Crossing Jordan: Conquest of the Land of Promise
The Church, the Body of Christ, stands today at the brink of Jordan. Jordan symbolizes the third death and the land of promise portrays the third resurrection.
When Jacob crossed over Jordan in order to claim his inheritance in the land of Abraham and Isaac he had to struggle with God because of the poison of guile and self-will in his nature.
We too must face God as individuals, for God desires to bring each of us into the fullness of rest in Himself.
There is a land to be conquered. There is a rest of God. There is an omega of redemption. There is a mark toward which we are pressing. There is a goal, a victory, an inheritance in Christ. There is a land that flows with milk and honey. We left Egypt to enter and possess a promised land. What is it and where is it?
The land of promise is the fullness of our inheritance in Christ.
Moses my servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou, and all this people, unto the land which I do give to them, even to the children of Israel. (Joshua 1:2)
What land is to be invaded and possessed by the Church, the Seed of Abraham? The land of promise is the earth and earth’s peoples and all else of God’s creation.
We found in the Book of Revelation that the new Jerusalem, the Wife of the Lamb, is destined to descend from Heaven and govern the saved nations of the earth. We Christians are being trained and transformed so we can rule with Christ over the nations of the earth. The earth and it peoples are the inheritance of Christ. God loves people and it is His plan to settle down to rest in us, and through us to teach His creation of His Person and ways.
God created the heaven and the earth, and then mankind in His own image. After this He settled down to rest. We Christians are laboring to enter that rest, that finished work of God in Christ. Each individual has a unique role in God’s plan. Each individual has to fight his way, by the wisdom and strength of the Holy Spirit, into his own part of the rest of God.
Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen [nations] for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. (Psalms 2:8)
The earth is the LORD’s, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein. (Psalms 24:1)
Satan and the army of wicked spirits have taken control of the earth and the earth’s peoples. Evil spirits control the nations and the farthest reaches of the earth, just as the Canaanites were occupying the good land that God had promised to Israel while Israel was wandering in the misery and deprivation of the wilderness.
When we say that Satan and the host of wicked spirits rule the nations we do not mean that God has turned over the earth and its peoples to Satan. God has the power at any time to put an end to wickedness. The earth and those who dwell therein always belong to the Lord.
God, in His infinite wisdom and inscrutable counsels, has given the Church the task of destroying Satan from all areas in which he is entrenched, just as God gave to Israel the task of destroying the Canaanites from the land of promise.
Each of us Christians was at one time under the total control of Satan. Today we are wrestling against the lusts of the flesh and slowly are gaining victory in Christ. Yet we still are dragging about a body that remains dangerously susceptible to the enticements of Satan. Also we are undergoing severe training in order to remove the guile that was injected into mankind in the Garden of Eden.
The earth and its peoples groan under the cruel servitude imposed on them by the wicked lords of darkness; but the earth and those who dwell therein belong to Christ by Divine decree. How long will it be before the members of the Body of Christ are able to overcome sin in themselves, and then to ride with Christ in the invasion of the earth and in the complete overthrow of the kingdom of wickedness?
The Jordan River divides the land of promise from the wilderness.
The wilderness is our life in the world, the undergoing of rigorous instruction and transformation into the image of Christ.
The Jordan River represents death to our guile, self-seeking, and disobedience. It is death to who we are, a death brought about by the work of the Holy Spirit in us. Our death to self commences at the Red Sea and is completed in the Jordan River, to speak symbolically. All persons, relationships and things become new in God’s land of promise.
The land of promise portrays our resurrection into the Person and ways of Christ. The land of promise is the rest of God, the fullness of our inheritance in Christ.
We begin experiencing death and resurrection the moment we believe in Christ and are baptized in water. The history of our life from that point forward is the working out in us of death and resurrection.
Physical death has little or nothing to do with the death and resurrection of which we are speaking. Physical death happens to every person, righteous or wicked, and is nothing more than the succumbing of the sinful body to the power of Satan. It is the separation of our body from our personality. There is no spiritual profit in physical death, as far as redemption is concerned. Physical death is an enemy that finally will be destroyed through Christ.
There is profit in death and resurrection in Christ.
The death and resurrection in Christ is for Christians only. The spiritual death and resurrection of which we are speaking commences with our receiving Christ as Lord and Savior, continues throughout our Christian experience, and will realize full expression at the appearing of the Lord Jesus Christ from Heaven.
We will, at that time, break through the bondages of our fleshly body and be clothed with the body formed from our righteous conduct, the substance of the new body being the resurrection Life of the Holy Spirit of God.
Crossing the Jordan River. Like the veil of the Tabernacle, the Jordan River portrays the completion of our death in Christ.
As soon as the high priest passed the veil of the Tabernacle he stood before the Ark of the Covenant. The Ark of the Covenant typifies the appearing of Christ as King.
As soon as the believer crosses the Jordan River, so to speak, he stands in the land of promise. The land of promise is the rest of God (Hebrews, Chapter Four). The land of promise is associated with the coming of our heavenly Joshua to lead His troops into the full possession of their own spirit, soul, and body, and then into dominion over the earth and its peoples.
And it came to pass after three days, that the officers went through the host; (Joshua 3:2)
Here are our "three days" again. The symbolism of the total victory of Christ after "three days" appears throughout the Scriptures. The "officers" of the Lord Jesus are passing "through the host" today. The Church is drawing near to the coming of the Lord to assume His rightful place of rulership over the nations of the earth.
The members of the Body of Christ are being commanded by the Lord Jesus to enter the place of obedience to Himself. We are being advised and urged to untangle ourselves from the affairs of the present age so we may be able to prepare ourselves for the strenuous times that are just ahead.
Today is a day of training, of discipline, of recruiting soldiers for Christ. Will you accept Jesus as Lord of your life? Will you swear allegiance to the Lord as your Commander in Chief? Will you enlist in the Lord’s army? Will you be totally obedient to Him?
And they commanded the people, saying, When ye see the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, and the priests the Levites bearing it, then ye shall remove from your place, and go after it. (Joshua 3:3)
It is time for us who are members of the Body of Christ to cease wandering about in the Kingdom of God and to come under discipline. It is not enough that someone has a new scheme to build a church or to save the world. We must look to Christ (the Ark) and observe what He is doing.
It is being suggested today that we are to attack the forces of wickedness. It is being stated that God is raising an army of saints who, by faith in God, will drive out the sin from the nations. We are to come against homosexuality, abortion, drugs, and so forth and drive them from our nation.
This is error. Our task is to follow the Ark of the Covenant, the Lord Jesus. He is not instructing us to attack sin in the world at this time. That attack will come later, at Armageddon.
The Lord through the Spirit is counseling us concerning internal conquest, that is, the conquering of our own evil nature. It is folly to attack the people of the world because of their sinning and rebelling when we also are sinning and rebelling. We shall be judged as we are judging!
