Libnah

“And they departed from Rimmon-parez, and pitched in Libnah.”

This sixteenth station likewise lies not far from the borders of Canaan, which is to the right. The route leads in a straight line towards the high road, as if it were not directed towards the Red Sea, but straight into Egypt. Libnah is only about three leagues from Rimmon, and it might be asked, whether such a short stage were worth all the trouble occasioned by removing? We reply in the affirmative. Self-will may thereby receive a wound, and self-wisdom be reproved, whose advice is not asked, nor its approval waited for, as little as its disapproval is heeded; the new man has an opportunity of manifesting his patience and obedience, the old man of showing his perverseness; The strictness of the divine government is made apparent, which extends to the numbering of every hair, however little we may believe it. The children of Israel, however, enjoyed the certainty of being where the Lord would have them to be; and we can also enjoy this, if we do, not act in our own strength and from self-will, but regulate ourselves according to his word, prefer refraining from things that are dubious, and fix our hopes on the Lord, that he would instruct us and show us the way in which we ought to walk.” We have then to do with a merciful Lord, who pardons unintentional mistakes, and whose long suffering we rriust regard as salvation. The nearness of Canaan, and the prospect it presented, must indeed have been a constant martyrdom, since they were not permitted to enter it. This was to take place at a very different point, previous to which, much was to be endured and experienced, and many to leave their corpses in the wilderness.

Let us, however, consider this sixteenth encampment a little more closely. It is called Libnah, and this is all that is said of it. The term in our language means whiteness, being white, or being made white; even as it is said in Daniel xii. 10, “Many shall be purified and made white, and tried.” The moon has also its name from it, as well as frankincense, tiles, and poplartrees. These interpretations afford us subjects for further meditation, especially the white colour.

The latter was the prevailing colour in the Old Testament worship, and next to it, purple, scarlet, and azure blue; but black was entirely excluded. The priests were clothed in white. Herod caused a white mantle to be put upon Christ, and thus sent him back to Pilate. Angels appear clothed in white. White raiment is promised in Rev. iii. 4, to those that overcome, and who are worthy of it. In verse 18th we are counselled to buy white raiment that we may be clothed, and not be ashamed on account of our nakedness. In Rev. i.

the Lord is described as having his head and hair white like wool: and in chap. xix. 14, the whole host of heaven are represented as “clothed in fine linen, clean and white.” David prays, in Psalm li., “Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow;” and the Lord promises, in Isaiah, i. 18, ‘* Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow;” From all which passages it is evident, that white is emblematical of holiness and innocence, and being made white is equivalent, in a spiritual sense, to becoming holy. Consequently every one must go to Libnah; and it were well if we were really encamped there.

By nature we are black, the reverse of white; we are flesh, the opposite of spirit; and we are enemies of God, unholy and unclean. “Who shall bring a clean, thing out of an unclean?” asks Job. Our very righteousness, in such a state, according to the judgment of God, is a filthy rag. We have lost the image of God, and resemble him no longer. We are black, instead of being white — darkness, instead of light. Such is our conception and birth, and in them David finds the primary source of his grievous sin. The germ of evil is within us, as soon as we see the light, and waits only for a seasonable opportunity to manifest itself. This hereditary evil is that in particular which defiles us; the leprosy which disfigures us. This corrupt tree manifests itself also in a greater or less degree, in a more or less striking manner, sometimes even most disgustingly, in its poisonous fruits of evil thoughts, lusts, desires, passions, words, and works, as so many proofs how poisonous must be the tree which yields them, and how corrupt the heart from whence they proceed.

This sinful state separates us from God and from each other. We no longer suit each other nor agree together. For what fellowship hath light with darkness, or Christ with Belial? Our carnal nature hates God, and God hates our carnal nature, which is enmity agamst him, and being so much opposed to his nature, niust therefore be overcome, mortified, and slain, before he can take up his residence in us. His holiness is to our impurity a consuming fire; and even Isaiah exclaimed at the sight of it, “Woe is me, for I am undone!” What would become of us were there no Libnah, where we might be made white!

