MAN (25)
[p. 408] MAN (25)
1 Timothy 2:1 - 15; 1 Kings 19:1 - 21
JTJr It has been thought well to continue the subject of Man in the readings before us and the scripture in Timothy has been suggested because of the truth that “God is one, and the mediator of God and men one, the man Christ Jesus”. There is also the great thought of God and men — so we have God and men. While woman is in mind in Scripture, right from the outset, yet we have at the end that God tabernacles with men; not with men and women, but with men. What is in mind in men has been much before us as we have pursued the subject of Man, which, as we have seen, includes woman. But God has given men a certain place; and women have a place, too, but a place relative to men. In the second section of the chapter, beginning with verse 8, there is a further allusion to men: that the men pray in every place. That is men in contrast to women. But there is also an allusion to women, as to what is comely, that they are not to teach, not to exercise authority over man.
The chapter in 1 Kings has been suggested because there we have an example in Jezebel of a woman who usurped authority. We also have the prophet’s history in relation to Jezebel, and I thought we might see, with the Spirit’s help, how God comes in under such circumstances.
RWS Does this epistle set out divine order in christianity?
JTJr I think that is right, order in the assembly is in mind. The word to Timothy is, “That thou mayest know how one ought to conduct oneself in God’s house, which is the assembly of the living God, the pillar and base of the truth”, 1 Timothy 3:15. We are to be in the assembly in an orderly way.
CAM [p. 409] Would you say that the idea of woman is seen in the assembly itself? The feminine side is in the assembly, and goes through into eternity.
JTJr I think that is right, the thought of the woman, therefore, is seen in the assembly eternally. It is a question of what Scripture says; we have in Revelation 21:3, “the tabernacle of God is with men”. God’s original thought was “Let us make man ... and let them have dominion”, Genesis 1:26. That, of course, brings in Christ and the assembly, typically, the feminine side being in the assembly.
ANW So that the holy city has a feminine aspect. In Revelation 21:2 she is said to be as a bride, adorned for her husband, and then a loud voice out of heaven says, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men”, Revelation 21:3.
AR Does verse 5 of our chapter, in stating that “God is one”, embrace the three divine Persons?
JTJr I think so. I think it is the statement of the truth that God is one; there are not three Gods.
AR And in Revelation 21 there is the same idea: “The tabernacle of God is with men”, Revelation 21:3.
ABP Our scripture, in stating that “God is one, and the mediator of God and men one”, seems to suggest that the Mediator is acting on behalf of the Godhead.
JTJr Just so; there is no disunity, and I suppose that is to be the great result in men; there is to be unity in what has been reached for God; it has come out from God. The reference in Genesis 1:1 to God having created the heavens and the earth has in mind the Godhead. Here it is not creation, but God in relation to men. In these readings our subject is Man, embracing an order of man with whom God takes on relationship. It is a plural thought, not just one man but an order of man, and that brings us in. Christ is the beginning of that [p. 410] order. As God was with Christ when He was here, so now it becomes a matter of extension. It is available to all men through the gospel.
RWS Does the dislocation of humanity, which the enemy has brought about, but emphasise the unity which presently is found only in the assembly?
JTJr Quite so; so that in that way unity is brought about amongst men; God is bringing about this unity; it is from Himself; it flows out from God, for “God is one”.
AR And does the Lord’s office as Mediator of God and men involve His present position? It is “the man Christ Jesus”, the anointed Man.
JTJr Yes, He is the Mediator and it is a question of how God’s thoughts are reached so that God has men with Him sympathetically.
WWM In John 16:21 the Lord says, “A woman, when she gives birth to a child, has grief because her hour has come; but when the child is born, she no longer remembers the trouble, on account of the joy that a man has been born into the world”, John 16:21.
JTJr That would be Christ in resurrection. He has brought in joy and reconciliation; the distance has been removed. There is distance, darkness, unbelief and lawlessness in the world. But in Christ everything can be recovered.
