Biblical Essays
"GILGAL"
(Josh. 5)
“Whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope” (Rom. 15:4). These few words furnish a distinct and unquestionable title for the Christian to range through the wide and magnificent field of Old Testament Scripture, and gather therein instruction and comfort according to the measure of our capacity, and the character or depth of our spiritual need. And, were any further warrant needed, we have it with equal clearness in the words of another inspired epistle: “Now all these things happened unto them [Israel] for ensamples; and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come” (1 Cor. 10:11; emphasis added).
No doubt, in reading the Old Testament, as in reading the New, there is constant need of watchfulness; of self-emptiness, of dependence on the direct teaching of the Holy Spirit, by whom all Scripture has been indicted. The imagination must be checked, to keep it from leading us into crude notions and fanciful interpretations, without profit, weakening the power of Scripture over the soul, and hindering our growth in the divine life.
Still, we must never lose sight of and never forget the divine charter laid out for us in Romans 15:4 – “Whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning.” It is in the strength of these words that we now return to the Book of Joshua to contemplate the striking and instructive scenes presented there, seeking to gather up some of its precious “learning.” With God’s help, we shall learn some fine lessons on the banks of the Jordan, and find the air of Gilgal healthful and bracing for the spiritual constitution.
We have been accustomed to look at Jordan as the figure of death – leaving this world and going into eternity. But this line of thought, feeling, and experience, is far below the mark of true Christianity. A moment’s reflection in the true light that Scripture pours on our souls, would be sufficient to show the deficiency of popular religious thought regarding Jordan. For instance, when a Christian dies and goes to heaven, is he called to fight? No; all is rest and peace up yonder – ineffable, eternal peace. Not a ripple on that ocean. No sound of alarm throughout that pure and holy region. No conflict there. No need of amour. We shall need no girdle, because our garments may flow loosely around us. We shall not need a breastplate of righteousness, because there divine righteousness shall have its eternal abode. We shall have no need of sandals, for there will be no rough or thorny places in that fair and blissful region. No shield called for there, because no fiery darts will be flying there; no helmet of salvation, for the divine and eternal results of God’s salvation shall then be reached. No sword, because there will be neither enemy nor evil occurring throughout that entire blissful, sunny region.
Therefore, for the simplest of all reasons, Jordan cannot mean the Christian’s death and going to heaven, because properly speaking it was when Israel crossed the Jordan that their fighting began. True they had fought with Amalek in the wilderness; but it was in Canaan that their real war commenced. A child can understand this.
But does not Jordan represent death? Yes, it does. And does not the believer have to cross it? True; but when that time comes, he finds it dry, because the Prince of Life has gone down into its deepest depths, and opened up a pathway for His people so that they can pass over into their eternal inheritance.
There is no such idea in the Word of God – in the Gospel of Christ, or in the entire range of our heavenly Christianity – of a Christian standing where Moses stood, when, from Pisgah’s top, he looked out over the Promised Land. In the governmental dealings of God, Moses was prevented going over Jordan. And, looking at Moses officially, we know that the law could not possibly bring the people into Canaan.
But Christ, the true Joshua, has crossed the Jordan, and not only crossed it, but turned it into a pathway by which the ransomed host can pass over dry-shod into the heavenly Canaan. The Christian is not called to stand shivering on the brink of the river of death, as one in doubt regarding how it may go with him. Faith has dried up that river. Its power is gone. Our adorable Lord “has abolished death, and brought life and incorruptibility to light by the gospel.”
What a glorious, enfranchising fact. Let us praise Him for it. Let all our ransomed powers adore Him. Let our whole moral being be stirred up to chant the praises of Him who has taken the sting from death, destroying him who had the power of death, and conducted us into a sphere that is pervaded throughout with life, light, incorruptibility, and glory. May our entire career be to His glory.
We shall now seek to practically examine the teaching of Scripture on this great subject, and may the Holy Spirit be our immediate instructor.
Part 1
“And Joshua rose early in the morning; and they removed from Shittim, and came to Jordan, he and all the children of Israel, and lodged there, before they passed over. And it came to pass, after three days, that the officers went through the host; and they commanded the people, saying, When ye see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, and the priests the Levites bearing it, then ye shall remove from your place, and go after it. Yet there shall be a space between you and it, about two thousand cubits by measure; come not near unto it, that ye may know the way by which ye must go; for ye have not passed this way heretofore” (Joshua 3:1-4).
There are three important points in Israel’s history that we would do well to ponder – the blood-stained lintel in the land of Egypt; the Red Sea; and the river Jordan.
In one or other of its grand aspects of each we have a type of the death of Christ – for that precious death has many varied aspects, and nothing can be more profitable or attractive for the Christian than studying the profound mystery of the death of Christ. There are depths and heights in that mystery that eternity alone will unfold; and now, under the light of the powerful ministry of the Holy Spirit, it should be our delight to search into these things for the strength, comfort, and refreshment of the inward man.
Looking at the death of Christ as typified by the blood of the paschal lamb, we see in it that which screens us from the judgment of God. “I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment; I am the Lord. And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are; and when I see the blood I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt” (Exodus 12).
We need hardly say that it is important for the exercised, consciously guilty soul to know that God has provided a shelter from wrath and judgment to come. No rightly instructed person would think of undervaluing such an aspect of the death of Christ. “When I see the blood, I will pass over you.” Israel’s safety rested on God’s estimate of the blood. He does not say, “When you see the blood.” The Judge saw the blood; knew its value, and passed over the house. Israel was screened by the blood of the lamb; by God’s estimate of that blood, not by their estimate – precious fact.