Eternal thanks and praise to God, there is such a Libnah! God is merciful, it is true; more so than we can comprehend or conceive; but this is also true with respect to his holiness, which must be satisfied before the former can manifest itself. For the exercise of mercy is free; but that of holiness and justice is indispensable. His merciful wisdom found out a wondrous means of preparing for us a Libnah, where we might be made white, and of opening for us a fountain for all sin and uncleanness, where, sprinkled with pure water, we might be cleansed from all our impurities and our idols. It may now be said in its full extent, what was formerly said in a very limited sense of the typical day of atonement, “that ye may be clean from all your sins before the Lord.” (Lev. xvi. 30.) On that day flowed the blood of the Son of God, which cleanses from all sin. A perfect atonement was then made for all sin. God then became perfectly reconciled to the sinner, the power of Satan was annulled, the entrance to life thrown open; Christ then accomplished the propitiation for our sins by himself; and from being objects of abhorrence, we became acceptable in the beloved.

But we are now enjoined to proceed to Libnah, whither we are directed by the pillar of cloud and of fire, that we may be made white; or, in other words, “follow after holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.” He that goes to Libnah will be aware of the extent of his defilement. Even in Solomon’s time there were those who “were pure in their own eyes, and yet were not washed from their filthiness;” (Prov. XXX. 12,) and such there are also in the present day. But acknowledge thy transgression, be black in thine own eyes, so as to become displeased with thyself, thou hast then taken the first step to Libnah, and wilt also take the second, when thou feelest the necessity of being cleansed. So as thou art, thou canst have no fellowship with God, and canst neither please nor serve him. If thou continue as thou art by nature, there is for thee no heaven and no salvation. There is much in thee that must be eradicated, much that must be wrought in thee, and which nothing but the grace of God in Christ is able to effect. He asserts in the most solemn manner, that unless thou art born again, thou shalt not enter into the kingdom of God. There is an inheritance; but it is an inheritance for saints in the light, and the being made meet for it, is something great and indispensable. There is a heaven, but nothing common or unclean can enter there. Happy art thou, if thou feelest the importance of these truths, and confessest with John, “I have need to be washed of thee” and with Peter, “Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head.”

Thou wilt take the third step to Libnah, when thou seekest purification from all thy sins, in a very heartfelt manner. Thus it was with David, “Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin!” What is more deserving of our search than the white robe of innocence and holiness, the purification of our souls through the remission of sins and regeneration? This robe entitles us to partake of the heavenly marriage-feast. Ought we to adorn our bodies and neglect our souls? Ought we to dislike dirt on our bodies or any disfiguring mark, and suffer our souls to be covered and deformed by spots and defilement? This would be highly absurd, and be attended with awful consequences. He that is wise seeks with the greatest earnestness the purification of his soul from all its sins, and considers the forgiveness of sins and the renewing of his heart as an invaluable treasure.

When the individual is brought to regard his blackness and defilement with sorrow, and to perceive, in a lively manner, the necessity of purification, and with his whole heart to desire it; he then begins to feel the impossibility of accomplishing it by his own eflPorts. When it is said to him, “Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, and 1 will be, your God” — “Follow after holiness, and purify yourselves from all pollution of flesh and spirit” — “Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin that doth so easily beset us” — “Put off’ the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; but be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and put on the new man, who, after God, is created in righteousness and true holiness” — such important commandments as these excite him to serious activity, so that he can scarcely stay to take breath. But what is the result? Job shall answer.” If I wash myself with snow water, and make my hands never so clean, yet shalt thou plnnge me in the ditch, and mine, ovin clothes shall abhor me; for he is not a man as I am, that 1 should answer him, why therefore do I labour in vam c

