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SPIRITUALITY (2)

JT For the benefit of those who were not present this morning it may be remarked that our subject is spirituality; it is required, as was pointed out, in view of our eternal place and portion — for we are to be raised in spiritual bodies, the final condition of believers — and in view also of administration here. It was pointed out that “the spiritual discerns all things, and he is discerned of no one”, (1 Corinthians 2:15). Thus, although he has part in administrative matters, such as discipline, he is in accord with the mystery, that which is secretive, and maintains the character of the dispensation, for it is marked by the mystery, “in which”, as it is said, “are hid all the treasures of wisdom and of knowledge”, (Colossians 2:3). Also in regard to restoration, it was pointed out that in Galatians 6:1, the spiritual are enjoined to restore an erring one. It was said that in John 3 we have the basic thought of spirituality, that is, in a constitutional sense, for “born of the Spirit” is a sovereign act of God, not through our intelligence or minds. God acts sovereignly by the Spirit, so that that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. There is that in us which is termed spirit, not in the sense of a person, but a quality. We read Exodus 17 as introducing Joshua, the subject being spirituality as traced in his personal history, not necessarily in his book, but earlier. He appears in Exodus 17 for the first time, without any introduction; and, in view of subsequent history, it is clear enough that we begin with him in the development of spiritual conditions, through our intelligence and exercises.

We have in that chapter an account of the battle with the Amalekites, pointing to Satan working through the ^[p. 18] flesh in us. The battle records weakness, a variable condition until, through provision made, as needed, victory is assured. “Joshua broke the power of Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword”, Exodus 17:13, alluding to the word of God and its effect inwardly.

Moses is seen as dominant, representing, in the smiting of the rock, the authority of God. As interceding also he had the rod, for the authority of God was still there in the intercession. He also appointed Joshua to lead the army, and ultimately the victory was secured. Moses built an altar and called it “Jehovah-nissi”, meaning. The Lord is my banner. Further victories will be secured under that banner — spiritual victories.

The thought is to pursue the subject in relation to Joshua in Exodus 24, ascension being in mind. Rephidim is evidently a lower plane, relating to ordinary, initial, spiritual experience, but chapter 24 contemplates ascension, so that our inquiry will be regarding that feature; and then in chapter 33, the house of God, where Joshua is seen as a young man, we are reminded that we are still in the early stages of spiritual development, marked by freshness and vigour; and he remained in the tent.

AMH Would you say what Joshua represents - how we know Christ in a practical way in that relation, and then in the choosing of men?

JT I have taken him to mean, as I was mentioning this morning, Christ apprehended spiritually; the word spiritual, alluding to what is constitutional in the believer, perhaps indefinable, but over against what is natural in us, and even legitimate. Spirituality implies an indefinable feature, somewhat parallel with the idea of life, but more elevated, as connected with the spirit of a man. Joshua would therefore typify Christ as you begin to apprehend Him as distinct from His authority, as seen in Moses, or even in His priesthood, but what He is as bringing within our range the great spiritual thoughts of

^[p. 19] God: involving His realm, the eternal state of things. We begin to discern it in a small way at first, as in Exodus 17, for he is seen only in a military sense there. An element comes into the soul, indefinable even by the person himself, but yet it is there, and gives character and colour to the person henceforth, and you feel the power of it in him, especially as he takes part in the assembly. The subsequent history of Joshua throws light backwards; and we can look back, each in his own history, to the time when this began in his experience. Not that he did not have the Spirit before, nor partake of spiritual food, as we had this morning; but the circumstances, the smiting of the rock, and the attack on Amalek bring out this element in the believer’s soul, so that he can even speak of the law, which taught him what sin is, as “spiritual”, Romans 7:14.

We have the upward movement in chapter 24, which is a continuation of the subject. It should be pointed out that this upward movement is the result of what intervened; namely, the introduction of the law and the covenant, and the abstract state needed for ascension as indicated in chapters 21,22 and 23, which contemplate experience in the land. In the light of those chapters — which are included in the words read or spoken by Moses, and then written — ascension, as in chapter 24, is possible. The teaching of chapters 21 to 23 is abstract and indicates what is suitable to the people in the land. Moses goes higher and Joshua goes with him, and it is thought that there is in Joshua, in the second half of the chapter, an element entering into our subject. He ascends with Moses and comes down with him, so that he had all the experience of the forty days above.

