River of Dreams / Billy Joel
In the middle of the night
I go walking in my sleep
From the mountains of faith
To the river so deep
I must be lookin' for something
Something sacred i lost
But the river is wide
And it's too hard to cross…
Full lyrics: http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/river-of-dreams-lyrics-billy-joel/d2d17626a86f10b348256cbc0005d0d0
Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read 2 Corinthians 3:12-4:6:
Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold. 13 We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to keep the Israelites from gazing at it while the radiance was fading away. 14 But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away. 15 Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. 16 But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. 17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18 And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.My Understanding: Billy Joel, born to Jewish parents but not raised Jewish religiously, wrote the words to this song. Even though Joel was not a religious Jew, there appears to be reference in the song, I believe, to the Old Testament in the Bible. The “mountains of faith” followed by “the river so deep” appear to be references to Moses on Mt Sinai where Moses received the Ten Commandments from God. It was in the third month after the Israelites left Egypt that they arrived in the desert of Sinai. They wandered in the wilderness for 40 years because of their disobedience to God and then God brought a remnant of the Israelites into the Promised Land. God parted the waters of the Jordan River so that the Israelites could cross over it on dry ground into the Promised Land.
Therefore, since through God’s mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart. 2 Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God. 3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. 4 The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 5 For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. 6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.
It appears to me here that Joel, in making reference to Moses on Mt Sinai, to the River Jordan and to the time in the wilderness in between, is referencing the faith that it took for the Israelites to believe God to lead them across this river on dry ground into the Promised Land. The Promised Land, in the New Testament, is a reference to our eternity with God in heaven. It seems to me, by the context of this song, that Joel had that in mind, because further on down in the song he stated that he was not sure about life after this life, and he acknowledged that God knew he was not a spiritual man. Yet, he had been baptized; he said “by fire,” and said it was in the river that runs through the Promised Land.
In the song, Joel is looking; he is searching for something and it is connected with faith and with God and his Jewish heritage. He has to cross the river to find it, “but the river is wide and it’s too hard to cross.” He said he tried to cross to the other side, so that he could find what he’d been looking for. He went through a “valley of fear,” through the “jungle of doubt,” and through the “desert of truth” in his search for what was missing from his life and what he felt had been taken out of his soul. He said he hoped it would not take the rest of his life until he found what he’d been looking for. He felt, though, that he could not define what it was for which he was searching so diligently. It seemed to elude him. Thus, he appears to be making reference to his own wilderness journey in which he was not able to reach the other side of the river due to his own lack of faith in God’s promises.
He concluded the song with words that sound hopeless, to me, as he stated that we all end in the ocean. I read somewhere that Billy Joel later declared that he was an atheist and that he did not believe in any god. So, in his attempts to find what was missing out of his life, he never found what he was looking for. It all ended in nothingness. He tried to cross over to that other side, yet it appears he was trying to do it in his own strength. He tried to overcome his fears and doubts and lack (desert) of truth (knowledge and understanding), because crossing to the other side, he knew, meant stepping out in faith and following God with his life, like the Israelites followed the Ark of the Covenant across the river. And, his final conclusion was that he was not sure there was life everlasting. There also appeared to be personal recognition that he lacked the faith to trust God with his life by trusting him to part the waters and to make the way possible for Billy to get to the other side. So, he made the decision not to believe in any god. Many people are right where Billy Joel is today.
In this passage in 2 Corinthians, it speaks of Moses at Mt Sinai who put a veil over his face to keep the Israelites from seeing the radiance of God’s glory fading from his face after he had been with God face-to-face. Yet, the reference appears to be about another kind of veil that covers people’s hearts – the veil of unbelief. And, that veil of unbelief has continued to this day. For the Jewish nation as a whole, they have refused to accept Jesus Christ as their Messiah, Lord and Savior, so that is why their minds are still veiled. They are still trying to reach God through the Old Covenant regulations, and they never will, because they don’t understand that Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of the law and the promise, and that the Old Covenant was temporary until Jesus Christ could be revealed. So, they are stuck in time with no way to cross that river until they decide to put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ who is the only one who can lift that veil of unbelief from their hearts. He will do so whenever anyone turns to the Lord Jesus in repentance, faith and obedience (surrender).
Billy Joel is trapped on the side of the river that only offers him doubts, fears, lack of faith and trust in God/Jesus, searching but never finding what he was looking for, empty, ready to give up searching, confused, unsure about his future life, and finally his search ending in futility and emptiness and total lack of belief in anything. The gospel is veiled to him, i.e. his heart is covered through unbelief so that he cannot see the truth of the gospel, and it is Satan (the god of this age) who has blinded him so that he cannot see the truth. He is not free. The veil of unbelief still covers his heart and he is still trapped on the opposite side of the river from the promise of eternity with God through faith in Jesus Christ. The only path to freedom is to step out in faith, to put his feet in that water, to trust God/Jesus to part the waters of doubt, and to follow God/Jesus wherever he leads him.
Many people on this earth are right with Joel on that opposite side of the river from God. They are blinded to the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and their only path to freedom is to step out in faith and to trust Jesus. In stepping out in faith and believing in Jesus Christ and trusting him to part the waters of doubt in our hearts, we receive the Spirit of God within us, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom – freedom from the penalty of sin and freedom from the control and bondage to sin in our daily lives, as well as freedom to serve God and to walk daily in obedience and surrender to him and to his will for our lives. Oh, what freedom that is! I’ve been on that other side. I don’t want to ever go back!!
When we yield control of our lives over to Jesus and to the Holy Spirit within us through our faith and trust in Jesus Christ and through our willingness to step out in faith and to follow our Lord Jesus to the other side of the river, the veils of unbelief are not only removed from our hearts, but in their place is now the glory of God within each believer in Jesus Christ. As we are being transformed into the likeness of Jesus, we are then able to reflect the Lord’s glory, which is ever-increasing as we continually yield control over to Jesus and we let go of the reigns of control over our own lives. Our faces; our character; our lives will reflect whatever controls us and whatever fills our lives and minds and whatever is our “god” or is most important in our lives. So, Christ’s glory can only be reflected in our faces, characters and lives as we are being transformed into the likeness of Jesus with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit, and not from us.
The way in which this “ever-increasing glory” is able to operate and to be reflected in our hearts and lives is through us renouncing secret and shameful ways (repentance), refusing to use deception, and by us not distorting the word of God to suit our own purposes so that we excuse away sin and rebellion against God. To the contrary, we must set forth the truth plainly - through our words, our characters, our lives and through our witness for Jesus Christ. We must not operate in the flesh either in our characters or through our words (witness; preaching of the gospel), but we must humble ourselves and become as servants to the Lord Jesus and to the people to whom he would have us serve in the sharing of the truths of the gospel of Jesus Christ. We must be examples of lives committed to and surrendered to the Lord Jesus Christ and free from bondage to sin so that we can reflect the Lord’s glory and so that his light can shine in our hearts and through our lives.
Oh, to Be Like Thee, Blessed Redeemer / Thomas O. Chisholm / W. J. Kirkpatrick
Oh, to be like Thee! blessèd Redeemer,
This is my constant longing and prayer;
Gladly I’ll forfeit all of earth’s treasures,
Jesus, Thy perfect likeness to wear.
O to be like Thee! while I am pleading,
Pour out Thy Spirit, fill with Thy love;
Make me a temple meet for Thy dwelling,
Fit me for life and Heaven above.
Oh, to be like Thee! Oh, to be like Thee,
Blessèd Redeemer, pure as Thou art;
Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness;
Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.
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