THE SERVICE OF GOD TYPIFIED IN EXODUS

^[p. 343] THE SERVICE OF GOD TYPIFIED IN EXODUS

Exodus 19:1-6; Exodus 19:17; Exodus 19:24; Exodus 24: 1 - 18

JT What is in mind is the service of God, and these chapters help, as I hope we shall see. The types in these chapters contain other things, and indeed what stands in contrast to the service of God as we have part in it, for we have come to mount Zion as in contrast to mount Sinai, and to the city of the living God, as over against mount Sinai and the terrors attending the giving of the law. But, making due allowance for all that, there is instruction typically in these chapters for us in having part in the service of God. It will be remembered that Jehovah said to Moses, “Ye shall serve God upon this mountain”; as come out of Egypt they should serve Him on mount Horeb or in mount Sinai, and it should be as sons — “Let my son go, that he may serve me”; so that the divine idea is plainly stated at the outset. Israel was not to be long in the wilderness, in the divine thought, they were just to pass over it to Canaan, but, short as was the passage (it was eleven days’ journey, as we are told later) the service was to begin in the wilderness; it was to begin at the mountain, and the presence of the mountain serves, in the type, to bring out the idea of ascent — of what is on the level at the foot of the mountain and what is above. So that we shall see that Moses immediately goes up, as may be observed in the verses read, “Moses went up unto God, and the Lord called unto him out of the mountain”. Then we find that Moses went back to the people and came back to Jehovah again, and finally Jehovah says to him, “Away, get thee down, and thou shalt come up, thou, and Aaron with thee”; so that the idea of ascent was stressed, that is, the mediator having that liberty, but not the people. Moses is enjoined that they are not to break ^[p. 344] through to Jehovah, they are to remain at the foot of the mountain. Then we have chapters 20, 21, 22 and 23, all occupied with the ten words and the ordinances that attached to them in relation to Israel in the land; these four chapters have to do with the giving of the law in the land, that is, the land being the final thought for us, the wilderness being only incidental, but nevertheless employed to bring out the service of God, that is, it would go on in spite of contrary circumstances. The land contemplated conditions of peace and restfulness, but the wilderness contrary circumstances. So the wilderness position is taken up again in chapter 24, and, instead of Moses and Aaron going up, we have Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu and seventy of the elders of Israel invited to go up. Now all these remarks have in mind the order of events at the Lord’s supper and what follows it.

FW Why do you stress the thought of ascent in the service?

JT It is a principle entering into it. When the Lord instituted His supper, as recorded in Matthew and Mark, the disciples went to the mount of Olives, which was an ascent, after the partaking of the Supper. It is just because of that; of course, with us it is spiritual, not physical.

FW Would it be a progressive matter?

JT I think so. When we come to chapter 24 you will observe that Jehovah enlarges His thought, so to speak; He had specified Moses and Aaron in chapter 19, but the four intervening chapters evidently suggest enlargement and qualification for us, so that a representative number are invited up — Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu and seventy of the elders. If we can follow that line, I think we will get something as to the order of events and procedure in the Lord’s supper and what follows, namely assembly service.

^[p. 345] The first great thought, of course, is God, being brought to God. God says, “I ... brought you unto myself”. And then we have Moses leading the people out of the camp, according to verse 17, to meet with God. That is the first great thought, I think, to get hold of.

SB Moses was to address the house of Jacob and the children of Israel — what is the thought in that?

JT It is a distinction that is carried through Scripture; Jacob, I suppose, alluding to the responsible side of our position, and Israel the spiritual side — the word ‘Israel’ denoting that, taken from the wrestling of the angel with Jacob; Jacob prevailed, which would mean he had spiritual power, and we cannot really participate in the service of God save by spiritual power — the sense of responsibility, on the one hand, and spiritual power on the other hand.

AC Is it after the Supper that this thought of meeting God comes in?

JT I think so. Verse 17 says, “Moses brought forth the people out of the camp to meet with God; and they stood at the nether part of the mount”. There is no ascent yet save as to Moses himself.

TT Is it necessary to take account first of what God has done for us — He has brought us to Himself, borne on eagles’ wings — before we are able to take the ascent?

JT That is how it stands. They encamped before the mountain in the third month, when the children of Israel were gone forth out of the land of Egypt — it is all their doing. Notice the reference to Rephidim, which would be typically our having the Spirit. The Spirit had already come in in the water that sprang from the rock, “They drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ” (1 Corinthians 10: 4) — they had already begun to appropriate Him spiritually.