CAM I think that allusion to Christ, objectively, is a great help. We read of “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good pleasure in men” Luke 2:14 when He was born, according to Luke 2:14.
JTJr God’s great thought was to have “good pleasure in men”. It is reached through Christ the Mediator. Christ has brought in the joy and good pleasure. He has brought in an order of things whereby God can be [p. 411] with men.
JPH Does the thought of one Mediator of God and men mean that there is no need of any other and that there could be no other?
JTJr Quite so, I think it is the extension of the thought that “God is one”, for it goes on to say that the Mediator of God and men is one.
SCM Is this the One for whom Job was looking? He said, “There is not an umpire between us, who should lay his hand upon us both”, Job 9:33.
JTJr Well, I think that helps. There was no one who could do it but Christ. He can do it because He is on both God’s side and man’s side as Mediator.
ANW The Mediator must be God and he must be man to be able to place His hand upon both, must He not? Our scripture stresses the fact that He is “the man Christ Jesus”.
JTJr On the one hand the statement that “God is one” brings in the Godhead and we find ourselves in the presence of what is beyond us, but we bow in the presence of the statement that “God is one”. But then we have the Mediator also, as has been remarked, and what is stated here is that He is a Man, “the man Christ Jesus”. That brings us to the great fact of the incarnation. I do not know that we can say much about it, but the incarnation is intended transcendingly to affect our minds; One who was in the form of God has become man. “The word became flesh”, John 1:14.
JHE In Philippians 2:5 we are exhorted to “let this mind be in you as also it was also in Christ Jesus; who subsisting in the form of God, did not esteem it an object of rapine to be on an equality with God; but emptied himself, taking a bondman’s form, taking his place in the likeness of men”, Philippians 2:5 - 7.
JTJr That is it; He took His place “in the likeness of men; and having been found in figure as a man, humbled himself”.
That is “the man Christ Jesus”, He is the Mediator, and the Mediator is one.
VCL Is it through the Mediator that God’s thoughts for man are shining out? Man was in view in what God has done mediatorially?
JTJr Quite so; and there is extension, so to speak, to man of the oneness referred to here. It is not a multiplicity of ideas and expressions: indeed, it is not a question of the mind of man at all. The unity has its character in that it comes out from God. I think that should have its effect upon everything amongst us, but especially in relation to the service of God and in administration. If the thought of oneness is before us and that it comes out from God, we will be greatly helped on these lines.
CAM It would impress us with the greatness of God’s thought as to manhood when we think that the whole moral question of good and evil was to be solved by a Man.
JTJr Quite so; so that this verse is the proper platform for the gospel, for it goes on to say, “Who gave himself a ransom for all, the testimony to be rendered in its own times”. So that we get the great thought of the ransom and then Paul’s part in the testimony: “To which I have been appointed a herald and apostle”. It is very instructive.
RWS Is there a reason for bringing out this truth in an environment of prayers in view of leading “a quiet and tranquil life in all piety and gravity”? And then he concludes the paragraph by saying that he did not lie: “I speak the truth, I do not lie”. There seems to be emphasis on these great thoughts in that they are placed in the centre of that kind of setting.
JTJr The prayers alluded to here must have been much in Paul’s mind because he exhorts to prayer in verse 1 and wills it in verse 8. And then there is to be piety and gravity amongst the brethren.
[p. 413] We need to be increased along the lines of piety and gravity.
ANW The reference to “all men” in verse 1 includes women, but in the apostle’s desire “that the men pray”, in verse 8, it is men in contradistinction to women. The, Mediator stands in relation to all men, God desiring that all men should be saved; the Mediator gave Himself a ransom for all. So that in the glad tidings you can tell any person that “the man Christ Jesus” gave Himself a ransom for all. But in connection with the house of God and our behaviour there the distinction between men and women shows itself in connection with prayer.
JTJr That is right, we come down to the constitution of the assembly, which is men and women; that is the outward order in the assembly.
