THE PRESENT DISPENSATION AS SET FORTH IN JACOB AND JOSEPH (4)
[p. 158] THE PRESENT DISPENSATION AS SET FORTH IN JACOB AND JOSEPH (4)
Genesis 37:2; Genesis 45:1 - 4; Genesis 46: 1 - 8; Genesis 47:1 - 10
JT It is to be observed that in pursuing these scriptures our object is not exactly prophetic; but as following the truth, we are to see how the Spirit of God would use the Scriptures at the moment. He is behind all the Scriptures, not only their literality but also the ministry arising from them; the Spirit of God is the Author of all and He would fill our minds with what is needed at this juncture in the assembly’s history, so that we might become more spiritual and more intelligent. It is thought that in the end we shall see in chapter 48 how the thought of intelligence centres in Jacob himself, for he leads in it; and obviously the point would be that it is to lead in each of us so that we should be intelligent, as we have in 1 Corinthians 10:15, “I speak as to intelligent persons”. We are here from a good many different parts, inclusive of the sisters and inclusive of the young, and the thought is to bring about spiritual intelligence, and the study of the Scriptures is to that end.
The first scripture read in chapter 37 calls attention to the generations of Jacob. We have already alluded to the sons of Jacob in chapter 35 as being twelve in number, to suggest to us the thought of administration, a leading thought throughout this dispensation. Then chapter 46 is to show that the generations of Jacob went down into Egypt, their names being all given; whereas the only name given in the first mention of Jacob’s generations in chapter 37 is Joseph: “These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph” Genesis 37:2; as if the Spirit of God would fill us with Christ from that point of view, But as we proceed to the idea of generations in chapter 46 we [p. 159] become enlarged in it, because it has a great place in Scripture. It may be remarked to some who may not have observed it that although we have generations spoken of throughout the book, Abraham is not included in the idea; his generations are not given to us, though Jacob’s are and others too. But Abraham is in the mind of the Spirit as the heavenly man, and it is hoped that we shall close in our readings with the thought of the heavenly man, the thought of heavenly-mindedness, because we are going to heaven, God has destined this for us, and it is a question of being ready for it. The first consideration therefore will be the question of generations, the generations of Jacob, and how Joseph has the first place. The others are not mentioned properly until we come to chapter 46.
RH Why is the name Jacob retained here when he has been re-named Israel? Have you any thought on that?
JT I think it is to retain the name in a patriarchal sense. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are the leading patriarchs and they were in the mind of God for certain purposes; and although Jacob’s name is changed, and so is Abraham’s, yet with Jacob the primary name is retained. The prophets show that the primary name is retained for special purposes that include the idea of what is patriarchal, beginning with Abraham. God gives us names and He has a right to change them for whatever purposes He will.
LES Have you something in your mind as to generations? The term refers in the second chapter of Genesis to the idea of origin; would this link with the idea of spirituality that enters into the generative side?
JT Origin is the significance of the word in the second chapter, but another meaning of the word is ‘a circle’. It is like a family circle in chapter 6, for instance, Noah’s family; but origin enters into it and clearly the basic thought is that; that is to say how the origin of a person or a group or a family or even a nation may be traced through in the ways of God I was wondering if you linked it with the spiritual bearing of what is before us, the very texture of the constitution going back to the generative idea?
