Genesis 28:10 - 22; Genesis 31:13; Genesis 35:1 - 15

G.R.C. The subject in mind is devotedness, standing especially in relation to vows. We have read of the first vow made in scripture, Jacob's, a vow which God ever took account of. The economy of Israel was based in great measure upon it; and at the end of the dispensation God, through Malachi, called upon Israel to bring the whole tithe into the treasure house; so that at the close of the dispensation, the messenger of Jah -- Malachi's name means this -- recalled the sons of Jacob to the vow which their father had made, and indicated the blessing which would flow if they brought in the whole tithe. There is, no doubt, special interest in the setting in which the first vow was made. It is one thing to make a vow, but another to perform it. Scripture speaks of making vows, and it also speaks of performing vows. But the setting in which this first vow was made is important because so much devotion is misguided. God will rightly assess all devotion, but so much can be misguided that it is important to see that vows in scripture stand related to God and His house. So far as one recalls, that would apply to all true vows; and this vow was made when God disclosed, for the first time, light as to His house. All true devotion therefore would have in mind enriching God's portion in His house, that what is due to Him there might be maintained, and thus a true testimony rendered. It is interesting that Jacob should have received this Divine communication when he first left home. It would show God's particular interest in persons as they set out in life. Jacob would represent each one of us, in the way in which God would move

to secure us -- especially those who have come of believing parents -- in devotedness to Himself. Here was a man leaving home, but leaving home in obedience to his father's charge. "And Isaac called Jacob, and blessed him, and charged him ... Arise, go to Padan-Aram". And it says of Esau that he saw, "that Jacob had obeyed his father and his mother", verse 7. It is an important matter for persons to obey their father and their mother. We know that deception had come in in Jacob giving heed to his mother, but nevertheless there was this point of obedience with him at this time. There are two sides to the picture; there was obedience; but on the other hand he was fleeing from the face of Esau his brother. This latter is the humbling side; he was not right in brotherly relations.

Ques. Is it experience with God, accompanied by light, which causes us to make a vow?

G.R.C. So Jacob's pillar would suggest experience.

Ques. Is it right for every Christian to make a vow?

G.R.C. I thought so. Perhaps you would say what you think.

Rem. I think it is right for every Christian to make a vow. When once you have experience with God, you commit yourself by a vow.

G.R.C. Very good -- I am very thankful for your confirmation.

Ques. Is it remarkable that the first vow in scripture should be connected with such a man as Jacob? Would it follow on what has just been said about every Christian making a vow? I was thinking of all that Jacob represents in his history, and of his name being changed to Israel.

G.R.C. That is very encouraging. It says in Romans 9, referring to Jacob, "And not only that, but Rebecca having conceived by one, Isaac our father, the children indeed being not yet born, or

having done anything good or worthless (that the purpose of God according to election might abide, not of works, but of him that calls), it was said to her, The greater shall serve the less: according as it is written, I have loved Jacob, and I have hated Esau", Romans 9:10 - 13. It is a wonderful thing to understand the sovereign love of God. It was not based on anything in Jacob, because God's election was before he had done anything good or bad, but nevertheless it says, "The greater shall serve the less ... I have loved Jacob". And so we have this bedrock to go on -- the sovereign love of God. That is why we can say, 'such a man as Jacob', because we are all Jacobs. There was nothing in us by nature to commend us to God, but we are, "elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father", 1 Peter 1:2; and therefore nothing that happens in the responsible path can turn God aside. It was before we did anything good or bad that He chose us, and that gives great stability to the soul. He is going to carry out His purpose; He is going to make Israel of every Jacob, and so He is called -- "The mighty God of Jacob". Think of what God can do!

Ques. Is that set out in verse 15 of our chapter? "And behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places to which thou goest".

G.R.C. It is a question of the faithfulness of God. The promise is unconditional, "I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places to which thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee until I have done what I have spoken to thee of". It is unconditional committal on God's part to this man Jacob, and that is how God is committed to each of those who are elect according to His sovereign purpose and love.

Ques. Would you say why, on Jacob's side, it is conditional? "If God will be with me, and keep me on this road that I go".

G.R.C. We may say Jacob's vow was not on a very high level, but I think he said what was right. The "if" is not from the standpoint of doubt. In the sense of our own weakness, we can only make a vow as contingent upon what God has committed Himself to. I do not think the "if" meant to imply doubt as to whether God would do it, but to indicate the basis on which Jacob could commit himself. There is no other basis on which we can commit ourselves to God. The flesh profits nothing. It is in the light of God's committal to us, and contingent upon His faithfulness which we know will ever be true, that we can commit ourselves to Him.

Ques. In that sense is the vow made with the greatness of the whole divine system in mind? There may be guidance from the Spirit as to the way in which the vow works out practically in detail, but do we begin with the glory of the whole system -- the heavens and the earth as Jacob viewed them?

G.R.C. It is true that Jacob was not yet at home with God; there were things to be settled, as there are with all of us. We need not wait for everything to be settled before we make our vow; God will see to the settlement. So that Jacob was not happy in this place; he says, "How dreadful is this place! this is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven". But, nevertheless, wonderful light comes into his soul as to the whole system: "And behold, a ladder was set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to the heavens. And behold, angels of God ascended and descended upon it. And behold, Jehovah stood above it". There is, no doubt, much to learn in those statements.

Rem. It was an operating system, the angels of God ascending and descending.

G.R.C. Yes. The first thing to note, considering this is light as to the house of God, is God's supreme interest in man. We do not read of God dwelling

with angels. God purposes to dwell with men, and He has a supreme interest in the men whom He has foreknown. He has set His love upon them, and nothing will ever turn Him aside -- "Jacob have I loved". Of course Jacob early began to justify the Divine choice, no doubt because of the operation of the Spirit in him. The Spirit often begins to work early in those foreknown of God. With John the Baptist the work appeared before natural birth, and Paul said he was separated from his mother's womb; so that God's sovereign choice early begins to justify itself. It says of Jacob that he was a homely man, and God loves a homely man. Jacob was a homely man dwelling in tents, and Esau a man of the field, a man of the world; and you can understand that if God is going to have a house, and dwell with men, He would dwell with homely people. Homely people are easy to live with; a man of the world is not at all easy to live with. A man of the world does not shine at all at home, but the features proper to home life appeared early in Jacob, with a view to God's house.

Ques. Do you see something significant in the expression, "And behold, Jehovah stood above it"? The word "stood" here signifies 'stationing Himself'. Does that mean that for the moment all operations proceed from God, and again lead back to God, God taking the chief place there?

G.R.C. And does it not confirm the fact of His interest being in man? He stations Himself in this position. His attention is concentrated at this point upon one man, a lonely man who had left home in awkward circumstances, and who had only a stone for a pillow. He had nothing of this world's goods, and yet God's attention was concentrated upon him. He was stationing Himself, and He had sent out His angels. Hebrews has in mind the house of God in its present aspect as the tabernacle of witness, and also in its final aspect; and it is that epistle which says as

to angels, "Are they not all ministering spirits, sent out for service on account of those who shall inherit salvation?" Hebrews 1:14. The view of the angels here is that they are sent out. They are concentrating on Jacob, ascending from Jacob and descending to him, because they are already sent out. It does not view them in heaven as waiting to be sent out, but they are viewed as already sent out for service on account of this heir of salvation.

Ques. Would Jacob's vow correspond with the believer's history as seen in Romans 12? He is moved by the compassions of God, and presents his body a living sacrifice.

Rem. I think so. I am very thankful for the remark that every Christian should make a vow. We should all be definite in our committal, and the body presented involves that.

Ques. Does the ladder suggest to Jacob his way of approach? The ladder is not necessary for angels.

G.R.C. I should like more help as to the ladder. When moral questions are settled, and Jacob returns to Bethel, there is not a ladder. Chapter 35: 13 implies that God is down alongside him, because it says, "And God went up from him in the place where he had talked with him". So that God was there in His house, and Jacob was on happy terms with God. It was no longer a dreadful place to Jacob; it was a delightful place, a place where God talked with him. In our early history we are apt to think of God as far off; we think of Him in heaven, which is, of course always true. But it dawns on us as time proceeds that God is dwelling in His house down here, a wonderful thing. So even in our first impression of the house of God it may be that we are still thinking of God as at a distance. A young believer thinks of God in heaven; in prayer he prays to God in heaven; but it is another thing to pray in the consciousness that God is dwelling among us, and walking among us,

that we are speaking to One who is very close to us and that He would have us form His habitation, though the heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain Him.

Ques. Does the ladder involve a step at a time, and thus bring in the thought of facing certain exercises which may arise in view of arriving at the end God has in mind for us?

G.R.C. Jacob needed putting right in his business, and, as he approached Bethel, he realised that his family was not right. Also he needed putting right in relation to his brother, and all that involved being put right as to Himself. It was particularly in regard to relations with his brother that he was brought to the point of wrestling with God to get right himself. But even then he was not right in his family. It shows what a process is needed to get right. God disciplines us in our business, but it is to put us right with Him in business matters; and then He disciplines us in our relations with our brother. It says, "Wherefore, having put off falsehood, speak truth every one with his neighbour", Ephesians 4:25. Have we always been absolutely transparent with our brother in Christ? We have all got to face getting on with our brother, especially the awkward brother. Esau, and later Edom, represents the awkward brother; and getting on with him is a very important exercise, because it is that which brings us to an end of ourselves. How can we be happy in God's house if we are not right with our brother? It is impossible! How can God have dwelling conditions if we are not right with one another? That is the exercise which brings us to the brazen serpent -- going round the land of Edom; and thus it brings us to an end of ourselves. But even then we may still be weak in our homes. They may be the last things to be thoroughly put right. But when Jacob made his final move he cleansed his house of idols, and the household washed their garments. So there

was a protracted process before he was in liberty with God in His house. How encouraging, however, that God was with him all through those exercises. "I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places to which thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee until I have done what I have spoken to thee of". In all those exercises God is graciously with us and keeps us. If not, where should we be?

Ques. Do you think the ladder, from a certain point of view, is God's consideration for Jacob? It was not let down from heaven: "And behold, a ladder was set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to the heavens". Was it His consideration for Jacob in indicating a step at a time, but always towards heaven, God Himself the objective? I was following up your remark about getting adjusted in the various circles of influence in our circumstances. It is not hopeless; we do not give up. Things are faced a little at a time.

G,R.C. How patient God is, the mighty God of Jacob! How David clung to Him, and how we should cling to Him. But then the fact that the ladder is set up on earth is very interesting. What God is concerned with at the present time is something set up on earth. It is a great thing for the believer to realise that God has something established on earth. When we are young we think so much of God in heaven, and what God has in heaven, but the vow stands related to what God has set up on earth.

Ques. Is that why the ascending comes before the descending?

G.R.C. Yes, because the angels are already sent out. They are already commissioned in relation to what God has set up on earth.

Ques. When Jacob sets up a stone as a pillar, he sets it up on earth. Would that represent himself as linked with what God has set up on earth?

G.R.C. He grasped the idea that the mind of God is to have something set up on earth for Himself. He grasped the idea, too, that what God sets up on earth for Himself is to be a testimony. The pillar conveys the idea of testimony.

Ques. Would that be connected with the one body in Christ in Romans 12?

G.R.C. I think it would, showing that committal, if it is intelligent, has in mind what God has established on earth. It is our "intelligent service", Romans 12:1. As presenting our bodies "a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God", we know what we are presenting our bodies for. We are presenting them with a view to functioning in the one body. The one body in Christ is the foundation of all that God has on earth at the moment. Unless the one body in Christ is functioning, Christ will not have His bride or His wife, nor will God have his house in practical expression, at the present time. So that the believer presents his body in the light of what God has now established on earth. His body is necessary for it.

Ques. Is that why God emphasises, "thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth"; the heavenly side does not come in?

G.R.C. No doubt in the literal interpretation it is referring to Israel, the earthly seed. We know that we belong to the heavenly seed, but nevertheless, although a heavenly vessel, the assembly is on earth at the moment in testimony -- the house of God, the assembly of the living God, the pillar and base of the truth. So it says, "thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south". We need to learn to take account of God's habitation, spread abroad to the furthermost comers of the earth, so that no part of it is overlooked in our Levitical service and in our prayers. Our vows should have in mind caring for God's house, God's habitation in the Spirit, spread out to the furthermost

corners of the earth; no outpost should be overlooked.

Ques. Do you think the way Jehovah speaks to him in verse 13 would be a very great encouragement to Jacob. He says, "I am Jehovah, the God of Abraham, thy father, and the God of Isaac". He speaks to Abraham as the Almighty God, but here He says, "I am Jehovah".

G.R.C. It is most encouraging -- Jehovah, the covenant-keeping God. He refers to the west, the east, the north and the south. It is remarkable that God starts with the west, because the sun had just set on Jacob; he had reached the west, his earthly hopes and ambitions had come to nothing. That is where God begins. He tells you about another system which He has set up on the earth. You say, 'Well if I have no hopes here, it is a wonderful thing to have hopes in heaven'. That is true. There is a hope laid up for us in the heavens. But God would tell us also that, if our natural hopes have sunk down in the west, He will begin there; and He will give us a sphere of heavenly interests on earth, which is superlative.

Ques. Is it important that Jacob not only set up the pillar, but poured oil on it? God refers to that in chapter 35, does he not? "Arise, go up to Bethel", verse 1, "where thou anointedst the pillar", chapter 31: 13. If there is to be something here on earth for God, both for His pleasure and in testimony, it must be characterised by the Holy Spirit, must it not?

G.R.C. It must; Jacob's intelligence typically is wonderful. Although he had yet to wrestle with God to learn the value of the Spirit experimentally, yet he had light that if there was to be anything for God on earth it must be in the power of the anointing.

Ques. Does that go along with his setting up the pillar? Was it truly the Spirit that was in mind, but just now instinctive with Jacob; he was not fully in the intelligence of it?

G.R.C. Why should he set up a pillar? It shows there is instinctive intelligence with one in whom God is working.

Ques. Why does the anointing of the pillar precede the making of the vow?

G.R.C. Would not the setting up and the anointing of the pillar show the apprehension Jacob arrived at in his soul through the vision? He had apprehended that God was setting up something on earth, His house, but that it was to be a testimony. The testimony of God goes out from His house; so the house of God is said to be, "The assembly of the living God, the pillar and the base of the truth", 1 Timothy 3:15. This would, I take it, be Jacob's apprehension of that up to this point; he had not got far, it was only his pillow which he made a pillar here. That is, his personal testimony could not go further than his experience at this point; but then the fact is he had apprehended that there was to be a pillar of testimony here for God, and God's house was to be the pillar, and that the testimony was to be maintained in the power of the Spirit.

Ques. You spoke earlier of God working things out in one man, in Jacob, as if to set before us His interest and concern after man. I wondered if Paul's history would give us a touch of this in our own dispensation? He speaks of himself as a delineation of those about to believe. When the Lord first touched him He sent him into the city to be told what he should do; He immediately left with him a sense that there was something He had in testimony here.

G.R.C. That is very helpful, because would it not be right to say that Jacob gives us the delineation, in the Old Testament, and in the way of a full length portrait, of a man with whom God was dealing to bring him to His own end; and is not Paul the one in whom we have that in the New Testament? We have his exercises, told us in the most intimate way as a

delineation of all who were to follow. So Jacob is a great delineation, David returning to it -- the Mighty God of Jacob. What a comfort it must have been to David in all his experiences to think that the Mighty God of Jacob was his God!

Ques. Would you say that the continuation of the line is indicated in verse 15, where Jehovah refers to, "the God of Abraham, thy father, and the God of Isaac"?

G.R.C. That should be a concern to all who are younger. I trust we shall all take heed to our brother's remark that God looks for each one of us to make a vow. What use will you be to God if you do not make a vow, and a vow relative to what God has set up on earth? It is a very practical matter. It means that you vow to set yourself for the prosperity of what God has here on earth.

Ques. Would you say something about the house of God being the gate of heaven? It seems that it is only the gate. We know something, through grace, of the blessedness of God's house, yet that is only the gate of heaven.

G.R.C. I am not sure that I would put it that way, that it is only the gate of heaven. The gate is the place of administration and of judgment, and I would say it means that the administration of the wealth of heaven is in the house of God on earth now. It is the very gate of heaven. Heaven's administration is not far away; we are not thinking of heaven a long way off; heaven's administration is set in what God has set up on earth. It is in the house of God. And heaven's judgment about matters is there too.

Ques. It is remarkable that Jacob's first thought on awakening concerned the house of God and the gate of heaven. Is it establishing for young and old to get that into their souls?

G.R.C. It is God's intention that we should lay hold of the fact that He has set up something on earth

unspeakably precious to Him -- His house; and that is to eclipse all else. Just as Jerusalem became the centre for men later, where God had set His name and where His house was, so now God has something here on earth -- "the assembly of the living God, the pillar and base of the truth", and that is to eclipse everything else for us.

Ques. Is it a sense of that in the soul which enables us to make the vow, because here it says as to Jacob, "he called the name of that place Bethel", and this was before he made the vow? It had another name to begin with.

G.R.C. It is very interesting that Jacob names it, showing what his appreciation of it was. It was not just a vague impression. He says, "this is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven". We ought to be able to name what God has here, as finding it a supreme object of value to us.

Ques. Was this administration of heaven seen in Jerusalem in Acts 2? Peter says, "God has made him, this Jesus whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ", verse 36. The administration of that blessed Man was flowing out in Jerusalem.

G.R.C. Yes, so the gate of heaven was there in Jerusalem. The apostle says, "he has poured out this which ye behold and hear", Acts 2:33. There it was on the earth, but it was the administration of heaven.

Ques. Would the gate of heaven be connected with the dispensation of God which is in faith?

G.R.C. It certainly would. The word dispensation could be translated administration. It is the economy, or administration, of God, which is in faith; and that is what you get in Acts 2 in principle. It was God unfolding the fulness of His heart in the gift of the Spirit, the administration of God Himself.

Ques. How do you understand the fear setting in here? A kind of wholesome fear rightly begins here,

would you think, and continues all the time on account of the great change which is necessary in those who form the house of God, which is the gate of heaven?

G.R.C. So that this fear did not mean that he desired never to come back. It was not fear in the sense of terror, because his vow shows that he counted on God to bring him back in suitability. Does not fear, in the sense of piety, remain all through?

Ques. In Hebrews 12, for instance, where we are set free in grace to serve God acceptably, it speaks also of fear, God being a consuming fire. Does that mean we may be conscious in ourselves, at any point, of things which still have to be adjusted or got rid of?

G.R.C. I would think so. There was much that had to be dealt with in Jacob, and that must have been underlying in his soul when he says, "How dreadful is this place!" He would be conscious of how little he was in accord with it; but then God had undertaken to be with him in view of bringing about suitability.

Ques. Is the anonymous psalmist of Psalm 116 an example to us? He says, "I will walk before Jehovah in the land of the living", verse 9. Does not that answer to piety? Then he goes on to say, "I will perform my vows unto Jehovah yea, before all his people", verse 14.

G.R.C. The Psalms help much in these matters, and we know that the psalmist always had in view God's habitation at Jerusalem; the vows stand in relation to that. "I will walk before Jehovah in the land of the living" would involve the true fear of God. We belong to the assembly of the living God; and the word of God is living and operative; it searches us. But then there are the vows; and they are to be performed, not only to be made, but performed, "before all his people. In the courts of Jehovah's house, in the midst of thee, O Jerusalem.

Hallelujah!" verses 18, 19. That is where the vows are performed. It was said at the beginning of this reading that the vow would be the result of experience and light. Perhaps we could have another word as to experience; we have been talking a good deal about light.

