WELLS AND SPRINGS (12)
[p. 212] WELLS AND SPRINGS (12)
Psalm 46: 4, 5; Revelation 22: 1, 2; Song of Songs 4: 12 - 15
JT I think this term, “the river of God”, fits into the conclusion of our inquiry. The phraseology in this Psalm is peculiarly spiritual as covering the great thought of a river of refreshing power, symbolical of the Spirit, which runs through the Scriptures. The Psalms being representative of experience, the term would flow from that side, coming from a person who had faith: “There is a river the streams whereof make glad the city of God” (verse 4). There is a river. This is intended to fit permanently with us, and would come up in doleful times. The river in Revelation 22 points to its final service in the millennium, showing that the great thought with which we have been engaged will run through to the end of God’s testimony. It will be the source of life in millennial times, the tree of life also being seen on either side of it and in the street of the city, bearing twelve manner of fruits. It is a yearly matter, time yet being taken account of. The matter is divided up into twelve months, but extending on to the end of time. The position does not take us beyond that, but it shows that this great principle of the river gives character to the millennial period; and in a monthly way. And finally, it is thought that it is due to the Lord that we should see that what has been before us is held in an exclusive sense for Him, as in Song of Songs 4.
JS Why is it put abstractly in the psalm — “There is a river”?
JT But it is more than that — there is a river. It is information, but clearly of what is known experimentally. In order to determine what it is, you have to understand the city of God, the sanctuary of the habitations of the Most High; so it taxes us as [p. 213] to our experience.
ABP Did you have in mind to say something further on the Song of Songs?
JT Just to bring out the subject; it is due to the Lord that it should reach its conclusion with features which are exclusively for Him; not that it is exclusive, but certain features are so presented here in this book which describes the reciprocated affection between Christ and Israel, or Christ and the assembly. So that the word is, “A garden enclosed is my sister, my spouse; a spring shut up, a fountain sealed” (verse 12), and then “A fountain in the gardens, a well of living waters, which stream from Lebanon” (verse 15). It seems the Lord would cherish that thought; that there is something exclusive for Him. But while the exclusive thought is there, verse 16 shows discipline is needed to bring out what is in the garden.
Rem There is a note which links the title of Psalm 46 with “virgins” in chapter 1 of the Canticles.
JT Yes, “Alamoth”, which may mean virgin voices. That is suggestive in regard to our subject, which involves Christ and the assembly. The Lord would leave us with an extended thought of this great subject which we have been considering; it is brought in at the beginning of time and at the end of time; it runs right through, so as to keep everything fresh and fragrant. We read, “Thou wilt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures”, Psalm 36: 8, which would allude to Eden. Eden is pleasure, and the idea is therefore carried on experimentally, covering all time, so as to prevent us from staleness, especially when we get old; that we should be active in freshness and vigour, bearing fruit in old age.
ABP Would there be a link between what you have said and Revelation 22: 17, where “the Spirit and the bride say, Come”, and then the invitation to take the water of life? “He that will, let him take the water of life freely”.
JT That is clearly an allusion to what we are engaged with; the water of life is available. The psalmist says, “There is a river”. It is no small thought. Its streams “make glad the city of God”. We have to understand experimentally how the Spirit of God uses various persons. The streams would allude to persons.
JS Is Song of Songs 5 the undoing of what the serpent did in the garden? “I am come into my garden, my sister, my spouse”, (verse 1).
JT Just so; the Lord is there unhinderedly; there is no serpent there; a very important point.
AMacN Would you say something about the streams of that river which have such a wonderful effect upon the city itself?
JT It is experimental, as we have said. We have to bear in mind that although the Psalms have the authority of Scripture, yet it is Scripture coming through experience with God. The allusion therefore would be to what was in the garden. The river flowed out of Eden, we are told, which has the idea of pleasure. And then it was parted and became four main streams, or heads. If Adam were to write a psalm, he would tell us something about these streams as well as the main river itself. That is the way to get at these things. The Pentateuch has five books, conveying, generally, the mind of God; the Psalms are divided into five books, but they present the truth in connection with experience. Thus light comes to us as worked out in the experience of men by the Spirit of God; hence the Psalms are a good witness to the power of these streams; the various writers of the five books.
RWS Would this gladness normally be experienced in the meeting for prayer?
JT I think it would fit in there. I suppose you are alluding to the book of Isaiah where God makes certain ones glad in His house of prayer. One has been impressed with the idea of gladness in this psalm, because there is so much sadness. There is more sadness than [p. 215] there is cause for, because we do not attend to these streams and appropriate their refreshing power. We may get it in these special meetings.
