Two Crossings

… We will read the account of the Jordan when we reach it, but perhaps now we will concentrate on the Red Sea. So, both the Jordan and the Red Sea give us a picture of the death of Christ, the death and resurrection of Christ, and of a great deliverance for his people. But we never have two accounts given to us of the same thing without a reason. And so in both these crossings we have a different aspect of the work of Christ and what he has accomplished in his death and through his resurrection. And in the Red Sea we do indeed have a mighty deliverance. It's a deliverance, the deliverance of Israel from Egypt and from Pharaoh and all his hosts. That was the deliverance which God wrought through the Red Sea. And perhaps to understand what that deliverance is for us, because it is a picture, an illustration or a type, we should consider the nature of Egypt and what it would convey in the Word of God. Egypt in Genesis, we find, ruled over by Joseph, whom Pharaoh at that time set over Egypt. And we can read about him in Genesis, I think it's chapter 41, chapter 41 and verse 41. And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, See, I have set thee over all the land of Egypt. And Pharaoh took off his ring from his hand, and put it upon Joseph's hand, and arrayed him in vestures of fine linen, and put a gold chain about his neck, and made him to ride in the second chariot which he had. And they cried before him, Bow the knee. And he made him ruler over all the land of Egypt. So there we get a picture of God, the Father, setting his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of Man, over this world in the millennial rule. And the Lord Jesus will reign over this earth. But in Exodus, we read that another Pharaoh arose up who knew not Joseph. And this Pharaoh, when God commanded him to let his people go, if we turn to Exodus 5 and 2, we see what the nature of this Pharaoh was. Chapter 5, verse 2 of Exodus, And Pharaoh said, Who is the Lord that I should obey his voice to let Israel go? I know not the Lord, neither will I let Israel go. So we find this Pharaoh reigning over Egypt in rebellion against God. He refuses to obey God. He refuses even to recognize him as God. And so in this Pharaoh, we have a picture of the flesh and the principle which governs the flesh, which is sin. John tells us in his epistle that sin is lawlessness. Not so much sins, because sins are produced because the flesh is subject to sin. And therefore all the flesh can do is obey this moral principle of rebellion against God, of sinning. In Romans, in chapter 8, verse 7, We read, The carnal mind, or the fleshly mind, is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. And so Pharaoh would set forth the picture of Satan, because this principle of sin found its origin with Satan, but it is worked out through man. And so the scriptures speak of this mystery of iniquity, which is working and doth work. And when the Lord Jesus was crucified upon the cross, man's heart, in all its wickedness, was manifested, and sin was seen in the flesh. When he rejected the Lord Jesus, cast him out, and crucified him. But that principle continues to work in the flesh, and its full manifestation will be seen in the man of sin, whom we read of in 2 Thessalonians. And he will sit in the temple as if he were God, taking the place of God. And so we see, man in the flesh rejects Christ, and then takes the place of Christ, ultimately. And then God will bring in judgement, when that mystery of iniquity is seen, full blown, in that terrible act of rebellion by the Antichrist, the man of sin. And so, Pharaoh represents the power of Egypt, the world, and in the world we see the corrupt fallen order, brought about through Adam's fall, the corruptness of the nature of man, the flesh. And in the Red Sea, we find a deliverance from these things, a deliverance through the death of Christ. Now, we might ask, how does the death of Christ deliver us from the flesh, and from the principle of sin which governs the flesh? Well, in 2 Corinthians, and chapter 4, sorry, chapter 5, and verse 14, we read, For the love of Christ constraineth us, because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then we're all dead. The Lord Jesus upon the cross was there on behalf of man. We read in Romans, chapter 8, verse 3, For God, sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh. So the Lord Jesus upon the cross, here as it were, was on behalf of man, and he went into death. And if the Lord Jesus, the spotless, sinless Son of God, had to go into death, then man must be dead. Because there's no other way for man to be brought near to God, except through the death of the one who represented him there. If there was another way, surely God would have taken it. If the Lord Jesus did not have to die upon that cross for man, if there was some good in man, if there was some spark in man that could be kindled to a flame, and which meant that man somehow could bring about his own salvation, could redeem himself, could make himself approved of by God, then God would have allowed man to take that course. But there was nothing in man that was good. As the Apostle Paul says, In me, that is in my flesh, good does not dwell. And so the death of Christ, as it were, sets man aside after the flesh, finishes with him completely. And God then turns to Christ. And we are dead, as the scripture says, dead in Adam. In Adam all die, in Christ we're all made alive. In other words, all that in Adam die, all that are in Christ are made alive. And so the deliverance that we have from Egypt, or what Egypt speaks of, the flesh, the world, and the power of Egypt, the power that governs the flesh, sin, is in accepting God's judgment