Although God created man with such an intention and purpose, man has been ruined and corrupted. In a sense, ruined mankind has become Chaldea, Babylon, the land of idolatry. The Bible often uses lands and cities as figures to symbolize man. So Chaldea and Babylon signify the ruined and corrupted man filled with idolatry. Since man has fallen, there is the need to cross the river out of the corrupted land into the elevated, new land, that is, into an elevated, new mankind. So God came in and called Abraham out of that ruined mankind, that is, out of Chaldea, making him the head and father of the called race. Abraham crossed the river and became the first Hebrew, the first river crosser. Abraham’s crossing the river and entering into the new land signified his entering into an uplifted, new mankind which is to be used by God to be His expression.
God’s expression was symbolized by His temple, His habitation on earth. God’s intention in calling Abraham was to obtain such a habitation. Abraham’s being called was eventually for the producing, the building up, of God’s habitation. This is not a small thing. We must look at the Bible and the people in it as a whole, and not just consider a few individuals, such as Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Moses. What was God’s intention in calling Abraham? His intention was that all of Abraham’s descendants might be built up as a habitation of God on earth. Eventually, the result of Abraham’s being called was the temple. The crossing of the river was for the building of the temple. What is the significance of the building of the temple? It is the corporate expression of God. The temple, the habitation of God, is the corporate expression of God on earth. The temple was filled with the glory of God (1 Kings 8:10-11). When the temple was erected during the reign of Solomon, the shekinah glory filled it. At that time, all the children of Israel were brought into glory. The physical temple symbolized the people of Israel. God’s habitation on earth was not a house made of stone. That was only a symbol. The real habitation of God on earth at that time was the people of Israel. When God’s glory filled the temple, it signified that God’s glory had filled the children of Israel. The children of Israel were brought into glory. This is the real goal of crossing the river, the real goal of being a Hebrew.
If you know the kernel of the Bible, you will realize that everywhere there is a river for God’s people to cross. As I have already mentioned, there was a standing river, the laver, in front of the tabernacle (Exo. 40:30-32). Whenever a priest wanted to come into the presence of God, he had to pass that little river. To say that it was sufficient for the priests to wash themselves once and for all would be ridiculous. How many times did the priests have to be washed? It depended on how many times they went into the presence of God. Likewise, we need to be washed more than once. How many times do we need to be washed? Whenever we are dirty. To wash is just to cross the river. This washing will not be finished until we are on the sea of glass (Rev. 15:2-3). When we get into the New Jerusalem, there will be no more dust, only gold, pearl, and precious stones. There we shall never be dirty again. There will be no laver, no sea of glass, in front of the New Jerusalem. But there will be the lake of fire, and everything that has been washed away will go there. Now we understand what it means to cross the river; it is to wash ourselves from anything old, anything ruined, and anything that does not match God’s glory.
Abraham was called to cross the river. After that one, initial crossing of the river, how many crossings followed? Firstly, there was the crossing of the Red Sea and secondly the crossing of the Jordan River. At the time of the crossing of the Red Sea, the Egyptian forces were buried (Exo. 14:28). What was buried under the Jordan River? The self. When the children of Israel crossed the Jordan River, twelve stones, representing the old Israel, were buried there, and another group of twelve stones, representing the new Israel, were brought out of the river and set up in the good land (Josh. 4:8-9). We need to cross out of Egypt. We need to cross out of the Egyptian forces and Egyptian power. We need to cross out of the Egyptian department stores and modern fashions. Eventually, we need to cross out of ourselves. We need to cross the Red Sea and we need to cross the Jordan River. Then we shall have the temple built.
Do not think that after crossing the Red Sea and the Jordan River there are no more rivers to cross. Every time you desire to enter into the temple you need to cross the river—the laver. You still need to cross the sea of glass. Day by day and time after time, you need to cross the river to get into the Holy of Holies, into the presence of the shekinah glory, where God dwells. This is what it means to be brought into glory. The crossing of all the rivers brings us into glory, the glory that is God Himself expressed.