Introduction
This is now the fifth week we’ve been studying the book of Joshua. Moses has died and the Lord has appointed Joshua in his place to lead his people into the Promised Land.
Joshua sent men to spy out the land and especially the city of Jericho. And the spies discovered from Rahab the prostitute that all the people in Jericho were terrified, because they’d heard what the Lord had done for his people when he dried up the Red Sea for them and when he destroyed Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites. And now the Lord was coming against them. And they were afraid. And the spies returned and announced to Joshua that the Lord has surely given the whole land into their hands and all the people are melting in fear because of them.
And in chapters 3 and 4 we read how they got crossed over the Jordan River on dry land, because the Lord stopped the river from flowing. And on that same say, but forty years previously, the Lord commanded Moses and the Israelites to get ready to leave Egypt. Forty years previously, the Lord led them out of Egypt to take them to the Promised Land. And forty years later, on the same day, the Lord led his people into the Promised Land. The Lord finishes what he begins and nothing and no-one can thwart him from accomplishing his plans for us and for our salvation.
We’re taking chapters 5 and 6 together, because they’re both about the fall of Jericho. Most of chapter 5 is about how the people prepared to conquer Jericho. And the passage that runs from verse 13 of chapter 5 to the end of chapter 6 is about how they conquered the city.
5:2–9
And the remarkable thing about the way they prepared to conquer the city is that these are not military preparations. Chapter 5 isn’t about devising a military strategy to take the city and it’s not about sharpening their sword and strapping on their armour. It’s not about that kind of thing. Chapter 5 is about preparing themselves spiritually or ritually.
So, we begin with verses 2 and 3, because verse 1 was the conclusion to last week’s passage. And in verse 2 we read that the Lord commanded Joshua to make flint knives to circumcise the Israelites again. And in verse 3 we read that Joshua obeyed the Lord by making flint knives to circumcise the Israelites.
The word ‘again’ in verse 2 might puzzle us, because a person can only be circumcised once. But verses 4 to 7 provide the explanation we need. All the men who had come out of Egypt had been circumcised. But they are now dead. They died in the wilderness. And they died in the wilderness without reaching the Promised Land, because they had not obeyed the Lord. That’s in verse 6. And the writer means that they disobeyed God when he told them to go and take the land from the Canaanites. So, shortly after they left Egypt, they came to the edge of the Promised Land. Moses sent out some men to spy out the land. The spies returned and told them that it was indeed a land flowing with milk and honey. But, they said, the people in the land are too big and strong. We won’t be able to conquer them. And the people listened to their report and refused to go into the land.
And so, instead of believing that God would do what he said he would do, which was to take the land from the Canaanites and give it to them, they doubted God’s word. And therefore they disobeyed God’s word. And because of their unbelief and disobedience, God said they would all die in the wilderness and they children would go into the land.
And so, that unbelieving generation has now died. And their children have grown up and they’ve entered the land and they’re about to go up against Jericho. But none of them have been circumcised. It says in verse 7, they were uncircumcised because they had not been circumcised on the way.
We’re not told why they weren’t circumcised. Perhaps they neglected to do it because of their hard, sinful hearts. Or perhaps the Lord had forbidden that rebellious generation from giving the sign of the covenant to their children. But whatever the reason, the new generation of Israelite men had never been circumcised.
Until now. Now the Lord commanded Joshua to circumcise all of them. And so, that’s why it says they were circumcised again or they were circumcised a second time. The ones who left Egypt were the first ones to be circumcised. But now, for a second time, God’s people would receive circumcision. Once again they received the sign of God’s covenant to reassure them that the Lord was their God and they were his people. And in verse 8 we read that after the whole nation had been circumcised, they remained where they were in camp until they were healed.
And the Lord said to Joshua in verse 9 that today he has rolled away the reproach of Egypt from them. And so, they named the place where they camped Gilgal, which means ‘to roll’. What is the reproach of Egypt which the Lord rolled away from them? He perhaps means that while the Israelites wandered in the wilderness for forty years, the Egyptians said that though the Lord had rescued them from Egypt, he wasn’t able to bring them into Canaan. And so, he had only brought them into the wilderness to let them die. But by bringing his people across the Jordan and into the Promised Land, the Lord had taken away any reason for Egypt to reproach or mock them. The Lord had done for them what he said he would do.
