The Conquest Of Canaan

Chapter I Page I

How Israel crossed the Jordan — the leader prepared for his work — the sending of the spies — the crossing of Jordan and the buried stones — Jordan the type of Calvary and identification with Christ — the new nation and new life — the knife at Gilgal — the Captain with the drawn sword — the Jericho victory — the defeat at AL

Chapter II

Re-taken ground — the javelin of faith—beware of snares — testing the guidance — the " Waterloo " experience in Canaan — the battle of the five Kings — put your feet upon their necks — the Righteousness of God.

Chapter III

The cause of the war in Canaan — the extent of the destruction — the danger of being ensnared— four ways of being^ ensnared — the accursed bar of gold — the bed-rock position of victory for the spiritual warfare — the declared attitude against sin and Satan.

CHAPTER iv

The curse in Eden — the curse on Canaan — the curse of the broken law — the curse on Him who bore the curse at Calvary — the curse of God declared by His representatives — the curse of Deborah — by Elisha — by Jeremiah — by Malachi — the curse usable in prayer as shown by Christ — the " let him be accursed " by Paul — no more curse.

Prefatory Note

H^HE addresses on the Book of Joshua given in the following pages were delivered at Meetings for Christian Workers during the early months of 191 1, and taken down in shorthand for issue in the columns of the " Overcomer " ; but in going through the matter in preparation for print, I have felt they would be more useful if issued at once in Book form, rather than be spread over four monthly issues of the " Overcomer *\

They were delivered extempore, and with no further preparation than an outline of texts. My purpose was only to give a bird's eye view of the battlefield of conflict, as depicted in the story of Israel's war in Canaan, and as each address was delivered at intervals of a month — the matter is not as consecutive in style and condensed in Bible exegesis, as it would have been if prepared directly for print Nevertheless as the addresses contain light on the warfare with the powers of darkness ■ which may be of service to the Lord's people at this time, I send them forth with all their imperfections upon them, looking to the Spirit of God to give the truth to those who need it.

JESSIE PENN-LEWIS.

Leicester. April, 191 1.

Fifth Edition, 1952.

Chapter i

How Israel crossed the Jordan — the leader prepared for his work — the sending of the spies — the crossing of Jordan and the buried stones — Jordan the type of Calvary and identification with Christ — the new nation and new life — the knife at Gilgal — the Captain with the drawn sword — the Jericho victory — the defeat at AL

LET us take the whole book of Joshua in order to get a bird's eye view of our spiritual battlefield. To do this we shall need rapidly to refer to chapters rather than verses, so that we may see how wonderfully it pictures the battle in the heavenly places, described by the Apostle Paul in the epistle to the Ephesians.

This story of Joshua, and the people of Israel on the edge of Jordan, and how they crossed to Canaan, and entered into warfare to possess the land, is a very remarkable type of the Church of Christ, and its passage to the battlefield. In the first chapter of the book you see the human leader, chosen of the Lord to lead Israel over Jordan into Canaan, and throughout the campaign there. Joshua is really the Old Testament word for Jesus — Joshua-Jesus — chosen to lead Israel into Canaan. He is commanded to be strong, with his only equipment the Word of God and implicit obedience to it ! Such was Christ's equipment. The Lord said He lived by the Word of God, and that His meat was to do the will of His Father. All that Joshua had to do was to take the directions given to him by God, and to lead under His command. Then, God said, " Thou shalt cause this people to inherit the land ".

There are hymns depicting Canaan as heaven, but there is no sin in heaven, and no war there. There were both in Israel's Canaan. It is a picture really of a stage in the Christian life. There is the wilderness stage, out of which Joshua leads Israel through Jordan into Canaan, and on the Canaan side is the war to take possession of the land. On the wilderness side of Jordan the people were occupied with their own troubles, as to what they should do ; they needed " water ", and when they could not get it, were filled with a murmuring spirit ; the wilderness stage, where Moses, the man of God, had to bear with them, and stand between them and God — sometimes as intercessor, so that God would not destroy them.

There came a time, however, when God said to Joshua, " Moses My servant is dead, now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou, and all this people, unto the land which I give them, even to the children of Israel " (Josh. i. 2) ; and " every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, to you have I given it " (v. 3).

