Prayer: Lord, we worship You for all that You are to us. We thank You for Your Word and for Your speaking. Grant us Your gracious visitation. We need You. Lord, cleanse us and anoint us. We trust in Your anointing. Thank You, Lord, that You are the all-inclusive Spirit continually anointing us. Thank You for Your Spirit and Your word. We are one spirit with You, and we have Your word within us. Lord, we trust in You and in Your speaking. We have no trust in ourselves or in what we do. Our trust is fully in You. Defeat the enemy, and give us Your fresh speaking to meet all our needs. Lord, we praise You, thank You, and give You all the glory.
In the previous chapters we saw much concerning the Divine Trinity in Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers. However, there is little indication of the Trinity in Deuteronomy and Joshua. We need to consider why this is. In Genesis the Trinity was involved in God’s creation and, after man’s fall, in God’s redemption. Then the Trinity was involved in God’s choosing and calling His people and His going on with His elect, mainly with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Exodus is a record of God’s all-inclusive redemption and God’s bringing His redeemed people through the Red Sea and the wilderness to arrive at Mount Sinai, where they could receive the revelation of the building of God’s dwelling place. The Trinity was absolutely necessary for the carrying out of these divine activities. Leviticus is a record of the redeemed people’s fellowship with God and enjoyment of God. For this fellowship and enjoyment, there surely was the need of the Divine Trinity. After Leviticus God’s people had been redeemed, God’s dwelling place had been erected, the priesthood had been prepared, and all the offerings had been ordained. Thus, there was the need of a beginning to bring the redeemed people, the tabernacle, the priesthood, and all the offerings into function. Numbers concerns this beginning, which fully involved the Divine Trinity.
Deuteronomy contains no new commandments from God but repeats what God commanded in Exodus and Leviticus. It is a repetition and review of the laws and ordinances given by God. Moses was like an aged father speaking to his children before his death, and out of his loving concern for God’s people he reviewed all the commandments and ordinances, hoping that they would walk according to them so that they would please God. In principle, there was no need for the Trinity to be involved for such a review. The book of Joshua records the redeemed people entering into and taking possession of the good land and the allotment of the portions of the land to the twelve tribes. Because there was not a need for the Trinity in this allotment, there is little indication of the Trinity in Joshua. The Divine Trinity is not for knowledge, theology, or doctrine but altogether for experience. Therefore, in Deuteronomy and Joshua the Divine Trinity is not as involved as in Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers.
After God’s people received their respective portions of the good land to enjoy, in Judges we see that they did not keep Moses’ exhortation to live according to God’s law and ordinances so that they might please God. Instead, they became a total failure. They failed by worshipping idols, which is spiritual fornication. In Deuteronomy Moses charged them strongly, lovingly, and definitely that when they entered into the good land, they should not worship idols but should worship only God and should do so only in the unique place chosen by God (ch. 12). If the children of Israel had kept Moses’ exhortations, they would have avoided idol worship and division. However, the children of Israel instead chose to worship idols (Judg. 2:11-13; 10:6). These idols were set up in different high places according to the people’s choice. Thus, the people were divided by worshiping the idols. This is a type of the divisions in Christianity. Every division is caused by human choice, and every human choice that is different from God’s choice is related to idolatry. In Judges we see idol worship that produced division. Nearly every case of failure in Judges is the same in principle. Because the children of Israel did not walk in a way pleasing to God, God allowed their enemies to defeat them.
The lowest record in the Bible is in Judges. The defining and concluding verse of this book is Judges 21:25, which says, “In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (cf. 17:6). Therefore, we may be surprised to discover that the Divine Trinity is revealed in at least four cases in Judges: the cases of Deborah, Gideon, Jephthah, and Samson. There was a need of several overcomers in Judges because the situation among God’s people was entirely abnormal. Of the many overcomers in Judges, the first was Deborah, a female. This should be encouraging to the sisters. In the abnormal situation of God’s people recorded in Judges, God did something extraordinary by raising up a woman to be a leader. In a normal situation the principle God has ordained is that the position of a woman is one of submission. The second case that indicates the Trinity in Judges is the case of Gideon, who was the highest example of an overcomer. The third case, which is less well known, is that of Jephthah. The last case that we will consider is the case of Samson.
These four overcomers defeated four kinds of enemies. Deborah defeated the Canaanites, Gideon defeated the Midianites, Jephthah defeated the Ammonites, and Samson defeated the Philistines. These four kinds of enemies have much spiritual significance. The Canaanites were merchants (cf. Zech. 14:21); they cared only for commerce. Midian was the son of Abraham by his last wife, Keturah (Gen. 25:1-2); Ishmael was Abraham’s son by Hagar (16:15). In figure, both the Midianites and the Ishmaelites signify the flesh, the natural strength. The Ammonites are the descendants of one of the two sons of Lot who were brought forth by incest (19:36-38). They represent increase gained by improper, sinful, or worldly means. The Philistines took the Ark and kept it for a time (1 Sam. 4—6). When they returned the Ark, they moved it on a cart pulled by two cows (6:7), but God had ordained that the proper way to carry the Ark was upon the shoulders of the Levites (1 Chron. 15:2; Num. 7:9). Thus, the Philistines signify worldly people who handle the divine things in a worldly way.
The record in Judges is similar to the abnormal situation among God’s people today. When Israel said that there was no king among them, this meant that they had annulled God and His status. Because many Christians do what is right in their own eyes, there are endless divisions with different ways of meeting. The Canaanites, Midianites, Ammonites, and Philistines were mixed with and oppressed the children of Israel in the good land; similarly, commerce, the flesh, improper increase, and worldliness have come in and conquered God’s people today. God’s people are defeated and suffering under these enemies. Many are crying for salvation.
In such an abnormal situation there is a great need of overcomers. We need many brothers and sisters like Deborah, Gideon, Jephthah, and Samson. In addition to the case of Deborah, the cooperation of Samson’s mother with God in the miraculous birth of Samson shows that the sisters are needed not only to be overcomers but also to produce overcomers by contacting the Lord. When we have a heart for the Lord, He will visit us and use us to produce some who will overcome the present situation so that God’s people might be released from the usurpation of those who handle the things of God in a worldly way. In the abnormal situation in Judges there was also a great need for the Divine Trinity to be involved. The more abnormal the situation, the more there is the need of the Divine Trinity.
I emphasize the Trinity in my ministry not because of my personal preference but because of my burden to help the saints to have the real experience of the Triune God. It is because God is triune that we are able to experience Him. Christians may speak of Christ and the Spirit without realizing that these titles imply the Trinity and are for our experience. God is the Father, the Son, and the Spirit for our experience. Moreover, we most need to experience Him in abnormal situations such as today’s situation, which is prefigured in Judges.