MARRIED TO ANOTHER
[p. 314] MARRIED TO ANOTHER
JT This chapter has been likened to a Psalm as to the structure of it; the earlier verses show what the divine thought is, and the remaining verses of the chapter show how it is reached experimentally by us. The divine thought is clearly that we should “be to another”.
Ques What does that convey to you?
JT It conveys several thoughts. One thought is that marriage involves the establishment of a new system: “For this cause shall a man leave father and mother”, (Matthew 19:5); that is, leaving the relationship in which one stood to one’s parents in that household, and the establishing of a new one.
W What is the connection between this and what we had last night in the sixth chapter?
JT The sixth chapter, as to the types, answers, I think, to the position in the wilderness after the people had crossed the sea, with eternal life in prospect, with the end in view; whereas the seventh chapter takes us to mount Horeb; that is the mount of God where the covenant was made. Whilst as to the law we are regarded as having died to it, yet underlying the marriage relationship is the new covenant; it is that we should “be married to another”; this involves the new covenant, but it is not developed. The seventh chapter takes us further than the sixth. Where God spoke to Moses was on mount Horeb, and the people were to serve Him there; and their happiness depended on the observance of the terms of the covenant made with them.
W The experience, then, in chapter 7, would be the experience of the people, typically speaking, between Sinai and the brazen serpent?
JT Quite so: hence you have the brazen serpent [p. 315] in the next chapter. The chapter shows how the soul is transferred from the legal system, which mount Sinai stood for, into the new system of things where you are in Christ. The way out is by the Deliverer at the end of chapter 7; but the end you have reached is stated in the opening verses of the chapter. It is a very important thing for souls to have clearly before them the end to be reached; then the experience that leads to that end is not so difficult.
Ques The end to be reached is “to be to another”. What have you in your mind in regard to it?
JT The laying of the basis of the truth of the assembly.
Ques Is that why you thought of this scripture, as going a little further than the question of eternal life?
JT Yes. The relation is formed with One who is raised from the dead, to the end that we might bring forth fruit unto God; that there should be something for God. When you see that the marriage relationship is formed in the wilderness between Jehovah and the people, you get some inkling of the point of view here. By the death of Christ that bond is broken, but then there is a new one formed, and in order that that new bond should be really enjoyed in our souls, the experience has to be gone through by which we are practically delivered from the rule of flesh and sin. The sixth chapter is the rule of sin outside of us, and the seventh chapter is the rule of sin inside of us.
Ques You would say the sixth chapter has more reference to our relation with God; whereas the seventh is our relation with Christ?
JT Yes; the sixth chapter sets forth what is due to God; but the seventh chapter is our relation with Christ, only that there are results for God in it even as in a [p. 316] new household.
JMcF There is fruit for God.
JT Yes; there had been none under the old bond, but now there is, because of our being married to One who is raised from the dead.
Rem Before we could have the gain of that you say we have to go through the experience in the latter part of this chapter; that is, I suppose, finding out the bondage we are in as under law?
JT Yes; the law, as divinely given, had a very great hold on the awakened conscience of a man, yet it has to be seen that the law has no longer any authority over the soul.
Rem And that the being married to another involves affection and faithfulness.
JT Yes, and you have a wholly new Husband whose rule is a benign, liberating rule, such as the Lord is to us, in contrast to legal requirements. The difference is that between an abstract code and a living Person who loves you. An abstract code, although holy, and just, and good, has not affections. The law was an abstract code without affections.
JMcF It demanded affections, but the new Husband supplies the love.
JT Yes, “we love him because he first loved us”. (1 John 4:19) That could not have been said of the law.
W The new bond is more than faith.
JT Oh, it is more than faith; it is really by the Spirit. It involves that we have affection, too. The figure of marriage in Scripture is very interesting; as I said at the beginning, “For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and be joined to his wife, and they two shall be one flesh”. (Ephesians 5:31) There is a definite leaving of something that one had been heretofore in, as a system or establishment; you definitely leave that; “and he shall be joined to his wife, and they two shall be one flesh”. (Ephesians 5:31)
W The Lord becomes a law to you.
JT Quite so. He takes the place of the old [p. 317] legal bond, and I think anyone can see, by considering it, the difference between a code, however holy, and just, and good, and a living Person, One who has affection and sympathy for you; One who loves you and supports you.
Rem The figure of marriage is a perfect figure. There must be a definite move of soul.
JT You can easily see the force of it if you consider a Jewish Christian; he would be entitled in the light of this chapter to regard the whole Jewish system, and all in connection with it, as not having any longer any authority over his soul. But whilst it stood, and before the Lord’s death, he could not do that; but now he can, because there is a new system established in Christ in resurrection. A very interesting thought in connection with marriage, is that the wives of those to whom the promises were made were related to them after the flesh - their wives were their relatives.
JMcF What do you see in that?
JT The point was that the wife was to be on an equality with the husband; she did not in any way detract from him. Rebekah did not detract from Isaac’s dignity: she could not, because she was his equal as to rank, and it was very essential in her case, because she had to occupy Sarah’s place, which was a very great place. I only refer to it as to the figure of marriage introduced here. In this early stage in the development of the truth lies the ground for the assembly; it is not the body here, it is each individual married to Another.
