PRIESTHOOD DEPENDENT ON SONSHIP
PRIESTHOOD DEPENDENT ON SONSHIP
1 Chronicles 17: 11 - 17; 1 Chronicles 29: 10 - 20
JT It will be well to say that our subject is to be priesthood — continuing in it as seen in David. He was marked by the exercise of priesthood when the ark was brought to Zion, and it is said that he was clad with a linen ephod, and danced before it, (2 Samuel 6). Linen suggests balance and sobriety in this connection — it naturally absorbs heat. There are two words used in regard to the fabrics employed in the priestly garments and the tabernacle furnishings. One seems to convey whiteness and fineness, whatever the basic material; the word generally in Exodus is that. But then we have a word that conveys the idea of linen worn particularly by the high priest on the day of atonement; that is, typically, as Christ entered into death: there is a suggestion in it of holy sobriety and balance. The same thought would apply to David as wearing the linen ephod; he was very energetic in his service; he danced “with all his might;” and this might seem to be undue exuberance, but the linen would point to the opposite of that. There was sufficient to move him, and yet it was in holy solemnity and balance, so that there was no allowance of fleshly feeling which is always ready to show itself in our service before God. When it does show itself — that is, natural exuberance or excitement — it is just strange fire.
What is before us in these two passages in Chronicles is priesthood, based on sonship; so far we have not had this side, although priesthood is properly based on sonship, however we look at it, for it is Christ as Son who is the Priest, the Son, constituted a Priest forever, after the order of Melchisedec.
[p. 2] We have not had this so far, and it appears first in chapter 17, the passage that corresponds with 2 Samuel 7. What it says here in Chronicles, as in 2 Samuel 7, is that David is forbidden to build the house, that is, he is not qualified. Viewed as a warrior, even although he had exercised priesthood, he is not qualified to build the house. It was to be built by the son and the message sent to him through Nathan, according to what we read, calls attention to the son, saying, “And it shall come to pass, when thy days are fulfilled that thou must go to be with thy fathers, that I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall be of thy sons; and I will establish his kingdom. It is he who shall build me a house, and I will establish his throne for ever. I will be his father, and he shall be my son; and I will not take away my mercy from him”. As this message is received, the passage says, “And king David went in and sat before Jehovah”. He accepts the mind of God unqualifiedly, and understands that sonship is now henceforth to be the basis of God’s relations with Israel; he moves himself as in that light. “And king David went in and sat before Jehovah, and said ...” He is acting still as a priest; he is taking the liberties that belong to a priest, but he is also taking the ground of sonship; he sat before Jehovah, or tarried, it may be rendered, meaning that he had full liberty to be there.
Rem Abiathar does not come in here, it is sonship; a nearer place.
JT Yes, the idea of Abiathar does not enter into this part; he really stands in connection with the first book of Samuel. The office of high priest is more to encourage the young believer. In Hebrews 4: 14, for instance, we read: “Having therefore a great high priest”, and then in chapter 10 it is, “having a great priest”, the word “high” is dropped in chapter 10, and I suppose sonship enters into [p. 3] that, it is what Christ is personally; a great Priest.
Ques Are you leading up to what we are as sons?
JT Well, it is to bring out that side, that we may see how the priesthood developed in David to the full thought of it in sonship. We do not get the thought of son in this sense spoken of earlier, I think; as sonship is introduced David went in and sat before the Lord. He had full liberty; the usual posture for a priest in this respect is to stand before Jehovah.
Ques Is the priesthood in connection with sonship how we stand in relation to God?
JT Yes, and the liberty in which we are. Eli sat by the door-post; but apart from sonship that attitude is simply fleshly-mindedness. It is only as in sonship that we have the spirit of sonship. We are sons before God; He has pleasure in us.
Ques Is sonship going to supersede priesthood?