5:10–12
And then, on the fourteenth day of the month, the Israelites celebrated the Passover. The Exodus, you’ll recall, began with the Passover, when the people ate a Passover lamb and smeared its blood on the doorposts of their homes. And when the Lord saw the blood of the lamb on their doorposts, he passed over their homes and everyone inside was kept safe from his wrath. And now, forty years later, they again celebrated the Passover and remembered God’s kindness to them.
And the next day, they took some of the grain growing in the Promised Land. And they prepared it and made for themselves unleavened bread to eat. And since they were now able to eat the produce of the land, the Lord stopped giving them manna to eat. They no longer needed bread from heaven, because the Lord was now providing them with bread from the Promised Land.
Application
We’re here today for our pre-communion service to help us prepare to come to the Lord’s Table on Sunday, when we’ll receive the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper. And circumcision and the Passover were Old Testament sacraments which the Lord gave his Old Testament people to strengthen their faith.
Circumcision was a visible reminder to them that they belonged to the Lord: that he was their God and they and their children were his people. The sign of circumcision on their bodies was a reminder to them that they could always count on the Lord who had bound himself to them and their children. And what an encouragement it must have been to them to receive that sign on their bodies right before they faced the Canaanites. Whenever their faith wobbled and they wondered how they could possibly overthrow the city of Jericho with its high walls and mighty soldiers, they could see on their bodies the sign of God’s commitment to them. And since he was their God, they could rely on him to help them.
And the Passover was another reminder to them of God’s love and commitment. Every time they ate the Passover lamb, it was a reminder to them of God’s grace and mercy and goodness, because he had spared them on that night when he went through Egypt, striking down the firstborn males in every home. But God had spared them and he had rescued them from Egypt to give them new life in the Promised Land. And God spared them and gave them new life because of his overflowing goodness and love. And so again, they could count on him when they faced their enemies. They could count on him, because God was clearly on their side to help them.
Circumcision and the Passover were Old Testament sacraments which the Lord gave his Old Testament people to strengthen their faith. And in place of circumcision, the Lord has given us baptism to signify his commitment to us and our children: that he is our God who washes away our sin; and we are his people and who can always count on him. And in place of the Passover, the Lord has given us the Lord’s Supper when we remember that God did not spare his Son, but gave him up to death on the cross to save us from his wrath and curse. And since God did not spare his Son, but gave him up for us all, then how will he not, along with his Son, graciously give us all things?
So, we can count on God to provide us with all that we need as we make our way to the Promised Land of Eternal Life in his presence. There are many troubles and trials on the way. They are burdens for us to carry. There are spiritual battles for us to fight. But we can always count on the Lord to help us.
And to reassure us of his love and commitment, he’s given us baptism and the Lord’s Supper to remind us that the Lord is our God; and he has washed our sins away because of Christ who died for us; and we can count on God for all that we need, because he is our God and the God of our children.
5:13–6:21
And so, the people prepared for conquering Jericho by being circumcised and by celebrating the Passover. And in verse 13 of chapter 5 we read how Joshua was near Jericho. Perhaps he had gone out to look at the city and to think and pray about what what they had to do. And that’s when he looked up and saw a soldier standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand. And Joshua asked him whether he was friend or foe: are you with us or against us?
And the soldier replied that he was neither. So, he’s not one of Joshua’s men. But then, he’s not one of his enemies either. He’s the commander of the Lord’s army. That is to say, he’s the commander of the angelic host of heaven.