regarding us, what we are in Adam. It's submitting to that judgment and saying, Yes, God has finished with the flesh. I can see that in the death of Christ. And therefore I will, by faith, accept that verdict. And I will no more walk after the flesh. If God has finished with it, then I too must finish with it. And in that, there is a deliverance that we read of in Romans 6. If we can just turn to that chapter of Romans 6. What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we that are dead to sin live any longer therein? Know ye not that so many of us as were baptised into Jesus or unto Jesus Christ were baptised unto his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism unto death. We'll consider the next half in a little while. But at the moment, if we could just think about this doctrine regarding the flesh and how we are delivered from it. And so, in submitting to God's sentence on the flesh, Paul brings before these Roman believers their baptism. Because in their baptism, they were buried with Christ by baptism unto death. In other words, baptism, in a figure, represented the cutting off of the flesh. Man was dead and the believer, in submitting to God's judgement, was baptised. And in the figure, he submitted to that sentence against the flesh. And the Apostle Paul takes up this figure of baptism in 1 Corinthians 10 and applies it to the passage we've read. 1 Corinthians 10 Moreover, brethren, I would not that you should be ignorant how that all our fathers were under the cloud and all passed through the sea and were all baptised unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea. So Paul takes up the Red Sea as a figure of baptism. And how were the Israelites baptised unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea? Well, Moses, firstly, is a type of Christ. Christ who has been into death and is raised out of death. Christ in power and in glory. Moses, lifting up his rod. Here's a picture of the Lord himself having power over death. He lifts up his rod and the walls of the Red Sea divide. He lifts up his rod and the walls of the Red Sea close up again. He has power over death. He can deliver and he can bring in judgement. All power is given unto him. We read of him elsewhere having the keys to death and Hades. He can open, he can shut. And we see Moses as that one with that power. And the Israelites were baptised unto Moses because he is a type of Christ in the cloud and in the Red Sea. Now, both the cloud and the sea cut Israel off from Egypt and the Egyptians. We read in our passage how the cloud went behind Israel and separated them from the Egyptians. The sea cut off Israel from Egypt and the power of Egypt was destroyed in the sea. And so we have this picture in the Red Sea of baptism. Baptism is a figure. It produces nothing inward but it does bring us into an outward place of profession. They were baptised unto Moses. They were transferred from the authority of Pharaoh and brought under the authority of Moses by the sea. The sea did that. It divided them from Egypt and brought them under the authority of Pharaoh. We read in Galatians 3.27 that as many of you, Paul says, that have been baptised I'd better read it. Galatians 3.27 As many of you that have been baptised unto Christ have put on Christ. Now what does that mean, put on Christ? Baptism puts on Christ. How does it do that? Well, the word put on here, it means putting on as a garment. It doesn't put in Christ. How can it? It's simply an outward ordinance. But it brings us into a position outwardly as to our profession. It puts on Christ. Just as a soldier, when he puts on his uniform or when his uniform is put on him everybody sees that soldier and says that soldier is under the authority of the king. And baptism does that. It brings us outwardly under the authority of Christ. But God seeks truth in the inward path. We read in Romans 6 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism unto death that or in order that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father even so we also should walk in newness of life. God puts away the old. He condemns the old, he condemns flesh in order that he might bring in the new. We no longer live unto the flesh. In baptism we are sent to that. We read in Luke chapter 7 that the people and the publicans they justified God being baptized by the baptism of John. But the Pharisees they rejected the counsel of God against themselves because they were not baptized of John's baptism. So in baptism there is an assent, a submission to the sentence of God against the flesh. But God doesn't condemn us that we might remain in death. He condemns us in order that he might bring us into life. And so we are baptized unto Christ unto his death buried with him by baptism unto death in order that we might walk in newness of life. And the Israelites as they came to the Red Sea they were brought into the wilderness. And it was here that they were going to be proven. It was here that they were going to be tested. It was here that God was going to teach them. And we too as far as this world is concerned are in the wilderness because there is nothing in the world to sustain us, to keep us. There is nothing to nourish us. There is nothing whereby we can live in this world. It's dry and barren as far as God is concerned. But it is in the wilderness it is in this world that we learn that all that we have need of to sustain us, to keep us, to deliver us it comes from God. And we might say, well, I do I am a Christian and I do accept that as to what I am in Adam I die. But nevertheless this flesh it's still very active. I still am troubled by it. And we might be like the man in Romans 7 who cries out he says, for to will is present