed by the Lord to form His brethren — the exact number; there are to be many, but the number, you may be certain, is determined: they are all necessary. We see the number in Jacob’s family — the idea runs through. And Joseph in his wisdom is set to have them, but to have them on his own terms.
There are many brethren who take up the terms with little idea of their moral import. You will all know how the evangelists give us a four-fold view of the brethren (I do not go into them now); it implies moral characteristics and family characteristics, and the Lord is bent on securing everyone bearing these characteristics, and for this there is this principle of a man over Joseph’s house. You will understand, dear brethren, that I am not speaking of the steward of Abraham and the steward of Joseph as referring now to persons: I think I have intimated already that [p. 424] it is not a question of persons (although persons are involved) but of a certain element being found by believers, and, as found being helpful and essential to our coming into the assembly. The verses I read will indicate to you how interesting a man this was. His name is not given, any more than the name of the steward in chapter 24; it is the element of overseership that is in view. He comes into view immediately as Benjamin appears. Benjamin is like the overcomer; he is the brother who has not offended — the others have. And as soon as he comes into the view of Joseph, this man over his house is mentioned; he is under Joseph’s hand, and perfectly in keeping with the mind of Joseph, he knows exactly what is going on. Now if we are awake to this, dear brethren, it will have a great effect on us: there will be a certain vigilance, without any assumption, but a certain sure vigilance that knows what is transpiring, and all to the end that Joseph’s mind should be carried out.
See how this servant agrees with the mind of Joseph; Joseph directs him to bring the men into his house. Mark, it is Joseph’s house, not Abraham’s; it is the house of a great personage, the Son of God in type, who would bring all of us into accord with Himself as His brethren; and this element is subservient to His thought, it is current and active all the time. For I may add, dear brethren, that, whilst these things work out concretely in one way or another in the Lord’s people, they are effected in the power of the Spirit of God; without the presence of the Holy Spirit here in the house, they could not be. So Joseph directs this servant to bring them into the house, and they are concerned at being brought into the house. The believer begins to feel that after all, though he may be using the word “brethren” and belongs to them, it may be, he has not realised what it means; and that there has been conduct, and [p. 425] state, wholly out of keeping with it. So we can well understand their perturbation as they come within the door of the house. What is outside is very different to what is inside; and so they reasoned with him, as you will observe, at the door.
It says, “And they came near to the steward of Joseph’s house, and they communed with him at the door of the house. And said. O sir, we came indeed down at the first time to buy food: And it came to pass, when we came to the inn, that we opened our sacks, and, behold, every man’s money was in the mouth of his sack, our money in full weight: and we have brought it again in our hand. And other money have we brought down in our hands to buy food: we cannot tell who put our money in our sacks. And he said. Peace be to you, fear not”, chapter 43: 19 - 23. You see what is in the minds of these men at the door of Joseph’s house, they are thinking of money; they are thinking of the money they had and how it was put in their sacks, and how they brought more money down. But a place in Joseph’s house, a place amongst the brethren of Christ, is not on that principle at all! We have to understand the ground on which things are in the house of sonship, of the brethren: it is not on the principle of money. These men were full of the idea of money; but this steward of Joseph’s house said to them, “Peace be to you” — he knew all about that. It refers, dear brethren, to the secret workings of the Spirit of God on the principle of oversight and authority, yet with no pretension attached to it; for the blessed Spirit is here in the most subservient way, in the subservience of love — to secure the divine end; and He would banish for ever the thought of securing a place with money. As Peter says to Simon, “Thy money go with thee to destruction, because thou hast thought that the gift of God can be obtained by money.
[p. 426] Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter”, Acts 8: 20.
I do not say of these men, that they intended to buy the brotherly place, they did not understand; but Joseph did understand, and that is what I want to press on you, that Christ is bent on securing your heart as one of His brethren, and there is this element working all the time to secure it. If you look back on your history, you will see how it has been working. So he said, “Fear not: your God, and the God of your father, has given you treasure in your sacks; your money came to me. And he brought Simeon out to them. And the man brought the men into Joseph’s house, and gave water, and they washed their feet; and he gave their asses food. And they made ready the gift for Joseph’s coming at noon; for they had heard that they should eat bread there”. Now this is a lesson that I would commend to all; how beautifully and consolingly this man, this ruler over Joseph’s house, spoke to these men, without mentioning his name, but at the same time giving them to know that he knew all about them, and he connects God with them and with their father. How he dignifies them! And that is what we need as we approach the door of Joseph’s house and enter it, we need to understand how God is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Presently we shall understand that He is our God and our Father, and that we are the brethren of Christ.
