Reading 2
A.J.G. We have had before us this morning Joshua in his youth as engaging in the conflict with Amalek and arriving definitely at the point where the flesh must not be tolerated, and where the Spirit is the provision made by God for us, by faith, as power and as satisfaction. Then we have seen his faithfulness, taking his place outside the camp and remaining in the tent of meeting, which shows that he was fully committed in the service of God in the wilderness, in conditions that suited Him. We have also seen in Numbers 14 that the purpose of God is in his heart and that he describes the land as being a very, very good land. He took account of the pleasure of God: he says, “If Jehovah delight in us, he will bring us into this land, and give it us”.
Now, in chapter 27 of Numbers, it is a matter of thirty-nine years later, and Moses is occupied with the people, seeing that he himself is on the point of dying. So he turns to Jehovah, praying that He would set a man over the assembly, “who may go out before them, and who may come in before them, and who may lead them out, and who may bring them in”, so that his movements would be clear and transparent before all. It is the evidence that the Word of God has its effect in us. One can have confidence in such a person. Then he says that this man is to make them go out: I suppose that is an allusion to the conflict; but also make them go in, that is to say someone who will not be engaged with the conflict when it is over. What concerned Moses is that the assembly of Jehovah should not be as a flock without a shepherd. It is very remarkable to see this spirit of the shepherd with Moses. Paul, at Miletus, gives instructions to the elders of Ephesus: especially a word for overseers; they had to shepherd the assembly of God among whom the Spirit of God had set them as overseers, so that they should not be above them, but among them. The request Moses makes is similar. God answers him immediately and he indicates that this man must be Joshua, in describing him as a man in whom is the Spirit; this is what characterised him. Evidently, every believer who has received the Spirit now is a person in whom is the Spirit; because the Spirit is come to abide and to dwell in the believer. And yet we have more than that here; that is to say, that the Holy Spirit would characterise Joshua.
P.G.B. It is not here simply a man who has the Spirit, but a man in whom is the Spirit.
A.J.G. That is a very important point. That is seen as the result of the preceding exercises that we have considered this morning.
P.P. Why did Moses have to put his hand on him?
A.J.G. Because he commits himself to him, I suppose, so that the authority that Moses had exercised should now transfer to Joshua.
R.G.W. Is it the same thought as “thou shalt put of thine honour upon him”?
A.J.G. “That the whole assembly of the children of Israel may obey him”.
P.O. Would it be a little like Paul as to Timothy, who had received the gift of grace by the imposition of hands?
A.J.G. Exactly; not that we exactly have the imposition of hands now, but the principle of leadership remains. It could well be that it would be the Lord’s way to help us by means of leaders. But it would seem that according to this Scripture, the true leader would have to have the characteristics of a shepherd.
P.F. Why does Moses address Jehovah as the God of the spirits of all flesh, vX 16?
A.J.G. He seems to be very especially concerned about the spirit of the man, the spirit being the link that we have with God, our spirit. Moses was not concerned to have a man who was outwardly imposing, but a man that the God of the spirits of all flesh would recognise as being suitable. With us, God takes the place of the Father of spirits.
P.F. It connects with discipline.
A.J.G. It is because He loves us as sons and he desires that we should partake of His holiness. It is very touching that God should desire to produce in us affinities with Himself, He being a Spirit.
So although Joshua is constituted as leader, he had to keep in close contact with the priest, Eleazer, who had to enquire for him about the judgments of the Urim before Jehovah. However spiritual someone may be, and whatever place of leader the Lord may give them, he is not rendered independent, but he must be in constant enquiry as to the mind of God. We find later in the book of Joshua, in chapter 9, that Joshua and the princes have been deceived by the Gibeonites, and the secret of that, according to verse 14 of that chapter, is that “they did not inquire at the mouth of Jehovah”.
This description of a man in whom is the Spirit is very important; such a person is sure to have the inheritance, the land, in his heart because the purpose of God for us is concentrated in Christ, and the Spirit of God always directs our hearts to Christ. The Spirit is also the earnest of our inheritance.
