WELLS AND SPRINGS (4)
[p. 64] WELLS AND SPRINGS (4)
Genesis 26:7-9; Genesis 26:23-33
JT Our subject, which has in mind Christ and the assembly, requires that much place should be given to Isaac and Rebecca; that there should be freshness in the saints as related to Christ. We have previously touched on Hagar and wells which related to her, in chapters 16 and 21, and also on the wells mentioned in chapter 24 in relation to Isaac and Rebecca. But it was only briefly that chapter 24 was considered, and it is one of the most important chapters entering into our subject. It was stressed that Hagar, whilst wells were made available to her, used one of them to minister to her son, but that she is not said to have appropriated them for herself, and in no way is she seen as characterised, typically, by appropriating the wells. Over against her is Rebecca, who represents in the fullest way the assembly as seen in relation to a well, and uses it bountifully in ministering to Abraham’s servant and his camels. And then in the close of the chapter, Isaac, as Rebecca is approaching, is seen at the well Beer-lahai-roi. That was the first well that Hagar had to do with. Isaac is seen as coming from it, or as identified with it in a very special way, as if he had it in mind in view of Rebecca’s arrival. The Holy Spirit should be appropriated so that the assembly should be in freshness. Our chapter now has in view the continuation of this added feature of chapter 24; and it is well to keep in mind that whilst Isaac is a type of Christ as the heavenly Man, it is Christ in relation to the testimony down here, rather than His place in heaven eternally, or even in the millennium.
AR Is freshness seen in Rebecca springing off the camel? She sprang off the camel and veiled herself. Does that suggest the spiritual agility of which you have been speaking?
JT Quite so. It is similar to what is said also of Achsah, [p. 65] denoting agility.
HGH What is the connection with the subject, in the first two verses we read?
JT It is to bring out that whilst Isaac is a type of Christ, he is also a type of those who are responsible in the testimony; the first passage indicates the failure to bring forward the assembly as the bride of Christ. He failed in that. Chapter 24 shows what care was expended on securing her. It is of the utmost importance in the testimony, that the assembly should be recognised by those of us who are of it and in it as the spouse of Christ, not simply as a sister. Isaac only owns Rebecca as his sister, whereas the great point in chapter 24 is that she is his wife.
Ques Would the failure be a lesson for us that we are not to ally ourselves with the Philistine element.
JT Well, Isaac is in a dangerous position here. The chapter shows that the influence was adverse and he was not immune from it; he partially succumbed to it. He denied his wife, like his father; Abraham denied Sarah; he denied her in her wifely relations to him. One of the greatest features of the present testimony is the assembly’s relation to Christ. A great many christians do not go that far; they go as far as brethren, or family relationship — brothers and sisters — but not to the full thought of Christ and the assembly. Paul says, “I speak as to Christ, and as to the assembly”, Ephesians 5: 32, whereas Isaac typically did not.
AR Does he represent the responsible element rather than a type of Christ?
JT That is what I was remarking. He is not a type of Christ in ignoring the assembly, but he is a type of many of us who are responsible in it; yet we ignore it.
ANW Why do you suppose it is that we are more ready to acknowledge the brotherhood, so to speak, than we are the assembly?
JT Well, that is a question to put before each of our consciences. Why is it that we do not come out more completely in confessing our relation to Christ as His [p. 66] bride? Not only that we are one of His, or that we are brothers or sisters, but linked up with Him in a marital sense. The enemy is specially against it.
FHL What does Abimelech represent in chapters 20 and 26?
JT I think you see that while the Philistines had not come out in open military opposition, they were against Abraham. They had stopped up the well of Abraham. In chapter 21 we are told that: “Abraham reproved Abimelech because of a well of water that Abimelech’s servants had violently taken away” (verse 25). And then we are told in chapter 26 that they had stopped up the wells that Abraham dug: “And all the wells that his father’s servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines stopped them and filled them with earth” (verse 15). That is one element of opposition, a deadly one too, to fill the wells with earth, so that there is no refreshment — the Spirit is either grieved or quenched.
WGT In what way are we to meet the Philistine element today? It seems as if Isaac had some fear as to it in not coming out fully and declaring his relation to his wife.
