When all the Amorite kings west of the Jordan and all the Canaanite kings who lived along the Mediterranean coast heard how the Lord had dried up the Jordan River so the people of Israel could cross, they lost heart and were paralyzed with fear because of them.
At that time the Lord told Joshua, “Make flint knives and circumcise this second generation of Israelites.” So Joshua made flint knives and circumcised the entire male population of Israel at Gibeath-haaraloth.
Joshua had to circumcise them because all the men who were old enough to fight in battle when they left Egypt had died in the wilderness. Those who left Egypt had all been circumcised, but none of those born after the Exodus, during the years in the wilderness, had been circumcised. The Israelites had traveled in the wilderness for forty years until all the men who were old enough to fight in battle when they left Egypt had died. For they had disobeyed the Lord , and the Lord vowed he would not let them enter the land he had sworn to give us—a land flowing with milk and honey. So Joshua circumcised their sons—those who had grown up to take their fathers’ places—for they had not been circumcised on the way to the Promised Land. After all the males had been circumcised, they rested in the camp until they were healed.
Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Today I have rolled away the shame of your slavery in Egypt.” So that place has been called Gilgal to this day.
While the Israelites were camped at Gilgal on the plains of Jericho, they celebrated Passover on the evening of the fourteenth day of the first month. The very next day they began to eat unleavened bread and roasted grain harvested from the land. No manna appeared on the day they first ate from the crops of the land, and it was never seen again. So from that time on the Israelites ate from the crops of Canaan. (Joshua 5:1-12 NLT)
- apostolic faith brought Joshua to the promised land and out of Egypt, across Jordan
Consecration
- to be set apart for the purposes of God
2 acts of consecration by Joshua
1) circumcision
2) celebration of Passover
(1) circumcision
- this act remembers God’s covenant established with Israel through Abraham (Genesis 12:1-3)
- Genesis 17:10 – God has commanded the rite of circumcision to seal the covenant
- the significance of this act is that they cut off their old ties with Egypt which they complain to Moses almost daily about
- even for us, sometimes we don’t mind being slaves to our habits, organization, person just because we are used to it or can support a lifestyle
- Deuteronomy 10:5-7 God wishes for us to circumcise our heart internally
- relevance: we often come into this new relationship with God, but we are not able to forgo or forget our past; thinking we can have both feet in both worlds
- spiritual circumcision is painful and tough to give up (just like physical circumcision) but this is something that we must strive to do
(2) reaffirms our identity as God’s chosen people
- Joshua 5:9 in the past, people marked their bodies with tattoos of their Gods. For the people of Hebrew, circumcision is their way of identification with God
- Exodus 19:5-6 the identify that God had given to their people as a kingdom of priests, my holy nation
- no longer slaves, but Gods chosen people
(3) consecration through Passover renews commitment to God
- “This is a day to remember. Each year, from generation to generation, you must celebrate it as a special festival to the Lord . This is a law for all time. (Exodus 12:14 NLT)
- to celebrate Passover the people must be circumcised
- this is the first time after 39 years that they have celebrated the Passover
- significance of unleavened bread
Your boasting about this is terrible. Don’t you realize that this sin is like a little yeast that spreads through the whole batch of dough? Get rid of the old “yeast” by removing this wicked person from among you. Then you will be like a fresh batch of dough made without yeast, which is what you really are. Christ, our Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed for us. So let us celebrate the festival, not with the old bread of wickedness and evil, but with the new bread of sincerity and truth. (1 Corinthians 5:6-8 NLT)
- relevance: we live in a world filled with sin, sexual immortality, sensuality. In the midst of this, God is calling us to purity and truth. Whenever we fall into sin, our faith is shaken, and we are afraid to go near a pure God again. Unless we come into the realization that God is loving and willing to forgive, that we can come near to him again
