Living at Gilgal - Part 2

by Larry Hodges

". . . He that putteth his trust in Me shall possess the land, and shall inherit my
holy mountain; and shall say, 'Cast ye up, cast ye up, prepare the way, take
up the stumblingblock out of the way of my people'" --Isaiah 57:13,14.

    There has never, to my knowledge, been a move of God's Spirit upon the earth where there has not been also a renewed and perhaps even enlarged understanding and appreciation of the blood of Christ. My interest in the blood, in its work, its power, its purpose and its spirit has resulted from a look at what part the blood plays in the Feast of Tabernacles, more accurately, atonement. For the blood plays a very significant part in the first feast, Passover. Here we find that the blood covers our sins and brings justification.

    Yet, as we consider the Feast of Tabernacles, we find the blood again playing a very significant part. On the day of atonement the High Priest enters into the Holiest of all, behind the veil. But we are clearly instructed that he must not attempt this without the blood. In Passover, sins (plural) were dealt with. In Tabernacles, sin (singular) is dealt with. In Passover, sins are merely covered, but in Tabernacles, the sin nature is dealt with in its complete and absolute removal.

    We know and accept that Jesus, God made flesh, fulfilled all the types we see in the High Priest and all his office pertained to. Jesus took on Himself the nature of man and overcame as a man in order to make the way for man's return through the flaming sword which keeps the way of the tree of life in the midst of the garden of God. But thus far we have known these things mostly in concept and not in their reality.

    It appears that there is a decided weariness, a near exhaustion, almost to the point of being bored, of hearing about the things God holds out to us in this hour. Because desire for these things, for God Himself, runs so high and has done so without a satisfying fulfillment for so long, there has come a weariness with words about it.

    We, I believe, are all intuitively aware that there must of necessity be a moving beyond mere words about the matter. The very things which are themselves spiritual must become a living reality in us, else there shall be no manifestation of Christ; no release of a creation thus far held in the grip of corruption; no final and complete victory by a people over that last enemy, death.

    What is it exactly that the true High Priest, Jesus, shows us as He goes with His own blood, not into the Holiest of Moses' Tabernacle but, into that which the Holiest typified? What does He say to us by going into that which was made without hands; into the very heavens and throne of God? It could not have been so that we might simply know such things and speak to one another about them, for we are not satisfied in merely speaking to each other about these things.

    Could it not be that the Pattern Son, the Forerunner of a New Creation, has set for us an example that we should follow? Now a good deal of Christendom is of the mind that Jesus died so that we should not have to. If that is the case, then Paul and all the Early Church missed the point entirely. Those of that era followed Christ; no, they shamelessly ran after Him, in such a way and with such intensity that we are often embarrassed today by our lack of desire in comparison, our lack of intensity, our lack of urgency about Him.

    They died; we live. They bled; we do all in our power to keep from it. They gave themselves; we save ourselves. They lived a crucified life; we speak of it. They overcame; we undergo. They laid their lives down freely as if it were their privilege; we clutch ours to ourselves, and if we should perchance die anyway, our lives must be virtually wrenched from us. They suffered joyfully the spoiling of their goods; God help any who even think of defrauding us today. They lived as those who were not of this world; we speak as those who are not of this world, but just try withholding any part of this world from us and we have a fit. Rather, we want to impose our standards upon a blind world so that their entertainment is tame enough to suit our tastes. We have an unerring tendency to speak high and live low.

    But I believe we are all fully persuaded that we, by God's own providence, have come to such a juncture in mankind's history and in God's purposes, when God shall indeed begin to bring into reality the very things we have been thus far only caused to hope for.

    We are come to a new day in God--to a day when there must be a renewal of our dedication to the covenant in which we stand in relation to God. It is not that there is any lack on the part of the covenant or God's intention to uphold it in its every aspect. It has been that we simply have not appropriated to ourselves all that is given us upon its basis.

    That renewal of the covenant is a reconfirmation and a rededication of our willingness to serve God in absolute utterness, without drawing a line. It is for this very reason that God has brought us to Gilgal.

    When the children of Israel came to their 42nd and final encampment in the wilderness, it was so that God could bring them into their inheritance. We are the 42nd generation referred to in Matthew 1:1-17--the generation of Christ. That people which shall confess with both mouth and life that it is "no more I, but Christ that liveth" shall, upon that basis enter into the land of their inheritance and possess it. Only the new-creation state finds entrance into the inheritance of overcomers.