ANW Would the river suggest wealth in volume, and the streams the adaptability of that volume to our needs; the needs of the city?
JT I think that is the way it works out. Some of us have been in certain places where there is a variety of streams. The water is caused to come to certain sections of the city for its refreshment. You have, in that way, the suggestion of the adaptability of water. It comes to you if you make a channel for it, and the channels would be persons of ability; persons fitted by God to carry the water, as it were, to the places where it can be used effectively in a gladsome way.
RWS That would be seen at Philippi?
JT They had the river, and the apostle began there with prayer with the women, and the Lord opened the heart of Lydia, making her a stream, as it were. The Lord opened her heart to attend to the things spoken by Paul. And in due course she invited the apostle into her house, if he accounted her to be faithful to the Lord. He would find refreshment there. So we are told that when he was about to leave after all his bitter experience, he went to her; not simply to her house, but to her. When he and Silas were in the prison they sang praises to God and the prisoners heard them. The prisoners were listening; that is, refreshment was tapped into that prison.
ANW It spread out to the jailer’s house. It says that he rejoiced with all his house.
JT That is good. It shows just what we are saying. The stream was flowing.
ABP And he used the water to wash them, too. He washed their stripes.
JT There was the gladness with which he believed; and he believed householdly. He was the stream, through which the blessing was coming in. It came in [p. 216] through Paul and Silas first, but his whole house is now being affected by him. He rejoiced with all his house.
AR In Genesis, in Ezekiel, and in Revelation, the rivers are extensive in the way of influence. From this psalm it would appear that the only place where it effects gladness is in the city.
JT Well, it carries the thought of experience — and that is what should appeal to all of us. Ezekiel could write a psalm, too. We have been speaking of Adam writing a psalm — what he could say about the rivers — but Ezekiel writes a psalm, we may say, for he gives us an account of his experience in the river. It becomes plural in his experience! It is a “double river” in his experience, after he was brought back to it. He begins with waters to the ankles, a thousand cubits being measured by the man with the line. How refreshing it would be! Well, he had that in his ankles. It would affect him in his walk. The feet and ankle bones of the man at the gate of the temple were made strong. He walked, and leaped, and praised God. Undoubtedly that man got the Spirit at the time, so that he was a perfected christian, you might say. And then the knees (Ezekiel 47: 4), would allude to dependence on God; and the loins, the seat of diversified affections. All this is experience. You might say Ezekiel is a psalmist in the way he speaks of the river. In the fourth measurement we have a river that cannot be passed over. He came to the point of inscrutability; he came to infinitude; that is, the Spirit of God is a divine Person. It is by experience Ezekiel reached that. He says, “It was a river that I could not pass through, ... waters to swim in, a river that could not be passed through” — by Ezekiel or by anyone (verse 5). That finished one part of his experience. And then the man with the line brought him back again to the river. Now there is more than the prophet had seen earlier. He saw trees on either side of the river. That is remarkable. Apparently he did not see that before. Then he begins to talk about a double
[p. 217] river. The thing is increasing in his mind, and that is, I believe, the point attached to this meeting; what this river is. The psalmist in Psalm 46 and Ezekiel have the same theme; and so would Adam if he wrote a psalm, and so John, in Revelation.
JS Would that fit in with John 7? “Out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water” (verse 38).
JT There it is again; rivers flowing out. That is from the belly; from the seat of the affections. It is “as the scripture has said”, and this would, no doubt, include the passages we are dealing with. The Holy Spirit in believers is in mind.
AR Would the first three verses of Psalm 46 suggest that things outside are very unstable and apt to cause great discouragement and depression, whereas the only place of real joy is in the assembly?
JT That is quite manifest. I felt we would not have time to read the whole psalm, but it really is most applicable at the present time. “God is our refuge and strength, a help in distresses, very readily found. Therefore will we not fear though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the heart of the seas; though the waters thereof roar and foam, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. Selah”. All that is remarkable at the present time. Then our two verses follow, and then verse 6 reads: “The nations raged, the kingdoms were moved; he uttered his voice, the earth melted. Jehovah of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our high fortress. Selah”. That is all remarkably applicable to the present time. And then, “Come, behold the works of Jehovah, what desolations he hath made in the earth: he hath made wars to cease unto the end of the earth”. That is what we are waiting for and praying for. It is going to happen, but we have to be patient. A long outlook is peculiarly needed. “He breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder; he burneth the chariots in the fire. Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the nations, I [p. 218] will be exalted in the earth. Jehovah of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our high fortress. Selah”. All that is very remarkable for faith at the present time, because it is sure to happen; it is only a question of patience.