Rem. Jacob had experience in his dream. His first experience of God was fear in his soul; it is right to fear God. Proverbs says, "The fear of Jehovah is the beginning of wisdom", Proverbs 9:10; it also says it is the beginning of knowledge. Jacob's first experience of God was fear; it is right that it should be so.

Ques. In chapter 31: 13 God says, "I am the God of Bethel", the place which apparently Jacob had named. Is that encouraging?

G.R.C. It is. In chapter 31 Jacob was a long way from Bethel, but God says, "I am the God of Bethel". And God had taken account of everything, for He says, "where thou anointedst the pillar, where thou vowedst a vow to me". God never forgets acts like those of Jacob -- anointing the pillar and vowing a vow.

Ques. Why is he told to go to his kindred -- "return to the land of thy kindred". Is that a link with chapter 28 in the instruction which Isaac gave to him as to taking a wife?

G.R.C. Yes, he had been obedient as to his marriage; he had taken a wife of his own kindred, so that there was no link of a kind which would be out of keeping with the house of God. But then in saying, "return to the land of thy kindred", God knew he had got to face his brother. He had been disciplined as to his business, God had been with him through it all; now he had got to get right with his brother. We cannot be right in the house of God if we are not right with our brother. It does not do to write any brother off and say I cannot get on with him.

Because a brother is awkward, we may act towards him in a way which is not right, and it is not easy to confess that to an awkward brother. But brotherly relations must be right if we are to be in accord with God in His house.

Rem. There cannot be unity without true brotherly relations.

Ques. Were there greater things revealed to Nathanael because he was right? The Lord says to him, "truly an Israelite", John 1:47.

G.R.C. Quite so; the Lord commends Nathanael in that way, an Israelite indeed. The word Israelite is interesting in connection with what we are dealing with. Jacob's name was changed to Israel. The Lord then speaks to Nathanael of the greater things, "the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of man", verse 51. Here we have them ascending and descending relative to Jacob, which goes with Hebrews, where they are sent out for service on account of those who shall inherit salvation. God is so concerned about His house, and those who are called to have part in it, that He has sent out the angels for service. It is a wonderful thing. How it should encourage us in making a vow, that angels are sent out for service relative to us. But then, "on the Son of man" involves that the whole attention of heaven is concentrated upon the Son of man. It is a most extended view.

Ques. You were speaking about an awkward brother. Would you make a difference between awkwardness and naughtiness? Sometimes a brother is very naughty.

G.R.C. What do we do then? That would not excuse us in being naughty to him, would it? Is not that where we need special help with one another? If our brother is awkward, it needs much grace; but if he is naughty, does it not need much grace to handle the matter faithfully without doing anything wrong

on our side? What care and wisdom too we need!

Rem. It may involve the truth, and we have to stand for the truth.

G.R.C. So that in Timothy, which deals with the house of God in testimony, the word to Timothy is, "Those that sin convict before all, that the rest also may have fear", 1 Timothy 5:20. That is not a personal matter; it is a matter which affects God and His rights in His house.

Rem. You suggest that Jacob's being told by God to depart and return to the land of his kindred would include his meeting with Esau a little later, but apparently he had to go through still more experience before he could meet him properly.

G.R.C. Yes. He had to flee. He fled from Esau, but it involved fleeing from the land of his kindred; and getting back meant that the matter with Esau had got to be settled; he had got to face him. I am not suggesting that Esau ever repented about his own conduct, but Jacob had got to face Esau, and that cast him on God, so that first of all he faced God. He had seen God face to face he said. He had to do with God in a most personal way.

Ques. Do you link El-Bethel with the thought of Son over God's house and the Minister of the holy places?

G.R.C. El-Bethel is a great statement which would signify that Jacob had changed his centre. In spite of the vision he had had at the beginning, in spite of the help he received from God in his business, in spite of the help received through wrestling with God and in meeting his brother, yet after all that, he builds an altar and calls it, El-Elohe-Israel. Jacob was still his own centre; himself, his blessing and his house were still his centre, and therefore his house was not right. If I am my own centre and my house is my centre, my house will never be right; but when I move towards the house of God, then I am searched

as to my own house. He had previously been searched personally in his relations with his brother, but now there was the searching as to the whole question of his house -- whether there were any idols there at all, anything which would stand between the making of a vow and the performance of it. Are there idols in our houses? Or are our houses truly hallowed, truly held for God? Are our houses such that the assembly could meet in them at any time -- the assembly in the house? Is there anything in the house out of accord with the assembly of the living God? That is the thing to see to; to cleanse our houses of everything out of keeping with the house of God.

Rem. That may involve other persons in the house besides Jacob: that is where the difficulty comes in sometimes.

G.R.C. Jacob personally was beyond his household at this point; he had had to do with God in a personal way, but now we can see what moral power he had in his house as his face was set towards Bethel. Previously, in settling down, what sorrow came into his home! Who of us is free altogether of this kind of thing, shame coming upon us in connection with our own houses. Even David said, "Although my house be not so before God", 2 Samuel 23:5. And so, through Jacob settling down, with himself and his house as his centre -- though acknowledging God in it, El-Elohe-Israel -- shameful things happened -- chapter 34. But now, with his face towards Bethel, he had moral power, and said to his household and to all that were with him, "Put away the strange gods that are among you, and cleanse yourselves". There, was the movement up to Bethel; the idols were buried, and "the terror of God was upon the cities that were round about". And so he came to Bethel, and he built there an altar and called the place El-Bethel. Now he had got a right centre -- God and His house. The God of the house of God was the

centre of Jacob's life. Therefore, as coming to Bethel, he not only set up a pillar, after God had talked with him, but he poured a drink-offering on it, and then poured oil on it. I believe Jacob was now performing his vow; he had made a vow, but now he performs it in pouring the drink-offering on the pillar.

Ques. Does that mean that he is entirely and unreservedly committed now to God and His house?

G.R.C. That is what I thought. Is not the drink-offering in a sense the crown of the offerings? When a burnt-offering or a peace-offering was offered, the offering was offered, and the proportion of the oblation was offered with it, and then there was a drink-offering of strong drink which, it says, was poured out in the sanctuary. What an appreciation Jacob now had typically of the assembly as the pillar and base of the truth, so much so that he pours the drink-offering! He really pours himself upon it.

Rem. I think you have helped us in regard to making the vow, not to wait until everything is right, but to make the vow, and then God will come in and help us in all our movements; and if we are conscious of anything wrong, He will put it right, so that we may be brought to this point.

G.R.C. As you say, we would encourage one another not to delay to make the vow. God is faithful, and it is in the light of God's faithfulness and His full committal to us that we make the vow, and then we rely upon His faithfulness to bring us to the point when we shall be able to perform it. Really Jacob performed it here, and he went beyond his vow in a way; and that is what God would expect us to do. We make a vow in early days, and we do not understand the full implications at the time, but God will bring us to it, so that we go beyond the literal vow which we made, in the full committal suggested in the pouring out of the drink-offering.

Ques. And God being down close to him, speaking

to him, is not that a touching thing? It is not God on top of the ladder now, but God speaking with him and appearing to him.

G.R.C. That is what we need to know more about experimentally. "I will dwell among them" and, "walk among them". How much do we know of God dwelling down here?

SACRIFICE AND PRACTICAL ACCORD

Leviticus 7:11 - 13, 16 - 19; Leviticus 22:17 - 23; Leviticus 27:1 - 8, 14, 15

G.R.C. We were referring this morning to the first vow recorded in scripture, that is Jacob's vow, and saw that the vow stood related to what God would set up on earth, namely His house. We also saw that God's committal to Jacob was unconditional; it did not stand related to Jacob's conduct because Jacob was chosen in the sovereignty of Divine love and that is the case with all of us. There would be nothing for God in humanity at all, but for the sovereign choice of Divine love. And so God, through His own sovereign choice, was committed to Jacob; and He indicated to Jacob how fully committed He was to him, and that He would be with him, and keep him in the way that he went, and He would not leave him until He had done all that He had spoken to him of. So that it was in the light, on the one hand, of what God had here set up on the earth -- for Jacob had seen in his dreams a ladder set up on the earth -- and, on the other hand, of God's unreserved committal to him, that Jacob made his vow. He said, "If God will be with me". God had said He would, and Jacob meant what he said; on that basis he would be for God. He was not expressing doubt about the matter, as far as I see, but it shows us that it is open to anyone of us to make a vow as relying upon God's faithfulness to His committal to us. It is not presumption to make a vow. We make a vow because God has already committed Himself to us in sovereign love, and therefore we are quite right in making, on our side, a committal to God. God never forgot Jacob's vow. It was the basis of the old economy, and

He later reminded His people about it in Malachi, exhorting them to bring the whole tithe into the treasure house. So we are not to despise Jacob's vow; it was a great landmark in God's history with men. For himself Jacob only asked for food to eat, and raiment to put on; he asked nothing great for himself, but he was thinking of God and God's house, and of supporting it.

Now in Leviticus much more light had come in as to the house of God, and the book opens with God speaking to Moses out of the tent of meeting -- not speaking from heaven, but out of the tent of meeting. God was very near. In grace He was actually dwelling amongst His people. How much do we know of God speaking to us as dwelling amongst us? God had not made His dwelling conditional. His covenant at that time was conditional, but that He should come and dwell was His own suggestion, again the fruit of sovereign love. God's desire is to dwell with men, and not to postpone this until conditions are perfect, as in the eternal state. His love is so great that He comes to dwell amongst men now. So the idea of a vow is introduced into Leviticus. It stands related to God having taken up His abode amongst His redeemed people, and to the way He counted upon them to desire to draw near to Him, not only to draw near to Him in thanksgiving, but in definite committal to Him, and also to the wonderful habitation He had established.

Ques. Is there some significance in the fact that it says in the first chapter that God called to Moses, as well as spoke to him out of the tent of meeting, as though He was suggesting at once the idea of approach on the part of the people?

G.R.C. That is very affecting is it not? God having come down to dwell, He immediately called and spoke with a view to men drawing near to Him in His abode. I wondered whether the peace-offering

bears, in a peculiar way, on the question of vows. A peace offering could be presented for a thanksgiving, according to chapter 7: 12, but according to verse 16 of that chapter it might be a vow or voluntary. Later, in chapter 22, it indicates that a burnt-offering also could be for a vow. Chapter 22: 18 refers to a burnt-offering, but verse 21 goes on to the peace-offering. That chapter gives the quality required in the offering, that it had to be a male, and if it was for a vow there was to be no defect whatever. An offering which had a member too long or too short could be offered as a voluntary offering, but not as a vow -- verse 23. I wondered whether we might get help first of all on the idea of the burnt-offering and the peace-offering, but especially the peace-offering, because it seems to me that the true index of our appreciation of the sacrifice of Christ lies in the peace-offering we bring. Indeed I would say that the true index of our appreciation of Christ as the burnt-offering would lie in the quality of the peace-offering which accompanies it, because normally, in the actual working out of the service, burnt-offerings were accompanied by peace-offerings. In all the feasts, and in the daily burnt-offerings and so on, the burnt-offerings which were essential were prescribed, but peace-offerings were not prescribed except on two occasions. Peace offerings were left to the affections of the people. There was room for abundant excess in burnt-offerings over and above what was prescribed; but the idea of what was voluntary, and what was connected with a vow, specially linked with peace-offerings, because so few were prescribed. And yet the prosperity of the people depended on the number of peace-offerings brought.

Ques. Is there any link between the drink-offering, the peace-offering and the burnt offering?

G.R.C. According to Numbers 15 every burnt-offering and peace-offering had to be accompanied

by the appropriate oblation and drink-offering. "When ye come into the land of your dwellings, which I give unto you, and will make an offering by fire to Jehovah, a burnt-offering or a sacrifice for the performance of a vow" -- when scripture speaks of a sacrifice it normally refers to a peace-offering -- "or in your set feasts", verses 2 and 3; then it prescribes the size of the oblation which was to accompany each offering and also the size of the drink-offering. It seems to me that where things are right, the drink-offering will always crown the matter. We bring our offering with its oblation, but the crown of the matter is the pouring out of the drink-offering, as it says of the Lord, "he hath poured out his soul unto death", Isaiah 53:12.

Ques. Would you mind distinguishing for us between the burnt-offering and the peace-offering?

G.R.C. Is not the burnt-offering that aspect of the death of Christ in which He devoted Himself entirely to God and His will? But is not the peace-offering that aspect of His death in which He loved us and gave Himself for us? The offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all involves all four offerings, but they are separated in the type to help us to understand their significance. On the one hand Christ devoted Himself wholly to God; but then, it was God's will that He should devote Himself to us, and so He loved us and gave Himself for us.

Rem. "Even as the Christ loved us, and delivered himself up for us, an offering and sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savour", Ephesians 5:2.

G.R.C. That is especially the peace-offering. The kidneys, the net above the liver, and the fat that covered the inwards, were burnt on the altar, so that it was an offering and sacrifice to God. I think the whole verse has in mind the peace-offering, because it is exhorting us to walk in love, and it means that our walk is to be one of devotion in the appreciation

of the way Christ has devoted Himself. What lies behind everything is devotion to God; but devotion to God will manifest itself in devotion to the saints, and that is the principle of the peace-offering. A man may say that he loves God, but then it says, "that he that loves God love also his brother", 1 John 4:21. That is how we prove our love for God.

Ques. Does the peace-offering involve that there is a certain communion between the soul of the offerer and God Himself, in relation to Christ? Even a burnt-offering in a sense has our side of things somewhat in view; it speaks of complete acceptance, does it not? I wondered whether the peace-offering involves that, apart from any question of our side of things, we bring forward that in which we delight, and in which God Himself delights.

G.R.C. That is very good, because the peace-offering supplied food, did it not? The burnt-offering was God's bread, of course. It went up on the altar as a sweet odour to God. But the peace-offering supplied food for God and for all the people. The fat was for God, the wave-breast and the heave-shoulder were for the priests, and the remainder of the offering provided food for every clean person -- chapter 7: 19. The peace-offering provided sustenance for the people before God. They were feeding on that which is precious to God.

Ques. Would the energy of affection, which is seen suggested in the vow, provide for prosperous and happy conditions?

G.R.C. It would, and you can see the force of it in this book. How were the people to be sustained before God when they came up to His habitation? It would be by the peace-offerings which were brought. Chapter 23 speaks of the feasts when, three times a year, all the males appeared before God. What sustained the people in Jerusalem for the seven days of the feast, or whatever the time might be? It was

the peace-offerings. The burnt-offerings which were to be offered were prescribed; the priests would see that those were offered. There was also scope for further voluntary burnt-offerings. But what would sustain the people would be the peace-offerings; and therefore you can understand an Israelite, before leaving his home to go to Jerusalem with his family -- Elkanah took his wife with him, and I suppose others did -- would look round his flock, and say to his wife, We must take the very best. It was for God, of course -- God was the motive -- but it was for all to feed upon. The Israelite would be thinking of the vast number at Jerusalem, and how much was needed to sustain them in joy and gladness before God at the place where He had put His name. Without that sustainment God would not have His portion.

Ques. Could I make a reference to Hezekiah in 2 Chronicles? "And also the burnt-offerings were in abundance, with the fat of the peace-offerings, and with the drink-offerings for the burnt offering. And the service of the house of Jehovah was set in order", chapter 29: 35. The house of God was set in order.

G.R.C. That is very beautiful. All that was for God; the burnt-offerings and the fat of the peace-offerings were all offered on the altar for God, and the drink-offerings were poured out in the sanctuary, and "the house of Jehovah was set in order". But then, the flesh of those peace-offerings was the means of sustaining the people before God.

Ques. Would you say why the thought of sacrifice is particularly connected with the peace-offering?

G.R.C. I would say this as to the offerings generally, that I believe God expects the offerer to be in keeping with his appreciation of the offering he is bringing. My appreciation of Christ as the burnt-offering may not be very large, but if I bring my appreciation to God, and express it, God expects a corresponding answer in me, in keeping with what I

have expressed. In the burnt-offering I express an appreciation of Christ in His devotion to God. It may not be easy for others to assess how much I am in accord with this. But my burnt-offering should be accompanied by a peace-offering, and you can easily test a man's peace-offering. If I bring my appreciation of Christ as the One who loved us and gave Himself for us, it immediately raises the question of what I am doing for my brother and that is where practical sacrifice comes in. That is why, I think, our peace-offering becomes an index as to the true measure of our burnt-offering. How much practical sacrifice am I making?

Ques. Does Hebrews 10 cover the burnt-offering aspect -- "Then I said, Lo, I come to do thy will" -- verse 9; then "let us approach with a true heart", verse 22 -- and then "let us consider one another for provoking to love and good works", verse 24? Would that be the answer on our side?

G.R.C. It would; and while the Lord said, "Lo, I come to do thy will", the apostle goes on to say immediately, "by which will we have been sanctified", verse 10. That is, He gave Himself for us. He devoted Himself to God, but the very devoting of Himself to God involves that He gave Himself for us; so that if I profess to be devoted to God, the test of it is, How much am I sacrificing for my brethren? How much is there with me of the sacrifice of peace-offering -- and that sacrifice on the basis of a vow, which cannot be withdrawn?

Ques. Paul says of Himself, "I live by faith, the faith of the son of God, who has loved me and given himself for me", Galatians 2:20. Would that be the practical side?

G.R.C. I think that would be like Paul appropriating the peace-offering to himself; "The Son of God, who has loved me and given himself for me". But then, as you say, in the light of that he lived by the

faith of the Son of God. His life was also a sacrifice.

Ques. When Moses sent the youths in Exodus 24, "they offered up burnt-offerings, and sacrificed sacrifices of peace-offerings of bullocks to Jehovah", verse 5. Am I right in supposing that that seemed to set God free, and also set the people free, because, after that, "Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel went up", verse 9. Did those offerings, as it were, pave the way for their liberty in the service of God?

G.R.C. I would say so. If they had all been burnt-offerings, there would still have been an abundance for God, as we might say; but what would have sustained the people? Where would the food of the people have come in? That is why normally, in the practical working out of things, burnt-offerings and peace-offerings are offered together. There is God's side, and also the people's side. When Solomon brought up the ark, it says he sacrificed a sacrifice of twenty two thousand oxen and a hundred and twenty thousand sheep; that would be the peace-offering. That was not prescribed, but it was what he gave in the largeness of his heart to support the vast concourse, to sustain them before God in the joy and liberty of the house of God.

Ques. On this occasion, when Moses took the blood, they said, "all that Jehovah has said will we do, and obey!" Exodus 24:7. Were they moved and sustained typically in the excellence of Christ?

G.R.C. And surely the peace-offering would give strength to go up, would it not? In a way we begin at the supper with the peace-offering, "This is my body, which is for you", 1 Corinthians 2:24; but the Lord also says, "Take, eat; this is my body", Matthew 26:26. What food and what strength it gives! It is the peace-offering character at that point.

You may depend upon this, any service which is of real value must be based on sacrifice, and we need

the peace-offering to accompany the burnt-offering. I may claim that I have much love for God, but how am I to prove it? By my love for the people of God. What am I prepared to sacrifice? It is sacrifice that brings spiritual prosperity. The peace-offering might be called, so I am told, the prosperity-offering. It is a question of how much we are prepared to sacrifice for God and for His house.

Ques. Would you say something about the things which are mentioned in verse 12 in relation to the sacrifice? It says, "he shall present with the sacrifice of thanksgiving unleavened cakes mingled with oil, and unleavened wafers anointed with oil, and fine flour saturated with oil, cakes mingled with oil".

G.R.C. Then in addition, in verse 13 he is to present his offering of leavened bread with his sacrifice. The earlier items would be an appreciation of Christ, His perfect humanity, the way He was devoted all through His course to God and to God's people. But then the offerer, in a way, brings what represents himself. He presents his offering of leavened bread; that is, he is in keeping, so far as he can be, with the One of whom he is expressing the appreciation of his heart. He recognises that he, the offerer, is in accord with the offering, as far as that is possible.