Christians have two tasks in the present hour. The first task is to cooperate with the Holy Spirit as He brings us through the three deaths and three resurrections of redemption. The second task, also performed through the Holy Spirit, is to bear witness of the soon appearing of the Lord Jesus in His Kingdom. To attack the enemy before the Lord appears, not following the Ark but following our own irritation with sinners and their practices, will not have a lasting effect and will bring persecution upon us.
When we see Christ move, then we are to move. When He stops we are to stop. We cannot go across Jordan on our own. God has appointed Christ as Commander in Chief. We are to be under absolute obedience to Him.
Yet there shall be a space between you and it, about two thousand cubits by measure: come not near unto it, that ye may know the way by which ye must go: for ye have not passed this way heretofore. (Joshua 3:4)
Two thousand years ago, the Lord Jesus passed before us through the death and resurrection that God had ordained for Him. We are following "two thousand cubits" (two thousand years) behind Him, to speak according to the prophetic figure. Christ has gone ahead of us in the death of obedience to the Father.
Christ is standing today in the midst of Jordan, holding back the waters of death so we can pass over without being harmed. The Holy Spirit is directing us to follow Christ through death and resurrection, and on into the rest of God.
And Joshua said unto the people, Sanctify yourselves: for to morrow the LORD will do wonders among you. (Joshua 3:5)
The Holy Spirit is commanding us to separate ourselves from all that is of sin, of Satan, of the world, of self-will, and to attend to the Lord Jesus in utter consecration to His will. He is coming to "do wonders" among us, and it is time now to purify ourselves in preparation for His appearing.
And Joshua said, Hereby ye shall know that the living God is among you, and that he will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Hivites, and the Perizzites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Jebusites. (Joshua 3:10)
Seven nations are mentioned here, typifying the fact that God will tear down every force of wickedness. There will be no trace of evil left when God has completed His work of redemption. Seven is the number of complete redemption. The Body of Christ stands on the brink of the conflict that will destroy the forces of sin and rebellion in the heavens and on the earth.
The proof to Israel that God intended to drive out the seven tribes of Canaan was the moving of the Ark ahead of them into Jordan, and the parting of the Jordan to allow the priests safe passage into the midst of the river.
The proof to us that God intends to destroy sin and rebellion is the entering of Christ into death, bearing our sin upon Himself, and the raising of Him again without sin and without harm to Himself.
Because of the perfect victory of Christ over death we know that we too can commit our lives to God and that the full authority and power of death holds no terror for us. Christ has created a firmament in the midst of the waters, so to speak, and we can pass from the physical realm to the spirit realm without being hurt by judgment. Christ will continue to hold back the waters of judgment until every saint has passed safely across.
And as they that bare the ark were come unto Jordan, and the feet of the priests that bare the ark were dipped in the brim of the water, (for Jordan overfloweth all his banks all the time of harvest,) (Joshua 3:15)
"Harvest," in Scripture, represents judgment. Harvest is the reaping of fruit that was sown at a previous time. All crops come to harvest, and all sin and righteousness comes to the Day of Judgment.
In the above verse we notice that Jordan, representing death, overflows its banks throughout the time of harvest. So it is that death enlarges its borders in the Day of Judgment.
When God brings us into a season of judgment there is a working of death. If we have been disobedient there is remorse. If we have been obedient the death merely removes our bondages and there is an increased resurrection to righteousness.
So it will be in the Day that Christ is revealed. To those who have been disobedient there will be grief, anguish of spirit, remorse, frustration. To the righteous there will be the removal of the bondages of the flesh and a glorious resurrection into eternal life.
And the priests that bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD stood firm on dry ground in the midst of Jordan, and all the Israelites passed over on dry ground, until all the people were passed clean over Jordan. (Joshua 3:17)
Our Lord Jesus Christ has gone ahead of us. He now possesses the keys of Hell and death. He is standing on dry ground in the midst of Jordan. The waters of death can in no manner hurt the members of the Body of Christ. Judgment and death will be held back by the Lord Jesus until every member of His Church has passed safely through death into eternal life.
Entering Canaan: fear overtakes the enemy.
And it came to pass, when all the kings of the Amorites, which were on the side of Jordan westward, and all the kings of the Canaanites, which were by the sea, heard that the LORD had dried up the waters of Jordan from before the children of Israel, until we were passed over, that their heart melted, neither was there spirit in them any more, because of the children of Israel. (Joshua 5:1)
It is helpful for us to realize that terror has entered the spirit of the forces of darkness. They have seen what Christ did on Calvary and how the Spirit of God raised Him from the dead to sit on the highest throne of judgment. They understand that their end is at hand.
Whenever Jesus of Nazareth drew near one possessed by a demon, the evil spirit cried out in fear. We of the Church need to realize there is no more strength left in the ranks of the enemy. It remains only for us to follow the Lord Jesus Christ into victory in the earth.
The kingdom of darkness does not fear our talents, our efforts, our ambition, our enthusiasm, our zeal, our money. The fear of the wicked lords comes from what they have learned of the manner in which God brings us safely through death and resurrection. They understand that God is leading us, and that death itself cannot harm us.
Christ has promised we will tread on all the power of the enemy and nothing will by any means harm us. Let us, as Christ leads, put our feet on the necks of the enemies of the Lord God.
A time of circumcision of the heart.
At that time the LORD said unto Joshua, Make thee sharp knives, and circumcise again the children of Israel the second time. (Joshua 5:2)
All the men of war who came from Egypt under Moses, with the exception of Joshua and Caleb, died in the wilderness. They did not enter the land of promise. The army that crossed Jordan under the leadership of Joshua was another generation. Therefore circumcision was necessary.
We are drawing near the time when the Church will enter unprecedented victory in Christ. Then the Lord Jesus will appear and we will take the last step of redemption. We shall experience the change in the body.
There must be a circumcision of the heart of each person who would press on to greater victory in Christ. There must be a cutting back of the adamic nature. This is necessary if we expect to enter the final, successful attack on the forces of wickedness in the heavens and on the earth.
The saints of time past have known what it means to offer one’s self to the Lord patiently and diligently and to experience a circumcision of the heart. No matter how the power of the Lord increases on us in these days, there still is no substitute for the patient, diligent offering of our lives to the Lord. All the grace our fathers have known must be possessed by us also. Righteousness, holiness, and obedience still are the only route to victory in Christ.
And they did eat of the old corn of the land on the morrow after the passover, unleavened cakes, and parched corn in the selfsame day. And the manna ceased on the morrow after they had eaten of the old corn of the land; neither had the children of Israel manna any more; but they did eat of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year. (Joshua 5:11,12)
God fed Israel by a miracle for the forty years of the wilderness wandering. As soon as the food of the land of promise became available, the manna ceased to come down each day from Heaven.
