CHAPTER 3 ENOCH & ELIJAH
Our last study raised the question as to how Elijah's and Enoch's failure to physically die actually fit into God's overall plan for likewise bringing us into His presence without our first having to physically die. In order to answer that question we need to first review some points which were brought into focus in Chapter 8 of A Closer Walk. In that lesson we saw that there is a direct correlation between our coming into the Father's presence without first having to partake of physical death and the experience of that generation of Israelites which was able to go into the promised land before dying in the desert. As you will recall, Heb.3:7 through 4:11 showed us that it was the physical bodies of the disobedient Israelites which were lost (see also I Cor.10:5). No where does Scripture tell us that all the members of that disobedient generation went to hell - only that they could not physically go into the Promised Land. (ie. it was their body that was lost, not their spirit or soul - Nu.14:20-23; I Cor.10:5 & Heb.3:17, see also Chapter 7 of God's Pattern)
By now turning our attention to Joshua 3:3-17 we will discover some interesting things about the events that were a part of the actual crossing into the Promised Land. Verse 3 says that the Ark of the Covenant (the Presence of the Lord) preceded the people into the Promised Land. The Ark was carried by the priests, and the people were to remain a distance of 2,000 cubits behind the Ark (see vs.4). The physical barrier which separated the people from the Promised Land was the Jordan River, which was at flood stage (vs.8&15). However, as soon as the priests set their feet into the Jordan, it rolled back all the way to the city of Adam. The people were then able to cross over on dry ground (vs.16-17 - see also Ps.114:3). At that same moment, the water of the Jordan stopped flowing downstream into the Dead Sea.
These seemingly meaningless occurrences are in reality clear types and shadows, which reveal tremendous details about God's pattern for us. Allow me to explain what I mean. Throughout Scripture we see numerous examples which serve to show us that the Jordan river is symbolic for death (Ro.6:3-4 with Mk.11:9) (II Ki.5:14 leprosy a type of sin, is cleansed only when covered by the perfect death of Jesus) and (Deut.3:27 Moses had to die, could not cross Jordan). As such, the Israelites could not physically enter the Promised Land until the Jordan had been rolled back to Adam. This is the key; THEY CROSSED ON DRY GROUND. The Jordan, symbolizing death itself, had been rolled back to the city of Adam. We also have a priest who has stepped into the Jordan ahead of us. The difference of course is that Jesus was not a foreshadow, but the fulfillment of God's blueprint. When Jesus died (stepped with His feet into the Jordan - Gen.3:15), death, both spiritual and physical, was rolled back all the way to its beginning, which was Adam (Ro.5:14).
"How do we know that this includes physical death as well as spiritual death?" Because Matt.27:52 shows us that at the moment of His death "the tombs broke open and the bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life..." (emphasis added) Verse 51 shows us that the curtain which separated the Middle Court of the temple from the Holy of Holies was also torn in two. The barrier of physical death, which separates the experience of Pentecost (Middle Court/soul salvation) from that of Tabernacles (Holy of Holies/bodily redemption), was removed by Jesus' sacrifice. (For a review of these concepts see Chapter 5 of The Last Enemy and Chapters 3,4&5 of God's Pattern and Lev.16:2 & Isaiah 25:7-8).
"If Jesus did in fact destroy the power of physical death along with spiritual death, then why are people still physically dying today?" Death of all types is from satan (Heb.2:14; John 10:10 & Ro.5:21&17), and by His death Jesus destroyed all the works of the devil including physical death (I John 3:8 & Gen.3:15). "Ok, Ok, but why don't we see that victory?" Listen carefully to what I am going to say. In the realm of the spirit, physical death has been defeated, but that victory has not yet manifested in the world we see with our natural eyes. (For a detailed discussion of spirit vs physical, see Chapter 4 of Needful Things.)
"Why hasn't the victory over physical death manifested itself?" The answer to this question again lies in the account of the wilderness journey of the Israelites. The generation that was supposed to go into the Promised Land didn't get to go. "Why not?" Because they failed to walk in such a way as to please God (Nu.14:8)!!! They were continually disobedient to God (Nu.14:22-23)!!! Note carefully that Nu.14:20 clearly shows us that the generation that was supposed to go into the promised land was forgiven for its disobedience, but because of its disobedience and unbelief (Heb.3:14) it was prevented from physically entering the promised land (see Chapter 7 of God's Pattern).
Because of their refusal to accept God at His Word, and rely upon His promises, their bodies rotted in the desert. "Who then got to go into the Promised Land?" The obedient generation that followed (Joshua 1:17). Today, like then, the way into the promised land (coming before the Lord without first having to physically die) is opened before us; however, as of this day and time, the Lord has not yet found the obedient generation He is looking for (Matt.28:20 & I Cor.10:1-11; Ro.8:21-24 with I John 3:3; Phil.3:15).
That explains why we have not yet seen with our natural eyes that which has already been completed in the spiritual realm. Think about this for a moment. The nature or composition of the Dead Sea did not change merely because the waters of the Jordan, which symbolized death itself, no longer flowed into it. The cessation of the flow merely meant that the Dead Sea would not get any more dead. In order to change the nature of the Dead Sea from death to life, an entirely new river must flow into it. The River of Life must take the place of the Jordan (the River of Death). "But on this earth where do we find the River of Life?"