Before they crossed the Jordan, they had the Word of God that every place that the sole of their feet should tread upon, had been given them, but they had to walk over it, and take it foot by foot, for God did not hand it over to them, and say, " Now you have it ", and then they had nothing further to do. He said, " I have given it ", " now you must take it step by step ". It was very important that Joshua should be clear on the point that the land in front of him, had been given by Jehovah to Israel, before he started out to take it, so that always he should act from the faith position of assured victory.

This promise of the land already given is followed by a second made directly to Joshua in verse 5, " There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life. . . . I will not fail thee nor forsake thee ".

But as we read on, we see how on Joshua's part it was necessary he should be strong and courageous, so as to co-operate with God for the fulfilment of these promises. How the words ring out in power, " Only be thou strong, and very courageous, and then shalt thou cause this people to inherit the land ". These words make it appear that Joshua was responsible for the courage. " Only be thou strong ..." said Jehovah. This is what every child of God must take heed to in the battle of to-day. We are responsible not to get depressed, or discouraged for a moment, by yielding to the temptations of the enemy to look away from God. You must settle it that all discouragement is from the enemy, and not under any circumstances yield to, or accept it.

Then again, Joshua is not left in any doubt as to how he is to become full of courage. He is bidden to turn to the commandments of God as written in the law, and to observe to do according to all the law, turn not to the right hand nor to the left, that thou mayest have good success. Implicit, undeviating obedience to the Word of God. " This Book of the Law shall not depart out of thy mouth. Thou shalt meditate therein day and night" (v. 8). If Joshua had lived to-day, how much time would he give to the reading of " novels ", and we may well ask if he would have been a valiant leader to Israel in leading them to victory, if he had fed upon the literature of the present time ?

It is useless expecting success or victory in this spiritual battlefield, unless we are prepared to take the Word of God as our one authority. We must be prepared for implicit, undeviating obedience to the Word of God. There must not be a turning from that Word in the slightest measure, to the right or to the left. We must make sure of what God's Book says, and then stand to it without questioning, and God will be with us. It is the one great condition of success — this implicit recognition of the authority of God's Word and obedience to it, honestly seeking to know the will of God. Not merely implicit obedience to one text, but seeking to know, and to do His will, as revealed in the general principles laid down in His Word for life, and conduct, in all things.

The only way to be strong, and very courageous, is to be filled with the Word of God, and to have the mind full of it by meditating upon it. Not simply reading a little, and then putting the Book down, but really meditating on God's Word until you know the heart truth of all that is written in the sacred Book.

" Meditate therein day and night '; that thou mayest . . . do . . . for then shalt thou make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success. Have I not commanded thee ? be strong and of a good courage, be not -affrighted, neither be thou dismayed, for the Lord thy God is with thee" (Josh. i. 8).

In this passage, we also see from the Lord's words the linking together of His Presence, and the resulting courage, and fearlessness necessary for victory. To be freed from all fear and dismay of the forces of the enemy, our great remedy is to have God's Word strengthening us day and night, so that we lose sight of man, and all fear of man. This Word is strength to you. You would be strong souls, if you were so filled with the Word of God, that everything you heard around you, would cause to spring into your mind instantly the

Word, which would meet or explain the need ; so that whatever question was asked you, or whatever doubt came to you, in one moment there would come the right answer to your mind from the Scriptures.

Are you being kept by God at this point ? You know so much about victory, you know so much about identification with Christ and His cross ; but oh ! child of God, are you strong and very courageous ? Are you dismayed, are you afraid, are you fearful ? Will you allow all fear to be swept from you, and go forward meditating on this Book day and night ? It means when you awake in the morning the Word that is new will be in your mind. When you go to sleep, it means that you will not have troublesome thoughts in your mind to prevent your sleeping. One great, strong, mighty equipment for unbroken victory, is to be filled with Divine strength by this Word dwelling in you richly. This was the equipment for Joshua as he was starting out, and if you are to be a " leader " — to lead souls around you into Canaan, or the heavenly places — you can only have the true vision to lead them, as the Word dwells in you, and you meditate upon it, as Joshua was bidden to do.