We are prone to be occupied with thoughts about the blood of Christ, instead of with God’s thoughts. We feel we do not value that precious blood as we ought – who ever did or ever could? And then we begin to question if we are safe, seeing we so sadly fail in our estimate of Christ’s work, and in our love of His Person.
If our safety depends on estimating Christ’s work or on love of His Person, we are in more imminent danger than if it depended on keeping the law. True, who could think of denying it? – We should value Christ’s work, and we should love Him. But if all this is put on the footing of a righteous claim, and if our safety rests on answering to that claim, then we are in greater danger and more justly condemned than if we stood on the ground of a broken law. Why? Because just in proportion as the claims of Christ are higher than the claims of Moses, and in proportion as Christianity is higher than the legal system, so we are worse off, i.e., in greater danger, further from peace, if our safety depends on responding to those higher claims.
Note, it is not that we should not answer to such claims; we most certainly should. But we have not; and hence, if we stand on the claims of Christ our ruin and guilt are made more manifest and our condemnation more righteous, because we have not answered to them. If we are to be saved by our estimate of Christ, by our response to His claims, by our appreciation of His love, we are worse off by far than if we were placed under the claims of the Law of Moses.
But, it is not so. We are saved by free, sovereign, divine, and eternal grace – not by our sense of grace. We are sheltered by the blood, not by our estimate of the blood. Jehovah did not say, on that awful night, “When you see the blood, and estimate it as you should, I will pass over you.” No; nothing of the kind. This is not the way of our God. He wanted to shelter His people, to let them know they were divinely sheltered – He places the matter wholly on a divine basis; He takes it entirely out of their hands by assuring that their safety rested on the blood – on His estimate. He wants them to understand that they had nothing whatsoever to do with providing the shelter. It was His to provide. It was theirs to enjoy.
Thus it stood between Jehovah and His Israel in that memorable night; and thus it stands between Him and the soul that simply trusts in Jesus now. We are not saved by our love, or our estimate, or our anything. We are saved by the blood, and by God’s estimate of it. And just as Israel within that bloodstained lintel, screened from judgment and safe from the destroyer’s sword could feed on the roasted lamb, so may the true believer, sheltered from the wrath to come, secured from all danger, screened from judgment, feed on Christ in all the preciousness of what He is.
Part 2
In Part 1, Israel was before us under the shelter of the blood. Truly, a grand reality; who could duly estimate it? What human language could suitably unfold the deep blessedness of being screened from God’s judgment by the blood of the Lamb – of being within that hallowed circle where wrath and judgment can never come? Who can speak correctly of the Christian’s privilege of feeding in safety on the Lamb, whose precious blood has forever averted the wrath of a sin-hating God?
But, there is much more. There is far more comprehended in the salvation of God than deliverance from judgment and wrath. We may have the fullest assurance that our sins are forgiven, that God will never enter into judgment with us because of our sins; and yet be far from the enjoyment of the true Christian position. We may be filled with all manner of fears occasioned by the consciousness of indwelling sin; Satan’s power; the world’s influence. All these things may crop up and fill us with apprehensions.
For example, in Exodus 14 we find Israel in the deepest distress; almost overwhelmed with fear. It would seem as if they had lost sight of the fact that they had been under the cover of blood.
Let us look at the passage: “And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, that they turn and encamp before Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, over against Baal-zephon: before it shall ye encamp by the sea. For Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel They are entangled in the land, the wilderness hath shut them in. And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, that he shall follow after them: and I will be honoured upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host; that the Egyptians may know that I am the Lord. And they did so. And it was told the king of Egypt that the people fled: and the heart of Pharaoh and of his servants was turned against the people, and they said, Why have we done this, that we have let Israel go from serving us? [note these words] And he made ready his chariot, and took his people with him. And he took six hundred chosen chariots, and all the chariots of Egypt, and captains over every one of them. And the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued after the children of Israel: and the children of Israel went out with a high hand. But the Egyptians pursued after them, all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, and his horsemen, and his army, and overtook them, encamping by the sea, beside Pi-hahiroth, before Baal-zephon. And when Pharaoh drew nigh, the children of Israel lifted up their eyes, and, behold, the Egyptians marched after them; and they were sore afraid: and the children of Israel cried out unto the Lord” (emphasis added).
We may feel disposed to ask, “Are these the people whom we have seen so recently feeding in perfect safety under the cover of the blood?” Yes, the very same. Why, then, these fears; this intense alarm; this agonizing cry? Did they really think that Jehovah was after all going to judge and destroy them? No, not exactly. Of what, then, were they afraid? Of perishing in the wilderness. “And they said unto Moses, Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness? Wherefore hast thou dealt thus with us, to carry us forth out of Egypt? Is not this the word that we did tell thee in Egypt, saying, Let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians? For it had been better for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we should die in the wilderness”
All this was gloomy and depressing. Their hearts seem to fluctuate between “graves in Egypt” and death in the wilderness. There is no sense of deliverance; no adequate knowledge either of God’s purposes or salvation. All seems utter darkness, bordering almost on hopeless despair. They are thoroughly hemmed in and “shut up.” They seem in a worse plight than ever. They heartily wish themselves back again amid the brick-kilns and stubble fields of Egypt. The mountains were on either side of them; the sea in front; Pharaoh and all his terrific hosts behind.
