THE INHERITANCE
[p. 187] THE INHERITANCE
Deuteronomy 11: 10 - 15; Deuteronomy 14: 22, 23
The Old Testament is a great help to us because it presents things in a form which, according to the wisdom of God, is divinely suited to convey the truth to us, while presenting it in a way that exercises our spiritual understanding. I have no doubt that the scriptures we have read, and indeed Deuteronomy as a whole, were written primarily for us and not for Israel. When I say primarily, I mean that we who are God’s people at the present time are the first to get the good of this book. No doubt Israel will get the good of it later on in great measure, but we take precedence over them in getting the spiritual gain of it. It is the word of God to us. “For as many things as have been written before have been written for our instruction” (Romans 15: 4).
What was before me at this time was that we might look at certain things which stand in relation to the place where Jehovah causes His name to dwell. These things represent exercises which have a result for the pleasure of God when His people are gathered together according to divine ordering. The things which I refer to at present were obligatory; no Israelite could disregard them; and neither can we disregard what they typify without disregarding the claims of divine love, and what is for our joy and the pleasure of God. The tithes might occupy us this evening, and another time, if the Lord will, we might consider the firstlings, and then the three feasts of chapter 16 — the passover, the feast of weeks, and the feast of tabernacles. These five things represent things which are obligatory upon all saints viewed as in the inheritance of God, and in the enjoyment of its wealth.
[p. 188] Many things are left by God to the free affections of His people. He puts no restriction on the liberty of those affections; He gives unlimited scope to bring burnt-offerings, sacrifices, heave-offerings, vows, voluntary offerings, choice vows. See chapter 12: 6, 11. All these things can be rendered as love prompts them. But the five things I have referred to are not so left; they represent things which are essential to the service and pleasure of God, and which are not to be omitted. There is what may be called an irreducible minimum, and it becomes a definite exercise that we should not fail to render it. The tithes were to be eaten in the place where Jehovah caused His name to dwell; the firstlings were to be eaten there; and the passover and the feast of weeks and the feast of tabernacles were to be observed there. There was no exception for any Israelite; all were under obligation to respect these things; they were essential to the pleasure of God in His people. If we do not take up what answers spiritually to these things we shall fail to minister to the pleasure of God, and we shall lose much joy which God would put into our hearts.
We need not think that this is going to wear a legal aspect, or to make demands which there are no resources to meet. We shall find that in every detail it is enriching, enlarging, satisfying and joy-giving. For it is all brought about by divine love and divine giving, and it all tends to God finding satisfaction in having us before Him with our joy full. The only law that operates in the land is the perfect law of liberty; the only bondage that is known there is captivity in the chains of love. There is no Egyptian toil; all is under the sweet influence of heaven.
The people of God are viewed here as having come into the inheritance, and it is of the greatest importance that we should accustom ourselves to consider that we have our portion in the inheritance. We should all be prepared to accept that as the thought of divine love for us. We get the inheritance purely by the love and calling of God. It is well for us to [p. 189] see clearly the difference between the conditions which are set forth typically in the wilderness and those which pertain to the land. The wilderness is not a place of rest; things are not very agreeable there, though we prove the resources and sufficiency of divine grace in those conditions. Viewed as in the wilderness we prove the love of God and the love of Christ; we recognise there the lordship of Christ and the presence of the Spirit, and we may enjoy a great deal of grace and blessing; we may take up the privilege there of coming together to eat the Lord’s supper. But all that, great as it is, is not the full pleasure of God’s love for us. He has something else in His heart for us, and that is the inheritance, something which lies entirely outside wilderness life. We get the inheritance by the gift and appointment of the One who bestows it in love upon us. No amount of desire would secure to me the inheritance of some wealthy person. I could only get it by his appointment or by being his heir. I could say to the youngest and feeblest believer that long before he was born, God had prepared the inheritance for him. We were born anew and redeemed by the precious blood of Christ that we might possess the inheritance which the love of God designed for us. It is as much in the mind and heart of God that we should receive and enjoy the inheritance as that we should receive remission of sins. Jesus glorified sent Paul to the Gentiles “that they may receive remission of sins and inheritance among them that are sanctified by faith in me” (Acts 26: 18).
