WELLS AND SPRINGS (5)
[p. 83] WELLS AND SPRINGS (5)
Genesis 29: 1 - 20; Hosea 12: 12; Romans 15: 18, 19
JT Our present consideration should take us to Jacob. In the last reading it was pointed out that Isaac is a type of Christ as the heavenly Man, but as occupied with the testimony now; Rebecca comes in in that connection, not as taken to heaven literally, but to Sarah’s tent. Typically she represents the assembly taking Israel’s place in the testimony. Isaac typifies Christ as the heavenly Man, who was not to leave Canaan. Those types therefore contemplate the present time; the testimony standing in relation to Christ and the assembly — the assembly, herself heavenly, seen as here on earth, but Christ in heaven. So that the dispensation takes on that character — it is heavenly.
We have now another view of Christ and the assembly. Jacob, who has already left the land of Canaan, took a long journey; according to Hosea, and indeed, according to this section of Genesis, he has taken a long journey for his wife. “And Jacob fled into the country of Syria, and Israel served for a wife, and for a wife he kept sheep”, Hosea 12: 12. He suggests Christ in activity and in journeyings. It is said he fled, which would mean there was hostility; he fled from Esau. Paul said, of himself, to the Thessalonians, that he had been driven out; but, according to Romans 15, he was journeying to preach the gospel; and this was to secure the assembly for Christ.
Our chapter speaks of a well. It is said that Jacob looked — “Jacob continued his journey, and went into the land of the children of the east. And he looked, and behold, there was a well in the fields”, Genesis 29: 1, 2. Our subject is very much in mind in this section. He looked, and there was a well; he saw the well, and acted in relation [p. 84] to it.
JTJr Is the activity you speak of to be in the saints after the pattern of Christ?
JT That would be assumed. Paul presented himself as a model. He said, “Be my imitators, even as I also am of Christ”, 1 Corinthians 11: 1. So that, as Paul stresses, activity would be in us in the power of the Spirit.
ANW Is there anything in the Lord’s personal service here on earth which is akin to Jacob’s movement here?
JT Matthew, in chapter 16: 13, presents Him at Caesarea-Philippi, where the gentile world would be in mind; there He spoke of the assembly. It carried a wider thought than the remnant of Israel.
JS What would the three flocks represent as lying by the well?
JT Persons in need of water; but they have to wait for it until others come. So that the need was not immediately met. The scene represents what is current about us — officialism; the drinking cannot take place until all the flocks come, whereas in the ministry of Christ need was met immediately. “If any one thirst, let him come to me and drink”, John 7: 37. There was no delay at all. True service would meet need as it exists. The Jews would limit the Lord’s wonderful healing services to the six working days (Luke 13: 14).
ARS Would the looking around and seeing the well give the idea that we have to use our spiritual eyesight and see where the Spirit is?
JT Yes. It seems to fit in accurately, from a spiritual standpoint, with our subject; that is, the idea of wells or springs in relation to Christ and the assembly. In this chapter we see a condition in Syria that Jacob found; the well was there, but under these restrictions. Jacob pays particular attention to it and acts, indeed, at once, as Rachel comes with her father’s flock.
ABP When the Lord Jesus came into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon (Mark 7), it would seem as though He lifted the stone from the well’s mouth, in principle. The woman comes into the blessing ahead of time, in a sense.
JT Yes; the prominence of the feminine thought there helps; both the mother and the daughter were affected. The feminine thought there would, I think, convey what is before us; that He had the assembly in mind, only certain conditions were needed, and these conditions were found in the woman. Her faith was great, the Lord says, which idea belongs to the assembly.
AR Is there anything in the fact that Jacob was sent by Isaac to look for a wife? Instead of finding a wife immediately, he finds a well.
JT Yes. He looked and saw a well. The scripture does not say he looked for it, but he looked, and that is what he saw, as if that idea must precede the thought of the assembly.
CAM The labours of the apostle Paul in such an extended way were an extension of the journeyings of Christ. Would it be right to say that? And that they come down to the present moment?
JT I think that is right. The two instances we have cited bear it out: the one at Caesarea-Philippi, which is a distance out, as you might say, towards the gentiles. Its dual name would indicate that — Caesarea-Philippi; and then the Syrophenician woman comes into view in the borders of Tyre and Sidon. She was an original Canaanite, but such as would form the assembly.
