Matthew Blewett - Class 3: Crossing Over

Automatically transcribed. Accuracy is good but not perfect, and words are sometimes wrong. Trust the audio over the text.

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   Our third speaker this morning is Brother Matthew Blewett of the Westville South Africa Ecclesia. The theme for Brother Blewett's classes this week is On the Road with the Ark. Today's class is entitled Crossing Over. Brother Matthew.

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   Good morning, brethren and sisters. I was thinking, just watching my little boy Adam doing some coloring in, and actually had come back from one of the Sunday schools and was drawing some phenomenal pictures of the Lord Jesus and other characters on his piece of paper. And it just got me thinking on the patterns that we're talking about that are there to help us to see the invisible, this realm of God that he is asking all of us to become a part of and understand, and how he's given us patterns to do that, and how difficult it sometimes is for us to be able to understand this realm of the visible, not just in terms of the principles, but in our life when we need to understand that although we cannot see God, he is with us, that he never leaves us.

3. 1:33

   And it reminded me, looking at my son drawing again, of a little story where apparently there was a kindergarten, and children were asked to draw all sorts of pictures, and the one little boy said, she said, you know, what are you drawing? And he said, I'm drawing a picture of God. And the teacher said, but nobody knows what God looks like.

4. 1:52

   He said, well, after this picture they will. So, perhaps, that's the kind of faith we need to develop, that we can develop a picture of God's salvation, a picture of these invisible things through the patterns that we consider. I'd like to thank those who came to me to help with the conundrum and numbers of the staves seemingly needed to be, seemingly at, because they need to be put back in, in terms of the movement of the Ark of the Covenant.

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   And two useful suggestions for those who want to reconcile the passages that were given to me. The one is that the word there for put in the Hebrew really means to place, and if you read in the context of numbers, it may well mean what they were saying is that they needed to take the Ark of the Covenant with the staves already in, and to place the staves on the shoulders for transport.

6. 2:40

   The other interesting idea is, of course, the Ark was to be covered with the various coverings that we spoke of yesterday, and perhaps in the process of doing the covering, for that very short space of time, the staves would need to be removed and then put back in, so that the cover could go around the Ark, and the staves could still be visible for carrying.

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   I think both of those ideas are interesting, and certainly reconcile with the idea that the staves, certainly from a principal point of view, were not to be removed, and we've seen how significant that was in our considerations. So, we didn't quite finish where we were yesterday, and today we ought to be looking at the crossing over, which we will do, but if you would just allow me just a few moments to finish off looking at the making of the Ark, and we want to consider really the last part of the Ark that we haven't considered, and it's in Exodus 25.

8. 3:30

   If you'll come with me to Exodus 25 and at verse 17, it's the mercy seat. Now, as you well know, we could spend a great deal of time on the mercy seat, especially when we look at the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the allusions to the covering of that blood in the New Testament, and we're not going to go down that route too far, because that would be a subject on its own, but just looking at the principles of salvation taught to us in the mercy seat.

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   And of course, this was the center of the Ark of the Covenant, wasn't it? It was the very place where God said He would meet, although it was on top of the Ark of the Covenant. It was at the place of the mercy seat that God said, I will meet, and I will commune with you.

10. 4:16

    And so, we would expect to find a great deal of spiritual principle in this mercy seat. Verse 17, You shall make a mercy seat of pure gold. Two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof. You shall make two cherubim of gold, of beaten work, shall you make them, in the two ends of the mercy seat.

11. 4:35

    You shall make one cherubim the one end, and the other cherubim the other end. Even of the mercy seat shall you make the cherubims on the two ends thereof. The cherubim shall stretch forth their wings on high, covering the mercy seat. Their faces shall look one to another toward the mercy seat, shall the faces of the cherubims be.

12. 4:51

    They shall put the mercy seat above the ark, and in the ark you shall put the testimony that I will give to you. So, what we have here, concerning this mercy seat, this complete covering of righteousness, which is the wrong place to be, so we'll just move fastly off that, and hopefully get to the right place, which will come momentarily.