^[p. 346] Ques Why does it make the statement here that “all the earth is mine”? Is it a similar thought to what we get in 1 Corinthians 10 that “the earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof”?

JT That is a thought that comes into the service of God. You will remember it is mentioned also at the Jordan — “The ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth”; it is God’s assertion of His rights with regard to the heavens and the earth. The heavens should be His; but whether people acknowledge it or not, the earth is His, the service of God begins here; for the moment it is a question of the service.

Ques Is that the force of thinking of the breaking of bread as the Lord’s supper?

JT That is the force of it. It is here below, it is a question of His rights; the Lord’s day is another testimony to it, in spite of being rejected here He has that right, He has a day and He has a place here, an upper room for His service for the breaking of bread.

WSS In regard to verse 17, to which you have alluded, Moses brought the people out of the camp. I gather this is not like the camp in Hebrews or in chapter 33 where the people had sinned and Moses pitched the tent far from the camp and called it the tent of meeting. Is there a contrast in those thoughts?

JT There is. I think here it is what is right and normal. The people pitched in a particular place, Israel encamped there, it is a spiritual encampment, one of the great encampments — they “encamped there before the mountain”, meaning they were in the presence of God and His resources. So that would be our public position — applying it to an ordinary service — our public position is like that. We come together in assembly before the eyes of the world, men and women, brothers and sisters, sitting down — well, that is the public position. Verse 17, I think, means the Mediator’s — that is, Christ’s — activities amongst us, that He would take ^[p. 347] us further.

WSS That is what I had in mind, that verse 17 would suggest a movement from a right position.

JT That is what I think it is. There is no idea yet of the camp as a place to be left, it is when Christ is rejected in the camp that there is a call to leave it, to go outside of it; but that had not happened here, so this might be taken to be an ordinary assembly meeting, like Troas — they were all assembled to break bread.

McC Would their position at the foot of the mountain mean they were ready for further movement?

JT That is the idea, they were not to go beyond that yet, Jehovah made special provision for that”Go down, charge the people, lest they break through unto the Lord to gaze, and many of them perish”; but He says in verse 24, “Away, get thee down, and thou shalt come up, thou, and Aaron with thee”. But when we come to chapter 24 God is making the way for ascent for all the saints, as you might say, in their representatives.

JW The initial place is to be given to Christ as we come together in assembly, is that the bearing of the Lord’s supper?

JT I think that is how Moses comes in here, he is at liberty to go up; it says in verse 3, “Moses went up”. He represents the mediator as having personal rights, as it were typically, and then Jehovah called to him out of the mountain, as if the idea of going up is there to start with, only it is to be reached by the people under given circumstances.

JW The first epistle to Corinthians opens with the thought of the assembly of God, would that correspond with the encampment? Then there are those spoken of who call on the name of the Lord Jesus — Moses has his place in our hearts typically.

JT That is the idea, the mediator would be covered by the thought of the Lord Jesus. “In every place”, too — “both theirs and ours” — it is the universal thought. If we get that into our minds I think we shall see how the idea of ascension comes in; the Lord Jesus has a right to go up being who He is, He is the Son of man which is in heaven, and indeed He says, “I ascend to my Father”. Right through John’s gospel there is the thought of His right to go up, but then, how are we to go up? It is, I think, under the circumstances given in the type here. God gradually becomes more and more complacent as we are brought into accord with the Mediator in ways of obedience and subjection.

B Would that be brought about by giving the covenant its place in the service?

JT It comes in peculiarly in chapter 24; it is reserved for that, that is the covenant in the sense typically of expressing love. The covenant also demands obedience, as we get in chapter 19 and right through in these four chapters I have mentioned, God asserting His rights amongst His own, His right to be loved indeed; and in chapter 20 He says, There are the thousands of those who love Me, and He wants all to love Him and He brings in, in the type, the Hebrew bondman as the Leader in the love. So that that is the meaning, I think, of those four chapters; they refer to the land, because that is what is in mind, but the wilderness is still there and they are in it — it is incidental, but still the service is to begin there, and as the question of obedience is settled, as it is in these chapters, then we have the thought of going up. God says, Now the way has been cleared for the saints to come up, and the Mediator immediately raises again the question of obedience, in chapter 24 and, as the people accept the proposals of God, then he builds twelve pillars and an altar at the foot of the mountain, for that is where the moral matter is settled, it is on the low level. Then the service begins in the youths, the young men ^[p. 349] offering their offerings, and then the volume of blood and the actual ascent by Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu and seventy of the elders. That is the order of the teaching.

