C
The age was changed by passing through Bethel, which is the place to give up the world and turn to God absolutely, taking God as everything; Bethel refers to victory over the world—Gen. 12:8; 1 John 2:15:
１
According to Genesis 12:8, Bethel is the place where Abraham built an altar, the place of fellowship and communication with God; it is the place where we consecrate ourselves to God and are totally given to Him to overcome the world—13:3-4.
２
Victory over the world is a condition for being raptured and receiving the power of the Holy Spirit; if a believer truly desires to be filled with the Holy Spirit and be raptured, he must pay the price to forsake the world and learn to fellowship with God on the altar of total consecration.
D
The age was changed by passing through Jericho; it was the first city that Joshua and the people of Israel had to defeat when they entered into the good land, and it signifies God’s enemy, Satan—Josh. 6; Rev. 12:11:
１
Joshua 6 speaks of overcoming Jericho, which means “cursed”; the Canaanites signify the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenlies mentioned in Ephesians 6:12.
２
Satan is the ruler of this world (John 14:30), and the evil spirits are the world-rulers of this darkness, which refers to today’s world; the evil spirits are the rebellious angels, who followed Satan in his rebellion against God and who now rule in the heavenlies over the nations of the world—such as the prince of Persia and the prince of Greece (Dan. 10:20).
３
We need to be those who “put on the whole armor of God” (Eph. 6:11, 13); the whole armor of God is for the entire Body of Christ, not for any individual member of the Body; we must fight the spiritual warfare in the Body, not as individuals.
４
The way to overcome the world is to exercise our spirit of faith to believe in God’s word, act according to His word, and believe that we will receive the results of carrying out His word (2 Cor. 4:13; John 17:17; 6:63; Eph. 6:17-18); Jericho fell by the Israelites relying on God’s word and standing firm in their position; when the Lord was being tempted by the devil three times, the Lord responded three times by saying, “It is written…” (Matt. 4:4, 7, 10).
５
In order to overcome the attack of the evil spirits, we must disregard every situation and feeling and exercise our spirit of faith to believe in God’s word of promise; we must also stand in the position that Christ has given us, which is in the heavens, and must put down Satan and his evil spirits to their inferior position—2 Cor. 4:13; Eph. 2:6; Col. 3:1-2.
６
The bearing of the Ark by the priests at Jericho signifies that in spiritual warfare the first thing we should do is to exalt Christ, giving Him the first place, the preeminence, in everything; the blowing of the trumpets and the shouting (the seventh time around the city) signify the testifying and proclaiming of God with Christ (the Ark) through faith in God’s word of instruction—Josh. 6:1-20.
Morning Nourishment
2 Kings 2:2 And Elijah said to Elisha, Stay here, for Jehovah has sent me as far as Bethel. And Elisha said, As Jehovah lives and as your soul lives, I will not leave you. So they went down to Bethel.Gen. 12:8 And [Abram] proceeded from there to the mountain on the east of Bethel and pitched his tent,... and there he built an altar to Jehovah and called upon the name of Jehovah.
Bethel is the place to give up the world and turn to God absolutely, taking God as everything (Gen. 12:8); Jericho, the first city that Joshua and the people of Israel had to defeat when they entered into the good land, signifies the head of God’s enemy, Satan (Josh. 6:1-27). (2 Kings 2:1, footnote 1)
Bethel is the place where Abram built an altar [Gen. 12:8]. The altar is a place of fellowship and communication with God. It is the place where we consecrate ourselves to God, the place where we are totally given to Him. (CWWN, vol. 9, p. 309)
Today’s Reading
While Gilgal refers to the victory over the flesh, Bethel refers to the victory over the world, because Egypt signifies the world. Victory over the world is a condition for being raptured and receiving the power of the Holy Spirit. If our heart has not completely overcome the world and the people, affairs, and things of this world, and if these things have not lost their place in our heart, we will not be able to arrive at the goal before us. If a believer truly desires to be filled with the Holy Spirit and be raptured, he must pay the price to take the way of the Lord, which is to journey to a place where the Lord can give him His Spirit. We must forsake the world and learn to fellowship with God on the altar of total consecration.In the world there are no trials; but the pathway of obedience to God is full of trials. This is the road that must be traveled in order to be raptured and receive power... Even though we can avoid trials in Egypt, there is no altar there.
Joshua 6:26 says, “...Cursed be the man before Jehovah who rises up to rebuild this city Jericho!” Thus, the name of this city means “cursed.” This portion of history speaks of the Israelites’ first victory over the enemies in Canaan. The Canaanites signify evil spirits, which are of the devil. They are the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenlies mentioned in Ephesians 6:12.
We have overcome the flesh and the world; now we still must overcome the enemy. The only way to overcome the enemy is to believe in God’s Word, act according to His Word, and believe that we will receive the results of carrying out His Word. God has spoken, and it is sufficient. The men of Jericho said that they had a city; we say that we have God’s Word. The men of Jericho said that their city was as tall as heaven; we say that our God is in heaven. The men of Jericho said that every place surrounded by their city belonged to them; we say that God has promised us every place that the soles of our feet will tread upon.
The real spiritual warfare is the warfare between us and Satan with his evil spirits. Every mature believer should join in this warfare. God’s children on earth are often attacked by evil spirits. Some of these attacks are in the environment, some are in the physical body, mind, emotion, or spirit. It is not by power that Jericho fell, but by the Israelites’ relying on God’s Word and standing firm in their position. In order to overcome the attack of evil spirits, we first must disregard every situation and feeling and believe in God’s Word of promise. This will defeat the enemy. Second, we must stand in the position that Christ has given us, which is in the heavens, and must put down Satan and his evil spirits to their inferior position. Without God’s Word and without exercising our faith to choose the position God has given, we cannot overcome the enemy. (CWWN, vol. 9, pp. 309-312)
Further Reading: CWWN, vol. 50, “Messages for Building Up New Believers (3),” ch. 43; Life-study of Daniel, msg. 15