The case seemed hopeless; and as far as they were concerned, it was hopeless. They were powerless and being made to realize it – a painful process to go through; but wholesome and valuable. In one way or another, all of us must learn the force, meaning, and depth of that phrase, “without strength”. It is exactly in proportion as we find out what it is to be without strength, that we are prepared to appreciate God’s “due time.”
But, we may here inquire, “Is there anything in the history of God’s people now answering to Israel’s experience at the Red Sea?” Doubtless there is; for we are told that the things that happened unto Israel are our ensamples, or types. And, without a doubt, the scene at the Red Sea is full of instruction for us. How often do we find the children of God plunged in the depths of distress and darkness pertaining to their state and prospects. It is not that they question the love of God, or the efficacy of the blood of Jesus, nor yet that God will reckon their sins to them, or enter into judgment with them. But still, they have little or no sense of full deliverance. They do not see the application of the death of Christ to their evil nature. They do not realize the glorious truth that by that death they are completely delivered from this present evil world, from the dominion of sin, and from the power of Satan. To a certain extent, they see that the blood of Jesus screens them from the judgment of God; but there is little or no bright, happy, emancipating sense of full and everlasting salvation. To speak according to our type, they are at Egypt’s side of the Red Sea, and in danger of falling into the hands of the prince of this world. They do not see “all their enemies dead on the seashore.” They cannot sing the song of redemption. No one can sing it, until he stands by faith on the wilderness side of the Red Sea, or, in other words, until he sees his complete deliverance from sin, the world, and Satan.
Thus, in contemplating the facts of Israel’s history as recorded in the first fifteen chapters of Exodus, we observe that they did not raise a single note of praise until they had passed through the Red Sea. We hear the cry of sore distress, under the cruel lash of Pharaoh’s task-masters, and amid the grievous toil of Egypt’s brick-kilns. And we hear the cry of terror when they stood “between Migdol and the sea.” All this we hear; but not one note of praise, not a single accent of triumph until the waters of the Red Sea rolled between them and the land of death and darkness, and they saw all the power of the enemy broken and gone. “Thus the Lord saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians; and Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the sea-shore. And Israel saw that great work which the Lord did upon the Egyptians: and the people feared the Lord and his servant Moses. Then sang Moses and the children of Israel.”
What is the simple application of all this to Christians? What grand lesson are we to learn from the scenes on the shores of the Red Sea? – Of what is the Red Sea a type? What is the difference between the blood-stained lintel and the divided sea?
The Red Sea is the type of Christ’s death, in its application to our spiritual enemies: sin, the world, and Satan. By the death of Christ the true believer is completely and forever delivered from the power of sin. He is conscious of the presence of sin; but its power is gone. In the death of Christ he has died to sin; and what power has sin over a dead man? It is the Christian’s privilege to reckon himself as much delivered from the dominion of sin as a man lying dead on the floor. What power has sin over such a one? None whatsoever. Sin dwells in the true believer, and will do so to the end; but its rule is gone. Christ has wrested the scepter from the grasp of our old master, and shivered it to atoms. It is not merely that His blood has purged our sins – His death has broken its power.
It is one thing to know that sins are forgiven, and another to know that “the body of sin is destroyed” – its rule ended – its dominion gone. Many Christians say that they do not question the forgiveness of past sins, but they do not know what to say regarding indwelling sin. They fear that may bring them into judgment. To use the figure, such persons are “between Migdol and the sea.” They have not learned the doctrine of Romans 6. In their Spiritual intelligence and apprehension, they have not yet reached the resurrection side of the Red Sea. They do not know what it is to be dead to sin, and alive to God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Note the force of the apostle’s word, “reckon.” It is different in every way from our word, “realize.” This latter word may do well where natural or human things are concerned. We can realize physical or material facts; but where a spiritual truth is involved, it is not a question of realizing, but of reckoning. How can we realize that we are dead to sin? All our experience, feelings, our inward self-consciousness seems to offer a flat contradiction to the truth. We cannot realize that we are dead; but God tells us we are. He assures His children that He counts them to have died to sin when Christ died. We believe it; not because we feel it, but because God says it. Reckon ourselves to be what God tells us we are. If we were sinless; if we had no sin in us, we would never be told to reckon ourselves dead to sin; neither would we ever be called to listen to such words as, “Let not sin, therefore, reign in your mortal body.” But, in order to give us full practical deliverance from its reigning power, and because we have sin dwelling in us, that we are taught the grand enfranchising truth that the dominion of sin is broken by the death of Christ.
How do we know this? Is it because we feel it? No; how could we feel it? How could we realize it? How could we ever have the self-consciousness of it, while in the body? But because God says so, we believe it. We do not reason about it. We do not stagger at it because we cannot find any evidence of its truth in ourselves. We take God at His Word. We reckon ourselves to be what He tells us we are. We do not endeavour to struggle, strive, and work ourselves into an sinless state – such would be impossible. Neither do we imagine ourselves to be in it, which would be a deceit and delusion. But by a simple, childlike faith, we take the blessed ground that faith assigns us, in association with a dead and risen Christ. We look at Christ and according to God’s Word see in Him the true expression of what we are in the Divine Presence. We do not reason from self-upwards, but from God downwards. This makes all the difference. It is the difference between unbelief and faith; between law and grace; between human religion and divine Christianity. If we reason from self, our process of reasoning is carried on in darkness and our conclusions are false. On the other hand, if we reason from God, our process of reasoning is carried on in the light of His eternal truth, and all our conclusions are divinely sound.
