Since 2013, the Lord has been speaking to me about the season that many in the body of Christ have been in: wilderness wandering. We have come out of the slavery of the world and the religious system and have been co-laboring with God to get that slavery out of us. This overcoming (growth and maturation) produces in us what we will need in order to steward the miraculous promises we have been given by the Father. Recently, whenever I pray about this “promised land,” I keep seeing a parting of the waters, which we know is not the Red Sea but the Jordan. There are some very key differences in those two events that are significant for us today.
In Exodus 14, God told Moses to take his rod and to stretch out his hand over the Red Sea, causing the waters to part with a strong east wind. Joshua 3, however, tells a completely different story! Instead of Joshua using a rod as Moses had done, the Jordan parted when the feet of the priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant stepped into the raging waters. Moses’ rod represented power and authority. Moses used his rod to do signs, wonders and miracles. He used it to demonstrate God’s power to Egypt and to outshine Pharaoh’s magicians. He used it to deliver God’s people from bondage. But he also used it to strike the rock in anger, misrepresenting God… and because of that, could not enter the Promised Land.
The shoulders, on the other hand, represent authority coupled with responsibility and servitude. It represents true governmental authority, and not just raw power. This is why government rests upon the shoulders of Christ the Messiah (Isaiah 9:6). Isaiah 22:22 is a multidimensional description of both Eliakim and Yeshua, who bear the “key of the house of David” upon their shoulders, to open what no one can shut, to shut what no man can open, to be a peg in a firm place (the Hebrew word for faith: aman) and to be a throne of glory to His Father’s house.
For your crossing over into your Promised Land and for your miraculous parting of the Jordan, the priestly must go first. It is all about ministering to the Lord and bearing on your shoulders the Ark of the Covenant, which is the “kabod” of God – the weight of His presence and His glory. The people will follow the priests who minister to the Lord and who bear His presence upon their shoulders. Only the priestly anointing can part the tumultuous waters standing between you and your promises. Then, when those waters part, you will walk through on dry ground and will manifest your kingship as you take the land.
We see from Hebrews 7:17 that Jesus is “a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.” Because of the cross, because of the blood and out of your oneness with Christ, you can function in this priesthood, too (priest, king, oracle). Only by operating out of this heavenly order can His kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven. Just as Joshua never departed from the tent of meeting (Exodus 33:11), remember to abide in His presence and to minister to Him moment by moment…. just to bring Him pleasure.
Until next time,
Virginia