DIVINE REQUIREMENTS AND PROVISION FOR SERVICE
[p. 382] DIVINE REQUIREMENTS AND PROVISION FOR SERVICE
Hebrews 9:14; Hebrews 10:15 - 22; Exodus 3:1,12; Exodus 4:27
I have before me to speak of divine furnishing, and as to this I am reminded of Genesis 22:14, in which it is said, “On the mount of Jehovah will be provided”. That became a saying in Israel, particularly understood by Moses, who, as charged with the setting up of the tabernacle, proved how all that was needed was provided in “the mountain of God”. It is a lesson that every believer should learn, that as called of God and endowed with the Holy Spirit, and made a priest, he is to have part in the divine service. This applies to each believer, and so each should understand whence his furnishings come; otherwise he will, like thousands around, turn to human resources.
Genesis 22 teaches us that things are provided of God in His mountain, and I take it, dear brethren, that the epistle to the Hebrews corresponds with “Jehovah-jireh”. It shows us how God has furnished His people with all that is needed for His service, so that throughout the book you have the idea of what “we have” — that is, christians — what we have as provided of God, provided bountifully and wisely, and provided so that it can be said we have it.
Now in Genesis 22 you have several ideas. First, the idea of love — the Father loved the Son. You have the suggestion there of the Father and the Son in Abraham and Isaac, and I think you will see that this epistle to the Hebrews presents us with the Father and the Son. “I will be to him for father, and he shall be to me for son” (Hebrews 1:5); indeed the epistle opens with God speaking to us in the Son, so that we are at the great source of true provision for divine service.
[p. 383] God approaching the great subject of service in the priesthood begins with Himself, as in the first chapter of Genesis it is God — “in the beginning God” — so that we are at the very source of things in Hebrews. God speaking in His Son. Nothing is held back. Every divine thought is spoken, for the One who speaks is competent, being the Son, to unfold to us the mind of God. And then we have in Hebrews 2 what I apprehend corresponds with the ram which we find in Genesis 22. It is said that it was found “caught”, held in a thicket. A ram suggests what is mature, and we find in this epistle, the manhood of our Lord Jesus Christ. He was a real Man. One almost shrinks from going the full length to which the Holy Spirit goes in speaking of the manhood of Christ.
The manhood of Christ was particularly the feature in the types that was for the priest, and it is only as we are spiritual that we can safely speak of the manhood of Christ in the full sense in which it is presented to us in Scripture. Hebrews 2:17 gives us the manhood of Christ, that “in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren”. A wonderful fact; and “as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same” (verse 14). He was completely thus identified with man, sin apart; and then in chapter 10 we have the thicket — He was, as it were, caught by the horns. He is detained. The chapter, citing from the psalms, brings to our attention that He was here for the will of God. It is said that He “was heard in that he feared” (Hebrews 5:7) — a marvellous statement. He was heard, of course, on personal grounds, for as the Son He could “demand” of the Father. John sets out that He was equal with the Father, but the remarkable statement appears in this epistle that He “was heard in that he feared”. He was heard because of His piety, showing how thoroughly real His humanity was. Piety is profitable for everything. It was seen [p. 384] in perfection in Christ, in such perfection that God heard Him on account of it.
In chapter 10 He is detained as I said; He came into the world to do the will of God. Every movement of His heart, every step, every word here was in relation to the will of God. In Gethsemane we see Him facing the full consequence of having taken on the work which the will of God required. He could have retired, being who He was, but He is detained in obedience, as thrice He prayed, “if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt” (Matthew 26:39; Matthew 26:42; Matthew 26:44). He is detained by the will of God. On the very highest ground morally, He is detained. The greatest thing in this sense is the will of God. I am not overlooking what is stated of love — I am speaking now of a moral element in this world, that which every power that Satan controls is against, that is, the will of God. Christ was detained by it in Gethsemane; His own feelings put aside or out of view for the moment — “not my will, but thine be done”.
You will see thus that this book, as I said, corresponds with Genesis 22. You have the Father and the Son acting together, the source whence all comes for the service of God. And then you have the Son in the perfection of manhood, as typified in the ram detained and so available for the sacrifice. So, dear brethren, in looking at Hebrews from this point of view, you see that there is divine furnishing for every believer, so that he might serve God, that he might “worship the living God”. Christ, it says, offered Himself by the eternal Spirit to purge our conscience from dead works that we might worship the living God. Every question of conscience is settled by His death, and then further, “the called” receive the promise of an eternal inheritance — that is to say, my conscience is purged and I am set up, enriched with an eternal inheritance.
[p. 385] Now I want to show you briefly from Exodus how this thought, brought out in Hebrews, is further seen in the types and how the idea of the mountain of the Lord, the place of divine provision and divine requirement appears in relation to God’s service. As we keep these things steadily in view we shall be preserved from having recourse to human resources. Christendom has gone back to these, to human furnishings in the nominal service of God. God is lost sight of — the mountain of the Lord is overlooked, and hence no true divine service. There is nothing new in it, whereas the epistle to the Romans, which sets out the idea from the very start, says we are to “serve in newness of spirit, and not in oldness of letter” (chapter 7:6). Christendom has gone back to the oldness of the letter. They borrowed from judaism, from paganism and from modernism and there is nothing for God in all this. Our only salvation therefore, in regard to the service of God, is to have recourse to the mountain of Jehovah, where we find divine provision for divine service.