Joshua and Caleb, as we have seen, are like men governed by the Spirit characteristically. Chapter 1 of the book of Joshua follows on from that; although the book of Deuteronomy comes between Numbers and Joshua, there is nevertheless little time between what we have read in Numbers and the first chapter of Joshua. The first chapter is full of encouragement and holy stimulation. The verses read present what God says to Joshua: “and now, rise up, go over this Jordan, thou and all this people”. God emphasises the idea of Joshua: thou, he says, and all this people, as if the people had to follow Joshua’s example. That is one of the real features of a leader; he goes before and will be an example of the truth.
P.P. That would agree with what Paul says: “as you have us for a model”?
A.J.G. Yes, that is so. It can be seen in a particular way in that chapter 3 of the epistle to the Philippians, where Paul shows us what his exercises are; how he was concerned to grasp the calling of God in Christ Jesus and he appeals to us so that we should have the same mind. It is a case of, “Every place whereon the sole of your foot shall tread”, that is to say that the inheritance must be possessed one step after another. Verse 4 presents the full extent of it, but verse 3 shows that the children of Israel must themselves take possession of it, and it is only what they have taken possession of that would belong to them. That shows that we must always be ready to move, the Spirit Himself being the power for that. The fact indeed that we have the Spirit is the guarantee that if we really desire to go on from our side, all that God has prepared in His love for us will be possessed by us, but for that we have to be careful and to have decided movements. So it speaks of “the sole of your foot”, showing that movement must be careful. If we notice that new features of the truth are set before us by the Lord, we must not forget that that implies exercise and an adjustment of thought because it is a matter of the inheritance being more and more grasped by us. God desires that we should inherit it all, and the more we take possession of it, the more there will be fruit for God; he will receive the tithes and the first fruits.
P.P. Would you say that what we may acquire in spiritual enjoyment is going to return to God in His service?
A.J.G. Yes, in the first place.
P.P. So we are diligent to acquire not only the features of the truth for our enjoyment, but for the pleasure of God?
A.J.G. That is so. God has his inheritance in the saints. It speaks of “the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints”. That has been set before us a number of years ago by Mr James Taylor2. In order that God should be able to have His inheritance in the saints, we have ourselves to take possession of our inheritance. The more we do that, the more there will be for God.
P.P. Is it what was reached for Israel at the end of David’s reign and during Solomon’s reign?
A.J.G. Exactly. The full thought of the service of God is reached with David and Solomon. It is very remarkable to see that David took possession of the whole extent of the inheritance as far as the Euphrates, which Joshua had never done, although it might be mentioned in this verse 4, where God extends what He had in His mind for them. So God speaks to Joshua in very encouraging terms. He says: “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”. But three times He mentions the necessity to be strong and courageous.
In chapter 5 of the book of Joshua, another subject comes before us. The first verse that we have read shows how the heart of the enemies is stirred up on account of the children of Israel, on account of the power that is found among them. But God now presents the necessity of circumcision, which is the full appropriation by ourselves in the power of the Spirit of the death of Christ, so that there is no longer occasion for man to glorify himself, or to have confidence in himself, or to glory in his spirituality, because the flesh is ready to take the credit for all spirituality. But all that must be judged, and the circumcision is the cutting off, the application of the death of Christ; man himself is cut off.
P.P. Would there be teaching for us in the fact that they had not been circumcised in the wilderness?
A.J.G. I would like to have a little help about that. What do you think yourself?
P.P. I asked the question.
L.D. Circumcision was a covenant between God and Abraham.
A.J.G. Yes, it was the covenant between God and Abraham. I suppose that the need of the circumcision was more felt when they moved in relation to apprehending spiritual things.
L.D. It seems to me that that must be continued by us.
A.J.G. Quite so.
P.P. When God gave the sign of circumcision to Abraham, it was in relation to the possession of the land.
