Joshua 18:28

REFLECTIONS

My soul! while beholding the Israelites busily engaged, as this Chapter represents them, setting up the tabernacle in Shiloh; do thou let thy meditation take wing, and behold that true tabernacle which the Lord pitched, and not man. See, gaze, contemplate, look upon it, and view well the glorious building. And when the whole of its splendors have passed and repassed in delightful review before thee, look within the sacred temple, and behold Jesus, thine own Jesus, the Almighty minister of this sanctuary, even the Shiloh himself, to whom the gathering of the people shall be. Oh! thou dear Redeemer, than great High Priest of our calling! give me to hear that voice which John heard, and to know my personal interest in it. Behold! the tabernacle of God is with men; and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God!

I would call to mind, while looking over Benjamin's portion, what the man of God prophesied concerning this lot. He called him the beloved of the Lord. He prophesied that he should dwell in safety by him; that the Lord should cover him all the day long; and that he should dwell between his shoulders. Oh! for an interest in the same love, the same assurances of safety, the same Almighty covering, and the same dwelling under the God of Jacob. Dearest Jesus! make me the object of thy love, the object of thy care, thy protection, thy safety. Witness for me, ye angels of light, and above all, thou Holy Spirit of all truth, do thou witness to my spirit, that I prefer these mercies of my God and Savior, beyond all the riches of the earth. Oh! may I be found so justified in the blood and righteousness of him, that is the Surety and Defence of his people, that I may be like Benjamin, the beloved of the Lord; and like John, the disciple whom Jesus loveth.