Anne Dutton's
Letters on Spiritual Subjects
My Dear Brother in Christ,
I humbly think that the bondage of the children of Israel in Egypt,
under Pharaoh and his task-masters, was typical of the cruel bondage of the
people of God in a state of nature, under the tyranny of sin and Satan and a
broken law of works.
Their deliverance from Egypt and passage through
the Red Sea were typical of our deliverance from the power of darkness, and
translation into the kingdom of God's dear Son at our first conversion.
Their journeys through the desolate wilderness
were typical of our travels through this world of trouble.
Their Land of Promise was typical of our promised
rest.
Their passage over Jordan into Canaan was typical
of our passage through death into everlasting life, or of our passing from
this world of sin and sorrow into the world of joy and glory as our
everlasting rest.
And that Canaan was typical of heaven, is evident, in
that God, when He made promise of Canaan to Abraham, did thereby make
promise of heaven to him—of heaven's glory—as the substance of that shadow
in Canaan's bliss, whence his faith beheld the same afar off through the
glass of the promise, as (Heb. 11:9, 10), "By faith he sojourned in the Land
of Promise as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and
Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; for he looked for a city
which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God." And thus those who
are of faith, that have the same faith with Abraham, are said to "seek a
country, and to desire a better country, that is, an heavenly—wherefore God
also is not ashamed to be called their God—for He has prepared for them a
city" (verse 14, 16), no less than the city of God, the heavenly Jerusalem,
the glory of the heavenly state.
Thus, this was the sum and substance of the promise,
spiritual and heavenly glory, that was shadowed forth by literal Canaan with
its flowing bliss, and this is what the faith of all the Old Testament
saints beheld in Canaan's promise, as the ultimate of that bliss comprised
in it. And this is what all the New Testament saints likewise, all that are
of the faith of Abraham, and so heirs with him of the same promise, this is
what they look for and expect, even the heavenly glory of which Canaan, the
glory of all lands, was a sweet resemblance.
And as the Israelites were to pass over Jordan, in order
to possess the bliss of Canaan, so the people of God must pass over the
river death before they enjoy, and in order to possess, the glory prepared
for them in heaven. Death, like Jordan's river, lies between us and promised
bliss, between the wilderness and Canaan. But over Jordan the Israelites
went dry-shod, under the conduct of their Joshua, to possess their portion
in the Land of Promise; and over death we shall go unhurt, untouched by the
waters, the sorrows thereof, as a curse, while the waters divide here and
there, by Omnipotent power, to make us a safe passage through the flood on
foot, under the conduct of our Jesus—the Captain of our salvation—to the
full possession of our inheritance in light and life, in the immediate
vision and fruition of His glory unto fullness of joy and endless eternity.
And the believers, the spiritual
Israelites, must pass over Jordan into Canaan before they can
feast in Canaan. A taste here in grace, to whet our appetites and set our
souls a longing, is our unspeakable privilege, but our delicious,
soul-satisfying feast, is reserved for future glory until we are made
partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light. And here what shall I
say? "Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, those great and glorious things which
God (in His everlasting love) has prepared for them that love Him, for them
that wait for Him." The best and richest wine of God's everlasting word is
kept until last, reserved for a glorious eternity. And O the rich dainties,
the royal wine in abundance, on which immortal saints shall feast at the
marriage-supper of the Lamb! "We shall eat and drink at His table in His
kingdom" (Luke 22:30), "Yes, eat as His friends" (Song 5:1), and drink as
His beloved abundantly of love, of love before time, in time, and after
time, unto endless eternity; for the great opening of God's heart—of the
heart of God the Father, in all the displays of His everlasting
love—of the heart of God the Son, in all the displays of His
everlasting love—of the heart of God the Holy Spirit, in all the
displays of His everlasting love, is reserved for blessed eternity.
The love of God in itself, and in all its wondrous
fruits, will then be set before the quick appetites of glorified saints, and
make them a joyful, eternal feast. The new and old fruits of everlasting
love, and love in all its fruits, to our eternal salvation and glory,
ordained, procured, and bestowed, will delight us exceedingly, and feed us
substantially. And oh, what tongue can express, or heart conceive, a
thousandth part of that bliss, joy, and glory we shall possess in the
immediate vision and fruition of Christ, and of God in Him—of God in all His
Persons, as Love, without darkness, without distance, without a veil
between, without the medium of ordinances? Oh, what will it be to see, to
enjoy God as love, in Himself, without intermission, to an endless duration,
and without fear also of any even the least separation?
