Reading:
Joshua 3; 4:1-9.
The passage of Jordan,
about which we read in these verses, is a consummate
presentation of what the Lord is saying to us in this
series of studies. It must be quite clear to us, as we
read it, that it represents a profoundly critical point
in the history of the people involved, the culmination of
a long process of preparation, the initiation of a new
and wonderful phase of their life. Moreover, from
abundant New Testament support, we see that this is a
representation of the life of the children of God and of
the would-be children of God in our own time: that is,
the New Testament takes up this incident in the life of
Israel and declares that it was a type, or figure; that
its real meaning, its abiding meaning, its spiritual
significance relates to the Christian or the would-be
Christian.
So that we to-day, at
this present time and in our present situation, really
stand right into this part of the book of Joshua. It
applies to us. We are not reading ourselves back so many
centuries ago, merely with the idea that something
happened then in Israel's life - that they passed out of
the wilderness into the land of Canaan. We are reading
from there on into this present day. We are bringing that
right forward and saying, 'That is not then, it is now;
and this is that, or that is how it should be'. The
wonderful thing is that that could be now, at this very
moment, in experience. When Joshua said, "Sanctify
yourselves: for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among
you" - that is possible now, that can be brought
right up to date. So let us look at it, for we are
keeping closely to all that we have been considering in
these past chapters - the pioneering of the heavenly way.
THE
OBJECTIVE IN VIEW IN THE TRANSITION
First of all, let us
recall the objective, the object in view in this
transition, this passage of the Jordan. We are given the
spiritual interpretation. It is shown to be an
illustration of life in resurrection and heavenly union
with Christ. That is the objective to which God has
called His people. That is precisely the thing for which
the Lord calls us at all, by His grace - resurrection
union with Christ: union with Christ on the ground of
resurrection life. And not only that, but union with
Christ in His heavenly life, by the Holy Spirit; oneness
with Him as in heaven, and all that that means.
That is the objective;
that is the irreducible minimum of God's will for His
people. If we do not come to resurrection union with the
Lord Jesus, we have not come to any union at all. That is
to say, that, for all practical purposes and values, we
know nothing really of the meaning of being "joined
to the Lord". There are many who know something of
what it is to be in union with a living Christ, but who
know perhaps very little, at most not enough, of heavenly
union with Him and all that that means. Until we come to
that, we have riot come to the very object of our
salvation, neither have we come to God's satisfaction in
saving us. We must see what that means.
TRANSITION
(a)
INTO THE AUTHORITY OF CHRIST
Getting the objective
clear before us, let us look more closely at the
transition. This transition had two aspects. In the first
place, it represented a transition from the authority of
darkness into the authority of Christ. Up to this point
these people had still been under the authority of
darkness, notwithstanding that they had been out of Egypt
for a good many years. The fact is that, while they had
long ago come out of Egypt, Egypt had only just come out
of them. It is possible for us to be saved from the world
in an outward way and not to be saved from it in an
inward way. Egypt had retained a strength inside of them
through the years of the wilderness. That generation had
constantly been found harking back to Egypt. "Would
that we had died by the hand of the Lord in Egypt"
(Exodus 16:3). 'Oh, that we had stayed in Egypt!' It was
still inside, it still had a grip upon them, they still
had dreams and imaginations of satisfaction there. They
had not come completely and utterly to that emancipation
which settles once and for all that there is absolutely
nothing back there in that world, nothing at all; the
very thought of it is repugnant, is hateful; the very
thought of it means desolation: they had not come there.
There is that, even in Christians, which sometimes, under
strain and pressure, makes them begin to think that they
would be better if they were back in the world - they
would have a better time. But this Jordan was the
settlement of that. Whatever had lingered and lurked
through all the wilderness years was finished with at the
Jordan. That authority, that inward control, was finally
broken at the Jordan. It was transition, utter
transition, from the authority of darkness into,
typically speaking, the authority of Christ.
Again I am going to say
something that I have often said before. There is such a
thing as having and knowing Christ as your Saviour
without knowing Him as your Lord - that is to say, only
for salvation: as Saviour from condemnation, from pending
judgment, from hell; perhaps Saviour into some of the
positive blessings of that position: and yet - oh, how
much more is possible and real for our knowledge! It is
all too long a gap from the exodus to the 'eisodus', the
entry; far too big a space between these two things. How
many, many Christians, after having been saved for a long
time, go to a convention and make Jesus Christ Lord,
discovering that that space between the two things has
been far too long, that this might have been long ago.
Jordan speaks not only of our finding Christ as our
Saviour from judgment and death, but of our finding Him
as Lord - with all that it means that He should be Lord.
