The Crossing of the Water and the Circumcision of the Heart

Based on God’s word it is evident that phases of transition are accompanied by the presence of water. This principle is clearly illustrated by the exodus of the people of Israel under the leadership of Moses from Egypt into the wilderness, as well as the entry of the people of Israel under the leadership of Joshua into the Promised Land (cf. Exodus 14:16, 21-22 i.c.w. Joshua 3:13-17).
 
Exodus 14:16.21-22:
16 Raise your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea to divide the water so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground. …
21 Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the Lord drove the sea back with a strong east wind and turned it into dry land. The waters were divided,
22 and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left.
 
Joshua 3:13-17:
13 And as soon as the priests who carry the ark of the Lord – the Lord of all the earth – set foot in the Jordan, its waters flowing downstream will be cut off and stand up in a heap.’
14 So when the people broke camp to cross the Jordan, the priests carrying the ark of the covenant went ahead of them.
15 Now the Jordan is in flood all during harvest. Yet as soon as the priests who carried the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water’s edge, 16 the water from upstream stopped flowing. It piled up in a heap a great distance away, at a town called Adam in the vicinity of Zarethan, while the water flowing down to the Sea of the Arabah (that is, the Dead Sea) was completely cut off. So the people crossed over opposite Jericho.
17 The priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord stopped in the middle of the Jordan and stood on dry ground, while all Israel passed by until the whole nation had completed the crossing on dry ground.
 
As God’s people, we move within the structure of the kingdom, which we need to understand with its various levels of heavens coupled to the element of water. This is evident from the Hebrew word ‘mamlākāh’ used for the term ‘kingdom’.
 
This Hebrew word begins twice with the Hebrew letter ‘Mem’, which is associated with ‘water’, among other things, as well as carrying the numerical value ‘40’. The Hebrew word used in the Word of God for ‘water’ is ‘Majim’ and is used exclusively in the plural form. It begins with the Hebrew letter ‘Mem’ and concludes with it at the same time. (Note: part excerpt from the Elberfelder Study Bible on the word ‘mamlākāh – kingdom’ with the word key number 4542).
 
Jacob also entered a new era after he crossed the ford of the Jabbok with his family and saw the face of God in connection with it. As a result, Jacob approached with a firm confidence and God-given strategy his brother Esau, who normally wanted to kill him (cf. Genesis 32:22-31 i.c.w. Genesis 33:1-4).
 
Genesis 32:22-31:
22 That night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two female servants and his eleven sons and crossed the ford of the Jabbok.
23 After he had sent them across the stream, he sent over all his possessions.
24 So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak.
25 When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man.
26 Then the man said, ‘Let me go, for it is daybreak.’ But Jacob replied, ‘I will not let you go unless you bless me.’
27 The man asked him, ‘What is your name?’ ‘Jacob,’ he answered.
28 Then the man said, ‘Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome.’
29 Jacob said, ‘Please tell me your name.’ But he replied, ‘Why do you ask my name?’ Then he blessed him there.
30 So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, ‘It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared.’
31 The sun rose above him as he passed Peniel, and he was limping because of his hip.
 
Genesis 33:1-4:
1 Jacob looked up and there was Esau, coming with his four hundred men; so he divided the children among Leah, Rachel and the two female servants.
2 He put the female servants and their children in front, Leah and her children next, and Rachel and Joseph in the rear.
3 He himself went on ahead and bowed down to the ground seven times as he approached his brother.
4 But Esau ran to meet Jacob and embraced him; he threw his arms around his neck and kissed him. And they wept.
 
The Breaking Off of Time and the Enlightened Eyes of the Heart
 
Passing through the water also points to the circumcision of the heart, which is linked to cutting off an old time so that we can go forward with Jesus Christ in the new time with enlightened eyes of the heart.
 
The enlightened eyes of the heart are accompanied by a renewed spiritual perspective and the necessary discernment (cf. Ephesians 1:18).
 
Ephesians 1:18:
18 I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, …
 
Moreover, it doesn’t fail that when one decides to go further with Jesus Christ with the renewed vision obtained, there is confrontation with the religious spirit. This spirit works through believers who have not been renewed in their mind and spirit by the Holy Spirit. They do have a certain kind of ‘curiosity’ for the new, but they are closed to it in their hearts or doubt it because they cannot see God’s plan.
 
It is only through the renewing of our mind and spirit that we are able to discern the will of God (cf. Romans 12:2 i.c.w. Ephesians 4:23-24).
 
Romans 12:2:
2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will.
 
Ephesians 4:23-24:
… 23 to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24 and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
 
We, as the body of Christ, are in a time when it is necessary to produce disciples who will follow Jesus Christ without reservation and help to circumcise the hearts of men under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
 
=> True discipleship of Christ involves an unconditionality of ‘following’ that goes far beyond the traditional measure. It is necessary that a disciple of Christ, for the sake of the dawning reign of God, be willing to leave everything behind (cf. Luke 9:57-62; Luke 14:25-27). Thus, true disciples of Christ are pupils/students (Note: teachable in every way) who are always learning, growing, and seeking more knowledge of their callings and goals, and walking in them. <= (Note: The text placed in ‘=>’ is based on a quote from Rick Joyner).
 
From the aforementioned circumcision of the heart, the result is that the body of Christ brings the dynamic of worship to the place of understanding about the cycles of God’s time, so that there is a merging of worship and the time of God to move forward with a new understanding about God’s timing and in prophetic watchfulness.
 
This process is clearly illustrated by the scripture from John 4:1-4.
 
John 4:1-4:
1 Now Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that he was gaining and baptising more disciples than John – 2 although in fact it was not Jesus who baptised, but his disciples.
3 So he left Judea (Note: means ‘worship, praise’) and went back once more to Galilee (Note: means ‘circle, a special circuit’).
4 Now he had to go through Samaria (Note: means ‘belonging to the watchman, watch mountain’).
 
The Understanding about the Inheritance of the Kingdom
 
Furthermore, the Holy Spirit, in the form of revelatory truth, leads us into a greater understanding of the potential of the inheritance of the kingdom in the generations, which goes hand in hand with holding on to the promise of God as well as the administration of the resources given or entrusted by God. This is the inheritance of fatherhood and sonship in Christ Jesus.
In this context, it is necessary that we have a prophetic overview and are willing to explore with the Holy Spirit the secret depths of Christ, which are the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Only in this way can we reveal God’s view, that is, His plan, to people.
 
Even if we have grown weary because of previous confrontations, it is important that we commit ourselves to the right thing at the right time, in the right place with the right people, in order to succeed and to secure it by the grace of God in the future (cf. John 4:5-6 i.c.w. Colossians 2:3).
 
John 4:5-6:
5 So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar (Note: from Sichem means ‘ridge’), near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph.
6 Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon.
 
Colossians 2:3:
… 3 in whom (Note: Christ) are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
 
The tiredness/weariness is only a sign that we are in a so-called spiritual metamorphosis, which is similar to that of a butterfly. The butterfly has to leave its caterpillar stage by hatching out of the cocoon in order to move in a higher dimension with a new vision, which for us is connected with the renewal of our thoughts.
 
Amen and Amen.
 
In His Wisdom,
 
Daniel Glimm