CAM The apostle functioning among the saints would be the masculine side of the truth, or the ministry side, to secure the feminine side, the assembly.
JT That is right. Paul represents the ministry, and he speaks of “journeyings oft”. It was the spirit of Christ operating in him with this in view, to secure what the Lord sought.
ANW Did he have something of that in mind when he spoke of filling up of the sufferings of Christ for His body’s [p. 86] sake?
JT Yes. It would bring in the fulness of what the Lord sought. Sufferings in the assembly would be essential to her formation for Him; so that she is the Lamb’s wife, which would mean that she is the wife of the Sufferer, and she herself is a sufferer, which is a matter to be taken to heart in these last days; “And I fill up that which is behind of the tribulations of Christ in my flesh, for his body, which is the assembly”, Colossians 1: 24. What is behind in respect of sufferings is being forced upon many of our brethren, and, perhaps, will be on us through present circumstances. At least, if not literally, it is in spirit, and I think that even in that way the assembly is being prepared for translation.
WB-w Do you then look at Jacob as a type of Paul moving in the power of the Spirit here looking for the assembly? I have in mind that scripture in Romans already mentioned: “So that I, from Jerusalem, and in a circuit round to Illyricum, have fully preached the glad tidings of the Christ”, Romans 15: 19.
JT Yes, and for that the well is essential. That is what Jacob saw and took notice of, and even admonished the persons there about it. He then watered a flock; but not until Rachel came, meaning that an incentive for love was there, although she is still only regarded as in family relation. She is only treated as a sister or cousin so far, but she is potentially what he was seeking.
WB-w There was not much movement at this well until he came.
JT No. Our enquiry now is, whether there is movement with us, those of us who are on the main line, so to speak, as has been said; whether we are active in journeyings for Christ’s sake.
JS Would the anti-type of this be seen in the Acts of the Apostles?
JT Yes. It is seen especially in Paul as has been said. He had travelled in a circuit to Illyricum. He purposed visiting Rome and even Spain. Going to Spain [p. 87] from Jerusalem was a great journey; indeed, Spain was the utmost limits of the west at that time.
WGT “Who do men say that I the Son of man am?” (Matthew 16: 13), would indicate that the Lord’s Person is to be apprehended as the assembly comes into view?
JT Just so. Christ and the assembly. Christ first always.
AAT What would you say the stone in our chapter represented?
JT It is right in its place; it is a protection for the water, but it required to be removed in order that the water should be procured. I suppose it would imply the water was not open or exposed; it was covered; but the point that Jacob makes is, Why do you not remove it now? There are flocks right here; why do you not remove it and water them? That is the point he makes. Why is the Spirit of God telling us about Jacob’s exercises at this time if it be not to bring before us Christ in this relation? He is before us here in His activities and journeyings, in order to secure what He came for; what He gave Himself for; and we are reminded that the well, that is, the Spirit, must be in the front in our services if they are to be patterned after Christ’s. The point is illustrated in Isaac coming from the well Beer-lahai-roi as Rebecca came into view. It is the same thought carried through.
Ques Is there a correspondence between Acts 16 and this, when Paul went outside of the gate by the river, where it was the custom to pray? Paul went there soon after reaching Philippi.
JT That is it; the river is there, running water. The roots of that assembly would be by the river; a good idea. That is where our roots should be, drawing sap in that way, drawing refreshment from running water.
ABP In each of the scriptures that have been before us, the well seems to be linked on with a locality. Does [p. 88] Jacob looking and seeing a well, suggest the place the Spirit has in localities?
JT I think the locality is stressed in view of what may be developed there. The assembly in its administrative feature involves localities; so that it becomes a question of how the Spirit operates, especially in view of the assembly here in testimony. Hence we have it at Jerusalem strikingly; we have it in Samaria, and we have it at Corinth, and we have it at Ephesus. These are all representative of the local aspect of the assembly’s position. The Spirit has to be apprehended in each locality.
FHL It says the well was in the fields. Is that a likely place to look for it?
JT I think it would be, because it is a question of where the flocks are. There are three of them here; three flocks of sheep were lying by it. They were there, meaning there was potential fruitfulness there. Only, the water was denied them for the moment, and that fact discredited the service — the flocks had to wait. The gospels show that the Lord always met need promptly.
