Joshua – Lesson 26

The Canaanites got the message from the events at the Jordan that God was almighty. The world today needs to know this. There seem to be insurmountable problems facing us: The war in Iraq, the Muslim threats, the polarization of political philosophies, the starving nations of Africa, and the seemingly total breakdown of morality everywhere.

The world needs to know that there is an Almighty God who is waiting for Christians to begin to exercise their faith and call upon our God to intervene. He has promised that, under certain circumstances, He would.

· 2 Chronicles 7:14, if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

We have said quite a bit about God’s promises. Here we see another promise and the four conditions. First, the believers, those who have chosen to call themselves Christians, must humble themselves. Second, they must pray. Third, they must seek God’s face, in other words, turn to Him. And finally, they must turn from their evil ways. At that point God says, then I will heal their land. But if the Christians do not exercise their faith, then God will not act and the people of the world will not see the Almighty nature of God.

The Canaanites got the message of the power of God from what He did in damming up the Jordan and enabling the Israelites to cross. Have you noticed that there was no provision for the Israelites to retreat after they had crossed the Jordan? Once the waters rolled in again after the crossing, there was no turning back.

In a spiritual sense, believers can always go back to Gilgal but not back to Egypt. If we have failures, we do not go back to Egypt and start all over again. Instead we go back to where we started out on the victory side of the Jordan. There is no need to question our salvation simply because we fail at times. But we need to be certain of our salvation in the first place.

Gilgal, a Place of Spiritual Resurrection

Gilgal marks a place of spiritual resurrection. Jesus not only died, but He was buried and rose again from that burial and then ascended to heaven. Not too much is said in our time about resurrection life and practically nothing about ascension.

But in:

· Joshua 4:19-20, On the tenth day of the first month the people went up from the Jordan and camped at Gilgal on the eastern border of Jericho. 20 And Joshua set up at Gilgal the twelve stones they had taken out of the Jordan.

The Jordan River speaks of the place of death and Gilgal the place of life. We see this concept in the New Testament.

· Ephesians 2:5-6, But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions-it is by grace you have been saved. 6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,

Can you grasp this concept? It is admittedly difficult because it is not literal but spiritual. When we were saved we were automatically, spiritually, seated with Jesus in heaven, even while our old earthly bodies were still here on earth. So spiritually we have been raised with Jesus to heaven.

The one thing that I think most Christians do not understand, or maybe do not even accept, is that WE ARE MORE THAN CONQUERERS THROUGH CHRIST!!!!! We have been delivered from the power of Satan. We still get harassed by him but our defense is in the Holy Spirit. In this connection notice this promise.

· 1 Corinthians 10:13, No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.

Dr Alan Redpath wrote: “Gilgal is a place of resurrection, but it is resurrection only in the measure in which it is remembrance. It is life only in the measure in which we are humbled. It is triumph only in the measure in which we have gone down with the Lord Jesus to the grave.”

Only to the extent that we by faith accept our place, and in humbleness before God go down to the grave with Jesus by faith, and then accept the complete resurrection life---only to that extent do we have victory. It is right here that there is an effect on unbelievers, when they see how powerfully God works.

This is what the spies found when they entered Jericho. Rahab, having seen what God was doing for Israel, said that there was no strength left in the Canaanites because of the fear that had come upon them. The life of victory is a reality, and it can even make the demons tremble.

Further Preparations In Faith

· Joshua 5:1-15, Now when all the Amorite kings west of the Jordan and all the Canaanite kings along the coast heard how the LORD had dried up the Jordan before the Israelites until we had crossed over, their hearts melted and they no longer had the courage to face the Israelites. 2 At that time the LORD said to Joshua, "Make flint knives and circumcise the Israelites again." 3 So Joshua made flint knives and circumcised the Israelites at Gibeath Haaraloth. 4 Now this is why he did so: All those who came out of Egypt-all the men of military age-died in the desert on the way after leaving Egypt. 5 All the people that came out had been circumcised, but all the people born in the desert during the journey from Egypt had not. 6 The Israelites had moved about in the desert forty years until all the men who were of military age when they left Egypt had died, since they had not obeyed the LORD. For the LORD had sworn to them that they would not see the land that he had solemnly promised their fathers to give us, a land flowing with milk and honey. 7 So he raised up their sons in their place, and these were the ones Joshua circumcised. They were still uncircumcised because they had not been circumcised on the way. 8 And after the whole nation had been circumcised, they remained where they were in camp until they were healed. 9 Then the LORD said to Joshua, "Today I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you." So the place has been called Gilgal to this day. 10 On the evening of the fourteenth day of the month, while camped at Gilgal on the plains of Jericho, the Israelites celebrated the Passover. 11 The day after the Passover, that very day, they ate some of the produce of the land: unleavened bread and roasted grain. 12 The manna stopped the day after they ate this food from the land; there was no longer any manna for the Israelites, but that year they ate of the produce of Canaan. 13 Now when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went up to him and asked, "Are you for us or for our enemies?" 14 "Neither," he replied, "but as commander of the army of the LORD I have now come." Then Joshua fell facedown to the ground in reverence, and asked him, "What message does my Lord have for his servant?" 15 The commander of the LORD's army replied, "Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy." And Joshua did so.

From every human point of view the time to strike at the strongholds of the Canaanites was right after Israel crossed the Jordan. The Canaanites were demoralized and were afraid, not only because of the Red Sea incident 40 years ago, but they had seen the crossing of the Jordan as well. Surely this was the time to strike. But God’s ways are different from man’s ways. He had a time for everything.

There is a lesson here for us. We should not act on an idea just because there is pressure to do so. So it was in the case of the Israelites just after they had crossed the Jordan. Some of them might have been in a hurry but God was not.