ACCEPTANCE OF THE WILDERNESS
J. Wright
Exodus 15: 22; 16: 4, 13–15, 23–25, 30, 31; 17: 1–16; Numbers 21: 4–9, 14–18
1 feel led, beloved brethren, to speak of the wilderness and particularly our acceptance of the wilderness. I .believe it is necessary to have wilderness experience if we are to be rightly in divine things. Mr Stoney spoke of it more as an experience rather than as a place; as we know it forms part of God’s ways with us, not His purpose. It is a place of divine provision. The woman in Revelation 12 who bore the male child “fled into the wilderness, where she has there a place prepared of God, that they should nourish her there a thousand two hundred and sixty days” (Revelation 12: 6). The wilderness brings us to our daily experiences. A believer’s history is made up of days, the assembly’s history is made up of weeks. Our daily experience with God is a vital thing. If we are to enter into the truth in reality it means that we have daily experience with God. Otherwise there is unreality and shallowness about us.
We can never know and enjoy rightly the privileges that are open to us in the assembly unless we have this daily experience with God in a wilderness connection. In the history of Israel, they came out of Egypt, went through the wilderness and then went into the land; it was not until they had accepted the wilderness that they went into the land. With us the experience is somewhat different because I think the wilderness and the land experiences go on together.
The more we are with God and dependent on Him in the wilderness setting, the freer we are in the scene of privilege; conversely, the more we enter into our privileges, the greater power we shall have in the wilderness setting. So we can see, beloved brethren, it is necessary for us to have wilderness experience.
The wilderness is what the world becomes to a believer. It is not that his external circumstances are changed, but it is in the same circumstances that morally the sphere which once was Egypt becomes a wilderness. I wonder how much that is really true of us. I am impressed in looking at Mr Darby’s songs how much the wilderness experience enters into them. The atmosphere of heaven is in his songs, yet he speaks much of the wilderness and of what he found in the wilderness, the God that he found. Beloved brethren, the God that he found is the God that we can find in the wilderness, it is the same God. I would like to encourage our hearts to accept the wilderness; we come into it through understanding what baptism means. The people here had just celebrated a wondrous victory in the song in chapter 15, a song of deliverance from Egypt, a song of deliverance from the world. What penetration was in that song, how far it took them, it took them right into the land! It shows what God has in His mind, beloved brethren, as He has taken us up; immediately He takes us up. He has His own thoughts for us, rich thoughts in purpose for us. But along with that are His ways in the wilderness. On the one hand it is to bring home to us what we are as in the flesh; on the other hand it brings home to us what God is. It brings us into an experience where we are entirely dependent upon God—that is what the wilderness means. If the world is a wilderness, I am entirely dependent upon God because I find no resource in the world; there is nothing in the world now that ministers to me or can minister to me.
That is what the waters of Marah mean, that things I once had pleasure in, things that once I found my resource in, things that minister to my taste can no longer minister to me. It is the preparedness to face the suffering in the flesh. Peter brings it out—“he that has suffered in the flesh has done with sin, no longer to live the rest of his time in the flesh to men’s lusts, but to God’s will”, 1 Peter 4: 1, 2. Paul goes further in what he says in Romans 6, that we have died to sin, and we have
to reckon ourselves dead to sin. We find that things are bitter to us. The Israelites were in a position where they were under the ordering of God. It was not their own will, their own designs that they came there; they were under the ordering of God. It is a wonderful thing to realise that our circumstances are under the ordering of God and that they are the best circumstances for us. You may not think so; you may think there is bitterness, you may think you would be better off somewhere else. We feel that often when we are young, that we would be better off somewhere else, we would be better off enjoying some of the things that others enjoy. Those things are only temporary, they are the temporary pleasures of sin for a season and they bring no lasting satisfaction, it is a good thing, however, to be in an area under the ordering of God, you could not be in a better place. Really at this point the children of Israel could not have been in a better place. They thought otherwise, they thought they would be better going back to Egypt, but they were in the very best place in the ordering of God for them.
