Joshua 5:1-15 (ESV)
1 As
soon as all the kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan to the west,
and all the kings of the Canaanites who were by the sea, heard that the Lord had dried up the waters of the
Jordan for the people of Israel until they had crossed over, their hearts
melted and there was no longer any spirit in them because of the people of
Israel. 2 At that time the Lord said to Joshua, “Make flint knives
and circumcise the sons of Israel a second time.” 3 So Joshua made flint knives and circumcised the sons of Israel at
Gibeath-haaraloth. 4 And this is the
reason why Joshua circumcised them: all the males of the people who came out of
Egypt, all the men of war, had died in the wilderness on the way after they had
come out of Egypt. 5 Though all the
people who came out had been circumcised, yet all the people who were born on
the way in the wilderness after they had come out of Egypt had not been
circumcised. 6 For the people of
Israel walked forty years in the wilderness, until all the nation, the men of
war who came out of Egypt, perished, because they did not obey the voice of the
Lord; the Lord swore to them that he would not let them see the land
that the Lord had sworn to their
fathers to give to us, a land flowing with milk and honey. 7 So it was their children, whom he raised up in their place, that
Joshua circumcised. For they were uncircumcised, because they had not been
circumcised on the way. 8 When the
circumcising of the whole nation was finished, they remained in their places in
the camp until they were healed. 9 And
the Lord said to Joshua, “Today I
have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you.” And so the name of that place
is called Gilgal to this day. 10 While
the people of Israel were encamped at Gilgal, they kept the Passover on the
fourteenth day of the month in the evening on the plains of Jericho. 11 And the day after the Passover, on
that very day, they ate of the produce of the land, unleavened cakes and
parched grain. 12 And the manna
ceased the day after they ate of the produce of the land. And there was no
longer manna for the people of Israel, but they ate of the fruit of the land of
Canaan that year.13 When Joshua was by Jericho, he lifted up
his eyes and looked, and behold, a man was standing before him with his drawn
sword in his hand. And Joshua went to him and said to him, “Are you for us, or
for our adversaries?” 14
And he said, “No; but I am the commander
of the army of the Lord. Now I
have come.” And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped and said to
him, “What does my lord say to his servant?” 15 And the commander of the Lord’s army said to Joshua, “Take off
your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And
Joshua did so.
Joshua has come a long way, in regards to a leader, since first being introduced to him. In the very first chapter of this book we read how God was telling him
to be “strong” and “courageous.” In chapter 6 we are going
to see Joshua and the rest of Gods people take control of Jericho. This is the
same city that had, what some may consider in that day and time, the most un-penetrating
city walls. It was described in Duet. 1:28 as with “walls up to the sky.”
All of this is God’s plan! We know
that God has a plan for our lives and as a leader our mission should be to
allow God to use us in bringing that purpose to fruition. This is what we see
in the first 15 verse of chapter 5. This was not Joshua’s purpose or mission but Gods. Two
things stand out when we look at this passage: Holy Ground, and The Circumcision.
HOLY
GROUND –
Some of you are familiar with the
story of Moses and the burning bush. This passage has some
similarities to the passage found in Exodus 3:5 Then he said, “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for
the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” You might be asking yourself,
“What does this have to do with leadership?” It has everything to do with it. Joshua,
Moses, Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, Paul, Matthew, Luke, and the list could go on,
were all CALLED to lead. They may not all have been called by God the same way
but they all were called by God. You and I are called by God to lead. Some will
lead individuals, others will lead small groups, while others will lead large
congregations or companies. Whatever the case may be we all will be Called by
God. Why do I believe this? Because of Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord …!” When the commander of the army of the Lord
tells Joshua to “Take
off your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy” the
Lord is setting his leader apart to do His purpose and Will. The New American commentary
states it like this, Joshua was now being affirmed as Moses’ successor and
God’s presence was being promised to him.[1]
God’s purpose and will was going to
be spoken to and through His leader, Joshua. As a leader today we need to be
that voice and vessel for the Holy Spirit to work through so His will and
Purpose may be fulfilled.
THE CIRCUMCISION –
All the sons of Israel were to be circumcised just days after birth. It seems, from this passage of scripture, that the
male children who were born during the wandering years (40) were not circumcised.
Circumcision is appointed by God to be the special badge of his chosen people,
an abiding sign of their consecration to him.[2] It
basically was a “setting apart” to acknowledge your service to God. This
practice was forgotten but Joshua was commanded, by God, to reinstate it. Why?
So His people would be set apart for His service. It was
basically, this generation reuniting with God due to the their parents
disobedience.
As a leader, we are to help people
see their purpose. In the church, we are to help people fulfill their calling in
life (teacher, preacher, greeter, nursery worker, etc….). In the secular world,
we are to help people fulfill their position on the team (manager, stock clerk,
office assistant, nurse, etc ….). We must remember God wants to set his people
apart for His purpose and we as leaders need to allow God to use us in order to
see all of it come to be.
My prayer for you today is to let the Holy Spirit use you in leading others and except the fact that you are set apart for this calling in life. I can only speak from my experience in saying that I would not trade this for the world. A special friend and mentor of mine shared something with me years ago when I told him I accepted the call to preach. He said, "If you can do anything else and stay in the center of God's will then do that! But if you can't, THEN PREACH!"
Blessings my friends!
Pastor Rod
[1]
Howard, D. M., Jr. (2001). Vol. 5: Joshua (electronic ed.). Logos Library
System; The New American Commentary (159). Nashville: Broadman & Holman
Publishers.
[2]
Easton, M. (1996). Easton's Bible
dictionary. Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
No comments:
Post a Comment