Tonight we've crossed the River Jordan, we have entered the land, and now we are going to take possession of the land. Notice my use of we. We're right there with the children of Israel. And this passage, this chapter, deals with circumcision.
Interestingly enough, is that why you brought up the question? That's what I was thinking. Circumcision, Passover, and then we'll go to chapter 6, verse 5, because I think that this commander of the Lord's army that's introduced to us in chapter 5 at verse 13, I think it is him that is giving the instructions to Joshua in chapter 6 verses 2 to 5. So we've got circumcision, Passover, and the commander of the Lord's army.
Dale Ralph Davis calls this section celebrating the sacraments, and Woodstra calls it covenant sign and covenant meal. And that is precisely what's going on. So we'll just begin reading in Joshua 5 verse 1. So it was when all the kings of the Amorites who were on the west side of the Jordan and all the kings of the Canaanites who were by the sea heard that the Lord had dried up the waters of the Jordan from before the children of Israel until we had crossed over, that their heart melted and there was no spirit in them any longer because of the children of Israel.
At that time, the Lord said to Joshua, make flint knives for yourself and circumcise the sons of Israel again the second time. So Joshua made flint knives for himself and circumcised the sons of Israel at the hill of the four skins. And this is the reason why Joshua circumcised them. all the people who came out of Egypt who were males, all the men of war, had died in the wilderness on the way, after they had come out of Egypt. For all the people who came out had been circumcised, but all the people born in the wilderness, on the way as they came out of Egypt, had not been circumcised.
For the children of Israel walked 40 years in the wilderness, till all the people who were men of war, who came out of Egypt, were consumed. because they did not obey the voice of the Lord, to whom the Lord swore that he would not show them the land which the Lord had sworn to their fathers that he would give us, a land flowing with milk and honey. And Joshua circumcised their sons whom he raised up in their place, for they were uncircumcised, because they had not been circumcised on the way. So it was when they had finished circumcising all the people that they stayed in their places in the camp till they were healed. Then the Lord said to Joshua, this day I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you.
Therefore, the name of the place is called Gilgal to this day. Now the children of Israel camped in Gilgal and kept the Passover on the 14th day of the month at twilight on the plains of Jericho. And they ate of the produce of the land on the day after the Passover, unleavened bread and parched grain on the very same day. Then the manna ceased on the day after they had eaten the produce of the land.
And the children of Israel no longer had manna, but they ate the food of the land of Canaan that year. And it came to pass when Joshua was by Jericho that he lifted his eyes and looked. And behold, a man stood opposite him with his sword drawn in his hand. And Joshua went to him and said to him, are you for us or for our adversaries?
So he said, no, but as commander of the army of the Lord, I have now 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 your sandal off your foot for the place where you stand is holy. And Joshua did so.
Jericho was securely shut up because of the children of Israel. None went out and none came in. And the Lord said to Joshua, see, I have given Jericho into your hand, its king, and the mighty men of valor. You shall march around the city, all you men of war.
You shall go all around the city once. This you shall do six days. And seven priests shall bear seven trumpets of ram's horns before the ark. But the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets.
It shall come to pass when they make a long blast with the ram's horn, and when you hear the sound of the trumpet, that all the people shall shout with a great shout. And the wall of the city will fall down flat, and the people shall go up, every man straight before him. Amen.
Scripture Reading: Joshua 5:1–6:5
Well, as we consider this particular section,
Introduction
as I mentioned, verses 1 to 9 deal with the circumcision of the second generation. Verses 10 to 12 deal with the celebration of the Passover. And then beginning in chapter 5 at verse 13, we are introduced to the commander of the Lord's army. So sacramental observance going on and then encouragement by the commander of the Lord's army prior to their taking the land.
Circumcision of the Second Generation
So let's look at the circumcision of the second generation.
