THE PRESENT DISPENSATION AS SET FORTH IN JACOB AND JOSEPH (1)
[p. 101] THE PRESENT DISPENSATION AS SET FORTH IN JACOB AND JOSEPH (1)
JT For this series of meetings the book of Genesis is in mind, which of course is extensive in its scope; therefore we shall have to make selections, and the selections will bear on Jacob. The patriarchs are in mind, Jacob specifically, and Jacob in the typical sense, but also in the peculiar way in which he is seen in Scripture as extending beyond the primary patriarchs, Abraham and Isaac. They will be in mind too, but the thought is that Jacob extends beyond the scope of these two patriarchs; he extends from the middle of Genesis to the end of the book. One is concerned that the brethren may not be misled or confused in what is now being said, but that there may be quietness and patience in asking and answering questions so that we may see that there is something the Spirit of God would bring to our attention from the start of the truth to the end. And we are at the end now; there is no doubt about that. The question is how we should break into the subject and take it on at this particular time and see how it works out, first in Jacob himself and then in Joseph; because Joseph’s part in it is very peculiar — a young man coming in at the age of seventeen. He is especially mentioned as being seventeen years of age. We should enquire why it is that he should come in, a young man in the patriarchal book, and what meaning it may have for us at the present time. Then we should see how matters work out toward the end of the book, the great intelligence marking elderly men, Jacob especially, but referring also to brethren at the present time who are experienced and aged, but on the other hand what there is for us in a very young man such as Joseph.
[p. 102] I believe there is something the Lord will give us as to these matters.
The thought now is to take up the history of Jacob as such. We have begun at chapter 28 — the point at which Jacob had deceived his father. This and other things that follow show that God has not taken up a man of great perfection to set out His thoughts. He has taken up Jacob, a man marked by great uncertainty in his early life, and as we said, deceiving his father in a most shameful way, his mother being in it too. His father is seen here as being concerned about his family connections, his marital connections, which is a matter that all young people should take account of. So Isaac is concerned about a wife for Jacob, as Abraham had been for Isaac. The marital side has an immense place in the Scriptures and Isaac is outstanding as to it. His father had caused the eldest servant of his house to swear that he would not take a wife for him of the daughters of the land, but that he would go to his own people, which the servant did. The history is given in Genesis 24 in which we have the idea of the Spirit of God taken up in a peculiar way, in a way in which the light is shed, I believe, on the whole truth of the Spirit at the present time. It is a question in one’s mind as to how we may approach this subject, not saying too much on one point of it, but seeing what a place it has in the divine thoughts and how it is to work out eternally; because it is to work out eternally in what the assembly is to Christ: Christ and the assembly.
Now in the family of Abraham we have not only Isaac, but Jacob, and we have him brought forward in a peculiar way in this chapter where he set out to go into the east to get a wife. What we have read will, I think, open up something as to the character of the man that the Spirit of God has taken up in these matters, So it is said that “Jacob went out [p. 103] from Beer-sheba, and went towards Haran. And he lighted on a certain place, and lodged there, because the sun had set. And he took one of the stones of the place, and made it his pillow, and lay down in that place” Genesis 28:10,11. So it is a hard position for Jacob in the sense in which we have spoken of it, but then he is now under the control of his father in what he is doing, whereas his brother Esau is a natural man and takes another course. Jacob is now subject to his father, and we shall see how the idea of subjection works out in the whole history of Jacob, and how Joseph comes into it too. We shall see how the youthful side comes forward in Joseph, and how the patriarchal or experience side comes out in Jacob and remains right through to the end of the book. So that it is a question as to what is current amongst us, dear brethren, whether youth has its place, and whether the aged have their place; whether the balance is maintained in the truth. We shall see that spirituality will open up as to it, because spirituality must have the leading place amongst us; and we shall see whether it is maintained both in the aged and in the youth.
SMcC The importance of a right wife in the marital relation is to be stressed, is it not?
JT That is just what I am trying to say. There are many young people here, and it is a question whether their youth is made to bear on the assembly; whether it is made to bear on spirituality in both brothers and sisters.