JT It continues when priesthood is no longer needed. Sonship is an abiding thought, it is a primary thought with God. All primary thoughts are abiding ones. Priesthood is a provisional thought, the necessity for it arises from the results of sin in the world, or ignorance — all these things are dealt with, then the thought of priesthood necessarily drops; it is not needed when there is no evil and no ignorance. Sonship is a great eternal thought, but it comes into the provisional state of things, and as sons the priests have liberty before God.
Ques Are these thoughts to mark us eternally as sons?
JT Yes; that is what I thought we might see. What a great thought, that God is served by sons, but in the capacity of priests because of present conditions.
Rem It gives a greatness to what we have before us now.
Ques What is the thought in, “such a high priest became us”?
JT That means seeing how great the people are. It alludes to the saints. God is bringing many sons to glory. Glory is the ground taken in Hebrews. Solomon was not yet born, so here sonship is an abstract thought, but it enters into David’s mind, and so he is in liberty; indeed he is called firstborn in Psalm 89: 27. The allusion here in Chronicles is to Solomon, and he is said to be God’s son; Jehovah says, “he shall be my son;” and “It is he who shall build me a house”.
Rem David sitting before Jehovah suggests the liberty of sonship. Although he had not the full light at that moment, he was in the liberty of it.
JT The mention of it set him free, it shows how receptive he was of divine thoughts. The more spiritual one is, the more receptive he is of divine thoughts.
Rem He caught the mind of God, that the son must build the house.
JT Yes, and then it says, he sat, it may be said tarried, which would make it stronger, he had liberty to sit there, to stay there, he was not exactly serving, but you find what he said there exceeds in richness anything he had said before. The titles he gives Jehovah. He says Jehovah Elohim in verse 16, and again in verse 17. If you run down the passage, to the end of the chapter, you will see the variety of titles he employs. There is a peculiar richness in his speech, enhanced by the spirit he is in. The nearer we get to God, the more liberty we have, the richer our speakings, our worship.
Rem The great intent of God in sending forth His Son was that we might receive sonship.
JT Well, that is the thought exactly. When the fulness of time was come. It had not yet come, because the Old Testament does not include the “fulness of time”, but it does in a typical way. We are dealing here with types, all this awaited the incarnation.
Ques What we have before us is very attractive. In regard to our Lord, are His greatest movements those seen in sonship?
JT I think that is how it seems in Scripture. He was not publicly owned as Son until He was thirty years of age. He was Son, of course, from the outset — “Thou art my Son: this day have I begotten thee” (Hebrews 1: 5). He was God’s Son from the outset, but it awaited His full manhood for heaven to proclaim Him as Son, and then the heavens were opened to Him. That is a very important matter. John’s gospel takes up this great thought. John the baptist is employed by the Spirit there to enlarge on Christ’s Person. It was said to him, “Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending and abiding on him, he it is who baptises with the Holy Spirit” (John 1: 33). And then John says, “And I have seen and borne witness that this is the Son of God”. That is the One upon whom the Spirit descended, and He abode upon Him. The next day John saw Him walking. His movements are enhanced in the eyes of John the baptist by the knowledge he had of His Person.
Rem John the evangelist would in his gospel keep it in view, somewhat as distinct from Luke’s way of putting things, although in Luke we have our Lord’s sonship brought before us.
JT Yes, we have the thought of the Son announced to Mary: “the holy thing ... shall be called Son of God” (Luke 1: 35). “Shall be called” — it does not say He was or had been. He shall be called, that is, it is the general thought that should follow. John says, “And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us (and we have contemplated his glory, a glory as of an only-begotten with a father),
full of grace and truth” (John 1: 14). We contemplated it! It came within their range and they contemplated it. “An only-begotten with a father” — that is the first word that John gives us as to sonship. It is descriptive, it is as an only-begotten with a father, that is a descriptive thought, a figurative thought, but it is to bring out the delightful relations He had as Man with God, which they saw. Then it says, “No one has seen God at any time; the only-begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him” (verse 18). This is the formal way that John the evangelist introduces this great subject, and then he brings in John the baptist. “John bears witness of him, and he has cried, saying, This was he of whom I said, He that comes after me is preferred before me”. He brings in John the baptist immediately. John is greatly affected by the Person of Christ now coming within the range of his understanding. John the evangelist gives us John’s history without reference to the message of doubt he sent to the Lord; he does not record any failure in John. The baptist disappears in John’s narrative saying, “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3: 30). He is full of the glorious Person who is Son of God. “And I have seen and borne witness that this is the Son of God” (John 1: 34). This is the testimony of John, and you can see how it links on with christianity, so that it is very difficult to decide whether it is John the baptist or the evangelist who speaks in John 3: 31 - 34. It seems as though God honours the baptist in bringing him into the spirit of christianity, but it is in unqualified appreciation of Christ. That is the great principle in dealing with our brethren who are not with us in the fellowship practically, what will attract any true christian is the Person of the Christ. You will always get them to agree on that point if they are true christians.