They murmured, but this wonderful section of Exodus brings out what God is in grace. Later on you get the righteous demands of God, the demands of love but there are no demands of God in this section. He meets everything in wondrous grace. It brings out the knowledge of God and we all need to start that way, with the knowledge of what God is towards us in grace. If we complain, if we murmur, He meets it in grace. He meets it with His own provision and we are dependent on what God will provide. So am I really, truly dependent on God? Well, they murmured here and they could not drink the water but God showed Moses wood. It says, “And he cried to Jehovah; and Jehovah shewed him wood, and he cast it into the waters, and the waters became sweet” (Exodus 15: 25). We get a view of Christ as the blessed Man who was here for the will of God, committed to the will of God, going into death. He went into death for you and He went into death for me. To see Christ in
those circumstances, in that condition, going into death makes the waters sweet; you find sweetness, you find that which would refresh you. We might think that things are hard and difficult, that God is hard, that God is making things difficult for us but think of what there was in Christ! There was never any murmur or complaint from Christ. He always did the things that pleased the Father. He always pleased Him and He always obeyed; in the most difficult and trying circumstances. He always obeyed, “becoming obedient”, it says, “even unto death, and that the death of the cross”, Philippians 2: 8. I trust that we may get some impression of Christ, that He might be magnified before us. We cannot face the wilderness without Him and really it is intended to draw us to Him.
So they drank these waters and then Jehovah speaks about His commandments and His statutes. He says, ‘if you will obey these I will put none of the complaints upon thee that I have put upon the Egyptians’. Think of what is upon men in the world today, notwithstanding the scientific achievements there are and the great exploits among them. Think of the ravages that come into families because family life is all disrupted. When the ordinances of God are set aside, family life is disrupted, that is one of the complaints of Egypt. God says, I will not put them upon you, “I am Jehovah who healeth thee” (Exodus 15: 26). It is a wonderful thing that God is known as a Healer. These persons had reminiscences of Egypt, but they had known what it was to be in bondage to sin and that is what Egypt typifies, it is bondage to sin, doing our own will. But God describes Himself as “Jehovah who healeth thee”.
We come to the next chapter, there is no food and they murmur again. And God provides the manna. There had been nothing like it before, typical of Christ once humbled here; the One who was here for God’s will, who was here for His pleasure. It affected me in the reading that Mr Darby said that as newly converted the first thing he appreciated as to Christ was He was One who never did anything for Himself. Think of that! He could have done miracles to improve His own circumstances. The enemy suggested to Him that He should make some stones into bread when He was hungry, but He did not do it. He never did a miracle for Himself. The miracles He did were to help others; they were also used to glorify God but the miracles He did were for others, not for Himself. He never sought to improve His circumstances here. He was in poor and lowly circumstances. Paul says in writing to the Corinthians, “ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that for your sakes he, being rich, became poor, in order that ye by his poverty might be enriched”, 2 Corinthians 8: 9. “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ” is the manna that we feed upon, what we draw upon, however difficult our circumstances might appear. When Paul had the thorn for the flesh he besought the Lord three times that it might depart from him, but it was not the Lord’s mind that it should depart from him, the Lord said to him, “My grace suffices thee”, 2 Corinthians 12: 9. I think the manna speaks of the grace there was in Christ, the One who was here in lowly circumstances, but we are to know Him now where He is—the same blessed Person—and draw upon that grace that is so readily available.
So they saw the manna, “something fine, granular, fine as hoar-frost, on the ground”. They said one to another, “What is it?” We might ask that question, “What is it?” There has never been anything like it! The lowly dependent Man, the One who had power to command everything, was here in dependence upon God. He was cast upon God from His mother’s womb (Psalm 22: 10). Think of who He is in the glory of His Person and yet He was here in lowly manhood; there has been nothing like it. We also get the taste of it later, “and it was like coriander-seed, white; and the taste of it was like cake with honey”. Well, this was to be the daily experience of the children of Israel. Now the manna fell upon the dew; as we start the day with the Spirit of God He would give us, in the morning, some impression of Christ. (I trust that we each have a relationship with the Spirit of God; I cannot see how we can go through a day without speaking to the Spirit of God and depending upon Him). The Spirit would do that, and as having that impression of Christ we would desire to be here for God’s will, for God’s pleasure. How are we going to spend the day? Are we going to spend it for our own gratification? What would that yield? Will it yield anything positive; spending it for our gratification? Or are we going to spend it for God’s will, for God’s pleasure. Well, the grace from Christ is needed for that; draw upon it, it is readily available.
