Category Archives: Bible Study

CROSSING JORDAN

Posted on by
9

Crossing Jordan has been a metaphor for dying and going to Heaven (the Promised Land). I have heard that metaphor stems from Joshua leading the Children from the east bank to the west bank of the Jordan River. Going across the Jordan was part of life in Israel and is mentioned many times from Judges to David. There were no bridges, it seems, and people waded across at fords or shallow spots.

There are Biblical characters that crossed the river in the same direction as Joshua at key times in Israel’s history. I am looking at their stories in this post. I will start with someone who went contrary to the metaphor and had his way back blocked with a flaming sword and cherubim.

Adam and Eve – They started in Paradise and were sent to the East (Genesis 3:24). I believe there was a Garden with five rivers, and two very important trees, and Adam was responsible for tending it. God has always shown an interest in this region. Terah was sent there but he did not go, Abram did. Melchizedek, the priest of the Most High God was in the area. I said that because it makes more sense to think the Garden was here because this place means something to God. Before the objections start, I live in America, and we have recycled names pinned on many cities, rivers, and regions so renaming four rivers is a high possibility. I can see Noah’s grandchildren using things he told them just to honor him. My God has mysteries that He has not shared, but the world changed after Adam and Eve ate the fruit and Noah’s Flood.

If the land of Canaan (Noah’s grandson by Ham, Genesis 9:18-24) was part of the Garden; Adam would have traveled over where the Jordan was or would be. East is an important direction in Genesis 2 and 3.

Jacob and Family – When Jacob ran from Esau, he was by himself. Genesis 28:10 says he left Beersheba to go to Haran. He stopped at Luz (Bethel) and spent the night. That is the end of his route until he is with the “eastern people” in Haran. I believe from Luz (28:18) he had three routes he may have taken: 1. The road along the seashore, 2. The highway through the mountains that went above Lake Galilee, and 3. to cross the Jordan and go through the Bashan/Gilead. I would have taken the coast road, but in Genesis 32:10 Jacob says he crossed the Jordan with just his staff.

When Jacob ran from Laban, he had four wives, eleven sons, a daughter, and a lot of possessions. After the ordeal of Chapter 31, Jacob’s camp made it to Mahanaim. There he was met by a camp of angels (reminds you of Elisha). Sometime after meeting Esau Jacob’s camp(s) crossed the Jordan and went to Shechem. Jacob had returned to his land which was part of the promise to Abraham from God. It makes me wonder what route Abram took to get to Canaan.

Thoughts on Jacob – 1. He had many experiences with angels. 2. He is older than you might expect. I had to work backward from his death and consider every timestamp that was given during his life. I made mistakes in How Old Were These Guys. I did better in the Patriarch Timeline and the Tribes of Israel Timeline. 3. Angel of the Lord or Metatron means angel of countenance this is a theophany.

Joshua and Israel – The event that gave the name of this post is found in Joshua 3 and 4. God exalted Joshua in the people’s eyes because of this event (3:7). He also dried up the Jordan to show Israel and the world His power (4:24). We tend to focus on the human aspect of this day, but I believe it was much more important to the Father. He was bringing His children home.

This day was an end and the beginning for Joshua and Israel. With years of learning to trust God behind them, they were facing a new test of their faith. They now had to fight for the land promised to Abraham for his family. In the crossing of this Jordan, they left behind the Moabites and Midianites and now had to face the giants and walled cities that had intimidated their forefathers. When we cross the spiritual Jordan, our fighting is done. Metaphors are limited and this is a good example of that.

This is a good time to compare and contrast the passage out of Egypt and the entrance into Canaan. (Please, ignore Exodus through Joshua and look at the rest of the Scriptures.) Passing through the Red Sea has more references than going through the dried-up Jordan River. I found two – Psalms 114:5 and 74:15. (If you know of others, please share.) If you use that as an indicator, leaving Egypt (baptism) is more important than the crossing at the Jordan. I have used the crossing of the Jordan as a shadow of baptism, I will not do that anymore. Israel went through two walls of the sea; the Jordan was dry. Remember, the water was stopped about twenty miles above the crossing site, they were not flanked by walls of water. You could stretch that and say the Dead Sea was on one side and the water at Adam (man or red) was on the other side. (Some bullet points.)

