MAN (13)
MAN (13)
JT It is well that the brethren should have in mind the order of Scripture, and that Joshua comes in after the Pentateuch; that is to say the books of Moses. Moses may be regarded as representing official ministry. He is the first great minister appointed of Jehovah. Of course we have Adam and others earlier, and things are dated from Adam, but Moses has the place of official minister. The Lord, when He arose from the dead, began from Moses and from all the prophets and interpreted in all the Scriptures unto his disciples “the things concerning himself”, Luke 24:27. So that we have a wide field opened up to us at this time. We have been occupied with the subject of ‘Man’ in these monthly readings, and we thought that the subject should be continued during the year before us. Joshua should fit in nicely to help us as to the general position in the order in which Scripture is written and in which it comes before us. As it is stated, “Every scripture is divinely inspired, and profitable for teaching, for conviction, for correction, for instruction in righteousness; that the man of God may be complete, fully fitted to every good work”, 2 Timothy 3:16. It is the time for men of God to be perfected.
With these remarks we might look at the chapter read because Joshua is peculiarly fitted to follow on Moses; it is a question of the replacement of Moses, a continuation of Moses’ ministry. But at the same time Joshua has a ministry distinct to himself and a distinct commission, as we shall see in the verses read; that is, he is directly commissioned of God. It is not simply that he is selected to take Moses’ place, he is directly commissioned of God to take it; so that it says, “And it came to pass after the death of Moses the servant of Jehovah, that Jehovah spoke to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ attendant, saying, Moses my servant is dead; and now, rise up, go over this Jordan, thou and all this people, into the land which I give unto them, to the children of Israel. Every place whereon the sole of your foot shall tread have I given to you, as I said unto Moses. From the wilderness and this Lebanon to the great river, the river Euphrates, the whole land of the Hittites, to the great sea, toward the going down of the sun, shall be your border. None shall be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so will I be with thee; I will not leave thee, neither will I forsake thee. Be strong and courageous, for thou shalt cause this people to inherit the land which I have sworn unto their fathers to give them. Only be strong and very courageous, that thou mayest take heed to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded thee. Turn not from it to the right or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest. This book of the law shall not depart from thy mouth; and thou shalt meditate upon it day and night, that thou mayest take heed to do according to all that is written therein; for then shalt thou have good success in thy ways, and then shalt thou prosper. Have I not commanded thee: Be strong and courageous? Be not afraid, neither be dismayed; for Jehovah thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest”.
[p. 224] I thought it would be well to read this whole passage because it conveys the commission that Joshua received as taking the place of Moses. It really implies the idea of official ministry, an idea that has come down to us from Moses; taken up in the New Testament, of course, by the Lord Himself, but particularly taken up by Paul as under the Lord Jesus and by His guidance. So that we may take up Joshua as being Moses’ [p. 225] attendant and the successor to Moses, having an appointment directly from God Himself; thus, in that sense, we could not have anything greater or higher in appointment for service than we have here in Joshua.
FHL Does he stand out as a type of Christ in a special way due to the meaning of his name?
JT Well, the name ‘Joshua’ means ‘Jesus’, the Greek reads that way, but the name in itself is hardly a type and I think would not afford much. Jesus is the Beginner of things, He is not the continuation of anything; He is the beginning of things. The name given to Jesus as born of Mary was official as we might say; “He shall save his people from their sins”, it says in Matthew 1:21.
AR Would official ministry be seen in Matthew 5 where it says that the Lord went up to the mountain and sat down and His disciples came to Him, and having opened His mouth He taught them? Would that suggest official ministry as stressing the authority of the Lord Jesus? He says, “I say unto you”.
JT His authority is seen there, but then Matthew is not the beginning of the ministry. Morally John is the beginning of the apostolic ministry. Morally John is the greatest because he presents the Person of Christ; he says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God”, John 1:1. That is the idea of the beginning of ministry; all is flowing out from God Himself, God in Christ.
