THE SERVICE OF ELIJAH (1)
THE SERVICE OF ELIJAH (1)
JT The subject now before us in Elijah is chosen because certain features attach to the prophet, and perhaps will be instructive to us as we look over them. It will be known by those who know the New Testament that Elijah is frequently noticed in it, and in the Old Testament too. For instance in the last chapter of the Old Testament Jehovah said, “Behold, I send unto you Elijah the prophet”. It is hoped in considering the matter that the truth will come into remembrance in the New Testament as well as in the Old, because Elijah is an extraordinary person. He is received up into heaven without dying. He has come. He had come, but now Jehovah promises that he is to come before certain things are to happen. Elijah restores certain things, which ought to be considered too. They are to be restored and Elijah is to do it. It will help us to speak about it.
SMcC Would the fact that the element of mystery enters into the introduction of Elijah and also his being taken into heaven fit with the present time? He is introduced suddenly without any reference to his parents or anything else.
JT There are many items that we shall have to consider as we proceed. It is remarkable that he is introduced suddenly. We are not told who he is at first. “And Elijah the Tishbite, of the inhabitants of Gilead, said to Ahab, As Jehovah the God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, except by my word”. That is remarkable. He is a mysterious man, he appears suddenly and speaks as he is divinely appointed to do; he stands before Jehovah and there is to be no dew or rain without him — remarkable!
LES His name, ‘Whose God is Jehovah’, has a mysterious touch to it. The light of that, the wealth of that in his soul would bear upon his ministry.
JT Just so. We hope the ministry will flow out in our ears, the ministry that the Spirit of God will give us, that it will be clear to us as we proceed. I suppose we could say there is hardly anyone more familiar to us than Elijah.
CCT His position is right, is it not? He says he stands before Jehovah.
JT He says, “As Jehovah the God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand”. Very good.
JMcK Do you think James’s reference to Elijah stands related to what you have in mind? “Elias was a man of like passions to us, and he prayed with prayer that it should not rain; and it did not rain upon the earth three years and six months; and again he prayed, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth caused its fruit to spring forth”. The prayer of a righteous man availeth much.
JT Quite so. He prayed twice.
JMcK I was wondering how our righteousness comes in, in your mind. James says, “The fervent supplication of the righteous man has much power. Elias was a man of like passions to us”.
JT He is assuming it. So that James comes in there, you might say, an instructor for us. Elias was a man of like passions — a brother near to us. He was a natural sort of man, shall we say.
ADS In verse 1 of the chapter it seems to be Elijah speaking, but from then on up to verse 10, the record is by the Holy Spirit. Elijah is referred to in the third person as he and him. Is that significant?
JT Very good. He is the subject of the chapter, “And the word of Jehovah came to him saying, Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the torrent Cherith, which is before the Jordan.
[p. 314] And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the torrent; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there”. So that these are very important items that we have before us. Now the first thing to notice is, “the word of Jehovah came to him saying, Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward”. Why should he turn eastward? Geography comes into the Scriptures. These things are history, history enters into all these things. What happened fifty years ago is important and has a bearing on things now.
JLF Is it true that sometimes God intends the ministry of a servant to be characterised by the time of the ministry?
JT Quite so. Mr. Stoney’s books have been republished. I think we should look into, and understand, his ministry.
SMcC I am thankful for what you say, because there has been a great lack of reading Mr. Stoney’s ministry. Some think that it is all embodied in F.E.R.’s ministry, but Mr. Stoney had his own distinctive line.
JT Quite so. His ministry preceded F.E.R.
SMcC Exactly, and has its own distinctive touch.
JT F.E.R.’s is largely eternal life; Mr. Stoney’s, union with Christ.
AH You were referring a few days ago to the greatness of certain persons brought before us in Scripture, I wondered whether the greatness of this man shines out in verse 1 of this chapter, the Spirit of God recording it so that we should as a result pay great attention to his ministry.
JT That is what is before me.
AH I referred to it not to enlarge on it now, but to lay emphasis in our souls as to the importance of his ministry.
JT I quite go with what you say.
