THE ANOINTING (4)
[p. 202] THE ANOINTING (4)
1 Peter 2: 4, 5; Exodus 29:1 - 9; Exodus 29:21; Exodus 29:43-46
JT Priesthood is in mind at this time, and the passage in Peter was suggested because the saints are formally, as christians, brought forward as a holy priesthood to offer up sacrifices to God by Jesus Christ. I thought that we should have an authoritative scripture from the New Testament, and then what we read in the Old Testament asserts the fact that priesthood applies to all christians. The priesthood is carried on by the saints “by Jesus Christ” which would correspond with what we have in Exodus as to Aaron and his house. Exodus affords instructions at remarkable length as to priesthood, chapters 28 and 29 both being very long chapters and both occupied throughout with the priesthood, showing how important it is in the divine system and how it secures the presence of God. In the closing verses read God says, “And there will I meet with the children of Israel; and it shall be hallowed by my glory. And I will hallow the tent of meeting, and the altar; and I will hallow Aaron and his sons, that they may serve me as priests. And I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel, and will be their God”. This is the permanent position secured in the tabernacle and the system is maintained in a living way by the priests.
LES Is there a link with what we had in our previous reading in that Peter in his epistle brings forward the priesthood first and then goes on to the house of God later?
JT That is what I thought, and Acts 2 gives us the inauguration of the system. Christ being at the right hand of God received from the Father the Spirit of the Father, as it says, “Having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this which ye behold and hear”. What [p. 203] was manifest before the eyes of men was thus explained. Peter being used to set out the truth of the inaugural position; and now in writing to persons of the dispersion he mentions the fact that though far away from Jerusalem and separated from all God’s original arrangements and personnel, yet they were a holy nation there among the gentiles. They had their High Priest, for though dispersed they carried on the service of God by Jesus Christ.
These chapters in Exodus are written to instruct us in detail as to Christ in ourselves, for we are not dealing with something at a distance, indeed there is something that exists at the present moment in this room for Christ and for God. God would impress us with the greatness of the priestly family, Aaron and his sons. Chapter 28 speaks of the garments of the high priest and also of the sons of Aaron, but is very brief about the latter. The chapter is expressive of God’s thoughts, every item they wore expressed something of God, something to dignify and consecrate Him in: our thoughts; that is what the garments really mean. And then chapter 29 is to bring out how the priests were anointed as thus garbed. Underlying the anointing are the thoughts of God, the dignity and holiness attached to the priestly family, and so it is incumbent on each one of us to be sure that we belong to that family and to associate ourselves with our Aaron as the great High Priest above.
LES Would judgment beginning at the house of God refer to the priestly side being seen?
JT It is a time of judgment and Peter alludes to that in chapter 4, “The time of having the judgment begin from the house of God is come”. We are the house as well as being the priests. Have you something else to say about the judgment?
LES Is the judgment based on the priestly side being in evidence?
[p. 204] JT Yes, the judgment was discerned in the Urim and Thummim; the idea of lights and perfections is suggested by them. It is through them that matters of judgment in the assembly are solved.
CT In chapters 28 and 29 is the thought in priesthood the thought of service?
JT That is right, it is a good key note in both chapters. We are helped in the service in this wonderful dignity.
ANW Is the reference in Peter to our being built up in relation to the development of the work of God in our souls, or is it the maintenance of the house all through time?
JT I suppose Peter was informing them that the position in which they were thus addressed should be kept in mind because they were dispersed, the word was “to the sojourners of the dispersion”. That would mean that they had been Jews and had become christians, but still had the land and thoughts of Israel in mind though they had been ousted from that position and were dispersed among the gentiles. Peter was impressing on them that they were not losing anything at all, because they really are themselves unofficially what had been at Jerusalem; they had everything among themselves as dispersed. That would not apply to gentile believers because they never had anything to do with Jerusalem; they were not scattered but were right where they had been brought up, whereas the Jews were dispersed from some other place, many of them from Jerusalem itself where the temple was. So Peter was telling them that they were themselves the temple and the priesthood, and that the service of God must be carried on by them.
