THE DISPENSATIONS (2)
[p. 406] THE DISPENSATIONS (2)
Genesis 8: 20 - 22; Genesis 9: 1 - 17; Genesis 12: 1 - 3; Genesis 49:1,2; Genesis 49:28
JT The idea of dispensations in Genesis from chapter 8 onwards takes two features; the first is in relation to Noah himself and his sons, and the second is in relation to Abraham to bring out the call of God and the patriarchal idea, that is, the development of family, a family of faith, in principle the family of God. I thought it well to begin with sacrifice as having a bearing on personality such as God implies first in Noah. He built an altar, we are told, to Jehovah, “and took of every clean animal, and of all clean fowl, and offered up burnt-offerings on the altar. And Jehovah smelled the sweet odour”. The link with Noah’s name is maintained here in the ‘odour of rest’. His father had said, in giving him his name, “This one shall comfort us concerning our work and concerning the toil of our hands, because of the ground which Jehovah has cursed”. So that in this interval we see the personality that God can employ in the great matter of what is to be carried through in the dispensations, and really, it is the basis of the new order of things, the new dispensation. God does not identify Himself with it publicly, but refers to it in His heart. “And Jehovah said in his heart, I will no more henceforth curse the ground on account of Man, for the thought of Man’s heart is evil from his youth; and I will no more smite every living thing, as I have done. Henceforth, all the days of the earth, seed time and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night, shall not cease”. That is what He said in His heart without committing Himself publicly. It is recorded hundreds of years later, but it does not say that He said this at the time, but it is what He said in His heart, so that public conditions [p. 407] would be affected, without committing Himself to it publicly. There is much that goes on. While the earth remains, God orders things secretly without committing Himself publicly. But then He takes up Noah and his sons in the next chapter formally. God blessed Noah and his sons. Now in him we see the personality that God can identify Himself with publicly and a covenant is made with him, which is universal in its bearing. It is a question of man still, because of what God had already said in His heart. The word in chapter 8: 21, is, “on account of Man”. It is a question of man and God’s dealings with him, not angels, but man and cattle. So that God takes up Noah and his family and blesses them and enters into covenant with them, a covenant that extends right down in accordance with what He said in His heart. All nations and persons are affected by this covenant, and it runs right down. The second great feature is God calling a man out, dealing especially with his family and blessing him, making him a blessing on family lines; so the passage in chapter 49 was read to show how the idea of blessing on family lines and patriarchal lines runs down. And it merges in the assembly, merges in the kingdom of Israel, the house which Jacob had the light of, and develops into christianity.
WR Would you say there is a great need of purity of motive as entering into the service of God as seen in Noah’s offering?
JT Well, quite so. God took account of it secretly. He made no proclamation about it, but said something in His heart. This would have a bearing on secret thoughts, His own feelings, as we have had already. He had man in His mind and would follow him up. Even the weather would be affected by what He had said in His heart, summer and winter, seed-time and harvest. All this is a secret matter with God, but history shows that it holds [p. 408] good. No country, no subdivision of the earth is a greater testimony to it than this one in which we are.
CAM Is it your thought that Noah’s name and the smell of the fragrance of the sacrifice show that personality in this man really was to be connected with Christ and the fragrance from His death? Is that the way to look at it?
JT That is right. It is what was going on in God’s heart. It will come out fully later, but what came out publicly would give a clear indication that God had great things in His heart. It will come out presently. Think of God speaking in His heart!
JTJr He calls attention to the character of man’s heart being unchanged, but He is not hindered in His great thoughts in spite of that.
JT Just so. He could hardly commit Himself publicly to man, viewed just as man, because of the state of his heart. You cannot expect God to compromise Himself, commit Himself to man as he is described here; it is not Noah but man. God cannot commit Himself publicly to that, but He is letting things go on, certain things are happening that will be beneficial to man, but there is one man and three sons that God can commit Himself to. God is making His own selection. He is not forced to do it. Noah is really worthy of it, for he is ministering to God already.
