Life’s Course

Dear Brother Johan,

“He called for a famine in the land; He destroyed all the provision of bread. He sent a man before them—Joseph—who was sold as a slave. They hurt his feet with fetters; they laid his soul in iron, until the time that his word came to pass, until the time that the word of the Lord proved his innocence.” Ps. 105:16-19.

Through the cross to the crown, through sufferings to glory.

Joseph didn’t just suffer for his own sake and for his own glory, he suffered for his calling. What does God do with the man He wants to use? “He sent a man before them—Joseph—who was sold as a slave.” The man whom God sends before the others will meet the same fate. Joseph was sold as a slave. “They hurt his feet with fetters, they laid his soul in iron.”

They hurt his feet with fetters; they hinder him in the race; he is an “ambassador in chains”—the man whom God sends ahead. He knows his calling and his task; every hindrance is like iron in his soul. It is hard for a man with a message, for a man who is to go before the others because God has called him, to be “put in fetters.” What will become of the message? It appears as if the entire effort will be unsuccessful.

Oh, these chains that are fit for a criminal that one has to wear on one’s feet! This envy that makes purity out to be dirt and makes the Holiest One out to be the worst criminal.

Job was a man who feared God; he was upright and blameless and shunned evil. He was more righteous than his three friends, for they did not speak what was right about God as Job did. Job 42:7.

Even though Job was more righteous than they, they made Job out to be a criminal, someone who deserved the severest punishment despite the fact that they could not prove his guilt. Not much is written about Job’s boils and sores. They disappear as something insignificant. But iron came into Job’s soul, and the sufferings a person has to endure on that account are more intense than physical sufferings.

Job’s friends tried every possible means to find sin in Job’s life. But they didn’t succeed. They pried into every area of Job’s life. They drove the sword of accusation deep into his soul. This hurt more than Job’s boils. They acted as if they knew everything best; they acted like merciful and good leaders. How Job had to writhe in pain under their nice words to him as a transgressor. Just look at what they can come up with: “If you would prepare your heart, and stretch out your hands toward Him; if iniquity were in your hand, and you put it far away, and would not let wickedness dwell in your tents; then surely you could lift up your face without spot; yes, you could be steadfast, and not fear; because you would forget your misery, and remember it as waters that have passed away. And your life would be brighter than noonday. Though you were dark, you would be brighter than morning. And you would be secure, because there is hope;” etc. Job 11:13-19.

They appeared to be helpful to Job, though they had made him out to be a transgressor even though they had not found him guilty. It was bitter for Job to hear that he should follow their instruction to free himself from the guilt that he wasn’t aware of. Therefore Job also answered them out of his soul’s bitter pain: “No doubt you are the people, and wisdom will die with you!” Ch. 12:2. Job answered his friends further: “How long will you torment my soul, and break me in pieces with words?” Job 19:2.

Job speaks further in his pain: “He has removed my brothers far from me, and my acquaintances consider me a stranger. My relatives stay away, and my close friends have forgotten me. Those who dwell in my house, and my maidservants, count me as a stranger; I am an alien in their sight. I call my servant, but he gives no answer; I beg him with my mouth. . . . Even children despise me; I arise, and they speak against me. All my close friends abhor me, and those whom I love have turned against me.” Job 19:13-19.

However, in spite of all the “good friends” that Satan sent to torment him and make him out to be a transgressor who had to repent, Job still cries out in his pain; he still proclaims his life’s hope, the very thing that Satan, when speaking to God, thought he would renounce: “For I know that my Redeemer lives, and He shall stand at last on the earth; and after my skin is destroyed, this I know, that in my flesh I shall see God.” Vs. 25-26.

Job’s friends wanted to extinguish even his last hope. They did not believe him. They considered all his words to be nothing. In addition, Job received a nice reminder from Eliphaz: “If you return to the Almighty, you will be built up when you remove iniquity from your tents. Then you will lay your gold in the dust, and the gold of Ophir among the stones of the brooks. Then the Almighty will be your gold and your precious silver.” Ch. 22:23-25.

It really takes something for a soul to endure such unwarranted sermons to repent.

Iron entered into Job’s soul. It was cold; it was hard; it was brutal. Nevertheless, it came in God’s name with much wisdom, mercy, and beauty.

Only the person who has experienced it knows what it means to be reckoned among transgressors, although neither he is conscious of any guilt, nor can others prove that he is guilty.

God Himself cleared up Job’s life in a righteous way.

Just as Joseph became a savior of his brothers who had sold him into slavery, so Job also became a savior of his foolish friends. Job 42:8.

Moses. Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses, saying: “‘Has the Lord indeed spoken only through Moses? Has He not spoken through us also?’ And the Lord heard it.”

The man Moses was very meek, more than all men who were on earth. Num. 12.

Moses was meek. He did not want to be the only one who had the right to speak with God. It was his desire that all the people should prophesy. Therefore God said to them: “Why then were you not afraid to speak against My servant Moses?”

Their envy made Moses out to be a conceited, absolute ruler who considered only what he himself said as true and right.

Moses was meeker than all men. He would therefore be the last of all men to do what he was accused of. He loved the people, as well as Miriam and Aaron.

In spite of Moses’ power and greatness, we can rest assured that this was like

iron in his soul.

In spite of all this, when Miriam, as punishment, became leprous, Moses became her savior through his prayers.

The word of the Lord proved his innocence.