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    We see the following characteristics of this mercy seat. It was made of pure gold. It had two parts, a covering part and the cherubim. It perfectly covered the ark. Did you notice that? It was one and a half cubits by two and a half cubits. It was a perfect fit. I think that was wonderfully illustrated in that illustration we saw yesterday.

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    A perfect fit. There's something to be said about that. The cherubim, did you notice the words, were beaten out of the one piece of the mercy seat. The cherubim looked to each other and to the mercy seat, which is very difficult to actually make happen when you're creating a replica of the ark.

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    And God is present at this place, specifically present. So, what are we learning about the principles of salvation from the mercy seat? The first is interesting. The mercy seat, we're told, was made of pure gold. The rest of the ark was made of acacia wood and gold. We've suggested that gold represents righteousness and immortality.

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    Why would it be that the mercy seat is different from the rest of the ark, that it is only pure gold? And I'd like to suggest to you, because it represents the Lord Jesus Christ, firstly, in terms of the covering, in His immortal state, having shed His blood, and now becoming the covering, the one who has been through human nature, and now is given that new body that He showed to His disciples, that glorious body that is given to the Lord Jesus Christ, the pure gold.

17. 6:51

    And so, in the idea of pure gold, there is also an exciting idea for us. For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we are looking for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall change our body of humiliation, so that it may be fashioned like His glorious body, according to the working of His power, even to subdue all things to Himself.

18. 7:15

    So, Jesus has this glorious body now, this body that no longer has all the issues of temptation. He has been released from the very thing we want to be released from. And that's the ultimate, isn't it? When we share in the resurrection, that we get this change of nature. I have a brother in Christ who always tells me that's the day he looks forward to the most, where no longer does he have to wake up every morning and wage that battle that Paul speaks of.

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    And he says, you know what? The older you get, the harder the battle. He wants to change his body. He wants God to make that final change, where now it's not just a case of wood covered in righteousness, it's completely gold. And that's what the mercy seat was. And of course, it was this perfect covering.

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    The word, in fact, as we know, means a covering, an atonement cover. Look what John says, using the similar word in the Greek. In 1 John 4 and verse 10. Here in his love, not that we love God, but that he loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation or the covering or the atonement covering for our sins.

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    Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us and his love is perfected in us. So here is this mercy seat, this propitiation, this perfect covering that God in love has placed. And no wonder the translators called it the mercy seat.

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    It wasn't a bad translation. It isn't a very literal translation by any means. Literally, it was a cover. But in this sense that John is talking about it, it was a cover of love. Why? Because it was going to cover our condition. It brought about hope for sinners. It brought about some way that we, in our condition, could find salvation made of pure gold, the perfect covering.

23. 9:19

    Two parts to this perfect covering. The covering itself and then these cherubim. Now, I would be able to spend a whole night on the cherubim, but I would ask you to bear with me and those who would like the full night, perhaps on the last night we could have that together. in saying that, as I think I've mentioned before, I believe there is ample proof to show that the cherubim were a symbol representative of the glorified saints.

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    In other words, you and I, once we are in the kingdom. And just one illustration of this. When the children of Israel came into the tabernacle, we often forget that all of the tapestry in the inner curtain was in fact embroidered with cherubim. Not just the veil. So when you came in, you were surrounded by cherubim.

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    It was almost as though you were walking into a kingdom, a capsule of the kingdom, because you were walking into this place filled with the glory of the Lord. Filled with beings who were manifesting God's glory. And here in the mercy seat, two cherubim. Made. Made. And isn't the text so clear? Made.

26. 10:37

    Made. Out of the mercy seat. But more than that, beaten. Out of the mercy seat. These two cherubim. Let's see what we can pick up from that.

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    Let's quickly get these to disappear. And that doesn't help us, so we've got to go backwards. Romans 8 says, the two cherubim, the glorified saints that were made, that were beaten. So let's have a look at why the word of God might use the word beaten. Romans 8 says, And if children, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ.

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    If so, be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed to us. For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.