CHH Would the Lord’s own ministry bring that to light? He would not commit Himself to man (John 2: 24, 25).
JT Well, that is the principle, I think. Although Nicodemus did not do so well, still the thing was there and it was pleasing to God. The man Noah did not do so well afterward or his sons either, but so far he had done well, and Nicodemus had done well, coming at night to speak to the Lord.
AR Is there any significance in the fact that Noah is the first man to go into the ark and the first [p. 409] man to come out of it? He comes out, and then his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives, and then the animals, as if they are all moving under him.
JT I think that is the thought. There is so much being made of him, and he is maintaining his worthiness. He was never more precious to God than when he offered these animals. Jehovah smelled the sweet odour which is said to be an ‘odour of rest’, just what Lemech had said about him.
JWD There seems to be a link with creation in this thought in Matthew 5, “that ye may be the sons of your Father who is in the heavens; for he makes his sun rise on evil and good, and sends rain on just and unjust”, as if favourable conditions in the creation link on with personality in the saints corresponding morally.
JT Well, it would develop into that. Now we get magisterial matters brought into this ninth chapter. The Lord Jesus is taking up legislative matters in Matthew, but it is really to bring out the Father’s attitude, the Father that is in heaven. He treats the evil and good in this way. It is very much like the secret of His heart, but then God is not leaving it like that. It is legislation here for Noah and his sons, and in regard of cattle, and in regard to one another, too, in a physical way. He is not leaving it like that. We are going to have more than that in the way of legislation in magisterial government. But in truth. He has appointed a Man to act in magisterial government. It is all to culminate in Christ because God’s kingdom and the day “in which he is going to judge the habitable earth in righteousness by the man whom he has appointed” enters into the dispensational period. It is not a question of the eternal state but judging all things down here. All this comes into this dispensation in Genesis, although it is not an open thing that God commits Himself to [p. 410] formally. The matter of the rainbow and covenant, the seasons, and the fruit of the earth are in some sort open, and God has committed Himself to it in a way, but He is not committing Himself to a state of things in which man’s heart is evil continually. God could not compromise Himself like that.
ANW Has the bow a bearing in the way of testimony to men generally?
JT Well, as far as they pay attention to it. It is in our hands to tell them what it means, and so the Lord Jesus, as the mighty angel in Revelation 10, comes out with the rainbow upon His head and puts His right foot on the sea and His left foot on the earth, which shows that God is dealing with that. It is still in His mind and He is coming to deal with things in that way.
JTJr Would this be the beginning of government? Does God inaugurate the idea of government in what He says to Noah as to how men are to live in relation to one another?
JT Well, we are thankful for it. We are here today unmolested; we are thankful for legislation, thankful for the mayor of the city, police, jail, armies and navies, and all on those lines if they are in any way righteous. God is not saying, ‘I am the God of all this’, but He is saying in His heart that everything of that kind shall be protective and helpful to His people and to men as such. He is the preserver of all men and He is merciful, even in heathen countries giving some sort of government.
AC These three men — Noah, Abraham, and Jacob, would be intelligent as to what God had given them.
JT Well, they would. You see how Noah is linked on later with persons — ‘Noah, Daniel, and Job’. God has a personnel in mind that He can use. So that right down through the ages, in the dispensations as I may call them. God always has someone [p. 411] that He can link on with, even if it be a Nebuchadnezzar or a Cyrus. It is seen in the development of the dispensation of the four monarchies, for He makes them what they should be. He made Nebuchadnezzar what he should be. They are not ordinary men that God has to take, but God makes them what they should be. So today God has men that He can use in this governmental period.
AC Would you say there is increase as the thing goes on? Jacob is an old man of one hundred and forty-seven years, and he serves intelligently. He is ahead of Joseph.
