How Do We Get to Jordan?

By Dr. Brian J. Bailey

On our journey from Egypt to Zion, we must make our passage over Jordan to reach the Promised Land, our inheritance, and to reach Zion. Therefore, it is natural to say, “Let’s cross over Jordan now!” But the problem is, we cannot cross over Jordan until we arrive at Jordan. We only get there when God brings us. The Israelites could not move unless the cloud by day or pillar of fire by night moved on. This truth should be firmly imbedded into our hearts.

God does not bring us to Jordan until He is satisfied that we have successfully passed our ten trials in the wilderness. This is the reason we must walk with God day by day, week by week, and month by month. Our prayer should be, “O God, bring me to

my Jordan.”

Many of the Israelites never made it to Jordan. They failed all their tests in the wilderness. Their evil attitudes of unbelief and hardness of heart hindered them from finding favour with God, and they ended up dying in the wilderness. New Testament believers are warned not to follow their example of unbelief (Heb. 3 :7-4: 11,

1 Cor. 10: 1-11 ).

Some Christians are perpetual wilderness wanderers. Disobedience and self-will deprive them of genuine guidance, and they wander aimlessly all of their lives. You do not have to be like this. Ask God for a soft and obedient heart, for this kind of heart insures us of God’s favour.

Joshua and Caleb were the only ones from their generation who made it into the Promised Land. They had “another spirit.” They had faith and a rejoicing spirit, declaring, “If the Lord delight in us, then He will bring us into this land” (Num. 14:8).

They spent time in God’s presence, allowing Him to develop within them a soft and believing heart. That is the only way we can make it into the Promised Land. There are no short cuts to Jordan. Therefore, let us learn from the lives of Joshua and Caleb the keys to making it through the wilderness, to the Jordan River, and into the Promised Land.

Importance of Circumcision

The Israelites crossed the Jordan River, came to Gilgal, and erected the memorial of the 12 stones from the Jordan River, as recorded in Joshua 4:19-20, “And the people came up out of Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and encamped in Gilgal, in the east border of Jericho. And those twelve stones, which they took out of Jordan, did Joshua pitch in Gilgal.”

At Gilgal, the Lord instructed Joshua to circumcise the people because the younger generation had not been

circumcised by their parents in the wilderness. We read in Joshua 5:2-5, “At that time the LORD said unto Joshua, Make thee sharp knives, and circumcise again the children of Israel the second time. And Joshua made him sharp knives, and circumcised the children of Israel at the hill of the foreskins. And this is the cause why Joshua did circumcise: All the people that came out of Egypt, that were males, even all the men of war, died in the wilderness by the way, after they came out of Egypt. Now all the people that came out were circumcised: but all the people that were born in the wilderness by the way as they came forth out of Egypt, them they had not circumcised.”

Physical circumcision is the cutting away of the flesh with which a male child is born. An uncircumcised person in the Old Testament was considered unclean and could not partake of the blessings and rites of the Jewish faith.

Spiritual circumcision is the cutting away of the carnal and sinful Adamic nature with which we are born. It is a redemptive act done in our hearts by the sword of God. It is an ever-operative working of the sword of God to deal with and dissect the other areas of our inner life. The lack of spiritual circumcision represents the fact that the sinful desires, ways, thought patterns, and reactions that we were born with have not been cut away or removed.

In Genesis 17:10-11, the Lord commanded Abraham and his descendants to be circumcised as a token of His covenant with them: “This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee; Every man child among you shall be circumcised. And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you. “ Circumcision was required in order to inherit the promises of Abraham, which included the Promised Land. It was a sign or token of the Israelites’ devotion to God. A believer cannot receive his inheritance until he is circumcised in heart.

Evidence of a Circumcised Heart

A co-operating, compliant heart is a circumcised heart.

It is a heart that does not resist the Holy Spirit or His messengers. Moses said in Deuteronomy 10: 16, “Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no more stiff-necked.” “Stiff-necked” means obstinate, inflexible, and stubborn. We cannot inherit the promises if

we are stubborn.

We have a New Testament example in the form of Stephen’s defence in Acts 7:51-52, “Ye stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye. Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which showed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers.” Stephen’s audience resisted and hated the words that the Holy Spirit had spoken through him. The Lord will reject the heart that despises and rejects the word of the Lord (1 Sam. 15:26).

A heart that is humble, broken, and repentant is a circumcised heart.

When offenders justify their actions and shift the blame to others, when they refuse correction or discipline, they are uncircumcised. Although it is natural to respond this way, as we are born uncircumcised, we must acknowledge our own faults and accept punishment for our sins.

Leviticus 26:40-42 states clearly, “If they shall confess their iniquity, and the iniquity of their fathers ... if then their uncircumcised hearts be humbled, and they then accept of the punishment of their iniquity: Then will I remember my covenant with Jacob, and also my covenant with Isaac, and also my covenant with Abraham will I remember; and I will remember the land.”

A heart that is circumcised seeks God’s approval, not man’s.

Paul makes this very clear in Romans 2:28-29, “For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.”

When friendships, family, and public approval are more important than God’s approval, we are uncircumcised in heart. Some people are so afraid of reproach, embarrassment, or being misunderstood by others, that they will not obey God. (See Matthew 10:32-39, John 12:42-43.)

The ability to worship God in the freedom of the Spirit without being hindered by tradition or pride is a wonderful indication of spiritual circumcision.

Tradition can be a form of uncircumcision if it repulses the manifestations of the Holy Spirit. Some believers despise clapping, raising of the hands, dancing before the Lord, and worshipping in the Spirit. We must remember that the desire of the Father is for those who can worship Him in spirit and in truth.

Jesus developed the theme of true worship in John 4:22-24, “Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship Him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.”

Having “no confidence in the flesh” (Phil. 3:3) is one of the surest evidences that the Word of God has cut deeply into the heart.

By nature, we are self-willed, self-reliant, and headstrong, relying on our own mind and abilities instead of on God. Natural charisma, personality, or good looks, are often depended upon rather than the Holy Spirit.

Christians often plan their own future and try to work out their problems apart from God’s guidance. Uncircumcised Christians also believe that by their own cleverness and intuition they can decide what is right and wrong, and what is truth and error; but they cannot! It is only by God’s mercy that we can rightly discern anything.

An obedient heart filled with love for God is the result of God’s circumcision.

We read in Deuteronomy 30:6,8, “And the Lord thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live ... And thou shalt return and obey the voice of the Lord, and do all his commandments which I command thee this day.”

If we will let Him, God will so thoroughly cut away evil in our inner man that we will be able to love Him with all our heart. The sword will so deliver us from the bondages of the fall that we will be enabled to obey Him.

A circumcised Christian is able to forgive and release people for offenses they have committed against him.

The hardened believer seeks to punish others by shutting them out of his life. Jesus Himself said the reason for divorce is because of “hardness of heart” (Mt. 19:7-8, Mk. 10:4-6). A hardened heart cannot forgive but remembers and cherishes grudges.

This article is an excerpt from Chapter 11 of the book, Journey of Israel. It has been reprinted with covering permission from the author, the late Dr. Brian J. Bailey. Scriptures quoted in this article are in the King James Version.