    Then, once in the land, the recircumcision is performed upon that generation by the Lord Himself. We spoke briefly concerning circumcision in the last article, entitled, "Living at Gilgal, Part I". "In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ: buried with Him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with Him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised Him from the dead. And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath He quickened together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses"--Colossians 2:11-13.

    By faith we were crucified with Christ. By faith we have been buried with Him in the symbolic act of water baptism. By faith we have been raised together with Him. This being raised with Him is a "Knowing . . . that our old man is crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin. . . . reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord" --Romans 6:6,7,11.

    Adam, after the fall, could never live that life which pleased the Father. Only Christ Jesus has been able to do that, and only Christ is able to do that. It is only the life of Christ that allows itself to be "always delivered unto death" --II Corinthians 4:11. Yet (and it is critical to recognize this), it is only that life which is able to possess the land! That is, only that life which exists upon the ground of resurrection, only the new creation life. Thus the importance of God making "no more I, but Christ", a living reality in us.

    Gilgal, it can never be repeated too often, is within the land--behind the veil, but beloved, being in the land and possessing the land entirely are two completely different things altogether. The land is within us. God raised up David, a man after His own heart, in order to take that land for God and rid it of every opposing enemy so that God's kingdom could, in type, be established in the earth. So our heavenly David wars, and does so successfully, until every enemy has been defeated. I repeat, until every enemy has been defeated--even death!

    David gained all the gold, silver and precious stones; all the iron, copper and brass, in the battles he had fought with God's enemies. These materials were laid up and later used in the building of his son's temple. These battles all speak of those battles our heavenly David wages within us, and we seldom even guess what gain we have come into when a battle has ceased. All is done with an eye toward a temple that is to be raised for the glory and habitation of God.

    Every kingdom I have ever heard about has its kingly castle and royal palace, but concerning the kingdom of God, we read, "And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it" --Revelation 21:22.

    The peaceable reign of Solomon (peaceableness) cannot be established until David's warring spirit has ceased its work and has rested. For it is only under Solomon (peaceableness) that God's typical temple of Wisdom can be raised, and we are here speaking of what God is doing in a people! Solomon's permanent temple must replace David's temporary tabernacle. These undoubtedly represent two kinds of bodies, two kinds of dwelling places. One mortal, temporal and quite inferior. The other, immortal, incorruptible and glorious. One, the dwelling place of man. The other, the dwelling place of God.

    Gilgal, as was stated in Part One, means "a rolling away" and has reference to the flesh, for it was here at Gilgal that God's people were circumcised again the second time. If Gilgal represents anything at all, it represents that attitude of "no confidence in the flesh." You will notice that after every campaign they returned to Gilgal. After every one, that is, except Ai--which they lost.

    That people who will arise and possess the land will do so because they, first of all, have no confidence in the flesh, and secondly, they will not attempt the next battle in the strength of the last victory. They know they must return to and abide in the place of "no confidence in the flesh."

    As has already been stated, only the High Priest was allowed to enter the Holiest of All once per year on the day of atonement, and even then he was not permitted into this inner sanctum without blood. What does this speak to us? It means that when we enter behind the veil, we cannot leave the testimony of the blood in the outer court upon the altar there. We must take the blood with us behind the veil or, as with the High Priest, we stand the very good chance of affliction or even death, for it is by the blood that we find boldness to even enter into the Holiest (Heb. 10:19).

    But how do we take the blood behind the veil? The same way we enter behind the veil-- by faith. And it is important, I believe, for us to know that we who have been born of the Spirit must do it after a spiritual manner. That is, it is the spirit of the blood which must attend us within the veil.

    The spirit of the blood of Jesus is the spirit of self-sacrifice! That blood from the altar of sacrifice must, by faith, go with us. There must be a standing in the power and spirit of the blood; the spirit of sacrifice; the spirit of "no more I, but Christ." We no more have the right to treat the blood, and our relationship to it, as a past, historical account to which we occasionally allude as part of our testimony, than the High Priest had the right to stand in the Holiest without the blood being present while he merely pointed toward it on the brazen altar in the outer court. There can be no more comforting thought than that we who were once sinners, no, worse, children of perdition, far off--are now made nigh (brought within the Holiest) by the blood of Christ (Eph. 2:13).

    To stand in the reality of "no more I, but Christ" is to stand in the spirit and power of "the blood of the Lamb, the word of [our] testimony, and loving not our lives unto death." (paraphrased) It is to stand in the place of "no confidence in the flesh." There is no hope of the anointing of the Spirit for power to overcome where the blood has not been applied. There is no reason to hope to possess any portion of the land of our inheritance except from the ground of a new creation whose very existence is solely upon the ground of resurrection.