VCL Would the word “men” have maturity in view, which would be seen in those coming to the knowledge of the truth?
JTJr You have in mind that all men should be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth?
VCL If the gospel is rightly preached and rightly apprehended by faith, persons will be saved and come to maturity in the knowledge of the truth; they will come to manhood.
JTJr Well, I think that is right. The great thought of God is that all men should be saved; that is the great thought in the gospel, that all men should be saved. But He also has in mind that they are to come to a knowledge of the truth. Coming to a knowledge of the truth would include what the apostle has to say as to the assembly, I would think. The assembly is the pillar and base of the truth, and you can see that coming to the knowledge of the truth involves having part in the assembly.
JPH Mr. Darby’s footnote to the word “knowledge” reads: ‘”true knowledge” ... which acknowledges the truth of a thing, and to know the truth thus suggests possession of it’. Therefore, it is not just the mental possession of words, but the real entrance into the truth in the soul.
JTJr The truth is opened up in the assembly. Paul opened up the truth of the assembly, but then he ministered in regard to it. It says in Acts 11:26, “For a whole year they were gathered together in the assembly and taught”, Acts 11:26. Matters of the truth, such as household baptism, addressing the Spirit, and the truth of the Lord’s sonship, which have been difficult for some to understand, are all related to the assembly. If persons wish to get the truth, it is a question of where it is ministered. Paul opened up God’s mind in the assembly. The true servants of the Lord make much of the assembly and the character of teaching that is to be found in it.
Ques Is not that set out in Ephesians 3 where the apostle speaks about “the glad tidings of the unsearchable riches of the Christ, and to enlighten all with the knowledge of what is the administration of the mystery hidden throughout the ages in God”? Ephesians 3:8,9. And then, later on, in verse 10, he says that there is to “be made known through the assembly the all-various wisdom of God”, Ephesians 3:16.
JTJr That is right; I think Ephesians shows what we are saying; it is a question of the assembly, which is the vessel of the service of God on the one hand and of administration on the other, but it is also the depository of the truth; the truth is there, in the assembly; the Spirit is there and the Spirit guides into all the truth.
ATD In Ephesians 4:13 it says, “Until we all arrive at the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God”, Ephesians 4:13 is the thought of all arriving there similar to the thought of all coming to the knowledge of the truth, in our chapter?
JTJr I believe it is, it is a question of being saved first and then coming to the knowledge of the [p. 415] truth. All the ministry we are having is really to bring us to a knowledge of the truth, and it is a question of God and men. God has men before Him according to His own mind; and Christ gave Himself a ransom that His thought might be reached.
BT In 1 Corinthians 11 it says, “I wish you to know that the Christ is the head of every man, but woman’s head is the man, and the Christ’s head God” 1 Corinthians 11:3. Would that be knowledge arrived at in our own souls?
JTJr That is a feature of the truth. That is in Corinthians, which refers to assembly order; it is the public order of headship. Christ is the head of every man. Headship is traced through man to Christ, to God. The truth set out there fits in with what we have before us because woman is not to usurp authority: “I do not suffer a woman to teach nor to exercise authority over man”. It is a question of woman’s place in the divine ordering. It is not that she is any less, personally, than man, in the sense that she was taken out of man, but positionally she is to recognize the place that man has been given, as it says, “for Adam was formed first, then Eve”.
ABP There seems to be a moral reason why the Lord, in John 4, before opening up the truth to the woman, said, “Go, call thy husband, and come here”, John 4:16.
JTJr The Lord reached her conscience, and she went to the men of the city and said, “Come, see a man who told me all things I had ever done: is not he the Christ?”, John 4:29.
RWS Have you any thought why the Spirit of God has been emphasizing the importance of the sisters of late?
