Joshua 5:1-12
February 29, 2004
Preparing for Conflict
In August 2000, 118 Russian sailors perished when the Kursk nuclear submarine suffered an underwater explosion and became disabled in the depths of the icy Barents Sea. High-level Russian sources revealed that some of the men could have been saved had rescue gear aboard the Russian submarine been tested. According to studies done after the mishap, 23 surviving crewmembers rushed to a floating rescue capsule located in the rear of the submarine. But the capsule failed to disengage and surface because of mechanical problems that existed from the time the sub was commissioned. It seems the ship's completion was behind schedule and "orders from the top" demanded that shortcuts be taken to make the construction deadline. One such shortcut was failing to test the capsule to see if it could handle the pressure of a rescue procedure. (Time magazine 6/3/02)
History is replete with examples of failed ventures, of expeditions lost, military campaigns stopped all due to the simple failure to prepare. Failures come when those in charge do not count the cost, the potential for conflict, the reality of struggle that will come. Far too often people have stepped forward unprepared for conflict, and have been overwhelmed by the battle.
Joshua is a book of conflict, a troubling account for many in our day, as God’s Word recounts nations being dispossessed, the whole scale slaughter of men, women and children. The first four chapters we’ve examined sets the scene, gives a slight glimpse into the conflict to come. But with Joshua 5 we enter that portion which, for peace loving people, is unsettling.
This morning we won’t deal with the question that arises when we read this portion of God’s Word, that is, how can God command such genocide? We will examine that more in the coming weeks. But for now, we need to be aware that this is coming, for Joshua 5 describes the preparation that must take place before conflict arises. READ Joshua 5
The children of Israel, having wandered forty years in the wilderness since leaving Egypt, have finally crossed into the land God promised. A generation has already died in the wilderness, as God promised, due to their rebellion. A new generation is now raised up and miraculously crossed the Jordan River. They are camped at Gilgal. The flooded Jordan is to their backs and before them lies Jericho. How will they prepare for this conflict? Not in the way we often imagine.
We must prepare for conflict by faith 1-3
Kings of the Amorites and Canaanites were gripped with fear. Word spread of Israel’s escape from Egypt, as repeated by Rahab before. Their defeat of the Moabite kings to the east was well known. Yet it was this most recent event that left their arms limp. The drying up of the Jordan River and their miraculous crossing caused their hearts to melt. There was brief window to regroup and attack. Preparation was vital. It was time to sharpen their swords and move forward. But that is not God’s plan.
Instead God instructs not to attack, but preparation which puts their very lives at risk. Why was it not done sooner? They were resting for some time across the river in Moab, they mourned for a month after Moses died – those would have been fine opportunities. Perhaps this could wait until after they make good progress in Canaan, conquered a few towns, and settled in, then circumcision.
Genesis 34 tells of a similar situation with disastrous results. When Jacob’s daughter, Dinah, was seduced by the prince of the Shechemites, her brothers Simeon and Levi, connived the prince to accept circumcision as a sign of joining with God’s people, he and his entire village. The prince agreed, but on the third day while all the men were healing, Jacob’s sons entered the town and easily slaughtered its inhabitants. Would the same fate await Israel now?
To understand why this was done, one must grasp the importance of circumcision in the Old Testament.
In Genesis 15 God promises Abraham, childless and already advanced in age, that he will be the father of many. Abraham responded by believing God’s promise. But while he believed God, he thought he had the best plan to fulfill God’s promise. As his wife was well beyond the age to bear children, it was decided to take Hagar, Sarah’s maid to bear Abraham’s child. God’s promise of children was not going to be fulfilled in this manner. In Genesis 17, when Abraham is 99 God comes to him once again, repeating the promise to him and to his descendents.
It was then a sign was given. Cutting off the foreskin was to be an identifying mark for God’s people; its placement was such that it was recognized in the context of marital intimacy.
Last week we laid the foundation for this as we talked about the signs God gives us, visible reminders to God’s visible people. They are a physical pledge of what is entailed in the gospel.
This sign reminded the Israelite that he was not like the other nations, but that God had promised to be his God, the God of his people. The corporate nature of this sign is seen in the placing of it on a boy at eight days. It was not the promise of the Jew to follow God, but an act of faith that God would be faithful to his people.