ANW In reality they had lost nothing but had gained as becoming christians, and the work of God is carried forward in them.
[p. 205] JT That is the point. The dispersion is an allusion to the government of God, for every Jewish person is suffering under the hand of God in that regard, and the more he suffers the more the Lord will take account of him. Peter’s epistles were to impress this upon the Jewish christians in those provinces. It does not say that Peter laboured in his work of instructing the saints; the word ‘laboured’ is connected very much with Paul, but Peter in teaching the Jews would turn their minds to Exodus, like the Lord Himself in His discourse on the way to Emmaus. He would open up this chapter and other chapters in Exodus to them, and now that is our privilege, we can speak from these scriptures to one another. It must be exceedingly interesting to heaven that we so far away in the West can turn to these passages that Peter would have used.
LES The link here with Peter is remarkable, and then you referred to Paul, which makes one think of what is said about his movements in regard to Bithynia, that “the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them” to go there. The Spirit of Jesus would be connected with the anointing oil, the myrrh and suffering.
JT Quite so. You mean that Paul had laboured among the dispersion and now the Spirit of Jesus would have him labour in Europe, which is in principle labouring in America, because America is Europe extended. The Spirit of Jesus turned him this way, the man in Macedonia representing the gentiles of the West, as he says, “Pass over into Macedonia and help us”, Acts 16: 9.
Rem It is important that before Peter speaks of the great character that attaches to the people of God he stresses the movement of souls toward Christ and the idea of a functioning priesthood. It is not based on birth, because we are not born into the priestly [p. 206] family.
JT We can only take up the type here of Aaron and his sons. His daughters have a place too according to Leviticus, so the priesthood is really a family, not born but called. It is called in the same way that Aaron is called. But then in addition Christ is constituted a Priest for ever according to the order of Melchisedec. But Melchisedec had no children, which brings him personally into greater relief. The way it is set out in Hebrews is intended to bring Jesus into great prominence, so Melchisedec is just himself with no father, no mother, no beginning of days nor end of life, and he abides a priest continually. We may look with profit at the way Paul treats of this subject of priesthood and it will not interfere with our line of thought. Undoubtedly Paul is the writer of Hebrews and so he is impressing the Jews in his epistle. Peter would look toward the East and write to Jewish christians, but Paul would look toward the West. He does not call the saints priests in Hebrews; only Christ is Priest, and I think when we are in the period of waning christianity our only hope is Christ, we should be filled with His greatness; “Such a high priest became us”, not as priests but as christians. Christ is the One from whom to learn priesthood in Hebrews, but Peter said as looking toward the East, “Yourselves also ... a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ”. No doubt Paul would endorse that with other terms, but he does not bring it forward in Hebrews.
EIE Would you say a word as to the difference between the Melchisedec and the Aaronic priesthoods?
JT The Melchisedec priesthood would bring out the greatness of Christ alone, without any family, so we are not sons of Melchisedec at all. It is a question in his case of how great a person he was, and how great the saints are to have such a High Priest,
“[p. 207] For such a high priest became us, holy, harmless, undefiled, separated from sinners, and become higher than the heavens”. That indicates how great the saints are.
ANW Peter would indicate a strong affinity between the living Stone and living stones. What is meant by the living stones?
JT Surely it is Peter’s line to introduce the thought of the living Stone and the living stones because Peter is a living stone according to what is said by Matthew, Peter meaning ‘a stone’.
JWD Shall we have any relation to the Melchisedec priesthood as such in the world to come?