JTJr I believe it is to stimulate them in regard to the truth; it is not that they are to take part in the assembly, but to encourage them to go on in [p. 416] exercise. They do not take part publicly in the meetings, so that they are at a disadvantage in that sense; but I think what has been in mind is that they are to carry exercises and have their own relationship with the Lord. The more that this is so the more they will be in satisfaction and in the enjoyment of the things that God has given us.
AP Woman is included in the word ‘man’ in Genesis 1:26, is she not?
JTJr Yes; mankind is in mind there, but in the public order, as it is now, the woman is in a position of subjection in which God has put her. She is not allowed to speak in the assembly. The apostle says, “For Adam was formed first, then Eve: and Adam was not deceived; but the woman, having been deceived, was in transgression”.
AR In the scripture we read in 1 Kings 19 it says that “Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done”.
JTJr Well, he was a weak man; he was not able to take matters up and deal with them as he should but he was influenced by Jezebel. He was a disappointing brother.
AR Jezebel began to take matters into her own hands.
JTJr That brings out the whole matter of the woman usurping authority. But in the light of that we see the positive side of things in the way that God is operating. We can always count upon God coming in.
Ques Is it right to say that we find the real expression of man according to God only in the assembly?
JTJr Well, I think that is right; a man gets converted and is delivered from his sins and comes into happy relationship with God. Where does he fit in? It is a question of the assembly.
AH [p. 417] Would Lydia be an example of a sister who laid hold of the truth for herself?
JTJr Quite so; she did not teach; we are told that she was at the prayer meeting and that she had a house. Those things are commendable. She says, “If ye have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house and abide there”, Acts 16:15. She is not out of her place, for the Lord had opened her heart to attend to the things spoken by Paul, and she spoke in a comely way.
Rem It is remarkable that the system that presently answers to Jezebel teaches that the virgin Mary is in heaven, making her another mediator.
JTJr Quite so: it is satanic.
ABP From a practical standpoint it sometimes occurs that a sister may be much more intelligent and more capable than her husband. Does it not help in the acceptance of headship in such cases to see that man being head of the woman is a divine principle and that God will support the woman in accepting the position and honouring God in it?
JTJr I think so; He will take care of the matter. And there is no need that women take on any public matter as to the assembly. It says that the women are to “learn in quietness in all subjection” and “to be in quietness”. The word ‘quietness’ occurs twice in the passage.
VCL Is it not of interest that the vision Paul had was of a man, but he first found women at Philippi? And do you not think that the Spirit of God would help so that every problem and every exercise on the part of the sisters would be met in the assembly?
JTJr I am sure they would; and so the man was produced at Philippi. God had the jailor in mind and He brought him in to establish assembly conditions [p. 418] there.
AR What do you say about the passage: “The woman, having been deceived, was in transgression”?
JTJr Well, it brings out the weakness that was in the woman.
JHE Deborah had the light of what should be done but she called Barak into the matter.
JTJr Yes; but she said, “Jehovah will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman”, Judges 4:9.
Rem Mary Magdalene received a message from the Lord and conveyed it to the brethren.
JTJr She was subject; and the Lord gave her a message to the brethren and she carried it; she was a suitable vessel to do it. I think she qualified for the service.
JPH We can be assured that she conveyed the message in a comely way, suitable to a woman.
CAM John 20 was a garden scene and is a most wonderful answer to what happened in the first garden; Mary recognized the headship of the Lord.
ANW John 20:18 reads, “Mary of Magdala comes bringing word to the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that he had said these things to her”, John 20:18. She is not teaching, but saying what Jesus had said to her. It seems to be so perfectly fitting in that particular setting.
JTJr She was a subject woman, and that is what we want to see in the sisters.
SW Do we not see, too, the thought of availability to carry the message?
JTJr Quite so; the Lord made her suitable; there was a certain amount of darkness with her but it soon disappeared.
SW As receiving the ministry the sisters would hold themselves available to be of greater service.
JTJr The stimulation that the Lord has had in mind for the sisters is to arouse them as to their own place in the testimony and their links with God.