The inheritance is the fruit of the love of God. John says, “See what love the Father has given to us that we should be called the children of God”. And Paul in writing to the Colossians says, “Giving thanks to the Father, who has made us fit for sharing the portion of the saints in light”. That is the inheritance. It is beautiful to contemplate it as it is described in Deuteronomy 11: 10 - 12. “A land which Jehovah thy God careth for; the eyes of Jehovah thy God are constantly upon it, from the beginning of the year even unto the end of the year”. There is a sphere of blessing and of joy [p. 190] which is so precious to the heart of God that He cares for it, and His eyes are on it perpetually. Such is the inheritance that He has allotted to us in sovereign love. It is the full thought of divine favour for men, the wealthy places of blessing in Christ, in whom all the rich thoughts of God have been secured. The love of God ever cherishes the inheritance for us and cherishes us for the inheritance; the youngest believer is entitled to take that home to himself in all its blessedness. Persons who are heirs to a great inheritance usually think a good deal about it, but what inheritance can be compared to ours? If God cares for it, and His eyes are constantly upon it, we may well care for it, and have our eyes upon it. We are not incompetent to take it up; the Father has made us fit — or competent — to take it up, in the divine nature. According to Ephesians we have “obtained an inheritance, being marked out beforehand according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his own will, that we should be to the praise of his glory”.
It is purely a question of God’s sovereign love, and of where it has given us our portion.
It is clear that what love gives can only be taken up and enjoyed by love. The conditions on our side are an obedient ear and a heart that loves God. All the ministry in the world would not help us if we lacked these things. But one is comforted to know that saints have an ear, and they love; it is the result of the work of God in them. There is everything about the inheritance to make it supremely attractive. God would allure us; it is a matter of intense concern to Him that we should be attracted by the thought of the inheritance, that we should care for what He cares for, and that our eyes should be on the things that His eyes are upon. Israel fell because they did not hearken to the word which spoke to them of the inheritance — the promised land. What a comfort it is to know that the children of God have an ear and a heart by the work of God; one feels comforted in speaking to the saints as counting on the work of God in them.
[p. 191] In Egypt they watered the seed with the foot; there was great labour with small results; that is like the religious world today, much labour but small results spiritually. What marks the land which is before God for His people is that it drinks water of the rain of heaven. God works in His people; they are begotten of Him and He works to produce an ear and a heart so that they love Him. There are persons in this world who are interested in the inheritance; the things of God take the first place with them and predominate over all natural and self interests. Wherever it is so it is by the work of God. Then God gives the early and latter rain. These are the conditions of fruitfulness in the inheritance on God’s side. The early rain comes to prepare the ground, and to start the growth of crops, and the latter rain falls to bring things to maturity. If there are with us the ear and the heart which we have referred to, God will most surely give rain. He will give ministry from heaven that will promote fertility, and the maturing of the spiritual crops. I think we might see an application of this in a general way and regard the early rain as typical of the ministry of the apostles. The ministry of the apostles was like the early rain to start things, at the beginning, but we are in the days of the latter rain. God is giving a ministry now to bring His pleasure to maturity in His people; surely none of us want to miss the gain of that. There are showers of latter rain falling on the inheritance at the present time in order that every thought of God for the spiritual enrichment of His saints may be brought to maturity ere the Lord returns. The latter things with God are greater than the former, and the glory of the latter days is greater than the former. Amos 9: 13 in referring to the latter days says, “The ploughman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed”. That shows the extraordinary fruitfulness of the inheritance; the crops could be so heavy that the fields could not be cleared by the reapers before the ploughman was ready to come in and prepare for the next crop! It gives us an extraordinary impression of the fertility [p. 192] of the inheritance. There is never any need, under such conditions, for the ground to lie fallow. Then why should we labour for things which do not satisfy, when we can eat in abundance what is so good, and let our souls delight themselves in fatness (Isaiah 55)?
The wealth of the inheritance is available for us now if God has wrought in us the desire and delight to listen to what he has to say about it. The Lord said, “He that has an ear, let him hear” — He assumed that there would be persons who had an ear. It is true of all the holy and faithful brethren in Christ that there is early and latter rain for them. God gives every one of us some early rain; He gives a ministry which was designed to work out in divine faithfulness; and as we exercise spiritual diligence the crops spring up and will come to maturity under the influence of the latter rain. But a spiritual diligence is most important. Turn to chapter 12: 7.
