FOUR TYPES OF THE ASSEMBLY IN THE BOOK OF GENESIS
First reading
A.J.G. I have thought that we could consider some types of the assembly, beginning in the garden of Eden. It is good to remark that, while what took place in the garden of Eden refers firstly to the first man and certainly the scene of the fall, there is at the same time a manifestation of certain thoughts of God as to the assembly. We need to remind ourselves that sin was in the universe before it entered into the world. That is clear, according to indications given in the second verse of the first chapter. God is just showing us how the enemy has brought in chaos; and the creation that God had made for His pleasure became a scene marked by confusion and darkness. There is therefore a definite fall from God. God has risen to this challenge, having in view to manifest in the assembly what He can secure for Himself in a scene in which He can find His pleasure. That
is the idea of a garden. The garden was in Eden; the word ‘Eden’ means ‘pleasure’, showing the general idea that everything that God created was to be for His pleasure. That idea has been brought into question, the world around us being a testimony to that; but God has planted a garden “in Eden”, that is to say that He maintains His rights in the assembly to secure a limited sphere in which He finds His pleasure. I think that this type will help us to consider the assembly in this light, and that should develop in every locality. We find in chapter 3 that the serpent has come into the garden. Paul alludes to this in writing to the Corinthians, in telling them that he had espoused them to one man, to present them to Christ as a chaste virgin, but he feared that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craft, their thoughts should be corrupted and turned aside from simplicity as to the Christ. And so we have in this garden every tree that was pleasant to the eye and good for food, which suggests what the saints must be for the pleasure of God, and also reciprocally for our pleasure. Then there is the tree of life. There is also the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, which shows that God has in view that there would be in the assembly the possibility to discriminate between good and evil, to choose the good and reject the evil. Obviously, the first man was forbidden to touch this tree because he
was not able to take care of such things. He had to wait for the moment when men in Christ Jesus would be introduced, who would be able to see good an evil according to God.
Rem. These things are fully realised in John 20.
A.J.G. Exactly. The Lord said that he placed His confidence in them, and said to them, “whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted to them; whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained”. I am sure that that helps us greatly, because the Lord can find in the saints those who can judge things according to God, without excusing evil, but nevertheless marked by grace.
Ques. How does the garden represent the assembly?
A.J.G. It is the assembly in its local aspect, because it is effectively in our localities that these things are seen. The saints are held together by God, in their beauty and fruitfulness, bearing fruit, loving one another. Christ being the centre of everything, and they themselves having perfect discernment of good and evil. It is a great triumph for God to have down here what is assured in the midst of great confusion.
Ques. Is there significance in the face that Jehovah planed a garden in Eden eastward?
A.J.G. Yes; that finds its counterpart in the first epistle to the Corinthians, where we read in chapter 1: 7, “so that ye come short in no gift, awaiting the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ”. That is what is in view, eastward, “awaiting the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ”, that is to say, the rising of the sun.
Rem. So that God had the end in view from the beginning.
A.J.G. We have to see that in what happened in chapter 1: 2 there had been a challenge to God, and God has faced it in claiming everything for Himself in the assembly, so that the Lord speaks of His assembly as being “my assembly”, and he says that the gates of hades will not prevail against it. That is what makes the local position so important. Even though our local position may be small, each local company must have in view to furnish pleasure to God, and at the same time, in the presence of a world of evil, to testify that God is still maintaining what is His due. We do not want to go straight on to the Song of Songs, but I would simply mention that what is found there shows how the pleasure of God can be maintained by affection for Christ. The Lord has always considered for the God, and if we are
considering for what pleases Christ, guarding each garden as being His garden, the result will be assured, that is to say, what is for God’s pleasure.
Rem. I thought of chapter 2, where it says that the tree of life was in the midst of the garden; but Eve speaks of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, which did not belong in the centre, Christ.
A.J.G. As soon as a restriction was placed on the first man, there was a suggestion, undoubtedly under the serpent’s influence, to want what had been forbidden. That is why Eve associates the tree of the knowledge of good and evil with the central place that God had not given it; that was the tree of life, which was in the midst of the garden, because God had in view life for His own. But for His own glory, He waits for those who also had discernment between good and evil.
Ques. Do we see in the tree of the knowledge of good and evil the thought of God’s commandments?
A.J.G. It was indeed right that God should impose conditions of obedience on His creatures; it is indeed right that man should be placed and maintained in this place of submission. This idea is seen in the Son, who
will subjected to Him who will have subjected all things to Him; not because He Himself is a creature, I do not suggest that at all, but that it is proper to man is taken up in the Person of Christ, and then it is in the assembly that derives from Him. None of God’s thoughts could be realised in the first man. A divine Person had to come into humanity, and then there has been formation in men of His order, by redemption and the gift of the Holy Spirit, so that the assembly in Corinth, in which all these things are developed, is called “the assembly of God which is in Corinth”, and, “sanctified in Christ Jesus”. At the end of the first chapter of the first epistle, it is said “of him are ye in Christ Jesus”. It is only thus, as being in Christ Jesus, that all God’s thoughts can be appreciated and established.
