THE HOLY SPIRIT IN RELATION TO THE TYPES OF THE ASSEMBLY (1)
[p. 264] THE HOLY SPIRIT IN RELATION TO THE TYPES OF THE ASSEMBLY (1)
JT In considering now the several types of the assembly, it is thought to be occupied with the attendant circumstances in each type which are of particular importance, especially the suggestions of the activities of the Holy Spirit in connection with the types of the assembly. In this chapter we have much that points to the Spirit of God, especially in His refreshing and fructifying power. The moistening in verse 6 is to be noted. We are told that “a mist went up from the earth, and moistened the whole surface of the ground. And Jehovah Elohim formed Man, dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and Man became a living soul”. Following that we have the greatest type of the assembly, that is Eve. The assembly as viewed in Eve is seen apart from sin. Sin had not yet come into the earth, and God would give us a view of the assembly apart from sin, for that is how she will appear eternally. In the measure in which the Holy Spirit is recognised in His varied activities we may now arrive at an understanding of the assembly thus viewed in a sinless condition. It may be thought by some that we should begin with the lower types of the assembly, but it seems to be better to proceed as God gives it to us. He begins at the top and gives us a type of the assembly as it will go on eternally without any question of sin ever having been attached to it. Paul alludes to this when he says, “I speak as to Christ, and as to the assembly”. That is what was in his mind, we may say, throughout the epistle to the Ephesians. That epistle looks into eternity and the Spirit now, I think, would help us to begin thus, and then work down to the other types so that we [p. 265] may see how the assembly fits into the conditions resulting from sin.
AEH Do you think that the prominence of the will of God in the Ephesians would fit in in this chapter?
JT I think that is the thought. Moistening makes us amenable so that God can operate in us unhinderedly according to His will. The moistening, as you will observe, was from the earth itself. The Holy Spirit is not here viewed as sent down from heaven, but as here in a scene in which Christ and the assembly appear. We could not have Christ and the assembly rightly viewed as one subject aside from the presence of the Holy Spirit here, and then we see it in the form of the river, parted into four heads, the universal sphere from which the assembly is drawn, drawn in such spiritual power.
WB-w Does the mist refer to the activity of the Holy Spirit here now?
JT Well, you cannot have Christ and the assembly, aside from the activity of the Holy Spirit here.
ANW Say a word as to how that develops from the Spirit hovering over the face of the waters.
JT That was to bring order out of chaos. “The earth was waste and empty, and darkness was on the face of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters”. The darkness was negative; you can make nothing out of darkness, but waters are a positive thought and the Holy Spirit hovered over the face of the waters. Beneath the waters is the earth, which is to come up out of it. It is the Holy Spirit active in a feeling way in that passage on account of the chaos, but that is all past in our chapter. Chapter 2 is radiant with glory in the Holy Spirit being here, operating in a positive [p. 266] way.
HB I wonder if that is why we get the expression “out of” so frequently in the chapter. “Out of the ground”, “out of Eden”, “out of Man”.
JT That is very good. What is there in principle is being developed. We read later that the earth is the Lord’s and the fulness. The fulness comes out of what is there in principle.
Ques What would the moistening correspond to in the New Testament?
JT Well, I would say it is the activities of the Spirit in order to make material plastic in the hands of God. Instead of the resistance of the natural will we have what is subject or plastic in God’s hands. I would connect it with new birth. You take any person who becomes a positive subject of the work of God, you can see the mellowing subjective condition that arises from the sovereign action of the Spirit. The best example would be Saul of Tarsus; how changed he became. “What shall I do, Lord?” It is a question of subjection, a complete change in the texture of the person. We do not get any rain until the deluge in this book. It comes in in a positive way from heaven, but this moistening, I think, is to bring out what was in the sphere in which God was about to operate, and is now operating in a positive way. The earth comes in on the third day, brought up out of the waters, and it has life of itself. It says in verse nine of the first chapter, “And God said, Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together to one place, and let the dry land appear. And it was so”. The point is, “let the dry land appear”. “God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering together of the waters he called Seas”. This is a plural thought, but the earth is one great thought, “And God saw that it was good. And God said, Let the earth cause grass to spring up, herb producing seed, fruit trees yielding fruit after their kind, the seed of which is in them,
[p. 267] on the earth. And it was so. And the earth brought forth grass, herb producing seed after its kind, and trees yielding fruit, the seed of which is in them, after their kind”. Attention is called to what was there latently. The power of life is there. Typically that must allude to the Spirit in the New Testament, the operations of the Spirit in humanity, so that it becomes material for God to use.