Canaanite Fear and Israel's Respite
Verses 1 and 2 tell us the response by the Canaanites when the children of Israel marched across the River Jordan. It says, so it was when all the kings of the Amorites who were on the west side, remember, they had been on the east side, God parts the River Jordan for them and they cross through the river. Now they are on the west side of the river. So having come through and being now currently gathered on the west side, All the kings of the Amorites who were on the west side of the Jordan and all the kings of the Canaanites who were by the sea heard that the Lord had dried up the waters of the Jordan from before the children of Israel until we had crossed over, that their heart melted and there was no spirit in them any longer because of the children of Israel.
You remember back in Joshua 2. I know it was a long, long time ago when we studied Joshua chapter 2. Remember, this is precisely the same thing that Rahab the harlot said when we heard about how the Lord God opened the Red Sea for you She says, I know that the Lord has given you the land, that the terror of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land are fainthearted because of you. For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were on the other side of the Jordan, Sion and Og, whom you utterly destroyed.
And as soon as we heard these things, our hearts melted. neither did there remain any more courage in anyone because of you for the Lord your God he is God in heaven above and on earth beneath." So the same effect is had upon these Amorites and Canaanites on the west side of the Jordan when God the Lord acts on behalf of Israel and he heaps up the waters of the river Jordan into one place so that they can then cross through unscathed, the peoples of the land hear, the peoples of the land witness, and the peoples of the land fear and tremble. So as their heart melted, there was no spirit in them any longer because of the children of Israel. Now, this is key in this chapter for two reasons. First of all, it indicates why these Canaanites didn't immediately confront them in battle.
They didn't immediately jump into the fray with the children of Israel. They did not charge them. Rather, their hearts melted. fearful, there was no spirit any longer in them because of what God the Lord had done. But as well, too, it will give Israel time to recover and to heal from the circumcision.
This isn't something that you go in have done and then enter into the battlefield. In fact, as we read through the chapter, we see in verse 8, so it was when they had finished circumcising all the people, where was it that they were healed? Oh, verse 10. Let's see here.
Verse 8, So it was when they had finished circumcising all the people that they stayed in their places in the camp till they were healed. So the fact is they have a respite from battle immediately because of what God has done with reference to the river Jordan. And so this then gives them time to engage in these sacraments of circumcision and Passover. So it is a mercy from God giving them or purchasing this time for them.
And then
The Command and Its Compliance
notice specifically the command to Joshua in verses 2 and 3. I don't think we're supposed to surmise that Joshua was actually the knife maker and Joshua was actually the circumciser. I think rather Joshua was the overseer to make sure all of this was carried out. Gil says, not that Joshua circumcised them himself any more than he made the knives himself, but he ordered both to be done and took care that they were done.
So God tells him in verse 2, make flint knives for yourself and circumcise the sons of Israel again the second time. Now some have taken this reference to the second time to say that their initial circumcision was not complete. It was not full. Most of the ancient people's practice and most many of the ancient peoples practiced circumcision.
Circumcision predates Abraham. The commentators say that circumcision was found on just about every continent. Most of the Canaanites practiced circumcision, with the exception of the Philistines. So circumcision was a widespread situation.
And so when we read here that he was to make flint knives for yourself and circumcise the sons of Israel again the second time, some have said that the children of Israel in their initial circumcision imbibed the customs of the nations around them and did not have the entirety of the foreskin cut off. I realize this is a bit of a delicate subject, but that's not what's going on here. I think the idea is, as we move through the passage, it's evident that they were not circumcised. That's the problem.
Joshua has to circumcise them. I think it's the giving of this commandment again. When they come out of Egypt, there is a circumcision. Now they're entering into Canaan.
This is the second time. The first generation was circumcised according to God's command. The second generation was not circumcised. I think that's the reference to circumcise the sons of Israel again the second time.
It's not to finish the job that wasn't done initially, rather it simply means to take these uncircumcised ones and circumcise them. And it's interesting, the use of flint knives. You remember Zipporah, Moses' wife, that circumcised her son and threw the foreskin at his feet. She used a flint, a flint rod.