with me but how to perform that which is good I find not. In other words, he wants to do what's right because he is a child of God. But he can't find it inside himself. And the answer comes at the end of the chapter. Verse 24, O wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from the body of this death? That's the question. Who shall deliver me from the body of this death? The answer is, I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So he looks away from himself and he looks to the Lord Jesus Christ in heaven and he gives thanks because in him is his deliverance. In him is the power to walk in newness of life through his spirit which dwells in every believer. And so in Deuteronomy chapter 8 and verse 2 And thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness to humble thee and to prove thee to know what was in thine heart whether thou would keep his commandments or no. God wants what he has done in us manifested in our walk. He wants us to be in the likeness of his death as we have it in Romans. Just read that scripture. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection. In other words, if we... if our lives in a moral way correspond to the truth of his death he died unto sin then there will be a moral correspondence with the truth of his resurrection. He is alive unto God. We will no longer live in the flesh. We will no longer be governed by sin. But we will be alive unto God. We will be governed by him. We will follow the Lord Jesus and walk in his ways and it is in him that the strength and the power to live in this way is given. And we find that again in our picture with Israel because the first enemy they come across is the Amalekites. And the Amalekites would, I think, speak of satanic activity. The Amalekites, they had different ways of attacking Israel. They would do it, as they did at first, a full frontal attack. They would also craftily wait behind for the weaker ones to fall behind a little way and then they would kill them. We get an Amalekite in Agag, King Agag. He says, doesn't he, let the bitterness of war be passed. In other words, he says, let's not fight. Let's be friends. And then we get him in Haman. Haman, whose name means the rager. There he goes about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. And so Satan has many devices and the first attack that Israel experienced was for the Amalekites. And there we read of four men. Joshua, Moses, Her and Aaron. Four men it takes to represent Christ, fighting for his people. With Joshua, with the people, we read there, of the Lord Jesus, I am with you always, even unto the end of the age. Again, I will not leave you orphans, I am coming to you. That means now. He comes to us. He is with us. But then too, in the picture of Moses, up on the mountain, high up on the mountain, Moses lifting up his hands, and when he lifts up his hands, the people, the Israelites, they win. They begin to conquer the Amalekites. When his hands hang down, the people begin to lose against the Amalekites. And so Moses himself isn't sufficient to speak of Christ's intercession. He needs two other men. He needs Her on the right hand, on the left hand I think it is, and Aaron on the right. Aaron speaks of the Lord Jesus as our great high priest, the one who is ever interceding for us, giving us help in time of need, so that we do not sin, so that we do not fall. He is there available always. We can call upon him. We find mercy and grace in time of need in him. And then Her, his name means white. And there we have a picture of the Lord Jesus as our advocate, Jesus Christ the righteous, so that when we do fall, he will, as it were, take up our affairs, restore us back to himself. So all power to overcome in the wilderness, to live, to walk in this newness of life, is found in Christ. Well, perhaps we ought to move on to the Jordan. And if we could turn to Joshua, chapter 3, verse 14. And it came to pass, when the people were moved from their tents to pass over Jordan, and the priests bearing the ark of the covenant before the people, and as they that bear the ark were come unto Jordan, and the feet of the priests that bear the ark were dipped in the brim of the water, for Jordan overfloweth all his banks all the time of harvest, that the waters which came down from above stood and rose up upon a heap, very far from the city of Adam, or that should be translated, very far by the city of Adam, that is beside Zaretan. And those that came down toward the sea of the plain, even the salt sea, failed and were cut off. And the people passed over right against Jericho, and the priests that bear the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firm on dry ground in the midst of Jordan, and all the Israelites passed over on dry ground, until all the people were passed clean over Jordan. And it came to pass, when all the people were clean passed over Jordan, that the Lord spake unto Joshua, saying, Take you twelve men out of the people, out of every tribe a man, and command you them, saying, Take you hence out of the midst of Jordan, out of the place where the priests' feet stood firm, twelve stones, and you shall carry them over with you, and leave them in the lodging place where you shall lodge this night. Then Joshua called the twelve men, whom he had prepared of the children of Israel, out of every tribe a man, and Joshua said unto them, Pass over before the ark of the Lord your God into the midst of Jordan, and take you up, every man of you, a stone upon his shoulder, according unto the number of the tribes, the children of Israel, that this may be a sign among you, that when your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean ye by these stones? Then ye shall answer them, That