Korah, together with two hundred and fifty men, men of renown, leaders of the congregation, gathered together against Moses and Aaron and said: “This has gone far enough, for all the congregation is holy, every one of them, and the Lord is among them. Why do you exalt yourselves above the congregation of the Lord?”

When Moses heard it, he fell on his face. Num. 16.

Moses was the meekest of all men, and iron entered his soul once more. Fresh allegations, fresh accusations, simply because he was faithful to his life’s calling and because he loved his people. He received hatred as a reward for love; they accused him of evil as a reward for doing good. Sufferings will follow the man who is true to his calling.

Moses says in his pain that the Lord would make known who are holy. “The man whom the Lord chooses will be the holy one. You have gone far enough, you sons of Levi!”

This was so hard on Moses that even his longsuffering came to an end. He could no longer manage the accusations and could no longer bear his pain. “You have gone far enough, you sons of Levi!” This was too much for the meek man. Even a giant can be imposed upon to bear burdens that are too great.

Moses said to Korah: “You and all your company are gathered together against the Lord. And what is Aaron that you murmur against him?” Yes, what is Aaron and Moses? What is Paul and Cephas or Apollos? They are servants who do the will of the Lord. They are called by God and are faithful to their calling. Therefore Korah and his company are rebels against the Lord. What is a servant of the Lord that you murmur against him? He has received his orders from God. God chooses according to His will, and what is the one compared to the other? God appoints everyone in his place, and there everyone has an opportunity to exercise faithfulness and thus grow up into Him who is the Head.

Korah gathered the whole church against Moses and Aaron. V. 19. Even though they had seen to what God had led Moses and Aaron—they had seen the signs and wonders they had performed; they had seen the labor and the burden that Moses had borne—in spite of this, the entire church joined Korah against Moses and Aaron.

It must have been truly trying for a man with flesh and blood and feelings like everyone else.

There was Moses in the midst of the entire congregation of Israel. “You want to be a ruler over us,” he heard them shout. Then Moses defended himself before the Lord’s face and said, “I have not taken one donkey from them, nor have I hurt one of them.” Just as Job did, so Moses also had to rebuff the accusations because they became too strong for him to bear; therefore he had to boast before the Lord’s face just as Paul also had to do with regard to the Corinthians when he said, “We have wronged no one, we have corrupted no one, we have defrauded no one.” 2 Cor. 7:2.

However, the Lord intervened between Moses and the congregation. The Lord came and proved his innocence. Indeed, whoever the Lord commends passes the test.

“The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, ‘Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment.’ Then they fell on their faces, saying, ‘O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and You be angry with all the congregation?’” God listened to them again. He spared the congregation, but Korah and his company who had started the murmuring against God’s servant were swallowed up by the earth.

Through his prayer, Moses became a savior once more to those who had rebelled against the Lord. And the Lord proved again who was holy and who was profane.

It is strange that the entire congregation could oppose a man like Moses. They said that he wanted to rule over them, that he considered the others as profane, that he had not led them to a land flowing with milk and honey as they had been told, and that they had not been given fields and vineyards for their possession. V. 14. He was considered a windbag, someone who used empty phrases under a cover of holiness. Nothing of what Moss had proclaimed had resulted in anything. Therefore they said to Moses: This is enough; the entire congregation is holy, all of them.

Fetters around the feet and iron in the soul. It is hard for a man of God.

Then the congregation lacked water, so they gathered together against Moses and Aaron. Num. 20. And the people contended with Moses.

Why have you brought up the congregation of the Lord into this wilderness?

Why have you made us come up out of Egypt? Why? Why?

Moses and Aaron fell on their faces.

At times like this these servants of the Lord proceeded in a strange and precious way. They fell on their faces—before the Lord.

The Lord said to Moses: “Take the rod; you and your brother Aaron gather the assembly together. Speak to the rock before their eyes, and it will yield its water . . . .”

And Moses did so.

However, the pressure had been too great for him; he was driven beyond his limits. In spite of all his meekness, he fell short. There had been too many accusations Moses couldn’t bear it any more.

He said to them: “‘Hear now, you rebels! Must we bring water for you out of this rock?’ Then Moses lifted his hand and struck the rock twice . . . .”

Now Moses had been driven so far that he was zealous against the church instead of being zealous to carry out God’s will exactly. He struck the rock instead of speaking to it.

This was the water of Meribah, where Israel contended with the Lord.

Pity every soul who has been driven beyond his limits in his sufferings and in his battles for the church. Since then many others have met their

Water of Meribah.

And the Lord said: “You shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them.”

Moses pleaded with the Lord, saying, “O Lord, You have begun to show Your servant Your greatness and Your mighty hand . . . let me cross over and see the good land . . . . But the Lord was angry with me on your account, and would not listen to me. So the Lord said to me, ‘Enough of that!’” Deut. 3:24-26.

What sufferings Moses, the servant of the Lord, had to endure! Moreover, during all this he praises the Lord God. Indeed, He loves His people. “All His saints are in Your hand; they sit down at Your feet; everyone receives Your words.” Deut. 33.

“Happy are you, O Israel! Who is like you, a people saved by the Lord, the shield of your help and the sword of your majesty!” V. 29.

“And He [God] was King in Jeshurun.” V. 5. Behold the goal of Moses, the servant of the Lord: The Savior of the people was to be the Lord, and God their King.

So Moses the servant of the Lord died; and Israel wept for him after he had passed away. (Read Numbers 17:5).

Note: This letter came into my possession only after Aksel’s passing. It was written soon after a great battle.

J.O.S.