It is an unspeakable mercy to rid oneself of self, in all its phases and workings, and be brought to rest on the written Word of God, and on the Christ that Holy Word presents to our souls. Self-occupation is the death-blow to fellowship, and a barrier to the soul’s rest. It is impossible for anyone to enjoy peace as long as he is occupied with himself. He must cease from self, hearken to God’s Word and without a single question rest on its pure, precious, and everlasting record. God’s Word never changes. We change; our frames, feelings, experience, and circumstances change continually; but God’s Word is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
Furthermore, it is essential for the soul to apprehend that Christ is the only definition of the true believer's place before God. This gives power, liberty, and blessing. “As he is, so are we, in this world” (1 John 4:17). This is something wonderful for us to ponder. Think of a poor, wretched, guilty, slave of sin; a bond-slave of Satan, a votary of the world, exposed to eternal judgment – such a one taken up by sovereign grace, delivered from the grasp of Satan, the dominion of sin, the power of this present evil world – pardoned, washed, justified, brought nigh to God, accepted in Christ, and forever identified with Him, so that the Holy Spirit can say, as Christ is so is he in this world.
All this seems too good to be true; and, without a doubt, it is too good for us to get; but, blessed be the God of all grace, and blessed be the Christ of God it is not too good for Him to give. God gives like Himself. He will be God, spite of our unworthiness and Satan's opposition. He will act in a way worthy of Himself, and worthy of the Son of His love. Were it a question of what we deserving, we could think only of the deepest and darkest pit of hell. But seeing it is a question of what is worthy of God to give, and that He gives according to His estimate of the worthiness of Christ, then we can think of the highest place in heaven. The glory of God and the worthiness of His Son are involved in His dealings with us; and hence everything that could possibly stand in the way of our eternal blessedness has been disposed of in a manner that secures divine glory and furnishes a triumphant answer to every plea of the enemy. Is it a question of trespass? “He has forgiven us all trespasses.” Is it a question of sin? He has condemned sin. Is it a question of guilt? It is cancelled by the blood of the cross. Is it a question of death? He has taken away its sting, and actually made it part of our property. Is it a question of Satan? He has destroyed him. Is it a question of the world? He has delivered us from it, and snapped every link connecting us with it.
Thus it stands, if we are to be taught by Scripture; if we are to take God at His Word; if we are to believe what He says. And, if it be not thus, we are in our sins; under the power of sin; in the grasp of Satan; obnoxious to death; part and parcel of an evil, Christless, Godless world; exposed to the unmitigated wrath of God – the vengeance of eternal fire.
We pray that the blessed Spirit may open the eyes of God’s people, and help them to see their proper place, their proper portion on resurrection ground in association with a risen and glorified Christ.
Part 3
Having glanced at two of the leading points in our subject: Israel under the shelter of the blood and Israel on the shores of the Red Sea; we now consider Israel crossing the Jordan, and celebrating the paschal feast at Gilgal, in which they represent the true position of Christians today.
The Christian is not only sheltered from judgment by the blood of the Lamb, but delivered from this present evil world by the death of Christ, associated with Him where He now is – at the right hand of God. In Christ, he is blessed with all spiritual blessings in the heavenlies. Thus, he is a heavenly man, and, as such, is called to walk – in this world, in all the varied relationships and responsibilities in which the hand of God has placed him. He is not a monk, an ascetic, or a man living in the clouds – fit neither for earth or heaven. He is not one who lives in a dreamy, misty, unpractical region. No; on the contrary one whose happy privilege it is to reflect, amid the scenes and circumstances of earth, the graces and virtues of a heavenly Christ, with whom through infinite grace and on the solid ground of accomplished redemption he is linked by the power of the Holy Spirit. Such is the Christian, according to the teaching of the New Testament. Let us see that we understand it. It is real, definite, positive, and practical – a child may know it, realize it, and exhibit it. A Christian is one whose sins are forgiven; who possesses eternal life and knows it; in whom the Holy Spirit dwells; He is accepted in, and associated with a risen and glorified Christ; He has broken with the world, is dead to sin and the law, and finds his object, delight, and spiritual sustenance in the Christ who loved him and gave Himself for him, and for whose coming he waits every day of his life.
This is the New Testament idea of a Christian, though it differs from the ordinary type of professing Christian today. But let us measure ourselves by the divine standard and see wherein we come short. We may rest assured that as far as the love of God, the work of Christ, or the testimony of the Holy Spirit is concerned, there is no reason whatsoever why we should not be in the full enjoyment of all the rich and rare spiritual blessings that appertain to the true Christian position. Dark unbelief, fed by legality, bad theology and spurious religiousness, robs many in the religious world of their proper place and portion. And not only so, but from need of a thorough break with the world, many Christians are sadly hindered from the clear perception and full realization of their position and privileges as heavenly men.
But we are rather anticipating the instruction unfolded to us in the typical history of Israel, in Joshua 3-5 to which we now turn. “And Joshua rose early in the morning; and they removed from Shittim, and came to Jordan, he and all the children of Israel, and lodged there before they passed over. And it came to pass, after three days, that the officers went through the host. And they commanded the people, saying, When ye see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, and the priests the Levites bearing it, then ye shall remove from your place, and go after it. Yet there shall be a space between you and it, about two thousand cubits by measure: come not near unto it, that ye may know the way by which ye must go; for ye have not passed this sway heretofore” (Joshua 3:1-4).
