THE REMNANT (4)

^[p. 273] THE REMNANT (4)

Isaiah 37:1-23; Isaiah 37:30-32; Isaiah 38: 9 - 20; Isaiah 46: 3, 4

JT What is to be considered now mainly, this being the last reading on our subject, is the relation to it of prayer — a distinct feature of what is before us. This great attack by Assyria is permitted of God and He had in mind to bring out what existed for Himself in Jerusalem. There can be no doubt that, in the application of these passages to the present time, God, by the ordering or permitting of great pressure, would bring out what exists of Himself in His people; this is to be seen in the way we go through the pressure. The Lord as here with His own, in the last movement up to Jerusalem, was facing supreme pressure; it was heavy on His spirit, and the apostles were amazed as they realised it. He would have them go through with Him even to Gethsemane, where He would have them according to His desires.

Now in this sense Hezekiah represents what was in Jerusalem. God knew what was there, and would bring it out; God delighted to see it come out. There is therefore a great incentive to us at this present time to go through things, not ignoring them. The Lord would have us go through them feelingly, and He is with us in the pressure. He exhorts us to take our share in suffering as good soldiers of Jesus Christ; not that we have any part in the physical conflict. Our conflict is “not against blood and flesh, but against principalities, against authorities, against the universal lords of this darkness, against spiritual power of wickedness in the heavenlies” (Ephesians 6: 12). We are to take unto ourselves the whole armour of God, and go through the conflict. It is continuous, and, at times it becomes accentuated as certain governmental conditions affect us ^[p. 274] in it. Government is, so to speak, a department of God, but entirely distinct from the spiritual economy which is in the hands of the Lord Jesus, in which the Spirit is the power; yet these bear on each other.

In Hezekiah we see what was of God in Jerusalem, and how he met the enemy’s attack. He represents what may come out as the saints endure, and go on in the truth. His father was very different, as we have seen already, even refusing to receive a sign from God; a very poor example of kingship; failing entirely in it. Nevertheless the spirit of prophecy leads on to a wonderful exhibition of the Spirit of Christ in his son. This ought to encourage us to go on, for God will act for us, in due course, beyond our expectations, if we are exercised. Hezekiah has a great place in the Scripture; he has something like ten chapters devoted to him by the Spirit of God. The object surely is to call attention to what pleased God in those dark days. He is said to have followed the example of his father David, and indeed, it is said there was no one like him in the kingdom of David, before him, or after him; so that he seems to rise to a peculiar type of the Lord Jesus. Therefore, he becomes a model, and the Spirit of God would engage us with him, that we might learn the lesson of how to meet pressure; and see how the remnant characteristics come out in him; he refers to the remnant several times.

LES Do you refer to the spirit of the Lord Jesus in Luke as praying constantly in view of the pressure?

JT That is a good example; something like ten times He is seen in that attitude.

CAM Would you say that at the end of each dispensation there is that which corresponds to the close of the Lord’s own life here in the intensified pressures that came upon ^[p. 275] Him?

JT I suppose that is right. Hezekiah is remarkable; he is enlarged on by the Spirit of God, portrayed in an extensive way before us by three different witnesses or writers.

Ques There is a section in the book of Proverbs which the men of Hezekiah king of Judah transcribed. Would that fit in?

JT It does indeed. The reference is in Proverbs 25, and it brings out certain features that we ought to have before us. “There are also proverbs of Solomon, which the men of Hezekiah king of Judah transcribed. It is the glory of God to conceal a thing; but the glory of kings is to search out a thing. The heavens for height, and the earth for depth, and the heart of kings is unsearchable. Take away the dross from the silver, and there cometh forth a vessel for the refiner: take away the wicked from before the king, and his throne shall be established in righteousness” (Proverbs 25: 1 - 5). There are many other proverbs of great value in this section of the book. It would show the industry of king Hezekiah, that his men caused what was of God to be available to His people.

WB-w What is the difference in the form of opposition against Ahaz in chapter 7 and this opposition against Hezekiah?

JT The opposition against Ahaz was a confederacy between Syria and Ephraim, a very repugnant thing to the spiritual mind. Ahaz was wholly unfit to meet that; he refused to ask a sign, refused to let God into the matter.

WB-w “Ahaz said, I will not ask”. Hezekiah was a different man; he would ask.

