WEEK 12; DAY 1
Our reading of the books of The Law has come to a close and now we begin with Joshua; the Israelites enter the Promised Land. Last week, we ended the week by reading the beginning the book of Joshua. Joshua is established as the new leader upon the death of Moses, spies are sent into the land and the prostitute Rahab spares their life, thus saving her own. Today’s reading begins on the bank of the Jordan river. God tells Joshua that what He is about to do has a twofold purpose; to establish Joshua as the new leader, “they will know that I will be with you just as I was with Moses,” and to prove His faithfulness, power and protection to His people, “You will know that the living God is among you …” What an exciting moment; we are about to witness the fulfillment of the promised covenant. God’s faithfulness is allowing this generation to witness what their fathers witnessed, the parting of waters, and what their fathers did not see, the Promised Land. A few things worth mentioning are that the Jordan river was not some wimpy body of water; think more along the lines of the Mississippi River. This is a massive body of water, at that time pumping an estimated 3 billion cubic feet of water annually. There is one major difference in the parting of the Jordan River from the parting of the Red Sea; the priests with the ark lead the parting, not the leader. I believe the purpose for this was to make no mistake that this was because of God’s power, not Joshua's. It seems that the former generation held Moses in high regard, but never seemed to get that it was God working through Moses. This generation would see the same power displayed to give them confidence in the battles ahead, however there would be no mistaking that this was about God, not Joshua. Not until the priests actually stepped into the water with the ark did the water part. Did you catch that? They had to actually step in the water before it parted. Then the waters separated and it became dry ground. Just stop, for a moment, and let this entire scene play in your mind. This is a massive body of rapidly flowing water that they step into, and then it becomes dry. Dry ground. This act confirms Joshua as God’s chosen leader and “so that all the people of the earth may know that the Lord’s hand is mighty, and so that you may always fear the Lord your God.” Beginning in Chapter 5, we read that God’s very purpose is fulfilled; the Amorites “lost heart and their courage failed because of the Israelites.” I know that the end of today’s reading is one of the most exciting and popular events in God’s Word; the battle of Jericho. However, I want to focus on a more obscure detail in chapter 5 that provides a great source of truth and hope for us today. God commands Joshua to circumcise the entire camp because this generation has not been circumcised. Remember, this is their sign of being set apart as God’s people. It is a visible reminder of what should be the condition of their hearts. When Joshua completes the task of circumcising every male in the camp, God says in verse 9, “Today, I have rolled away the disgrace of Egypt from you.” The literal meaning of this verse is that this generation could now leave behind forever the rebellion, the disgrace, of the previous generation, their parents. Egypt was their land of slavery. The symbolism and application is that we do not have to carry on generational sins. We are not our parents. For those who have come from painful family situations this is a great relief. The deeper application is that just as their physical bodies endured circumcision, the New Testament refers to our spiritual circumcision; our hearts are circumcised. All that is unclean is removed. We have discussed from previous weeks’ of reading that our land of slavery is our life before Christ; our life in bondage to sin. Please do not miss this. God circumcises our hearts, declaring that our past disgrace is forever removed from us. Just as they could now enter the Promised Land, we can now walk in victory and freedom because that past has been cut away. Leave behind forever, the disgrace and rebellion of the past. The victory of Jericho would have never occurred had they not left behind their past. Do you see the truth implied? We cannot carry with us the guilt and burden of our past if we want to step forward in victory today.
Our reading of the books of The Law has come to a close and now we begin with Joshua; the Israelites enter the Promised Land. Last week, we ended the week by reading the beginning the book of Joshua. Joshua is established as the new leader upon the death of Moses, spies are sent into the land and the prostitute Rahab spares their life, thus saving her own. Today’s reading begins on the bank of the Jordan river. God tells Joshua that what He is about to do has a twofold purpose; to establish Joshua as the new leader, “they will know that I will be with you just as I was with Moses,” and to prove His faithfulness, power and protection to His people, “You will know that the living God is among you …” What an exciting moment; we are about to witness the fulfillment of the promised covenant. God’s faithfulness is allowing this generation to witness what their fathers witnessed, the parting of waters, and what their fathers did not see, the Promised Land. A few things worth mentioning are that the Jordan river was not some wimpy body of water; think more along the lines of the Mississippi River. This is a massive body of water, at that time pumping an estimated 3 billion cubic feet of water annually. There is one major difference in the parting of the Jordan River from the parting of the Red Sea; the priests with the ark lead the parting, not the leader. I believe the purpose for this was to make no mistake that this was because of God’s power, not Joshua's. It seems that the former generation held Moses in high regard, but never seemed to get that it was God working through Moses. This generation would see the same power displayed to give them confidence in the battles ahead, however there would be no mistaking that this was about God, not Joshua. Not until the priests actually stepped into the water with the ark did the water part. Did you catch that? They had to actually step in the water before it parted. Then the waters separated and it became dry ground. Just stop, for a moment, and let this entire scene play in your mind. This is a massive body of rapidly flowing water that they step into, and then it becomes dry. Dry ground. This act confirms Joshua as God’s chosen leader and “so that all the people of the earth may know that the Lord’s hand is mighty, and so that you may always fear the Lord your God.” Beginning in Chapter 5, we read that God’s very purpose is fulfilled; the Amorites “lost heart and their courage failed because of the Israelites.” I know that the end of today’s reading is one of the most exciting and popular events in God’s Word; the battle of Jericho. However, I want to focus on a more obscure detail in chapter 5 that provides a great source of truth and hope for us today. God commands Joshua to circumcise the entire camp because this generation has not been circumcised. Remember, this is their sign of being set apart as God’s people. It is a visible reminder of what should be the condition of their hearts. When Joshua completes the task of circumcising every male in the camp, God says in verse 9, “Today, I have rolled away the disgrace of Egypt from you.” The literal meaning of this verse is that this generation could now leave behind forever the rebellion, the disgrace, of the previous generation, their parents. Egypt was their land of slavery. The symbolism and application is that we do not have to carry on generational sins. We are not our parents. For those who have come from painful family situations this is a great relief. The deeper application is that just as their physical bodies endured circumcision, the New Testament refers to our spiritual circumcision; our hearts are circumcised. All that is unclean is removed. We have discussed from previous weeks’ of reading that our land of slavery is our life before Christ; our life in bondage to sin. Please do not miss this. God circumcises our hearts, declaring that our past disgrace is forever removed from us. Just as they could now enter the Promised Land, we can now walk in victory and freedom because that past has been cut away. Leave behind forever, the disgrace and rebellion of the past. The victory of Jericho would have never occurred had they not left behind their past. Do you see the truth implied? We cannot carry with us the guilt and burden of our past if we want to step forward in victory today.
No comments:
Post a Comment