FJF Does that represent Colossians to us?

JT I have no doubt it would. Colossians hardly takes us into the land, but it is the process of entering, and indicates what is suitable there. Our minds are set on things above where Christ sits at the right hand of ^[p. 20] God. If our minds are there the features of heaven come into them.

HW What would be indicated in Joshua being Moses’ attendant?

JT It is the thought before us, intimately allied with the mediatorship of Moses, which is still in mind, and is a leading thought all through Exodus. The time comes when he gradually disappears and Joshua alone remains in the leadership; this would allude to our progress. In these early chapters we have the thought of spirituality in a comparatively small way. It will be observed that Moses went up actually into the mountain. Jehovah says to him, “Come up to me into the mountain, and be there”, Exodus 24:12; that is a fixed place for the time, and then “Moses rose up, and Joshua his attendant; and Moses went up to the mountain of God”. In the first verse, Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and the seventy elders are directed to “Go up to Jehovah”. They were to “worship afar off”, but “let Moses”, we are told, “alone come near Jehovah”. The company, that is Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and the seventy did not go up into the actual mountain. They went up, it is a question of ascension in principle. Moses alone, with Joshua, went up into the mountain; Moses was there.

WHU What would be the import of the six days’ silence? The glory covered the mount six days, but on the seventh day God spoke.

JT Formation would go on, I suppose, in the silence. An important matter in the service of God is to wait in silence. We have often remarked as to the presence of the Lord at the supper at Bethany, that the silence was only broken by Judas. There was a period of spirituality, and spirituality is required for silence in such circumstances. One can thus be silent in power.

ESW Would you say a little more as to what is in your mind as to the difference between the elders going ^[p. 21] up in principle, and Moses and Joshua going up in actuality?

JT It indicates assembly service at the present time. We do not go up in a literal or physical sense. Paul went up, whether in the body or out of it, he could not tell, he said; it might have been either. It was literal then, but now as in assembly service we do not go up save in a spiritual sense. Christ has gone up in a literal, corporeal sense, and is there, verse 12. Joshua, too, went up and came down with Moses. Hence I think the chapter is to promote spirituality, apprehended objectively in Christ gone up, but already known in the Joshua character. The chapters intervening, 17 to 23, fill out what is needed in the soul to learn what is in chapter 24. Moses going up definitely and being there and Joshua with him.

The number directed to go up would indicate Israel, or the people of God representatively. Moses had that in his mind when he “built an altar under the mountain, and twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel”, verse 4; the saints as a whole are represented. They are to go up, but evidently not up to the mountain proper. They were to remain, as Moses says to the elders, “Wait here for us, until we return to you; and behold, Aaron and Hur are with you: if any man have any matter, let him come before them”, verse 14. That is, the ascension did not alter their literal position on earth. Ascension is typically a spiritual matter for us as in assembly. It does not alter our general position here below in the place of responsibility and testimony.

FWW What is the import of these tables of stone and the law and the commandments given to Moses, in which, apparently, Joshua would have part?

JT Moses would ultimately come down with them, as specified here, “the tables of stone, and the law, and the commandment that I have written, for their instruction”, verse 12. These items allude to what should ^[p. 22] be brought down as governing the people of God in relation to the divine dwelling. They involve the principles governing us in the house of God. The dwelling is in mind in the next chapter, and Moses going up implies that he was to receive instruction for it. The tabernacle would be morally an impossibility without these, because the tabernacle is composed antitypically of the saints, and these elements are essential to its very constitution; that is, typically “the tables of stone, and the law, and the commandment that I have written”. It might be thought that each item referred to the same thing, but not in the renewed mind, which observes fine distinctions; it is through our minds and affections that we are formed.

PL So that the law of the house in the prophet Ezekiel is attached to the top of the mountain?