JT Quite so. That is what is in mind now, that we might have this subject of prayer before us in view of the attack.

WB-w Sennacherib’s attack is more public opposition; it comes ^[p. 276] with great force.

JT Yes; irresistible humanly, which Hezekiah admits.

JWD Would you be free to pray that the outward pressure should be removed, or that what is of God should be sustained in the outward pressure, if God saw fit to allow it to continue? I am thinking of the present situation.

JT I should think both; both would be legitimate subjects of prayer, subject to God’s will.

The first thing, I think, is how we go through the pressure; and how God will make use of it for us. It is a question of how we go through it; whether we seek to shirk it, minimise it, or ignore it altogether. Do we face it as a possible ordering of God to bring out what there is of Himself? The work of God is to stand. We have had much light, enjoyed much ministry in meetings like this, but what is the result, the actual product? God would bring that out; so that one would be free to pray for the enlargement that enters into the pressure, and also for relief, if it please God. Hezekiah obtained both the enlargement and the relief. The tidings of the attack of Rabshakeh caused Hezekiah to rend his garments and cover himself with sackcloth. He did not at first go to the Lord directly; he sent a message to Isaiah, the messengers themselves being covered with sackcloth, asking Isaiah, among other things, to “lift up a prayer for the remnant that is left” (Isaiah 37: 4). He gets an immediate answer, though brief. Isaiah answers, “Be not afraid of the words that thou hast heard, wherewith the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me. Behold, I will put a spirit into him, and he shall hear tidings, and shall return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land” (verses 6, 7). That is the immediate answer to the first request for a prayer. Then the Assyrian sends another message to Hezekiah (^[p. 277] verse 10); and in verse 14 we are told that “Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it; and Hezekiah went up into the house of Jehovah, and spread it before Jehovah. And Hezekiah prayed to Jehovah, saying, Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, who sittest between the cherubim, thou, the Same”, (that title “the Same” is not in the authorised version; it is an abiding name of God) “thou alone art the God of all the kingdoms of the earth: thou hast made the heavens and the earth. Incline thine ear, O Jehovah, and hear; open, Jehovah, thine eyes, and see; and hear all the words of Sennacherib, who hath sent to reproach the living God”. And then, having gone over what the Assyrians would do, he says, “And now, Jehovah our God, save us out of his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art Jehovah, thou only” (verse 20).

Now, we see clearly here that the pressure has its own effect. Hezekiah does not pray in the first instance; he asks the prophet to pray, which he did; and Isaiah gives an immediate answer, which would bring immediate relief for his spirit, and assurance as to God’s ways in the matter. The second message by the letter of the king of Assyria brings out enlargement in Hezekiah. He has moved on in his soul, and been enlarged under pressure, for he now enters, himself, into the house of God and he lays the matter before Jehovah. Indeed, he speaks and acts almost as his father David did after Nathan’s message came to him. He went in and spoke to God. That indicates great increase in spirituality. That is what is before us. The pressure continuing results in enlargement, if we face it. So that we advance from sackcloth; there is no sackcloth as he enters the house of Jehovah the second time (verse 14); we advance from that in the service of God. Thus ^[p. 278] our prayer, and our speaking to God, is on a higher level; that is what God is aiming at.

In chapter 38 we see how the king is made sick. It is an individual pressure. The first pressure is national; the second is individual, and God is with him and restores him, and now we have an addition. That is, we have enlargement; first of all in the man himself, and then addition through him to the service of God. That is what is in mind. The relief comes, but the pressure first, that we might get the gain of it.

RWS Does the allusion to children coming to the birth and no strength to bring forth allude to a state among the people of God, as a result of which there is no gain from the pressure?

JT The children coming to the birth would mean that though we have received impressions of Christ from the ministry, they have not been brought forth; they have not been brought out into individuality; not seen in a practical way. We may have much light and conceptions of Christ, but there is no power for results.

Ques You alluded a little while back to two features of our subject; one connected with the government of God, and the other with the Spirit. If we pray in connection with either should we not be with God in relation to His moral government, as well as in relation to His work in the souls of His people?

