PRIESTHOOD IN THE BOOKS OF SAMUEL (4)
[p. 95] PRIESTHOOD IN THE BOOKS OF SAMUEL (4)
2 Samuel 2: 1; 2 Samuel 5: 17 - 25; 2 Samuel 6: 14, 15; 2 Samuel 7: 12 - 18
JT The subject of priesthood is in mind in reading these scriptures. We may look at it elsewhere where it is presented formally, but the instruction is often more effective as presented informally, and so in these incidents; for God teaches us in relation to the necessities of our souls. The teaching goes on, and we take it up as in our ordinary circumstances; the light of God reaching us there. His work in us occasions needs, so that instinctively we turn to Him. In addition we find that whilst He meets us according to our way of approach, for we are told in Romans, we know not how to pray as we ought; whilst He meets us thus, He gives us to understand that He has requirements. The exigencies of His house and surroundings, He being who He is, require that He should be approached intelligently and according to His requirements.
In the history of David as rejected we get him visiting the house of God in his need. The Lord Himself refers to David as entering the house of God in the early days of his rejection “in the section of Abiathar the high priest” (Mark 2: 26), and we find David praying to God as to certain needs. Then the high priest appears, that is, he whom the Lord calls high priest, Abiathar; he arrives as having the ephod. David refers to this. You find the ephod with David more than with any other after its introduction in Exodus. I believe he appears in this respect as an example to young believers, as well as to old ones, showing how we come to the thought of priesthood by way of our needs. David knows where to stop, it is said his prayers are ended; he is intelligent enough to know that under certain circumstances prayers do end.
[p. 96] What has been said refers mainly to the first book of Samuel, but I think we might look at the subject in the second book as leading up to the assembly. David is seen in the house of God in the last scripture in a sitting attitude. It would mean that he has advanced beyond priesthood, though in a typical sense understanding it. There is what lies beyond it, for a sitting attitude is not properly a priestly attitude, it is rather the idea of coming into full liberty in sonship. So the first inquiry in chapter 2 is, “Shall I go up?” He inquired of Jehovah, “Shall I go up into one of the cities of Judah?” The previous inquiry was in relation to the disaster at Ziklag; introducing what Ziklag represents — the recovery of things, whether for God, or in the believer’s history, as in his own case. We have an order of things at Ziklag corresponding with the epistle to Romans; and then Hebron corresponding with Colossians; and Jerusalem with Ephesians. These are the stages, and in each of these epistles — Romans, Colossians, and Ephesians — we have prayer introduced in a most significant way. We have instruction in Romans; we are told that we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit joins Himself to our weakness. Thus in our exercises in that way the Spirit comes in and helps us in our souls. Besides that, there is the example of the Lord in teaching us to pray.
Ques How do you fit in the first scripture, 2 Samuel 2:1?
JT The believer is taught in Romans, and the idea of ascension arises in his mind. “Shall I go up?” — not to any elevation, but to the one that the counsels of God point to, that is Judah.
EEB There is a peculiar variety of inquiry, he seeks direction and gets it a number of times. Then in chapter 5 he is to sit still until he hears the sound of the marching in the tops of the mulberry-trees [p. 97] Is all this in view of the time of prayer being over?
JT The ending of his prayers is alluded to at the close of the second book of Psalms; that is when he prays for Solomon. Solomon on the throne is the end; faith is assured now of everything. The application to us would be that we are to have intelligence as to when prayer may give place to something else, when the sense of need ceases. It is a question of spiritual understanding here. In the first set of prayers in chapter 2 there are two inquiries, and then in chapter 5 there are also two. He has in mind first of all, “Shall I go up into one of the cities of Judah?” Now, that is I think where the purpose of God comes in; whether in our prayers we are thinking of God’s thoughts as well as our own needs. Judah has a great place in God’s thoughts. From the outset Judah had a great place among the tribes, and indeed represents the sovereign selection of God. “The sceptre will not depart from Judah, Nor the lawgiver from between his feet, Until Shiloh come, And to him will be the obedience of peoples” (Genesis 49: 10). David would understand that, he was himself, at least in type, Shiloh; and so with every believer; you begin to find that you have a place in the counsels of God and your prayers move on that line. So we find earlier in David’s history, when in the cave, the prophet Gad says, “go into the land of Judah” (1 Samuel 22: 5). Judah would signify the sovereign selection of God, and that affords instruction for the believer. He finds that he has part in the counsels of God, and his prayers must move in that direction. The next thing here is, Which city? The answer is, Hebron, which would be further a question of counsel, because Hebron was before the world in principle. That is a very great thought: one is guided in regard of one’s need in [p. 98] that direction.
AM Is your thought that this would suggest our going up to where there is no need?