the waters of Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord when it passed over Jordan. The waters of Jordan were cut off, and these stones shall be for a memorial unto the children of Israel for ever. And the children of Israel did so, as Joshua commanded, and took up twelve stones out of the midst of Jordan, as the Lord spake unto Joshua, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel, and carried them over with them unto the place where they lodged, and laid them down there. And Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests which bear the ark of the covenant stood, and there they are unto this day. For the priests which bear the ark stood in the midst of Jordan until everything was finished. But the Lord commanded Joshua to speak unto the people, according to all that Moses commanded Joshua, and the people hasted and passed over. Now, you probably noticed in the passage across the Red Sea that the waters rose up and formed a wall either side of the Israelites. There was, as it were, a path cut through the Red Sea, a path which they must take. But with the Jordan, the waters don't form a wall, but it says, the waters which came down from above, that's those flowing down from the mountains right down to the Dead Sea, they were flowing down along that long river Jordan and they were cut off. Very far, it says, far, far away, those waters were cut off. Right back, back, back, far as Adam, the city of Adam, which is by Zaretan. And then, because they were cut off, obviously the waters that flowed down to the Red Sea were cut off because there was no, they weren't being fed. So there was this huge expanse of dry ground, far greater than the children of Israel needed to cross. And here we get a picture of the scope of the death of Christ, of the way that God has been propitiated through that death, how he has been fully satisfied, his righteousness, his holiness, has been fully satisfied by Christ. As we read in 1 John 2, verse 2, that Christ, he is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also the whole world. A propitiation for our sins. There we get the little company of Israelites crossing over the Jordan, clean on dry land. Every one of them was safe. Every one of them passed safely across. God delivered them. And that's a picture of the Lord's people. Their sins have been discharged. The ransom has been paid, as we have it in Mark's Gospel, when the Lord says that the Son of Man came not to minister, came not to be ministered unto, but to minister and to give his life a ransom for many. So the ransom there is a price paid which discharges a debt completely so that those who trust in the Lord Jesus, their sins have gone. God will never take them up because the Lord Jesus bore them away upon the cross. And whenever it speaks of the Lord Jesus bearing sins, it's always he bore the sins of many. Why? Because there you have the thought of them being removed completely from before the face of God. And that can only be said of the believer. So John says he was a propitiation for our sins. But then he goes on to say not ours only. He doesn't say not for our sins only, as the authorised has it. He says not for ours only, but also the whole world. The whole world is looked at, the debt, the offence against God is looked at in its entirety, in its completeness. And a ransom is paid, not discharging it, but providing a universal provision for it. So we read in 1 Timothy 2 and verse 6. We read of the Lord Jesus who gave himself, well I'll read verse 4, who will have all men to be saved and come unto the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself a ransom for all to be testified in due time. God will have all men to be saved. That word all is not limited in any way. It's in the plural. It means the totality of that thing which is spoken of. He will have all men to be saved. All mankind to be saved. This is what God would will. And the provision has been made in the death of Christ for all men. But it needs to be received. Because Christ himself is the propitiation. If he is refused, then the propitiation is refused. There is not the thought there of sins discharged, but rather a provision made. So that any man, woman and child in this world who turns to the Lord Jesus, that provision is there and they can be saved. And so we get the waters going all the way back, all the way back as far as Adam. Adam means man. And Zaretan, the word according to a little book I've got at home, Jackson's Book of Bible Names, proper nouns, Zaretan means their distress. Man in his distress. God's death upon the cross. His propitiatory work meets man in his distress and provides what he needs. And all he needs to do is turn to the Lord and he will be saved. And Jericho we read too. They were cut off and the people passed over right against Jericho. Why is Jericho mentioned there? Jericho means a place of fragrance. Or it could mean he shall smell it. But it speaks of fragrance. And the death of Christ in the, as it were, the nostrils of God, his son and what he has done upon that cross is in his nostrils a fragrant smell. So that he need not anymore when he turns to the world have man in his flesh before him. That's gone. He can turn to the world now and offer forgiveness because of the ransom that has been set down, the propitiation which has been made. When we think of Jordan, I think too the sufferings of Christ come out. And nowhere more in the scriptures do we have those sufferings than when the Lord is in Gethsemane contemplating what was before him. What was before him in those three hours that he endured the judgment of God upon the cross when he was made sin. And we read of the priest carrying the ark because here it is the