There is a difference between Numbers and Joshua. Numbers is, in its principle, the testing of man down here in the wilderness; we are viewed typically as redeemed Christians, but still in the wilderness, and tested. Joshua is, in figure, divine energy getting rid of Satan; while at the same time everything depended upon the state in which Israel was. It is not, in itself, the testing of man's state, though that did get tested, too. If they were not in a faithful state they did not obtain the victory.
But the point in Joshua was not their testing; that was the business of the desert. In Joshua, having passed over Jordan, Israel is the Lord's host connected with Canaan, i.e., with the heavenly places.
To shew the distinction, look at Deuteronomy 8 for the character of the wilderness: "Thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no. And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna. which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live. Thy raiment waxed not old upon thee, neither did thy foot swell, these forty years. Thou shalt also consider in thine heart, that, as a man chasteneth his son, so the LORD thy God chasteneth thee" (vv. 1-5). And again, "Who led thee through that great and terrible wilderness, wherein were fiery serpents, and scorpions, and drought, where there was no water; who brought thee forth water out of the rock of flint; who fed thee in the wilderness with manna, which thy fathers knew not, that he might humble thee, and that he might prove thee, to do thee good at thy latter end" (vv. 15, 16). All that was a process going on on God's part with the people, but in Joshua it was a conflict engaged with the enemies of God, only, of course, we must remember that, collaterally, it did try the people also.
401 Ques. Would you say that the wilderness was the special test of having life, or not?
No, not that; but it tested the state of those who had life.
Ques. Whether there was life or not?
Well, if there was not life, they would tumble down.
Ques. But I mean with reference to their carcases falling in the wilderness. Any person who makes a profession and has not life would fall there?
That would be tested, of course, but that is not all that is tested. When we have life, the whole state of the soul is tested; whereas, in Joshua, it is neither the one nor the other, but it is fighting the Lord's battles.
Observe, too, that this first chapter is a preface to the book proper.
Ques. But the people get into trouble in the land?
Just so; if I am not in a spiritual state, I can neither work well nor fight well.
Ques. I am not clear; would you say that the wilderness is the test whether we have life, or not?
No, though that might come out there.
Notice that the wilderness was no part of God's purpose at all; Canaan was, and the very object of God's purpose was to bring the people into the land of Canaan. Quite true, enemies were there, and that so far tested the faithfulness of the people when they reached the land; but in the wilderness God tested the faithfulness of the people; while in Canaan they are God's host, they are looked at as dead and risen again and in the heavenly places. In Colossians, we are not yet out of the wilderness; in Ephesians, we are in Canaan. But it is a great thing to see that the wilderness forms no part of God's purpose at all. Of course, God knew what He was going to do, but in the wilderness we have the ways of God, not His purpose. His purpose was first of all redemption, but this redemption was complete when they had passed the Red Sea. The whole thing was then settled: "Thou in thy mercy hast led forth the people which thou hast redeemed."
There was also the judgment of the Egyptians at the Red Sea. The Lord could thus take the poor thief straight to Paradise without any wilderness at all. In Colossians 1 it is, "Which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light." But then, in the wilderness, redeemed, there is a great deal to correct and learn, even if there is life. We are brought there, and we depend there upon God for manna, and for water, and for everything, and our hearts go through all these experiences notwithstanding we are already redeemed.
402 Look at chapters 3, 6 and 15 of Exodus, and you will see that there is no wilderness at all in God's purpose." The LORD said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows; And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites."
That was God's purpose, that was what He had come down for; there is here no hint of the wilderness. It is the same in chapter 6, "I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with a stretched out arm, and with great judgments: And I will take you to me for a people, and I will be to you a God; and ye shall know that I am the LORD your God, which bringeth you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. And I will bring you in unto the land, concerning the which I did swear to give it to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; and I will give it to you for an heritage; I am the LORD" (vv. 6-8). That is out of Egypt into the land of Canaan, and no thought of the wilderness. That was God's purpose, and He tells them He is going to do as He had said.
In chapter 15 faith takes up all this, like a soul often does now when redeemed and full of joy, but not knowing what lies before it; "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 Palestina.* Then the dukes of Edom shall be amazed," and so on. There is no wilderness at all.