AR So the first thing in chapter 2 is the formation of a man. Will you say something about that?
JT “And Jehovah Elohim formed Man, dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and Man became a living soul”. This is the full thought — he became a living soul by the breath of God. That is the Spirit in another way, breathing into his nostrils the breath of God. I think that John’s writings would serve us in this subject because, beginning with new birth, he develops the truth abstractly. He shows how we reach a state of complete correspondence with Christ, both in the gospel and in the epistles.
DrS The forming follows the moistening; but in chapter one we have the creation of man.
JT Formation is in view in the moistening. When it is said he was made out of the dust of the earth, that would be the radical thought. The thought runs back to state before the moistening. The word ‘dust’ is not a dignified thought, but here it is what material was there in the earth. It is not useless dust, but what material was there, what came out of the waters in the earth.
SMcC In John 3, to which you have referred as to new birth, the Lord says to Nicodemus, “If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not”; I wonder if that is not linked with that here in the earth?
JT It is what is in the earth, I think, that God is pointing to, what He has in the earth already.
[p. 268] There is nothing worked out in the heavenlies until after the flood. It is what God had here.
SMcC So that, the Lord in conversing with Nicodemus did not begin by unfolding to him the heavenly system, but referred to the operations connected with the earthly side.
JT Yes, it was to bring out what was there. The heavenly has its place in the counsels of God because the Word says so, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth”. But it does not continue as to the heavens, but the earth. “And the earth was waste and empty, and darkness was on the face of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters”. The Spirit of God was not brooding in regard of the heavens. They are left for the moment. It is a question of what God is going to work out here in the earth, which was submerged for the moment, but would soon come to life, and is designated as dry land.
CAM Inasmuch as this chapter begins with the Sabbath and rest, is it right to look at this as done potentially before any adverse thing comes in at all?
JT That is the idea, I think, that the earth was there before; the earth was there even before the catastrophe. The catastrophe took place, but the earth is not destroyed. It had been submerged, but it is brought up out of the waters, and the material is there that God can use, and He now uses it for the highest purpose, that is, for the formation of Man.
AR It would appear that God was operating on the earth, and the breathing would indicate that He was nearby.
JT He is operating with the earth. He is using it for the accomplishment of His designs, and therefore, a mist went up out of it. It is what was there. Then there is the formation, and then the breathing [p. 269] into his nostrils so that Man became a living soul without any reference to heaven at all.
AB Is your thought that the dust of the ground is the potential material for the service of the Spirit?
JT That is what is stated, going back to the very radical material; it is not simply moistened dust, but it is just dust. The moistening is to bring it into a plastic condition which God can use, but the thought goes back to what it was before the moistening.
Ques How would you compare the thought of dust here with the reference in Ecclesiastes, where it says, “Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was”, Ecclesiastes 12: 7?
JT Well, that is judicial. God Himself said here in Genesis 3, “Out of it [the ground] wast thou taken. For dust thou art; and unto dust shalt thou return”. I do not think the word ‘dust’ has the same import in each case, because other things had happened. When sin came in, the dust took on a different character. The dust is said to be the serpent’s meat, but as it was, as it came out of the waters, it is a different matter.