Rem I see the necessity for the foundation.
JT It is remarkable how as the Scriptures develop the truths, they prepare you for what may follow as you advance; so, when you come to the truth of the assembly the marital idea is not new. The knowledge of eternal life fortifies you against all tendency arising from the presence of death here,
[p. 318] and the power of Satan; so that you are now equal to the truth of the assembly; the truth of the assembly is really founded on it.
SL Would it be right to say that the bride occupies a very dignified position?
JT Yes; considering the place Sarah had in the ways of God; and you can see how essential it was that Rebekah should be on an equality with Isaac, for she had to take Sarah’s place. Sarah had entertained the Lord, one may say, in a wonderful way. She received Him in a very becoming manner indeed in the tent. Now, Rebekah was brought into Sarah’s tent. That was prophetic; it was not simply incidental; Isaac brought her in. It was according to the mind of God that she should grace that tent; so the assembly takes the place of Israel.
SL Then you would say it brings us very great blessing to realise what the position of the bride is?
JT Yes; I did not intend to bring forward the assembly exactly, but to show the true bearing of the marriage relationship.
JMcF What is the idea of a husband?
JT I think the idea of a husband is sympathy and support; he also provides for and protects the wife. How perfectly these things are found in Christ risen from the dead!
JMcF In contrast to the law having dominion over a man as long as he lived.
JT Your soul is set free, and you are formed according to Him. And then there are the rights that go with the husband. You will remember what is said in Numbers 27 of the daughters of Zelophehad, the son of Hepher, who had died in the wilderness. Zelophehad had no sons, and his daughters laid claim to the inheritance. Well, the question had to be solved, and Moses took it to the Lord, and the Lord said they spoke what was right. They were entitled to it. As a matter of fact, it was a question [p. 319] of appreciating the inheritance; that is, of what is in Christ. They got the inheritance, but then the question arose as to what would befall the inheritance if they married outside the tribe of Joseph. The inheritance would then leave the tribe, so that was another question to be solved; and in the last chapter of the book, this very point arose, when the dangers of it were presented by the elders of the house of Joseph. They raised the question with Moses, and there was a decree that they should not marry outside their own tribe; they should take husbands in their own tribe. Now, that sets forth a point that one might introduce here, and that is, that the saints should see to it that none other than Christ has that place with them; because if any other has, the inheritance will pass away from under the Lord’s influence.
TMG What do you mean by the inheritance passing out of the Lord’s influence?
JT Well, you see it in Christendom; has it not been carried out into the world? People gave their affections to another, and so in a sense, the things of Christ were connected with the world.
JK You mean in regard to political matters and worldly things?
JT Yes. Suppose you are a child of Christian parents, and you are a believer; well, you have come into a wonderful inheritance. That is how I take account of Christianity; it is an inheritance. I am an heir to it, but the question is, what am I going to do with it? It is good to see you claiming the inheritance, but now, are you going to connect your affections with any other than with Christ? I think, if you do, you will carry the inheritance out of the tribe to which it belongs.
Ques Is that like what Hezekiah did in showing the vessels of the house of the Lord to the heathen [p. 320] king?
JT I think there it is more that Hezekiah initiated the stranger into the mysteries of God; he gave away the mysteries. We ought to be very careful about the inheritance. The Lord has died in order to make it good to us, and it has come down to us, and we ought to be very particular as to whether we connect it with anyone else but Christ.
Rem That is a matter that should exercise us very much at the present time.
JK Perhaps we do not recognise that these things are not common to everybody; they are sometimes treated as if they were common property, whereas they are not: they are for believers alone.
JT I think if one connects himself as a Christian with a human organisation, one is carrying the inheritance outside its proper sphere.
Rem And you cannot retain the freshness of the things of God in what is not of Him.
JT The elders of the house of Joseph, I think, stand for the Lord’s claim: that was a just claim; they wished to maintain intact what belonged to the tribe. The Lord exercises that claim for us. So that if you go outside, you sacrifice your kindred and you do distinct wrong to the Lord, and to the other heirs of the property.
Rem Rebekah was of the kindred of Isaac, and you belie that if you go outside.
JT Yes; just so.
Rem The dignity of belonging to the Lord has to be maintained.
JT Oh, yes; but I think it is also well to notice that one does distinct violence to righteousness, because the elements of right and authority lay with the elders; they were responsible. And there is that element amongst the saints, the element of responsibility; and you do violence to that if you connect yourself as a Christian with any other thing, with any other authority but Christ.
JMcF [p. 321] It is a most important thing to appreciate the inheritance.
JT The point in the last chapter of Numbers is what you are going to do with your affections. Well, if you go outside the tribe you are doing wrong to the tribe.
JK Do you mean by “the tribe” the sphere ordered by God?
JT Yes. Christianity has prescribed limits as an order of things here, regulated by the authority of Christ, and if you pass over these limits, you are doing violence, you are doing wrong, to the other heirs of the inheritance.
