Okay, turn with me tonight to
Joshua chapter 18, if you would please. Our subject tonight is
what it is every time we meet. Jesus Christ. He's always our
subject. A believer wouldn't have it any
other way. I'm convinced of that. Tell me
again. Tell me the old, old story. Tell
me again and again. Tell me the story of Jesus. Write
on my heart every word. Tonight we see Christ in the
city of Shiloh, where the whole congregation of Israel assembled. Verse one, Joshua 18. And the
whole congregation of the children of Israel assembled together
at Shiloh, and they set up the tabernacle of the congregation
there, and the land was subdued before them. Now, let me just
say right in the beginning, Jesus Christ is our Shiloh. I hope
that you see that more clearly and plainly as we go through
this study. Christ is our Shiloh. He's where
all the people of God assemble. Christ our Shiloh and our tabernacle
is where the sacrifice for our sin is made and accepted by God,
accepted of God. Christ our Shiloh is where all
the land of our inheritance, according to verse one, is subdued,
conquered, and defeated before us. In our text, we find the
people of God moving the tabernacle from Gilgal And most Jewish historians
say that the tabernacle resided in Shiloh for about 370 years,
369 years before it was finally moved to Jerusalem. But Christ,
our Shiloh and tabernacle are never moved. Never. Christ is the same yesterday,
today, and forever. And many also believe that Shiloh
is to have been the city of Salem. We don't have any proof of that,
but many of the historians believe that, which was the home of Melchizedek. And at this particular time,
we find seven of the tribes of Israel had not yet taken possession
of their inheritance. But as we see, this was all settled
at Shiloh. The believer's inheritance is
all settled, finalized, and finished in the Lord Jesus Christ, our
Shiloh. The Father loveth the Son, and
hath given all things unto His hand. and what a comfort that
is to know. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all. all spiritual blessings in heavenly
places where? In Christ. Christ is our Shiloh. That's where the believer's inheritance
is settled, it's finalized, it's finished. Christ is made unto
us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption. And He's all I need, and He's
all that God requires. He is our Salem. He is our peace. That's what the word means. And
He's our Shiloh. Now there are 33 references to
Shiloh in the scriptures, and every single reference to Shiloh,
with the exception of one, refers to Shiloh as a location, a place
of great spiritual significance. Now I'm not going to turn you
to these, but let me just I'll tell you about a couple of them.
In 1 Samuel 1, verse 3, Elkanah, Hannah's husband and Samuel's
father, you remember the story in the prayer of Hannah, he worshiped
and sacrificed unto the Lord in Shiloh. All worship and sacrifice
is done in Jesus Christ, our Shiloh. You cannot worship God,
you cannot sacrifice unto God, but in Christ. Also in 1 Samuel
chapter 24, Shiloh is referred to as the house of the Lord. Christ our Shiloh is where God
the Father resides, dwells and abides. And it's in Christ our
Shiloh in whom God resides where we're made one with Christ and
one with God. Isn't that a blessed thought? Jesus Christ is the fullness
of the Godhead bodily. That they all may be one, our
Lord said, as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they
also. That's speaking of His people.
Now this is talking about you. This is talking about you that
trust in the Lord Jesus. That they also may be one in
us. One with God, one with Christ,
oh my. That the world may believe that
Thou has sent me. I in them and Thou in me, that
they may be made perfect in one. Isn't that what God requires?
He requires perfection. This is the only way we can be
made perfect. That we may be made perfect in one and that
the world may know that Thou has sent me and has loved them
as Thou has loved me. God the Father loves me. Now, that's hard for me to believe,
because I know me. But He loves me, not because
of me, but because of Christ, who I'm one with. Matter of fact,
I love to think about the fact that when God looks at the wretch
that I am, He sees His beloved Son, and He loves me. And He
loves me in spite of me. My, my. In 1 Samuel 3, verse
21, the Lord revealed Himself to Samuel by the word of the
Lord in Shiloh. Jesus Christ is the word, and
He is the revelation of God to and for sinners. There's no revelation
apart from Him. There's no love, there's no forgiveness,
there's no mercy, there's no grace apart from what is found
in Christ. And you know the passage well.