AR Perhaps the conditions that Paul found at Ephesus were like this. He found twelve men there, but they were deficient in relation to the Spirit, and he says to them, “Did ye receive the Holy Spirit when ye had believed?” Acts 19: 2. He was concerned as to the development of the feminine features.
JT That is good. He wanted to bring this out, to bring the Spirit into evidence. He evidently had known that the work of God was in these men, but the point is, Have you received the Spirit? — that is what we are speaking of. He had the same thought as Jacob. They did not know about it; it was his concern, and he removed the stone, and the Spirit came in; the obstruction was in themselves, in their ignorance, and he removed it. Thus the water flowed.
JS What is involved in verse 8 of our chapter: “... until all the flocks are gathered together”?
JT It is the clerical idea; restrictions to reduce work. Christ met need at once. There was no delay at all. John says, “Jesus stood and cried saying, If any one thirst, let him come to me and drink”, John 7: 37. There was deep feeling in the Lord’s cry.
ANW Even though He had to say to the woman previously mentioned, “I have not been sent save to the lost sheep of Israel’s house” (Matthew 15: 24), still He waited to bless her.
JT That was a question of removing the stone. Her assumption that she could speak to Him as the Son of David meant there was something to be dealt with in her, as there was something to be dealt with in the men of Ephesus and the converts in Samaria. The removal of the stone means that what may have been the hindrance in us is dealt with. From the divine side, the death of Christ had to take place to remove the stone.
CAM “And he looked, and behold ...” (verse 2). Do you think our progress assembly-wise would be according to what we see, in this sense? Indications from God would come to us from time to time if we were really on this line.
JT Yes; the idea of divine things coming into our view as we progress, is constant in Scripture. The gospel necessarily enters into the removal of the stone, because the difficulty is likely to be in ourselves, perhaps through defective teaching we have imbibed; that is prevalent around us now; it is like the twelve men in Ephesus. The teaching was defective, and they must have been negligent themselves, because John the baptist spoke about the Holy Spirit, and they said they had not even heard if He was come, so that the difficulty was in themselves.
WB-w The Galatians had begun in the Spirit, but there were those who would keep the stone on the well’s mouth, but Paul was endeavouring to take it off.
JT Just so. Just as the Philistines stopped the wells; bad teachers were doing that. So that you see more and [p. 90] more as we look into this matter that, generally, the well is stopped in christendom. People have to wait for the clerical arrangements. They have to wait for the official personage or whatever he may represent.
JS So that in John 7 the stone is removed by the Lord Himself, would you say, and then the rivers flow: “Out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water” (verse 38).
JT John 7 is, of course, a counterpart of John 4. John 7 adds the word “receive”. The Lord, there, speaks about coming and drinking: “But this he said concerning the Spirit, which they that believed on him were about to receive” (verse 39). Receiving is a very important word in regard of this subject; not whether the Spirit is given to you, but whether you have received Him; receiving involves appreciation.
JHH In one sense, would you say, the Lord removed the stone at the pool of Bethesda? The people were waiting until the moving of the waters, but the Lord would present Himself to the man there.
JT In that sense, He met the need at once; that man had been there thirty-eight years and the angel had come down every year at a certain time and troubled the water, but the man could not get in because he had not power; others got in before him. The man’s need is met immediately by the Lord.
RWS The first thing Jacob does after watering the sheep is to kiss Rachel, and then he lifts up his voice and weeps.