JT That is what is in mind. David I think represents that side, leading on to the realm of sonship. He alludes, I believe, as a type for us in that respect, to priesthood as it comes into our souls through our necessities. The Spirit joins Himself to our weakness — that is one thing, but then He makes intercession for us — that is another thing. Moreover He cries, “Abba, Father” in our hearts, and we say “Lord Jesus” by Him. It is the subjective teaching that we get, and the Lord teaches us in the gospels how to go to God, but the Spirit is in us.
Ques Is the force of that in Psalm 72: 20 — “The prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended”?
JT That is, the David of history, so to speak, is merging in his son, in Solomon. It is a principle; let us get the principle in our souls, that there is such a thing as that. It is not easy to fit it in, but it is a landmark to him who reaches it.
JFP Would the sweet psalmist of Israel link with the other side?
JT There is no ending of that; the praises go on eternally. In praying, it says, Paul and Silas “were praising God with singing” (Acts 16: 25) — they were hymning to God. That is, prayer ended, giving place to a greater thought.
WHL When Solomon ended praying, the glory of the Lord filled the house, (2 Chronicles 7: 1).
JT That helps, the priests were not able to enter; it is the same thought extended, that there is a point where priestly service ends. So with the glory filling the tabernacle, Moses could not enter; not that he was formally prohibited, but he could not.
GCS Would David taking his two wives to Hebron be suggestive of Christ as the Head of the assembly?
JT “So David went up thither, and his two wives [p. 99] also, Ahinoam the Jizreelitess, and Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite”. Perhaps that is right. It is in Jerusalem that you get typically the full thought of headship. Hebron would be the experience of another world; Galatians teaches us as to that. We read there: “our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins, so that he should deliver us out of the present evil world, according to the will of our God and Father; to whom be glory to the ages of ages” (Galatians 1: 3 - 5). This prepares us for Hebron, which is typically Colossians, where we learn the ways of another world.
Ques Would the epistle to the Philippians help us in showing how Paul had before him the arriving at this other world you speak of, and how small his needs were?
JT Yes, I think it is a great point to get into the mind as a principle that there is another world. If I get principles in my soul, then I will reach them in due course. Another world means the reversal of this world; the principles of that world are different.
AM Does Hebron suggest that?
JT Yes, that is how Scripture presents it. It was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.
AM Does that correspond with spiritual increase in Colossians?
JT I think so. Ziklag, Hebron, and Jerusalem are the three points. Ziklag is, so to say, the ground level and the adjustment of everything here; that is Romans: the beginning of everything here. Then Hebron, then Jerusalem. You can see how priesthood is needed for these things, so the first two inquiries settle these points as to movement, and the next inquiry is as to conflict. I shall have conflict if I move in this direction and priesthood attaches to the military side of the position, because prayer is priestly.
Ques Would this teach us to be specific in our [p. 100] prayers and have a definite object in view and then wait for the thing to be realised? Do you think we fail to wait for the positive movement?
JT One goes over the prayers of David and they are formally mentioned as having come to an end. How brief they are! How specific they are!
Rem It is recorded of the Lord in Luke that He rose up from His prayer. He came to the end of that particular exercise and finished.
JT You like to hear a brother finish; that he has something in his mind, it is not a formal prayer. In the prayer meeting it would be a collective matter relative to the testimony; he has something and he speaks of it to the Lord and finishes. Then you get the amens, because you finish at the right time. Sometimes I am afraid the amens mean, I am glad he has finished! When the brother reaches a definite end, he presents it to the Lord, and he has finished. That makes way for a goodly number to take part.
Rem It would help us as to seeing the answer come in. We pray sometimes for years about a thing such as hiving off, whereas there comes a time when we should be up and doing.
JT Paul said he besought the Lord thrice: he knew when to stop. He obtained the Lord’s mind and then proceeded gladly in his path of service.
GJE Ziklag was the territory David got from Achish, but it had to be burnt to the ground.
JT A disaster in such circumstances is an important thing in our education. Many, I believe, make poor priests because they have never experienced serious reverses. This is one of the most crucial periods in David’s life. I do not think that it is said anywhere else that he was threatened with stoning. He was a most lovable man, but here he is regarded as responsible for a disaster that affected others as well as himself, and hence it was a most [p. 101] crucial hour, but he encouraged himself in the Lord his God. He knew God. Then he has recourse to Abiathar and the ephod. It is a most urgent matter; this disaster has come from the hand of God; but he knew God. The first book as to David ends with that terrible disaster and the recovery from it, and prayer is peculiarly seen. The ephod is there, that is, it is prayer as you would learn it from Christ. The ephod belongs to the high priest. I have to understand that God has His own requirements. If the matter is urgent, as it was at Ziklag, the more the need for me to comply with the divine requirements. When we come to 2 Samuel the state at Ziklag is carried forward; and what a thoroughly unselfish man David was! We are enjoined to love our enemies, to do good to them that hate us, and pray for them that persecute us, and that is what David did. That is the kind of man that can go up. Psalm 15 and other scriptures indicate what kind of man goes up. God is concerned as to that.
