 |  |
them it could be written that upon their body the fire had no power, nor was an hair of
their heads singed:--
"Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire?"
asked the king, and he continued,
"Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and
the form of the fourth is like the Son of God" (Dan. 3: 24, 25).
Caleb, who wholly followed the Lord, knew the power of this blessed fellowship. At
the division of the land under Joshua, Caleb came forward and reminded Joshua of what
the Lord had said concerning both himself and Joshua forty-five years earlier:--
"Now therefore give me this mountain, whereof the Lord spake in that day: for thou
heardest in that day how the Anakims were there, and that the cities were great and
fenced: If so be the Lord will be with me, then I shall be able to drive them out, as the
Lord said . . . . . Hebron therefore became the inheritance of Caleb" (Josh. 14: 12-14).
Caleb's one qualification was: "if so be the Lord will be with me." That being
granted, success was certain. The name of the place inherited by Caleb was Kirjath-arba
and was named after Arba, a great man among the Anakims. The name was changed to
Hebron, a word that means fellowship, and therefore enshrines the very thought of the
gracious presence that Caleb so desired.
In His presence is fullness of joy, and that presence includes the promises: "I will not
leave you", "I will not forsake you", and "I will be with you". Thus does the conscious
enjoyment of the presence of the Lord minister to our joy.
#5.
"The joy of Thy salvation."
pp. 141, 142
Despite the pressure of circumstances, the depressing effect of ill-health, the corrosion
of care, and the anxieties that pertain to this life, the fact that God so loved the world as
to give His only begotten Son, should lighten our every experience with joy.
The wise men from the east exemplify this. They had traveled far in search of the One
that had been born King of the Jews, and, "when they saw the star, they rejoiced with
exceeding great joy" (Matt. 2: 10). Notice how the inspired narrative emphasizes their
joy. It is not enough to say that "they were glad" or that "they rejoiced". They not only
rejoiced, they rejoiced with joy--and more than that, with exceeding joy, yea exceeding
great joy. And all this because the star at length stood over Bethlehem. What therefore
ought to be our state of mind and heart who know not only the grace of Bethlehem, but
the glory of Calvary, the triumph of the resurrection, and that ascension far above all!