JT Just so, “round about”, You refer to Ezekiel 43:12? The impression conveyed in the term tables of stone, is permanency in an antitypical sense. There is to be no variation at all in what is given. It cannot be added to, or subtracted from. It is written with the finger of God, as we are told later. Then the law refers to specified authority, not simply authority in a person, but what is specified, what we can act by; “To the law and the testimony!” (Isaiah 8:20). We are told that if they do not speak according to this, “for them there is no daybreak (Isaiah 8:20)”. The law is a specified thing, as we had this morning, in the victory indicated in Romans 7:25, “I myself with the mind serve God’s law”; whatever that law may be; so that law, as specific, is of immense importance. There need be no doubt about it, it is specific. Then there is the commandment written for their instruction; the commandment is more personal to God. It is of peculiar force in the mind, and in the conscience. “If any one thinks himself to be a prophet or spiritual, let him recognise the things that I write to you, that it is the Lord’s commandment”, (1 Corinthians 14:37). It is personal and direct from the Lord. “I received from the Lord, that which I also delivered to you”, (1 Corinthians 11:23). That is for our instruction. All this came down as Moses came down, with Joshua. Moses had all these things with him, and the tabernacle, as we have it in chapter 33, called the “Tent of meeting”, would be that in which they would be applicable; and Joshua was there; that is, the spiritual element is there, and does not depart from within the tent. So that God relies on the spiritual for the maintenance of these things. Like the prophetess Anna, who “departed not from the temple”, (Luke 2:37).

WJH The apostle seems to bring in three of these things in the epistles to the Corinthians — the “fleshy tables of the heart”, 2 Corinthians 3:3; and “not without law to God”, 1 Corinthians 9:21; and “the commandments of the Lord”, 1 Corinthians 14:37.

JT You are thus maintained as in the house; not as those who are casual and stay in their own houses and worship at their own doors, Exodus 33:10. They would not be concerned about what was in the tent. They worship because of a special display of glory, but in our chapter Joshua represents the spiritual, departing not from within the tent. That is the element that is needed for the preservation and maintenance of what is due to God in His house.

JD The impressions that Joshua would have as being with Moses on the mount would qualify him, as brought before us in chapter 33.

JT Yes. I think we might see the link between chapters 24 and 33, as to the ascension; our part being ascension in principle, Christ’s part actual ascension. The Lord says, “go to my brethren and say to them, I ascend to my Father and your Father, and to my God and your God”, (John 20:17). That is truth in the soul, so that ascension properly precedes the establishment of the house here in testimony. It is a heavenly thing ^[p. 24] on earth, and aside from the spiritual, which involves the knowledge of the heavenly, the house will not be preserved. We may be affected by the displays of glory from time to time, but the maintenance of the house requires that the spiritual element is there. Itis there; the “young man departed not from within the tent”. I think that the epistles to the Corinthians, for instance, indicate persons who are characteristically this; persons who are concerned about the state of things, and how far the people as a whole were getting away from the truth of the assembly. There were those who cared for it. They were there.

FJF Would Simeon be one in whom that element is found? He was there to receive the Lord as He came in.

JT He is a good example. I was also thinking of Anna, but Simeon represents the intelligent side. He is introduced to us as “a man in Jerusalem”,(Luke 2:25) which is significant, because Jerusalem viewed spiritually means so much. Later the ass’s colt is found in that spiritual environment. Bethphage, Bethany, the mount of Olives, and Jerusalem taken together form a group of spiritual suggestions in which the colt was held. The Lord is helping us now to keep the children in such an environment, for as held they are capable of spiritual thoughts. Jairus’ daughter also is said to be raised up into a spiritual environment, as often noted. It is said of Simeon, that he was in Jerusalem “And he came in the Spirit into the temple”(Luke 2:27); he was there, and took the Babe in his arms. I believe that is how Luke would help us in this matter of spirituality, that in principle we do not leave the house. Simeon and Anna together exemplify this thought.

CD Joshua as going up with Moses would become acquainted with the pattern of the house, all the holy detail of it, as given to Moses.

