The River Is Rising
The Bible is rich with symbolism. A picture, as they say, is worth 1000 words, and God painted many pictures in the Old Testament that depict spiritual truths and realities. One of the most fascinating ways in which He did so was through geography.
Israel’s crossing of the Jordan River from the wilderness of sin into the Promised Land/inheritance (Joshua 3) was one of these. It pictures the redemption of the human race at the Cross, allowing us to “cross over” from sin and spiritual death back into life. Follow me closely to get all the pieces – you’ll be glad you did.
Joshua Pictured Christ
In this symbolic act, Joshua was a “type” of Christ; he gave Israel their inheritance, and Jesus gave us ours. His name actually reflects this. Joshua’s full name was Jehoshua; Joshua is simply a shortened form. It comes from yasha,(1) the root word for Yeshua. The name means “Jehovah is salvation” and is actually the Hebrew counterpart to the name “Jesus.” Joshua’s name was essentially Jesus. (It had originally been Hoshea [Numbers 13:16], but Moses changed it - no doubt at the leading of Holy Spirit - as part of him being a picture of Jesus, our salvation. Amazing - the one who gave Israel their inheritance had the same name as He who gave us ours!)
The Jordan River Pictured Death
In this account of Israel and Joshua, the Jordan River, which separated Israel from their inheritance, represents humankind’s spiritual death, that which separates us from ours. This spiritual death “flowed” to us from Adam (Romans 5:12). So, to paint this picture, God created a small town named Adam 20 miles upstream from where Israel would cross. From this town, the river flowed southward through the Arabah, which means “desert, sterile, or barren,” and emptied into the lowest point on earth, the Dead (Salt) Sea, where nothing can live. From Adam to the Dead Sea! Could there be any doubt that this geography - a river, flowing from a place named “Adam,” into barrenness, arriving eventually at Earth’s lowest point, feeding into the Dead Sea - was formed by God to picture Adam, his fall, and the fruit of his sin flowing “downstream” to form the dead sea of humanity (Romans 5:12)? None.
The Ark and the Mercy Seat
This picture is why the Ark of the Covenant, covered by the Mercy Seat where the atoning blood was sprinkled, entered the Jordan first when Israel crossed (Joshua 3:11-13). The action pictures Christ entering into the waters of death for us at the Cross, then sprinkling His atoning blood on the Mercy Seat of heaven to cut off the flow of death originating from Adam.
This is also why God cut off the flow of the Jordan River at the precise moment the Ark and Mercy Seat entered the water. But please notice, the river was not stopped just a mile or so upstream, enough distance to allow several hundred thousand people and animals to cross. It was cut off almost 20 miles upstream - at the town of Adam! The sacrifice of Christ was reaching all the way back to that which originated in Adam. “Then the waters which were flowing down from above stood and rose up in one heap, a great distance away at Adam, the city that is beside Zarethan; and those which were flowing down toward the sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, were completely cut off...” (Joshua 3:16; NASB).
Let that sink in. God painted a literal picture of Christ’s eventual entrance into death for us, conquering it, and cutting off its flow at the source - Adam. What a picture!
The River of Life
Ezekiel 47 gives us a different picture of God’s life once again flowing into the dead sea of humanity. In this account, the waters of death are transformed by the living water flowing from God Himself. The river flowed from God’s presence, the Temple, and increased in depth until it was deep enough to swim in (verses 1-5). Then the river flowed into the Arabah (verse 8), which, remember, symbolizes death and barrenness, and finally emptied into the Dead Sea (verse 9), the spiritually dead “sea of humanity.”
And what happened when this river of living water flowed into the barren desert, the spiritually dead sea of humanity? Everything lived where the river flowed - the desert came alive! - and the Dead Sea was healed, now teeming with fish (verses 9-12)!
The River Is Rising Again
I’m sharing this teaching today because the river of God is rising once again. Its life-giving flow of salvation to people and nations is deepening and intensifying. Get ready and get in!
In Ezekiel’s vision, at every stage/level of the river, the angel told the prophet to cross it, which meant he had to get into the river. He didn’t wait until the water was deep. It was almost as though each level was preparing him for the next.
The lesson for us is this: whatever level of the river is available to us, get in it! We must immerse ourselves in God’s presence and glory, regardless of its depth. As we do, deeper waters will come.
Tomorrow I’m going to share a report of the rising river of God in our nation that will encourage you. This river in America is increasing…and will not be stopped.
Pray with me:
Father, You are more than amazing. Down through history, in ways no human could have imagined, You hid pictures of Christ, the Cross, and our great redemption. You even fashioned geography – land, rivers, and seas – to do so. Truly, You are beyond description; there is no one like You.
Thank You for sending Jesus into death to cut off the flow of its power. In doing so, He restored our lost inheritance to us. And thank You for doing this with such finality that our sinful past is not even remembered! Remove all guilt from those who have not realized just how complete their salvation truly is.
As we ponder these things, our faith is stirred to believe that You can release this salvation for nations…that incredible revivals will take place that transform entire regions of the earth. Do this, we pray. Roll back the power of spiritual death and heal barren places on the earth. We’ve been asking this for the Middle East and do so again today. Roll back the power of death operating there.
We pray this in Christ’s name. Amen.
Our decree:
The river of God is rising in America and the nations, overwhelming death and releasing life! Everything lives where the river goes!
Click on the link below to watch the full video.
James Strong, The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1990), ref. no. 3467.