Seventh-Day Adventists have always believed and taught that the great exodus movement in the time of ancient Israel was in general a type of the great second advent movement in which we are involved and engaged. It is set forth as such in the Bible and in the messages of the Spirit of prophecy, and we so accept it. The experience that is brought to view in the third and fourth chapters of Joshua is one of the outstanding experiences in the exodus movement. It was the climax of all that took place from the burning bush to the crossing of the Jordan. But more than that, it was the consummation of the promise made to Abraham hundreds of years before, that his people should go down to the land of Egypt and be there in bondage and affliction for a period of time, and that then God would visit them and bring them forth and plant them in the land that He had given to Abraham. So when they crossed the Jordan and stepped into Canaan, that promise of God had been met. It was the consummation of the promise and of the expectation and endeavor of the people.
If that exodus movement has a significance regarding the advent movement, then this experience must have weight, because it was one of the greatest. There are three points to be considered in this experience: What God would do; what the people should do; and the effect of the action of the two.
What the people should do is placed first in the record. "Sanctify yourselves." This comes first. What God would do is recorded second, though I believe it stands first in real importance. "For tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you." Then the effect of those actions is given like this: "Hereby ye shall know that the living God is among you." That is a very essential thing for a body of Christian workers to know. It is a very essential thing for the individual worker to know—that God, the living God, is with him; but more than that, "that all the people of the earth might know the hand of the Lord, that it is mighty: that ye might fear the Lord your God forever."
It seems to me that the effect to be made upon the hearts and minds of the people is very, very great. And the importance of that effect reveals the great importance of the two transactions or causes that are to produce that effect. The most essential thing for a man to know, then, is that God dwells with him. That is more essential than for him to have a clear idea of the intricacies of theology, very much more important than for him to be well versed in mere orthodoxy of doctrine; because if a man, having the greatest knowledge of truth, —its theory or doctrine,—does not have God living in his heart, he is of little value to mankind, and is in a very unsafe position himself.
This personal experience in Christ is of the greatest consequence to a man, and it is our greatest need as Seventh-day Adventist workers today. It is this that will give us power, and will keep us loyal. It is this that will enable God to do wonders for us as He did for His people of old.
Then, in addition to the individual's having this personal knowledge, experience and guidance, safety and power, these things will be communicated by him to those within his reach. Our people are scattered over the face of the whole earth, and if they enjoy fully what is here set forth, will we not then have revealed a fulfillment of the statement, "That all the people of the earth might know the hand of the Lord, that it is mighty"?
Our missionaries who go into the dark heathen places and live this great message with Christ, are to live a life that is communicated to these benighted peoples. It does not take them long to see it, to get hold of it, and to feel the influence of it. I verily believe that the greatest influence that is exerted in India, in China, in South America, in Africa, and in other lands—the power that leads men to embrace this message—is the lives of men rather than the doctrines they set forth. Of course, they go together; and when God's truth is set forth by a living epistle, it makes a combination that the world must feel and can scarcely resist.
Coming back to the cause of the effect that is set forth in the words, "Sanctify yourselves: for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you," we realize that God had to do something wonderful, for they were a great host—a million people or more—who were there on the edge of a surging, roaring river which was overflowing its banks. They had come there to cross. They had been forty years on the journey, and they must get across; and I think God chose that time when the river was overflowing its banks, to make a deep impression upon them, and to help them to see that an infinite Being was their leader. And when they were in that situation, in order for men to cross with their wives and little children, their cattle, their sheep, and all the things that they had to take across that surging river without rafts, boats, or any kind of transportation, God had to do something. And He said, "I will do a wonderful thing for you, but first I ask you to sanctify yourselves. That is the steppingstone."
How can a person sanctify himself? We know there are two or three steps in the matter of sanctification and in the meaning of the word. One meaning of the word "sanctify" is to separate, to set apart. That the Lord did with the seventh day of the week at the close of creation. He separated and set apart that day for a special use; and then He sanctified it, He made it. holy, He put His blessing upon it. When He called upon the people to sanctify themselves, He meant for them to take their stand, to be separate from those heathen nations among whom they were going, to separate themselves from the world, from worldly things, the worldly spirit, and from the customs of the people. He said, "Separate and set yourselves apart for Me, to be My people, My representatives; to live for Me in this land. And doing that, you will find Me with you to do the greatest wonders that are necessary to give you victory in that land and to keep you in that heritage forever." That was the idea, the purpose.
Of course when it came to making them holy, as He did the Sabbath, He Himself would have to put His Divine Spirit within them to make the sanctification complete and full, embracing all that is meant by the word. Sanctification means holiness. So we fall back at once upon the teaching of the Word,—that Christ is our righteousness, that our righteousness is of God, and that, it comes to us, by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
I believe this is the call of the hour today, the call of God to modern Israel all over the earth. If we are to separate from the world, we must set ourselves deliberately to that task. It must be by our choice. God cannot separate me from the world without my will. I must choose to be a separate man. set apart for God. It must be my constant choice. I have to make that choice. God wants me to do this, but He cannot do it for me. When I take that stand, then He does the very necessary thing—He fills me with His divine presence, and makes me efficient for the work to which He has called me. That is our great essential today.
If every worker in this message, every burden bearer in this movement, the whole world over, would sit down and think seriously about the hour to which we have come, and would then get down on his knees' and enter into covenant with God, saying, "Lord, I repudiate the world; I repudiate sin; I repudiate myself. I separate myself from every worldly thing. choosing you only," O, it seems to me that there would come down upon this dark world the light and the power needed and promised to finish this work!
"Clad in the armor of Christ's righteousness, the church"—this church, this body of people—"must enter upon her final conflict." The crossing of the Jordan was the final step, the last step in the exodus movement; and we have come to the last conflict. We have come up to a time of trouble that beggars description. It is beyond any man's description. The world is in the death grip, the strangle hold, of Satan. He has humanity in his grasp, except the remnant that can be called out. And we are facing the final conflict right now. We are in it, and how are we going to get through it successfully? How are we going to win out?
I feel that the most important thing is for me to experience and lay bold on that righteousness of Christ; and if I understand it rightly, that is just what is meant by sanctifying myself, setting myself apart for God, to live for Him and no one else, to be His wholly and entirely, to go where He wants me to go and to stay away from where He does not want me to go. The greatest need of our ministry and people today is to have Jesus Christ enthroned in their hearts. And He wants to be enthroned there, but He cannot get in until we deliberately open our hearts and tell Him to come in.
Loma Linda, Calif.
*Devotional hour May 3, 1933, based upon these words in Joshua 3 :5, 10: 4:24: "Joshua said unto the people. Sanctify yourselves: for tomorrow the lord will do wonders among you." "And Joshua said, Hereby ye shall know that the living God is among you." "That all the people of the earth might know the hand of the Lord. that it is mighty : that ye might fear the Lord your God forever."