Ques. You are seeking to make things practical for us?

G.R.C. Now the peace-offering was that which established the fellowship. The only times it was prescribed were at the feast of Pentecost in Leviticus 23:19, and the typical establishing of the fellowship in Israel in Leviticus 9:4. On all other occasions the wealth of the fellowship was left to the affections of the people to provide. Christ has given Himself, and all, of course, depends on Him. So in the law of the peace-offering -- chapter 7: 12 -- it says first of all, "If he present it for a thanksgiving". Now the first thing that would lead us to bring a peace-offering is

thanksgiving. The soul begins to give thanks to God in Romans, "I thank God, through Jesus Christ our Lord", chapter 7: 25; and in the spirit of thanksgiving to God the apostle exhorts us to present our bodies -- chapter 12. Now how can I show my gratitude to God? First by bringing verbally and vocally, if I am a brother, my appreciation of Christ in public thanksgiving, because this moves others; it gives all something to feed upon; it is primarily for God, but there is something in it for all to feed upon, that is why we give thanks vocally. God would hear if I gave thanks quietly, but the fact that I give thanks vocally is a sacrifice, if I am doing it truly. To give thanks vocally, acceptably to God, cannot be without sacrifice, because it means self-judgment and exercise. So we bring our sacrifices of thanksgiving, expressing them vocally so that all should hear and get food from them, and thus the service of God would be enriched amongst all the saints. That is the sacrifice of thanksgiving in its verbal expression. But God expects me, as the offerer to be in practical accord with what I am saying, not only on the Lord's Day, but on Monday and Tuesday and all through the week. I may express my gratitude to God in thanksgiving for what He has done, but God would say to me, Express that practically by devoting yourself to my children.

Ques. Would that be seen in Hebrews 13 where it says, "By him, therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise continually to God, that is, the fruit of the lips confessing his name. But of doing good and communicating of your substance be not forgetful, for with such sacrifices God is well-pleased", verses 15 - 16?

G.R.C. I believe there we get combined the burnt-offering and the peace-offering. It says, "By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise continually to God". That would include the burnt-offering;

that is our appreciation of it, and our appreciation, too, of the peace-offering. But then it goes on to work out the practical side of the peace-offering -- to do good. We may have told God in a meeting how we appreciate Christ's sacrifice; but God would say to us, as it were, Prove your gratitude every day in the coming week by what you are doing. Do good and communicate of your substance. There is the peace-offering working out in practice. My appreciation of Christ as the peace-offering works out in practice in that I do good and communicate of my substance. And the sisters, who cannot be vocal in the assembly, have a special part to fill in doing good and communicating.

Ques. Would the spirit of the peace-offering be seen in Abigail when David sends to her to bring her to him as wife? She says, "Behold, let thy handmaid be a bondwoman to wash the feet of the servants of my lord", 1 Samuel 25:41.

G.R.C. Very much so. The Lord washed the disciples' feet, and He said, "I have given you an example ... If ye know these things, blessed are ye if ye do them", John 13:15, 17. The appreciation of the peace-offering would lead us to do these things.

Ques. Would the eating on the same day, in verse 16, give strength, because it says, "When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it", Ecclesiastes 5:4?

G.R.C. The eating, I am sure, would give strength. I would like to encourage the sisters, because there is special scope for them in doing good -- 1 Timothy 2:10. "With such sacrifices God is well-pleased".

Ques. Is the basis of it all in John's epistle, "Hereby we have known love, because he has laid down his life for us; and we ought for the brethren to lay down our lives", 1 John 3:16?

G.R.C. That is just it. I think John's epistle helps greatly as to the peace-offering.

Ques. It is said of the believers at Ephesus that they had love towards all the saints; would there be a basis there?

G.R.C. Yes, and what scope for sacrifice if you love all the saints! It means you are thinking of them in British Guiana, in Persia, and in every place. All saints come into view. What scope for doing good!

Ques. Should not our prayer meetings be extended to take in all God's activities and interests in the earth?

G.R.C. If we are on the line of the sacrifice of peace-offerings, the saints will be fed. We all know by experience what food for the soul there is when someone does something sacrificial for us. If a brother or sister does something sacrificial for me, my soul is thoroughly lifted up; I am really fed, and the priest in me is fed, and thus there is more for God from me. That is what happens generally as we move on this line in a mutual way. Everyone's soul is being lifted up and fed and strengthened, and everyone is being helped as a priest, and that would help the prayer meeting. Our prayer meetings are so narrowed up because there are not enough peace-offerings to feed the priest; and so we get narrow, like the Corinthians. There was very little in the way of sacrifice of peace-offering at Corinth, one would judge, and therefore the saints narrowed up, and Paul does not even ask them to pray for him. He knew it was no good at that time. If our souls are nourished, we shall be strengthened to take in God's outlook in our prayers; we shall be strengthened to serve at God's altars which are square -- universal.

Rem. In 1 Corinthians 14, the thought of being edified is linked with the giving of thanks. If the thanksgiving is not understood the person is not edified.

G.R.C. That is why, I believe, the word in Ephesians, "be filled with the Spirit, speaking to

yourselves in psalms and hymns", etc -- chapter 5: 18 -- involves the peace-offering in this sense, that we are speaking intelligibly for the sake of others. All that we are saying in the service is for God, as all the inwards of the peace-offering were for God. If God is our object, our motive, we are speaking to ourselves, that is, speaking audibly so that others may be edified.

Ques. Would you add a word as to the repeated suggestions of the Spirit in verse 2, the mingling with oil, the anointing with oil and the saturating with oil? Would the last suggestion, which surely suggests the permeation of the Spirit into every part, help us to see how all that you are speaking of comes about as the Spirit personally is given room?

G.R.C. We need to make way for the Spirit. Mingling with oil means that the Spirit is the source of all energy. Anything of natural energy is of no value to God. But the Spirit would fill us with energy. That is the idea of oil in the bread: it produces energy.

Ques. There is a footnote on 'mingled with oil' in chapter 2 on the oblation; it says, 'It is not merely anointed as consecration, but his whole system is invigorated and strengthened by it; it formed his strength'. Does that not enter in a practical way into the service, as we are speaking of it -- not only what we may say but what we may bring, that which is a part, we might say, of ourselves?

G.R.C. Yes. So that David says, "I shall be anointed [or mingled -- see footnote] with fresh oil", Psalm 92:10.

Rem. All that you have been saying about the offerings, especially the peace-offering, would fit into the prayers at any other gathering.

G.R.C. Should we not be exercised to be able to say, like David, I am mingled with fresh oil, a green olive tree in the house of God? We should come to all occasions mingled with fresh oil -- full of spiritual

energy. How this tests our relations with the Spirit!

Ques. Would all this be borne out in 1 Chronicles 29 where David says, "And now, our God, we thank thee, and praise thy glorious name", verse 13; and then we get the abundance of the sacrifices in verses 21 and 22?

G.R.C. You are thinking of David's heart going out to God firstly, and then the corresponding answer to that in the sacrifices -- "and they sacrificed sacrifices to Jehovah, and offered up burnt-offerings to Jehovah, a thousand bullocks, a thousand rams, a thousand lambs, with their drink-offerings, and sacrifices in abundance for all Israel". That is, there was food for the whole of Israel. But then we were speaking about the peace-offering of thanksgiving. I would think Exodus 24, where the youths offered up, would be on that line. But the vow is something more than that; it is something more even than a voluntary offering. The vow stands out; God would bring us to the point of the vow, that we are not only glad to do anything we can to express our thankfulness, but we are committed by a vow; we are committed, in so far as our measure permits, to serve as Christ served. "Walk in love, even as the Christ loved us, and delivered himself up for us", Ephesians 5:2; that is going all the way -- giving Himself. I believe if we understood the Lord's Supper properly, we would regard our partaking of it as a re-dedication, a renewal of our vow week by week, because it is the fellowship or communion of the body of the Christ. The communion of the body of the Christ not only means that we are thankful, but that we are holding our bodies as He held His.

Ques. In that way would you look for increased devotedness as entering more fully into the truth and enjoyment of the Supper?

G.R.C. I would. I suppose each one of us begins on the line of the peace-offering of thanksgiving, and

that is quite right. But God would have us move on quickly, I am sure, to the idea of the peace-offering for a vow -- that we have an appreciation of Christ as the One who was fully committed, and we want to be in that communion.

Ques. So that he said, "I love my master, my wife, and my children, I will not go free", Exodus 21:5. That was absolute, was it not? And that was the first of the ordinances given to Israel, I think.

Ques. Could we have a word on the animal with a member too long or too short, which could be accepted for a voluntary offering but not for a vow?

G.R.C. First of all that section makes it clear that anything that is for a vow, or voluntary, must be a male. We must not apply male and female in a natural way, because in Christ Jesus there is neither male nor female. I think the male suggests the best of our energies, the best of a sister's energy as well as the best of a brother's energy. God will accept a lower level of things for thanksgiving, but for a vow it must be a male, the best of our energies. God says, "Yea, cursed be the deceiver, who hath in his flock a male, and voweth and sacrificeth unto the Lord a corrupt thing", Malachi 1:14. In verse 23 we find the requirement for the vow is even more stringent than for the voluntary offering. If the victim had a member too long or too short it must not be offered as a vow. I think the idea of a vow is such calculated devotion that the person concerned must see to it that he is holding the truth in balance. If a person is committed to God in a vow, it is his business to see that he is cutting in a straight line the word of truth, even in his thanksgiving; no member too long or too short, no item of the truth stressed at the expense of another!

Rem. I have known brothers who are more devoted to the gospel and neglect the service of God.

G.R.C. That is why one referred this morning to misguided zeal and misdirected devotion. How much

there is of it around in Christendom, devoted souls whose devotion may put us to shame, but it is misdirected. The vow stands related to God dwelling in His house down here; it is what will promote His service in His house, and support those who comprise it in relation to it. It is to that end that God looks for devotion. The gospel is needed, of course, but in its proper setting. The evangelist is for the edifying of the body of Christ, just as much as the prophet or teacher; so that there is plenty of scope for devotion in the gospel as long as it is held in its proper setting in relation to the house of God. No free-lance devotion is in accordance with the teaching as to the vow in scripture.

Rem. In a way the behaviour of Ananias and Sapphira at the beginning, in what appeared to be a great sacrifice to benefit the saints, was a very grave matter.

G.R.C. The inwards were not for God, and that is a solemn thing. We have to watch that all the time. Barnabas sold what he had and laid it at the apostles' feet, and it was evidently entirely acceptable; his motives were pure. But then you have Ananias and Sapphira. A peace-offering is no peace-offering at all unless the kidneys and the net above the liver and the fat that covers the inwards are all for God.

Ques. You made some remark about chapter 7: 13 about the leavened bread. Would you mind repeating it?

G.R.C. I said the leavened bread makes way for the offerer himself. We could not apply the leavened bread to Christ. The earlier verse would be his appreciation of Christ.

Ques. Is this confined to the thanksgiving offering as it would appear in verse 13?

G.R.C. I would not think so; I would think that is a general direction. I would think that kind of thing should also accompany the vow, perhaps in a larger

way. True assessment of ourselves is always wholesome.

Rem. It is not leaven, it is leavened bread. It has been baked.

G.R.C. Quite so, so that the offerer himself is acceptable, which is a wonderful thing.

Ques. Would the house of Stephanas be an example of the true vow?

G.R.C. I would think so, "They have devoted themselves to the saints for service", 1 Corinthians 16:15. That was the principle of the peace-offering, but the inwards would be for God.

Ques. Is it not interesting that Hannah vowed a vow, and later she is wealthy enough to bring three bullocks, one of which was offered. I was thinking of the spiritual progress which she made; she was a wealthy woman.

G.R.C. That is very interesting, and the fact that she vowed a vow relative to her son shows what an influence mothers can have -- literal mothers and also "mothers in Israel".

Rem. I was thinking particularly of the offering she brought, not only the bullocks, but the vow and also the flask of wine.

Ques. Do Psalm 132 and Psalm 137 express divinely-directed energy in relation to vows? Psalm 132 is David's vow in relation to the ark and dwelling-place; Psalm 137 is a person's vow in relation to Jerusalem -- "If I forget thee, Jerusalem", verse 5.

G.R.C. They are rightly directed vows, as you say. Now we ought to refer to chapter 27, where we have persons valued. We have to keep this in the setting of this book, God dwelling among His people; and so the valuation is according to the shekel of the sanctuary. God is there, His sanctuary is there; and, according to this valuation, it does not appear that anybody qualifies for valuation at all except as having made a vow. If we look at other scriptures, every believer is of value, the brother for whom Christ

died; you cannot measure the value of every believer to God from that standpoint.

Rem. In Philippians 2, where the mind which is in Christ Jesus is brought forward, Paul honours Epaphroditus because he drew near to death for the work's sake.

G.R.C. The mind there refers, does it not, to the bent of mind? The mind which is in Christ Jesus is a different idea from, "we have the mind of Christ", which is the thinking faculty, giving us the ability to think the thoughts of Christ, and of God by the Spirit. But the mind which is in Christ Jesus is another word, meaning the bent of mind; and the bent of Epaphroditus' mind is the same as that of Christ, according to his measure. He was prepared to lay down his life for the brethren.

Ques. What have you in mind in regard to the valuation?

G.R.C. Would we not like to qualify for valuation in this respect, according to the shekel of the sanctuary? There is the redemption money where all paid a half-shekel, but surely we would like to be of some account relative to God's habitation here on the earth. I do not think we come up for valuation at all in this connection unless we have made a vow.

Ques. Do you think we might get some suggestion in Romans 16 of those who made a vow? I was thinking of the apostle's valuation of the work of God in Phoebe, "who is minister of the assembly", verse 1; and Prisca and Aquila, "my fellow-workmen", verse 3.

G.R.C. I think so. When you think of God, in grace and love coming down to dwell with us here in our mixed conditions, not waiting till a later day, but coming down to dwell among us now just where we are, how touching it is -- dwelling on His own terms, it is true, but never leaving us! Even to the Corinthians Paul does not say, God has left you; he

just quotes, "I will dwell among them, and walk among them", 2 Corinthians 6:16, and he speaks of the Spirit of God dwelling in them. In spite of their state, think of God dwelling among them like this! Can you not understand that He would expect devoted persons to come to light, and not a few? He would expect, with such grace and love on His part, to bring about this spirit of devotion in Israel generally, so that there would be many persons to be valued, not just one here and there.

Ques. In Ezra's day, the giving of the chief fathers included one hundred priests' coats. In Nehemiah's day the giving was much greater, and the number of priests' coats was increased. Does it have in mind looking for additions in the way you were saying, the swelling of the company?

G.R.C. You mean it would increase God's portion? There would be the increase in the priesthood; that is the great aim of devotedness.

Ques. There did not seem to be many persons mentioned in 1 Corinthians, as I believe you said, but is Paul encouraged towards the end of his second letter, especially when he speaks about "the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all", chapter 13: 14? Were there more priests on the horizon, so to speak?

G.R.C. I would say that, and that is what we need today.

Rem. I was thinking of the local companies, of which Corinth was one.

Ques. Would we be enlarged in our valuation as we take account of those who are prepared to support what is local?

G.R.C. I think we would. It speaks in Acts of men who had laid down their lives for the name of the Lord Jesus. What a valuation! They would be something like the full valuation here, fifty shekels of silver. We must not limit, as you say, the idea of

valuation to men who move about. Those men were going to move with Paul for the time being, but in a basic sense the prosperity of God's habitation and service on earth depends on local men, men who are prepared in obscurity to devote themselves and all they have to the testimony of God; and thank God, there are many of them! Ministry would all fall to the ground but for such persons.

Ques. Would the man who spoke of himself as less than the least of all saints be one of full valuation?

G.R.C. Indeed he would! None of us would assume to come up to the full valuation. How could we, in the light of Paul and others? But we are thankful for the priest; the priest values such. There is a valuation for every one who has committed himself with a vow; there is a certain valuation which the priest places upon him.

Then as to the house, I am drawing attention to the house because we have noticed that Jacob's house seemed to be the last thing which he was able to set in order; and it may be so with all of us. It requires power for a man to influence his house. The time came when Jacob had the moral power to influence his house as he was approaching Bethel. A man may be more easy with his children than he would be with himself, and his house gets somewhat in disorder; but it would be normal, with a person who has devoted himself with a vow, to hallow his house to Jehovah -- "that it may be holy to Jehovah".

Ques. Does Lydia submit the matter to a priest when she says, "If ye have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house", Acts 16:15?

G.R.C. I think so. Lydia is an example of one who is prepared to come to the priest for valuation; first of herself, "If ye have judged me" -- she is prepared to face priestly scrutiny herself; and then she refers to her house, knowing that it is a hallowed

house. She was already devoted to the Lord.

Ques. Would you say that Barnabas would not accept Paul's valuation of Mark when "Paul thought it not well to take with them him who had abandoned them", Acts 15:38.

G.R.C. You mean Barnabas had too great a valuation of Mark, but Paul had a true valuation.

Ques. Yes. Would you make a difference between Moses' valuation and the priest's valuation? The earlier part of the chapter refers to the valuing by Moses.

G.R.C. Moses' valuation is the divine standard, seen fully in Christ, and, so far as it can be seen in men of like passions, in men like Paul and others, who laid down their lives for the name of the Lord Jesus. But most of us do not come up to Moses' valuation. We are not despised, however; we are not set aside; there is the priest's valuation. He values what there really is; and so Mark later comes into a good valuation on Paul's part.

Ques. Are David's last words encouraging? He says, "Although my house be not so before God, yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in every way and sure", 2 Samuel 23:5. He falls back on what God would bring him to, and he offers very largely at the end.

G.R.C. They are comforting words. At the same time we would like our houses to improve, would we not? If we are devoted persons why should we not have hallowed houses? Not devoted houses, for that would mean that we sold them as they did at the beginning, and they passed out of our control; they laid the proceeds at the apostles' feet. But a hallowed house is a house which you retain in your possession on the principle that, If I retain it, God is going to get more from it than if I had sold it and devoted the proceeds to His testimony. That is the condition on which I am to retain the house, that God is going to

get more out of it than if I sold it. It is for God.

Ques. Did Levi have a hallowed house in Luke 5?

G.R.C. That is a very encouraging word. Levi made a great entertainment for the Lord in His house. It is encouraging that such words are used, "a great entertainment"; it shows what we can do. There is nothing legal about a hallowed house. In a hallowed house you can have a great entertainment; and I am sure the Lord enjoyed it.

Ques. Would the fact that the priest has to value a hallowed house be to remind us that if we want to hallow our houses it must be according to the standard of what is due to God? We must not have our own thoughts about it, exactly.

G.R.C. Yes, very good.

Ques. Does this matter of having a house for God involve commencing at the beginning, not later in life?

G.R.C. You are thinking of marriage meetings? It is a great thing to have a right start.

Ques. Would a hallowed house, in that sense, stand in relation to the assembly?

G.R.C. It would; and I thought that would be the bearing of the remark just made as to the priest valuing it, because a priest would not pass anything out of accord with the house of God.