{*NOTE. This should read, Philistia. See New Translation in loco.}
The Lord shews us the completeness of redemption in taking the thief beside Him on the cross and carrying Him straight to Paradise, fit to be Christ's companion; for that, the work was all complete in him as well as for him. And he owns Christ when the disciples ran away.
403 Ques. If the Red Sea be redemption complete, what is there further at Jordan?
There is a difference, but the Red Sea and Jordan coalesce; the first is the passage out, the second is the passage in.
Ques. In Hebrews 11 there is no wilderness?
I beg your pardon, we have nothing else in Hebrews.
Ques. In chapter 11?
Oh yes; it is the life of faith there, and so the narrative cannot notice the wilderness.
Ques. Could a soul now be sheltered by the blood without having passed the Red Sea?
Yes, but it will not know its deliverance. You are taking us back into Egypt; but in Egypt the blood is as upon the mercy-seat.
In contrast, the character of the book of Joshua is that they are typically dead and risen with Christ and are led into Canaan. The Red Sea, instead of shutting them in, delivered them; but the Jordan overflowed all its banks, and yet let them in.
Ques. Then does Joshua describe Colossians, i.e., as dead and risen with Christ?
Yes, but there is much more in Joshua, for there is combat with spiritual wickedness in the heavenly places, and that is Ephesians.
Ques. "Moses my servant is dead," what is that?
In Joshua, they start from that point; all that which connected itself with the flesh was done with, though it might still be detected; the wilderness, and Moses, and all that was done with.
Ques. Does that include the law also?
Yes; dead to it, mind that.
Ques. Then, Moses being dead, Colossians takes up the people entering the land?
Only we do not find the conflict there, that is in Ephesians. The difference is that, as a figure, Joshua is Christ in the power of the Holy Ghost, carrying on the warfare for God; it is for us, no doubt, but still for God, as the Lord's host. Joshua is specifically that, always Christ in the power of the Spirit, but in Colossians, save "love in the Spirit," we never get the Spirit at all. Colossians gives us life in itself; it is spiritual life, divine life. And only that once do we find the word "Spirit" used in the epistle.
404 Ques. The Spirit would be power in anticipation?
Yes, that is what it is. They might have power in the wilderness, but here it is the positive warfare that took possession of the place. And they were acting for God; no doubt for themselves also, but still it was for God. They sat down and did eat of the old corn of the land, and there was no more manna. It was no longer typically Christ suited to what we are down here; the manna was that, and the water was that, but here, in Joshua, it is God's power in us, Christ's power with us fighting the Lord's battles. In Colossians, we are risen but not sitting in the heavenly places; it is a risen man in the wilderness. In Romans, it is a man alive down here with the life of Christ.
Ques. In this chapter they are on the wilderness side of the Jordan?
Ques. But Moses is dead, and Joshua takes it up?
It is only preface here, and we have the Lord telling him the way he will go when he crosses Jordan. But in Colossians we are not viewed as across Jordan, nor yet as settled in the land - that would be Ephesians. Colossians is peculiar in that way, it is a risen man in this world.
Ques. But what about the manna?
There is no more manna. If I am across Jordan, I do not want to be so fed. In this world I do; say, in business, I have to be obliging and kind, and I want Christ as grace suited to this world. But if I am risen with Christ, I do not belong to this world at all, though I may be in it. So in Romans, it is a Christian dead to the law, but living in this world; in Ephesians, he sits in the heavenly places, not in this world at all as to his standing and spirit; but in Colossians, he is risen though not yet gone to heaven. So it says, "Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth." What a man's mind is set on, that he is whatever he may be.
In Joshua 5 we have three characters of food, namely, the passover, the manna, and the old corn.
Ques. Do we not now feed on these three characters of food in John 6?
That does not take us up to heaven though. We do not find the old corn of the land in John's gospel, but we have Christ come down from heaven. It is incarnation, and flesh and blood, and death.
405 Ques. "What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before?" Is not that heavenly?
No, that is only going up.
The character of John's gospel all through is the revelation of the Father down here, not the taking of us up there. There is not the forgiveness of sins in his gospel, except administratively in the hands of the apostles.
