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SPIRITUAL QUALITY (10)

SMcC I thought that this passage might help us to see the great provision that was made in the vast system of glory that is in mind in 1 Kings, to maintain what was suited to it on the public side. You will notice the stress on “brass” throughout this section. In the very last verse that we read it says that the weight of the brass was not ascertained. The first part that we read speaks of a man of Tyre as a “worker in brass,” verse 14. I think we would all freely admit that one of the things that tests us most is moral questions, which the working in brass suggests. Brass always has to do with the judgment of evil, that is, it is linked with the altar and these other vessels that have to do with cleansing and purification. 1 Kings in type bears on Christianity more than 2nd Chronicles which contemplates Israel, and the millennium more. The description of the temple setting in 1 Kings is much greater than the description in 2 Chronicles, and there are also things that are mentioned in 2 Chronicles that are not mentioned in 1 Kings, as for instance, the altar and the veil. The altar and the veil are not alluded to in 1 Kings, meaning that in the typical teaching for us, it is not so much the idea of approach that is emphasised in 1 Kings, as the idea of God’s dwelling, God dwelling in the system. And we can understand, dear brethren, that as the light increases, the responsibility increases, as to the maintenance of what is right and proper in accordance with the dignity of the system, the assembly, that we are linked with. The provision for different things is much greater under Solomon in relation to the temple than it was for instance in relation to the tabernacle under Moses, because the testimony has moved forward, the light has increased through David, and now under Solomon, the service of God has been greatly enlarged upon, the light as to it has greatly increased, especially in the Davidic regime, and as the light increases in regard to the assembly, in regard to God’s house, we must expect correspondingly that the provision for the maintenance of suitable conditions must increase. And therefore, we find that with the increased light that we have received in this period of assembly revival, in these last few years a great many moral questions have been raised which were not raised before, and a good deal more details in regard to the principles of separation have been raised in the minds of the saints. And that enters into this section, that as the light increases and the glory of the system becomes greater in our souls, the provision for the maintenance of purified conditions is greater, and therefore the great stress in this chapter on the works in brass. And I think the Lord might help us to enquire a little on the wealth of this particular section we have read as providing in the public position - the court’s position in relation to the temple system, the means whereby what is suited to the house of God can be maintained. It is in mind first just to refer to this man and what characterises him, and then just an allusion to the pillars and their importance, and then the sea, and then to dwell somewhat on the lavers and the richness of ornamentation that is linked with the lavers, the bases of the lavers; all very suggestive as fitting in with the increased light in regard to Christ and the assembly in our time.

MSS Would you say whether there is anything to be learned from the “sending for a workman” in verse 13? I was thinking of the first tabernacle system where two are named, Bezaleel and Aholiab, who are said to be skilled for the work of the tabernacle, which would seem to be a similar thought.

SMcC Yes, so the Lord has stressed a good deal in recent times the idea of being “sent.” Hiram is not coming into the matter from the voluntary standpoint exactly, he is coming in as under commission, sent for and fetched, in regard to this matter. And the fact that he is a widow’s son would fit in, perhaps, with a certain feature of the teaching, and that he is of Naphtali, “he was a widow’s son of the tribe of Naphtali, and his father was a man of Tyre, a worker in brass, and he was full of wisdom and understanding and knowledge, to do all kinds of works in brass.” Now what is to be noted here, in this immediate point, is that while Moses was given a pattern on the mount as to the tabernacle system, there is no pattern mentioned here. Of course, David had the pattern by the Spirit, of all the things for the house of God. A very interesting thing that allusion is made to him as having it by the Spirit, but there is no allusion to a pattern here, it seems to stress the side in manhood here in this person “full of wisdom and understanding and knowledge, to do all kinds of works in brass.” I think that is where we are tested when moral questions arise as to uprightness and what is right in the house of God, we would all like a book to give us some lay-out of precedents, but what tests us is this matter of being full of wisdom and understanding and knowledge, to do all kinds of works in brass.

LAC Did you have something more in mind as to his being a widow’s son?

