HUSBANDRY

2 Chronicles 26: 10; Genesis 2: 8-10; 1 Corinthians 3: 6-9

A.B.P. I have been struck with this comment in regard of Uzziah that "he loved husbandry". Why such a thing as that should be mentioned leads us to consider the sense of values that Ezra had as he wrote (for we believe it was Ezra who wrote the Chronicles), tracing the history of the work of God and viewing things from the standpoint of what was recovered from Babylon. He was privileged to see and have part in that recovery and was able to give us its history. He writes not merely in a historical way but pursues the main line that God brought through and in doing so gives us this interesting comment that Uzziah loved husbandry. Uzziah in the main did what was right. Latterly however he was lifted up in his heart and forced himself in the service of God and was smitten with leprosy. Up to that time however his history was commendable and it is said of him that "he loved husbandry". It does not say that he loved cattle although he had much cattle, but he loved husbandry. It is a feature that the Lord will support in the day of recovery.

To open up what is in mind I have suggested Genesis 2 and also Paul's reference to husbandry in his letter to the Corinthians. If the Spirit is free amongst us, something should open up and develop which will be of help.

J.M. Will you tell us just what you understand by husbandry?

A.B.P. It is set out pre-eminently in God. The Lord Jesus could say "I am the vine, and my Father is the husbandman", John 15 :1. It relates to skill and care in the development of vegetation or planting, having growth and fruit in view. It has to do with placing the saints in proper relation to local responsibility and privilege, and nurturing them and seeing that they grow and become fruitful. There are various exercises connected with it. The Father purges the vine in view of it bearing fruit. Adam was told to till and to guard the garden. It had already been planted and watered. At Corinth Paul planted and Apollos watered. What we have set out in Genesis 2 is like the embryo of the truth, the planting and causing to grow, then the watering and then what flows out from the garden. The garden is not the terminus exactly. The sounding out from the assembly of the truth of the testimony in the glad tidings is important. At Pentecost the preaching did not commence until the assembly was formed.

J.M. In John 17 (v 12) the Lord Jesus says, "Those thou hast given me I have guarded, and not one of them has perished". Would that enter into it?

A.B.P. Yes. Naturally, we are inclined toward what is military. We like to think of David the great warrior, and of his exploits, which is all right in its place, but there is something relating to husbandry which, I think, has a very important bearing on the prosperity of the local company.

A.A.B-n. Does it imply the idea of labour – “The husband must labour”, 2 Tim 2: 6?

A.B.P. Yes. It was not intended that Adam should be negligent nor that he be overworked. Earning his food by the sweat of his face was because of sin having come in. Paul says that he planted and Apollos watered. This would suggest responsibility for husbandry in relation to a local company. Although Paul was in Thessalonica only three sabbaths he knew he left behind in that locality a garden which had been planted and watered but into which he feared the tempter might come. I think he had in mind the garden in Genesis 2 and what had been planted in Thessalonica when he said that he feared "lest perhaps the tempter had tempted you and our labour should be come to nothing", 1 Thess 3: 5. Evidently he considered the local company at Thessalonica as the establishment of a garden according to God in the midst of idolatrous chaos. He had linked their souls by the Spirit with the Father. Thereby the provision was made for the river to flow into the garden. Also there was the word of the Lord flowing out from Thessalonica "not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but in every place your faith which is towards God has gone abroad" (v 8). Husbandry is not front page activity. The gardener never gets headlines in the papers, yet there is something that results from his steady labours and the increase that God gives. If there is to be fruit for God, with every tree bearing fruit, there needs to be "patient continuance of good works” Rom 2: 7.

H.F. John was referred to as one of the "sons of thunder", Mark 3: 17, He refers to the garden in chapter 19: 41. Would he be looking for fruit as he wrote his gospel, conscious of the breakdown but that God is still looking for fruit?

A.B.P. I would think so. He says "These are written that ye may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing ye might have life in his name" , John 20: 30, 31. His gospel has in view the development of features of life. Unless life dominates a garden it is no garden really. Life expresses itself in beauty, in fragrance, in fruitfulness, as well as in many other ways.

Jn.M. Growth and building seem to be often connected, do they not?

A.B.P. Remarkably so. "Ye are God's husbandry, God's building". Then Paul speaks of himself as a wise architect, as though he would stress the feature of construction.

Jn.M. Does that suggest that the permanency of what the building speaks of would be maintained in life?