[p. 419] They need to have their own links with God, and prayer too. If they do not maintain their own relations with God, they will lose in their souls.
Ques Do we have that set forth in Aquila and Priscilla? The apostle abode with them, and later, when Apollos came they were both able to help him.
JTJr Exactly; there was remarkable spiritual unity between man and wife, which is good to see. We may find a brother with a wife who does not help him at all; she may not be spiritual. But the thing is to be subject and cultivate personal relations with the Lord and become spiritual.
AH Deborah has been referred to. Do we not see the thought of stimulation working out in her?
JTJr Well, exactly; and what really is distinctive with Deborah is that she is called a mother in Israel. That is a spiritual thought.
FNW The word: “What becomes women making profession of the fear of God” brings out what you say as to their relations with God.
JTJr Exactly; that is what is in mind; it is a public matter. As to the men, the apostle says, “I will therefore that the men pray in every place, lifting up pious hands”. It is a public testimony. It would not be seemly for a sister to get up in the assembly and pray; it would be out of order. It is not seemly for her to speak in the assembly. But she should have her own links with God in private prayer and grow spiritually in that way.
AMacd Did not Hannah have her own links with God? and she was seemly at home.
JTJr Quite so.
EAL She asked for a man child.
JTJr She had in mind a man for God.
JPH The sisters are not debarred from being serviceable by being subject. The word in Judges 5 is, “Blessed above women shall Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite be, blessed above women in the tent!”.
And then, “She put her hand to the tent-pin, and her right hand to the workmen’s hammer; and she smote Sisera, she struck through his head” Judges 5:24 - 26. A sister can thus be available as she is subject and takes her right place.
JTJr It was in the tent; and the blessing is “in the tent”. God could have done otherwise but he led Sisera to the tent; she overcame him in the tent.
AR It says of Jezebel that she “calls herself prophetess”.
JTJr It is what marks the system to which we have referred.
Rem If a sister does not go on in quietness and subjection she will not learn rightly.
JTJr I think it is a fine word: “Let a woman learn in quietness”, and again, “To be in quietness”.
AAT I notice that sisters have made many contributions to the service of praise by composing and contributing hymns.
JTJr That is not ministry in the assembly. It is quite right that a sister should write a hymn; many have done so, but that is not prophesying or teaching in the assembly.
ABP We have the song of Deborah, for example.
JTJr Quite so. We have often referred to the four daughters of Philip, who prophesied. They would do so, no doubt, in comeliness. Paul stayed in the house (Acts 21:10). He would not “suffer a woman to teach nor to exercise authority over man”. She is not to do it; it would be out of place if she did.
AH The words, “In like manner”, in verse 9 of 1 Timothy 2, would suggest what is in keeping with the thought of piety expressed in the men lifting up [p. 421] pious hands?
JTJr I think so, and as has been remarked, the environment or atmosphere of the chapter is prayer and piety. It is what is needed in men in their relations with God. It all leads up to the great thought of God and men. Men are to be in relationship with God. It comes about as we are with God. Enoch walked with God.
RWS The last verse of the chapter brings in an “if”. “She shall be preserved in childbearing, if they continue in faith and love and holiness with discretion”.
JTJr Quite so; the allusion is to a man and his wife; that is the inference. It is a question of unity in divine things in the house.
AR The men “lifting up pious hands” would suggest priestly service.
JTJr We have the pattern the Lord has given us in Luke’s gospel. He is seen frequently with God in prayer. It has been said that eternal life is especially seen as the Lord was in relation with God directly. It is in our relations with God that the truth that is in His mind comes out; either in service directly to Him or as we are here tonight in the assembly.
TNW Would sisters be encouraged in finding that their exercises are expressed by the brothers, either in the service of praise or in readings?
JTJr Well, quite so.
LW Hannah, Lydia and other sisters had things in their hearts. Mary kept certain things in her heart; Hannah spoke to Jehovah in her heart; Lydia had her heart opened by the Lord to attend to things spoken by Paul.