JT Quite so, I think that is well put. And the thought is attached not only to persons, but to things; if we look at the Genesis 2:1 - 3 I think we shall see that. It says first that “The heavens and the earth and all their host were finished. And God had finished on the seventh day his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and hallowed it, because that on it he rested from all his work which God had created in making it”. And then “These are the histories of the heavens and the earth” Genesis 2:4: this is the word that we are dealing with; the brethren will notice that the word ‘histories’ is literally ‘generations’ — see note in the margin: literally ‘generations’: the word implies ‘origin’ and occurs in chapters 5:1; 6:9; 10:1, 32; 11:10 and soon. So that the passage runs thus, having in mind not only persons but things: “These are the generations of the heavens and the earth, when they were created, in the day that Jehovah Elohim made earth and heavens, and every shrub of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew”, — note that all is in the abstract here — “for Jehovah Elohim had not caused it to rain on the earth, and there was no man to till the ground”. So that the idea of generations in the second chapter of Genesis mainly includes the idea of things; but we get the persons later, not only under the meaning [p. 161] of the word as here, that is, origin, but under the meaning of a circle in relation to a family, such as Noah’s family. It is well to look into these terms, each of us by himself, and get the light and the instruction that is available for us, that God is thinking not only of persons in what He has created and what He has made, but He is thinking of things. Now when we come down to Genesis 37:2 we read, “These are the generations of Jacob”, but they mention only Joseph as if the Spirit of God would say to us that He is thinking of Christ in this word; He is not only thinking of all the children of Jacob, but He is thinking particularly of Christ, and therefore it is only Joseph that is mentioned.
Ques Is Joseph the spiritual link in the generations?
JT He is; it is good to mention it in that way because he implements all that is said as to Jacob, working it out in a spiritual sense; and in a family sense and in the sense of love too; because Jacob is marked by love at the end, peculiarly so, in the way in which he speaks of his sons as we shall see later.
TU Why is Joseph in this particular passage linked with the idea of service?
JT Well, he was a devoted son. It is said that “Joseph, being seventeen years old, fed the flock with his brethren”, Genesis 37:2. Notice the age that is mentioned, seventeen years old; it is to call attention to youthfulness, but intelligent youthfulness and usefulness too. So it is said that he fed the flock with his brethren, that is he joined in in feeding the flock, because according to what we read they were shepherds; their calling was the calling of shepherds. That is a word that has great meaning as we come to the New Testament because Christ is the Shepherd, the great Shepherd of the sheep; and He says, “Feed my sheep” John 21:17, “Feed my lambs” John 21:15.
ASB The footnote says, ‘tending’. Would the principle of care enter into that in a young man?
JT Very good, and how ready we ought to be to follow in such care, to do anything. We have for instance in Acts 5 where Ananias and Sapphira suffered death in the judicial sense, that the young men carried them out, the young men. We find the same idea in Exodus, that the priests of God at that time were young men, showing how young men can perform important services. Our brother having called attention to it, it is well to notice that in chapter 37 Joseph is tending the flock. He might have been caring for himself, but he is caring for others. “Joseph, being seventeen years old, fed the flock with his brethren; and he was doing service with the sons of Bilhah, and with the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives. And Joseph brought to his father an evil report of them” Genesis 37:2, meaning that he was already discerning what was in the family in these men. There was evil discourse (see note), and Joseph took notice of it and brought word to his father; a very important service for young men to do if necessary, to report things, as we get in 1 Corinthians 1 where Paul says that there were those who had reported certain things; it was important in the administration of the assembly that these reports should be given.
SMcC The report refers to evil discourses; I suppose it would mean that they were saying wrong things. Is that not important with us today, that there should be concern as to what enters into discourse?
JT Especially with young people when they get together, segregating themselves from the elder brethren; our sisters too often talk about things in which they do not help each other.
JWB Do you see this feature of shepherding with David in such a passage as Psalm 78:70,71, where it says, “He chose David his servant, and took him [p. 163] from the sheepfolds: from following the suckling-ewes, he brought him to feed Jacob his people, and Israel his inheritance”?
JT And so in the valley of Elah when the great battle with the giant was to be fought, his elder brother chided him: “With whom hast thou left those few sheep in the wilderness?” 1 Samuel 17:28. But David had left them with the keeper; they were not left to wander about and do what they wished to, We have already had our minds called to the youth; and as regards the young children here in these meetings it has been requested that their parents should look after them, a very important matter, that they should look after them.
JRH Is there not a spiritual comeliness marking Joseph’s movements in this chapter? He is moving with his brethren, though in difficult circumstances, yet there is no natural forwardness with him, the forwardness that is natural to youth; he is moving in a comely way.
