In the Old Testament, beginning with Genesis chapter one , God has set forth numerous word pictures to teach about the
person and work of Christ — past, present, and future.
A foundational type is laid down in the Exodus of the children of Israel from Egypt and their subsequent journey to the
promised land of their inheritance. This type is nearly inexhaustible in its teaching concerning both Israel and
Christians. This type covers the whole journey from Egypt to Canaan, as it also describes the future redemption of the
nation of Israel. But the type is also applicable to the Christian. The events in Egypt describe the aspects surrounding
our eternal salvation, through the death and shed blood of an innocent other. The Red Sea points to baptism all in view
of a promised heavenly land.
However, there is one significant event in this important type — namely, the typical meaning of the Jordan — which is
rarely accorded proper emphasis, though it is of great importance. Christians would greatly profit if they were as familiar
with the typical meaning of the Jordan as they are with the typical meaning of the Red Sea.
The Jordan as a type shows that the promised land could not be entered without crossing the Jordan:
“ For you are about to cross the Jordan to go in to possess the land that the LORD your God is giving you, and you shall
possess it and live in it, ” (cf. Deuteronomy 11:31 ).
When you cross the Jordan and live in the land that the LORD your God is giving you to inherit, and He gives you rest
from all your enemies around you so that you live in security, ” (cf. Deuteronomy 12:10 ).
“ So it shall be on the day when you cross the Jordan to the land that the LORD your God gives you, that you shall set up
for yourself large stones and coat them with lime ” (cf. Deuteronomy 27:2 ).
The means of entering the Promised Land was by crossing the Jordan. Just as the Israelites couldn’t leave Egypt, except
by passing through the Red Sea, Scripture does not provide a way to enter the Promised Land apart from crossing the
Jordan. And what is true in the “type,” must also be true in the “antitype.” The Christian cannot enter the kingdom of the
heavens without crossing the “Jordan” in its true, correct typical meaning. And it is this typical meaning that we shall
deal with in this study.
First-mention of the “Jordan”
“ Lot lifted up his eyes and saw all the valley of the Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere — this was before the
LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah — like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt as you go to Zoar. So Lot
chose for himself all the valley of the Jordan, and Lot journeyed eastward. Thus they separated from each other” (cf.
Genesis 13:10, 11 ).
Genesis 13:10, 11 provides a first-mention of the “Jordan” from the east. The text associates the Jordan and its valley
with fruitfulness. A distinction is also made between the east side, the west side, and their separation. This distinction
had to do with Lot – the man of flesh – and Abraham – the spiritual man. For one to enter the Promised Land he was to
cross the Jordan to the west side. But the Ruebenites, who lost their rights of the firstborn, had to stay, along with the
Gadites on the east side of the river.
The first-mention of the “Jordan” immediately shows its typical meaning. It has to do with matters of flesh and spirit.
For the Christian, the matters of the flesh and spirit have to do with what the New Testament calls the “salvation of the
soul” (cf . Matthew 16:25; John 12:25; James 1:21 ).
All of God’s dealings with Christians (allowing us to realize the salvation of our souls) will, typically, begin to occur only
after passing through the Red Sea, on the east side of Jordan. And only a continuing, on-going process having to do
with the saving of the
soul in one’s life, will allow us to cross the Jordan from the east to the west side of the river.
The Geography of the Jordan
The Jordan depression has unique geographical features. It runs its course from its multiple river sources from Mount
Hermon to Lake Huleh. From Lake Huleh to the Sea of Galilee is about 10 miles (16 kilometres), and the Sea of Galilee to
the Dead Sea is about 65 miles (105 kilometres). From its beginning in the north to its terminus at the Dead Sea, the
river drops tremendously – a drop of about 2,380 feet (393 meters). Due to its winding course, the river itself, actually
measures nearly 200 miles (325 kilometres), over twice its direct distance.