So in Exodus 3 you have revelation at the mountain of God, for that is what it is. The bush burned and it was not consumed. God was in the bush. It is a well-known passage, a passage which the Lord Himself alludes to: “the section of the bush” (Luke 20:37). It is fraught with immense things for the people of God. God at Horeb disclosed Himself to Moses. Moses, as it were, instinctively found himself there. He led the flock to the back side of the desert, “came to the mountain of God — to Horeb”; and as the bush burned Moses turned aside to see. John 1:14 says, “The Word became flesh, and dwelt among us and we have contemplated his glory”, which is the fulness of the bush. The bush was not indeed the Word become flesh; but it anticipated that that should come about. Moses turned aside to see, and as Jehovah saw that he turned aside to see, He called him by name. Dear brethren,
[p. 386] as we turn aside to see we are signalised by heaven. Every one that has turned aside to see what God presents of Himself is noted there. There is no other sight like it. The present age is one of sightseeing — men and women circle the earth to see this and that thing. How many turn aside to see the revelation of God in Christ? “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”. The apostles contemplated it.
This is what is needed, the matter being so great. Well, Moses turned aside and God required holiness, and then after much is said, He says to Moses “this shall be the sign to thee ... ye shall serve God upon this mountain”. The idea of a place of service divinely designated is thus early indicated, as He says later, “where I shall make my name to be remembered, I will come unto thee, and bless thee”, (Exodus 20:24). I believe we shall understand this sign as we are in the service — it is a confirmation. God has His own way of assuring us as we are in the path of faith.
I want now to dwell particularly on Aaron, being the brother, as a part of the divine provision. I do not know how all here regard a brother, but the Holy Spirit lays great stress on the value of a brother, and so you find that God speaks to Aaron and directs him to go to meet Moses, and he meets him “on the mountain of God”. We have been dwelling on Genesis 22, but now we have two brothers on the mount of God, and Aaron kisses Moses. I am presenting Aaron here as a divine provision, which he was, as you will observe in the passage. “Jehovah said to Aaron, Go into the wilderness to meet Moses. And he went, and met him on the mountain of God, and kissed him”. He was a divine provision. A brother is a divine provision, and what one feels at the present time is the great readiness apparent in many to let a brother go; brethren being ready under [p. 387] certain circumstances to pull away from each other as if they were of no value to each other. Cain attached no value to a brother; but God challenged him as to where Abel his brother was. That was the issue. It was a question of the brother. Aaron is the brother divinely provided for Moses. How could we do without the brethren?
Moses had said, “I am not eloquent” (verse 10). God says, “Is not Aaron the Levite thy brother? I know that he can speak well ... he goeth out to meet thee; and when he seeth thee he will be glad in his heart” (verse 14). A brother provided of God will be glad to meet you and you must value him from that standpoint. He is divinely provided. Without the brethren we cannot have divine service fully, it is in a company. Aaron goes to meet Moses by divine direction, and when he meets him he kisses him. Evidently he was greater in affection at the moment than Moses. Moses was greater in light. We need the light but we also need the affection. We must not belittle the light in the least degree. Moses had it at great cost. God came into the bush in order that Moses as disciplined should have light, and God communicated His mind to him. I do not say Moses did not have love. He did. I am speaking of the passage I read, where Aaron is said to have kissed Moses. If you had heard Moses pray that night I have no doubt you would have heard him thank Jehovah for Aaron. It is unlikely that he had hitherto known much of this kind of affection.
A brother we are told is “born for adversity” (Proverbs 17:17) and so God would teach us how to value each one. You may say such a one has but little of the qualities of a brother: can you not help him a little on that line? In Romans 14 the apostle speaks of a “weak brother” — he says, Christ died for him. However little he is in your eyes Christ died for him. If you nurture him a bit, if he is brought into warmth he may kiss you.
[p. 388] You may depend upon it, he will. The point is to gain him: “thou hast gained thy brother” (Matthew 18:15) — a great moral triumph.
Now I want to go a bit further in connection with that because, having the expression of the affection of a brother, one is greatly encouraged to look for great things. After passing through the Red Sea Israel arrives before the mountain of God. I can understand the feelings of Moses with this word in his heart: “ye shall serve God upon this mountain”. And I can understand him looking around on the camp of Israel, 600,000 men with women and children — possibly two million of people in the wilderness — the wilderness yielding nothing. What exercises he must have had as to provision! He would no doubt cherish what he wrote in Genesis 22:14, “on the mount of Jehovah will be provided”. You can understand how he would look at the mountain and think of the promise. Have you ever looked at it thus? As having come out of the world you are faced with the necessity for provision. Having judged the world you know it furnishes nothing for you, no spiritual help whatever. Have you come to that decision? You must come to that decision if you are to be in the service of God according to Him. And hence you turn to the mountain of God, that is to say, the place of divine provision. Here is a man with two million people under his hand who are to be fed, and there is nothing in the desert for them. Think of the exercises of that man! He said later to God, “Have I conceived all this people?” (Numbers 11:12). But who was nourishing them? God “nursed them in the desert”, (Acts 13:18). Think of the love that was behind all the divine service and care in the forty years in the desert!