So this One of the commentators suggested this was in use, this was a common use for this particular type of rock in order to commit or to engage in this act of circumcision. And then notice the compliance with the command in verse 3. So Joshua made flint knives for himself and circumcised the sons of Israel at the hill of the four skins. So Gil, as I've already quoted Hath, he says, and as any that had skill might make the knives, so might any circumcise.
Circumcision was not restrained to any order of men, not to the priests and Levites, but any might perform it, so that though the number to be circumcised was great, it might soon be finished." So there is the response by the Canaanites, verses 1 and 2, gives them this opportunity, the command given to Joshua, verses 2 and 3, And then
The Reason for the Command
notice in verses 4 to 6, the reason for the command. The reason for the command is specified in verse 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 had died in the wilderness on the way after they had come out of Egypt.
For all the people who came out had been circumcised, but all the people born in the wilderness on the way as they came out of Egypt had not been circumcised. So this is the problem. Very interesting. That first generation who come out of Egypt, they receive the covenant sign.
They receive circumcision. But that didn't mean their hearts were circumcised. Notice what he says in verse 6. For the children of Israel walked forty years in the wilderness, till all the people who were men of war who came out of Egypt were consumed, because they did not obey the voice of the Lord.
So the presence of physical circumcision does not necessarily result in obedience to God's commands. And this was a stipulation and a command given by God through Abraham that all of his descendants would in fact be circumcised. So this first generation who obeyed the command to get circumcised for themselves certainly did not obey the command to circumcise their young ones. Some say that this was a judgment from God and God held them or kept them from getting circumcision, but the text nowhere says that.
Nowhere do we find in Exodus Leviticus or Exodus Numbers specifically that God was withholding this from them. The text is silent. What we find here specifically is that they were disobedient, they did not obey the voice of the Lord. And this ultimately is why God destroyed them and why God would not allow them to enter into the promised land.
Numbers 14 is very clear on this whole issue. God swears in His wrath that they will not enter into His rest. And so God determines then to destroy that first generation. That does not invalidate His oath made to the fathers, as is specified here.
It does not nullify the oath that was made to the fathers. He promised to Abraham that in him the nations would be blessed. There would be a land, there would be seed, there would be blessing. all those things. Well, this first generation, they rejected it through their faithlessness and their disobedience.
And so it says that the Lord swore to them that He would not show them the land which the Lord had sworn to their fathers. So God's covenantal promise is going to be fulfilled regardless, ultimately, even of the faithlessness of the first generation. You see, some would read this and say, wait a minute, God swore and then he swore to keep them out. No, their faithlessness does not invalidate and does not cancel out his faithfulness.
He destroys the first generation, but he then blesses the second generation because he has sworn with his oath that to Abraham he would give this seed, He would give this land, He would give this blessing. So the circumcised first generation disobeyed with reference to circumcising the second generation. Now remember that circumcision itself was a sign of the covenant in verse 11. Circumcision was obligatory.
Circumcision was necessary in terms of covenant membership. In fact, in Exodus 12, in verse 48, no uncircumcised man could participate in the Passover meal. So there is a specific order even in Joshua chapter 5. We have circumcision preceding the Passover meal.
If you're not circumcised, you're not allowed to eat the Passover meal. So circumcision was necessary within the covenant community in Old Testament Israel. So God tells Joshua to engage in this activity, to take care of business here in Gilgal in order to fit the men for service and faithfulness. I think the argument sort of goes like this, God makes this covenant with Abraham to give them this land, to give them seed, to give them blessing.
Well now they've actually entered into the land, so God says you need to take the sign, you need to have the covenant sign in your body so that you may be faithful in the land that the Lord your God is giving unto you. So that's the flow of the narrative at this particular juncture. junction. And then notice
Obedience and the Reproach Removed
the compliance or obedience in verses 7 and 9. Joshua circumcised their sons whom he raised up in their place for they were uncircumcised because they had not been circumcised on the way. So they were in essence heathen or pagans or Gentile types. And so God wants to clean that up, get them in order so that they are fit to dwell in the land that he is giving to them.
