March
17th Joshua
4
Stones erected at Gilgal
1: And it came to
pass, when all the people were clean passed over Jordan, that the
LORD spake unto Joshua, saying, 2:
Take you twelve men out of the people, out of every tribe a man, 3:
And command ye them, saying, Take you hence out of the midst of
Jordan, out of the place where the priests' feet stood firm, twelve
stones, and ye shall carry them over with you, and leave them in the
lodging place, where ye shall lodge this night. 4:
Then Joshua called the twelve men, whom he had prepared of the
children of Israel, out of every tribe a man: 5:
And Joshua said unto them, Pass over before the ark of the LORD your
God into the midst of Jordan, and take ye up every man of you a stone
upon his shoulder, according unto the number of the tribes of the
children of Israel: 6:
That this may be a sign among you, that when your children ask their
fathers in time to come, saying, What mean ye by these stones? 7:
Then ye shall answer them, That the waters of Jordan were cut off
before the ark of the covenant of the LORD; when it passed over
Jordan, the waters of Jordan were cut off: and these stones shall be
for a memorial unto the children of Israel for ever. 8:
And the children of Israel did so as Joshua commanded, and took up
twelve stones out of the midst of Jordan, as the LORD spake unto
Joshua, according to the number of the tribes of the children of
Israel, and carried them over with them unto the place where they
lodged, and laid them down there. 9:
And Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of Jordan, in the place
where the feet of the priests which bare the ark of the covenant
stood: and they are there unto this day. 10:
For the priests which bare the ark stood in the midst of Jordan,
until everything was finished that the LORD commanded Joshua to speak
unto the people, according to all that Moses commanded Joshua: and
the people hasted and passed over. 11:
And it came to pass, when all the people were clean passed over, that
the ark of the LORD passed over, and the priests, in the presence of
the people. 12:
And the children of Reuben, and the children of Gad, and half the
tribe of Manasseh, passed over armed before the children of Israel,
as Moses spake unto them: 13:
About forty thousand prepared for war passed over before the LORD
unto battle, to the plains of Jericho. 14:
On that day the LORD magnified Joshua in the sight of all Israel; and
they feared him, as they feared Moses, all the days of his life. 15:
And the LORD spake unto Joshua, saying, 16:
Command the priests that bear the ark of the testimony, that they
come up out of Jordan. 17:
Joshua therefore commanded the priests, saying, Come ye up out of
Jordan. 18:
And it came to pass, when the priests that bare the ark of the
covenant of the LORD were come up out of the midst of Jordan, and the
soles of the priests' feet were lifted up unto the dry land, that the
waters of Jordan returned unto their place, and flowed over all his
banks, as they did before. 19:
And the people came up out of Jordan on the tenth day of the first
month, and encamped in Gilgal, in the east border of Jericho. 20:
And those twelve stones, which they took out of Jordan, did Joshua
pitch in Gilgal. 21:
And he spake unto the children of Israel, saying, When your children
shall ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean these
stones? 22:
Then ye shall let your children know, saying, Israel came over this
Jordan on dry land. 23:
For the LORD your God dried up the waters of Jordan from before you,
until ye were passed over, as the LORD your God did to the Red sea,
which he dried up from before us, until we were gone over: 24:
That all the people of the earth might know the hand of the LORD,
that it is mighty: that ye might fear the LORD your God for ever.
