Joshua 5:6-12
Jos 5:6 For the children of Israel walked forty years in the wilderness, till all the people that were men of war, which came out of Egypt, were consumed, because they obeyed not the voice of the LORD: unto whom the LORD sware that he would not shew them the land, which the LORD sware unto their fathers that he would give us, a land that floweth with milk and honey. 7 And their children, whom he raised up in their stead, them Joshua circumcised: for they were uncircumcised, because they had not circumcised them by the way. 8 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. 9 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. 10 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. 11 And they did eat of the old corn of the land on the morrow after the passover, unleavened cakes, and parched corn in the selfsame day. 12 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.”
The nation of Israel spent 40 years in the wilderness unnecessarily because of a mindset. God had led them to Canaan, yet fear paralyzed them. They underestimated God’s ability and refused to go forward. The Egyptians saw them as a nation of refugees, a homeless people. They saw themselves as weak and powerless. The Israelites failure to enter the Promised Land was also a reproach. This lesson shows us the danger of underestimating our God, but also the impact of failure, fear, and oppression. It also shows that when God’s children are faithful to Him, God can cause great opposition to melt away. God can change the attitude of those who oppose us. Before this new generation are allowed to possess the land, they must take care of some unfinished business.
Israel passed through three stages to get to this point: release, reliance and now responsibility. In the release stage, everything was done for them. God brought out on eagle’s wings, warmed them with fire at night, cooled them with a cloud by day, fed them with manna and gave them water from a rock. The next stage was reliance. During this stage God tested, tried, and prove Israel. The process was designed to renew their minds, renew their faith, and renew their reliance on God. Now this young nation must receive God’s Law and take it to heart. They must re-establish worship ceremonies, embraced the rites of a covenant people and rediscover who they are. They must accept responsibility for their decisions and their actions. The wilderness generation never accepted their responsibility properly. But now this Joshua generation are ready to go to the next level. They crossed over Jordan, build a memorial, moved in position for conquest. Their enemy has been paralyzed by fear and what better time than now to attack.
Yet, this was not God’s plan. God is never in a hurry though His children often are. From God’s viewpoint, Israel was yet ready to fight. There is some unfinished business that must be addressed. It was time for renewal. Consecration must precede conquest and victory. Before God leads this young generation into conquest, He must lead them through three needed experiences. Covenant renewal – Circumcision, Worship Renewal – Passover Celebration, and Personal Responsibility – No more free lunch, appropriation of the produce of the Land. Many believers seem anxious to go to the next level, yet are hindered, because they have some unfinished business at this level. Their step up requires circumcision. Once the people of Israel were circumcised God said to Joshua “today I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt off you so the place was called Gilgal which means to roll away.”
The reproach of Egypt had to do with their past and was marked with three things: a history of slavery, relentless oppression and their continued disobedience. You might think, why was so hard to shake off Egypt? This new generation had never experienced the slavery and oppression of Egypt, they were born and raise in the wilderness. Yet the reproach of Egypt was passed down to them. Each of us has within us the “Reproach of Egypt” that must be rolled away.
Reproach of Egypt is the baggage passed down to us. They are the things we must battle from an old mindset, our flesh and our arch enemy, Satan. And there is an operation in which God’s Spirit cuts away all those lusts and dominions of evil: When the Word of God is preached by God’s anointed in the power and demonstration of the Holy Ghost, it becomes that sharp knife! Heb 4:12, 13, “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. 13 Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.”
God has ordained some ‘Joshua’s today and He has commanded them to take this blood-secured, delivered, redeemed and resurrected people and place them under the knife of His Word to remove all traces of idolatry and compromise. When the children of Israel left Egypt and crossed the Jordan, their presence sent shivers throughout the land of Canaan. The hearts of the Canaanites sank, and they no longer had the courage to face the Israelites. In Joshua 5:1 the Bible records “Now when all the Amorite kings west of the Jordan and all the Canaanite kings along the coast heard how the Lord had dried up the Jordan before the Israelites until we had crossed over, their hearts melted, and they no longer had the courage to face the Israelites.” (NIV) Their hearts melted and there was no spirit in them any longer because of the children of Israel. But God did not allow Joshua and the children of Israel to go ahead and conquer the terrified kings and possess the land, because they were not circumcised according to the covenant. The reason is because God’s covenant with Abraham was ratified and marked by circumcision.
The Bible records in Genesis 17:10 that “This is my covenant which you shall keep, between me and you and your descendants after you: Every male child among you shall be circumcised” (NKJV) All the males who came out of Egypt who had been circumcised according to the covenant rebelled and perished in the wilderness because of a mentality that was not in alignment with God and they did not possess the land. At this point God instructed Joshua to make flint knives and circumcise the new generation.
1. Crossing the Final Hurdle by Renewing Your Mind. Circumcision establishes their identity as covenant people. This was to enact the full acceptance and admission into God’s covenant with Abraham in order to access the blessings and benefits therefore. Once the people were circumcised God said to Joshua “today I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt off you so the place was called Gilgal which means to roll away.” The reproach of Egypt had to do with their past and was marked with three things: a history of slavery, oppression, and their disobedience. Their past stood between them and their victory, and before God could send them to slay the giants of Canaan and possess the land, he had to deal with their past. Through the circumcision at Gilgal, God rolled away the cloud of fear and guilt that hanged around their head. He completely separated them from their past and gave them a new beginning and so they were able to start over again as the people of God. The Salvation and forgiveness offered in Christ Jesus provides a new beginning for every believer. Reconciliation provides peace with God, one another and with God’s creation. Everyone needed a fresh start! Jesus Christ is the way, the truth and the Life!