The position of Colossians is very instructive; it seems strange because the Christian is there viewed as a risen man not gone up to heaven, a thing which in itself will never take place; but my being still here, it raises this question: Where is my heart? How far am I living a risen life down here while I am in the body?
Ques. Does Gilgal answer to Colossians?
Colossians is, as it were, the passage from the one place into another. "Mortify therefore," is the effect of Gilgal, life being in exercise. Colossians will not allow any life in a Christian down here. If dead, set your affections on things above; it is a kind of anomaly that way. We have not Christ as manna in Colossians. One has, of course, to take up all the parts of it to get the entire thought of the epistle. And to learn the whole truth about ourselves, we must also know the different portions of the different epistles. The divers aspects in which we may be viewed are to be found in these various books in Scripture, and that is the reason why we have them. And then, poor feeble creatures though we are, we have to take them up and put them all together. But it is God's mercy and condescension to us to let us have them.
Ques. Does not "dead and risen" in Colossians include Gilgal?
If I may so speak, Colossians just passes over Jordan and stops there without seating us down in heavenly places. We may just get to Gilgal in it, but that is status, not place. It is not the fact of our taking possession of Canaan, but more what is preliminary to setting about to do so.
Ques. Joshua is clearly Ephesians?
In Joshua it is not, 'I have led you into the wilderness and I am going to see what kind of people you are,' but it is typically the heavenly places, and "every place that the sole of your feet shall tread upon, that have I given unto you." This is a very important principle. All the land as far as to the Euphrates had been given to them, but wherever they tried to put down the sole of their foot, there was a Canaanite. That is Satan hindering us, and that is where the true Joshua work comes in. I am going to realise the spiritual power of Christ now so as to take possession of the things that God has given me in His testimony. Go and put your foot on any one of them, and there stands Satan to hinder you!
406 Ques. But it was theirs?
Of course it was.
Ques. And they were themselves tested?
Yes, but that is only what I have called a collateral consequence. There is perfect security in the Lord's power, "There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life"; that is being "strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man," and then no man is able to stand before me. Immediately after Achan had sinned, Joshua was found lying upon his face and the Lord saying to him, "The children of Israel could not stand before their enemies, but turned their backs before their enemies, because they were accursed: neither will I be with you any more, except ye destroy the accursed from among you." There was in result this testing as to whether they could go on. But then we have another thing, "Be strong and of a good courage: for unto this people shalt thou divide for an inheritance the land, which I sware unto their fathers to give them." This is God's purpose, and He is going to carry out His purpose, but He tells us to be strong and of a good courage. Divine power is ours, but faith must lay hold of it.
Ques. Can chapter 7:10 have any reference to the state of gatherings?
I have nothing about gatherings here.
Ques. But when sin comes in?
Well, God cannot be with what is evil. And if strength was not there, God was not there, but evil in some shape or other.
Another thing we find in chapter 1:7, "Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest." Strength and courage were to be shewn, coupled with obedience, for it is in obedience that strength is shewn; and thus, in obeying, they would beat their enemies. The Lord's power would be there, but their strength was to be shewn in obedience. Now the world is all against us, and says, 'you are fools for your pains,' that is to say, if we are consistent in simple obedience to the word, and we do not follow the plain good sense of the world! There is no wisdom like faith; it is not fanatical imagination, but taking God's word as the true light upon our path. "This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then shalt thou make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success."
407 Anything that is not according to God's mind will not do, for God cannot go with that which He disapproves of. There may be tenderness and compassion still, but disobedience and evil will not be allowed. Again, in verse 9, we read, "Have not I commanded thee?" Practically, that is an immense thing for strength; if I have the certainty of God's will, if I can say, 'Has not He commanded me?' then I have no hesitation. "Be strong and of a good courage" is what the apostle says to Timothy when things were going to the bad.
Ques. The 'law' takes in more than the moral code?
Yes, everything that God commands. That which God commanded they had, of course, to obey, no matter what it might be, such as, for instance, when they were told not to eat the passover if they were not circumcised.
Ques. The book of the law, was that "Moses"?
Yes; they had not yet the "Psalms," nor the "Prophets."
Ques. Is "do wisely," in the margin, the right reading instead of "good success" (v. 8)?
