There is a saying among men that history repeats itself, and if it is true with men in natural things it is also true among the people of God as is shown in the Holy Scriptures. From all the historical events of Scripture there are lessons for the people of God at all times, and when there is a repetition of some kind the Lord is surely emphasising the lesson to be learned so that His own might through the instruction be encouraged in Himself, or be warned in relation to the manifestation of evil. God has always shown Himself to care for His people, and though He may test their faith, He is ever ready to come to their aid, and to deliver them from the evil their enemies have imagined against them.
“Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord”
These words were first spoken to the children of Israel by Moses, on God’s behalf, as Pharaoh and his hosts drew near to God’s people on their way out of Egypt towards the Red Sea (Ex. 14:13). The Lord who knew the heart of Pharaoh said to Moses, “Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, They are entangled in the land, the wilderness has shut them in” (verse 3). This was Israel’s plight as the king of Egypt saw it, but as Moses saw it they were entirely shut up to God. It was not a difficulty that either Israel or Moses could solve, nor was it theirs to do so. God had undertaken to bring the people to Himself, their every movement had its origin in His heart, and He would accomplish what He had said He would do.
The first words of Moses to Israel were “Fear ye not.” God would remove every bit of fear from the hearts of those whose cause He has undertaken, and how often these words have been spoken in some form or other to still the fears of the saints of God, and of those the Lord has undertaken to bless. Israel had no hand in the great deliverance God was about to secure for them, they were to “Stand still.” It may be difficult for the flesh to stand still in a time or crisis, but the believer can stand still when the word of the Lord to him is “fear not.” God’s salvation was about to be displayed to them, and in this Israel could have no part.
Israel might have thought, Someone will have to fight if we are to be saved, and the Lord answered this with the words, “The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.” Not even one word was required from Israel in this conflict, the fighting and the salvation were both to come from the God who had brought them out of Egypt, and Israel were but to be witnesses of the mighty power of God, but once the salvation had been secured God allowed Israel to join the song of praise led by Moses who had complete confidence in Jehovah, and whose confidence had been vindicated in the overthrow of Pharaoh and his host in the Red Sea.
As in the time of Israel’s leaving Egypt, so it was in the days of king Jehoshaphat, a “great multitude” from the enemies of God’s people came against him (2 Chr. 20:1-2). The pious king in this time of extreme danger sought the Lord, confessing the weakness of Judah, but relying on the help of God, saying “we have no might against this great company that comes against us; neither know we what to do, but our eyes are upon Thee” (verse 12). Jehoshaphat and Judah with all their children stood before Jehovah in thorough dependence upon Him, counting upon His salvation.
God answered the prayer of His servant the king, His Spirit coming upon Jahaziel, whose name means “God reveals,” and the word of the Lord through him was, “Thus says the Lord unto you, Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God’s ” (verse 15). God had undertaken the cause of His people, then added, “Ye shall not need to fight in this battle, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the Lord with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, nor be dismayed.” What a blessed response there was when “Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground: and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell before the Lord, worshipping the Lord” (verses 17-18).
Israel’s part in the battle is found in verses 21 and 22, where the king “appointed singers unto the Lord, and that should praise the beauty of holiness…and to say, Praise the Lord; for His mercy endures for ever,” and it was when they began to sing that they Lord set the armies against each other to accomplish their own destruction and the salvation of His people.
What Israel learned at the Red Sea and in the days of Jehoshaphat, that their salvation was from the Lord, and that He would defeat and destroy their enemies, we have learned in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. It was there that all our foes were defeated, and it was there that God secured for us His great salvation, not the temporal salvation over earthly foes in the events related, but an eternal salvation, which has delivered us from the fear of death, and from the authority of darkness. We have been delivered too from the consequences of our sins, for Jesus bore them all, and we have been delivered from the power of sin. Ours is indeed a “great salvation.”
“These be thy gods, O Israel”
We have seen from the deliverance of Israel at the Red Sea and in the days of Jehoshaphat what God is in all the greatness of His love, care for His people, and delivering power, but at the foot of Mount Sinai we learn what man is. Israel had been the witnesses of God’s mighty power, exercises on their behalf, and had seen the glory of their God amidst the lightnings and thunderings of Sinai, not to speak of His provision for them of the manna and water from the rock, and the overthrow of Amalek. They had undertaken to keep the law, having said, “All that the Lord has said we will do,” and the first of the ten commandments was, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me” (Ex. 20:3), and they had said they would not make any graven image, nor would they bow down, nor serve them.