Oh, what is Christ? What is God? What is God in Christ,
the ultimate of the saints' enjoyment? He was of old prepared for us
worthless creatures, for us miserable sinners! For us, sinful men—while
sinning angels perish! For us, the chosen, the beloved of the Lord, while
thousands of our sinful race sink down with sinning angels into endless
misery! Were we better than they? No! in no way. Oh free, rich,
distinguishing love! Oh, great, everlasting love! "Lord, what is man, that
you are thus mindful of him? or the Son of man, that you should set your
heart upon Him?" This note of joyful wonder will be echoed forth by
glorified saints from their fervent love of God and zeal for His honor, in
their lofty songs of praise, while they ascribe salvation and glory and
blessing unto Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb forever and ever,
to which all their innumerable multitude and myriads of glorious angels,
with joy unknown, shall join a loud amen! But oh, this feasting upon the
everlasting love of God and all its glorious fruits, upon Christ Himself,
and God in Him, as the old provision made for the heirs of God, to delight
their hearts and sustain them to eternal life, when they possess their vast
inheritance reserved for them in heaven—this, this is a bliss too great, a
joy too rich, a glory too high, to be conceived or expressed by saints on
this earth! This mortal must put on immortality, we must pass over Jordan
into Canaan, before we can tell what delights we shall enjoy in this rich
and everlasting feast!
The children of Israel knew not the pleasures of eating
Canaan's delights until they had got into the Land of Promise. They had
manna in the wilderness, but when once they had eaten of Canaan's old corn,
the manna ceased, they had it no more; they needed it no longer when brought
to feed on a more substantial food.
Their manna was typical of Christ, the Bread of Life; but
the manna was a lighter food, suited to their wilderness-state, and to set
forth those lesser discoveries and enjoyments of Christ, and of God in Him,
with which the heavenly pilgrims are blessed during their travels through a
world of griefs. Their manna, also, was bread given them from heaven, to
show the miraculous care of God's providence for the support of those who
were the objects of His love, when they were in a desolate wilderness, and
to show also that Christ, and every discovery of Him made to the faith of
God's people, while in this world, for the support of their spiritual life,
is from heaven, and a marvelous display of God their Father's care, to
supply the needs of His beloved children while traveling through this desert
land.
And the Israelites' manna, likewise, which fell round
about their camp, which descended with, and was wrapped up in, the dew,
which, when that was gone up, was to be gathered by them daily, was to teach
them diligence in the use of means, and constant dependence in a way of
obedience, upon the God of their lives, and to teach us also to give all
diligence, in the use of all the means of grace, of all gospel ordinances
and appointments, to find, take up, and enjoy Christ for the spiritual life
of our souls, and thus, in well-doing, to commit ourselves daily to the love
and care of God our heavenly Father for all supplies of grace, until we are
brought to glory.
But when once we, as the Israelites, have passed over
Jordan, and set our feet, as they, upon Canaan's blissful shore, the manna,
as it ceased to them, so to us it will cease; we shall have manna no more.
We shall be done with all imperfect discoveries and enjoyments of Christ,
and of God in Him, when that which is perfect is come. We shall not need
bread to be given us from heaven when once we are advanced unto heaven to
possess that land where bread is eaten in plenty, without scarceness, nor
those marvelous displays of divine love and care which were needful to
supply our needs in a weary wilderness, when once we possess the land of
rest, where all fullness dwells. Nor yet shall we need the use of the many
means of Grace, when grace has brought us to glory; we shall not need gospel
ordinances to bring us to Christ, and to God in Him by faith, when once we
are blessed with the immediate vision and full fruition of God and of the
Lamb, unto joy ineffable and life eternal.
No! we shall look back indeed, and remember all the way
which the Lord led us through the wilderness, and adore everlasting love in
every of its bright displays, in all its wise conduct by grace in bringing
us to glory. The remembrance of the manna will not cease, but be preserved
fresh (as the pot of manna for a memorial was, in the ark), in the memories
of glorified saints to Jehovah's endless honor; but the manna itself shall
cease, we shall have manna no more, we shall be above needing it, above
using it, when once we partake of God's everlasting love and all its
glorious fruits, as love in its eternal round runs through and shall be
enjoyed in them all, unto rising praises, and endless ages.
The grace of Christ be with your spirit.