Our Lord said in John chapter five, verse 39, search the scriptures,
for in them you think you have eternal life, and they are they
which testify of me. Christ is the subject of scripture.
He's the message we preach every time we stand to preach. And
beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them,
he preached unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning
himself. And he, the Lord Jesus, said
unto them, these are the words which I spake unto you while
I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled which
were written in the law of Moses and in the prophets and in the
Psalms." What about? Concerning me. Beloved to him,
give all the prophets witness. That's what the prophets in this
Old Testament book are talking about. They're talking about
Christ. Is it any wonder that we see Christ in Shiloh? In 1
Kings chapter 14, we're told that Shiloh was a place of safety,
a place of refuge. Jesus Christ, our Shiloh, is
just that. He's my... ark in the flood of
God's wrath against sin. He's our city of refuge from
the manslayer, the law. He's our shelter in the time
of storm. The Lord Jesus one day said,
how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as
a hen gathers her chicken under her wings, her chicks under her
wings, and you would not. My Jesus Christ is the wings
under which we hide. I think I told you the story
that Paul and Mindy shared with me one time. They had a few acres
there and they had some farm critters and they had a particular
hen. Paul said it was more like a
pet to them than anything. And she had some little chicks
and a storm kicked up. It was a bad storm. And of course,
as soon as the storm died down, they went out looking for their
little pet chicken. And they said, well, there she
is, there she is, but where are the little chicks? And they picked
her up and those little chicks fell out from underneath her
wing. I just love that, I just love it. That's what we are to
Christ. His wings cover us in times of
trouble and distress. He's the wings under which we
hide. But there is one place in the Bible where Shiloh is
not referred to as a location, but a person. I want to show
you that. Turn with me to Genesis chapter
49, if you would. Genesis chapter 49. Here in Genesis chapter 49, Jacob,
the patriarch is dying. He calls his 12 sons together.
He talks to them about his burial and other things. And as you
know, his 12 sons represent the 12 tribes. And here on this occasion,
Jacob is given a special eye. two and four are Lord Jesus Christ. And everything that Jacob says
of his son Judah here speaks in prophecy to the greater Judah,
the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, as you know, the name Judah
means praise. This was the name that his mother
gave to him by expressing her gratitude to God at his birth. And verse one says, and Jacob
called unto his sons and said, gather yourselves together that
I may tell you that which shall befall you in the last days.
He's speaking here in prophecy, so to speak. He says, gather
yourselves together and hear ye sons of Jacob and hearken
unto Israel your father. Now, in verse three, Jacob addresses
Reuben. Reuben was his firstborn, as
we see. Reuben, thou art my firstborn,
my might and the beginning of my strength, the excellency of
dignity and the excellency of power. And then he changes stations
here, and he says, unstable as water. Thou shalt not excel,
because thou wentest up to thy father's bed, and then defilest
thou it. He went up to my couch." If you
remember, Reuben had went and lay with Bill Hall, his father's
concubine. Then in verses five and six,
Jacob addresses Simeon and Levi. He calls them here instruments
of cruelty. For as you remember in our study
of Genesis, I hope you do, that they attacked and killed the
men at Shechem. They were self-willed men who
acted upon fleshly and carnal impulse. But notice what Jacob
says of Judah, who is a type of our Lord Jesus Christ. In
verse eight, Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise. Jesus Christ is the one who all
the children of God praise. David says time and time again
in the book of Psalms, I forget how many times, but the last
verse of the book of Psalms says, let everything that hath breath
praise the Lord. Praise ye the Lord, Psalm 156. And then Jacob continued and
he said, thy hand shall be in the neck of thine enemies. Now,
I don't know much about fighting or war or, battle or whatever,
but I do know this, if you have your enemy by the neck, they're
sure to be defeated. And our Lord Jesus defeated sin
and death and the grave and His heel was bruised, yes, but He
severed the head of Satan at the neck. And then Jacob said,
thy father's children shall bow down, bow down to fourth age.