Manna typifies the temporary provisions with which God sustains us in the wilderness of the world—particularly the ministries and gifts of the Holy Spirit. As soon as we enter the fullness of Christ at His appearing, the temporary provisions will vanish. We shall know as we are known. What is perfect will then be here and there will be no more need for the daily mercy drops of grace.
The "corn of the land" typifies the indwelling of the fullness of Christ and the Father that we believe will come to the overcoming remnant just prior to, and in connection with, the appearing of the Lord Jesus from Heaven.
It is our understanding that a revelation of Christ far greater than we may have thought possible will be given us in order to enable us to perform the many acts of grace and judgment that will be needed in the last days to prepare the Church and the world for the coming of Christ. Also, we understand that the Lord Jesus will reveal Himself in a greater way to Jewish people so they will be preserved throughout the dark days that are ahead.
We are being strengthened at the present time in order that we may be able to contain the fullness that God has determined to entrust to us. The habitation of God is being prepared in us now. In the last days the Lord Jesus will enter us to such an extent that the glimpses "through a glass darkly" no longer will be necessary. The ministries and gifts of the Holy Spirit will cease "on the morrow" after the Lord comes to be glorified in us and through us.
And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, behold, there stood a man over against him with his sword drawn in his hand: and Joshua went unto him, and said unto him, Art thou for us, or for our adversaries? (Joshua 5:13)
The "man" whom Joshua saw was the "captain of the host of the Lord." The captain had his sword drawn in his hand.
Joshua had but one question: "Are you for us or for our enemies?"
This is a helpful attitude to take toward all spiritual visitations. We are not to be gullible, ready to follow all spirits that appear to us. We are to test every spirit.
"Are you of Christ?" is an appropriate question. Meanwhile we are to call on the Lord to reveal the true identity of the spirit whom we are addressing. Even then we must keep in an attitude of prayer so we do not become enticed and drawn away by a seducing spirit.
Joshua was moved to worship at the appearance of the leader of the army of Heaven. Therefore we understand that he was a personage of high standing before God and represented God. Whoever he was, the captain directed Joshua, who himself had been chosen of God to lead the people of the Lord, to put off his shoes. Joshua promptly did so.
Possessing the promise of God: Jericho.
Now Jericho was straitly shut up because of the children of Israel: none went out, and none came in. (Joshua 6:1)
When God moves us forward in the power of deliverance He gives us full authority and power to bind the enemy. It remains only for us to obey the Lord strictly in order for perfect victory to be won.
Even before the walls of Jericho fell the Church of God had the enemy bound tightly. So it is that as we draw near the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Church will receive the power to bind the enemy and hold him in check. The Church, the Bride of the Lamb, is a fearful power in the heavens and on the earth. She is "terrible as an army with banners"; she is "the company of two armies" (Song of Solomon 6:10,13).
And the LORD said unto Joshua, See, I have given into thine hand Jericho, and the king thereof, and the mighty men of valour. (Joshua 6:2)
The Lord Jesus Christ has promised us total power over the enemy. However, we are not to exercise this power for our own purposes. We are to be led of Christ in every detail. We are to be consecrated to the Person of the Lord Jesus. If we will follow the Lord closely He will give into our hand the accuser and every other evil lord of darkness, just as the Father has given them into His hand.
And ye shall compass the city, all ye men of war, and go round about the city once. Thus shalt thou do six days. (Joshua 6:3)
The number six represents the Day of Atonement, the Day of Vengeance, the Day of Reconciliation. Man was created in the image of God on the sixth day. Therefore six portrays the point at which we experience change into the image of Christ.
"Six days" speaks of all the workings of grace in us that bring us to the place where we are ready to enter the rest of God. The "sixth day" is eternal judgment (Hebrews 6:1,2).
And seven priests shall bear before the ark seven trumpets of rams’ horns: and the seventh day ye shall compass the city seven times, and the priests shall blow with the trumpets. (Joshua 6:4)
The number seven is the symbol of complete redemption. Naaman dipped seven times in Jordan. The blood of the bird was sprinkled seven times during the cleansing of the leper. There were seven tribes in Canaan. There were seven Levitical feasts. There were six days of creation followed by the seventh day of rest. There were seven holy furnishings of the Tabernacle of the Congregation.
Redemption is not a single work that takes place at some point in our life. We must keep applying the blood, going down and coming up as did Naaman the Syrian, before the work of redemption has been completed in our personality.
Victory, but not in our own strength. The ceremony that took place outside the walls of Jericho portrays the true nature of the Christian warfare. This was anything but a military strategy. The march of the priests around the walls of Jericho was foolishness in terms of accepted practices of warfare.
The point emphasized is that the battles of the Lord are not won by the wisdom and strength of the saints. The battles always are won by the Spirit of the Lord. We are to be obedient to the Lord Jesus.
We Christians are not to scheme and plan concerning how we are to establish the Kingdom of God in the earth. Rather we are to follow the Lord Jesus so closely we can hear His voice and know what it is He wishes us to do.
When Christ commands us to do something we are to obey whether we understand it or not. The direction may seem "impractical," as in the case of the priests parading around the walls of Jericho. But the battle is the Lord’s.
And it shall come to pass, that when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, and when ye hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city shall fall down flat, and the people shall ascend up every man straight before him. (Joshua 6:5)
It was not the air from the lungs of the Israelites that made the wall of Jericho fall flat, it was the power of God.
Here we see the two armies working together. The army of saints on earth obeyed the directions of the Lord, and then spiritual power made victory possible.
When Israel left Egypt the Lord was the One who fought against Pharaoh. Israel’s responsibility was to sprinkle the blood on the door posts. When Israel entered the land of promise the Lord did some of the fighting and the Israelites did some of the fighting.
The task of the saints of today is to wrestle against the rulers and powers in the heavenlies. We have no strength in ourselves that can conquer the lords of darkness. Our responsibility is to follow the Lord Jesus Christ in every detail as He directs us by the Holy Spirit.
When we are perfectly obedient God issues the power that enables the righteous spiritual forces to conquer the unrighteous. Victory is related directly to our obedience. This is God’s way.
It is in the third death and resurrection of redemption that we learn obedience, making it possible for us to obtain the fruitfulness and rulership that belong to us by inheritance.
Joshua suffered only two defeats: one because of the disobedience of Achan; the other because of Joshua’s own carelessness in not inquiring of the Lord concerning the Gibeonites. The first defeat was due to sin. The second defeat was due to lack of careful seeking of the Lord, to carelessness.
When the Lord teaches us consecration He impresses on us that we are never to be careless in spiritual battle. We always are to walk diligently before Him, remaining watchful in prayer at all times.
The incident of Achan demonstrates the certainty of defeat when there is sin in the camp.