  • Both Crossings had enemies just before going through.
  • The oldest people at the Jordan were Joshua and Caleb. The nineteen-year-olds were now fifty-seven. It seems that the men thirty-eight and younger were not circumcised.
  • Some of the people had seen both crossings.
  • The people took memorial stones from the Jordan. Solomon may have built a memorial on the eastern side of the Red Sea.
  • The Red Sea was after Passover. The Jordan was just before. They crossed on the day they were to choose the lamb for the meal, the tenth day of the first month. (That could be a preaching point.)
  • The direction of travel was different for the two crossings.

This crossing happened at Jericho/Gilgal. Gilgal was the first campsite where they were circumcised and celebrated Passover.

David, His Family, His Officials – David and those fleeing from Absalom left the west bank and traveled east to Mahanaim, 2 Samuel 17:22. (The same city Jacob named. It was also a refuge city.) David returned, east to west, in 2 Samuel 19 and proceeded to Jerusalem. Jesus would follow the same path in Matthew 20 + 21. Both had a mess to clean up when they reached Jerusalem.

This crossing occurred at the fords or shallow spot near Gilgal. Even the king’s return caused an uproar that had to be fixed.

Elisha – Elijah and Elisha crossed the Jordan near Jericho, going west to east. Elisha, a shadow of Jesus, returned east to west at the same spot. Both of these crossings were done on dry land with the waters dividing for the men. 2 Kings 2

This set of crossings involved the fewest people and the least amount of material goods. Elisha crossed back to the west with a well-used cloak and a double anointing. The entire scene is a shadow of John the Baptist (Elijah) diminishing before Jesus (Elisha) took center stage.

Jesus, His Disciples, His Camp – Jesus’ final pilgrimage to Passover started in Matthew 19:1, Mark 10, Luke 17:11, and John 10:40. (Matthew is my main reference.) He left Galilee crossing the Jordan and went to the area across from Jericho, where he taught and healed the people. If you compile all of the Gospels, it is clear He crossed back and forth several times before going to Jerusalem for Palm Sunday.    

I blame too many movies about Jesus for the idea that just twelve men followed Jesus as He preached about the Kingdom. Mark 15:41 talks about women in Galilee, Luke 24:9 speaks of others that were with the Eleven after the resurrection and Acts 1:21+22 mentions the requirements for taking Judas’ position, so there had to be more than just the Twelve.

This parade started big with His Camp at the Jordan and got larger. The only parade for Jesus that was bigger was the one in Heaven after He disappeared in the clouds when He ascended.

Thoughts – Crossing Jordan is a beautiful metaphor. I admit that my thoughts have changed as I have grown older. But for these crossings, work, warfare, and new experiences waited for those that crossed from east to west over the Jordan.

The Exodus Story in Other Places Part 2

Posted on by
2

This edition of the Exodus story in other places in the Bible complements the first one. I see all of these references as to how important the Exodus was and is to God. The Holy Spirit directed many authors to a site that period from Egypt to the Jordan River. In many of these God refers to the trip to teach a current lesson.

1 Samuel

  • 10:18 Samuel quoted God when He references His mighty works and the people rejecting Him.
  • 12:6-8 Samuel’s farewell speech.

Nehemiah 9:9-23 Ezra and the Levites recount their history.

Psalms

  • 68: 8+17 A song telling of the Mighty One of Sinai going out with His armies. Written by David. Psalm 68 is very Messianic.
  • 74: 12-15 A metaphorical look at crossing through the sea.
  • 80: 7-11 A metaphorical telling of the story in the second “restore us, O God Almighty” in this Psalm. It is written by Asaph.
  • 81: 5-7, 10 Coming out of Egypt, language we did not understand, waters of Meribah.
  • 103: 7 Made His ways and deeds known to Moses and the people
  • 111 – A “secondary telling “of how God does things. I think it applies to Him bringing the people out and leading them in the desert.

Isaiah

  • 4:5-6 It is a reference to the pillar of cloud and fire that led Israel.
  • 43:3 Egypt was given as Israel’s ransom.
  • 63: 10-16 The people remembered that God was with them when Moses led and they followed His will. Divided seas are mentioned as proof of His greatness.

Jeremiah

  • 2:2-3,6 God gives Jeremiah these two references that describe Israel in the desert. They use to follow the Lord, now they do not even ask about God.
  • 32:20-21 Jeremiah points out the signs and miracles God did in bringing His people out of Egypt.

Hosea

  • 12:9-10 God brought them out of Egypt and they will live in tents again.
  • 12:13-14 A prophet (Moses) was used in bringing them out of Egypt.
  • 13:4-6 God brought them from Egypt. He fed them and they will acknowledge Him.
  • It seems the important part of each verse is what God did to care for the people, not just the fact He brought them out.