FSC Does the first verse of this book of the Psalms denote a people in captivity? “As the hart panteth after the water — brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God”, Psalm 42: 1.
JT Quite so, you refer to the beginning of the second book. The psalmist is panting after God, as being away from Jerusalem. In Psalm 84 they are not only wishing for God but for His house, His courts.
ABP I was wondering if this psalm really represents appreciation of our subject in an advanced way, because of the state which is suggested in the title of the psalm, stressing virgin character; the idea of chastity of affections. Does this suggest the formation which the ministry has brought about in the saints with a view to greater appreciation of the blessings there are in the Spirit?
JT That is very good. What has already been alluded to — the title of the musical instrument — refers to the virgin condition in the plural; that we are more and more weaned away from the world by the present pressure; instead of being conformed to this world, we are to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. It is by the power of the river of God that we are maintained in that.
Then another thing to be noticed here: the psalm is “Of the sons of Korah”, but it is a song, meaning that it is a celebration involving the Spirit. It is God in the midst of His people, and in this refreshing power.
JTJr Would the city of God be over against the city of man, in that way — the assembly known in a practical way as the city?
JT Yes. You have to come to Revelation to get it fully. It says, “And no curse shall be any more; and [p. 219] the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him, and they shall see his face; and his name is on their foreheads. And night shall not be any more, and no need of a lamp, and light of the sun; for the Lord God shall shine upon them, and they shall reign to the ages of ages”, Revelation 22: 3 - 5. I think that the Revelation gives a full description of the psalmist’s “city of God”. It is the sanctuary of the habitations of the Most High. “God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved: God shall help her at the dawn of the morning” (verse 5). That is the coming day. It calls for faith. It is “the dawn of the morning”; God helps us in view of all this. But the place is pure. It is “the sanctuary of the habitations of the Most High”. In Revelation, God and the Lamb are there. There is nothing to make a lie or to defile there.
FNW The psalm says, “God is in the midst of her”. I was wondering as to the streams of this river, whether the features of the city of God must be present in order to have the streams.
JT I think our ministry meetings correspond in a little measure. When ministry is flowing in a prophetic way, the person affected by the stream will say, “God is indeed amongst you”, 1 Corinthians 14: 25. That is important, because so many claim He is with them. Lately it has been said by some that the Lord can be with groups of people opposed to each other. It is a dishonour to the Lord to say that. He is in the midst of those gathered together unto His name, but this involves what His name implies and that those gathered are in accord with it. Those who name the name of the Lord are enjoined to withdraw from iniquity, and to pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace, with those that call on the Lord out of a pure heart, (2 Timothy 2: 19 - 22). Ignoring these great truths, unrighteous persons have imitated those seeking to walk in the truth and claimed He was with them. This is manifestly wrong, and deceptive.
[p. 220] AR The tree in Revelation 22 is in the midst of the street and on either side of the river.
JT We must understand what is presented in a spiritual way. There is only one street mentioned in the city. There is no aristocratic street, as in contrast to one of less repute. There is only one street, so that all are there, and the tree of life is in the midst of that street. How delightful it is! Instead of the cinema and other corrupting things, we are all delighted together by the presence of the tree of life! It is available everywhere. It is the power of eternal life in the millennial day; it has its residence in the city of God. It is “in the midst of its street, and of the river, on this side and on that side”, Revelation 22: 2.
APT In that regard the application you are giving Revelation 22 is more the administrative side, corresponding to this river operating among the brethren now.
JT Yes. It goes out of the throne of God and of the Lamb, bright as crystal. That is the idea of administration. There are no dark parts. The Holy Spirit will be in operation there in a most remarkable way. It is going out to the whole millennial area. Things are under divine control, as in the Acts. It is the same idea. The river flowed out in the book of Acts, but everything was ordered and under control; and there was plenty of life. “On this side and on that side” of the river means that the river causes no restriction, in that sense. Wherever life is, there is plenty of room for its expression.
WR Would you say that this thought appears in Revelation 2: 7, where the Lord says, “To him that overcomes, I will give to him to eat of the tree of life which is in the paradise of God”?
JT There is a connection there. The word “overcome” is a key word throughout the whole book. And the tree of life is given there as a special favour to those who [p. 221] overcome.