ANW Have you said that the woman was made of better material than the man?
JT That is true; she was “out of a man”. Here Genesis 2, it is not simply man as a creature, but as a figure of Christ. We cannot, of course, apply all the details to Christ, but, still, it is the fulness of God’s thought seen in this chapter, and you can have no fulness without bringing in Christ. Adam here is a type of Christ, and Eve (or Ishshah) is taken out of Ish; that is, a perfect being so far. She is built out of his rib, so that the material is different.
ABP As a result of the moistening process in John 9, the man goes when he is told to. “I went”, he says. Does that suggest the work of God? Whether it is the movement of the Spirit, or the [p. 270] movement of the Son, all is in relation to our spiritual progress.
JT Well, that helps. It links on with what we are speaking about. John 9, verse 6, says, “Having said these things, he spat on the ground and made mud of the spittle, and put the mud, as ointment, on his eyes”. Now we have the earth again. It is capable of use, by an infinite addition, that is the spittle of Christ, which is the divine essence, you might say, but still it is not the cursed ground. It alludes to the humanity of Christ, looking at it abstractly, and as in humanity, this wonderful cure is effected. The figure still holds. It is not looked at as cursed, nor is any of this transaction viewed in connection with sin at all. It is the abstract idea, as we have been saying.
WGT Would John 9 in that light link on with the thoughts in Genesis 2?
JT Exactly. There is a reference in Exodus 8: 16, to the dust of the earth becoming gnats. They are despicable creatures, but they refer to the saints. It is an abstract thought. There is no removal of this sign at all. The saints are really in mind in this allusion. God makes a difference between His saints and the Egyptians, after that sign. “Jehovah said to Moses, Say unto Aaron, Stretch out thy staff, and smite the dust of the earth, and it shall become gnats throughout the land of Egypt. And they did so; and Aaron stretched out his hand with his staff, and smote the dust of the earth, and there arose gnats on man and on beast: all the dust of the land became gnats throughout the land of Egypt. And the scribes did so with their sorceries, to bring forth gnats; but they could not. And the gnats were on man and on beast. Then the scribes said to Pharaoh, This is the finger of God! But Pharaoh’s heart was stubborn, and he hearkened not to them, as Jehovah had said”, Exodus 8: 16 - 19. That is, we [p. 271] have the testimony to life. Then in this chapter God says, “And I will distinguish in that day the land of Goshen, in which my people dwell, that no dog-flies shall be there; that thou mayest know that I Jehovah am in the midst of the land. And I will put a separation between my people and thy people; tomorrow shall this sign be”. There is no removal of this sign. It continues. It is the positive power of life in the testimony.
JTJr Peter, Andrew, and Nathaniel come into view in John 1. Would they link on with the thought you have in mind, what is going on in the soul?
JT Yes. Christ is seen there at first by John the baptist’s testimony. John says, ‘He was before me’. He stood in the midst of them and witnessed that “this is the Son of God”. Christ becomes the object for following, and then we have Andrew going for Simon, and Simon designated as Cephas, which is another abstract thought, referring to material for the assembly. They are all viewed in that way. John has that in mind throughout.
LES In Isaiah 42: 5 referring to God he says, “He that spread forth the earth and its productions, he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein”: and later on in chapter 43: 7, “Even every one that is called by my name: for I have created him for my glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him”. Would that fit in?
JT It would, indeed. Israel would come out in this way by divine formation. No people, no branch of the human race, has gone through more ploughing and harrowing than Israel, but God will bring out a wonderful product here on earth, and in the millennial day. The product will be the handiwork [p. 272] of God.
WB-w Mark tells us that the earth bears fruit of itself. Is that the potential thought in the earth? God worked out that in man.
