I have given into thine hand

(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

Sinking Sand

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Joshua 6:1–5, “Now Jericho was straitly shut up because of the children of Israel: none went out, and none came in. And the LORD said unto Joshua, See, I have given into thine hand Jericho, and the king thereof, and the mighty men of valour. And ye shall compass the city, all ye men of war, and go round about the city once. Thus shalt thou do six days. And seven priests shall bear before the ark seven trumpets of rams’ horns: and the seventh day ye shall compass the city seven times, and the priests shall blow with the trumpets. And it shall come to pass, that when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, and when ye hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city shall fall down flat, and the people shall ascend up every man straight before him.”

As we have seen before the people in Jericho were scared of the Israeli armies. They had heard of the great things that the Lord had done over the many years since Moses first went back to Egypt at the Lord’s command. However, they were not just going to let Israel come in and take their homes and land away from them. They already lived in lawless times and their city was secure from almost all attacks because it has strong high walls. According to the most modern theory, at the time, the only way to defeat a city like that was to besiege the city and starve them out. The king of Jericho secured all the gates to the city and settled down for a long and difficult siege. The Lord had other plans and didn’t want to waste time waiting for the people in the city to become weak of starvation so that they could try and break down the defences. The Lord didn’t only promise Israel that they would have Jericho, He promised Israel the entire land so they couldn’t waste months and months on each city. Israel needed a quick and decisive victory that would demonstrate, again, the Lord’s power and sap the Canaanites will to fight. The Lord asked that Israel trust Him without question and Joshua, as their leader, was to demonstrate this absolute trust by his actions. The Lord told Israel to march, in battle order, around the city, following the ark with the priests blowing seven horns. They were to do this once a day for six days and on the seventh day they were to circle the city seven times. After the seventh time they were to shout as soon as the trumpets blew and the walls would fall down. No one had ever seen anything like this before and they could not even imagine it. However, this was time for faith and obedience rather than discussion and objection.

The captain of the Lord's host

(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

Sinking Sand

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Joshua 5:13–15, “And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, behold, there stood a man over against him with his sword drawn in his hand: and Joshua went unto him, and said unto him, Art thou for us, or for our adversaries? And he said, Nay; but as captain of the host of the LORD am I now come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, and said unto him, What saith my lord unto his servant? And the captain of the LORD’S host said unto Joshua, Loose thy shoe from off thy foot; for the place whereon thou standest is holy. And Joshua did so.”

Joshua was faced with his first major obstacle in the Promised Land. His spies had already visited Jericho and new that it was a large walled city. To the average person the city would have seemed to be impregnable. As he was looking at Jericho he was a man with a drawn sword standing nearby. Joshua’s first instinct was to ask the man whose side he was on. After all, an armed man in a battle zone must belong to one sider or the other, surely? If this man was on Joshua’s side then the he would be safe but if this man was on the other side then Joshua would have to defend himself. However, the man told Joshua that he was neither on Israel’s side nor on their enemies’ side, he was the captain of the Lord’s armies. But surely, this man would be on Joshua’s side if he was the captain of the Lord’s armies. No! The Lord promised Israel that they would defeat their enemies in His Name. This reminds us of Prince Jonathan’s attitude when Saul was king of Israel. (see 1 Sam 14:6, “And Jonathan said to the young man that bare his armour, Come, and let us go over unto the garrison of these uncircumcised: it may be that the LORD will work for us: for there is no restraint to the LORD to save by many or by few.) The Lord would work with Israel’r armies and they would triumph without the aid of the Lord’s armies from heaven. In fact, Israel’s armies were the Lord’s armies on earth at that time. Joshua was so impressed by that man that he went to worship that man and ask him what he wanted. The man told Joshua that they were on holy ground and that he was to take his shoes off. The last time that we read about this happening was when Moses met the Lord in Midian and the Lord told Moses to set Israel free from slavery. (Ex 3:5, “And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.”) At that stage the Lord called Moses, at this stage the Lord confirmed to Joshua that he was called to a sacred mission. When the Lord set Israel free the Lord used Moses to perform mighty miracles to show Egypt that He is the Lord. The only angel involved in the whole process was the angel of death who slew the firstborn of Egypt. Joshua needed to understand that the Lord is able to work through His own people to achieve His own ends for His own glory.