It is not until He is Lord that we begin to discover the
riches, the unsearchable riches, that are in Him, like
the wealth of the land.
(b) INTO THE
FRUITFULNESS OF LIFE IN THE SPIRIT
The Jordan again
represented the transition from the desolation and
barrenness of nature into the fruitfulness of life in the
Spirit. They had lived so much in themselves; the
self-life, the natural life, had been so much asserting
itself; their own personal interests, advantages or
disadvantages had occupied such a large place on their
horizon. If things in the line of God's purpose were not
easy, but going contrary to nature, they were full of
murmurings. If things went well, of course it was quite
natural to be full of rejoicing. It was nature either
way. It was nature rejoicing because things were easy. It
was nature grumbling because things were difficult. It
was the life of nature - and what a barren wilderness
that was for them, a wilderness outside and inside. And
now the Jordan puts a finish to that and represents a
transition from that barren, desolate life in the flesh,
in nature, to a life in the Spirit.
For that Man, who
presently confronted Joshua as representative of God,
was, I believe, no other than the Holy Spirit, the Spirit
of God, the Captain of the Lord's host. He is that -
"Prince of the host of the Lord" (Joshua 5:14),
He called Himself. When those words which we so often
quote, "Not by might, nor by power, but by my
Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts" (Zech. 4:6), were
used by the prophet, you know that the literal wording
there is, "Not an army... but by my Spirit".
And here is the Captain of the host of the Lord, the
Spirit, and from this time He is going to take charge -
and what a different situation will obtain! It will be
life in the Spirit. Yes, there will be fruitfulness now;
not a life without slips and mistakes - they happen - but
a life adjusted to the Spirit. It was to be a life of
progress, a life of enlargement, a life of constant
enrichment, a life of entry upon their inheritance.
"Every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in
Christ" (Ephesians 1:3). From the barrenness of
nature to the fruitfulness of life in the Spirit: that
was the meaning of the transition of Jordan.
THE GREAT
PIONEER GOING BEFORE
But then we come to the
central focal point of it all: the great Pioneer - this
time written with a very big capital - the great Pioneer
as represented by the ark of the Lord of the whole earth.
Once again, this is not imaginary interpretation. The New
Testament warrants, by definite statement, the
interpretation that that ark was a type of the Lord
Jesus. We will not stay to prove it from the Scripture,
but it is so. The ark then typifies Christ. The great
transition was going to be made. How would it be made?
"The ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the
earth passeth over before you" (Joshua 3:11).
"There shall be a space between you and it, about
two thousand cubits" (Joshua 3:4). It is not
possible to estimate exactly what that measurement
was, because there are three cubits in the Bible, and we
do not know which of them this was (and even if we
did, we do not know precisely what the measurement
was); but the very smallest measurement here of
the cubit would make this over - well over - one
thousand feet between the ark and the people.
Why that? 'Keep that
space, come not near, keep that mighty space between you
and it' - shall we say, 'between you and Him'?
Why that great space?
(a) THE
GREATNESS OF CHRIST IN DEATH
Does it not speak, in
the first place, of the greatness of Christ in death? -
for it says here in parenthesis "Jordan overfloweth
all its banks all the time of harvest" (Joshua
3:15), and this was the time. "Jordan overfloweth
all its banks": a wide inundation beyond its
channel, spreading itself out in all directions; and we
know so well that that speaks of the waters of death and
judgment. It speaks of the Cross of the Lord Jesus. And
He stands right in the flood, in the overwhelming
inundation of death's power: stands right in it, right in
the centre of it, right in its full depth and
length and breadth; stems it all.
How great is Christ in
death! Death is no small thing. Death is a mighty
overwhelming flood. He has plumbed its depths, He has
taken its measure, and by dying He has destroyed death.
There He is. He stands right into death: death has lost
its power: death is thrown back: death is forbidden to
move on. The description of that is wonderful. While on
the one side there was the mighty wall of water standing
up, on the other side, right down to the Dead Sea, all
that spoke of death was dried up. How great is Christ in
death! Incomparable! He is alone in that. No one else
could do it.
(b) THE
EXCLUSIVENESS OF CHRIST IN DEATH
Then it speaks of the
exclusiveness of Christ: not only the greatness but the
exclusiveness of Christ in death. 'There was no other
good enough'. 0h, the blasphemy of talking about the
death, even the most heroic death, of a soldier, giving
his life for his country, being comparable to the death
of Jesus! No. Whatever heroism there may be - and there
may be a great deal which can be honoured, valued and
appreciated - but however great may be the heroism and
sacrifice of men, it 'comes not nigh unto' this by two
thousand cubits. There is a space between. God has placed
that space, and He says, 'This is inviolate: He is apart,
nothing can come near to this mighty work of Jesus
Christ; no one else has done it, and no one can do it; it
must be done by Him alone'.