AR Does it suggest that in the assembly where the Spirit of God is active, Christ is available everywhere? He is in the street and on either side of the river, and then there is fruit every month. There would be something fresh every month under such circumstances.
JT That would show we are still in time limits. It is not the eternal state, but every month has its own peculiar fruit; I think the Lord has been directing us to freshness. Our subject is to stress freshness, so that we are fresh in our ministry, and generally. I think the point as regards the river in Revelation is that God is bringing out His last testimony in man in flesh and blood condition. It is not flesh, morally, but in the actual physical condition in which man is, eternal life is available. God does not intend to continue this, but He is showing that He can keep man alive in flesh and blood condition in the millennial day. Finally, all that is of Him will merge into what is spiritual; for flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. I mean to say, flesh and blood has no heritage, for the condition is to cease. But God is showing what He can do in spite of what Satan has done to man in flesh and blood condition. But flesh and blood does not really inherit anything. The thing itself ceases. There is no use attaching any inheritance to a thing that, in itself, ceases. If a man wants to save his estate, and give it over to another person — which is according to law — that other person has no licence to live either. So that you see there is very little protection for estates, for heritages, because flesh and blood condition is not morally able to accept a heritage. The inheritance is not to that condition, but to the condition now seen in Christ; but still. God is saying in all these facts about the millennium that He is making a man in flesh and blood condition to live. He is not to continue in that state, but to show that God can do it. And so what we are at now, in chapter 22, shows that even the nations as such, which, of course, will not continue, come into life. They are only provisional;
[p. 222] but the very leaves of the tree heal them, and they shall walk in the light of the city. Their glory and honour shall be brought to it.
JTJr Would there be an analogy in Revelation 22 to the old economy — what Israel had in the wilderness — maintained through Eleazar? That is, what belonged to the land before the children of Israel actually went into it? I thought the character of service set up in the wilderness showed what God could do as based on redemption, but then the actual or final position was in the land. All the people who were responsible, as coming out of Egypt, had died. It was a new generation that went into the land.
JT Yes. In the wilderness, Eleazar and Joshua represent, anticipatively, a risen condition. I think that may be applied in the millennial day, that men will come into eternal life. It is there in a provisional way. The Lord says, ‘These shall go away into eternal life’. But where is it? In whom is it? Is it in Israel, or in some particular nation, or is it in the heavenly city? This river, I think, makes it effective and available to the nations, and men generally.
AR So that any healing that the nations will enjoy, in extended life, will be from that tree?
JT That seems to be the way it is set, because the Lord says that they go into it. Where is it seen? Where did the Lord command the blessing? In Zion — “life for evermore”. That would be His purpose. The one hundred and forty-four thousand in Revelation 14 might be a suggestion of Israel’s particular part in it, but the heavenly city is the inner basic thought. That is, the river flows out under control. It is from the throne of God. That governs the whole position. I believe that is how the matter will be in the millennial day.
Ques Do the conditions prevailing among the nations now show the futility of trying to bring in living conditions among men by their own [p. 223] means?
JT Just so. There is, no doubt, a certain amount of hopefulness that there will be a Utopia set up after this war, but evidently great military institutions will be needed. Ezekiel 39 points to immensity of men and munitions — especially munitions. After the great battle “they shall make fires with them seven years”. And as to the slain of Gog, it will take seven months to bury them. It is remarkable that the prophetic word should have anticipated the magnitude of modern military establishments. But God will bring in peace. So this psalm says, “He hath made wars to cease unto the end of the earth; he breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder; he burneth the chariots in the fire” (verse 9). That is the suggestion of the destruction of munitions, and we know from other sections of Scripture that they beat their swords into plough-shares, and their spears into pruning-hooks. People will say, These are the instruments we need; for the land must be tilled. But there must be a moral change to correspond with that. There is bound to be a keeping on of the supply of soldiers and munitions as men remain unregenerate, for wars result from lust — the joy men have in gratifying their lusts (James 4: 1, 2). War will continue until men are changed by the gracious work of God, and that is what will happen. This psalm and many other scriptures prove this is what will happen.
Ques In Matthew 19, one asked the Lord what he must do that he might have eternal life, and the Lord raised the question of the commandments. The first one the Lord mentioned was, “Thou shalt not kill”. Would that enter into this chapter: that the killing of men might all be set aside?