So it was when they had finished circumcising all the people, that they stayed in their places in the camp till they were healed. Then the Lord said to Joshua, this day I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you. Therefore, the name of the place is called Gilgal to this day. So the sons were circumcised, the men healed, and the Lord removed the reproach from Israel.
Gilgal, if you notice in your margin there, it's related to that word roll. He's rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you this day. And then
Celebration of the Passover
that brings us to the celebration of the Passover. Notice in verse 10, now the children of Israel camped in Gilgal and kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the month at twilight on the plains of Jericho. Plains of Jericho there indicate for us, foreshadows what's coming up in the next chapters. Now they're on the west side of the Jordan River, they've left the plains of Moab, they're in the plains of Jericho.
The keen reader is going, okay we're getting ready, we're gonna conquer this land. That's what the author is doing. He's building up that suspense or he's building up that tension or that crescendo to get us right on board with him. And then notice the date is mentioned there specifically.
We already saw back in Joshua chapter 4. They come from the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month and they camped in Gilgal on the east border of Jericho. Remember back in Exodus 12, 2 and 3, this was the date they were to remember the Passover, on that 10th day of the first month, which is Nisan. Now the book of Exodus also specified, though, that when they entered into the land, even though it's the 14th day and not the 10th day, when they enter into the land, Exodus 13, verse 5, says when they enter into the land, there they will celebrate the Passover.
So that's what's going on here. They're rejoicing before God Most High because He has liberated them, He has freed them from the house of bondage, and He has brought them to this place of great blessing. They are to recall God's redemption. They are to recall His great power.
They are to recall that blood put over the doorframe so that the angel of the Lord would pass over and not destroy them. This was a great event in Israel's history. It was a great time for them to celebrate and to remind their children of what God had done, similar to the way we take the Lord's Supper. We're remembering a great redemptive event associated with the blood of Christ and the way that God passes over us instead of destroying us and throwing us into hell and utter abandonment.
He has dealt thus with his son and spared us. So they are celebrating the Passover. And then
Manna Ceases, Produce of the Land
notice in verses 11 and 12, It says, they ate of the produce of the land on the day after the Passover, unleavened bread and parched grain on the very same day. Then the manna ceased on the day after they had eaten the produce of the land. And the children of Israel no longer had manna, but they ate the food of the land of Canaan that year. And one of the commentators said that any time Passover is mentioned, the lamb that was roasted for the Passover feast was always mentioned.
I didn't have time to check every reference. But notice, when they instituted the Passover, or when you had this Passover meal, there was a special diet or a special menu. None of those things are mentioned at this Passover feast. It's not to suggest that those things aren't important, but you know what's interesting and what's repeated three times for emphasis in verses 11 and 12 is that they ate the produce of the land.
They ate the produce of the land. They ate the produce of the land. They entered into the land that God had promised and they were reaping the benefit that God had promised. Remember they went to this land because it was a good land that flowed with milk and honey.
It was a good land that yielded grain. It was a good land that had vineyards. It was a good land that produced abundantly. And so when we read in verses 11 and 12, of the produce of the land.
After they had eaten the produce of the land, but they ate the food of the land of Canaan that year, it's as if the author is saying, look, this is what we've been waiting for. This is what that 40 years of wilderness wandering has led to. The Lord our God is faithful. And he is so faithful that we don't need manna anymore.
Notice verse 12, Then the manna ceased on the day after they had eaten the produce of the land, and the children of Israel no longer had manna, but they ate the food of the land of Canaan that year. Now, isn't that beautiful? God had given them manna to sustain them throughout the wilderness. They come into the land, they eat the produce of the land, they don't need the manna anymore.
Now, are we to assume that the cessation of the miraculous gift of manna means the cessation of God's providential care? Absolutely not. God is as sovereign in the planting of seed, in the sun shining upon it, in watering that seed, causing it to grow, and being produced for the children of Israel. He is as sovereign and as sustaining and as beneficent in that activity as he is in providing manna from heaven.