JT He is not set with a family, and it is a question of how we come in under him. Aaron is the priest at the present time, from the standpoint of functioning. Aaron was a dying man, but Melchisedec is not so presented; he represents Christ personally as John would present Him. The book of Revelation, which is John’s volume about priesthood, says that Christ has “made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father”. We are made priests to God in Revelation 1, then we are priests of God and of Christ in chapter 20. It is perhaps applicable for us to look at the book of Revelation in connection with our subject. In chapter 20, verse 6, it says, “Blessed and holy he who has part in the first resurrection, over these the second death has no power; but they shall be priests of God and of the Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years”. In the first chapter John in his preamble says, “And from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us, and has washed us from our sins in his blood, and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father ...”. So we are priests in the first chapter, active priests toward Him; the thought is presented in the objective case; but in chapter 20 it [p. 208] is more that we are of God and of Christ; we are in relation to God family-wise. Whether it means that we are derived from or whether that we are belonging to God and Christ, in any case it establishes our status there. In chapter 5 we have another set of saints, and verse 10 says He has “made them to our God kings and priests; and they shall reign over the earth”; so that the book has priesthood in mind applying to ourselves and also to others later. The Melchisedec function is to be all millennial and he is not stated to have any children or family or even any parents.
Ques In these thoughts of John in chapter 1 it is “priests to ... God”, and in chapter 20 “priests of God”. Does that correspond with Peter’s thoughts of the holy priesthood on the one hand and the royal priesthood on the other?
JT You might say that. The link with Christ is remarkable, and in the millennium we shall have a priestly place of course. Ezekiel opens up much as to the actual service in that day before God, the priesthood there being related to Zadok; he is the priest in that setting and not Melchisedec, the allusion being to a person who was victorious under David. The link is with that, I think, because he was one who suffered loyally, allying himself with David in his time of affliction.
R Will you say a word as to sonship? It does not come in with the Melchisedec priesthood, does it?
JT Oh, yes. The One who said He was a Priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec saluted Him as Son in Hebrews, and He is saluted as Priest by God according to Psalm 110.
Ques Does the verse help that says, “Our Lord has sprung out of Juda”, Hebrews 7: 14?
JT That is suggestive of His sonship. But Melchisedec is a different order of priesthood from the line established in Levi; he stands alone as alluding [p. 209] to Christ, just as John pictures His uniqueness in his gospel; having neither father nor mother, nor beginning of days, nor end of life, he abides a Priest continually. He is a divine Person and stands alone. But He is not to stand alone as to christianity because we are associated with Him in the family sense according to the Aaronic viewpoint, and so Exodus is a type generally of christianity, it is the present time.
GAT Do you look at the saints as together in a general way as a kingdom of priests?
JT We are made a kingdom, it is a political thought. The idea is that He has made us a kingdom, and priests; priests are a distinct thought. The idea of a kingdom in that sense is that we have power to go on, the shout of a king is among the saints. We are not protected by any earthly means, but we are protected morally and spiritually; we cannot count on man’s kingdom to protect us.
T Does the kingdom suggest power to maintain the rights of God?
JT Yes, to maintain them in a spiritual way, and you may be put to death in doing it. The Lord said we are not to fear those who kill the body; they cannot go beyond that, but the kingdom enables me to go through victoriously even as Christ who was slain in His victory. What we get in Acts 7 really depicts the power of the kingdom, that Stephen knelt down and prayed as they were stoning him and said, “Lord, lay not this sin to their charge”. The kingdom would give you moral power to be victorious; the Lord said to Smyrna, “Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give to thee the crown of life”.
GAT Would what you say now be the kingdom of God made good in our souls?
JT It is what we are conscious of, and there should be power in our souls so that we are not overpowered by [p. 210] circumstances.
CT Is it a different thought in Revelation 5 where it speaks of God’s kings and priests?
JT That alludes to the saints that are coming after us: “the things that are about to be after these” alludes to chapter 4 and onward, so it has in mind the Lamb on the throne and how He makes kings and priests to God in that day.
JWD Does it suggest that there is a common bond between all families in the Revelation?