THE DEVOTEDNESS OF CHRIST

Psalm 40:1 - 8; Psalm 22:1 - 3, 21 - 31; Psalm 132:1 - 9

G.R.C. It seems appropriate on the Lord's day to be engaged with Christ Himself. Our subject is devotedness, particularly with reference to vows, and the devotedness of Christ, as we know, is beyond compare. In Psalm 40 we have in type His great committal. According to Hebrews it was made as coming into the world -- "Wherefore coming into the world he says, Sacrifice and offering thou willedst not; but thou hast prepared me a body. Thou tookest no pleasure in burnt-offerings and sacrifices for sin. Then I said, Lo, I come ... to do, O God, thy will", Hebrews 10:5 - 7. That is a great contemplation because, while it almost synchronises with the incarnation, yet in actuality it would be prior to incarnation. As coming into the world He said this. It is not a statement made after He had taken the body prepared, but made as He was in the act of taking it. Then Psalm 22 shows us the unspeakable cost which was involved in carrying out that to which He had committed Himself. It also develops the immense results of His devotion, and we find the expression in verse 25, "I will pay my vows before them that fear him". Then in Psalm 132 David is a type of Christ, but he is also a model for us. Christ alone, in the full sense, could find out a place for Jehovah -- "habitations for the Mighty One of Jacob"; nevertheless the one who was speaking, David, was a man of like passions, and this appears to be a vow he made early in life. He, therefore, affords an example for us all, and especially for those who are at the early stages of life. He is a model of

one who made a vow of an excellent character, and he becomes an encouragement to us, because we see in him a further example. We see in Jacob, and we see also in David, how God enables a man to carry out what he has vowed. As we noticed yesterday, a vow can only rightly be made in the light of God's unqualified committal to us; but, because God has committed Himself to us in sovereign choice and sovereign love without reserve, we, as relying upon that God, can commit ourselves in a definite way to Him, and that is the idea of a vow. God takes account of the vow and, in His faithful grace, He would enable each one of us to perform the vow we have made. So, though it was Solomon who built the house, David found a place for Jehovah and for the ark of His strength.

Ques. Would you say something more about this pre-incarnate undertaking? It is remarkable and rare, if not unique.

G.R.C. Yes, it is remarkable. Mr. Darby dwells on it at some length in the Synopsis, and it would be difficult to improve upon his profound remarks there. He speaks of our being privileged to hear such a communication between Divine Persons in pre-incarnate condition, at a time -- if we can speak of time -- when nothing in the way of obedience could have been imposed upon the One who was speaking. It is His own voluntary committal -- "Lo, I come". There is no thought of being sent.

Ques. Does the thought of committal enter into the place which Christ has taken in the economy in the arrangement into which Divine Persons have entered, as well as being seen in the excellence of the character of manhood which was set out in Him?

G.R.C. In this passage, when about to take the body prepared, He says, "Lo, I come". It would never have been imposed upon Him to come in such a manner; it was His own action. So in Psalm 40 we

read, "Thou, O Jehovah my God, hast multiplied thy marvellous works, and thy thoughts toward us; they cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee". He knew all that was written in the roll of the book -- those thoughts conceived in purpose. "In the volume of the book it is written of me", and He commits Himself to all that is in that book to carry it through. "Lo, I come ... to do, O God, thy will", and how vast the scope of that will is!

Ques. Do you look at what is written in the roll, or the volume of the book, as being a vow, speaking reverently, of this blessed Person in past eternity; but then the coming -- His moving into the fulfilment of the vow?

G.R.C. What was written in the roll of the book relates to Divine purpose and counsel. God purposed, and counsel relates to the way the purpose is to be worked out or achieved. Would not what is in the roll of the book refer to those things? Then you have the great committal of Christ as coming into the world. I do not know that one can go back further than scripture does.

Rem. I was thinking of such a scripture as that in Peter, "a lamb ... foreknown indeed before the foundation of the world", 1 Peter 1:19, 20.

G.R.C. That is very interesting. It shows that redemption was not an afterthought. So that would enter, no doubt, into what was written in the roll of the book; and in the light of all that was written there the Lord says, "Lo, I come".

Ques. What do you say about us being chosen in Him before the foundation of the world? I think it is in the same line, going back before anything was made -- the counsel of God.

G.R.C. It would link thus with the volume of the book.

Rem. I was thinking as to this being somewhat coincidental with Christ's coming into humanity,

and as to whether the thought of committal entered into the act of a Divine Person in moving into the position and condition in which He would fulfil the will of God.

G.R.C. That is what I had in mind. Therefore, having come, He is the sent One. He came, if we may say so, by His own voluntary act and committal. He comes into a condition where He is committed to do the will of God, and therefore, as having come, He is under command in every detail. He whose prerogative had always been to command, came into a condition where He learned obedience from the things which He suffered.

Ques. Would the emphasis on this in Philippians 2:7 help us -- the three closely related statements, that He "emptied himself, taking a bondman's form, taking his place in the likeness of men; and having been found in figure as a man"? The Spirit of God seems to give such emphasis at that point to what you are speaking of.

G.R.C. He does. It begins, "who, subsisting in the form of God", and the passage does not say that He ever left the form of God. It says, "subsisting in the form of God, did not esteem it an object of rapine to be on an equality with God"; and that becomes evident in the gospel of John, where from time to time He claims equality with God, and it was not in any way an object of rapine for Him to do so. That gospel shows the truth of His Person so clearly. He could say, "Before Abraham was, I am", John 8:58. That is the One who said, "Lo, I come" and "Thou hast prepared me a body". The fact that He had come did not alter in any way the truth of His Person, so that at no time was it an object of rapine for Him to be on an equality with God.

Ques. Is this vow holy and unique, involving voluntary committal, in any way prompted by the fact that sacrifices and oblation, burnt-offering and

sin-offering did not fully answer to the Divine pleasure and so it says, "To do thy good pleasure, my God", Psalm 40:8?

G.R.C. So as has been said, He emptied Himself, in the sense that while it had ever been His to command, He came of His own volition into a position where it was His at all times to obey. The gospel of John, which stresses His Person, also stressed His obedience. He speaks of Himself as the sent One, under the Father's command as to all that He said and did. It is wonderful to think of Him thus: "Lo, I come ... to do, O God, thy will"! He never swerved from this; and what you are drawing attention to is most affecting, because in the committal He speaks of the four offerings by fire. It is most touching to think of the Lord quoting those four offerings by fire, and committing Himself to come in the body prepared in order that He Himself should be the antitype of them all. Let us keep the fire in our minds, because He knew what the fire was. No creature understands fully what the fire is. "Our God is a consuming fire", Hebrews 12:29.

Ques. Would you say why it is that when the Spirit twice quotes this in Hebrews 10, "Lo, I come", the first time He refers to the roll of the book, but the second time reference is not made to the roll of the book?

G.R.C. I think we can understand that in the second reference He is stressing the offerings, because the great point in Hebrews 10 is the efficacy of "the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all". "Sacrifices and offerings and burnt-offerings and sacrifices for sin thou willedst not, neither tookest pleasure in (which are offered according to the law); then he said, Lo, I come to do thy will". I think the repetition in Hebrews is to stress the sacrificial side, and this should affect our souls at a time like this, as we think of the Lord committing Himself of His own

volition to such a mission as that -- that His body, He Himself, as we may say, should be the antitype of all four offerings by fire and that He should endure the fire in its full extent.

Ques. Does the thought of the body, from that point of view, involve a condition in which suffering was possible?

G.R.C. It is a wonderful thing to think of Divine Persons having experiences which they could not have had in the abstract relations of Deity. I think it would help us as to depth of soul if we contemplated more the experiences of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit relative to this matter. Psalm 40 opens, "he hath put a new song in my mouth". Think of the Lord being able to sing a song which He never could have sung before, because He had not been through the experiences. Though He were a Person of the Godhead, yet, as coming forth from death, He could sing a new song; God had put a new song in His mouth because He had been through experiences which were not possible in abstract Deity. What experiences He had been through! You can understand the joy in His heart in coming forth from death when this mission was over. Think even of the relief if we might put it that way, that the fire had been borne, and that all that terrible matter was past, and that now there was the joy of the fulfilment of what was in the roll of the book. No wonder a new song was put into His mouth!

Ques. Is it not affecting that He says, "On this account the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it again", John 10:17?

G.R.C. It is; and, while it is digressing a little, we should take account of the Father's experiences. The Father has had experiences which would not have been possible apart from the incarnation. Indeed, the affections of the Father did not come into display until there was an Object adequate for them

in manhood. Though Jesus was loved before the foundation of the world, He was now loved in a new condition and relationship. The first mention of the Father's love in scripture, in type -- indeed, the first mention of love at all -- is in a setting of anguish. Think of the Father experiencing anguish! "Take now thy son, thine only son, whom thou lovest, Isaac", Genesis 22:2. It says, "Abraham ... took the fire in his hand, and the knife". Think of what experiences the Father passed through! These things should come into our souls.

Rem. We cannot fathom what it meant to the Father when Jesus prayed in Gethsemane.

G.R.C. No. And we may not read what we ought to read into the anguished cry of John 12, "Father, save me from this hour", verse 27. It was a real matter. It was the anguished cry of His heart to the Father. What that meant to the Father! Also, as you say, in Gethsemane. It has been pointed out that the Father was the first at the tomb. What joy, and what relief, we might say, to the Father's heart when all was over, and He could be first at the tomb to greet the Son -- "raised up from among the dead by the glory of the Father", Romans 6:4. Then, if we might pursue the matter a little further, think of the feelings of the Spirit. Who can measure those? There had been His part in the preparing of the body -- "The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest overshadow thee, wherefore the holy thing also which shall be born shall be called Son of God", Luke 1:35.

Ques. Is that how we understand the reference in Hebrews 9:14, that the offering was by the eternal Spirit?

G.R.C. That is what was in my mind. I believe we should understand in that expression how deep were the feelings of the Spirit. His feelings had no doubt been profound in connection with the incarnation,

and again at the baptism; but who can measure what it meant to the Spirit when the Lord Jesus, by the eternal Spirit, offered Himself without spot to God?

Rem. And He was quickened by the Spirit, so that the Spirit again would have part in the joy in the coming out of Christ from the dead, would He not?

G.R.C. He would. So that when it says, "he hath put a new song in my mouth", the Lord Jesus, speaking with all reverence, can sing now in a way, which would not have been possible without those experiences. He sings now as Man, but as a Man who has had all those experiences. But then, coupled with the fact that He can sing a new song, there is the joy which we have referred to -- the joy of the Father's heart, and the joy of the Holy Spirit, the answer to all the anguish which was involved in connection with this committal.

Ques. Why does it say, "he hath put a new song in my mouth", but then He adds to it, "Praise unto our God"?

G.R.C. While in New Testament language we should keep to the words, "My God" and "your God" because He is unique, yet I think we can see that "Praise unto our God" would mean that He links others with Him in the singing. Is that so?

Ques. Would it link with Hebrews 2, the Lord singing in the midst of the assembly?

G.R.C. It would, and that is why we have read Psalm 22. We see there the cost which was involved in this great committal; we see the Lord in the very depths of suffering, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" We see Him there as enduring the fire; but as the Psalm proceeds we see the immensity of the result, and the most exquisite results are in the midst of the assembly.

Ques. Is that why He says, "go to my brethren

and say to them, I ascend to my Father and your Father, and to my God and your God", John 20:17?

G.R.C. Yes. What immense results! When He was down here He could speak of Himself as, "the Son of Man who is in heaven" but now He was opening up a new place for man according to the counsels of God, and He says, "I ascend to my Father and your Father, and to my God and your God" -- the God whom He had served right to the point of extremity when He cried, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?"

Ques. Therefore do you think that the sufferings of Christ should never be absent from our thoughts and our appreciation? In order that the praises in the assembly might take place, the Lord Jesus had to go this way.

G.R.C. I do not think there will ever be height without depth. The Psalms, and especially this psalm, would give us depth; and the heading of the psalm, 'Aijeleth-Shahar' -- 'the hind of the morning' -- would relate to the assembly as moved in her soul by these sufferings, entering into the feelings and experiences, so far as the creature can, of Divine Persons. So that when He says, "I will declare thy name" -- the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit -- it is a most feeling matter. The Father has been through anguish, the Spirit has entered into things with deep feelings, and the Son has been the great Sufferer. It surely gives wonderful fragrance to that name!

Rem. You are touching upon a subject we do not know much about. Our meditations do not often take this form. I am thankful you are taking it up in that way, but I should like to impress upon all to go into it fully. Our feelings are so often inadequate to our words.

G.R.C. There is so much shallowness with us all, and so little depth. We need, as you say, to give time

to contemplate, and let the Spirit bring right feelings into our souls.

Ques. Do you think that what we are now considering would also add not only depth but also tone to the service? Would it serve to release these deep, holy, spiritual emotions which should find expression there?

G.R.C. I think it would ensure the drink-offering being added. It may often be missing. We bring our appreciation of Christ, and we may be able to express it very ably as to His death and His perfections, like the burnt-offering and the oblation; but what about the drink-offering? You cannot bring that unless you are really in the thing.

Ques. Numbers 28 refers to it as being strong drink, does it not? Is the idea of that that it is capable of moving the emotions of God and of the saints?

G.R.C. That is just it. It is a drink-offering of strong drink, and it means that the souls of the saints are stirred, and stirred in such a manner that it moves God, as we might say. God is not so much concerned about an able exposition, although the Spirit would help us in our words, but what gives value to the words are the deep emotions. We need to remember what deep emotions have marked, and do mark, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Ques. Do we see some of those emotions of the Holy Spirit when He came and took over the work of Christ, the deep-breathing being mentioned?

G.R.C. I think so -- a sound as of hard breathing -- Acts 2 -- expressive, as it were, of the deep feelings of God.

Ques. Would you say that we get a glimpse into the counsels of God in Proverbs 8, where it says, "When there were no depths", verse 24; and then it says, "my delights were with the sons of men", verse 31. They were men after the order of Christ. We have been speaking about depths, but depths have

come in in the working out of those counsels.

G.R.C. That is very interesting. There were purpose and counsel in a past eternity; but what depths were involved in carrying these through! 'Through the depths Thy way has led', as the hymn says.

Ques. Are the feelings, which are looked for in man, seen in the fact that in Genesis God breathed into man's nostrils the breath of life, and it says, "and man became a living soul", Genesis 2:7? Does that link on with your suggestion as to our souls being moved?

G.R.C. That bears on the thought of representation in man. God has chosen man, that order of being, as His representative; and in order to equip and qualify him He, "breathed into his nostrils the breath of life". And in the spiritual counterpart how wonderful it is -- Christ Himself the image of God, the great Representative. But you can understand how necessary it is for these deep emotions to be developed in the saints if we are truly to represent God, now and in the future.

Ques. In that connection, would you say a word about Isaiah 53, "When thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin", verse 10?

G.R.C. I think Isaiah 53 is intended to affect us much, because the soul is the seat of feelings, emotions and longings. We are apt to get our souls -- our longings and ambitions -- set on things here, but what comes about through the work of God is that, "As the hart panteth after the water-brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God", Psalm 42:1. God becomes the great longing of the soul, so that you pant after God. But then the reference to the Lord's soul is affecting, because we have been thinking of the offering of His body; but the mention of His soul shows how deep the feelings were, which were involved in the offering of His body. His soul was made

an offering for sin. Who can measure what that means? That passage ends with, "he hath poured out his soul unto death", verse 12. That is really the drink-offering in its fulness.

Ques. He speaks of His soul in Gethsemane, does He not?

G.R.C. "My soul is very sorrowful even unto death", Matthew 26:38, and then in John 12:27, "Now is my soul troubled, and what shall I say?"

Ques. And prophetically in Psalm 16, "Thou my soul hast said to Jehovah, Thou art the Lord: my goodness extendeth not to thee; -- To the saints that are on the earth, and to the excellent thou hast said, In them is all my delight", verses 2, 3. Does that stand emphatically before us?

G.R.C. Really, He is a Model for us there as to the way His soul, as a Man here, was moved toward God, and moved towards the saints.

Ques. Is Isaiah 42 interesting? "Behold my servant whom I uphold, mine elect in whom my soul delighteth!" Isaiah 42:1.

G.R.C. It is remarkable that God Himself should speak of His soul -- "mine elect in whom my soul delighteth!"

Ques. Does Peter's word in Acts 2 bear on the matter, when he refers to, "having loosed the pains of death", verse 24? He proceeds to quote Psalm 16 as to the Lord's soul not being left in hades.

G.R.C. Quite so. Now in Psalm 22 we see the great results of this committal. Verse 25 says, "I will pay my vows before them that fear thee". How fully the Lord has carried out all that He committed Himself to! I am not suggesting that we should literally apply the idea of vows to Him, but it is the spirit of it here. How fully all that He undertook to do has been performed! And that is a great matter with vows, that we should not only make vows but pay them -- perform them. The Lord has done it in

a most complete way, so that there is praise in the midst of the assembly, praise by the seed of Jacob and the seed of Israel; and then, "All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn unto Jehovah, and all the families of the nations shall worship before thee: For the kingdom is Jehovah's, and he ruleth among the nations", verse 27. This language applies only to earth, because the heavenly side of things was not then made known, but we should read heaven and earth into it. All things in heaven and earth will be headed up in the Christ, and not only the families of the nations, as in verse 27, but every family in heaven and on earth; and verse 28 in its full sense we can even carry forward into the eternal day. There is not only the mediatorial kingdom in the world to come, but the eternal kingdom.

Ques. Is there a suggestion of this in John 17 where the Lord says, "I have completed the work which thou gavest me that I should do it", verse 4? In that chapter He refers to the men whom the Father had given Him; and then He speaks of having been given authority over all flesh, His position of universal rule, and He refers to His own eternal glory which He will take on.

G.R.C. Quite so. So I think in the light of Christian revelation we can look right on in verse 28 to the kingdom in its final setting. There is the mediatorial kingdom of one thousand years, but He gives up the kingdom to Him who is God and Father, and the kingdom continues. He has secured the sway of God for eternity in a new heaven and a new earth wherein dwells righteousness.

Ques. Do you think Psalm 150 would come in there? "Hallelujah! Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in the firmament of his power", verse 1; and then, "Let everything that hath breath praise; Jah. Hallelujah!" verse 6. Does that involve the whole expanse in that way -- the universe?

G.R.C. I think so, so that the last psalm is the great final result of this suffering, sacrificial work of Psalm 22. It is the great climax of praise, a psalm we could well afford to read over and over again -- Psalm 150.

Ques. Is the pledge of the fulfilment of all this in Himself, as He is and where He is now? Do we not need to apprehend Him thus as setting out in Himself all that He has secured?

G.R.C. I am sure; we need to apprehend Him in the midst of the assembly. The Lord is to be before us as an Object all through the service. Even when the Father is the supreme Object, the Lord should still be an Object, because we abide in the Son and in the Father. We could not be in the Father if we were not in the Son. And in the final phase of the service where do we see God in His nature and character expressed? It is in Christ. And where is all the fulness of the Godhead dwelling? In Christ bodily.

Ques. Would you say something about the words, "My praise is from thee", verse 25?

G.R.C. I do not know if I am right, but it seems to me that it is the Lord speaking to His God -- that God sees to it that He -- Christ -- has His portion. In verse 22 He sees to it that His God has His portion, "I will declare thy name unto my brethren". But do you think verse 25 would mean that God sees to it that He has His portion, His praise?

Ques. Would the second chapter of Jonah bear on it, "But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that which I have vowed", verse 9?

G.R.C. Yes, I think so. He is typical of Christ in certain ways. Another thing we should notice in Psalm 22, in view of our consideration yesterday, is the peace-offering. We are apt to limit this psalm to the sin-offering, although sin is not mentioned in it.

It involves that, undoubtedly. It is in the fullest measure the sufferings of Christ at the cross. It concentrates on the cross. But we must not exclude the other offerings; His offering included all. So you get in verse 26, "The meek shall eat and be satisfied", and verse 29, "All the fat ones of the earth shall eat and worship". Through the offering of Christ, food is provided for all. The most precious food is the assembly's portion, "Take eat; this is my body", Matthew 26:26; but as we were seeing yesterday, the peace-offering provides food for all. Every clean person could eat of it; and so the eating comes into this psalm. Provision is made for us to eat and be satisfied.