The manna ceased

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Sinking Sand

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Joshua 5:10–12, “And the children of Israel encamped in Gilgal, and kept the passover on the fourteenth day of the month at even in the plains of Jericho. And they did eat of the old corn of the land on the morrow after the passover, unleavened cakes, and parched corn in the selfsame day. And the manna ceased on the morrow after they had eaten of the old corn of the land; neither had the children of Israel manna any more; but they did eat of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year.”

Gilgal was named in celebration of the fact that the Lord had rolled away the reproach of Egypt. The name “Gilgal” means “rolled away”. The Promised Land was a land flowing with milk and honey, it was a rich land with much to offer Israel. All the time that they had lived in the wilderness, the land there had not been fertile or sufficiently watered to support the nation so the Lord gave them the food and water they needed. However, once they were in the Promised Land, it was sufficient to give them all the food and water they needed so the Lord stopped giving them manna and let them live off the richness of the Land.

Rolled away the reproach

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Sinking Sand

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Joshua 5:1–9, “And it came to pass, when all the kings of the Amorites, which were on the side of Jordan westward, and all the kings of the Canaanites, which were by the sea, heard that the LORD had dried up the waters of Jordan from before the children of Israel, until we were passed over, that their heart melted, neither was there spirit in them any more, because of the children of Israel. At that time the LORD said unto Joshua, Make thee sharp knives, and circumcise again the children of Israel the second time. And Joshua made him sharp knives, and circumcised the children of Israel at the hill of the foreskins. And this is the cause why Joshua did circumcise: All the people that came out of Egypt, that were males, even all the men of war, died in the wilderness by the way, after they came out of Egypt. Now all the people that came out were circumcised: but all the people that were born in the wilderness by the way as they came forth out of Egypt, them they had not circumcised. For the children of Israel walked forty years in the wilderness, till all the people that were men of war, which came out of Egypt, were consumed, because they obeyed not the voice of the LORD: unto whom the LORD sware that he would not shew them the land, which the LORD sware unto their fathers that he would give us, a land that floweth with milk and honey. And their children, whom he raised up in their stead, them Joshua circumcised: for they were uncircumcised, because they had not circumcised them by the way. And it came to pass, when they had done circumcising all the people, that they abode in their places in the camp, till they were whole. And the LORD said unto Joshua, This day have I rolled away the reproach of Egypt from off you. Wherefore the name of the place is called Gilgal unto this day.”

The Lord promised Abraham that his descendants would become a mighty nation. However, the Lord also told Abraham that his male descendants would have to be circumcised as a sign of the covenant. (Genesis 17:7–14, “And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee. And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God. And God said unto Abraham, Thou shalt keep my covenant therefore, thou, and thy seed after thee in their generations. This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee; Every man child among you shall be circumcised. And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you. And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every man child in your generations, he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any stranger, which is not of thy seed. He that is born in thy house, and he that is bought with thy money, must needs be circumcised: and my covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. And the uncircumcised man child whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised, that soul shall be cut off from his people; he hath broken my covenant.”) The men of Israel were to be circumcised and the Lord would give them the Promised Land. Now that they were in the Promised Land they remembered that no one in Israel had been circumcised during the entire time they lived in the wilderness. In order to rectify this situation the men all had to be circumcised. This was the last act performed by the people who had been slaves before they became a sovereign nation in their own land.

Twelve stones

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Sinking Sand

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Joshua 4:20–24, “And those twelve stones, which they took out of Jordan, did Joshua pitch in Gilgal. And he spake unto the children of Israel, saying, When your children shall ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean these stones? Then ye shall let your children know, saying, Israel came over this Jordan on dry land. For the LORD your God dried up the waters of Jordan from before you, until ye were passed over, as the LORD your God did to the Red sea, which he dried up from before us, until we were gone over: That all the people of the earth might know the hand of the LORD, that it is mighty: that ye might fear the LORD your God for ever.”

