xclose menu
  • Times & Directions
  • Giving at Grace
  • Events Calendar
  • Prayer Request

Joshua Week 4

Joshua 5
Break up into groups
1. Restate what is happening
2. why does this matter as we head towards the cross? How does this point back to the cross?
3. what does this say about God?
4. what does this say about the Jesus?
5. what does this say about the Holy Spirit?

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. At that time the Lord said to Joshua, “Make flint knives and circumcise the sons of Israel a second time.” So Joshua made flint knives and circumcised the sons of Israel at Gibeath-haaraloth. 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. 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. 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. 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. When the circumcising of the whole nation was finished, they remained in their places in the camp until they were healed. 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.

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. And the day after the Passover, on that very day, they ate of the produce of the land, unleavened cakes and parched grain. 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.

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?” 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?” 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 5:1‭-‬15 ESV

The New Generation is Circumcised

• The Kings that inhabited the land recognized Israel's God's strength. Have we seen this before? Echo to what Rehab said.
• Circumcision was an outward sign of the covenant that God made with Abraham.
• Joshua circumcised the men. We see Israel healing and being restored to what they are meant to be.
• The men are trusting God in enemy territory through the vulnerability of circumcision. It takes quite a while to heal from it.
• The Exodus generation disobeyed and failed to uphold the covenant, from not circumcising the next generation and not willing to go into the promise land.
• We know what happened, they died in the Wilderness and never got to step foot in the promise land. They suffered for their disobedience.

First Passover in Canaan

• We see again that this generation is remembering what the Lord has done. Everything seems to be going right this time around.
• They have taken a step forward out of the wilderness into a bountiful land so the mana has ceased. God provided for a season when they were in need but now they have entered a new season that is very different.
We see the transition from wanders to land 

The Commander of the Lord's Army

• Echo to Moses encounter with an angel of the Lord in Exodus 3
• The Commander is not for the Israelites or their enemy, He is an agent of God's will. This is a little foreshadowing for next week as we look at to distinct battles of Jericho and Ai. Two stories that will show what follow God's will and charging forward on our own looks like.

Family Questions

  1. What stuck out for you?
  2. Do you think you would trust God enough to be that vulnerable like the Israelites?
  3. Do you think remembering what God has done, is essential for us as believers?
  4. How do we remember God through our service, on Sundays and throughout the year, as Anglicans?