WSS This will actually be fulfilled when the law is written in their hearts and minds, so that chapter 24 is really based on that, I take it. Consequently we are in the spirit of it in covenant relations.

JT Yes, it is well to bring in that side — the spirit of the covenant. The law will be written in their hearts and minds in the future. How far they will go up is a question, but there is in it no doubt that thought, for the book of Revelation shows the hundred and forty-four thousand are near enough to learn the song that is sung in heaven, and the names of the sons of Israel are on the gates of the heavenly city. So there is some idea of their going up, but we have to do with the spirit of the things, hence in 2 Corinthians it is said the Lord is the Spirit of the covenant and “where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty”, and we are brought into that liberty, changed from glory to glory in it. That epistle runs on to the idea of the new creation, indeed heavenly ground, we have a house in heaven — all these are items that enter into our service.

AC Would the obedience to which you have referred bring to pass the desire on our part to go up?

JT Well, we become material amenable now for the divine purposes. We would be out of place on high were we not obedient below. Psalm 24 speaks of it, “Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord?” — it refers to persons who are qualified morally.

Rem Will you say a word as to the difference between the “book of the covenant” in verse 7, and the “blood of the covenant” in verse 8?

JT The book would be, I suppose, the transcript of the mind of God, it is the committal on the part of the people. It says in verse 3, “Moses came and ^[p. 350] told the people all the words of Jehovah, and all the judgments; and all the people answered with one voice, and said, All the words that Jehovah has said will we do! And Moses wrote all the words of Jehovah”, as much as to say, now that they have accepted the proposal, it is worth writing, it is the people’s committal to the will of God that implies a writing, it is a testimony now, they have committed themselves to obedience. So we are said to be sanctified “unto the obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ” — it is a fixed matter and therefore a standard. So the blood put on the book would mean all is now ratified on that principle.

WSS Is the obedience here the people’s response to the ministry — it was ministered to them, was it not?

JT Exactly. Jehovah did not tell Moses to do this. Jehovah says to Moses, “Go up to Jehovah, thou and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel; and worship afar off. And let Moses alone come near Jehovah; but they shall not come near; neither shall the people go up with him. And Moses came and told the people all the words of Jehovah”. Jehovah did not tell him to do that; I think it is to bring out the concern of the mediator to have things according to the mind of God — that is what Christ is amongst us. He led them out to the foot of the mountain to meet with God, but now God is giving them more latitude, they are to go up, and Moses represents Christ, that there should be no discrepancy. Moses would have us according to God, as Joseph selected five men to present to Pharaoh; that is his idea, that they should be presentable. So the Lord says, “If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me” — that is His thought. He must do the thing, for He alone knows what is suitable to God.

TT What is the thought in the youths being sent, as regards ourselves?

JT I think it is the freshness of the thing, in the ^[p. 351] beginning of the service. It is not to be in platitudes, which old brothers are very often found using, with little or no freshness, or mere terms, it is a question of freshness in the service — making the application. Aaron is there and he is mentioned in the chapter, not yet made the officiating priest, but he is not the one to offer the sacrifices here, it is a question of freshness in the service.

B So that in Psalm 1 you get one who has God’s law in his heart, and then planted by the rivers of water.

JT Just so.

Rem Would this be like the dew of thy youth?

“In holy splendour: from the womb of the morning shall come to thee the dew of thy youth”, Psalm 110: 3.

JT That is the idea, it comes out at the end of the gospels in the spiritual ability of the disciples.

They were all unbelieving more or less, but still they loved Christ and there was freshness and energy, especially with Mary Magdalene — they were up early.

WSS This is a position in advance of the camp position, but not yet the movement into the mountain.

JT No, it is preliminary, and belongs to the Lord’s supper really, for that is where the covenant appears. It is after the blood of the covenant is brought in they begin to move up. The idea is the fulness of the testimony to love in the volume of the blood.

WSS That is what I had in mind in asking about the ministry, whether for us it is the ministry of the new covenant that brings us into the enjoyment of that love.