Ques. Is that how we maintain true feelings? I was thinking of what it says as to keeping alive his own soul. Do we keep our feelings and our souls sensitive in relation to this as we appropriate the peace-offering?

G.R.C. That is very interesting. We need soul in our ministry and service. It says here, "he that cannot keep alive his own soul"; but it is a great thing that God has made provision so that our souls may be kept alive. We could not keep them alive if it had not been that the food is available.

Ques. "This is my body which is given for you", Luke 22:19. Is that the idea of food being for us?

G.R.C. That is it; that is like the peace-offering. Now Psalm 132, which brings forward David as a type of Christ, is very affecting. I thought, as we have dwelt already upon Christ Himself, we might now think of David as a model, as one who made a vow of a very exalted character, presumably in the early part of his life, because he says, "we heard of it at Ephratah".

Ques. Do you think there would be a link with the Lord's words at twelve years old, "did ye not know that I ought to be occupied in my Father's business?",

Luke 2:49? What a glorious committal!

G.R.C. Yes. That might be translated, 'Wist ye not that I must be wholly in the things of My Father?' The Lord is a wonderful Model there. What a joy it would be if we saw persons of twelve years of age moving in that way, wholly in the things of God!

Ques. Would the thought of the rest of God move us? David would not think of his own comfort, but sought a place for God.

G.R.C. That is just what I would think. We are apt to think so much about our own houses, are we not? "The tent of my house", and, "the couch of my bed". We give so much attention to our own comforts, everything must be right there, all the latest improvements! But what about improvements in God's house? In Haggai God's issue with the people was that they were dwelling in their wainscoted houses, while His house was lying waste; there was no place for Him. That is a solemn thing in those who had returned from captivity. Why should they be thinking about wainscoting -- luxuries?

Ques. In this connection is the reference to Ephratah, the house of David's father, and what David would have heard in that house?

G.R.C. I wondered whether it was what he heard as growing up at home, "We heard of it at Ephratah", as though he made a resolve, there and then, that he would find a place for the ark.

Ques. What do you say about the verse, "How he swore unto Jehovah"? In answer to it it says, "Jehovah hath sworn". Is it connected with the thought of a vow?

G.R.C. I think so. God commits Himself by an oath; that is the way God irrevocably commits Himself. Even His promise, of course, is irrevocable, but then He adds the oath; and it is wonderful that while we have seen that we vow in the light of God's unconditional committal to us in sovereign will and

purpose, yet on the other hand if we are prepared to vow, God will commit Himself afresh to us on the line of trustworthiness. It is one thing for God to have committed Himself to us on the line of sovereign will and purpose, and never to leave us, and then to bring about what He has in mind; but it is another thing for God to be able to commit Himself to a man on the ground of trustworthiness; and I do not think God can really trust anyone who is not committed.

Ques. Would Timothy be one who, very early in his days, would have very little time for wainscoting? "Occupy thyself with these things; be wholly in them", 1 Timothy 4:15.

G.R.C. He would be an example for young persons setting up home, not to get their minds unduly on that, nor to go in for what is unnecessary, because the greatest thing is, what kind of place has God in the locality? If we apply this to Christ, He has completely found a resting-place for God; that is a complete matter. But as applied to ourselves, what are the conditions for God like in my locality? I am sure we could all say that they could well be improved. There is much that might be done to make conditions for God and for Christ better in our localities.

Rem. Later in his life he said, "The house that is to be built for Jehovah must be exceedingly great in fame and in beauty in all lands", 1 Chronicles 22:5. David seems to have enlarged greatly in his thoughts as to what was suitable for God, and to have been greatly concerned that that should be provided.

Ques. Would Urijah be in line with David? He declined to go down to his house. The ark was before him, was it not?

G.R.C. Yes, he was in line with David when David was not in line with himself. Sometimes we are not in line with ourselves! Our general course may be right, but we drop from it.

Ques. Would you say a little more as to the change-over from the singular to the plural? I was noticing that the first five verses are in the singular; but then he says, "Behold, we heard of it at Ephratah, we found it in the fields of the wood". I was thinking of those who are young. We often see them congregating together. Would you encourage them to speak about the ark and all these precious things which David and those with him evidently spoke about?

G.R.C. Yes. A man who is committed to God is influential. He is going to do certain things, but he can soon say 'we' because he influences others. One young man or woman in a locality who is really committed by vow to God, whose supreme interest in life is to bring about better conditions for God in the locality, will exercise a great influence on the other young people.

Ques. So that it is within the reach of the youngest to improve these conditions, to which you refer?

G.R.C. That is it. So if one is set this way he will soon be able to say 'we'; there will be others who will be influenced by him, like David's mighty men. Young people, alas, are inclined to influence one another in the other direction, but if there are those on the line of David, they will be preserved. One on the line of David would be moving with both old and young. He might have the young especially in his mind, to influence them aright, but he would be moving with the whole. Timothy was to be a model of the believers, and he was to let no one despise his youth. He was to carry the older with him as well as the younger.

Ques. So has not the truth of the service of God opened out to us richly over the past fifty years on just this line, a lead being given us by spiritual and committed persons in going forward in the matter and opening it out to us, rather like David as the

sweet psalmist of Israel whose influence was great?

G.R.C. I am sure of that. There is much to encourage with the young people, but one would earnestly desire that even these meetings might lead many a young one to commit himself irrevocably to God, for that is what is needed, especially now that the young people have to face moral corruption around in a way not known a generation or two ago.

Ques. Would it all depend upon the appreciation of Jehovah, the Mighty One of Jacob?

G.R.C. That is right; that should encourage every young person to commit himself. The "Mighty One of Jacob" is the One who is capable of taking care of him, both in bringing about all that He has in mind, and enabling him to carry out his vow.

Ques. Would you say that where there is full committal God will see to it that there is fruit, according to verse 11 of this psalm?

G.R.C. Very good, because Paul could speak of the fruit he had; he could speak of three of his sons -- Timothy, Onesimus and Titus -- very different men, but all of high quality.

Ques. Do you think you get a suggestion of what you are trying to help us on in Abraham. It says, "By faith he sojourned as a stranger in the land of promise as a foreign country, having dwelt in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise", Hebrews 11:9. Would there be the thought there of the old and the young being together -- "heirs with him of the same promise"? Jacob would get all the benefit of the experience of Abraham.

G.R.C. Quite so, and I would urge young people to keep near to their parents. Do not go off with other young people independently; keep near to your parents, bring them into everything -- and the older brethren, too.

Ques. Would you say a word as to the "Mighty One", not the Mighty God of Jacob? It is a remarkable

expression, is it not? I wondered whether it suggested that there was an intimate knowledge of Jacob with the blessed God that no one else shared. It was his own delight and portion in God Himself.

G.R.C. Yes, Jacob's own experience. But then we all ought to have an experience; God ought to be the Mighty One by experience with every one of us.

Rem. Ruth kept near to Naomi.

G.R.C. Quite so. You are thinking of Ruth's committal to Naomi; what a vow she made in that sense, and what fruit in Obed, and later David!

Ques. Thinking of the committal of young people, is there not a special responsibility on those of us who are parents to seek to influence and guide our children in this direction?

G.R.C. I am sure there is. Jesse's name means 'Jah is'. You can understand what an influence Jesse had on David.

Rem. David gets an enlargement in this psalm. He says, "I will not give sleep to mine eyes ... until I find out a place for Jehovah, habitations for the Mighty One of Jacob". Then in verse 13 he has a sense of the sovereignty of God, "For Jehovah hath chosen Zion; he hath desired it for his dwelling: This is my rest forever; here will I dwell, for I have desired it".

G.R.C. I think it shows how God will crown devotion to His interests. If we devote ourselves to His interests, so that conditions for Him are improving all the time in our localities, we will get an ever-increasing impression of the greatness of Divine purpose.

Ques. Is not the Mighty One for us the Spirit? I was looking in Jude, "But to him that is able to keep you without stumbling, and to set you with exultation blameless before his glory", verse 24. It is the Spirit.

G.R.C. You mean, in a special way, the Spirit is

the One whose might we prove all along the line?

Rem. Jacob's history specially brings out the Spirit.

NAZARITESHIP

Numbers 6

G.R.C. We have been considering the subject of devotedness, particularly in relation to vows, commencing with Jacob's vow, and then the offerings in Leviticus which were the fruit of vows -- burnt-offerings and peace-offerings, but especially the peace-offerings. The book of Leviticus closes with the thought of persons devoting themselves by a vow. Yesterday we were occupied with Christ Himself, and His wonderful committal as coming into the world, saying, "Lo, I come ... to do, O God, thy will", having nothing less in mind than that He Himself should be the anti-type of all the four offerings by fire, He Himself knowing, as none other could, what the fire would mean. Then we touched on David as an example for us, and how he vowed in connection with finding a place for Jehovah, "habitations for the Mighty One of Jacob", Psalm 132. When we think of what Christ suffered to secure God's habitation, it would stimulate us to devote ourselves to bringing to pass in our own localities conditions suitable for God.

In the chapter we have read the vow assumes special importance, for it would seem that the prosperity, at any time, of the testimony and of the saints as a whole depends on Nazariteship. Even one Nazarite has great influence. But then Jeremiah in his Lamentations says, "Her Nazarites were purer than snow, whiter than milk; they were more ruddy in body than rubies, their figure was as sapphire", Lamentations 4:7; a wonderful description! So that it is not the thought of God that there should be one

only, but many; and it applies to man or woman: "If a man or a woman have vowed the special vow of a Nazarite, to consecrate themselves to Jehovah". This seems to be brought in here as indicating the necessity for such a thing, if what is set out in the earlier chapters -- the beautiful order of the camp of God, with God Himself the Centre -- is to be realised among us. "Our God the Centre is", as the hymn says, alludes to the present time. He is the Centre of His camp, and He dwells therein. If the beautiful order relating to that camp, in military and levitical and priestly array, is to be preserved, it can only be on the principle of Nazariteship. I think it is important to see at the outset that what was special of old is normal in Christianity -- "If a man or a woman have vowed the special vow of a Nazarite".

Ques. Does the allusion to it being a special vow, which, as you say, is to be normal in our time, stand over against the unfaithfulness of the assembly, as brought out by the trial of jealousy alluded to in the previous chapter? And would it not promote a holy desire, with those who desire to walk in the truth, to take on this special vow?

G.R.C. So that the Lord, as the Husband, detected the fall at Ephesus: "remember therefore whence thou art fallen", Revelation 2:5. Although outwardly things were going on well at Ephesus at that time, yet there had been a tremendous fall. Ephesus did not answer to the trial of jealousy. He says, "I have against thee that thou hast left thy first love"; and therefore from that point on it is the overcomer who is addressed. And could there be an overcomer apart from the vow of a Nazarite?

Ques. What is the meaning of the word 'Nazarite'?

G.R.C. The note in verse 2 helps; it says, 'Nazarite, consecration, separation' in this chapter are from the same Hebrew root 'Nazar'. Apparently it conveys all those meanings, so that much is said here

about separation and consecration. It says first of all, "the special vow of a Nazarite, to consecrate themselves to Jehovah"; and then, "he shall separate himself". He is consecrated to Jehovah, and separated from wine and strong drink, etc.

Ques. Do you link this with 2 Timothy 2, "Let everyone who names the name of the Lord withdraw from iniquity", and then, "If therefore one shall have purified himself from these in separating himself from them, he shall be a vessel to honour, sanctified, serviceable to the Master, prepared for every good work", verse 21? I wondered if that would come in in answer to the breakdown through unfaithfulness?

G.R.C. That is good. There could not be Nazariteship apart from obedience to those injunctions in Timothy. There must be the departing or withdrawing from iniquity, and the separating from the vessels to dishonour; that is essential. Some may say, 'There are many devoted believers still linked up with iniquitous systems'. The Lord knows how to assess devotion wherever it is found; but chapters like this, and others we have read already, are to help us, so that our devotion might be in right channels. That is why this chapter, from verse 13 to 21, gives the law of the Nazarite. We have to pay great attention to this law; it is the governing principle of true devotion; unless we are governed by that, our devotion is misplaced.

Ques. Does this leave room for love to act distinctively in every one of us? It is not a question of moving with the mass, it is a special vow; nor is it intended to relate to any specific service. It is general in the sense of service, is it not, but special in the sense that each person takes it?

G.R.C. I think that is a help, because in a peace-offering for a vow it is what one would do at a certain time, as committing oneself to something in the way of sacrifice for the sake of God and His people. Here it

is not just a special act, but the man consecrates himself to Jehovah and separates himself. He would, as our brother said, be fitted for every good work, and the details of it would work out, no doubt, in many peace-offerings. The law of the Nazarite prescribes what is essential as the offering to Jehovah for his consecration, but adds, "beside what his hand is able to get", verse 21. In the case of a man like this, there is no limit to what he might bring, and what he might do. Then, too, different ones may vow to a greater or lesser extent, so in the same verse it says, "according to the vow which he vowed, so shall he do".

Ques. Would the history of Samson help in regard of the introduction of this feature in a day of breakdown, and how early it comes in, even in the exercise of the parents? It says, "for the boy shall be a Nazarite of God from the womb to the day of his death", Judges 13:7.

G.R.C. That is very helpful, because it shows how much the mother has to do with this -- and both parents, indeed -- because Nazariteship should start young. It started "from the womb". I think that shows that where the trial of jealousy is entered into in the previous chapter, and it leads to self-judgment and recovery to first love, there will be Nazarites. The Lord's word to Ephesus in connection with the trial of jealousy, "thou hast left thy first love", is calculated to bring about self-examination with a view to recovery. It says, "Repent, and do the first works". The trial of jealousy also contemplates a case where the wife is proved to be loyal and true; and if we apply that to the assembly, where the affections of motherhood in the assembly are pure and true, faithful to Christ, there will be offspring of this kind, one would judge.

Rem. While the Angel of Jehovah says, "for the boy shall be a Nazarite of God from the womb",

verse 5; his mother when she speaks of it to her husband, brings in what is additional in that she says, "for the boy shall be a Nazarite of God from the womb to the day of his death", verse 7. She sees this feature going right through.

G.R.C. What an outlook for fathers and mothers! Themselves devoted, themselves having accepted the implications of the trial of jealousy -- and we each need to search ourselves as to whether our affections are pure towards Christ -- then what possibilities they can expect to find in the young from birth to the day of death. We can apply this, not only to natural parents, but to "mothers in Israel", because how many sisters and brothers there are who, while they have, in the ways of God, no children of their own, take on in their affections all the young people in their local gathering. One has seen fatherhood and motherhood developed in a remarkable way amongst persons who have no children of their own.

Ques. Would you distinguish between what we have in this chapter, and what we have in a person devoting himself by a vow in Leviticus 27?

G.R.C. I think a person devoting himself by a vow does not necessarily go as far as this. In that chapter there is a valuation, and the priest values those who are not up to the divine standard. The vow of the Nazarite, as it says here, is special, seeming to indicate that there were other vows of a lesser order, and no vow is despised; but one feels that the vow of the Nazarite is particularly applicable to Christianity, because the Lord Jesus Himself is the great Example. He says, "I will not at all drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in the kingdom of my Father", Matthew 26:29.

Ques. Would the opening chapters of Luke's gospel afford us illustrations of what you are saying? Does not the testimony there open out from a company

of Nazarites? I am thinking of Elizabeth and Mary, and Simeon and Anna. You get the parental exercises very delicately touched on in those chapters, too.

G.R.C. You do. So that John the Baptist is another sample Nazarite, coming from a setting of Nazariteship, a setting of devoted affections to God and His interests on the part of his parents and others. He was not to drink wine nor strong drink.

Ques. Is it significant that both the blessing of Joseph by Jacob, and that of the tribe of Joseph by Moses, bring in this thought of being separated from among his brethren? According to the note it means Nazarite.

G.R.C. Joseph was a true Nazarite to God, and his history shows that this special devotion to God may bring us into reproach among our brethren, as well as in the world. In fact the 2 Timothy position does that in a general way. Those who take up the injunctions of 2 Timothy become a reproach amongst their fellow Christians whom they love, as well as in the world. The long hair of the Nazarite would be a reproach in the eyes of the world.

Ques. Is not that specially so among young people, and where young people are set together, as for instance in the forces? Those who have desired to be especially set apart to God have come into considerable reproach, often being regarded as legal and the like.

G.R.C. That is what we have to be prepared for in the vow of the Nazarite. We have to be prepared to be misunderstood, even by our contemporaries.

Rem. Hannah was one who went on secretly, with deep feelings as to the barrenness of the public position -- 1 Samuel 1 - 2. Mocked by her rival, she brought in the thought of the Nazarite, in view of immense fruitfulness in regard to the bringing in of Christ, seen typically in Samuel.

G.R.C. Quite so. Hannah is another example of a true mother, one who would answer to the test of the trial of jealousy, and the result was a Nazarite; and, of course, while we can apply this to mothers with sons, and mothers in Israel, and the children of such mothers, it applies in the same person. What I mean is this, that if I personally answer to the trial of jealousy I shall become a Nazarite. That is the answer to it. If my affections are on the line of first love for Christ, I shall be none other than a Nazarite.

Ques. Would that peculiarly apply to the overcomer in Revelation, the promise being to the overcomer?

G.R.C. It would. I would say that every overcomer is a Nazarite in principle; and as to Hannah it says, "she vowed a vow" in connection with her son, and part of it was, "I will give him to Jehovah all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come upon his head".

Ques. Was not Hannah herself a Nazarite? I was thinking of how she answers the reproachful word of Eli when she says, "No, my lord, I am a woman of sorrowful spirit; I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but have poured out my soul before Jehovah".

G.R.C. That was like the word to Manoah's wife in Judges 13, was it not? It is another word for us as parents, that, if we are concerned that our offspring might answer to God in this way, we are to be in keeping with it ourselves. The word to Manoah's wife was, "Behold, thou shalt conceive and bear a son; and now drink not wine nor strong drink, and eat not anything unclean; for the boy shall be a Nazarite of God from the womb to the day of his death", verse 7. Then, when enquiry was made as to how they should bring up the child, it says, "And the Angel of Jehovah said to Manoah, Of all that I said unto the woman let her beware: she shall not eat

of anything that cometh of the vine, neither shall she drink wine or strong drink, nor eat anything unclean: all that I commanded her shall she observe", verses 13 - 14. So that when they ask how to bring up the child who has such a destiny in view, the Angel of Jehovah repeats, Look after yourself, be in keeping with the Nazariteship yourself.

Rem. In Timothy the grandmother is brought in.

G.R.C. That is interesting, because some of us are grandparents, are we not? So we should think of our grandchildren as well as our children.

Ques. Would not this principle of Nazariteship help us in regard of matters of association, that separation is not just a matter of principle for itself, but it is in view of consecrating ourselves to Jehovah? God is before us.

G.R.C. We really have in view what comes in at the end, that our hands should be filled with what is pleasurable to God, so that the service of God, and the communion of the saints as represented in the peace-offering, should be enriched -- see Numbers 6:14. That is the great objective, that God's service should be enriched, and that the saints should be better fed, and themselves increasingly happy in that service.

Ques. Would you mind saying what the significance of the injunctions to drink no strong drink is? You touched on the growing of the hair as indicating reproach. What do we understand by the former?

G.R.C. That is a very important point. That is what the Nazarite is to separate himself from. I think that is what causes this to be a special vow. We can understand that a Christian is to separate himself from what is unclean, and from idolatrous associations. But this goes further. He is to separate himself from wine and strong drink. There is nothing wrong with wine and strong drink in itself; it is not unclean; so that it goes further than 2 Timothy 2. It

is essential, as a background, to withdraw from iniquity, and to separate from vessels to dishonour; but this goes further.

