In my last message I spoke about the Jordan River. It was there that Elisha followed hard after Elijah, for he wanted the double portion of the Prophet’s prophetic power. He could have turned back long before they got there, but hung on until they crossed over the river. Elisha was rewarded for his effort and got what he wanted from God. Elisha had to go beyond the Jordan River to get it and it wasn’t easy.
I found out something else this week as I thought on what had happened back then. When John the Baptist appeared on the scene many years later it was in the same spot where Elijah was taken up into heaven in a flaming chariot and where Elisha received the double portion – it was a place called ‘beyond Jordan.’
It says in scripture that John the Baptist began his ministry here in this location. It was the same place on the other side of the Jordan where the 2 prophets had parted each other’s company. Elijah was taken up into heaven in a flaming chariot and Elisha took up his mantel.
According to the Jews this was a strategic location, for they believed that Elijah was going to come back here according to Malachi chapter 4 and prepare the way for the Messiah. John’s appearing at this exact location was very significant and created quite a stir. Unfortunately, if he was the ‘Elijah’ preparing before the coming of the Messiah, the Jews still didn’t believe that Jesus was the Messiah.
Something I admire about John was his amazing strength of character. He wasn’t afraid to confront the religious leaders of his day and knew what God was saying without a shadow of a doubt. I admire this quality in him and also Elijah/Elisha. They were cut from the same cloth and so was Jesus. They all didn’t need man’s fear man nor need his approval. The bible calls this weakness a snare.
“Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe.” Proverbs 29:25
For 30 years John was off the grid alone with God in the wilderness and so was Elijah not mentioned until he stood before King Ahab. Elijah had spent a lot of time alone with God and at one stage ravens came and fed him, for he wasn’t reliant on the world’s supply line. It seems that in these lonely places they learnt to hear the voice of God and this enabled them to stand with confidence before Kings. Jesus was like this too. Jesus really admired John in fact he said that there was no greater Prophet than John.
“Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet whoever is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.” Matthew 11:11
John became the strong man he was because he lived beyond Jordan, off the grid, getting his strength from God and learning to get strength and resources from heaven. He didn’t care that he wasn’t wearing the latest fashion or eating the right type of food as far as the world was concerned. Jesus wants us to be strong too, to be the strength of our life. To be like Him. Jesus lived off a different fuel than those around him, He lived on a different planet, so to speak and didn’t depend on man. Especially the approval and affirmation of man. All He wanted was God’s affirmation. He lived by the life given to him by the Father and he also expects us to do the same.
“Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me.” John 6:57
Kings and kingdoms may come and go but a man like Jesus and John stays the same. Jesus said,
“My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.” John 18:36
Daniel the Prophet stayed true through many government changes but he was not phased. All these men like this spent time fasting and praying alone with God and learned, like Jesus to live by the word of God. The word was their strength their source of power. Jesus said that he had a secret source of food.
“Meanwhile his disciples urged him, “Rabbi, eat something.” But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.” Then his disciples said to each other, “Could someone have brought him food?” “My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.”
John 4:31-34
“Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” Matthew 4:4
We are trained from babies to live by bread alone. Fasting is not even considered even by Christians. Too the world fasting is absurd but Jesus said that it is absolutely necessary for you to maintain your spiritual strength. We need to live by the word of God. He said to his disciples. “When you fast.” It wasn’t an optional extra. Your flesh needs to know that you can survive without food for a day, a week or more, waiting on God and feeding on His word. God wants us to get to the place where we love His word more than food. Then we are truly off the grid.
On one occasion Elijah was fed by ravens for a period of time and only received 2 meals a day from these unclean birds. How would we handle that? We are used to 3 meals a day with morning and afternoon teas, with supper and snacks in between. Jesus, John, Elijah and Elisha all denied the flesh and were strong men of God. They lived off the grid beyond Jordan. They lived on a different fuel trusting in a different supply line. Hudson Taylor went to China as a missionary and had an effective ministry there because he lived like the Chinese, eating and dressing like them too. All who followed him had to leave all their familiar things at home and cross the Jordan. Some left their children behind in Britain so they could do the will of God. Something like this is absurd in our day.
“Join with me in suffering, like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No one serving as a soldier gets entangled in civilian affairs, but rather tries to please his commanding officer. Similarly, anyone who competes as an athlete does not receive the victor’s crown except by competing according to the rules.”
2 Timothy 2:4
We are called to be soldiers for Christ, and soldiers can’t have a different agenda. If the Commanding Officer says that we are going to attack the enemy at dawn tomorrow, you can’t say that you won’t be there because you have chickens to feed and then take your mum to the doctors. Effective soldiers are sold out to the cause.
