"Two are better than one..."
“Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour. For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up. Again, if two lie together, then they have heat: but how can one be warm alone? And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.” Eccl 4:9-12
When I became a Christian, this was one of the verses that I committed to memory. As I read it almost 11 years ago, it was to me a blessing of how God strengthens us in the weak moments of life. The promise also gave me the strength to trust in the Lord with all my heart, believing that no matter where we are in this life, he is there with us.
There are diverse spectacles that we can put on, taking a glimpse at this promise and seeing it in its beauty and strength. As a fountarian believer, we see that two are better than one, because they both have a good reward for their labour. The primary heart of this text is referring to none other than the Father and the Son. It is written…
“The LORD possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old. I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was. When there were no depths, I was brought forth; when there were no fountains abounding with water. Before the mountains were settled, before the hills was I brought forth: While as yet he had not made the earth, nor the fields, nor the highest part of the dust of the world. When he prepared the heavens, I was there: when he set a compass upon the face of the depth: When he established the clouds above: when he strengthened the fountains of the deep: When he gave to the sea his decree, that the waters should not pass his commandment: when he appointed the foundations of the earth: Then I was by him, as one brought up with him: and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him;” Pr 8:22-30
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.” John 1:1-3
Before anything was created, the Son was present with the Father. All the counsels of the father are opened to his only begotten Son. By the Son the Father was delighted in what was made, whether things seen or unseen, all things were made by him and for him and yet he is before all things. Two are better than one, and when creation commenced, the Son rejoiced before his “Dad” in what was made.
What a privilege for the Angels in heaven to see what the Father and Son had done when God made the earth beside his beloved Son. When the Stars were commenced, when the moon reflected her beams from the Sun on the fourth day. When God made water that it should not pass his command and when the fish of the ocean swam with delight and joy. When God made the land creatures, and as the crowning act of God's creation, God made Man in his own image.
We see that the Sabbath was laid on the seventh day, for the first time man could delight in a day that the Lord had blessed, for his very presence would be in that day.
God made Man happy in his holy state. After placing man in a deep sleep, God took out one of his ribs, and formed woman from that rib as a “help meet for him”. As the Son of God, who is one with the Father in nature, torn from the bosom of the Father, in a process unknown to man, God demonstrated to the universe a reflection of himself in the holy pair. The relationship of the two on earth was to reflect the relationship of the two in heaven above. The unity that man and woman had of being “one flesh” was to reflect the unity the Father and the Son had in “one Spirit”. This was the complete picture of what God had designed the holy pair to have, that… “Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour.”
When Jesus prayed his prayer in the 17th of John “That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.” (John 17:21) the Lord desired that they (Children of God) may manifest the same oneness with each other and essentially with the Father and the Son.
How are we to be one? As the Father and the Son are one. When we unite on a platform of truth, truth will be seen by those longing for the light of the world. What would happen if this oneness occurred? To answer this question, let us cast our minds back to the time when God gave to a man super human strength that far exceeded the strength of ten men, Samson the Strong.
Samson was physically the strongest man that walked the earth, yet his morals were as weak as a blade of grass. Following his own heart, he was lead in to the most devastating consequences. Although Samson did not remain faithful to the cause of God in stages of his life, we can learn from his example of how we ought to remain faithful to God. God has allowed this man's life as a living testimony of what we ought to do, and where our loyalty needs to be. God used Samson as a window for Gods people to escape from the Philistines, and their unjust treatments to God's people.
True strength does not lie in the passion of a man, but rather in his loyalty to his maker. True strength is when a man is brought into trial, whether he is connected to the vine to withstand the “knock” or whether he is like a leaf, ready to blow away with the wind.
Samson was noted as a “Nazarite” unto the Lord. Not one blade had come upon his head. Staying true to his covenant with God, not to shave his hair, his strength would have remained. Through the spectacle of “Two are better than on” Samson did something that may help us understand our work in the cause of present truth and how we are to share the light of the Father and Son. This can be seen in the following illustration.
After knowing what had happened to his wife, Samson did thus…
The question may be asked “Why would you use this incident as an example of how we are to work in the light of the gospel message”? Well, when we look closely, without spiritualising the story, we see this as an example for us to use when we are united together. Remember the words of the Lord “Be wise as serpents, harmless as doves”. Think about! When a rattle snake attracts its victim, what does it use? It’s tail. How does it use its tail? By rattling it and making it sound like an insect for birds to eat. Although the “nature of the snake” is out to destroy, God has said that our natures are to be “harmless like a dove.”
Samson was noted as a Nazarite unto God, yet we have a much better Nazarene unto God, whom is the Lord Jesus Christ. The two foxes that are caught are represented as Christians who are willing to place themselves in the hand of the Nazarene, prepared to take the front line, whether it means life or death. The tails that are tied together are representative of the unity that binds the workers. The tail is often referred to in the bible as a “drawing” symbol, something that attracts, just as it is described in Revelation 12 referring to the dragon and his tail. As the rattlesnake draws its opponent, so are we to draw others. Are we then to bite others as a rattlesnake would? God forbid. Remember that in all Christ did, he did not bruise a reed nor bite at his opponents. He was silent and when it was time for him to speak, he spoke. His words were not harsh and aggressive, but full of mercy and compassion. As one that would draw them to his personal presence.
When the wisdom of God, which is Christ, is placed in out hearts, and God's word is abiding in us, God will use us at his will to further his purpose. The fire between the two tails represents The Light of God’s love, the love of God which is in Jesus Christ out Lord; this is represented as the fire that is burning between the two tails. Only, and only until this flame is placed, then the work will have much effect. The two foxes will run into the midst of an apostate vineyard, and with the same fire placed between the two tails, it will burn up the false wheat and corn and olives. The field is the world, and God's people are still in Babylon. Its false wheat and olives are the false doctrines that have come in since 1844. God will appoint his messengers to do a work that all counterfeit doctrine and spurious ideas will burn at the very faith that was once delivered unto the saints. The light of God's love, as it is in his only begotten Son, will burn up false doctrines such as Spiritualism, Sunday Worship and the Spiritualisation of Scripture, which through this medium has brought about doctrines such as the trinity or a triune God, the forsaking of the literal only begotten Son of God and the discarding of the three Angels message.
When we re-read the text in the book of Judges, with the supplied analogy of how we are to work together in the name of the Lord, this is how it may be seen…
“And LORD went and had drawn to himself a group of soldiers, and he took the light of his word, and turned their hearts together, and put his word in the midst of their hearts. And when he had set the Sword of the Spirit, he let them go into the standing corn of Apostasy, and burnt up both the counterfeit doctrines, and also the standing doctrines, with the vineyards and olives.”
Let us lay hold on to the strong, and come before the Lord's presence with praise and thanksgiving. God will use our voices, with his message and his love to shine to the world, that all men may know that we love God the Father and his only begotten Son. The Words of the Lord are to us as he had said…
“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven” Matthew 5:16.
May the light shine out of your hearts as you share God's love for a fallen world, and a lost and broken people. And remember you are not alone in the work, for your Father is with you when you go into the valley of the world. That we may know that…
“Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour” Eccl 4:9