JT That is a beautiful point reached in the narrative. I think before we reach it and dwell upon it, we ought to note the exercises as to this well and why the persons present were not acting. It is said, “And a great stone was at the mouth of the well. And when all the flocks were gathered there, they rolled the stone from the mouth of the well” (verses 2, 3). Notice, they did it; but it had to be done; yet not until all the flocks were gathered together. That was the custom that governed [p. 91] Syria; there was no question about it; “They rolled the stone from the mouth of the well, and watered the sheep, and put the stone again on the mouth of the well in its place”. So far so good, but the sheep had to wait, however thirsty they were, until this time came. It was not, so to speak, “the time appointed by the Father”; it was the time appointed by the people of that place; a principle of their own, to save their energy. It was just to save energy. It was not love. And then Jacob said to them, “My brethren, whence are ye? And they said, Of Haran are we” (verse 4). He is identifying them. That is the next thing. Before dealing with defects, we have to know the persons we are dealing with, and what their principles are, and their ways too, which is an important matter. “And he said to them, Do ye know Laban the son of Nahor? And they said, We do know him. And he said to them, Is he well? And they said, He is well”. Rachel is to be the immediate link. The family link is known to be there, but who the persons of the family are, is not yet known. What answers to this now, is found in a “son of peace”; you get in touch with him and stay there. The people knew Laban, which is good, so far. We can see that certain social links exist; whether they are pure assembly links is the point. They knew Laban, and they knew the state of his health, and then they say, “And behold, there comes Rachel his daughter with the sheep” (verse 6). They knew her too. There is a good general condition, potentially. It is an opening for spiritual operations. Then Jacob comes in with his services, for that is how it has to be regarded. He says (verse 7), “Behold, it is yet high day” (that is noon); “it is not time that the cattle should be gathered together” (the cattle would mean larger beasts), “water the sheep, and go, feed them”. He is a real shepherd; he is a live-stock man, which is typically what a man would be who can serve the Lord. The Israelites were that characteristically, and that was an abomination to the Egyptians. So he says, “Water the sheep, and go,
feed them”. That is a word of admonition, for they were defective in their way of doing things. Their principles and methods were not right. That is the ground he takes. It is instructive to see that Jacob was a live-stock man; so was Solomon. Solomon could instruct you about all these creatures; and so could Adam; and, clearly, the Israelites carried down the thought of the importance of cattle. They were shepherds, bearing the character of Christ. The Lord knows the living, their different features. But they say in reply to Jacob, “We cannot until all the flocks are gathered together”, (they are again asserting their principles) “and they roll the stone from the mouth of the well, and we water the sheep” (verse 8).
And now Rachel comes. That is the crux of the matter. He does not offer to help them at all, or take the stone away, until she comes, because that is what he is seeking, the family connection. So that when Rachel comes, he moves; and that brings out what is before us; what the assembly is to Christ. I am not saying that Rachel is exactly the assembly, but she is potentially Jacob’s spouse, and hence answers to the assembly here. In result, however, Leah is the type of the assembly.
JS What would you say about the fact that she is a shepherdess?
JT She corresponds to Jacob. So, “Rachel came with her father’s sheep, for she was a shepherdess. And it came to pass when Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban his mother’s brother, and the sheep of Laban his mother’s brother, that Jacob went near and rolled the stone from the mouth of the well” (verse 10). Notice, it is only the family link so far, not marital yet. Rachel is one of his brethren; that is what is meant. It is the family link in activity, which is an immense thing; and we know how enjoyable it is when we really understand our relations to each other in a family sense; that is, [p. 93] as brethren.
CAM Do you think it would be an encouragement in our local settings that in the unfolding of the truth, the most precious thing does not always appear at the first. You might have a great desire for assembly conditions, but these are reached step-by-step.
JT Yes; we learn in part, and 1 Corinthians shows that the state of the assembly affects what is ministered. I think the chapter is most interesting; spiritually accurate as to the Spirit of Christ in seeking what is represented here. Jacob is seeking a wife. He is representative of Christ in seeking the assembly, going for it Himself.
WB-w Is it also a question of seeking assembly material in a locality?
JT That is how the truth works out. This is seen throughout. As Paul is in Corinth, the Lord tells him He has much people there, and in the course of his ministry, Paul espoused them to one Man — as a chaste virgin to Christ. The man in John 9 had neighbours, and he has a father and a mother. That is, there was social material there, but before the idea of the sheep comes into evidence he is cast out. Well, Rachel here is not cast out; there is no hostility at all to her; it is just a position that is neighbourly. Jacob makes a difference between Rachel and all the others, for when he sees her and the sheep, he removes the stone and waters the flock. His heart is moved in family feelings and affections.
WB-w He says, “My brethren” — that should bring to light something in the locality.
JT I think it is a suggestion of the present profession. They are not looked at as heathen. Addressing them as brethren would promote general confidence. They are looked at as his family links, but then there is one man there about whom he is thinking and whose name he mentions. He does not ask after anybody else but Laban. He asks after [p. 94] his health.
