FOOD FOR CROSSING THE JORDAN
[p. 90] FOOD FOR CROSSING THE JORDAN
FL What was the thought in preparing victuals when, as yet, they were eating manna?
JT I suppose the intelligence of the people is contemplated. It is left to themselves as to what they should prepare. It is victuals. “Command the people, saying, Prepare yourselves victuals, for in three days ye shall pass over this Jordan”.
AFM Do you think there is any particular emphasis laid on the word ‘victuals’?
JT Well, I suppose it has in view the strain that the crossing of the Jordan suggests, and the consequent need of food for sustenance.
AFM I think the word refers to what is obtained through hunting, like venison. It is rather strong meat, would you not say?
JT Very good.
WGT There was need for change of food here; is that the thought?
JT Well, obviously, something additional to the manna was needed. In the introduction of the manna, there was the idea of preparation: “Cook what ye will cook”, (Exodus 16:23). It was left to them on the sixth day to cook and prepare, as if a certain liberty is allowed under such circumstances, which God, I think, would always accord to us. While He would assert His will amongst us from the outset of our relations with Himself, He would indicate liberty — for we are not in bondage but are “set free in freedom”, (Galatians 5:1).
ANW Would there be anything in the epistle to the Colossians that would help us? Is this not coming very near to the line in [p. 91] Colossians?
JT Colossians is the section of the New Testament that corresponds exactly. The significance of the teaching of Colossians is entering, not having entered, but the process of entering; for this certainly is a feature of the process of entering the land, and the food here would point to strong meat.
AFM Would that be Colossians 1, where the greatness of the Person of Christ is brought before us for contemplation?
JT Exactly. Colossians is certainly strong meat. It is not milk. The apostle could not bring forward the same strength of meat in his ministry to the Corinthians as he did in his letter to the Colossians; so that, undoubtedly, his letter to the Colossians would help us as to the significance of these victuals here, because it is a question of going over.
TA Up to this point the manna was sufficient.
JT It was. We have the three prominent foods brought together in chapter 5 — the passover, the manna, and the old corn. They were brought together there, but this is additional; therefore we are left to ourselves as to facing this great exercise of crossing the Jordan, as to whether we have sustenance. Light will not suffice; mere knowledge will not suffice; we need more than these to cross the Jordan.
FL Would you illustrate what you mean by “freedom”? You said it indicates that there is a certain liberty.
JT In Exodus 16, where the manna is introduced, we have specific directions as to it; but then, on the sixth day, the day before the sabbath, they were to cook what they would cook and prepare what they would prepare; that is, it was left to themselves.
FL How would you apply that now?
JT I think it is a liberty that belongs to us as in the knowledge of God. He has no pleasure in [p. 92] legal or slavish fear; perfect love casts that out. I think it would impart to us the thought that He would have us in liberty with Himself from the outset. The book of Acts is largely a question of what the disciples did; not what they were told to do; that is to say, God allowed them the liberty that belongs to the children of wisdom.
FL Would not that liberty be accorded because of the presence of the Holy Spirit?
JT Just so, and because of a certain formation which I think is ever present where the Holy Spirit is (i.e., under normal circumstances). God has called us to liberty.
HSD Would you say that this food has conflict in view?
JT Well, it has, but the point here is not exactly the conflict but the passage of the Jordan: “In three days ye shall pass over this Jordan”.
HSD It was the officers who said that, the military men.
JT Well, they were going on to conflict, but it is the passage of the Jordan that is before them.
WB-w It is a question of strength in going over. In Colossians 1:11 it is, “Strengthened with all power according to the might of his glory unto all endurance and longsuffering with joy”.
JT That is what I was thinking. It implies a renouncing of all fleshly feelings, hopes, and desires; and we have to be strong constitutionally to renounce the fondest hopes we might have, so as to enter into our heavenly part. Death is in the way; the Jordan is at its height and makes demands on our courage. That is the thought here.
AP Does it imply the seeing of the ark; chapter 3? After that it says, “And go after it”, (verse 3), which implies faith, does it not?
JT Yes; and then the actual entrance into Jordan itself, because it was not until the feet of [p. 93] the priests who bore the ark touched them that the waters went back. The waters are all there in view, as it were; so it requires courage, and that calls for a strong constitution. For this undertaking you cannot be a spiritual weakling as the man in Romans 14. Such a man cannot go over Jordan, he has to acquire strength; but he is received among the brethren, although a weak brother.