JT Yes, so that though the book itself is dealing mainly with what is future from chapter 4 to 19, yet viewed in that way as treating of ourselves and of what is coming after us it is a binding book. The assemblies have the book and yet the remnant in a coming day has a link with us. Anybody that persecutes the Jews will have to answer for it, just as God has said that anybody who touches Cain cannot do it with impunity. Even though he has a curse on him God has not lost sight of him.
EIE Would it help our young brothers at the tribunals if they would think of themselves as part of a kingdom of priests?
JT That is the thing. We are able to pray for the tribunals and their members, but the young men are morally greater than they. The idea is foreseen in Romans where God has made us a kingdom and we “reign in life”. Christians “reign in life”; that is the kingdom for every one of us; the life enjoyed in Christ is a part of the gospel and it makes us victorious in all circumstances, especially before the tribunals. They are reigning, but so are we reigning and we reign by suffering, “We are put to death all the day long ... but in all these things we more than conquer through him that has loved us”, Romans 8: 36, 37.
GAT Would Paul before Agrippa support that thought? He says, “I count myself happy”, and he wished that all were like him.
JT Quite so; “I would to God ... all who have heard me this day, should become such as I also am, except these bonds”, Acts 26: 29.
RG “All are yours; and ye are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s”, 1 Corinthians 3: 22, 23.
JT That is the position; reigning is manifest in the kingdom and it belongs to each one of us.
R Does Paul have that in view when he says, “The sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the coming glory to be revealed to us”, Romans 8: 18?
JT Just so, the position is to make us independent in every way of things here.
JB Would the greatness of Jacob be seen in that regard as he blessed Pharaoh in the spirit of the anointing?
JT Yes, quite so; Jacob and all the other anointed ones are superior.
ANW So that on the kingly side we set forth the excellencies of Him who has called us.
JT I think all that is very applicable at the present time. I may be a prisoner at the hand of men, but I am free; if I am a priest I am reigning.
GAT I know we do not show what we should; at the tests we are weak.
JT That is to be owned by all of us but the Lord and the Spirit add Their help to our weakness so that we should not fail. If we are in doubt what to do the Lord will make a decision for us: this help is all in the system that God has set up so that we shall reign in life. But now that is a general outlook on the matter and what we are engaged with particularly is the anointing, the priesthood, and the oil by which the priesthood is anointed. First of all we have, “This is the thing which thou shalt do to them to hallow them, that they may serve me as priests, take one young bullock, and two rams without blemish, and unleavened bread, and unleavened [p. 212] cakes mingled with oil, and unleavened wafers anointed with oil — of wheaten flour shalt thou make them. And thou shalt put them into one basket, and present them in the basket, with the bullock and the two rams”. All this refers to redemption and then, “Aaron and his sons thou shalt bring near”, which means that they are to be served, “and shalt bathe them with water”. The idea of death was there; God as incarnate in Christ came by water and blood, “And thou shalt take the garments, and clothe Aaron with the vest, and the cloak of the ephod, and the ephod, and the breastplate, and shalt gird him with the girdle of the ephod. And thou shalt put the turban upon his head, and fasten the holy diadem to the turban, and shalt take the anointing oil, and pour it on his head, and anoint him”. The first great matter, after redemption is provided for, is that Aaron is by himself; he is pre-eminent in all things, even in the anointing. In chapter 40, which we had in our previous reading, it says the sons were to be anointed as he was anointed, but he was anointed by himself. In type Christ is anointed by Himself “with the oil of gladness” above His companions, and that is important, for He must always have pre-eminence.
GAT Is that why you started yesterday with the Lord being anointed?
JT He is not seen as anointed for the service of God in what we had yesterday; it was rather what He was doing towards man that was in mind. What we read here is more in relation to service God-ward. He is to serve Me, God says, in the priest’s office; Christ is pre-eminent in that. And then further, “Thou shalt bring his sons near, and clothe them with the vests. And thou shalt gird them with the girdle — Aaron and his sons” — Aaron is kept separate — “and bind the high caps on them; and the priesthood shall be theirs for an everlasting statute; and thou shalt consecrate Aaron and his sons”.
