DIGNITY AND WEALTH IN ADMINISTRATION (1)
DIGNITY AND WEALTH IN ADMINISTRATION (1)
SMcC It is thought that we should get help from considering the various features that mark Solomon’s administration. There is a remarkable link between David and Solomon, Solomon really being a counterpart to David. The thought of wisdom comes particularly into Solomon’s administration, wisdom in a superlative way, linking on, I think, with what we get related to administration in the letter to the Ephesians. We will recall how wisdom is mentioned there, in the first chapter, in relation to the counsels of God, then in the third chapter in relation to the all-various wisdom of God seen in the assembly. Solomon, too, specially stresses the side of sonship. Throughout the whole administration of Solomon there is diffused the spirit and grace of sonship. It would seem as if every department of Solomon’s regime is marked by coming under the influence of the spirit and grace of sonship supremely set out in Solomon. And it is thought in considering this chapter this morning we might see how restful and happy conditions are in mind, in the working out of this character of administration among the people of God. I believe at the present moment, merging into the world to come, we are to know and prove the blessedness of this kind of administration, where sonship is supreme in the minds and hearts of the saints, so that it says in verse 25 “Judah and Israel dwelt safely,” a remarkable reference amid the richness and glory of the administration referred to in this chapter. I believe that the administration working out from the Solomonic viewpoint involves that the saints are brought into conditions of this kind, where food abounds, not only ordinary food, but in type, spiritual food in richness and abundance. Nor is there lack of ministry, either in the way of light and instruction, as we see as the chapter ends. The chapter opens up with reference to the departmental side of Solomon’s administration, introducing into our minds a wealth of personality. We are not to be afraid of the thought of personality in the assembly, because on the line of sonship, each one being a son, each one having a distinct impression of God and of Christ, we have a wealth in developed personality in the assembly, which is to impress us with the richness and the glory of God’s inheritance in the saints. Unless we see this we shall never be able, in our local gatherings or elsewhere, to work out divine thoughts properly in relation to Christ and the assembly, especially from the heavenly side that 1st Kings, in its teaching, has in mind in type. I thought we might begin with seeing the departmental side in the opening verses, then the side that comes in from verses 7 to 20, where we have got areas and environment that are not the best, but yet in relation to which Solomon’s administration has a part and things are held. Then the food matter, and then the matter of the ministry and the light that comes abundantly in the last few verses.
CAI In the opening verses, the first six verses, the idea of persons being sons appears in most instances, does it not?
SMcC It does. The whole realm of administration proceeding from Solomon’s throne is marked, in every detail of it, by the spirit and grace of sonship, suggesting to our minds and to our hearts the liberality connected with this kind of administration.
RGC Do we get nobility suggested in that they are called princes?
SMcC That is just what it suggests. The chapter opens “And these are the princes whom he had.” It is a great thing to understand spiritual nobility among the saints expressed in persons, so that the whole realm marked by spiritual refinement, not by the uncouthness we see around us on every hand, which is beneath the dignity of the assembly.
RGC It says, “But the noble deviseth noble things; and to noble things doth he stand,” Isaiah 32: 8, and that is to mark us, especially in administration.
SMcC A remarkable reference, and a reference we need to pay attention to, because nobility in the saints works out in the setting on of noble things, not degraded things, but noble things, and also standing to noble things. It is not only that they are devised but stood to and this is linked with the working out of the administration of the world to come, which is really before us here in this chapter.
ARG In the list of things we are to think on “whatsoever things are noble” are included?
SMcC Very good. It is interesting to notice that, especially in the epistle to the Philippians, where it is the working out of heavenly light in experience here below. Philippians rightly follows Ephesians, because it is the working out experimentally of the heavenly light given in the letter to the Ephesians; therefore it is filled with the thought of spiritual refinement.
GHW And that was seen working out supremely in Solomon, “and King Solomon was king over all Israel.”