Rem So that in John’s gospel what follows the baptist’s remarks is, “The Father loves the Son, and has given all things to be in his hand” (John 3: 35).
JT John’s gospel gives us a clue as to how to deal with our brethren in the last days. If you are dealing with a true christian, he will respond to the truth of Christ’s Person. He will agree on that point, and thus there is opportunity of bringing forward other features of truth.
Ques Does the mention of sandals by the father in Luke 15 assure the returning prodigal’s heart of his place in sonship — the sandals being given to him?
JT I think so. You can see that all the things mentioned denoted his dignity. He is called “my son”. All that follows in Luke 15 — the jubilance, the music, and the dancing inside — is in the light of that relation. The most glorious presentation of christianity, the most glorious result of the gospel is in that chapter, but the elder brother would not come in. If you appeal to a true christian according to what is there, he will be affected.
Ques David said, “O God; and thou hast spoken of thy servant’s house for a great while to come” (1 Chronicles 17: 17). Do you think he saw beyond the temple?
JT Well, the words go further than he could have explained to you. If you had asked David to give you an explanation of this verse, he could not do it as well as you could.
Ques The Lord said, “Abraham exulted in that he should see my day” (John 8: 56). Do you think David saw Christ here?
JT Yes, in the same sense in which Abraham saw Him. It is always well to remember that these men of faith are clothed with the Lord’s own view of the matter. The New Testament takes up Old Testament scriptures and clothes them with New Testament thoughts. I was thinking, for instance, of the writer of the Hebrews, undoubtedly Paul, he [p. 8] alludes to the deluge, saying, Noah made an ark for the saving of his house. You can understand how Paul clothed Noah’s act with the truth of the believer’s household which he was bringing out. The Lord says, “Abraham exulted in that he should see my day, and he saw and rejoiced”. You might think that Abraham could give an address on Christ’s day, but you would be mistaken in that. The Lord clothes what the patriarch saw with His own point of view. We cannot say that Abraham could have named what was then seen by him as Christ names it.
Rem So with Moses; he esteemed the reproach of Christ.
JT That is right. Moses could not have elaborated on that if you asked him. What is referred to there is that he called the Hebrews his brethren; it was “the reproach of the Christ” from the New Testament point of view.
I think it is beautiful here to see David’s movement. Instead of being indignant (for indeed he knew how to be indignant even in regard of what God did, 1 Chronicles 13: 11), he is enlarged as the truth comes out; he is receptive of it; a very fine example for us. That he should be prohibited from building the house reduced him personally, but he is entirely above resentfulness, he is in the light of sonship.
Rem He had in spirit to pass over into sonship to understand it.
JT Well, that is the point. And the lesson here is that we should pass over into it. God has opened the door for us to do so, as it says, “when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son ... that we might receive sonship” (Galatians 4: 4, 5). It is to be received, but it is something we have on the principle of faith. And then, “But because ye are sons, God has sent out the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, Abba, Father”. We must take note of the Spirit of adoption crying. He is so urgent as to the [p. 9] matter that He cries in our hearts, “Abba, Father”. It is urgent that the Father should be addressed.
Rem One of the purposes in being baptised by the Spirit is that we should move in that direction. John the baptist saw that the One who baptises with the Holy Spirit is the Son of God.