SMcC Well, it would seem he comes in along the line of certain sorrowful exercises, which the widow would suggest. While linking on with the system of glory, there is the suggestion of what he has had to do with in his own soul on this line, do you not think?

FHP Do you mean deep feelings would enter into this work?

SMcC I think that would be one of the things as, for instance, Paul - what a worker in brass that great vessel was! As he writes the first letter to the Corinthians he is working in brass. Of course, the gold was there, and we could have another reading on that, but that is not our subject tonight, we are not forgetting that side, it is there in the chapters before, but what is now in mind is the moral question - the working in brass. And the skill with which Paul wrote that first letter to the Corinthians, you might say he was full of wisdom and understanding and knowledge, to do all that was connected with the works in brass; but in the second letter he unveils the fact that he wrote it out of many tears, that anguish of heart lay behind it, showing how the letter was couched in feelings that marked Paul.

ELE In the days of recovery we read of “two vessels of copper, precious as gold.”

SMcC Very good. “Two vessels of shining copper,” the only place in Scripture that we get shining copper alluded to, precious as gold. We might just look at it, in the 8th chapter of Ezra, verse 27, “and twenty basons of gold, of a thousand darics, and two vessels of shining copper, precious as gold.” I think that is a very good reference, as fitting in with our subject, because do you not think it suggests, in the days of recovery, the high standard on which moral matters are set - “precious as gold.” That is, they are not simple, ordinary kind of matters that we are not to pay much attention to; all these moral questions that have come up in recent years, so much among the brethren, and have tested the brethren, they are put on a high standard of value.

HLH So that there is something for God in the way that they are resolved, do you not think?

SMcC Exactly. “Precious as gold” would show how the moral side is to merge in with the spiritual side, and what there is for the pleasure of God.

CBl When the apostle Paul says, “Let him that nameth the name of the Lord withdraw from iniquity”, he uses the brass to separate from evil, in that way?

SMcC Yes, that is the line, 2 Timothy 2, “Let every one who names the name of the Lord withdraw from iniquity...” (verse 19) “and pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace” (verse 22). The first principle in our charter is righteousness, “pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace.” You cannot put faith before righteousness in the matter of our charter for the last days, righteousness must come first, then faith, love and peace.

HOE Is Hiram here like Timothy and his father like Paul?

SMcC Very good. I believe there is something in that, because Timothy had a mixed parentage, just like this man here, this man had a mother of the tribe of Naphtali, but then his father was a man of Tyre, and Timothy’s father is said to have been a Greek, so that there is a certain semblance in what you say. And then in relation to what you were referring to, Timothy came along the line of tears, “being mindful of thy tears.”

HOE As a young man the apostle put a good deal into his hands, did he not?

SMcC He did! And that is the point here. Solomon was the king, but think of what he put into this man’s hands to do, with confidence that the work would be carried on, and especially is it all the more testing in that it is works in brass, that is, it is work that had to do with moral questions.

AT Would you say there is a certain process the brass has to pass through before being formed?

SMcC Well, I am sure there is something in that. So that is why we read that last section as to the plain of Jordan. Notice when it comes to the casting of the vessels Hiram is not mentioned. It says in verse 46, “In the plain of the Jordan did the king

cast them, in the clay-ground between Succoth and Zaretan.” Now these two places are very interesting in themselves, but we have not got time to go into all the rich typical detail of this chapter, but it shows the environment in which the forming took place. Jordan is a good place to live in proximity to, from this view point - I mean, the matter of works in brass.

CB Do you mean that there has to be the answering of all these moral questions that the standard might not be lowered in the progress of the truth?

SMcC That is what I am thinking about. You take the epistle to the Romans that deals with the whole moral question in our souls first. Romans precedes Corinthians in the history of our souls. It is no use our going on and trying to work out moral questions in our local gatherings if they have never been worked out in our own souls. The teaching of Romans is that I first face the moral question in my own soul, become a bondman to righteousness - a marvellous expression, a bondman to righteousness. Righteousness has such a place that I am in bond service to it, and the whole epistle is stressing the moral line in regard to our deliverance from the world, the law, and the flesh. It is stressing the moral side, but it has to be worked out in my own soul first, do you not think?