JT Yes, that is the thought. It is what is in the earth. Now having the great thought before us of Christ seen typically in Adam, which is really the theme of Scripture (Romans 5: 14), we go on to Paul’s word in Ephesians 5. “I speak as to Christ, and as to the assembly”. That is the theme right through. Scripture begins with that. The last verses of the Bible call attention to Christ and the assembly, so that it is a question for us to look into, how this condition, a sinless state in the assembly, can be possible. The assembly as a counterpart of Christ is viewed abstractly as sinless, but we have to inquire how that is possible inasmuch as sin has come into the world. I believe we see that it is in the power of the Spirit operating here below. In Genesis 2: 10, we are told that “a river went out of Eden, to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became four main streams”. It was a great volume of water capable of being sub-divided into four heads, and we know by the rivers that can now be located, that they were no small streams.
WB-w Referring again to the sinless state, the last verse of Ephesians says, “All them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in incorruption”. God would have what answers to that now.
JT That is the idea. All the pressure in the world is to bring about such a state in us. Of course, we can never be sinless here in a concrete sense; but through the Spirit’s operations, God is entitled to regard us thus abstractly, and we are to be characterised by love to our Lord Jesus Christ in incorruption. Incorruption is the state of our eternal condition. We are to be raised in incorruption. So that you can see that what is going on today is to [p. 273] bring us nearer and nearer to heavenly and divine requirements.
Rem We should be greatly hampered in the service of God if we had not the ability to view the assembly in this abstract way.
JT I do not think we could carry it on rightly otherwise. The types in Leviticus contemplate that we are to be apart as sanctified persons. As priests we are to be filled with the consecration offering. It is the consecrated person; and there is the nazarite. They both have to be regarded separately, but they refer to the same person.
Rem I was going to ask if the man in John 9 represents this kind of material — “Neither has this man sinned nor his parents”. You see a full abstract thought in this kind of person, who carries on under these conditions as a worshipper.
JT That is right. The Lord brings in that. The disciples say, “Who sinned, this man or his parents?”. Naturally, we cannot get out of the idea of somebody sinning. The Lord says, “Neither has this man sinned nor his parents, but that the works of God should be manifested in him”. That governs the chapter, and then there is the use of the ground by the Lord to make mud. The word ‘mud’ is remarkable. It conveys what is there. There is nothing degraded in it because the word ‘anointing’ lifts it into dignity. It refers to the humanity of Christ, which is, of course, absolutely sinless, and we are to be brought into that sinless condition.
WGT Would the bringing in of the thought of his father and his mother, there, represent a sinless generation abstractly?
JT The Lord is viewing him in that way. He is not connecting sin with what happened at all. We ought to learn how to be abstract.
[p. 274] Ques Do you think that some may have the idea that an abstract thought is an imaginary one that has no real meaning or substance behind it?
JT I am sure that is true. When one uses the word, one wonders how much it is understood, but how can we abstract ourselves from a sinful condition, a mixed condition which Galatians contemplates in a christian, aside from the power of the Holy Spirit? No effort of the mind will do it. It must be by the power of the Spirit.
CAM The last verse of Ephesians reads, “Grace with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in incorruption”. He was speaking of various things that were found among the saints. The “all them” would enter into that and would be viewed abstractly.
JT Thank God for that. There are many who can be so regarded.
AR By allowing the Holy Spirit to operate in a meeting like this, do we not touch what is abstract?
JT Well, we may. We certainly ought to in regard of the things we are saying. We have no other thought — them “that love our Lord Jesus Christ in incorruption”. The river running through Eden would suggest the power to lift you above what is dormant or dead. It is remarkable, the effect of a river in any district through which it runs. It is life-giving to the surrounding territories. The power is in the movement of the waters.
CHH Would Moses in Numbers 21 refer to the gift of the Spirit? Then the abstract thought comes out in Balaam’s prophecy.