[p. 213] Although anointed separately, he is still linked with his sons as our Lord Jesus is with us.
TU Is there any link with the reference in Peter to offering “spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God”, 1 Peter 2: 5?
JT That is what is in mind. If Peter had five readings as we are having here you may be sure he would turn to Exodus, and so we are on sure ground in linking what Peter had then with this book.
TU In the epistle of Peter is there any feature of priestly service where we function without Christ?
JT I do not think so. We ought to offer everything, whatever it is, in the name of the Lord Jesus and He presents our prayers according to the figure in Revelation 8: “that he might give efficacy to the prayers of all saints at the golden altar which was before the throne”.
TU What about addressing the Father or God in the morning meeting? Some brothers finish ‘in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ’ and some finish abruptly, without reference to Him.
JT That would be a question of scriptural example. In all courts they allude to precedents which have been accepted; and in regard to assembly matters, we have precedents set out in the book of Acts so that we can go by them. The thought is that everything is presented to God in the name of the Lord Jesus, “For through him we have both access by one Spirit to the Father”. That is, the Spirit is active as we present things through the Mediator to God, and that is the general principle; we do not do anything without Him.
TU What would you say about Romans 11, where Paul says “Amen”, without referring to Christ? Is it permissible either way?
JT Whatever Scripture warrants is acceptable. God has confidence that if we are omitting the name of the Lord Jesus we are not forgetting Him.
[p. 214] R Would it be covered by the scripture, “And everything, whatever ye may do in word or in deed, do all things in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father by him”, Colossians 3: 17?
JT That is a good reference. Now to get to the gist of this chapter, the sons are brought in in verses 8 and 9. It is a long chapter and we cannot enter into it all, but in verse 21 we have further allusion to redemption for that must be the basis of our anointing. “And thou shalt take of the blood that is upon the altar, and of the anointing oil, and sprinkle it on Aaron, and on his garments, and on his sons, and on the garments of his sons with him; and he shall be hallowed, and his garments, and his sons, and his sons’ garments with him”. There we have Christ and the saints. His pre-eminence is already fixed in our minds in the early part of the chapter so now God has confidence in us that the service can go on with due allowance for the dignity of Christ.
ANW How does the anointing of Christ typically stand in relation to the statement, “He that sanctifies and those sanctified are all of one”, Hebrews 2: 11?
JT That passage is a near thought to priesthood for though we do not have the actual word we have the suggestion of it. Indeed it really refers to priesthood although the word ‘sanctifies’ serves the purpose; it is a question of the Person of Christ. In John 12 the corn of wheat falls into the ground and dies and as it does it bears much fruit; it is an agricultural thought to show that we are one with Christ, we are of a kind with Him, the Sanctifier.
GAT Does it not also say, He “has anointed thee with oil of gladness above thy companions”, Hebrews 1: 9?
JT Yes, and it is to bring out that the writer is bent on establishing in our souls the supremacy and superiority and pre-eminence of Christ in every connection.
[p. 215] To return to our chapter, what is to be noted is the importance of the garments. In verse 21 they have a great place as gathering up the teaching of chapter 28, “And thou shalt take of the blood that is upon the altar, and of the anointing oil, and sprinkle it on Aaron, and on his garments, and on his sons, and on the garments of his sons with him”. Now this raises the whole thought of garments. God says in Luke 15, “Bring out the best robe”, put divine thoughts on the saints, clothe them with My thoughts; that is what is in mind. It is a question of what God’s thoughts are about us, how we are regarded by Him.
Rem Psalm 133 speaks of brethren dwelling together in unity and then, “the precious oil upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, upon Aaron’s beard, that ran down to the hem of his garments”.