JT He clearly feared the Philistines. Abraham had contended with Abimelech earlier and Abimelech had said, “I do not know who has done this, neither hast thou told me of it, neither have I heard of it but today” (chapter 21: 26). And then we are told, “And Abimelech rose up, and Phichol the captain of his host, and returned into the land of the Philistines” (verse 32). Abraham’s point was expressed in that he gave the king seven ewe-lambs: “And Abraham took sheep and oxen, and gave them to Abimelech; and both of them made a covenant. And Abraham set seven ewe-lambs of the flock by themselves. And Abimelech said to Abraham. What mean these seven ewe-lambs, these which thou hast set by themselves? And he said, That thou take the seven ewe-lambs of my hand, that they may be a [p. 67] witness to me that I have dug this well” (verses 27 - 30). That is, Abraham displayed a truly Christ-like spirit — seven ewe-lambs — the Philistine was clearly devoid of that. Abraham would have this testimony, in the present he made to the Philistine, that he had dug this well; meaning that the well is the secret of the beautiful spirit Abraham manifested — typified in these seven ewe-lambs. We need the well to maintain a right spirit. And then he called that place Beer-sheba, which would mean the well of the oath, or of the seven; that is, the well and “the seven” are linked together. It is a question of the spirit we are in, whereas the Philistine spirit is haughty and aggressive and unfair.
Ques What is the thought of digging the well?
JT The removal of the earth. According to Numbers 21, the princes digged the well at the direction of the law-giver. It means that you remove what is hindering the Spirit. “If, by the Spirit, ye put to death the deeds of the body, ye shall live”, Romans 8: 13. The Spirit is life in us.
RWS The answer Isaac gives to Abimelech is not exactly untruthful. He says, She is my sister. Is it to avoid reproach?
JT Well, he falls short of the full truth. That is always a result of the enemy’s working — that we do not state the full or distinctive truth at any given time. Typically, it was the great truth for the moment. From his father’s experience, he ought to have known of this snare, because Abraham did the same thing, or worse, in Egypt, and God told Isaac here not to go into Egypt. He should not be in such a sphere as Egypt, but the Philistine element is as bad. The chapter says, “And there was a famine in the land, besides the former famine which had been in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to Abimelech” (verse 1). Why did he go there? The link is clearly with the previous failure of Abraham, and yet he goes to Abimelech. Abraham went to Pharaoh. They both put themselves in dangerous positions.
[p. 68] The lesson is to avoid dangerous positions, which may be too much for us. In a way Rebecca was Isaac’s sister, but that was not the whole truth. You do not introduce your wife as your sister when you are with her; it is a denial of the truth of the marital relationship.
JS We should know the link of relationship as brethren of Christ first.
JT Yes, but the wifely relation was specially important here. The sisterly relation could not cause persecution, whereas the marital might cost Isaac his life.
CAM Do you think when a famine comes along, in any sense, there is a tendency with us to feel that we might get along on what we might call lower truth, whereas what we need is the truth that is nearest to the heart of Christ; that must have first place.
JT It is clearly the point here; the marriage had taken place. The whole of chapter 24 is devoted to that subject; the longest chapter, I suppose, in the book, and it is devoted to that particular subject; and now the enemy wants to overthrow that point — wants to have it ignored — and antitypically that is a most serious matter.
JS He would lower the standard.
JT Yes. It is not the whole truth. Anything short of the whole truth at any given time is to give the enemy an advantage.
ANW The lover in Canticles would never stop at saying, My sister; the whole of his bearing is, My sister, my spouse. It is false to stop short of this.
JT “Spouse” is stressed; a sister first, meaning that marriage by a christian must be to a christian; between real christians in fellowship. It is important to establish that, that she is a sister; but she is a wife. That is the prime thought.
SF Is there anything in the fact that he did not want to die for her whereas the Lord did die for the [p. 69] assembly?
JT It shows that he feared and would evade what Christ underwent in love for the assembly. Thus Isaac is not a type of Christ here.
AS Would that be the working of natural instincts?
JT Well, it is; it is just cowardice, I would say, and a shameful sort of cowardice, that one denies his relationship with his wife, when it is the point that is stressed; especially the truth of Christ and the assembly.
Ques Jehovah says, “Go not down to Egypt: dwell in the land that I shall tell thee of”, Genesis 26: 2. If we are subject to God, we will not go into a sphere of danger.