JT Quite so, that is what he says, “And I have seen and borne witness that this is the Son of God”. It is remarkable that John the baptist cried his testimony as to the greatness of Christ, John 1: 15. It was urgent that it should be known.
Ques May I divert to what is practical, in view of what might be hindering some of our souls? David knew the position the divine mind had placed him in; he could speak from there. What may be hindering some of us is that we seek to express something that we are not up to, whereas we should be what we are.
JT That is what we should see here, that the light of sonship is conveyed to him, and he moves in it, and enters in before Jehovah and sits down. Sitting down means, I think, that it is a permanent thought. Sonship is a fixed relationship into which we are brought. This should encourage young christians to take up that ground, and to note the word “crying” in Galatians 4 and in Romans 8. You get the Lord Jesus crying in His ministry on earth. He cried, “If any one thirst, let him come to me and drink” (John 7: 37). It is that the matter is urgent, most important, and it seems to me that Galatians 4: 6 implies that young christians should take up this great thought of sonship at once; it is urgent. The Spirit cries in the christian, “Abba, Father”, according to Galatians 4. In Romans 8: 15 the believer cries, “Abba, Father” by the Spirit; he takes the thing up and responds to God, according to this blessed relationship into which he is brought. Romans 8 is more advanced because we come down to the thought of [p. 10] sonship in the chapter through many phases in which the Spirit is presented. We come to the statement, “for as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For ye have not received it spirit of bondage again for fear, but ye have received a spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father”. Not that we should do it, but that we cry, “Abba, Father”. It is characteristic of those who have the Spirit of adoption.
Ques Would the psalmist, in Psalm 73: 23, have a sense of sonship? He says, “I am continually with thee”.
JT That is Asaph; he was a singing man, one who experienced going inside the sanctuary. That is the first psalm of the third book, the last of which speaks of sonship applied to David, to which we have already alluded. More than half the psalms in that book are Asaph’s. Men of faith, like Asaph, accustomed to enter the sanctuary of God, would have some sense of the liberty of sonship.
Ques Would you say that the Spirit crying in us would indicate that He would hasten us to the highest thoughts — “Abba, Father”?
JT Well, that is right. We are sometimes a long time in getting to the highest thought in the service of God. Sometimes meetings run through, and the brethren never get to it. One has been in such meetings. Galatians 4 and Romans 8 intimate that we are to proceed to the full thought; that God is waiting for this, for He seeks worshippers. He would hear our voices and words expressed in the power of the Spirit of adoption.
Ques What are we to understand by “Abba, Father”?
JT Well, “Abba” is the Aramaic for Father; the word Father in the passages mentioned is a translation from the Greek. “Abba” is the original word used. The Lord using both in Gethsemane [p. 11] indicates, I think, the intensity of His feelings as to His Father at that time. “Abba” is the identical word which the Lord used along with the Greek word translated “Father” in our tongue. “Abba” is not translated; it is left as it was. It is a precious jewel in the gospel of Mark; the very word the Lord Himself articulated. It was used by the Lord in the extremity of His pressure, and it is put into our mouths by the Spirit — a most affecting thing. God would have us use this expression, not lightly, but reverentially, feelingly, and in a holy way.
Ques Could we also speak to the Father as the Lord does in John 17?
JT I think so. That chapter brings out the Lord’s position here more than any perhaps. In John 17 it is “Father”. He looked up to heaven: you have His actual attitude. He looked up to heaven and said, “Father”. We are entitled to do that, too. I think the idea of His speaking in their hearing would be to lead them into that.
Rem The Spirit crying, “Abba, Father” would imply nearness and perfect liberty in addressing God.
JT Yes. The Spirit gives us that; it is not only that you have light as to it, but the Spirit gives you consciousness of the relationship expressed in the words.
Rem It is very precious that it is possible for God to hear now, when we say “Abba”, something that He heard from Christ’s lips.
JT Well, it is very wonderful. I think that heaven is affected by our voices: it is the same Spirit, the Spirit of God’s Son.