A.J.G. Quite so. I believe that the sign of circumcision given to Abraham answers for us to the gift of the Spirit by means of which the flesh is set aside. But we need to have the benefit of it as seen now in this chapter. Chapter 2 of Colossians presents the truth in an objective way: “ye have been circumcised with circumcision not done by hand”, that is to say that it is a spiritual thing not a material thing, “in the putting off of the body of the flesh, in the circumcision of the Christ”. Man as such has come to an end in the death of Christ. We have to be entirely dependent on the Spirit. But when we come to chapter 3 of Colossians, we have there the application to ourselves in a practical way in verses 5 to 11: “Put to death therefore your members which are upon the earth”, we renounce certain things that are mentioned there, every fleshly distinction also is rejected, and the end of everything is that “Christ is everything, and in all”. Circumcision having been carried out in Joshua 5, we read that Jehovah says to Joshua: “This day have I rolled away the reproach of Egypt from off you”, and that gave the name to the place: “the name of the place was called Gilgal”. It is a reproach for us as being those who have a heavenly calling if we keep with us the features of the world. It is a matter of our appropriating what has been effectuated for us in the death of Christ.
L.D. What is the reproach of Egypt?
A.J.G. I suppose that is the reproach that comes from keeping certain features of Egypt. Egypt is the world as independent of God, while God desires that His people should be marked by the fact that they find all their resources and all their satisfaction in Himself.
This is the reason why the Holy Spirit is of such importance for us. He is Himself God and He links our hearts to Christ, and to the Father, so that in the Father, in the Son, and in the Holy Spirit, we have all that we have need of. Eternity will be marked by the fact that God is all in all.
L.M. As we accept this position of circumcision, it is God who rolls from off us the reproach of Egypt.
A.J.G. It is God who does it. That shows how God rejects every thought of Egypt; He has no desire that His people should be marked by the least feature of Egypt. The Egypt from which He made His people go out was the Egypt whose king who did not know Joseph, that is to say that Christ did not have any place at all there. It is very remarkable to see all the exercises that must be gone through before the children of Israel could actually go into the land. It is only at the beginning of chapter 6 of Joshua that they actually enter in and the five preceding chapters are full of teaching as to the exercises which have to be faced to be able to move into the purpose of God as to us.
P.P. Would that in some measure correspond to the teaching of the epistles to the Romans and Colossians, before reaching the level of Ephesians?
A.J.G. I believe that this would correspond to Colossians.
Have you some thought in mentioning Romans?
P.P. I only thought of the teaching of the epistle as being a moral foundation so that we could go on into spiritual things.
A.J.G. Just so. The epistle to the Romans teaches us to appreciate the Spirit and to refuse the flesh; that is essential, as a foundation, if we want to be set in movement as to God’s thoughts for us. Mr Darby said once that a good Roman can go anywhere, that is to say someone who is well established in the epistle to the Romans has not the least difficulty in being occupied with any feature of the truth. The reason for that is that he definitely recognises the Spirit.
P.P. But here with Joshua, we have the exercise of those who go in. And that is the epistle to the Colossians?
A.J.G. Yes, that is so. In reality, what we have in chapters 3 and 4 is what we are able to experience when we are together on Lord’s day morning, when we leave the wilderness scene, where the Supper is held, in the region of God’s purpose for us, and where we realise our communion with Christ and our association with Him.
At the end of chapter 5 of the book of Joshua, we have another very deep experience that Joshua had. “And it came to pass when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, there stood a man before him with his sword drawn in his hand. And Joshua went to him, and said to him: Art thou for us, or for our enemies? And he said, No; for as captain of the army of Jehovah am I now come”. There is no doubt that it would be a figure of the Holy Spirit. It speaks of the sword of the Spirit. Now there is this person who is before Joshua who asserts that he is come to take charge of the whole position. The ark is a figure of Christ, and Joshua in a way is also a figure of Christ, but in a general way he is a figure of a spiritual leader; it is thus that he is seen in this incident.