But be it taken for granted, that the making white of our black hearts, the purification of our souls from sin, is a work which far exceeds all our strength; be it a fact what is said in Jerem. ii. 22, “Though thou wash thee with nitre, and take thee much soap, yet thine iniquity is marked before me;” yet there is a Libnah, where Ethiopians can be made white. In the same prophet (chap. xxx. 12, &c.) it is said, “Thy bruise is incurable and thy wound is grievous, there is none to plead thy cause that thou mayest be bound up; thou hast no healing medicine, yet I will restore health unto thee, and I will heal thee of thy wounds, saith the Lord. And out of them shall proceed the voice of thanksgiving and of them that make merry, and I will multiply them.” If sin is powerful, grace is much more so. We possess a Saviour. He came into the world to destroy the works of the devil, and has perfectly succeeded. His blood and his spirit coalesce to work the mighty change, the purification and making white of the soul. By the former it is justified; by the latter renewed into his image; by the pne, exculpated from all sin at the bar of God, and replaced in its lost right to eternal life; and by the other, made like unto him. The former blots out sin: the latter eradicates it. The one takes place at once, and perfectly; the latter gradually, until its final consummation in heaven.

Now when the individual, in the light of the Holv Spirit, discovers this opened fountain for sin and uncleanness, in its two-fold power, he casts himself into it with entire confidence; expecting every thing from it, and nothing from himself; and experiences, with astonishment, its wondrous efficacy. A mighty change at once takes place; a change of which he previously formed no idea. Sin is expelled, and has vanished like a mist before the Sun of Righteousness. It exists no longer, either in its accusing remembrance or its tempting attacks. “Ye are washed, ye are sanctified, ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.” Such wonders take place at Libnah; which then becomes a Lehona, frankincense. Thank-offerings ascend, and one cloud of the incense of praise after another. “Once I was blind, now I see.” Once I was dead, now I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. Once I was black as midnight, now white as snow; “fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners.” Such is Libnah on the borders of Canaan. Is it not good to be there? Shall we not erect our tabernacles there?

But what is said in Ezekiel xxiv. 13? ‘* Because I have purged thee, and thou wast not purged; thou shalt not be purged from thy filthiness any more, till I have caused my fury to rest upon thee.” Let us listen to what is elsewhere said. ‘* I will thoroughly purge thy dross, and take away all thy tin. I will choose thee in the furnace of affliction.” “He shall sit as a refiner, and purify the sons of Levi, then shall their offering be acceptable.” “The Father of Spirits chastises us, that we may be partakers of his holiness.” “Through much tribulation we. must enter into the kingdom of God.” “These are they that have come out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” According to these rules we are treated at Libnah, and hence it is sometimes painful to dwell there.

There are particular seasons at Libnah, when the Lord comforts the individual in a very pleasing and invigorating manner, so that he runs in the way of his commandments, and if he does not mount up as on wings of eagles into those higher regions, where no storm rages nor mists arise, yet he runs and is not weary, and walks and is not faint; when he enjoys the animating influences of the vivifying Spirit, as well as the soothing power of the blood and the cleansing quality of the water in rich abundance; when, instructed by ‘* the grace that bringeth salvation, he denies ungodliness and worldly lusts, and lives soberly, righteously, and godly in this present evil world, waiting for that blessed hope and the bright appearance of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ, who has given himself for us, that he might redeem us from all unrighteousness, and purify unto himself a peculiar people zealous of good works.” The soul then experiences such a measure of patience, resignation, and love as causes it to feel astonished.

The church, in Solomon’s Song, (vi. 5), is compared to the moon, ‘* fair as the moon;” which derives all her light from the sun, without which she would only be a dark mass; so the church derives every thing from

Jesus Christ, the Sun of Righteousness, which makes it also a bright and shining light, dispelling the obscurity of the night. But the moon is subject to change; at one time waxing, at another waning; sometimes only like a narrow bow, at others its whole surface enlightened, and also occasionally suffering an eclipse. Still it continues to revolve in its sphere. The church is also subject to many changes, and even to hostile attacks, but it stands firmly founded upon a rock. Therefore, though like the moon here below, yet in her father’s house she shall shine as the sun in the firmament.

Proceed, therefore, to Libnah, that ye may be made white. Wash you, and let yourselves be cleansed, that you may become whiter than snow. Put away every evil thing out of the Lord’s sight. Cease to do evil; learn to do well; seek after righteousness. “Come now, therefore, and let us reason together,” saith the Lord, “though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be made white as snow, though red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” “If ye will hearken to my voice, ye shall eat the good of the land. But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be slain by the sword; for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.”