SMcC Yes, an important thing to notice, how the divine thought is arrived at in this verse. You remember in Psalm 114, reference is made to Israel coming out of Egypt, “When Israel went out of Egypt,” the house of bondage, “Judah was his sanctuary, Israel his dominion.” Judah is the Davidic side, where the wealth of the service of God is set up under David, the sweet psalmist of Israel. Solomon is prominently the ruling side, Israel was his dominion in the Solomonic side;
- we have both sides referred to in that psalm, both reached in their fulness in Christ, at the present time at the right hand of God.
RGN These persons seem to be those who have won or acquired their nobility rather than inherited it. They are not sons of Solomon, are they?
SMcC Yes, I think sonship refers to dignity acquired through gift. We are all God’s sons by faith in Christ Jesus. That is, we do not work up to that, it comes to us by way of gift. But princes represent persons who by moral greatness acquire a place of worth in the testimony.
DAI You spoke of a link between David and Solomon. Do we see that in Proverbs 4? Solomon says, “I was a son unto my father,” and “He taught me.” Is that how it is acquired?
SMcC Exactly, so that along with this great thought of sonship we have also the feature of love diffused through Solomon’s realm, through his administration. We were looking at the radiation of love the other day in John’s gospel, the radiation of divine affections in the working out of the administration according to John; Solomon gives us that in type, “I was a son unto my father, tender and an only one in the sight of my mother.” I think the Lord is stressing the love side in the assembly, pending the rapture. The rapture is just at hand, we are about to be caught up, and we need to understand the love side, it makes room for spiritual and heavenly refinement amongst us.
DAI So that the administrative thought is to go forward in the light of sonship, as bearing on the family side.
SMcC And we have to see the greatness of the thought expressed in the word “administration.” We are so inclined to link administration with the care meeting, the working out of local difficulties when a problem arises, but administration in the divine realm is a much greater and wider thought than that, involving divine authority, as we had elsewhere, the Lord merging with the Spirit, in bringing divine love into our hearts. That is only part of administration; there are many other features.
ARG Has it been said by a beloved servant of the Lord that there will be some form of administration in eternity, because God is love?
SMcC The administration of love will go right on through all eternity. We shall never be without administration, and it will be the administration of love, love in activity towards divine Persons and towards one another.
DRT Verse 29 brings in largeness of heart. “Largeness of heart, even as the sand that is on the seashore.”
SMcC Largeness of heart is a beautiful touch here, as we were alluding to the liberality that is linked with sonship substantially known and enjoyed in the assembly. While the administration of Solomon involves that every feature of evil is taken account of in all that might adversely affect us, as in the principle seen in Joab, Abiathar and others, on the other hand it is stressing the largeness of heart along with the side of wisdom.
DRT So all the people should be expressive of this deep affection.
SMcC Well, that is what we are trying to get at; that the whole realm is to be marked by this kind of thing; because 1 Kings, in the immensity of the system of things that come before us under Solomon, stresses christianity at the present time in its heavenly bearing in the assembly; 2nd Chronicles stresses the millennium more, where you have the idea of distance, but in Kings there is no idea of distance. There is no veil in the temple mentioned.
CAI Does this involve a question of our apprehension of how christianity functions and what it is. I was thinking of the word in Colossians, “Giving thanks to the Father who has made us fit for sharing the portion of the saints in light, who has delivered us from the authority of darkness and translated us into the kingdom of the Son of his love.” The economy functions on those lines, does it not?
SMcC That is what we want to get hold of this morning as we are together. It is not a question just of a picture, but of what marks the functioning of the saints in the light of the assembly, and their place in the assembly in sonship, at the present moment.
ARG Would you say a little more to help enlarge our view as to what administration really involves? We have been, I think, rather cramped about it.