2. Crossing the Final Hurdle by Closing the Door of the Past. We are in a time that God is restoring His people by rolling away their reproach as he prepares them for their inheritance. He is removing the reproaches of the enemy that has left us stained by our past and hinders us from stepping into our future. Reproaches always seek to enter your life through opened doors, especially the front door of our failures. Many fail to go forward because of opposition, hindrances, or adversity. Others start to believe everything, and everyone is against us. We start seeing ourselves as small, limited or as grasshoppers. Sometimes, reproach sneak in through the back door of sin, our personal sin, other people’s sin or Satan condemnation. A reproach can be defined as a condition of shame or disgrace that settles in a person’s spirit, coloring every aspect of their lives, affecting them negatively and making them dysfunctional. A reproach is also a demonic device that keeps a person feeling disgraced and unworthy.
Here are two examples from psalms: Ps 44:15, 16 “My confusion is continually before me, and the shame of my face hath covered me, 16 For the voice of him that reproacheth and blasphemeth; by reason of the enemy and avenger.
Ps 69:19, 20 “Thou hast known my reproach, and my shame, and my dishonour: mine adversaries are all before thee. 20 Reproach hath broken my heart; and I am full of heaviness: and I looked for some to take pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none.”
We must not allow shame or disgrace to settle in our spirit, coloring every aspect of their lives, affecting us negatively and making us dysfunctional. By grace we have been saved through faith. The believer is a new creation in Christ, old things are passed away and all things are new. We must learn to walk in the confidence of God’s word and claim every promise.
3. Crossing the Final Hurdle Includes Seeing Ourselves Through God’s Eyes - A reproach changes the way we view ourselves and establishes a mindset of shame that is contrary to the way God sees us. Like a heavy cloud, a reproach blocks away the light of the Father’s love, leaving us in a chill of hopelessness. Though many Christians struggle with reproaches, the finished work of Jesus on the Cross can roll these dark clouds away and release us into the fullness of our future.
We must cross this final hurdle before we can take the Promised Land. The Moses’ generation were circumcised, experienced countless miracles, eat manna from heaven and drank water from a rock. They heard the audible voice of God on Mount Sinai, seen His holy fire and felt the ground shake beneath their feet, yet they died in the wilderness because of the reproach of Egypt. The reproach of Egypt had to do with their past and was marked with three things: a history of slavery, relentless oppression, and their continued disobedience. Their past stood between them and their future. They transferred their experiences and baggage intact to their children, now the Joshua generation must battle the same enemy. God caused Joshua to see the importance of raising up a new generation like Himself and Caleb. A generation with a different spirit, a new mindset and obedient determination.
Nu 14:24 “But my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and hath followed me fully, him will I bring into the land whereinto he went; and his seed shall possess it.” Joshua and Caleb had a different spirit in them, a different outlook, and a different determination, they wholly followed the Lord. Now, God must roll away the reproach of Egypt from this Joshua Generation.
America is plagued with the same three things: effects of slavery, oppression, and disobedience. Becoming who we are called to be and walking in our true identity requires us to cross some hurdles. We must not allow the culture to develop our mindset. Our way of thinking and being must not be shaped by politics, party affiliations, race or creed. We are new creations in Christ. God’s word is our standard, shapes our lives and control our movement. We must break out of the culture box and cross the final hurdle of renewing our mind on the word of God, allowing it to cut away everything not like him. Then we must cross the another hurdle by closing the door of our past.
Paul writes in Php 3:13, 14 “Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, 14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” Paul understood that the gateway to the future begins with forgetting the things behind us. We must not allow our past to condemn us, shame us, or depress us. We are who God said we are, and we can do what God said, we can do. Lastly, we cross the hurdle by seeing ourselves and others through God’s eyes. The sign of Abraham’s covenant was circumcision, the sign of the New Testament believer is baptism. Covenantal signs always point to our identity. Believers have been baptized into Christ Jesus and covered with His robe of righteousness. Believers are heirs of God and Joint heirs with Christ Jesus his son.
In Ga 2:20, 21, Paul speaks of his identity, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. 21 I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.” To live beneath our privileges or swallow in self-pity, is to frustrate the grace of God. The price paid by Jesus is just too much to fail him, allow God to roll away the reproach of Egypt from us as New Testament Believers.
Then listen to Col 2:9-15 “For in him (Christ Jesus) dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. 10 And ye (the believers) are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power: 11 In whom (Christ Jesus)also ye (the believers) are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ: 12 Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye(the believers) are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead. 13 And (the believers) you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; 14 Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; 15 And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.”
You see, the reproach of Egypt has been rolled away. God has removed the final hurdle; we are free to go in and possess the Land. We are free from the condemnation and shame. Ro 8:1 “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.