With all this so recently before them who would have thought that Israel would do the very things they had said they would not do. Yet this is what they did, they made a golden calf and worshipped it, and Aaron said, “These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Israel,” and they offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play (Ex. 32:4–6). Is it any wonder that the judgment of God came upon them? Had not Moses interceded for them they would all have perished.
Just over five hundred years later Jeroboam became king over the ten tribes of Israel, the Lord having said to him, “If thou wilt hearken unto all that I command thee, and wilt walk in my ways, and do that is right in my sight, to keep my statutes and my commandments, as David my servant did; that I will be with thee, and build thee a sure house, as I built for David, and will give Israel unto thee” (1 Kings 11:38). The promises of divine blessing were assured to Jeroboam if he sought the interests of Jehovah as did David. This was not beyond Jeroboam, for God was only asking what had already been seen in David.
Alas! instead of simply relying on God who had made such great promises to him, Jeroboam “said in his heart, Now shall the kingdom return to the house of David” (1 Kings 12:26). Jeroboam’s heart was wrong; he did not trust what God had promised. he imagined that in going up to worship at Jerusalem the people would turn again to Rehoboam, and kill him. Distrust of the word of God, yea, of God Himself, “the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold, and said unto them…behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. And he set the one in Bethel, and the other put he in Dan” (verses 27–29).
The same distrust of God and of His goodness that was seen in Israel at the foot of Mount Sinai is seen again in Jeroboam, and with the same sad, idolatrous results, and with the same words spoken. Such is the heart of man by nature in spite of all the goodness of God towards him. There is still the same danger with the people of God, else why should the Apostle John write, “Little children, keep yourselves from idols”? We have to keep our hearts with all diligence lest something is allowed a place there that challenges the right of Christ to dwell there. Christ should dwell in our hearts by faith, to direct every thought, feeling and desire within, so as to control our every step in this world.
Crossing the Jordan
When the children of Israel came to the river Jordan the waters of death stood between them and the land of promise with no natural means of removing the raging flood, or of crossing over it. Only by divine intervention was it possible for them to reach the other side, and enter the land flowing with milk and honey. Chapters 3 and 4 of the Book of Joshua tell us how God intervened to take them dry shod to the other side. Whenever the priests who carried God’s holy ark touched the water of Jordan, the “waters which came from above stood and rose up upon an heap very far from the city Adam…and those that came down toward the sea of the plain…failed, and were cut off” (Joshua 3:16). That which depicted the holiness and the power of God, His holy ark, was the means of Israel’s entry into the land.
It was about six hundred years after Israel crossed the Jordan that Elijah stood at the same river with Elisha, but his crossing was from the land of promise, which had become corrupt through idolatry, to another land which could never be corrupted. The dark chilly waters of death were before him, but “Elijah took his mantle, and wrapped it together, and smote the waters, and they were divided hither and thither, so that they two went over on dry ground” (2 Kings 2:8). The same divine power that had made a way for Israel so long before now made a way for God’s servant. He passed in figure through the waters of death, but only in figure, for on reaching the other side he was taken up to heaven without seeing death.
Elisha, who had been with Elijah on the crossing of the Jordan, again faces the waters of death, but travelling in the same direction that Israel had taken. How was he to get across the river? He had the same resource as Elijah, set forth in Elijah’s mantle. When Elijah divided the waters there is no record of him speaking, but Elisha shows us that the power was in that which the mantle signified and not in the mantle itself, for he said, as he struck the waters, “Where is the Lord God of Elijah?” and the same divine power that had divided the waters for Elijah divided them for Elisha.
As for Israel, for Elijah and for Elisha, so for us the dark waters of death present no barrier for our entering the promised land, for a way has made through by Him who is portrayed in God’s holy ark, and in the mantle of Elijah. The holiness of God, and the power of God, are both seen in Him who is “declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection of the dead” (Rom. 1:4). Christ has died, and we have died with Him, and He rose from among the dead, and we are risen with Him (Col. 2:12, 20). Already our part is in Him in the heavenly places (Eph. 1:3), and soon we shall have our part with Him in the enjoyment of all that God has prepared for those that love Him.
Besides these things that we have considered there are other things in the history of Israel that were repeated, and will yet be repeated. There is also that which is repeated in a new way in Christ Himself. If God said concerning Israel, “Out of Egypt have I called my son,” this was repeated when Jesus, as a Babe, returned from Egypt on the death of Herod. If Israel was God’s servant, this was repeated in Christ, who, as God’s Servant perfectly glorified God (Isa. 49:3). If Israel was a vine planted by God, but which brought forth wild grapes (Isa. 5:1-2), God’s Son is the “true Vine” who brought forth abundant fruit for the pleasure of God (John 15:1).
R. 18.12.69