Reading: Leviticus 27; 2
Kings 9:1-7,16-20; 10:11,30.
The matter with which the
Lord has been and is engaging us is that of the battle for the Throne, as
being the fundamental and the final issue of the history of this world. All
the Lord's people are bound up with that issue, and it relates to them
immediately. While, as we shall see, it is all in Christ, yet it is a matter
for the saints in Christ, the dominion of this universe as God's intention
from the beginning.
Utterness for the Lord
Within that compass there
is a specific word which is in a measure detached from the sequence
of our meditations, but occupies a place perhaps of particular emphasis. It
has come to me with very considerable force that the Lord would have a word
said on utterness for the Lord. And in that connection the two passages of
scripture - Leviticus 27 and 2 Kings 9 and 10 - are given. Reverting to the
former (Leviticus 27) without staying for a detailed analysis or exposition,
I will remind you of the three things contained therein. These three things
represent three aspects of consecration. There is that aspect of
consecration which has to do with the firstborn and the tithes. You will
notice that certain quite definite and particular things were said in
connection with the firstborn and the tithes, and that they stood in a
sphere by themselves. The firstborn and tithes were the Lord's by right.
They were a token and a testimony of and to the rights of God to have
the first place in the life of His people, so that the firstborn was the
Lord's, and the tithe, which was the first fruit, a tenth of all, and the
first tenth, spoke of God having first place as His right in the life of His
people. That is established, and nothing can touch that or interfere with
it. There is no option about that. It is not optional whether the Lord has
first place in your life and mine; He demands it, it is His right.
The second aspect was that
of devoted things. The devoted things were those things which were set apart
as being entirely beyond man's option or question or judgment, as settled by
God, wholly and utterly for Himself, sometimes to be accepted by Him and
sometimes to be completely destroyed out of His sight. All the cities of
Canaan were devoted to the Lord, and had to be utterly destroyed. Achan took
of the devoted thing and died. Now that law is written in this chapter in
Leviticus. If a man interferes with the devoted thing the penalty is death.
So that the devoted things were the Lord's by demand, and the firstborn and
the tithes were the Lord's by right.
The Special Vow
The third thing in this
chapter, and that with which the chapter commences and is mainly occupied,
is special vows. It is that to which we are giving attention. There is no
suggestion of right, and no suggestion of demand. Here, while the first and
the second (the firstborn and tithes, and the devoted things) were legal, a
matter of law, this question of special vows was voluntary. No order is
made, it is simply "When a man makes a special vow..." Then certain
provisions are made in connection with this special vow. Now I want it to be
very clearly understood that this is dealing with the Lord's people as
the Lord's people. This represents something within the company of the
people of God. This has nothing whatever to do with salvation. Salvation is
dealt with on an entirely different basis. In the matter of atonement every
man had to bring his half shekel of silver, and the rich were not allowed to
bring more and the poor were not allowed to bring less. Rich and poor were
reduced to one level. There are no discriminations or distinctions or
respectings of persons in the matter of atonement, we are all on a common
level. Not one is better nor worse than the other, and the half shekel
represents the common level of all men in sin, needing salvation through the
precious Blood. That is one thing. This is quite another. This has to do
with what goes on in the midst of the redeemed people of God.
Now we come to this special
vow, and ask what it represents. It represents a peculiar and particular
movement of the heart toward God. It speaks of a specific devotion to the
Lord. No demand, no command, the law does not touch it, not even the law of
being saved, but it is altogether a voluntary thing of spontaneous heart
movement toward the Lord. It does not affect the matter of grace at all. It
is not something which puts grace on one side and introduces merit. Nothing
of merit is mentioned in the connection, so that it is not something in
order to get some special favour, it is just a pure, an altogether pure,
crystal clear outgoing of heart to the Lord, without any ulterior motive,
and without any special demand as such from God's side. A special vow!
