By T. Austin-Sparks
Transcribed from a message given by T. Austin-Sparks in 1959. The spoken form has been retained verbatim. Words which were not clearly discernible or questionable have been enclosed in [square] brackets.
Our meditation for a few minutes will be in the book of Joshua, chapter 4:
"And it came to pass, when all the nation were clean passed over the Jordan, that Jehovah spake unto Joshua, saying, Take you twelve men out of the people, out of every tribe a man, and command ye them, saying, Take you hence out of the midst of the Jordan, out of the place where the priests' feet stood firm, twelve stones, and carry them over with you, and lay them down in the lodging-place, where ye shall lodge this night. Then Joshua called the twelve men, whom he had prepared of the children of Israel, out of every tribe a man: and Joshua said unto them, Pass over before the ark of Jehovah your God into the midst of the Jordan, and take you up every man of you a stone upon his shoulder, according unto the number of the tribes of the children of Israel; that it may be a sign among you, that, when your children ask in time to come, saying, What mean ye by these stones? then ye shall say unto them, Because the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord; when it passed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off: and these stones shall be for a memorial unto the children of Israel for ever. And the children of Israel did so as Joshua commanded, and took up twelve stones out of the midst of the Jordan, as the Lord spake unto Joshua, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel; and they carried them over with them unto the place where they lodged, and laid them down there. And Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of the Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests which bare the ark of the covenant stood: and they are there unto this day. For the priests which bare the ark stood in the midst of the Jordan, until everything was finished that the Lord commanded." [Joshua 4:1-10]
Chapter 5: "And it came to pass, when all the kings of the Amorites, that were beyond the Jordan westward, and all the kings of the Canaanites, that were by the sea, heard how the Lord had dried up the waters of the 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."
As you know, historically and symbolically this represents the crisis of the fullness of God's purpose concerning His people - that for which He had moved and worked and been patient through many years, that which now was immediately before them. And at this crisis or this turning-point, in that relationship, as at every crisis relating to something more of the Lord, the people were, and we are, brought back to our foundation: to the foundation. These stones, twelve on the land and twelve in the Jordan, were the foundation stones of everything concerning the purpose of God.
We know the typology, that these waters of the Jordan - which at this time were spread over not only the riverbed but the land round about in a mighty inundation, for it says "that season Jordan overfloweth all its banks" - these waters typify the floods of death. The floods of death; death at the full.
The ark, we know, is the symbol figure of Jesus and Jesus taking up His position, the great priestly ministry, right in the heart of death's flood and flood time. And as He did so, death gave way. As we are told in the Word, "He could not be holden of it" that is, it had NO power over Him. It had to yield to His presence, He conquered it, it stood up, the mighty flood was held in its course and broken in its way; it had no power. Death had no power over HIM. And here, this record is intended to teach us that in the place where death reigned universally, a testimony is planted, and planted forever, for whenever we come on that little phrase "And there it is until this day" it is meant to imply permanence; it goes on, it is something unchanged. Right in the place of death's fullness and overwhelming there is a testimony that its power has been broken, that its long course has been interrupted, that it has not held on its way forever. There's something which FOREVER says death has been arrested and its power broken.