CAM Do you not think that Moses’ prayer in Numbers 27 is noteworthy? He asked Jehovah, the God of the spirits of all flesh, to set a man over the assembly; and then Jehovah says, “Take Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the Spirit”, Numbers 27:18.
JT Yes; that is what I thought ought to commend the whole passage to us at this time. He is a man who had the Spirit, and the way the Spirit has [p. 226] been brought before us of late is of supreme importance. Therefore Joshua is a fitting one to come into our reading because he is a man who had the Spirit; it says, “A man in whom is the Spirit”.
ANW Almost the closing words of Deuteronomy say, “And Joshua the son of Nun was filled with the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands upon him; and the children of Israel hearkened unto him, and did as Jehovah had commanded Moses”, Deuteronomy 34:9.
JT That fits in very well and reminds us of apostolic service in the New Testament, because that is exactly what Paul did; he laid his hands on certain persons, such as Timothy. The laying on of hands is committal, apostolic committal in the case of the apostles.
VCL Does the fact that he is called Moses’ attendant suggest that he was a disciplined man and hence usable for a commission?
JT He was a disciplined man in that he had been under orders; he was an attendant on Moses, the first great official minister of the truth.
AH Would Exodus 17 indicate Joshua’s qualities in that regard? It is not said that Moses broke the power of Amalek, but that Joshua did it. He did it after the type of the incoming of the Spirit in that chapter.
JT Quite so; he was commissioned by Moses to do that. But then he has a peculiar place in that he is Moses’ attendant, and then Moses’ successor, so that he has a peculiar right to attention at this time.
CFE It is also said of him in Exodus 33 that he departed not from within the tent.
JT It is a very good commendation for any brother that he attends the meetings. A good many of us are here tonight, but there are not always so [p. 227] many.
EAL When you read the first paragraph of our chapter you seemed to put strong emphasis on the fact that “strong and courageous” is mentioned there three times. The chapter finishes up with the people telling Joshua to be strong and courageous.
JT Courage is a quality, and that, of course, is what is stressed in Joshua’s case, that he needed the quality of courage. He had a big matter on hand, he needed to be strong and very courageous. And we should notice that the two and a half tribes took the place of obedience at once, they did what Joshua told them to do.
ABP You spoke of official ministry. We have come to see the need for what is called ‘authoritative ministry’ in our day, Is there any difference in your mind?
JT Well, the word ‘official’ means that the person is in the place of office. Office is a place assigned to a certain person to do something, and Joshua is put into office instead of Moses who had the office. But Jehovah said, He is dead. That is a good reason why somebody else should take his place. If one of our number dies then that is the end of his service down here.
ABP At the present time would you say the Lord’s speaking in the assembly is official ministry or rather that there is authoritative ministry?
JT Both are right; official ministry would be authoritative ministry. The official is appointed by someone above him; headship is above, as we get in 1 Corinthians 11, “The head of every man is Christ ... and the head of Christ is God”, 1 Corinthians 11:3. The head of Christ is God, that is where authority lies. It is a question of what God does.
AP Would the gifts of Ephesians 4 fit in here? “And he has given some apostles, and some prophets, and some evangelists, and some shepherds and teachers, for the perfecting of the saints; with a view to the work of the ministry, with a view to the edifying of the body of Christ”, Ephesians 4:11,12.
JT Note that it is “with a view to the edifying of the body of Christ”. That is the point in ministry.
Ques In Acts 17 it says that Paul reasoned with them from the Scriptures, “opening and laying down that the Christ must have suffered and risen up from among the dead”, Acts 17:3. Is that authoritative ministry?
JT Just so; “laying down” would suggest authority.
Ques If a gifted brother dies, does the assembly lose his gift?
JT Well, take a man like Moses; the saints lost a great deal when Moses died. Is that what you mean?
Ques What I am really inquiring is as to the gifts given by Christ to the assembly; they are here under the Spirit’s control, are they not? If a gifted brother goes to be with the Lord, is his gift still here, and may the Holy Spirit develop that gift in someone else?