ANW What would you say as to the Lord’s supper conducted only on brotherly lines, and not reaching the marital side?
JT If the state of the meeting were right, the deficiency being due to ignorance, the Lord, I am sure, would accept it; but if there were independency and refusal of the truth of Christ and the assembly, you could not have part in it. If we do not bring the assembly into the Supper, we lose the force of it. It is a question too of the Spirit. If you do not make room for the Spirit, you will never get the right thought of the Supper, or of the assembly.
APf Does Jacob change the custom of the place?
JT That is, in principle, what he does; we cannot say his example was followed. He admonished them, but he also proceeds to do what he indicated should be done as Rachel comes; but he did not water the other flocks; it is a question of the family, and there was no doubt as to this in her case. If persons are christians they are brethren, and they should get the water, that is, get the Holy Spirit.
JTJr Is there not a connection between the changing of the water to wine in John 2, and the healing of the nobleman’s son in John 4 as having to do with the family?
JT The family thought is clearly in view in the case of the nobleman, and then there is also a connection with the Spirit in that chapter — the thought of living water comes in before the narrative of the nobleman. The Lord calls his child a son, indicating dignity in the family. “Himself and his whole house” believed. The water in John 2 is purifying water, but it becomes wine; what purifies me becomes wine in me; it occasions joy. The drinking water affords much instruction as coming between these two signs in Cana of Galilee. John makes more of water than any of the other evangelists.
[p. 95] CAM As to the matter of addressing people or regarding them as brethren, I suppose when Saul of Tarsus was secured, the way it took place would impress upon him this brotherly idea before he found himself part of the company. Do you think that would be a sort of indication to him as to how to act in his christian days?
JT Just so. And then the water of purification is brought in. That is, Ananias says, “Arise and get baptised, and have thy sins washed away”, Acts 22: 16. That is the water of purification; but then he should get the Holy Spirit, which would be drinking water.
CAM That is a great help, because the signal way in which baptism is applied to the apostle Paul might first seem a little strange, but as you look at it in that connection, it all forms part of a whole process.
JT It does, indeed. So that the order here is very instructive. As soon as he sees Rachel and her father’s flock — she herself being a shepherdess — verse 10 says, “Jacob went near, and rolled the stone from the mouth of the well, and watered the sheep of Laban his mother’s brother”. The family link is the point. Then it says, “And Jacob kissed Rachel”; this does not go beyond the family link; brothers and sisters, or cousins. And then it says he “lifted up his voice and wept”. He was thoroughly affected. He fled to the country of Syria for a wife; he was under pressure at the outset, but now his affections are aroused. He is not now thinking of Esau’s hostility; he is affected by what he finds, because that is what he is looking for; family affection, which is an immense thing for us to understand. That is what we find in meetings such as these; they involve family affection and then the corporate idea; what we are to Christ. After this strong expression of affection “Jacob told Rachel that he was a brother of her father, and that he was Rebecca’s son” (verse 12). He is asserting what he is to them; not to the neighbours, but to them. Typically, he has found christians; that is what is meant.
[p. 96] The Lord is seeking them today; those that are His own. The Lord knows those that are His; and, as we are usable, He is using us to find them. As in this service these traits of Himself, seen in Jacob, work out through us.
AR The Lord Jesus said to Paul, “I have much people in this city”, Acts 18: 10. Paul would have to find them, would he not?
JT They were not yet members of the family, so that they were only potentially His people, but there is a real family link here. The stress is on Laban, Rebecca’s brother, and that Jacob is Rebecca’s son, and Rachel, Laban’s daughter. It is a family picture and Jacob is thoroughly in it.
JS Does progress in the testimony result from securing material for the assembly?
JT Typically, that is the idea here. Jacob informs Rachel about himself, that it may be clear that the family links are there. The next thing is that Rachel ran and told her father, and verse 13 says, “And it came to pass when Laban heard the tidings of Jacob his sister’s son” (notice these family terms), “that he ran to meet him, and embraced him, and kissed him, and brought him to his house; and he told Laban all these things. And Laban said to him, Thou art indeed my bone and my flesh. And he abode with him a month’s time”, that is, with the family; it refers to what we are to each other as brethren.