JT Quite so. He says, “I know, my son”. He is greater than Joseph. The point is now to see the line of blessing in that family. But first let us see something of this great universal idea that God spoke of in His heart. Every man, woman, and child on the earth, even the lowest in the human race, are all benefiting from this secret thing, all ordained while the earth remains. “Seed time and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night, shall not cease”. We are all witnesses to it, every man, woman, and child on the earth.
CHH Is that seen in the image of Daniel 2? The gold, the silver and the copper remain to the end — the complete image goes on.
JT The quality is there, what God can commit Himself to. The gold and silver stand. It comes right down. The gold and silver are seen but little, yet there is something that God can link on with even if it is not public. We who know God’s heart understand what He would say in His heart. He will do good at all times. The mayor of the city, the governor, the president, are appointed to us for good and we have to regard them for conscience’ sake.
JWD How do you view great famines as in the Acts and other [p. 412] places?
JT That is another matter. God has a right to act in discipline. We have to make allowance for the ‘odour of rest’. Paul says we are a sweet odour to God; that was found particularly in the apostle. Yet there were famines; but famines were greatly modified, and wars in apostolic times were not very prevalent. God orders things; He can change His mind about things. So that it behoves us to render the sweet odour and save the position.
AR Does the last verse of chapter 8 suggest an ordered state of affairs, set up in Christ in glory?
JT Well, we understand it now, but an unconverted person would not understand it. God is not committing Himself to it here. This was written hundreds of years afterwards, but it was in God’s heart, and you may be sure the gospel went on. Still, there were famines in the days of Noah, Abraham, and Isaac, and right down through the New Testament times there were famines. But then you cannot rob God of His sovereign right to change His mind and His ways at any time.
Ques What do you understand to be the idea of God making a covenant with Noah?
JT That is another thing. The end of chapter 8 does not say anything about covenant. It is what God said in His heart. It is only those who know His heart that can understand. Why is He so good? It says in Matthew 5, “that ye may be the sons of your Father who is in the heavens; for he makes his sun rise on evil and good, and sends rain on just and unjust”. It is because of what is in His heart that He does good. Sometimes if we force Him to be judicial in His government the nations might change that too. So that where there is any light at all, however little it is, God takes account of it.
WR Does not the attitude of God’s heart continue the same? The word here is that these conditions “shall not cease”.
JT It does, but He does not commit Himself publicly; it is what He said secretly in His heart. The proof of it is that the farmers got a good crop in those days, but God made no covenant on that point. He has made a covenant with Noah and his sons and that stands in the bow in the cloud.
CHH An intelligent person would understand about famine, would he not?
JT It is an instrument that God has. You cannot rob Him of His rights in dealing with man. There was a famine in the days of David, the beloved of the Lord, and it went on three years. This famine was because of Saul and his house of blood, and David inquired of Jehovah and then the remedy came.
AL Would you see the covenant carried out in the regulating of the rain on the earth?
JT He does not send a flood, because He is God, but He sends rain. Rivers in themselves are beneficial; they carry such fructifying power with them. The rain indicates the blessing of God. God has a reservoir of waters above — another heaven made in the reconstruction recorded in Genesis 1, and in it there are waters, as though God has a reservoir of waters there for men — a wonderful thought really. He sends rain because of that. It does not speak thus when “the fountains of the great deep were broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened”. That is judgment. But His rain is for blessing.
CHH Is it a spiritual thought — the waters are above the expanse?
JT Well, it is. The actual physical thought is very remarkable too. There are waters above as well as below. They act and react upon one another. It seems to be a provision God made in the reconstruction of the earth in Genesis 1. It is a [p. 414] physical condition, and is really what separates and holds up the waters above. It is not the heavens where He lives; it is really an atmospheric condition.
JWD In Ecclesiastes, where you get the words of the preacher or of a former of assemblies, you get intelligence in these things.
JT It is important to bring that in because the book of Ecclesiastes is intended that we might understand the things under the sun. “All the rivers run into the sea”.
ANW Speaking about the famine in early Acts, was it to bring about correspondence of feelings in the saints?