Israel hath sinned, and they have also transgressed my covenant which I commanded them: for they have even taken of the accursed thing, and have also stolen, and dissembled also, and they have put it even among their own stuff. Therefore the children of Israel could not stand before their enemies, but turned their backs before their enemies, because they were accursed: neither will I be with you any more, except ye destroy the accursed from among you. (Joshua 7:11,12)
The Israelites had been commanded to burn everything in the cities they captured, with the exception of the gold and silver and the articles of brass and iron. These were to be put in the treasury of the house of the Lord.
Achan took and hid a garment and some silver and gold. One man was disobedient. As a result, thirty-six Israelites died and Israel lost the battle of Ai.
God blamed the whole camp of Israel. "Israel hath sinned." One covetous person tied the hands of the spiritual forces that were making it possible for the Israelites to be successful in battle.
So it is in the churches of today. We can prosper in the work of the Kingdom only as long as we walk in righteousness, holiness, and obedience. One small act of willful sin can prevent a major victory. The Presence and revival glory of the Holy Spirit depend on the state of holiness of the saints.
"Israel hath sinned." Not "one soldier has sinned" but "Israel has sinned."
There are many instances in the Scriptures when God refers to Israel as one whole. The Christians of today are apt to be preoccupied with their individual problems and spiritual abilities and progress. It is helpful, wholesome, and at times very liberating to adopt the concept that each one of us is one small part of a massive plan of God.
It is Israel, the elect of God, as one whole, that will constitute the holy city, the new Jerusalem. The light of Jerusalem, the light that will guide the nations of the saved of the world, will proceed from the one Lampstand of God.
The victorious saints, of the second and third chapters of the Book of Revelation, always are addressed as individuals. Overcoming always is an individual matter between the Lord and His saint.
The Lord Jesus perfects the cells of His Body one at a time.
There are situations and circumstances when we are to concentrate on our individual relationship to the Lord. There are other situations and circumstances when we are to be very aware that we are one living stone in a huge edifice that is designed to house the Lord God of Heaven. We are one element of millions of like elements.
It is of extreme importance that we obey God in every detail of our existence, because we have no way of understanding how the Lord is fashioning and employing us as a part of His tremendous Body.
Most of the members of the Body are in the spirit realm, no longer living on the earth. But the Body of Christ, the Servant of the Lord, is one whole whether in Heaven or on the earth. Let us continue to be utterly diligent and obedient because the work of building the Body of Christ, and cleansing the universe of rebellion, are much greater tasks than we possibly can understand.
The saints who will ride with Christ in that day are "called, chosen, and faithful." One small act of sin in the army will destroy the power of the return of Christ. There can be no unrighteousness of any kind in the army of Christ.
The Gibeonites were able to deceive Joshua because he became overconfident.
And when the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done unto Jericho and to Ai, They did work wilily, and went and made as if they had been ambassadors, and took old sacks upon their asses, and wine bottles, old, and rent, and bound up; (Joshua 9:3,4)
If we become careless Satan can deceive us. The carelessness and overconfidence of Joshua and the princes of the congregation resulted in the preservation of the Gibeonites, a nation that should have been totally destroyed. The Gibeonites thereafter were a source of confusion in Israel.
And when the LORD thy God shall deliver them before thee; thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor shew mercy unto them: (Deuteronomy 7:2)
One of the principal lessons we must master if we are to enter the land of promise is the need for maintaining constant awareness of the mind of the Lord in every matter, great and small. The slightest tendency to trust in the enthusiasm, ambition, sympathy, or logic of the human mind will bring confusion and defeat.
The power of the forces of evil was demolished at Calvary. The devils can never win over the saints unless we are enticed into sin by our lusts or are deceived into disobedience, carelessness, passivity, ambition, fear, or presumption.
Joshua and his lieutenants did not "ask counsel at the mouth of the Lord," and fell into deception as a result. We too can fall into deception if we become careless or make assumptions.
There is no Christian so secure in Christ he cannot be lured into deception if he is not careful. "Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall" (I Corinthians 10:12). If we are certain we never can be deceived we have taken the first step toward deception.
Every saint is required to watch and pray unceasingly whether at work, at rest, or in the service of the Lord.
And it came to pass, as they fled from before Israel, and were in the going down to Bethhoron, that the LORD cast down great stones from heaven upon them unto Azekah, and they died: they were more which died with hailstones than they whom the children of Israel slew with the sword. (Joshua 10:11)
Joshua and the "mighty men of valor" fought valiantly against the kings of the Amorites, and then the Lord helped from Heaven by hurling down hailstones. Again we behold two armies fighting side by side against the enemies of the Lord. More of the Amorites were slain by the Lord’s hailstones than were put to death by the sword thrusts of Israel’s mighty men of valor.
When we are in the center of God’s will and doing our best the Lord Jesus assists us. He accomplishes more than we do. We must do our part and He must do His part or victory will not be won.
Then spake Joshua to the LORD in the day when the LORD delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel, Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon; and thou, Moon, in the valley of Ajalon. (Joshua 10:12)
This most extraordinary miracle is an example of the kind of supernatural assistance the saints of the Lord will receive in the battle against the forces of darkness. We noticed before, when discussing Joel’s army, that the elements of the firmament will be disturbed when the Lord goes forth to war.
Joshua spoke to the Lord and to the sun and moon at the same time. In our commanding of miracles we are to address the Lord Jesus and the created realm at the same time. To address the Lord alone does not reflect the full weight of authority that has been assigned to the members of the Body of Christ. To address the created realm alone is to run the risk of losing sight of the ever-present leadership of the Lord Jesus, and also that of not giving glory to God.
Both Christ and the creation must be addressed simultaneously if there is to be a miraculous setting aside of the laws of nature.
Five kings of wickedness judged. The incident of the five kings hidden in the cave at Makkedah is a prophetic representation of the manner in which Christ is proceeding to demolish the sin in the earth (Joshua 10:16-27).
The Amorite kings, as soon as they were captured, were left under guard in the cave of Makkedah. Jesus has left the principalities and powers that influence the world under the guard of His blood while He goes forth to "slay the Amorites."
Then Joshua returned and brought out the five Amorite kings, made a public spectacle of them, killed them, and finally hanged each on a tree. Jesus will return and bring forth the kings of wickedness, the evil lords of darkness. Christ will make a public spectacle of them, having the members of His Body put their feet on the necks of these evil princes. Then the Lord Jesus will destroy them utterly.
The Lord Jesus commands us to be baptized in water, locking up for a season the kings of sin in us. He directs us to assign our old nature to the cross, to become occupied with our new position at His right hand in the heavenlies and with our daily walk in the Spirit.
Christ returns to us later in our Christian discipleship and calls forth the roots of sin in us. He then shows us how to put these monsters to death and to have no fear of them whatever.
So Joshua smote all the country of the hills, and of the south, and of the vale, and of the springs, and all their kings: he left none remaining, but utterly destroyed all that breathed, as the LORD God of Israel commanded. (Joshua 10:40)
God ordered the destruction of the enemy who lived in the land He had promised to His people. After Joshua died, Israel never went on to possess the land of promise to the extent God had commanded. The Israelites were not diligent to put all the enemy to death or to burn up the material goods of the cities of Canaan.