JT Quite so; Isaac “went to Abimelech”. Why did he go there? Why did Abraham go to Pharoah? Why did David, later, go to the king of the Philistines, to Gath? They are all of a piece. It is a question of cowardice. We do not want to be occupied with any of these honoured men, but to inquire if we are in any way guilty of non-confession of the assembly’s marital relation with Christ.
AR Do we take on marital relationship at the Supper?
JT Yes; that is what comes before us here, that there should be opportunity for what this word ‘dallying’ means. You would not be so familiar with a sister. It is based on a more familiar relationship; clearly marital relationship. There should be room for Christ in the assembly, in the service after the Lord’s supper. The book of Canticles fills out the truth, in the Old Testament types, of what enters into the service of God in this respect; that is, “Go forth, daughters of Zion, and behold king Solomon with the crown wherewith his mother crowned him in the day of his espousals, and in the day of the gladness of his heart”, Song of Songs 3: 11. There ought to be room for that; you can see it is nearest to the Lord’s heart to have His spouse with Him.
It should be known that Rebecca is Isaac’s wife. That is where Isaac was failing, and yet the truth comes out.
[p. 70] The Philistine king sees the relation between them manifested. But this should have been owned in Isaac’s public relation. So it is, that Christ’s marital relation with the assembly is witnessed at the Lord’s supper. This is public, but the private reciprocation of affection between Christ and the assembly is not for Philistine eyes. Rebecca’s veil (Genesis 24: 65), indicates this. Her initial thought is that she is to be exclusively for Isaac.
HGH Is the suggestion in the latter part of this section, that if we hide this relationship there is a danger of losing it?
JT Well, we do. Christendom has lost it, so that room is made for another — the false bride: “Because she says in her heart, I sit a queen, and I am not a widow; and I shall in no wise see grief”, Revelation 18: 7. She has no shame at all, but the true wife is seen typically in Rebecca; she proved her qualities when she drew near to Isaac; she put a veil over her face, as if to reserve her attractiveness for him. But Isaac here is exposed to the Philistine eye; not that the Philistine is to blame, because he is in his own territory, and Isaac had come down to him. But then, if he is going there, why not confess the truth openly? Why use the word “sister” instead of “wife”? It is a matter of cowardice.
WGT How do you place this dallying historically? Would you put that in the movement that commenced a hundred years ago and the increased knowledge of assembly status as believers moved out of sectarian conditions?
JT Well, the return to fellowship and the Lord’s supper involved the confession of the truth openly. What came out in the revival was the full place of the Lord in heaven and the assembly as united to Him by the Spirit. It was openly confessed. If the dallying were, so to speak, to be seen, people would have to come to the meetings to see what that is, where this sort of thing goes on. It is no place for the Philistine [p. 71] at all.
CAM Is there not a reluctance with many to make manifest, each in himself, what is so close to the heart of Christ? It is lack of courage, surely, otherwise there are many who would come into the good of the assembly position, do you not think?
JT It is lack of courage here, and the dallying goes on in unhallowed circumstances. It was out of its proper realm; he had gone to the Philistine king, so that the blame is entirely on Isaac.
JS He comes under the fear of man.
JT Clearly. The passage says the men of the place asked about his wife, and he said, She is my sister. When they asked about his wife, why not talk about his wife? If people make enquiry, faithfulness will lead us to state the whole truth. Paul says, “I speak as to Christ, and as to the assembly”.
ES An unbeliever coming in sees the place Christ has with His people and the place they have with Him.
JT Well, there it is. In the assembly the relationships between Christ and His own are seen. Rebecca covered her face in chapter 24, clearly to intimate that she was to be for Isaac. Well, why not confess what that implied? They did not ask him about his sister; they asked him about his wife. Clearly they thought she was his wife.
FHL She was “very fair in countenance”. The very thing he should have exulted in was the cause of his failure.
CN Is there teaching for us in the three persons: Abraham, Isaac, and David, as having failed when it was a question of public testimony?
JT Yes. There is a lesson in it as to whether we are cowardly or courageous in this great matter of Christ and the assembly. Paul says, “I speak as to Christ, and as to the assembly”. It runs through the Scriptures. Isaac failed in that, although otherwise he is an outstanding type of Christ, as Rebecca is of the [p. 72] assembly.
JS Is it failure in headship?