When I was in the Rhodesian Army there were many units that helped make it all function properly, but the most powerful unit was the SAS and the Selous Scouts. I went to Bible College with one of the ex Selous Scouts and he told me stories about what they did. He lived off the grid and wasn’t on the same supply line as other soldiers. He would be dropped deep inside enemy lines with no rifle and no supplies, having to live off bugs, roots and berries, finding his own way. He once was dropped deep into Mozambique and had to take out some Russian Generals in Maputo. He was like Bear Grylls, right out of his comfort zone. To be so effective he had to be off the grid like John the Baptist with his mind filled with his mission. His face was set like a flint ignoring the discomfort and pain.
Elijah’s supply and strength was in God
We had a powerful storm come through my home town once and many had no power and shock of all shocks no mobile phone coverage or internet. Wow things were bad. LOL. I went to a friend’s place in Inglewood and asked him how he managed and he said he was fine because he’s off the grid. He has solar panels and a wind mill to get him through in times like this. These sort of things didn’t bother him for he had a different supply line.
David was a great soldier. He was called a ‘Man of War’. He learnt a lot from living alone as a child in the wilderness looking after sheep. In one of his psalms he wrote.
“My strength is in you” Psalm 27:2.
His strength and affirmation didn’t come from others it came from God alone. This made him strong. Can we say that?
When you look at a baby you see how vulnerable they are. They don’t know their left hand from their right. They can’t feed themselves. If left alone with lots of food in the same room they’d starve and they can’t change their undies. Eventually through training children become self-sufficient. It’s amazing to see how we made it through all those days.
When Abraham and Sarah had baby Isaac they laughed, but when Isaac was weaned they threw a party. Angels rejoice when we are saved but there’s a party when we are weaned from the world and become strong. “Blessed in the sight of the Lord is the death of His Saints.” Of course as Christians we are made even stronger through our network with other Christians but we need to be in the place that if all were taken away we would still stand strong, for our strength is in God.
What I am saying in all this. God is not wanting us to be hermits living on locusts and wild honey, for it’s an attitude that He wants us to adopt. The trouble is we are so worldly now days that we can’t survive outside the world’s system for a day. Look at how we need our mobile phones with us 24/7. Some more or less sleep with their phone under their pillow in case someone texts them. We can be so dependent on man, so needing their affirmation that God has a hard time using us. This is not how God wants us to live. He wants us to live beyond Jordan. Off the grid. That’s where the blessings are. Jesus said to his disciples “Launch out into the deep.” That’s where they got a big catch of fish.
“The man brought me back to the entrance to the temple, and I saw water coming out from under the threshold of the temple toward the east …. As the man went eastward with a measuring line in his hand, he measured off a thousand cubits and then led me through water that was ankle-deep. He measured off another thousand cubits and led me through water that was knee-deep. He measured off another thousand and led me through water that was up to the waist. He measured off another thousand, but now it was a river that I could not cross, because the water had risen and was deep enough to swim in—a river that no one could cross.” Ezekiel 47:1-5
In this vision of Ezekiel, we see that God’s plan was that we go beyond standing on the shore and lose ourselves in the River, into a a place where we are not touching the bottom anymore, flowing with the river. Wherever the river went there was healing and life, for its the river of life and wherever it went there was healing. We need to get to that place where we can’t touch the bottom anymore and live on another fuel, learning to live by the Father.
Another thing to note is that John eventually baptised in the Jordan. The Jordan speaks of death and so does baptism. John was a man who knew about the principle of dying to self. He said that he must decrease and Jesus must increase. The bible shows us that the more we die the more effective we become. Until a seed dies it can’t bring forth fruit.
“Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.” John 12:24
Jesus wants us to reckon ourselves dead. Dead men can’t be offended. You can slap a dead man on the face but he will not retaliate. We need to be a people who don’t have a knee jerk reaction over everything for we are dead to this world. We could go so much further in God if we lived that way reckoning ourselves dead. People can say stuff about us but it’s like water off a duck’s back. We would love to be used by the Lord like Billy Graham, Oral Roberts or Brian Houston but in listening to their life stories they had so much criticism. They needed to have a thick skin. God is training us to be a people who live by the word rather than by feelings and circumstances.
“In a dream, a man once saw Jesus approach three praying women. He knelt beside the first with great tenderness and love. At the second, He simply placed His hand on her head and gave her a look of approval. He passed by the third without even stopping. Sensing the man's bewilderment, Jesus explained, "Without constant assurance the first woman would stumble and fall. The second woman's faith is stronger; I can count on her. The third, however, is being trained for the highest calling of all. She knows Me so intimately that she doesn't need signs of My approval. No circumstance discourages her because she knows that ultimately, she can trust Me."
When we die to self we go beyond Jordan and become so much stronger, not needing the affirmation of men anymore. It’s good to encourage each other but when it’s all boiled down we need to ask ourselves, “what does God say about what I’m doing?” We are so influenced by the fear and affirmation of men that it’s a snare hindering the work of God. It’s interesting to note that there were 50 other Prophets who watched Elijah and Elisha cross the Jordan but they didn’t go with them. Does this indicate the only 5% of God’s Children are willing to go that far? Beyond the Jordan.