The Jews did not follow through to complete victory but made peace with the tribes of Canaan. In some cases the natives of the land resisted the soldiers of Israel. Because the enemy resisted fiercely, the Israelites preferred to settle down in the areas they had conquered and live as neighbors with the unconquered peoples whom God had appointed to destruction.
The compromises produced the inevitable result, just as God had warned. The Israelites intermarried with the Canaanites and adopted the worship of demons. The people of the Lord began burning their children in the fire to the demon God, Molech. Their own sons and daughters, over whom the Lord desired to rejoice, were roasted in the flames of the ovens of human sacrifice required by the unclean spirits of Canaan.
The land of milk and honey began to curdle and stink with the abominable adultery, fornication, murder, and worship of devils practiced by Jews and Gentiles alike. When God tells us to destroy the enemy He does not mean destroy part of the enemy.
The Lord Jesus Christ never will rest until every last trace of the enemy has been destroyed from the heavens and the earth. We are moving toward the total destruction of the forces of Satan. There can be no possessing of the promise of God apart from the complete tearing down and removal from the camp of every trace of sin.
Christian, do you have a heart to follow Christ into the destruction of sin? Or are you willing to compromise as soon as you have attained a reasonable amount of spiritual success in your life? Those who are privileged to ride with the Lord Jesus will not rest until the very memory of sin and rebellion has been destroyed from the creation.
The Rest of God.
There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his. Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief. (Hebrews 4:9-11)
From the wilderness and this Lebanon even unto the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and unto the great sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your coast. (Joshua 1:4)
So Joshua took the whole land, according to all that the Lord said unto Moses; and Joshua gave it for an inheritance unto Israel according to their divisions by their tribes. And the land rested from war. (Joshua 11:23)
We must accept the concept that we are going somewhere. There is a goal of the Christian pilgrimage. There is a "mark," a "prize." The land of promise is specific, not just any inheritance we select at random.
Our salvation is not without an objective. The Christian race has a finish line. The plan of redemption includes a specific beginning and a specific destination.
There is nothing vague about God’s plan of redemption. Jesus is Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the Ending, the Author and the Finisher of our faith. God gave to Israel a geographical description of their lawful borders. Christ is leading us toward a specific, designated region of conquest.
Our Christian experience is not to be an aimless wandering toward an uncertain destination.
We also need to understand that the rest, the inheritance, still is available to us. The Church to this point never has "arrived," never has grasped the promise of God. The saints in Heaven are looking down on us and cheering us on because they without us cannot enter the inheritance, cannot be made perfect.
The material creation is in travail, bound in futility and corruption, waiting for the deliverance that can come only through the sons of God. Meanwhile, the Holy Spirit is moving on the saints. The cloud and the fire are lifting and forging ahead.
It is time now to take another giant step forward in Christ. We are being prepared to cross Jordan and drive the enemy from the land of promise.
God labored for six days and finished His work. Then He rested. Now it is our turn to labor to enter God’s rest.
There are many obstacles, many enemies, that challenge each day our progress toward the rest of God. The Christian life always will be a struggle until every enemy finally has been overcome and we are able to receive the fullness of our inheritance in Christ.
God has made every provision for our victory in Christ. He has set before us promises so astounding that our minds cannot grasp the extent of such glory. There only is one real enemy, as far as entering the rest of God is concerned. The only power in Heaven or on the earth that can stop us is our own unbelief, an unbelief that manifests itself in disobedience.
God is taking care of every other problem. The forces of Hell cannot stop us, only our unbelief and disobedience.
The faith that God gives and that overcomes the world is compounded from faithfulness, hope, love, trust, and courage. We must maintain an unshakable grip on our confidence in God’s Character. The first action of Satan in Eden was to bring into question God’s dependability and His motives. We must be careful to keep giving God the glory due His name.
What God has promised He most assuredly will perform. Are you sure of that? Are you certain that God is good and is to be trusted?
There can be no rest for us until we have pushed through to total victory in Christ. If we compromise at any point there will remain areas of disturbance in our life. The longer and harder we fight, the more of our personality and environment we will bring under the control of the Lord Jesus.
We cannot fight in our own wisdom or strength. The Holy Spirit leads us forward and empowers us. We must cooperate with the Holy Spirit, be obedient, and keep ourselves in the place where we can hear and obey His voice. "As many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God."
What has the Lord God promised to you, both in the Scriptures and also in personal revelation? Whatever He has promised to you, that is your inheritance, that is your rest, that is your possession forever. Will you labor in Christ until you have received all He has promised to you?
The Israelites fell short of the Glory of God. They gave up far too quickly. We must learn from their mistakes and press on in unrelenting faith and courage until we possess all that God has promised.
God has promised many things to our Lord Jesus Christ. Christ is not one to give up in defeat. He is waiting patiently until His enemies have been made His footstool. He will not quit before He receives His inheritance.
He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth: and the isles shall wait for his law. (Isaiah 42:4)
If you desire to be one of Christ’s warriors, one of those who will ride with Him in the invasion of the earth, He wants you to receive His indomitable Spirit of conquest, of laying hold on the fullness of the Word of His Father. Will you receive that Spirit?
The writings of the Hebrew prophets are filled with the promises of God to Christ. This especially is true of the Book of Psalms. Let us consider for a moment the powerful declaration outlined in the second Psalm:
I will declare the decree: the Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my son; this day have I begotten thee. Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen [nations] for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel. (Psalms 2:7-9)
The Father has promised to Christ the peoples of the earth for His inheritance and the farthest reaches of the earth for His possession. Today, Satan and his followers rule the peoples of the world and their influence extends to the ends of the earth. But these belong to Christ by Divine decree.
Will Christ compromise by saving a few people and removing them to Heaven while Satan enjoys Christ’s inheritance?
Never! Never! Never!
Christ shall return, in the will of the Father, and take control of the peoples of the earth and the material creation. He has been promised absolute rulership: "You shall break them with a rod of iron. You shall dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel."
Christ will not share His throne with anyone except the members of His Body.
He does not quit as we do. He exercises eternal patience and waits for God to bring about the fullness of the reward God has promised.
Christ’s faith in His Father is without measure. He possesses the tireless faith in God’s promises that moves steadily onward until every inch of the promise of God has been attained in its fullness. He desires that we begin to receive some of His faith in our own heart.
Let us receive of the faith that is in and of Christ so we may enter the fullness of the inheritance God has promised to us.
What has God promised to us? What has God promised to you? All through the Old and New Testaments there are promises to Christ and to the members of the Body of Christ.
The Book of Revelation contains many specific promises to the victorious saints. Some of us have on our dining room table a "promise box" of selected passages of Scripture. All such passages taken together compose part of the rest of God, the inheritance of the saints. Let us labor to attain each promise as the Holy Spirit leads and enables.