EHF Was he not more thoroughly in the kingdom at this time and nearer the throne than he anticipated? As you have said, he showed it in his unselfish attitude to his enemies.
JT Think of the statute that he makes for those that remain behind with the stuff; they are to share equally with the others. It is the equity of the king and the beautiful spirit that he manifested to all. He is not revengeful, and he expresses his feelings poetically in utter unselfishness. That is the kind of man that God would have with Him in His holy hill; we must have clean hands. If I have anything against my brother, God does not welcome me up there.
Rem Chapter 2 of the second book starts with “after this;” after what you have been referring to you could not put this before that.
JT It is in beautiful order here. You are putting your matter into God’s hands and you have to be careful, for God may say you cannot go up.
FCD Does the thought of priesthood in what you are saying help us in regard to spiritual sensitiveness? I was thinking of David in relation to Saul and Jonathan.
JT That is right. He did not need to go that far; he seems to be extravagant in the way he speaks in chapter 1. But it is the unselfish sentiment that we get in Romans 12, and God immediately says, “Go up”.
Rem The same spirit as was displayed by the Lord on the cross.
JT There you see it in its fulness, and in Stephen too: “Lord, lay not this sin to their charge” (Acts 7: 60). That is the man to go up. It is well to cultivate these things. If we have to come to dissolution, as we may, it helps us all to be ready to go up.
Ques How would 1 Timothy 2: 8 fit in — “I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands”?
JT “Without wrath or reasoning”. If wrath marks you, you are exposing yourself in your prayers; your hands are not clean. Our hands may not be pious hands as we lift them up. “Had I regarded iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not hear me” (Psalm 66: 18). Then if I ask to go up, I am throwing myself on God. Am I suitable up there? God says here immediately, “Go up”, and David says, “Whither shall I go up?” God is thinking of His own world, His own thoughts, while He is answering our prayers.
Rem These exercises connected with Ziklag, Hebron, and Jerusalem would go on with us.
JT Ziklag is what I am here in my town or village, that is the idea. The same person that the people used to know in earlier days, but now I am a different man. Instead of taking my neighbour by [p. 103] the throat, I am forgiving. Where I used to be unlovely, I am now like God, like Christ.
WKS Would the thought of leadership come into this? In the third verse we read, “and his men that were with him did David bring up”.
JT I think they were fit to go. These men that were with David were to go up; every man with his household. I suppose they are all like himself; they had been in the cave with him, and Ziklag is the end of that education. There were men of Belial in the camp with him, but David says that those who remain behind with the stuff must share with those who go up to the battle. That remains as a monument to what David was at Ziklag, and the men were in keeping with that. You get “men” referred to in the Lord’s prayer in John 17.
To come to chapter 5, in nothing do we need to pray more urgently than in conflict, which is the next thing. The first answer Jehovah gives David here is “Go up; for I will certainly give the Philistines into thy hand”. It says they spread themselves — a Philistine feature — to make a show; it is an extended matter. The conflict is now more and more of that character. It spreads abroad, big men are affected; it is thus all the more essential that we should bring God into it. Then the next feature is the sign of the sound of marching; that is, it is to be military according to God, for “the Lord is a man of war” (Exodus 15: 3), and the battle is to be begun in military order.
Ques Does that raise the question of spiritual discernment?
JT It requires great skill, especially if it is an extended matter.
Ques The ordinary man would not hear this, would he?
JT No, I think it is discernment. Joshua thought he heard the noise of war, but it was not that, it [p. 104] was the voice of mirth; his ear was not trained. It is important to realise that if there is a conflict, it is not a matter of personal feelings, but the Lord is leading in it. “Thou shalt not go up; turn round behind them and come upon them opposite the mulberry-trees. And it shall be, when thou hearest a sound of marching in the tops of the mulberry-trees, that then thou shalt bestir thyself”. God has joined the battle Himself.
HJN Would it be a movement amongst the saints?
JT There are those who shirk war; we deplore it in a human way rightly, but there is a time when it is incumbent on us. God is moving in this military way, and I am to go behind the enemy. God is moving in military order: it does not say ‘going’, but “marching;” it is a military word. We are to come into that in spiritual skill, to know how to fall into line; not to want to be in the van; let God be in the van.
EEB How does prayer come in in relation to this?
JT How urgent it is that we should be in power in relation to this; let God take the lead. It is for the brethren to see that you are not raising an issue on your own account. The flesh is very subtle, and one may seek prominence, and a badly-picked place of conflict may mean loss for the saints, as in the battle against Absalom. It was in a wood, a most unlikely battlefield; but here it is marching in the tops of the mulberry-trees. The answer implies that David had to listen for that: “when thou hearest a sound of marching”. You can understand the alertness with which David would listen; then he is to join in — “thou shalt bestir thyself”.