JT I would certainly say so. There is a place for both; government is of God, as we know from Romans 13, and other scriptures. It has a sword, which is to be recognised: “for it bears not the sword in vain”. It is subservient to the testimony. The four monarchies were ordained of God in view of the coming in of Christ, and the bringing in of the assembly. We are enjoined to be subject to it; and pray for those in authority, to honour the king.

^[p. 279] Obviously it is to support what is right; government is to support what is right, and therefore you pray for it; pray for the support of those who are doing right, whatever the results: that is one thing. God can use armies and navies and the like, and we leave that to Him; it is His matter. The Lord Jesus intimated plainly that christianity takes us out of that; but at the same time it is of God, so far, in a governmental way, and subservient to the assembly and ministry. Then there is our struggle, as Paul speaks of it; “our struggle is ... against principalities, against authorities, against the universal lords of this darkness, against spiritual power of wickedness in the heavenlies” (Ephesians 6: 12). As to this we are told to pray always: “praying at all seasons”.

ANW While bowing to the government which Pilate represented, the Lord told him directly that he was sinning; saying, “He that has delivered me up to thee has the greater sin”, but Pilate himself was sinning in what he was doing.

JT He was sinning, and yet abstractly he had a right judgment; had he been left to himself he would have discharged the Lord. He said, “I find no guilt in this man” (Luke 23: 4). This shows that government viewed abstractly is of God, but the political influence, the influence of the people, induced him to scourge the Lord, and finally deliver Him to be crucified.

SMcC A great difficulty in our prayers would be to rightly distinguish between what is national, and what is connected with the support of right.

JT That is the real practical difficulty. We are apt to be national; thinking of our own government, as we call it; whereas the four monarchies convey a universal thought of God, coming down to us. He is hiding Himself from the house of Israel: the throne of God leaving Jerusalem. These four monarchies come in and run right down; they are the four ^[p. 280] spirits of the heavens; they stand before the Lord of all the earth; they are there for a divine purpose, (Zechariah 6). We pray for them from that point of view, not because we belong to any nation, for we are heavenly. The Lord says, “My kingdom is not of this world” (John 18: 36). It is another thing altogether, and places us on a peculiar and elevated plane. Many christians do not understand it, but the Lord supports those who are in it.

JWD In what sense would Paul exhort the brethren to pray for kings?

JT In the sense of representing government abstractly.

JWD Could we not pray for every government in this world in the way that Paul enjoins; “prayers ... be made for all men; for kings and all that are in dignity”? (1 Timothy 2: 1, 2).

JT Quite so; I would pray for every government in the world in that abstract sense. Take a man like Napoleon; his code of laws for France was good. I would pray for a king or governor in relation to the sphere given him, with a view to good government in it, that is what Scripture means, but if he went to conquer and destroy ruthlessly without provocation, I would not pray for him. I would pray that God would restrict him. You agree with that, do you not?

JWD I certainly do. I was thinking of Daniel, how he had to be extraordinarily strengthened to be with God in connection with God’s government (Daniel 10). We, as thus helped, can take on these things.

JT Quite so. These things are most important to understand so that we might be discriminative and know how to pray.

HH Paul says in 1 Timothy 2: 2, “that we may lead a quiet and tranquil life in all piety and gravity;” that is, the testimony is in ^[p. 281] view.

JT Take a man that is devastating the world; I cannot pray for help for him in that.

APT How do you regard Acts 12: 5, “Peter therefore was kept in the prison but unceasing prayer was made by the assembly to God concerning him”? I was thinking of Herod’s activities at the moment.

JT The Lord did not recognise the Herod of Luke 23, spoken of in chapter 3 as tetrarch of Galilee. The Lord did not speak to him, nor answer him; He called him a fox in chapter 13. The Herod you are speaking about is another, but a characteristic Herod; he killed James the brother of John with a sword. He is a characteristic politician. When he saw that what he did pleased the Jews, he took Peter also and put him into prison. That is the sort of thing; there is no moral quality in politics at all, I mean politics in the ordinary sense of the word; that which appeals to the people for their support. The ultimate end of all that is that Herod is eaten of worms; he comes into the types of the man of sin; he accepted the adulation of the crowd that deified him, and he is eaten of worms. That is how the government of God deals with that sort of thing.

ABP The thief on the cross could distinguish between right and wrong government. He said, “This man has done nothing amiss”, and as to himself he says, “we indeed justly, for we receive the just recompense of what we have done”, this at the hands of the same government.

