Part 2
Okay, let’s go into the outline. The first point says: Joshua 3:1 to 4:24 is a record of the people of Israel crossing the Jordan river:
A. When the people of Israel saw the Ark of the Covenant of their God and the Levitical priests bearing the Ark, they set out from their place and followed it.
1. The Ark was a type of Christ as the embodiment of the Triune God.
When the children of Israel were crossing the Red Sea, they were just a multitude, a crowd, just ready to get out of Egypt. But in this crossing of the river Jordan, it was the Ark taking the lead. And this Ark is a type of Christ being the embodiment of God as the testimony of God. Now in this crossing of the Jordan, it is Christ who is taking the lead to enter into this river.
Number 2 says: When the Ark of God went with the children of Israel, the Triune God went with them, taking the lead and thus being the first to step into the water.
Unlike the crossing the Red Sea, we went into the water. God’s people went into the water and followed by the Egyptian forces, eventually who were drowned and killed under the…by the water. But now in the crossing of Jordan, the Ark, typifying Christ, took the lead to enter into that water. This water, of course, signifies the death, testifies our being crucified. But this water particularly refers to the death of Christ. The Ark is Christ Himself, taking the lead to go into this death water. Christ was the One who was crucified. He was the One who accomplished that all-inclusive death, into which we enter, into which we were baptized. Very meaningful.
Number 3 says: That the Ark was on the shoulders of the priests indicates that, in type, the priests who bore the Ark became one entity with the Triune God.
Again, unlike the crossing the red sea where this crowd was just rushing over, rushing across the Red Sea. But here the situation at the river Jordan is very different from 40 years ago. I believe the people were formed like an army. And now the Ark was taking the lead, and this Ark was being carried by the priests. I don’t know, the Bible did not say how many priests there were. Maybe four or six. It cannot be too many. Because the Ark was only one and a half cubit by one cubit, which is about four and a half feet by three feet and by three feet high. It’s not a very big box. And the Ark is being carried by the priests, and they took the lead to enter into that Jordan river. And these priests bore the Ark upon them. The Ark which is a type of Christ as the embodiment of God is being carried on the shoulders of these priests. They did not put the Ark on the wheel cart to just roll it over, but these people carried the Ark. They, the priests and the Ark were one. They became one entity.
Little a says: They and God were one corporate person—a corporate God—man.
God walked in their walking, and they walked in God’s walking.
So this is totally unlike 40 years ago in crossing the Red Sea where these people were rescued, delivered from Egypt, from Pharaoh’s worldly forces, from all his chariots. Basically, themselves as God’s redeemed people. But here now in crossing the river Jordan, these priests, representing us, having Christ the embodiment of God upon their shoulders, they and God were one. Their crossing was God’s crossing. God’s crossing was carried out by their crossing. This is too wonderful.
Now God’s move on the earth has definitely reached another level, another level. As lovers of the Lord, we all must have these two crossings, not only the crossing of the Red Sea, but also the crossing of the river Jordan. These two crossings, they signify two stages of our spiritual life with the Lord for the accomplishment of His purpose. And in this second crossing, the priests were in absolute oneness with God, being typified by the Ark.
Now B says: The Jordan river typifies the death and resurrection of Christ.
Number one: the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord crossed over before the people into the Jordan.
That means “into the death”. Remember the Lord Jesus. When He began to come out to to minister at the age of 30, He went to John the Baptist. He was baptized there. He submitted himself to be baptized by John the baptist. That was in Jordan. There was a type of Christ entering, submitting Himself to die, to be terminated. So that river Jordan is a type of the death and also resurrection of Christ. We need to be impressed today also, from this portion of the word, that this river not only typifies the death of Christ, but also the resurrection of Christ.
So the Ark of the Covenant crossed over before the people into the Jordan.
And number 2: The Ark’s entering into and coming out of the Jordan indicates Christ’s death and resurrection.
You know, when we are…when we baptize some new ones, we put them into the water. The water is like a tomb where they are being buried with Christ. And we must realize the burial is not the end. On the one hand, it is. On the one hand, it is the end of our old man, of ourselves. But in God’s economy, the baptism is not an end. It’s not an end in itself, not only to terminate us, but also to germinate us. And with this crossing of the river, they did not just go in, and that’s it. They came out on the other side. Their coming out on the other side signifies the resurrection. This Ark, they went in, and it goes out on the other side. So this river Jordan typifies both the death and the resurrection of Christ.