This is speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ. At the name of
Jesus Christ, every knee shall bow and confess, every tongue
will confess that he is Lord. Look at verse nine. Judah is
a lion's wealth. That's a young lion. From the
prey, my son, thou art gone up, he stooped down. The Lord Jesus
is the Lion of the tribe of Judah at the battle of the cross, defeated
sin, Satan, death, the grave, and hell, and He's gone up. He's
at the right hand of God making intercession for His people.
How do I know everything's all right? Because my Lord, the Lion
of the tribe of Judah, sits at the right hand of God and pleads
my cause. And He does so according to His
own blood that He shed. in his people's room instead.
He's gone up to the right hand of God, but not before he stooped
down. And oh, what a stoop it was. There had never been another
stoop like it. He who was rich became poor.
Being in the form of God, he thought it not robbery to be
equal with God. He made himself of no reputation. Not of low reputation, no reputation. And he took upon himself the
form of a servant and was made in the likeness of men, but he
didn't stop there. At being found in the fashion
as a man, he humbled himself and he became obedient to death,
but he didn't stop there. No, he lowered himself more and
even he became obedient to the death of the cross. And Jacob
says, he couched as a lion, as an old lion who shall rouse him
up. Who dare stand against the line
of Judah? Who dare stand against God the
Son? Who can stand if he should mark
iniquity? Now, here in verse 10, this is
what I want, the verse that I want us to look at closely. Verse
10, the scepter, speaking of God's sovereignty, shall not
depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet until,
now look at this, until Shiloh come. And unto him, who? Shiloh. shall the gathering of
the people be. This is the one verse in the
scripture of all the mentions, 33 I think, where Shiloh is referred
to a person, to him. Now the Israelites are called
Jews unto this day, and Jew is short for Judah. That's where
the name comes from. And Jacob says the kingship shall
not depart from Judah. Jesus Christ is the King of Kings.
He's the Lord of Lords. His scepter, His sovereignty,
His kingship shall not depart. nor a lawgiver from between his
feet until Shiloh come, until Christ come. Now two things are
declared necessary when Shiloh the Messiah comes. He tells us
right here. The lawgiver and the scepter
must depart from Judah when Shiloh comes. The power of the law,
speaking of the old covenant, it was only a shadow of good
things to come. Isn't that right? That's what
the writer of Hebrews tells us. When Christ came, the old covenant,
the lawgiver, and its power, its scepter, were put away. And
yes, Judah very well represents the Lord Jesus. He typifies Christ. But Judah here also is a representative
of the old covenant that was put away when Christ came into
the world. Now, the Jews insisted on keeping
the law. They just, well, it was because
of that that they insisted on Christ being put to death. They
accused the holy author of the law, the holy writer of the law,
of being guilty of his own holy law. And by putting the Lord
Jesus to death, and this is just, this is amazing how God does
things. But by putting the Lord Jesus
to death, the law was fulfilled. And they and their religion would
be forever put away. We can't stand on the law in
order to be saved. It was weak through our flesh.
Law being weak through our flesh, couldn't put away the first sin.
And by their own words, the lawgiver passed between Judah's feet.
Now, speaking with ignorance and enmity and hostility for
Christ, the Messiah, who's shallow in the flesh, the Jews declared
that the scepter, representing the king and his rule, had departed
from Judah. And this is why we read in the
Gospels, and it was the preparation of the Passover, and after about
the sixth hour, he saith unto the Jews, speaking of Pilate,
remember what he said? Behold your king. And they cried
away with him. We don't want him to be our king.
He's not our king. Away with him, crucify him. Pilate
said unto them, shall I crucify your king? And the chief priests
answered, they said, we have no king but Caesar. And in doing
so, they actually claimed that the scepter had departed from
Judah. That's when Shiloh came. But
unto the Son, He sayeth, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and
ever. A scepter of righteousness is
the scepter of Thy kingdom. Hebrews 1a. And Pilate, as you
know, had that inscription put at the head of the cross, Jesus
of Nazareth, the King of the Jews. And you remember what the
chief priests did? They said, Don't write that. Don't write
that. Write that He said that He was. And Pilate said, What I've written,
I've written. And when I read that verse, I
think about God and His power and His purpose and His providence
had spoken. Nothing gonna change that. It's forever. And here in Genesis
chapter 49, Jacob with his dim and dying eyes was given prophetic
sight. He could see beyond Israel's
slavery in Egypt. He could see beyond their exodus
from Egypt. He could see beyond their wandering
in the desert for 40 years. He could see beyond their entrance
into the promised land. He could see beyond the inheritance
of the saints. He could see beyond the dividing
of the land. He could see beyond the scattering
of the enemy. He saw Christ, who is his people's
Shiloh. My, have you seen Shiloh? Are
you living in Shiloh? He speaks to Judah here, Jacob
does, but he's speaking of Christ. And this is what he says, just
in review. He said, thy brethren shall praise
thee. You shall defeat your enemies.