Paul informs us we are "coheirs with Christ" (Romans 8:17). There is no greater promise in the Scriptures. Christ has inherited all things. If we are coheirs with Him we have inherited all things. It is as straightforward as that.
If anyone asks you the extent of your inheritance in Christ, tell him, "all things." You will be correct. Will you labor onward in the Holy Spirit until "all things" are yours in solid possession?
What has Christ promised us? He has promised we will be kings and priests of God. He has given us access to the tree of life, authority over the nations of the earth, the white raiment of righteous conduct.
We can become part of the eternal temple of God. We can sit with Christ on His throne. In short, we can possess the "all things" that He Himself has been promised by the Father.
Christ teaches us in the Scripture that we are being re-created into His image, that we will be united in fellowship with Himself, with His Father, and with each other. He has promised us a glorified body formed of the substance of resurrection life. He has promised us power over the second death. He has promised us that we will serve God and behold His face throughout eternity.
In the light of such a total, awesome inheritance, can we do other than to cry, "Lead on, Lord Jesus"? We must remain steadfast in faith and courage until every particle of the inheritance is our in total possession. This is the kind of attitude that pleases the Father.
The first death and resurrection bring us into a covenant with God through the blood of Christ, making us candidates for the inheritance of God in Christ.
The second death and resurrection enable us to turn aside from mere flesh-and-blood living and teach us to walk in the Holy Spirit of God.
The third death and resurrection fashion obedience in our personality and straighten out our self and our will to the degree that God is pleased to accept us and to trust us with the tremendous responsibilities of the Kingdom of God.
Let us press on to the fullness of the inheritance in Christ. To do so requires a conversion of our self at the deepest levels of our personality. "No man can see God and live (in his original personality)."
From Moses to Joshua. Moses represents the ministry of Christ during the present age and Joshua represents the ministry of Christ during the coming Kingdom Age. In the present hour, as we are drawing nearer to the Day of the Lord, it becomes increasingly necessary for Christ to work through the ministry of the Body of Christ in Joshua-like manifestation.
Moses is the "come-out" ministry and Joshua is the "enter-in" ministry. Every ministry of the Body of Christ must contain some of the "come-out" burden and some of the "enter-in" burden. We continually are calling people to come out from the spirit of the present age and to enter the good things of the Lord. These two efforts will continue until Jesus appears.
We will be experiencing an increase of the "Joshua" type ministry as we draw near to the return of Christ and His entrance into His inheritance. There is coming into the consciousness of the Church a greater understanding of spiritual warfare and of the fact that the Church will reign on the earth with Christ.
Our inheritance is becoming increasingly real to us. Prior to this time our exodus from the world has been real to us but exactly what it is that we are to enter has been somewhat vague. Now the Holy Spirit is bringing into increased clarity the land of promise, the goal of the struggle for spiritual mastery.
"Moses" never can enter the land of promise. We must experience the characteristics of the "Joshua" ministry if we are to make a success of entering the land of promise.
Moses was an apostle, prophet, evangelist, and pastor-teacher in turn. Joshua was a man of war, a commander of battle. It was Joshua, not Moses, who encountered the "man" with the sword drawn in his hand. It was Joshua, not Moses, who brought Israel across the Jordan (third death) and into the land of promise (third resurrection).
Now after the death of Moses the servant of the LORD it came to pass, that the LORD spake unto Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ minister, saying, (Joshua 1:1)
The Lord must "speak" to a ministry before it can become fruitful and gain dominion. As long as Moses was leading the people, Joshua was in a period of preparation and was ministering to Moses. There came a time when the Lord spoke directly to Joshua.
There comes a time in each of our lives as Christians, if we are following the Lord, when God brings change into our ministry and into our way of doing things. We cannot force such change but we can pray and look to the Lord each day.
If we remain diligently before Him He will give us the desire for needed change, and He Himself will bring about the desired change in His almighty wisdom and power.
The differences between Moses and Joshua are interesting to consider. Moses was chosen by the Lord in a most extraordinary manner. The circumstances surrounding his birth and the extent of his training as a son of Pharaoh were remarkable.
The burning bush, prophesying before Pharaoh, the exodus, receiving the Ten Commandments, Moses’ personal experiences on Mount Sinai—has anything comparable to these things happened to any other human? Moses was the friend of God. God spoke to him face to face, not "through a glass darkly."
By contrast, the circumstances surrounding the birth of Joshua were, as far as we know, unremarkable. Joshua was Moses’ minister. Moses went down in history as one of the greatest leaders of all time. The career of Joshua is of interest only to God’s people and to teachers of strategy and tactics in military academies.
Joshua communicated neither with God nor with men to the extent true of Moses. Joshua’s training and ministry were all in the confines of the holy purposes of God in Israel—not nearly as colorful a record as was true of Moses.
Moses brought the people from Egypt but Joshua brought them into the land of promise. Can it be possible that the nature and operation of the Body of Christ from here on may not be as understandable to the world as has been true formerly?
Are we coming to the hour when God will move His Church into a heavenly plane of worship and battle? If this is the case, the style of ministry to which we have been accustomed may undergo some changes. There will be more emphasis on following the Holy Spirit and on the ministry and perfecting of the members of the Body of Christ.
Just before the Lord returns, the "Moses" ministry of calling people from the world will be empowered and multiplied as never before in human history. Added to the greatly empowered and multiplied worldwide evangelism will be a "Joshua" ministry that will bring God’s saints into deeper levels of worship and spiritual victory than has been true previously.
As soon as a Christian arrives at a certain level of spiritual maturity there must occur some changes in the ministry provided for him and also in his own ministry to other members of the Body of Christ. Traditional forms of ministry and worship no longer suffice for the deep inner calling toward spiritual warfare and full consecration to the purposes of Christ.
The "Moses" ministry of shepherding "sheep" begins to give way before a more disciplined and militant structuring of the Body of Christ.
When Moses dies, God commissions a new leadership. As soon as the new leadership has been anointed it becomes impossible to keep Moses alive. When Moses dies, He dies, but Christ moves forward in the form of "Joshua."
We must remain in close contact with the Holy Spirit so that when change does come in our walk with the Lord we do not attempt to force the old ways to work. We must learn to flow with the Holy Spirit.
As blessed as the ministries with which we are familiar may have been, we always must keep our eyes on the Lord Jesus Christ and on no other person, group, program or institution. If we do not, we may find ourselves attempting to prop up a dead "Moses"—a previously successful pattern of ministry—in an attempt to perpetuate the old ways.
God has His Moseses and His Joshuas, His Peters and His Pauls. All these are the servants of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is Christ Himself who must remain preeminent. To keep Christ preeminent in our human affairs is not as easy as it sounds, particularly if we have been blessed for a long period of time by a certain type of ministry or by a beloved minister of the Gospel.