ark that speaks of the Lord Jesus. It is the ark that's the time of Christ. So the priest carrying the ark, it says in verse 15 of chapter 3, And as they that bear the ark will come unto Jordan, and the feet of the priests that bear the ark were dipped in the brim of Jordan. For Jordan overfloweth all his banks all the time of harvest. Verse 8, Thou shalt command the priests that bear the ark of the covenant, saying, When ye are come to the brink of the water of Jordan, ye shall stand still. So the ark was brought right to the brink of Jordan, and it stood still there. And it says that all the Jordan overfloweth all her banks at time of harvest. There is, as it were, a contemplation of those terrible waters, the waters of death and of judgment. And the Lord Jesus in Gethsemane as he contemplated that cup which the father was giving him to drink, he could ask for it to be taken from him. Father, Abba Father, all things are possible with thee. Take this cup from me. Nevertheless, not what I willed, but what thou willed. Nevertheless, not my will, but thine be done. The cross in all its horror was brought before his holy soul, and the anticipation of it caused his soul to be exceeding sorrowful, even unto death. And yet in faithfulness to God, in obedience to him, he went forth, and he undertook that mighty work which would bring glory to God. Glory to his Father and which would deliver his people. And then we get that verse in verse 10, the priests which bear the ark stood in the midst of Jordan until everything was finished. And they were reminded of that great cry that the Lord Jesus cried out when the three hours of darkness came to an end, it is finished. The work was done. And it was then that he could bow his head and give up his spirit. And that word bow, there's no thought there of a head being forced down, as it were, but it's rather, the word bow there, it means to lay down in rest. It's the same word used when it says that the foxes have their holes, the birds of the air have their nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head. It's the same word. The Son of Man had nowhere to lay his head in a world which was under the judgment of God. But finally, when the work had been finished, it was then that he could lay down his head in rest. But again, we've been saved for a purpose. We've been saved from our sins, not just to be saved, we've been saved for something. And in the 12 stones that the Israelites took out of Jordan, we find God's purpose for his church, his assembly. The 12 stones are taken out of the Jordan and brought into the land. And there, that brings us into the truth that it's brought out in Ephesians. And if we can just turn to Ephesians chapter 2. Beginning at verse 1. And you, Hathi-quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins, wherein in time past you walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience, among whom also we all had our conversation in times past, in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ. By grace ye are saved, and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness towards us through Jesus Christ. So, the whole of Israel is represented in those 12 stones. It's not individual Israelites, but rather the whole of Israel. Every tribe, out of every tribe a man, every man has a stone. And he takes that stone, which represents his tribe, and it's the whole of the 12 tribes, all together, brought out of the Jordan into the land. And so we read in Ephesians 2, he hath quickened us together. That's to say, the whole company is looked at here. Raised us up together. That's the whole of the company of the redeemed. See, not individually so much, but as a company. To sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. No longer is the earth the place, the earth is no longer the sphere for the Christian. We are in the earth, yes, we are bodily in the earth. But Christ is in heaven. He is in the heavenly places. He is sitting there. And we are viewed by God as being in him. We might think, well, I don't feel like I'm in heavenly places. But it is in Christ that we are in heavenly places. This is how God views his people, in Christ. Christ is there, therefore we are there also. Just as these Israelites were represented in the stones in the land. And those 12 stones were taken out of the land. Joshua wasn't told to do this. But it seemed to be some kind of spiritual intuition. He took the stones from the land and he put them into the Jordan. And it says, they are there until this day. In other words, they are never taken out of the Jordan again. The waters closed over them and they were lost from sight. They were gone. And that's what we were in Adam. That's the old order of things. It's gone forever before God. Abraham, he had two sons. One Ishmael, one Isaac. And there was a time, this is before Isaac was born. He said to God, oh, that Ishmael might live before thee. But Ishmael was the child of the bondwoman. And Ishmael could not live before God. The flesh cannot live before God. It was Isaac who would live before God, the child of promise. And so we live before God in Christ. We have died in Adam. We have been brought in heavenly places, seated in heavenly places in Christ. Sharing with him in all that he has won. In all that God has given him. We are so united with him. We are so bound up with him. That these things in Christ also are ours. I wonder if we could just finish by singing hymn number 472. Let us pray. Once we stood in condemnation, waiting thus the sinner's doom. Christ in death hath wrought salvation. God has raised him from the tomb. Quickened, raised, and in him seated we a full deliverance know. Every foe has been defeated. Every enemy laid low. Amen. …