HOW THE FULL TRUTH OF THE GOSPEL IS REACHED
[p. 199] HOW THE FULL TRUTH OF THE GOSPEL IS REACHED
My thought is to show that the blessing here outlined in regard to Israel’s tribes may be viewed as a foreshadowing of the way in which the believer now comes into the full truth of the gospel; that is, that the blessing of each tribe sets forth some phase or stage of the blessings of christianity.
I take the liberty of using it in that way, knowing full well that it refers to God’s people Israel. I am encouraged in doing so, knowing that the principle of His ways do not vary, and so His ways with Israel serve as a type of His ways with us. I shall have to take up the subject in a superficial way, for it is very great, and I can only give a very general idea.
First of all I remark, that it is the blessing of Moses the man of God. Jacob called his sons together, and he conveyed to them what should befall them in the latter days, and not in the way of blessing, although you cannot exclude that. But Moses speaks only of the blessing of the people. Moses is a figure of Christ. He is said to be a “man of God” (verse 1), and he was “king in Jeshurun” (verse 5). These two expressions apply absolutely to Christ. He is pre-eminently the Man of God, and He is the King. Having accomplished redemption, the Lord Jesus Christ is in the position of King, and hence He is able to bless. It is of all moment that we should apprehend Christ in this way. The Lord Jesus Christ when He came here carried out every divine thought, cost what it might, even unto death. He is “king in Jeshurun”, not officially, but as indicative of the present moment. He is King to the tribes when gathered together. Well, He is there and ready to bless.
[p. 200] Now the blessings recorded in this chapter are what is in His heart for us. Christ has borne the curse, He has borne the full weight of God’s judgment as due to the people for their wickedness and corruption. All the judgment due on that account fell upon Jesus. He went into death for it, and He glorified God in regard of it in every respect. Now the answer to that is the glory that shines out in the form of blessing. In this blessing of Moses you have the Lord indicated as in the position in which He can bless, and the outline of blessing is given in connection with each tribe. The first is “Let Reuben live, and not die”. He deserved to die. The Lord Jesus Christ died, and it is in the mind of God that man should not die. Man became a fountain of corruption, but the Lord bore the judgment, and now the attitude of God towards man is life. “Let Reuben live, and not die”. The Lord is in relation to man. He is the Son of man and He has discharged every liability of man, and now His thought is that man should live.
The next is Judah. “Hear, Lord, the voice of Judah”. If the light of the gospel enters your soul, it will produce a cry; it will produce an articulation from your soul, for it is evident that God must begin there. It is like the state of creation when chaos marked it. If the light of God enters your soul, it reveals a state of corruption which is appalling, but it is with a view to life. God commands the light; the light is in the face of Jesus. If the light shines into your heart, you see the corruption, and you cry; hence in Judah you get “Hear, Lord, the voice of Judah”. That cry enters heaven, and the hearing of it in heaven gives you recognition there; you are taken notice of; you are known in heaven as having cried. Repentance has taken place; you are undone; you have no hope save in God. That is the true effect of the [p. 201] light of the gospel. God, the source of the light, is the only One who can help you. Thus it is “Hear, Lord, the voice of Judah”. And what next? “Bring him unto his people”. You want to be alone when you cry, but you do not need to remain alone. Isolation is only for the leper. The Lord Jesus Christ found a leper in his isolation and He touched him, and the leper was cleansed, and as cleansed he was fit for the congregation. No one need remain a leper; God goes out to the leper in His grace; the leper was outside the camp. Isaiah was a leper; he was “unclean” (Isaiah 6:5); but the seraphim flew swiftly to relieve his need. If you are exercised, God will hear your cry, and then the next thing is, God brings you to your people. You are cleansed, and you do not need to remain isolated. You had been a leper, but as cleansed you are to come to your own people.
So next we come to Levi. Levi has found his own people, and he disclaims his natural relations. God brings you to your people, and, finding them, you no longer turn to or regard your relations after the flesh as your people. Hence Levi is separated to God. You can see how that takes place in the history of the believer. You are not asked to drop your natural relationships, but you find another circle, so that you, in a sense, disregard natural relationships; you say to your father and mother, “I have not seen him”. I do not dwell on that further. This is followed by “they have observed thy word”. They value God’s word.
Now I pass on to Benjamin, “The beloved of the Lord”. Clearly we are advancing here. Levi kept God’s word and His covenant, and hence Benjamin is the “beloved of the Lord”. Is it not wonderful that you, a believer, should have that place? “The Lord shall cover him all the day long”. Have you become acquainted with this phase of blessing?