You know, earlier we talked about a young man whose car flipped and he landed in the water. And God, by all intents and appearances, miraculously spared him. Now, here's what I fear that we often overlook, is that every single day, we likewise get into cars, and we don't flip into rivers. We all made it here safely tonight.
We have all had breath today. We've all had food. We've all had drink. God is as sovereign in providing that daily sustenance and safety to us as He is in sparing a young man who flipped his car and ended up in the river.
God's Providence in Ordinary Means
The cessation of manna does not mean the cessation of God's providence. God operates in the midst of seed time and harvest when the ground yields plentifully to produce food for His people. So these brethren were not saying, wait a minute, where's God? They were saying, praise God, we've moved from this manotype environment Now to stability in our own land, we can plant fields, we can harvest grain, and we can in fact reap the bounty that God the Lord has promised and that God the Lord has delivered for us.
So this cessation of manna is a blessing because it gives way to the produce of the land that God the Lord had promised unto them. So his wondrous mercy in sparing us miraculously ought not to eradicate, it ought not to get rid of his wondrous mercy that spares us each and every day. So if we can walk to our refrigerator and open it up and grab out a bottle of milk, We ought to praise God just like if we were stranded out in the middle of nowhere and we found a big water jug. I mean, we'd be more inclined to say, praise God for this find of the water jug than we are when we go to the fridge to get our milk out.
But in light of the fact that God is holy and we are sinners, that we get any good or any bits of mercy truly is cause for thanksgiving to the Lord our God. So we see circumcision, we see Passover.
The Commander of the Lord's Army
Now let's look at the commander of the Lord's army. I think that verse 1 of chapter 6 is a parentheses. I think the narrative goes from 5.13 to 6.5. I think it is this commander of the Lord's army that is giving instruction to Joshua in verses 2 to 5.
This commander of the Lord's army, I hope you will all know, is the pre-incarnate Jesus Christ. Oftentimes, in the Old Testament, you see this one called the angel of the Lord. And then the respondent, or the one to whom the angel of the Lord is speaking or discoursing, then it's as if he's speaking to the Lord himself. So he is synonymously addressed as the angel of the Lord and as the Lord.
And the same is true here. We see in verses 13 to 15, this commander of the Lord's army And then in verse 2 of chapter 6, and the Lord said to Joshua, I think this is what we are to pick up on as Trinitarian readers, is that we have God the Son coming pre-incarnation as the commander of the Lord's army, discoursing with Joshua at a very, very, very, very key time. I mean, remember, we've crossed the river, we're on the west side of the Jordan, we're about to get our hands dirty. We're about to go into battle.
We're about to destroy things and kill people. What better time for Jesus to come and encourage Joshua? I mean, talk about the goodness of our God. When we need him most, there he is.
When we need encouragement, there he is. And, of course, our Bible should function that way, right? This is the best time that Jesus could have ever come to General Joshua.
The Encounter with the Commander
Notice the encounter in verse 13. It came to pass when Joshua was by Jericho that he lifted his eyes and looked, and behold, a man stood opposite with him. with his sword drawn in his hand. There's some parallels to this. In fact, if you've been paying attention up to this point, you've seen a lot of parallels between Joshua and Moses.
Moses, God splits open the Red Sea and there goes Moses and the children of Israel. With Joshua, it's the river Jordan. Even before that, there is a circumcision event. Zipporah circumcises Moses' son prior to him undertaking his mission.
Here, the children of Israel are being circumcised prior to undertaking their mission. There is this whole theophany where the Lord God appears to Joshua, the Lord God appeared to Moses, and Jacob before him at Peniel. So what we find here is a similar way of working where God deals with his people. And so there is this theophany, that means a manifestation of God to Joshua.
And notice that this man stood opposite with him, or opposite him, with his sword drawn in his hand. So he's battle ready. He's combat ready. I mean, when you see the troops, if you see them playing ping pong, they don't have all of their gear on.