JT Yes; as God works with a man He may secure results at once. It came about very quickly, for he joined the other thief in reviling the Lord, according to another gospel, but he comes to discriminate between himself and his fellow-thief, and the Righteous One. Government had failed in the Lord’s case. That is what we are faced with; you cannot rely on government; and yet you are thankful for it, praying that it may do what is right.

Ques Would the book of Revelation help us in relation to God’s moral government, giving us the viewpoint of the throne? There we see discrimination as to what God could support on moral lines and what He would rebuke.

JT So you get in Revelation the silence in heaven for about half an hour (Revelation 8:1). What does that silence mean? There is something going on that heaven can neither approve nor disapprove; as, for instance, Constantine’s acceptance of christianity. God would not openly rebuke that. It is a remarkable thing that the empire of the world received christianity; but God could not approve it. That is the position when government takes on christianity. Take Pilate, he presented Christ to the people. “Behold the man!” he says; he was calling attention to Jesus, and says, “I find no fault whatever in him” (John 18: 38). But then he scourged Jesus and presented Him to the people with a crown of thorns that the soldiers had put on His head. There is nothing to approve in that; that is what government may do for you. What did Constantine do? He took on christianity. At one time, although assuming to be orthodox, he favoured the Arian party, who denied our Lord’s deity; and he persecuted Athanasius who stood for the truth. Constantine was baptised when he was about to die. He was Pontifex Maximus (High Priest) of the heathen religion of the empire during his reign, yet assumed the same office in christianity. What can you make of all that? That is government. You cannot trust it in the things of God; but it is government, and you must recognise it as abstractly of God, and pray for ^[p. 283] it accordingly.

CFN True kingship was set out by David in saying, “The ruler among men shall be just, Ruling in the fear of God” (2 Samuel 23: 3).

JT That is what God would help us on now, and if we look at Hezekiah we shall see how, in facing things as they are today in the world, we become enlarged. He emerges from fear and sackcloth, both of which were right in their place, to sonship. After the second message from the Assyrian he does not put on sackcloth; he goes in the liberty of sonship, and speaks to God in terms suitable to the house of Jehovah. That is what we should see.

JWD Do you think that the liberty of the assembly is in danger? Perhaps there is a moral or spiritual defect that needs to be rectified. Is the first attitude sackcloth?

JT Quite so. Why is all this happening? Sackcloth is the first thing, and Hezekiah is covered with it; he also rends his garments; one’s whole state and circumstances are challenged.

I hope the brethren will not miss this point in Hezekiah — that is, increase under pressure — advance in the soul through pressure, and then the pressure is removed. It is removed in regard of the king of Assyria, and in regard of the sickness as well, in Hezekiah’s case.

AAT I suppose David had the same exercise, “In pressure thou hast enlarged me” (Psalm 4: 1).

JT Quite so. That is not as the authorised version reads. It will be well for the brethren to read the New Translation for that point.

HH Isaiah 37: 7 reads, “Behold, I will put a spirit into him, and he shall hear tidings, and shall return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land”. The prayers of the saints can divert something that the enemy threatens to ^[p. 284] do.

JT Quite so. The answer is immediate, as you will notice. Some of us were speaking about it; it is immediate aid in pressure; first aid, you might call it; so that the whole position is eased, but then the second message of the king of Assyria renews the pressure; and in meeting that Hezekiah shows he has gained in his soul.

HH It brings us closer to God in our exercises and prayers, and we gain intelligence as to how to present a great need to God.

JT Quite so. The second answer, in verse 22, introduces the daughter of Zion and Jerusalem. “The virgin-daughter of Zion despiseth thee, laugheth thee to scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem shaketh her head at thee”. She is not simply a child, but “a daughter of Jerusalem”, that is a developed product. It is she that meets the opposition. It is what is brought forth in that character. Now we have a product in Zion and Jerusalem, and it is she that speaks to the Assyrian. You cannot overcome her; she represents great principles of God maintained in power. According to the note, she conveys the idea of being unconquered. It is not what we have in the way of teaching or ministry, but what comes out of it. The whole principles of Zion and Jerusalem are maintained in those who are formed by the truth in the power of the Spirit.