JT That has a very strong bearing on what we are saying, “Spring up, O well; sing ye unto it”. There is entire occupation with the Spirit, and the prophesies of Balaam follow that. The serpent lifted up in Numbers 21 is the condemnation of sin in the flesh; so that there is means whereby the conscience [p. 275] is set free and the power of sin is not felt. Abstractly, we are to enter into the thought of a sinless condition in order to enter into the assembly service Godward; the assembly must be sinless to be a counterpart of Christ. It is a question of how we reach that state. There is teaching in the volume of waters contemplated here.
LES Referring to the thought of substance; the apostle in Corinthians refers to himself as knowing — “I know a man in Christ” — do you think there is substance there?
JT “I know a man in Christ” — not ‘I knew’, but “I know”. The man in Christ continued always with him, but the experience he had fourteen years before, established that spiritually he could be out of the limitations of the body. He said he did not know whether he was in the body or out of the body, but he clearly indicates the spiritual possibilities. You could not get that ordinarily. There is no such reference in the Old Testament. It is only in christianity that it is possible.
CDeB John speaks of our being “begotten of God”.
JT That is right. John has the abstract view, and in chapter 20 of his gospel, where the saints are in view, he tells us that the Lord said to Mary, “Go to my brethren and say to them, I ascend to my Father and your Father, and to my God and your God”. The earlier teaching, in chapter 12 says “Except the grain of wheat falling into the ground die, it abides alone; but if it die, it bears much fruit”. The “much fruit” is in accord. It is a sinless state of things.
AEH Does Colossians 2 connect with what you are saying, association with Christ and so on?
JT Yes. It says, “Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from [p. 276] the dead. And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses”, Colossians 2: 12, 13. Quickened with Him is association. Quickening is in life, so that “he that sanctifies and those sanctified are all of one”. It has often been remarked, but perhaps not taken in, that you cannot connect sin with that. It is an abstract state of things.
SMcC In Numbers 5, where the unfaithfulness of a wife is referred to, the jealousy of the man calls for cleansing. There is the holy water, and the dust of the floor of the tabernacle, put into it. Would there be any suggestions in that with what we are having?
JT I am not sure. I rather think that the curse is involved there. It is the bitter water that caused the curse. I rather think the dust there is on the floor of the tabernacle. It is not simply the dust you might gather out of the wilderness. The word does not always mean the same thing. It is a question of the context. The action in Numbers 5 is to bring to light sin. It is the jealousy offering, and it is the only place where you get holy water. It is remarkable, the ingredients of it. There is no effect. If there is purity, it does not damage. It brings to light evil if it is there. If there is no impurity, there is fruitfulness as the outcome of the trial. It is more like the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
AR Would the idea of correspondence in John be confirmed in the breathing into them?
JT Yes, that is right. We see the allusion to this incident. He breathes into them.
CAM Is not the trial of jealousy worked out in the epistle to the Corinthians?
JT That is right. The two epistles would cover that, but we should always keep in view the abstract, sinless state of things between Christ and the [p. 277] assembly, which is in the epistles. You must have that basically in order to have christianity and the service of God.
ANW Chapter 5 of the first epistle says, “Purge out the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, according as ye are unleavened”.
JT That is right; “as ye are unleavened”. In the second epistle we have, “So if anyone be in Christ, there is a new creation; the old things have passed away”.
CHH Leviticus 11 speaks of a spring or well that cannot be defiled.
JT Yes, where there is plenty of water. The fountain is the most effective thing: the power of life operative there so that it throws off the defilement. It maintains the abstract correspondence between Christ and the saints and I believe that is why the volume of water is here. The first thing you get is the result: Pison surrounds the whole land of Havilah where the gold is. That is what God has in mind. Gold is the purest of metals. This encircling has in mind the keeping of the gold — encircling it and where it is.
WB-w Is it in mind that the Spirit is flowing out universally in the four heads of this river?