JT Yes, it ran down to the hem; that would mean that the holy anointing oil running down to Aaron’s hem would beautify his person. It is for beautification. And the beard is not merely to keep him warm; it is beautification also, but it is entirely disregarded in modern times. The oil runs down to the hem, suggesting a finished matter; the garment is not loose but it is hemmed, referring, I believe, to Christ and the assembly; it is a finished matter.
CT I suppose that although Aaron’s garments were set off by themselves, yet his sons’ garments would be like his.
JT They would correspond. Chapter 28 is largely about Aaron, but the sons come in just at the end and what is stressed is their high caps. Aaron has a turban, alluding to the wonderful intelligence of Christ; but the sons are high-capped and they have linen breeches, meaning that there is the negation of all earthly activities. Whatever way you look at the garments, the anointing is on all. God is anointing these qualities.
[p. 216] Ques When you speak of the negation of fleshly tendencies have you in mind that in Leviticus 21 we have two words used in connection with Aaron’s progeny, his “sons” and his “seed”? The word ‘seed’ is used as distinguishing certain ones who had fleshly disabilities or disqualifications. How do such disabilities come about?
JT Are you thinking of difficulties with persons due to the working of will in themselves? Those disqualifications would be something in themselves; but sons of Aaron would be the full thought in the priestly family, and even his daughters are included. That is the family side more, the dignity side. But in these two chapters the garments are stressed, conveying what God’s thoughts are about this matter.
JWD We should have ability to think of the saints in that way.
JT That is the point; I can clothe you and you can clothe me with divine thoughts, not party thoughts but divine thoughts. God is able to speak of people abstractly and to disregard all outward defects. In John’s epistle it says, “Every one begotten of God does not sin”, (1 John 5: 18); these are wonderful thoughts to extend to the saints and to one another.
LES Is there a link with Acts 20, “the assembly of God, which he has purchased with the blood of his own”? Would that fit in with these thoughts of the blood?
JT Quite so, it refers to His own blood, Christ’s blood. It is helpful in our everyday relations one with another if we are able to extend divine thoughts to the brethren. I shall love them if I can clothe them with the thoughts of God, but if I do not do it I shall not respect them.
AWJr You mentioned sisters earlier, and in Peter it speaks about the wives and feminine apparel, “whose adorning let it not be that outward one of [p. 217] tressing of hair, and wearing gold, or putting on apparel; but the hidden man of the heart, in the incorruptible ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which in the sight of God is of great price”, 1 Peter 3: 3, 4.
JT In that chapter we have the wife praying; “Ye husbands ... giving them honour, as also fellow-heirs of the grace of life, that your prayers be not hindered”, 1 Peter 3: 7. So the wife comes into the prayers and that sets out priesthood in function. Husbands are to dwell with their wives according to knowledge, “that your prayers be not hindered”; meaning that the wives are the daughters of Aaron, having part in priesthood.
JWD We think of the saints in this exalted way in regard to the morning meeting almost exclusively, but we need to look at them in that light all the time.
JT It is an immense subject for investigation as applying to the assembly meeting. On the Lord’s day how do we sit down together in relation to one another? What are our thoughts in relation to the brethren? One sister said, I could not listen to the prayer because I was watching the feather on another sister’s hat. She was lost to the service; she was not thinking on the prayer, not occupied with the priestly garments.
JB In Kings it speaks of the keeper of the wardrobe.
JT All matters of clothing come under what we are saying, and there are many references to it, but no other chapters say so much as these do. The whole of chapter 28 is about the high priest except one or two verses, for God is always clothing Christ so that He may have the first place in our hearts. When we think of the linen breeches the suggestion is of the priest restraining the flesh, because linen has a cooling, non-irritating effect on the skin. We should [p. 218] be sober and not too enthusiastic about anything, even spiritual thoughts. What we want is divine thoughts, and not one thought only, for you cannot clothe persons with just one thought.
R Your statement regarding the saints in the morning meeting is helpful. All that we do there should be in the power of the Spirit, even the giving out of hymns and the way they are started.