JT I do not know, that remains with God; the man himself remains with God, if he dies he goes to be with the Lord. The Lord said to the malefactor, “Today shalt thou be with me in paradise”, Luke 23:43. Well, what became of the position then? If a man has a gift and he dies, that gift reverts back to God; you cannot say that that gift is given to somebody else, but just that it may be. I think Joshua was well fitted to replace Moses; Jehovah had ordered that. But at the same time Moses was distinctive, and the Lord made it clear that he is distinctive; there is nobody like him.
EAL Verse 7 of our chapter says, “Only be strong and very courageous, that thou mayest take heed to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded thee”. That shows that no one could literally replace [p. 229] Moses.
JT What Moses had commanded was a question of the law, and that remains right down the ages.
RWS Does Timothy correspond in the New Testament?
JT Well, what we have said as to Moses may be said also of Paul. No one could take his place.
RWS Paul begged Timothy to stay at Ephesus; this was to do what was needed, Paul being absent. But this does not imply that Timothy had Paul’s gift.
JT He appointed him to remain at Ephesus, according to 1 Timothy 1:3: “Even as I begged thee to remain in Ephesus, when I was going to Macedonia, that thou mightest enjoin some not to teach other doctrines, nor to turn their minds to fables and interminable genealogies, which bring questionings rather than further God’s dispensation, which is in faith”, 1 Timothy 1:3,4. I would think therefore that he was appointed officially, to carry on the service; he was fitted to do it; Paul laid his hands on him, that is to say he passed on, in some sense, his gift; not that he constituted timothy an apostle, but at the same time he had laid his hands on him; and thus enjoined him what to do at Ephesus.
RWS And he did not have the spirit of cowardice.
EEH What about the spirit of Elijah resting upon Elisha? Is there anything corresponding to that today?
JT I was thinking about that, “The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha”, 2 Kings 2:15. Elisha is a very good example of what we are saying; Elijah and Elisha were two men working together, that is really what is in mind. So it is that Paul and Barnabas worked together, and then Paul and Timothy worked together. It may be that now there are some two or more working together in the Lord’s service; it is a great matter to be working [p. 230] together in unity.
ABP David and Solomon sat on the throne together.
WWM It says in Acts 13 that when Paul and Barnabas were sent out by the Holy Spirit they had John Mark as their attendant; but he failed for the moment; instead of taking on things as Joshua did he missed it for a time.
JT Just so, he was their attendant; it is a way with God that there should be persons who attend upon those who are leading in ministry, that there should be persons to support them.
FHL Moses himself in Deuteronomy 31 is in line with the mind of God, is he not, in committing this same mission to Joshua? He says, “Be strong and courageous, for thou must go with this people into the land”, Deuteronomy 31:7. And in Joshua 1: 6 God says “Thou shalt cause this people to inherit the land”, Joshua 1:6.
JT What we have said already about Joshua having the Spirit is a prime matter. It says, “... a man in whom is the Spirit”; and that is the great thing at the present time, the fact that certain persons have the Spirit. If they have gift at the same time; they are all the more valuable if they have gift as well as having the Spirit. Of course, the gift that is there will lie in the Spirit. I believe the gifts all came down with the Spirit and hence they are here throughout the dispensation.
FNW Is the way Paul speaks of himself in Philippians warrant for us to pray that the Lord may extend the life of a servant amongst His people today?
JT Well, quite so. We have Mr. Darby, for instance, how his ministry has been passed on to us in writing! And, of course, that may be applied to many persons. It is a question therefore of the saints making all the use they can of those who have gift, and of properly caring for them and providing [p. 231] for them.
FNW In Philippians 1:24, after speaking about departing to be with Christ the apostle Paul says, “But remaining in the flesh is more necessary for your sakes; and having confidence of this, I know that I shall remain and abide along with you all, for your progress and joy in faith”, Philippians 1:24,25.
WHMcC Is not the committal of Jehovah to Joshua important? He says, “As I was with Moses, so will I be with thee”. I was thinking of what you were saying about Mr. Darby and others who have gone before, as to God being with them; and in the same way He is with those now who are serving us prominently.