FHL Do you think it would be right to say that Hezekiah holds the same position as the poor wise man?

JT Yes, he knew what to do; he is growing in the pressure, and advancing.

HB Do you think the virgin-daughter has taken character from God as in Psalm 2: 2, where it says, “He that dwelleth in the heavens shall laugh, the Lord shall have them in derision”?

^[p. 285] JT Just so; the daughter of Zion laughs here; she derides the Assyrian. The work of God is in keeping with God Himself.

ABP This word does not seem to be a composition that is prepared by the saints, but rather what is contained in the word of Jehovah. Is that the outcome of the prayers of His people?

JT Quite so. God brings in this daughter. He knew what had been developed there; the true nature of it was evidenced in Hezekiah’s speaking to Him. What a man he was! It is beautiful what he says about God. He went up to the house of Jehovah and spread the letter before Jehovah, “And Hezekiah prayed to Jehovah, saying, Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, who sittest between the cherubim, thou, the Same, thou alone art the God of all the kingdoms of the earth: thou hast made the heavens and the earth. Incline thine ear, O Jehovah, and hear; open, Jehovah, thine eyes, and see; and hear all the words of Sennacherib, who hath sent to reproach the living God”. I have no doubt that is what God noticed; what was in that man’s soul; and that is the thing, what is in our souls, what we are bringing forth.

LES Is the idea of the cherubim to support the government of Hezekiah?

JT Yes. It is important to see the difference between the seraphim and the cherubim. The seraphim are more priestly, and refer to what is due to God in holiness; this is seen in chapter 6. Hezekiah speaks of God sitting between the cherubim, that is government; it is the power to enforce His will on earth.

FSC Does Jabez represent one that is enlarged under pressure? His mother refers to her sorrow according to 1 Chronicles 4: 9. “Jabez called on the God of Israel saying, Oh that thou wouldest richly bless me, and enlarge my border, and that thy ^[p. 286] hand might be with me, and that thou wouldest keep me from evil, that it may not grieve me!”

JT Yes. God brought about what he asked. I think that is the point for us today — this matter of prayer. How are we meeting these matters? Do we pray discriminatively? What do we say to God, and how do we address Him? As to the virgin-daughter of Zion and the daughter of Jerusalem, it is entirely like God to meet this aggressive and boastful enemy in scorn and derision.

JWD Would you connect Philadelphia with this idea of the virgin-daughter?

JT I think she does represent it in the history of the assembly. The Lord has nothing to say against her, and much for her. He says, “Behold, I make them of the synagogue of Satan who say that they are Jews, and are not, but lie; behold, I will cause that they shall come and shall do homage before thy feet, and shall know that I have loved thee. Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee out of the hour of trial, which is about to come upon the whole habitable world, to try them that dwell upon the earth” (Revelation. 3: 9, 10). And He says earlier, “I have set before thee an opened door, which no one can shut, because thou hast a little power” (verse 8). There is power to bring forth whatever conceptions we have received from the ministry of the Lord; let us bring them forth. That is what Philadelphia had, “a little power”.

HH The evil being especially against God, we may expect prayer to prevail. The saints are intelligent as to what is for God and support it.

JT Exactly. What has Satan in mind in all this commotion? What is Satan aiming at? He is the enemy of the saints, of what God has on earth at the present time; he would interfere and stop ^[p. 287] their services. What Hezekiah says is apropos to what God has here. We pray in relation to that.

SWP The beloved apostle in writing to the Thessalonians says, “Pray for us, that the word of the Lord may run and be glorified” (2 Thessalonians 3: 1).

CAM Does this history throw light on present ministry and the way prophetic ministry has been emphasised? Hezekiah resorted to the prophet, and it had its effect upon him, it paved the way for the right use of the names of divine Persons, and the knowledge of God. The liberty he had in speaking to God shows how very much advance he had made in his soul.

JT Do you not think the Lord has helped us on those lines — as to addressing God — how He is known in the economy into which He has come? I think Hezekiah is seen in the full light of the position which he occupies. “Thou, the Same, thou alone art the God of all the kingdoms of the earth: thou hast made the heavens and the earth” (verse 16).

ANW I wondered in that way, whether the first address to God is more exalted than the second? There is more of “I” in the second.