Well now, I proceed to seek to show you how this principle of the Lord’s place over the house of God is typified in Aaron. He represents the full thought illustrated in these three types, because “the priest’s lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth”, Malachi 2: 7. We have now come into Exodus where things are to be regulated formally and divinely; that is to say, gathering up the [p. 427] instruction in Exodus fits us for the assembly, where we have our place. Everything is according to measure in Exodus, and as the parts of the tabernacle are set up, each part is functioning; that is to say, intelligence marks the believer as taken up in Exodus, and Aaron is representative of this intelligence, and what comes out is good speaking — he can speak well. The history in Exodus shows that Aaron had a way of speaking that attracted people and turned them away from the world. As the people were about to return to Egypt yearning for the flesh pots there. Aaron spoke to them, and they turned towards the wilderness, Exodus 16: 10. Such was the power of his voice, the power of his words. Who is it but Christ, beloved, now the Priest in heaven, as set out in Hebrews — who but He controls by His word the hearts of the saints so that they turn away from the world and turn to the wilderness? Indeed I believe the effect of the epistle to the Hebrews is largely that, a question of the power of priesthood turning our hearts from the world to the wilderness where the tabernacle of God is. As it says, “We have such a one high priest who has sat down on the right hand of the throne of the greatness in the heavens; minister of the holy places and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord has pitched, and not man”, Hebrews 8. Such a One as that! It is the greatness of the Priest, and we have Him! Well, that is the idea in Aaron: the Lord says to Moses, “Is not Aaron the Levite thy brother? I know that he can speak well. And also behold, he goeth out to meet thee”, Exodus 4: 14. How touching that is as applied to Christ! He is One who goes out to meet the brethren, takes a long journey to meet the brethren, and when He sees them He is glad in His heart — that is the idea.
The service of Aaron throughout is to encourage the hearts of the saints. The end is seen in his rod,
[p. 428] which denotes that of which I am speaking; a rod denotes authority, and this is the rod by which Moses was to approach the rock in Numbers 20. It is Christ in that way, the true Priest of God, as seen in Corinthians. The apostle did not come with a rod, he had a rod, but he did not bring the rod of authority, instead of that he sent Timotheus, as like himself, and in a priestly attitude, who would make known to them his ways as they were in Christ. Timothy would speak to them, he would not use the rod; what he would do would be to approach the brethren as a lowly brother and speak to them; as Jehovah said to Moses, “Speak ye unto the rock”. It is the time of speaking, and the rock was to give water, and it did.
Having said all that about Aaron, there are only a few words to be said on the passage in Hebrews. What you will observe is that Christ is “a great priest over the house of God” as the New Translation reads, Hebrews 10: 21. It is no longer only a principle or element, but a known Person set up over the house of God. The first mention of the house is in chapter 3, where Christ is said to be the Son over it. Moses was a ministering servant, faithful in the house: Christ is Son over it, but He is over it as having built it: such is the greatness of the house! It refers to what the Son has set up, and what He has set up He is over; He rules over it, but He rules over it as Son. And He rules over it as Priest, so that we might know He has full sympathy with us, that we might know there is nothing we can suffer from which He cannot meet. “Since therefore the children partake of blood and flesh, he also, in like manner, took part in the same, that through death he might annul him who has the might of death, that is the devil; and might set free all those who through fear of death through the whole of their life were subject to bondage ... Wherefore it [p. 429] behoved him in all things to be made like to his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things relating to God”.
In chapter 4 it says we have a great High Priest — not yet over the house, but we have Him and in the understanding that we have Him, we draw near to the throne of grace; but the house is not mentioned there. In chapter 10 it is mentioned, for God would bring us to the understanding of the place we have in it, and that it is ruled over by a great Priest; not only one great personally, but in a moral sense, that He is great enough to get down alongside the weakest of us, and encourage and support us as we draw near to God. So the word is, “Having therefore, brethren, boldness for entering into the holy of holies by the blood of Jesus, the new and living way which he has dedicated for us through the veil, that is, his flesh, and having a great priest over the house of God, let us approach with a true heart, in full assurance of faith, sprinkled as to our hearts from a wicked conscience, and washed as to our body with pure water”, chapter 10: 19 - 22. That is what God is set for, and Hebrews sets out the furnishings for it, so that the weakest believer should draw near — and why should we stay at a distance from God? Think of the service of such a One as this, a great Priest over the house! He is there to support us as we essay to draw near to God. It is as we move we get the support; many do not understand how to draw near to God because they do not take the initiative; in drawing near we get the support; He brings us into the very holiest of all. One is made conscious when first one enters, of his fitness for the place, that he is no stranger there, that he belongs to it, he is of the sanctified company, that “both he that sanctifies and those sanctified are all of one” — that is the idea of the holiest; we are equal to the place because we are all of one with the Sanctifier; “for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren”.
That is what I had in mind, dear brethren, and I trust that God will use the word so that we may draw near with more intelligence and energy.