The Deeper Meaning

I wrote this last Saturday night intending to post it and I am finally getting around to it:

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Feb. 23, 2008

In May 2006, I was in Colorado Springs at a Navigator training. We were hoping to bring 2-4 “collegiate staff” we would hire to the training the following year. (Unfortunately, we did not find the staff, and so are currently praying about how to proceed with the vision to get on to the campuses.)

While in the Springs, I was reading through the book of Joshua found in the Hebrew Scriptures (also known as the Old Testament). In chapter 3, the Israelites are prepared to cross the Jordan River into the Promised Land after 40 years of wandering in the desert.

The river was at flood stage as it tells us in verse 15. But God instructed the priests carrying the ark to walk into the water, and when they did so, he would stop the waters and they would be able to cross. This is a great lesson in faith.

But that’s not my point with this. My point has to do with verse 16 (and have you ever noticed how many “3:16s” there are in the Bible with significant theological ideas in them?). When the priests step into the river, the water stops at a certain city. And Joshua records for us the city’s name – Adam.

When I first read this while sitting on a rock in the beautiful Colorado spring air, I knew there had to be a deeper meaning. Why was the city name recorded? Something told me it had to be tied to the man we see in Genesis chapters 1-3 (with mentions in 4 and 5), but I couldn’t put my figure on it. I talked with some people about the passage, but a “deeper meaning” seemed to elude them as well.

Today I am at Camp Io-Dis-E-Ca with the Sr. High Winter Retreat. One of my friends is the main speaker, and I somehow ended up the worship leader for the retreat (still haven’t quite figured out how that happened – but things have gone well, so it must have been God’s doing). I was up earlier than I expected to be this morning, so I spent some time reading in the Scriptures and journaling as part of the 30-Day Challenge our church is going through as part of our Embracing Faith Stewardship Campaign.

After reading the Scriptures and journaling some thoughts, I decided to pull out the book I’ve been reading. My administrative assistant lent it to me. It’s called “Stripped” and is written by Jud Wilhite, a pastor of a large church in the Vegas area. It’s about the uncensored grace God has given many people in Vegas and how their lives have turned around. It’s an inspiring read to be reminded of the amazing grace God gives and how it radically changes who a person is when they truly embrace His grace.

In the closing chapter, Jud mentions the Joshua 3:16 passage. While Jud used the passage to talk about God working “upstream” where we can’t see where he is doing the miracle, I suddenly had an epiphany about the deeper meaning.

In Ezekiel 47, there is a river that is the central character. I am convinced the river is Jesus Christ. The river comes from the temple (the place of God’s presence), passes by the altar (the place of sacrifice), goes through the east gate (where only God was allowed to go (see Ezekiel 44:1-2), and brings life wherever it flowed. Through Scripture we know that Jesus came from Heaven (the place of God’s presence), went through the cross (the place of Sacrifice), is God in the flesh (so would be allowed to use the east gate), and brings life (see John 10:10).

So in Joshua 3:16, it suddenly dawns on me that the Jordan River (where Jesus was baptized, by the way) might represent Jesus or life. And it is through Jesus’ death (his life being stopped up) that we can cross over to life, to the Promised Land.

But why did it stop at a city named Adam? Because it was through Adam the man that death entered the scene when he sinned in the Garden of Eden (Romans 5:12-21). And so “Adam” stopped life. But what Satan intended for evil when he tempted Eve in the Garden, who then gave the fruit to her silent husband, God used to redeem his people. Life was stopped by Adam’s sin, but God turned it around and used death (the death of Christ) to allow His people to crossover to life, rather spiritual life (a spiritual Promise Land) - the kind of life that really matters.

And so I finally saw it – the deeper meaning. This has happened to me so many times (the Ezekiel 47:1-12 section is another example). I read a passage and miss the deeper meaning, and then weeks, months, (or in this case) years later I finally have insight.

So tonight (during our hour-long “supper” of feasting on God’s Word while fasting from physical food), when I struggled through Galatians 3, primarily verse 16 (there it is again – 3:16!) and Paul’s discussion of seed/seeds, I know I will eventually understand the deeper meaning. It just might take longer than I want!