Faith, at the very outset, would learn that everything came from God — everything was provided on the mountain of God. I refer particularly to divine service [p. 389] and I want to dwell for a moment on the Hebrew servant — how at the mount of the Lord we get that wonderful picture of true service. After the ten words are given God says: “If thou buy an Hebrew servant, six years he shall serve: and in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing. If he came in by himself, he shall go out by himself: if he were married, then his wife shall go out with him. If his master have given him a wife, and she have borne him sons or daughters; the wife and her children shall be her master’s, and he shall go out by himself. And if the servant shall plainly say, I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free: Then his master shall bring him unto the judges; he shall also bring him to the door, or unto the door post; and his master shall bore his ear through with an aul; and he shall serve him for ever” (Exodus 21:2 - 6).
You see the perfect law of liberty is set down beside the ten commandments. What a voice it must have had to Moses! Certainly it is a voice to us, for it is in the understanding of this that we serve in newness of spirit and not in the oldness of the letter. That is to say, you serve in love. Instead of evading service you take it on because you love. That is newness. That is not like the world. The world does not serve thus. The flesh would escape wherever it can, but love serves. It is the liberty of love, and what does the liberty of love imply? It means liberty to die. Is not that the royal law, beloved? It is — “the perfect law, that of liberty” (James 1:25). I have liberty to do what is required. I have a means of meeting the situation, and I do it whatever it costs me; liberty, that is love in supremacy; and so the Hebrew servant after [p. 390] having served six years might have gone out free. Will love remain alone? No! He may go out by himself, but will love leave its objects behind? Love will have an object and will do its best for it. So the Hebrew servant declines to go out by himself. He says, “I love my master, my wife, and my children, I will not go out free”. That is to say we serve God and the brethren in love, and in serving thus we serve in liberty, and in serving in liberty we die if necessary. Love is fully expressed in death. “Hereby we have known love, because he has laid down his life for us; and we ought for the brethren to lay down our lives” (1 John 3:16). That is how the truth is stated in Scripture. All this comes out at the mountain of God. We have set down in Exodus 21 the full length to which love will go, and so, as understanding the type, you see how to serve in newness of spirit and not in the oldness of the letter, for it is new.
Then, going just a step further, you can see how Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu and seventy of the elders of Israel, being called up into the mountain, would get a view of God as thus providing. They saw the God of Israel — they saw God and did eat and drink, under His feet, as it were, a paved work of a sapphire stone. What a sense they would get of God in His own surroundings! Then Moses is called up higher into the divine presence. Jehovah said to Moses, “Come up to me into the mountain, and be there” (Exodus 24:12). During forty days God unfolded to him the pattern of the tabernacle system, Christ as a divine provision for it and the service of God in it. And so it is that, as we understand how God has provided through Christ, for everything that emanates from Him, so we disdain to turn to the world for anything. Everything is provided for in the mountain of the Lord. I will now dwell for a moment on the passages in Hebrews.
[p. 391] Our consciences are purged and we have received an inheritance: that is to say, I am clear in my conscience before God through the death of Christ; and in having the Spirit, I am in the gain of the inheritance. The believer is thus endowed, he is no ordinary person. How can I, then, take a living, as it is called, to serve God? You see the world-system is on the old pattern. Men are paid by the world for serving God. I cannot accept that. I am endowed with an everlasting inheritance, the earnest of which I have now by the Spirit — something I can live on by the Spirit at the present time. Then I have also the love of God in my heart, shed abroad there by the Spirit. The new covenant implies this. Chapter 10 enlarges on the covenant. The Mediator has secured an eternal inheritance for me. I am endowed, and I have the love of God in my heart. The Holy Spirit is a witness to us of these great things. He is a witness by the prophet Jeremiah, who is a present living voice to me (Hebrews 10:15,16). It is in the present tense. The Spirit’s voice through the prophet is a present living testimony. He witnesses to me through the Scriptures of the love of God. And so “having” all these things, dear brethren, we are fully furnished to draw near to God. That is the great point — to draw near to God.
God’s service is according to what is new. We draw near to Him by the new and living way, because He is the living God. You cannot worship by the things of the old way, what is around us. Things must be new and living, and these can be furnished by God alone. In the mountain of God they are provided. Thus we serve the living and true God. He is looking for it and waiting for it. “We have” a Great Priest over God’s house, to this end. We have all that we need for this service. Hence, “Let [p. 392] us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith”. I believe the great effort of God at the present time is to bring His people to Himself, that we might worship Him. “The Father seeks such as his worshippers”, those who worship “in spirit and truth” (John 4:23 - 24).