Ques. Would it link with Romans 12, presenting our bodies?

G.R.C. It would certainly begin there.

Ques. Would verses 3 and 4, and the separation there alluded to, bear more upon us inwardly as to our tastes and the like; whereas verse 5, in connection with the hair being long, would bear more on us in an outward and public setting, would you think?

G.R.C. Yes; and if we are not separating according to verses 3 and 4 we will not be prepared for the hair to grow long; we will not be prepared to be a reproach publicly. But I think we ought to examine this matter of separating from wine and strong drink.

Ques. In view of the fact that the Nazarite is allowed to go back to wine afterwards, does it mean that if we are to be specially devoted to God we must be free of the special emotions of nature? It does not mean that we are to be unnatural, does it?

G.R.C. No; but I think the going back to wine afterwards means going back to wine in a new way; "When I drink it new", the Lord says. I do not think it means going back to the old, but, applying it to the present time, that if we are true to the Nazarite's vow we get in abundance the new wine in the assembly. We can drink wine then; it is in a new setting. It is after all these offerings have been offered, then he can drink wine. That would be relative to God and His house. At the same time, what you say is important, that this does not justify a man becoming unnatural; we must dismiss that idea. It does not mean that we separate ourselves from natural relationships. Nazariteship does not necessarily mean that a man remains unmarried, for instance. Paul remained unmarried, but it does not necessarily mean that. A man can be a Nazarite and be married, and

fulfil his obligations in a better way than one who is not a Nazarite.

Ques. Would that be seen in Enoch? He was a married man and he walked with God, did he not?

G.R.C. Yes, he walked with God and begat sons and daughters; and we have been referring to Manoah's wife and Hannah. Hannah's husband was not equal to her; but he was a good man, and it says he, "went up to sacrifice to Jehovah the yearly sacrifice and his vow", 1 Samuel 1:21. His vow was not on the level of Hannah's vow, but he was a man who made vows. And so we have seen how Nazariteship does not mean the setting aside of natural relationships as held rightly according to God.

Ques. Is it a question of what takes precedence, the spiritual or the natural?

G.R.C. That would come into it; but what, I believe, is involved is the question of what I rely upon for stimulation. What is keeping me going? I believe that is what we have to come to. There are many things, which are quite legitimate according to nature, which we may rely upon to keep us going, to use a homely phrase. They stimulate us -- give us a fresh impetus in life. A man who is set for promotion in business may go on for months on the stimulation of having got promotion in his business. That is a very poor thing. God gave him the promotion, maybe; but, if he is a Nazarite, he will not drink that as wine. He will not let that be the stimulation of his life. And so with other things. A man may get married, and his home may be his stimulation; he is thinking about his home, and that is keeping him going -- it is the main-spring of his life.

Ques. Is it a remarkable thing that the appropriation of the Spirit is so much linked with the thought of drinking in the scriptures? Would that be the power which enables us to keep going spiritually according to God?

G.R.C. Very good. "Be not drunk with wine ... but be filled with the Spirit", Ephesians 5:18. The Nazarite knows no other source of stimulation.

Rem. I was thinking of John 4, "the water which I shall give him shall become in him a fountain of water, springing up into eternal life", verse 14. As having scope, the Spirit leads the affections to a new objective.

G.R.C. Quite so. We know how our natural hearts crave for natural stimulation -- a new house, a new car or new clothes -- and, for the time being, we may be carried away by natural intoxication. Those things are not wrong in themselves, we have to use such things; but we should not allow them to become the source of our joy or stimulation.

Ques. May I refer to Samson again, where it says, "And the Spirit of Jehovah began to move him", Judges 13:25. The word 'move' there, as the footnote shows, suggests 'powerful emotion'. Does that indicate that the stimulation, and the emotions proper to Nazariteship, are to be found in the Spirit?

G.R.C. That is excellent.

Ques. Does the passage in 1 Corinthians 7 have any bearing on this, where the apostle says, "the time is straitened", and suggests that those, "who have wives, be as not having any: and they that weep, as not weeping; and they that rejoice, as not rejoicing; and they that buy, as not possessing; and they that use the world, as not disposing of it as their own", verses 29 - 31?

G.R.C. That is the outlook of a Nazarite. Paul does not say that a man should not marry; he says, "So that he that marries himself does well", verse 38. At that time a man who did not marry did better, but nevertheless the man who married did well. But what he says is, "For the rest, that they who have wives, be as not having any". It does not mean that the natural relationship is not fulfilled, but it stands

related to what is governing a man in the way of stimulation -- what he is relying upon to move him. Our brother has just spoken about Samson being moved by the Spirit -- deep emotions in Samson's soul. That is the kind of thing we would make way for; and so it goes on to say, "they that buy, as not possessing; and they that use the world, as not disposing of it as their own". There is no thought in those verses of getting stimulation from these things; they are not to be used as wine or strong drink at all, but as utility things. That is the idea of using the world. "They that buy, as not possessing". I, thus, should only buy for utility purposes; I should buy things, not for stimulation, but for use in the testimony. That sets us free to use the world, to use anything that is offered as long as it is serviceable.

Rem. The continuity and the totality of the separation is emphasised in verse 4, not only separating himself from wine, but, "all the days of his separation shall he eat nothing that is made of the vine, from the seed-stones, even to the skin".

G.R.C. It shows that even the smallest thing can displace the Spirit as the source and power of stimulation. We know how foolish our hearts are, how they will set themselves even on a tiny thing, a tiny acquisition of this world's goods. To separate from what is unclean is essential, not special. We are not vitally in things at all if we have not separated from what is unclean. But what makes this vow special is the separating from wine and strong drink; from things which are not wrong at all in themselves, but which keep the natural man going. But the Nazarite says, I am not going to rely on any of those things to keep me going; I will rely only on the Spirit of God.

Rem. In John 4, when the Lord had dealt with the woman, it says, "the woman then left her water pot and went away into the city", verse 28.

G.R.C. She left her water pot, that in which she had previously sought satisfaction.

Ques. Is the Divine approval of this separation seen in the family of the Rechabites? It says, "There shall not fail to Jonadab the son of Rechab a man to stand before me, for ever", Jeremiah 35:19. They were to abstain from wine; and, not only that, they were not to build houses, but were to dwell in tents.

G.R.C. That is good, because it is important we should keep the tent outlook as well. We literally dwell in houses, but it is important to keep the tent outlook. There is nothing much to stimulate in a tent.

Ques. Does Paul set forth the Nazarite when he says, "all things are lawful to me, but I will not be brought under the power of any", 1 Corinthians 6:12?

G.R.C. That is the point here. These things are lawful, yet here is a man separating himself from what is lawful to be consecrated to Jehovah. How much are we prepared for this?

Rem. I was thinking of Elisha's question to Gehazi, "Is it a time to receive money, and to receive garments, and oliveyards, and vineyards?" etc, 2 Kings 5:26; in view of the time in which we live, and the assembly's near translation.

G.R.C. That is really the point of the matter. In the world to come it will be no credit to anyone to separate himself from wine or strong drink, because it will be the time when persons can be for God in an earthly setting; it will be the time for earthly things. But Numbers has in view the tabernacle of testimony in the wilderness; that is, it has in view this present time when the assembly, as the tabernacle of testimony, is passing through the wilderness, a heavenly vessel here on earth. So it is the time when, if we truly wish to be devoted, we must separate ourselves from wine and strong drink.

Ques. On the positive side, would it be seen in Paul in writing to the Philippians? He says, "I have

all things in full supply and abound; I am full.", chapter 4: 18. Do we see the spiritual stimulation he has?

G.R.C. He was drinking the wine of Nazariteship which comes in at the end of the chapter, was he not? The fruit of Nazariteship is that we have wine on a higher and better level; so he says, "Rejoice in the Lord always: again I will say, Rejoice", Philippians 4:4. He was a heavenly man; he had turned his back on things of earth.

Ques. Would you say the Lord recognises the secret longing for stimulation when He says, "If anyone thirst, let him come to me and drink"?

G.R.C. In coming to Him there is no lack of satisfaction or stimulation.

Rem. So it says here, "to Jehovah"; it is repeated time and again.

Rem. In the marriage at Cana of Galilee the first wine was deficient, but the Lord brings in good wine at the end. It came out of the servants' stone water vessels of purification.

G.R.C. Dispensationally, no doubt, that refers to the world to come, when there will be no need for devoted souls to separate themselves from wine or strong drink; but it has an application now which I think you have in mind, because the water pots being filled with water to the brim would set a household up on the line of Nazariteship, and it is really on the line of Nazariteship that we come into joy of a superlative order. The chapter closes with that. The Nazarite loses nothing on this line; he gets what is superlative in the way of joy of a spiritual and heavenly kind.

Ques. Would this special vow, while not destroying nature, as you have said, give us skill to eliminate nature from the service of God? I was thinking of the setting of it here, finishing in the way the chapter does. Are we not liable to lose the best

because of the projection of nature? You may have ability in other things which may not be wrong, but it would hinder the service of God.

G.R.C. So that really this chapter shows how the service of God is arrived at and provided for in a substantial way. The Nazarite, in some respects, is on a level with the High Priest, as has often been pointed out. In verse 7, "He shall not make himself unclean for his father, or for his mother, for his brother, or for his sister when they die". He is on the level of separation of the High Priest himself; and, of course, the Lord Jesus is the great example of Nazariteship, and it really means we are to be in line with Him Himself. Paul exhorts us to be, "my imitators, even as I also am of Christ", 1 Corinthians 11:1. Christ is the great Example, but Paul follows on and exhorts us to do the same. I believe it is in this way that we come into priesthood substantially, because the Nazarite merges in the priest at the end of the chapter. I mean we are priests by anointing; everyone who has the Spirit is a priest, but, I believe, it is on the line of Nazariteship that we come into it substantially, and with real wealth.

Ques. Does Ephesians 5 show how we can bring stimulation into the assembly, "speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs", and so on, chapter 5: 19?

G.R.C. I think so. As it says, "afterwards the Nazarite may drink wine". There is plenty of wine in a spiritual sense. Indeed, he brings wine with his offering, he brings the drink-offering of strong drink; but, spiritually applied, that is not the strong drink he gave up; it is a different kind of stimulation and emotion altogether.

Ques. Would you say why the head is so prominent? It says, "the consecration of his God is upon his head", verse 7. I was wondering whether the danger of the introduction of the merely mental mind

is a great danger to us. The Nazarite would see that that did not intrude.

G.R.C. That is very good. At the same time it means that our renewed minds are wholly available. What one is sometimes concerned about is the danger of getting exclusively occupied in our minds with earthly things. Young people have to do so much study now-a-days; but the Lord will help them in it, if they are set for Him, so that it does not defile the head of their consecration. It says, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thine understanding", Luke 10:27. The mind is put last; but it is the crowning thing, in a way. It would be good for every young person here to understand that God Himself is the only adequate occupation for the mind of man as renewed by the Holy Spirit. What an occupation -- to be absorbed with God!

Ques. Would that help us in the maintenance of Nazariteship, to be wholly occupied with God?

G.R.C. Like Timothy: "Occupy thyself with these things; be wholly in them".

Ques. Would you say a word on verse 9? In what way may he come in contact unexpectedly?

G.R.C. It seems to indicate that, where one has made the special vow of a Nazarite, it is incumbent upon him to be extremely vigilant, because, while the person dies unexpectedly by him suddenly, the responsibility is put on the Nazarite. The fact is he suffers penalty on account of it, and he has to bring two turtle doves or two young pigeons to the priest at the entrance of the tent of meeting, one for a sin-offering and the other for a burnt-offering, to make atonement for him; and then he has to bring a yearling lamb for a trespass-offering, showing that he has to take full responsibility, because a man who has consecrated himself to Jehovah to be holy to Jehovah, and had separated himself from wine and

strong drink, should be exceedingly vigilant about the lesser matters. Not being defiled by a dead body is a basic essential, and if he has gone further than that in his vow, he must be very careful not to infringe the basic matters. One feels very tested as to this, because of many failures. It is so easy to lack vigilance, and, before we know where we are, we have touched a dead body; and it is a very solemn thing then. We have to bring our sin-offering and our burnt-offering to the tent of meeting, and we have to bring a trespass-offering, before there is restoration.

Ques. Is not the need for vigilance especially seen at the end of verse 12, "But the first days are forfeited"?

G.R.C. It is a severe penalty that the first days are forfeited. It would make us vigilant. Why should we not be vigilant? Why should we start the day without vigilance? We start the day, and perhaps, before we know where we are, something has been presented to us which has drawn out that in us which implies touching a dead body.

Ques. Would that stress the great need for us to rely constantly upon the Spirit?

G.R.C. "Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall no way fulfil flesh's lust", Galatians 5:16. The nearest dead body to us is the body of death, according to Romans 7. We are carrying, as it were, a body of death along with us; but we are not to touch it; we are not to become identified with it. That can happen in more ways than one. We know how easily it can happen with fleshy lusts; we allow ourselves for a moment to be identified with our flesh, whereas we are really not in flesh but in Spirit. We should ever be walking in the Spirit. Peter, no doubt in principle a Nazarite, says to the Lord, "If I should needs die with thee, I will in no wise deny thee", Matthew 26:35. Though a devoted man, yet, in a religious way, as we may say, he was touching a dead body. It was self-confidence,

and therefore he forfeited the days of his Nazariteship, in that sense. Through the Lord's grace he made a fresh start: "The Lord is indeed risen and has appeared to Simon", Luke 24:34. Peter wept; no doubt he brought his sin-offering and his burnt-offering; and no doubt, too, he brought the trespass-offering, and he was restored. What a Nazarite he was in the Acts!

Ques. Would you say that where there has been such a vow the Lord never releases that person from it?

G.R.C. No, there seems to be no question here of being released from it; it is a question of a renewal, and of going through with it. I think this side of it is important, because we all fail; but the Lord in faithfulness would see us through, even if we have to make a good many fresh starts. He would see us through, with an increased appreciation of Himself and His death, and an increased self-judgment.

Ques. Would you say a word as to the blessing which comes in at the end of the chapter? There is a link, is there not, with what has preceded?

G.R.C. There is, and it seems to me that the blessing involves the Trinity, as we see in our day. It shows the pleasure God has in Nazariteship, and how the whole of Israel get the benefit, and that is true today. The whole church is credited, in the Lord's mind, with what marks the overcomer; so that we serve the whole church in being separate in this way to Jehovah; we bring a blessing upon all, for He says, "Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee out of the hour of trial", Revelation 3:10 -- the whole church. In a way, as I said, the whole church is credited with what is seen in the overcomer. This blessing is very beautiful: "Jehovah bless thee, and keep thee". We can link that with the Holy Spirit, I have no doubt. "Jehovah make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee".

We can link that with the Lord Jesus. "Jehovah lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace". We can link that with the Father. "And they shall put my name", to us the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, "upon the children of Israel".

Ques. Would you say something about verse 18? It says, he "shall take the hair of the head of his consecration, and put it on the fire which is under the sacrifice of the peace-offering".

G.R.C. There is nothing like that anywhere else in scripture, is there?

Rem. Absolutely unique, I think.

G.R.C. It is a remarkable thing that that should contribute to the fire on the altar. I do not know that I can say much.

Ques. Does the hair suggest the spiritual vitality of the person, so that Samson was marked in power by the Spirit by the seven locks? When they were removed his power was gone; but while the power is present, in the Spirit, there can be an identification with the altar.

G.R.C. I would think that is right; and it is that very spiritual vitality which is a reproach amongst men, and a reproach amongst unspiritual persons. Yet that very thing which brings us into reproach amongst men, and amongst unspiritual persons, is the thing which contributes to the fire on the altar. The law of the offering we can look at privately; it is important to keep it in mind, because the law of the Nazarite is that which directs us as to the end in view in devotedness, so that our devotion should not be misplaced. We see that the end in view is what is brought to the tent of meeting, to enrich the service of God, and to strengthen the priesthood.

Ques. Is that why you have Aaron and his sons brought in, the whole consecrated company, in verse 23?

G.R.C. It would seem as though the priesthood was, as it were, strengthened by what the Nazarite brought, to enable them to bless, in this way, the children of Israel.

Ques. Why is the last sentence brought in as if God would add further, "I will bless them"?

G.R.C. The priests had blessed them, and now He says, "I will bless them". There is no end to the blessing on this line.

Ques. Would it give peculiar vitality to the testimony when this spirit is seen, because God would be seen to be committed to such a people? "And they shall put my name" upon them implies God's committal to His people.

G.R.C. It seems to depend on Nazariteship if God's name is to be manifestly upon His people.

READING FIVE

Psalm 65:1; Malachi 1:11 - 14; Malachi 2:1 - 7, 14 - 15; Malachi 3:8 - 10, 16 - 18

G.R.C. I suggested reading the verses in the Psalm to bring out the position at the present time. Praise is silent in Zion, that is from Israel; yet it is waiting, as it were, there. It will soon awake, "Praise waiteth for thee in silence, O God, in Zion; and unto thee shall the vow be performed". That looks on to the time when the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of Jehovah as the waters cover the sea. A wonderful day is about to dawn, when the vow will be performed to God in Zion and praise will again be heard there, and in a fuller way than it has ever been heard before. But the prophet Malachi, in chapter 1: 11, appears to bring in what can only fully apply to the present time. He is speaking to the nation in an apostate condition, threatened with the curse; but over against that he says, "For from the rising of the sun even unto its setting my name shall be great among the nations; and in every place incense shall be offered unto my name, and a pure oblation". As we know, in Malachi's day the only place at which the oblation could be offered in Israel was at Jerusalem; but the prophet is speaking of every place, which I think we can rightly link up with Paul's word, "to the assembly of God which is in Corinth ... with all that in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both theirs and ours", 1 Corinthians 1:2. So that the present is a wonderful dispensation. The assembly with which God connects His name, while it is the "Jerusalem above", is found by those who are still here on earth,

and are set in local companies; thus God has this great portion among the nations, and "in every place incense shall be offered unto my name, and a pure oblation; for my name shall be great among the nations, saith Jehovah of hosts".

Ques. Is there a peculiar glory in an economy of local assemblies, held together in the unity of the Spirit in a great universal fellowship?

G.R.C. I thought so; and I wondered if you get a picture of this in the chapter in Numbers which follows the Nazarite. Here the word is, "But ye profane it", that is, God's name, "in that ye say, The table of the Lord is polluted". That table of the Lord there would be a reference to the altar, where God made such abundant provision. His food was offered there, as He says in Numbers 28, "my bread". But there was food there also for all the people, so it was the Lord's table; the peace-offering provided food for every clean person. So the New Testament says, "We have an altar of which they have no right to eat ..." Hebrews 13:10. The altar is the place of eating, as well as of divine service, and God is thinking of His table and what was being put on it. Corrupt things were being put on it, according to these verses. But following the Nazarite's vow in Numbers 6 there is the dedication of the altar, and nothing polluted was brought forward. The twelve princes of Israel, the heads of the fathers' houses, the princes of the tribes, came forward with a marvellous offering. Each prince provided, "one silver dish of the weight of a hundred and thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for an oblation; one cup often shekels of gold, full of incense", Numbers 7:13. This links with what we have in Malachi, "incense shall be offered unto my name, and a pure oblation". Then the princely gift goes on to, "one young bullock, one ram, one yearling lamb,

for a burnt-offering; one buck of the goats for a sin-offering; and for a sacrifice of peace-offering, two oxen, five rams, five he-goats, five yearling lambs", Numbers 7:15 - 17. What food there was at God's altar, food for God and food for the people in these abundant offerings! It says, "This was the offering of Nahshon the son of Amminadab", but I think we need to note that, according to verse 10 of that chapter, the princes presented the dedication gift at the altar on the day that it was anointed. I would understand this to mean that all twelve princes brought their offering forward at once on the day that the altar was anointed, and then that they were directed that each one should offer on his day. It is a wonderful picture of what should be true at the present time. The twelve princes represented the tribes encamped around the tabernacle, and in that way they can be taken as representing local companies; but we are all serving the same God in the same habitation, and we are all serving at the same altar; there is no such thing as a local altar, "We have an altar", is the Christian altar, the great universal altar; and every locality is serving at the same altar, and there should be uniformity in the offerings. It is a remarkable view of the work of the Holy Spirit that here were twelve men, the heads of twelve tribes, spontaneously bringing exactly the same thing. And I believe that is how things should work out today in principle. As the greatness of God's name is brought before the saints, there is spontaneous response in all parts of the earth from all the local companies, and wherever you go you find the offering is of the same character.