A.B.P. I would think so. Paul was not satisfied that the mind should rest only on the construction idea, because that does not give the idea of life. When he refers to the temple in Ephesians he indicates that it increases to a holy temple in the Lord.

A.A.B-n. Is it significant that the tree of life is in the midst of the garden?

A.B.P. Yes, that is the idea. When Eve diverted she said that the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was in the midst of the garden. When Christ ceases to be our centre we are exposed to the enemy. The tree of life had been available for appropriation but mercifully man had not partaken of it. Had he done so, having sinned, it would have been a terrible thing. The garden was planted in Eden eastward. That is not exactly the presence of God. The river flowed out of Eden, suggesting what flows out from God. The garden was eastward, denoting that it was toward the sun-rising. All God's thoughts looked forward to the incoming of Christ. But the river flowed from Eden into the garden to water it, giving us a very basic principle of the way in which life amongst the saints is sustained in freshness.

T.M. Conditions in Eden were very favourable but conditions in regard to Uzziah were not so favourable. Had you something in mind as to that?

A.B.P. The chaos of Genesis 1 had to be met before the garden could be planted. Thessalonica was a sphere where Paul was persecuted, where idolatry prevailed and religious hatred animated the general population so that Paul had to leave the city. What was accomplished in the short time he was there is amazing. When he writes his first epistle he speaks of the saints there as "in God the Father" (chap 1: 1), indicating that the flow from Eden was coming into the garden. And he speaks also of the report that had gone out from them, which was like the river being divided into four main streams, and the testimony going out from them in a remarkable way. We do not have today the conditions provided for man at the beginning, save as we are linked on with what has gone before. "Others have laboured, and ye have entered into their labours" John 4:38.

T.M. It says of Uzziah that he "digged many cisterns" in the desert, as if the idea of water would be prominent with him.

A.B.P. There is a figure of dry, barren conditions being made fruitful through the work of the Spirit. The cisterns suggest the availability of the water-table. The river flowing out from Eden suggests the free flow of the heart of God in a ministry by the Spirit. Then there is the idea of the early and latter rains indicating refreshment from heaven. It would be a real exercise to dig cisterns. That may relate to the labour and skill with which it is possible to make contact with the work of God in persons, bringing the Spirit's work into evidence. Husbandry normally does not employ irrigation; that is necessary where the needed water is not available.

J.M. In Colossians 1 Paul refers to their bearing fruit and growing. Is that the result of husbandry at Colosse?

A.B.P. As far as we know, Paul had not been at Colosse, but someone had laboured there. Paul's prayer for the Ephesians was that they may be "rooted and founded in love", Eph 3: 17. It would seem as though the basis for verdure and fruitfulness is "love amongst yourselves", John 13 :35.

A.A.B-n. You are speaking of the local assembly and conditions in which life can manifest itself and growth proceed normally. God provides the good ground but would the growth imply a certain atmosphere?

A.B.P. Yes. Mr Raven taught us that there must be suited conditions for life. There must be atmosphere, sunshine and refreshment. These conditions are experienced as we are together; individually we either contribute to or detract from those conditions. Peter speaks of living stones, such stones do not grow, exactly; life in them is seen in that they move into place: "to whom coming", 1 Pet 2: 4. The idea of husbandry is that you look for growth. You plant and till the ground expecting something to mature and develop and bear fruit to God. A vineyard provides what makes glad the heart of God and men.

H.F. Why do you think so much of the garden comes into the Song of Songs?

A.B.P. I suppose from the stand point of growth and increase to provide what is pleasing. The lilies are referred to, and the spices; and then the north wind blowing upon the garden, for discipline may be necessary are to develop flavour. We know that with certain nuts the frost gives the final ripening touch; but generally speaking the conditions for growth in garden life would be warmth, sunshine, tilling. Tilling of the ground is important to preserve the moisture, otherwise the plants may lack moisture. You break up the top soil to prevent cracking of the surface and evaporation of sub-surface moisture from the water-table.

A.A.B-n. All that would imply skill. Paul laboured in Thessalonica, in Ephesus and Corinth, and his feelings and skill were engaged. Once the ground is prepared the moisture must be preserved so that the Spirit would be free and the growth come into evidence.