BTF Would you say that the Lord makes it easier for the believer to cross Jordan now?
JT The point in these chapters is not to show that it is easy. It is an extraordinary transaction — “For ye have not passed this way heretofore”, (Joshua 3:4). It is a Colossian saint who is fit for this.
AJD What aspect of death does the Jordan represent?
JT Well it is the end of life after the flesh, the end of all that attaches to us in flesh and blood condition. It is death in the hands of the enemy; but we have to apprehend that Christ has been into it and has annulled death.
AR It says in Psalm 114:3 that “the sea saw it and fled, the Jordan turned back”. I suppose it is that idea.
AFM We have mentioned here, “For in three days ye shall pass over this Jordan”. The food would afford the means of developing a spiritual constitution in view of passing over. Is that the thought of the three days?
JT I think the three days would indicate that thought — the idea of preparation. It is “this Jordan”; that is to say, the Jordan God had brought them up to, for Jordan was then overflowing its banks.
AP We are liable to attempt to go over in our minds, so that the thought in the victuals is that they develop the spiritual constitution to enable us to go over.
JT That is right. You go over as a man should [p. 94] go; you are not a weakling. It implies that you are able to renounce all fleshly hopes and aspirations — to “have your mind on the things that are above, not on the things that are on the earth”, (Colossians 3:2). God has another world, another place for you!
CAM In Romans 6:6 it says, “Our old man has been crucified with him”; this crossing of death would be beyond the first man, the man of flesh and blood.
JT It is the end of flesh and blood condition and that is a feature that has to be noticed because it requires moral strength in the soul, for the renouncing of all those things that one has lived on naturally, and to face the thing that Satan has wielded over man. He had the power of death; in fact, in Hebrews 2:14 it says he has it still: “That through death he might annul him who has the might of death”; that is in the present tense, so that it makes it a very solemn matter — that we have to do with the thing that Satan has to say to. And then the question is, whether I apprehend Christ as having overcome, as having annulled “him who has the might of death”, and as having annulled death itself.
FL I was wondering whether the three days being a well-known set period of time, would indicate that a weak brother would be built up constitutionally — that such a brother would not be left behind, but that there would be time in which he could be formed and prepared.
JT Well, he certainly would have an opportunity, but I think we have to see that the crossing of the Jordan is a spiritual matter. It is a much deeper matter than the passage of the Red Sea. It is wholly a spiritual matter and involves a renouncing of all that one may be in the flesh.
AP The victuals here suggest that we feed on some aspect of the death of [p. 95] Christ.
JT I think they do. The food would be Christ in some sense.
AJD Is the question of eternal life in view in this chapter in connection with food?
JT Yes. That is in the land.
CAM “But solid food belongs to full-grown men, who, on account of habit, have their senses exercised for distinguishing both good and evil”, (Hebrews 5:14). Here the people have grown up spiritually.
JT That helps as to this word ‘victuals’. God indicates that you ought to know by this time what is needed.
ARS Is there anything similar in the account of Elijah’s going to Horeb? Victuals were prepared for him, and he was told to eat because the journey would be very long.
JT That would point to a low state of soul; he was fleeing the land of Canaan in which he was called to service. Under such circumstances God has to do the preparing, but here they are preparing to enter the land and a normal condition is contemplated. Each went over in his own strength: the twelve men (representative of all) each took a stone and carrying it over set it down at Gilgal; that required strength.
ARS A remark was made as to “victuals” being the result of hunting. They had been eating “angels’ food” before. There is a difference.
JT They did not have to hunt for the manna. It was on the face of the wilderness. Here the suggestion would be of strong meat. We are to roast what we get in hunting. Hunting is for something of which you have actual need, not for sport as is naturally done.
WB-w Do you get this in connection with the Lord’s supper?
JT The Lord’s supper involves food, and whilst it does not go so far as this, it leads towards it.
[p. 96] What is to be noticed in chapter 5 is that they have the passover at Gilgal and the heavenly food the following day; that is actually in the land. In the passover; which would be a sort of remembrance, a link is maintained with Egypt and the wilderness, but the heavenly food does not come in until after that, the next day; but “victuals” here is neither the one nor the other; it is not the manna, the passover, nor the heavenly food. It is not specified; it is therefore something that you have to acquire yourself.
TA Do you get the heavenly food in John 20:17: “Touch me not, for I have not yet ascended to my Father”?