JT That is what I thought. The literal ascension is ^[p. 25] attached to the mediatorship of Christ. Our attention has been called to the silence of six days; then Jehovah speaking, as indicative of what went on above. What did Joshua see? What did he hear? We are told what Nadab and Abihu, and Aaron and the elders saw. They saw the God of Israel, and what was under His feet. That was impressive, and would promote spiritual feelings. But what did Joshua see? Moses was there forty days and forty nights, and Joshua with him. So that it seems as if Colossians would help, as has been remarked, setting our minds on things above, in a meditative way, the Holy Spirit in us enabling us to grasp what is there. The Lord says, “the Son of man is in heaven”, (John 3:13); a great spiritual thought in John’s gospel. “If then ye see the Son of man ascending up where he was before”, John 6:62. In these references in the gospels we see the heavenly side of our position. Peter says to the Lord, “thou art the holy one of God”, (John 6:69); he gathered up that in his soul, from what he saw and heard, especially as in that chapter.

EBMcC Do we see in that the sisterly element; they learn in silence, and thus the subjective state is formed?

JT I think it is just in that way that our sisters come into the thought of spirituality. Taking Anna and Simeon together you have the intelligence in the man, and the subjective devotedness in the woman, coming in at the same moment. That is, Anna linked herself on with what Simeon was saying, and she praised God — the brother first and then the sister, — denoting spirituality. How could they join in with such intelligence and holy feeling, marked as “in Jerusalem”, aside from spirituality? “In Jerusalem” here is a characteristic thought.

HDT Is there some point in Joshua not being named in the earlier part of the chapter?

JT I think so. Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and the seventy elders are named, but Joshua has a ^[p. 26] small place in the chapter; yet in the matter before us he had a place beyond anyone else except Moses. It is still a small feature of our subject, but it is there. What we have been saying is of the utmost importance: what did he see up there?

HJM Does it suggest the thought of our ascension in the service of God, with the Lord gradually getting a greater place in our hearts?

JT And it involves the mind, as we have been saying — the ability of the believer to place his mind on things above. Romans 7 shows that the believer is in control of his mind; chapter 12 shows that the mind is to be renewed. Colossians says that we are to set it on things above. The Holy Spirit enables us to grasp what is there, where Christ sitteth at the right hand of God — where He is. We apprehend Him there in His mediatorial character, but we apprehend also the spiritual element which abides, and that is Joshua.

HDT So that it is a hidden matter at the moment. It is going to work out in its results later.

JT I think it is a hidden matter generally, even in our meetings, but it gives character to those in whom it exists. It shows itself in their attitude, in their manner, and in the part they are able to take in the assembly; it is felt, and normally all who are present gain by it. It lifts the service of God out of the realm of the natural mind.

JD Would there be any analogy between what is set forth here in Joshua and Moses, and Paul being caught up into the third heaven and hearing unutterable things?

JT Paul said he could not tell whether he was in the body or out of it, but it must have added much to his spirituality. He did not speak of it for fourteen years, but I am certain that after he came down and was adjusted, increased spirituality would be seen in him. In his ministry Paul ^[p. 27] stresses spirituality.

HJM The great mediator was the exclusive object of attachment for Joshua. Typically, he was greater than the mountain, and greater than all that was given, and greater than the people.

JT The mind is to follow the Mediator. “Moses went up to the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain. And the glory of Jehovah abode on mount Sinai”. “And Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights”. The mind is the great medium of all that is connected with intelligence. The soul, of course, is the seat of the affections and feelings which are to be governed, but it is the mind which is presented here. “I ascend”, says the Lord, “to my Father and your Father(John 20:17)”. The mind takes that in and is affected.

CFF Is there a connection between this and the mount of transfiguration?

JT There is a relation between them. The mount of transfiguration was to establish special conditions in the persons that were taken up — in the three witnesses. They had a special place in the testimony. It involved peculiar spiritual wealth in those three men. Of the three, Peter alone speaks of it. They saw the heavenly side of the Lord’s position. The Lord told them not to speak about it until He rose from the dead. It belonged to the new, heavenly order of things. As already said, none of them speaks of it in ministry except Peter; and as about to put off his tabernacle he does so with such words and such feelings as to show that it had been in his soul all the time, maturing and being added to.