JT I think so. 2 Corinthians therefore enters into it very fully; Hebrews is more the terms or law of the new covenant; but 2 Corinthians is an epistle to christians, while Hebrews is to Jewish believers. So in the Corinthian epistle it is the spirit of the thing, so it is in the Spirit we have it, and it ^[p. 352] must be in a more exalted way; so Christ is the Spirit of it and He takes it to the level He sees is necessary, for it is really a medium or an instrument in His hand to make us more ready for Him to take us off the earth in a spiritual way.

SB Has the Lord all this in mind in John 14 when He says, “I go to prepare a place for you”?

JT Yes, and in all those chapters from chapter 13. He asserts in chapter 13, “If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me”; later on He tells them to wash one another’s feet, but He begins with that thought, “If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me”. Chapter 12 begins with, “Six days before the passover”, that is, it was not in relation to any ecclesiastical date or feast. Every Sunday now has something attached to it by the Establishment, whether it be a hundred years ago or today there is something attached to the particular day, but the Lord is saying in John 13 that He is not paying any attention to that sort of thing at all — the Jewish passover is not taken into account, it was not governing Him at all. In chapter 12 it was six days before it — it was not governing Him there, either. So we are left to discern what supper this is; it is hard to say. The truth is, it was not according to any religious date or ceremony, it was a spiritual matter. So they were ceremonially clean to eat the passover, but the Lord is saying, that is not enough now, you need Me; you need Me, too, for this matter — and that is most important for every one of us.

IR Would the cup of the new covenant come in at this juncture before the ascent?

JT That is what you see there, for verses 3 - 8 refer to the interim. The mediator evidently considered that all this was necessary before the ascension begins. I think this is all most important for us as to assembly service. So that in 2 Corinthians the Lord is the Spirit of the covenant; it seems to be brought ^[p. 353] in there as an instrument in His hand for the perfecting of the saints for the service of God, so that we are changed from glory to glory as by the Lord the Spirit — He does it, He is doing it; and that is what Moses is doing here, preparing them for the ascent.

TT Is there a suggestion in verse 8 that we should dwell on this truth and not hurry past it? He says, “Behold the blood of the covenant”.

JT Quite so. Moses took the blood (in verse 8) and sprinkled it on the people (notice that) and said, “Behold the blood of the covenant that Jehovah has made with you concerning all these words”. So that you can see the striking place the covenant has; in 2 Corinthians it arose from the idea of a letter of commendation; that is, Paul is questioned as to whether he should not have a letter of commendation, but he shows he did not need it, because he loved the brethren and he showed he loved the brethren in the way he spoke of them. So much did he love them that they were written on his heart as suggestive of the high priest’s breastplate; and if any brother has a heart like that with the names of the saints written on it, he does not need a letter of commendation. So it is a question of fitting the saints in the way of love for ascent.

JW He speaks in chapter 8 of proving the genuineness of their love in the matter of giving, would that find expression on the Lord’s day morning as the Lord takes us in hand?

JT I think that is the most important thing, the Lord taking them in hand. He took their feet in His hands and He said, “If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me”, so the change is by the Lord the Spirit.

Ques You spoke in another place as to the lack of power for what we might call a spiritual silence — would you suggest that in a movement ^[p. 354] of ascent there would be a moment of spiritual silence in power before?

JT Well, I think that fits nicely, it is really a question of spiritual power. And so here it says (in verse 9), “Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel went up” — they are doing it themselves, and what may be helpful to us is to point out that after they go up and after they see the God of Israel and after they had eaten and drunk in liberty before Him owned as nobles, stress is laid on Moses going up by himself, to bring out, I suppose, the personal dignity of Christ. Joshua is mentioned, but he is only his minister. You have the actual mountain now mentioned; it is mentioned earlier but only to build the pillars at the foot of it, but now you have the actual mountain mentioned several times. “Jehovah said to Moses, Come up to me into the mountain, and be there” — that is the mediator. Then we have later the glory of Jehovah and Moses going up (verses 15 - 18). Now that is, to my mind, very remarkable because in the idea of ascending there is nothing said about where they are going as to a place, it is the idea of going up and worshipping, it is a spiritual matter; but in the case of Christ He is in the place, it is His proper place personally. But they go up and they see the God of Israel — it is just going up in regard of the elders.

SB Seeing the God of Israel is a wonderful thing; might it include the thought that we have all the saints in our affections previously?