HEB You are associating then the worker in brass with the brass itself?

SMcC Well, a worker of brass, he is dealing with the brass side of things, not the gold side of things, I am not seeking in any way to detract from the gold side of things, I was saying there could be another reading on the gold side of things, but tonight we are enlarging on the brass which links with the public position more, and when you look over the past few years (I can only speak from what we are working out up in the north) it is tremendous the variety of exercises that have confronted us in care meetings as to moral questions.

MSS Would Solomon be viewed here rather as “Son over God’s house,” I mean, the Lord as that, rather than “Son of the Father’s love”?

SMcC I think so, although we cannot exclude the other, but I think he is viewed in this particular chapter particularly as being over the system, as it says, the stress in verse 48 is, “And Solomon made all the vessels that were in the house of Jehovah,” and verse 51, “And all the work was finished that king Solomon made for the house of Jehovah.” The stress is on the authority of Solomon over the realm and yet it is the authority of love which “Son over God’s house” would perhaps stress.

GB It says, “Full of wisdom, understanding and knowledge,” is the thought in mind that we should become individually qualified to deal with all moral questions that might arise, and the basic principle for that is self-judgment?

SMcC Well, I should say that is just what the brass suggests - self-judgment. It is a matter of judgment in a discriminatory way, and self-judgment is an important thing in all of our hearts. That is what the teaching of Romans is intended to help us on, that the moral question is first resolved in my own soul, then we proceed to Corinthians where we find it solved in the economy of the local assembly.

ELE Now the father of Hiram was a man of Tyre, he came from the business world, did he not?

SMcC Yes. So you can see how much this man would, in a way, have to face in the matter, the line was not very clear in his genealogy, but nevertheless from the maternal side, he is of Naphtali, and Naphtali gets a goodly word in Genesis and in Deuteronomy, “Naphtali, satisfied with favour, and full of the blessing of Jehovah, possess thou the west and the south.” So that the line of Naphtali represents a substantial line, as in the joy and gain of things in a certain light. So there is that advantage to him, although there is what might seem to be this other disadvantage, but it is not a disadvantage because he is very skilled in matters.

ELE Showing that we can be occupied with the commerce of the world to a certain extent, if our calling is there, but nevertheless we can go in for the making of the brass.

SMcC I think so, and it would help us to see that certain things that we might think a disadvantage can be overcome, we are very prone sometimes to excuse our deficiencies by making a lot of certain disadvantages, but the point is that we have to overcome in regard to disadvantages. Now this matter of the two pillars which we should look at briefly is an important thing in regard to the public position; the one Jachin, meaning “He will establish,” and the other Boaz, meaning “In him is strength,” There is amongst the saints in the system, in the light of these two pillars, the resources to carry things through. We are never, as it were, to be faced with things uncompleted, as if they cannot be carried through. Jachin and Boaz would, in the impress of them on our minds, mean that we see that things are to be carried through; not in human strength, but in strength which is divinely supplied.

ELE The promise to the overcomer is that, “He that overcomes will I make a pillar in the temple of my God.” Is that a reference to this, you think?

SMcC No doubt. Reference to the idea of a pillar is very interesting in that way, particularly fitting that the Lord should bring it in in speaking to Philadelphia.

SP Would you say a word on the pomegranates on the capitals in relation to these pillars?

SMcC Well, the pillars suggest that things are to be carried through. That is, we are never to be at a loss, in that sense, things are going to be carried through. As Paul says in his very approach to the exercising moral questions in Corinth, “Christ the wisdom of God and the power of God.” That is, there is a means to carry things through, but the pomegranates suggest certain features in the saints that are essential, as Paul says right in the midst of that, “Now I exhort you, brethren, ...that ye all say the same thing, ...that ye be perfectly united in the same mind and in the same opinion,” That is, the pomegranate, along with the working in brass, in 1 Corinthians, is to stress all the way through the need of practical unity among the brethren.

SP I was wondering if in the pomegranate we do not see the need of unity for the carrying out of all these moral conditions?