You're gonna conquer sin, death, and hell. Thy father's children shall bow
to you. Oh, that's talking of Christ.
You're a lion who can defeat the prey, and you've gone up
and you've stooped down, and to you shall the gathering of
the people be. Now, where did Jacob get the
name Shiloh? It's the first time here in Genesis
49 the name's ever mentioned. Where did he get it? Well, I
don't know, but I'm pretty sure of this. God gave it to him. God revealed it to him. Shiloh
was a gift from God. Mr. Spurgeon and Brother Henry
both, as I read what they had written on this particular chapter,
both mentioned that some men give their wives and their children
pet names. I gave my children little names. Most of them weren't flattering.
That's Panda sitting in the back, a man to Panda. But when you
give someone you love a pet name, you're saying, you are to me
what no one else is. If you call your wife honey or
darling or whatever, sweetheart, whatever, that's because she's
special to you. The Lord gave Jacob the name
Israel. That's a special name. The Lord
gave Saul the name Paul. The Lord gave Simon the name
Peter. The disciples called the Lord
Jesus Master. We have a new pet name for Christ
whom we love, Shiloh. Until Shiloh come. And friend,
Shiloh has come. And he's put away sin by the
sacrifice of himself. The name Shiloh declares Christ's
sovereignty. It means to him it belongs. You can look in a concordance.
It says to him it belongs. Let me show you a verse in Ezekiel. Find Ezekiel chapter 21 if you
would. You can let your place go in
Genesis. Here in Ezekiel chapter 21, verse 25, I'll give you a
moment to find it. The Lord here is speaking through
the prophet Ezekiel. Ezekiel chapter 21, beginning
in verse 25. Says, And thou, profane, wicked
prince of Israel, whose day is come, when iniquity shall have
an end, thus saith the Lord God, remove the diadem and take off
the crown. This shall not be the same, this
shall not be the same, exalt him that is low and abase him
that is high. And I will overturn overturn,
overturn it, and it shall be no more until he come whose right
it is, and I will give it him." You see, to the wicked prince
of works that men begin to trust in, what a wicked thing it is.
works, trusting in something that you do in order to be saved
instead of what Christ has done. Lord, haven't we, haven't we?
The Lord said, I never knew you. Depart from me, ye that work
iniquity. Your good works is iniquity. That's what God said. And God says, take off the crown.
Remove the diadem. This crown belongs to Shiloh. lay it down for Shiloh has come
the father given all things into his hands as we said a moment
ago secondly the name Shiloh declares Christ deity it means
the son it actually means the son for unto us a child is born
unto us a son is given The government shall be upon his shoulder and
his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the
Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. He wears this crown. Shiloh is God's beloved son in
whom God is well pleased. He's the Christ, the son of the
living God, and he and his father are one. Shiloh. Thirdly, the name Shiloh means
sith one. He said, for I came down from
heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of Him that sent
me. And this is the Father's will,
which hath sent me, that of all which He hath given me, I should
lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.
