Three Unsheathed Swords [Booklet]

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The three unsheathed swords give us three very different pictures in Scripture---no curse, but blessing, the old corn of the land and the Sword and the peace offering.

Excerpt - Old Corn of the Land Now, turn to Josh. 5:10-15. Here we have a very happy picture, a progress in truth from the first account we have considered.

"And the children of Israel encamped in Gilgal, and kept the passover on the fourteenth day of the month at even in the plains of Jericho. 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. 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? And he said, Nay; but as captain of the host of the LORD am I now come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, and said unto him, What sayeth my lord unto his servant? And the captain of the LORD'S host said unto Joshua, Loose thy shoe from off thy foot; for the place whereon thou standest is holy. And Joshua did so."

On the fourteenth day, the Passover was kept, speaking of that which God sees in the precious blood of Christ when He passes over all His people who are sheltered under it. All of God's people are sheltered under it-every one. After the Passover, the unleavened bread and the parched corn were eaten, a change from the manna. They also speak of Christ, but Christ now glorified, the proper portion for the believer to enjoy.

As we feed on Christ, risen and glorified, we are already eating the precious fruit of the land-enjoying Him before we reach the land. We are also occupied with Him as our Passover, sacrificed for us; providing full satisfaction to God in shedding His precious blood so that God could pass over His people. Then, in eating the unleavened bread, the heart is engaged with One in all His perfection, who never sinned, nor could sin-the one corn of wheat which fell into the ground and died, for He would not abide alone.

As the Guide and Captain of the host, the Lord would lead His people into the good land. With a drawn sword in His hand, He would make them conscious of the place in which they are-the ground upon which they stand-holy. "Holiness becometh thy house," and there is no communion outside practical holiness. Surely the work of Christ has brought us into that perfection, into His presence; and as long as we are in this world we are reminded of the sword, and of the holiness of the place in which we stand.

When, by faith, we eat the old corn of the land, we find there are enemies in possession in the heavenlies, wicked spirits which would rob us of the joy of our inheritance. The sword in the Captain's hand will drive out the enemies, and He will lead the way to that place flowing with milk and honey without scarceness, So there is now a Man on high in the glory leading us in-our Guide.

"Now what is this all about?"

Jericho was just ahead; an impregnable city, with absolutely solid walls which were impossible to pass through. Is God able for all the walls of Jericho? We find that He is.

Is it not nice that God has given us these illustrations to encourage our hearts? If we are looking to Him, there will be a man standing there with an unsheathed sword. He is going to see to it that Jericho becomes just a pile of rubbish. That is the Man with the unsheathed sword in His hand. He may not remove Jericho immediately as He did here, but He is going to remove it when the work is done in our souls.

Never does the Lord allow anything in our lives without a purpose in it. Are our problems impossible? God, and only God, is the One to whom we go.

Joshua fell on his face and worshipped. Balaam fell on his face too; he did not worship, but had to confess, "I shall see him, but not now; I shall behold him, but not nigh." There is a day coming when every eye shall see the blessed face of the Savior; some for the last time, to their everlasting destruction. The sin of Balaam was to teach Balak to cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel.

Joshua worshipped. So we enter that good land each Lord's Day in enjoyment together with the people of God assembled; we worship. Oh, what a place! If we look back to the time when we did not know Christ, we can realize in a small measure how far the grace of God has brought us-from separation from God in our sins to the privilege of worshippers. The Word of God says, "The place is holy." Does that puff us up, or does it humble us?

It is a wonderful experience to have a Guard as we go through the wilderness; to know that the One who has taken us up will bear us all the way home, and that we have a Captain to lead us in. We will not go in as strangers-our Captain, our forerunner, who has already entered (Heb. 6:20), is leading us.