The name “Jordan” (Hebrews yarden יַרְדֵן ) aptly means “the descender”. The name is connected with the Hebrew verb
yarad ( יָרַד ) , which means “to come or go down”. The verb is very common in Hebrew, such as in Exodus 32:1 : “…when
Moses came down from mount Sinai ”. But in its typical meaning – dealing with matters of flesh and spirit – we see the
same word used:
“ And I have trodden down the peoples in mine anger, and made them drunk in my fury; and their blood have I brought
down to the earth ” (cf. Isaiah 63:6 ).
“ Therefore thus says the Lord God: An adversary! — even round about the land! And he shall bring down your strength
from you, and your palaces shall be pillaged” (Amos 3:11 ).
“ A wise man scales the city of the mighty and brings down the stronghold in which they trust” (Proverbs 21:22 ).
In all these three verses, we see that “bringing down” is associated with bringing down the strength of man. This is
illustrated even more through the names of two perennial streams on the east side of the Jordan: the Jabbok and the
Cherith, east of the Jordan. The Jabbok appears 7 times in the Old Testament (cf. Genesis 32:22; Numbers 21:24;
Deuteronomy 2:37; 3:16; Joshua 12:2; Judges 11:13, 22 ), and the Cherith two times (cf. 1 Kings 17:3, 5 ).
The word “Jabbok” means “emptying”. The word is derived from the Hebrew verb baqaq (בָּקַק ), which means “to empty”.
It refers to the fact that the Jabbok empties into the Jordan from the east.
The word “Cherith” means “cutting”. The word is derived from the Hebrew verb karat ( כָּרַת ), which means “to cut off, to
cut down”.
When we link these meanings, the Jordan, the “Descender”, bringing down one’s strength, in connection with
“emptying” and “cutting”, we can see very clearly that experiences surrounding the crossing of the Jordan are
specifically typical, with a view of one day realizing, the salvation of the soul.
First-mention of the “Jabbok”
The Jabbok is first mentioned in Genesis 32:22 :
“ Now he arose that same night and took his two wives and his two maids and his eleven children, and crossed the ford
of the Jabbok . ”
Genesis 32:22-32 deals with the wrestling of Jacob with the Lord. The natural strength of Jacob was broken, and Jacob
was renamed Israel. Again we see that the Jordan of its perennial streams point to the breaking, the emptying and the
cutting down of the natural man, which has everything to do with the salvation of the soul.
First-mention of the Brook “Cherith”
The Cherith is first mentioned in 1 Kings 17:3 :
“ Go away from here and turn eastward, and hide yourself by the brook Cherith , which is east of the Jordan ”
The context of this verses deals with Elijah, also in connection with an “emptying” and a “cutting”.
The Red Sea and the Jordan as Types
It is very important to see that there is a difference in typical meaning between the Red Sea and the Jordan. Both types
commonly share the fact that they are two sides of one cross. Both symbolize the spiritual death and resurrection of the
believer, but the Jordan carries it into another realm. It is of the utmost importance to understand this distinction.
The Red Sea points to the substitutionary death and the positional identification of the believer in Christ’s death and
resurrection. The wilderness is the revelation of the need for the Jordan, the experiential identification with Christ in His
death and resurrection.
The Jordan points to the practical application of deliverance from the self-life. When the Israelites crossed the Jordan,
they left a monument of twelve stones, typifying the Israelites themselves, buried in the bed of the river, indicating the
practical ending of the self-life. And then another memorial of twelve stones was taken from the bed of the river and
placed on the shore of Canaan, typifying, not only the newness of life through resurrection, but also to an everlasting and
practical separation by burial.
Newness of life is always received in resurrection, which is typified by the Israelites rising from the Red Sea. But there is
a sense in which Israel, even when they were out of Egypt, were not out. They constantly longed to go back to Egypt;
Egypt was in their hearts. Not until they passed through the Jordan, were they really out of Egypt. The Jordan typifies the
cross that dealt with the Israelites in an inward way. The Red Sea represented what God did for the Israelites, while the
Jordan was a type of a work consummated in them. When a Christian comes to knowledge of the Word of the Kingdom
and starts to apply this knowledge, he in fact has crossed the Jordan. This type of Christian has decided to loose his
soul in order to save it, which means nothing less than the decision to apply the cross in a subjective way. This also
shows that the Word of the Cross is a part of the Word of the Kingdom.