SJH Why should Jacob be sent to seek his own wife, while with Isaac the servant is sent?
JT That is a very good question. I think God is going to make a test of the man He is about to use, as to whether he can be trusted; whether he is going to rely on his parents, or the brethren, or whether he can be trusted in anything that he is [p. 104] engaged in.
SJH I wondered if you had in mind that we should be more spiritual in such matters?
JT I have, as to whether the parents are spiritual, and have spiritual thoughts in their minds for their young ones, or whether the matter is wholly left with them. Then are the young ones themselves capable of being trusted with a wife or with a husband, so as to have part in the assembly and the service of God?
SW Would you say how far the parental influence should go in relation to seeking a wife?
JT Well, I think Abraham would set out that idea. He makes a great deal of it, even causing the servant to swear about it, so that clearly it is a matter of prime importance. It is not simply that a young person may get married, but whether the bearing of the whole matter is on the assembly, on spirituality; whether they can be trusted even with marriage, with a husband or with a wife. They are tested by the way they regard the things of God and treat them.
HB Is the contrast seen in Esau? it says in Genesis 28:7 that, “Jacob had obeyed his father and his mother”, over against what Esau had done.
JT Yes, Esau is over against Jacob in that sense, that he is not to be trusted. He is a profane man, a most solemn thing. How much profanity may enter into our relations and business! It is a real challenge. Certain things have happened recently in one of our cities that bear in on all this; happenings in families and in businesses which have brought down the truth to the level of profanity. That is to say, righteousness is not governing everything. We are to follow “righteousness, faith, love, peace, with those that call upon the Lord out of a pure heart” 2 Timothy 2:22. That is the test, and that is how things are to be governed.
[p. 105] EGMcA Does the fear of God take a prominent part in the beginning of the history of such a one?
JT I would say it must take a prominent part in everything. “The fear of Jehovah is the beginning of wisdom” Psalm 111:10, and whether it be a question of a wife, or a husband, or of business, it is a question of the fear of God, and God must have full place in the matter.
RWS When Rebecca leaves her home in chapter 24 they say to her, “Thou art our sister; mayest thou become thousands of tens of thousands; and may thy seed possess the gate of their enemies!” Genesis 24:60. Does that not bear upon having the assembly in mind in marital links?
JT Quite so, showing that the whole matter is extending to the family, how the family is affected by this event. It is not only a question of the young sister and the young man to whom she is to be married, but it is extended to the whole family; it is affecting the whole family. So these marriages are not simply local, they affect the testimony; it is a question of the testimony, of what there is for God, Hence the chief servant of Abraham’s house is talking about Abraham and about what belongs to Abraham, and he is under Abraham’s direction, selecting the camels and all that is needed. And when the young woman that he is deputed to find comes to light she is such a one that he wonders at her; the Spirit of God, as it were, is seen in the type wondering at the assembly.
RBP In Genesis 24 Isaac is viewed as returning from Beer-lahai-roi, and here Jacob moves from Beer-sheba. Do these two positions represent what is spiritual in these men as entering into these links?
JT I think they would. Beer-lahai-roi comes in prior to that in relation to Hagar and Ishmael, that is to say the Spirit of God is seen in relation to [p. 106] Hagar and Ishmael; a remarkable thing that the Spirit of God should be seen in that connection first. But then Isaac is seen there subsequently, and now Jacob is seen in connection with Beer-sheba. It is a question of the faithfulness of God in the latter case.
ASC Jacob moves out in relation to Abraham, his father Isaac in his charge to him going back to the beginning and saying, “the Almighty God bless thee, and make thee fruitful, … that thou mayest become a company of peoples. And may he give thee the blessing of Abraham, to thee and to thy seed with thee” Genesis 28:3,4.
