THE ARK OF THE COVENANT (3)
THE ARK OF THE COVENANT (3)
JT From Numbers 10 to 21 the history of the people covered a period of about 39 years, during which the features of insubjection and rebellion disappear through the judgment and discipline of God; and we have, typically, the Holy Spirit coming in in the springing well.
I think this section in Joshua which we have read is the end of the period beginning with Numbers 21. It is true that the people moved from the mount of the Lord, which as we saw, represented what God was to them; but from chapter 21 you have movement from place to place characterising the whole company, and the passage of the Jordan is the culmination of this. Christ typified in the Ark is now distinctly before the soul, as having gone into death and annulled it. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. This great enemy is seen to be overcome in Joshua 3. It is the great barrier between the soul and the inheritance, and is typified in Jordan. God’s purpose for us lies outside all natural relationships, and all that enters into our natural conditions in this world, not only the world of the flesh, as representing what is evil, but what is legitimate in our natural relationships.
Ques Is there a difference between the Red Sea, and the Jordan, since both typify death?
JT A very great difference; the Red Sea is a type of death as having passed upon all men. It reigned from Adam to Moses; that is, it is an extended reign. Jordan is not presented in that way. Jordan is death in its power, in a condensed form, standing between us and the purpose of God.
Rem The Red Sea typifies the end of the world, but Jordan is the end of human life altogether.
[p. 284] RB Death was routed; it was utterly defeated at Jordan. That was not quite the feature in the Red Sea.
JT In the death of Christ, of course, everything was done at once. In considering these Scriptures, however, it is a question of our apprehension of the meaning of what was done. We apprehend the death of Christ not only as dealing with the world, but as dealing with the last great enemy of God and man.
TMG What occurred at the Red Sea would be rather God’s side of the question, and Jordan would be more our side.
JT Quite so; it is our apprehending the death of Christ as terminating not only what is represented by Egypt, but natural relationships as well. The previous history from Numbers 21 up to this point supposes that we have been educated as to this. That is to say, you have come to know Christ as the power of God and you follow Him. We have had so many practical evidences of His love, and care, and power, that there is strength now for this fresh apprehension of the truth.
JPW Why was there to be a distance of about two thousand cubits between the people and the Ark?
JT I think it was to show that the Lord dealt with this matter alone. They had not passed that way before. They had passed through the Red Sea, but it was not this. The Red Sea is the death of Christ taken up by faith, in the way of profession. In the blood of the passover Lamb I am sheltered from judgment; in the Red Sea I am delivered from the enemy’s power. The Red Sea is a type of Christ’s death and resurrection for us. Jordan is our death and resurrection with Him.
EH This not only brings in Christ’s death, but ours as with Him, so that our souls should be enabled to get into all that God has purposed for us.
JT There are the two thousand cubits distance [p. 285] from which we have to view the Lord going into death. “Two thousand cubits” is figurative, intimating that the Lord alone abolished death. “Ye shall not come near it, that ye may know the way by which ye must go”, Joshua 3: 4.
Ques Is Jordan a boundary as regards the wilderness?
JT Yes. Of course there were other boundaries as we know. The boundaries of Canaan are given to us in Numbers 34.
Ques Going this way, would they enter upon privilege; that is, would they enter into the land?
JT That was the object. You will observe the word lodge in this connection.
TMG It would be the Colossian idea.
JT I think it is. Colossians is not final. They lodged, we are told; and Colossians is just entering on God’s purpose for us.
TMG We require Ephesians.
JT Quite so; that epistle presents what is final.
Ques Was it with the object of giving the people an opportunity to contemplate what had transpired, that they lodged there?
JT I think it is a position needed for serious contemplation, so that you may see the true bearing of Christ’s death.
Ques Will you kindly explain what is meant by death here?
JT Well, it was death as held by the enemy; he had the power of it; and he brings it to bear on you so as to prevent you from entering on the purpose of God for you. When you draw near to Jordan he will impress on you what is involved in it; many things will enter into your mind at that time. And I think the epistle to the Colossians is the necessary adjustment then.
