MARKED FOR LIFE (From Grace to Victory)
Joshua Chapter 5 From all appearances now was the time to attack the enemy. The people of Israel were filled with the excitement and motivation of having miraculously crossed the Jordan. They apparently knew the enemy was in disarray from the standpoint of their morale (5:1); so surely, it was time to strike. Many of the military leaders under Joshua’s command may have been thinking, “For goodness sake, let’s not wait! Let’s go! Now is the logical time and the enemy is ripe for the taking!” But in God’s economy and plan there are spiritual values, priorities, and principles that are far more vital and fundamental to victory or our capacity to attack and demolish the fortresses that the world has raised up against the knowledge and plan of God 2 Cor. 10:4-5. Looking at conditions from our perspective of deadlines, feeling the pressure to perform and accomplish things in order to please people and sometimes our own egos, we are too often in a hurry to ‘get the show on the road. "He that believeth shall not make haste" (Isa. 28:16) is one of the principles by which they are required to act, for "the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong" (Eccl. 9:11).
Gilgal meaning rolling, was an important place in the Israelites conquest of Canaan. It was their headquarters while they possessed the promises of God. It was the place that the armies would return between victories. Joshua 10:43 Then Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, to the camp at Gilgal. It was "beside the oaks of Moreh," near which Abraham erected his first altar (Gen. 12:6, 7).
There are three reasons that Gilgal was important as a place of centrality during the years leading up to the division of the land between the tribes. Let’s look at them.
Gilgal Represents the Pruning of God
Joshua 5:2,3 At that time the LORD said to Joshua, “Make flint knives for yourself, and circumcise the sons of Israel again the second time.” So Joshua made flint knives for himself, and circumcised the sons of Israel at the hill of the foreskins.
Circumcision was covenant action: Genesis 17:9-11 And God said to Abraham: “As for you, you shall keep My covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout their generations. “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; “and you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between Me and you.
In simple terms it represented the exchange of self-life for Spirit life. To enter into the promises of God has to be Spirit led. It is also a picture of reproduction, a reproduction of the Spirit life in others.
Circumcision represents:
a. To be delivered from self, to the total reliance on God. (In the natural to strike the enemy now would be the right thing to do, but God wanted His people to walk by the Spirit)
b. To cut away fleshly attitudes.
c. To be Spirit led.
The pruning of God today is a spiritual exercise: Romans 2:29 but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God. Philippians 3:3 For we are the circumcision, who worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh, Colossians 2:11,12 In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.
The pruning of God today is accomplished by God putting us into impossible situations where we have to rely only on Him.
Gilgal represents the Promises of God
Joshua 5:9 Then the LORD said to Joshua, “This day I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you.” Therefore the name of the place is called Gilgal to this day.
The reproach of Egypt was the natural mindset that said “You will perish in the wilderness” For forty years the Israelites had been delivered from Egypt by grace yet never knew what victory was. At Gilgal they would learn to move from grace to victory.
Exodus 32:12 “Why should the Egyptians speak, and say, ‘He brought them out to harm them, to kill them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth’? Turn from Your fierce wrath, and relent from this harm to Your people.
They kept the Passover: The observance of the Passover (5:10). By partaking of the Passover, Israel was to relive their deliverance out of Egypt by the blood of the Lamb, but as with circumcision, this too was related to the land. As observing the Passover in Egypt protected them from the destroying angel, it also assured them of two more things:
a. That just as the Red Sea crossing would be followed by the destruction of the Egyptians
b. So likewise the crossing of the Jordan would be followed by the defeat of the Canaanites. Remembering the past became an excellent preparation of faith for the tests of the future.
The partaking of the Passover brought change; they ate of the food of the land, the manna ceased. The manna was to sustain them in their wilderness wanderings; the fruit of the land speaks of an actual participation in the promises of God. Passover not only looks back to what was accomplished but also looks forward to those things to come! For God’s covenant people, deliverance from Egypt included the promise they would inherit the land, a land of abundance, a land of wheat, barley, fig trees, olive oil and honey (Deut. 8:8-9). It spoke of their new beginning, of their new life as the people of God delivered from judgment and rock solid in the place of blessing. The principle: the Passover not only looked back, but it looked forward to their new life in the land enjoying its abundant blessings by the power of God. Thus, eating of the produce was an act of confirmation of God’s abundant blessing. Enjoyment of the Produce (vs. 11)
This was the third “Passover” that the Israelites celebrated.