JT Quite so; He would be with Joshua as He was with Moses.
VCL Does that not lay down a principle, that there is never any rivalry in the ministry? All that the Spirit is saying at one time will agree.
JT Quite so. The Lord prayed that the apostles might be one as the Father and He were one; He prayed particularly for that.
ANW Is there something in what a gift may be personally beyond what he is officially? I was thinking of all that came in after the departure of Joshua, all the break-up after his departure, and also after the departure of Paul; whether there is not a bulwark in the person, in what he is in himself in addition to what he is officially.
JT I think there was in Moses. It is remarkable how he meets the situation in Exodus 33 and meets it unselfishly; he is ready to be blotted out if Jehovah would not take on the people; he would be blotted out himself.
DMacd Paul says the same thing in regard to his brethren in Romans 9:3: “For I have wished, I myself, to be a curse from the Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen, according to flesh”, Romans 9:[p. 232] 3.
JT Now I think we should notice the territory that Joshua is appointed to allot: “Every place whereon the sole of your foot shall tread have I given to you, as I said unto Moses. From the wilderness and this Lebanon to the great river, the river Euphrates, the whole land of the Hittites, to the great sea, toward the going down of the sun, shall be your border. None shall be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so will I be with thee; I will not leave thee, neither will I forsake thee. Be strong and courageous, for thou shalt cause this people to inherit the land which I have sworn unto their fathers to give them. Only be strong and very courageous, that thou mayest take heed to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded thee. Turn not from it to the right or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest. This book of the law shall not depart from thy mouth; and thou shalt meditate upon it day and night, that thou mayest take heed to do according to all that is written therein”. So that if it be a case of gift, the person who has the gift has to abide by the Scriptures, to abide by the law like everybody else. His gift does not alter that. We have to abide by the law.
AH In view of the extraordinary departure from the Scriptures in these days, does not this matter of courage really have to enter into the hearts of all the saints? I was thinking of this beloved man’s word to the children of Israel at the close of his ministry; he tells them to be “very courageous and to keep and to do all that is written in the book of the law of Moses”, Joshua 23:6.
JT So that Joshua is abiding by the first command here in verse 7, “... that thou mayest take heed to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded thee. Turn not from it to the right or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest. This book of the law shall not depart from thy mouth; and thou shalt meditate upon it day and night”.
[p. 233] That is the great point, whether we are gifted or not, to attend to the Scriptures, to attend to them and compare them, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. That is what these readings are for amongst the brethren; God has ordained them I am sure and they become a great means of instruction for the young people.
Rem It says of Paul in Acts 28:23 that he was “testifying of the kingdom of God, and persuading them concerning Jesus, both from the law of Moses and the prophets, from early morning to evening”, Acts 28:23.
JT Very good, from early morning to evening.
ABP The territory outlined here came under control in David’s day and not until then, apparently, so that the extent of the inheritance was hardly reached until David’s day.
JT David enlarged the existing border of the inheritance; he extended it towards the Euphrates.
ABP So there is a link between Joshua and David?
JT Clearly.
NJ Does the setting up of the service of God under David suggest that the official service is to be extended to others, that others are brought into it?
JT Quite so; the twenty-four elders refer to that according to the courses under David. David greatly regulated what Moses had ordained at first; he added to it and regulated it because of his moral weight in the things of God. David had a peculiar weight himself, so that he takes a great place as following up Moses; so that the Psalms might be added properly to the Pentateuch. There are the same number of books in the Psalms as in the Pentateuch and they are linked together.
CAM Would the fact that things come out in the Psalms corresponding to the Pentateuch shew [p. 234] that the poetic and feeling side of things is to be stressed at the end?
JT Very good; the poetic and feeling side; it is good I think for the brethren to attend to the question of poetry — not poetry in the ordinary sense of the word but spiritual poetry such as Mr. Darby wrote. We often refer to him and rightly, for he passes on right down to us in his writings and in his example too. The excellent example he set before the brethren in his day is passed down to us now.