JT It brought out what christianity really is; what is in God’s heart and what is in our hearts. Christianity is in God’s heart. What is in our hearts? If christianity is in our hearts, God will bring it out and may even cause a famine to bring it out.
CAM Do you think this matter of the sweet odour is carried on at the present time as suggested in the verse, “Be ye therefore imitators of God, as beloved children, and walk in love, even as the Christ loved us, and delivered himself up for us, an offering and sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savour”.
JT That is Ephesians. That is the full thought of God seen in christianity. It is a great thought that God should bring that out as a means of helping us, to bring out what corresponds in us.
NW Did you have something further in mind as to the magisterial idea in the gentile monarchies?
JT Well, that would be the enlargement of what is seen in Noah. It is the thing among men as such, but God is speaking to us of a man that He can trust. God must have some trustworthiness in man for government. God is dealing with conditions in relation to a man. “And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them, Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth. And let the fear of you and the dread of you be upon every animal of the earth, and upon all fowl of the heavens: upon all that moveth on the ground; and upon all the fishes of the sea: into your hand are they delivered. Every moving thing that liveth shall be food for you”. Now this verse really confirms what you get in Genesis 1 about Adam and his wife, but there is an addition in verse 3. “And upon all the fishes of the sea: into your hand are they delivered. Every moving thing that liveth shall be food for you: as the green herb I give you everything”. Now that is in addition to what was said to Adam and Eve; they were given dominion over the fishes of the sea, but they were not allowed to use them for food. It was all vegetarian but now we have meat given to man, and added to that we have the restriction — “only, the flesh with its life, its blood, ye shall not eat. And indeed your blood, the blood of your lives, will I require: at the hand of every animal will I require it, and at the hand of Man, at the hand of each the blood of his brother, will I require the life of Man. Whoso sheddeth Man’s blood, by Man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God he hath made Man”. Well, now all this is most instructive as to every-day life. We are allowed to kill a cow, or a lamb, bullock, sheep, goat, and use it for food, but we must not use the blood; and that is carried right into christianity according to Acts 15, showing how links are maintained in christianity, even reaching to us “upon whom the ends of the ages are come”. This is still in force; and then we cannot kill a man. Some say we should not have capital punishment, but that is not according to the scripture, but is a violation of christianity. “Whoso sheddeth Man’s blood, by Man shall his blood be shed”. God has taken care [p. 416] of this.
WR Would you say that there is much expected of us as believers over against the unbelieving element? The believing element would be in life.
JT Well, when we come to christianity we have great modification, but here we are dealing with the human race. Notice how many times it says “at the hand of Man”. In verses 5 and 6 it is “at the hand of Man” — Man in the full sense. “Whoso sheddeth Man’s blood, by Man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God he hath made Man”. God is dealing with that order of being, but we christians save life. The President, Governor, and magistrates have power to take life. We could not live here and carry on preaching and teaching if it were not for this.
WL Would you say all this was contingent upon Noah’s offering?
JT I think so. It is a question of persons, and there is some trustworthiness about him.
WL The intelligence expressed in the way he offered, meant that further intelligence governmentally could be given to him.
JT That is so. It is a great thing to get into the abstract idea. These men that are in authority, though they be not converted, have to be thought of as having something that God has preserved in them. Certainly in Nebuchadnezzar there was; and in a man like Abimelech in this very book there was. We do not know if he was converted, but God could speak of the integrity of his heart. God is good, operating here among men and does great things for a purpose, for a locality.
ANW It is remarkable how this thing is interwoven in civil law, but here we are given the high level of authority. “In the image of God he hath made man”.
CAM Do you think in that way these men we respect as having power, have some feature about [p. 417] them warranting it; they confess God, something of the image is in them until they become beasts.
JT That is just it. Man’s heart is given to him. Nebuchadnezzar was a beast but he became like a man. God did that for that purpose, that He would establish the four monarchies with someone that He could trust.