JT It is failure in husbandship. The relationship of husband implies headship, too, but the point is whether she is his wife or sister. Many talk about being brethren, but how many insist on the relations with Christ and the assembly?
WGT Why is it that this character of cowardice appeared in both Abraham and Isaac?
JT I suppose it is innate in all of us. The appeal is: “Be strong and very courageous”, Joshua 1: 7. That is said as Israel was entering upon the territory which the enemy especially claimed. What is specially opposed now is what the assembly is to Christ.
Now we must go on to see how Isaac was supported of God, notwithstanding his failure. We are told about the wells that the Philistines contended for, and that room is made for him. “And they dug another well, and they strove for that also; and he called the name of it Sitnah. And he removed thence and dug another well; and they did not strive for that. And he called the name of it Rehoboth, and said, For now Jehovah has made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land”, Genesis 26: 21, 22. That is, he is now emerging into the clear shining where he can boldly assert the truth. God made way for him, showing that at bottom he was right; but he was not courageous. And what follows brings out the whole truth — he went up to Beer-sheba. Beer-sheba is “the well of the oath” — involving God’s faithfulness, as Genesis 26 shows. There Abraham called on the name of Jehovah, the Eternal God; he placed himself under divine protection there. The principle underlying Beer-sheba was thus made clear. In spite of his failure, and Abraham’s too, God preserves him. Verse 12 says, “And Isaac sowed in that land, and received in the same year a hundredfold; and Jehovah blessed him”. God was with him. And then in this contention about the wells, God makes room for him. If we fail in any way in this [p. 73] great point of Christ and the assembly and get right as to it, God will be with us. So we have a hundredfold harvest here — it is most remarkable!
Ques Does that result from self-judgment?
JT It does indeed. You can conclude that Isaac judged himself, seeing he comes into this great blessing; and then room was made for him, because the word Rehoboth means broadways, that God makes room for us, as we come to acknowledge our faults and own the truth.
Ques Does the first part of the chapter suggest the grieving or quenching the Holy Spirit?
JT Well, if we disregard the assembly, and her relation to Christ, as His bride, I think we shall quench the Spirit; at any rate, He can then only operate on the line of our being brethren to one another, which is not the full level of the truth. The Spirit guides into all the truth.
CAM Do you think the crises that come up every now and again, with Philistine elements, result in our getting clear of the conflict? The thing is settled, and the truth of the assembly, the Lord’s rights, and what the assembly is to Him, are more precious to us than before.
JT Yes. And we see in these verses, how God is coming in and giving him a great harvest, and then giving him room. It is very inspiring. You see that God is for you, in spite of the weakness at the beginning.
ABP Would you say that although Isaac had failed, and in that way left the way open for the quenching of the Spirit by the Philistines, the activities of the Spirit are now seen in using the opposition to bring about full recovery?
JT Yes. And what happened shows us the great place the idea of the well has; how much it was in Isaac’s mind, and how much it was in the Philistine mind to stop it up. It is a real issue — a conflict — and finally Isaac reaches Rehoboth, as he names it; meaning [p. 74] that God had given him room. Well, it is most blessed to be conscious that God has given you scope and the Philistine strives no more. And then Isaac moves away (verse 23), “he went up thence to Beer-sheba”, and then, verse 33, he is in Beer-sheba. It is territory already secured for him by his father Abraham.
ABP Would it be right to say that though a believer may lose the conscious sense of freshness in his approach to God, the Spirit of God is still active through the very things that seem to be hindering, outwardly, to bring him back to freshness?
JT That is the lesson here, I am sure, and we shall see it finally established at Beer-sheba, because great stress is laid on the fact that it was said to Isaac, “We have found water. And he called it Shebah; therefore the name of the city is Beer-sheba to this day” (verse 33). That is the final thing reached in this section, Beer-sheba being a place of divine security. It is known territory as chapter 21 shows. There is no change in the Eternal God. Abraham had called on Him there.
JS Is the border suggestive?
JT Yes, it is the southern border of the land, but it is in the land, and so Abraham calls it Beer-sheba, the well of the oath; but as “that place”. He did not use the word “city”, but now Isaac coming to it, suggests that it is a point of great importance that we have arrived at; the idea of a city, in relation to the well. It is one of the most distinguished of the cities seen in Genesis.