AEM Would you say that abstraction is an essential feature in spirituality in the service of God, and does that come from learning the control of the mind?

JT I am thankful you mention that. One has thought of it a good deal lately. John helps us greatly on the line of abstraction. As one has control of one’s mind, governed by the truth, the Spirit supports one. The mind of the believer is renewed. He can thus eliminate ^[p. 28] from it, and shut out what is not needed at any particular time; so that Paul saying, “whether we are beside ourselves, it is to God”,(2 Corinthians 5:13) would mean that his mind and his affections were fully on God. He was able by the Spirit to exclude all else for the moment, he would be in ecstasy, as Peter was. As we thus have control of our minds, we learn as in assembly to shut out all else, and even in an individual way at times; the Spirit then gives you a view of heavenly things. I believe that is a most important thing for us at the present time.

EESL Does the capacity to make the progress indicated in Joshua have its beginning in the Holy Spirit sustaining the spirit of our minds?

JT Exactly. What we have been saying about Romans 7 enters in too, it is the control of one’s mind. I believe in most cases the mind largely controls the person; deliverance, in principle, gives you control of your mind, so that you can make resolves, and you can retire to be with God, to set your mind on things above, and the Holy Spirit is with you in that. In fact, it is only by the Spirit that we can be maintained in it, and I think the chapters alluded to. Exodus 21, Exodus 22 and Exodus 23, imply the abstract state in which we may be with God. I am entitled to take account of myself in an abstract way, and the Spirit sustains me in it, and God takes account of me in that way, too. I believe we are to follow Moses — the going up of Christ. His present position on high, and what He is as Man: what His condition is there. We are to be able to take in all these things; and as thus held in the mind, by the power of the Spirit they will be formative.

EESL We need not be afraid of being presumptuous in accepting definitely the great principle of self-control.

JT Quite so. Then as to spirituality, in one like Paul coming down from the third heaven, there would ^[p. 29] be much added in the house of God here below; not only what we have had, the tables of stone and the law and the commandments, but spirituality abiding in the house permanently. It is thus that the house of God is maintained here.

WJH I suppose the seventy would have one judgment, one thought, of what was above when they came down, but Joshua would have something very much greater, as having been further up, having gone the whole way with Moses.

JT Think of the scene presented: it is glory! Glory is an immense thought. We are told that “the appearance of the glory of Jehovah was like a consuming fire on the top of the mountain, before the eyes of the children of Israel. And Moses went into the midst of the cloud, and ascended the mountain. And Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights”, verses 17,18. Think of all that was inside, as it were, beyond what Israel saw! Their minds would follow Moses going in, but then there was the unfolding of the pattern. What was that pattern? It was Christ. For forty days God was bringing out and unfolding the pattern of what was in His mind. Think of the glory involved in that! Joshua represented the spiritual side there. What an enlargement in him there would be during the forty days! And so it is that the Spirit enables us to grasp heavenly things as presented. We are entitled to look in there. Stephen looked in. He saw the heavens opened and he tells what he saw. Hebrews has been called the book of the opened heavens. This is what is opened up to us, and then there is liberty and power given to look into heaven. Entering the holiest corresponds: the believer has access there — power to look in and see what is there.

CCE Speaking practically, we do not give ourselves time for a consideration of these things. The hurry of modern life is not conducive to ^[p. 30] spirituality.

JT That is an important item. Time is one of the scarcest things that most of us have, but still that difficulty has to be overcome. John says, “and we have contemplated his glory, a glory as of an only-begotten with a father“John 1:14 — that requires withdrawal from ordinary things, and the fixing of our view on Christ with the Father, what He was with the Father. As confirmatory of what you say, one would call attention to what finishes this matter of communications on the mountain. In this connection we might refer to Exodus 31: 13 - 17. You do not get earlier what is stated there. God is bringing it in there for the purpose of impressing us with the necessity of taking time for divine things — not for service, but for contemplation. What we need is that in the power of the Spirit we should absorb what revelation affords for us. That passage is the finish of the instruction on the mountain, and shows what God had in mind in view of His house; that His people should be restful spiritually and take time to contemplate divine things.