SMcC Yes, and another thing along with that to be noted, running through the pillars and the sea, is the numeral twelve. That is, it says, “a line of twelve cubits encompassed the second pillar,” and then it says further down in verse 25, in regard to the sea, “It stood upon twelve oxen.” We are reminded of love as underlying and entering into these great matters which involve the public side and the moral side in relation to the truth.

HLH What would the capitals suggest?

SMcC I think the capitals suggest a certain kind of dignity that attaches to the principle on which things are to be carried through, the capitals upon the two pillars - a kind of ornamental setting on the top of the pillars.

HLH It suggests that the thing is carried through to a finish, would it not?

SMcC Exactly.

ELE They would be very incomplete without those.

SMcC They would. It is like Psalm 133, that the oil runs down to the hem of the garments. That is, a finished idea is in mind in the songs of the ascent. The songs of the ascent give us the moral and spiritual exercises of the remnant in the days of recovery in the ascent, and they finish with this idea, that a completed side of things is in mind, that the oil is running down to the hem of the garment.

HLH So every matter in which moral issues are raised is to be taken to a certain conclusion, is that not so? There may be the danger at times of dropping matters at a certain time, but the thought is that they are to be carried right through.

SMcC Well, that is what these things would stress, and what we were referring to, that we are not at a loss, and not to say that we cannot carry things through. If our souls and minds are imbued with these two pillars, we can see that there is provision in the system to carry things through; “not in strength which is of men, but in strength which is of God.”

HLH He that establishes and gives strength is the resource of the believer in any given circumstance that may arise, is He not?

SMcC Exactly, and so as Paul opens up the first epistle to the Corinthians, he calls attention to the rich way in which they had been furnished, it is a question of their laying hold of the matter. For instance, at the end of the first chapter, in regard to Christ, he says, “Christ Jesus, who has been made to us wisdom from God, and righteousness, and holiness, and redemption,” Christ of God has been made that to us. Well, surely there should be no lack in regard to all these matters, righteousness, wisdom, holiness and redemption. They represent all that is needed for the moral side of the position.

EMs In the book of Ruth, do you think there is suggested in Boaz carrying the thing through to a finish, those features that are seen here?

SMcC That is right. Naomi says, “The man will not be at rest until he hath finished the matter this day,” and so it goes through.

FHP It says, “And upon the top of the pillars was lily-work; and the work of the pillars was finished,” verse 22. What have you to say of the lily-work?

SMcC Well, I think it is a great matter that the lily-work should be in evidence amongst us - the thought of purity. And then the lily-work stresses divine workmanship, but stresses the idea of purity, that our motives are pure, there is no opaqueness with us, no ulterior motives in the solving of moral questions. What is impregnating our minds is, “God will establish,” and “In him is strength.” It is not a question of me or anyone else seeking something for our own gain, the lily-work would suggest the idea of purity adorning all these matters.

FHP And glory too, would you say? I was thinking of the comparison between the lily and the thorn.

SMcC Exactly, that is what I was referring to in divine workmanship.

NM Would you connect the great house in 2 Timothy 2 with this? “In a great house there are not only gold and silver vessels, but also wooden and earthen; and some to honour and some to dishonour. If therefore one shall have purified himself from these in separating himself from them, he shall be a vessel... serviceable,” would that be connected with the thought before you?

SMcC Well, it is connected with working in brass, that we have got to separate from the vessels to dishonour, “If therefore one shall have purified himself from these, in separating himself from them, he shall be a vessel to honour.” That is, it is facing the moral question, whatever it may be that we have to leave, we have got to face it in our souls, and get help in the working out of the exercise linked with facing it.

CB We get in Revelation, “His feet like fine brass, as burning in a furnace,” Revelation 1: 15. What place would that have here?

SMcC Well, that is very interesting, because it shows, does it not, that the judicial side is in mind in the opening of the Revelation. It is not the free, unhindered side of love’s responsive movement, but “His breasts as girt about with a golden girdle, and his feet like fine brass,” showing that the moral side is particularly in mind in certain things unjudged in the history of the assembly, do you not think?

