(Dear Lord Jesus, guide me and give me insight as I read and study Your word...)
(Joshua 5:1-12) Now it came about when 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 how the Lord had dried up the waters of the Jordan before the sons of Israel until they had crossed, that their hearts melted, and there was no spirit in them any longer because of the sons of Israel.
2 At that time the Lord said to Joshua, “Make for yourself flint knives and circumcise again the sons of Israel the second time.” 3 So Joshua made himself flint knives and circumcised the sons of Israel at Gibeath-haaraloth. 4 This is the reason why Joshua circumcised them: all the people who came out of Egypt who were males, all the men of war, died in the wilderness along the way after they came out of Egypt. 5 For all the people who came out were circumcised, but all the people who were born in the wilderness along the way as they came out of Egypt had not been circumcised. 6 For the sons of Israel walked forty years in the wilderness, until all the nation, that is, the men of war who came out of Egypt, perished because they did not listen to the voice of the Lord, to whom the Lord had sworn that He would not let them see the land which the Lord had sworn to their fathers to give us, a land flowing with milk and honey. 7 So their children whom He raised up in their place, Joshua circumcised; for they were uncircumcised, because they had not circumcised them along the way.
8 Now when they had finished circumcising all the nation, they remained in their places in the camp until they recovered. 9 Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Today I have rolled away the shame of Egypt from you.” So the name of that place is called Gilgal to this day.
10 While the sons of Israel camped at Gilgal they celebrated the Passover on the evening of the fourteenth day of the month on the desert plains of Jericho. 11 Then on the day after the Passover, on that very day, they ate some of the produce of the land, unleavened cakes and roasted grain. 12 And the manna ceased on the day after they had eaten some of the produce of the land, so that the sons of Israel no longer had manna, but they ate some of the yield of the land of Canaan during that year.
2 At that time the Lord said to Joshua, “Make for yourself flint knives and circumcise again the sons of Israel the second time.” 3 So Joshua made himself flint knives and circumcised the sons of Israel at Gibeath-haaraloth. 4 This is the reason why Joshua circumcised them: all the people who came out of Egypt who were males, all the men of war, died in the wilderness along the way after they came out of Egypt. 5 For all the people who came out were circumcised, but all the people who were born in the wilderness along the way as they came out of Egypt had not been circumcised. 6 For the sons of Israel walked forty years in the wilderness, until all the nation, that is, the men of war who came out of Egypt, perished because they did not listen to the voice of the Lord, to whom the Lord had sworn that He would not let them see the land which the Lord had sworn to their fathers to give us, a land flowing with milk and honey. 7 So their children whom He raised up in their place, Joshua circumcised; for they were uncircumcised, because they had not circumcised them along the way.
8 Now when they had finished circumcising all the nation, they remained in their places in the camp until they recovered. 9 Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Today I have rolled away the shame of Egypt from you.” So the name of that place is called Gilgal to this day.
10 While the sons of Israel camped at Gilgal they celebrated the Passover on the evening of the fourteenth day of the month on the desert plains of Jericho. 11 Then on the day after the Passover, on that very day, they ate some of the produce of the land, unleavened cakes and roasted grain. 12 And the manna ceased on the day after they had eaten some of the produce of the land, so that the sons of Israel no longer had manna, but they ate some of the yield of the land of Canaan during that year.
TODAY'S THOUGHTS AND MEDITATION:
Notice that when the Amorites and Canaanites saw that they had an "enemy" in common, they quickly brushed their own issues aside and became allies. This is what our sinful human nature does. I've even been apart of this sort of mentality with other Christians. Not that we had issues with each other to begin with, but a group of us bonded together as we were dealing with a real problem. And with sincere hearts, we worked together to accomplish a just and peaceful outcome in God's will.
Where it went awry was after the issue had been sorted out. We had been so focused on "the battle" that when it was done, some of the people stayed in "battle-mode". They wanted to continue stamping out "problems" and therefore only saw "problems" everywhere - because no one is perfect. Although sincere, they were sincerely wrong.
The atmosphere quickly went from loving and peaceful to critical and judgmental, self-righteous and contentious. If we begin to think that we are in charge of the battles, we will become prideful, fearful and angry. It is all too easy to turn on each other when we are in charge!!!
Now notice how Joshua prepared the Israelites in an atmosphere of fellowship and peace! They set themselves apart and humbly waited on the Lord for "recovery" and a fresh new start. And they celebrated together with thankfulness.
Before, during and after every ordeal that God takes us through, we need to recognize that it is God who fights our battles, and not we ourselves. When we or the people before us have made mistakes, we should not continue on in making those mistakes, but humbly start anew. We need to continually refocus and remain grounded in God's love, forgiveness, grace and peace. This includes exercising these qualities towards each other!
And as we celebrate together with thankfulness, we can give our battles to the Lord. In this way, we will not be unified in battle, but we will be unified in God's love, forgiveness, grace and peace!!!
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