JT Showing that Abraham was the prime thought with God; the patriarchal thought was in Abraham at the beginning, and it says of him that God chose him alone and blessed him. So that we do not need to move in groups in the beginning of our spiritual history; God chooses us alone to bless us. That is what we shall see in Genesis 32, that God not only selected Jacob, but He found him alone and wrestled with him. Abraham is the great patriarchal thought in the book, and the wifely side is now in view, as to where the wives come from and what they are. So that today the question is whether any given marriage is taken account of in relation to the testimony; and so too with our business matters, whether they can be related to the testimony. That is the idea, otherwise our manner of life is just worldly, our marriages and our businesses. It is a question of the testimony first, and last, and all the time.
ATD Would that be in Rebecca’s heart in the last verse of the previous chapter? She makes it a life or death matter: “If Jacob take a wife of the daughters of Heth”, she says, “what good should my life do me?” Genesis 27:46.
JT Quite so; that is worth noting.
CHH [p. 107] I was wondering whether the proposition of Saul to give Michal to David would be to counteract what God had in mind in connection with David?
JT A very striking instance; he intended to destroy David through his wife, a most terrible thought.
SJH What is involved in the particular instructions to Jacob? Abraham had said in relation to Isaac, “bring not my son thither again” Genesis 24:6.
JT He was not to take him back to Padan-Aram; Abraham did not want him taken back to natural connections. Of course the natural ought to be there, but in the sense of what is of God, which is seen in both Rachel and Leah as well as in Rebecca. It is a question of what is of God in a given position, so that even though the person may be in relations that might be questionable he himself is right. He has the idea of righteousness in his mind and can be trusted.
RH Would Jacob’s exercises in connection with a wife be linked with Peter’s epistles, and Genesis 24 more with Paul? I was thinking about the thought of obedience, and the Spirit being given to those who obey; and then husbands dwelling with wives according to knowledge, and so on.
JT Quite so; that is very profitable and instructive. Peter deals with the government of God, not especially with the assembly; Paul deals especially with the assembly, and therefore what he introduces in the wifely connection has the assembly in mind. “I speak as to Christ, and as to the assembly”, he says. Ephesians 5:32.
ASB Is that why Paul, as having the assembly and the testimony in mind, says in speaking to the Corinthians regarding the marital relationship, “but I think that I also have God’s Spirit”? 1 Corinthians 7:40.
JT A most remarkable thing; you find it only there that things are left to the spiritual judgment of a brother: “I think that I also have God’s Spirit”. He was speaking of marital matters, and it was a question of whether what he was saying was just right, and so the Spirit is brought into it. Why should Paul speak as if it were at all questionable that he had the Spirit? But it is to bring out that the Spirit must be recognised, even although He may keep Himself out of sight; He must be recognised. Whatever comes up, the Spirit must have His place.
SMcC Is it not a matter of encouragement to such as Jacob represents in these circumstances that God comes into the position and takes up a definite stand in it to assure Jacob’s heart?
JT I am glad you bring that up, because we have come to a point in our reading where we need it. We have already noted that “Jacob went out from Beer-sheba, and went towards Haran. And he lighted on a certain place, and lodged there, because the sun had set” Genesis 28:10,11. Now that seems a very small incident, but as we shall see again in Genesis 32 where the sun had gone down, there is something in that for Jacob. It goes on, “And he took one of the stones of the place, and made it his pillow, and lay down in that place” Genesis 28:11. So that this place is to be remembered, and what happened in it. Then it says, “And he dreamed, and behold, a ladder was set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to the heavens. And behold, angels of God ascended and descended upon it. And behold, Jehovah stood above it” Genesis 28:12. Well, now, you have something to say on that, the position that Jehovah has taken up as standing above the place where Jacob is lying with a stone for his pillow. What is there for us in that?
SMcC It is not the ordinary word for ‘standing’ that is used, it is a specific word that is used previously in Genesis 18. Jehovah stood, stationed [p. 109] Himself.
JT Just so, and in that chapter there were three heavenly visitors, I mean there were two angels apparently with Him, but the position was taken up definitely, as if God was there to take on the matter. It is not casual; He is taking something on, both as to Jacob and earlier as to Abraham.