Then the sabbath is introduced in connection with the manna. God would have us brought into rest. It is a real experience to find your rest in Christ. God finds His pleasure and rest in Christ. He found His rest originally in creation but that was spoilt by the incoming of sin; but now His rest in Christ can never ever be spoilt or disturbed, and God would have us rest in Christ. He says in Matthew 11, “Come to me, all ye who labour and are burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11: 28). Whatever your condition, whatever your circumstances, if you are here for God’s will and God’s pleasure you will find rest in Christ. You will never find it if you are pursuing your own will, pursuing your own things, but as you are here for God’s will and God’s pleasure you can find your rest in Christ.
In Exodus 17 the question of water comes up again, the question of thirst and the need for satisfaction and refreshment. I think in these early chapters, God has in mind refreshment for His people. We did not say anything about Elim and the twelve springs of water and the seventy palm trees, but I think that is what we have experienced together. In our comings together God makes that provision in the circumstances in which we are. It is a wonderful thing to have the experience of coming to the twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees. I think we experience that among the saints.
Then this question of water comes up again, the need of life and refreshment. There is nothing in the wilderness to refresh us, nothing to minister to us, and God speaks to Moses about smiting the rock. It is a very affecting thing that the Lord Jesus had to suffer, not from men, in this reference, but from God. He did suffer from men, He suffered from men for righteousness’ sake; but He suffered from God so that the murmuring condition and state that so often marks us according to flesh might be judged. God judged it; He condemned it in Christ. He had to be smitten of God. We often refer to the three hours of darkness on the cross of the Lord Jesus. Think of what it meant for Him to be smitten of God, to be forsaken of God and to go into death. He was “stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted”, the prophet says (Isaiah 53: 4). It was that the water might flow; that the Spirit might be available to us; that we might have life and refreshment. How this is intended, beloved brethren, to endear Christ to us, that He suffered in such a way that we might be refreshed in the wilderness.
Well that provision was made and then Amalek comes up; the enemy attacks. You know, if you are going to be here for God’s pleasure, you can expect the enemy to attack. He acts through the flesh; he may bring in some temptation. Satan may suggest some temptation to you. From the book of Deuteronomy (Deuteronomy 25: 17) we know that it was those who lagged behind and those who were weak that Amalek smote. The scripture tells us when they came out of Egypt they were all strong, but how quickly deterioration came in. How quickly, beloved brethren, deterioration can come in if we are not maintained in our vital links with Christ and our vital links with the Spirit. So Amalek comes up and he necessitates conflict.
We have to resist the devil, if he brings in a temptation; scripture says, “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you”, James.4: 7. If you resist him, he will flee. Of course, the Lord Jesus overcame him and he had to leave Him. He brought every temptation to bear against the Lord Jesus and He met it by the word of God. Resist him—he knows what our reactions are to things and he will bring in some temptation—but resist him. This conflict has to go on and it is not an easy matter. It is a fluctuating matter here.
I do not think Moses, Aaron and Hur were a type of Christ personally here but of what is representative of Christ among His own. Moses is that element among the saints that would represent the authority of Christ. It is a question whether that is maintained in my soul. Will I give way? We have to think whether the authority of Christ personally is maintained. If it is maintained, the enemy is defeated! We overcome Amalek when the authority of Christ is maintained, but it may not always be maintained in our souls. Then supporting that was Aaron and Hur. Aaron is what is priestly, and if we are set for what is right there is the priestly service of Christ as we know it. I believe we should find among the saints that priestly element that would support what is right. If we have right desires then there is Hur, who represents purity. There must be what is pure and this conflict goes on but the victory is won. It is won by Joshua and he overcomes Amalek by the edge of the sword, by the word of God.