    To be behind the veil is to be caught up unto God and to His throne, as is seen concerning the manchild in Revelation 12:5. But while some think of moving through walls and being physically transported around the world as typical of this realm, we read that immediately upon this catching up to the higher, behind-the-veil realm, there was war in heaven! We see clearly that no sooner do the children of Israel enter into their inheritance than they commence battles; first with Jericho and then with Ai and so on.

    There was a time when spiritual warfare meant to us loudly lifting our voices, praying for a long time, perhaps beating the floor, some fasting and commanding and some declarations of what we thought ought to be done, as being done. There was a time and a place, I suppose, for that sort of thing, but that took place while still in the wilderness (Israel had some wilderness warfare) of Pentecost. But once in the land itself there is recognition of a new leader. Joshua is the leader now, not Moses. And all are very quickly alerted to the fact that the man with the drawn sword has come to take on all enemies of God wherever He finds them. Achan soon found this to be true.

    How different is true spiritual warfare from what we had supposed spiritual warfare to be. No more tears and long nights of loud and adamant commanding; no more such boisterous carryings on and I mean in no way to belittle that form of warfare. It had its place and time. But here comes a completely new warfare. Completely by faith! Instead of assaulting the walls with conventional warring methods that have been tested and proven by use, they walk around the city --in silence! I never knew silence could frighten an enemy. Men always yell in battle. Indians did it; the southern rebel army did it; the Scottish highlanders did it; the African Zulus did it. But silence?

    We must remember, here in the land that the battles are never fought while leaning even the least upon the arm of flesh. If this occurs, defeat is sure. Here in the land, the battles are not fought in order to gain the victory. They are fought from the position of victory already won. All battles fought here in the land are, in effect, an enforcement of that victory of all victories--Calvary! He has already spoiled principalities and powers! He has already completely stripped every enemy, snatched the keys from death and the grave and stands forever in all power in heaven and earth. Already! Already!

    That company of overcomers called the manchild, knows it fights with all of heaven's authority, with the power of the throne, assisted by warring angelic hosts, and in the all-prevailing power of the blood! They know the battles are not theirs but the Lord's. They know they cannot lose. Therefore they are willing to do nothing but silently march around Jericho in faith and await further instructions for the time to give the shout of victory. "Ye shall not shout, nor make any noise with your voice, neither shall any word proceed out of your mouth, until the day I bid you shout; then shall ye shout" --Joshua 6:10. By faith, they patiently marched and awaited God's time. By faith, they blew the shofars (ram's horns). By faith, the people shouted on the seventh day and by faith, the walls of Jericho fell down before them.

    As we read the account in the Bible of the taking of Jericho, it is all portrayed to us after an outward manner. There is a city walled up with great walls. The name, Jericho means, "a place of fragrance." If we are not careful, we tend to forget that these things all have their fullest meanings in our inward part. It is within us that the land is being possessed! Jericho is within us.

    Whereas there has been a people of whom it could most appropriately be said, "A garden enclosed is my sister, my spouse; a spring shut up, a fountain sealed. . . a fountain of gardens" --Song of Solomon 4:12,15, the time of a pent-up fragrance, of a fragrance not released, must come to its end. They have indeed been a garden enclosed but it has been a garden whose fragrance has not been enjoyed by Him whose it is, until now.

    The great and high walls that have enclosed this place of fragrance must come down, but they will not, they cannot come down except by the arm of the Lord. Even Rahab, the harlot (the soul) of this city, must see that such a thing is right and needful and must declare her allegiance to the blood (scarlet cord) in complete acquiescence. But the central thrust of the entire account is that it is the Lord's battle, not ours.

    It is readily seen that, here in the land, men must not look at those things which are seen but at the things which are not seen. All here is by faith, for without faith it is impossible to satisfy God. Here, all things are possible with them that believe.

    It is just here that we come to that crisis and basis upon which all here must proceed--the ground of faith. It is no longer upon the basis of what was allowed in Pentecost or the wilderness. Here it is God only. This people who shall overcome the last enemy, death, and receive the redemption of the body, shall walk no longer in the divided affections they walked in during their wilderness journey. Here even the needs of the natural, physical body must depend upon the supernatural--upon that life which is Christ.

    In Gilgal, there is an utterness of trust in God which puts a stop to reliance upon alternative methods in order to relieve pain and suffering, or even to fend off death. In this place, Moses cannot lead; only Joshua (Old Testament name for Jesus) may lead us here. "If I perish, I perish," is the ensign under which they fearlessly move forward. This people are reminiscent of an earlier model of Christian who counted not his own life dear unto himself.