JT Quite so, a very seemly way, he is not like many young boys, because really he is only a boy’s age, seventeen. That is the first age we are given of him. He is doing service with others, but then he is recognising the evil discourse of his brothers — or rather, his half-brothers — and he tells Jacob about it, so that a real service is being rendered in that sense.
PL And thus would you say he adds in weight what he lacks in years?
JT Just so. He was magnificently marked by purity later when he was attacked on moral lines; he was marked by purity and integrity.
RHS Paul’s word to Timothy, “Let no one despise thy youth” 1 Timothy 4:12, is a great challenge, is it not, in view of the fact that what Joseph does here brings him into reproach, his brethren envying him?
JT Just so; and that exhortation does not mean that the brethren must not despise your youth; it [p. 164] means you take care that it is not to be despised, that your conduct will not lead to its being despised; because it is a question of our conduct, how we behave ourselves.
RWT Is that borne out in the note below? It says he “was doing service with the sons of Bilhah” Genesis 37:2, and the note as to that is that ‘he was as a youth with’; that would indicate he was in proper recognition of his place, although they were not right with God.
JT Yes; it was orderly and proper that he should be with his brethren because they were related to him, but still he did not overlook that they had evil discourse.
SJH Would he be more characterised by the feeding that is mentioned first, feeding the flock? The evil report is the second matter. He would not be characterised by that.
JT You mean he was doing something profitable, that he was feeding the flock; and that is what the Lord commits to Peter; “Feed my lambs”, He says, and “Shepherd my sheep”; and then, “Feed my sheep”. That is the prime thought in caring for sheep, to feed them. But now in chapter 46 the generations of Jacob come before us as including all twelve sons. And so it is said that Israel took his journey and all that he had. Now it is a question of Israel going to Egypt, that is to say, in type Christ is now among the gentiles; the type would carry that thought in it, that Christ is now among the gentiles. That is where His place is, and the gospel is being carried on, the ministry of the assembly is being carried on there. So that Jacob took his journey with all that he had and came to Beer-sheba, and then it says, “And he offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. And God spoke to Israel in the visions of the night and said, Jacob, Jacob! And he said, Here am I. And he said, I am God,
[p. 165] the God of thy father: fear not to go down to Egypt; for I will there make of thee a great nation. I will go down with thee to Egypt, and I will also certainly bring thee up; and Joseph shall put his hand on thine eyes. And Jacob rose up from Beersheba; and the sons of Israel carried Jacob their father, and their little ones, and their wives, on the waggons that Pharaoh had sent to carry him” Genesis 46:1 - 5. So that he has his generations in his heart, but he is under divine guidance as to the position he is to occupy. It is a changed position, that is to say, he is to go into Egypt, but God will go with him; so that we have a lot of instruction now opened up before us as to proceedings with Jacob in relation to his generations.
JRH God seems to assure Jacob in a very touching way as to His own support and help, but then He also brings in this touch as to Joseph. What would you say about that, his putting his hand upon Jacob’s eyes?
JT I think it is to bring out the link of affection in the family, which is a fine thought to bear in mind in our readings, this question of love amongst us. Joseph was leading in it, but Jacob was not without it himself. It was a question of tender affection between the father and the son, so that as we remarked in the beginning, what is set out in Joseph is to implement all the principles that are set out in Jacob. What would the history be without Joseph? He is to fill the thing out in that the thought of God is to be fully in it, the Father and the Son and the Spirit, the three divine Persons are to be in it.
ASB Is that why in the previous chapter it says that Joseph sent waggons and that the spirit of Jacob their father revived when he saw the waggons?
JT Very good; and there are his sons, too, the feelings of the sons coming into it; so that now [p. 166] things are becoming right all round in the family of Jacob, and Joseph is the great leading spirit in the whole matter.
RH Speaking about Joseph filling out the matter in connection with the thought of the Father and the Son in the completion of the dispensation, would it be right to bring in John’s ministry in that connection?
