Chapter 5
Hearts Melting
5:1 As soon as all the kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan to the west, and all the kings of the Canaanites who were by the sea, heard that the LORD had dried up the waters of the Jordan for the people of Israel until they had crossed over, their hearts melted and there was no longer any spirit in them because of the people of Israel.
Earlier we read about Rahab testifying that when her people heard about the parting of the Red Sea and the victories against two of the Amorite kings, their hearts melted (see Joshua 2:8-11), and now we get a similar report that when all of the kings of the Amorites who were on the west side of the Jordan heard about the Jordan River drying, their hearts melted too. The metaphor of their hearts melting (Hebrew yim·mǎs’ means to melt or dissolve, used figuratively to one losing courage) may sound strange to us, but the last part of the verse sums it up nicely, they no longer had any spirit. They knew that fighting against a people whose God could stop the flow of a river like the Jordan is without hope. There is no information where this report came from, it is believed to be provided by God.
This Generation Circumcised
5:2 At that time the LORD said to Joshua, “Make flint knives and circumcise the sons of Israel a second time.” 3 So Joshua made flint knives and circumcised the sons of Israel at Gibeath-haaraloth. 4 And this is the reason why Joshua circumcised them: all the males of the people who came out of Egypt, all the men of war, had died in the wilderness on the way after they had come out of Egypt. 5 Though all the people who came out had been circumcised, yet all the people who were born on the way in the wilderness after they had come out of Egypt had not been circumcised.
In Genesis we see that circumcision was a sign of the covenant between Abraham and God, “This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised. You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you.”(Genesis 17:10-11, ESV, regarding the covenant itself see Genesis 12:1-3; 13:14-16; 15:1-21; 17:1-14). Everyone, including Moses had to be circumcised (see Exodus 4:24-26), but now before they go any further into the land, God wants this new generation to be circumcised. Apparently no one was circumcised during their time in the wilderness. Verse two mentions that the circumcision needed to be done “a second time” (or to do it again) but does not explain, some believe the insertion of any reference to a second time was an error as it is not found in the Septuagint. Others believe the word that translates as ’second’ in the text refers to the second generation, that it should read something like “Make flint knives and circumcise the second generation of the sons of Israel.”
We next encounter a transliterated name of what appears to be a location, called here ‘Gibeath-haaraloth’. Often thought to be another name for Gilgal, but actually translates to mean a “hill of foreskins.” Perhaps no further commentary is needed. As already seen in Scripture, there will be several more locations and monuments named after (or reminiscent of) events that have occurred (see Genesis 21:31; 26:33; 28:19; 35:14-15).
5:6 For the people of Israel walked forty years in the wilderness, until all the nation, the men of war who came out of Egypt, perished, because they did not obey the voice of the LORD; the LORD swore to them that he would not let them see the land that the LORD had sworn to their fathers to give to us, a land flowing with milk and honey. 7 So it was their children, whom he raised up in their place, that Joshua circumcised. For they were uncircumcised, because they had not been circumcised on the way.
A brief history lesson is offered to underscore the grievous sin the previous generation committed when they disobeyed God and failed to trust Him. Here in a new year we see the renewal of the Abrahamic Covenant, the birth of the Mosaic Covenant, and the rebirth of a nation.
5:8 When the circumcising of the whole nation was finished, they remained in their places in the camp until they were healed.
There was minimal activity in the camp during the healing of the men. The text does not mention a timeframe regarding the circumcision (if Joshua had to circumcise each person himself as verse three implies it would take several days) and no mention of how long they needed for healing. All we know is that the Passover will begin on the 14th, less than four days away.
5:9 And the LORD said to Joshua, “Today I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you.” And so the name of that place is called Gilgal to this day.
God tells Joshua that “Today I have rolled away the shame of your slavery in Egypt” (Joshua 5:9b, NLT). What shame is God referring to? The reproach of Egypt could include the misery of His people and that while slaves and during their time in the wilderness they were not able (or perhaps unwilling) to be circumcised, which is has now been rectified. Being a slave is not necessarily a shameful situation to be in, but being a slave means you have virtually no control regarding most things in life. God called the people of Israel to be holy by following His law, something that could not be done in Egypt and to some degree in the wilderness. The reproach of Egypt has been rolled away. The Hebrew word meaning “to roll” is gālal which is likely why this area was named Gilgal.