New Testament

Acts

  • 7 Stephen testifying
  • 13:16-20 Paul gives a foundation for the Gospel

2 Corinthians – 3:7-18 Moses’ veil after he met God

Hebrews

  • 3:7 testing in the desert
  • 11:23-29 A history of Moses up to the Red Sea.
  • 12: 18-21 Moses at the mountain meeting God.

Jude 9 – Satan wrestling for Moses’ body. (Okay maybe not the actual Exodus) Why would Satan want that body?  

I finished this study to find verses about crossing the Jordan River, this will be another post. To my surprise, there are not many places where that crossing is used. To be honest my study of Crossing Jordan has challenged a long-held thought of mine.

God and Two

Posted on by
4

The original focus of God and Two was on the occurrences of two angels being with God. When I did a word search, I found two other verses that just felt like they needed to be added. I am sure there are others, so add them to your study.

Angels

  • Genesis 18:2 – Abraham welcomed three men into his camp. One was God and the other two were the angels who went on to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah.
  • Exodus 25:22 – The Mercy Seat was formed with two cherubim. I still think the outstretched wings that were touching actually formed a chair or bench, making it a throne. This motif was in the plan that David received from God that Solomon put into the First Temple.
  • John 20:12 – Mary looked in the empty tomb and saw two angels sitting where Jesus had been laid. This is a type of the heavenly Mercy Seat. Remember, John, was writing to show Jesus as God so that we would believe. There are more than just seven miracles in John.

Others

  • Exodus 31:18 – Two tablets of the Law were written by the finger of God. Why two? God could have put them on one. These went into the Ark under the Mercy Seat.
  • Genesis 1:16 – God made two great lights and stars.
  • Daniel 12:5 – Daniel sees a “man” above the waters and then there were two more with that man. This is a theophany. I could not find that the man is Gabriel. (This still under study, as I found it recently.)

With the angels, I feel that three examples are enough to show a pattern. Ezekiel in his vision certainly had other groupings. What does God with two angels mean? I have no idea! I am just surprised that no one has ever named or identified them.

Going further: What would you name or how would you identify the two angels with God?

Last and First

Posted on by
5

The words first and last are found together in many verses in the New Testament. The passage that started this study is 1 Corinthians 15: 45-48. Paul is explaining the resurrected body to the church in Chapter 15. He uses the body of Jesus as the example of how His earthy (dust) body was sown in the tomb and a spiritual body came out of it. Paul compared the “first Adam” to the “last Adam” and then changed terms and said the first man and second man (referring to Jesus). In this set of verses first is some form of protos. The word second is deuteros. The word last is eschatos. Sorry, those are English-to-Greek translations (Mounce).  

This first study led to a second one, and this last study provide some surprises. I will use Matthew as the reference book. These stories are also found in the other Gospels and the words and uses of them seem consistent among several major translations of the Bible.

Bad to Worse – These two stories are on different topics but the last to first concept is the same. In 12:45 Jesus is responding to a demand from the Pharisees for a miraculous sign. The final part of the teaching is about a demon that leaves a man and then returns with seven others. The man had it bad at first, but his last condition was worse. The second story has the Pharisees demanding a guard be posted by the tomb of Jesus (27:64). They argued that the first lie from Jesus would be worse than the last lie of the disciples. They said the lie was Him rising from the dead in three days. (No surprises here.)

Shall, First, Last – As a parent, coach, and teacher I have used the iconic saying “the first shall be last” many times in dealing with people. Jesus, the Master Teacher, surprised me by switching the order of the saying on the same day in two different circumstances to deliver two different meanings. This day of teaching occurred before Jesus started His victory parade into Jerusalem during Holy Week, He was on the east bank of the Jordan.

The rich young ruler was the object of the story in 19:30. He had money, and I am sure he was always allowed to be first in line wherever he went. He did not want to give up his money. The end of his part of the story was – the first shall be last and the last shall be first (those who gave up their money).

As Jesus expanded this teaching, He told the parable of a landowner hiring workers – Chapter 20, especially Verse 16. At the end of the day, the owner paid the last workers the same as he paid the first workers. Here the last workers are the object of the action, and they got what was promised them – the last shall be first, and the first last. (Attitude is part of the issue here.)