Ez.47:1-9 tells us that the River of Life will fill the now empty river bed of the Jordan (vs.8), and then bring life to the Dead Sea by changing its very nature from death to life (vs.8-10). While the headwater of the River of Life is the Throne of God (Rev.22:11), as we saw in Chapter 3 of Needful Things, on the earth the River of Life is to be seen flowing from the Body of Christ -the Church (Ez.47:1 with Ex.40:24 and Nu.4:9 & 8:2 with Matt 5:14 and finally John 7:30). When the obedient Church arrives at the banks of the Jordan, then the waters flowing from it, which by that time have become a knee deep river, can begin to fill the dry channel of the empty Jordan and then become a torrent rushing on its way to change the Dead Sea into the body of living water described in Ez.47:5. The Church however has not yet reached the banks of the Jordan.
"Will there ever be an obedient generation which will reach the river's edge?" Praise God - yes there will!!! "Who will that be?" That question was answered in Chapters 9,10,11&12 of A Closer Walk and Chapters 6,7&9 of The Last Enemy, and I will not attempt to again answer it in the limited space available here. The question before us in this chapter is "WHEN will that be?" While no man will know the day and the hour, God has given us some clear indications as to the season so that we will not be taken unawares (Amos.3:7).
Returning to Joshua 3:4 we can begin to see some details of this pattern. Therein we are told that the people were to remain 2,000 cubits behind the priest. From our study of Moses' Tabernacle we saw that a clear relationship exists between the measurements which were given, and the passage of time. In God's Pattern we saw that there were about 1,500 years from the giving of the law to its fulfillment in Christ's crucifixion (Passover), and another 2,000 years from Pentecost until the beginning of the millennial period. Coming into the millennial age, which is the beginning of our Tabernacle experience, appears to occur about 2,000 years after the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. This is confirmed by the fact that the people had to remain a distance of 2,000 cubits (2,000 years) behind the priest who rolled the Jordan (death) back to Adam.
In God's Pattern we saw that there were about 2,500 years from Adam to the Exodus, 1,500 years from the Exodus to Jesus (Outer Court). And there will be about 2,000 years from the beginning of Pentecost to the beginning of Tabernacles (Middle Court), thereby giving us a total of 6,000 years. This brings us to the 1,000 year period of the millennial age (Holy of Holies) which, when completed, will fulfill the 7,000 years of God's plan that proceeds the 8th day of the Feast of Tabernacles (Lev.23:36; Neh.8:18 & Nu.29:35), which is the New Earth of II Pe.3:13 & Rev.21:1, and is indeed the greatest day of all (John 7:37).
The point is, our entrance into the Promised Land (which is the realm of physical immortality) appears to be at the beginning of the celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles (torn curtain at the entrance to the Holy of Holies). And the beginning of the Tabernacle experience occurs 2,000 years after the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost (2,000 cubit dimension of the Middle Court and the 2,000 cubit distance between the priest and people in Joshua 3). This passage from the Pentecost experience into the Tabernacle experience will be accomplished by an obedient generation that has overcome the final enemy of physical death (I Cor.15:26) which was itself symbolized in the Old Testament by crossing the Jordan on dry ground. (When this occurs is totally dependent upon both God's timing and the purity of that generation which is itself dependent upon the work of the Holy Spirit (see Chapter 12 of A Closer Walk, I John 3:3 and Ro.8:13)
All of this now brings us back to Elijah and Enoch. Elijah showed us the pattern for coming into God's presence without first having to partake of physical death (II Ki.2:11) because he crossed the Jordan on dry ground immediately prior to his ascension (II Ki.2:8). Since it was not time for Elisha to do the same thing, he had to go back across the Jordan, which he did in vs.14. By crossing the Jordan on dry ground before being taken into God's presence, Elijah's experience shows the undeniable link between the Israelites promised land experience and the physical immortality God granted Elijah, and which He has in store for that obedient end time generation of His choice.
Enoch served as the typology to show us that it will be the obedient final generation that comes into this realm. Heb.11:5 shows us that before Enoch was physically brought into God's presence he was commended as one who "pleased God" which is something the Israelites who died in the wilderness had failed to do (Nu.14:8 &23-40 - see Chapter 7 of A Closer Walk). Only those who obey God's commands will please Him (John 14:23, I John 5:3 & Lk.10:23). You cannot expect to escape physical death unless you also, like Enoch, are commended as one who pleases God.
God will raise up that end time perfect generation, for Enoch shows us the pattern (see Chapter 6 of The Last Enemy). According to Jude 14, Enoch was the 7th generation from Adam, and as we have seen before, "7" is God's perfect number (Rev.4:5 & Ps.12:6). Enoch then shows us that it will be obedient generation that completes the 6,999th year of God's pattern and goes into the 7,000 year. That generation will live the full 1,000 years that Methuselah failed to attain (Gen.5:27). They will complete the 7th day, which is the 1,000 year day of II Pe.3:8, which is itself the millennial period of Rev.20.
I believe that what we have seen clearly reinforces the position that Enoch and Elijah are not destined to physically return to earth in order to finally die. Rather, as we have seen, they were in fact integral pieces in God's pattern, all of which is designed to show us the path which will bring us back into the position whereby we can again physically walk with Him in the garden in the cool of the day.