WL Do you think that is why it is the present time at the end of verse 6, “In the image of God he hath made Man”? The thought continues.
JT Just so.
HB Is it all provisional until the Lord comes publicly? It says, “the government shall be upon his shoulder”, Isaiah 9: 6.
JT Christ will carry out the whole government of the universe in relation to the earth. It is a question of the earth now that we are dealing with. God is just carrying on, but He is not forced to accept anybody. He is God; He can do anything. God can influence men for a position. So we are encouraged to pray for God to do provisional things so that we might get through.
CDeB Is that why in 1 Timothy we are exhorted to pray for all men and those who are in authority?
JT Just so. All men first, and then those in dignity “that we may lead a quiet and tranquil life”. The bearing of it is on the saints. God would not be carrying this on if He did not have something in His heart to work out as to the saints.
CHH Can you make a distinction between these powers as to your prayers? Would you consider any powers as being out of hand?
JT Certainly, if they become beasts. The word ‘beast’ in Revelation 13 is really the word ‘creature’, but a beast is not simply a creature in that sense, but like leviathan in Job 41. God says, “he is king over all the proud beasts”. That is a different matter.
[p. 418] If anybody like him is in power, then your mind is changed about him. He becomes beastly — has no conscience. There must be something trustworthy if he is to bear the government.
ANW The Lord was justified as speaking of Herod as a fox.
JT Just so. He did not say that of Pilate, although you might say he was just as bad, but not for the moment. Left to himself he would not have put the Lord to death. He was called the governor in Matthew, because he represented that principle. He had a wife who was evidently converted. She was there to influence him too. God put her there. What can God not do?
JWD It says, We are to pray for kings. Would you not pray in the positive sense of this chapter? You may pray for the removal of a beast and that a government be set up that is of God.
JT Quite so. It is said that God can change the heart of a king.
CHH Is that why Elisha said he would not look at Jehoram, the son of Ahab (2 Kings 3: 14)?
JT Quite so. He would not look at him but at Jehoshaphat, for there was something good in him. God put him there for a purpose, and even Ahab, at one time. We may need an Ahab.
TS Is Paul making that distinction when he said he was delivered out of the lion’s mouth? Paul has told us so much as to the matter of authority. “I was delivered out of the lion’s mouth”, 2 Timothy 4: 17. He is changing his point of view.
JT Quite so, like Daniel, who was delivered out of the lion’s mouth. Paul had to do with one who was like the second beast in Job, that creature leviathan; Daniel was delivered out of the lion’s mouth, and so was Paul. We are encouraged to pray and keep on praying. God can change a man’s heart and yet be may not be converted. Take Paul [p. 419] on the boat. It says the centurion saved them all because of Paul. Paul knew that man’s mind.
WL I was wondering if we could look for moral qualities in these men.
JT We can pray for them, and God may change them. If He does not convert them. He may change their minds for the time being.
WR Paul says in Romans 13, “For rulers are not a terror to a good work, but to an evil one”.
JT That is abstract. Abstractly God has got them there for that purpose, and they may be changed like Pilate. They may all be modified, but the abstract idea stands.
Ques Would all these things understood in the hearts of God’s people confirm us that God is faithful?
JT That is right. It will come out when the Lord comes out to govern. We are not asserting it. In the gospel preaching we are on a higher level, but when the Lord comes out He has the power of government with Him. It is most comforting. He puts His right foot on the sea and the left foot on the land. There is God’s direct government. We are now dealing with God’s indirect government which is really in this chapter. The bow in the cloud represents that. God’s direct government in His house is another thing. There is such a thing as gift of government.
GAT Would you say that this “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill” indicates great resources?
JT Well, God intended that. According to Genesis 1 He put Adam and Eve over the lower creatures and they were themselves to multiply, and it is continued in this chapter; it means that God is to have plenty of people. He is going to make great selections, selections for His own purposes. The gospel going out too. He makes selections for this. The gospel is going to be sent out, and He is going [p. 420] to have myriads of men. The population has never been so great; there are probably two thousand million people on the earth. That is not too many for God. He is going to make a great selection of converts presently; no man can number them. It is God’s way of doing things.
