Devotional Commentary - Joshua 5 - God rolled away our stone of shame

V1: At the presence of YHWH the waters of Jordan fled. 

7 At Your rebuke the waters fled;

at the sound of Your thunder they hurried away —

(Psalms 104:7 HCSB)

God is that sort of a God. He is a God to be feared. His holiness is to be dreaded. Even rivers run away from the mighty presence of God. If this is so, then what of sinful men? They will melt like wax before a great furnace when God comes to judge the earth. The only thing that can make us stand in that mighty presence of God is the blood of Jesus. When we are covered with Jesus, when Jesus is our refuge, we can stand:

12 Kiss the Son,

lest he be angry, and you perish in the way,

for his wrath is quickly kindled.

 Blessed are all who take refuge in him

(Psalms 2:12 ESV)

Their hearts melted. Indeed, just as the Jordan river trembled at God's presence, the hearts of the kings of the earth melt at God's and Israelites' presence. Fearful hearts mark unbelievers. They act all tough and think of themselves as gods, but when faced with the blazing fire of God, they cannot but melt and tremble in fear. Thus shall we all be on that great Day when God reveals the secrets of all mankind.

V2-7: The uncircumcision of this second generation out of Egypt crossing the Jordan and entering the promised land points to the future time, when the uncircumcised Gentiles will indeed inherit God's Kingdom apart from circumcision. Indeed, if this second generation were not circumcised, they were no better than the Gentiles. But neither circumcision or no circumcision matters. What matters is this: they were "children that God raised in their [the 1st generation's] place" (v7).

The fact that the second generation, who were "born in the wilderness", inherited the land speaks an important truth for the Christian life: “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God" (John 3:3 ESV). The first generation who were born in Egypt will not see the land (v6). 

In the same way, our Old Man born in this world, in Adam, must perish in the wilderness of the Christian pilgrimage. It must die. All of the grumbling, discontent heart that yearns after the bondage to sin and death must indeed be put to death. And it is the new man that must be put on. This truth is clearly laid out in Paul's epistles: 20 But that is not the way you learned Christ! — 21 assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, 22 to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, 23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness (Ephesians 4:20-24 ESV)

The Israelites born in Egypt longed to go back to Egypt, because they knew what it was like. But the Israelites born in the wilderness have no such memory. Their tastebuds do not long for the delicacies of Egypt. They have no such recollection. All they know is Manna. All they know is water from the rock. So they are the children of hope. They don't look back to sin. They look forward to the Promised Land. Their hearts are filled with expectation. Such people alone are worthy of God.

Prayer: Yes, Father. Work in us a yearning for the Kingdom of God. Give us hope. Put to death in us the tastebuds that long for Egypt. Lord, we don't care for its delicacies. We don't remember them. We have no recollection of them. Lord, we live by your Manna, your Christ, who was send from heaven. Make us born a second time. Help us to put to death our Old Man in Adam, and help us to put on the New Man in Christ, by living in love. Father, fill us with great expectations about that world to come, that we may be a people that please you, that we may be a people who fight the good fight for your Kingdom. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen.

V8: Circumcision hurts. It is a cutting away. It takes some time to recover. And so it is when God circumcises a man's HEART. When God severs us from our yearnings for Egypt, and deals a deathblow to our flesh and pride, it hurts! Does it not? But it is good pain. And we recover.

V9: The disgrace of Egypt was like a giant boulder with Israel. Their state as nomad, homeless people was a shame to them. But as they enter the promised land, God has rolled this giant stone away. God removed this obstacle from before Israel.

There was another stone that God rolled away thousands of years later:

And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it

(Matthew 28:2 ESV)

Surely there is a link here. What was our disgrace? Slavery to sin. The shame of serving death and evil and wickedness. The shame. Oh the shame of sinning against God and fellow man! Who shall roll this shame of evil away from us? God can. When Jesus died for us and rose again from the dead He rolled that stone away from us forever. Now we can get out of death with Christ. Now we can escape from shame and the slavery of death in Christ!

V10: And it is fitting, therefore, that the Israelites have a Passover to celebrate this "rolling away" of disgrace. It was the Blood of the Passover that began this rolling, and it was completed at Gilgal here. For us, also. Our Gilgal still awaits us. Yes, we have escaped the grave now. But not yet. Our day of complete removal from the presence of all guilt, sin, shame still awaits us. Therefore we live in hope.

V13-15: Neither. This commander is neither on the side of the Israelites, nor on the side of the Canaanites. He is on the side of God. And apparently this is something that Joshua had to realise as well. He had to be on God's side, if his mission would be successful. God only helps those who are on His side. He is no respecter of persons. 

The fact that Joshua has a similar experience that Moses had before the Exodus of the Israelites, shows that God will do a similar thing through Joshua. Moses was to take the people out. Joshua brings them in. Through Moses came the plagues to destroy Egypt. Through Joshua and his army God will likewise plunder the Canaanites and establish His Kingdom.

Prayer: Lord, thank you that you rolled away the stone that trapped us in death and sin and shame. Thank you that we can now escape. Thank you that we can now be set free from our past, and really be set free, because Jesus has rolled away the stone by the power of His resurrection, and the light has flooded into our hearts. O Lord, may you roll away the stones in our hearts always, so that God's rays of light may flood in. Lord, help us. Also, Lord, in here we learn that you are not on anyone's side. You are on Your side. Therefore you help only those who give their allegiance to You, and those who are separated to you. So, Lord, help us to give our allegiance to You. Help us to submit to You, and follow you. May we never presume that you are with us just because we go to Church and do Christian things. Lord, we want to belong to Your Kingdom. We want to be under your gracious reign. May it be so. In Jesus Christ's name we pray. Amen.