JT Yes. It is what is on the earth here. Christ here and the Spirit here, and the assembly here. It is a wonderful triumph for God to have this state of things, but how can it be without the power of the Spirit. It is flowing power, and it is universal, because it is parted into four heads. I think the Acts bring out the encircling power, how the Spirit Himself brings into evidence His own activities, but the first thing that they heard is violent breathing. Power was involved and persons were affected. The mockers said they were full of new wine; they betrayed themselves there. Peter begins his gospel, the first gospel really preached after the Spirit came,
[p. 278] and he descends to the thought of the mockers. It is a most remarkable thing. The Holy Spirit is here to meet opposition. But Peter says, “For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day”, Acts 2: 15. This is a wonderful thing, a positive thing, for the very mockers were a testimony to what was there. Some positive change had come in, so great a change in ordinary people that they looked to be drunk and were testifying to the truth unknowingly, and Peter brings it out. It was to bring out this great thing that was here. The public did not hear the sound. What they saw was these people and heard what they were saying. I think God is intimating what He was going to have down here to carry on His service and His testimony, and the Spirit here maintains the abstract thought.
AAT Was Paul being caught up an instance of one being abstracted?
JT He is just stating the thing that happened fourteen years before. The facts governing it imply what we have before us now, that christianity implies that a man may be in the body, or out of the body, and he may be abstracted in the body, so that he may be entirely free from what the body implies. The abstract is what is possible. There was a concrete case. If it was possible in him, it is possible in us. Why should he present it to the Corinthians, if it were not so? It was what he had experienced himself of christianity.
Ques Does the word in Psalm 24 fit in, “The earth is Jehovah’s, and the fulness thereof”?
JT That is one of the things that enter into what we are talking about. Genesis is fulness. The first chapter is a basic thought, “the earth”, and so that principle runs right through. God begins with a man in His mind, the basic thing; new birth, and [p. 279] the fulness follows.
ABP The commandment as to the tree was, “Thou shalt not eat of it”. Provision is made in this commandment that should preserve the conditions free from sin.
JT Yes, the sin is not contemplated as coming in yet. The idea of command or government will, of course, run through into eternity. There is no abrogation of law as a principle, it runs through even governing Christ and the assembly eternally, because the Son shall be subject, we are told. The volume of water here contemplates power to hold ourselves free from sin. All the epistles have in mind to keep the saints free from sin, even to the extent of abstractly withdrawing yourself from it. John says, “I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day”. He was completely superior to it.
WB-w “Where the gold is”, would indicate that in that condition of things the gold shows itself. Is that the idea?
JT That is the idea. The name of one river is Pison; “that is it which surrounds the whole land of Havilah, where the gold is. And the gold of that land is good”. And then there is the bdellium. It is another thought, but is the same idea of excellence which belongs to christianity. The onyx stone is also there in this encircling of the Spirit. Encircling would mean a continuous effect so that the good is all brought out.
LES We would have that in mind in regard of the Spirit in Corinthians where it says, “But all these things operates the one and the same Spirit, dividing to each in particular according as he pleases”, 1 Corinthians 12: 11.
JT I think so. That is the constant operation of the Spirit. How are we to be in correspondence with Christ without it? It is the continual encirclement going on in these meetings and ministry, and private devotion, that keeps us apart from sin, so [p. 280] that we are in accord with Christ, as John says in his epistle, “even as he is, we also are in this world”.
WB-w So the gold is always there. We need these meetings to bring out where the gold is. We need these occasions for it to show itself.
JT That is so. How important these meetings are, and we can thank God that they are becoming more frequent and better attended. But that gold should come to light is the motive that should underlie our being here, also the bdellium and the onyx are to be in our minds.
CDeB Why does it emphasise that “the gold of that land is good”?
JT It is christianity. I suppose it is what is good. God had said what He had been doing was good, but now it is the thing itself that is good. It is that land, the particular part encircled by the river.
RWS The Spirit of Jesus forbade Paul to go a certain way, not to go one way, but to go another way. Would that not precede these activities in Philippi?