A.B.P. The preservation of the water-table is as important as the rain. Watering may suggest the Spirit's ministry, which is precious, but if there is surface watering only the roots develop near the surface, there is a shallowness which is not good. If the soil is hard and impenetrable the roots cannot get down to where the moisture is. Good soil is needed; we must be "rooted and founded in love", Eph 3: 17. Where such soil is available the roots can go down and get the benefit of the water-table. If we are living on what we get in the meetings, and not maintaining our inward links with the blessed Spirit, we will get nothing directly from the Scriptures by the Spirit; our roots will not be deep and we may be easily turned aside in times of difficulty.

J.M. It says in Proverbs "Much food is in the tillage of the poor", chap 13: 23. Getting something for ourselves involves labour in the way of tilling, does it not?

A.B.P. That is what we are trying to say. The poor may not be able to buy their needed food and may be dependent on what they can develop in their gardens. They labour with a view to getting an abundant result from their labours. If we feel our poverty we shall seek the help of the Spirit; we will send our roots down that there may be growth and development with us.

A.A.B-n. A good root-structure is necessary. The water-table is sub-surface water toward which the roots go for moisture. It would be touching the Spirit, but on our side it involves exercise to get down.

A.B.P. The figures which we have typifying the Spirit are abundant – wells, springs, rivers, lakes and seas, but this matter of the water-table, I think, is very little understood. Some years ago a man who had to do with the provision of water for various cities mentioned that in Israel the water-table is probably the lowest of any known part of the world.

J.M. This expression ‘water-table’ is a new one to us: perhaps you will say more about it.

A.B.P. In the farming areas plenty of snow during the winter is desirable for when it thaws in the spring the water is absorbed into the ground. Sometimes the spring thaw is very sudden, causing floods, but the ground, generally, is benefitted by the absorption of the water, providing ample sub-surface water or watertable. Conditions therefore are good for crops when there has been plenty of snow and a slow thaw. The water-table keeps the ground moist, the roots work down to get the moisture and the crops can withstand longer periods of dry weather.

J.A.B. The scripture in Chronicles speaks of husbandmen on the mountains and in Carmel. It would not be normal for what you are speaking of to be found in higher places, would it? Will you say why the mountains and Carmel are mentioned in connection with husbandry.

A.B.P. Vines, particularly, grow on hillsides. In some places the hillsides are terraced to make them useable for that purpose. I think that the point is to contrast this area with the general verdure of the lowlands where the cattle graze. The hills would suggest that the working out of these things is not on the level of human thinking but a more exalted phase of truth a level which is above the ordinary mind.

J.A.B. It would mean extra work and skill to practice husbandry on the mountains.

A.B.P. It is much simpler to grow wheat on the prairies where the land is flat and one can plough for a mile without turning. But what is in mind, particularly in the passage in Genesis, is individuality. Brethren together are not just a mass but persons each of whom has a distinct and individual spiritual personality. What skill would be used by Jehovah Elohim in planting the garden eastward in Eden! He would have specimen plants and all set in relation to one another to let them be seen at the greatest advantage. We should be able to recognise the distinctive character of the work of God in one another. It is a test to us as we come together on Lord's Day morning. We sit down in the meeting room and look round at the brethren; you link on with the work of God. We are not just a congregation. We come together in assembly which means that we are found together in one entity. Our link with one another is with the work of God. So we should know one another and the work of God in one another.

J.S. It refers to every tree pleasant to the sight and good for food. Are they two aspects which we would make the most of in one another?

A.B.P. Yes, there would not be one brother or sister that you do not want to see there. All are pleasant to the sight. If we have feelings against one another we are not pleasant to the sight. As I look round on the brethren I say to myself, I know that brother is real, he has stood in critical times, there is a firm work of God in him and I can link on with that. Another brother comes in and I think to myself, he was very unsteady for a while but the Lord reached him and touched something in him, and he has gained through the experience; I find I have a link with him. It is thus that you can esteem each of the brethren better than yourself. You find that there is some feature of God's workmanship which has been developed far better in him than it has been in you. So that esteeming others better than yourself if not mock modesty, it is a real thing. And once we do it, and link on with the distinctive work of God in one another, the atmosphere and the fragrance of the garden which is delightful to heaven develops.

H.F. ls that the condition into which Christ can come and be found in His uniqueness, like the apple tree among the trees of the wood?

A.B.P. I think so. I think that is the way to it. It is not just what a brother may say in the meeting, it is what he is. Of course what he is will find expression in what he says and it will carry weight, and will encourage and help the brethren.