The young men that John refers to in his epistle have overcome the wicked one. The word of God is in them and they have overcome the wicked one and yet they are in danger of the world. “Love not the world, nor the things in the world”, 1 John 2: 15. It shows that this conflict is to go on; conflict with Amalek is not a conflict which can cease. Moses says, “Jehovah will have war with Amalek from generation to generation!” Moses built an altar and called it “Jehovah-nissi”, meaning ‘Jehovah my banner’. It is a wonderful thing to have an experience of victory, to go through your wilderness pathway and get a sense of victory, of divine help. It is not what we are able to do in our own strength, but in dependence on God we get victory. It is a landmark in your history; it helps you in your soul; it gives you confidence in God; and he says, “Jehovah will have war with Amalek from generation to generation!”. Before that he says, “For the hand is on the throne of Jah”. I have often wondered what that means. I think the throne of Jah would speak of what is in the heart of the believer. The question is whether the authority of God is maintained there in the heart of the believer, or whether the enemy can challenge it, and dispute it, and displace the authority of God.
In Numbers 21 we come to the end of the wilderness journey. The more you go on you find that the flesh does not change. The flesh was no better in these people at this point than it was in the beginning. They said, “our soul loathes this light bread”. That is what the flesh is. Mr Stoney said that the very best in us, the very best in nature hates Christ. That is a very challenging thing, is it not? The people murmured here and God sent fiery serpents among them and the people were bitten. They were bitten because of what they were in their lawlessness, but the answer was in the serpent of brass lifted up. The Lord says in John’s gospel, “as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, thus must the Son of man be lifted up” (John 3: 14). We come again to the sufferings of Christ upon the cross, where He who knew no sin was made sin, and where God condemned sin in the flesh in Christ. The serpent of brass means that God has got to the root of things; sin in the flesh has been judged. The enemy is behind it, of course, he is the source of it, but God has dealt with it, “thus must the Son of man be lifted up, that every one who believes on him may not perish, but have life eternal”.
Eternal life is what is enjoyed beyond the Jordan. God’s mind is that we should have it, that we should not perish. I do not think that means to perish eternally. That means perishing now, perishing in the wilderness. How many carcases fell in the wilderness! God is intent that we should not perish now but that we should have
eternal life. The blessed Spirit of God is the spring for it, the power to enter into it, “springing up into eternal life”, John 4: 14. In this section the people come to recognise the Spirit typically and they move in the power of the Spirit. I do not think that we can be in the wilderness rightly till we experience that; there is what is known inwardly in the soul, the power of the Spirit. I was struck in thinking of the Lord Jesus in Luke’s gospel where it says,
“But Jesus ... was led by the Spirit in the wilderness” (Luke 4: 1). I think that with one who is led by the Spirit there is a walk which corresponds to the walk of Jesus. The idea, beloved brethren, is that “the life also of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal flesh” (2 Corinthians 4: 11) and “manifested in our body” (verse 10), but we must accept “the dying of Jesus” if that is to be so. The power is in the blessed Spirit of God; it is an inward power, a power that is moving upward. In this chapter they move upward—they go up to the top of Pisgah—they have the inward power for it.
I just leave these things that we might ponder them and be helped in relation to them. We cannot be one thing among the saints and another thing apart from them. It is a question of what we are in our relations with God; as a result we will enjoy what is among the saints better and we will enter into the service of God in a fuller way. I cannot see how we can really enter into the service of God if there is some feature of Egypt upon us, some feature of the world. Going through the wilderness rightly with God would free us from that, and make us appreciate more and more divine resources. It says in the Song of Songs, “Who is this that cometh up from the wilderness. Leaning upon her beloved?” (Song of Songs 8: 5). As we come to the Supper we come up from the wilderness. May we have that experience, beloved brethren, and may we be helped and strengthened in it in the Lord’s name. Amen.
Address at Adelaide
22 April 2000