HGH And as he reached it, “Jehovah appeared to him the same night” (verse 24), as if there is the suggestion that he knew the place. As in such circumstances we know what it is for God to come in, and we know the place of contact with Him is at the well.
JT Quite so; the passage says he went up thence to Beer-sheba — a very definite move — and Jehovah appeared to him the same night, as much as to say there is not a minute lost when we arrive at the right spot in spiritual progress. “I am the God of Abraham thy father:
[p. 75] fear not, for I am with thee, and will bless thee, and multiply thy seed for my servant Abraham’s sake. And he built an altar there, and called upon the name of Jehovah” (verses 24, 25). Now he is on the heavenly line. The worship of God is resumed, as it were, and all is linked with Abraham, the great source of promise. We are on sure ground now. That is what Shebah means; we are on a sure footing, a place of covenant — the well of the oath.
WGT Did you have in mind the heavenly city when you spoke of Beer-sheba?
JT Yes. It is said of Abraham, “he waited for the city which has foundations, of which God is the artificer and constructor”, Hebrews 11: 10. Abraham did not call the place a city; it is not called a city in relation to him, but he had the city in his heart, and Beer-sheba is one of the features of it. The idea of covenant enters into this city; it bears on the heavenly city. Abraham dwelt at Beer-sheba after Isaac was received back from the dead, in figure.
WGT Do you have in mind the millennial thought or the eternal thought of the city?
JT Well, of the millennial city it is said that God and the Lamb are there. Here the idea of a city is beginning to take form in the heart and mind of faith. The thoughts begin with Abraham; but now they come out in connection with Isaac. And the well is the prominent thought; Beer-sheba is the well of the oath. So that when he comes there he builds an altar, and he calls upon the name of Jehovah, and he pitches his tent there. That is, he is a true pilgrim now. And Isaac’s servants dig a well. Notice that; as if the idea of the well is essential to all this. It runs right through, and Beer-sheba is the culminating thought — we have already touched on it — the idea of a city in connection with God. We may say that now the idea of the covenant and the oath is connected [p. 76] with God.
JS Would it fit in with John 4?
JT Well, the well is there, as we noted previously. The point to see here is how Isaac is progressing, although having disowned his relations with his wife. If God has recovered us, as having failed, we can go on and He is with us, but we must not lower the standard. Maintain it, and speak of it. Keep on speaking about it, and then speak about it in relation to the faithfulness of God. Beer-sheba represents this, involving His care and protection. It is where God protects us.
CAM I suppose it is necessary for us to understand this wifely idea in the Lamb’s wife as connected with the suffering One; otherwise we should never get help on the idea of the city. They are bound up together.
JT Quite so; it is the Lamb’s wife; He is the Sufferer. The heavenly city comes into view in Revelation. I believe Beer-sheba is this in embryo; because it is typically where God secures everything; where all the promises are secured. So that when Jacob was going down to Egypt he rested in Beer-sheba and offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. And God said to him, “I am the God of thy father”. It is Isaac — not Abraham — meaning that Isaac represents Christ risen from among the dead in whom every promise is yea and amen. We are not afraid of circumstances any more. It is an immense thing to get hold of. And so, after it is stated that whatever promises of God there are, they are yea and amen in Christ, it is said that He who establishes us in Christ and has anointed us is God, who also has sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts (2 Corinthians 1: 20 - 22).
Rem These people are coming to Isaac.
JT That is the next thing, showing that he is advancing in strength. “And Abimelech, and Ahuzzath his friend, and Phichol the captain of his host, went to him from Gerar” (Genesis 26: 26). There are three of them here; the king himself and the captain of his host, and his friend — the royal side, the social side and the [p. 77] military side; they have all come to visit Isaac. But he is man enough for them now. He is not going to be overawed by them any more. So he says “Why are ye come to me, seeing ye hate me, and have driven me away from you?” (verse 27). He is not a bit afraid of them now. He is not afraid to confess that Rebecca is his wife now, showing he has advanced in courage, and strength.
WGT I suppose the enemy had in mind that Gerar should be the city rather than Beer-sheba. The Philistines would like Gerar to be the centre.
JT Yes. The point in Beer-sheba is that it is the well of the oath. Hebron refers to what is before the world; Beer-sheba refers to what has come in since the world. It has foundational features which are of God. It is morally greater than the world and it makes the believer greater than the world. I am not afraid of the world. This is seen in Isaac here. The idea of the seven ewe-lambs enters into it. They represent the spirit of Christ in the believer. Isaac is not overcome here.