SMcC Well, it is very simple to notice that the administration of New Zealand, for instance, is a very extended matter. It works out from Wellington, but it affects every town and village and everything in the country. And so in christianity everything is coloured, by what is working out at the present time from Christ on high, in heaven, and the Spirit here in the assembly.
Rem So that it says of judgment, judgment is His strange work, as though that is not paramount in the mind of God.
SMcC That is, it comes in because of certain things that arise, but it is not, as it were, His normal work, it is His strange work.
WHW The thought of administration comes into the gospel. I mean in preaching the gospel, we need to have as a background the truth of Ephesians, to represent God correctly.
SMcC Administration enters into the gospel, and all the wealth that God has in his heart for men, all that is linked with the heavenly light that we have in the letter to the Ephesians in sonship and other things, is presented in the glad tidings.
WHW Do you think there is a sort of a reference to that here, verse 2, “Azariah the son of Zadok was the priest,” as the footnote gives us. Zadok was priest in David’s reign, but when it comes to Solomon’s reign the thought of sonship is predicated of the priest.
SMcC We have a remarkable reference in this man Azariah, because the Spirit of God draws special attention to this man, and it shows the need for observing what the Spirit has to say about him. First of all he is a prince, priesthood is linked with prince-hood here. It is not just the exercise of something on the basis of arbitrary right, but from the standpoint of what has been acquired in the way of moral power. “These are the princes whom he had: Azariah the son of Zadok was the priest;” as the margin points out.
RGC So that priestliness is a great feature to be developed amongst us.
SMcC Well, it is, based on princeliness. In Numbers the princes and the priests link on together. We get one chapter about the prince and one chapter about the priests, and it would almost seem as if the princes merge into the thought of the priests. We want to see that the exercise of priesthood is based on princely qualities among the saints, and it is also based on the thought of the family. The priest here is the son of Zadok, the family idea is running through all this; meaning that what is arbitrary is tempered by the basic family thought.
WHW The Lord was seeking to get that into Peter’s mind in the end of Matthew 17, in regard to the stater, “Giver it to them for me and thee.” He would impress Peter’s mind with the dignity of sonship.
SMcC Immediately preceding, as it does, the administrative chapter. In the formal administration in chapter 18 we can, see how the thought of sonship tempers, as it were, and modifies what might be arbitrary, in the working out of the administration.
DAI Is that why Paul associates the brother with him?
SMcC Exactly. Because there is a modifying thought in the suggestion of the family link, and we are weak on that side. We need to understand that the family side is a basic matter, and confidence lies in the family side; confidence in one another, would make the most of one another, on the line of the family.
LI I was interested in what you said about the thought of modification in connection with Matthew 18. Would it be reasonable to say that the persons involved in Matthew are sons, the brother who visits another is a son, and the one to be saved is a son? Would that govern the affections and movements of each?
SMcC Yes. Matthew calls him a brother. That is a great word in our spiritual vocabulary. “If thy brother,” Matthew would impress that in our minds, “thy brother.” It is proceeding on the basic idea of the family. When we refer to modification we are not in any sense suggesting that evil should be modified, because evil is never to be modified. Evil is to be judged in the full light of God’s judgment of it in the death of Christ, but in the working out of the priesthood, the family side being basic, tempers and modifies, what might be harsh and extreme otherwise.
LI I was thinking of the feelings that would lie in the person that might visit another.
DRT And would “Between thee and him alone” involve between thee and God alone first in what is priestly?
SMcC The passage just says, “Between thee and him alone.” It is no doubt a priest, he is characteristically a praying man, he has to do with God about matters, but the teaching in Matthew 18 at that particular part is not our relations with God, but our relations with one another. Because many of us claim to be all right with God when we are all wrong with one another. That will not do; because if we are right with God we will be right with one another.
GAA Is the family side that we are looking at, brought forward in Solomon’s wisdom in the previous chapter where the mother of the child is discerned?