And look at Joshua’s reaction. He bows down in reverence. Or, in fact, more accurately, he bows down and worships. And so, we’re given a hint that this commander of the Lord’s army is not a man; and he’s not even an angel. He’s something more than that who is worthy of Joshua’s worship. And Joshua went on to ask him: ‘What message does my Lord have for his servant?’ And again, that’s a hint that this soldier is more than a man and he’s more than an angel. That’s a suggestion that this is the Lord himself who has appeared before Joshua in a visible form. And just as Moses was commanded to take over his sandals in the presence of the Lord, so Joshua is commanded to take off his sandals because he’s standing on holy ground, before the presence of the Lord.
The Lord himself has come to Joshua to tell him what to do in order to conquer Jericho. So, according to verse 1 of chapter 6, Jericho was tightly shut up. No-one went out and no-one came in. And because it was tightly shut up, Jericho must have wondered how they were going to conquer it. But now the Lord has come to Joshua to explain to him what they were to do.
And the first thing the Lord made clear to Joshua was that he, the Lord, has delivered Jericho into their hands along with its king and its fighting men. So, before Joshua had done anything at all, the Lord revealed to him what the outcome would be. The end was certain, because the Lord had already decreed that Jericho would fall into the hands of the Israelites. The end was certain. The outcome was sure. There was no reason for Joshua to be afraid or worried, because the Lord had already decided what would happen.
And so, this is what Joshua and the Israelites should do. Seven priests were to carry trumpets of ram’s horns and they were to go around the city every day for six days with the ark of the Lord. The ark of the Lord signified God’s presence with them. And so, in a sense, the Lord himself was going to go around the city every day for six days accompanied by his priests. And the armed men of Israel were to go with them. According to verse 9 some of them armed men were to go in front of the ark and priests and the rest were to go behind them. And while they went around the city, the priests where to blow their trumpets. And according to verse 10, Joshua commanded the people not to make a sound. Do not make a war cry. Do not raise your voices. Do not say a word until the day I tell you to shout.
And so, according to verse 11, Joshua had the ark of the Lord carried around the city, circling it once. Then the people returned to camp and spent the night there. According to verse 12, they got up early the next day and did the same thing. In fact, they did the very same thing for six days.
And those six days were a time of waiting. The men who had been commanded not to make a noise until Joshua said so were waiting for his command. The people in Jericho were also waiting: waiting to see what the Israelites were up to. Why were they doing this? Why weren’t they attacking them? Why weren’t they saying anything? What’s going on? And so, everyone was waiting.
And on the seventh day, something different happened. They all got up as before and went out and circled the city once. But then they circled it another time and another time and another. They circled the city seven times on the seventh day.
And on the seventh time around the city, Joshua commanded the men: ‘Shout! For the Lord has given you the city!’ And then he instructed them that everything in the city was to be devoted to the Lord. In other words, every living thing was to be killed and every non-living thing apart from what was made of precious metal was to be destroyed as a kind of offering to the Lord. And whatever was made of precious metal was to be placed in the Lord’s treasury. And the only people who could be spared were Rahab and her family with her. They were to be spared because she has asked the spies for mercy. But everyone else was to be killed.
And the priests blew their trumpets and the men shouted. And the wall of the city collapsed. We don’t know how the Lord did it, but the Lord did do it. He was the one who caused the wall to collapse. And the Israelites went into the city and destroyed with the sword every living thing: men and women, young and old, sheep and donkeys. And in this way, he gave the city of Jericho into the hands of his people.
Application
When people read about this slaughter, they sometimes wonder about the ethics of this. Was it right for God’s people to kill all these people and their animals? What kind of God commands this kind of thing to happen?
Well, there are a few verses in the Bible which help us to understand what was going on here. You see, when the Israelites invaded the land of Canaan and when they conquered the land, it wasn’t so much an act of aggression and terror and genocide, but an act of justice. God was working through his people to punish the Canaanites for their wickedness. And so the Lord, who is a God of justice, was using the Israelites to punish them for their wrongdoing.
What evidence do I have to say that? Firstly there’s Genesis 15:16. God was making his covenant with Abraham and he was promising Abraham that he and his descendants will one day possess the Promised Land. For a time, Abraham’s descendants will be strangers in another land — and he was referring to their captivity in Egypt — but God will eventually set them free. And then what will happen? Listen to what God says in verse 16:
And they shall come back here in the fourth generation, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.