WR Would this be the position of the Philadelphian saints? “He that overcomes, him will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more at all out; and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God”, Revelation 3: 12.
JT That is right; overcoming is a principle in this chapter. Isaac challenges the Philistines — Why are you come to me? When Abimelech came to Abraham, Ahuzzath was not with him; he had the captain of the host with him then, but now there are two with him — Phichol, captain of the host, and his friend. Now he is on the social line. The combination of three here is intended to influence Isaac, but Isaac is too great for them now; he has the full support of God. God has made room for him. He has the well and the altar and the tent. So he makes a covenant with them that he will do them no wrong, and sends them away. “And they departed from him in peace” (verse 31). And then (verse 32), “It came to pass the same day, that Isaac’s servants [p. 78] came, and told him concerning the well that they had dug, and said to him, we have found water”. This is an additional thought to Rehoboth. This is another well. Isaac is advancing in strength, and God is supporting him. The more we advance, the more we shall realise God’s support. That is the way the whole truth is kept in view. We are not ashamed to confess it.
AR Would you say that the scripture, “God is faithful, by whom ye have been called into the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord” (1 Corinthians 1: 9) — expresses the idea of Beer-sheba?
JT That is the first intimation you have of it in Corinth, and another is in the second epistle: “Now God is faithful, that our word to you is not yea and nay. For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, he who has been preached by us among you (by me and Silvanus and Timotheus) did not become yea and nay, but yea is in him. For whatever promises of God there are, in him is the yea, and in him the amen”, 2 Corinthians 1: 18 - 20. That is Beer-sheba; that is what the Corinthians needed, and that is what we all need, especially if we fail to confess Christ and the assembly. We are re-assured as we come into the sense of the faithfulness of God. He never fails. Let us be overcomers, therefore, in confessing the truth. The newly-dug well (Genesis 26: 32), is to support us in this position.
Ques Would you refer to Isaac’s servants here as those who are serviceable to Christ in the assembly?
JT Just so; typically, they are thoroughly in sympathy with the truth for the moment. They dug the well to support the great principle that had come in; namely, Christ and the assembly, in Isaac and Rebecca.
AAT To whom do we confess Christ and the assembly? On the gospel platform we preach Christ as a Person, as Head.
JT To those who may enquire, as instanced in our chapter. The Lord Jesus is our Example in this as in all else. He witnessed “the good confession before Pontius Pilate”. For this we need the Spirit. The wells stopped by the Philistines, typically point to Isaac’s weakness. As a type of Christ, Isaac was making much of Beer-lahai-roi as Rebecca approached (chapter 24: 62), pointing to the need of a well, so that the truth as to her should be maintained; now, as a type of a believer, he is wanting in that, and he denies that she is his wife. Opportunity of confessing comes as a person asks about the meetings, or asks about what you are going on with. Have you a clergyman? Have you a conference to govern you? How are you governed? How do you get on as to judicial matters? well, such enquiry brings up the whole question of Christ and the assembly. Even in regard to money contributed, the assembly is brought in. The messengers are Christ’s glory; they are messengers of the assemblies (2 Corinthians 8: 16 - 24). The assembly comes to light there, like Abigail, who was a woman of affairs, as was Lydia, and Phoebe also. All these instances are to bring out what the assembly is. The husband is known in the gates through her. Proverbs 31 is to bring this out, what the assembly is in the absence of Christ; that the wifely conditions and relations continue. The household and all pertaining to it manifest that she is the wife, and she has all the means of the husband, so as to have the household in proper condition; to clothe and to feed and to do all that enters into family comfort and dignity. Well, you can tell an inquirer all that. And we do not need a bishop, in the ordinary sense of the word; we do not need a conference, like the Methodists, or a synod like the Presbyterians. We do not need a pope like the Roman Catholics. Christians do not need any of these. It is a question of Christ and the assembly; it is a question of how the assembly can carry on in the interests of Christ. The New Testament — especially the epistles to the Corinthians and those to Timothy and Titus — show how the government of the assembly is maintained, and how the gifts for her up-building are furnished. The functionaries and governing [p. 80] institutions we have referred to, are not found there at all, and of course, not needed. However we view this great matter, the Spirit is absolutely essential. This is particularly seen in Isaac and Rebecca as types of Christ and the assembly.