CAM Would it be right to say that the hymn book is really becoming richer to us inasmuch as such hymns as Mr. Darby’s are being sung today with greater meaning?
JT Just so. There are about thirty-three of them in our book; they are the best of the whole book, I would think.
RWS Are we not really discovering in our enquiry what a man can do in whom is the Spirit? the power he has by the Spirit and the courage he has to do things?
JT Yes. Of course, Jehovah said, “Moses ... is dead”; and Mr. Darby is dead; it is the living ones that have power now, we have to make the most of them.
AH Would you say a word as to Deuteronomy 34:9? It says, “And Joshua the son of Nun was filled with the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands upon him”, Deuteronomy 34:9. It looks as though Moses had committed himself to this man.
JT Numbers 27 tells us that Moses had done so: “And Jehovah said to Moses, Take Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the Spirit, and thou shalt lay thy hand upon him; and thou shalt set him before Eleazar the priest, and before the whole assembly; and give him commandment before their eyes”, Numbers 27:18,19. So that the basic thought there is that he has the Spirit, Joshua is a man who has the Spirit. It is [p. 235] a remarkable passage and it gives Joshua a peculiar place in the testimony right down through the Scripture.
ABP And it says also, “And thou shalt put of thine honour upon him, that the whole assembly of the children of Israel may obey him. And he shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall inquire for him, by the judgment of the Urim before Jehovah: at his word shall they go out, and at his word they shall come in, he, and all the children of Israel with him, even the whole assembly”, Numbers 27:21.
JT Yes; the Urim is mentioned, the Urim and Thummim are in mind there and it might be well for the brethren to understand what they signify. They afford light; they were in the breastplate of the high priest; light and perfection are in mind. We are to consider persons who are characterised by these things, their own character and then ability and power in the way of gift. The perfection works out in the spirit of the man, the way he behaves himself and how he commends himself to the brethren, and how he commends the truth to the brethren.
ABP Would that be seen in the way that the brethren in Acts 20 sorrowed most of all that they would not see Paul’s face again? The servant himself had become endeared because of what he was.
JT Quite so, they felt it that they would not see his face again; very touching.
NJ Would Stephen illustrate the matter as being full of grace and the Holy Spirit whilst labouring at a comparatively small service? But he purchased to himself a good degree.
JT Just so, he did not have a long ministry but it was a very fresh and powerful ministry so far as it went.
NJ The carrying out in the power of the Holy Spirit of a small service would perhaps enable the Spirit to take on a person for a larger [p. 236] service.
JT Just so. As we were saying, if the Urim and Thummim imply light and perfection, then the light would be in the power of the gift, but perfection is the spirit of the man, the character of the man himself, how he commends himself, and commends the truth too, to the brethren.
ABP Is that same principle seen in the candlestick? It sheds light but the light also discloses the perfection of the candlestick?
JT Very good.
NJ Is the same thought suggested in what Paul says in Romans 1, that he had “received grace and apostleship”, Romans 1:5 that dignity was granted to him?
JT The kind of man he was, quite so. We all recall what has been related by others of the character of Mr. Darby; the peculiar character of a man is sometimes more interesting than the light he gives.
S W. Referring to verse 8 of our chapter, we know that in days of declension, and of revival too, the book of the law of Moses was brought to bear upon the people. Would you say what the book of the law would suggest?
JT Oh, the book of the law stands; it is inspired. The book of the law is Scripture; it is inspired. The Scriptures stand from the very beginning, from Genesis right down; they have authority. But in regard to light and perfection, the perfection would largely refer to the kind of man who had the gift, the kind of man.
RWS How do you view the ministry of Joshua as over against the ministry of Moses?
JT Well, you can see that in the mind of God Moses had the precedence; there was no one like Moses; we have in the book of Numbers that there was nobody like him, the meekest man in all the earth. Remarkable, that! We cannot say that we have seen a man like that, the meekest man in all the earth; it was Jehovah’s own characterising of him. But Joshua did not have that.
RWS Is there something today in the ministry of the Holy Spirit which would correspond to the inwardness of the ministry of Joshua? I thought there is a correspondence in its inward and refined character as based on the authority of Moses.