    "Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received from my Father" --John 10:17-18. Recall to mind the glorious declaration that Peter made to Christ in saying, "I will lay down my life for thy sake!" Well, it turns out he wasn't able to do that. "I will" is a currency which does not spend well in the realm of "no more I". Only Christ can and does lay down His life wherever that life is in expression. And it seems implied that only that life which is freely laid down can be taken up again.

    There have been many, many who have died and have been raised to life again only to die later. But the Bible speaks of a "better resurrection". The "better resurrection" is the first resurrection, the partakers of which a second death hath no power over. The first resurrection is an inward, spiritual one whose name is Jesus. The tomb of our mortal body cannot hold Him any more than that tomb in Israel did so long ago. But it is now as it was then; He cannot come forth until the third day--the day into which we now find ourselves entering.

    Thus, God shall, as He did in the Early Church, raise up a people today who shall not fear to confront death. "Hereby perceive we the love of God, because He laid down His life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren" --I John 3:16. They are a people of the sacrificial spirit!

    At the direction of Mordecai (the Holy Spirit), an obedient Esther must enter into the king's presence unbidden, at the risk of her life, and touch the king's scepter. She, of course, represents that people who shall enter into an absolute trust with their King and selflessly touch that scepter which is to rule all nations, thereby prevailing for the rest of God's people, that there might be a great deliverance in time to come.

    Hear the corresponding testimony of another voice: "And thus the temple body of Christ will be built, and the spiritual stones will be joined together. As convenience shall be found, there may be a joining of family to family, for the holding of a holy solemnity and assembling together in one accord. This shall be helpful in worshipping God in Spirit and waiting together for a more full inundation of the Spiritual Powers. All this while sequestering and giving up themselves unanimously for this great and worthy end. This is so that the dove-spirits that may yet lie scattered in several nations and kingdoms, may have a call to the temple-body rising visibly wherever it may be pitched.

    "For which end it is required that there be an abandoning and coming out of all preoccupations in the common spirit and principle of this present world. Here must be a ceasing to intermeddle with the earthly crafts and sciences and an entering into a new way, to be brought up as the children and disciples of the Heavenly Wisdom. She will assuredly make all-sufficient provision for the outward bodily part. The seeking after which things is not for the Heaven-born Soul that is redeemed out of the world.

    "For these are the things which, as our Lord tells us, the Gentiles seek after. But the Father stands more peculiarly charged for his own family, knowing what things are needful for them. He shall confer that princely gift, which is faith in Him, as the key that opens that unknown storehouse wherein all treasures shall stand open to the hand of Faith's command. This faith must be steady and never wavering, looking upward with a fixed eye and not divided between two principles.

    "Then will it be experienced as it was by the great patriarchs and prophets of old who were encompassed with blessings on the right hand and on the left, not knowing which way they would be brought in; confiding in that everlasting fountain that was unsealed unto them in all its fruitful springs.

    "This is such a dispensation as cannot gain credit with any except such as are of the high faith of Abraham. They, as did Abraham, shall go out naked and obedient to the call of God who, as a Father, did much transcend in giving him a lot and portion which nothing from this outward world could share in. Therefore, he said in confidence of his God, that he would not be beholding even for a shoe-latchet to the Sodomitish Spirit." End of Quote by Jane Leade, The Glory of Sharon

    The sodomitish spirit cannot be allowed to work in this realm. It worked in Pentecost, but not here. That is, that spirit of "man working with man, that which is unseemly"(Romans 1:27). For those who stand in the profession of "Not I, but Christ," to then apply to the devices of man for remedy of the bodily ailments is to work with man that which is quite unseemly here. As Jane says, and as there is little room for doubt, "This is such a dispensation as cannot gain credit with any except such as are of the high faith of Abraham." This is not a realm to which the half-hearted or merely curious shall give themselves.

    There can be no imitation faith carried out here in hopes of obtaining by fraudulent means that which only comes by genuine faith. As was alluded to in Part I of this series, some will probably attempt to walk where they as yet have no faith to walk. This has already happened as some in the Pentecostal realm have attempted to apply the principle of faith (which works not by the will of man), as they sought to compel God to heal when He was not disposed to do so.

    The issue here is not healing at all. The issue here is serving and trusting God fully rather than fleshly Babylonian means, regardless of what comes of it. Such a trust is exemplified in the spirit in which the three Hebrews said, "If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us . . . but if not, . . . we will not worship the image" --Daniel 3:17. Only that people who have found release from the beast realm shall not bow down to the image of the beast or give worth-ship, value, to it, nor take its number in their forehead or in their hand. The word, worship, comes from the words worth-ship. It means giving worth or value to a thing or to someone. Hence, "The four and twenty elders fall down before Him that sat on the throne and worship Him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, 'Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power . . .'" --Revelation 4:10,11.

