“And it came to pass, when all the kings of the Amorites, which were on the side of Jordan westward, and all the kings of the Canaanites, which were by the sea, heard that the Lord had dried up the waters of Jordan from before the children of Israel, until we were passed over, that their heart melted, neither was there spirit in them any more, because of the children of Israel.” The phrase that strikes us in that sentence is “UNTIL WE WERE PASSED OVER,” for here it seems the writer of the book has joined that great company. It is no longer “they” who have passed over but “we.” God is revealing Himself in this chapter as among the host of Israel in a very personal way, almost as though He says, “I have been waiting for the moment to lead you into the inheritance for a very long time.” Once we have passed over Jordan there is no more cloudy pillar to lead us, but God is among us, and Jesus is our personal leader and Saviour of His people. As this knowledge seeps through to us our spirits rise and the impossible begins to seem less impossible than it did when we stood on the other side of Jordan. God with us! And with God, nothing shall be impossible. God for us! Then who shall be against us? God in us! And shall we be overcome? We fix our eyes expectantly on Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith, and the word of God assures us that already without a blow being struck the heart of the dire opposition is melting before us. God has sent His angel with the drawn sword to fight for us. Already the kings of the Amorites, representing our desire for peace at any price and love at all costs, have begun to dwindle before us, and the Canaanites, representing spiritual pride, seem lesser opposition than we have ever thought possible.
What then is our part? “At that time the Lord said unto Joshua, Make thee sharp knives, and circumcise again the children of Israel the second time.” God is about to renew His covenant with us, and our part is to pledge ourselves anew to God. In the wilderness we did every man what was right in his own eyes. In the inheritance the call is to godliness. “At that time the Lord said unto Joshua, Make thee sharp knives.” The word of God in scripture is spoken of as the sword of the Spirit. We saw in Numbers the shortened version of the sword, the dagger, which is an abridgement of the sword, a chapter, a paragraph, a verse, perhaps, which a priest may use to destroy some evil among us. But here the Lord is going to hand us a knife with which to circumcise ourselves. It may be only a sentence, a command we previously neglected, a word in season—but it will be sharp and the exercise of it will be painful to our flesh. We are to receive the sharp knife from the Lord Himself as our personal leader and we are to circumcise our own flesh with it. Perhaps we always previously prayed with our arms folded—the sharp knife might be, “I would that men pray—lifting holy hands unto God,” and we suddenly pale to realize that if we do that next Sunday in church we will find everyone staring at us. “No, Lord,” we cry, “I couldn’t do it.” Why? Because it will be painful to the flesh! But that is what circumcision is all about, is it not? Here is a knife, sharpened for you by the Lord Himself, to use on your own flesh. We are pledging ourselves anew unto God, remember, and if God is going to dwell with us we had better circumcise ourselves again immediately.
We cannot presume to take Jericho which lies directly in our path until we are able to circumcise ourselves. We cannot go on to destroy seven nations greater and mightier than we until we are circumcised the second time. God’s call is to personal circumcision, cutting off the flesh. Yes, it is always a painfully embarrassing procedure, but make no doubt of it God will not destroy Jericho for you until this is done. So you are stuck, you see! There is no way back across the Jordan, and Jericho lies across our path ahead of us. Feel the knife which the Lord has handed to you—it gets sharper every day! Ah, but the personal pain, the embarrassment of circumcision! Who but God would take our manly pride and command us to cut at mutilate it and cause our flesh such pain? Christian, you are not alone! Come with us to the hill of foreskins and see for yourself how many of God’s people have done the thing which God commanded. Once you have circumcised yourself the Lord will have no difficulty destroying the Amorite and the Canaanite from before your face. The hill of foreskins grows greater every day, and will you alone hold back? There are many of us who have each suffered his own painful and embarrassing circumcision, and it is sorer by far for mature Christians than for the babes in Christ. Come to Jesus and boldly say, “Lord, hand me also your sharp knife, and by it I will renew the covenant between God and me in this place.” And do not pray for a local anaesthetic—there is no such thing in the procedure of circumcision, except to consider Him who endured all things, yea the Cross of Shame, to give you the inheritance.
“And it came to pass, when they had done circumcising all the people, that they abode in their places in the camp, till they were whole. And the Lord said unto Joshua, This day have I rolled away the reproach of Egypt from off you. Wherefore the name of the place is called Gilgal unto this day.” Perhaps you may think there is a way around circumcision: you could leave your district or your job or your church and so avoid embarrassment. But you must do as God’s people did—they abode in their places—till you have got over it. If we do not circumcise ourselves the reproach of Egypt lies heavily upon us. When we are again circumcised and abide in one place till we are whole, we will find that the name of that place will be Gilgal for ever after. “And the children of Israel encamped in Gilgal, and kept the passover on the fourteenth day of the month at even in the plains of Jericho.” You will feel again as you felt when you ate the first Passover in Egypt—God is about to save you, not now from Egypt, but from the forces opposing you, and give you the longed-for inheritance. “And they did eat of the old corn of the land on the morrow after the passover.” How will you know you are in the inheritance? When you with us partake of the old corn of that land. “And the manna ceased on the morrow after they had eaten of the old corn of the land: neither had the children of Israel manna any more: but they did eat of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year.” No more light bread for us, beloved, but the original corn of our God-given inheritance and all the fruits of the promised land. Is it not worth suffering for?
