WALLS

WALLS

A wall is something erected to act as a barrier, and is one of the figures used in Scripture to indicate that which protects what is of value. In Isaiah 60, the walls are called Salvation, and God uses them to protect His people. In eternity, no wall is needed; in the new heavens and the new earth there is no suggestion of a wall, for evil is eternally without; but as long as evil is existent, walls will be essential.

These walls are salvation, and they are greatly needed by us all. If we think of what is adverse, there is spiritual wickedness in high places, the universal lords of this darkness, set against what is of God. Little as we may know of it, there is a mighty system with its various agencies calculated to hold God’s people in bondage. There is also what is earthly — not evil in itself, but so appealing to men; and there is the flesh in every one of us, which responds to what is evil and has to be judged. Under such conditions as exist today, it is a monument of divine grace and power that there should be on earth those who are preserved for God.

A WALL OF WATER

In Exodus 14 we are told that the waters of the Red Sea were a wall to Israel on the right hand and on the left. As they went through those waters, God making a way for them, they constituted a wall which afforded them the protection they so greatly needed, and effectively saved them from Pharaoh, who was pressing on them with all his hosts. Behind them lay Egypt, a land of slavery, of blood, of death, of darkness — a land under the judgment of God, as expressed in the hail; a land where no Egyptian could hold his family intact. This wall of water was what God used to save His people; for that which was protection to Israel was destruction to Pharaoh.

It means to us that the acceptance of the death of Christ, the great barrier between us and the world, effectively saves us from it. The world around us is called “this present evil world,” and never was it more evil! Never was it more truly the house of bondage to those in it, slaves to its pleasures, its dress or its open evil — for men are slaves to this world system! It is a realm of moral death, of uncleanness and of darkness — under the influence of the rulers of “this darkness.” What will save us? This wall of water! It is the acceptance of the death of Jesus, as creating a wall between us and the world.

Scripture says that Noah was saved through water; thus in baptism we are saved by water — we are saved by Christ, but we are saved from the world by water, that is, by the acceptance of the death of Christ as creating a wall between us and the world, 1 Peter 3: 21, 22. There is not a believer, however difficult his path, who would not be saved from the whole power of the world if he were true to the death of Jesus.

The apostle Paul says that Christ gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father. May the Lord help us all to walk through the world with this wall on both sides! It says that it was a wall to them on the right hand and on the left.

The right hand in Scripture generally conveys the thought of power, but here we have also the left hand; so that we are preserved in power in every way — a power that acts completely as a barrier between us and the world.

A WALL OF FIRE

In Zechariah 2: 5 God spoke of being a wall of fire round about Jerusalem. He indicated that Jerusalem was to prosper and extend its borders as a city without walls, so that it would be apparently unprotected, with no walls to keep out the invader; but God then said: “I, saith the LORD, will be unto her a wall of fire round about, and will be the glory in the midst of her.” The thought represented by Jerusalem is the assembly, as it is in the mind of God. Many have been recovered from the religious world, to return to God’s thoughts about the assembly; to hold that ground for Him. In some measure we can thank God for this increase of what is of Himself in many places; yet, to the natural eye, how unprotected such are! There is no wall evident: anyone would appear to be able to break through. In Nehemiah’s day it was said that if even a fox was to go up on the wall, it would fall down. Outwardly the position appears weak indeed; yet, in the happy circumstances spoken of in Zechariah, God said: “I... will be... a wall of fire round about.” That fire will not hurt us if we are in accord with it; it will protect us from every adverse influence.

When Elijah was about to be taken to heaven, there appeared horses and a chariot of fire. He had had experience with fire himself and therefore he was not afraid to be associated with the chariot; for the fire would not hurt him, because he had walked in constant self-judgment.

God has put round His people, as recovered to the truth, a wall of fire. He, Himself is such, and none can break through — for who can break through a wall of fire? If those in Jerusalem are in keeping with it, they will be protected by it. But if we bring into the midst of God’s people what is unholy, that fire will burn within as well as without. Thus Ananias and Sapphira attempted to bring in something that was contrary, ignoring the wall of fire, and they were consumed.

We can be quiet with regard to the general position today in the world; God is not going to allow His assembly to be destroyed — “the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” The recovery to the truth of the assembly, and the saints living here on earth in relation to it, demand and secure a wall of fire round about, and this gives us great confidence.

A WALL OF JASPER

The wall of the holy city in Revelation 21, is said to be great and high. It is measured by the angel with the golden reed, and found to be perfect. It has twelve foundations, so perfectly does it stand, and these foundations have on them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb; it is also garnished with all manner of precious stones. Then it says that the building of the wall is of jasper. It is more than two hundred feet high, and all of crystal-like jasper: for jasper, as referred to in Scripture, is transparent, and as clear as crystal. Everything within that wall is beyond the reach of evil. God and the Lamb are the temple of the city; the throne of God and of the Lamb is in it, and there is also there the tree of life; the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal; the transparent golden street and the glory of God. Everything that is divinely precious, formed by the Spirit of God in the assembly, is there — all protected by this wall of jasper. None can scale it; nothing that defiles enters; the gates admit all that is of God, but the wall keeps out all evil.

If that is to be true then, it is to be spiritually true now. Think of God’s gracious work in His people now: what will protect them? Transparency in everything is the divine way of excluding evil. The heart-breaking sorrows which have to be faced at times often arise from something hidden. Let us beware of the first steps in any direction in regard of matters which we want to hide; such action will expose us to the enemy: we shall lose our wall! If in our businesses, our occupations, our relationships, our reading matter, our habits, there is anything we want to hide, we are thereby exposed to the power of evil: we have lost the wall of jasper; but if that wall is maintained, we are protected from the devil and all his hosts. Let our commercial activities, our relationships, our habits and our ways be transparent! Such a wall will protect one individual, or a local gathering, or the whole assembly of God; it will protect the heavenly city for a thousand years.

We all need these walls, and shall need them to the end. The death of Christ as separating us from the world; the holiness of God as fire separating us from every adverse element; the wall of jasper, great and high, which will exclude evil for a thousand years, are sufficient to keep us protected for God and for Christ individually and collectively. May it be ours to have the protection of these walls until the Lord comes!