JTJr It is a question of their affections. And they are to be objects of affection. “Husbands, love your own wives”, Ephesians 5:25. A wife is the object of her husband’s affections and this chapter would have that [p. 422] in mind, for as the sister learns in quietness and is in subjection, she is lovable.
LW Peter’s word to the sisters is that their adorning is to be “the hidden man of the heart, in the incorruptible ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which in the sight of God is of great price”, 1 Peter 3:4.
JTJr That is a good scripture to bring in. It goes on to show how Sarah was in relation to Abraham, calling him lord. She did not exercise authority over him; she called him lord.
Ques How do you regard the service of the woman in John 4?
JTJr Well, it was a question of her conversion and the right influence she had over men in contrast to the wrong influence she had exercised before. Women have an influence, but it is to be exercised in a right way.
Rem The Shunammite woman observed the prophet passing by and influenced her husband to do what was right.
JTJr That is a good example. She prepared a place for the prophet in the house.
RWS Jezebel, I suppose, would be an extreme case of one who exercised an evil influence, and God was ready to deal severely with her.
JTJr Jezebel is an extreme case and, as remarked, is suggestive of a system in christendom. The word in 1 Timothy 2 is that the woman is not to exercise authority over man. Jezebel did that and Elijah fled from her. He fled for his life. It shows what we may do if there is fear in our hearts. Instead of acting like men we act in fear. But God comes into the matter, although there is great weakness in Elijah.
EEH Does Jezebel represent the element [p. 423] of persecution?
JTJr I think we see in this chapter a weak order of things set out in Elijah. What is to be done? Well it is a question of what God will do. And that is what we should see now. If things are weak, what is God going to do?
CAM Is it not remarkable to see that God brings him to the thought of the anointing (1 Kings 19:15,16)? He was brought back from the region of fear to the region of the Spirit as suggested in the anointing.
JTJr Quite so.
VCL Is it significant that Elijah was preserved in power when he was regarding the heavens? He saw a cloud small as a man’s hand. He was preserved in that matter; but when he saw the public disorder with a woman usurping authority he seemed to lose his touch with God and become afraid.
JTJr Quite so. It is stimulating to see the converse of this in the New Testament. Paul never fled from anyone. It is a question of spiritual power in Paul. Although in prison it was a question of how he was in prison; there was no weakness in him.
ABP Evidently Elijah was fully recovered. The reference to him in Malachi 4:5 and the reference to “the spirit and power of Elias” in Luke 1:17 seem to suggest that he was held in high regard in heaven.
JTJr Quite so.
ABP Did his power come in the recognition of the Spirit? It says that Elisha poured water on his hands (2 Kings 3:11).
JTJr Well, I would think that he was recovered by God taking on the matter Himself. What we need to see is at what point God will come in, and to be ready for Him when He does come in.
ANW It is a very searching matter because he could face the hundreds of the prophets of Baal [p. 424] unflinchingly and yet he was troubled under the fear of this woman.
JTJr It is to bring out that we do not always act like men; we may run away from a situation.
SCM Verses 13 and 14 say, “A voice came to him and said, What doest thou here, Elijah? And he said, I have been very jealous for Jehovah the God of hosts; for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant ...”Perhaps he had to come to something in his history with God?
JTJr No doubt. But God did not leave His servant. He did not forsake him; He supported him in his journey, supplying food through an angel. Elijah may think that nothing is being looked after, but God can look after things, and He looked after Elijah, too, through an angel.
FNW Should that help us to be restful as to conditions in weak localities where things may not be right? We can count on God bringing about what is right?
JTJr Quite so: “The Lord is able to make him stand”, it says of the servant. Romans 14:4.
ABP There seems to be a contrast between this fresh food and water and the fixed condition of mind into which Elijah had gotten. There is not one iota of change in what he said before and after these things happened at the cave. It is as though he had reached a fixity of mind, which is very dangerous.
