The Successor - Joshua - # 6

 

The Lord said to me…”I will test my people with a Plumbline, Amos 7:8 (TLB)

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The Successor - Joshua - # 6

The Source of Life

Joshua 5:1-9 (MSG) 1 When all the Amorite kings west of the Jordan and the Canaanite kings along the seacoast heard how GOD had stopped the Jordan River before the People of Israel until they had crossed over, their hearts sank; the courage drained out of them just thinking about the People of Israel. 2 At that time GOD said to Joshua, "Make stone knives and circumcise the People of Israel a second time." 3 So Joshua made stone knives and circumcised the People of Israel at Foreskins Hill. 4 This is why Joshua conducted the circumcision. All the males who had left Egypt, the soldiers, had died in the wilderness on the journey out of Egypt. 5 All the people who had come out of Egypt, of course, had been circumcised, but all those born in the wilderness along the way since leaving Egypt had not been. 6 The fact is that the People of Israel had walked through that wilderness for forty years until the entire nation died out, all the men of military age who had come out of Egypt but had disobeyed the call of GOD. GOD vowed that these would never lay eyes on the land GOD had solemnly promised their ancestors to give us, a land flowing with milk and honey. 7 But their children had replaced them. These are the ones Joshua circumcised. They had never been circumcised; no one had circumcised them along the way. 8 When they had completed the circumcising of the whole nation, they stayed where they were in camp until they were healed. 9 GOD said to Joshua, "Today I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt." That's why the place is called The Gilgal. It's still called that.

The consecration of the Israelites (5:1-12)

Under Joshua’s leadership and by miraculous intervention some 2 million soldiers and civilians crossed the Jordan. A beachhead was quickly established at Gilgal, and from every human point of view it was time to strike immediately at the strongholds of Canaan. After all, the morale of the people of Canaan had utterly collapsed in the face of one old and two recent news items that had spread through the land: (a) that the God of Israel had dried up the Red Sea (2:10); (b) that the Israelites had defeated the powerful kings of the Amorites in Transjordan (2:10); (c) that Yahweh had also dried up the waters of the Jordan River so that the Israelites could cross over into Canaan (5:1; cf. 4:24).

As this news spread, so did fear. What better time to strike a paralyzing blow? Certainly the military leaders of Israel must have favored an immediate all-out offensive. But this was not God’s plan. He is never in a hurry though His children often are. From God’s point of view Israel was not yet ready to fight on Canaan’s soil. There was some unfinished business—and it was spiritual in character.

It was time for renewal. Consecration must precede conquest. Before God would lead Israel to victory, He would lead them through three experiences: (a) the renewal of circumcision (5:1-9), (b) the celebration of the Passover (v. 10), and (c) the appropriation of the land’s produce (vv. 11-12).

5:1-3. When the nations of the land were filled with terror (cf. 4:24) the Lord commanded Joshua to circumcise the sons of Israel. He obeyed, even though it must have been difficult for him as a military commander to incapacitate his entire army in that hostile environment.

5:4-7. An explanation is given. Though all the men of Israel had been circumcised before they left Egypt, they died in the wilderness because of their disobedience at Kadesh Barnea (Num. 20:1-13; cf. Num. 27:14; Deut. 32:51). Their sons born during the wilderness wanderings were not circumcised, which was further evidence of their parents’ spiritual indifference. This sacred rite therefore needed to be performed on this new generation.

5:8-9. After all the males were circumcised... the Lord acknowledged the completed task by declaring, Today I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you. Since the Israelites were slaves in Egypt, they did not practice circumcision until they were about to leave. No doubt the Egyptians prohibited the practice since it was reserved for their own priests and upper-class citizens. “The reproach of Egypt” may refer to the Egyptians’ mocking the Israelites for not having possessed the land of Canaan.

Another indication of this event’s importance is the fact that a new significance was attached to the name Gilgal (niv. marg.). Not only was the meaning “circle” to remind Israel of the memorial stones (see comments on 4:19-20), but now the related idea of “rolling” would commemorate Israel’s act of obedience at the same site.

But why was circumcision so important? The Bible’s answer is clear. Stephen, in his dynamic speech before the Sanhedrin, declared that God “gave Abraham the covenant of circumcision” (Acts 7:8). Circumcision, then, was no ordinary religious rite; it was rooted in the Abrahamic Covenant, a contract guaranteeing the everlasting continuation of Abraham’s seed and their ever-lasting possession of the land (Gen. 17:7-8). In this connection God adopted circumcision as the “sign” or symbol of that contract (Gen. 17:11). God instructed Abraham that every male in his household as well as every male descendant of his was to be circumcised. And Abraham immediately obeyed (Gen. 17:23-27).

But why did God choose circumcision as the symbol of His covenant with Abraham and his seed? Why not some other sign or work? The act of circumcision itself symbolized a complete separation from the widely prevalent sins of the flesh: adultery, fornication, and sodomy. Further, the rite had spiritual overtones not only in relation to sexual conduct but in every phase of life. “Circumcise your hearts, therefore, and do not be stiff-necked any longer” (Deut. 10:16; cf. Deut. 30:6; Jer. 4:4; Rom. 2:28-29).

So Israel was to understand that circumcision was not simply a cutting of flesh; also their lives were to be holy. This is why at Gilgal God said, in effect, “Before I fight your battles in Canaan you must have this mark of the covenant in your flesh.” Joshua understood the importance of this divine requirement and led all males in unhesitating obedience.

Paul affirmed that a Christian has been “circumcised” in Christ (Col. 2:11). This circumcision is spiritual not physical, relating not to an external organ but to one’s inward being, the heart. This circumcision takes place at the time of salvation when the Holy Spirit joins a believer to Christ. At that time one’s sinful nature is judged (Col. 2:13). A Christian is to recognize that fact (Rom. 6:1-2) even though his carnal nature remains a part of him during this life. He is to treat his carnal nature as a judged and condemned (though not yet executed) enemy. Adapted from the Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures by Dallas Seminary Faculty.