CAM Referring to the direct and indirect government of God, it is government such as “the powers that be” that culminates in the chief executives in a country, that represents the indirect government of God. The assembly is the place of the direct government of God.
JT That is it, the assembly of God. We are to judge angels even. The magisterial idea extends on to angels, but that is not here. It is a question of man only, and cattle. Think of what we are coming into. The Lord said, “Ye also shall sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel”, Matthew 19: 28. Those who form the assembly will have judgment over them. When it comes to a question of difficulties between ourselves, it says we shall judge angels. Why not the smallest matters that arise now?
WR It says in Isaiah 9, “Of the increase of his government and of peace there shall be no end”.
JT Well, that is the millennium. It is going to affect the cattle, every creature, the earth itself; the land will be affected. The millennium is what is called the dispensation of the fulness of times. Here we are dealing more with man and the lower creatures and God’s provision to protect them from violence. The blood represents that. The shedding of blood God will not tolerate. For eating purposes, the blood has to be shed, but the blood is poured out to God.
TH Jonah has to learn that God thought of the cattle, as well as men. The last word in the book is ‘cattle’.
JT “Much cattle”. Nothing passes the notice of God. The cattle on a thousand hills are His. We can hardly realise how small the population was in the middle ages, but the human race has grown enormously in the past century. It is not too big for God, and He has books covering the whole number, and He is making the book of life out of this great number.
CAM Would you say this matter of sustaining life is through death; life is sustained by eating in this way, but the blood is reserved by God. Does it look forward to the blood-shedding of Christ?
JT Yes, it is a question of the life being in the blood. But we are coming into a condition where there is no blood at all.
CAM In John 6 the Lord’s flesh and the Lord’s blood are referred to, and are to be eaten and drunk.
JT That speaks of the end of that life. What is said here is “Only, the flesh with its life, its blood, ye shall not eat”. That refers to God’s rights in this fleshly condition in which we are, but God has terminated that in the death of Jesus. He has brought in a condition of manhood apart from flesh and blood. Flesh and blood will be there in the millennium, but not in the eternal state; flesh and blood does not inherit the kingdom of God. As soon as we are changed we are in a bloodless condition, but the ways of God stand connected with flesh and blood. The rights of God are in that. No one can tell what life is, but it speaks of God’s rights; it is inscrutable. We must not deal with it flippantly. Every godly man will respect that.
ANW It says here “the flesh with its life”. I thought perhaps in John 6 the blood is viewed apart from the flesh.
JT It is the blood of Christ. We drink that blood, and that all refers to our state down here. We are not to have that food or drink in eternity; it [p. 422] is the application of the death of Christ now. We do not need that in eternity; it refers to Christ’s flesh and blood in its application to us now. We do not need that in eternity; then it will be a bloodless state of things.
MO Does God establish and protect His rights here in this day of grace in His operations among His people?
JT I think so. He is establishing His rights in this chapter and they are not to be ignored, and nobody can interfere with them with impunity. Those who do so will suffer. God is using this dispensation to work out the faith period and that involves the assembly. He is working that out, and when that is finished, we shall have “the dispensation of the fulness of times” which is the millennium. After that the dispensational idea ceases because we come to the timeless state of things and a bloodless state of things.
Rem From the side of Christ on the cross blood and water came forth.
JT Well, that is a miracle in itself; that could only happen in Him. Blood coming out in that state could only happen in a divine Person. It was necessary for redemption.
CHH The blood-shedding in the millennium would be for testimony.
JT I think so. We have the gospel, and all that testimony will run through. Death will be there; a sinner a hundred years old will die and be cursed. It will still be a flesh and blood condition of things, “the dispensation of the fulness of times”. Then follows the eternal state as to which not much is said.
AR What you are saying would impress us with the fact that every man on the earth abstractly belongs to God. His life is God’s, is it not?