JT It would; we cannot get through without bringing in John’s ministry. It is intended to fill out in love the whole dispensation. It came in late and John is not slow to tell us the volume that there is in it, plenty of it; that is, if all the things of Christ were written down the world itself would not contain them, a remarkable thing, showing the voluminous character of the ministry in John’s gospel as attributed to Christ. And so it is that we begin in that gospel with the statement that “In him was life, and the life was the light of men” John 1:4; Christ was life and that life was the light of men. So running through the gospel of John the life is prominent, but it is life as the light of men; not of angels but of men, that men are before God.
RH Is the thought of generations prominent in that regard?
JT I should think so; it is a question of Christ, what He is; and the service of Christ, what He does and says, the volume of it. The idea of generation is in it; and therefore we have here that Jacob offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. It is not the God of Abraham here; it is Isaac, that is, Christ risen; the great point of resurrection is stressed in it, but in order to bring out the fulness of the power of God on behalf of men. So it is not Abraham here; it is his father Isaac, which is very remarkable because it is a question of Christ, not in heaven, but in resurrection. We have to distinguish Christ in resurrection. It also involves personal power in ministry, not simply heavenly power but power in the idea of resurrection. “How say some among you that there is not a resurrection of those that are dead?” 1 Corinthians 15:12 the apostle asks. The great point is resurrection because it is a question of power exercised on behalf of God in the ministry.
SMcC In that relation would there be a suggestion in Beer-sheba of what is connected with the Spirit, ‘the well of the oath’? Does not Paul stress both these sides in Corinth, the resurrection and the power connected with it, and the ministry in the demonstration and power of the Spirit? Would not ‘the well of the oath’ remind us of divine faithfulness in that relation?
JT It would. So that Isaac is connected with the resurrection simply, and with power in that sense; but in chapter 22 he does not go down with Abraham to Beer-sheba, Beer-sheba representing the faithfulness of God, ‘the well of the oath’. It is a question of faithfulness, but faithfulness supported by the Spirit, when Abraham goes down and his young men; but Isaac is not said to have gone down after he was figuratively put to death and raised from the dead. That is to say, he is a heavenly man but he is a heavenly man in relation to the testimony; whereas Abraham is the heavenly man pure and simple.
SMcC And is it instructive in the chapter you have referred to, that light as to the assembly comes in in that position?
JT That is where Rebecca’s name is given, her family. What I am saying about Abraham and Isaac as regards the testimony is important, whether it be the heavenly or the earthly side; the great thought in Isaac is the testimony, but it is a question of power, youthful power.
SMcC I think what you refer to is especially important in our position today in the final phase of [p. 168] the testimony, that there should be power in the ministry in the way in which you are indicating it.
JT Not simply what you may learn from the books, though of course we should learn from books, but it is a question of the works of Christ as written, things that are written in the sense of the works of Christ, and that all is in power. The world itself would not contain the books which could be written, it says.
JRH Would you open up a little more the distinction between the purely heavenly man and the heavenly man in relation to testimony?
JT Well, John helps us on all these thoughts. In John 3:13 it speaks of “the Son of man who is in heaven”, not who shall be or was, but “who is in heaven”. It is a suggestion of the place of Christ as the heavenly Man; but then He is a heavenly Man also in power here on earth, raising the dead and the like, as in the case of Lazarus, the evidence of love; He loved Lazarus and Mary and Martha, it was a question of love. He worked in love but there was power there.
JRH Is it something like what we have in Romans 1:4, “marked out Son of God in power, according to the Spirit of holiness, by resurrection of the dead”?
JT Quite so.
PL Would the two thoughts be seen in John 20, the heavenly position in the thought “I ascend”, and then the heavenly power in testimony in the word, “I … send”?