“Ye shall eat there before Jehovah your God, and ye shall rejoice in all business of your hand” and in verse 18 “Thou shalt rejoice before Jehovah thy God in all the business of thy hand”. The phrase recurs repeatedly in these chapters — “All the business of thy hand”. I would suggest that it implies diligence in the appreciation and cultivation of the inheritance. It is to be our definite business to see to the working out in result for our own joy of that which God gives us. So far as I can learn in Scripture, God has nothing for lazy people, and there is nothing for God from them. Many quietly accept that the inheritance is given to them in the love of God, and they perhaps know what it is to be under showers of blessing in the way of ministry, but they are indolent and slothful, they are not carrying out diligently what Scripture calls “the business of your hand”. It is through the business of our hand that the inheritance becomes fruitful. There will be no crops, no corn or new wine, or oil, apart from diligence, and the result will be that there will be no tithes. We fail from want of spiritual diligence in regard to the things we admit to be true.
[p. 193] The latter glory of the house will be greater than the former.
In Romans 12 we are incited to diligence. “As to diligent zealousness, not slothful; in spirit fervent, serving the Lord”. This is of the greatest importance in view of its effect on the meetings; the end in view is that there may be something brought to the meetings which will be an enrichment of the communion of the brethren. This is the product of diligence in cultivating the land. If we accept that divine love has given us the inheritance let us cultivate it with purpose of heart. In so doing we shall be working for an assured result; there is no question about God giving the increase. There will be crops in abundance, and tithes to carry to the place where God causes His name to dwell; to be eaten there in communion with the brethren before Him. Let us throw ourselves into this “business” with whole-hearted energy and confidence; the product of it is very attractive.
Our secular occupation in this world is discipline for us; it is a constant exercise to carry out the will of God in relation to it. But it is not our true “business” in a spiritual sense; it is discipline for us; but our “business” is to cultivate the inheritance. I have noticed that people who are pretty fully engaged in necessary duties prosper most spiritually; those who have little to do and much leisure often do not prosper because they lack the discipline of daily duties. The discipline we get in everyday life is intended to help us in view of our appreciating and entering upon and cultivating the inheritance. A brother was asked not long ago why he did not retire. He said, I feel I cannot afford to dispense with the discipline my business is to me. We are not here to make money but to be disciplined, and the circumstances of daily life as under the ordering of God will not hinder us in regard to the inheritance. It would be strange if the providential ordering of God for those in His kingdom was such as to hinder us from enjoying the things which it is His peculiar pleasure to confer upon us. It could never be so. We are hindered by [p. 194] seeking our own things, not by things which lie in the will of God for us.
The things spoken of here lie outside the wilderness life — the corn, the new wine and the oil of the land are the wealth and fatness of the inheritance. We have not time to go into them in detail, but I should like everyone to pray about them. The corn, I believe, represents Christ risen as the great expression of divine faithfulness. Every ear of corn came out of death; it speaks of Christ in resurrection as the great expression of divine faithfulness — every promise of God made good in Him. That is the food of the saints as in the land. Psalm 37 says, “Dwell in the land, and feed on faithfulness”; that is the corn of the land, it is the bread that strengthens man’s heart. It is the faithfulness of God to His own promises. There is not one word that God ever committed Himself to in the promises that He has not secured in Christ risen; the sure mercies of David are there; that is the food of the land. It is what Paul refers to in 2 Corinthians 1, “God is faithful, that our word to you is not yea and nay ... in him is the yea, and in him the amen, for glory to God by us”. That is outside wilderness life; it is the corn of the land. We are to gather it into our spiritual store and feed on it.
