They go to Jordan to cut down wood. Wood speaks of humanity. It is man's efforts by the flesh. We should discover some of the meanings of these symbols that are used. Scripture interprets itself.
"And when they came to Jordan, they cut down wood." Haven't you made a New Year's resolution? Haven't you tried to get deliverance through the flesh? Haven't you done this and done that and said, "I am not going to do this anymore"? You will never get deliverance that way. That is still the flesh. If you did succeed, you would just give the flesh credit for it anyhow, wouldn't you? That is how the man of the world goes on because he doesn't have Christ. He makes his New Year's resolutions every year and then starts all over again. The first week he breaks them and is back in the old rut again. There is no deliverance that way. No, there is no help for man, utterly no help for him in any way except through the death of Christ.
Since there is to be a new heaven and a new earth, there is to be a new creature in a new creation-not the old creature, but a new creature in Christ. In this scene of trial and testing, we discover these precious truths and what our portion really is. It is an entirely new one. It isn't something that is remade by ourselves. It is an entirely new life, a new position in Christ. Oh, if only we could lay hold of this truth! If my soul could lay hold of it in all its fullness, that would be true deliverance.