Considerations
Covenant Review
Covenants can be classified as being a treaty, an alliance or an agreement, in the Bible we see it as an agreement between human beings (see Genesis 14:13; 21:25-34; 31:44), between nations (see Psalm 83:4-12), and it is also used figuratively (see Isaiah 28:15-18; Job 5:23). But the covenants that are best known are those agreements or promises between God and mankind. In that context, we see several: 1) With Noah (see Genesis 9:8-17) in the form of a promise; 2) With Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (see Genesis 15:1-21; 17:1-14, 19-21; Exodus 2:24; Leviticus 26:40-46) an unconditional covenant to increase their descendants, giving them all of Canaan and making them a blessing to the nations, known by theologians as the Abrahamic Covenant; 3) With all of Israel and Moses when they were at Mount Sinai (see Exodus 19:5; 24:7, 8; 34:10; Deuteronomy 29:1-29) a conditional covenant to stay in the Promised Land known as the Mosaic Covenant; 4) With Phinehas to establish an everlasting priesthood in Israel (see Numbers 25:10-18); 5) With David and his lineage (see Psalm 89; Jeremiah 33:19-26), an eternal covenant establishing David and his descendants as the inheritors of an everlasting kingdom, known as the Davidic Covenant; 6) In reference to a “new covenant” (see Jeremiah 31:31-40, Hebrews 8:1-13) that God will establish in the future; which we now know the new covenant was personified in the person Jesus, the Messiah, who did arrive and made eternal life with Him possible (see Isaiah 42:5-9; 49:8-26; the name “new covenant” is equivalent to the name “New Testament”).
First Passover in Promised Land
5:10 While the people of Israel were encamped at Gilgal, they kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the month in the evening on the plains of Jericho.
Now that the shame of Egypt’s captivity has been rolled away and the people circumcised, as God’s law for the Israelites required, the Passover was celebrated on the fourteenth day of the first month (see Exodus 12:6; Numbers 9:5).
5:11 And the day after the Passover, on that very day, they ate of the produce of the land, unleavened cakes and parched grain. 12 And the manna ceased the day after they ate of the produce of the land. And there was no longer manna for the people of Israel, but they ate of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year.
Although not stated as a festival here, typically the day after Passover begins the week-long celebration of the Feast of Unleavened Bread (see Exodus 12:15-20; 13:3-10; 23:14-17; 34:18-22; Leviticus 23:4-6; Numbers 28:17-25; Deuteronomy 16:1-8), we are not given much detail other than that they ate unleavened bread and parched grain, which is significant as they have been on a steady diet of manna and quail for many years (see Numbers 11:6, 31; Psalm 78:27; 105:40). But now that they are in the land, the provisions from God have stopped as they would be able to harvest their own grain and fruit. Apparently they were able to obtain grain in Canaan as they would not have had the time to plant and harvest anything yet.
Joshua Meets the Commander of the LORD’s Army
5:13 When Joshua was by Jericho, he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, a man was standing before him with his drawn sword in his hand. And Joshua went to him and said to him, “Are you for us, or for our adversaries?” 14 And he said, “No; but I am the commander of the army of the LORD. Now I have come.” And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped and said to him, “What does my lord say to his servant?” 15 And the commander of the LORD’s army said to Joshua, “Take off your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so.
Again we are not given a timeframe nor a location where Joshua was when he encountered a man standing before him with His sword in His hand. Joshua asks Him whether He was on their side or on his enemy’s side. The man said “no!” He then identifies Himself as the commander (Hebrew śǎr, a chief, a captain, a prince, one who has immediate authority) of the army of YHWH. He said no because He is not on either side, Joshua was on His side (see below). This is none other than a pre-incarnation of Jesus, what theologians call a ‘Christophany’, an Old Testament encounter with Jesus (Click here for more information). Joshua immediately falls prostrate before Jesus and worshiped Him. He then asks what message He has for him. Jesus replied, “Take off your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy.” (Joshua 5:15b, ESV) Something that should have sounded familiar as Moses undoubtedly told him about his experience at the burning bush where, during a theophany (Click here for more information), Moses heard the same instructions (see Exodus 3:1-6). Joshua did as instructed.
Considerations
Whose side is God on?
As human beings we regularly reduce a conflict down to sides, too often it is something like liberal versus conservative, or home school versus public school. Since both sides consider themselves as being right, the division remains. So whose side is God on? Before answering that question we need to understand Jesus’ response to Joshua’s question above, He said, no, because it was the wrong question. The correct question would be something like, “Am I on your side?” God doesn’t choose sides, we are the variable in this life not Him. We need to say we are on God’s side, and live like it!