Rem. The whole epistle to the Corinthians is a commandment of the Lord, and if we keep the commandments in a spirit of love, by the Spirit, we are protected from evil. I thought of the verse in Ecclesiastes, “whoso breaketh down a hedge, a serpent biteth him”, Eccles 10: 8.
A.J.G. The commandment is for protection, submission to the commandment protects the creature.
Ques. What do you think about the river? It says that a river went out of Eden to water the
garden, which gives the impression that Eden was more extensive than the garden?
A.J.G. The river is an allusion to the Spirit, watering the garden first, making all that is living in the assembly to prosper, and then going out in the testimony of grace; so that the Spirit came first upon the one hundred and twenty disciples and formed the assembly, giving them life, and then the preaching went out in the testimony of grace, expanding from that point to the whole world.
Ques. Do we have an indication about it in John 14? “If ye love me, keep my commandments. And I will beg the Father, and he will give you another Comforter”.
A.J.G. Obedience is assured first. If ye love me, keep my commandments”; that is what is suited between God and man, between God and His own, and then the Spirit is given to those who are marked by obedience. So we can well see what a great challenge was put to God by
the introduction of evil into the universe. God has met it, but only on a morally fitting basis.
In the epistle to the Romans, the Lord is presented as being the One who is characterised by obedience recovering all that the first man had ruined by his disobedience.
Ques. Eden existed before Jehovah planed a garden. Would you say something more about Eden as such?
A.J.G. I think Eden represents the general idea of the pleasure of God. It is said in Revelation 4, “for thy will they were, and they have been created”. So that it is right that God should find His pleasure in the work of His own hands. But all that is put into question, and God begins everything again in the assembly, in the face even of all the iniquity which is around us. The Lord says, “my assembly”, and He says that the gates of hades shall not prevail against it.
Rem. We have a similar thought to the garden when the Lord says, “I go to prepare you a place”, John 14: 2.
A.J.G. I think that John 14 refers more to
God’s eternal purpose and to what comes into view in the last part of the passage in Genesis. However, before the Lord introduces the Father’s house and the purpose of God, He has said in chapter 13: 31, “Now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in him”. So that God must above all things be glorified as to all that has come in; nothing can be left
unregulated before the introduction of what relates to God’s purpose. So, in the other of the development of the truth, the Lord sends Paul to Corinth, where the truth of the assembly in its local character must be brought out, before sending him to Ephesus where the thought of Gd’s counsel is developed. The introduction of sin has furnished God with the occasion to shine in a special glory, to make known that He cannot be overcome by evil. But He will always overcome evil with good. The glory is established and God is justified as to all that has come in; He has also shown what was in His purpose before the foundation of the world.
Rem. So the thought of the garden is more a local thought, and the house a universal thought.
A.J.G. It is so in the book of Numbers, in one of Balaam’s prophesies, we read in chapter 24:
5, 6:
How goodly are thy tents, Jacob, and
thy tabernacles, Israel!
Like valleys are they spread forth, like
gardens by the river side,
Like aloe-trees which Jehovah hath
planted, like cedars beside the waters.
The garden is really the assembly in its responsibility down here, taking form in different localities. That greatly elevates our thought as to the local position, if we consider that there must be a garden for Jehovah. In spite of all that exists in the world all around us, what is in the assembly according to God must be maintained. The power clearly rests in the Holy Spirit. That is why the river must water the garden.
Ques. Is there an important difference between the thoughts of tilling and guarding?
A.J.G. That is something else. Man is placed in the garden to till and guard it, man at that time comprising man and woman. The Lord has charge of everything in the assembly, but the saints are with Him in the acceptance of responsibility, for the tilling and guarding for the pleasure of God. So every feature of selfishness or independence that might mark us will result in the growth of something else that will not be for God’s pleasure; on the other hand, if we see what God desires among us, and above all unity among us in the power of love one for the other, under the influence of Christ, we can well cultivate that. It is a matter of cultivating what is for God’s pleasure, and also to watch what may be for his displeasure in the garden.
Rem. Apollos is a good help in the garden: “I have planted; Apollos watered”, 1 Cor 3: 6.
A.J.G. There is also the house of Stephanas, who was devoted to the saints for service, for their well-being at Corinth. The house of Stephanas was devoted to the saints for service. I think we can see that the assembly is the foundation of God’s operations on the earth. So it is that the river becomes four great rivers. This will be a general way of alluding to the testimony of grace which goes out in the power of the Spirit. The last great river, the Euphrates, would seem to be what the Spirit is as holding back evil, because the Euphrates is the great barrier between East and West.
Rem. You are alluding to Revelation 16: 12: “the sixth poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates; and its water was dried up”.
A.J.G. The barrier is taken away when the assembly shall have gone, so that evil will be able to penetrate and extend over all the earth. But in the present time, the presence of the Spirit in the assembly is a great hindrance to the development of evil.
Rem. “There is he that restrains until he be gone”, 2 Thess 2: 7.