Remember, too, they were not all "Joshuas ! " Joshua had his place, and commission, and the people had theirs. If you try to be a " Joshua " when the Lord wants you to be one of the people, it will only mean confusion and disorder. True, God can make you a "Joshua " in your own centre, and sphere, to lead those around you into the heavenly places ; but it is necessary to ask you, if you are ready to recognize others with a commission from God not granted to you ; and are you willing to fall into co-operation with ^others called of God, and not act as a unit only in relation to other members of the Body of Christ?

In this campaign Joshua sent out spies to spy out the land, and, according to the second chapter, when the spies returned, they reported that the fear of God was already upon the people of Canaan. That was a great thing gained. It strengthened Joshua. He found that what the Lord had told him was already working. It is really true when you go forward in aggressive warfare in this spiritual battlefield, that you will find the fear of God already upon the enemy. If we understood it, the powers of darkness must tremble when they see the children of God appropriating the victory of Christ, and starting forward in aggressive warfare. If the whole Church of Christ would rise up in the strength and the might of God, the principalities and the powers would be beaten down, for the fear of God is already upon them.

In chapter iii, Joshua issues the call to the people to get ready to cross the Jordan, and in chapter iv he bade them get ready to cross the river. The priests were sent first, and they carried with them the ark of the Lord. They took their stand in the centre of Jordan, and stood there until all the people passed over it. The priests were told to take from the centre of Jordan twelve stones, and they were to bury in Jordan also twelve stones. The stones thus buried represented the twelve tribes of Israel left buried in Jordan's waters ; and the twelve stones taken out of Jordan, and carried into Canaan, represented the new nation, stepping out of the waters which were really waters of death to them, had not God held them back whilst they passed over. If they had attempted to walk through Jordan without the Ark held in the midst, they would have been drowned in its waters. Therefore they had practically crossed through waters of death, as they passed over by faith to the promised land.

Spiritually, Jordan represents Calvary. The ark is the type of Christ. Just as the ark went first, and stood in Jordan, whilst all the people passed over, so Christ carried the whole of His Church in Himself as the ark, into the death of Calvary. The waters of judgment came upon Him as He hung upon that cross, and the whole Church of Christ was buried in Him, and, so to speak, "' blotted out " in their connection with the fallen race of Adam, as " all flesh " was " blotted out " by the waters of judgment at the Flood, when only Noah and his family escaped (Gen. vii. 23, A.V. m.), through their being carried through, or upon, the waters of death, in an ark.

This crossing of Jordan is the most striking picture you can have of what it means to be crucified with Christ, and buried in His death. We were nailed to that cross in Him, identified with Him. We are so buried into Jesus Christ, baptized into Christ (Rom. vi. 4), that we may always look upon ourselves as buried in the Jordan, and once we have taken the position of faith in Him, crucified and buried in Him, the old life should not be dug up for examination, but always accounted put out of sight, and buried in the waters of death.

The two-fold aspect of our identification with Christ is portrayed by these two lots of stones. As on the one hand twelve stones were buried in the river flood, and on the other, twelve stones were taken from the river-bed and carried to the Canaan side as memorials o f their separated life unto God ; so are we taken into the death of our Lord, and there buried so far as our relation to sin and to this world is concerned (Rom. vi. i- 1 3, Col. ii. 20 and iii. 3), and out of that river-bed of death we are taken into His resurrection and triumphant life.

When the twelve stones were brought out _ of Jordan^ they represented a new Israel . The old Israel was, in the purpose of God, left buried in the Jordan waters, and they rolled between them and the wilderness. They first crossed the Red Sea into the wilderness ; the first stage of death on the cross, where the sea ran between them and Egypt. They were brought, so to speak, out of the world-sphere — Egypt — through the Red Sea into a new path, and then through the wilderness, and finally into Canaan ; the land which is a picture of the heavenly sphere, where the child of God is united with the Lord, a new creation in Him, and equipped for war with the adversaries of God, led forward by Him in victory. Let us now re-affirm our place in the Jordan ; i.e., in Christ's death on the cross. Re-take the position there again and again, and say, " Now deeply buried in Jordan, buried in Jesus Christ on the Cross, I have died) and I am buried out of sight ; Jordan and the Cross stands between me and the past, so I reckon that the past is gone, buried deep in the waters of death " (Rom. vi. 1-13).