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    Isn't that a remarkable pattern of that spiritual reality? The word of God is saying, We, to become a part of the Lord Jesus Christ, to become a part of the glorified saints, will go through a process. We will share in his suffering. It will be through tribulation, through a process of beating and molding, we were just talking about it with the young people, the potter working on us, that we will be made a part of the Lord Jesus Christ.

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    I find that a comfort. And when you endure tribulation as all of you will, and you share in the sufferings of Christ, because it's through that, that God works glory in you, you can think of the cherubim. And the beauty of these glorified saints, and understand that they only got there because they were beaten out of the original mercy seat.

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    And so we are made out of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's not a simple process. We go through a process of suffering, of birth, to become these glorified saints. who are found as a part of this mercy seat. Two of them, perhaps again, because we have the salvation of the Jews and the Gentiles, woman and man, free and slave.

32. 12:50

    Again, this idea that both groups will be brought together and given ultimately the glorious body of the Lord Jesus Christ. And then, just to give us more detail about this, we're at the top of the ark, this ultimate destination of salvation, where now we have the Lord Jesus Christ and we have the glorified saints.

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    It says that they are looking to each other and the mercy seat. I mean, fellowship is happening here. Ultimate fellowship. The saints of the Lord Jesus Christ. Perhaps we're reminded of those words in 2 Corinthians. Let me just make this disappear. Now, the Lord is that spirit and where the spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.

34. 13:28

    But we all with open face, beholding as in a glass, the glory of the Lord are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the spirit of the Lord. He may well be talking of the ark of the covenant at that point. Can you almost see the imagery of the mercy seat there?

35. 13:46

    We, who are staring, looking, and ultimately will get that opportunity to behold glory to glory as we share in the ultimate glorification of the Lord Jesus Christ and all of ourselves in his kingdom. And then, of course, finally, the point is made. And there, God is present as well. I mean, this is an ultimate visual image of the day of final glorification.

36. 14:15

    We have the Lord Jesus Christ, the perfect covering. We have the saints glorified. And God, finally, at the end of a thousand years, comes to live with men, there I will also meet with you. And so, these ideas are all brought together. Even God is present. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men and he will live with them and they shall be his people and God himself shall be with them and be their God and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain, for the former things are passed away.

37. 14:57

    It's a phenomenal covering. It's a phenomenal visual hope given to us here. And it's perfect. It fits perfectly because the Lord Jesus Christ is our perfect covering. All that we need. We were talking yesterday about the Samaritan woman who came to understand that here is a man who told me all things ever I did.

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    What did she mean by that? She meant that this man is all I need. Before I had five husbands and one that wasn't really my husband. Now I need only one man. And all of you sitting in this room know this to be true. We need only the mercy seat, the Lord Jesus Christ, that we should be made out of him.

39. 15:38

    So all of that was the easy part. Well, relatively so. What do we do now with this? The dimensions of the ark. I find this especially troubling when the writer to the Hebrews has been so specific that this is a pattern. And here we have specific numbers about this incredible symbol that we have seen so much in.

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    And we're told that it was one and a half cubits by one and a half cubits by two and a half cubits. And I like numbers. I love numbers. So I do everything I can with numbers. I multiply the numbers and I work out the volume of the ark and I get to 5.625 cubits.

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    And I don't find that number anywhere in the Word of God. I take the area and I get to 3.75 cubits and I don't find that number anywhere in the Word of God. I take the sum and I get to 5.5 cubits and I'm still battling. So, are you expecting something? I hope not.

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    I would like some answers from you. I have one I will suggest. If I don't give you one suggestion then you're not going to give me any of your suggestions. Here is one. And you can take it or you can leave it. And it works like this. When constructing the tabernacle there are two approaches and I believe there's a tabernacle near here which God willing we may be able to visit.

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    And it'll be interesting to see the approach that they've taken. But I'm not going to go into the detail but there are two approaches when reading the Word of God as to how the tabernacle would have been constructed in terms of the various aspects that were included in the tabernacle. I'm not going to go into the detail now but effectively if we look at this particular image and the image is not that great of the Holy of Holies we can see that in this particular reconstruction in the internal side of the Holy of Holies in terms of the internal rather than the external there are in fact six boards on the breadth and the length of the area of the Holy of Holies.