JLF The Lord emphasises that in Luke. He speaks of the days of Elijah and the time of Elisha,
[p. 315] as though these servants give character to the day in which they live. In what a forceful way Elijah speaks here, an absolute word from God!
JT It is authoritative, “As Jehovah the God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, except by my word”. Most remarkable!
JLF I was just wondering if there should not be an exercise with us to regard the authoritative side of the ministry, and to be engaged with what the Spirit brings before us in our own day. The character of the ministry would correspond with the time in which we are living. It speaks of the time of Elijah and the day of Elias, that amounted to more than anything else that may have happened at that time.
S Will you say something further in relation to Elijah’s turning eastward?
JT The points of the compass come in. He was to turn eastward. The east would be exhilarating, it would be an encouraging feature. The points of the compass are often spoken of in relation to the tabernacle in the book of Numbers. East, west, north and south — the points of the compass are important and the Spirit of God uses them. We should notice them too and understand what they mean.
SMcC Would the epistle to the Romans help us in regard to the question of the eastward side? Paul says, “Therefore having been justified on the principle of faith, we have peace towards God through our Lord Jesus Christ; by whom we have also access by faith into this favour in which we stand, and we boast in hope of the glory of God”. I thought that would link with the Pauline side.
JT Just so. So we see further he was to turn eastward, “and hide thyself by the torrent Cherith, which is before the Jordan”. We are told where the torrent is. Then we are told further, “Thou shalt drink of the torrent; and” (notice this remark) “I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there. And he went and did according to the word of Jehovah; he went and abode by the torrent Cherith, which is before the Jordan. And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening; and he drank of the torrent”. That is what he did. He did what he was told, “And it came to pass after a while that the torrent dried up, for there had been no rain in the land. And the word of Jehovah came to him saying, Arise, go to Zarephath, which is by Zidon, and abide there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to maintain thee”. An important word, there is instruction in all this for us, “And he arose and went to Zarephath; and when he came to the entrance of the city, behold, a widow woman was there gathering sticks. And he called to her and said, Fetch me I pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink. And she went to fetch it”. Please read on from verse 11.
WC “And he called to her and said, Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thy hand. And she said, As Jehovah thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but a handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse; and behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son”.
JT Now notice this, how exquisite his words are, “a little water in a vessel”. Notice that. Not only a little water, but it is in a vessel, a vessel in which it is contained. The Holy Spirit has a vessel down here.
ADS Is it not impressive that the word of Jehovah comes to him and he is obedient to the word that comes to him; then the woman is obedient to the word of Elijah?
JT Just so. The hearers are to have their ears open to hear and be obedient.
[p. 317] Rem She was a vessel ready, I was thinking of Lydia in the Acts, “Whose heart the Lord opened to attend to the things spoken by Paul”.
JT She listened to the words spoken by Paul.
CCT She was a widow woman, not just a woman.
JT Scripture is full of such references, “Let thy widows trust in me”, Jeremiah 49: 11. God will help them. They can count on God helping them.
RWS Is the hand in the end of verse 11 worthy of further comment? “Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink. And she went to fetch it, and he called to her and said, Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thy hand”. Would the hand be the thought of a member, just a detail such as the vessel?
JT The hand, that was the vessel used.
SMcC Would we have the manhood of Christ and the Spirit in the type of the meal and the oil in the vessel? I was thinking of these two types, Christ’s manhood here and the Spirit here in the assembly. These are two outstanding features of the dispensation.
JT Now what did you say about the Spirit?
SMcC It says in verse 12, “And she said, As Jehovah thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but a handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse”. I thought the meal in the barrel would suggest the manhood of Christ, and the oil in the cruse the great thought of the Spirit in the assembly.
JT I would go with that.
JLF Is it significant that the oil and the water are each contained in a vessel?
S The prophet refers to a vessel. She speaks of what she has and it is in suitable vessels, nothing is lost.
JT Now look at this. She says “Behold, I am gathering two sticks” — the futility of that, gathering two sticks to prepare something to die with [p. 318] instead of live with. We ought to notice that, “Behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die”. Think of that! The principle of eating is to live, “And Elijah said to her, Fear not; go, do as thou hast said; but ...” notice the ‘but’; “... make me thereof a little cake first; and bring it to me and afterwards make for thee and for thy son”. That is to say she and her son will be taken care of; but do not forget the servant, whoever the servant is, let us not forget him, and see to it that what he says is done and done right, because he is serving God and doing what is right in the eyes of God.