SMcC In regard to the hard circumstances universally in relation to trade unionism, is it not important to take account of God as coming into the position and linking on with us, if we are prepared to go with Him?
JT It is, indeed. We have information that what happened in Brisbane has worked out most successfully under God. It is according to what you say, that God came into the thing. It was not simply that certain brothers would take the thing on and bring it before the authorities, but God came into the thing, manifestly so. As the proceeding went on the authorities became favourable to the brethren, meaning that God was acting for them. And I believe that in New Zealand the same thing will be seen, because the brethren in New Zealand are at the present time petitioning the authorities on the same point. It is a question of praying about it, and seeing what will happen. We in New York have a similar exercise and some have taken it on. It is a question of the brethren coming into things, because God is always ready to come into things with us if we wish Him to be in them, and if we are ready to suffer; because we must suffer if the thing is to go through according to God. There must be suffering.
CAM In connection with your prayer at the beginning as to this city in which we are, is it not remarkable as regards Beth-el, that it states that the name of the city was Luz at the first; as if that centre had taken on a new meaning altogether in the divine mind?
[p. 110] JT That is very good. We shall see something more about that when we come to chapter 35. But to proceed in the chapter we have read, it says, “And behold, Jehovah stood above it. And he said, I am Jehovah, the God of Abraham, thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land on which thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed. And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south; and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed. And behold, I am with thee”. Now this is the point — “behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places to which thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee until I have done what I have spoken to thee of. And Jacob awoke from his sleep, and said, Surely Jehovah is in this place, and I knew it not. And he was afraid” Genesis 28:13 - 16. That is, he was not equal to the position; but God is not giving it up though Jacob was not equal to it at first.
SW In relation to these affiliations, whether they be business or marital, would you say one has to take on the matter individually? It is so in relation to Genesis 24 where the Spirit is seeking the bride; and similarly here where it is Jacob in responsibility?
JT The point is, I think, that God has come into the matter. It is a marital matter purely and simply at first, that Jacob is not to marry a wife of the daughters of the land, as Esau did. Jacob is going a long way to get a wife, and he is alone and in hard circumstances, but God comes into them. It says that he “awoke from his sleep, and said, Surely Jehovah is in this place, and I knew it not, And he was afraid, and said, How dreadful is this place! this is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven” Genesis 28:16,17. It is a peculiar confusion of mind, a “dreadful … place”, and yet it is “the house of God”. Why should we be so confused in our minds about these things?
JMcK Would 2 Timothy 4: 16,17 help in what you are saying? Paul says, “At my first defence no man stood with me … But the Lord stood with me, and gave me power; … and I was delivered out of the lion’s mouth”. I was thinking of what has been said as to the power of unionism: it is like the lion’s mouth waiting to destroy us and our faith in the position into which God has brought us.
JT Well, there is suffering in it. We must accept the principle of suffering if we are going to get anything, because the Lord Jesus has come into the position of suffering. I think that is the point now in this chapter as to Jacob; he has come into a hard position, but he is confused in his mind as in it. I was thinking of the word in Philippians 4:5, “The Lord is near”. You may say. ‘Why is He not in the thing?’ But He is near. We have to consider the difference between the Lord’s being in the thing with us and being near to us, so that we are tested by the nearness, or by the distance, or by His presence.
RRT Though Jacob was not equal to it at first, would what he said later in chapter 31, when he is speaking to his wives about Laban, indicate that he had come into it somewhat then in his own soul? He spoke of how Laban had changed his wages, “But”, he said, “God suffered him not to hurt me” Genesis 31:7.
JT It is remarkable how you get that in his case all the way through. You marvel at it, too, because he was so crooked in many ways. At the same time he was true. What we shall come to in chapter 48 will greatly help us as to the aged, what they have in the way of knowledge, and how they know what they have; on the other hand, what the youth may have, or may not have; it is to bring out [p. 112] the balance that God would have between the youth and the aged, so that the truth might stand in its fulness and not slip away from us. Because there is a great danger of its slipping away from us if we allow industrial things and marital things to sway us unduly.