Ques What is this conflict the outcome of?
JT It was when “the Philistines heard that they had anointed David;” it is Christ in principle [p. 105] amongst the saints; something God is putting forward in the saints, of the anointing. There is dignity attached to the anointing; God is committing Himself to it. The Philistines will always attack a movement of God in the anointing; that is the occasion of it. David is humble in the matter; he is a great warrior, having no equal in his day; but then God is a greater warrior: “the Lord is a man of war”. In Joshua 5 the captain of Jehovah’s host appears and we have to pay attention to that. So the war-horse (Proverbs 30: 31, see note d) represents, I think, the christian who is not afraid of war if it is necessary. “He smelleth the battle afar off, the thunder of the captains, and the shouting” (Job 39: 25).
Rem This is after David had gone up to Jerusalem.
JT Yes, he has got to the capital now, that is where the conflict really is, Ephesians in principle.
Ques Would this be in line with Deborah’s song — “From heaven was the fight” (Judges 5: 20)?
JT A very good scripture; it would fit in with this.
Ques Would Epaphras be one who appears in this spirit in Colossians — “always combating earnestly for you in prayers” (Colossians 4: 12)?
JT That is the same kind of thing. Epaphras probably knew the state at Colosse; Paul had not been there, but Epaphras had. It was conflict. So the verses in 2 Samuel 6 show the progress that David was making; he was a real priest. “David danced before Jehovah with all his might; and David was girded with a linen ephod”. A linen ephod is the priestly garb; it is priesthood as needed here; he knows what is needed in these circumstances. He is the king with everything under his hand, and as such, he might go to excess. The linen means that one is sober in what one is doing. Dancing with all his might is not going to excess,
[p. 106] it was before the ark; David is sober. The moment required such an action, it is a very fine tribute to the king’s worshipful feelings as before Jehovah.
Rem He would be balanced.
JT That is it. His wife thought he was going to excess, but that only exposed her. Jerusalem is the final thought; you get the head of the giant there. The Lord Jesus ascended far above all heavens leading captivity captive. Jerusalem represents all that; the light and power of God.
Rem The linen ephod seems to be important.
JT It is exceptional; you do not get it with Aaron or any of the priests before Samuel. It is a tribute to David’s exercises that he wore one here; an example to believers, how we get on. It is the priestly garment par excellence, but David has a linen one. He is a man who has everything under his hand, and if I have that, then I need balance so that I do not go to excess. That is the point here, the circumstances require this.
Rem Samuel was clothed with one. We need it whether we are old or young.
JT As far as I know, after Leviticus, the ephod is found almost exclusively in 1 and 2 Samuel, and I think it is to bring out how priesthood develops informally in the christian. The priests Saul slew “wore the linen ephod”. This is evidently said to amplify Saul’s guilt.
Now our final scripture is a sort of climax to the subject. David is a priest, but now he goes beyond that. The king went in and sat before Jehovah. That means that the word in the preceding verses as to sonship had come home to him, and he is moving in the light of it.
Ques Are we coming more to the family side?
JT It is the eternal side, prayer being ended and priesthood, too. This is another principle that brethren should specially note. Although I may not [p. 107] reach it while down here, there is such a thing as this, that I go in and sit. A priest stands; the idea in priesthood is service, whereas a son is set in the presence of God without any sense of bondage. Perfect love casts out fear; the relationship I am brought into is great enough for this.
Ques Do you connect this with assembly privilege?
JT It is the end in view in the service. Priesthood is because of conditions in me and outside, which will not exist eternally, but service will go on in the liberty of sonship. If you apply it now, it takes form in the assembly where there is power for it.
Ques Do we get the objective and subjective in this verse? “And king David went in and sat before Jehovah, and said, Who am I, Lord Jehovah, and what is my house, that thou hast brought me hitherto”?
JT He goes on further and speaks of “thy servant’s house for a great while to come”. That is what he has in mind, and that is what we come to in the assembly, “a great while to come”. There is a time coming when there will be nothing in this respect but sonship; it is a great thing to have that in mind. God has spoken about that and what we have in the assembly reaches on to it.
JMcM When he says, “is this the manner of man?” does that mean that David has fully come to it himself?
JT I think so; Nathan had given him the light according to the earlier verses and now he moves in it. He might have sat at home and said, I will wait for Solomon, but he gets light and moves in it. That is what we should do.
Rem Sit together in the heavenly places?
JT Quite so, that is the thing. Ephesians contemplates what alludes to us; raised up together and made to sit together. It is in the liberty of sonship.