Exodus 23:23 says, “Mine Angel shall go before thee.” In 14:19 we have a clear indication that the Angel of Jehovah was leading the people: “And the Angel of God, which went before the camp of Israel, removed and went behind them; and the pillar of the cloud went from before their face, and stood behind them.” The Angel refers to Christ, and the cloud signifies the Spirit. The Father also was present, but He, as usual, was behind the scene. Thus, in the incident recorded in Exodus 14, the Triune God was present. The Son was the protecting Angel, the Spirit as the cloud was darkness to the Egyptians and light to the children of Israel, and behind the Angel and the cloud, the Son and the Spirit, was the Father. Here we see the Triune God applying Himself to the people in their situation. Therefore, we may define the Trinity as God’s application of Himself to His people. Without the Trinity, God could not have been applied to His chosen people in their distress in Exodus 14.
We have pointed out that the Trinity denotes both the dispensation of the Triune God and the application of the Triune God. No doubt, to many Christians such definitions will come as something altogether new. Nevertheless, according to the Word of God, it is a fact that apart from the Trinity God has no way to apply Himself to His people. When God said, “Behold, I send an Angel before thee,” He was applying Himself to the children of Israel. He not only gave them laws and ordinances, but He applied Himself to them.
According to Exodus 23:20, the Angel of Jehovah kept the people, guarded them, in the way. An excellent illustration of the Angel’s guarding is found in chapter fourteen, when the Egyptians were pursuing the Israelites (vv. 19-20).
Exodus 23:20 says that the Angel would bring the people into the place which God had prepared. From verse 23 we know that this was the land occupied by pagan tribes. The Angel of Jehovah would bring God’s people into this good land.
Verse 31 describes the boundaries of the promised land: “And I will set thy bounds from the Red sea even unto the sea of the Philistines, and from the wilderness unto the river” (lit.). The “sea of the Philistines” refers to the Mediterranean Sea, and “the river” denotes the Euphrates. Although the land between the Mediterranean Sea and the Euphrates is extensive, more extensive than the territory the children of Israel have ever inhabited, my point here does not concern the extensiveness of the land. Rather, it concerns the boundaries and their spiritual significance. The bounds were from “the Red sea even unto the sea of the Philistines.” The seas here signify the waters of death. Hence, from sea to sea signifies from death to death. This means that one of the boundaries of the promised land is death. Verse 31 also says that the boundary was to be “from the wilderness unto the river.” The river also signifies the water of death, and the wilderness signifies barrenness. If we study a map, we shall see that the promised land is surrounded by death and barrenness. The land itself, however, is a region of life filled with abundance of fruit.
We have pointed out that the promised land is a type of Christ. Now that we see that the boundaries of the good land are death and barrenness, we can realize that outside of Christ there is nothing but death and barrenness. Death and barrenness surround Christ as our land and are the boundaries of Christ. The Bible indicates that the promised land is elevated. This signifies that Christ is elevated in resurrection. However, this elevated land, this elevated Christ, is surrounded by death and barrenness.
We need to apply the boundaries of the good land to our spiritual experience and ask ourselves where we are. Where are you? Are you in the Red Sea, in the Mediterranean Sea, or in the Euphrates? In other words, are you in the waters of death? Are you wandering in a barren wilderness? I repeat, the good land is bounded by the waters of death and by the barrenness of the wilderness. But the territory of the good land is elevated and fruitful, full of life and produce. Hallelujah, this good land is our territory!