JT Just so; so John’s gospel serves us in all these phases of the truth that extend away back for maybe fifty years, when there was a question raised as to whether Christ comes amongst us, comes in, as we now know well He does come. But at that time it was alleged by certain that He was here all the time, which robs the truth of its freshness. The Lord comes, He says, “I am coming to you” John 14:18. That [p. 169] was negated by certain things that were said in those days, but the Lord has checked all that and now the brethren talk about it freely. On the first day of the week the Lord comes to us and John 20 brings out the whole thought. He says to Mary, “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 what the Lord said through Mary, and that is to give character to the ministry, the ministry of the first day of the week particularly, that the Lord comes to us and He comes as He pleases; not at stated times but as He pleases. This matter has given character to the ministry during the past fifty years to say the least, the freshness of the incoming of Christ according to John 14:18, “I will not leave you orphans, I am coming to you”. He does come, and chapter 20 brings in the great fact of it on the Lord’s day; not simply that He would say, I am coming to you, but, I am ascending, “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. While this matter has been a peculiar feature of the ministry of the truth during the past fifty years at least, it was well held before that; but a great deal has been made of it since then and God has greatly supported it.
SW Under what circumstances does Christ come to us on the Lord’s day morning? Is it when the conditions are congenial?
JT It is a question of the conditions; not that He would not come of Himself, He has a right to come, but at the same time conditions cannot be ignored. What I am saying now as to Genesis 46 points to the service as Jacob had it. It says, “Israel took his journey with all that he had, and came to Beer-sheba” Genesis 46:1. It has already been pointed out that Beer-sheba refers to the well of the oath, the question of covenant as it were, God committing Himself to something implying the Spirit, that there [p. 170] is power in what is being done. So it says that Israel offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac; that is to say it is Christ in resurrection, not in heaven exactly but in resurrection, that there is power here available in the ministry. So he did not offer sacrifices to the God of Abraham, for it is a question of Isaac, Christ in resurrection power.
FKC Would that link on with 2 Corinthians 3, the ministry of the Spirit subsisting in glory?
JT That is very good, and “the Lord is the Spirit”; that is another point that we have often touched on lately, that the Spirit is implied in the title ‘Lord’, the Lord is viewed as the Spirit there, and where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty.
SMcC Is that what you had in mind in referring at Auckland to the interchangeability of divine names?
JT Just so, and I think we might have a little word on that, that the Father is represented by the Son at times, and the Son by the Spirit; but the three names are brought together in Matthew 28 in the baptismal formula, showing that They act together in the assembly.
SMcC So we are tested in discernment as to the Person that may be before us at any given time, are we not?
JT Yes; it is a question of whether we can discern the Persons, whether we can discern the Father, or the Son, or the Spirit. It is a very great question, one would hardly undertake to say that one could answer it; I doubt that anyone of us here would undertake to say that he could tell if it is the Father, or the Son, or the Spirit, but the facts are there that They are to be discerned. It is for the brethren to be free about this, because it is a time of education, and we ought to be free to speak; not to speak too much to be brief and to the point, but at the same time to get at the truth, especially as [p. 171] to divine Persons; so that the Spirit, now that He has acquired His own place amongst us, may retain it, that it may become enlarged with us.
JMcK Does Acts 15:28 help in what you are saying, in the great matter of consideration amongst the brethren at Jerusalem concerning the question at Antioch? It says, “For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us”, as if they could discern the Holy Spirit’s presence with them in regard to this matter.
JT I am glad you mentioned that, “It has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us”.
EAL I would like to ask a question about John 20:22 and the Holy Spirit’s setting there. The Lord said to the disciples, “Receive the Holy Spirit”, and then Thomas at the end of that section gives the Lord’s dual title, my Lord and my God. I am asking for help, because others have been speaking about it. Is there a dual emphasis on the Lord’s divinity and the presence of the Spirit in that particular setting?
JT Well, that is a matter to be considered too. It is said that the Spirit’s day is in John’s gospel. John’s gospel enlarges on the Spirit’s day. So it says in John 7:39, “The Spirit was not yet, because Jesus had not yet been glorified”. But then the Spirit was, but He had not yet come. It is a question of the manner in which He is come, that He is come in relation to the glorification of Christ. We have to understand therefore the activities of the Spirit as seen in John, that He is come in relation to the glorification of Christ, and He is here to stay. He does not come and go, He has come to stay. “He abides with you, and shall be in you”, the Lord says John 14:17.