You will observe that much care is exercised here. To begin with, Joshua arose early in the morning.
[p. 286] This generally preceded an action of great importance. One requires to have a clear mind; there are so many peculiar elements that enter in during the day to darken the mind. It is well to have a clear view at the outset, so that you may understand what is effected by the Ark here.
JPW You spoke of looking at the Lord’s death objectively?
JT You are enabled to view the Ark objectively at a distance of two thousand cubits. I think it calls the mind into activity as under the control of the Spirit, so that you might see the way it went. The first portion of John 20 helps us; the women were at the sepulchre early; they were intensely interested, and so tidings of the resurrection are brought by Mary; Peter and John are affected, and they all move toward the sepulchre. There they find that everything is in order; the linen clothes are there, according to John’s record, and the napkin that was about His head not with the linen clothes, but wrapped together in a place by itself. Two angels in white are seen by Mary, one at the head and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain.
Now, I think we are enabled to see the idea of the two thousand cubits; that is to say, the dignity of Christ. Many deaths had been witnessed, and sepulchres visited, but none like that. There never had been anything like it before. One had been into death, and had disposed of its power; and yet, there was no evidence of any struggle; everything was in order. “What ailed thee, O thou sea, that thou fleddest? thou Jordan, that thou wast driven back? ye mountains that ye skipped like rams? and ye little hills, like lambs?” Psalm 114. It was the presence of the Lord. A wholly new thing had happened, the domain of death had been invaded by the Prince of Life; He had gone into it, and had [p. 287] overcome the enemy, but there was no appearance of the struggle, everything was in order.
Ques Is it right for Christians to pay reverence to death?
JT Well, of course it is a solemn thing. Primarily it was the judgment of God; and, in fact, though it had passed into the hand of the enemy, it is still the judgment of God. But the Lord says, that now He has the keys of death.
JPW It is interesting to notice that when Lazarus is raised from the dead, he is girt with the grave clothes; but when the Lord comes out of death the grave clothes are left behind, and everything is in its place.
JT Lazarus was brought back into his old circumstances; the Lord rose into wholly new ones, and he associates us with Him in these.
EH He has annulled death, and brought life and incorruptibility to light.
JM In contemplating this subject it is well to note that it is the Ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth. It is such an One as that, who is before the saints in this passage.
JT Yes. The greatness of Christ is in view in Colossians, and the teaching there is that we should be in correspondence with Him. “As ye have ... received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him”, Colossians 2:6. And we are warned against anything that would becloud the mind, such as philosophy and vain deceit after the tradition of men and the rudiments of the world. To admit these things would be to deny that Christ is all. It will be observed that after Exodus there is scarcely any reference to the gold on the Ark. It is referred to as “an ark of wood” in Deuteronomy 10. It is not a question now of Christ as representing God publicly in the way of testimony, but of what He is (typically) to the believer; what He has become in our hearts. Now, Colossians is [p. 288] to that end; He is brought in there, that He might become the controlling object of the heart of the believer. “Christ is everything and in all”, Colossians 3:11.
Ques Is that why the varied glories of Christ are brought before us in the first chapter?
JT I think so; it is to bring Him before us in His personal greatness. It is that Person you follow into Canaan. The Lord, of course, is the same, however considered, whether as the wood cast into the bitter waters, or the Ark. What develops is a question of our apprehension. So Colossians brings Him forward that we might have an apprehension of the Person; it says, “In him all the fulness was pleased to dwell”, Colossians 1:19. Well, that is educational. It has an immense effect on our souls it shuts out the necessity for any other feature you have Christ, and all the fulness of the Godhead dwells in Him bodily. Then, we are complete in Him, who is Head of all principality and authority. We need nothing outside of Him, and having Him we need fear no one. We thus enter Canaan with heads uplifted in victory, and with hearts touched by the love that has made a way in for us.
JM So that the affections of the believer are moved, and he could not be satisfied without Christ.
