Crossing rivers (Wupper in Wuppertal)
Psalm 24: "Open the door, open the gate, the Lord of glory is coming."
Are you actually aware of how many times the Israelites (God's chosen people) had to cross rivers and borders before they could and could inhabit a country? As Christians, i.e. followers of Jesus, we also originally belong to this people. Jesus himself had to return from Egypt with his parents in order to later serve in Israel and Samaria.
After Abraham received God's command to leave Ur, Abraham and Sarah began their journey to the promised land of Canaan that God had promised them. They wandered through Canaan and also landed in Egypt. Herein, many years later, Joseph the son of Jacob was sold and enslaved to Abraham's grandson. God arranged for Joseph to become the second head of state in Egypt, and so Jacob and Joseph's brothers and families were saved from a great drought. God's people found a new home in Egypt, but they were later used as slaves. Only under Moses, one of the Hebrews who was allowed to grow up and learn in the house of Pharaoh, did God finally lead them out of captivity into the promised land. Already here we can see how important it is to God, to wandering around and conquering a new area or a new country. Deserts and rivers were traversed before the great exodus or entry began.
One of the greatest miracles in the Bible, in my opinion, is the crossing of the Red Sea. The Israelites left Egypt after the time of plagues and bondage under Pharaoh and fled into the desert. There they reached the great frontier. They reached the Red Sea, a narrow 2240 km long, in the central Suakin trough up to 3040 m deep side sea of the Indian Ocean and the Arabian Peninsula. How was it possible to cross this river? The next river miracle was probably the crossing of the Jordan. Boundaries must be crossed before we can invade a new land. We can also compare this to the birth of a child. The newborn has to cross the water (amniotic fluid) and then emerge on the other side in the new life. It's like a metamorphosis taking place where the butterfly emerges from its cocoon.
Well, we still have to cross a few rivers, and by that I don't just mean dry rivers like in my home country of Namibia, or wadi like in the Sahara, but I'm thinking of raging, fast-flowing rivers.
In the last months I have crossed some rivers in Germany. The Weser, the Leine, the Elbe, the Neckar, the Pegnitz, the Main, the Rhine and the Wupper. It's like I'm drawn to rivers at this time and like Jesus is saying to me, cross the river, cross that river. Often bridges now lead the rivers, in the past you had to ask the driver or ferryman to put you across the river or you found a ford (like in Frankfurt). Sometimes we drive over a bridge, sometimes we wade through the water, sometimes we swim to the other bank or cross over in a boat, but on June 1, 2022 we not only crossed various rivers by train, we "flew" with the suspension railway over the Wupper. The train floats over a 13 km long route through the city, mostly over the Wupper, but also over roads and under railway bridges. It was an exciting experience that kept reminding me of crossing the Jordan (Book of Joshua). I felt that my husband and I were about to conquer new land for and together with Jesus our King and High Priest.
In Germany there is the phrase "to go over the Wupper", just like there is the saying "to go over the Jordan". These idioms have several meanings in German usage. Crossing these rivers is an idiom synonymous with dying, but also with imprisonment. But they also point to flight and emigration. Even if these idioms refer more to death, these idioms also stand for a new beginning, a new life, a new (eternal) life in the promised land or, as now, a life in the coming kingdom of Jesus. It's a so-called rebirth.
How about us? Will we be brave enough to cross our "Wupper", our "Weser", our "Rhein", i.e. our river and, together with Jesus, conquer our country and bring it back to life?
When my husband and I crossed the Wupper on foot over a bridge in the afternoon, we came to the banks of Be'er Sheva. Be'er Sheva is Hebrew and means well or source of the oath. Joshua and the people also had to take a new oath or oath. The men were all circumcised at Passover in Gilgal because for the past 40 years, the boys and men had not been consecrated to God. (Joshua 5) Only after the men had recovered did they set out to take Jericho.
A little later we reached the New Synagogue in Barmen, a district of Wuppertal. It was only ceremoniously consecrated on December 8, 2002. And is also known as the "Bergische Gemeinde". Above the portal - as above the main entrance of the destroyed Barmen Synagogue - there is a word from the prophet Isaiah in the original Hebrew: ביתי בית תפלה יקרא לכל העמים - For my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples (Is 56:7). "
Approaching the Wuppertal-Barmen train station, you will reach the Gemarker church. This is the place where the evangelical church wrote its "Barmen theological declaration" in 1934, an open word against National Socialism and the dictatorship in Germany. Here we found a small monument.
Crossing the Wupper was an important day for me, because it made me very aware that Jesus (who bears the same name as Joshua, namely Jehoshua (יְהוֹשֻׁעַ ) - both meaning "YHWH saves or helps"), his kingdom is up to take earth. As a messenger and guardian of God, I have been commissioned to cross rivers and head for train stations, airports and ports over the coming months. These entrance gates to the cities - formerly also the city gates or defense or guard gates - to "open" again, i.e. also in prayer consciously pray the area behind them.
Together with Jesus, my Lord and Saviour, I will open many a gate in Germany and cross rivers and borders. Especially in this time, when you can travel cheaply by train, you can reach many different places very well. Let's set Germany (but also your own nation) free together and open the doors and gates for the Lord.
It's a time of travelling, exploring, investigating and I want to be part of it. I want to tackle it and ignite the revival of Germany together with Jesus. I want to see that the many prayers over the past few years at the "WakeUP" in Minden or other revival services are now coming true.
Are you in?
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1. Wupper 2. Suspension railway 3. New Synagogue Wuppertal
4. New Synagogue & Gemarker Church in the background
5. Barmer Declaration - (left image) against nationalism 6. (right image) pro-nationalism
7. Be'er Sheva bank with suspension railway over the Wupper