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    Now for those of you who know your scriptures you will know that a board was how many cubits wide? How many cubits wide for a board in the tabernacle? One and a half. One and a half by six gives you nine cubits. And although many of us think that the Holy of Holies was ten by ten by ten inside that wasn't necessarily the case because of course you can see inside the volume would have been a bit different.

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    So it is suggested that perhaps the inside of the Holy of Holies follow me with this mathematics if you would just indulge me it was nine cubits by nine cubits by ten cubits. So nine cubits wide because you've got a bit on the sides nine cubits long and of course ten cubits high still.

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    Giving you what does that give you? Who's good at mathematics here? Nine by nine by ten? Eight hundred and ten. Great. Eight hundred and ten. Now this is we're going somewhere with this. Right. The Holy of Holies was a big place in terms of volume for an ark whose volume was only 5.65 cubits.

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    In fact this picture is not a good picture. If you came into the real Holy of Holies there's lots of space. The ark is only filling up a very small place of the Holy of Holies. What was God trying to teach by that? Perhaps the message is this is the way of salvation.

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    This is the way of glory. But we will fill all of this. There is lots of space here. We want to fill the whole earth with the glory of the Lord. So here's where I'm going. Take the nine hundred eight hundred my mathematics is not that good eight hundred and ten. What did we say the volume of the ark was?

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    5.65 that number we didn't know what to do with. How many volumes theoretically because you're going to say well how do you fit the cariboumen just put that on the side for now. How many volumes of the ark could you get into the volume of the Holy of Holies? How many arks could you fit in to the Holy of Holies?

50. 19:44

    Who's done the numbers? Eight hundred and ten you've got to calculate eight hundred and ten or a cell phone which shouldn't be on at the moment divided by 5.65 Anybody want to give you the number? One hundred and forty four. Well one hundred and forty four is a number we've come into contact with before and of course where do we come into contact there's the mathematics for those who are interested and I heard the number of them which were sealed and they were sealed one hundred and forty four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel and they sang as it were a new song before the throne and before the four beasts and the elders and no man could learn that song but the one hundred and forty four thousand which were the redeemed from the earth and so perhaps and it's the best that I can offer you and I don't think it's the only solution by any means but perhaps what we were being taught here is that there's place for the redeemed that God wants to fill this holy of holies this symbol of the kingdom with all the redeemed that symbolic number of the redeemed one hundred and forty four thousand so you can take that or you can leave that but nevertheless what we have seen through what we have looked at this morning is a number of principles of salvation so far and what we looked at yesterday look at all those principles of salvation that were being taught to the children of Israel through the ark of the covenant that mortality needed to be covered by immortality

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    that salvation came by faith that you need to clean the inside the heart before you clean the outside that you will be saved by a king and his kingdom that the salvation will be based on royal promises that you would be need to be linked to those promises that Christ would provide the perfect covering and that ultimately we would be made out of him to share in his glory and that ultimately the whole earth will be filled with his glory through the redeemed dare we ever say now that the children of Israel couldn't understand God's master plan that we might read in a bit too much about what they had revealed to them the pattern that was being given to them was full of detail and it was there to teach them about God's plan for salvation and indeed his greater master plan to fill the earth with God's glory so that brings us to crossing over Joshua our reading Joshua chapter 3 before we get there this is the first event by the way a significant event with the Ark of the Covenant we do read about the Ark of the Covenant in terms of the way it led the children of Israel we're not going to go into that detail there's not much it's just a principle that's established that the Ark would lead the camp when they went from one resting place to another and one idea just to bear in mind is that in Exodus 31 when it came to the building of the Ark and I might have that up as a slide just to and I don't the Ark was in fact