AED Would you link that with the mount of Olives as coming in continuously in the Lord’s service? Would that be a spiritual realm into which the Lord was able to retire?

JT Yes, indeed! “By night, going out, he remained abroad on the mountain called the mount of Olives”, (Luke 21:37). What was He doing there? What communion, what enjoyment. He had with the Father in that out of the world state of things!

FJF Is there a suggestion of the wondrous pathway of the Lord, in the pavement of sapphire, as the body of heaven for clearness?

JT I suppose it is to be reflected in us, the footnote gives, “the transparency of sapphire”. It is a question of transparency. How clear all is under God, under His holy feet, as seen in Christ! He would have us in that transparency of walk. It involves the tabernacle period. He “went about in a tent and in a tabernacle (2 Samuel 7:6)”. One can understand the holiness of the tabernacle, even the floor of it. The dust of the floor of it was to be used to bring to light something done in a hidden way, in the way of evil. Numbers 5. It would be exposed. God was reflected here in the footsteps of Jesus. What transparency there was! everything would become exposed through Him. He said, I am “altogether that which I also say to you (John 8:25)”. That is to be reflected in the believer. He is to be altogether what he says, there are no dark parts.

HH What is meant by “under his feet”?

JT I think it must include the dust on the floor of the tabernacle. Death was known there, as nowhere else, but there was the exposure and judgment of hidden evil; for this, the dust had to be put into holy water in an earthen vessel.

HH With regard to the ascension, do you think it comes within the range of the assembly as made up of spiritual persons?

JT I think the assembly is maintained here on that principle. It is what comes out of heaven really. We all know what happened in Peter’s trance. He was in an ecstasy, withdrawn from ordinary affairs, and what came to him was a sheet knit at the four corners, let down from heaven. The house of God required that, it was a heavenly matter. Peter was to be brought into this side of the truth; his labours had been in relation to the Jews, but he was to be brought into the heavenly side of the position, and God used extraordinary means to effect this. As we saw here on Lord’s day, he fulfilled his obligations in the dignity of a son. Although he did not preach sonship as far as we know, he was a son characteristically. In his trance God brought him into the heavenly side of the truth and he moved in the power of it in the service to be rendered, in bringing in the Gentiles, and brought them in at the highest ^[p. 32] point. The Holy Spirit fell upon them while he was speaking. That would impress him.

FW The bringing in of the Gentiles was a great contribution to the house of God.

JT He did not bring them in as a Jewish apostle, but as a man, caught up to heaven, as it were, and let down. He was qualified to do it by the special service of God, so that the Gentiles were brought in at the highest point, not by way of what was established at Jerusalem, but by what was in heaven. Acts 10 is a highly spiritual chapter.

Ques What is the thought of eating and drinking on the mountain?

JT It is that you are happy and free in nearness to God. They are called “nobles” at that point. It refers to our dignity; that we are suitable and equal to the exalted position we are in. I thought we ought not to omit this point about Peter, as to spirituality — how the house of God is constituted. The Gentiles are brought in by Peter; he was qualified to bring them in, not as a Jewish apostle, but as a man with the keys of the kingdom of heaven. He uses the keys in a dignified way, as qualified to use them by the vision, the result of what he obtained by his abstraction on the house-top. He was spiritual enough to be in an ecstasy, and, as in it, heaven instructed him so that his service is highly spiritual. I believe that to be a feature; not only what we say, but the spiritual touch we give to it in our service.

JD In regard to the dust of the tabernacle being mingled with the holy water, how does that work now in bringing evil to light in a soul?

JT The Lord does it typically in the priest, so that hidden evil is brought to light; it is in the presence of this element of transparency. The dust of the tabernacle was peculiar. Death was known there, not death in the ordinary sense, but death was known before God.