AH Are you suggesting that the word of God coming to us, indicates that what we have and are holding in a clean way will sustain us in life?
JT Very good. And we eat to live, not to die.
AH I was thinking of the brethren walking together in truth through grace, holding the truth in clean vessels, and when that is made use of it will sustain us in life.
JT Elijah will do what is right in the eyes of God and she would be looked after in due time as we will see in a moment. So Elijah says, “Fear not; go, do as thou hast said; but make me thereof a little cake first; and bring it to me; and afterwards make for thee and for thy son”. Now that is an important thing to notice because he is making himself felt. Of course, the servant of God is to be served, but much more important is his service. Verse 14, “For thus saith Jehovah the God of Israel: The meal in the barrel shall not waste” (notice this) “neither shall the oil in the cruse fail, until the day that Jehovah sendeth rain upon the face of the earth! And she went and did according to the word of Elijah”. She is obedient, she did not quarrel with the word of Elijah, not the word of God, but the word of Elijah, the servant of God. “And she, and he, and her house” (notice this wording) “her house”. She has a house — it is not her son that is mentioned — “ate a whole year. The meal in the barrel did not waste, neither did the oil in the cruse fail, according to the word of Jehovah which he had spoken through Elijah”. So that is a remarkable thing and we should all take to heart what God provides for us, and make the servant of God first, and God will provide for us. We may be sure of it.
ADS One is impressed with your remark in connection with the thought of the woman, she was going to eat and die, that was her outlook, but we do not want to have that before us, those of us who are advanced in years.
JT There are several of us like that here and that is a good word for us.
ADS But the ministry of Elijah to her served to change her outlook, so to speak, practically; our outlook is not engaged with death, but beyond that.
JT I do not think we should be occupied with death coming, but the coming of the Lord should be before us. The Lord will come for us.
WC What did you have in mind when you remarked about maintenance? You said that was a big word — maintain thee.
JT Care for us, not only the detail of your food and clothing, but maintain — a big word, we thank God for it. He will maintain us.
JWD Is there any sense in which these matters are linked on with the service today? Is there any sense in which the governmental thought is connected with the service of God today? He had power in prayer, and I was questioning if that came within the range of service today in connection with public events in this world. It says, “As Jehovah the God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, except by my word”. There is a great deal in the world today that is [p. 320] current and I was wondering if we have a share in this kind of service.
EJM Mr. D, is asking if these things have a bearing on us in the present day. You are not bringing out ministry bearing on Elijah’s day, but applying to us today.
JWD Yes, that is what I thought.
JT I certainly think so. We have twenty-five or thirty three-day meetings of this kind in this country a year and these things are having a great effect on the saints of God all over the world, I believe that is so.
RWS The service of God is to go on however terrible the conditions themselves become. The service of God proceeds despite conditions and will proceed until the day in which Jehovah sendeth rain. Verse 14, “The meal in the barrel shall not waste, neither shall the oil in the cruse fail, until the day that Jehovah sendeth rain upon the face of the earth!”. Will not our meetings and the service of God proceed right to the end?
JT I believe that is right, I go with that fully, and we should not forget to look for the Lord to come. The dispensation is about to end and we ought to love His appearing, not only the Lord’s coming, but His appearing in glory.
JK We see Elijah as being cared for; do we not see the servants of God being cared for in our day?
JT Quite so. We hope that there is something of that in this very hall today, that we will be protected. We are being protected and helped.
JK So that there are always those who are vessels in which the Spirit is dwelling who minister to the servants.
JT Just so. So that they may be properly maintained in every sense, not only as to clothes and food, but in travel and all we have to do in serving [p. 321] the Lord.
CCT So on the other side we have in this hall those who receive the word and do it as we have in verse 15. She went and did according to the word of Elijah. So that we should expect a result from the ministry in this hall, an answer in our hearts.