JT Then we notice that the tabernacle itself gradually disappears; after Numbers 21 you hear little or nothing about it; but the Ark comes into view. In 2 Corinthians the system is contemplated, but the Person is the point in Colossians and Ephesians; in the latter, however, the Father is more in evidence, as the full purpose of God is there set forth. After the Holy Spirit is recognised by the believer as in Numbers 21, there is steady progress towards the land. The people were hindered for a while through the efforts of Balaam but, generally speaking, it was a steady move forward until they arrived at the Jordan. This corresponds with the [p. 289] teaching of Romans 8. The love of God is shed abroad in the heart in chapter 5, but when we come to chapter 8 of that epistle, we find the love of Christ as having become known in the writer’s heart. And then God’s love in Christ. This prepares the way for Colossians.
PSP Verses 2 and 3 of this chapter in Joshua suppose that we have seen Christ in resurrection in order that we may move out to Him.
JT Yes. Peter said he would lay down his life for the Lord, as did the others also. But the Lord had said, “I have a baptism to be baptised with, and how am I straitened until it be accomplished”, Luke 12:50. He also said, “Are ye able to be baptised with the baptism that I am baptised with?” Mark 10:38 And they said, “We are able”. Well, that was a very bold saying; but before they could have any part in it He had to go through death first. So we have to see Him out of it in order to follow.
TMG The Lord said to Peter, “Thou canst not follow me now, but thou shalt follow me afterwards”, John 13:36.
JT And he did. You will discover that the waters of Jordan go back really as you draw near; and when you do come to it there is no water in Jordan. The testimony of the Holy Spirit is that the waters were cut off by the city Adam, “and those that flowed down towards the sea of the plain ... were completely cut off”. The nearer you approach to Jordan the more you find that to be the case.
EH There is force in the term “Ark of the covenant” in this chapter. It is love that attracts.
JT In Colossians it is not simply that I follow; following is not enough, it is discipleship; but love wants companionship. Hence you have baptism brought in as a figure in Colossians, as in Romans only in Colossians we have it put in this way “Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of [p. 290] God, who hath raised him from the dead”, Colossians 2:12. You want to be even buried with Him. We are buried with Him, risen with Him, quickened together with Him. ‘With’ is a key word here, and I think the word ‘together’ means that all the saints are included. Love would not have it otherwise.
EM Why does the apostle, in his epistle to the Colossians, speak of the great conflict he had for them?
JT Because of the great opposition. We can well understand that the enemy would endeavour to prevent the saints maintaining the truth which involves going over Jordan. The mystery in Colossians is Christ in us, the hope of glory. The body is here. In the mystery are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Satan is combating that, he would infer that I need something more than that. Whereas I do not need anything more. I am complete in Christ.
JM And is it not there that the sphere of life is opened up? You were referring to the saints being quickened together with Him; they are made to live in the love of God.
JT And so in Colossians the hindrances are dealt with. The death of Christ is one act, everything happened then; but it is now a question of our apprehension, and so he speaks of ordinances as being against us; the enemy would use them to hinder us from entering into God’s purpose for us; the apostle says He took them out of the way, nailing them to His cross. He spoiled principalities and powers, and made a public show of them. All was to the end that everything might be cleared away, for the Christian to be in correspondence with Christ in heaven.
JM The enemy still seeks to engage the mind with something that was of God in a past dispensation.
JT Yes, he will employ anything; it may be something past, or something we greatly esteem, or man’s mind, or ability, or learning, or ceremonialism, to prevent the saints entering on their heavenly portion in Christ.
EM In Colossians the apostle exhorts that their hearts might be knit together in love; you would bring that forward as a condition?
JT It is a condition. Those things he mentions in verse 2 of chapter 2 lie at the root of our apprehension of the mystery. It is a collective thought, and all that we are dealing with is collective. Ephesians develops it further. The words “quickened together” show that the saints are with you. You have them in your heart. Indeed the one reference to the Holy Spirit in that epistle tells us that the love of the Colossians was “love in the Spirit”, meaning that their love was pure. It was in the Spirit. They were not diverted by special links. Even brotherly love might divert you; so you are to add to that love, love, because love in the Spirit is pure, as it is in God. The Colossians had love for all the saints, they were not circumscribed. One is thus able to take account of the brethren apart from any incongruities; you love them like God. A brother’s love would perhaps develop in connection with persons who were congenial; whereas love in the Spirit takes account of all, and it helps you in the house of God. It preserves from special friendships, which usually end in mischief.