Notice, too, that the priests went into the river-bed first, and there they stood. The priests represented the spiritual faith of the nation, and their position in the river-bed with the ark of God upon their shoulders, indicated that the nation had taken its position of faith in the God who had bidden them cross that Jordan, by His command. After they had crossed they would never look back to the wilderness side of the river, but onward to the victory path ahead of them. Behind lay the river — in front the land, which would only be theirs in reality, as they planted the foot of faith upon it.

When they went forward to the battlefield to take every inch of ground by faith, it would never have done for them to have kept saying, " Did I cross Jordan ? Am I sure that I am out of the wilderness ? I feel as if I was there still because of the enemies here, and all these things to contend against. This must mean that I have never crossed out of the wilderness ". But they knew that they had crossed Jordan, and just as certainly in your life you must stand on the fact that you have been brought through your position through Jordan— in Christ, in His death— on to the Canaan side of Calvary, from whence you must pass on in the victory of faith to take the land.

But you say you do not feel it ! Your feelings do not matter, it is the declaration of your position which counts «iJ^Vf, y that k looks as if there was still so much of the

°j « 1 " ab ° Ut you ' Then re ' take y° ur Position, crucified and buried with Christ », in the Jordan death of His cross, and count upon the Holy Spirit still more deeply to make it fact in your practical life, and give you keener insight to discern and cast off in quick obedience all that belongs to the past. &

Look again at the way the Israelites crossed Jordan. They had no bridge ! " Impossible," some might have said, as they stood on the river brink, and people say " impossible " now. Surely you do not get through to the heavenly (or spiritual) sphere, by simple faith in Christ's death. Yes, you do. No bridge. Yes, no human way. There is no bridge which the human vision can see, but just a going down into the death of Christ, by an act of choice and faith. By taking Christ s death as our own, and by the co- working of the Holy Spirit (Col. ii, 12), the child of God just sinks down into Christ s death, as the stones dropped down into the very centre of Jordan, from whence the Spirit of God quickens the new life in Chnst, and enables the believer to walk in newness of life.

The new life begins from the river-bed nf death j us t as the new nation, and then the new inheritance, gained through conflict, began for Israel ; and the new life of Christ begins tor us, with Us inheritance through war with opposing powers its suffering and its triumph. All that was new to them began there, and was symbolized by the taking of twelve stones from Jordan and carrying them into the new life of the new land ; and all that is new to us is pictured in the same symbol, as from henceforth we " reckon ourselves " not only "dead unto sin" but "alive unto God" (Rom. vi. 6, 10, 11) Through the cross, identified with Christ unto death, you

CC2 come unto union with Christ in life, and into the sphere where you meet the enemy, where it is to be aggressive warfare, a forward march to take the land to dislodge the enemy from every point. That is the other side of our identification with Christ, " alive unto God ", for the death-fact of our identification — cut off from the past and reckoning dead indeed unto sin — is but the negative position, which demands the life unto God as its power for continuance, and service unto Him.

But now comes the experimental part of the death-fellowship with Christ, as pictured in the story of Israel. After they passed through Jordan by faith and obedience there came the real application of the knife. At Gilgal the nation was circumcised, and they had to wait two or three days before going forward to the war, whilst the knife was applied to them. It was also before the man with the drawn sword was revealed to Joshua outside Jericho. This suggestive part of the story is true to fact in the spiritual life. In this warfare with Satan, and with the enemies of the Church of Christ, it is fatal for you to go forward simply on the basis of faith that you have died, unless you let the Holy Spirit really take the knife, and make a real severance between you and sin and the world. That is to say, there is a real application of the severing power of the cross, which this part of Israel's history typifies. When you have taken your position by faith that you are buried in the Jordan waters, you must be ready for the Holy Spirit to take the knife, and deal with whatever there may be of the " flesh "* dominating your life. He will bring about what Paul calls the " circumcision of the heart ", which is the true circumcision of God.