My surprise came in because of the switch in the order and the condition of whom He was talking about. The phrase still signals a change in position, but apparently, I need to think before slinging around who is first and last, why they are there, and whether they should be moving.

This is my first day writing on this topic, it will not be my last. The thoughts on a first day can be changed after studying, so these mat not be my last thoughts on the subject.

The Ark – Cherubim

Posted on by
7

The most iconic part of the Ark of the Covenant are the two cherubim that form the Mercy Seat. How I wish the writer of Hebrews had taken the time to discuss the “cherubim of Glory”. It might have settled many things. Instead, we got the fertile minds of medieval pundits and Hollywood. The medieval pundits did do a better job than Hollywood. Another interesting source that I “flew” through in this study was the mystic Jewish believers. They have been studying angels for a few more years than we have. All of these are interesting, but don’t lose sight that it is the Father we worship and not angels.

Hebrews 9:5 – In this little verse the writer uses three words that are special. The Mounce Interlinear shows they are used here and nowhere else in the New Testament.

  • Cherubim is used 1x. Strong: G5502 For some reason Strong states these only have two wings, I am not sure why.
  • Shadowing or overshadow is used 1x. Strong: G2683
  • Mercyseat is used twice in the New Testament. (Romans 3:25) Strong:G2435

It seems in not discussing them, he still said a lot about their importance. Even though “cherubim” is used only once, the word angel is used almost 180 times in the New Testament (that depends on your translation).    

Ezekiel – This is the book to read if you want to study cherubim. Since I started this; there are no cherubim in his visions that have just two wings. It is more likely that the two on the Ark were only stretching out just two of their wings. (I have seen pictures where the artist has given the cherubim two wings stretched out and two covering the lower body.) I have a feeling that our concept of angel anatomy is off, why does it have to resemble human bilateral symmetry? There are things that the cherubim in these visions do that may be reflected in other visions by different writers. Two that I noticed are touching wings and forming a “chariot” that God uses to soar with or in.

Genesis 3:24 – The cherubs here are guarding (another repeating function) “the Way to the Tree of Life” along with an amazing sword. The movements of this sword sound similar to the wheels in Ezekiel. The mystic Jews consider the wheels a type of angel. Merkabah mysticism – Wikipedia This article is intense.

Back to the Ark – I am saying this again, when Moses oversaw the construction of the Ark, he was reproducing what he had seen in Heaven. Exodus 25:18 is the command to produce the cherubim, not the detailed blueprint. David also received instructions and details from God that he left for Solomon. Ezekiel saw the throne room of God and was given instructions about the Temple and land allotments. The Father wants us focused on Him, not His furniture or buildings. I believe that is why we don’t have detailed blueprints and pictures. Yes, they do offer messages and cast important shadows.

The “earthbound mobile” version of God’s throne room is where Moses and the High Priest were to meet with God and intercede for the people. This is seen in 2 Kings 19:15 where Hezekiah prayed to God who is enthroned “between” the cherubim. This phrase is repeated several times in Scripture and may have been coined by David or Samuel. How you see the cherubim, standing or sitting, and with their wings touching to form a bench or a chair, I believe this represents a throne where God “sits” to meet with us.

From David, we get another interesting picture and job of the cherubim. We also see this behavior in Ezekiel. The cherubs who are touching each other form a structure for Him to travel on. 1 Chronicles 28:18 (NIV) refers to a chariot (see 1 Kings 6:23) and 2 Samuel 22:11 and Psalm 18:10 talk about Him flying. This seems to agree with Ezekiel 1 and 11 which talks about cherubim and wheels moving.  That must be awesome!

Other Cherub Things

  • Solomon and Ezekiel’s temples have cherubim as decorations on the walls and curtains. I find it interesting that the guardians and helpers are artwork “standing guard” over holy places.
  • Not all of them look the same as far as faces and wings are concerned.
  • The symbols for the four Gospel writers are the same as the faces of the four living creatures in Ezekiel 1. These angelic beings are seen again in Revelations. What are the Symbols of the Four Evangelists? (catholicexchange.com)

The medieval pundits were right in the fact that there are different angelic beings, that seem to have specific duties. I always find it interesting that a taxonomy of heavenly beings has been created, even though we have never seen them in person. God help us.

More Study – Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel all lived at the same time. Each was given specific duties, places of ministry, and words and visions. Compare and contrast their angelic visions with their callings. (When you write your book let me do a forward for you:)

How many angels did God have with Him when He visited Abraham? How does this compare to the Ark and its cherubim?