There is One now who is come who is in charge of the whole position. He says, “am I now come”. That links with what the Lord says about the Comforter in John 16: “But when he is come, the Spirit of truth, he shall guide you into all the truth”, and this Captain of the army of Jehovah says “am I now come”. I believe it is what the Lord would insist upon to us at this time, so that we take account of the Spirit in a definite way, as being come to lead us into all the truth. What is before us is the inheritance for the saints. When the Lord speaks to the assemblies in chapters 2 and 3 of Revelation, He adjusts the conditions that He finds, and having done that, He says to each of the seven assemblies: “He that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies”, as if the Lord would say, the Spirit is charged with the whole position now and if you pay attention to His voice, if you are governed by Him, you will be led together into all that God has for His people.
P.V. What is to be understood by “the army of Jehovah”?
A.J.G. I suppose that is all the saints. We must never have less than all the saints in our minds. We know that even at this time all God’s people had not actually crossed to the other side of the Jordan; two and a half tribes remained on this side of the Jordan, although the men of war were among those who went up among them and then went back. There is no mention here that not all the people of God were there.
P.F. Would you say that we should consider the Spirit objectively here?
A.J.G. I believe so. It is the way the Lord presents Him in chapters 14 and 15 of the gospel of John.
L.M. Before the Captain of the army appeared here, Joshua sees they have to pass through certain exercises, even in the land; there has been Gilgal, then the celebration of the Passover; they have eaten of the old corn of the land; they were in the plains of Jericho; and it is at this moment that Joshua sees a man standing before Him. Would there be exercises to reach this position where we are truly conscious of the Spirit’s leading?
A.J.G. I believe there is an order by which we enter into the truth. We must take account of the fact that just in recent years, the Holy Spirit has been set before us in an objective way and in the glory of His Person, and I believe that has in view that we recognise His presence more definitely, and that we really take possession of all that God has given us, not simply that we know it as a right that we have, but that we should be established in it with power. I believe there is therefore force in this expression, “am I now come”. It was a very particular moment in which this experience was given to Joshua.
R.B. Would you link that with Ephesians, being “strengthened with power by his Spirit”?
A.J.G. I am not sure that I would altogether because it seems that there it is something inward: “strengthened … in the inner man; that the Christ may dwell, through faith, in your hearts”. In this passage in Ephesians 3: 16, it is the inner man, while in Joshua 5, it is rather the Spirit objectively as Leader. I believe that is linked with the way in which the Lord speaks of the Spirit in John 16: “But when he is come, the Spirit of truth, he shall guide you into all the truth”; so that Joshua bows immediately and he says, “What saith my lord unto his servant?” The response is very simple and what gives it such importance is that it maintains conditions of holiness; if such conditions are maintained, then being led by the Spirit will be realised and we will have the power to move in all that God has for us.
P.F. In Exodus 23, it is said, “Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way”. What would the difference be?
A.J.G. That is another presentation. It is One who must be feared in that chapter: “to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee”. There is the double service of the Spirit that is suggested there: the service of keeping, and that of leading. The idea of an angel is just that of a messenger or of someone who is sent. This is why you can see that this can be applied to the Spirit in the most exalted way because He has been sent, by both the Father and the Son.
P.F. And the thought of man?
A.J.G. He has come on our side. The Lord says “to be with you for ever”, so that in the Scriptures that we have had before us about Joshua, on the one hand, he must be careful to maintain his link with God by means of the priest; but he must also maintain the exercise to put the sole of his foot in what God gave. Then he has to recognise the Captain of the army of Jehovah and to watch that holy conditions should be maintained.
P.P. It is said at the end of verse 14 that he worshipped. Do you think that that would help us in the worship of the Spirit?
A.J.G. I believe that we can see that the Scriptures help, for every Scripture, it is said, is divinely inspired and profitable for teaching.
ST ETIENNE
11th November 1954
Translated from the French magazine, ‘Ondées’,
September 1955
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