It was a harsh reminder that it is always futile to dictate to God what preparation is needed for him to be faithful. It was a constant indicator that God’s promise would be fulfilled despite the hopelessness of the situation.
But as with all signs, with sacraments, they are the pointers to what must take place internally. For this reason Moses reminds the people in Deut 10:16 that they must:
Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no longer stubborn.
But the internal does not replace the external; it does not nullify its need. The sign that was to be placed on each man, celebrated in the context of the covenant family, pointed to what only God can do in the heart. Later Moses says in Deut 30:6
The LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live.
The first step in preparing for conflict is one of faith. But not just any act of faith.
Israel’s willingness to undergo this covenantal sign marks their implicit trust in God’s protection. It is in the midst of conflict that God’s sovereignty becomes most precious. When God commands obedience, we may not always understand the reason why, but must still obey in faith
Simple obedience when it seems unprofitable – that is the struggle we all endure when conflict comes. It may be the option to cheat on the test. Obedience to God’s commands keeps you from it but may also put you a great risk. Yet, God’s Word calls us to obey. Obedience to our vows and promises we make to one another may be hard to maintain when breaking them seems to give us a great reward. Yet we must never pragmatically weigh if and when obedience is to be followed. Obedience may never be easy – but when we face trials in our life, to take any short-cut is always a mistake.
In Joshua 5, the first step of obedience is owning the sign of the covenant in circumcision. It makes no sense, but foremost is faith in God’s promises despite what the conflict looks like.
When it comes to the New Testament equivalent of circumcision, baptism, it looks like a rather odd ceremony with little benefit, especially when the sign is placed on a clueless infant. But God’s promises of God remain firm. We must not neglect the commands.
The starting point of preparation is knowing who you are in Christ. This is what baptism teaches us. It is a naming rite, not when the child’s name is given, but when we pronounce this person as a member of God’s people. When pressures mount in your life, when conflict seems inevitable, start first not by doing an inventory of you resources to win, but your position in Christ, that you have been adopted by the Father.
We must prepare for conflict by repentance 4-9
The events of Joshua 5 raise a question. Not just why was this done now, but why was it necessary “a second time.”(v2) The reason is given in vv4-9. The first generation, the one who left Egypt was in fact circumcised. But this second generation was not. Why? Verse 6 tells us because the first generation did not obey the voice of the Lord. What was the nature of their disobedience?
Numbers 14 describes the reason God would not allow them to enter the land. After the report came back from the twelve spies, the people refused to trust God’s provision in the face of conflict. That generation was consigned to wander the desert until all had died. God’s oath that they would not enter is based on their rebellion.
That generation’s rejection of God’s promise was not just in their refusing to go in, but in our passage appears to be also in the rejection of the sign of the covenant. Since it was clear that their hearts were not circumcised, they did not pass on that sign to the next generation. Since circumcision was a sign and seal of God’s promise for the land of Canaan and since that prior generation was refused entrance, how could they pass it on to the next?
For this reason, we baptize children who have a believing parent, but do not include in the body those who reject God’s grace; even if they want their kids to have some unknown benefit they think will be theirs in baptism. But even when parents are faithless, God remains faithful. He continued to supply manna and guide them by the pillar of cloud and fire. The promise of God’s grace was not completely with drawn so that the younger generation did respond on faith to God’s promises and they in turn received the sign of the covenant, as did their children who entered with their parents.
There is a warning in this. The presence of the external sign is not the same as faith which must attach itself to the sign. Real change comes not by the external sacrament, but when the truth of that sacrament is believed.
It is ironic that those who were circumcised did not listen to the voice of God and were kept from receiving the promise of God. Their kids were not circumcised but did receive.
One can have all the marks of the people of God but lack the response of the people of God. You can receive the sacrament but have no faith. Paul is right – you can experience the exodus, eat the manna, drink the water from the rock, and remain in unbelief. (1 Cor 10:1-5). You may hold membership among God’s flock but have no relationship with the Shepherd. You may live in the King’s country but reject his sovereignty.