JT Quite so; if you have the new man, it ceases. The law will be put in the inward parts; written on the heart. If you have a propensity to be militant, the law will be on the part bearing that fruit. And so with all the organs: what marks each in the unregenerate will be the opposite in the truly converted man. Thus, instead [p. 224] of killing a man, you would save him. “Thou shalt not kill” settles that matter; that is the end of war. The Son of man acted like that; He saved men’s lives.
Ques That is good, because you can see there is an apparent difficulty in the mind of many as to whom that injunction, given to Moses and reiterated by the Lord Jesus, refers. Does it refer to those who have links with God, or does it refer generally?
JT The reproach attached to those who seek to walk in the truth at the present time, is peculiar. One on a military board said to a young brother lately, ‘Do you want other people to fight for you?’ He evidently had no idea of the principle of Scripture involved. We are surrounded by millions of people who have no idea of the spiritual teaching of Scripture. They profess to go to church, but they have no knowledge of the spiritual teaching of Scripture. The Lord said to Peter as he used the sword, “Put the sword into the sheath; the cup which the Father has given me, shall I not drink it?” John 18: 11. The average man on a military board does not understand that. Perhaps he has not read the Bible. The believer is under reproach in his eyes because of his ignorance. He thinks you are more or less fanatical and unreasonable because you say that. And we have to suffer; but that is to bring out the heavenly kingdom, as the Lord says, “My kingdom is not of this world; if my kingdom were of this world, my servants had fought”, John 18: 36. The kingdom of David is not the heavenly kingdom; that is another thought. When the Lord comes out from heaven to deal with this wicked world, He will have the sword. I mean to say that He will come out in a military way, and His garment will be “dipped in blood”, Revelation 19: 13, but not now. The present period is a mystery to persons who do not have the Holy Spirit, and we have to suffer as knowing what they do not know.
ANW Another official said to a young man that his views were not practical; and yet when put into [p. 225] practice by the Lord Himself the greatest blessing that could ever come to man came that way.
JT Quite so; redemption came that way. Peter used the sword. The Lord says, “Return thy sword to its place”, Matthew 26: 52. The Lord did not say to throw it away, or destroy it, or turn it into a pruning-hook, but put it into the sheath. It will yet be used.
ABP Is it not important to see that, in Romans 13, it says that the authorities bear not the sword in vain; the sword is in use there.
JT Quite so; it is taken out of its sheath for that purpose . The Lord owned that Pilate had power from above. That power required the sword, which makes the power very clear; so that our position is anomalous, and we have to suffer, but it is that we must correspond with Him; follow Him. We are fools for Christ’s sake. We have to accept that, and the foolish, of course, are under reproach.
JS Will the nations have to come to the fact that salvation is of the Jews?
JT They will, indeed; “In those days shall ten men take hold, out of all languages of the nations, shall even take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew”, Zechariah 8: 23. That will be a changed position. Our position is different. It is mysterious, and we have to suffer in it. “The world knoweth us not, because it knew him not”.
ABP In principle, speaking after the manner of man, war is necessary, is it not?
JT Yes; it is necessary in the sense of restraining evil. In this sense, policemen are necessary, and the jail is necessary. How could we live here without such restraint? So we pray for the authorities and trust that God will use what He has to keep down evil for the sake of the testimony.
FNW Does the fear of God teach us that it is God’s own prerogative to order as to those who take life, and our position is otherwise, being [p. 226] heavenly?
JT It is the mysterious position we are in, and the suffering that attaches to it, so that we are fools for Christ’s sake. The Lord’s conversation with Pilate (John 18: 33 - 37), and also Romans 12: 9 - 21, and chapter 13: 1 - 10, make the position clear.
GH Make it a little clearer why war is necessary.
JT The power of the devil is loose on the earth yet, and to maintain order, police and general government powers are needed. This requires the use of the sword, which is not to be borne in vain. And we are to be subject to rulers for conscience’ sake. They are ministers to us for good. The Lord said to Pilate, “Thou hadst no authority whatever against me if it were not given to thee from above”, John 19: 11. We must recognise that.
AR A policeman may police a street or other limited area, whereas a nation might be appointed by God to police the world. Certain nations may be given power to hold lawlessness in check and do what is right in a governmental way.
JT Quite so. If God puts it into the heart of a ruler to be favourable to His people, we can thank Him. We have illustrations in Scripture of how God makes men favourable to His people.