JT Yes, he uses the word ‘circuit’. He says he went in a circuit round about from Jerusalem to Illyricum. He might have gone somewhere else, but the Spirit of Jesus suffered him not, and wanted him to come this way to bring out the gold. Ephesus is included in that.
RWS At Philippi the river was flowing. It would indicate what was in the place, the gold, bdellium, and onyx.
JT They were already there. The women were already meeting for prayer.
SMcC Paul speaks of his service among the nations as in the power of the Spirit of God, and he went from Jerusalem in a circuit round about and fully preached the glad tidings of Christ.
JT Very good. That is the basic epistle to the Romans, showing what we are at. The power of the Spirit brings it [p. 281] out.
C Psalm 45 speaks of the gold of Ophir.
JT Well, now you come down to another matter, and the gold became classified. When you come down to David’s time, particularly, there were more varieties and the varieties arose from districts where the gold came from. The gold of Ophir, for instance, and he gave himself a quantity of refined gold. The idea of gold became more and more enlarged on and varied, and the idea comes down to the Philippians. That is the great epistle for excellence. The excellence of things is spoken of in that book. I believe that Philippians is that which brings out the greatest classifications.
WR Would the gold then be what is worked out by the Spirit of God in the saints so that it would be seen by others?
JT Yes. It comes out. The river brings it out. It is there latently, because that is the idea of what is in the earth in this chapter. “The fulness thereof” is coming out in these forms.
AR Would you say that the idea of the river divided into four heads, suggests that the presence of the Holy Spirit maintains headship here abstractly?
JT I suppose it contemplates Christ. Christ is already in the scene, typified in Adam. Headship was in Adam as indicated at the outset. The chapter brings it out, too, because that is the next part of our subject. Verses 15, 16, and 17 treat of the responsibility of Adam in the garden, and it says in verse 18, “It is not good that Man should be alone; I will make him a helpmate, his like. And out of the ground Jehovah Elohim had formed every animal of the field and all fowl of the heavens, and brought them to Man, to see what he would call them; and whatever Man called each living soul, that was its name. And Man gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the heavens, and to every beast of the field; but as for Adam, he found no helpmate, his like”, Genesis 2: 18 - 20. That is the idea. God is going to bring out headship. The thing is there in those rivers. It is to come out. God is going to test His great creature as to what he is capable of, so it says, “And brought them to Man, to see what he would call them”. God brings out the fulness of the man. How this thought of headship comes out, the ability in wisdom to name things, and so it says, “and whatever Man called each living soul, that was its name”. There is the great general thought: every one of us has his name. It is a question of what I am livingly, that is, in my movements. We all have a name, and that name indicates the wonderful wisdom, and intelligence of the Lord Jesus. So in John’s gospel, He named Simon — He did not say ‘thou art Peter’, but, “thou shalt be called Cephas”. That is the great point in the chapter. The next thing is the sleep. “Jehovah Elohim caused a deep sleep to fall upon Man; and he slept. And he took one of his ribs and closed up flesh in its stead And Jehovah Elohim built the rib that he had taken from Man into a woman; and brought her to Man. And Man said, This time it is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh: this shall be called Woman, because this was taken out of a man”. Now we have come down to the great thought in the type, that is the woman, and the word used here is a word for skilled labour; the word ‘build’ clearly implies skilled labour. God took the rib from man and closed up the flesh in its stead. The rib is replaced by flesh so that the man suffers no loss with the rib taken out, and now he can name something that is a product of skilled labour.
CAM Do you think the deep sleep covers the present period in one sense?
JT Well, I think it may do. There was no pain attached to it. It is not the death penalty at all. Sleep is pleasant. It is simply that Adam is not [p. 283] seeing what is happening, but he does know it. It is to bring out his wisdom in naming the product, and he knows the origin of it. It is to bring out his headship — his wisdom. Here we have one great collective thought. What comes out of Christ in death is in the sense of sleep, and not in the sense of penalty.