JT Yes, the thing is to be occupied with God’s thoughts. It is not then the time for mending things; it is the finished product, the hem of the garment that is in evidence as the service is going on.
JWD We are referring to service God-ward, are we not? How does the composition of the anointing oil, including the myrrh, link on with that?
JT The anointing oil is composed of myrrh, and two other ingredients half as much, and then cassia as much as myrrh. Is your question how that enters into the service of God? Do you not think that when we leave the dwellings of Jacob in the morning we realise that Satan has been ready in every dwelling to offset the right feelings of the saints so that they might be unequal to the service of God? To rectify that there is the system that God has set up with the Advocate above interceding for us, and the effect of that is to bring us back to what Christ was here. He was never upset; He went into Martha’s house and she criticised Him and He said, “Martha, Martha ...” and she was set right. So I am to set myself right before I leave the dwelling of Jacob; I am not upset by the systems which are around, I have my high cap on, my affections are free and pure, and I have power as suggested in the linen undergarments so that I can join in at once when I come to the assembly. I am thus able to think with God and to clothe that young sister or brother with divine thoughts. These are things for our souls to consider. And then the bread coming [p. 219] first in the service reminds us that “we being many, are one body”, and we clothe ourselves in that way.
GAT As coming under the influence of the anointing oil we can do that.
JT That is the point, we come under the influence of the oil and we are reigning in life and are thus able to take part in the assembly in liberty and power.
CT Do I understand that as I leave my home I am to consider my garments?
JT Yes, get into priestly trim or else you will not be able to take part in priestly power in the assembly.
We should look now at the end of this chapter because it is of prime importance. Verse 43 says, “There will I meet with the children of Israel; and it shall be hallowed by my glory. And I will hallow the tent of meeting, and the altar; and I will hallow Aaron and his sons, that they may serve me as priests”. This is a fixed matter, all according to priesthood, so that God’s affairs are taken care of. So when the time comes in the service we are able to use the right hymn; there is a time for everything and the time for singing requires not only the right tune but the right words. The priests are all anointed so that there is praise right from the start. Then in Psalm 133 we see that it is a finished matter because there is the hem of the garment. The next psalm brings in the priest and it is the last song of degrees. That is how matters stand in the assembly, a hymn is given out and we know how it is to be sung, and then we proceed with the bread and cup and what follows on that, because we know there are other glories to follow; and so we go up, and finally we go out on the upper level, not on the lower.
UOG So that what follows is beautiful, “And they shall know that I am Jehovah their God”. Would that be the [p. 220] outcome of it?
JT Yes, God is now among us.
LES So while priesthood does not go through into eternity in its official setting, yet the persons are there; and the fulness of it would be seen here, as it says in Revelation 21: 3, “God himself shall be with them, their God”.
JT Beautiful! What incentive there is for our service in all that, and what may be reached so that the position is fixed and the priesthood carried on! God can trust the priests.
GAT Is there a higher thought than priests in the morning meeting?
JT Yes, priesthood is only to meet the corrupting conditions in which we still are; but in eternity there will be no need for priesthood. The priests protect the position to keep out evil, and they are intelligent in knowing what to do.
GT Is priesthood based on sonship?
JT Sonship is the greater thought, it is a family matter.
AB The holy garments would protect us from surrounding evils.
JT That is the idea; the point in priesthood is that things are kept pure and in power.
AB In Zechariah Joshua the high priest was clothed with filthy garments, but those that stood by were told to take them off him and put on festival robes.
JT This chapter has a most stimulating finish as we bring it down to ourselves. “And they shall know that I am Jehovah their God, who have brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, to dwell in their midst: I am Jehovah their God”.
CT So the whole thought is that God has done this, He has brought us out.
JT Yes, and He tells us here why He did it — that He might dwell with us. It is a great incentive to make way for Him and to understand this wonderful matter of priesthood, anointed priesthood.