The Lord God spoke directly to Joshua, after Moses died:
Moses my servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou, and all this people, unto the land which I do give to them, even to the children of Israel. (Joshua 1:2)
We have stated that Jordan represents the third death and the third death results in a diminishing of ourselves and an enlarging of Christ. It is fitting, therefore, that Joshua was not nearly as conspicuous and colorful a person as Moses.
Moses was the great prophet and lawgiver who delivered the Israelites from the chains of Pharaoh and brought the Presence of God to them. Joshua was only a general who led the Israelites in battle and directed the apportioning of the areas of Canaan to the twelve tribes.
Just before the appearing of the Lord Jesus Christ, and in conjunction with His appearing in the end-time, the Holy Spirit will lead us away from placing as much emphasis on outstanding and colorful personalities as has been true to this date. Hopefully the gap between "clergy" and "laity" will disappear completely.
In the present hour, both in the Body of Christ as a whole as well as in our individual lives, there must be more stress on what the Holy Spirit is commanding and less emphasis on what human effort and organization can accomplish.
Joshua appears to be a type of ministry that is more Holy Spirit-directed than has been true previously. However, all Christian ministry, whether it possesses Moses-like or Joshua-like characteristics, is of and through the ascended Lord Jesus.
It must be God who raises up "Moses" and it must be God who raises up "Joshua." Our only responsibility is to follow the Holy Spirit. We do not need to attempt to inform the Spirit concerning how He must operate. We do need to remain diligent in prayer so that we do not miss the Lord’s current moving.
What a wonderfully interesting experience the life of faith is!
God has appointed a specific land into which His saints are to enter. Our task is to labor to enter God’s land, into His rest. God’s rest is our inheritance in Christ.
God is not working in a random manner. He has a highly specific plan. He knows exactly where and how He is moving. His timetable is accurate to the split second. There is no guesswork with the Lord God of Heaven.
God gives us the land and the leadership that will bring us into the land.
Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses. From the wilderness and this Lebanon even unto the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and unto the great sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your coast. (Joshua 1:3,4)
The two verses above describe exactly how the overcoming life operates. First, we must have leadership chosen by the Holy Spirit. Second, that leadership must move forward but only into the territory set forth specifically by the Lord.
When we are following the Holy Spirit in the life of faith, it is not that God gives us whatever we stumble on in our mind, it is rather that the Lord gives us what He has described in detail. We must move forward in order for God to bless. We must learn to move in the path commanded by the Lord.
It often is very difficult to determine the path of God’s choice and we must offer our body a living sacrifice in order to prove God’s will. There may be years of confusion and of little understanding of what is taking place. If we are willing to die the death God has ordained for us there eventually will come light at the end of the tunnel. As soon as we know where to walk, we are to walk there. Then God gives us every place the sole of our foot treads on.
There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee. (Joshua 1:5)
When we move forward as God directs, there is no power in the heavens above or on the earth beneath that can stop us. This promise is to us as long as we live. God has been with the men of God of the past and He will be with each of us.
God did not fail the saints of old and He will not fail us. When our commission comes to do the work of Christ, God always will be with us to the end of the age. Who is that power that can resist Christ? God is faithful. He will neither fail us nor forsake us.
Be strong and of a good courage: for unto this people shalt thou divide for an inheritance the land, which I sware unto their fathers to give them. (Joshua 1:6)
To move against the enemy in the land of promise requires the specific leading of the Lord Jesus. It also requires strength and courage on our part. The battles of the Lord cannot be won by the faint-hearted.
Joshua no doubt was alarmed by the enormous responsibility that fell upon him with the death of Moses. Joshua always had had Moses to look to. Now Joshua had to get his own answers from God.
For forty years Israel had relied on Moses to furnish the solution to all problems. The burden of several million people now fell on Joshua. From this moment onward it was between the Lord and Joshua.
Sometimes in our own lives, "Moses dies." Then we must find God for ourselves.
Christ commands us to have courage, to be bold in the Lord, to be strong in faith. "Men ought always to pray, and not to faint." God had sworn to the children of Israel that He was giving them a land of milk and honey. It required strength and courage on the part of Joshua to lead Israel across Jordan and into battle against the seven nations of Canaan.
God has sworn to us Christians that He is ready to give us all things as our inheritance in Christ. Courage and strength are required on our part if we are to move past the spiritual position where we are now and press on toward the fullness of God in Christ.
Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest. (Joshua 1:7)
The holy ways of God are taught to us while we still are in the wilderness of training. As soon as God begins to move in an exciting manner in our lives there is a temptation to become careless about the finer points of holiness.
While we are under the pressures of testing we learn to be careful about cleanliness of deeds, words, and thoughts. As soon as God begins to use us we may come to the conclusion we are favored of the Lord, and rules that other Christians, other people, are required to obey, somehow no longer apply to us. Now we have become God’s favorite.
Such is not the case. The reason God taught us the ways of holiness and obedience with such care and in such detail is that when we finally do make some progress against the enemy we do not become careless about following the Lord.
No matter how exciting the situations become or how much success we may think we are having, God still is recording every word, every deed, every thought.
The battle is against the enemies of God, and the holy angels come to help us. There are victories on the right hand and on the left. The victories continue even when we grow a little careless about the finer points of holiness and obedience.
If we are to proceed from victory to victory and not run into trouble with God, we must remain exceedingly careful to walk a straight line with God and with men. Evil spirits became the enemies of God by not adhering to God’s holy ways. Let us be careful that after preaching to others, we ourselves do not end up in the bondage of sin and disobedience.
A considerable degree of strength and courage is necessary if we are to adhere to the words of the Scriptures. It would be a great deal easier at times if we could relax just a bit. Blessed is the person who remains close to Christ and does exactly as He says.
Many in our day may give up in despair because of the high level of sanctification and consecration Christ demands and the Word of God teaches. Some may refuse to accept the fact that the Scriptures speak to us concerning the benefits of suffering in the Lord, concerning the value of freeing ourselves from the entanglements of the world.
Such people hover in their dark corners, clutching to themselves the few trinkets and bits of tinsel they have found in the world. It frightens them to think of letting go of any thing or any relationship to which they have become accustomed. They are trading the family of God and the treasures of the Kingdom for their poverty-level accumulation of friends and fragments of wood, glass, steel, and ribbon.
What a tragedy! God gladly would have shared with them the throne of glory.
We can prosper only as we diligently obey the Scriptures and walk carefully in the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of God interprets the Scriptures to us, applying them to our daily life. It is impossible for us from within ourselves to bring forth the wisdom and strength required to obey the teachings of the Word of God. The Holy Spirit alone can enable a person to adhere to the Scripture.
He can enable us and does enable us when we turn to Christ as candidates for discipleship.
We must give ourselves to Christ each day of our life, never ceasing to do so. "They who are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful." If we do not turn away from Christ at any point we will prosper wherever we go. This is God’s promise to us.