Well, to do it wisely was the way to success. That is the force of the expression. The word means that you must follow up the good road; it involves success.
Ques. Should it not rather be, "prudently"?
Yes, prudently, wisely, but if I do a thing wisely that would carry success. It is intelligently.
Ques. Then is the law viewed as complete with no thought of anything to be added to it hereafter?
Yes, quite so.
In verse 13, the command of Moses is again mentioned; the authority of the word is everything to us in this day when men are asserting their own judgment. If this word is not by inspiration, what is it by? And if they have not authority in it, what have they got at all?
408 Who gave us the history of the creation? How do we know what passed between God and Adam in the garden? The attempt to account for the creation, or the deluge, or anything else, in any other way than by inspiration is simply nonsense. I can quite understand man's heart believing nothing, but it is simply folly. With all that has been objected to the Old Testament, we have the Lord and the apostles quoting it as divine.
Ques. What is the special force of repeating this command to the Reubenites?
Only that Joshua was now about to start to carry it out.
Ques. Whom do these Reubenites represent?
I believe they are those who have God's will, Christians, but who have not entered into the perfection of Christian privileges, they are not what the apostle calls "perfect." "Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded."
It is only those who are across Jordan that could be spoken of as "perfect." And remember this, when a Christian will not cross Jordan to take up the place that Christ has, as risen and passed into the heavenlies, such an one falls all the more readily and the sooner into the hands of enemies; such was the case with these two and a half tribes. Their place is worldly Christianity on this side of death and resurrection. The sure mercies of David in the millennium are secured and will be made good only by death and resurrection. Where Christians take up Christianity without resurrection, it breaks down with them.
Ques. But were they not all in the promised land?
Yes, but they were not all past Jordan. It is a very definite thing, and it is written down for us; if a Christian is not across Jordan, he is still connected with the world's power. And so it was with these tribes, they were the first to be carried away.
Ques. Is there anything to be learnt from our Lord's going into the land of the Gadarenes?
Not so much in connection with the two and a half tribes, but He is there with the poor of the flock in the midst of Israel who were rushing down to destruction like the swine, in a figure, though again the poor demoniac is rescued and sent back to his friends to be a witness. But the Christ who had delivered him, the world would not have, and came and sent Him away.
Ques. But the east of Jordan was not Canaan?
No; it was Moab, and Edom, and Og the king of Bashan.
No doubt Jordan was a very distinct line of boundary, but the land east of it had been promised to Israel. Yet, except in Solomon's time, they never possessed the land right up to the Euphrates. However, their settling there without crossing Jordan has nothing to do with us, except that if we have not accepted death and resurrection, we are not Christians "full grown," i.e., "perfect," and this is of immense moment. In God's sight, there is a Man raised and sitting in heaven, and that is the basis of Christianity.
409 Ques. Does Joshua typify the Lord Himself?
Yes; the Lord and the power of the Spirit. Joshua had been a fighter with the Amalekites even before the people were under the law, he then led in a fighting capacity. It is of all moment that we should get clear hold of what we have been saying, for it is a great question now as to whether Christianity is merely that which has come down into this world in goodness, or whether Christ gave Himself for our sins that He might deliver us out of this present evil world. Is Christianity based upon a glorified Christ, or is it merely a provision for sinful man down here? I believe that wherever a Christian has not a glorified Christ as the starting point of his Christianity, and so is what Paul calls "full grown," such an one will be saved so as by fire, if at all, from the infidelity which is coming in. Of course, I believe God will take care of His own, that is another thing. At their very start, these two and a half tribes had to set up an altar in Canaan, and there was a great hubbub about it, though it was only to be a witness that they belonged to Canaan, but it was the very expression of what they felt themselves, namely, that there was a danger lest they might be looked upon as outside of it.
Ques. What was the fighting in Exodus 17?
This took place before the law. All the way from the Red Sea to Sinai, it was the wilderness of grace, not properly the wilderness of testing, and in figure it goes right on to the millennium, where Moses and Aaron and the elders are found feasting with Jethro, i.e., with the Gentiles. It is really the whole history of grace to the millennium. In chapters 16, 17 and 18, the manna is given, that is, Christ come down from heaven; then the sabbath, i.e., God's rest is found; next, in Rephidim, the water comes from God; then, too, Amalek is conquered; and lastly, Jews and Gentiles are found eating together, and the government is all ordered through Jethro; yes, and Moses' wife - the bride - is brought back, too.