But it does have an effect,
and the effect which it has is to bring the Lord into the life in a larger
measure. Take the simple illustration of the chapter. A man is moved in love
and devotion toward the Lord, and to put that inward heart movement into
some tangible form of expression he will bring a field and dedicate that
field to the Lord, and so now that field is the Lord's in a special way;
that field belongs to the Lord, and everything that that field produces is
for the Lord. Or it may be from his cattle. It might be one of the other
things mentioned. But inasmuch as that has not been demanded, and inasmuch
as he is not seeking something by way of reward from the Lord, do you not
think that the Lord comes into the sphere of that man's life and interests
in a new way; and the Lord, as it were, encamps upon that field, so that the
opening of the heart is really opening the door for the Lord to have a
larger place in the life? How can the Lord have a larger place in our lives?
Along the line of what is signified by the special vow. We shall see as we
go on what that means. The Lord comes in larger measure into the life in
this way.
It has this effect. It brings life over on
to the positive side. He is the Lord's, he belongs to the Lord, he is
redeemed by precious Blood, he is serving the Lord. But this brings his
whole life into the positive realm with the Lord, in a peculiar way. A man
like this does not ask, how much must I do? Is that really necessary? Am I
under an obligation to do that? Must I do that? While that may not be
actually expressed in words, it is the state of the heart or mind of many of
the Lord's children. They will argue, they will reason, Is that really
necessary? Are we really expected to do that? Must we take such and such a
course? Can we not be the Lord's and enjoy the Lord and do the Lord's work
and be used of the Lord without that? That is the negative line! You may be
the Lord's, there may be no question as to your belonging to the Lord and
yet you are in that state of mind where you have got to have a real battle
on this question and that question and some other question in order to get
through to the will of God. That is all on the negative side. This special
vow represents the positive side, where it is not, How much MUST we do? Can
we serve the Lord and still do so-and-so, be in this and in that, and go
here and go there? The question for the man whose heart is after this kind
is: Cannot the Lord have very much more if we take this course and leave
that and that, and count that out and forsake that and abandon that? If so,
that is the course for me. It is positive all the time. That is the special
vow. What is the motiving object? The Lord! You see, it is not special
favour, blessing, what we can get in return for special devotion; and, on
the other hand, it is not because it is demanded. It is just the Lord. There
is no merit. It does not represent virtue, it is simply the Lord. Because
the man's heart is going out wholly to the Lord he does not say, Just how
far MUST I go? He says, just how far CAN I go? You see the difference. It
makes a lot of difference, and you can always tell the difference between
lives which are on the different sides of that line. On the one side it is
urge, exhortation, admonition, nursing, encouraging, always having to watch
susceptibilities. On the other hand they are going on, the Lord is their
objective, and the heart is set upon Him, and they never raise the question
as to whether it is a command. They see the Lord in their own hearts; He is
the objective and they are running after Him.
Utterness, a Factor in
Reigning
Now, coming to the thing
that is being brought before us, let us notice that this is a principle
which relates to the Throne. We are seeing that the goal which God has fixed
for His people is the Throne. "To him that overcometh will I grant to sit
with me in my throne." That always was the goal for the Lord's people in His
will. There will be multitudes of His own people who will not reach it, but
will be distanced from the Throne; saved, but not with Him in the Throne. It
is conditional, but to reign with Him for ever and ever is our high calling,
the upward calling of God in Christ Jesus. It is the Throne that is in view,
and this principle of the special vow is the principle by which we shall
come to the Throne. It relates to the Throne.
Hurriedly pass your eye
over the history of Israel in relation to the Throne of Israel, and see how
true in type and illustration this is. David stands almost in solitary
isolation as Israel's king. Solomon ran a second, but did not finish the
course. David did. He stumbled at times, but he finished the course. David
therefore, stands alone as THE expression of God's thought as far as it can
be found in sinful man - and we are only dealing with types, which altogether
fall short of the Antitype. As far as it is possible in that realm, on that
level, David represents God's thought of government, of kingship. It was not
merit. In the great day of David's height of power and success the Lord came
through the prophet and said to him: "I took thee from the sheep-fold, from
following the sheep, that thou shouldest be prince over my people, over
Israel." Reminded him of his humble origin and told him it was no merit,
nothing to do with him, it was with God. But what did the Lord say, not to
David but to someone else about him? "I have found me David, a man after my
own heart, who shall do all my pleasure." You will see the
difference. The firstborn and the tithes are God's rights, the devoted
things are God's demands; the special vow is God's delight, God's pleasure.