It is desirable that we seize the true spiritual import of the river Jordan. It typifies the death of Christ in one of its grand aspects, as the Red Sea typifies it in another. When the children of Israel stood on the wilderness side of the Red Sea, they sang the song of redemption. They were a delivered people – delivered from Egypt and the power of Pharaoh. They saw their enemies dead on the sea shore. In glowing accents, they could even anticipate their triumphal entrance into the Promised Land. “Thou in thy mercy hast led forth the people which thou hast redeemed; thou hast guided them in thy strength unto thy holy habitation. The people shall hear, and be afraid: sorrow shall take hold on the inhabitants of Palestine. Then the dukes of Edom shall be amazed; the mighty men of Moab, trembling shall take hold upon them: all the inhabitants of Canaan shall melt away. Fear and dread shall fall upon them: by the greatness of thine arm they shall be still as a stone; till thy people pass over, O Lord, till the people pass over which thou hast purchased. Thou shalt bring them in, and plant them in the mountain of thine inheritance, in the place, O Lord, which thou hast made for thee to dwell in; in the sanctuary, O Lord, which thy hands have established. The Lord shall reign for ever and ever.”
All this was magnificent and divinely true. But they were not yet in Canaan. There was no mention of Jordan in their glorious song of victory – it lay between them and the Promised Land. True, in the purpose of God, and in the judgment of faith, the land was theirs; but they had to traverse the wilderness, cross the Jordan, and take possession.
Constantly we see all this exemplified in the history of souls. When first converted, there is nothing but joy, victory and praise. They know their sins forgiven; they are filled with wonder, love and praise. Being justified by faith, they have peace with God, rejoicing in hope of His glory and joy in Him through Jesus Christ our Lord. They are in Romans 5:1-11; and, in one sense, there can be nothing higher. Even in heaven itself, we shall have nothing higher or better than “joy in God.” Persons sometimes speak of Romans 8 being higher than Romans 5. But what can be higher than “joy in God?” If we are brought to God, we have reached the most exalted point to which any soul can come. To know Him as our portion, our rest, our stay, our object, our all; to have all our springs in Him, and know Him as a perfect covering for our eyes at all times, in all places, and under all circumstances. This is heaven itself to the believer.
But there is this difference between Romans 5 and Romans 8 – chapters 6 and 7 lie between. When the soul has traveled through these latter, and learned how to apply their profound and precious teaching to the great questions of indwelling sin and the law, then it is in a better state, though not in a higher standing.
We emphasis the words, “travelled practically.” According to God it must always be so, if we would enter into these holy mysteries. It is easy to talk about being “dead to sin” and “dead to the law”; easy to see these things written in Romans 6 and Romans 7; easy to grasp the mere theory of these things in the intellect. But the question is this: have we truly made them our own? Have they been applied to our souls by the power of the Holy Spirit? And, to the glory of Him who at such a cost to Himself has brought us into such a marvelous place of blessing and privilege, are they livingly exhibited in our ways?
It is to be feared that there is a vast amount of merely intellectual traffic in these deep and precious mysteries of our most holy faith which, if only laid hold of in spiritual power, are calculated to produce notable results in practice.
As we return to our theme, let us consider whether we really understand the true spiritual import of the river Jordan. What does it really mean? We have said that it typifies the death of Christ – but in what aspect? That precious death has many and various aspects. We believe the Jordan sets forth the death of our Lord Jesus Christ, not so much in its application to that from which we are delivered, as to that into which we are introduced. The Red Sea delivered Israel from Egypt and the power of Pharaoh. Jordan brought them into the land of Canaan.
We find both in the death of Christ. By His death for us on the cross, He delivered us from the guilt and condemnation of our sins – from Satan’s power and this present evil world.
But, by the same infinitely precious work, He has brought us, now, into an entirely new position – in living union and association with Himself, where He is at God’s right hand. Such is the teaching of Ephesians 2. “But God who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ (by grace ye are saved); and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus” (vs. 4-6).
Note the little word “Hath.” He is not speaking of what God will do; but of what He has for us and with us in Christ Jesus. The true believer is not one who is waiting to go to heaven when he dies. He is there already in the Person of His living and glorified Head – there, too, in spirit and by faith.
Is all this real and true? As real and true as that Christ hung on the cross and lay in the grave; as real and true as that we were dead in trespasses and sins; as real and true as the eternal truth of God can make it; as real and true as the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in the body of every true believer.
We are not, of course, speaking of the practical working out of all this glorious truth in the life of a Christian from day to day. This is something else altogether. An old evangelist often said, “Alas! Alas! If our only idea of true Christian position were to be drawn from the practical career of professing Christians, we might give up Christianity as a myth, a sham and a fable.”
But thank God, it is not so. We must learn what true Christianity is from the pages of the New Testament; and, having learned it there we must judge ourselves, our ways, and our surroundings by its heavenly light. In this way, while we shall always have to confess and mourn over our shortcomings, our hearts shall be filled with praise to Him whose infinite grace has brought us into the glorious position of union and fellowship with His own Son – a position which, if really apprehended, must exert a powerful influence on our entire course, conduct and character.