JT It is. Think of the millions of Chinese, Japanese, Assyrians. As men think of the world, it has [p. 423] gone on for thousands of years, but God has not lost track of it; not for one minute. All is recorded in the books of God, and at the judgment seat, when the Lord takes His place on the throne He will deal with that. The knowledge of this enables us to think of men in the right way.
AR Paul in Romans 8 says “we know that the whole creation groans together and travails in pain together until now. And not only that, but even we ourselves, who have the first-fruits of the Spirit, we also ourselves groan in ourselves”. The saints are brought into the groaning. The Spirit of God comes into the thing.
JT That is right; very good! It makes us feel things like God, a feeling people. I am sure that is right, and this is the time in which God would bring it out. I thought that the passage in Genesis 12 takes us out of what we have been speaking about. “And Jehovah had said to Abram, Go out of thy land, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, to the land that I will shew thee. And I will make of thee a great nation, and bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing. And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee; and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed”. So that you might say we are entering into another sort of dispensation, although it is properly a piece of what we have been speaking about. It is Israel, Abraham’s family in the midst of the rest of the human race, and the nations set in relation to that family. God has a people called out in Abraham, and He has a house among them. The character of the dispensation is seen distinctly because God is operating in connection with His house. Therefore, you have much better, more elevated thoughts than you have in connection with Noah and his three sons.
[p. 424] CAM Is it better terms because it is more separate, or because of the quality of the persons?
JT If we go into the history of God’s ways in relation to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and then the mediatorial state in Moses, we shall see that they have a special place, but still standing in relation to the race, and so in the millennium they stand in relation to the race. We are taken up to heaven; we are not set in relation to the human race; but Israel will be still positionally in relation to the human race. The nations will bring their glory even to the assembly.
CAM So that it confirms this matter of what is select or special with God.
JT That is just it. Abraham and his family stand. They are taken up, as you notice here, in relation to the earth. “I will make of thee a great nation, and bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing. And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee; and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed”. Notice it says, “all families of the earth”. That is a promise. It is what God is still carrying on in relation to Noah and his posterity, but He has something special in the midst of it. That requires a great deal of consideration, but we can only touch on the idea now. You can see that all the nations were set around Israel, and the temple was the ornament of the earth. God was there. “Is it not written, My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations?”, Mark 11: 17.
ANW Is the counterpart of that seen in the position of the assembly in the midst of men around us?
JT Just so, but we are not set up in relation to the earth properly. We belong to heaven; that is why Abraham has no specified generations, as Noah’s here, because he is the heavenly man in type. Isaac has generations, because it is Christ here in testimony. Abraham is outside of it all. He looked for a city whose builder and maker is God. So that there is the heavenly in Abraham, but he comes down to the earth.
CHH While the magisterial system goes on, Abraham is outside of it and becomes an influence.
JT That is what we get as we go through the history of Abraham. Then we have an additional thought that Abraham is a person called out. God is using His prerogative to call one man out of the main body of Noah’s posterity and set him up in relation to Himself. He is named Abram, meaning ‘High father’, first, and then before he had any children, but in view of having children, he is called Abraham, meaning ‘the father of a multitude’. The family of God is going to be very large. It is not as large as the human race. I believe it works out in the Lord Jesus being the firstborn among many brethren. It is a great family.
AR God is viewing the earth in relation to one man, but one man as having a family, and He speaks of Abraham to Abimelech later on (Genesis 20: 7). I was wondering in that respect if the whole earth is being affected by the saints here.
JT Well, it is; Abraham called out is an immense thought. The heavenly calling is implied. What influence a man like that effects! He is a greater man than Isaac or Jacob. He represents the heavenly.
JTJr Would it be right to connect the thought of mystery with Abraham? the mystery in Romans is suggested. Life in that way is mysterious.
JT That is a good suggestion. There is not so much made of him when he is dying. He is more concerned about Isaac and Rebecca’s union. But a great deal is made about Jacob’s death in Genesis 49.