Go through David's life as
we have it in his Psalms, and what is the note that is constantly running
throughout? It is the note of David's delight in the Lord. How he delights
in his God! It is not the note of compulsion, and it is not the note of
reward. It is the note of spontaneous outgoing of heart in worship to the
Lord for His own sake. The Lord had captured the heart of David. That is why
the Lord stood by David, even through his mistakes and his faults. "The Lord
looketh on the heart." That was the word said to Samuel when selection was
made amongst the sons of Jesse. What the Lord had seen as He looked into the
heart of David was his delight in the Lord, and He chose him. A heart
matter. David would not do because the Lord demanded, and David would not do
because the Lord bribed him. David would do because he loved the Lord, and
David's cry is: "Love the Lord all his people." But over against David, the
majority of the nineteen kings of Israel, and then the nineteen kings of
Judah, and what have you in contrast?
Take Saul. The heart of
Saul found its final uncovering and was shown, displayed, disclosed in 1
Samuel 15, in the case of Amalek. "Go and smite Amalek and utterly destroy,"
said the Lord. "I have marked that which Amalek did to Israel... now go...
and utterly destroy." You know what Saul did. He compromised, spared the
best of the flocks and the herds, and when Samuel came Saul tried as we
would say, to bluff Samuel: "Blessed be thou of the Lord: I have performed
the commandment of the Lord." "What meaneth then this bleating of the sheep
in mine ears?" Betrayed, he must find some other way out. "The people spared
the best of the sheep." Blaming it on to someone else. A guilty conscience
must always find a scapegoat. Yes, but he lost his throne. Samuel said to
him, "To obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of
rams." "The Lord hath rent the kingdom of Israel from thee this day, and
hath given it to a neighbour of thine, that is better than you." You see,
the throne, for its maintenance, demands a heart that is utter for God
without compromise, without reservation, without excuse, without hedging,
without trying to deceive God or man; a heart that is utter for God. We may
deceive one another, we may tell one another that we belong to the Lord, and
we are out for the Lord, and the Lord's best; but God knows our heart. God
knows, and it is Him with whom we have to do. When we want to get certain
things, realise certain desires of ours, we can make professions, and in so
doing we may deceive men, but God knows.
Our calling, our high
calling - not our salvation - our high calling for its realisation, attainment,
demands the principle of the special vow; that is, a heart that delights in
the Lord. In our passage in 2 Kings 9 we read about Jehu. Why did we read
about Jehu? Not because Jehu is a perfect example, but he does introduce the
principle. Where was Ahab before the Lord? What a poor specimen of a king;
and because of the compromise of Ahab through his wife, Jezebel, by whom he
was linked with the world (Jezebel, like all women in the Bible, represents
a principle - and Jezebel represents the principle of a spiritual link with a
world which is outside of God's covenant), Ahab had brought this awful state
into Israel, and God's king was not possible of realisation. The throne was
shaken, the government of God as expressed amongst His people was destroyed
in its purity, its holiness, its completeness. How did the Lord react to the
consequences of Ahab's compromising rule? Through an Elisha and a Jehu.
While we grieve to note a breakdown at a point in Jehu's life, that he was
one of those who did not follow through, we cannot read about Jehu without
feeling that this man did things thoroughly. There is no compromise, at any
rate, about Jehu. Jehu said, "Ahab served Baal a little; but Jehu shall
serve him much," and do you know how he did it? He had all the prophets of
Baal together in Baal's temple, and then shut the door, and that was the end
of Baal's prophets. But you notice it is related to the throne, and the
point is this, utterness for God is a law and principle of reigning with
God. Jehu, at that time at least, represents an utterness of heart for
the Lord. He was raised up and anointed in order to wipe out the stain and
avenge the sins of Ahab, a very thorough work.