JT It is personal need in chapter 38. The exercise nevertheless resulted in an addition to the service of God, which perhaps should be kept in mind, because God would have things added all the time. If we are not adding something, we are not going forward. Adding would indicate we are going forward. That is the point in chapter 38; but the evidence of life was to be a sign to Hezekiah in chapter 37: 30 “And this shall be the sign unto thee: there shall be eaten this year such as groweth of itself; and in the second year that which springeth of the same; but in the third year sow ye, and reap, and plant vineyards and eat the fruit thereof”. The idea of life operating in an agricultural sense is to be observed. It springs of itself ^[p. 288] in the first and second year, and then the third year we have the sowing and reaping, planting vineyards and eating the fruit thereof. It is the power of life operating, firstly without control; and then operating under control, the latter seen in the sowing and reaping. We sow for a certain crop; we want a certain crop; and the crop is what is according to Christ. I believe God would help in that way in the recognition of life. The earth brings forth of itself, but there must be the control of it, and the sowing to obtain what is needed. That brings in wisdom and calculation as to what suits God.

HH You get that in chapter 28: 29 — the different kinds of grain, wheat and barley and cummin; “This also cometh forth from Jehovah of hosts; he is wonderful in counsel, great in wisdom”. It is a yield for God.

ABP Does verse 20 suggest a certain feature of the testimony as the result of the pressure? “And now, Jehovah our God, save us out of his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art Jehovah, thou only”.

JT Quite so; you are referring to chapter 37: 20.

APT How does God view the head of a warring nation setting aside a certain day for prayer?

JT The prayer of the righteous man availeth much. Is there priestly power in the effort? Still, we are to be thankful for any recognition of God.

JWD In regard to this idea of control, would you bring in the truth of sonship as an instance? We used to speak of eternal sonship in Christ and there was a certain amount of enjoyment connected with the idea, but now that the truth is understood according to Scripture, there is control, and the fruit is much more abundant.

JT Exactly. We are sowing the crop for God now. “Sow ye, and reap, and plant vineyards and eat the fruit thereof”. If we sow for a crop, we must bring in right doctrine. The creed was not right doctrine, yet it was accepted, and God went on with us. Brethren did not knowingly put forward any heretical thoughts as to it, but still the matter was not under control; now it is, and I believe there is a crop. The brethren know what they are saying, and how to speak to God more accurately in the service; they see more clearly that sonship in Christ implies His manhood, also the place that the Son has from God’s side, and from our side.

CAM The fact that the Lord allowed that to go on for so many generations only emphasises the fruit of the truth now.

JT It does. The same applies to other things. The Lord’s supper was beclouded and is so still in christendom. Whereas He has rescued it and restored it to its place in the assembly. Sowing and reaping, that is to say, skilled agriculture, brings forth a suitable crop. The farmer wants a crop, and sows accordingly; he takes care of it, so that he gets his crop. “And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward; for out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and out of mount Zion they that escape: the zeal of Jehovah of hosts shall do this” (chapter 37: 31, 32).

CDeB Would you say a word on the verse, “And I will defend this city to save it, for mine own sake, and for my servant David’s sake”? (chapter 37: 35).

JT All is linked on with David throughout here. It is a question of the purpose of God in regard to His earthly people. David represents that. You will see it in the other prophets, too; it is all for David’s sake; and of course, that is Christ. That is what God has in mind. Everything is in view ^[p. 290] of Christ.

SWP How do you understand the “zeal of Jehovah of hosts”?

JT That is important. God is zealous. We pray and He listens, but His own zeal enters into what He does. You would not say that what relates to David originated in your own heart. When you come to counsel, all must be for God’s heart; and He carries it out with zeal.

JTJr “Taking root downward” — is that a continual process?

JT It is a law governing life in a tree or vegetable. Taking root downward secures the sap which supports the thing. It is rooted and grounded — Colossians and Ephesians. Rooted means that you are assuring the full supply of sap; and on the other hand, as “grounded” you are steady; you are not carried away by every wind of doctrine.

JTJr Are we not as in individual prayer tested as to roots? What we really have in our souls is the power by which we can speak to God privately and publicly. So that when we get into the presence of God we are able to speak to Him, and He can take account of us both individually and collectively.

