Ｃ
The army of God defeated the king of Arad, Sihon the king of the Amorites, and Og the king of Bashan—Num. 21:1-3, 21-35:
１
The kings of Arad (v. 1), of the Amorites (v. 21), and of Bashan (v. 33) were the”gate guards” on the east of the Jordan, guarding the land of Canaan, the kingdom of darkness, for Satan:
ａ
The kings defeated by God's army signify the rulers, the authorities, and the world-rulers of darkness, against whom we must struggle—Eph. 6:12.
ｂ
In order for the children of Israel to enter into the good land, they had to pass through the territory controlled by these kings and had to fight against them, destroy them, and take over their territory.
２
In order to gain the unsearchable riches of Christ, we must crush the spiritual enemies signified by the king of Arad, Sihon the king of the Amorites, and Og the king of Bashan and take over their territory—3:8; 6:10-12.
Ｄ
The fighting of the children of Israel against the Canaanites that they might possess and enjoy the good land portrays the invisible spiritual warfare that is taking place behind the visible scene on earth, and it typifies the spiritual warfare of the church against”the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenlies”—Dan. 10:10-21; Eph. 6:10-12:
１
In the typology of the Old Testament, Canaan has two aspects:
ａ
On the positive side, Canaan, a land of riches (Deut. 8:7-10), typifies the all-inclusive Christ with His unsearchable riches (Col. 1:12; Eph. 3:8).
ｂ
On the negative side, Canaan signifies the aerial part, the heavenly part, of the dark kingdom of Satan:
⑴
As the ruler of this world (John 12:31) and as the ruler of the authority of the air (Eph. 2:2), Satan has his authority (Acts 26:18) and his angels (Matt. 25:41), who are his subordinates as principalities, powers, and rulers of the darkness of this world (Eph. 6:12); hence, Satan has his kingdom (Matt. 12:26), the authority of darkness (Col. 1:13).
⑵
The Canaanites typify the fallen angels, the rebellious angels who follow Satan (Rev. 12:4, 7), who have become the powers, rulers, and authorities in Satan's kingdom (cf. Dan. 10:13, 20).
⑶
The fighting of the children of Israel against the Canaanites that they might possess and enjoy the good land typifies the spiritual warfare of the church against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenlies so that the saints may enjoy Christ as the all-inclusive land—Eph. 6:12.
２
God wants us to gain Christ as our good land, but between us and the good land, there is a layer of devilish, demonic forces; if we would take possession of the good land, we must defeat these satanic forces—Col. 1:12-13; 2:15; Eph. 3:18; 6:10-12.
３
There is an exceedingly real spiritual warfare in which we must engage; thus, the church must be a corporate warrior fighting the battle to gain the all-inclusive Christ and for the establishing and spreading of the kingdom of God so that Christ may come back to inherit the earth—vv. 10-19.
Morning Nourishment
Eph. 6:11-12 Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the stratagems of the devil, for our wrestling is…against the rulers, against the authorities, against the world-rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenlies.Dan. 10:13 But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me for twenty-one days; but now Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me…
The kings of Arad, of the Amorites (Num. 21:21), and of Bashan (v. 33) were the”gate guards” on the east of the Jordan, guarding the land of Canaan, the kingdom of darkness, for Satan. In order for the children of Israel to enter into the good land, they had to pass through the territory controlled by these kings and had to fight against them, destroy them, and take over their territory. This signifies that in order to enjoy the unsearchably rich Christ, the church must defeat and take over the territory of the enemies signified by these kings. (Num. 21:1, footnote 2)
Today's Reading
[In Daniel 10] we see something regarding the spiritual struggle in the air. According to verses 10 through 17, the evil prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood the sent angelic messenger, probably one of the chief princes, for twenty-one days. Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help the sent angelic messenger….The evil prince of the kingdom of Persia must have been an evil spirit, a rebellious angel, who followed Satan in his rebellion against God and who was commissioned by Satan to help Persia….While Daniel was praying for all those days, a spiritual struggle was taking place in the air between two spirits, one belonging to Satan and the other belonging to God. They were fighting because the…angelic messenger…had been sent by God in answer to Daniel's prayer….The crucial point we need to see is that behind the scene a spiritual struggle, a struggle not seen with physical eyes, was taking place.In verses 18 through 21 we see more of the spiritual struggle behind the scene. The angelic messenger would return to fight with the evil prince of Persia. The evil prince of Greece was then about to come. No one would hold with the angelic messenger against these two evil princes except Michael, the prince of Israel. The name Michael means”Who is like God?” The angelic messenger stood up to support and strengthen Darius (11:1)…in order [for him] to receive the kingdom….This scene also includes both good and evil spirits, spirits that are engaged in an invisible spiritual war. (Life-study of Daniel, pp. 96-97)
In the typology of the Old Testament, Canaan has two aspects: on the positive side, Canaan, a land of riches (Deut. 8:7-10 and foonote 1 on v. 7), typifies the all-inclusive Christ with His unsearchable riches (Col. 1:12; Eph. 3:8), and on the negative side, it signifies the aerial part, the heavenly part, of the dark kingdom of Satan. As the ruler of this world (John 12:31) and as the ruler of the authority of the air (Eph. 2:2), Satan has his authority (Acts 26:18) and his angels (Matt. 25:41), who are his subordinates as principalities, powers, and rulers of the darkness of this world (Eph. 6:12). Hence, he has his kingdom (Matt. 12:26), the authority of darkness (Col. 1:13). The Canaanites typify the fallen angels, the rebellious angels who follow Satan (Rev. 12:4, 7), who have become the powers, rulers, and authorities in Satan's kingdom (cf. Dan. 10:13, 20). The fighting of the children of Israel against the Canaanites that they might possess and enjoy the good land typifies the spiritual warfare of the church as a whole, including all the members, against”the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenlies” (Eph. 6:12) that the saints may enjoy Christ as the all-inclusive land. The church must be such a corporate warrior, fighting against Satan's aerial forces so that God's people may gain more of Christ for the building up of the Body of Christ, establishing and spreading the kingdom of God so that Christ can come back to inherit the earth. (Num. 21:1, footnote 1)
Further Reading: Life-study of Daniel, msg. 15; CWWL, 1961-1962, vol. 4,”The All-inclusive Christ,” chs. 11-13