JT That implies the “old corn”. We want to get the idea of the “victuals” here.
JEH I wondered whether the quality of the food not being specified would in any way suggest the tremendous exercise that this would involve us in, so that we might be prepared for all that lies before us.
JT I think it suggests just that. The Jordan had been before them all the time. It had long been spoken of, you may depend, and it was a question of being ready for it. It is literally, death. It is to teach us to number our days. “So teach us to number our, days, that we may acquire a wise heart”, (Psalm 90:12). It is a very important thing to be ready for death in a literal sense; we ought not to be taken by surprise. So with regard to the spiritual feature of entering the land when we come to it, we ought to be ready for that. It is a spiritual matter and we require spiritual strength for it.
BTF They had been told that it was a land flowing with milk and honey. Do you think that referred to the food that would be required?
JT I do not think so. That is Messiah’s food, milk and honey. “Butter and honey shall he eat” (Isaiah. 7:15) — a remarkable kind of food that does [p. 97] not require death in the creatures that supply it; but all food of animal sacrifices requires death.
FL The disciples had been warned again and again that death was what the Lord was going on to, but they were utterly unprepared for it.
JT They had opportunity of following the Ark as the Lord entered on the way to go to Jerusalem. They were amazed as they followed although He had not only told them that He would suffer death, but had taught them as to it, which is a stronger thing.
AP He began to show them that He must suffer; see Matthew 16:21.
JT Exactly. So that they ought to have been ready, but when they came to Gethsemane and the cross they were not ready. It is a good thing for all of us, but especially for those who are older, to be ready for dissolution. The article of death is a very real thing. I think the very experience and exercise of being prepared for death helps us to enter into Canaan in a spiritual way now; because we thus learn how to give up all that attaches to us in flesh and blood condition.
BTF Would the sweetness of the heavenly portion that lies before us be an encouragement in going over the Jordan?
JT “Seek the things which are above, where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God: have your mind on the things that are above, not on the things that are on the earth; for ye have died; and your life is hid with the Christ in God”, (Colossians 3:1 - 3). That certainly is an inducement. Nevertheless this food is a very important thing, no matter how much light and hope we have we need this food.
AP Tell us about the strength necessary to take the stones over the Jordan. How would this connect with the New Testament?
JT I think the mind is directed to Colossians. Romans would lay the basis for this — there it speaks of persons who “are led by the Spirit of God”, not only led by the Ark: “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God”, (Romans 8:14). Romans 8 contemplates the land, and Moses looking in. He sees the whole scene; “that goodly mountain, and Lebanon”. The light of it was in the camp of Israel, and, in principle, was for all.
JS Typically, Moses would view the children of Israel going through the Jordan in the Spirit, not in the flesh.
JT That is the idea. It began when they, typically, recognised the Spirit (Numbers 21); that is the beginning of this movement. They came to Shittim, the place of acacia wood, which, I think, suggests the strength acquired in wilderness experience. They were attacked there, and failed, but that only proves how little they had gained. God answered Balak, through Balaam, “from Shittim unto Gilgal”, (Micah. 6:5). This is said to allude to “the righteousness of Jehovah”, and no doubt points to the power of God seen in the passage of the Jordan.
JS How do you view Joshua at this juncture?
JT Typically he is Christ as the spiritual Leader of the saints, and that goes back to Exodus 17, where the Holy Spirit is first typically seen. Christ is seen in Joshua as leading in conflict.
WGT As we get in Colossians 1, Christ as Head?
JT It is military — seen fully in Ephesians.
JS Would you view this collectively — they went through as a company?
JT It is Colossians 2:12,13. The lodging place here (chapter 3:1) is important; it is not in the land, but is used when entering the land. The lodging place is not finality.
These “victuals” are needed so that we might have strength to renounce all that attaches to us in the flesh, for the sake of entering into the promised land, the place of God’s love.
AL [p. 99] Was it not the fact of the ark having gone into the Jordan that gave them strength?
JT They had to follow two thousand cubits behind; and the ark stood in the midst of the Jordan, and a man from each tribe took a stone and carried it over. I am free and able to use my strength. I am not overcome by the thought of death all around me but I see that it is abolished. It is a question of life in unity. The believer is seen here as quickened with Christ.
CAM If a man in the face of actual dissolution is able to say that he has followed the Ark of the Covenant into the land of promise, he is a spiritual man.