SMcC Well, it is remarkable how the matter of discernment comes up in Solomon’s administration, because there has been a lot of discussion amongst the brethren in conversation about discernment, how it works out. Chapter 3, verse 8, “And thy servant is in the midst of thy people which thou hast chosen, a great people, that cannot be numbered nor counted for multitude. Give therefore to thy servant an understanding heart, to judge thy people, to discern between good and bad; for who is able to judge this thy numerous people? And the word pleased the Lord, that Solomon had asked this thing. And God said to him, Because thou hast asked this thing, and hast not asked for thyself long life, neither hast asked riches for thyself, nor hast asked the life of thine enemies, but hast asked for thyself discernment to understand judgment; behold I have done according to thy word.” Now what comes in is this matter, a very difficult matter, as to a child and two women laying claim to it. How does Solomon discern? Does he read one woman’s heart and discern who is the true mother? He does not. He brings it out in their actions; brings it out in what they say, by that test. It says in verse 26 “Then spoke the woman whose was the living child to the king, for her bowels yearned over her son and she said, Ah, my lord! give her the living child, and in no wise put it to death. But the other said, Let it be neither mine nor thine; divide it. And the king answered and said, Give this one the living child, and in no wise put it to death: she is its mother.” His discernment worked out in what she said, in the woman’s words, not exactly what was in her heart, although it involved what was in her heart; but from what she said, he discerned where the true mother was.
WHW Does Abigail set out the faith side? She had really received the ministry of Samuel and David says, “Blessed be thy discernment;” I was wondering whether the basis of her discernment was not faith.
SMcC Very good. Because of all that she had heard and received (perhaps it was the first time she had met David) what a value she had placed upon David! What an appraisal she had of him! It was all, as we would speak of it now, on the principle of faith.
GAA Is it noteworthy, what you remarked a moment ago, that Solomon had no sword? He called for a sword. I wondered whether he rested in the wisdom he had and used that.
SMcC And wisdom is a great matter, because linked with wisdom is resource. Wisdom is the handmaid of love. Where you get love operating among the saints, where you get love amongst the saints, wisdom is there to help out in the working out of matters.
GWB So when it is a question of looking into the facts of any issue, does the matter of experience enter into it?
SMcC Well, it does, and I think it is a question of where we are substantially. During the meetings that we have had in recent times that word “substantiality” has constantly come up, and it is important that it should come up, because it is not a question of just going over an historic picture, the scriptures are bearing on us as we are here this morning, and it is to help us substantially in regard to the truth.
ARG Is not that what came out in the true mother of the child, the love was there, was it not?
SMcC Yes. It is very interesting to notice in regard to this man Azariah, he is called the priest here. In Chronicles, in the genealogies, a remarkable thing is said about this man. We get a whole list of genealogies in the opening chapters of Chronicles, but there is something specifically said about this man. We have a bracketed remark in regard to him. When the Spirit of God comes to Azariah he immediately stops and says, “He is it that exercised the priesthood in the house that Solomon built in Jerusalem.” He is it. Notice it does not say, “He it is that exercised the priesthood.” In 1 Chronicles 6: 10, we get the levitical line. Gershom, Kohath and Merari developed in the genealogy, and when it comes to verse 10 it says “And Johanan begot Azariah;” then we get this remarkable comment by Ezra, as it would be, Ezra the scribe; he has something to say about this man. He says, “He is it that exercised the priesthood in the house that Solomon built in Jerusalem,” not “He it is” but “He is it;” that is, the stress is on substantiality in the use of the neuter word, it is not the personal pronoun so much that is intensified, but the neuter quality. “He is it that exercised the priesthood in the house that Solomon built in Jerusalem.” That is, it is typically a question of the full light of the assembly, the Lord’s full place on high, the heavenly side.
WHW That would be in keeping with what you have been saying about substantiality. It was seen in that man.
SMcC That is just what I am referring to. You remember it is said of the Lord Jesus in Luke “The holy thing which shall be born shall be called Son of God,” stressing substantiality in holy humanity in Jesus; “the holy thing,” gives the intensification of the substantial thought. Christianity is marked by substance.
ARG What is the thought then of his being over the superintendents. You spoke of Christ on high, did you, just now?
SMcC I am not thinking of Azariah as a type of Christ. King Solomon is the great type of Christ in verse 1, and the house that Solomon built in 1 Chronicles 6, would be the assembly on the heavenly side as 1 Kings would have in mind. Solomon is a type of Christ on high and Jerusalem represents the assembly in her heavenly relations, although working out on earth here below.
CAI Would Azariah then indicate that there are persons who are able to move in priesthood in a fully developed way?
SMcC Exactly, expressing the thought of substantiality in the exercise of this influence in the assembly.
CAI So that in this matter of substantiality, does it mean that persons are to be valued according to what they are?
SMcC Not according to what they are not, but according to what they are.
LI Paul could say “ye have us for a model.” Would that be substantiality?
SMcC Well, I should think it would, and specially as being referred to as the priest, he would have a remarkable influence over the whole position.
GHW Would Azariah have the true knowledge of God and know how to use it aright?
SMcC Well, he would. That is what the priest suggests. He suggests persons who know God, who know the law of God, and have capacity by the Spirit to think and act for God.
WHW Do we need an understanding of the first verse before we see or understand the working of the personality as it follows?
SMcC That is what I thought; that we must understand the importance of this verse. It does not say, “Solomon was king over all Israel,” but “King Solomon was king over all Israel.” It may seem redundant - why the repetition of “king?” It might seem superfluous, but it says, “King Solomon was king over all Israel,” intensifying in our minds the substantial thought of rule according to God in Christ in this type.
TRH Does it not record that God has set princes in the earth? Would that have all this in mind, universal administration and the following up of these features which you are suggesting to us?
SMcC “Princes shalt thou make them in all the earth.” Psalm 45: 16. We see how the marital side is working out in this extension of moral influence among the brethren, as the light as to Christ and the assembly is appreciated in our souls, it works out in extension of ruling influence among the brethren on moral lines.
CAI Would the thought of mutual relations among the brethren conflict with this matter of substantiality and dignity in persons?
SMcC Personality among the brethren does not militate against mutuality. Sometimes mutuality is stressed to the point of militating against personality. In that case mutuality may be really a cloak for democracy, which is never according to God.
Rem Would we see mutuality and personality in Mordecai, his greatness is stressed; then it says he was accepted among the multitude of his brethren?
SMcC Very good. A very interesting and helpful reference. The personality that develops in Mordecai, a man that was prepared to lay down his life for the brethren, works out in that the brethren are all mutually in the matter. It is not militating against it. It is working out in mutuality amongst the brethren in support of the truth.
AM Paul says, “I Paul,” does he not, and John “I John,” then in the last chapter of Revelation “I Jesus.”
SMcC Then we have Adoniram. He is an interesting man. The last part of the 6th verse says, “the son of Abda was over the levy-service.” Well, what is the levy-service? I understand the levy-service to be the bringing of more and more of the brethren into the work. There is a lot of work to be done and done quickly, before the translation takes place; and the levy-service has to do with the brethren being brought into the work. This man becomes a martyr. You will recall that in the days of Rehoboam when Adoniram came, in relation to the levy-service, they stoned him to death because of the wrong issue that had been projected on to the view of the saints, and the awful conditions that came about.
Rem You spoke of more being brought into the service. Would you say a little more in regard of it, as to what the service covers?
SMcC Well, it says, for instance, in chapter 5: 12, “Jehovah gave Solomon wisdom as he promised him.” That is a beautiful touch in itself. “And there was peace between Hiram and Solomon, and they two made a league. And king Solomon raised a levy out of all Israel; and the levy was thirty thousand men. And he sent them to Lebanon, ten thousand a month by courses; a month they were in Lebanon, two months at home; and Adoniram was over the levy.” That is what I mean by more and more being brought into the work. When you come to David, the levitical age is reduced, so that more and more can come into the work, into the service; and when you come to Solomon you have still an added thought. David says to Solomon, “Thou shalt add to it,” the thought of addition comes in in Solomon; so he brings in this great thought of the levy, which brings in more and more of the available material into the work.
RGC What about the two months at home and one month on the hills?
SMcC A good thing to bring up.
RGC We like the conspicuous work naturally; what about the inconspicuous work that is so valuable?
SMcC Every minister will make the most of his own locality, and he will always see to it that he is at home enough to share in the working out of exercises on the home front. “The home front” is a good word for those that minister, those that serve.
LI I think it is a great matter to be at home, at the care meeting on Saturday night, the arrangements, in connection with it seem very important, do they not?
SMcC Well, exactly. Because they help in this matter of those that stand by the home front; because we are needed at home. We need to work out exercises at home.
Rem Is that why Paul reminds the elders at Ephesus that for three years he himself had gone into every house, admonishing everyone with tears?
SMcC House to house work is needed. It would promote felicity among the brethren, happy conditions, if there were more and more house to house work, involving the service linked with bringing the saints on to the heavenly line of the truth, as in Ephesians. It involves patient, arduous, continuing service, on the most menial lines, house to house, promoting mutual affections among the brethren.
WHW Is that seen in the number “12” in the next section.
SMcC Very good. Say something more about it.
WHW I was thinking it was helpful to see that the first one is connected with Mount Ephraim, which would give the elevated side of things to begin with; and then “12,” being love’s number, I thought would link on with the thought too.
SMcC So that it intensifies this great matter of love working out in the service; that is twelve is the most divisible of all the numbers, and it involves our ability to work with one another. There should not be any spirit of rivalry; the holy city is marked by the numeral twelve. As conditions of love among the brethren have their place, we are set to serve one another in love; not accusing one another falsely or making out that these personalities are wanting to dominate the realm. One of the great weaknesses that appeared in recent years was the charging of godly brethren with dominating matters among the saints. Every person should have a concern that their influence does not dominate among the saints; but we need godly care and we need personality in the caring for the things of God. The numeral twelve suggests the intensification of love in this way among the brethren.
RGC So that leadership referred to in verse 5 “Azariah, son of Nathan, was over the superintendents.” That deals with the false idea of democracy, does it not? There is to be leadership, is that the thought there?
SMcC Well, exactly. There is to be leadership.
CAI So there are twelve superintendents in verse 7.
SMcC We do not have official leadership, in a broken day. The church is in brokenness publicly and we cannot speak of official leadership. It is leadership in love among the brethren, promoting the interests of Christ and the work of god, leadership in shepherding, in priestly feelings, leadership as in Paul in the way he served the saints at Ephesus, going from house to house.
RGC Chapter 3 of 1st Timothy, verse 1, says, “If anyone aspires to exercise oversight.” It is not to be a leader, but to exercise oversight, the work is emphasised, is that right?
SMcC Yes, and the door is open to everyone of us in that way.
Rem I was asking if the levy-service would be worked out in Stephen?
SMcC Very good, in Stephen and in Philip; that is, they had no official commission, you might say, to begin with, they were taken on on the principle of the levy-service. Stephen lost his life in it but he corresponded with Adoniram, who was over the levy-service. He lost his life in it. This levy-service is a great matter, because we want to bring the brethren more and more into things. Leadership among the saints, in love, would involve that all the brethren are brought into matters.
HB I was going to ask if Judah illustrates a fine principle. When word is given that he is the one to go up, he immediately turns to Simeon, his brother, and invites him to come with him. Judges 1: 2 - 3.
SMcC Showing how leadership does not militate against mutuality, it leads to mutuality; and that is the whole point here that the levy-service involves that more and more are being brought in. Well, let us look over the field, about the preaching the gospel and all the services that are to be done. Is that brother being used as he should; or is this sister’s service valued as it should be? Let us look over the field. Solomon’s administration would involve that more and more are brought into the matter.
GWB Has there not been a danger with us to single persons out in regard of the matter of leadership?
SMcC Well, as I said, in a day of brokenness we should be careful about the idea of official leadership in localities, putting a brother in the chair, as it were; that kind of thing is to be avoided. If, in our localities, we have brothers who have gift, their gift will make room for itself. The brethren cannot help making room for it, because they would recognise gift; otherwise they would be against God if they did not.
BMD Is that why the word “elders” is usually in the plural?
SMcC Meaning that there is no such thing as a brother over a city. Gift is universal, catholic, never local, but if in a locality there is a gift, the brethren will be glad to make room for what he has. But then his gift will not overshadow the locality. In the working out of administration in care among the saints, it is a matter of eldership; the elders are in the city, the whole city.
WHW In regard to leadership, would it be safer to speak of the feature of leadership?
SMcC The feature of leadership among the saints in a day of brokenness.
WHW That allows for bringing in a sister. There are sisters in scripture that have the features of leadership.
SMcC Deborah was an outstanding example.
WHW Yes, and Elizabeth in the beginning of Luke.
Ques Would Hebrews 13: 7 bear on it at all? “Remember your leaders who have spoken to you the word of God; and considering the issue of their conversation, imitate their faith.”
SMcC Very good.
Rem “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and today, and to the ages to come.”
SMcC Hebrews 13 helps us as to the matter of leadership. Leadership past, and leadership present. We are to remember our leaders who have spoken to us the word of God, that is leadership past, a great matter to see. The young brothers need to think of the leaders who have gone before them, we were referring to it at the outset, think of what has entered into the establishment of the testimony in this area, the work of J. G. Deck, J.N.D., the work of Mr. Wigram and Dr. Glenny and others, all the pioneering work that entered into that. We are to remember those and imitate their faith.
TRH Would Judah, who has been referred to, be an example for us? “Hear Jehovah the voice of Judah, bring him unto his people, may his hands strive.”
SMcC Well, exactly. We could look now at these references to the twelve superintendents. Their areas are not the best; sometimes younger brothers say, if they were only in a certain locality, where they have no troubles, no difficulties, how much better they would get on in their souls. That is not the divine way. The divine way is to prosper where God has set you, whatever the trouble is. Not that one is putting a premium on trouble, but you take this matter of Mt. Ephraim, it was a place of trouble, the prophets say a good deal about Ephraim, and then you take the upland of Dor, and the villages of Jair, and the region of Argob which is in Bashan, sixty great cities with walls and bars of bronze, and then the area of the Amorites, and Og, the king of Bashan. All these geographical references bring up difficult terrain in which they had to operate and work out the administration.
HT So that David could say, “In pressure thou hast enlarged me.”
SMcC Well, exactly. That is the way it works out normally. The truth increases in value to us as we pass through things with God.
HB And is it not said prophetically of Jesus, “He shall grow up from his own place.”
SMcC One of the most delightful references we have in the prophetic scriptures. “He shall grow up from his own place.” If you want to exercise influence begin at home, begin in your own locality. The Lord Jesus began at Nazareth. They could not resist the grace that marked his words as he set on the preaching. I suppose we have not got as far as we intended, but we might look at it this afternoon.
WHW I wondered if you might just make a remark as to the two married daughters of Solomon. Have you any thought about that?
SMcC We might be able to say more about it this afternoon. I think they suggest persons who are taking on matters. The one takes Solomon’s daughter as wife and of the other it says. Solomon’s daughter was his wife. There is a kind of reciprocal feature in the statements; but despite the difficulties he was prepared to take on what was linked with the regime and the administration in a subjective way and work it out.