Part 4
The more deeply we ponder the typical instruction presented in the river Jordan, the more clearly we see that the whole Christian position is involved. If Jordan means death, and we have to meet it, then our prospect is a gloomy one. Death is the wages of sin, and sin is death’s sting; and if we have to encounter death, there can be but one terrible issue.
But, thanks be to God, it is not so. The great Antitype of the ark has passed over before us into Jordan, stemming its torrent for us and making it a dry path for our feet, so that we might pass over into our heavenly inheritance. On our behalf, the Prince of life has destroyed him that had the power of death. He has taken the sting from death; He has made death itself the very means by which we reach, even now, in spirit and by faith, the true heavenly Canaan.
Let us see how all this is unfolded in our type. Note the commandment given by the officers of the host. “When ye see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, and the priests the Levites bearing it, then ye shall remove from your place, and go after it.” The ark must go first. They dared not move one inch along that mysterious way until the symbol of the divine presence had gone before.
“Yet there shall be a space between you and it, about two thousand cubits by measure: come not near unto it that ye may know the way by which ye must go; for ye have not passed this way heretofore.” It was an unknown, untrodden way. No mortal could tread it with impunity. Death and destruction are linked together. “It is appointed unto men once to die; but after this the judgment” (Hebrews 9). Who can stand before the king of terrors? Who can face that grim and terrible foe? Who can encounter the swellings of Jordan? Peter thought he could; but he was sadly mistaken. He said unto Jesus, “Lord, whither goest thou? Jesus answered him, Whither I go, thou canst not follow me now; but thou shalt follow me afterwards.”
How fully these words explain the import of that mystic “space” between Israel and the ark. Peter did not understand that space. He had not adequately studied Joshua 3:4. He knew nothing of that terrible pathway his blessed Master was about to enter upon. “Peter said unto him, Lord, why cannot I follow thee now? I will lay down my life for thy sake.”
Poor dear, though ignorant, Peter. How little he knew of himself or that which he was undertaking to do. How little did he imagine that the very sound of death’s dark river, heard even in the distance, would be sufficient to terrify him; to make him curse and swear that he did not know his Master. “Jesus answered him, Wilt thou lay down thy life for my sake? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, the cock shall not crow till thou hast denied me thrice.”
“Yet there shall be a space between you and it.” How needful; how absolutely essential. Truly there was a space between Peter and his Lord. Jesus had to go before. He had to meet death in its most terrific form. He had to tread that rough path in profound solitude – for who could accompany Him? “There shall be a space between you and it: come not near to it, that ye may know the way by which ye must go; for ye have – not passed this way heretofore.”
“Thou canst not follow me now: but thou shalt follow me afterwards.” Blessed Master. He would not suffer His feeble servant to enter upon that terrible path, until He Himself had gone before, and had entirely changed its character, so that the pathway of death should be lighted up with the beams of life and immortality. Our Jesus has “abolished death, and brought life and incorruptibility to light by the gospel.”
Thus death is no longer death to the true believer. It was death to Jesus, in all its intensity, in all its horrors, in all its reality. He met it as the power Satan wields over the soul of man. He met it as the penalty due to sin. He met it as the just judgment of God against sin – against us. There was not a single feature, not a single ingredient, not a single circumstance which could render death formidable that did not enter into the death of Christ. He met all; and we are accounted as having gone through all in and by Him. We died in Him, so that death has no further claim on us, or power over us. Its claims are disposed of, its power broken and gone for all true believers. The whole scene is completely cleared of death, and filled with life and incorruptibility.
Hence, in Peter’s case, in the last chapter of John, we find our Lord graciously meeting the desire of His servant’s heart – a desire in which he was sincere – the desire to follow his beloved Lord. “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, When thou wast young, thou girdedst thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest; but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not. This spake he signifying by what death he should glorify God.”
Thus, instead of being the judgment of God to overwhelm Peter, death was turned into a means by which Peter could glorify God.
What a glorious fact; what a stupendous mystery. How it magnifies the cross, or rather the One who hung thereon. What a mighty revelation, when a poor sinful man can, in death, glorify God. So completely has death been robbed of its sting – so thoroughly has its character been changed – that, instead of shrinking from it with terror, we can meet it and go through it with songs of victory; and instead of it being heavy wages of sin to us, it is a means by which we can glorify God.
All praise to Him who has done so much for us – to Him who has gone down into Jordan’s deepest depths for us, and made a highway there through which His ransomed people can pass over into their heavenly inheritance. May our hearts adore Him. May all our powers be stirred up to magnify His holy name. May our whole life be devoted to His praise.
But we must proceed with our type. “And Joshua spake unto the priests, saying, Take up the ark of the covenant, and pass over before the people. And they took up the ark of the covenant, and went before the people. And the Lord said unto Joshua, This day will I begin to magnify thee in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee.”
Joshua stands before us as a type of the risen Christ, leading His people in the power of the Holy Spirit into their heavenly inheritance. The priests bearing the ark into the midst of Jordan typify Christ going down into death for us, and completely destroying its power. “He passed through death’s dark raging flood, to make our rest secure;” and not only to make it secure, but to lead us into it, in association with Himself, now in spirit and by faith; by-and-by in actual fact. “And Joshua said unto the children of Israel, Come hither, and hear the words of the Lord your God. And Joshua said, Hereby ye shall know that the living God is among you, and that he will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth passeth over before you into Jordan.”