GAS Does not God greatly help us in these matters by giving us an early sense that He has taken us on, and will see us through?
JT That is very good. He has taken Jacob on here, and He intends to stay by Jacob. There is a difference between a person being near to God and God being near to him, or God being actually with him; but there is comfort in the word in Philippians 4:5, that “The Lord is near”. And the same epistle gives us the things that we are to be occupied with, pure things, and noble, and of good report, and virtuous; that we are to think on these things so that we may be kept right in our youth.
JKP Is there a suggestion here of God shutting out one world to Jacob, but bringing into his soul the light of another world? I was thinking of the reference to the gate of heaven.
JT It is remarkable. We get this alluded to in the first chapter of John, “the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of man” John 1:51, showing that we are in great things typically in this chapter, so great that the Spirit of God brings them into the gospel of John.
Ques Why is the ascending brought in before the descending?
JT Well, the word in Ephesians 4:10 is, “He that descended is the same who has also ascended up above all the heavens, that he might fill all things”. He has ascended up above all the heavens — outside of them all — He has ascended beyond any creature [p. 113] position.
JS The scripture you quoted in John 1:51 is helpful as to this; there it is “ascending and descending on the Son of man”. He is the central figure.
JT Quite so; but what comes before us now is the inquiry as to why the ascending should come first. The ascending is final, but the descending must come first actually, the Lord descended into the lower parts of the earth; but then He has ascended far above all heavens, and the ascension brings in the gifts, that He “has given gifts to men”. So that we are now in the presence of a wonderful matter, that is, the gifts that God has given for the building up of the assembly.
JHP Does this passage indicate the importance of the service of angels in suffering times? One thinks of Paul; he says, “For an angel of the God, whose I am and whom I serve, stood by me this night” Acts 27:23.
JT In New Zealand the question came up of angelic service, whether the angels are counted on enough, whether we reckon on them in all these matters, It came in very forcibly that brethren were not making enough of angelic service.
RRT It was brought out in relation to the hard matter of unionism.
JT That was just the point that came up there. It had already come up in Australia, and it has finally come into New Zealand in a very distinct way. It is a hard matter, but God has come into it, and nothing can overcome God if He has come into it.
RRT And in these hard matters we have angelic service available.
JT That is what I was thinking; we have it available right here in this city. I believe that the Lord would have us follow it up if we are involved in these industrial problems, so that the matter [p. 114] should be brought where something can be done about it, so that God can come into it.
JKP One like unto the Son of God appearing even in the midst of the fire.
Ques How do you regard this vow by Jacob? Is he now making a start Godward?
JT Well, a vow is quite admissible. If you make it you are to see that you pay it, for God has no pleasure in the sacrifice of fools. God honours a vow, as is seen here in Jacob.
JWB Would the word in Isaiah 43:2,3 confirm what you have in this chapter? There Jehovah says in speaking to Jacob and Israel, “When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee; when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned, neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. For I am Jehovah thy God, the Holy One of Israel”. Then again he says, “Fear not, for I am with thee: I will bring thy seed from the east, and gather thee from the west; I will say to the north, Give up; and to the south, Keep not back: bring my sons from afar, and my daughters from the end of the earth, every one that is called by my name, and whom I have created for my glory: I have formed him, yea, I have made him” Isaiah 43:5 - 7.
JT All that shows what God can be to us, and how the prophets allude to it, the comfort of the Scriptures: “Comfort ye, comfort ye my people” Isaiah 40:1. God is said to be the God of all comfort, and what we are saying now is to bring out the comfort that there is for us as in the testimony; because the point in all this that we have said is the testimony, as we remarked — first and last and all the time; and suffering in it. It will not do to simply say that we are against trade unionism and such things; the suffering that enters into it is what God supports.
[p. 115] RH What is the significance of the thought of the house of God being brought in here?
JT It is a question of God, and of how the house of God is connected with Jacob. It is a truth that refers to the earth and belongs properly to Israel, but we have part in it now, because we have the assembly of God, as it says, “the assembly of the living God, the pillar and base of the truth” 1 Timothy 3:15. The house of God is in relation to the earth, but the assembly is the pillar and base of the truth.