JT Just so. So we have the assurance, “The meal in the barrel shall not waste, neither shall the oil in the cruse ...” (notice, not just the oil, but) “the oil in the cruse fail, until the day that Jehovah sendeth rain upon the face of the earth! And she went and did according to the word of Elijah and she, and he, and her house, ate a whole year”. They ate for a whole year instead of a day or two and then dying. For a whole year she, and he, and her house ate; the dignity of the place is mentioned.
CCT The exercise is not so much her son, but she and he and her house.
JT Just so.
SMcC Would these references in verse 14 to the vessel and also to the house set out in type the dignity of the assembly in a locality? The Lord is helping us as to that, is He not?
JT Just so, days of recovery.
JK Is the way he calls attention to the mighty source also good, “Jehovah sendeth rain” (verse 14)?
JT Just so, Jehovah does it. That we can count on, God will do anything that we need, there will be nothing missing.
EJM I am wondering why the woman comes first at the end of verse 15 rather than Elijah: “And she went and did according to the word of Elijah; and she, and he, and her house, ate a whole year”? Is that consideration important to the one who is acting upon the ministry?
JT Quite so, I would say that.
AH And do you think she might represent the activity of the local company?
JT [p. 322] Quite so.
CCT The object of these meetings, and the ministry given is to see that the service of God is carried through.
EJM What is the thought of the new test that comes to this woman and her house? Is it deeper establishment in her soul in regard to the word of God? Her son becomes ill and eventually dies. She has taken on the truth in verse 16, and proved the word of God to be faithful and in the next verse there is a new test. “It came to pass after these things, that the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, fell sick; and his sickness was so severe that there was no breath left in him. And she said to Elijah, What have I to do with thee, O thou man of God? art thou come to me to call mine iniquity to remembrance, and to slay my son? And he said to her, Give me thy son”. Is this to establish the work of God in our souls?
JT Quite so. She says, “What have I to do with thee, O thou man of God? art thou come to call mine iniquity to remembrance, and to slay my son? And he said to her, Give me thy son. And he took him out of her bosom, and carried him up into the upper chamber”. Notice that, he takes him away from her, away from mere nature.
EJM He does not speak about her iniquity; she speaks about her iniquity. And he brings in the power of God in resurrection.
JT Quite so. In verse 19 it says he took him, that is her son, “out of her bosom, and carried him up into the upper chamber where he abode, and laid him upon his own bed. And he cried to Jehovah and said, Jehovah, my God, hast thou also brought evil upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by slaying her son? And he stretched himself upon the child three times”. I want you to notice what I am saying. He is taking the son out of the woman’s bosom, that is where nature is. He is dying there.
[p. 323] He takes him up to the upper chamber and stretches himself upon him. And he says, “Jehovah, my God, hast thou also brought evil upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by slaying her son? And he stretched himself upon the child three times”. Now that is a wonderful thing and we should notice it — the actual stretching of the prophet on the boy. And then what happens? It says, “And Jehovah heard the voice of Elijah, and the soul of the child came into him again, and he lived”. Now that is a wonderful statement, how life is brought in where there was death.
EJM You remarked earlier in the meeting that we should expect some profit to come from these meetings locally. And it seems to me the exercise in your mind is represented here in the exercise of Elijah. He stretched himself three times and cried to God, and the result of that is life revived in a local assembly.
JT Very good.
EJM Is your idea that we might have exercise before God that life might be produced here?
JT Is life colouring the meeting or is death colouring it, conditions causing death morally among the brethren? That is the question.
EJM Do you emphasise the distinction of the upper chamber as against the bosom?
JT Her bosom represents nature, but he is a man of God. He takes him out from her influence and has him under his own influence. And see what he does. First of all it says, “He stretched himself upon the child three times” (verse 21), “and cried to Jehovah and said, Jehovah, my God, I pray thee, let this child’s soul come into him again! And Jehovah heard the voice of Elijah, and the soul of the child came into him again, and he lived. And Elijah took the child, and brought him down from the upper chamber into the house, and delivered [p. 324] him to his mother; and Elijah said, See, thy son lives”. It is a different house now, life is in the house instead of death. A beautiful thing, “See thy son lives”. Beautiful! Is there any death in Chicago? — life should take the place of it.
