Two facts at once arrest us here. First of all, the fact that neither the Red Sea nor the Jordan lies directly between Egypt and Canaan (Abraham, Jacob and the Lord never crossed either in their journeys between the two); and, secondly, that the children of Israel did cross the Red Sea by the direct guidance and leading of God. They never needed to cross the Jordan had it not been for their own unbelief. Let us try and see what meaning all this has for us. We have not only as sinners the judgment of God to face, from which the blood of the Lamb delivers us, but after this we still need deliverance from our three great foes – the world, the flesh, and the devil. Nothing now but the death of Christ can deliver us from the power of these, and of this both the Red Sea and Jordan are remarkable types.
In the waters of the former it will be remembered the pomp and pride of Egypt were drowned, and the strength of Pharaoh was broken, thus answering to the death of Christ, which separates us from the world and Satan’s power (Gal. 6:1414But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world. (Galatians 6:14); Heb. 2:1414Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; (Hebrews 2:14)). But Romans 6 finds no real counterpart here, for although the Israelites should have left their old unbelieving hearts behind, as a matter of fact they did not. This is clearly seen on nearing Canaan. If the flesh had been left behind them, as truly as Pharaoh and Egypt were, no Jordan would have been needed; but alas! it appears this was the hardest lesson of all to learn. Those, therefore, who thus refused to leave it behind them, but on the contrary betrayed their confidence in it, by putting themselves under law, had all to perish in the wilderness, that it might be destroyed, and death was again presented to the generation born in the wilderness, at the Jordan. Only this time especial care was taken that they themselves, represented by twelve stones, should be left at the bottom. And this is the entrance into Canaan.
The death of Christ has not only put away the sins of every believer, not only freed him from the world and Satan’s power, but has also put an end to him, so that his old self is crucified and buried with Christ, out of which he is risen in the power of a new life, and brought into the new and heavenly sphere of Canaan.
If, therefore, we put the Red Sea and Jordan together, they present to us a full picture of the death of Christ, the former especially typifying what it delivers me from; in the latter, what it brings me into; or, in other words, death and resurrection. To cross the Jordan and enter Canaan is not the privilege of a few, but is the effect of the death of Christ for every believer, however few may enter into the meaning or power of it.
Let us now briefly consider the possessing: This only belongs to those who fight for it; the condition of possession is stated in Joshua 1:33Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses. (Joshua 1:3). We find that all Israel entered it together, but that many were careless about possessing it (Josh. 18:33And Joshua said unto the children of Israel, How long are ye slack to go to possess the land, which the Lord God of your fathers hath given you? (Joshua 18:3)), while two and a half out of the twelve tribes never dwelt in it at all, or at any rate, in that part west of Jordan.
This has great meaning for us, dear fellow-believers. In Christ we all have died and risen, and entered the land; but how slow we are to possess, to make our own, often after much exercise and conflict with our spiritual enemies, the blessings that are ours in Christ! We have to fight the Lord’s battles, but we are poor soldiers, though after all the work is entirely His from first to last (Josh. 21:4444And the Lord gave them rest round about, according to all that he sware unto their fathers: and there stood not a man of all their enemies before them; the Lord delivered all their enemies into their hand. (Joshua 21:44)). We have not space here to consider the various wiles by which Satan, at one time by fright as a roaring lion, at another by deceit as a wily serpent, sought to hinder this possession, but we earnestly commend the study of the book of Joshua in the light of Ephesians to our readers.
All that we can do here is, while just pointing out the outlines of this interesting subject, to bring home to each of our hearts the fact that it is only as we are thus possessing, thus abiding in communion with Christ, in the enjoyment of His love and peace, in the blessed sense of our portion in Him, that we can hope to walk to His glory down here. And in all this let us beware of possessing without dwelling; the two and a half tribes were valiant enough in possessing, that is, in making the land their own; but they did not enjoy what they obtained. So with many of us. We are keen and eager, it may be, in the pursuit of truth, and a true position according to the mind of Christ, but how far are we dwelling in the power of what we know? How far does the atmosphere of Canaan so pervade our spirits, and its fruits so fill our lives that we are found to the praise of God down here? Only the man who lives in Canaan can rightly cross the wilderness; the heart must be satisfied and happy in Christ to be content with His portion and path down here. If we would be strangers here, we must practically have a home with Christ in heaven for our hearts; and the man who does not dwell in a home in Canaan can never be content with only a tent in the wilderness. May the Lord give us each to feel more and more the importance of keeping up a fresh and happy inward life in real communion with Christ where He is, as this is the only real power to maintain a consistent walk to the glory of God.
(To be continued.)