JMcK How does fear enter into this matter of the house of God?
JT The house of God is what we are going on with in a responsible way in our care meetings; indeed all our meetings are in relation to the house of God.
JMcK Is the fear Jacob expresses because of what he recognises of himself in a natural way that is unsuitable to this great place? Verse 17 says, “How dreadful is this place! this is none other but the house of God” Genesis 28:17.
JT It shows the confusion of mind he was in, which is often the case with us, that we are not clear in our minds. But he came to it afterwards. We may be sure that if God comes into our circumstances He will carry us through in them; but suffering is involved, and that is the point I believe for us to get hold of, that suffering is involved.
PL Is Jacob’s dread through lack of holiness? Without holiness no man shall see the Lord.
JT I am sure there is a great need of holiness amongst the brethren. As you quote, without it no one shall see the Lord, a remarkable thing.
SMcC In Genesis 28:18 it says, “And Jacob rose early in the morning, and took the stone that he had made his pillow, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil on the top of it”. Is there in this the recognition of the Spirit in some kind of [p. 116] way?
JT That is just what it is. We shall see it again in chapter 35, but Jacob brings it in here. From the very outset, the very first chapter of Genesis, we have the Spirit brought in. He was hovering over the face of the waters. And I believe God is keeping us to the place the Spirit has in the Scriptures. It says, “And Jacob rose early in the morning, and took the stone that he had made his pillow, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil on the top of it. And he called the name of that place Beth-el” — meaning ‘house of God’ — “but the name of that city was Luz at the first” Genesis 28:18,19. So he has definitely come to the idea of the house of God, although it is a dreadful place to him; he has the idea and he is going on with it, and God is going on with it too. It will come out in the millennium, the house of God.
Ques What is prominent in Jacob’s mind here from the outset is marriage. What place has the Holy Spirit in connection with marriage in the Lord in 1 Corinthians 7? Has He any place in that matter?
JT He has, of course. We spoke of that a little while ago. The apostle says, “I think that I also have God’s Spirit” 1 Corinthians 7:40. Paul is giving his advice in some marital matters, but he brings forward that he believed he had the Spirit of God with him in what he was saying. And that is the point for us in all our matters, industrial or marital or family, the question is the Spirit. Has the Spirit of God His place with us?
JWW Paul’s word to the whole assembly of Thessalonian saints was that they had “accepted the word in much tribulation with joy of the Holy Spirit” 1 Thessalonians 1:6. Would you link that on?
JT I would indeed, “joy of the Holy Spirit”. Would that one knew more about it! Because there [p. 117] is very little joy in our hearts as a rule; but there is joy to be had in the Holy Spirit.
SMcC So would you say that what Jacob has come to here, however undeveloped in this chapter, is the idea that if he is to be in the assembly, in the house of God, rightly, it must be by the Spirit, by recognising the Spirit?
JT That is the use of the oil you mean. So that it says, “Jacob vowed a vow, saying, If God will be with me, and keep me on this road that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and a garment to put on, and I come again to my father’s house in peace — then shall Jehovah be my God” Genesis 28:20,21. That is to say, he is entering into a covenant, making, as it were, a covenant with God, and God is accepting it. It is all worked out in the course of Jacob’s history; and as we go on we shall see, I believe, that the idea of Jacob comes into our assembly service at the present time. The question is whether there is proper balance in it, and I believe this chapter is the beginning of everything in that sense. It is a question of what the man is spiritually. We can see here that he is a spiritual man at bottom, although he is somewhat confused; the idea of what is spiritual runs right through to the end of Genesis.
GD “This road that I go” Genesis 28:20; would that involve the testimony.
JT It would. He is clearly on the right line. He is under his father’s direction, which does not always mark young men; he is under the direction of his father and his mother, and he is conscious, I would say, that God is with him. God has come into the circumstances, and He is going through with Jacob in these circumstances.