WR Would you look at Jacob in the light of John’s testimony? “He that has the bride is the bridegroom”, John 3: 29. He seems to move in his affections as a bridegroom towards a bride, and he uses the family in that way.
JT That is in the distance as yet. This paragraph does not go beyond the family. Rachel is of the same family as Jacob; that is clear. It is most important, in the work of God, to make clear that all true Christians are brethren, whatever their associations; thus the workman can say, “Be as I am, for I also am as ye”, Galatians 4: 12. As this is understood and accepted, assembly truth can be introduced.
WB-w From verse 4 onward, all the questions that Jacob raises are to find the family, and put the Syrians where they should be.
JT That is the idea exactly. The Syrians are eliminated, and now it is the family — Rebecca’s brother. And Laban goes so far as to say to Jacob, “Thou art indeed my bone and my flesh”. Still, that is not on marital lines, because it is a man and his nephew.
AR When we sit down at the Lord’s supper, the underlying condition is that we love one another.
JT Some say, We are going to meet the Lord, but the fact is, we are going to meet one another first. “We being assembled to break bread”, Acts 20:7.
GVD Is there the family line in John 1? Andrew first finds his brother Simon.
JT Yes. He took him to Jesus.
ANW Our slowness to arrive at the assembly relation is because we do not rightly value the family relation.
JT That is the difficulty all around, the want of family feelings. We would speak well of one another if we accepted the family status and the family relation. We are brethren. That underlies unity.
JS Do you get the family link in John 20: “But go to my brethren and say to them ...” (verse 17?).
JT That is on a higher plane. That comes in a little later. We are now speaking of what we are as brethren in a public sense as christians. The Lord says, “And all ye are brethren”, Matthew 23: 8. That is the position here before the world. We are all brethren.
FHL In chapter 24, Laban ran to the well to meet Abraham’s servant, and here he runs to meet Jacob.
JT There is not much depth in him, you know, but he represents what is in the mind of the Spirit here. He is a father to Rachel and Leah, and he is a [p. 98] brother to Rebecca, and Jacob is Rebecca’s son; so that the family link is established. That is all that is necessary.
WB-w Verse 9 reads, “While he was still speaking to them ...” The speaking brings to light what is sought.
JT Quite so; going to a place you look for this element. We have known of a case where there was some apparent interest and it was suggested that a brother go and stay there, and find what was there.
ANW Perhaps those of the family are not brought to light because the real brotherly link is not recognised.
JT That was the real difficulty in all the divisions that have taken place amongst us; the want of reality in the profession of family relationship. Scripture says a brother is born for adversity, and so we ought to afford protection and general care for each other.
AR God said to Moses that Aaron, when he saw Moses, would be glad in his heart. When he saw him he kissed him.
JT Aaron did the kissing. At that point Aaron led in brotherly love.
RWS Is that a clue to why so many with whom we come into contact, and who come to our meetings, finally disappear? We do not seem to be able to secure them.
JT Yes; although soil is very hard. It is very striking how many do pass through, not taking hold of the truth the Holy Spirit is maintaining in the meetings. The well is essential to this. The well is the underlying principle that maintains this, and that is why Jacob, as a type, makes so much of it.
RWS Would you, in such cases, emphasise that we are all brethren? You mentioned a month’s time for the family side of things.
JT Yes; if you meet one who has the evidences of being a christian, you say, “Be as I am, for I also am as ye”, Galatians 4: 12. But it takes time to gain confidence,
[p. 99] and that is what the month means here. He abode a month’s time; that is the family month, and then the next thing is wages. Laban says to Jacob, “Because thou art my brother, shouldest thou serve me for nothing? tell me, what shall be thy wages? And Laban had two daughters: the name of the elder was Leah, and the name of the younger, Rachel. And the eyes of Leah were tender; but Rachel was of beautiful form and beautiful countenance. And Jacob loved Rachel, and said, I will serve thee seven years for Rachel thy younger daughter” (verses 15 - 18). Now this is the consummation of what his journey had in mind. Is there one that can be an object of his affections? It is the Jewish side that is in mind here, because from the standpoint of the Old Testament, Israel would be the most beautiful. The gentiles had no status, in that sense. There was nothing beautiful about them. But Christ received the gentile bride first. That is the position today. Rachel is the future Israelitish bride of Christ.