Rem Believers who are marked by love in the Spirit indicate that they are ready for further movement.
JT Yes. I think it leads on to the Father. Ephesians is the terminus of all the movements of the Spirit. So, in opening up that epistle the apostle goes back to the love of God before the world was. It supposes a remarkable state in the saints — that they are so free now that he can take them back to that. He speaks about God having marked us out [p. 292] beforehand for adoption through Jesus Christ to Himself; having blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in Christ; according as He has chosen us in Him before the world’s foundation, that we should be holy and blameless before Him in love, Ephesians 1:4.
RB You refer now to what is eternal?
JT Yes. No finite being can take in the full meaning of “eternal”. Indeed there is no word to convey what it is, because the thing is beyond human power to express. Even physical creation is beyond us. So that God considerately employs such expressions as, “before the foundation of the world”, John 17:24. But the Spirit’s power opens that door, so that we may enter in. As there we are outside the sphere of natural things.
RB It is striking what you have pointed out — he took them back to the love of God before the world was.
JT We know the One that will be in eternity, that is to say, the Ark has come out, and we have come to know Him. In the wilderness you come to know Christ, who is presented in the Ark. I do not know how I could take account of eternity otherwise. He is One who came so near, to make His love known. He loves you personally, He knows you by your name — that is the One who is the centre of eternity. The saints are quickened together with Him. It is beautifully expressed there; that is, I do not want to go up without you. So we are quickened together in Colossians; in Ephesians we are raised up together and made to sit down together in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus. God would not have it otherwise. Love will be the essence of eternity. Love abides.
I think that next to the encampment before the mount of Jehovah, the encampment at Gilgal was the greatest, because it is the threshold of eternity. The other signifies our wilderness portion, as having come out of the world; but this is going into God’s world.
[p. 293] The whole of the book of Deuteronomy is, I should say, educational. It was written in the last year of Moses’ lifetime. He was now leading Israel out of the wilderness. It is as if he said: ‘I have led you up to this point; I am not going in with you, but I want you to go in, in a suitable manner, in suitable attire, to be with God in His land’.
God had said to Moses that he had to die; and Moses was exercised as to who would lead the people, and so he asks that a man might be set over the people who would lead them out and in; he says, “Let the Lord the God of the spirits of all flesh set a man over the congregation”, Numbers 27:16. He did not attempt to nominate a man, although he was in a position to do it. That was too great a matter for him. And Jehovah says, “Take thee Joshua ... a man in whom is the Spirit”, Numbers 27: 18 This would be entirely in accord with Moses’ wish. The man who had been selected for this great position had the Spirit.
RB It is remarkable that he speaks of “the God of the spirits of all flesh”.
JT I think it is very suggestive; it shows that entering into Canaan is a spiritual matter.
RWG You referred to Israel being suitably attired; that must be the case if there is to be companionship with Christ.
JT It must be so. “The King’s daughter is all glorious within, her clothing is of wrought gold”, Psalm 45:13. Colossians, as we have seen, is on this line. I think that the encampment at Gilgal is all a question of preparation for the new position. You learn circumcision there as in no other way; the putting off the body of the flesh in the circumcision of Christ. The reproach of Egypt is rolled away.
PSP Does not the Lord bring this forward continually in connection with His Supper? He would remind us of the way He has gone, that we [p. 294] may follow in that way; and it is all in view of our entering into our spiritual privileges.
JT It is wholly a spiritual matter. How few of us know what it is to be in an entirely new sphere, where all things are of God!
JM I suppose these things are learned in contemplating Christ in these various aspects. We know His love, and we carry Him in our affections, and so when we come together He would give us a further apprehension of Himself and of the place into which He has gone.