JT No doubt. I suppose the elders are representative here. They see Him in His own circumstances, I think, in the type, it is the idea of our going up in a spiritual way for a moment, whereas Christ’s place is permanent — “Be there”, is said to Moses.

Ques Are Nadab and Abihu and the seventy elders a distinct company from the nobles on whom he laid not his ^[p. 355] hand?

JT I do not know whether it is not a question of them all, it is an item in our understanding in the service of God that, as ascending and being there with God, we are ennobled, we are viewed differently from what we are down below.

Rem Would it correspond with the desire of the Lord in John 17 that we should be with Him where He is?

JT Yes, quite so, being with Him where He is is more permanent, I think, applying to the future when we are at home in glory. The actual place is not stressed at all in regard to their going up, only Moses and the mountain is then mentioned several times. I think room has always to be made for Christ’s supremacy — He is made higher than the heavens. We do not go higher than the heavens, that would be beyond the created realm, that belongs to Christ. Paul, I suppose, went to the limit of our part — the third heaven, that is the full thought of heaven for the creature.

Rem So as the saints go up to this position they can appreciate the place Christ is in and in the sense of that, in their spirits they can worship.

JT Quite so, He is always anointed above His fellows.

TT John in the Isle of Patmos was impressed by the greatness of the Person of Christ, and afterwards he was caught up — would that fit in?

JT Quite so. “Come up here” — he belongs to the assembly, really, and the living creatures are there.

McC In verse 10 it says, “They saw the God of Israel”, but then in verse 11 it says, “they saw God”. Does seeing God suggest a further thought?

JT I think it does; “the God of Israel” is a relative title: “God” is more absolute, so far as we may grasp that thought.

JRH Regarding the greatness of Moses, would ^[p. 356] it be seemly to address the Lord Himself as to His greatness at this juncture in the Supper?

JT At the Supper it would in relation to the covenant, but in reaching God, reaching the Father, the Lord is viewed in Scripture as on our side, because He leads us, He is the Leader of our salvation made perfect through sufferings — He is on our side. I doubt the intelligence of anyone addressing the Lord after we have reached God, because that is the great ultimate in the service — God. We recognise that Christ has a distinct place as He is here in Moses going up, but still Moses is on our side, he is the mediator and more particularly the minister of the sanctuary; for Aaron is not yet officiating, all is in the hands of Moses.

TT Would you say that in ascending everything becomes very clear to us? — “as ... the form of heaven”, it says, “for clearness”.

JT Quite so.

WSS In regard to what you were saying in connection with addressing God, does “they saw God” include Moses as suggesting the Lord leading us to the position?

JT Yes, then his own distinction is stressed rather, because that is his place, “Come up to me into the mountain, and be there”, Jehovah says, that is his own characteristic place. We do not stay there, we are there for a moment in service and worship and enjoy the liberty there and see everything clearly, but he is to be there and remain there for forty days.

Rem Would it be suggestive of the cloud that overshadowed them in Luke 9?

JT Somewhat — He is supreme. Peter would have had three tabernacles, but the voice said, “This is my beloved Son: hear him”, that would correspond, I think, with Moses’ place here, so that Peter says of it, “Having been eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received from God the Father honour and glory,

^[p. 357] such a voice being uttered to him by the excellent glory: This is my beloved Son, in whom I have found my delight; and this voice we heard uttered from heaven, being with him on the holy mountain”, (2 Peter 1: 16 - 18); they were with Him, but then the majesty was there, too — His own distinctiveness.

SB What would be the thought in eating and drinking?

JT I think the liberty of enjoyment, eating and drinking, speaks of enjoyment. It would be that they had liberty to do that, they are not restrained, they are not in fear up there; that is the suggestion in it, I think. Of course, you might say, What did they see? Well, they saw the God of Israel. We are told no one has seen or can see God, so we must come back to Christ, how He is discerned, “He that has seen me has seen the Father”, says the Lord; They are distinct Persons although the One is known in the Other.

AC You have given us a great deal to ponder on in regard to the Mediator; some of us have had rather different thoughts as to this.

JT We are getting hints as to the service of God in these scriptures, because Moses is not properly the minister of the sanctuary, he is the mediator: Aaron is a type of the minister of the sanctuary; but the Lord embodies both, He is the Apostle and High Priest of our profession.