Galatians v. 24 is also a passage which meets the case just

* Weymouth has a note to Rom. vii. 18, on the scriptural use of the word " flesh ", which concisely throws light upon it. He says it includes not simply the body, but also " mind, in the degree in which that consists of merely earthly thoughts, feelings, affections, appetites and ambitions ". " The apostle gives the name of flesh to the whole of this earthly nature, especially so long as it remains sinful, i.e., continues in rebellion against the higher nature, which is its God-appoiitted ruler. Thus, from his * point of view, hatred, envy, bad temper, ill-natured talk, worldly ambition, pride, selfishness, self-righteousness, self-will, unbelieving and rebellious thoughts of God, a lack of industry, and indisposition to pray, deficiency in courage or straight-forwardness, all excessive social or domestic affections, all false patriotism and all unhealthy curiosity, and undue pursuit of knowledge, are manifestations of the ' flesh ', or sinful earthly nature, equally with grosser and more animal indulgences."

I here : " They that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts ". This is judicially the position of all the children of God, but it must be experimental also. For in this spiritual battle, unless the knife is applied, to what the Scriptures term, the " flesh ", it will always be ground for the enemy to attack, and to weaken us in the conflict. The " flesh " must be kept under the knife of the cross, for if there is any self-indulgence, or anything that is doubtful in your life, and you venture to take the aggressive against the foe, the enemy will come back on you, and — fastening on that uncrucified " ground " in you — he will press you with appalling power. You must have the knife of the cross steadily, persistently, and unbrokenly applied to the flesh ; to the appetites of the flesh, to self-indulgence in any form, and to the pride of the flesh.

We have the lessons of the need of the constant application of the cross around us on every hand. Have you not seen men broken in spirit one day, yet suddenly caught under strong delusion, and led into fanaticism, and wild extremes ? You ask the cause ! Down deep in the bottom of the life there may have been — for instance — some secret pride of the flesh uncrucified. They went forward into warfare against the enemy, and then there came upon them an evil spirit fastening on to that pride, and manifesting itself as a spirit of delusion, leading these souls into a blind course of action, until at last the poor deceived ones found themselves upon the rocks. The knife must be taken to pride, and to all other elements which make up the fallen Adam.

In this life of claiming victory, not only for yourself, but for others, you must let the Spirit of God apply His knife to secret pride, secret ambition, secret self-assumption, and if you do not see its need just now, say to Him, " Holy Spirit, apply the knife of the cross to every bit of the old life in me, wherever Thou canst see it ; in the places where I do not know it, especially down deep into secret pride ".

Many shrink from the truth about the powers of darkness being able to deceive them, because of this hidden pride. They will not face the fact that they can be deceived, or- caught by the roaring lion of hell. But one may ask whether God has given a special warrant that you in particular shall be free, and safe from the wiles of the devil. We must face it honestiy and straightly, and own that we all stand in the same position towards a wily foe. So it behoves us to walk softly, and to humbly ask God in His mercy to save us from any secret pride in our own strength of mind, which will lead us to think of ourselves as so advanced spiritually, that we will assuredly recognize the enemy, and not be deceived by him in any way. Let us take care that there is no point where we get selfconfident, so that the enemy traps us in the very place where we are off guard. Rather let us take the position of prayer and watchfulness, willing to know the truth, without shrinking, about ourselves. That open humility of spirit will place you where you cannot be hurt, and your feelings wounded, by anything said, because you love the truth, and you only want the truth, and you do not care what it costs if you only get the truth, as it is in the sight of God.

Then also let me say, it will not do for you to build on the past experience of the " cross ". It is perfectly true that when you go into Jordan by faith, you are to reckon that you are buried out of sight in its waters ; but the fact that Israel afterwards had to submit to the knife, showed that they had to have the "cross" in the experimental cutting of the flesh. So, also, if you say about Gal. v. 24, " c They that are Christ's have crucified the flesh ', therefore there is * no flesh ' left about me to deal with ", then you are just the one who can be trapped by the enemy, because you will not be counting upon the severing power of the cross of Christ in the present moment ; for it is only safe in this spiritual warfare to have a present tense faith in a present tense application of the cross.

You may say that you have yielded to the cross up to the point of all that you knew last week, but there may be a hidden point in your character which the devil knows about, and which you do not know ; and he is quietly fanning it up while you are off guard, thinking you were so " crucified ", that he would never be able again to trap you. This is why souls are sometimes deceived and overthrown in the very spot in which they think they are the strongest. They are off guard, thinking themselves so safe.