And it’s that last part which is so significant. The Amorites were one of the nations in the Promised Land. And when their iniquity is complete, when it reaches its full measure, when they have become so wicked that God’s patience with them has run out, then God will punish them for their iniquity by taking the land away from them and giving it back to the Israelites. God was going to use Abraham’s descendants, the people of Israel, to punish the Amorites for their wickedness.
Then there’s Leviticus 18:24 where God commanded the people:
Do not make yourselves unclean by any of these things [unlawful sexual relations], for by all these the nations I am driving out before you have become unclean, and the land became unclean, so that I punished its iniquity, and the land vomited out its inhabitants.
The nations had become unclean because of their sins. And so God was going use the Israelites to drive them away.
Then there’s Deuteronomy 18:12:
for whoever does these things [child sacrifice; divination; sorcery; interpreting omens; witchcraft; consulting the dead and so on] is an abomination to the Lord. And because of these abominations the Lord your God is driving them out before you.
Because of their sins, God was driving them out of the land.
And one last example from Deuteronomy 9:4:
Do not say in your heart, after the Lord your God has thrust them out before you, ‘It is because of my righteousness that the Lord has brought me in to possess this land,’ whereas it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is driving them out before you. Not because of your righteousness or the uprightness of your heart are you going in to possess their land, but because of the wickedness of these nations the Lord your God is driving them out from before you….
Why was God taking the land from the Canaanites and giving it to the Israelites? It was because of the wickedness of the Canaanites.
When the Israelites invaded the land and conquered the nations, it wasn’t an act of aggression. It was an act of justice by which God was working through them to punish the other nations for their wickedness. And in years to come, when the people of Israel were faithless and disobedient, God sent the Assyrians and Babylonians to attack his people to punish them for their waywardness.
And every time we read about God judging the nations, it’s always a foretaste of that great and terrible day when the Lord Jesus comes again with power and glory to judge the living and the dead — everyone who has ever lived — and to condemn his enemies and to send them out of the presence of God and of his goodness to suffer eternal punishment for their unbelief and sin.
And here’s the thing. That’s what you and I deserve. That’s what we deserve because we’re sinners who disobey the Lord every day in thought and word and deed. We too deserve to be judged and condemned and punished for ever. We deserve to have the walls of Jericho fall on us and we deserve to be driven out of the presence of God and of his goodness.
But the good news of the gospel is that the Lord is gracious and merciful. And we see this in today’s passage. He was gracious and merciful to the Israelites, who were sinners. They hadn’t done anything to deserve or to earn life in the Promised Land. God didn’t give them the land because they were better than the nations. He gave them the land because he was gracious and merciful towards them. Because of his abounding love, he gave them the land to live in.
And God was gracious and merciful to Rahab and her family. According to verse 22, Joshua commanded the two spies to go into Rahab’s home and bring her and her family out. Their lives were spared and they joined the Israelites. In fact, in Matthew 1, which contains the Lord’s human genealogy, you’ll see Rahab’s name in verse 5. The Lord was so gracious and merciful to her that she became one of the ancestors of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper which we’re going to receive on Sunday, teaches us what it cost the Lord Jesus Christ for God to be gracious and merciful to us. It cost the Lord Jesus Christ his life: his body was broken and his blood was shed for the forgiveness of our sins. Forgiveness, peace with God, the hope of everlasting life are God’s free gifts to us, which we receive by faith. They are his free gifts to us, but they were obtained for us by the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the Eternal Son of God, who came down from heaven and who was made one of us so that he could give up his life to pay for our sins and to make peace for us with God.
And so, we should come to the Lord’s Table on Sunday with glad and cheerful hearts, giving thanks to God the Father for Jesus Christ his Son who gave up his life for our salvation. We should rejoice because of God’s abounding love for us in Christ and for his grace and mercy towards us. And out of love for him, we should give up our sins and all the things we do and say which are wrong. And we should live holy lives of obedience to Christ our King who loved us and who gave up his life for us.
Sermons and Stuff 