WGT Referring again to what you were saying about the month’s time, would Paul’s eighteen months at Corinth fit in here? He stayed with them on brotherly lines, working as a tent maker and formed true bridal affections among them.
JT Yes. He was an apostle, but still he was a brother, and he stresses that. He associates a brother with him in each of his epistles to that assembly.
WR The Holy Spirit is necessary to love.
JT The Holy Spirit is necessary to everything from our side; and therefore we must make much of the Spirit, and if we are to do that we must judge ourselves for all that grieves or quenches the Holy Spirit. We must remove the stone that may, from our side, hinder the water flowing out.
WB-w Is the defect stressed here that there was no Jacob to take away the stone?
JT Yes. They did not have the true shepherd thought. Each would look after his own flock, no doubt;
[p. 100] but they all had to wait, however thirsty, until the flocks were all there. It would be a bad case for us, if we had to wait for all the saints in this city to come; we would never get anything. If the Lord said, You cannot meet here until you gather all the saints in this city, we would have a bad time. But Jacob met the need of Laban’s flock immediately. “For where two or three are gathered together unto my name, there am I in the midst of them”, Matthew 18: 20. The Lord met need immediately. It is a question of all Israel that are present. The clerical element hinders the family development as well as the assembly’s marital relation with Christ. In some cases true men rise above it, but I am speaking of it generally. So this matter of wages comes up, and brings out what was in Jacob’s heart, that he is ready to serve for a wife. It is how Christ served for the assembly; it is the affection He has for the assembly. Jacob had to wait seven years, but they were in his eyes as single days because he loved Rachel. It is the love of Christ for the assembly; not for the family or Laban’s house, but for Rachel, and Rachel only. That is what he has in mind.
JTJr Paul had the family thought in his mind in regard of the Thessalonians — they were brethren beloved of God. That assembly was marked by affection.
JT Yes. They are addressed as “the assembly of Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ”. They were taught of God to love one another. But the word is “more and more”.
ABP Do you have an answer to this section in the last chapter of Acts? Paul saw the brethren and took courage (verse 15); he served the Jews ardently, reflecting Christ’s love for them, but he turned to the gentiles. It was as though his love for Israel found its final expression at Rome. Then he had to say, “Be it known to you therefore, that this salvation of God has been sent to the nations”, Acts 28: 28.
JT [p. 101] I am sure that is right. He tells the Thessalonians that he had been driven out, which is what happened to Jacob; he was driven out. That was behind Jacob’s journeyings. It was Rebecca’s thought first. Later, he was sent to Laban for a wife. Paul had been occupied in Christ’s affection for Israel. In his last visit to Jerusalem he carried Christ’s affection for Israel; he went to Jerusalem against the testimony of the Spirit, but nevertheless, what actuated him was great affection for Israel. When he comes to Rome the matter is settled, because he says that the salvation of God is sent to the nations.
AR Acts 20 and 21 would be Paul’s affections in activity in relation to his brethren generally, I suppose. He embraces certain ones at Ephesus; then he embraces Eutychus at Troas; he is ardently kissed at Miletus, and then, at Tyre, the saints, including the women and children, embrace him.
JT The mutual affection that was there is touching. I am sure that is the lesson for us. It is what belongs to brethren, and how, as loving one another in this sense, we become delightful to the Lord unitedly, and pleasing to the Father, too.
FNW This would help us in the fulfilment of our services locally. As occupied more in the sphere of the Spirit, and in conditions of affection among the brethren, the Lord would bring in souls.
JT I think that is the order of the truth; love amongst brethren; and when the Lord’s Day morning arrives — “we being assembled to break bread” — we meet one another. It is a real pleasure to meet the brethren to begin with.
ANW It is remarkable that it says in the prophet, “And for a wife he kept sheep”, Hosea 12: 12. He had a wife in mind in the keeping of the sheep.
JT There was the fleeing, the long journey, and then the heavy work; it was heavy work to keep sheep as he did. He endured much; the heat in the day, and [p. 102] in the night the frost consumed him. It is remarkable, the intensity of his love. Seven years were in his eyes as seven days. It is to bring out the intensity of his love. Seven is a very important numeral throughout Scripture. It is usually what is complete spiritually.
WB-w What is the point in the prophet Hosea bringing the verse we have read into chapter 12, where Ephraim’s failure is stated?