RH Why is it that John generally in alluding to the Spirit uses the personal pronoun, for instance,
[p. 172] in chapters 14, 15 and 16 of John the Lord alludes to the Spirit personally as “He”, while Paul uses the impersonal pronoun, in Romans 8, for instance, “the Spirit itself”?
JT The neuter, you mean. Quite so. They are both right, of course; it is a question of language. If the neuter is used it may refer to the character of the Holy Spirit in His activities; but if we speak of a Person, then we must be careful to realise that He is equal to the Father, He is one of three Persons, all equal, only that in the economy two of them have taken a subservient place for the sake of the truth.
SMcC Have you any thought as to why in 1 Corinthians 8 where the economy is in mind the Spirit is not referred to, whereas in Ephesians 4 where we get the economy again there is a much fuller expression as to it, bringing in the Spirit too?
JT That is a question of very great importance. I would think the apostle is taking into account the state of things at Corinth, and the question of persons making much of themselves. “Yet to us”, he says, “there is one God, the Father, of whom all things, and we for him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him” 1 Corinthians 8:6. I think the apostle just leaves the thing here, but he is referring to certain persons who thought they knew. Will you please read the passage?
SMcC “But if anyone love God, he is known of him: concerning then the eating of things sacrificed to idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is no other God save one. For and if indeed there are those called gods, whether in heaven or on earth, (as there are gods many, and lords many) yet to us there is one God, the Father, of whom all things, and we for him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him. But knowledge is not in all” 1 Corinthians 8:3 - 7. And he says in the first verse, “for we all have knowledge; knowledge puffs up, but love edifies” 1 Corinthians 8:1.
JT That is what I was thinking, that the apostle decided he would just leave it with the Father and the Son as to this question of knowledge; he just confines himself to that, leaving the Spirit out formally, we might say; not that he would not bring Him in in due time, but he just leaves the Spirit out for the point in question.
SMcC The second verse would help in relation to what you have been saying, “If anyone thinks he knows anything, he knows nothing yet as he ought to know it” 1 Corinthians 8:2.
JT Just so, I think that was the point in mind. If he ought to know it, he has to come to the Spirit to know it. The Spirit reveals things to us.
PL I wondered whether the fact that he does bring in the Spirit so freely in 2 Corinthians, particularly chapter 3, indicates that there was now a better state in which the thought of the Spirit could be introduced?
JT Quite so; in that chapter it says, “the Lord is the Spirit”; it is a very remarkable thing, you hardly get it elsewhere. It should be made much of, I am sure, that where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty. We might say the Spirit of Christ and the Spirit of the Father too, but it emphasises that where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty, that is to say, He makes way for things. He makes way for things in that He knows everything at first hand here below, because He is here all the time.
JW Does Paul not give preference to the Spirit in 1 Corinthians 12:4 - 6? He says. “there are distinctions of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are distinctions of services, and the same Lord; and there are distinctions of operations, but the same God who operates all things in all”, The Spirit comes first in that [p. 174] connection.
JT Very good; then again in the same passage, “no one can say, Lord Jesus, unless in the power of the Holy Spirit” 1 Corinthians 12:3.
SMcC In regard to this matter of the Spirit as to which the Lord seems to be helping us, do you not think that a good deal depends upon the state amongst us as to our arrival at it? It is not just something that we can take on academically, but state is needed amongst the saints.
JT Quite so; I believe that is what the apostle has in mind in not mentioning the Spirit in chapter 8. We cannot really say properly that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit, showing the place He has and how universal it is as bearing on everything.
RWT Does that indicate that we need the help of one divine Person in relation to another? We need the help of the Spirit in relation to the Father and the Lord, and we need the help of divine Persons in relation to the Spirit in our address to the Spirit.
JT Just so. Someone has just said that They serve one another, divine Persons serve each other in that sense.