It is more than merely “live, and not die”, but that, as in separation to God and to the people of God, and as you are governed by His word, you come into the consciousness of what Christ is to God, and of what you are to God. He “shall dwell in safety by him”. Safety is nowhere else; safety is in dwelling with God. God is the protector of His people; “God is known in her palaces for a refuge”, Psalm 48:3. Who can touch you if you dwell where God is? “The Lord shall cover him all the day long”. What a wonderful place to dwell in, the place of strength!
I can only barely touch on Joseph. “Blessed of the Lord be his land”. There we have the place; heaven is touched. “For the precious things of heaven, ... the precious fruits brought forth by the sun, and for the precious things put forth by the moon”. The precious things of heaven and of the sun, that which flows from the sun in heaven, and of the moon; the good of it all is for the man who was “separated from his brethren”.
Then you come to Zebulun. “Rejoice ... in thy going out”. The believer is now prepared for testimony, and so he dwells in a tent; this latter is set forth in Issachar — “and, Issachar, in thy tents”. That is what is suitable for those who are identified with the testimony. Zebulun and Issachar are at the source of wealth. They dwell on the seashore. They can “suck of the abundance of the seas” and “treasures hid in the sand”. They were men who had great wealth, and they have liberty, they go “in and out”. They are prepared to sacrifice too. “There they shall offer sacrifices”, and they can afford to do so. They sacrifice the sacrifices of righteousness. A believer can give his body for the brethren, and if he has wealth he can place it at the disposal of his brethren.
The next is Gad. The blessing of Gad shows enlargement. “Blessed be he that enlargeth Gad: he dwelleth as a lion, and teareth the arm”. I do not venture to enlarge upon that save to show that as you advance on the line of the gospel you are enlarged. “He executed the justice of the Lord, and his judgments with Israel” (verse 21). There is power for righteous discrimination. Believers require what we get here in Gad. “In a portion of the lawgiver, was he seated” and “his judgments were with Israel”. We require a Gad. The divine economy requires the spirit of judgment, not in the sense of government, but in the sense of discrimination. For that you require a Gad. “He came with the heads of the people, he executed the justice of the Lord”. These things all came out in Christ. They are all wrapped up in the gospels, and what should mark the believer is the spirit of discernment.
Then see verse 22: “Dan is a lion’s whelp: he shall leap from Bashan”. That is divine strength and agility which are very important in connection with the divine testimony on earth.
Then Naphtali comes to the supreme blessing. Put your own name in there. “O Naphtali, satisfied with favour, and full with the blessing of the Lord”. Not only is every need of your heart met, but your heart is perfectly satisfied, and satisfied with favour. “O Naphtali, satisfied with favour ... possess thou the west and the south”. Such a man is qualified to take up the inheritance, surely.
Then we come to Asher. “Let Asher be blessed with children”; that is multiplication. “Let him be acceptable to his brethren”. This latter is a very important element. Children in the Old Testament were an evidence of divine favour, and will be so in the future. In our dispensation it is a question of spiritual fruitfulness. We do not want to cut across the consciences of our brethren. It is well for us that we have our brethren. They will [p. 204] take care of us; and it is well that we should be acceptable to them. ‘Foot dipped in oil’; that is the evangelist; but you do not use your foot until you are acceptable to your brethren. The foot dipped in oil is the tread of a spiritual man.
It is well for us that we have our brethren; we want to be acceptable to our brethren. It is a wonderful thing to find the brethren and to study to be acceptable to them. It is a wonderful tread the step of a man whose foot is dipped in oil. The Lord Jesus is the true example of it. We read: “Jesus increased ... in favour with God and man” (Luke 2:52). No man in the world could walk like that. In Luke the point is how He talked, and in John it is how He walked. All His movements were acceptable. They were the movements of a Man anointed by the Spirit; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fastened upon Him. In John it is not how He talked, but how He walked. He was the true Asher. The Spirit of God begins with the feet of the preacher. “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace”, Isaiah 52:7. He goes after the sheep on the dark mountains. Christ was the true Asher and we may walk in His steps. I have no confidence in the preacher who has not “beautiful feet”.
I have preached in view of a company of christians. I do not want you to stop short of one feature of what is in the heart of the Lord as blessing for you. If we are in the “fulness of the blessing of the gospel of Christ” (Romans 15:29) then our ways and our walk will be after the pattern of Christ.
May the Lord bless His word to each of us.