The final word at this time is in the Canticles, which I think ought to touch us as regards the claims of Christ over us. There should be something exclusive for Him in every one of us, and certainly in the assembly. So that we have in verse 12: “A garden enclosed is my sister, my spouse; a spring shut up, a fountain sealed”. Then in verse 15: “A fountain in the gardens, a well of living waters, which stream from Lebanon”. Other thoughts enter into this passage, but it seems to suggest that in our assemblings there should be the sense that there is something exclusive for Christ; verse 12 would be abstract, for verse 16 shows that discipline was needed to bring out the fragrance of [p. 227] the garden.
AR Like John 20, I suppose, where the doors were shut for fear of the Jews when Jesus came and stood in the midst?
JT Just so. The Lord regarded the disciples just in this way. “My brethren”, He had said; John gives the abstract view. Luke’s account of the Lord “in their midst” after He rose gives the concrete conditions, and they needed correction.
AMcN It speaks here of a fountain being sealed. Does that imply that it shuts out everything that is alien to the object of her affections?
JT I think so. It is not common. People often treat what is for Christ as common.
GH Would eternal life in the millennium be different from the way we enjoy it at the present time?
JT Their capacity for enjoying it is not equal to those who belong to the assembly and have the Holy Spirit. It is a state of things set up here into which they move; nations, as nations. “These shall go ... into eternal life”, Matthew 25: 46.
ABP Would you say that the word in Revelation 22, “I Jesus” (verse 16), and then the response, “And the Spirit and the bride say, Come”, would be what you have in mind in the Canticles? The idea of what is wholly responsive to Him is seen there.
JT Yes. It is a question of the Lord’s personality, fully appreciated by the Spirit and the bride. “The Spirit and the bride say, Come”. They are ready for Him.
Ques Psalm 45 speaks of the royal apartments; is that like Song of Songs 4?
JT Pretty much. A building is alluded to there. Here it is a garden. It is a place of pleasure in Song of Songs 4. It is a garden; an outside scene. The idea is most attractive from that point of view, whereas Psalm 45 is in the king’s apartments. It is more private and secluded and, you might say, affluent. It is the richness of the king’s apartments. She is all glorious within; that is, inside. She is equal to that position.
[p. 228] You may not need the same clothing in a garden that you would in a palace. In the latter, “her clothing is of wrought gold”.
AR The garden is a place for Him to come to. She says, “Let my beloved come into his garden, and eat its precious fruits” (verse 16). And then he says, “I am come into my garden”; as if there is plenty of fruit now — not exactly as found in the tree of life, but in the saints.
JT Yes. I think the terms in this book apply to Israel, primarily. It is really an earthly scene that is depicted. But Psalm 45 is inside; it is more magnificent, and the richness of the sphere is stressed.
JS Is God reverting to His initial idea in the garden in Canticles?
JT That is right. “And thou wilt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures”, Psalm 36: 8. This alludes to Adam’s paradise.
EMcK This thought of what is exclusively for Christ does not hinder the service of God, but fosters it.
JT I think the Lord would greatly value the thought that the brethren consider for Him at the present time; that they have something for Him; that they have been considering for Him in all the current pressure.
ANW It is not a river now, but a spring, as in John 4.
Rem Is it like what Mary kept for the Lord in John 12? She had a fountain sealed in her heart.
JT That is right; she kept the precious ointment for the day of His burial. There is no box mentioned. The allusion is to incorruptibility in her; loving the Lord Jesus in incorruption.
JS It was an intelligent act, would you say?
JT Just so; and an exclusive one. No one else would ever get that ointment; “pure nard”, it is called. She did not use it with second thoughts. It was only for Him, and she got the opportunity to use it before the time, and took advantage of the [p. 229] opportunity.
RWS Song of Songs 4 alludes to a great variety of spices: “Henna with spikenard plants; spikenard and saffron; calamus and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense; myrrh and aloes, with all the chief spices” (verses 13, 14). Is that an allusion to the variety of fragrance that Christ finds amongst His people?
JT That is what I would think. There is remarkable stress laid on these things. “Thy shoots are a paradise of pomegranates, with precious fruits” (verse 13).
Ques The thought of water seems to begin with “A spring shut up, a fountain sealed”, and then goes on to “A fountain in the gardens, a well of living waters, which stream from Lebanon”. What does the latter mean?
JT The use of Lebanon elsewhere would help. The idea widens out. I think it is moral dignity and elevation.
JTJr The exercise would work out individually as to our having something special for Christ. It merges with the collective idea as together in the assembly — a chaste virgin for Christ.
Pages 230 - 372 — “Headship”. Reading and Addresses, U.S.A. and Canada, 1941 - 42 (Volume 157).