JT That is good.
WWM Joshua must have been a young man when he went into the land and came back with a good report. Would he represent what is in the land; he is connected with that side?
JT It was what was in his heart, he spoke according to what was in his heart and he was right.
Ques Is not the supremacy of Moses in one sense seen in Exodus 33:11? It says, “And Jehovah spoke with Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend ... but his attendant, Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, departed not from within the tent”, Exodus 33:11. Is not that a greater matter than God speaking to Joshua here?
JT Wonderful! I believe it is to encourage people to excel. Why should we not excel? If others have excelled, why should not we? It is to encourage to excellence, to more excellent service.
Ques Is not great power seen in Joshua in chapter 10? It says in verse 12, “Then spoke Joshua to Jehovah in the day when Jehovah gave up the Amorites before the children of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel, Sun, stand still upon Gibeon; and thou, moon, in the valley of Ajalon! And the sun stood still, and the moon remained where it was, until the nation had avenged themselves upon their enemies. Is not this written in the book of Jasher? And the sun remained standing in the midst of heaven, and hasted not to go down about a full day”, Joshua 10:12,[p. 238] 13.
JT That is one of the most wonderful things that ever happened! No day like it! So the book of Jasher is a book to be read, if we can find it; it is the perfection of the book.
AMacd And would chapter 4:14 further bear that out? It says, “On that day Jehovah magnified Joshua in the sight of all Israel; and they feared him, as they had feared Moses, all the days of his life”, Joshua 4:14.
JT That shows his acquirement, what is due to himself. He developed in light and perfection.
Ques Should not each gift that God raises up, although maintaining what has gone before, have his own peculiar distinctiveness in the ministry?
JT Yes; indeed there was not another like Joshua. I do not think he was just like Moses, he had his own distinction. God loves distinction, He loves variety. The stars represent that, “Star differs from star in glory”; 1 Corinthians 15:41 that is, God likes diversity. The stars are innumerable, they cannot be counted, but it shows what God has, like the worlds; we do not know how many there are, but He made them, He made them by Christ.
AH You have referred to the stars as suggesting the ruling element. Does this matter of distinction and glory in the minister have in mind that his word is to carry authority amongst the saints?
JT Quite so; and so think of the number of ministers we have had, the number that God has given to us. How many there are that we can recall whom God has given to us to carry on the ministry! And they are still coming, young ones are coming up whom God is using to carry on the ministry; and we would support them in every way and encourage them.
CFE Was Joshua peculiarly a military leader?
JT That is just what he was, he was a warrior [p. 239] to bring the people into the land. It meant war and he was a great warrior like David.
SW Where does Joshua stand as to spirituality as compared with the other patriarchs?
JT Well, the word ‘patriarch’ is, of course, quite extensive; in fact Abraham and Moses and others were patriarchs. They are called the fathers, the word ‘patriarch’ refers to fathers. Moses and Joshua were both distinctly spiritual men; so was Paul and so was Peter, all the apostles were spiritual.
SW My reason for asking is because it is surely only a spiritual person who can lead us into the land.
JT That is right. So with the Urim and Thummim, the light was there in the power of the gift, but the perfection is seen in the character of the gift, what the man is like, how he behaves himself, and in particular, amongst the brethren.
AP It says here in verse 10, “And Joshua commanded the officers of the people, saying, Go through the midst of the camp, and command the people, saying, Prepare yourselves victuals, for in three days ye shall pass over this Jordan, that ye may enter in to take possession of the land which Jehovah your God giveth you to possess it”. What is meant by this preparation of food?
JT They were to be warriors, fighters, and they needed food to fight. We all know that, in war it is important to have plenty of food for the soldiers. And another thing to notice is that the entrance into Canaan was not from the west, it was from the east. They entered and crossed the Jordan from the east, not from the west; the west is on the Mediterranean. The entrance of the Israelites was a military matter, they had to fight for the land. They were great warriors and had to fight for the inheritance, and so it is that Joshua and David were warriors.