A.J.G. Then in the Song of Songs, we see how God’s thoughts about the garden can be realised. At chapter 4: 16, the speaker says, “Awake, north wind, and come, thou south; Blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow forth”. Then she says, “Let my beloved come into his garden, And eat its precious fruits”. That very much underlines the importance of each brother and each sister in each locality accepting the responsibilities for conditions which are found in the locality, understanding what the assembly is as belonging to Christ. It is a question of securing the conditions which will be for His pleasure. If these conditions are for Christ’s pleasure, they will be for God’s pleasure, so that divine thoughts will be realised. Exercises must be taken up in the power of affection for Christ. It is this that will produce the Supper each first day of the week.
Ques. Do you make a distinction between individual and collective responsibility?
A.J.G. If one is to take up collective responsibilities, one has to undertake individual responsibilities. Something cannot be produced miraculously from a collective point of view if the individuals themselves are not exercised.
Rem. The idea is presented in the virtuous woman at the end of Proverbs.
A.J.G. She is full engaged with the interests of her husband; she surveys the ways of her household. The speaker here invites the north wind as well as the south wind. Ina general way, one does not like the north wind; and we are put to the test to know if we would invite it to come. But there are certain fragrances that can only be manifested by the north wind, for example endurance, and love bearing all things, so that the north wind is not a disadvantage because it can bring out certain perfumes which are particularly for the heart of the Beloved.
Ques, Do we have the north wind in John 18? “Jesus, having said these things, went out with his disciples beyond the torrent Cedron, where was a garden, into which he entered, he and his disciples”? Then do we have the south wind in John 20, when the Lord manifests Himself to Mary of Magdala?
A.J.G. It is striking that allusion should be made to the garden in John 18. Jesus entered there with His disciples; He often came there, and Judas knew it. He himself entered the garden, that is to say that the enemy himself invaded the garden, but that only brought out the devoted love of Christ in that He says, “If ye seek me, let these go away”.
Ques. Was that the effect of the north wind in the garden?
A.J.G. If the north wind blows, that brings out in the saints what is for God’s pleasure. We can feel that there are discouraging and unhappy conditions in certain localities; but are there those who serve the saints in love, persevering in the truth, supporting everything, hoping all things? If such is effective, there will be a perfume for the heart of Christ which will come out, and He will see to it that, at an opportune moment, the south wind will blow. At the end of chapter 4, what is in view is that the speaker is occupied with the Beloved, “who is come into his garden”, accepting every wind that will produce aromas for His pleasure. The answer on the part of the Beloved is immediate, so that at the beginning of chapter 5, He says, “I am come into my garden, my sister, my spouse”.
Ques. Is the Supper a special occasion for that?
A.J.G. You would say so that the Lord may enter into His garden.
Rem. And to receive what is to His taste.
A.J.G. So that the Lord in Luke 24 comes in and says “Have ye anything to eat?”, that is to say that the Lord would appropriate what there is in the locality: “And they gave him part of a broiled fish and of a honeycomb; and he ate before them”. He only ate a little, so that what the Lord obtains for Himself in each locality is of the same character as is possessed in the whole assembly. It is simply a part of what is found in the whole assembly.
Rem. There is then an appeal to eat and to drink.
A.J.G. It is very touching. The Lord has the right to claim everything for Himself and to appropriate it, and he does so by showing that he appreciates the exercises that are there; but then he would desire to share what He has with his beloved. He says, “Eat, O friends; drink, yea, drink abundantly, beloved ones”. It is an allusion to the way in which the Lord would give us the feeling that we have part with Him in His own joy.
Ques. It speaks of the spices in chapter 4: 16 and the precious fruits. What is the significance of the two?
A.J.G. I think that, in the spices, there is the idea of perfume. It speaks of the Lord as having incense (Deut 33: 10), so that there would be an odour of sweet savour; but then the precious fruit is what can be eaten; they are just suggestive words for what is for the Lord’s pleasure.
Ques. What is the significance of this expression in chapter 1: 6, “Mine own vineyard have I not kept”?
A.J.G. It is something that one sees in the religious systems that are around us. Young believers are set to work. But the great matter is to face local responsibility. “They made me keeper of the vineyards”, that is that one has been put to work, but she has to say, “Mine own vineyard have I not kept”. The great matter is to recognise the responsibility that has been laid upon us in the place where the Lord has set us, and to face it. Later, we might be qualified for every service that the Lord might require.
Rem. The apostle Paul says to the Hebrews that they had become dull in hearing and that they did not have the sense of good an evil.
A.J.G. The different exercises that arise in our localities have in view to develop this faculty of discerning good and evil, to lay hold of the good and reject the evil, and in particular to develop love, for love never fails. The important point upon which the Lord insists at the present time is the great need of love among us. There can be no answer to Christ in power unless the saints are united in love, because the assembly is an entity. It is not a question of certain number of brothers who express their responses, but it is about the assembly as being a single body, and what is produced in the assembly in response to Christ finds expression in the fact that we are together.
Ques. What does the honeycomb suggest?
A.J.G. The honeycomb suggests conditions
of mutuality among the brethren, and the honey is the sweetness that results. Then there is the wine and the milk. The wine would suggest the joy that the Lord Himself has in the occasion which He has furnished.
Rem. Hence the importance of 1 Corinthians 13, and the apostle’s injunction to “Follow after love”.
____________________