Ques Did not God intend that it should be continued after our Lord had gone back to heaven? It should never cease.
JT That is one of the thoughts, so that the voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I have found my delight”. Often you hear that quoted “all my delight”, but “all” is not there; the divine thought is to extend the occasion of delight, to bring the saints into it, into sonship. There are to be “many sons”.
Now David, in 1 Chronicles 17: 16 to the end, helps by example, giving us the sense of richness that should be in our worship — richness of titles used in addressing God.
Ques Is “Abba, Father” an expression to be used now? We do not use the word very much in practice. Is its import conveyed in our intelligent use of the word “Father”?
JT It is in the treasury; there are things that people have in their treasuries that they may not bring out often, but they are there. There are many things in Scripture that are not used, but we allude to them, and regard them as treasures. Indeed, the richness of David’s speech inside is to be noted in this respect; and I think it is recorded to encourage young christians to get near to God, because the nearer we get to God the more liberty we have, and the richer would be our worship. Greater spirituality would, no doubt, lead to more usage of the words “Abba, Father”.
As we go on to chapter 29 we get a fuller exhibition, a fuller testimony to David’s worshipful condition; his priestly power. “And David blessed Jehovah in the sight of all the congregation; and David said, Blessed be thou, Jehovah, the God of our father Israel, for ever and ever. Thine, Jehovah, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the splendour, and the majesty; for all that is in the heavens and on the earth is thine: thine, Jehovah, is the kingdom, and thou art exalted as Head above all; and riches and glory are of thee, and thou rulest over everything; and in thy hand is power and might; and in thy hand it is to make all great and strong. And now, our God, we thank thee,
and praise thy glorious name”. It seems to me that we have there perhaps the richest, the most priestly thoughts of David; he reaches the height of headship in God. He goes on, in verse 14, “But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able to offer willingly after this manner? for all is of thee, and of that which is from thy hand have we given thee. For we are strangers before thee, and sojourners, as all our fathers: our days on the earth are as a shadow, and there is no hope of life. Jehovah our God, all this store that we have prepared to build thee a house to thy holy name, is of thy hand, and is all thine own. And I know, my God, that thou triest the heart, and hast pleasure in uprightness. In the uprightness of my heart have I willingly offered all these things; and now have I seen with joy thy people, which are present here, offer willingly to thee. Jehovah, God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Israel, our fathers, keep this for ever in the imagination of the thoughts of the heart of thy people, and direct their hearts to thee! And give to Solomon my son a perfect heart, to keep thy commandments, thy testimonies, and thy statutes, and to do all, and to build the palace, for which I have made provision. And David said to all the congregation, Bless now Jehovah your God. And all the congregation blessed Jehovah the God of their fathers, ...” It seems to me that here we come to the highest point in the service, so that all worship; he moves all into worship. They all worship Jehovah and the king.
And what is seen further in relation to this is the place sonship has in chapter 23 of this book. Solomon is on the throne alongside of David, and David exercised his kingly authority in gathering all the princes of Israel with the priests and Levites; and in numbering the Levites, etc. There were thirty-eight thousand Levites. From that point on you have the best use made of the saints; that is, these [p. 14] chapters would bring out what is in sonship, not simply the abstract thought of it as in chapter 17, but the son is actually there, and he is alongside his father on the throne. From that point on, as I said, you have the best use made of the saints, they are all to be put into the service, the young and old, all brought in. That is one great point in the present time — bring in all the young people into the service of God. The age for levitical service is here reduced to twenty years. I think at the present time God has put out His arms to the young people. Levitical service is not so onerous now as it was in the wilderness, David says. The point was that God had given rest to His people and that He would dwell in Jerusalem for ever. Today, this would be our position “in assembly” — viewed as in the land. We are in the divine sphere. Normally opposition is absent: the holy current towards God is strong and there is thus peculiar power and liberty in service.
Rem So all that David gave expression to in that way, and the height he reached, would be the level for the people.