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Joshua Chapter 5
December 16, 2010 — Ron“And it came to pass, when all the kings of the Amorites, which were on the side of Jordan westward, and all the kings of the Canaanites, which were by the sea, heard that the Lord had dried up the waters of Jordan from before the children of Israel, until we were passed over, that their heart melted, neither was there spirit in them any more, because of the children of Israel.” The phrase that strikes us in that sentence is “UNTIL WE WERE PASSED OVER,” for here it seems the writer of the book has joined that great company. It is no longer “they” who have passed over but “we.” God is revealing Himself in this chapter as among the host of Israel in a very personal way, almost as though He says, “I have been waiting for the moment to lead you into the inheritance for a very long time.” Once we have passed over Jordan there is no more cloudy pillar to lead us, but God is among us, and Jesus is our personal leader and Saviour of His people. As this knowledge seeps through to us our spirits rise and the impossible begins to seem less impossible than it did when we stood on the other side of Jordan. God with us! And with God, nothing shall be impossible. God for us! Then who shall be against us? God in us! And shall we be overcome? We fix our eyes expectantly on Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith, and the word of God assures us that already without a blow being struck the heart of the dire opposition is melting before us. God has sent His angel with the drawn sword to fight for us. Already the kings of the Amorites, representing our desire for peace at any price and love at all costs, have begun to dwindle before us, and the Canaanites, representing spiritual pride, seem lesser opposition than we have ever thought possible.
What then is our part? “At that time the Lord said unto Joshua, Make thee sharp knives, and circumcise again the children of Israel the second time.” God is about to renew His covenant with us, and our part is to pledge ourselves anew to God. In the wilderness we did every man what was right in his own eyes. In the inheritance the call is to godliness. “At that time the Lord said unto Joshua, Make thee sharp knives.” The word of God in scripture is spoken of as the sword of the Spirit. We saw in Numbers the shortened version of the sword, the dagger, which is an abridgement of the sword, a chapter, a paragraph, a verse, perhaps, which a priest may use to destroy some evil among us. But here the Lord is going to hand us a knife with which to circumcise ourselves. It may be only a sentence, a command we previously neglected, a word in season—but it will be sharp and the exercise of it will be painful to our flesh. We are to receive the sharp knife from the Lord Himself as our personal leader and we are to circumcise our own flesh with it. Perhaps we always previously prayed with our arms folded—the sharp knife might be, “I would that men pray—lifting holy hands unto God,” and we suddenly pale to realize that if we do that next Sunday in church we will find everyone staring at us. “No, Lord,” we cry, “I couldn’t do it.” Why? Because it will be painful to the flesh! But that is what circumcision is all about, is it not? Here is a knife, sharpened for you by the Lord Himself, to use on your own flesh. We are pledging ourselves anew unto God, remember, and if God is going to dwell with us we had better circumcise ourselves again immediately.
We cannot presume to take Jericho which lies directly in our path until we are able to circumcise ourselves. We cannot go on to destroy seven nations greater and mightier than we until we are circumcised the second time. God’s call is to personal circumcision, cutting off the flesh. Yes, it is always a painfully embarrassing procedure, but make no doubt of it God will not destroy Jericho for you until this is done. So you are stuck, you see! There is no way back across the Jordan, and Jericho lies across our path ahead of us. Feel the knife which the Lord has handed to you—it gets sharper every day! Ah, but the personal pain, the embarrassment of circumcision! Who but God would take our manly pride and command us to cut at mutilate it and cause our flesh such pain? Christian, you are not alone! Come with us to the hill of foreskins and see for yourself how many of God’s people have done the thing which God commanded. Once you have circumcised yourself the Lord will have no difficulty destroying the Amorite and the Canaanite from before your face. The hill of foreskins grows greater every day, and will you alone hold back? There are many of us who have each suffered his own painful and embarrassing circumcision, and it is sorer by far for mature Christians than for the babes in Christ. Come to Jesus and boldly say, “Lord, hand me also your sharp knife, and by it I will renew the covenant between God and me in this place.” And do not pray for a local anaesthetic—there is no such thing in the procedure of circumcision, except to consider Him who endured all things, yea the Cross of Shame, to give you the inheritance.
“And it came to pass, when they had done circumcising all the people, that they abode in their places in the camp, till they were whole. And the Lord said unto Joshua, This day have I rolled away the reproach of Egypt from off you. Wherefore the name of the place is called Gilgal unto this day.” Perhaps you may think there is a way around circumcision: you could leave your district or your job or your church and so avoid embarrassment. But you must do as God’s people did—they abode in their places—till you have got over it. If we do not circumcise ourselves the reproach of Egypt lies heavily upon us. When we are again circumcised and abide in one place till we are whole, we will find that the name of that place will be Gilgal for ever after. “And the children of Israel encamped in Gilgal, and kept the passover on the fourteenth day of the month at even in the plains of Jericho.” You will feel again as you felt when you ate the first Passover in Egypt—God is about to save you, not now from Egypt, but from the forces opposing you, and give you the longed-for inheritance. “And they did eat of the old corn of the land on the morrow after the passover.” How will you know you are in the inheritance? When you with us partake of the old corn of that land. “And the manna ceased on the morrow after they had eaten of the old corn of the land: neither had the children of Israel manna any more: but they did eat of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year.” No more light bread for us, beloved, but the original corn of our God-given inheritance and all the fruits of the promised land. Is it not worth suffering for?
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