JT It would be characteristic, because the ark had been moving before on this principle. Every time the camp moved, the ark went before them, and the people had thus the opportunity to learn how to follow the ark and to know its power. There was the testimony of the scattering of the enemies; (Numbers 10:35). If I am accustomed to that, I am characteristically a follower of the Ark, and when I come to this spiritual crisis I am ready for it.
AFM There is our side as having the victuals, but does not the priesthood of Christ enter into it?
JT I am sure it does. Hebrews helps us as to that. “For such a high priest became us, holy, harmless, undefiled, separated from sinners, and become higher than the heavens”, (Hebrews 7:26). He saves us to the uttermost, and that involves the land. We get His support all the way. But then we are occupied with the food that belongs to this particular juncture of our spiritual history. As to the land, we begin with Romans 8. Romans 14 shows us a weakling, but we do not want to be weaklings. Provision is made for them, but if all in the assembly are weaklings how is the testimony to be supported?
[p. 100] Rem We are told to be strong and of good courage.
JT Quite so. The idea of a weakling is banished from the mind in this chapter. What would he do in the presence of the enemy? “How wilt thou then do in the swelling of the Jordan?” (Jeremiah 12:5).
WGT Would you bring Rahab in here on the side of strength?
JT She represents an element of the work of God that enters into all this, although already in the land. She is the link next after Egypt in Hebrews 11:29,31. “By faith they passed through the Red Sea as through dry land; of which the Egyptians having made trial were swallowed up”. “By faith Rahab the harlot did not perish along with the unbelieving, having received the spies in peace”. She shows in what she says to the spies, that she is true to the work of God; also she has flax, and is moving on new principles. She sends the spies out another way.
APT Do you think that if the believer crosses Jordan characteristically, say on the first day of the week, he would not fear dissolution?
JT The acceptance of Romans 6 and Colossians 2 prepares one for the assembly, for passing over to the divine side; thus actual death will not be feared.
WB-w Do you think that everyone who partakes of the Supper crosses Jordan?
JT I do not. Everyone in the kingdom does not enter into the land of Canaan immediately. The weakling in Romans 14 is provided for in the kingdom, but he is not fit for the army. Crossing Jordan is a question of spiritual power.
WB-w You acquire spiritual power to cross the Jordan by the kind of food already mentioned.
JT It is a supreme exercise, and I think that is the force of the word ‘victuals’.
WGT You need good [p. 101] visibility.
JT That does enter into it, because the ark was a good distance ahead.
BTF I knew a lady, a believer, who was dying, and the day before she died she said, ‘Only think that tomorrow I will see the Lord Jesus’. Evidently she had eaten the food referred to here. Paul says, “Having the desire for departure and being with Christ, for it is very much better”, (Philippians 1:23).
JT The effect of the food is seen when we reach the article of death. This formidable barrier was between the people and Canaan. How were they to get over? That ought to have been an exercise to every Israelite. Take Caleb: he must have been living on food that made him powerful. He said, “I am still this day strong, as in the day that Moses sent me”, (Joshua 14:11).
FL I think there is nothing more stressed amongst us than the need for the acceptance of death; nevertheless, I think it remains true with a great many that the actuality of the thing has not been faced.
JT I am sure of that. The Lord would impress on us that we should be prepared and know what is needed for this supreme test.
BTF Was it not the mount of Transfiguration that helped Peter when he was about to put off his “tabernacle”?
JT That was evidently much in his mind.
GL Did Mary acquire this courage more than her sister Martha?
JT I suppose she did. I think all the brethren at Bethany were prepared. The Lord came to Bethany six days before the passover, and they were ready for the great occasion.
ANW Mary had His death in mind. The Lord says “Suffer her to have kept this for the day of my preparation for burial”, (John 12:7).
JT I think John 11 furnishes food for us in this [p. 102] respect. In a sense it agrees with Colossians; whereas, John 20 goes on to Ephesians — on to ascension. John 11 furnishes food for the believer in view of taking his place with Christ as in John 12, so that you have to think of all that passed in the Lord’s ways — how deliberate He was! And then as he arrives at Bethany, what thoughts develop! — first with Martha, and then with Mary, and then the actual raising of Lazarus. All that is food, I am sure. The man in John 9 begins the instruction that ends in John 12. He comes into the light of the Son of God whose glory shines in chapter 11.
CAM That is very interesting — their preparation for the passing of the Ark over Jordan.
JT Mary had that before her when she anointed the Lord. He says, “Suffer her to have kept this for the day of my preparation for burial”.
Ques What would you think about Stephen in Acts 7, in connection with going over?
JT He followed the Ark through death. How supremely superior he was to the article of death! The Israelites go over in the unity of life, as seen in type in the twelve stones set down at Gilgal.
AJD The Lord showed Peter that he should put off his tabernacle; he would be prepared through this food.
AR Is the idea in this that we contemplate the Person of Christ in some way; that we discover Him in a way that we have never seen before?
JT Yes; you are impressed with the necessity of the moment. “Prepare yourselves victuals, for in three days ye shall pass over this Jordan”.
WGT What do the officers represent?
JT They represent the order of God; that marks Colossians.
AP-t Why are the three days [p. 103] given?
JT They afford opportunity for preparation. Three indicates time for full exercise; seven is completion.
JS I suppose the “ark of the covenant of Jehovah” would now have such a place in their hearts and minds as to be an object for them to follow right into the land.
JT I think so. It is well to bear in mind what is said in Numbers 10: “The ark of the covenant of Jehovah went before them”. So it is not a new thing in that sense, but they had never crossed the Jordan before. They had “not passed this way heretofore”, (Joshua 3:4).
AFM After Shittim they removed and came to the Jordan, and lodged there before they passed over. Would you refer to that?
JT Well, I think this lodging place is important. You are getting nearer and nearer so that when the actual crossing takes place you are fully prepared for it.
TA Would 2 Corinthians 5:1 come in in that connection? “For we know that if our earthly tabernacle house be destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens”?
JT Just so.
AR It says in Joshua 3:11, “Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth is going over before you into the Jordan”; but in Numbers 10 the ark is not called that. We discover something in Christ here that we have never seen before?
JT I think that is right. You have a clearer view of the Ark. It is “the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth”, and Rahab understood that. Jehovah “is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath”,(Joshua 2:11). That is the general view [p. 104] here.
WB-w There were two lodging places — one before, and one after. Chapter 4:3 says, “Take up hence out of the midst of the Jordan, from the place where the priests’ feet stood firm, twelve stones, and carry them over with you, and lay them down in the lodging-place where ye shall lodge this night”. That is different from the lodging place in chapter 3.
JT Yes; it is on the other bank of the river. Chapter 3:1 is: “And they removed from Shittim, and came to the Jordan, he and all the children of Israel, and lodged there before they passed over”. That is the first lodging place. A lodging place is not finality, but is a comfort in the deep exercise and pressure spiritually as we enter into this position. After the passage of the Jordan they were to have another one, which was Gilgal. The second lodging place is reached before they actually go up to the land, so that Colossians, properly, is entering. These two lodging places cover the position. The stones were to be set up in the second lodging place.
WB-w The second lodging place is resurrection — “raised with Christ”, (Colossians 3:1).
JT Yes; we are set down in unity of life — the unity of life as out of death; we are quickened together with Christ.
WB-w In the second, you have the whole extent of the land before you.
JT We are set down in the unity of life as seen in the twelve stones in the second lodging place, and we are to give an account of these twelve stones; the children will ask later, “What mean ye by these stones”, (chapter 4:6).
AP What would the carrying up of the stones represent?
JT The stones represent all the saints as in this new [p. 105] position.
AP Does it go as far as Ephesians 3:20: “According to the power which works in us”?
JT Well, it is the same power, only Ephesians 2:6 is: “Has raised us up together, and has made us sit down”, which is beyond this second lodging place; in Colossians 2:13 we are “quickened together with him”. It does not go beyond that — that we are set up in unity of life, before entering into the full heavenly position.
FL What is the import of the twelve stones being set up in the midst of the Jordan?
JT That is the act of Joshua. It is to remind us that Christ has been in death, and that we have been in death with Him and have come out.
FL We look into Jordan and see that Christ has been there and that He has brought us out of it.
JT Yes; He keeps that before us. “He showed to them his hands and his side”, (John 20:20). He had been into death, and they had come out with Him.
AR Is that the idea of the encampment on the other side of Jordan? Would it lead to the contemplation of the fact that there is a new man before you — another kind of man?
JT Yes; and you are in another world — quickened with Christ. We are quickened together in holy affections. It is unity of life.
WB-w How do you fit in the three days in chapter 3 with the three days in chapter 1?
