 |  |
pp. 159, 160
Not only does Christ fill the gospel with His glory and sufficiency, and fill the purpose
of the ages with His power and wisdom, not only is He found filling the Psalm of the
cross (22:) with His passion, and the Psalm of the crown (24:) with His glory, but He
also fills the Psalm of the crook (23:) with His shepherding care.
When Israel came out of Egypt under the sprinkled blood of the passover lamb, they
came out by virtue of Christ. They did not leave Christ behind them, however, when they
commenced the journey through the wilderness. We are not left to the process of
inference in this matter. Scripture in more than one case declares that Christ is to be seen
in the wilderness journey. In I Cor. 10: 1-4 we read:--
"Our fathers did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock
that followed them: AND THAT ROCK WAS CHRIST."
The Israelites not only had spiritual drink, but they ate manna (angels' food) which
was sent from heaven. Again, we are not called upon to reason, infer, or spiritualize; we
have but to read the Word:--
"Our fathers did eat manna in the desert: as it is written, He gave them bread from
heaven to eat. Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, Verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you
not that bread from heaven; but My Father giveth you the true bread from heaven. . . . I
AM THAT BREAD OF LIFE" (John 6: 31-51).
In the approach to God in worship during the days of pilgrimage, the Israelite had a
constant reminder of Christ in the tabernacle that God commanded to be made. The inner
shrine, the holiest of all, contained the ark and the mercy-seat, the meeting-place
appointed by God between Himself and Moses, and, through Moses, the people. That
mercy-seat was be-sprinkled with blood, and that mercy-seat spoke of Christ, "Whom
God hath set forth to be a propitiation (a mercy-seat), through faith in His blood".
Another accompaniment of the wilderness journey was the gracious presence. "My
presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest" (Exod. 33: 14). The Lord Jesus
is to the pilgrim the presence of God. In His face shines the light of the glory of God. He
it is who goes before us, our pillar of cloud and our pillar of fire. By day and by night
His words remain true, "I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee". The very way the
pilgrim treads may be looked upon as Christ Himself. Who but He is "the Way, the
Truth and the Life"? How blessed the lesson of the wilderness! Its privations, and its
provisions all to lead us to fuller trust in the Lord Himself.
If the redemption that lies behind us is all of Christ, and if the glory that awaits us be
filled with His presence, shall not the brief interval of pilgrimage here be made blessed
and holy by reason of the same precious truth. Oh may every sojourner through life's
wilderness learn the blessed secret that in all our needs, our ways, our joys, Christ is all.