Jn.M. The Lord says, It is my garden, "I am come into my garden", Song of Sol 5: 1. That is very encouraging, is it not, the result of all the exercise and the tilling? There is due recognition of what God has done but the Lord claims it as His own.

A.B.P. Paul planted, Apollos watered but it was God who gave the increase. Paul did not say 'my garden' in Corinth. It would be distinctly the Lord's garden; and when under the Lord's direction Apollos went to Corinth he did not root up what Paul had planted and say that they should have been planted elsewhere. He recognised the skill of the planter and furthered the work by watering. Paul laid the foundation which is Jesus Christ: "For other foundation can no man lay besides that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ", 1 Cor 3: 11. Then Apollos came. Watering may suggest that he ministered as to the Spirit. One servant was not offsetting the work of another. After Apollos left Corinth there would be no brethren saying, Paul ministered here extensively but Apollos thinks differently from the way he does. What Apollos ministered would stimulate and cause further growth in what Paul had taught.

Jn.M. Each would leave his own particular impress.

J.S. There was no question as to the result of Paul's labours in Corinth, but evidently they were not maintaining the idea of husbandry; some were neglecting it. Would those households to whom Paul refers be maintaining the practical matter of care and husbandry?

A.B.P. The household of Stephanas had addicted themselves to the service of the saints. They not only invited the brethren to the house and gave them a good meal occasionally but undoubtedly they were devoted to the maintenance of spiritual life amongst the brethren wherever they could. What Paul wrote in the first nine verses of his first epistle was not merely abstract. It is abstract in one sense; but there was a concrete expression of it in Corinth though submerged by much fleshly activity.

J.M. What we have in chapter 13 is said to be like a picture on the wall, yet there was evidently love there in some. He says to them at the end of the book "Let all things ye do be done in love" (1 Cor 16: 14) as if there was that element there that could be taken account of.

A.B.P. Undoubtedly there was. Benjamin was but a lad; he was not a dominant figure in the family like Judah and Reuben and others; but matters in Genesis 43 could not be worked out without Benjamin. Benjamin was at Corinth but he was not in prominence. Paul knew Benjamin was there; it was his link with Corinth. And he knew the Lord was there, He was there judicially. The fact that many among them were weak and infirm, and a good many had fallen asleep, was very encouraging to Paul because it was the evidence that the Lord was there. The bush was burning but it was not being consumed.

H.F. You have related some of this to Thessalonians. When Paul desires that God might wholly sanctify them, and that their whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless, is that like the keeping of the fruit? After the tilling the fruit comes, but it must be kept for the divine pleasure.

A.B.P. That is interesting. It is very fine when things remain with us. Fruit in its season is right, but there is such a thing as preserving, like the raisin cakes, so that in season and out of season the sweetness is available.

A.H. Do we see fruit in Acts 13, in the working of the men there so that the Spirit is free?

A.B.P. Yes. For a whole year Paul and Barnabas taught in the assembly. That would be like the nurture and care of the husbandmen, and the fruit would be seen in that they were called Christians t here. I think that fruit, in a general way, bears upon the service of God.

A.H. The freedom of the Spirit would be based on the links that they had with one another, would it not?

A.B.P. Yes, the Spirit said, "Separate me now Barnabas and Saul". They were bound together spiritually in such an intimate way that the Spirit has to say "Separate".

A.A.B-n. The company (Acts 21: 1), including women and children, from whom Paul had to tear himself away, would indicate a condition of this kind, where love is in evidence, particularly in attachment to the vessel of the testimony.

A.B.P. Yes. What would the children know? It would be instinct with them but the brethren would know that the hands of Paul had laboured and that day and night he had served in every house. Who of us can say that we have been in every house of the brethren in our locality? It is easier to do it now than it used to be because we do not have so many houses. Evidently Paul did not miss a house and it would seem that he wept in each one of them. With what sympathetic understanding would he help with the problems that were faced householdly. Paul would enter into things in detail with them and would weep with them over their problems. And when he would leave, although their faces would still be wet with their tears, they would say, What a wonderful time we have had! Their roots would be finding depth in the soil of love. What a service he rendered! No wonder they wept when he left.

 

Grangemouth

2 May 1974

 

A.A.B-n A.A.Brown; J.M. James Munro; T.M. Tom Munro; H.F. H.Fentiman;
Jn.M. John Munro; A.B.P. A.B.Parker.