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    built by a man by the name of Bezalel I'm sure you're all aware of him and we read in Exodus chapter 31 and verse 3 that he was a man filled with the Spirit of God and I think that's very interesting for two reasons first of all he was a man filled with the Spirit of God who was building the pattern when we come to the New Testament and Peter tells us about the men who wrote the Word of God that we have on our apps our pattern to a certain extent our access to the spiritual reality what does he say he says knowing this first that no prophecy of the Scripture came by private interpretation for the prophecy came not in old time by the will of men but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Spirit don't you think that's why Bezalel is described as one of the only men in the Old Testament who was filled with the Spirit search the Old Testament you don't find many men who are filled with the Spirit why because he was in a sense making the Word of God just as these others had written the Word of God he was making the Word of God he was making a pattern that others might look at and learn of spiritual matters and the other interesting point of course is that this man was called by name it says by name Bezalel and of course that name if you haven't discovered that before means the shadow of God Bezalel no wonder the Hebrew writer says that these were shadows of things to come

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    he was thinking of Bezalel's name the man who was making the shadows so that others could understand the spiritual reality the tops and the tie-ups are indeed marvelous as we consider the detail of the Word of God but here now we are in Joshua chapter 3 and we are at the first major event the crossing of the River Jordan they had been on the road for almost 40 years after they had received the instruction of the building of the Ark of the Covenant and now they were about to come to the great River Jordan this was the moment of passing over to the promised land that they had waited for for so long we read this in Joshua 3 setting the scene Joshua 3 verse 1 Joshua rose up early in the morning and they removed from Shittim and came to Jordan he and all the children of Israel and lodged there before they passed over and what I want to suggest to you as you read Joshua 3 that in Joshua 3 brethren and sisters is a living parable we've seen the story of salvation in the physical aspects or components of the Ark of the Covenant now we're going to see more about God's story of salvation not specifically in the components of the Ark but what happens together with the Ark it's quite remarkable what we saw yesterday in the first part of this morning were what I would like to say the principles of salvation being taught by the Ark God was now going to teach the children of Israel through the crossing of the river Jordan the way of salvation

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    the process of salvation these are the principles you need to be covered you need to have faith you need to understand your condition but what is the way of salvation what is the process by which God will save and this Joshua 3 as much as it is a story is a living parable and where does it start did you see that in verse 1 they were camping in a place called Shittim it's the same word isn't it Acacia Shittimwood it starts with a nation in flesh a nation of mortality just where the Ark started and now instead of it being seen this conversion process in an object together with that object in a living story we're going to see mortality move over to the promised land but there's something in between there's a way that they need to go there is a process and it's called the river Jordan we're told that as they arrived at this place in verse 2 it came to pass that they stood there or they remained there for three days we'll pick up that in a moment and during these three days brothers and sisters they were watching the river Jordan camped by the river Jordan watching it as it was flowing and we're told it was flowing in flood we'll pick that up a bit later on and of course you will appreciate that in the geography of the land God had established the process of life and the river Jordan represented something very specific for those who were spiritually minded in fact the word Jordan and I was speaking to brother Giordano who says that his name

55. 28:00

    means Jordan in fact means descender alright going down of course from a natural perspective that made sense it started up in the hills by Galilee or just above Galilee of Hermon coming all the way down to one of the lowest places on earth the Dead Sea it was the descender but of course spiritually that had a very significant meaning the word is used in many cases in the word of God and similar words to it to represent dying and death there's one of the quotes up there Psalm 22 a well known passage for the kingdom is the Lord's and he is the governor among the nations all they that be fat upon the earth shall eat and worship all they that go down that's Jordan all the Jordan to the dust shall bow before him and none will keep them alive Psalm 115 verse 17 says the dead praise not Yahweh neither they that go down into silence it's the same word the same root word for Jordan the descender Jordan was representative of course going down into the Dead Sea of the process of life that dying was happening to everyone that every single human being from the moment it came to birth in the mountains of Hermon entered the process of dying as God said to Adam in dying you shall die so now as they looked upon the river Jordan what did they see before them they saw death the process of life of men and women going down to the grave and that's what we see unless we make a change from the moment we're born that's what we have available

