A RECORD OF THE SOUL’S PROGRESS, AND A WITNESS TO THE WORD.

Josh. 15:26-28.-(Continued from p. 209.)

Now in the third series to follow, it ought to be peculiarly the Spirit Himself that is before us, although as seen in His work, of course. And here, if the first name of the second series speaks of the rule of law, the first of the third may well illustrate the "dominion of the Spirit."Strange and startling will the name be, then, that we find here ! it is another " Hazar," "inclosure;" but no more the "conflict;" it is-

"Hazar-shual," the "inclosure of the jackal," the jackal-pen !

"Shual" is in our version always taken as the "fox," and this, it is believed, is sometimes the true meaning; but if so,'it must at least have a wider significance. Samson's " foxes," of which they collected three hundred, were more likely jackals, which are gregarious, as the fox is not, and could more easily have been found in number. But there is another passage more decisive, where, speaking of his enemies, the Psalmist says (Ps. 63:10), "They shall fall by the sword, they shall become a portion for foxes ; " for the jackal is a well-known carrion-feeder, as the fox again is not. The name "shual," which means " burrower," might apply to either.

But what are we to make of this word, then, with its sinister meaning, coming just where we might expect to find the dominion of the Spirit indicated ? is there indeed any kinship between such thoughts ? I believe so, assuredly; "Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh:" what is that but saying, " Walk in the Spirit, and the jackal-nature is penned?" This unclean creature, with its earth-burrowing, carrion-feeding propensities, is it not an apt figure of what the flesh is whenever it has leave to show itself ? And under the rule of the Spirit, might we not expect that the first thing we should be taught would be the effect upon the evil in us, if it will be allowed that any evil is indeed left ?

I know that there are many Christians to-day who deny that in the " perfect man "-the saint in his matured and proper condition-the flesh still exists. Those Galatians, they tell us, of whom it is said, "the flesh lusteth against the Spirit," were no good examples of a Christian state. They may have had a jackal in a cage, perhaps scarcely so much as that. Had they kept him in, would he not have starved and died there ? and why should the noisome beast be kept alive ?It may be possible even to answer this. Even if it were not, the prior question to be settled is as to the fact.

Paul the apostle was certainly not himself a " foolish Galatian;" and if any mere man could be proposed for an example to others, he would be the man. Nay, he can even propose himself:three times over he says, " Be followers of me" (i Cor. 4:16; 11:i; Phil. 3:17); and in the last case adds, " And mark them which walk so as ye have us for an example."Who, indeed, of all the apostles labored so much as he ? or who could give such a record of what he had endured in service?"This one thing I do," speaks of the ardor of his concentration; and his "earnest expectation" and his hope is, in his own language, this:"that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but with all boldness, as always, so now also, Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life or by death."
(Phil. 1:20.)

This being the man he was, what has he to say for himself of that absence of sin from his life of which many of its advocates can speak quite freely ? Of his faithfulness as a minister of Christ, in the very chapter in which he bids us be followers of him, and while his testimony shows abundantly his spiritual stature, he says, " For I know nothing against myself; yet am I not hereby justified, but He that judgeth me is the Lord." (i Cor. 4:4.) That is, where his conduct might seem to himself to be most blameless, he dare not assert it:only the Lord fully knew, and in that sense he protests, "Yea, I judge not mine own self."

When he had been caught up into the third heaven, and heard there unspeakable things, yet because there was still in him a capacity for self-exaltation, " There was given to me," he declares, "a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure." (2 Cor. 12:7.) How plain, then, that there may be in us tendencies which do not even come out, and for which God's dealings with us may be needed lest they should come out,-tendencies which may be hidden too from ourselves ! If such remained in this ardent apostle, spite of an activity, a zeal, a love, which had no equal, who shall dare to say that they are not in him? But these tendencies are the manifestations of a fallen nature,-of a heritage from her who fell by aspiring to be what she was not, and which were the successful work of him who himself fell by pride-"the condemnation of the devil."

Our rule is, to "walk as Christ walked:" how much here is it safe to claim ? How much of any claim may be due to self-ignorance, and little standing in the light of God!

Scripture is clear enough as to the fact:but why the fact ?-why merely pen the jackal ? Such an inquiry may be reverently as well as irreverently made. It can, I believe, be measurably answered. The living man bound to the carcass would learn at least a horror of corruption. An apprehension of sin in this way, in the very light of God's grace, may be a lesson profitable to all eternity. And it is surely a triumph over evil to make it thus subservient to holiness. A training in humility, in watchfulness, in the ways of a holy government to which we are ever subject, may be of infinite value in the eternity to come.

Only let us remember ! if we have the jackal, our responsibility is, to have the jackal penned. " Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh." To walk in the Spirit is not to live a mere blameless life :it would be mere meaningless tautology to say, Walk blamelessly, and you will not do evil. To walk in the Spirit is to walk in occupation with Christ,-to "walk in Christ," -to live as identified by grace with Him who is our Representative in the presence of God. It is to walk as separate from the world, because belonging to heaven,- strangers and pilgrims, our hearts where our treasure is, to set our mind on things above, where Christ sitteth at the right hand of God. With our hearts there, our eyes there, the world will not attract us, the lusts of the flesh will find no object, the jackal will be penned ! And for this we are responsible, and for this we have the power. The Spirit of God is surely abundant power, and it is practical infidelity to doubt it.

