LESSONS LEARNED AT GILGAL – Joshua 5:1-15

Posted by Pastor Greg Allen on September 25, 2013 under AM Bible Study |

AM Bible Study Group; September 25, 2013

Joshua 5:1-15

Theme: The experiences of the people at Gilgal teach us some important lessons about taking hold of our inheritance in Christ..

(Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references are taken from The New King James Version, unless otherwise indicated).

In our last study, we were introduced to ‘Gilgal’—the name that came to be given to the place in which the people stayed after they crossed the Jordan River (see Joshua 4:19-20). Since crossing the Jordan illustrates our death, burial and resurrection with Christ, the time spent at Gilgal represents—as one preacher put it—’living in Resurrection-land’. It’s the place that illustrates our decisive stand in the new spiritual realities brought about for us through our faith in Jesus; and from which we go forth to take hold of our rich inheritance in Him.

In the story of this book, Joshua—and the people that he led—often came back to this place at key moments in their conquests. Similarly, you and I—in our rising up to take hold of the victorious Christian life—must often go back, as it were, to ‘Gilgal’ and reaffirm: “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Galatians 2:20).

Notice how the people’s time in Gilgal teaches us that . . .

I. ONCE WE BEGIN TO LIVE THE RESURRECTED LIFE IN CHRIST BY FAITH, THE ENEMY IS PUT TO FEAR (v. 1).

A. Verse one tells us, “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.”

1. It might be good to stop here and consider a criticism of our faith that unbelieving people often express. Many reject faith in the God of the Bible because, they say, He was cruel and brutal in ordering His people to completely destroy the people groups of Canaan. But it’s important to remember that those people groups knew about God well in advance; and they had ample time to repent and turn to Him. God had told Abraham that his people would not receive the inheritance for what turned out to be 440 years; “for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete” (Genesis 15:16). The people groups of Canaan were profound in their wickedness; and God allowed them almost four-and-a-half centuries to turn from their ways! Then, the people of Canaan heard of what God had done for the people in delivering them from bondage in Egypt and bringing them through the Red Sea (see Joshua 2:10). By that time, they would have seen God’s judgment drawing closer and would have had forty years to repent. And now, as this verse testifies, they had heard of how God had miraculously dried up the Jordan so the people could pass into the land. They still had ample opportunity to repent; and if they had done so—just as Rahab the harlot and her family had done—they surely would have been spared. How much more foolish it would be—knowing all this—to continue to reject God now that He has sent His Son to be our Savior!

2. The fear of the surrounding peoples would have to have been a supernatural work of God. The peoples of the land wouldn’t have had any fear at all if the people of Israel had continued to wander aimlessly in the desert. But now, they are rising up to take hold of their possessions from God; and the enemies of God were put to fear!

B. Gilgal was the place at which the enemies of God began to be afraid. Let’s remember this, then, as we rise up to take hold of our riches in Christ as His resurrected people; that “the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:4-5). We should return to ‘Gilgal’ often to regain our courage as we fight to take hold of our inheritance in Christ while in a hostile and unbelieving world.

II. TO BE BLESSED OF GOD, WE MUST SEPERATE OURSELVES FROM THE OLD LIFE TO WHICH WE HAVE BEEN CRUCIFIED (vv. 2-9).

A. The peoples of the land were put in fear. But it wasn’t time just yet to go forth and conquer. There were still some aspects of the ‘pre-Jordan’ days still in God’s people; and those sinful aspects of the old life needed to be fully severed away. Back in Genesis 17:9-14, God had commanded that Abraham’s offspring be circumcised as a covenant sign that they belonged to God. The people of Israel had been keeping that sign all the way up to the time that they had left Egypt. But because they disobeyed God on their way to the promised land, that first generation after the Exodus wandered in the wilderness for forty years. And in all that time, they had neglected the covenant of God and had failed to circumcise their sons. God, therefore, commanded Joshua to make flint knives for himself and circumcise the sons of Israel “again the second time” (v. 2).