56. 29:49

    to us going down to the Dead Sea it must have been quite a frightening three days with a river and flood children animals how will we ever get them through you see most of these who were here hadn't experienced the Red Sea they had perhaps heard of it but that would only be by faith they hadn't seen it with their own eyes how will we get through this river flowing it must have been very troubling for three days the Lord Jesus Christ was in a tomb and death kept flowing and all those who had believed that he was the Messiah his closest disciples have you ever for a moment considered what those three days were like they may have believed but for three days nothing changed he was as it were another dead man it was as it were the river Jordan just kept flowing as Jesus remained in the tomb but on the third day a change was going to come from that unstoppable position Psalm 69 says this speaking I believe words of the spirit of Christ save me oh God for the waters are coming unto my soul I sink into deep mire where there is no standing I'm coming to deep waters where the floods overflow me I'm weary of my crying my throat is dry mine eyes fail while I wait for my God they that hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of my head and they that destroy me being mine enemies wrongfully are mighty then I restored that which I took not away for three days the enemies of God would have been celebrating

57. 31:41

    he's dead we told you so the floods of the river continue there is no relent but on the third day Mary made her way to a tomb and they entered in and found not the body of the Lord Jesus and it came to pass as they were perplexed thereabout behold two men stood by them in shining garments and as they were afraid and bowed down their faces to the earth they said to them why do you seek the living with the dead for four thousand years brothers and sisters the river Jordan had flown death had never been stopped search the scriptures a man is never raised in the Old Testament you will not find the term yes I know you're thinking people were raised they were not raised the term is not used of them for four thousand years the river flowed on the third day it was empty that is the basis of our faith and sometimes I do believe as a community we do not emphasize the resurrection enough it is the center what did Paul say if Christ be not raised your faith is in vain sometimes when we teach first principles we almost take for granted not to emphasize the beauty of the empty tomb and here it is the river is stopped the cycle of death and how that gives us hope not just hope for our lives in the future that we will be given a part of that resurrection but hope in whatever situation we find ourselves in that God will make a way and wherever you are right now in whatever situation you find yourself in you may

58. 33:31

    be in those three days where the floods are coming down have faith and trust to know that as he made a way for them he will make a way for you verse 4 of Joshua chapter 3 yet there shall be a space between you and that about 2,000 cubits by measure come not near unto it that you may know the way by which you must go for you have not passed this way heretofore isn't that beautiful here God was saying I've opened a new way it's never been opened before and I want you to come along bit of a distance 2,000 cubits between the two but come along as we break this river this cycle of life and of course there we have in pattern the first fruits and the harvest the Lord Jesus Christ who would be the first to cut the process of death through resurrection and then of course by his grace us as a part of the harvest and so in verse 5 Joshua said to the people sanctify yourselves for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you of course he's talking now they've been speaking about what was going to happen he's talking about the reality that it is going to happen that the river was going to be broken that the symbol of resurrection was going to be spoken to all the people and he describes it as a wonder the word of God says that the great wonder the great sign is the resurrection of course when they came to the Lord Jesus Christ and they said give us a sign he said only one sign I will

59. 34:58

    give you the sign of three days the sign of the prophet Jonah and so no wonder Joshua says tomorrow you are going to see the sign it is the sign of our faith the resurrection the empty tomb and the priests in verse six take up the ark of the covenant and pass over before the people and the ark of the covenant went before the people of course this is the process of salvation and it's teaching us that the Lord Jesus Christ would first of all be the first fruits of resurrection clearly in verse six that has been described and so we come a little bit further to the real action now in verse 15 and look at the detail here and as they bear verse 15 the ark and they were coming to the Jordan and the feet of the priests that bear the ark were dipped in the brim of the water and look at that detail in verse 15 for the Jordan was overflowing its banks because it was the time of harvest it's the right time of the year as well and look at verse 16 the waters which came down from above stood and rose up upon a heap very far from the city Adam that is beside Zeratim it's remarkable language it's the language of resurrection it's showing this is the way of salvation this is the process of salvation it is through resurrection that you will move from mortality to immortality from corruption to incorruption you need to go through the process of resurrection of standing up of course when we come to the New Testament the word resurrection

60. 36:31

    is in fact coming from the phrase to stand up Hebrew appears a number of times perhaps the most significant is in reference to the resurrection Daniel 12 verse 1 in that time shall Michael stand up the time of resurrection and it is also used in a number of other places where the emphasis is used on standing up and allusions to resurrection and the word rose up is also used in reference to resurrection John Job 19 25 for I know that my shall stand at the latter day that he shall rise up at the latter day Psalm 88 uses the same word in verse 8 you have taken my friends from me you have made me an abomination to them I am confined I cannot escape my eyes are dim from grief I have called on you daily Yahweh I spread up my hands to you do you show wonders !