Ques. It seems a peculiar tribute to the Spirit's presence and operations at the present time, do you think?

G.R.C. And I wondered whether, while it may not fit exactly chronologically, Numbers 7 is put after Numbers 6 to indicate how free the Holy Spirit

would be where the spirit of Nazariteship is in evidence, the blessing therefore of Jehovah resting upon the saints and His name being put upon them. What liberty and uniformity in the Spirit would be brought about; so that the whole habitation of God, though set in local companies today, would be functioning in all parts of the earth in a similar manner.

Rem. Hence the need of being perfectly united in the same mind and the same opinion in our local companies.

G.R.C. Yes. I think this is what we might call the highest level of that. We need to be perfectly united in the same mind and the same opinion as to matters of separation, as to fundamental matters of judgment, as to fundamental doctrines; but surely it is meant to lead up to this remarkable expression of unity, where the saints in every place are so under the control of the Spirit that there is a similar tribute of praise and worship brought to God in every locality, without any human coordination.

Ques. Would verse 84 of Numbers 7 really bear out what you are saying -- "twelve silver dishes, twelve silver bowls, twelve cups of gold?" They are all the same.

G.R.C. That is it; and so, "This was the dedication gift of the altar, on the day when it was anointed", verse 84. All these things were brought forward, and what wealth there was! But each was to do it on his day. In the local companies it would all happen every Lord's day, from the rising of the sun to the going down thereof; and on other days too, I hope, in our personal devotions. But there is also instruction in the fact that while all this material came forward at one time, there was subjection, there was no rivalry, they were content to wait their turn. And that bears on the way the actual service operates locally. We may all be full of matter; but then the Holy Spirit's control would enter into things, so that there would

be restraint, each contribution coming in at the right time.

Ques. Do you think, then, that where there is this feature of the Nazarite taken on by the saints there will be the pure oblation entering into the service of God?

G.R.C. Just so. Can we not understand that what is princely, with all the wealth that that conveys, would be brought about through Nazariteship?

Rem. Paul speaks in Romans 15, "that ye may with one accord, with one mouth, glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ", verse 6.

G.R.C. That is the point; and therefore this passage in Malachi is most encouraging: "For from the rising of the sun unto its setting my name shall be great among the nations". It is God's name which stimulates this great unified response; and Malachi's name means 'Messenger of Jah'. Although he comes in at the close, he is the messenger of Jah; he is bringing the greatest things forward at the end, the greatest light and truth as to the Name.

Ques. As regards the blessing at the end of Numbers 6, and your suggested reference to the Spirit, the Son and the Father, and the Name, would you kindly enlarge on that?

G.R.C. I would only suggest that it is another veiled allusion, such as we get here and there in the Old Testament, to the holy Trinity. If so, it would seem to me that the first item would refer to the Holy Spirit, "Jehovah bless thee, and keep thee" -- the Holy Spirit is here to that end, that the saints might be blessed and kept; then, "Jehovah make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee", would, surely, link with the Lord Jesus, whose face we can look upon unveiled; and then it says, "Jehovah lift up his countenance upon thee" -- surely that is the Father who lifts up His countenance upon His own with pleasure as loving them even as He loves the

Son -- "and give thee peace". Then it says, "And they shall put my name upon the children of Israel". We have been baptised to that Name, but it is another thing to have the Name put upon us. Would it not mean that we, as set together, should become a living witness here in testimony to the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit?

Ques. Is it not the declaration and revelation of that Name which brings out the response in its fulness? I was thinking of the word in John 13 where it says of the Lord, "knowing that ... he came out from God and was going to God", verse 3. I was wondering if that would suggest, on the one hand, the coming out of Christ freighted with the declaration and revelation of that Name, and then His return, taking up the response occasioned by that Name. Would that be right?

G.R.C. I think so. Mr. Raven taught, did he not, that the approach is equal to the revelation. The response is in the same Person in whom the revelation is. It is remarkable how the greatness of God's name arouses the deepest feelings in the souls of the saints; and so it says, "in every place incense shall be offered unto my name, and a pure oblation; for my name shall be great among the nations".

Ques. Would the offering of the incense be the performance of the vow at the present time -- Psalm 65?

G.R.C. I thought so -- "unto thee shall the vow be performed". While praise is still silent in Zion, the vow should be performed.

Ques. Is Psalm 48 in accord with this? It begins "Great is Jehovah, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, in the hill of his holiness"; then it says, "According to thy name, O God, so is thy praise unto the ends of the earth", verses 1 and 10.

G.R.C. It fits very much with this -- "unto the ends of the earth"; and we have to take that to heart in our outlook, that the habitation of God in the

Spirit stretches out to the ends of the earth. If we are with God, often in His presence, we shall share His outlook, and we shall have the whole of His habitation in our thoughts and hearts, shall we not? And we shall be desirous that every locality should function, and that the number of localities may increase. Why should there not be more meetings, as well as more in the meetings?

Ques. Would the scripture in Exodus 20 have in mind the service of God? "In all places where I shall make my name to be remembered, I will come unto thee, and bless thee", verse 24. I wondered whether that would be linked with the supper?

G.R.C. Very interesting, because that is how the service begins, "This do in remembrance of me". We gather to the Lord's name, and the Name is a great subject in scripture. It includes the name of the Lord Jesus, the great testimonial name to which we gather. We could not gather to the name of a mere man. The fact that we gather together to His name implies His Deity. And then there is the name of the Father which Jesus makes so much of in John's gospel. And then there is the name to which we are referring, the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. The service takes account of the Name in each of those features of it.

Ques. Had you anything further in mind in speaking of more meetings?

G.R.C. In the light of a verse like this our hearts would surely desire that the number of meetings should be multiplied, that there should be meetings in localities where there are none at present. "In every place", it says.

Rem. If gatherings are increasing in numbers, this might stimulate us to consider for God on the line of more in assembly response.

G.R.C. Yes. In Acts 11:5 it says, "the assemblies ... increased number every day". We would

desire the places to be multiplied where the Incense is offered, and we should be praying about these things. Why should there be vast tracts of territory where there is no meeting?

Ques. You have in mind that the more meetings there are, the more there should be for God?

G.R.C. Yes.

Ques. Does verse 9 of this Psalm apply? "Thou hast visited the earth, thou hast watered it; thou greatly enrichest it: the river of God is full of water: thou providest their corn, when thou hast so prepared".

G.R.C. I think that would encourage us to pray for these matters, "The river of God is full of water". The Spirit is here active; why should not life spring up for God in more localities?

Ques. And should there also be a growing concern that more should function in the service of God? We all have our part, of course, in the combined response which is conveyed in the singing; but is it not also a concern that there should be more functioning by brothers on these occasions?

G.R.C. I think the idea of a vow would enter into that. I think every brother should commit himself in a definite and irrevocable way to the service of God. If you are committed to what is most exalted, that is the service of God, you will realise that your whole life has got to be regulated in relation to it; so it means that you have got to regulate every department of your life if you are to perform the vow. That is the way a prince, I think, is developed. I do not think anyone becomes a prince who is not committed to God. A prince is spiritually a wealthy man; he has got substance and material. The priest is another side. We are all priests in virtue of the anointing; and as together we all are privileged, in priestly affect- ion, to take up what others bring. But in Numbers 7 it is the princes who bring the gifts. It does not speak

of the priests bringing. Princeliness involves that we are right with God in every department of life, every department of our life becoming contributory to the service of God.

Ques. Does that include the sisters also?

G.R.C. Yes, Sarah was a princess.

Ques. Would the word in Nehemiah, where it says, "we charged ourselves" with regard to the house and the service of God, link with this? Does the principle of a vow enter into that? They committed themselves completely to it.

G.R.C. It certainly does -- they charged themselves; and it says in that book that they entered into a covenant.

Ques. Would the end of Psalm 45 bear upon it? "Instead of thy fathers shall be thy sons; princes shalt thou make them in all the earth. I will make thy name to be remembered throughout all generations; therefore shall the peoples praise thee for ever and ever", verses 16 and 17.

G.R.C. It shows the necessity for the princely side of things. "I will make thy name to be remembered throughout all generations". It is princes who ensure that that is so. The Psalm would indicate, I think, that where we are right collectively in assembly response to Christ -- first love for Him, for it is a song of the Beloved -- princes will develop.

Ques. Does it involve wrestling?

G.R.C. It does. In involves what Jacob went through when his name was changed to Israel, meaning prince of God -- Genesis 32:8. It is coming face to face with God over matters, and having things out with God about every department of life.

Ques. Is it noticeable that in this very passage -- Malachi 1:14 -- Jehovah of hosts is spoken of as the great King. Does that assert the royal glory of the system in which God is, and tend to develop with His own the princely side in the midst of the corruption

which is spoken of; Princeliness according to God?

G.R.C. I think we ought to take account of that, that we are serving the great King, and the assembly is the city of the great King according to Psalm 48. In the presence of an earthly monarch we should be careful about our demeanour, even the way we sit and so on. If an earthly king came in we should look to it that in every way our deportment was right.

Ques. Does Peter's reference to the kingly priesthood bear on this? "That ye might set forth the excellencies of him who has called you out of darkness to his wonderful light", 1 Peter 2:9. It is more than the preaching, is it not; it is what is set forth in persons? Do these vessels which the princes offered answer to that? They are open vessels in which things can be set forth.

G.R.C. I think they may represent persons -- the silver vessels and the golden cup -- and, in away, they may represent local gatherings. The prince represents the tribe, and we should seek that our local gathering in a corporate sense is like a great silver vessel, holding an oblation, and a silver bowl and a golden cup. It is right that we should always be in the liberty of sonship, and that is why we can be seated during the service. Indeed God has raised us up together, and made us sit down together even in the heavenlies.

Ques. So that dignity is a great feature of princeliness, and of sonship.

G.R.C. Quite so. While at the Lord's Supper, and what follows, we touch what we might call Divine home life in its sweetest and most blessed sense -- and there could be nothing greater -- yet, on the other hand, it is a state occasion. We are in the public position to bring honour to the great King.

Ques. Following, "I am a great King" it says, "and my name is terrible", or to be revered. Would that thought be ever with us, and thus prevent unseemly

familiarity -- never forgetting who God is?

G.R.C. Just so. We are sons, and we can sit in the presence of God. If an earthly monarch came in we should all stand. The remarkable thing is that the great King is amongst us, and we are still privileged to sit.

Ques. Would the queen of Sheba, as coming to see the wisdom of Solomon, be like one coming in and taking account, in the Supper, of the order of the service, and the deportment of those who are there, and their apparel; and then there is the ascent by which he went up into the house of God?

G.R.C. That is a good illustration. We have also to remember that principalities and authorities in the heavenlies are occupied with assembly service, the service of praise. Ephesians 3 does not refer only to assembly administration, but also to what is greater -- the service of praise to God. The queen of Sheba was an earthly principality, and Solomon and his servants came under her observation; but the service of praise is under the observation of heavenly principalities.

Ques. Is that involved in a verse at the end of Hebrews 12 -- "let us serve God acceptably with reverence and fear", verse 28?

G.R.C. Very good.

Ques. "We being assembled to break bread"; would that be a dignified and august occasion?

G.R.C. It was a dignified company, too. Now in verse 14 of Malachi 1 it says, "Yea, cursed be the deceiver, who hath in his flock a male" -- we were noticing in Leviticus 22 that in connection with a vow the offering had to be a male -- "and voweth and sacrificeth unto the Lord a corrupt thing". That is, if we have vowed, we must be in keeping with the requirements of a vow; we must bring a male without blemish, and even one leg must not be shorter than the other. We have to do with God. He is encouraging

us to make vows, and we should make them; but let us see that we perform the vow according to Divine requirements.

Ques. Does the male represent the very best quality?

G.R.C. The very best of our energies, nothing less would suit the great King.

Ques. Did you say earlier that the vows would eventuate in the service of God? I was thinking that if we commit ourselves to the Lord, and to His interests, and to the assembly, and to the kingdom, the house, and the gospel, it is all to eventuate in service Godward, is it not?

G.R.C. That is where we need the law of the Nazarite, to ensure that our devotedness is rightly directed. People who are not governed by that law may be devoted, but they may give themselves up exclusively to the blessing of men. But the vow, whatever form of activity it involves, gospel or otherwise, is always to have as its objective God dwelling in His habitation, and the service due to Him in it. It was when Jacob had light as to the house that he made his vow. That gives us the setting of the vow. It is related to God and to His house, and for the support of His service; and so in Leviticus it is a question of the burnt-offerings and the peace-offerings, a question of maintaining what is for God in His house. So also with the Nazarite, his devotion resulted in his hands being filled, and in bringing his peace-offering he contributes to the priest, to the service of God, and to the whole fellowship.

Ques. Is that suggested in Deuteronomy 16, where, "Three times in the year shall all thy males appear before Jehovah thy God in the place which he will choose, at the feast of unleavened bread, and at the feast of weeks, and at the feast of tabernacles; and they shall not appear before Jehovah empty; each shall give according to that which is in his power to

give, according to the blessing of Jehovah thy God which he hath given thee", verses 16 and 17?

G.R.C. In that connection the vow would be specially connected with the peace-offering, and that is what is in mind in verse 14 of our chapter. "Cursed be the deceiver, who hath in his flock a male, and voweth and sacrificeth" -- a sacrifice usually means a peace-offering -- "unto the Lord a corrupt thing". It is in connection with the coming up to Jerusalem that the sacrifices of peace-offering would assume such great importance. There might be a million or more persons to be sustained before God; how were they to be fed and sustained in joy before God? It was by the peace-offerings. It depended upon how much devotion there was among the people generally, because the peace-offerings were not prescribed; it was left to love to make and perform its vows.

Rem. I thought that linked up with, "each shall give according to that which is in his power to give, according to the blessing of Jehovah".

G.R.C. So in the first chapter of Samuel, "And Elkanah her husband, and all his house, went up to sacrifice to Jehovah the yearly sacrifice and his vow", verse 21. Elkanah was not up to Hannah, we know, but nevertheless he was a man who, when he went up to Jerusalem, took the yearly sacrifice and his vow; he contributed to the occasion.

Ques. Your reference to the gospel would have in mind the filling of God's house with a view to His getting a greater response?

G.R.C. Exactly. We are not decrying gospel work in the least; far be the thought. It is essential, but it should not be detached from the assembly.

Ques. Would the solemn side of this be illustrated by Ananias who vowed a vow and then retained part for himself, not recognising the glory of the Spirit of God in the assembly?

G.R.C. It is very much like Malachi 1:14. He

had in his flock a male, as you might say, but he did not give the male; he vowed and sacrificed a corrupt thing.

Ques. Does not the spirit of committal bring into operation the whole system of Divine help, both in the acquiring of substance, and in the bringing it in in the service of God?

G.R.C. I am sure it does. We cannot over emphasise sufficiently the importance of youth in the testimony from a testimonial standpoint. If persons come in and hear the sacrifice of praise in the assembly, they may not take very much account of the older man. Their day is almost done anyway. But what will astound people is to hear young men with their hearts full of God and His greatness. The enemy has no answer to that, "Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou established praise because of thine adversaries, to still the enemy and the avenger", Psalm 8:2.

Ques. So that Hannah's vow is answered in a boy being girded with a linen ephod?

G.R.C. Yes. Think of that boy, the subject of his mother's vow, in the temple of Jehovah where the ark of God was! Think of a boy there, and girded with a linen ephod!

Rem. It was by the last words of David that the levitical age was reduced to twenty.

Rem. "Let no one despise thy youth, but be a model of the believers, in word, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity", 1 Timothy 4:12. That would be the basis of activity in youth.

Ques. What does "the wife of thy youth" represent?

G.R.C. We are coming now to God speaking to the people through His messenger. Jah is speaking to the people. When you think of the title Jah, you think of Psalm 150, the climax of praise. God would recover His people to the best at the end; and so He

speaks to Levi about his brightest day. Levi would be specially the priests here, as is indicated in verse 1 of chapter 2 and verse 6 of chapter 1. It is the tribe of Levi as being the priestly tribe. He reminds Levi of his brightest day, "My covenant with him was of life and peace". That would link with Numbers 25 as well as Exodus 32. God made a covenant of peace with Phinehas. Then He turns to Judah, and reminds him of the brightest day. Judah's brightest day is recorded in Psalm 132 when David made his vow. David was representative of Judah when he vowed to the mighty One of Jacob that he would not give sleep to his eyes nor slumber to his eyelids until he had found a place for Jehovah, habitations for the Mighty One of Jacob. That was Judah at his best! And God is recalling Judah to his vow, for that vow involved that Judah was married to the sanctuary. That is implied in that verse 11 of Malachi 2; "for Judah hath profaned the sanctuary of Jehovah which he loved, and hath married the daughter of a strange god". David was married to the sanctuary, just as we say a man is married to his business or his garden. Judah was married to the sanctuary, and spiritually every believer belongs to the tribe of Judah. We should all be married to the sanctuary, that should be our main concern; our vows should be on that line. The sanctuary was the wife of Judah's youth. He was not to deal unfaithfully with the wife of his youth. He had been married to the sanctuary, and what was he doing now?

Ques. Is it important that the sanctuary and the Name are the standard? We have brought in "to give glory unto thy name", and then the word in regard of Levi that he, "trembled before my name".

G.R.C. You are linking that with the sanctuary?

Rem. I was thinking of the standard when it comes to a question of the maintenance of the truth. It is the maintenance of what is due to God in His sanctuary;

the standard is the Name -- great and glorious.

G.R.C. It is in the sanctuary that the Name is, as it were, enshrined, is it not?

Ques. We have a reference elsewhere to the "blaspheming of the name", and does not that bear upon the great public position?

G.R.C. It does; so that there is really no other course for a devoted soul than to be married, in this sense, to the sanctuary, because of love for God and His great name.

Ques. Does Isaiah 62 bear on the matter? "Thou shalt no more be termed, Forsaken; neither shall thy land any more be termed, Desolate; but thou shalt be called, My delight is in her, and thy land, Married; for Jehovah delighteth in thee, and thy land shall be married. For as a young man marrieth a virgin, shall thy sons marry thee; and with the joy of the bridegroom over the bride, shall thy God rejoice over thee", verses 4 and 5.

G.R.C. I think that confirms what we are saying.

Ques. Is there a wonderful blend seen in Psalm 148, "Both young men and maidens, old men with youths -- Let them praise the name of Jehovah" -- verse 12?

G.R.C. Yes; we are getting to the climax of praise there. "Kings of the earth and all peoples, princes and all judges of the earth; both young men and maidens, old men with youths, Let them praise the name of Jehovah; for his name alone is exalted; his majesty is above the earth and the heavens". A wonderful blend, as you say, because it does not suggest youth movements in the way of separating youths from other people, but they merge with the old.

Ques. Would you say a further word on the thought of the sanctuary in this connection? Does it involve a holy environment where the presence of God is known and enjoyed, and where God can be

approached? The sanctuary is not exactly the thought of heaven, is it?