The passage of the ark into Jordan proved two things: the presence of the living God in the midst of His people; and that He would most surely drive out all their enemies from before them. The death of Christ is the basis and guarantee of everything to faith. Grant us that Christ has gone down into death for us, and with all possible confidence we can argue that in this one great fact, all is secured. God is with us, and God is for us. “He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?” The difficulty of unbelief is, “How shall he?” The difficulty of faith is, “How shall he not?”
Israel might wonder how all the hosts of Canaan could ever be expelled from before them; let them gaze on the ark in the midst of Jordan and cease to wonder, cease to doubt. The less is included in the greater. And hence we can say, “What may we not expect, seeing that Christ has died for us?” There is nothing too good; nothing too great, nothing too glorious, for God to do for us, in us, and with us, seeing He has not spared His only-begotten Son, but delivered Him up for us all. Everything is secured for us by the precious death of Christ. It has opened up the everlasting floodgates of God’s love, so that the rich streams thereof might flow down into the depths of our souls. It fills us with the sweetest assurance that the One who could bruise His only begotten Son for us on the cursed tree will meet our every need, carry us through all our difficulties, and lead us into the full possession and enjoyment of all that His eternal purpose of grace has in store for us. Having given us such a proof of His love, even when we were yet sinners, what may we not expect at His hands, now that He views us in association with that blessed One who glorified Him in death – the death that He died for us? When Israel saw the ark in the midst of Jordan, they were entitled to consider that all was secured. True, as we know they had to take possession: they had to plant their feet upon the inheritance. But the power that could stem death’s dark waters could also drive out every foe from before them, and put them in peaceful possession of all that God had promised.
Part 5
In closing this essay on Gilgal, we turn our thoughts to the practical application of that which has engaged our attention. If it be true – and it is true – that Jesus died for us, it is equally true that we have died in Him, as a poet sweetly put it:
For me, Lord Jesus, thou hast died
And I have died in thee;
Thou’t risen; my bands are all untied;
And now Thou livest in me.
The Fathers face of radiant grace
Shines, now in light on me.
Now this is a great practical truth. It lies at the foundation of true Christianity. If Christ has died for us, then He has taken us completely out of our old condition, with all that appertained to it, and placed us on an entirely new footing. We can look back from resurrection ground into the dark river of death, and in its deepest depths, see there the memorial of the victory gained for us by the Prince of Life. We do not look forward to death; we look back at it. We can truly say, “The bitterness of death is past.”
For us, Jesus met death in its most terrible form. As the river of Jordan was divided when it presented its most formidable appearance – “For Jordan overfloweth all its banks all the time of harvest” – so Jesus encountered our last great enemy, vanquished him in his most terrific form, and in the very center of death’s dark and dreary domain, left behind the imperishable record of His glorious victory. All praise, homage, and adoration to His peerless name. By faith and in spirit, it is our privilege to stand on Canaan’s side of Jordan and erect our memorial of what the Savior, the true Joshua, has done for us. “And it came to pass, when all the people were clean passed over Jordan, that the Lord spake unto Joshua, saying, Take you twelve men out of the people, out of every tribe a man. And command ye them, saying, Take you hence out of the midst of Jordan, out of the place where the priests’ feet stood firm, twelve stones; and ye shall carry them over with you, and leave them in the lodging-place where ye shall lodge this night. Then Joshua called the twelve men whom he had prepared of the children of Israel, out of every tribe a man. And Joshua said unto them, Pass over before the ark of the Lord your God, into the midst of Jordan, and take you up everyman of you a stone upon his shoulder, according unto the number of the tribes of the children of Israel. That this may be a sign among you, that when your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean ye by these stones? Then ye shall answer them, that the waters of Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord; when it passed over Jordan, the waters of Jordan were cut off: and these stones shall be for a memorial unto the children of Israel for ever” (Joshua 4:1-7).
The great fact was to be seized and practically carried out by the whole assembly – “of every tribe a man” – “Every man of you a stone upon his shoulder” – a stone taken from the very spot where the priests’ feet stood firm. All were to be brought into personal living contact with the mysterious fact that the waters of Jordan were cut off. All were to engage in erecting a memorial of this fact that would elicit inquiry from their children regarding what it meant. It was never to be forgotten.
What a lesson for us. Are we erecting our memorial? Are we giving evidence of the fact that our Jesus has vanquished the power of death for us that will strike even the mind of a child? In our daily life, are we examples of proof that Christ has died for us and that we have died in Him? Is there anything in our day to day history answering to the figure set forth in the passage just quoted – “Every man of you a stone upon his shoulder?” Are we plainly declaring that we have passed over Jordan; that we belong to heaven; that we are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit? Do children see in our habits and ways, in our spirit and deportment, in our whole character and manner of life, anything leading them to inquire, “What mean ye by these things?” Are we living as those who are dead with Christ – dead to sin – dead to the world? In the power of communion with a risen Christ, are we practically sitting loose to the world – letting go of present things?