We could go over many of the other kings.
Some of them reached a point of devotion to the Lord which was very
excellent - Hezekiah and others. They did great things for the Lord, they
brought back the Lord in a very large measure to His rightful place, they
re-established the order of the Lord, and up to that point they represent
the coming back of the government of God in a larger measure of purity and
power, and that part of their lives was marked by Divine approval, but none
of them went right through. Even those who went so far had this said of
them: "...but he removed not the high places." There is just a stopping
short, and there they broke down and so the full expression of Divine
kingship was not given. If only they had gone all the way! But they did not
go all the way, and therefore there was a limit put to the expression of
Divine government.
I think I have said enough
to at least illustrate the point. The Throne is in view; we are called to
that; to reign with Him. The realisation of that is by the principle of the
special vow, a heart wholly and utterly for the Lord. It is marvellous what
you can do when your heart is in a thing. If your heart is not there you
will have to be reasoned with, argued with, and you will have all sorts of
problems and always be tied up in your problems; but once you get your heart
over and say, it does not matter, be the mountains as high as heaven, I am
going through with God; it is marvellous how you can solve your problems and
get over your difficulties.
Now Paul was one of those
we have had in the back of our minds. Look at Philippians 3:10: "That I may
know him..." "I count all things but loss, as refuse, that I may be found in
him." "I press toward the mark of the prize of the upward calling..." "If by
any means I may attain unto the out-resurrection." What is this but a heart
in the spirit of the special vow, a devotion to the Lord. "That I may know
him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his
sufferings." Is there any ulterior motive? "...the fellowship of his
sufferings, being made comformable unto his death." No, this is pure
devotion to the Lord. It is true that the Throne is the goal and the prize,
but it is the heart set upon the Lord. It is the overcomer. Now look at
Leviticus 27. Is there any suggestion of merit there? Is there any
suggestion of reward? What is it then? It is sheer delight in the Lord. Who
is the overcomer in the book of the Revelation? He is the one who wipes out
a "but," that is all. "I know thy works... thy labour and patience, and that
thou canst not bear evil men..." Yes, that is all right, "but" you have got
a reservation, and all that is good does not make it possible for Me to pass
over that "but," and when you have pointed out all that is right, "...I have
this against thee..." The overcomer says that "but" must go. He wipes out
the "but". "To him that overcometh..." What? The "but"! The man whose heart
is set for God's fullest satisfaction, who delights himself in the Lord.
There is no question of merit, it is all grace, it is the Blood of Christ.
We are not striving to get some special favour from God, we are pressing on
because the grace of God is such a wonderful thing to us. It is all of
grace, and no one knows better than the overcomers how much they are
dependent upon the grace of God.
We must close by pointing
out again the only thing that justifies all this. It is Christ. Leviticus 27
is simply a typical unveiling of the Lord Jesus. All those aspects are
Christ. If it is the firstborn, it is Christ: "the Firstborn among many
brethren." God's by right. If it is the firstfruits, it is Christ. Is it the
devoted thing? Then, being made sin for us, He Who knew no sin must be
destroyed from the presence of God. Is it a holy thing unto the Lord, then
He will offer Himself without spot unto God, the whole burnt offering. Is it
the special vow? "I delight always to do thy will, O God." That is going the
second mile. Not the necessity merely of atonement, not the obligation to
die: "I lay it down of myself." It is Christ, giving voluntarily to the will
of God. How far we go with the Lord will declare how much of Christ we have
in our hearts, how much the spirit of Christ is in us, which says "I
delight."
May the Lord find us a people of the
special vow. We may be challenged on this. Thank God that there are so many
whose delight is in the Lord, and I do not want to be found driving you, but
I do feel that we need just to have these matters brought to us, and to be
shown the way by which the Lord is going to realise His fullest objective in
the saints, to bring them to the Throne, that there may be found in their
hearts the spirit of His Son in fullness, which says: "I delight," that makes
a special vow, voluntarily; not by demand or command, or because God has the
right to it, but because the heart is wholly set upon the Lord's pleasure.
May that be the governing law of our lives.