JT Well, that is another thing. The officers went through the camp, in this instance, and commanded the people: “When ye see the ark of the covenant of Jehovah your God, and the priests the Levites bearing it, then remove from your place, and go after it; yet there shall be a distance between you and it?” (chapter 3:3,4). This is the second three days in relation to the ark, and it is a question of clearness of vision; but with the first three days it is [p. 106] a question of the strength you are acquiring by victuals. Chapter 5:10 - 12 is the termination of this phase of food. “And the children of Israel encamped in Gilgal, and held the passover on the fourteenth day of the month, at even, in the plains of Jericho. And they ate of the old corn of the land on the morrow after the passover, unleavened loaves, and roasted corn on that same day. And the manna ceased on the morrow, when they had eaten of the old corn of the land; and there was no more manna for the children of Israel; and they ate of the produce of the land of Canaan that year”. Now we are fully in the land.
APT In chapter 3:16 it says, “And the people went over opposite to Jericho”. What would you say about that?
JT Jericho, I suppose, would be the stronghold of the enemy. They were not afraid, but went over in full vigour and courage.
TA What about the “old corn of the land”?
JT Well, now we come to the climax of food — you cannot get beyond the old corn. It is our final portion. It is Christ as He is in heaven, and that is something that is very little known. “He was transfigured before them” (Matthew 17:2) points to a change in Christ — what He is up there.
AL Why is it “old corn of the land”?
JT It is the ‘store-corn’ (footnote to chapter 5:11); there was plenty, so that they did not need to wait for the new crop.
AFM Should we start with the fact that this is a circumcised people, and that Gilgal was named after their circumcision?
JT Yes; it is of moment to understand the whole setting. The passover here is a memorial. Of course, it is the same passover, but we must bear in mind the stipulations in Deuteronomy in considering the passover as seen here; that is to say we have to [p. 107] regard the difference between roasting and cooking. Cooking is more general, and in Deuteronomy 16, which gives you instructions for the passover in view of the land, the word is ‘cook’. The idea of judgment is not so pronounced as it was in Egypt. This is preparatory to the eating of the old corn of the land, heavenly food. There is self-judgment here and the rolling away of the reproach of Egypt. Now you are free to enjoy Christ as He is in heaven. He is not a suffering Christ now. The passover is a suffering Christ; the manna is Christ here in adversity; but the old corn is Christ where He is in His own sphere.
AP This is the only place where the old corn of the land is formally referred to.
JS The passover and the manna are a means to an end.
JT They are provisional food. The old corn points to our eternal portion.
AFM Would you find old corn of the land in John 6:57, as well as in John 20? “He also who eats me shall live also on account of me”.
JT Yes; it contemplates His ascending to where He was before.
AJD Why do you say that very few understand what the old corn of the land is?
JT Few understand Christ where He is and as He is now The corn of the land is indigenous. “And such as the heavenly one, such also the heavenly ones” (1 Corinthians 15:48), corresponds with this.
WGT “So that we henceforth know no one according to flesh; but if even we have known Christ according to flesh, yet now we know him thus no longer”, (2 Corinthians 5:16).
JT Exactly; Christ as He is now. This is our eternal portion, but we can enter upon it now in the power of [p. 108] the Spirit.
AAT Do we feed upon this food individually or collectively?
JT It is collective. I think that entering into the heavenly place is collective. No one ever goes there by himself. You may say that Elijah went there, but such instances are simply a question of God’s sovereign prerogatives — what He does; but Ephesians 2:6 is that “God has raised us up together, and has made us sit down together in the heavenlies”; that is, with one another. And therefore the importance of the second lodging place here, because it is where we enjoy the unity of life. It is the living side of things enjoyed amongst us as risen with Christ on the principle of faith. The more you get on in your soul, the more you feel you cannot do without the brethren. You would not wish to be in heaven without the brethren. This is in view in Colossians and Ephesians; the unity of life is there. You do not want to go without them.
FL What we get in Joshua 5 could never be understood individually.
CAM Mary took the message to others.
JT Yes: “Go to my brethren and say to them” (John 20:17) — that is the idea. He will have brethren there.
APT Is that seen on the mount of Transfiguration?
JT Well, He took three up with Him. I think the mount of Transfiguration enters into this matter of the old corn. Transfiguration is metamorphosis It points to what Christ is in heaven. In Him it is the result of what He is inherently. The word is applied to ourselves in 2 Corinthians 3:18: “But we all, looking on the glory of the Lord with unveiled face, are transformed according to the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Lord the Spirit”. It is a complete change of condition.