JT That is right. We receive truth mentally; the mind is the way the truth is received, but how far down does it go? You must allow it to permeate the whole being; that is the idea of it. You are built up as a man. You are drawing from the source of sap, and you are not carried away by every wind of doctrine.

CFN Is Hezekiah himself the expression of what the remnant would be?

JT I think he represents that; the Spirit of Christ is in such an enlarged measure in one man, that the Spirit of God holds it before us in about ten chapters, that we might, in poring over them,

^[p. 291] absorb the idea of the remnant; how it is worked out in one person.

LES The link would be with the first half of Isaiah, with chapter 6: 13; “But a tenth part shall still be therein, and it shall return and be eaten; as the terebinth and as the oak whose trunk remaineth after the felling: the holy seed shall be the trunk thereof”.

JT That is the idea; the holy seed represents the quality. It is a remarkable thing that it is called the “holy seed”. It corresponds wholly with God; it is quality carried through.

Ques Would verse 33 encourage us to think that God would protect the meetings? He has before Him this area in which the root is going downward and the fruit upward, and because of that, He says certain things of the Assyrians.

JT “Therefore thus saith Jehovah concerning the king of Assyria: He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with shield, nor cast a bank against it” (Isaiah 37:33). That is very comforting. What happened to the Assyrian is often mentioned. God says in verse 35: “And I will defend this city, to save it, for mine own sake, and for my servant David’s sake”. And then we are told what happened to the Assyrian army and what happened to the king himself.

RWS Is the point in verse 33, which our brother read, that this assurance was given after the process, the exercise indicated in the “sign”, had been gone through?

JT Yes. It is well worth defending.

RWS I wondered that if this point was reached in the hearts of the saints, then God would give us assurance that He will maintain it.

Rem The word “therefore” would imply that.

CAM I was wondering whether Daniel’s exercises would correspond. The fact that his prayers ^[p. 292] were towards Jerusalem (he would have gone through much in the depths of his soul) would indicate that God gave him to feel there was an immense power operating in the favour of His people.

JT I am sure that is so. Think of what delight he must have afforded heaven as he kneeled and prayed three times a day; his windows being open towards Jerusalem! When he heard of the opposition, he prayed and gave thanks as before.

SMcC The section you have referred to, Isaiah 38: 9, says, “The writing of Hezekiah king of Judah, when he had been sick and had recovered from his sickness”. What would you say about that over against his speaking?

JT It is left on record. It is a permanent addition to the service; it is to be read afterwards. It is the culmination of this section; we have addition; not only increase in the person himself, but addition to the actual service of God, which is to be handed down. He turns around to others and says, “We will play upon my stringed instruments all the days of our life, in the house of Jehovah”. He includes others. “Lord, by these things men live, and in all these things is the life of my spirit; and thou hast recovered me, and made me to live. Behold, instead of peace, I had bitterness upon bitterness; but thou hast in love delivered my soul from the pit of destruction; for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back. For not Sheol shall praise thee, nor death celebrate thee; they that go down into the pit do not hope for thy truth. The living, the living, he shall praise thee, as I this day: the father to the children shall make known thy truth” (verses 16 - 19). That is another thing that is to remain with us, “thy truth”. As living people, we praise God, “The living, the living, he shall praise thee;” so that there is an addition here to the service of God handed down through the ^[p. 293] following generations.

JVS In 2 Chronicles 20, in connection with Jehoshaphat, we see that there was praise to Jehovah before the battle was won.

JT Yes. The idea of addition is important. We get it here, and we have it in Habakkuk peculiarly. He says, I have come to this — although there are no cattle in the stalls, and the vine does not give its fruit, “Yet I will rejoice in Jehovah, I will joy in the God of my salvation. Jehovah, the Lord, is my strength, And he maketh my feet like hinds’ feet, And he will make me to walk upon my high places. To the chief Musician. On my stringed instruments” (Habakkuk 3: 18, 19). That is another addition; that is the principle of these prophets; not only that they become enlarged themselves, but they add to what is for the saints to continue the service of God.

APT Is Psalm 22 the great model of this? It is to the chief Musician, and then at the end there is a seed born — the fruit and addition resulting from the pressure.

JT Quite so. “A seed shall serve him; it shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation. They shall come, and shall declare his righteousness unto a people that shall be born, that he hath done it” (Psalm 22: 30, 31).