CN So the locusts have no king, and they go in bands.
ACr Peter says in the first epistle, “but sanctify the Lord the Christ in your hearts, and be always prepared to give an answer to every one that asks you to give an account of the hope that is in you, but with meekness and fear” (chapter 3: 15).
JT Just so; you have a right answer for any questions asked; to “every one that asks you to give an account”.
RLP What are you referring to as Isaac’s confession?
JT What he failed to confess, is what we have been dwelling on. They inquired about his wife and he did not confess the truth. If people inquire as to how we get on without the things that other nominal christians have, you confess the whole position of Christ and the assembly. The assembly is well furnished down here in the absence of Christ; she is called His wife in Revelation, one in whom He confides. She carries on in His absence and the truth is maintained; the order of the house of God is maintained. That is what I mean by confession of the truth seen here.
ANW It is a divinely justified position; it is not of man. However showy the human arrangement may be, it is not divinely justified. I am sure nothing but the sense of our relation to Christ in the assembly could hold us in the dignity that is seen in Isaac as these three men approach him. We would go down before the power of the world if devoid of the sense of our relations with the assembly.
JT The well is brought forward to show what we need to support us in this position. If we make any statement as to how we get on, someone may say, I will [p. 81] come and see. Then, if we are not together in the power of the Spirit, the truth is again denied; hence the well is brought in so that we should not be weak; that we should be in vigour as functioning in the assembly.
WGT Witnessing a good confession before Pontius Pilate would include our brethren who are facing the non-combatant services of all governments.
JT Quite so; that is part of it. This is the full truth; the full Ephesian truth we are dealing with bringing out what the position is as over against the false system that Revelation contemplates. Over against the wife of the Lamb, you have the Babylonish system; she says, “I sit a queen and I am not a widow”. She is seen in the wilderness. What does that mean? That is where there are no springs of water; there is no support at all. She has to rely upon human contrivances and human corruption, whereas the heavenly city has the Spirit, hence the wonderful features displayed in her.
ABP Would you say that in Luke 7, where springs of water are seen as coming from the woman herself, that the Lord Jesus, unlike Isaac, claimed her? The wifely link, so to speak, is publicly acknowledged there.
JT Quite so: He says, she loves. The assembly is there basically, and so too in the next chapter in Luke — the woman with the issue — virtue goes out of Him to heal her. That is a suggestion of union; that the assembly is out of Christ, and so fit to be united to Him. He addresses her as “daughter”.
WR So the position is: “the assembly of the living God, the pillar and base of the truth”, 1 Timothy 3: 15.
JT That is right. How much is essential to maintain that; how necessary that one should know how to behave oneself there! We shall see that confirmed in this chapter, “And it came to pass the same day, that Isaac’s servants came, and told him concerning the well that they had dug, and said to him, We have found water. And he called it Shebah; therefore the name of the city is Beer-sheba to this day” (verses 32, 33). It is not only [p. 82] Shebah; it is Beer-sheba; it is the well of the oath, where we are on sure ground, the ground of God’s support. The well is the refreshing side.
JS We should say to our fellow Christians, Come and see?
JT Well, that is right; the next thing is what do they see. If we have not the well, they will not see much. We may go on in a routine way, but it is the well — the Spirit — that gives freshness and power to the meetings.
AR What you say is practical. We might say we need the Spirit of God for our reading meetings and for assembly service, but really we need the Spirit of God in our care meetings too. It makes it very practical, does it not?
JT Quite so, freshness is the point in these readings. It is the well — the idea of the well running through in relation to the assembly. It is that our meetings are to be fresh; and in view of this, John says, “Come and see”. It is a point the apostle makes, and if people come, they see that there is freshness and intelligence and brotherly love amongst us.
Ques In Acts 20 it says they went down with him to the ship. Is the full thought seen there, in relation to Paul and the brethren?
JT That is the truth. It is a chapter of love. The first verse says that Paul embraced the Ephesians and the last verse says that they fell on his neck and kissed him. That shows that there was the reciprocation of holy love, to fill out what we are saying. Acts 20 is a love chapter and love must be sustained by the Spirit — ‘love in the Spirit’, Colossians 1: 8.