They don't have all of their armament, because they're not combat ready. When you see them decked out and face painted and wearing all their gear, you know they're ready for combat. This commander of the Lord's army has sword in hand, and this causes Joshua to say, are you friend or foe? At this particular time, he doesn't know he's talking to the commander of the Lord's army.
He doesn't know he's talking to the Lord Jesus Christ. He sees this sword, probably wasn't poised at Joshua's head, There was some degree of ambiguity for Joshua, so he asks the question, are you for us or for our adversaries? And then the response comes, the identification, the man makes, no, but as commander of the army of the Lord, I have now come. What a great, again, strategic and blessed visitation for Joshua.
As commander of the army of the Lord, I have now come. So we didn't just carry this Ark of the Covenant across the River Jordan, we now physically, or Joshua physically sees the commander of the Lord's army. he is realizing beyond any degree of doubt that the Lord God Almighty really is marching into battle before them. It is the victory that is going to belong to the Lord. John Gill says it this way, he says, not a mere man, when he is commenting on, no, but as commander of the army of the Lord I have now come.
Gil says, not a mere man, nor a created angel in a human form, but a divine person in such a form, even the Son of God, who frequently appeared in this manner to the patriarchs, as is clear from the worship paid unto him by Joshua, by his calling him Lord, and owning himself to be his servant, and by the ground on which he stood being holy, through his presence as well as by his title, the captain of the Lord's host. I mean, who could say that? The captain of the Lord's army? The captain?
I mean, who says that but the Lord Jesus Christ? Woodstra says, Joshua has been made aware of the presence of one greater than man, whose drawn sword clearly speaks of combat readiness, and whose army is nothing less than that of the Lord himself. He then says, what more is there to know before the conquest is to begin in earnest? What more do you want?
What further encouragement? You have Jesus Christ holding the sword, claiming his title as commander of the Lord's army. He makes this statement, Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped and said to him, what does my Lord say to his servant? That is a great response.
Worship Christ and then ask, what do you want me to do? Joshua is evidencing himself as a superior general. He's evidencing himself as a godly man. He is evidencing himself as the legitimate successor of Moses every step of the way.
Then the commander of the Lord's army said to Joshua, take your sandal off your foot for the place where you stand is holy and Joshua did so. Just like at that burning bush when God calls from the bush for Moses to remove his sandals. So God is taking Joshua along the very same path that he took Moses to affirm to confirm, to continue to demonstrate that as the Lord God was with Moses, so I will be with you, Joshua. And then
Jericho's Strength and God's Promise
notice in verses 1 to 5 in chapter 6. I mentioned chapter 6 verse 1 probably is a parenthesis. Jericho was securely shut up because of the children of Israel. None went out and none came in.
That's given there probably to highlight a couple of things. One, the children of Israel stand in need. Remember they're not primarily a warring people. This was not their job.
I mean, the last 40 years, they've been wandering through the wilderness. Prior to that, they were in Egypt as slaves. They don't have a lot of combat readiness. They don't have SEAL Team 6.
They don't have the Rangers. They don't have the Special Forces. They don't have all of these things. So this statement inserted here, parenthetically, is given to us to show us and to demonstrate to us that the children of Israel stand in great need. that this is a formidable foe, that Jericho is impenetrable, that this is going to be difficult, it's going to be hard, unless the commander of the Lord's army undertake on their behalf.
You see, just as chapter 3, verse 15 told us about the way that the river piled up on the shore at certain times of the year, It's almost as if God along the way is saying, make sure you indicate how hard it is so that when I come through for the people, no one will ever doubt that anything is too difficult for our God. Make sure that you use these things as teaching devices to show them that the God of Israel can certainly overcome rivers that flow over and armies or cities that think they're impenetrable. So chapter 6 verse 1 again sets up the tension in the narrative and then come the instructions given by the commander of the army of the Lord. Verse 2, And the Lord said to Joshua, See, I have given Jericho into your hand its king and the mighty men of valor.