RH In connection with verse 18, the anointing with the oil is the Holy Spirit, that Person in the economy peculiarly linked with the house of [p. 118] God?
JT I think that is right. We are so apt to begin with the truth theoretically, whereas if the Spirit of God comes in and has His place, you have more than theory; you have the substance. We must have the Spirit. The oil is there, which is substantial.
GAS What is involved in “this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God’s house”? Genesis 28:22.
JT He says it because he wants to bring the circumstances into it; that is, he is a circumstantial man. We shall see in chapter 32 how circumstantial he is. In that chapter God takes him up alone and Jacob goes through things; but God is in the circumstances with him, and he is spiritual; spirituality is being developed in what he is experiencing. He is crippled, and some of us are crippled, limited, in our circumstances, but God is with us in them, nevertheless; that is the point; and God was with Jacob in his crippled condition. He limped, but God was with him.
ASB Does the pouring on of the oil suggest the liberality of it, as in Acts 2? It is in no way restricted; he poured the oil on it.
JT Just so; he did not stint. In the special collections he would not put in the smallest amount possible; he would put in the best amount he could, to be used for the service of God. That is the point here: He said, “and of all that thou wilt give me I will without fail give the tenth to thee” Genesis 28:22. It is the principle of giving; the Lord loves a cheerful giver.
CEB You spoke just now of Jacob following the orders of his father, Would you connect that today with the counsel of the brethren in these matters?
JT I certainly would. It says, “in the multitude of counsellors there is safety” Proverbs 11:14. If a brother has wisdom, why not use it? God has given it to him to be used. If he has the power of government, why not use it in the assembly or in the care meetings?
[p. 119] If God has given a man the understanding of government, why should he not use it?
JS Would you say that the reference to the father’s house in verse 21 shows the recognition of the patriarchal idea? He says, “If … I come again to my father’s house” Genesis 28:14.
JT It shows the place his father had with him. Esau had not the same exercise about his father. It is a question of the place a father ought to have with a young man. But now he is on the way to Laban; though chapter 35 tells us that he gets back to Isaac, his father, and that he and Esau bury him.
JW-y In view of what has been said about the Spirit and the house of God, would Ephesians 2:22 come in — “in whom ye also are built together for a habitation of God in the Spirit”?
JT Quite so; but the article is not there: it is ‘in Spirit’. The point is the Spirit, that the Spirit is prominent there.
JWW In the spiritual instincts marking Jacob, would he be prepared to move on the line of piety and take God into his circumstances?
JT I think he would, and I think in general he was right. You love to see young people that are right in their circumstances. You say, There is a good young man who has gift: but is he right morally in every circumstance? You want to know what he is in his business; is he balanced? I think that comes out here in Jacob.
PL Would the reference to the house of God here furnish a pattern to Jacob in the ordering of his own house? If one has not at least intuition as to the character of God’s house, how could he bring God into his own house?
JT I would think that. Joshua said, “As for me and my house, we will serve Jehovah” Joshua 24:15.
PL Before he sets up a house. God gives him light as to His own [p. 120] house.
JT I think the idea of a man’s house is, as Joshua said, that “as for me and my house we will serve Jehovah” Joshua 24:15. Whatever others do, we will do this. It is not a question of the assembly; it is one’s own house. Your house is to be used for the promotion of the assembly and for the service of God.
SW With David it was after God had given him rest from all his enemies, and when he was dwelling in his house of cedars, that he began to think of the house of God.
JT Quite so, and Nathan went rather too fast with him. He says, “Do all that is in thy heart; for Jehovah is with thee” 2 Samuel 7:3. But then God did not mean that David should do the building; it was Solomon that should build the house.
GAS Why does not the thought of building and ornamentation come in in connection with Beth-el?
JT It is only the principle of the house there. I do not think Beth-el is anything more than the thought of principle, because there is no actual building there. Jacob did not build the house, it was Solomon who did that; in other words, Christ has built the house. The house of God is built by Christ; the assembly is built by Christ. It is not our doing, it is Christ’s doing.