(c) THE
LONELINESS OF CHRIST IN DEATH
Alone. Look at
the loneliness of that figure - forgetting for the moment
that there were Levites bearing the ark on their
shoulders: the description is intended not to bring them
into view at all, but to have this ark only in view - to
behold it, as it were, afar off. It is a great space. If
it were only one thousand feet, that is quite a distance
from which to look on a little object like that, a lonely
little object right out there. How alone He was in death.
"All the disciples left him, and fled" (Matt.
26:56). He said, "Ye... shall leave me alone"
(John 16:32), and they did. And then the deepest pang of
all - "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken
me?" (Matt. 27:46). His aloneness in death is
portrayed by the ark out there. Behold Him: "Behold,
the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the
world!" (John 1:29).
Why this aloneness?
Well, you see, 'there was no other good enough to pay the
price of sin': there was no other great enough, big
enough, to bear the sin of the world. He being the only
one who could do it, it involved Him in this utterness of
loneliness. Who could bear to know in full consciousness
their utter abandonment by God? Thank God, we need never
know that. We need never for a moment have the
consciousness that God has forsaken us. That is not
necessary, and indeed we could not survive it. But He
knew it. It took Him, the Son of God, to come through
that. It is the price He paid as the Pioneer - the
Pioneer of our salvation, the Pioneer of our inheritance,
the Pioneer of our possession of all that unto which God
has called us by union with Christ. The Pioneer had to
pay the price of this utter and final aloneness. Is that
not something of the sigh, the cry, in Isaiah 53? Yes, He
is the alone One there, wounded for our transgressions,
smitten of God and stricken, His soul made by God an
offering for sin; but "He shall see his seed, he
shall prolong his days", and out of that loneliness
shall come, in a mighty multitude, the children of His
bereavement (Isa. 49:20).
IDENTIFICATION
WITH CHRIST BY FAITH AND TESTIMONY
The next thing, and the
final word for the moment, is identification with Him by
faith and testimony. No, we cannot literally and actually
come into this. Thank God, it is not necessary. I mean
that we are not called to go through all that He went
through, but we are called to take a faith position, to
give attestation to it in a very practical way. Not just
walk in and through and take it as ours, but to recognise
that it is only ours because of Him, only ours in Him.
There is an identification of life with Him.
And so this
identification by faith and testimony is seen in the
commandment of God as to what was to be done. Out of the
bed of the Jordan, out of the place where all this was
transacted by the great Pioneer of redemption, stones
were to be taken, and - notice - by twelve men: "out
of every tribe a man" (Joshua 4:2). In effect, every
man of every tribe is here represented. It is a personal
matter for every one. "Every man... a stone".
It has to be a personal transaction, a personal
testimony, a personal appropriation of it all, a taking
of it upon our shoulders as bringing us under all that it
means; our committal to it, our committal to the death of
the Lord Jesus, to the fact that in Him we died; our
committal to His burial. "We were buried... with
him" (Romans 6:4). Then our committal to His
resurrection. The stones in the Jordan signify our union
with Him in death and burial; the stones taken out of the
Jordan and built up for a memorial on the other side, our
union with Him in resurrection.
But there has to be a
practical, personal, individual transaction. "Every
man... a stone." Have you taken the stone on your
shoulder personally? Have you definitely done this? You
know how the Apostle Paul tells you that the testimony is
borne, it is so familiar. "We were buried... with
him through baptism into death: that like as Christ was
raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so
we also might walk in newness of life" (Romans 6:4).
That is this story quite clearly, so simply. Yes, by
baptism we declare that we have taken the stone on our
shoulders, we have made this our responsibility, we have
definitely committed ourselves to all this.
Let me say again - it is
not just to be saved from judgment, death and hell, but
to be saved unto - not only from, but unto - all
that which is in the heart of God; that it is no
longer what we are going to get, how it is going
to affect us: that is the old tyranny; no longer
personal circumstances at all. It is what the Lord wants;
it is what will satisfy and glorify Him. That is the
passion of the heart that is so committed; and when He
gets us through on that matter, gets us over the fence of
self-interest, worldly interest, fleshly government, on
to the ground where it is all the Lord and what He wants,
we shall have found the land flowing with milk and honey,
we shall have found the riches of Christ, we shall have
come into an opened heaven. So much of our Christian life
and work is self-ward. Until it is changed from self to
the Lord, fully and utterly, we shall know nothing of the
heavenly life of spiritual fullness. But that is what is
here represented.
May the Lord find us all
making this great transition, this declaration -
"Every man... a stone": that Jordan, with all
that it means, has got to rest upon our shoulders.