EJM I think that is wonderful, and so the end of the exercise is, “And the woman said to Elijah, Now by this I know that thou art a man of God, and that the word of Jehovah in thy mouth is truth”. What I had in my mind is that this passage is exceedingly exercising to all those here who represent local assemblies.
JT So he is called the man of God and had great influence. And the great question is now, are there any men of God in Chicago? where are the men of God? The men of God are great persons.
SMcC In verse 24, “the woman said to Elijah, Now by this I know that thou art a man of God”. Is it only by life in operation in our cities, that we are confirmed in the authority of the ministry and what represents God?
JT That is true. Can we be called men of God? a wonderful title — men of God! Elijah was one, but there are very few called men of God.
RWS “In thy mouth is truth”. Is that the gain of this kind of meetings, positive impressions that we get here that we would not get in the written ministry? In thy mouth, the gain of being here.
JT By God’s mouth.
RWS We get more by being here than by the written ministry. The idea being if you can be here, be here, where the word comes from the mouth.
JT That is really important. The woman recognised the word of Jehovah.
S Would not the stretching of himself upon the child be how our local exercises are to be met, the power of God operating today? Elijah feels [p. 325] things himself and comes into close contact with the condition there.
JT So this chapter is most interesting and powerful because it involves Christ operating. So the main thing at the present time is that He is operating on the principle of life, not on the principle of death.
JLF Do you think this exercise is carried forward into the Acts in connection with Eutychus?
JT Paul went down and fell upon him, an important assembly chapter. In that chapter we have the breaking of bread on the first day of the week.
AH Would you say that the fruit of this exercise of the woman would represent the local assembly making use of the upper chamber?
JT I think so. Great instruction came to the woman because he brought in life, you know, life to her son and brought him down from the upper chamber and into the house. He is in the house now. A great change comes about through these exercises.
AH Do you think the woman might say, I will live in that upper chamber?
JT I think so. She probably drew the attention of others, too, who came to see her, and told them about Elijah and what had happened to her son.
CCT Would you say that the man of God in a locality would keep the saints in the upper room level all the time?
JT That is a word for us. That word is used in the Acts.
WMcK The prophet refers to the soul of the child. I was wondering if the soul suggested the matter of right spiritual feelings, holy inward feelings that come into evidence.
JT The word ‘soul’ is very much used in Scripture. The soul is inward. A surgeon could open up a man, and go a way down, and never find [p. 326] his soul. The word is very effectively used in Scripture and we have to understand what it means — every living soul; it brings us back to Genesis 1.
WMcK You were referring to the Acts. Holy spiritual feelings are coming into evidence now.
JT Just so. Now I was saying, and it is just as well to go back, that you cannot find a man’s soul physically, it is a spiritual matter. We should understand what Scripture says and be able to talk about it.
AH The importance of influence on the spiritual part of a man is seen in that he stretched himself three times on the child.
JT He has influence on him spiritually and physically. He comes in touch with his body, his body has heat in it, it is warm. Paul says of the youth, His life is in him — he has warmth in him, that affects life in the body.
RH These things involve patience — a work of this kind.
JT Quite so. Where you get two it is the idea of testimony, but three is more than testimony; it is power, it is a subjective idea. Seven is a word used and twelve. We should notice how numerals are used in Scripture and use them properly.
CCT Should not the son develop into a man of God like the prophet?
JT Just so.
JK Could we not also give the application of this to the present dispensation? The prophet stretches himself three times, indicating the exercise of soul through which he himself goes.
JT You tell us how these exercises work out in Council Bluffs.
JK I think the Lord is helping us.
LT Life, the testimony of life. I am going there and I would be very thankful to testify to life.
JK I was thinking the Lord helps us in dealing with these things and making them our own, entering [p. 327] into them. He comes in and brings in life, and life is restored, is that not so?
JT Just so.
WC Say a word in closing as to the power seen in the man of God. I notice in your ministry that you have said we should watch closely every scripture, and understand the working of the Holy Spirit. I wondered if we should see that in this chapter.
JT I think it is not only noticed but greatly proved, and we should thank God for that.