These are searching questions for the soul. Let us seek to meet them honestly as in the divine presence. We profess these things, we hold them in theory. We say we believe that Jesus died for us, and that we died in Him. Where is the proof? Where the abiding memorial? Where the stone on the shoulder? Let us honestly judge ourselves before God. Let us no longer be satisfied with anything short of thorough, practical, habitual, and carrying out of this great truth: “We are dead, and our life is hid with Christ in God.” Mere profession is worthless. We need the living power; the true result; the proper fruit. “And the people came up out of Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and encamped in Gilgal, in the east border of Jericho. And those twelve stones which they took out of Jordan [stones of peculiar import; no other stones could tell such a tale, teach such a lesson, or symbolize such a stupendous fact; no other stones like them] those twelve stones did Joshua pitch in Gilgal. And he spake unto the children of Israel, saying, When your children shall ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean these stones? Then ye shall let your children know, saying, Israel came over this Jordan on dry land. For the Lord your God dried up the waters of Jordan from before you, until ye were passed over, as the Lord your God did to the Red Sea, which he dried up from before us, until we were gone over. That all the people of the earth might know the hand of the Lord that it is mighty; that ye might fear the Lord your God for ever” (emphasis added).
Here we see Israel at Gilgal. “Everything was finished that the Lord commanded Joshua to speak unto the people, according to all that Moses commanded Joshua.” Every member of the host had passed over Jordan, not one had been allowed to feel the slightest touch of the river of death. Grace had brought them all safely over into the inheritance promised to their fathers. They were not only separated from Egypt by the Red Sea, but actually brought into Canaan across the dry bed of the Jordan and encamped in Gilgal, in the plains of Jericho.
Consider what follows. “And it came to pass, when all the kings of the Amorites which were on the side of Jordan westward, and all the kings of the Canaanites which were by the sea, heard that the Lord had dried up the waters of Jordan from before the children of Israel, until we were passed over, that their heart melted, neither was there spirit in them any more, because of the children of Israel. [note the words when all the nations were paralyzed with terror at the very thought of this people] At that time the Lord said unto Joshua, Make thee sharp knives, and circumcise again the children of Israel the second time” (emphasis added).
How deeply significant; how suggestive are these “sharp knives” – how needful. If Israel is about to bring the sword upon the Canaanites, Israel must have the sharp knife applied to themselves. They had never been circumcised in the wilderness. The reproach of Egypt had never been rolled away from them. And before they could celebrate the Passover, and eat the old corn of the land of Canaan, they must have the sentence of death written on them. No doubt this was not agreeable to nature, but it must be done. How could they take possession of Canaan with the reproach of Egypt resting on them? How could uncircumcised people dispossess the Canaanites? The sharp knives had to do their work throughout the camp of Israel before they could eat of Canaan’s food, or prosecute its warfare. “And Joshua made him sharp knives, and circumcised the children of Israel at the hill of the foreskins. And this is the cause why Joshua did circumcise. All the people that came out of Egypt that were males, even all the men of war, died in the wilderness by the way, after they came out of Egypt And their children, whom he raised up in their stead, them Joshua circumcised; for they were uncircumcised, because they had not circumcised them by the way . . . And the Lord said unto Joshua, This day have I rolled away the reproach of Egypt from off you. Wherefore the name of the place is called Gilgal [rolling] unto this day. And the children of Israel encamped in Gilgal, and kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the month, at even, in the plains of Jericho. And they did eat of the old corn of the land on the morrow after the Passover, unleavened cakes and parched corn, in the selfsame day. And the manna ceased on the morrow after they had eaten of the old corn of the land; neither had the children of Israel manna any more; but they did eat of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year” (emphasis added).
We have here a type of the full Christian position. The Christian is a heavenly man, dead to the world, crucified with Christ, associated with Him where He now is: and, while waiting for His appearing, occupied in heart with Him, by faith feeding on Him as the proper nourishment of the new man.
Such is the Christian’s position – such his portion; but in order to enter fully into the enjoyment thereof, there must be the application of the “sharp knife” to all that belongs to mere nature. The sentence of death must be written on that which Scripture designates “the old man.”
All this must be truly entered into if we would maintain our position or enjoy our proper portion as heavenly men. If we are indulging nature, if we are living in a low, worldly atmosphere, if we are going in for this world’s pursuits, its pleasures, politics, riches, honors, fashions, and distinctions, then it is impossible that we can be enjoying fellowship with our risen Head and Lord.1 Christ is in heaven, and to enjoy Him we must be living where He is in spirit and by faith. He is not of this world; and if we are of it, we cannot be enjoying fellowship with Him. “If we say that we have fellow ship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth” (1 John 1:6).
This is most solemn. If we are living in and of the world, we are walking in darkness, and we can have no fellowship with a heavenly Christ. The apostle says, “Wherefore, if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances?” Do we really understand these words? Have we weighed the full force of the expression, “living in the world?” Is the Christian not to be as one living in the world? Clearly not. He is to live in spirit where Christ is. Of course, factually speaking, we are obviously on this earth, moving up and down and in and out, in the varied relations of life and in the varied spheres of action in which the hand of God has set us. But our home is in heaven. Our life is there. Our object, rest, proper all, is in heaven. We do not belong to earth. Our citizenship is in heaven; and in order to make this good in actual practice from day to day, there must be the denial of self, the mortification of our members.
All this vividly comes out in Colossians 3. It would be impossible to give a more striking exposition of the entire subject of “Gilgal” than that presented in the following lines: “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affections on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ our life shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.”
And now comes the true spiritual import and application of “Gilgal” and its “sharp knives.”
“Mortify, therefore, your members which are upon the earth.” May the Holy Spirit lead us into a deeper and fuller understanding of our place, portion, and practice, as Christians. Would to God that we better knew what it is to feed on the old corn of the land, at the true spiritual Gilgal, so that we might be better fitted for the conflict and service to which we are called?