RS Even in connection with taking the Supper we are called upon to examine ourselves, that would not be the gold, that would be the working in brass, but the gold would be there nearby to furnish us with a greater reason for self-examination.

SMcC Well, that is very interesting, I think it carries the thought of brass into it, because it is a question of self-judgment. A solemn thing to take up the Supper in a careless kind of a way, as if it was a form of ritual, without discerning what is there.

CBl Would the uplifting of the brazen serpent serve to adjust the people in relation to the outward position in pointing them to the gold?

SMcC Yes, that is an interesting link, it shows how the moral question was solved in that relation with regard to the people and their murmurings, and then the Spirit comes into view in the singing following that.

LAC I was just noticing that it would appear in the chapter that what is connected with the foundation is of stone, and then the interior work is of cedar wood, covered with gold, but everything outside, outside of the house, that which we have to do with first before we go into the house is all brass, the pillars and the capitals, the sea, the bases, and the laver, are all of brass, which is all outward but so to speak, that which we have to do with prior to our entering into the house.

SMcC That is very interesting because it is a question of God’s abode, God’s dwelling, “Holiness becometh thy house, O Lord, for ever,” the Psalmist says, “Thy testimonies are sure, holiness becometh thy house for ever,” and all this stress in this portion has that in mind. In fact, the law of the house in Ezekiel is just that - holiness.

HEB Do you think that Psalm 48 comes in here, where we have the suggestion of the towers, which might represent the elevated platform from which things are viewed; and then the bulwarks might be the suggestion of the brass before we come to the palaces?

SMcC Yes, no doubt there is a link in that, because the system is protected from encroaching defilement and evil. But here, as the time is going, we should see the stress on the sea and the laver. The fact that so much is stressed as to the basis of the matter, the base of the sea and the base of the laver is important. The right basis for the maintenance of the thing is stressed, and we need to see that, especially as we come to the bases of brass, ten bases of brass for the laver. The sea was a great general position in the court, a fixed general position, but the lavers were a portable matter, a movable, portable matter, they represent the idea of flexibility more, over against what is fixed. And they represent how this service may be carried on in helping and assisting in the matter of keeping whatever impressions we have of Christ free from encroaching defilement.

PET What would you say about the twelve oxen, three looking toward the north, and three looking toward the west, and three looking toward the south, and three looking toward the east?

SMcC Well, I think it shows that in this wonderful system that typifies the heavenly system seen in the assembly, you get a united outlook in regard to the support of the great system of cleansing. So if the brethren in this city have a certain moral question that is faced and seen through, the brethren in other cities would not be at variance with it, they are supporting it on the lines of the unity of the Spirit, the unity of faith. That is, there is a unity entering into this matter of the support of the sea, the twelve oxen, faith is entering into it.

HEB And the great thing in any moral matter taken up in this city is that the brethren should be concerned about unity in the judgment arrived at.

SMcC We are not all diverging in regard to the question. Take the matter of associations that has been so much before us of late, what has marked the brethren generally in a remarkable way is the unity universally in regard to the matter, so that we stand together in relation to the support of the great idea of cleansing, as the sea suggests.

CBl And we are assured of divine strength in that way?

SMcC Yes.

HOE The burden of the testimony is being borne universally.

SMcC That is right.

AY Is the unity and how things are borne out seen here in this clause in verse 26, “Its thickness was a hand-breadth “?

SMcC Yes, it shows how human measurement enters into the matter, a hand-breadth represents that it is governed by certain measurements that speak of man, not of angels. It is not a matter of things being left to angels, the angels look, the heavenly intelligence look upon the assembly, you know, and see the all-various wisdom of God working out in these moral matters. Then another point to be noticed is, that all their hinder parts were inward.

That is, the place of strength is not on the outward position but on the inward, that is, the world does not know where our strength, in that sense, lies - it is inward.

RS Would the hand-breadth suggest that things are left to us? Sometimes we say the Lord will work it out, but I was wondering if it is suggesting that the Lord would say. No, I have left it in your hands to work the matter out.