G.R.C. No, it is not. I think our love for the sanctuary will be greatly fostered if we regularly enter the holiest; so that we become acquainted with the presence of God, the effulgence of His glory, and come into the presence of the One in whom all the fulness of the Godhead dwells. It needs to be a habitual resort to our hearts; and then the thing is to seek to find among the saints, as far as it is possible in this day of public ruin, a practical answer to that. Because, after all, all that we apprehend and enjoy in the holiest individually is enjoyed in a greater measure in the assembly, if there are right conditions. Thus the more we enter the holiest, the more we shall be concerned about the assembling of ourselves together, and that conditions may be right among the saints. We shall thus be married to the sanctuary. Is that right?

Rem. I am sure it is. It would lead us to spend all our spiritual energies to the improvement of that condition of things.

G.R.C. A marriage vow is one of the strongest vows you can conceive of. Even as to natural marriage we know how God hates divorce, as He says here. We can apply this to the natural link, "for I hate putting away, saith Jehovah the God of Israel". God hates it, so we should have great respect to the natural link of marriage; it is the most solemn vow in nature, and it is a vow which God recognises. But then, being married to the sanctuary is a most solemn matter, and it is a very serious matter to turn away from it.

Ques. Could I recall that previous remark of yours, when you reminded us that we go into the holiest, not to serve, but to contemplate? The service is at the altar, is it not? Going into the holiest and contemplating glory in God, and all that stands connected with His name, would help us

in being married to the sanctuary, would it not?

G.R.C. It would. The holiest, as you say, is marked by contemplation, adoration and prostration; also conversation, in the sense that Moses went in to speak with Him, and he heard a voice speaking to him. But it is not the service of prayer. In the holiest we are in the presence of the fulness of the Godhead, bodily dwelling in a Man. We are in the presence of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The effulgence of God's glory, all that He is in His nature and character, is in radiant display. What a contemplation! Underlying it all is the sense in our souls that God is the great King. It is a marvellous thing that the holiest is open to us, and we could not go into the holiest without being impelled to serve at the altars. We shall get such an outlook that we shall want to pray and to praise.

Ques. Would you say a word on chapter 3, "Will a man rob God?"

G.R.C. In that part He is reminding them of Jacob's vow. He takes them back to Levi's committal, to Judah's committal, and then right back to Jacob's committal. So in this final message we are recalled to the three-fold committal -- the committal of the priesthood, the committal of Judah, and then the committal of Jacob, the man in responsibility, covering all our responsible life which is all to yield for God as a tithe in the treasure house.

Ques. As to entering the holiest, have you in mind the morning and evening?

G.R.C. Yes, the morning and evening oblation; because we cannot properly offer the oblation and the incense unless we have been in the holiest first. We are not like Israel; our service should take character from being inside. Christ's service takes us in the holiest, not ours. We do not have to begin at the altar, and work up to the holiest. Christ's service at the altars has made a way for us to go right in, and

our privilege is to go right in; and in the power of what we see and enter into within, to come out, as it were, and ourselves serve at the altars.

Rem. Having boldness by the blood of Jesus.

G.R.C. There is just one more word as to, "Then they that feared Jehovah spoke often one to another; and Jehovah observed it, and heard, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared Jehovah, and that thought upon his name". They "thought upon his name" -- what an occupation! It is what God has brought us back to in a remarkable way in these last days -- to think upon His name. And let us keep on thinking thus in the power of the Spirit -- not with natural thoughts. We need the Spirit in everything divine, but we are really in the deepest waters when we think upon His name. But, as someone said lately in reference to Ezekiel 47, while the waters were deep, they were to swim in. The Spirit enables us to swim; but we cannot feel our feet when we come to the greatness of God and His name. Nevertheless, we are to think upon His name, and it is in those who make no pretension to anything, but just fear Him, and speak often one to another, and think upon His name, that God finds that which He is seeking. These are the persons who perform the vow at the close of the dispensation.

MODELS

1 Corinthians 10:23, 24, 33; 1 Corinthians 11:1; Philippians 3:13 - 21; Philippians 2:17, 21, 29 - 30; 2 Timothy 4:6 - 8; Revelation 3:11 - 12

I wish to speak, dear brethren, of models and of the importance of fixing our eyes, as Paul says, on true models. He says in Philippians 3, "Be imitators all together of me, brethren, and fix your eyes on those walking thus as you have us for a model". It is of the utmost importance to fix our eyes -- and notice the word 'fix' -- on true models, and particularly upon the apostle Paul. We are inclined to let our eyes rest upon those whose conduct is not that of a true model. We may notice features of worldliness or of earthly mindedness in others, and think that if they can go in for such things so can we, and that is the way we drag one another down. If that kind of thing goes on, we are in danger of all becoming crawling things. The crawling things of Leviticus 11 were a greater abomination than any other unclean creature. The language used is very strong.

Paul's various epistles bring out the various features of unclean creatures in the way of warning. The Corinthian epistles bring out the features of the unclean animals -- those who have not the cloven hoof and do not chew the cud. Romans brings out the features of the unclean fish without fins and scales; they go along with the stream; they cannot stand against the corruption around. Scales are protective and fish with fins and scales can go against the stream; and that is what we are taught to do in

Romans. In Colossians he brings out the features of the unclean birds, those who are vainly puffed up in the mind of their flesh, seeking to penetrate into things which they have not seen.

Philippians brings out the features of the unclean crawling things and, of course, our natural judgment would be that these are the least offensive. What is wrong in minding earthly things? Yet nothing drags the saints down like minding earthly things. So Paul tells us, even weeping, about such people; he weeps about them. God is presenting to us the greatness of the heavenly calling. He has set His house here, which is the very gate of heaven, where all the administration of heaven's wealth in abundance is being carried on; and yet persons who are called to that, and brought within the range of it, may be still minding earthly things! The word 'mind' all through Philippians is not the thinking faculty; it is the bent of mind. Let us see to it that our minds are not bent that way. The bent of mind is again used in Colossians. "Have your mind on the things that are above".

How important it is to fix our eyes on true models! Paul was a model, Timothy was a model, Epaphroditus was a model. We are to fix our eyes on them, and on any persons there may be who are in any way like them. But before I proceed with that, I want to say a word to young people here. Timothy was not an old man -- he was very young -- but Paul says to him, "Let no one despise thy youth, but be a model of the believers". So this would encourage the young people here. You can be a model, according to your age. We do not believe in prodigies; but according to your age, and spiritual growth you can be a model; you can help other young people by your example. I would say to every young brother and sister here, see to it that you are not one who is dragging the others down. If you are on that line you may become quite popular in a worldly sense,

but you will incur the Divine displeasure. Think of the privilege which is yours, as a young man or woman, of being a right model -- according to your age and stature! The Lord Jesus Himself is the great Model; and think of Him at twelve years of age saying, "did ye not know that I ought to be occupied in my Father's business?" or 'in the things of my Father', Luke 2:49! What a delightful thing it would be to hear a young person of twelve using language of that kind -- a young person of twelve set definitely, in the spirit of a vow, for the things of God, and having nothing less before him, even at that age, than to be wholly in the things of God! He has, of course, to attend to other things. The Lord Jesus had to attend to other things. He went down with His parents to Nazareth and was subject to them; and it was said of Him, "Is not this the son of the carpenter?" Matthew 13:55. And another gospel says, "Is not this the carpenter?" Mark 6:3. He was known as the carpenter; He had His work to do. No doubt He had many things to carry in domestic life, and in His daily work; but it did not alter the fact: "I ought to be occupied in my Father's business". He meditated on God's testimonies day and night, and that is something we can do. We all have spare time; what do we do with it? That is the test of our devotedness -- what we do with what we call our spare time! If we are devoted to God we have not any spare time, because the spare time is His; that is what committal means; and it is good to see young people set that way. Think of the Lord Jesus as the great Model! I would ask every boy and girl here to think of Him, because He is the One brought before us, in all His perfection, at the age of twelve, as a Model. True, Jairus' daughter was raised up at that age; she becomes a witness to what God can do at that age; but the Lord Jesus is the great Model, and He has been given to boys and girls

as a Model in subjection and devotedness to God. Then that would lead me to say a word to parents to encourage their children on these lines. Have you made a vow about your children? Are you a Hannah or an Elizabeth? Are you like Manoah's wife? If you have made a vow about your children you have to look to yourself. What kind of model are you? That was the point when Manoah's wife wanted to know the manner of the child; she was to look to herself. If her son was to be a Nazarite of God from the womb, she must be herself a model. Are we all models as parents? How can we expect the young people to be wholly in the things of God if we are not? Where do the parents stand in the matter? The word to Timothy, after speaking about being a model is, "Occupy thyself with these things; be wholly in them", 1 Timothy 4:15. That is the same word used by the Lord -- 'wholly in the things of My Father'. That is the only way to be a right model, to be wholly in things. Parents have a very grave responsibility if they are not models for their children.

God intends you to be a model. Sometimes we hear people express pity for the children of the saints -- how much they have to give up. The saints' children do not have to give up anything that is worth having; they are only called upon to give up unclean things and associations. You would not think your children were suffering great hardship if you asked them to give up what was unclean or diseased in a material sense. You would count them happy to be saved from such things. Surely it is the same in matters moral and spiritual; what they are asked to renounce are things they are well rid of; it is a great salvation. Do not let us, as parents, encourage the idea that they are giving up a lot; they are giving up nothing worth having; and the compensations are overwhelming. The children of the saints have a marvellous inheritance. They get many times better than what they

give up of the things that are a hindrance to them. They get a hundredfold more in the present time and in the world to come life everlasting. Let us help the children to have a right outlook, to understand the "hundredfold more", and the "life everlasting". Think of what favour our children have as coming to know God! They are able to put a right valuation even on what is natural, which the world does not know anything about. They enjoy the things of God in nature in a right and true way. Think of the happy homes amongst the saints, and the broken homes in the world! Then, again, the affections of the saints universally rest upon them -- unselfish affections; no such affections rest upon the children of the world. Though our children may not be known universally, the affections and prayers of the saints are towards them. And so, they have a vast spiritual inheritance to enter into, the inheritance amongst the sanctified; and, normally, as they grow up, they enter more and more into the wealth of the spiritual inheritance. Do not let us be on the line of false pity for our children; they are extremely favoured; their compensations are overwhelming, and what they have to give up they are well rid of.

Our children may get reproach and even persecution -- unpleasant indeed and trying -- but these are like the long hair of the Nazarite. That is where we can sympathise with and support our children. When they say 'no' to what is unclean, those who find their life and enjoyment in what is unclean think it strange that they should not run "with them to the same sink of corruption", and they speak evil of them, as Peter says. So, in keeping clear from what is unclean, our children do come into reproach. But normally, from what I have seen, children stand reproach better than adults do. They early get an impression that the living God is amongst His people and that what the saints do and say, and what they

parents do and say, is right, irrespective of what even the teacher may say; and they are prepared to make a stand, and God honours them in it. But I am saying all this so that we might get a right outlook as to the young and their privileges and opportunities. And so all this, then, should encourage young brothers and sisters early to become models that are worthy of other young ones fixing their eyes upon. Let each one challenge himself, what would happen if my companions of my own age fixed their eyes on me? Would I be dragging them down, or would I be a model according to God? It is much easier to drag people down than to move them on the upward way. If we are to be models, we need to fix our eyes on Paul and then on Christ. "Be my imitators, even as I also am of Christ" -- that is the order. We are helped to follow Christ by way of Paul. Christ is the great Model.

So we find Paul marked by the features of the Nazarite. He says, "All things are lawful, but all are not profitable; all things are lawful, but all do not edify". You may say, all that I am going on with is lawful. But that is not the criterion; is it profitable? Is it good for my soul and for the profit of others? -- as he says, "Let no one seek his own advantage, but that of the other". Is what you are going on with something that may influence your brother or your sister on the downward line? It may be that you are capable of handling it, it may not be hindering you yourself; but the one who sees you going on with it may not be able to hold it aright; he imitates you and is damaged. So Paul is always thinking of others: "All things are lawful, but all are not profitable; all things are lawful, but all do not edify"; that is the language of a Nazarite. He only wants what is profitable and what would edify, and so he finishes the chapter by saying, "Even as I also please all in all things; not seeking my own profit, but that of the

many, that they may be saved", 1 Corinthians 10:33. In everything he sought to gain the confidence of people and to be a true model for them. Then he immediately goes on to say, "Be my imitators". There was nothing about him which he could not safely exhort his brethren to imitate. How far he went with the Corinthians! What a devoted man Paul was! He says in the second epistle, "I do not seek yours, but you"; and, "Now I shall most gladly spend and be utterly spent for your souls, if even in abundantly loving you I should be less loved", chapter 12: 14 - 15. What could be stronger language than that? So long as their souls were maintained in life, so that God had His portion from them, Paul was satisfied, even though he was the less loved. What a model for us!

When we come to Philippians we find him pressing with all his energies to lay hold of the heavenly calling; truly one who could sing the hymn we began with,

"This world is a wilderness wide,
We have nothing to seek nor to choose;
We've no thought in the waste to abide". (Hymn 139)

What things were gain to him he counted loss for Christ. He had reached a point where he counted all things but loss "on account of the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, on account of whom I have suffered the loss of all, and count them to be filth, that I may gain Christ", verse 8. What a man he was! What a model! This is the one who says, "Be imitators all together of me". There is no different standard for Paul from that which there is for me, or for you. And so in the verses we read he says, "Brethren, I do not count to have got possession myself; but one thing -- forgetting the things behind, and stretching out to the things before, I pursue". Note he says there, "one thing". He was a man of one purpose as to his personal aim. Where it was a question of serving the saints he could spend and be

utterly spent -- that was one side of it -- then, as to his personal longings and aims, the longings of his soul, he was completely governed by one thing: this one thing I do. It has often been said, even in the world, that it is a man of one purpose in life who gets on; and that is the idea in Christianity. The calling is so great that nothing but the whole of our energies is worthy of it. It is a question of being men of one objective, one purpose. We have other things to attend to, but they need not divert us, in any way, from this one thing: "forgetting the things behind, and stretching out to the things before, I pursue, looking towards the goal, for the prize" -- what a prize it is! -- "of the calling on high of God in Christ Jesus". No wonder he could weep when he thought of the earthly-minded ones, with such a calling before them, such a goal and such a prize! But let us, dear brethren, from now on, in a way we have never done before, fix our eyes all together on Paul in this respect, to be persons of one inward motive and purpose, and that is to lay hold of the calling on high. And what will go along with that will be love for God's house and all who form it, and preparedness to make the fullest sacrifice for the maintenance of what is established for God here on earth. The two things go together. The man whose inward exercise and longings are set on the calling on high of God will be the man who, as far as things down here go, will be concerned about the assembly, God's habitation in the Spirit, and that it should be fully functioning. That is why Paul was so concerned about the Corinthians, willing to spend and be utterly spent, and about the Philippians as regards whom he says, "But if also I am poured out as a libation". As we have had before us these days, the libation or drink-offering is the kind of crowning touch of an offering or a sacrifice, and he was willing to bring in that

crowning touch in the way of actually pouring out his life. He was willing to die for the Philippians. It says of the Lord Jesus, "He hath poured out His soul unto death", Isaiah 53:12; and Paul was prepared to go all the way for that Philippian company. It was a matter of his soul, the emotions of his soul, when he says, "But if also I am poured out ... I rejoice". He would count it a great privilege to be poured out "on the sacrifice and ministration of your faith". So that he would not only spend and be spent, but he was prepared to be poured out. The idea of pouring out links with the drink-offering. The Lord poured out His soul unto death. We can pour out our souls in worship, in thanksgiving and so on, and it moves the whole company when a man pours out his soul, the whole man is in it, the feelings of his being. But the climax of it, for those who are called upon to do it, is the actual pouring out of the life -- a man crowning his service with the pouring out of his life joyfully.

In Timothy we have the climax of it in Paul. He says, "For I am already being poured out". The epistles to Timothy show that, while a company like the Philippians had a special place in his heart, he was not restricted in that which he was labouring for, for in the first epistle he speaks about "God's house, which is the assembly of the living God, the pillar and base of the truth", chapter 3: 15. Paul had in his heart the whole habitation of God in the Spirit here on earth; he was thinking of God's house, where God's character is known, from which the gospel goes out, into which men are invited, and the assembly of the living God where God is praised, where divine administration goes on, and "the pillar and base of the truth", the great vessel of testimony. What a wonderful structure the house of God is! It is through coming into it that persons are saved and they come to a full knowledge of the truth. In the house of God, which

is, "the pillar and base of the truth", there is not a question which cannot be answered. Every genuine enquiry finds an answer there; and Paul had the whole matter in his heart and soul; and it was a joyful matter to him to say in the second epistle, "I am already being poured out". It was like Jacob coming to Bethel the second time and pouring the drink-offering on the pillar -- Genesis 35:14. The house of God is the pillar and base of the truth, and Paul was pouring himself out upon it, glad to do it. What a model he is! "Be imitators all together of me". What a man to imitate! But then he speaks of Timothy, a younger man, in Philippians: "For I have no one like-minded who will care with genuine feeling how ye get on", and "ye know the proof of him, that, as a child a father, he has served with me in the work of the glad tidings". He says elsewhere to the Corinthians, "he works the work of the Lord, even as I", chapter 16: 10.

Here was Timothy, an imitator all together of Paul, like a child with a father, having the same objective, the calling on high, and having the same care for the saints, caring with genuine feeling; another one who would be prepared to be poured out. Then he brings in this sorrowful statement, "all seek their own things, and not the things of Jesus Christ". How sorrowful it is that, in a day when Nazariteship should be normal -- the order of the day -- there should be so few in accord with what is normal: "all seek their own things, and not the things of Jesus Christ". "The things of Jesus Christ", I believe, if we speak of the type, would be like the tabernacle system down here, the assembly as the tabernacle of witness. Jesus Christ was the antitype of the foundation of the whole tabernacle system -- the acacia wood. Caring for the things of Jesus Christ is a very practical matter. It is caring for the whole tabernacle of witness down here in this world; and our own things can divert us from

that. Scripture speaks of the things of the Spirit, the things of God, the things that God has prepared. They are different ideas. But the things of Jesus Christ, I believe, relate to the assembly as the tabernacle of witness down here, of which Jesus Christ is the foundation. "For other foundation can no man lay besides that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ", 1 Corinthians 3:11. So that Philippians is a practical epistle; it is one thing to mind the things of the Spirit -- we have been seeking to do so these three days -- it is a blessed thing when the Spirit reveals to us the deep things of God; but the answer to it in us should be that we would mind the things of Jesus Christ. We would care for everything that is of God in this world.

So Epaphroditus is another man prepared to be poured out as a libation. What a crowning thing Epaphroditus' action was, how it crowned the service of the Philippians in sending the gift to Paul! Their gift was like the peace-offering, as he says in chapter 4, "the things sent from you, an odour of sweet savour, an acceptable sacrifice", verse 18. It was a sacrifice of peace-offering in principle, "agreeable to God". They had sent the sacrifice, and what crowned the sacrifice was Epaphroditus' service, his libation. He did not actually have to lay down his life, but he was prepared to do it, "for the sake of the work he drew near even to death, venturing his life, that he might fill up what lacked". What was lacking? The drink-offering; and he filled up what lacked, and thus made their offering all the more valuable. How precious it must have been to Paul, precious was the sacrifice from the Philippians, but made exceedingly more precious by the fact that Epaphroditus ventured his life to bring it to him. Well, may the Lord help us in these things, to be individually in line with Paul, fixing our eyes on him, as he says, "as you have us for a model".

Let us then, dear brethren, hold the ground in the devotion of Nazarites to God, for His Name's sake!