JHE Would this be akin to John, a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies?
JT Well, that is actual death. This is sleep. Of course, it is a figure of death, but the grain actually dies in order to bring forth fruit. This is the condition of Christ, typically necessary to the figure. It is a sinless state of things in Adam, and therefore, the whole position is sinless here. It is for us to see how our minds are brought into a sinless state of things. Only by the Spirit of God is it made possible.
AEH In your mind you are connecting the thought of sleep with the thought of abstraction that has been before us.
JT Adam is not conscious clearly of what is going on, but when he awakes he knows exactly what has happened. It is to bring out in a typical way the wisdom of the Lord Jesus in relation to the assembly. Paul says in Ephesians, “ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ”. There is such a thing as the perfect understanding of the thing, and it all flows from the knowledge of Christ in headship. It is from the head we get it.
DrT Would it indicate God’s delight in man? He brought the animals to him to see what he would name them, and now He brings to him a woman, and this time it is “bone of my bones”. It represents what God finds delight in in Christ.
JT I think so. I think the whole chapter brings out what God is obtaining from His creation in the sense of fulness. “The earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof” — the fulness of things. The assembly is the fulness of Christ. God had in mind to bring out what was in Adam. “This time”, Adam says. He had already had to do with the animals, but now it is a different matter. “This time it is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh: this shall be called Woman, because this was taken out of a man”. He gives the reason now. He does not give us the reason why he called a cow a cow, or a lion a lion. He gives the reason, which brings out the intelligence and the power of headship.
DrT It is like the supreme test and Adam answers to it fully.
JT Yes, “this time it is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh”. It just means one bone, but this one bone is used to build up the woman, so that there is perfect relation between the woman and the man, making the intimacy between Christ and the assembly so very precious.
CFN Ephesians 1, the last verse, reads, “God ... gave him to be head over all things to the assembly which is his body, the fulness of him who fills all in all”; and then chapter 2, “And has raised us up together, and has made us sit down together in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus”.
JT Yes, that is the great thought in Ephesians, to bring out what we are speaking of. We have really been speaking of chapter 5, but the great full thought is in the first chapter that you have read. He has given him to be head over all things to the assembly, not of the assembly there. In Colossians He is head of the assembly, but in Ephesians He is “head over all things to the assembly, which is his body, the fulness of him who fills all in all”. The fulness is that it is taken out of Him. All that He is is expressed there. The accumulation of the work of Christ in John’s writings all culminates in that term,
“go to my brethren”. Then He breathes into them the breath of life.
AR Would Saul of Tarsus going to Damascus learn the relation between Christ and the assembly by the Lord’s question, “Why persecutest thou me?”
JT Well, I am sure that is true. It is a comforting thing today, too, that the Lord Himself is with us in our suffering; the more we come to that idea and that we are to suffer with Him, the better.
Ques Does the last verse help us in our assembly service, ability to move together with Christ in a sinless condition? We move in relation to the assembly that way.
JT They were both naked, man and his wife, and were not ashamed. There is no need of shame. It is sin that has brought in that. It is a shame to be without shame sometimes, you know, according to the Corinthians.
WB-w You do not say anything about the other three heads. “And the name of the second river is Gihon: that is it which surrounds the whole land of Cush. And the name of the third river is Hiddekel: that is it which flows forward toward Asshur. And the fourth river, that is Euphrates” but it does not say more.
JT Well, it is a great boundary spoken of in the prophets. David’s kingdom extended to the Euphrates. The testimony of the assembly was never fruitful beyond that boundary. There will be fruit later on from beyond there. The angels which are bound at the river Euphrates are to be loosed. The everlasting gospel, I am sure, will bring out great results beyond the Euphrates.
Rem The first river perhaps might refer to the proclamation and formation of the assembly, now, and the latter ones to future operations.
JT Quite so. It is all one great idea of spiritual power.