Right there, promise, promise. you proceed based on faith in the promise of the Lord God Almighty. When He says that He will do something, He will most certainly do it. This was the fundamental problem with the first generation according to Numbers 13 and 14. God said, I am giving them the land.
When the 12 spies went out, the 10 come back and say, no, the land is not a good land. It's filled with giants. There's no way that we'll ever be able to take the land for the Lord. Of course, the congregation listened to the 10 spies.
God was angry. God sworn His wrath that they would not enter into His rest because they did not Believe him. Isn't that what Hebrews 3 says? They didn't enter in.
Why? Because of unbelief. They did not believe that the God who promised is in fact faithful. In this they were not like Abraham.
Abraham believed God and it was counted unto him as righteousness. Here the Lord in verse 2 says, I have given Jericho into your hand. Note the stark contrast. Verse 1 basically tells us there is no way anybody can penetrate Jericho.
There is no way any army is going to get in to Jericho. Jericho was securely shut up because of the children of Israel. None went out. None came in.
It was one big fortress They were waiting. They were poised. They were ready. If the children of Israel shall launch an attack, we will destroy them.
What does God say? I've given it to you. It's yours. It's a done deal.
It's over. You might as well just start figuring out where you're going to... put things near knick-knacks. I don't know about knick-knacks, but just realize that when God promises, He is faithful. He then specifies the means, verses 3 to 5.
You shall march around the city, all you men of war. You shall go all around the city once. This you shall do six days. Seven priests shall bear seven trumpets of ram's horns before the ark.
The seventh day you shall march around the city seven times and the priests shall blow the trumpets. It shall come to pass when they make a long blast with the ram's horn And when you hear the sound of the trumpet, that all the people shall shout with a great shout, then the wall of the city will fall down flat. And the people shall go up, every man straight before him." So it's going to be a means that is obviously supernatural in effect. It's not going to be sneak in, take men out, kill people, bash their heads against the skull.
No, God says, here's the way you're going to do this, so that when Jericho falls, it will be evident that victory did not come about because of your military prowess, because of your ability, or because of your crack training, but victory will obviously be of the Lord God Almighty. So that will be the significance. I think it was asked why on the Sabbath day. I mean, if you look at the timing, the text doesn't say.
I would argue in terms of Sabbath, the very principle, not here specifically, I think an act of war is a legitimate work of necessity. In other words, if you are a Christian and you're a Sabbatarian and you've got to go in and take out an enemy combatant, it happens to be on Sunday, That's an act of necessity, to take that person out. Here, I think it probably goes along with, it is God the Lord that is providing them victory, and it is not through their effort, ultimately, that they are gaining possession of this particular city. or conquest of this particular city, and probably does highlight more realistically the Sabbath principle. God is delivering his people, granting them rest as they enter into the land.
But the text really doesn't get into all of the particulars. Some have asked, and it wasn't just Roger who mentioned that, somebody last time, not last time, years ago we met, I don't know why, why we were or when we were in this tax, that somebody said, well, that would have meant they would be marching on the Sabbath day. Isn't that a violation of the Sabbath? Well, this first and foremost isn't an ethical passage in terms of our practice for Sabbath keeping.
That's really not the point. If we look at the passage, we look at what's going on, it could in fact be God's giving them victory through his effort, through his power, and through his might, such that they are not exerting the specific energy involved in this task. So that's circumcision, Passover, commander of the Lord's army. We'll stop there, pray, and then we'll have discussion.
Closing Prayer
Father, we thank you for this, your word, and we thank you for your grace and mercy to each of us. God, as we have rehearsed tonight, your miraculous and your glorious means of preserving your people. God, we also want to acknowledge the normal and the ordinary ways you preserve and you keep us each and every day, whether it's manna from heaven or it's the produce of the land. Certainly, God, you are sovereign and your providence extends to every inch of our lives.
And may we never forget this, and may we as well see in this passage that relationship with you, covenant with you, precedes going in to conquer the land of Canaan. May you help us, God, to be obedient, May you help us, God, to delight in your nearness and in your goodness and in your kindness. And we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen.