PERSONS GIVING THEMSELVES OVER TO THE SPIRIT
J. Mitchell
Genesis 24: 15–25; Judges 1: 12–15; 1 Samuel 25: 32–35
I read these passages to say a word about persons who gave themselves over to the Spirit.
Each of them is a beautiful type of the assembly, but what is in mind is not to develop that side but rather to look at them as persons who had personal and strong relations with the Spirit of God. It is clear as to Rebecca and Achsah that that is so in a typical sense because they have to do with wells or springs. It may not be quite so clear with Abigail although in the section we read David says to Abigail, “blessed be thy discernment”, and we are told in the New Testament that “the spiritual discerns all things”, 1 Corinthians 2: 15. Now that gives justification for looking at Abigail as a type of a person who has secret history with the Holy Spirit. Indeed as we come to it we shall see that all her actions are typical of such a person. We were remarking in the reading about the need to give ourselves over to the Spirit, and I would encourage each one of us to cultivate personal and intimate links with the Spirit of God, and allow those links to develop spiritual personality in each of us. Then to develop too in having guidance from the Spirit so that in our walk here we show that our desire is that our whole life is in some measure an indication of the place that the Spirit
has with each one of us.
Now Rebecca perhaps is the most beautiful type of that. I have often wondered about that reference in this chapter where it says, “the man was astonished at her”. We generally regard Abraham’s servant as a type of the Spirit. It is a bit difficult to think of the Spirit being astonished, but I have no doubt that it will allow the interpretation that it is exceedingly pleasant to the Holy Spirit of God to take account of the depth and substantiality of His own workmanship in persons. Therefore to allow the Spirit scope with us would give Him tremendous pleasure and, if I may say so simply and I trust reverently, the Spirit is entitled to that. Think of His service to us and to the saints generally throughout the whole of the dispensation, sometimes barely recognised. I would never like to say unrecognised, because that would be a slur on His own workmanship, but sometimes He has been barely recognised, and yet He has patiently laboured in love for the saints of the assembly. It is something that should affect every one of us. Even in this period of revival in which we thankfully are having our part, we should marvel that the Spirit of God waited so long a time before He called attention to Himself, and we were helped and enlightened in the blessedness and joy of speaking to the Spirit in the assembly and worshipping Him publicly. You think of the labours of the blessed Spirit of God bringing Christ before the affections and souls of the saints unremittingly, all through more than a century in this revival, before there was any suggestion, from Himself undoubtedly, but involving of course the Father and the Son, of giving place to the Holy Spirit of God. That in itself should cause us to be deeply affected by Him and His service to us, and indeed should cause us to worship Him.
Now referring to Rebecca, the passage is as well known as any other passage in Scripture, and therefore one hardly need say much about it. What is affecting is the way in which she comes out as typically a person
who had a long and intimate history with the Holy Spirit of God, with the result that there is beautiful formation in her, it is a marvel that immediately the man asks for a sip of water, it says, “she hasted and let down her pitcher on her hand, and gave him to drink”. She hasted to do it. There was no reluctance whatsoever. Her whole inward affections were moved and she gave him to drink of her pitcher. I wonder for myself, and for every one of us here, whether in any measure we are giving the Holy Spirit what really refreshes His heart, what is for His own infinite pleasure, thus ministering to Him in some small measure. He says here, “Let me, I pray thee, sip a little water out of thy pitcher”. That has often been referred to. It tells us in the Scriptures that the Spirit does not desire enviously (James 4: 5). He maintains the lowly place that He has taken in this economy of love, and yet He is looking now for some answer from our hearts. Thus His request, “Let me, I pray thee, sip a little water out of thy pitcher.
And she said, Drink, my lord! And she hasted and let down her pitcher on her hand, and gave him to drink”. You can see Rebecca’s affection typically for the Spirit in the way she hasted and let down her pitcher.
Then before anything else is said she says, “I will draw water for thy camels also, until they have drunk enough”. The servant had said nothing about drawing water for the camels at that point. He did not need to say it. Rebecca was equal to that typically, she knew what was refreshing to the Holy Spirit of God and she was committed that whatever it might cost; and cost it did, because to draw water for ten thirsty camels is a tremendous matter, and it would have been a tremendous labour for Rebecca to draw water for all these camels. The servant did not need to ask, she immediately said that she would draw water for his camels also. How beautiful that is, and she did that. The camels themselves are also typical of the Spirit, so it shows typically the beautiful relationships that Rebecca had with the Holy Spirit of God.
When Laban came out the
man was standing by the camels by the well. How beautiful is the way that the Spirit of God records these intensive references typically to Himself. It is when she draws water for the camels that it says, “the man was astonished at her, remaining silent, to know whether Jehovah had made his journey prosperous or not”. That must have given him tremendous pleasure to see a young woman, who is described as very fair; she must have been, as we speak, quite a beautiful woman, and I have no doubt that she, and all that attaches to her, typifies the result of the Spirit’s operations. She is formed by the Spirit Himself. As you look round this room, and see persons that are formed by the Spirit of God, there is a manner and spiritual beauty about them. It is beauty that is not only refreshing to the heart of Christ, and was really what was in the Spirit’s mind, that there should be a person who is entirely suited to the heavenly Man, but there is that which, in the beauty of His own workmanship among the saints, is for the heart of the Spirit Himself.
The man says to her, “Whose daughter art thou? tell me, I pray thee. Is there room in thy father’s house for us to lodge?” She said to him, “There is straw, and also much provender with us; also room to lodge”. Her answers to the man are always so full. She goes beyond what he asks each time. What was there formatively in Rebecca not only met the need of the man at the moment but went on to bring out that there is everything to satisfy the needs of the man and his camels. I wonder for myself, dear brethren, and for each one of us, if there is some measure of that in each of us in a formative way that is for the pleasure of the Holy Spirit of God. He has laboured in the dispensation, and we have come to the end of it, and I am sure that there should be from every one of our hearts what is for His own pleasure and satisfaction. At every turn what shines out in Rebecca is typically, the spirituality of what is there, the result of the Spirit’s own operations in that she is entirely suited to be taken in hand by the Spirit in
view of being a bride for the heavenly Man.
I believe the Spirit of God would be active at the present moment putting the finishing touches to the assembly. He is concerned about beautifying the assembly so that she might be entirely for the heart of Christ, that she might be fully suited to Him, so that there should be no disparity. There He is, the heavenly Man, in all His glory, in all His moral and spiritual beauty, but there is the assembly as the product of the Spirit as entirely suited to Him. I often think of that verse at the end of the chapter where it says, “And the servant told Isaac all things that he had done” (Genesis 24: 66). We need to be careful not to be fanciful in dealing with scripture, but I often think of what exists between the Holy Spirit of God and the Lord Jesus Christ in relation to the assembly. What delight and appreciation the Lord has in the service of the Spirit in securing the assembly for Him, and what delight there must be in the Spirit of God that there is through His own operations a vessel for the heart of Christ.
Rebecca is brought to Isaac entirely suited to him, and I believe that gives us some insight into the feelings of the Spirit as He presents the assembly to Christ as the answer to His heart.
Now we come to Achsah in the book of Judges. The incident appears twice in the Scriptures, once in the book of Joshua and then in the book of Judges, and I need hardly say that the Spirit of God does not simply repeat things; He has something in mind in putting this passage in two books of the Bible. I have no doubt that He puts it in Joshua chapter 15 to bring out the appreciation that Achsah had of the inheritance, and her concern that she might enjoy the inheritance, because the inheritance without the springs of water would not have been very profitable. So the same incident is given there and she says to Caleb, “give me also springs of water”, a holy desire on the part of Achsah. Othniel took Kirjath-sepher, and for that Caleb gave to Othniel Achsah his daughter as wife. What a wife she was!
What a valuable asset she would be to Othniel! But in Judges it is put in chapter 1, which starts on a very high level. Judah and Simeon desire that they might deal with the enemies of the land, and that they might appropriate their inheritance for themselves; and the brotherly element comes into it, and there is no jealousy, no bad feeling. What a word that is for us, dear brethren, that that character of things should be amongst us, good brotherly relations and consideration for one another—Judah being who he was, but by no means asserting his leadership, taking his brother with him in what he was seeking to do. What a matter that was.
Then you have this incident, but then we do not go very far in the first chapter until it begins to tell us that some of the tribes did not dispossess the inhabitants of the land. That is a very sorrowful thing. Then in chapter 2 it tells us that “the Angel of Jehovah came up from Gilgal to Bochim” (Judges 2: 1). He had shifted his position. Now that is a very sad thing that it should immediately go on to that, and there is a word for us in that. Gilgal involves circumcision, and that is painful, the cutting off of the flesh completely. It involves the rolling away of the reproach of Egypt, and I think that is a word that we can take home to ourselves.
The people had departed from that. The Angel shifted his position from Gilgal to Bochim, showing that there was a failure to meet the requirements of Gilgal. As we examine matters, beloved, we may discover that the reproaches of Egypt have crept back amongst us. It is something to think about and to pray about and to feel about. The Spirit of God records that, and things are not recorded without a purpose. But before He records that He records this matter as to Achsah, and I believe that there is the antidote to all the failure that came in. This matter as to Achsah shows that there was a remedy to the whole failure that came in amongst them, and the remedy lies in the springs of water. So that Achsah desiring the springs of water in the book of Judges is to overcome all that weakening and the failure that came in among the people. If they
had maintained those springs of water there would have been no failure amongst them.
What the Spirit of God has in mind in the springs of water is freshness, and that is something that we need to be concerned about, because as time goes on, staleness tends to come in. As the days go on, every one of us tends a little to staleness, and what will preserve us from staleness is the upper and lower springs, and therefore the need is to relate ourselves to the Holy Spirit of God. The upper springs and the lower springs, as we have been taught, is the Spirit in relation to the truth of the epistle to the Ephesians and the epistle to the Romans. The way in which we can be preserved from retrograde steps is to give ourselves over to the Holy Spirit of God. The upper and the lower springs are there, and they maintain the saints in freshness no matter what may come in. They act as a great preservative in the midst of a tendency to failure; a tendency to cease to value the inheritance, and failure to take possession of it fully. I believe the Spirit of God would urge us, like Caleb here. There is an urge here. Caleb says, “He that smites Kirjath-sepher and takes it, to him will I give Achsah my daughter as wife”. And then it goes on to say that “Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother, took it; and he gave him Achsah his daughter as wife. And it came to pass as she came, that she urged him to ask of her father the field”. There is a great need, beloved, to urge one another to go fully in for our inheritance. Think of the way that it has been won for us. You remember in the book of Joshua the way that the inheritance was won. Think of the ark going through the Jordan and all that that involved. The wars of the Lord too, the place that the ark had in relation to Jericho, and then Gilgal, and all that was involved in the land, a goodly land. That is what the Spirit of God has brought us into. He has brought us into the very best, and the need therefore is to urge one another to go in for it, and that we should be in relation to these springs of water, so that we are preserved in freshness of exercise and freshness of power
in view of enjoying the land.
I come now to Abigail, a well-known passage too. David says to her, “blessed be thy discernment”. I believe there is a very grave need of discernment. That really involves the Spirit. We are told in the epistle to the Corinthians that “the spiritual discerns all things”, 1
Corinthians 2: 15. That is something to be sober about and contemplate, that there should be a real discernment about matters. Whatever may come up amongst us, why not relate yourself to the Holy Spirit of God? and He will give you discernment. Abigail’s discernment comes out beautifully in this section. David, of course, speaking to Abigail here, represents a type of Christ; but earlier in the chapter he does not represent Christ at all, indeed he is somewhat remiss, because of his answer to Nabal. Nabal was a churlish man, and he said, “Who is David?” (1 Samuel 25: 10). He had no regard for David, no regard for Christ, and he is concerned about himself, “shall I take my bread, and my water, and my flesh which I have killed for my shearers, and give it to men whom I know not whence they are?” (verse 11).
Why did he not know David? Everybody else in the kingdom knew David, he was very well known, he was celebrated, but Nabal says, “Who is David?” He has no regard for Christ.
What an awful man he was, but then when the young men told David what he said, David says, “Gird ye on every man his sword. And they girded on every man his sword”. What a rash thing to do. It would have involved the unnecessary loss of life. And, as Abigail tells David, it would have been a slur on David when he came to the kingdom. There was a lack with David because of his rash intention. Let me say this, dear brethren, it is sometimes the easiest way to deal with things, be quick, rash, get it over as fast as we can, but is the Lord in it? Is the Spirit in it? That is the question.
Abigail discerns what is needed, and hence the value of right discernment about matters. The way she meets things is totally different from the way that David
had in mind. Think of the awfulness of it; by the morning light there would not have been one male left of Nabal’s household! Yet it speaks in this chapter of one of Nabal’s young men, and it is quite clear that that man had a clear judgment, he comes and tells Abigail. As we have been taught, that relates to “tell it to the assembly”, Matthew 18: 17. There is a proper place to tell things, and he goes to Abigail as understanding that Abigail has the power to deal with the matter, and deal with it rightly, deal with it according to God. That young man would have been among those who would have been slain by David. It is a sorrowful thing, beloved brethren, when rash actions are taken without real consideration for the result, and what they are in the sight of God. Yet this young man comes and tells Abigail what the situation is. Abigail made haste and took certain things, two hundred loaves, and so on, sheep ready dressed, bottles of wine, she took all that was necessary in view of meeting this situation that had arisen.
It was a crisis but she had the spiritual wealth to meet the crisis, and she meets it in a way that is thoroughly in keeping with the dispensation of blessing. And so, as she goes on her way, it says, “And as she was riding on the ass, and coming down by the covert of the hill, behold, David and his men came down opposite to her; and she met them”. It is well she met them there. It is a good thing to take account of what is working among the brethren. We need to respect what is of God among the saints. Abigail is coming down, and David came down and they met there. There could not have been a better place to meet. David, before that, when he said, “Gird ye on every man his sword”, was going up; but it was not a time for going up, it was a time for coming down. That is a very essential matter. We get sometimes so fixed with our own thoughts that it is difficult, to come down, but that is what Abigail does, and as doing that she influences David, and they meet there. She has what is necessary for the meeting of the situation, and David says to her, “Blessed be Jehovah,
the God of Israel, who sent thee this day to meet me. And blessed be thy discernment, and blessed be thou”. What a thing that is, that such a serious crisis should be met out of the abundance of the supply of spiritual food among the saints so that the matter is solved. David says that, “But indeed, as Jehovah the God of Israel liveth, who has restrained me from hurting thee, except thou hadst hasted and come to meet me”.
Well, beloved, let us be concerned that there might be true assembly features. As I say, each of these three persons is really typical of the assembly, Abigail is the church militant. But it is the discernment of the person that David takes account of; a person who is able to discern the situation, and not only to discern the situation but to bring in what is needed to meet the situation. What a wonderful thing it is when persons go down. I think that is the great matter, and David went down here and the whole matter was resolved in the spirit of the dispensation. I think that is a very necessary thing that it should be so. May the Lord bless the word to us, for His name’s sake.
Address at Dundee
23 November 2002