Joshua
5 Circumcision and Passover
1:
And it came to pass, when all the kings of the Amorites, which were
on the side of Jordan westward, and all the kings of the Canaanites,
which were by the sea, heard that the LORD had dried up the waters of
Jordan from before the children of Israel, until we were passed over,
that their heart melted, neither was there spirit in them any more,
because of the children of Israel. 2:
At that time the LORD said unto Joshua, Make thee sharp knives, and
circumcise again the children of Israel the second time. 3:
And Joshua made him sharp knives, and circumcised the children of
Israel at the hill of the foreskins. 4:
And this is the cause why Joshua did circumcise: All the people that
came out of Egypt, that were males, even all the men of war, died in
the wilderness by the way, after they came out of Egypt. 5:
Now all the people that came out were circumcised: but all the people
that were born in the wilderness by the way as they came forth out of
Egypt, them they had not circumcised. 6:
For the children of Israel walked forty years in the wilderness, till
all the people that were men of war, which came out of Egypt, were
consumed, because they obeyed not the voice of the LORD: unto whom
the LORD sware that he would not shew them the land, which the LORD
sware unto their fathers that he would give us, a land that floweth
with milk and honey. 7:
And their children, whom he raised up in their stead, them Joshua
circumcised: for they were uncircumcised, because they had not
circumcised them by the way. 8:
And it came to pass, when they had done circumcising all the people,
that they abode in their places in the camp, till they were whole. 9:
And the LORD said unto Joshua, This day have I rolled away the
reproach of Egypt from off you. Wherefore the name of the place is
called Gilgal unto this day. 10:
And the children of Israel encamped in Gilgal, and kept the passover
on the fourteenth day of the month at even in the plains of Jericho.
11:
And they did eat of the old corn of the land on the morrow after the
passover, unleavened cakes, and parched corn in the selfsame day. 12:
And the manna ceased on the morrow after they had eaten of the old
corn of the land; neither had the children of Israel manna any more;
but they did eat of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year. 13:
And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up
his eyes and looked, and, behold, there stood a man over against him
with his sword drawn in his hand: and Joshua went unto him, and said
unto him, Art thou for us, or for our adversaries? 14:
And he said, Nay; but as captain of the host of the LORD am I now
come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, and
said unto him, What saith my lord unto his servant? 15:
And the captain of the LORD's host said unto Joshua, Loose thy shoe
from off thy foot; for the place whereon thou standest is holy. And
Joshua did so.
In todays Bible
reading we read that the children of Israel made the pile of Stones
at Gilgal and then we find that the people needed to be circumcised
and they celebrated the Passover. When the Priests feet touched the
waters of the Jordan the waters stopped flowing and the whole company
of the people passed over on dry land. Then the twelve men that
Joshua appointed went and took twelve stones one for each man and
built a pile of stones at Gilgal. All this time the priests stood in
the bed of the river. Then 40,000 armed men of the eastern tribes
passed over to be with their brethren in the battle. This pile
remained at Gilgal as a constant memorial. As a result of this event
the people of Israel feared Joshua all his life. Then when the
priests came up out of the Jordan when their feet stepped onto new
dry ground the waters of the Jordan began to flow again. And so we
learn a lesson that the history of Gods to be remembered because
these events have a direct application to the present. When the kings
of the Amorities heard that the Lord had dried up the Jordan they
feared the Lord. The next crucial event is that the people were still
uncircumcised. Their parents in their unbelief had neglected this
essential rite. So Joshua prepared knives and all Israel was
circumcised. The men stayed in their tents until they were healed,
then the Lord spoke to Joshua saying that the rebuke of the Lord
concerning Egypt is wiped away from Israel. On the 14th
day they kept the Passover in the plains under Jericho. On the
following day they ate the old corn of the land of Egypt and the
following day the Manna ceased. From now on there was no option but
to go forward to conquer. The Jordan was behind them and the Manna
had ceased the only option was to go forward into victory. From this
time onward they ate the fruits of Canaan. Then Joshua went out to
see Jechicho and he saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn
sword. Joshua drew near and asked Are you for us or for our enemies?
But the man answered, No, As captain of the host of the LORD l have
come. Joshua fell on his face and worshipped. (It was the Lord
Jesus.) Then Joshua said what have you got to say to me? And the
Captain said Take off your shoe because the place where you are
standing is holy ground. If you remember the man who returns with out
his shoe is the man who is not the redeemer. The one who takes the
shoe is the redeemer. The Lord was saying to Joshua, I have not come
to take sides but to take over. Often we think in terms of Is the
Lord on our side, however it should be are we on his side?
- What were the purpose of the stones at Gilgal?
- Why were the children of Israel circumcised at this time?
- Who was this captain of the Lords host?
- What great lesson did Joshua have to learn?
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