• In Egypt speaks of deliverance from judgment. Exodus 12.
• In the Wilderness at Mount Sinai speaks of the provision of grace. Numbers 9.
• In Canaan speaks of entering into the fullness of Christ. Joshua 5.
The Passover and the Lord’s Supper Compared
The Passover The Lord’s Supper
The Passover was a memorial of a physical deliverance from Egypt by the sacrifice of a lamb (Ex. 12:1f). The Lord’s Supper is a memorial of a spiritual deliverance in Jerusalem through the sacrifice of the Lamb (John 1:29; 1 Cor. 5:7).
The Passover was also an anticipation in shadows and types of a future fulfillment—the person and work of Christ in His first advent, which encompassed His birth, sinless life, and death on the Cross as the Lamb of God to redeem us from the clutches of sin. The Lord’s Supper not only points to the fulfillment of those types, but it is to be kept also in anticipation of a future fulfillment, the second advent and kingdom of God on earth when the Lamb becomes the Lion.
Gilgal represents the Presence of God
Joshua’s encounter with the Captain of the hosts of the Lord 5:13-15
The Moses Ministry was a ministry of grace. Exodus 3. In the “Burning Bush” experience Moses was a defeated man who had taken God things into his own hands. The bush that was burning was a thorn bush (see Hebrew Strongs). Thorns speak of sin. The bush was not consumed because of God’s Grace. That is what Moses in His revelation of God could plead and intercede continually for the people.
The Joshua Ministry is one of victory and conquering, possessing the land. Even though Joshua had many experiences of God it was at Gilgal that God revealed Himself as “The Commander of the Hosts of Heaven”. Joshua’s revelation was one of victory.
Joshua’s Question and Joshua went to him and said to him, “Are you for us or for our adversaries?” (vs. 13b).
The Answer Given to Joshua And he said, “No, rather I indeed come now as captain of the host of the LORD” (vs. 14a).
The first principle: It was not for Joshua to claim God’s allegiance for his cause no matter how right and holy it might be. Rather, the need was for Joshua to acknowledge God’s claim over him for God’s purposes. We tend to approach our battles and causes backwards; we turn things around and try to marshal God to support us rather than to submit and follow Him.
The second principle: As the One who had come to take charge, the Lord was also reminding Joshua (and us) of both God’s personal presence and His powerful provision, the provision of His vast hosts. The promise of God’s personal presence always carries with it the assurance of God’s personal care. Likewise, the promise of His powerful provision always carries with it the promise of His infinite supply and power no matter how impossible the problem may appear to us.
And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and bowed down, and said to him, “What has my lord to say to his servant?” (vs. 14b). How we each need this response—the response of worship and submission. He quickly got the picture. Joshua had been thinking of a conflict between the Israelite and the Canaanite armies. Perhaps he had been thinking of this as his battle. Certainly he felt the weight of responsibility on his shoulders. But after being confronted by the divine Commander, he was reminded of a truth he heard Moses declare many years earlier when they stood on the banks of the Red Sea. There Moses said, “The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still” (Ex. 14:14). Joshua learned afresh the truth that David would learn and declare when facing Goliath, “the battle is the Lord’s” (cf. 1 Sam. 17:47).
The Commander’s Final Revelation
And the captain of the LORD’s host said to Joshua, “Remove your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so (vs. 15).
In these last words of the Captain, there is a command, “Remove your sandals,” along with an explanation, “for the place where you are standing is holy.” Removing the sandals was a sign of a servant and a sign of respect and submission. The declaration of this place of encounter and revelation as “holy ground” calls attention to the special import of what Joshua had just learned and experienced. God is not only the Holy One in our redemption through the provision of the Suffering Savior, but He is the Holy One in our warfare through the Victorious Savior. We can only enter into the battle so that we experience God’s deliverance when we remove our sandals and submit to His authority and His presence and power.
We have all experienced God in many ways but have we journeyed from grace to victory in our lives. Are we Wilderness Wanderers or Canaan Conquerors.
Are you marked for life or marked for death?