RWS Is what has been said about state confirmed in Acts 13 where the Holy Spirit spoke as they were serving the Lord in Antioch? Does that confirm the need of state in relation to addressing and worshipping and understanding Him? As the Lord says, “ye know him”. The state was such that the Spirit was free.
JT Yes; so that where the gifts are to be sent out, that is Paul and Barnabas, the Spirit sends them out.
PL And it is in Philippians where the atmosphere among the saints is so spiritual, and not exactly in a doctrinal epistle, that the deity of the Lord and the glory of His descent [p. 175] are emphasised.
JT Just so, that He is on equality with God.
PL Yes, suggesting thus that whether it be in relation to the Lord or to the Spirit the truth of the Person of each One in its unfolding depends upon a spiritual atmosphere.
JT Yes, quite so. Now to return to our passage: all this matter came up in connection with chapter 46, because of the service Jacob would render to God, that is, that he offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. So that the service of God went on in that sense, but it went on in relation to Isaac, not Abraham, the meaning of that being that it is a question of Christ risen, the power of Christ in resurrection. We had in mind that chapter 46 brings out the generations of Jacob; but we must touch on chapter 45 to bring out the question of Joseph in his love for his brethren. The Lord’s day is a great day for the ministry of Christ among His brethren; it brings in the assembly, of course, as the bride; but we must not pass by Joseph from the standpoint that he made himself known to his brethren in the most remarkable way. It is said that “he cried, Put every man out from me! And no man stood with him when Joseph made himself known to his brethren” Genesis 45:1. That is to say we are now in the presence of Christ and His brethren, and Christ making Himself known to us. And so it goes on, “And he raised his voice in weeping” Genesis 45:2, that is to say the deep feeling that enters into this matter on the first day of the week. He raises his voice in weeping, and the Egyptians heard, and the house of Pharaoh heard, and Joseph said to his brethren, “I am Joseph”, as if the Lord would say that to us. “Does my father yet live?” Genesis 45:3. Divine Persons serve each other, as we have already said. “His brethren could not answer him, for they were troubled at his presence. And Joseph said to his brethren, Come near to me, I pray you. And they [p. 176] came near. And he said, I am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt. And now, be not grieved, and he not angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither, for God sent me before you to preserve life”, Genesis 45:3 - 5. That is the point that is brought out here. One would link on this passage as to the love between Christ and the brethren and His making Himself known to us, with the matter of occupation; and with Jacob himself representing age and experience as having capacity to bless; because that is the point it brings out as to him. It says, “Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and went out from Pharaoh” Genesis 47:7, that is to say the power of blessing is in Jacob. How much it suggests of all that is connected with our attitude towards the world, the governments of the world, and the power of blessing on the part of the brethren! It is the power of blessing, not of cursing or avenging. “Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves” Romans 12:19. It is the power of blessing on the part of the brethren; even towards the leading people of the world. And then the idea of occupation, “What is your occupation?” Genesis 47:3. Pharaoh brings that up. Of course this matter of occupation brings in the question of trade unionism, and of wages; only that is not mentioned here, it is the occupation only. The question of wages came in earlier; Jacob’s wages had been changed ten times, he said. He was making much of that, and of course that would make way for trade unionism. But now it is not a question of that, it is a question of blessing, and the power the brethren, however few or many, have for blessing in the midst of the world.
EAL It is remarkable that God said to Abraham, to whom I think you have referred as the primary patriarch, that in him all the families of the earth should be blessed. The distinction with Abraham would be that he was told to go out from his land, and from his kindred, and from his father’s [p. 177] house; but with Isaac and Jacob the promise that was made to Abraham was carried on through the generation side. They are distinct from Abraham in that sense; Abraham moved under God’s command, as it were.
JT So that God called Abraham alone and blessed him, and I think that John’s gospel is the power for blessing; it is a question of life, the energy of life amongst the saints, power to bless and not to curse. That would greatly augment what there is amongst us as to love amongst ourselves. “By this shall all know”, says the Lord, “that ye are disciples of mine, if ye have love amongst yourselves” John 13:35.