SMcC Yes, that is what I had in mind in saying that it is not left to angels it is for us to work out. And the principalities and powers in the heavenlies are learning in the assembly, in the solving of these moral questions, the all-various wisdom of God.

MSS Would the laver in the tabernacle where Aaron and his sons had to wash before they went in, be more individual?

SMcC I think the sea generally was for the priests to wash in, and the lavers were for the rinsing of the offerings. That is, the offerings speak of impressions of Christ, we would serve one another in love, so that not just any natural feature might be promoted, but that what that brother and what that sister has of Christ should be preserved, the sea was for the priests to wash in and the lavers were for the offerings to be rinsed in. It is love working out in these different ways. And what is to be noticed too is that both of these vessels of cleansing could hold far more than is indicated, that is, there was always room for more in regard to the water, which is an important thing.

LBr It says the sea held 2,000 baths.

SMcC Yes, but according to 2 Chronicles its capacity 3,000, the full capacity was not there in 1 Kings. We are always reminded in Christianity that there is something more.

RAE Was that seen in Corinth where their first thoughts as to the man there had to be revised, the cleansing took place more quickly than was thought at first, and he was restored.

SMcC Very good. I believe there is something in that. They had a kind of fixed idea as to the matter, but the apostle had to help them with regard to that. There is a certain flexibility, in the capacity, it held 2,000, but as we are told in another passage, it could hold more.

LAC Does the idea that it is molten all come into line with that? It says in verse 23, “And he made the sea, molten.”

SMcC Yes, it is very interesting this matter of what is molten in regard to the sea, and then in verse 33 it says, “The work of the wheels was like the work of a chariot wheel: their supports, and their rims, and their spokes and their naves were all molten.” There is a certain kind of rigidity about the whole matter, in the taking up of the thing. We are to be impressed with that in love’s service, that things are not held loosely, you know, but there is a certain firmness. Remember the Lord Jesus when He came to Peter on the line of the laver in John 13, Peter says, Thou shalt never wash my feet. Well, the Lord is very firm about the matter, He says, “Unless I wash thee thou hast not part with me.” Although it was love’s service there is a firmness there, that there was to be no allowance for anything that would interfere with love’s service. And I think that the molten idea suggests, not legal rigidity, but the rigidity that belongs to this system where things are held on the lines of firmness and faithfulness.

RS So at Corinth again the apostle says that the less he was loved by them the more he loved. Their not loving him would not hinder him going through them with in his love.

SMcC That is right. And now we should refer briefly to all the ornamentation in relation to what you say. Why should we get such richness of ornamentation on the base of the laver rather than on the laver itself? It is to show us what lies at the basis of what we are doing. If we are serving one another in love, what is at the base of it? What marks it basically, and foundationally? Is it that I might promote a little place for myself, make myself a little bit more conspicuous? Or what lies at the basis of it? Notice what it says here in verse 28, “And the work of the bases was this: they had panels, and the panels were between the fillets.” Now those who know engineering will know that the fillets are for strengthening in corners. Fillets are put there to strengthen any weakened part. It is a matter of strengthening certain parts that may be weak. And then it says, “And on the panels that were between the fillets were lions, oxen and cherubim.” Think of the dignity of the lion, the patience of the oxen and the discernment of the cherubim! All this is entering into the way in which by love we serve one another on the principle of the laver. And then it says, “Over the fillets there was a base above; and beneath the lions and oxen were garlands of festoon-work.” The word ‘festoon-work’ is translated in other passages of Scripture “descent, or going down.” That is, underneath the feature of dignity and patience, are garlands of descent-work, or going downward. The right way to serve one another in love, is not to get a brother or sister and show them how big we are, but how low we can go down in serving them.

EMe Is that What Paul admired in Timothy, his care with genuine interest for the saints?

SMcC He did, and in Acts 20 you feel that there are garlands of festoon-work! Not just a little bit, but garlands of it. That is, the whole thing is richly ornamented, the thing is profuse, the way he holds up his address, to go down, descend, and embraces Eutychus; it is the principle of garlands of festoon-work, descent-work in profusion.