There were actually two sets of twelve stones. One set was taken from the bank of the river and left in the middle of the river where the priests, with the ark, stood while the people crossed and another set of stones that were taken from the bed of the river and set up in the Promised Land so that a memorial to this miraculous event could be built. The reason this memorial was built was to make sure that the people didn’t ever forget what the Lord had done to bring them into the Promised Land. This was just one in a series of many miracles but it marked a milestone as it was the first time that the nation came into the Land that the Lord promised to Abraham and his descendants more than four hundred years before. It is good for everyone who reads this passage to understand the importance of teaching our children the right was to live their lives. The parents are always responsible to teach their children and one important way is by doing things that cause our children to ask questions. We can then explain to them why we do what we do.

The waters returned to their place

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Sinking Sand

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Joshua 4:10–19, “For the priests which bare the ark stood in the midst of Jordan, until every thing was finished that the LORD commanded Joshua to speak unto the people, according to all that Moses commanded Joshua: and the people hasted and passed over. And it came to pass, when all the people were clean passed over, that the ark of the LORD passed over, and the priests, in the presence of the people. And the children of Reuben, and the children of Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh, passed over armed before the children of Israel, as Moses spake unto them: About forty thousand prepared for war passed over before the LORD unto battle, to the plains of Jericho. On that day the LORD magnified Joshua in the sight of all Israel; and they feared him, as they feared Moses, all the days of his life. And the LORD spake unto Joshua, saying, Command the priests that bear the ark of the testimony, that they come up out of Jordan. Joshua therefore commanded the priests, saying, Come ye up out of Jordan. And it came to pass, when the priests that bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD were come up out of the midst of Jordan, and the soles of the priests’ feet were lifted up unto the dry land, that the waters of Jordan returned unto their place, and flowed over all his banks, as they did before. And the people came up out of Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and encamped in Gilgal, in the east border of Jericho.”

As long as the priests stood in the middle of the Jordan river the water didn’t flow. The Lord held the water back until they moved away. Not only did the people intending to live in the Land go over the river but all those who had decided to settle on the eastern side of the Jordan river sent their armies as well. These men crossed over as soldiers ready to to battle because they had promised to fight with their brother tribes until they had invaded and conquered the Land. The Lord promised that He would increase Joshua’s reputation and He did. After this everyone knew that Joshua was chosen by the Lord and he was accepted and respected as Israel’s leader. As soon as the priests came up out of the river the water started to flow again so there was no doubt that the Lord had stopped the water. Even though the water was dammed up further upstream the Lord planned that the waters would breach the temporary dam so that they would come past the priests just after they left the water.

The stones

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Sinking Sand

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Joshua 4:1–9, “And it came to pass, when all the people were clean passed over Jordan, that the LORD spake unto Joshua, saying, Take you twelve men out of the people, out of every tribe a man, And command ye them, saying, Take you hence out of the midst of Jordan, out of the place where the priests’ feet stood firm, twelve stones, and ye shall carry them over with you, and leave them in the lodging place, where ye shall lodge this night. Then Joshua called the twelve men, whom he had prepared of the children of Israel, out of every tribe a man: And Joshua said unto them, Pass over before the ark of the LORD your God into the midst of Jordan, and take ye up every man of you a stone upon his shoulder, according unto the number of the tribes of the children of Israel: That this may be a sign among you, that when your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean ye by these stones? Then ye shall answer them, That the waters of Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD; when it passed over Jordan, the waters of Jordan were cut off: and these stones shall be for a memorial unto the children of Israel for ever. And the children of Israel did so as Joshua commanded, and took up twelve stones out of the midst of Jordan, as the LORD spake unto Joshua, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel, and carried them over with them unto the place where they lodged, and laid them down there. And Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests which bare the ark of the covenant stood: and they are there unto this day.”

After the miracle the people walked over the Jordan River on dry land. While the river bed was still dry the Lord told Joshua to assign twelve men to collect a stone each from the bottom of the river. While all this was happening the priests carrying the ark stood in the river and the stones were collected from nearby. These stones were to be set up as a memorial to this miraculous day. They were to be set up as a memorial so that anyone who asked about the memorial would be told of this miracle. This was mainly for the children of these people and the children of the coming generations so the memory would never be lost. At the same time, twelve men also chose other stones from the river bank and they put those stones in the place where the priests stood as well.