THE ASSEMBLY IN THE WILDERNESS AND IN CANAAN
THE ASSEMBLY IN THE WILDERNESS AND IN CANAAN
I THINK we should distinguish between the assembly viewed as in the wilderness, and as related to the land of Canaan. The first epistle to the Corinthians presents the assembly as connected with the wilderness; other epistles view it in the land. Corinthians conveys the thought of order; Colossians and Ephesians, privilege and blessing; and these latter present the idea of the land of promise. The saints at Corinth were God’s assembly: God was to be known there by the order seen among them. It is the public aspect of the assembly. A simple person coming in would recognise that God was there by the divine order displayed (chapter 14).
Stephen speaks of the assembly in the wilderness, Acts 7; this was God’s house, over which Moses was a servant, Hebrews 3. The point that Moses makes is that he and the people could only be distinguished from all other people on the face of the earth by Jehovah’s presence among them, Exodus 33: 16 (New Trans.).
The wilderness is the sphere of responsibility, as we see in 1 Corinthians 10. God had brought the people of Israel to Himself, and then He proposed that they should build a tabernacle that He might dwell among them. In the land we dwell with Him, but in the wilderness He dwells with us and the point in the latter is, I think, the order in which God is known. That is what marks the first part of the book of Numbers. Each Israelite is taken account of; numbered, in order that he might find his place in relation to the tabernacle of witness. Eligibility for military service was the requirement, and every eligible person was numbered. The age mentioned [p. 97] refers to manhood, and probably what corresponds at the present time is the possession of the Holy Ghost. Normally the possession of the Holy Ghost constitutes manhood. On receiving the Spirit we graduate from occupation with toys, childish things, and go in for what belongs to manhood. Of course I speak of things as seen normally, as in Acts 2, for instance. The state of the Corinthians was abnormal; hence the apostle’s admonition, “be not children in your minds, but in malice be babes; but in minds be grown men”, 1 Corinthians 14: 20. Only as grown men could they take their place, so to say, in relation to the tabernacle. God takes account of every Christian, in order to put him in his place in relation to the testimony down here. This is what the first numbering of the people meant. The second numbering in Numbers meant that each Israelite was taken account of so as to find his place in God’s land.
The brazen serpent and the springing well form the turning point. From Numbers 21 onward it is state that is in question. Entrance into Canaan depends on the state formed by the Holy Spirit. It is the elect Israel that is taken account of to inherit; the Israel of responsibility had wholly disappeared: “among these there was not a man numbered by Moses and Aaron the priest, who numbered the children of Israel in the wilderness of Sinai”, Numbers 26: 64.
In Corinth an unbeliever, if he came in, was to find God among the Christians. If there was that which misrepresented God there was the necessity to insist on self-judgment and the restoration of order. Hence the apostle felt under the necessity of writing his first letter. The introduction of the Lord’s table, and the Lord’s supper, was to the end that they might be regulated — put in order. The Lord’s supper brings us together, and this is in the wilderness. Entrance into Canaan depends entirely on state.
[p. 98] There is no distinction of sex on the other side of death: in the wilderness there is; women were to be silent in the assembly.
God in grace has given us a place in connection with the tabernacle of witness, and you cannot go on with anything inconsistent with it. The ark of the covenant leads you into the land of promise: the ark was more connected with the land, the tabernacle with the wilderness. The public testimony was to be maintained in the house. A company of men and women constituted the house, and they were to be marked by divine order. Everything inconsistent with the order and holiness of God’s house was to be repudiated. God was not well pleased with most of them. In 1 Corinthians 10, He came in to correct them.
In our day the second epistle to Timothy comes in; you must pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, etc. If you pursue righteousness you must allow God’s rights.
God would not limit Himself to those who were already recovered. He would affect others, but He would do this through those who were in accord with Himself. Hence the servant must be separate from vessels to dishonour. He is then to be used of the Master, to serve to distribute the bounty of the Lord. The great point is to be a vessel through which the water of life may be dealt out. The water of life is a very great thought. In speaking to the woman of Samaria (John 4) the Lord did not have a well out of which to give water to men; for the moment He was dependent on Jacob’s well, but He would have, as it were, a well of His own, where men might drink and live for ever.
What do you mean by the term “well”?
The assembly. I like to think of the Lord having a system of His own; a house of His own; and, so to say, a well of His own. All these things were to [p. 99] be found in the assembly at the beginning. The living water is the Holy Spirit as adaptable to the need of the human heart. It is still here, and will go on to the end. The believer was to be the source of supply. Rivers of living water were to flow out — rivers. It was no small conception.
John 20 is the assembly in relation to the land it is privilege. The way into privilege is indicated by Mary. She followed the Lord through Jordan. You see a woman whose heart is captivated. It is no question here of public order; it is the subjective state formed by the Spirit, in virtue of which alone Canaan is reached. Here, however, what is seen is more pattern; although Mary’s affection was genuine. Mary represents those who value association with Christ. I do not think association is known until it is desired. When you value it (affection for Christ values it), it is an immense thing to find that it is available. The Lord never indicated that the disciples were to go up to Him during His absence. He said He was coming to them. He would not leave them orphans; He would come to them. We should all be exercised to find out what this means. I think when the Lord used the expression “My assembly” He had in His mind a company of people who had affection for Him; who had given up the world, and were hated by it. What a pleasure to Him to come to such company!
The assembly viewed in connection with the land is not a public thing at all. In this chapter the disciples are in a secluded, quiet spot, and He appears in the midst.
The great objective point with us is to be in association with Christ, and this is private: the world was not to see Him. It depends entirely upon love: if you do not love you do not know it. “If any man love me”, you must have love to understand it. The Lord does not explain anything to the intellect,
[p. 100] for intelligence in divine things depends on love. We come together to break bread, and if there is heart for it, I think the Lord would support us into Canaan.
I do not know that Canaan is much understood now. It is, I think, the sphere of privilege and blessing which God has purposed for His people. It has undoubtedly a future bearing, and in this respect, it seems to me, it must refer to the entire sphere of blessing which God has purposed for man. In the coming age the wilderness will have disappeared, and Jordan will not exist: death will be swallowed up in victory, and every family will be blessed on the principle of resurrection. All will stand related to Christ on that footing. At the present time it is the privilege of the assembly, and that on the ground that we are risen with Christ. The chapter before us corresponds with this, and I think the apostle had it before him in writing to the Colossians. But taking possession of Canaan by the saints involves the overthrow of the world-system of Satan, which has its centre in the heavenlies. The church is to succeed Satan there (our testimony involves this), and consequently we come into conflict. The Ephesian saints were not actually in the heavenlies, but the apostle’s prayer in chapter 3 for them was that they might apprehend the breadth and length and depth and height — the whole sphere of blessing. Publicly, we may say, the whole sphere is occupied and filled by what is of Satan; in the future it will be occupied and filled by God. The church knew, and witnessed of that — hence the conflict.
Taking possession is what you apprehend in your soul. There is not so very much of what we call eternal state. The bulk of scripture refers to what is this side of the eternal state. God creates Jerusalem a joy, and you may depend it will be new, Isaiah 65:17, etc. It is inconceivable to suppose a [p. 101] millennium with the climate and the ground as we have them now: in a certain sense things will be new. The moral heavens will certainly be changed, in that Satan shall have been cast out of them, and the knowledge of God will cover the earth. That will be all new. The passages in Isaiah that speak of new heavens, and new earth, refer to the millennium.