B. Verses 8-9 tell us; “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.” The name ‘Gilgal’ means “Rolling”. The old life of Egypt had been rolled away from them. Likewise, now that you and I have been crucified with Christ, we need to let God take away the aspects of the old life that keep Him from blessing us. We need to make a decisive break from the old life; and say with Paul, “But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world” (Galatians 6:14). We need to let our Father the vinedresser trim away from our lives that which keeps us from bearing fruit in His service (John 15:1). We should return to ‘Gilgal’ often to reaffirm our cleansing through Christ, and our separation from this fallen world’s sinful values and priorities.

III. AS WE PUT CHRIST AND HIS KINGDOM FIRST, WE CAN TRUST GOD TO PROVIDE EVERYTHING THAT WE WILL NEED (vv. 10-12).

A. The enemies were in fear, and the people were separated unto God. And still, it was not time to go forth and conquer. They needed to remember another practice that they had neglected—and that is the Passover. It was instituted by God in Exodus 12—just as the people were leaving Egypt. It was a powerful picture of Christ our Passover Lamb. And yet, though we read of the Passover being kept just before they left Egypt (Exodus 12:28), and again just before leaving Sinai to go to the promised land (Numbers 9:4), we don’t read of it being kept after that. And so; we’re told, “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” (v. 10). Once again, Gilgal became a significant place—this time, as a place of restoration.

B. And after they kept the Passover in obedience to God’s instructions—the very next day—they began to eat the produce of the land that God was giving them. ” 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” (vv. 11-12). What a clear, unmistakable picture this was of how God provides for His people when they put His kingdom priorities first! As our Lord Jesus—our Passover Lamb Himself—has taught us, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you” (Matthew 6:33). We should return to ‘Gilgal’ often to restore our sense of God’s priorities—and to trust in God’s provision.

IV. WE MUST ALWAYS REMEMBER THAT THE BATTLE IS NOT OURS, BUT THE LORD’S (vv. 13-15).

A. Finally, one more thing was confirmed to the people while they rested at Gilgal. Before they ever went out to take hold of that which God was giving them, He made it clear to them that they were not going to go forth without Him. We’re told that, while Joshua was still by Jericho, he saw a Man standing opposite him with a drawn sword in his hand. When Joshua asked him, “Are You for us or for our adversaries?” The Man said, “No, but as Commander of the army of the LORD I have now come” (vv. 13-14). Who was this? As Commander of the Lord’s army, He may have been an angel. But it’s more likely—because of the fact that Joshua fell down and worshiped Him, and because He spoke in words very much like those of the Lord to Moses at the burning bush (see Exodus 3:5)—that it is the Lord Jesus Himself in a pre-incarnate appearance. We’re told in 1 Corinthians 10:4, after all, that it was the Lord Jesus Christ who was with the people in the wilderness. What an encouragement it must have been to Joshua to know that the Lord was with him!

B. And what’s more, the Lord let Joshua know that—as he and his people went forward to take hold of the land He was giving them—they were stepping on to truly sacred ground. We’re told, “But 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” (v. 15). And as we—who now stand in ‘Resurrection-land’—rise up to take hold of our inheritance in Christ, we can be assured of the fact that He Himself fights for us. As the apostle Peter has told us; “Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust” (2 Peter 1:2-4). We should return to ‘Gilgal’ often to renew our sense of reverent trust in God—and in the confidence that the battle belongs to Him!

* * * * * * * * * *

Just like the people of Israel, we need to go back every now and then to ‘Gilgal’—back to that place at which we take our decisive stand in the resurrection life—and remember the lessons taught to us there. When we rise up in Him, the enemy cannot stand before us; the past life is taken from us; our God will provide for us; and that He fights the battle before us!

Between the world and us stands the cross. Let’s not trample upon the cross in order to go back to the old ways of the world! Let’s go forward as crucified people—away from this world’s ways—and forward to our riches in Christ! Let’s not forget Gilgal!