AP [p. 240] What is your point in that they approached the land from the east?
JT The land was comparatively small, it was not a very large place like India and China and such countries; they are very spacious but Canaan was not that; the people had to go over Jordan into Canaan from the east. Though it was a very small place that God was giving them, it was a precious place, a land of waterbrooks and springs as Deuteronomy 8 tells us. That is why they had to go across the Jordan, they had to go through death to get to it. And so it is with us, we have to go through death to get to the truth of the assembly and the enjoyment that is in it.
JHE The sun-rising was there, also, was it not?
JT That is the idea, the sun was shining on them all the time.
JHE After Jacob wrestled and he became Israel the sun rose upon him. He was no longer Jacob, but Israel, he was a prince.
JT Yes, he was a prince, he was ennobled.
Rem After the brazen serpent was introduced, it says the children of Israel journeyed toward the sun-rising; and then it was that they were able to sing to the well.
JT And then they had to cross the Jordan to get into the land. The physical position is there yet, but it is just a bare stretch of land. But they were going into a small but precious territory and it was called Canaan.
Rem In verse 12 Joshua spoke to the Reubenites and to the Gadites and to half the tribe of Manasseh and commanded them saying, “Jehovah your God has given you rest and has given you this land”.
JT Their territory was not Canaan; Canaan was a greater territory. So it is now that heaven is our territory; we are going to heaven. The brethren [p. 241] around us, the Presbyterians and Methodists and such, are not in the good of that territory, they do not know it at all; they do not understand it, whereas the Spirit of God has come in and helped the brethren as to the thought of Canaan, the heavenly land to which we are going. Many of Mr. Darby’s hymns are full of the idea of Canaan.
AH Does it require a meat diet in contrast to the manna?
JT Quite so, strong meat, that is the idea; if they had to fight they needed strong meat.
AEW Do we not require the presence of Jehovah for this matter? Before they enter in God tells Joshua twice that He will be with him. Is not that important if we are to go into the land?
JT Just so, that is very beautiful, and I think the brethren are coming to that. They are coming to the great importance of attending the assembly meetings because of what we get when we are together as we are now, the Spirit of God operating amongst us.
FHL I think you have linked up Joshua with Colossians, have you not? And under Joshua would they not become sound Colossian saints?
JT Very good; and Ephesians is the heavenly land. We are raised up together and made to sit down together in the heavenlies in Christ; that is the full thought. Ephesians is the full thought of God for us.
Ques Would the victuals here be like the food of John 6 in view of entering into life?
JT That is right, that is what I would say.
GH Would that be the territory as mentioned in Ephesians, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in Christ”? Ephesians 1:3.
JT It is every spiritual blessing; and in [p. 242] the heavenlies, not on earth. The Jews will have the earthly side presently, they will be brought into their own land; but we go into the heavenlies for our part.
EAL The Red Sea was crossed from the west to the east, but as you have been pointing out the Jordan was crossed from east to west. The testimony has moved westward ever since, and we are in the benefit of that position now.
JT That is good; I believe that especially since the revival of the truth we have had the thought of Canaan. And so the ministry for the last one hundred and fifty years has taken on much about the assembly and assembly service, what we have on the first day of the week.
WWM We need the passover as food to leave the world, but we need the victuals spoken of here for entering the land?
JT Just so; the food for the land is unique.
AR The children of Israel left Egypt householdly, and they crossed the Red Sea householdly; whereas crossing the Jordan seems to be a tribal matter.
JT That is right, it is the collective idea. But the two and a half tribes remained on the other side of Jordan; they really missed the best thing that there was, namely Canaan. Joshua provided that the men should go and take part in the war and then return to the land that had been given them. They had to go into Canaan, but when they returned home they returned to the other side of Jordan, that is, they had to cross the Jordan again.
AR That would confirm what you were saying as to the place the assembly has in the minds of the Saints today.
ABP Would you say that Barzillai the Gileadite would be a product of this area?