How much more would one desire to say, but we must go on to the second word in this series-a beautiful and a simple one :it is-
" Beersheba," "the well of seven," or "the well of the oath." It is both, really. The word "to swear" is in Hebrew the word "to seven "-to give complete assurance:"an oath for confirmation is an end of all strife." (Heb. 6:16.) At Beersheba also seven lambs were witness for Abraham that the well was his. For us, a perfect Christ before God has secured to us the well of water,-here, without any doubt, the type of the Spirit of God, the "living water." The numerical place is that of witness, as we know, and the Spirit of God as come into the world is indeed the Witness for Him who is gone out of it,-the joy and refreshment and power of the new life in the soul. Here we have, therefore, the positive side of that of which Hazar-shual gave us the negative side.

Blessed be God that we have the well of water ! Notice how accurate and beautiful is the figure here. Without water, the tree would die in the midst of abundant food. Water is needed both to prepare the nourishment for the root, and to enable the root to take in the nourishment. And in the human body, no less than in the vegetable, the necessity is similar. Men have, without a miracle, passed through forty days without food, but how long would any one succeed in living without water? Oh that we knew better the infinite need that we have of the Spirit of God!

But notice, again, how man's responsibility is insisted on in the matter. The earth's unseen channels may be flooded with what he needs, but the well speaks of energy in getting at it, and of care needed even after access has been got. Desert sands, no less than the hands of Philistines, may choke the well. Men have proved widely how in both these ways the treasures of the Spirit may be sealed up from them again after they have been fully in faith's possession. But after all, the thing most to be dreaded is our own neglect. Let us remember that we may and do limit blessings which on God's part He has not limited for us. With all the Scripture-research today (thank God for it!), yet, alas! how few of us even think of the abundance which God has made our own ! how few claim and realize the possession of the well!

"Water" stands, in Scripture, both for the Spirit and the Word. " Living water " is the Spirit of God acting in and vivifying the Word of God. The Word of God is the only test of what is of the Spirit of God. The Spirit of God cannot set aside or ignore what He has Himself indited for us. Just as the Word without the Spirit leads to rationalism and the dishonor of the Word, so the claim of the Spirit where the Word is slighted leads to enthusiasm and fanaticism and the dishonor of the Spirit. How many are governed by their emotions, or their sense of the fitness of things ! How few of God's people are there that have not some reserve-ground, where tradition, reasoning, and other things are permitted to assume control, and God's voice is hushed before these ! Are we really "men of one book," proving how thoroughly Scripture can furnish to every good work ? Ah, beloved, need we have to study and remember the lesson of Beersheba.

One word more, and we have done. It is in the same line with the rest of this series, of course. It speaks of the Spirit; but not to repeat what we have already had. As the third name of the third series, it ought in fact to give us the fullest and highest thought of all in this direction :so we shall find it does; the name is-

"Biziothiah," and Dr. Young, in his concordance, renders it, "the house of Jah's olives." I think it is more literal, and gives a better meaning, if we render it simply " among Jah's olives."

And this ought not to be difficult to interpret either. The olive, in Israel, was that out of which the oil so constantly used and spoken of was obtained; and we have one solemn, blessed word which can never permit us to forget the method of its extraction :that word is, " Gethsemane," "the oil-press." It was the pressure of the cross, now just before the Lord, which wrung out of Him what shows at once the depths to which He was descending, and the absolute submission, even there, of One who had come into the world only to do the Father's will in it. It was under this infinite pressure that His unique glory was exhibited upon whom the Spirit of God had come "as a dove," the bird of love and sorrow,-of sorrow which was that of love itself, and into which love brought Him. All was according to the Spirit throughout:the sorest pressure only brought forth the oil. It is the invariable type of the Spirit in His work, and that with which the prophet, priest, and king were anointed. But the olive was the home of the oil, so to speak :there was its abiding-place; and if we are "among Jah's olives," then we are those not only ministered to, refreshed and sustained by the Spirit, but in whom the Spirit of God dwells:"Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, which is in you, and ye are not your own ?" "For ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, 'I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.' " (i Cor. 6:19; 2 Cor. 6:16.)

Here, then, is the supremest point reached in this series, for it is the seal and crown of all the rest. It was Christ's own peculiar excellency, that, as with the high-priest of old, who was but His type, He could be anointed without blood. For us, as we see in the priests afterward, the oil must be upon the blood. It is the completeness of Christ's work for us, the power of His blood to cleanse us from all sin, the absolute perfection which we have in Him, which enables God to put upon us thus the seal of His Spirit. "Behold, thou art all fair, my love; there is no spot in thee." The value of that changeless, perfect work is proclaimed in the power and joy of this abiding Presence. We are not our own :we are bought with a price :and because His who has redeemed us, the Spirit of God has come to take possession of us, to fill us with the brightness of His glory, to be in us the earnest of the inheritance, to display in us the power of the risen Lord our Saviour.

Only, in the mystery which reveals to us at once our height in creation, and at the same time the peril to which this necessarily links itself, it is for us still to say how far this blessedness shall be known by us,-how far we will yield ourselves to this sweet and marvelous control. Beloved, what do our hearts say to this magnificent grace of God ? Shall we yield freely to the compulsion of a love which is satisfied with nothing else than our free yielding? or shall we, by careless indifference and unbelief, do our best to limit the power of Omnipotence, and grieve the Holy Spirit of God by which we are sealed unto the day of redemption ? That is the momentous question, which no one of us can settle for another, which we must, each one for himself, decide. F. W. G.