This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success. (Joshua 1:8)
Again, the Spirit of the Lord impressed on Joshua, the commander of the army of the Lord on the earth, that constant meditation in God’s Word is necessary if we are to fight the battles of the Lord. We can never master God’s Word. The more we meditate in the Scriptures the more strength and wisdom we draw from them. It seems, sometimes, that the Spirit of God, if He so chose, could take one verse and give us a million thoughts from it.
There appears to be no end to the wisdom and knowledge contained in each passage of the Scriptures. The Spirit keeps on revealing, revealing, revealing truth from the written Word. Verses we have known for years suddenly come alive and their relationship to other familiar passages are established in new and enlarged understanding.
His commandment is "exceeding broad" and we become blessed as we meditate continually in the Word of God. Our way is made prosperous and we have good success.
Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest. (Joshua 1:9)
Again the Lord charges Joshua to be strong and courageous. Many Christians have a desire to reign with Christ, and they expect to do so at His appearing. Such rulership will require strength and courage on our part. We are being trained in that strength and courage in the present hour.
Sometimes it is advisable for us to pray for faith, for strength, for courage, because we lose heart in the struggle. When we call on Christ He pours into us His own strength and courage. When we receive of His faith, strength, and courage we are enabled to press forward against all obstacles.
If any Christian loses heart in the fight he is to wait on Christ. The Lord will help us if we do not quit. We cannot press forward in ourselves. We must possess Christ’s faith, strength, and courage. He will impart these to us if we will ask Him to do so.
The Lord is with us wherever we go. Yet, we are to be "going" where He commands. Christ leads in the direction we should go, and if we go there He is with us. It is not enough just to launch out into the dark, we must walk in the Spirit of God. Neither is it enough just to wait on the Lord. We must take a step once in a while, watching diligently in prayer as we observe the results of our action.
There must be a going forward in the indicated direction, and then the Lord Jesus will be with us. When He is with us every need is met. Christ knows the details of our life. He understands our needs. He is abundantly able to provide every thing and circumstance required for our success and joy.
Never, never, never does He forsake us. We must be of good courage and wait on the Lord in joyful anticipation of deliverance and good things to come. The answer will appear in God’s time. Christ never has failed anyone yet and He does not intend to fail you or me in our hour of need.
The invasion of the land of promise under the leadership of Joshua portrays our individual entrance into the rest of God, and also the victory of the Body of Christ as a whole. God has promised us dominion over all things including the earth and earth’s peoples.
The Body of Christ will be mobilized as an army in the last days, and Christ will lead us onward to the redemption of our body. Then He will ride at the head of His army as the glorified saints assume control of the earth.
The Father has promised to give to Christ the nations for His inheritance and the farthest reaches of the earth for His possession. We are drawing near to the fulfillment of that promise.
The Jordan River symbolizes the final step of consecration we must take if we are to be soldiers in the army of Christ. There can be no possibility of sin or disobedience in us when we enter the terrible battle for control of the creation.
If we do not enlist in the Lord’s army now, vowing obedience to Him, we are in for a fearful time in the days ahead. We will not be able to draw on the protection Christ provides for each of His soldiers nor will we be able to stand against the evil lords of darkness. We will be as so much debris tossed on the raging waves of the spiritual and material turmoil that soon is to cover the face of the earth.
Let us run into the Mighty Fortress now so we can rule with Christ in the days to come.
Moses never encountered the man with the sword in his hand. The Moses-type ministry cannot take us across Jordan and into the land. Christ now will reveal Himself in His Body as the Lord strong and mighty in battle.
Moses was an apostle, prophet, evangelist, and teacher-pastor as the occasion required. Joshua never was an apostle or a prophet or an evangelist or a pastor-teacher. He was a battle commander. In the differences between the roles of the two men we can observe the differences between the purpose of the wilderness experience and the purpose of entering the land of promise.
The purpose of the wilderness experience was to teach Israel the holy Person and ways of God. The purpose of Israel’s entering the land of promise was to overcome the enemy and possess the land that flows with milk and honey.
The purpose of the two-thousand-year period in which the Church of Christ has been wandering in the wilderness of the world is to teach the Church the holy Person and ways of Christ. The Church is being built up during the present period of preparation. One day it will arrive at the unity of the faith and the fullness of the stature of Christ. Such preparation is necessary if the Church is to enter the land of promise, fulfilling the purposes of God.
The purpose of entering the land of promise is that the forces of wickedness may be destroyed from the creation, and the inhabitants of the earth—and the earth itself—set free from futility and corruption and brought into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
The Joshua-type ministry leads us to deliverance and rulership, enabling us to enter our inheritance. Moses calls us out of the world and teaches us in preparation for the conquest of the land of promise. Joshua brings us into our eternal possessions in Christ, as we stated earlier.
Both ministries are working in us as we move ahead in the life of discipleship. The full expression of the Joshua-type ministry will be in operation when Jesus rides at the head of His army in the invasion of the earth.
As soon as we, through the Holy Spirit, have made a success of the conquest of our own personality, we will be ready for the external conquest of our environment. The Day of the Lord, that is, the unhindered reign of the Lord Jesus Christ, must commence in our heart now.
When we ourselves have been brought under Christ’s rule in internal conquest we will be able to bring the Day of the Lord to the remainder of the world.
Meanwhile we are to exercise diligence in the tasks at hand, laboring in the ministry the Lord has given us. When each member of the Body of Christ is faithful in the small tasks set before him, the whole Body moves ahead toward unity and maturity.
Christ knows that if we are faithful in the small responsibilities before us now we will be faithful in the kingdom-wide responsibilities that will be present when the Lord returns.
When the Lord Jesus read in the scroll from the sixty-first chapter of Isaiah (Luke 4:16-20) He stopped just before saying, "and the day of vengeance of our God."
Why did the Lord stop reading so abruptly? The reason is that the anointing for the operation of the Day of Vengeance is reserved for the ministry of both Head and Body. Christ, Head and Body, will administrate "the day of vengeance of our God." It is the day of the entering of Israel into the land of promise, which to a great extent is the earth.
Total victory is just ahead of us at the appearing of our Lord Jesus from Heaven with the holy angels. We must prepare ourselves now if we expect to ride with Him in the Day of Vengeance.
There will be "seasons of refreshing," increased portions of Christ given to us, that will come to the saints before Jesus returns. Such increased portions are at hand. Every Christian is to look to the Lord now. He is coming to us as the latter rain on the earth. Be sure you do not miss the increased measure of glory available to you now. You will need it in order to know what it is you are to do, and to be able to stand in the days ahead.
When we hear the "going in the tops of the mulberry trees" (I Chronicles 14:15) we know the army of Heaven has gone ahead of us into battle. It is the tread of the Lord’s warrior angels. God will strike the enemy by His mighty power. The Seed of Abraham is destined to tear down all the power of the enemy and to set the captives free.
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