JT I think the people had come on, typically, to sonship as in Solomon as presented in this book; it enhances the value of the saints to be taken up on that ground. As you regard yourself in sonship, you get liberty, and there is more room for the development of divine thoughts; that is why David is seen here so rich in what he says to God. Compare him as seen in 1 Kings 1 — how different! Here is a man in full vigour speaking in priestly intelligence and power; it is the same man, and the same time practically, the difference being that he is here on the ground of sonship. Official christendom has become lifeless, whereas those who take up their divinely-given privileges have a measure of energy and feelings and spiritual richness in the service of God.
[p. 15] These chapters are to bring all the saints into this.
Rem God would gather up all that is living.
JT That is right. Hezekiah says, “The living, the living, he shall praise thee, as I this day” (Isaiah 38: 19).
Rem The object is that the results for God might be greater and greater.
JT That is the idea exactly. These chapters are to be studied well if we are to understand sonship and its bearing on the service of God. It is a question of the richness that is involved in it, and is in our souls in worship to God.
Rem The atmosphere and response here, and the richness of the contributions from David and others, are remarkable. I do not remember any other scripture in which God is addressed as “Head”.
JT It is the supreme idea of headship. Headship as in Christ brings out the best there is in the saints. Headship implies authority, but it is much more: it is wisdom exercised, and exercised so as to affect others through the understanding and even through their affections. It is seen perfectly in Christ as Head of the assembly.
Ques There is a contrast here to Genesis 6; every imagination of the thoughts of man’s heart. There it is “only evil continually;” here David prays that these things may be kept “for ever in the imagination of the thoughts of the heart of thy people, and direct their hearts to thee”.
JT That is a very good contrast. God graciously keeps our hearts, and we are enjoined: “Keep thy heart more than anything that is guarded; for out of it are the issues of life” (Proverbs 4: 23). The affections must be under control. The heart represents the more elevated affections, and so “the eyes of your heart” are spoken of in Ephesians 1: 18. It is a question of our intelligent affections. All this underlies the rich flow of worship towards God so beautifully set out here in David. We may profitably compare with it our Lord’s own words, “I praise thee, Father, Lord of the heaven and of the earth;” but this was not at a time of prosperity, as was the case with David, it was in the most distressing period of His ministry, as we learn in Matthew 11: 25. We may also compare the spiritual exuberance of Paul flowing out towards God in worship and in affectionate regard for the saints in the Ephesian epistle — and in circumstances of outward pressure, that is, in prison.
Ques Do you think Paul reaches one of the highest thoughts in connection with sonship in us when he says, “according as he has chosen us in him” (Ephesians 1: 4)?
JT Yes; “that we should be holy and blameless before him in love ... wherein he has taken us into favour in the Beloved”.
Rem Then we have access through Christ by the Spirit unto the Father.
Ques Do you think the increased number of meetings give scope and freedom for the sons to come into view and the volume of praise increased?
JT That is the way God is working. This section in 1 Chronicles, where the age of the Levites is reduced from twenty-five to twenty, is very significant and instructive, and I believe the point is to bring the young people into the service; so that the old and young are numbered together, the teacher and the scholar. Of course, in the actual service the teacher will have more intelligence and ability generally than the scholar, but the scholar will be there, the young ones will be learning from the old ones, and they are all in the service together.
Rem One has noticed in going from place to place, that the Lord is leading on those that are younger in the appreciation of sonship, and the volume of praise has increased wonderfully.
JT Yes, and the import of the number twenty-four [p. 17] enters into these chapters from chapter 23 to the end. Among other things it implies that love is operative, and to this end it must be amongst us. We can thus be manipulated according to the divisibility of that number.
Ques I was thinking of what Solomon said: “I am but a little child: I know not how to go out or come in” — would that be an initial exercise relative to this end?
JT It would. God had effected that humility in the young king. God commented upon his prayer very approvingly, for as in felt need of them, he had asked for wisdom and knowledge that he might be fit to serve His people. It is a prayer of a “little child”, a prayer that may well be taken up by every young christian, having service acceptable to God in view.