JT [p. 243] That is good; he would not go to Jerusalem, he did not want to go. That is to say, he was not equal to David’s proposal; David would have brought him into Jerusalem.
Ques Is Joshua to be commended for the way he maintains unity here? He did not leave the two and a half tribes behind.
JT The two and a half tribes had their allotment given to them on the east side of the Jordan. That was the territory given to them by Moses, not by Joshua. It was not equal to the land of Canaan. Canaan is on the west side of Jordan, and it is what God had in His mind for Israel. That narrow strip of land between the Jordan and the Mediterranean Sea was what He had in His mind for His people.
AR Must we have a complete idea to get into Canaan?
JT That is right, a complete idea. It is the land that God had spied out for His people. He loved His people. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whosoever believes on him may not perish, but have life eternal”, John 3:16. That is Canaan. Notice the word ‘have’, it is a great thought, “have life eternal”. The love of God enters into that: God loved men and therefore He gave them Canaan, He gave them eternal life.
Rem Joshua was in danger of being stoned because of it according to Numbers 14.
ANW It was evidently the matter of going into Canaan that made the split in the tribe of Manasseh, part going into the land and part remaining on the other side.
AH Have you in mind that this official ministry and the authoritative word really come from God to get us out of the plains of Moab and [p. 244] into the inheritance?
JT Into the place that God has designed for us. He marked it out, He espied Canaan as from a distance; we might illustrate it by a person in an aeroplane, you can see things from a distance.
DP Was there more power displayed in the Jordan than at the Red Sea?
JT I think it was more concentrated; at the Red Sea it was more extended. The Jordan is more concentrated, it is a river; a sea is not like a river, there is no current, the power is in the: current. There was a current in the Jordan, the Jordan therefore is a type of death. There is power in it.
AR Does eternal life belong to the land?
JT That is right; eternal life is in the land. So in John 3:16, “God so loved ...” John 3:16; it is the order that is in the world that He loved.
NJ In verse 2 it says, “Rise up, go over this Jordan, thou and all this people”; every one of them was to go.
JT Quite so; and it is this Jordan, the one right before you, you have to go through it.
Rem When Joshua went into the Jordan he took twelve stones with him. He had all the saints in his mind.
JT And he took other twelve out of the Jordan into the land.
Ques Is that the idea in the Lord’s supper in the loaf, that we seek to hold the whole position for all?
JT Yes, I think so, the whole idea. We can never allow the idea of a ‘remnant’ to apply to the assembly; the whole idea must be there.
AR Those twelve stones had no past public history.
JT Just so. And now we should just touch on the remainder of the chapter: “And Joshua commanded the officers of the people, saying, Go through the midst of the camp, and command the people, saying, Prepare yourselves victuals, for in three days ye shall pass over this Jordan, that ye may enter in to take possession of the land which Jehovah your God giveth you to possess it. And to the Reubenites and to the Gadites and to half the tribe of Manasseh spoke Joshua, saying, Remember the word that Moses the servant of Jehovah commanded you, saying, Jehovah your God has given you rest and has given you this land. Your wives, your little ones and your cattle shall abide in the land that Moses gave you on this side of the Jordan, but ye, all the valiant men, shall go over in array before your brethren and help them, until Jehovah give your brethren rest as to you, and they also take possession of the land which Jehovah your God giveth them; then shall ye return into the land of your possession and possess it, which Moses the servant of Jehovah gave you on this side of the Jordan toward the sun-rising” (verses 10 - 15).
[p. 245] Attention should be called to the two and half tribes; their territory was given them by Moses, not by Joshua. The men went over to fight with their brethren, so that the whole of the tribes of Israel were in the battle together. And then in verse 16, “They answered Joshua, saying, All that thou has commanded us will we do”. They are thoroughly with the truth although they are not wishing to go into Canaan; a very humbling thing that people do not want to go into Canaan, they would rather live in their family and business surroundings in the wilderness.
AH The part of their families that stayed behind would have missed Gilgal.
JT Quite so.
ABP These brethren would hardly understand the ministry that we are having as to the sisters having such a full part in the things of God.