Rem Many a one has brought discipline on himself nearly all his life by trespassing the limits.
Rem We are to have an appreciation of the inheritance, as being heirs. It is a spiritual sphere bounded by spiritual lines.
JMcF That we should be married to Another, even to Him who is raised from the dead. Does that fix the limits in any way?
JT Yes, I think so.
W Would the realisation of this bond in chapter 7 deliver us from the sin in chapter 6?
JT Yes, it does, only it is not the point in chapter 6; the point there is baptism. What baptism sets forth delivers you from the world system; but you can understand that affections are needed for the marriage relation. This chapter shows how the affections are relieved of all other claimants, so that you are now free for Christ.
Ques Would you say that the exercise contemplated in chapter 7 on account of what we are, really brings about the appreciation of the Husband?
JT I think so: you come first to the Deliverer as to your experience; the Deliverer becomes the Husband?
[p. 322] Ques Would you say chapter 6 is more the faith side, whereas chapter 7 is the Spirit?
JT Well, faith is required in chapter 7; that is, what the man personified there first required was light; he needed light as to the Deliverer, and that being supplied, he lays hold of the Deliverer. Chapter 8 gives you the Spirit; the great point there is what the Spirit is to you. Chapter 7 is the Deliverer and the Deliverer becomes your Husband. The book of Ruth is a very beautiful outline of the experience of one who comes to approach the Deliverer, so that he might do the husband’s part.
JMcF It shows the way the affections are formed?
JT Yes. You remember in chapter 2 of that book Ruth is found in Boaz’s field, and she takes the place of a poor Moabitess; she asserts no claim to Boaz at all; she was a Gentile stranger, and she accepted it; but he acted in wondrous grace towards her. The whole chapter is to typify the grace of Christ in the way He meets the soul. In chapter 3 she goes down to the threshing floor; and in chapter 4 she claims him, and asks him to spread his skirt over her. She recognised that he was a mighty man of wealth, and he was related to her husband. I refer to that to show how on our side the experience of this chapter leads to the Deliverer, and the marriage relationship being formed. What we find when we come to the Lord is that He has not to do the husband’s part; for He has already done it.
Rem The bitter experience and the Deliverer are really necessary to the appreciation of the Husband.
JT You are set free in your affections from all legal influences; set free for Christ.
Ques Is it not in His death that you are set free?
JT Yes: we have become dead to the law by the body of Christ.
[p. 323] Rem It is the light of the death of Christ brought to the soul that sets you free in that way, so that you turn to the One who becomes Husband.
JMcF “To be to another who has been raised up from among the dead”. That is a bond formed that remains. It is a link formed in life.
JK Our relationships and associations are in that life.
JT Quite so: hence there is fruit for God.
JMcF I suppose those relationships and associations can never be dissolved?
JK Because they are in life.
JT How differently a person moves who knows that the bond is formed with Christ; how different his demeanour is from one who is simply legal, governed by the law. There is a peculiar sense of security and confidence where the bond is actually known to be formed. There may be affection before, but now the affection that is enjoyed is the known formed bond. The idea of divorce never represented the mind of God in Scripture; it is an idea foreign to God. The true idea is a permanent bond formed, and that gives us rest of heart with the Lord; it never can be dissolved. We are to have our affections so free as to enter into it, and reciprocate the love of Christ.
JMcF It is the way we get deliverance, and we see where the deliverance lies, in the One who has been raised from the dead.
Ques Would you say that this would touch the prayer in Ephesians 3:17, “that Christ might dwell in your hearts by faith?”
JT It lays the ground for Ephesians. That is one point of importance in Romans; it lays the basis in the soul for Ephesians.
JMcF What is the thought in serving in newness of spirit?
JT I think it shows that it is a question of the spirit of things; it is “newness of spirit”, not now a code. You are formed in the light of what Christ is; and when that is so, how different your spirit is, and how different you are in every respect.
Ques What is the thought of the new covenant?
JT The new covenant underlies this chapter.
JMcF It is a spiritual relationship.
JT I have no hesitation in connecting the Lord’s supper with this chapter, because it sets forth the body of Christ. In the Supper our affections are free for Christ.
Ques You would take account of John 13?
JT Well, that is the idea. You are to do as He did; you are to serve in newness of spirit; it is the spirit in which you do things that tells. You serve in newness of spirit; that is the new way to serve; that is John 13. See how the wife and children would learn from the Hebrew servant! They would know him in a new way. He had the wife and children before, but now he is prepared to go before the judge, and be pierced with an awl. Normally that would have a great effect upon them.
JMcF It would be a great delight to them.
Ques To delight in the law of God after the inward man, is that the new covenant?
JT Well, it is delight in the principle of law simply; the law is righteous: so the next chapter says “the righteous requirements of the law are fulfilled in us”. (Romans 8:4) We cannot allow that the first covenant can be done away, because it has a spiritual side which the new man delights in.
JMcF The result of the marriage relationship is fruit for God.
JT Quite so; God gets the fruit.