After we have come to the blessings of the substitutionary work of Christ, sooner or later we will learn how wide the gap
is between the old creation and the new creation, between the natural life and the spiritual life. At the Jordan the Lord
Jesus was baptized, which signifies that He didn’t start His ministry out of Himself, but out of the Father.
And what happened then? The heavens opened and the Spirit descended. Everything was by the Spirit. The Lord Jesus
stepped into His public ministry after (only subsequent to) the Jordan, where He accepted the cross as the basis of His
ministry.
The first issue in His public ministry was the temptation of the devil in the wilderness, just as the first issue of the
Israelites after applying the cross was a confrontation with the inhabitants of the Promised Land. A person’s personal
spiritual conflict is in exact proportion to his apprehension of the cross.
The secret of our Lord’s walk lies in the fact that in the Jordan He had entered the real meaning of the cross, and was
able to say, “Not My will ” ( Luke 22:42 ). Everything personal was set aside. This is the way of our Lord, and this is the
way for us as His servants. It is of the utmost importance to see that the Jordan is not a repeated and extended type of
the Red Sea. The difference between the Red Sea and the Jordan as types is as vast as the difference between the
objective side and the subjective side of the cross.
It is also important to see that the second generation of Jews who enter the promised land were already looked upon as
being delivered from Egypt: “ for the LORD our God is He who brought us and our fathers up out of the land of Egypt, from
the house of bondage, and who did these great signs in our sight and preserved us through all the way in which we went
and among all the peoples through whose midst we passed ” (Joshua 24:17 ).
Joshua 24:17 is interesting, because it shows that not only the Lord looked upon the first generation as delivered from
Egypt, but also the second generation. So there is really no need to look upon the Jordan as a renewed Red Sea because
this second generation didn’t cross the water of the Red Sea personally. The Red Sea is the Red Sea and the Jordan is
the Jordan. So there is really no problem in seeing the second generation as having gone all the way, in type, as the first
generation (deliverance from slavery, the Paschal Lamb, the journey through the wilderness up to Kadesh-Barnea). All
through the Old Testament Israel — all its generations — is seen as delivered from Egypt (cp. Micah 6:4 ).
The logical conclusion would be that the first generation could never have entered the land except by crossing the
Jordan. Likewise, a Christian cannot enter the Promised Land solely on basis of the objective death of Christ. Even
though the first generation had received the Law and had the Tabernacle, this never guarantied the entrance into the
Promised Land. There is only one thing that will ever link us to our inheritance and that’s the personal and collective
application of the cross. There is no other way.
If the first generation was to ever enter the land, they had to pass the Jordan, in spite of the fact that they had already
passed through the Red Sea. The objective never guaranties the subjective. The first generation didn’t enter the land
because it refused to apply the cross in a subjective and practical way. The first generation under Moses was not in a
position to enter the land at Kadesh-Barnea, because they had not accepted the cross as the Lord had accepted the
cross at the Jordan. Hence the Lord didn’t allow the Israelites to cross the Jordan.
The second generation – seen by the Lord as having crossed the Red Sea – are looked upon as being in a position
willing to apply the cross. They entered the land, not because they had the tabernacle in an objective way, but because
they were willing to apply the typical meaning of the Ark of the Covenant in a personal way. In the wilderness the pattern
of the tabernacle was given. In the land the pattern is worked out subjectively. In the wilderness Christ is set before us
as the pattern and the basis of life.
Once we have crossed the Jordan and have entered the land, an immense change takes place. The pattern is replaced
by the reality and the subjective ads to the objective. Before we cross the Jordan we may emphasize teaching and
understanding of Scripture, though it may all be in an objective way. But once we cross the Jordan it will dawn upon us
that the reality of all Bible teaching is to become the embodiment of the Scriptures.
That will change our attitude to the Scriptures for ever. It will also be a change from the earthly to the heavenly. The
heavenly life with Christ is to know the resurrection life in Christ. The Lord challenges us to know the Scriptures, but we
also have to know the power of God, the power of His resurrection (cp. Matthew 22:29 ).