RH Would John 20 show the link between this thought of the brethren of Christ and the matter of occupation in relation to blessing?
JT I think the matter of occupation must come up. In chapter 47 it is not a question of wages. 1 Corinthians speaks of wages; Paul said he had a right to take certain things, but he did not do it. He did not use the right he had. So that we are not concerned about wages, we are concerned about love, about loving one another and doing what is needed for one another.
CAM Would you say in connection with the matter of Joseph and the brethren here that the light as to this had come in a long time before in Joseph’s dreams; but that much had to be gone through in order to reach these holy feelings and the necessary adjustments? Is not that what is going on today, the adjustments amongst the brethren?
JT That is what is going on exactly, and the aim of these meetings is to bring us to that; it is what this dispensation is to finish with, that the Lord is going to finish up the dispensation in love. The old and the young are to be seen together, and in the energy of life.
[p. 178] JMcK I would just like to ask before you close as to verse 4 of chapter 47. It says, “To sojourn in the land are we come; for there is no pasture for the sheep that thy servants have, for the famine is grievous in the land of Canaan; and now, we pray thee, let thy servants dwelt in the land of Goshen” Genesis 47:4. Is there a suggestion there of hardship amongst the brethren and the liberty to appeal to the authorities in regard to this great matter of hardship with trade unionism?
JT Quite so. There is latitude, because the whole land of Egypt was before them, Pharaoh said. It is remarkable with what magnanimity Pharaoh refers to it: “Pharaoh spoke to Joseph, saying, Thy father and thy brethren are come to thee. The land of Egypt is before thee; in the best of the land settle thy father and thy brethren: let them dwell in the land of Goshen. And if thou knowest men of activity among them, then set them as overseers of cattle over what I have” Genesis 47:5,6. I am endeavouring to bring out the suggestion of Pharaoh’s liberality, not only toward Joseph but toward Jacob, his father, and how the land of Egypt was before them. In like manner God is making way for us, making way for the brethren in all the different countries, especially in the British Empire; and here in America, what provision there is! As we see in Egypt, the famine had come but there was plenty of yield under Joseph; Joseph is over all the land of Egypt and there is a great yield, great productiveness from the land. So God is setting everything before His people, that is, God has them in mind in all that is going on; and therefore our prayers should take character from this fact even in regard to the land and industrialism and the like, that God should be brought into all these things. God is thinking of His people in all that is happening, nothing is happening without Him; so that we need not fear, because God is [p. 179] thinking of us and acting for us even in regard of the land and its productivity, both in Canada and the United States as well as elsewhere.
JRH I think you had in mind to say something about the selection of these five men to set out the case before Pharaoh.
JT Well, it was just to show that there is such a thing as selection, that things are not left in common, that selection is a principle with God; He has a right to it and He asserts that right. So Joseph selects five of his brethren to go to Pharaoh; and then the whole situation evidently entered into Pharaoh’s mind, because he said that if there were any able for it they should be made overseers of his cattle. That shows how God is caring for His people through the authorities. It is said that the powers that be are ordained of God, and God works according to that principle; He asserts that principle.
WMcK In regard to what you have said as to God making way for His people, would the word “settle” in this section suggest that we may expect God to make a permanent way open for us in these matters?
JT “Settle thy father and thy brethren” Genesis 47:6, yes, quite so; only we do not want to stay here, we are just here provisionally; but still, God is with us in it and it is so asserted throughout these scriptures.
Rem So it says in Revelation that the woman fled into the wilderness where she had there a place prepared for her.
JT Very good, a certain place prepared of God.
SW Would you say in regard to the last section read in relation to worship that there must be a certain point of spirituality reached before we are able to bless in this way? I thought of the apostle speaking in connection with the cup of blessing which we bless.
JT “Which we bless”, quite so. God is crediting us with the power to bless in that sense, to speak well of it; that is what is meant, that we speak well of the cup. I mean we speak well of the Lord’s supper, we make much of it.