410 Ques. When the Lord brings all Israel back in the future, will not Jordan be the boundary of the land?
I do not know that they will have possession as far as to the Euphrates, that is, to their eastern border.
Ques. But in Ezekiel they are all across the Jordan though the ordering of the tribes is different?
They may have the land outside, only outside is not their fixed place of rest.
Ques. Ought the two and half tribes to have returned even when God had given the people rest?
Well, the district had been given to them, though at first Moses was extremely indignant, and they undertook to send their armed men over Jordan. Just so now, these people, who do not know a risen Christ, have still to fight infidelity and all else.
Ques. Does it not teach us the danger of asking for anything that we ourselves like?
Of course it does, and God may permit the thing to us as well as to them, and He often does, and it turns out a sorrow.
Ques. About one-third only of their effective strength went over, according to chapter 4:12, 13?*
{*Compare Numbers 26:7, 18, and 34.}
It was all that was needed, I suppose.
Ques. What of the people's threat, "Whosoever he be that doth rebel against thy commandment, and will not hearken unto thy words in all that thou commandest him, he shall be put to death," chap. 1:18? Were they going beyond God's word in saying that?
Possibly so; but what was required was absolute obedience and submission to Joshua, so it was just a question of faithfulness.
Ques. But coming from such a people?
Well, if people do not go right, they are generally very strong in their professions. One often finds that the same will that will not take up God's promises in faith, goes beyond what God says, in a carnal way of energy, or some other point.
Ques. But it is well to see that here, at any rate, the people uphold Joshua's hands. And then, in verse 9, it is, "Be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed"?
We find just the same thing in Philippians: "In nothing terrified by your adversaries: which is to them an evident token of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that of God." Here comes, say, Satan, with all his power, but if the Lord is with me, it does not trouble me. And so far Israel was right. So with a Christian, in so far as he does not go with wickedness, he is right, but if he is with the world, he will not have the secret of the Lord with him.
411 Ques. In this connection, would you shut out Romans?
In Romans, we have Jordan as far as death, but not as far as resurrection. Neither in this chapter have we Jordan, it is only, "Ye shall pass over this Jordan."
Ques. But many there are who, as to their state and experience, are still in Egypt?
That may be; but that is a kind of inconsistent state. In Romans, we do get death, the "old man is crucified with him." But it does not go on to say that we are risen with Him. Again, we read, "Yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead," but it does not say "raised." So that our realisation goes as far as being dead with Him in Romans, but it is not carried on to our being risen with Him. Now this touches the whole character of Christianity; because a man who is in a muddle in his mind is, in his sense of his standing, still connected with the first man, and that is not Christianity at all. Christ has died for us, and a man may have the forgiveness of sins though still connected with the first man, but Christianity gives us another distinct thing, and that is, it puts us up in heaven in the second Man, the last Adam. Christ sitting in the heavenly places is the true starting point of Christianity.
In Colossians, we have, "Set your affection on things above"; in Ephesians, I am sitting there myself, and so the exhortation is, "Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children." But Reubenites are content to take Christianity as something that has come down and brought blessing into this world where they live, and this does not take them out of this world.
Ques. Do the two and a half tribes fall short of the great truth of the death of Christ?
Of the great point of it, yes. But in Philippians, if a person believes in Christ dying for his sins, we are to go on with him, "Whereto we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing." That is not, however, the "perfect" thing. Many have forgiveness in this world, who do not see deliverance in Christ's death and resurrection; a most blessed thing forgiveness is, but in their own minds such are still in Egypt.
412 Ques. Afterwards, these Reubenites do not fail to go on with their brethren?
Just so; and then they return to their families and possessions. As we have already said, a worldly Christian is troubled and horrified with infidelity just as much as those who are living in the heavenly places. They only fought with the others, but they never took up any of the land west of Jordan as their own portion. Their resting place and their homes were on the east of Jordan.
Ques. What would you say was the clear difference between the rest the two and a half tribes had, and the rest the others had?