LAC I have been looking at verse 30 and the verse following that: “And every base had four wheels of brass, and axles of brass,” would that suggest that in the moral support which underlies everything, this matter of brass and what it morally refers to, must always be kept there even in detail?

SMcC Exactly, that is important. You do not go along the lines of human niceness and kindness and excuse evil, or excuse wrong influences of sin, all your movements are marked by the brass, that is the moral side, self-judgment, the element of judgment of evil and of sin as the brass stresses, the wheels suggesting the movements, and the whole thing being molten together, suggesting that there is no looseness in the matter.

HLH There were molten shoulder-pieces behind these garlands. Does it not suggest that things are taken up in the strength that is derived from maintaining the judgment of evil?

SMcC Well, I think that is right, so that if you go to a brother you are not overcome by his personality and what he is naturally, or a sister, you are not overcome by what she is naturally, there is this strengthening part behind all your movements so that you carry the thing through according to love’s way, as suggested in the laver.

LAC The idea suggested in connection with the word ‘molten’ is that it is all of a piece, is that not so?

SMcC That is it, that is what I am referring to, it is the solidity of the matter. Paul, as has often been alluded to, draws attention in 1 Corinthians 13, to the great subject of love - it is the cement that holds the brethren together, the great principle of love in that chapter. Well, if we speak with tongues of angels and the like that does not mean much if we have not got love. Love is the bond of perfectness in the sense in which we are referring to it.

MSS Is that suggested in verse 37, where it refers to ten bases, not twelve, it says, “All of them had one casting, one measure, one form”?

SMcC Exactly, showing that I do not go to a brother one way, and you go to him in another way. We are all to be marked by unity in these matters, “one casting, one measure, one form,” we think the same thing and speak the same thing.

CBl Where there is lowliness we will be able to serve one another in love without lacking in moral dignity?

SMcC That is it, that is the garland of festoon-work - it is in blessed profusion, garlands of it, going downward. It is very difficult for us to go down.

SC “The four shoulder-pieces to the four corners of one base” (verse 34), would that have any bearing on the truth of the testimony universally?

SMcC I think so, the shoulder-pieces would be strengthening parts too.

LAC I just wanted to ask about the expression “clay-ground” in verse 46; it says, “the king cast them in the clay-ground.” Is it not marvellous that God is carrying out now, in connection with weak, mortal man, all these blessed thoughts of His, and working out matters of such great moral consequence now in persons like ourselves?

SMcC Well, I am sure it is, because it is fitting us for the day of glory, we will be part of what is coming out. Think of what God can do in the clay-ground, what the Lord Jesus Christ as king here in the type can do in the clay-ground. Zaretan is a testing place, and then as we are held in proximity to the Jordan (we know what the teaching of the Jordan is), we shall not come under the power of what would mar us in relation to God’s house.

MSS Is underlying all this the thought that it is God’s house, and His service is connected with it, what is for His pleasure?

SMcC That is it, and we must be governed by His standards, not ours, I think that is the point.

AT I was thinking of verse 29, where the formation of features are mentioned - the lions, the oxen and the cherubim.

SMcC Well, I think it is the ornamentation, it is stressing what enters into the way we do things. We have had Luke’s gospel before us, it says of the women in chapter 23 that they saw how the body of Jesus was placed. Luke stresses the “how,” “how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth who went about doing good.” You may say, It does not matter what kind of way I do anything, but it does, the more light we have as to the assembly the more we should be marked by the grace of the system and comeliness in what we do. And the rich ornamentation shows that there is dignity, spiritual dignity about the way we carry on love’s service through these purifying and cleansing channels. The ungodly king Ahaz said he did not want to tempt Jehovah. He sounded as if he was a pious man, but when you look into the man’s history, you find that he took the lavers off their bases, stripped them, and took the sea off the oxen. That is, he, is the type of man that has got no use for the principles of cleansing, and there are many like that.

PET So when the blessed Lord washed the disciples’ feet He also wiped them with a towel.

SMcC Very good, that is, He completed the service.

Chapman Street, Bridgetown, Barbados.

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