JT I think Hosea directs our minds back to good things in the midst of evil things; the former to be a positive incentive to saints, at any time, to overcome. What Jacob was at the beginning is mentioned. The prophet turns from severest denunciations to the most precious affectionate touches.
WB-w A terrible thing is said about Ephraim in that chapter. “All day long he multiplieth lies and desolation” (verse 1). In the midst of all this Jacob is brought in, as serving for a wife.
JT That would remind us of true affection, of which Ephraim was then wanting. We are told later on by the prophet, “And by a prophet Jehovah brought Israel out of Egypt, and by a prophet was he preserved” (verse 13). Verse 12 is the love of Christ for the assembly, and verse 13 is the prophetic ministry. The service of the prophet implies the power of God.
AR During this seven years of waiting for the bond to be consummated. Jacob is said to be keeping sheep. I was wondering, in view of that, whether the activity in waiting would keep the brethren together.
JT Jacob was occupied with live-stock; that is the idea. There are living conditions among the brethren, and you love them and care for them.
WB-w Is there a thought of Moses being linked on with Jacob in the passage in Hosea? Moses was the prophet.
JT Yes, clearly. The application today would be the love of Christ constraining us, and the prophetic [p. 103] ministry touching our consciences would tend to take us out of Egypt, or if we are out, keep us out.
WB-w And the remnant would go on in the midst of all this wickedness of Ephraim.
JT That is a characteristic of Hosea’s ministry. He brings in positive things to deliver you from the evil you are going on with. The prophetic ministry is doing a very good service, but the love of Christ is the first thing; it constrains us. “For the love of the Christ constrains us, having judged this: that one died for all, then all have died”, 2 Corinthians 5: 14. That is insisted on; the prophetic ministry will insist on that.
ABP Would the personal experience of Hosea develop the feelings to which you referred as marking his ministry? Would it serve to emphasise in his heart the features of true love, which he would appreciate in Jacob and Rachel?
JT Yes; he had to go through extraordinary marital experiences himself, so as to be able to bring out Jehovah’s love, patience and faithfulness to Israel. He says a great deal of what Israel was to God as a wife. She was shamefully untrue to Him, and hence His judgments came upon her (chapter 2). But He will allure her into the wilderness and speak to her heart. He tells her, “Thou shalt call me, My husband, and shalt call me no more, Baali” (chapter 2: 16). Hosea is an important book in regard of our subject.
WB-w It says of Jacob, “He took his brother by the heel in the womb, and in his strength he wrestled with God”, Hosea 12: 3. He had a good beginning. He began with power at the outset and he carries that through.
JT That shows he was of another order to Esau. That is, he was lovable to God from the very outset.
AR Is this idea seen in Corinth, where Paul says, “Now I exhort you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all say the same thing, and that there be not among you divisions; but that ye be perfectly [p. 104] united in the same mind and in the Same opinion”, 1 Corinthians 1: 10? Would that be the idea of the brethren, whereas the marital side is seen in the end of the second epistle, where he says, “I have espoused you unto one man, to present you a chaste virgin to Christ”, 2 Corinthians 11: 2?
JT That is the order of the truth of the position. That is, the first epistle is our public position where we are known as brethren; the second brings in that, too, but it brings in the idea of the bride espoused to Christ; to “one man”.
WB-w Evidently the Jewish spirit was in Isaac’s house before Jacob fled.
JT That is the position. He is fleeing; he is driven out, but his heart is on an object which he seeks and finds; and that is what Paul represents.
RWS Would the circuit (Romans 15: 19) link on with the seven-year thought? The patient manner of prophetic service in which Paul finished his journey secures the finished product. There are no loose ends in Paul’s service; he secures the bride for Christ.
JT Yes. The Lord looked around in a circuit on the brethren (Mark 3: 34).
CAM Peter had a commission as a shepherd and this would necessitate travelling.
JT It is remarkable, the journeying that there has been, but it is largely blocked for the moment. The Lord, I believe, will open up the way again for journeying; it was a feature of Christ’s service, and is seen in relation to the assembly. Paul’s journeyings were Christ’s journeyings, and the same is true of the travels of others. Of the overcomer in Philadelphia, the Lord says, “He shall go no more at all out”, Revelation 3: 12.