And this is the will of Him that sent me, that everyone would
seeeth the Son, Shiloh, and believeth on Him, Shiloh, may have everlasting
life, and I'll raise Him up at the last day. Who but God the
Son could snatch a sinner from the pits of hell? Who but God
the Son could satisfy divine justice, perfectly keeping the
holy law of God in the sinner's stead? Who but God, the sent
Son, could remove sin, our sin that's ever before us, infinite
before? Who but Christ, Shiloh, could
make a sinner holy, just, and righteous? No one, nobody, until
Shiloh came. Fourthly, the name Shiloh declares
the accomplished and finished work of Christ. The name Shiloh
means prosper. Behold, my servant shall deal
prudently. He shall be exalted and extolled
and be very high, Isaiah 52, 13. Yet it pleased the Lord to
bruise him. He put him to grief. When thou
shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed,
he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall
what? Prosper in his hand. He shall see the travail of his
soul and shall be satisfied. Who? God. God sees the travail
of Shiloh's soul, the Lord Jesus Christ, and he's satisfied. And
by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many, for he
shall bear their iniquities. Now listen, therefore I will
divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the
spoil with the strong, because he hath poured out his soul unto
death, and he was numbered with the transgressors, and he bare
the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors." That's
what Shiloh did. I love to say the word, Shiloh.
Just rolls off the tongue, doesn't it? Fifthly, the name Shiloh
declares the result of his finished and accomplished work. Did you
know Shiloh also means peace? Do you know what real peace is?
Well, we talked about it a little bit on our last study. It means
to be satisfied. It means to be content. There's
nothing that you desire. There's nothing that you want.
There's nothing that you fear. There's nothing that you dread.
There's nothing that you regret. Well, brother, I got a lot of
things to regret. Well, so do I, but they put away in Christ,
not to be remembered anymore. God doesn't remember them. We
have trouble forgetting them, but God don't remember them,
so neither should we. Now, I know that we never reach
that state of satisfaction and contentment, especially with
ourselves, but it's not, we don't find it there by looking to ourselves.
We find it by looking to Shiloh. looking to Christ, our Shiloh.
That's what Christ has made us, as I said, wisdom, righteousness,
sanctification, redemption, everything God required. And we are at peace
in Him. You won't find peace apart from
Him. If you look within, nothing but turmoil, grief, But you look
to Him, peace. David said in Psalm 17, verse
five, yes, for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness, and
I shall be satisfied when I awake with thy likeness. The Lord said
in Jeremiah 31, verse 14, my people shall be satisfied with
my goodness. Not our goodness, we don't have
any. There's none that doeth good, no, not one. Don't you
love this gospel? Paul wrote in Colossians chapter
1 verse 20, and having made peace through the blood of his cross
by him to reconcile all things unto himself. By him, I say,
whether they be things in earth or things in heaven, and you
that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked
works, yet now have he reconciled. In the body of His flesh through
death, that's how. To present you holy and unblameable
and unreprovable in His sight. And then finally, the name Shiloh
declares the estate, the condition for those whom Christ accomplished
His salvation. Shiloh means rest. Are you resting
in Shiloh? Return unto thy rest, O my soul,
for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee. The Lord's dealt bountifully
with you. For thou hast delivered my soul
from death, and mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling. Psalm 116. The scepter shall
not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet until Shiloh
comes. And unto him shall the gathering
of the people be. Unto him, Shiloh Christ, shall
be the gathering of his people, or shall the gathering of his
people be. Again, in our text, in Joshua
18, verse one, look at it with me one more time. And the whole congregation of
the children of Israel assembled together at Shiloh. and set up
the tabernacle of the congregation there in Shiloh. And the land
was subdued before them. Who are these people that gather
together? They're the children of Israel.
They're the elect of God. They are those who trust and
believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. They are those who are assembled,
those who are gathered together. Where are they together together?
in Shiloh, gathered together in Christ. And the land was subdued
before them. Now that word subdued means just
what you think, it means conquered, it means brought into subjection.
And immediately the verse comes to mind, kiss the son, lest he
be angry and you perish from the way. Bow your knee now, for
every knee will one day bow, Bow now. Bow your knee now. Confess
Christ as your Lord now. For every tongue will one day
confess Him as their Lord, whether they trusted in Him or not, and
it'd be too late. But He, they'll see that He was
the Lord, the Lord of lords and the King of kings. Well, He is
our King. He is our Redeemer. He is our
refuge. He is our safety. He is our wings. He is our life, our salvation.
He's Alpha and Omega from beginning to end. He's the first and the
last. He's the author and the finisher of our faith. He wrote
the book, He finished the book, and He accomplished everything
between. He's all and in all. He is Shiloh. Is that where you dwell? I want to dwell in Shiloh.