61. 37:37

    a clear pattern being given to the children of Israel with the symbol of salvation that salvation would be through resurrection and then of course it says that little strange extra doesn't it almost as if to say well if you can't see the pattern let me just give you a little bit of detail It says the waters cut off all the way from the point that they were at up to a city called Adam.

62. 38:03

    Now I'm not sure of the city called Adam. Take out your concordance, take out your dictionaries, and you won't find the city Adam. Only here. Perhaps one other illusion. A city called Adam. I believe because we have no other references to it, we must assume that perhaps the illusion is certainly to Adam.

63. 38:30

    And the point is that the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ was so efficacious. It was so effective that not only would it provide salvation for him, but it would provide salvation for all those who had died up to Adam. The way that Jesus made was made open. As in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

64. 38:54

    There's this marvelous detail being taught to us through this living parable as they witnessed this. And they would have said to each other, how far has it gone up? There's a city called Adam. They wouldn't have come across the city probably themselves. There's a city called Adam up there. It's gone all the way up to Adam.

65. 39:08

    And that's how far God has opened the way for us. That we can also go with the Lord Jesus Christ across to the other side. And it says, The waters were cut off. And that's the word circumcision. And isn't that what, as we were referring to earlier, all of us are waiting for.

66. 39:29

    That time when the Lord says, I shall cut it off. That mind of the flesh. That thinking process. I shall remove it. So that you shall not be burdened by it anymore. And you will share in his new body. Verse 17, Joshua 3. And the priest that bore the ark of the covenant of Yahweh stood firm on dry land in the midst of Jordan.

67. 39:52

    And all the Israelites passed over on dry land until all the people were passed clean over Jordan. Can you see just two beautiful pieces of detail there? The ark had gone in first. You would well expect it to go out first. It doesn't. It stays in the middle. In the midst, it says.

68. 40:14

    And there it waits for the second portion of people, the majority of people other than the priests, to come through the river. And it says that it waited until they were all passed clean over Jordan. In a sense, although this speaks, I believe, specifically of the resurrection, in a sense, in the sense that the way of the resurrection is open right now for us, it's teaching us that that way will be kept open for a time until the full number have come in.

69. 40:50

    Are you making use of that opportunity? Of the open river as in your mind you can see it open visibly? Are you going to ensure that you pass over to share in the glory that awaits you on the other side? And the ark remained in the middle. What about that as a pattern for this spiritual reality?

70. 41:12

    For there is one God and one mediator between God and men. The man Christ Jesus. He's waiting in the middle. Why? Because he's performing the function of the mediator. The one who is assisting all of us to cross over. actively involved and helping as a high priest was meant to do. Associating with those who were coming from that side.

71. 41:38

    Understanding what it was like on the other side. Providing the bridge as a mediator in the midst of the River Jordan. Ensuring that the full number will pass through. There is remarkable detail, is there not, brethren and sisters, in this parable? And there is some of it summarized. The ark is passing through the Jordan.

72. 41:59

    Jesus passing through the death and the grave. Some of the ideas there I haven't had time to go through. But just looking specifically there at the relationship between the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ and the ark passing through Jordan. And of course, more specifically, or more importantly for us also, the resurrection of the harvest that will come in the future.

73. 42:21

    So I hope you've been able to see that in this first very important event with the ark of the covenant, once again, the message has been one of salvation. God taught us through the components of the ark the principles of salvation. And now as the children of Israel, we're for the fourth time really going to see the ark involved in a very important event.

74. 42:42

    He was going to teach them the way of salvation. The way that the Lord Jesus has opened for all of us. And is calling us to come this way. He says, I am the resurrection. May it be that we will follow Him through the river Jordan.