    In the land, the people of God are no longer under Moses, but Joshua. This speaks of another order entirely. "Moses was faithful in all His house as a servant" --Hebrews 3:5. "Christ (Joshua/Jesus) is a Son over His own house" --Hebrews 3:6. This distinction between Moses and Joshua/Jesus is put in stark relief when we consider, ". . . the servant abideth not in the house forever, but the Son abideth forever" --John 8:35.

    It also speaks very loudly of the fact that they of the spirit who stand by faith at Gilgal, have entered into rest. The children of Israel, according to the flesh, entered into the land promised them but it appears, upon looking at their history after entering the land, they never entered into His rest. "There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. For he that is entered into His rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from His. Let us labor therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief" --Hebrews 4:9-11.

    Here in this land there is but one will. Where there are opposing wills there can be no rest. It is the goodness, the kindness of God that we have been called into the habitation of rest and that habitation is the will of God. Nowhere else shall a man ever find rest except in the will of God. "Not my will, but thine be done," is not only a very nice-sounding phrase, it is also the prayer of a true son. As much as the work accomplished in our lives is God's, so also is the rest His, for His will is our resting place.

    Those who rest here no longer must turn aside by the flocks of the companions; no longer must they query, "O tell me where thou makest thy flock to rest at noon"--Song of Solomon 1:7. No longer must they seek Him whom their soul loveth. They have come into the place of union with His will and therefore with Him. They have entered into the secret place of ascendancy.

    There has never been a war without opposing wills. There will never be a true and lasting peace where there are opposing wills. When Jesus says, "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid" --John 14:27, there are depths here that the natural mind of man cannot plumb. This peace is undisturbed in the midst of pain, sorrow, grief and suffering. It is there deep, deep down within, even when everything outward seems to be contradicting and challenging its very existence. It is there when all seems to declare that it cannot co-exist with things that are happening in our outward circumstance.

    The land of our inheritance is represented by the Feast of Tabernacles which was commemorated by dwelling in booths. The booths constructed for Tabernacles were purposely constructed in such a fashion as to, in every way, speak of a temporary dwelling. This vile mortal body has been just that--a temporary dwelling. Those booths were dwelt in as a memorial of their time in the wilderness when they were made (as the creature was made subject to this vanity) to dwell in temporary dwellings with a eye always to that permanent dwelling that would be theirs after entering their inheritance and possessing the land.

    We keep the true Feast of Tabernacles and not the type when we dwell in these temporary dwellings (mortal bodies) in such a fashion as to demonstrate that we understand that they are not our permanent dwellings; that they are not those dwellings in which we shall even attempt to dwell permanently, but having always our eye of faith upon that celestial house not made with hands. For there is a natural body and there is a spiritual body. The natural body must be sown in order to reap the spiritual body.

    "It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory: It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power: It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. . . . Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.

    "The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven. As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.

    "Behold, I show you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye (in the atom of our being), at the last trump (final message): for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead (us) shall be raised (not from a graveyard, but from the death of mortal corruption) incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

    "For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?" --I Corinthians 15:42-55.

    When we read, "But every man in his own order (or class): Christ, the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at His coming", or as the CLNT has it "The firstfruit, Christ; thereupon those who are Christ's in His presence;" --I Corinthians 15:23, we ought not to think that it means Christ Jesus as an individual alone, and then after Him, they that are Christ's at His coming, for He cannot come until a people has arisen who have put the last enemy, death, underfoot. Therefore, "Christ, the firstfruits," has reference to the whole Christ. After this, come those who are Christ's in His presence now.

    So, when Paul says, "Behold, I show you a mystery (a hidden secret); We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed," (by this corruptible putting on incorruption and then this mortal putting on immortality as a result of the sounding of a final message concerning these very things), the "we" spoken of here is we who are dead in Christ and live as if it is "no more I, but Christ".

    Those who have begun to believe and stand upon God's word as if it were true shall have no confidence in the flesh. They are dead and their life is hid with Christ in God, "and the dead shall be raised incorruptible and we shall be changed"! When!? When the message, the trumpet, begins to put forth that sound which brings a people to understand and truly believe that the flesh is neither the basis nor the support of their life! Christ, at last, is truly their life. Not until then shall the dead in Christ rise from Adam's dust and begin to put on their beautiful garments.

END OF MESSAGE