JTJr It is.
JHE He repeats the same words the second time, as though he got no help. He thought all was gone. Paul says that “the firm foundation of God stands, having this seal, The Lord knows those that are his; and, Let everyone who names the name of the Lord withdraw from iniquity”, 2 Timothy 2:19. We are to “pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace, with those that call upon the Lord out of a pure heart”, 2 Timothy 2:22. We will always find “those” who are going on, even though we might think we are alone; God has His “seven thousand”, has He not?
JTJr Even when he said, “I am left, I alone”, God had not left him. God does not leave His servant.
ABP Have we not been taught by the Spirit of God in recent years the principle of this “soft gentle voice” as seen in the outward physical weakness of the minister but the choice detail of the ministry. The “voice” is of much more importance than outward manifestations of power.
JTJr Quite so; the New Testament affords similar examples in Paul and others. Even though Paul was aged and a prisoner, we get his greatest epistles. God never left him. It is a question of God being with him.
RWS And is not the care in verse 5 designed to affect us? “And behold, an angel touched him, and said to him, Arise, eat! And he looked, and behold, at his head was a cake, baked on hot stones, and a cruse of water. And he ate and drank, and lay down again”. Then it is repeated. Is that not intended to affect us? It is what God is doing.
JTJr I think we need to take more account of that. Jezebel will assert herself and force her way; what she says shows how she usurps authority, but God is acting in the whole matter and He is engaged with Elijah.
JHE “Arise, eat; for the journey is too great for thee”. None of us could ever hope to go on alone; we need the saints.
JTJr It is a question of weakness; the journey would be testing and divine support is needed. But God comes in with support for Elijah. He will make His servant to stand. The Lord could say, “This is your hour and the power of darkness”, Luke 23:53. But it is a great thing to see that God was in the matter. Christ [p. 426] was raised from the dead by the exceeding greatness of God’s power. And so it is a question of the power of God at the present time, and of seeing what He will do.
JPH What does the cruse of water suggest? In 2 Kings 2 a new cruse is called for and salt was to be put into it.
AH Has it not been suggested that what was provided was sufficient and that God will see to it that we get through?
AR The journey of forty days and forty nights would represent the wilderness journey, do you think? He came to Horeb.
JTJr And as has been remarked, there is sufficient to carry us through.
Ques Do you think that the man with the drawn sword who appeared to Joshua would be a great support to him although he was fearful of him at first?
JTJr Well, Joshua got on to right ground; he took off his shoes. If we get to right ground we see where the Lord is in matters. So in this chapter it is a question of God working with Elijah; it is God and one man; He comes down to one man. But the great thought in God’s mind is God and men. We all want to come into that.
Rem The weakness of Elijah’s position was that he thought he was alone.
JTJr Whereas he was not alone; God does not leave us alone.
AR In verse 9 it says, “The word of Jehovah came to him”. It is not an angel now; it is a direct word.
JTJr So that we are to be concerned as to the word, the word of God. Something positive comes to us to help us in the word.
AH Do we get a contrast in Elisha who, instead of being fearful, says, “Fear not, for they that are with us are more than they that are with them”, 2 Kings [p. 427] 6:16?
JTJr I think we see in Elisha how the Lord has extended things on spiritual lines at the present time. At the end of the dispensation He has brought about recovery and recognition of the Spirit. There are persons He can trust and He has placed them in localities to look after His interests.
AEW Would that be suggested in the fact that Elisha was ploughing?
JTJr Well, quite so; he was a worker and he was ploughing with twelve yoke of oxen.
VCL Are we to have the impression left upon our spirits that all depends upon the “mediator of God and men one, the man Christ Jesus”?
JTJr Quite so.
Ques Jehu is mentioned by Jehovah in this chapter. Is that to assure us that Jezebel will be dealt with?
JTJr Quite so; that is the governmental side. Things will be dealt with, and if God has to use a forceful man like Jehu, He will do so.