The Promised Land as Type
As soon as the Israelites had crossed the Jordan, the Israelites were circumcised at Gilgal. The big difference between
Israel in the wilderness and Israel in the land is the difference between Israel in a carnal state and Israel in a conquest
and victorious state, because the flesh had been cut off in the Jordan and set aside at Gilgal. They were now a people in
the Spirit, just as the Lord had received the Spirit at the Jordan.
It is important to see that the book of Joshua parallels the letters of Paul to the Ephesians and Colossians. These letters
don’t describe a present millennial entrance in to the kingdom of the heavens, but a present spiritual warfare with the
powers of darkness.
What is the purpose of these letters? Well, it is the purpose of crossing the Jordan, which is a type of our subjective
identification with Christ in death, burial and resurrection.
The Red Sea says: “Christ died for you and you died with Him ” ( Romans 6 ). The Jordan says: “Because you died with
Him, let sin no longer reign in your mortal bodies ”. The great purpose of crossing the Jordan is Ephesians 4:13 : “…
fulness of Christ”
The Promised Land provides a dual type. The land of Canaan presents a type of the present warfare of the Christian and
a type of the coming millennial kingdom. So this land represents a type of the kingdom of the heavens from which the
powers of darkness presently operate. It presents a type of the heavenly Promised Land that a Christian can inherit
during the millennium. Our warfare is against the inhabitants of the land, which can’t be fought, as seen in Ephesians 6,
from the wilderness. Note that the inheritance has to be preceded by the battle. And some will not realize this
inheritance, though in the land, with the opposition at hand. A Christian can be overcome rather than to overcome. An
example in the type would be the battle of Ai. It is God’s purpose that we stay in the wilderness as short as possible and
cross the Jordan as soon as possible. Unfortunately, most Christians today are in no position to enter into the land and
battle the giants. They are someplace in the wilderness short of Kadesh-Barnea.
The Jordan River: a Type of the Salvation of the Soul
Joshua 3 and 4 give an account of the nation of Israel crossing the Jordan, as a type of the saving of the soul, a type of
the subjective application of the cross of Christ.
In advance of crossing the Jordan, Joshua rose early in the morning ( Joshua 3:1 ), pointing to his readiness and
watchfulness to cross the Jordan. In Scripture, men of God were, without exception, early risers in order to meet God
before they met men. We should be saturated with the Lord’s presence before the Lord can bless others with what He
has worked in us.
At the end of three days the time had come to cross the Jordan, and the process was as follows. The priests, carrying
the ark of the covenant, would step into the Jordan. When the soles of the feet of the priests would rest in the waters, the
waters of the Jordan would be cut off, and the water flowing down from above would stand in one heap (Joshua 3:13 ).
The priests would walk up to the middle of the river to stand there firm on the dry ground, until the nation finished
crossing the river ( Joshua 3:17 ). After the people had crossed the Jordan, twelve stones had to be taken from the
middle of the river, where the priests stood, to taken with them as a remembrance of crossing the river (Joshua 4:3 ).
Joshua also put twelve stones on the place where the priests had stood, also as a remembrance. The twelve stones
taken with them, were set up in Gilgal (Joshua 4:20 ).
The events around the Jordan and the Ark of the Covenant in particular are the elements that form a basic type of the
salvation of the soul in the Old Testament. The salvation of the soul points to a future saving of the soul in connection
with a present denial of the soul life or natural life. It implies a present determination to reject the carnal life. It
happened so when Israel passed through the Jordan, and forever parted with the carnal life.
The Jordan in type spoke of death in Christ to the carnal life, which was so predominant in the wilderness. The Jordan
drew the line between the Israelites carnally and their life spiritually. And now they typically were on spiritual ground.
Achan contradicts that when the carnal life broke out again, but the result was a quick and radical judgement. Things
once done in the flesh were not tolerated anymore. The events around the Jordan and the Ark of the Covenant in
particular are the elements that form a basic type of the salvation of the soul in the Old Testament.