^[p. 33] There was no floor in the tabernacle, just the wilderness. The dust of it was to be used for this exposure in connection with holy water. The transaction in Numbers 5 is very peculiar. It stands in relation to evil being put out of the camp. The leper and the like can be easily discerned, but unfaithfulness to Christ is not always so easily discerned. There may be unfaithfulness and yet the outward relation seemingly intact. That is the point; the evil is disclosed by the dust of the tabernacle being put into the holy water. The woman is made to drink it. Numbers 5:26.

ESW Does the dust applied in that way show how the individual reacts to this testing application of death? Faithful persons would also react to the test, as that dust was applied.

JT Yes, there is fruitfulness as we react in transparency to it; we can face it. “He that doeth truth cometh to the light (John 3:21)”. I think the truth as to Joshua so far is clear enough. He is to show that, what is to be in the house, as we may say permanently, is this element of spirituality in a young man. It is an early stage in Exodus 33:11, but we shall get it in a fuller way later.

PL Do we have the two thoughts brought together in Timothy 3? The young man is to learn how to behave in the house of God, and immediately following is the reference to the mystery of piety, involving the incarnation and Christ being “received up in glory(1 Timothy 3:16)”.

JT It is a question of behaviour in the house, “the assembly of the living God, the pillar and base of the truth. And confessedly the mystery of piety is great. God has been manifested in flesh, has been justified in the Spirit, has appeared to angels, has been preached among the nations, has been believed on in the world, has been received up in glory”, (1 Timothy 3:16). All that is cherished in those who are spiritual. There is a great need of this in all gatherings of the saints — the spiritual ^[p. 34] who would stand up in all circumstances to maintain what is due to God.

FW Moses “returned to the camp; but his attendant, Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, departed not from within the tent”. What is the difference between the action of Moses and the action of Joshua?

JT The action of Joshua implies the spiritual side at the present time; the passage really contemplates the present time. Failure having come in, Joshua maintains the permanency of the house in character; and Moses would typify Christ in His personal official right returning to the camp, which would mean that He walks amidst the golden candlesticks. He visits the gatherings, and in principle the whole of Christendom. He has the right to move about, but our part is to stand by the house. Joshua is the son of Nun, which name is said to embody the idea of sprouting, suggesting life; that which is to be perpetuated.

HDT He is described in both passages as Moses’ attendant.

JT That emphasises what we have been saying. We are still in the initial phases of the subject of spirituality. He is called in his own book the attendant of Moses, but here being a young man he represents the development of the subject of spirituality, leading to its full maturity. He “departed not from within the tent”, as a young man.

HH That would apply to the present time. The exercises of spiritual men over against the breakdown in Christendom.

JT The truth and character of the house is preserved in those who are spiritual. Not simply what brethren hold, as we may say; it is the spiritual element that is to give character to it, because the house of God is a heavenly institution; it has, in a sense, come down from heaven.

RS It must be maintained in a spiritual way. I was thinking of the young men in Acts 5.

JT ^[p. 35] Those that buried Ananias? Just so, they are ready to do that, to look after the saints, even though they may be erring ones.

DH If spirituality is maintained among the people of God, cannot we expect God to move and speak to them, as we see here? Jehovah, the passage says, “spoke with Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend”, Exodus 33:11.

JT Quite so. We can see the importance of the house of God, and the need that it should be preserved spiritually. The great privileges that are attached to it are seen here in Jehovah coming down and speaking with Moses; what privilege is involved! How well worth while to be spiritual, even from this point of view alone, so as to preserve the truth of the house!

EBMcC Moses would set forth one developed in spirituality?

JT No doubt. He goes up again without Joshua, for the matter of spirituality is not stressed after this chapter. It is Moses without Joshua in the next chapter, because another thing is in mind, the renewal of the covenant — figurative of the new covenant.

EBMcC Pitching the tent outside the camp shows that Moses knew what to do.

JT Quite so. And Joshua, in departing not from within the tent, is fully in keeping with the spiritual intelligence of the mediator.

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