How can we from the shallow experience of the outer court enter into the deep experience of the holy of holies? We need to pass two crises. First, we need to pass through the curtain which separates the outer court from the holy place. This curtain, according to the Bible, is not a very great separation and is not too difficult to pass. Second, in order to enter the holy of holies from the holy place, we need to pass through the veil. This veil is a tremendous crisis. For one to enter into the holy of holies, the veil must be rent. This rending of the veil typifies our being broken. Therefore, this type shows us that our being must be rent and our self and natural constitution broken; then shall we be able to leave our shallow condition and enter into the depth of the spirit; then shall we have fellowship with God face to face and live in God’s presence, that is, to live in God. Therefore, the breaking of the natural constitution is truly a great turning point in our spiritual pathway.

Similarly, the journey of the Israelites entering Canaan also typifies the spiritual pathway of a Christian. Canaan refers to the heavenly realm and is comparable to the holy of holies. Those in Canaan were those living in the holy of holies. They wandered in the wilderness for forty years, until the old creation gradually passed away. The passing through Jordan is comparable to the rending of the veil. From that time forth, their flesh was rolled away.

Therefore, we must start from the altar and go forward, until one day we experience the rending of the veil and enter into the holy of holies. We must also start our journey from Mt. Sinai and go forward until we reach Jordan, where our old creation is dealt with; then we can enter into the land of Canaan. The older generation of Israelites depicts all that pertains to the old creation within us, namely our flesh, self, and the natural constitution. Therefore, when God rejected the older generation of Israelites, the spiritual meaning is that God rejects everything in us which pertains to the old creation. From the time we begin to learn to serve God, He causes us to experience daily death in order to put to death and nullify all that is of the old creation in us. God employs a long period of time and a lengthy journey to lead us, “the Jacobs” who have found favor before God and “the Israelites” who have been redeemed, to the end that all the items of our flesh, self-opinion, and natural constitution might be revealed one by one in our practical experience; then one by one He puts them to death for us. Therefore, when at times we see our flesh and opinions exposed in the church, we need not fear or be troubled, for without being exposed, they will exist hiddenly, but once they are exposed, there is deliverance.

Of course, dealing with the flesh, the self, and the natural constitution requires many years. The Israelites in the wilderness did nothing for forty years but serve God; some carried the tent, some killed the sheep and oxen, and some arranged the showbread in the holy place. Whenever the pillar of cloud was lifted and the trumpet sounded, they all marched on. They lived in this manner for forty years before the oldness was completely purged away. Likewise, we as Christians today must pay the price, forsake the world, pursue the Lord, bear the testimony of God, serve God daily, and go on with Him; then the incident at Taberah (Num. 11:1-3), the rebellion of Korah and Dathan, and Miriam’s not submitting to authority, plus numerous other mixed conditions in us of which we are not aware, will gradually be exposed. The more we are exposed, the more we are being purged. If we go on in such a way, and if it takes us eight to ten years to pass through the Jordan and purge away the old creation, it is a tremendous grace of the Lord. Contrariwise, if we still set our heart on the world, what we think and do are things outside of God; though we go to meetings or read the Scriptures occasionally, even after fifty years we still will not be able to pass through the Jordan; neither can we do it until the day we depart from the world. May the Lord have mercy upon us that we may see the way and walk therein.
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