[p. 426] It is well to consider these things because Abraham is a heavenly man, but he is more concerned about Isaac and Rebecca than anything else. He gave the other children gifts and sent them away, but the administration is in relation to Isaac and Rebecca. Ishmael and the rest of his family are sent away, but Abraham is concerned about Isaac and his wife. There is a great deal made of Jacob’s death, so that we come down to earth and how things should be.
GAT “Be fruitful and multiply” is said in connection with man leading on to Abraham’s family. Would you distinguish between fruitfulness and multiplying?
JT Fruitfulness is a more dignified thought than multiplication, I think, so that Abraham would be fruitful, but under great restrictions. There are no such restrictions made on Noah, especially in Japheth. His sons are to be fruitful, the nations spread abroad in an influential way because he is the first one, the elder. But with Abraham it is very remarkable how in his family there are so many restrictions in the maternal matter. Sarah did not bear children until she was very old, Rebecca had only two sons, Leah had none for a good while, and Rachel had only two. These are all remarkable things. It is refinement, not an immense number at first, but it is refinement. The children of the families are brought in under great care and restriction.
GAT It is said of Joseph that he is a fruitful bough.
JT Joseph was to have the largest number. When they are counted in Numbers 26 Joseph is larger even than Judah, but there is quality in Joseph; so that we have at the end in Deuteronomy 33: 13, Joseph’s blessing. Moses says, “Blessed of Jehovah be his land!”. Then we come down to verse 17, “His majesty is as the firstling of his ox; and his horns are as the horns of a buffalo. With them [p. 427] shall he push the peoples together to the ends of the earth. These are the myriads of Ephraim, and these are the thousands of Manasseh”. That is the idea of multitude and quality belonging to Joseph. We are not afraid of this matter of numbers because God has His numbers. Numbers with God imply His sovereign selection. He is very particular in those He takes on. Therefore many are called but few chosen, and all that is very testing; yet God will have an immense number, and the universe that He has in mind will be filled out.
HB In Jacob’s blessing in Genesis, Joseph’s blessing includes the blessing of the womb; that would fit in with the thought of numbers — “with blessings of the breast and of the womb”.
JT Quite so, that is the same thought carried through. We have to leave this very blessed subject because it is, really, a matter of blessing in the family all the way down. In the verses read the patriarchal thought is stressed first: “And Jacob called his sons, and said, Gather yourselves together, and I will tell you what will befall you at the end of days. Assemble yourselves, and hear, ye sons of Jacob, and listen to Israel your father”. The patriarchal thought is to be listened to and carried through, and the sons are to listen to the father because he had light and knowledge. He had said, “I know, my son, I know”. So to confirm the idea of blessing it says, “All these are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father spoke to them; and he blessed them: every one according to his blessing he blessed them”. That is the principle of this family matter; it is a matter of blessing and works out in ourselves because Paul says, “That the blessing of Abraham might come to the nations in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith”, Galatians 3: [p. 428] 14.
AR These blessings have to do with the ways of God and go right on to the end of God’s operations on earth.
JT They do. I think that eternal life is the great general blessing, because if people are dying, what is the use of talking about blessing if you do not live for ever? So that it is eternal life that will come out in the millennium; eternal life will be a public matter.
AR Is there anything significant in these blessings? There are certain features of ferocity, and then Dan a serpent in the way.
JT It is all very solemn and humbling. Jacob is a prophet at the beginning, but a blesser in the end. There is a blessing for every tribe, even Dan; so that the twelve tribes go through.
JTJr Psalm 1 blesses the man. There is no death connected with him, but there is death connected with the wicked. The wicked perish.
WR It is good to listen to the Spirit’s voice in whatever it may convey in the way of blessing.
JT Quite so. The young especially should listen to the elders. We are so apt to be independent and self-sufficient. God has originated the patriarchal thought. It is God’s thought, the fatherly thought.