The new wine is typical of the joy that belongs to the kingdom of God. That, too, has its place beyond the reach of death, for the Lord had death before Him here, but He looked beyond to drinking of the fruit of the vine in the kingdom. I have no doubt it is figurative of the joy which is connected with the favour of God being fully known. Grace is a joy to the heart of God. We read that new wine “cheers God and man” (Judges 9: 13). The Lord Jesus gives us a taste of the joy of God in grace, and of His own joy in making it known, in Luke 15. The kingdom of God is where he has His own way in the perfect grace of His heart, and where men are brought under the sway of His grace. In “the land” there is a continual fresh gathering in of the joy of grace. Grace as known in “the land” is spoken of in Ephesians. “To the praise of the glory of his grace” (chapter l: 6); “the riches of his grace” (chapter l: 7); and “the surpassing riches of his grace in kindness towards us in Christ Jesus” (chapter 2: 7). Then the oil speaks of the peculiar richness of what is found in the Spirit. “Fatness” is connected with the olive in both the Old Testament and the New. “Let your soul delight itself in fatness” is, I have no doubt, an allusion to what lies in the Spirit. The “root” of the olive tree (Romans 11) would be faith in Abraham which counted on God, but the “fatness” of it lies in the Spirit. So we find that the blessing of Abraham has come to us in Christ Jesus that we might receive “the promise of the Spirit through faith” (Galatians 3: 14). Everything taken up in the Spirit has peculiar richness; it makes man’s face to shine (Psalm 104: 15). “Thy corn, and thy new wine, and thine oil”, convey to us that as in the inheritance, and as making the cultivation, under the blessing of God, the business of our hand, there will be always fresh crops coming in as “the produce of the field, year by year”. Things never become stale; there is continual freshness about every new crop. It is not that the produce is of a different kind; we do not want novelties; they are noxious weeds. But while there is no change in the character of it, it is still corn, new wine and oil — it is being continually acquired in a fresh way. There is fresh produce being gathered in — continual increase.
Corn, new wine and oil represent things which we are continually gathering in by the work of our hands as in the inheritance. But as we gather them in we have always to remember to tithe them, and the tithe has to be carried to the place where God causes His name to dwell. Every spiritual increase has to be linked with the assembly — the common meeting place of God’s people. What one gains individually or householdwise is always to contribute to the communion found where God dwells in the midst of His people. The tithes had to be eaten there.
It is not in this case ministering directly to God, but ministering to the communion of His saints before Him. It is most agreeable to God that we should come before Him to enjoy [p. 196] together in communion that which He has given to us as the food and fatness of the inheritance. How the practical working out of this would free the meetings of the saints from all formality! Since we last came together there has been, so to speak, a fresh harvest from our fields, a fresh vintage, and a fresh gathering in of oil throughout Israel. And each one comes with the tithe that we may all eat together before God in the place where He dwells. All is fresh — the same Christ, the same grace, the same Spirit, but all acquired in a new way through fresh diligence and living exercises. So that the tithe is something which was never eaten quite in the same way before. The communion of the saints as gathered together has thus continually a fresh and satisfying character. There is nothing old or stale. The communion is such as to suit a living God, and a people who are living in the good of what He has given. It is the communion of saints viewed, not in the Corinthian aspect as in the wilderness, but as in the land. It is our communion viewed as in the enjoyment together of eternal life.
God delights in the spiritual communion of His people before Him — their common enjoyment of things which lie outside the range and power of death. Are we bringing the tithes to further this? Have we got increase as the result of diligent cultivation of the land so that we have something to tithe, something which we can bring to the gathering place of God’s people to promote spiritual communion? I am not only referring to what is said in the meetings, though I have no doubt if spiritual substance is there it will find expression. But I challenge myself and you as to whether we are acquiring spiritual increase. There is something very abnormal if we are not. But if we are, it is obligatory to tithe it for the promotion of the communion of the saints. The communion of saints in eating together what is typified by the corn, the new wine and the oil of the land is eternal life.
The communion of saints viewed as in the land depends on moral conditions being maintained which are suitable to the [p. 197] place where God dwells, and it depends upon the tithes being brought. Independency, and what is right in our own eyes, are ruled out. All must come to the one appointed place. It is not a matter of choice, but of God’s appointment. If it is not carried out the service of God according to His pleasure is not rendered.
Sometimes brethren who are not getting on well together will be heard saying wonderful things in their utterances. But God is saying by this institution of tithes that He gives spiritual increase to promote spiritual communion. It is more to Him to see us united in the communion before Him of what He has given us, than it is to hear wonderful words from us while the communion is lacking.
It is very much for the pleasure of God that we should know the fellowship of saints as in the wilderness according to 1 Corinthians, but if we desire to minister to God’s full pleasure it must be by enjoying the fellowship which pertains to the inheritance — to that sphere where eternal life and sonship are entered into.