What happened to that generation in the wilderness is used in Hebrews 4 as a warning to us. God’s Word calls us to rest from our self efforts, our labors, and our own goodness to appease
God. Instead we must rest in Christ’s perfect righteousness. Circumcision was a sign of this rest, of acknowledging that God alone is able to bring about his promise
For this reason Genesis 17:14 served as a warning to refuse to place this sign on the next generation. To not be circumcised was to be cut off from the people of God. Therefore, it was necessary to place that sign on God’s people once again, on those who by faith looked to God to give them the land.
The warning here is simple: Don’t make the same mistake twice. Don’t take on the sign but reject the promise nor reject the sign whereby rejecting the promise. Don’t do what prior generations did.
At the Amarillo Fairgrounds in Texas, some buildings were in need of a coat of paint, so local contractors were hired to do the job. Between the buildings was an angled alley with a culvert in the middle, designed to drain rainwater away from the buildings. Because of the slope, the wheeled scaffolding tended to roll downhill, so the painters removed the wheels on the scaffolding. They were in the process of moving the scaffolding next to a building, when the metal structure met a transformer. The painters were killed.
The story made the headlines. The town was abuzz with talk of the tragedy, how it had come to pass, and whether the city was liable for damages. The city officials decided they needed to conduct an investigation. With much fanfare, they arrived at the scene of the incident, prepared to personally recreate the circumstances. Two officials grabbed the scaffolding in the exact same location as the two painters, began to move the scaffolding ... and were promptly electrocuted.
Here we are, thousands of years later, no longer under the requirement to circumcise, but still called to obedience, to a lifestyle of repentance pictured in baptism. Our hearts are no different that those of the generation in the desert. The reproach of our own sinful past must still be rolled back and cut off.
Paul makes this point in Colossians 2. Using the signs of circumcision and baptism, Paul points to their spiritual substance. These two signs come together at the cross. Circumcision illustrates the crucifixion of Christ, the cutting off of sinful flesh. Baptism is the resurrection, in which God raises those who were dead but are now alive in Christ.
These signs were never meant to be the reality. Neither in the Old Testament nor today is anyone made right with God by the cutting of flesh or dripping of water. But, they are crucial nevertheless, for circumcision was and baptism is commanded by God to put before our eyes the reality of Christ’s work on our behalf. To dismiss the sign is to cast off the reality.
The commonality between them is that they are responses of repentance. Just as with Abraham, circumcision was the sign that he could not take matters in his own hands with regard to his offspring. For Joshua, that the previous generation died not trust God. In our time, baptism is the sign of our need to repent, turn from our sin and receive God’s grace.
A millennium later John was in this same region of the Jordan, talking about a baptism of repentance, the forgiveness of sins. At Pentecost when the crowds were convicted of their rejection of the Messiah, Peter told them to repent and be baptized.
Today when conflict comes, when troubles on the horizon overwhelm you, you have the opportunity to prepare yourself by recalling your baptism. Not only does it identify you with Christ, as his name is on you, but also pictures the cleansing that he gives. As Col 2:14ff says, the debt against you is cancelled; the powers against you are disarmed, put to flight. He has triumphed over them.
We must prepare for conflict by celebration 10-12
With the sign of the covenant now placed upon God’s people, there is one more act of preparation. Again, it is not the sharpening of swords, but of remembering God’s work of providing a substitute on the first Passover forty years before. When soldiers are about to take the field of conflict, one may imagine they are excused from religious duty, but we are never excused from considering grace.
The connection between these two signs is clear. They both pointed the Israelites to the work of Christ, just as do baptism and the Lord’s Supper. The first points to our in grafting into Christ, the second, the supper, our spiritual nourishing.
The Jews, gathering in the new land, readying themselves for battle, take the mark of initiation. They eat the meal which reminds them of their secure status before God. Now they are able to face whatever battle may come.
Verse 12 marks a new beginning. No longer would they be supplied with manna, no long a strange supernatural feeding. Now the food was common, the grains from the new land are theirs. But those common grains pointed them to the great truth of God’s protecting grace in their lives.
In 1 Corinthians 5:7 Paul tells us that Christ is our Passover. Just as the people in Egypt and again in Canaan consumed the lamb, ate the unleavened bread, commemorating what God did in the past, but for them, looking to the future when God would send His own Son to die as the sacrificial lamb.
So to we eat together, in faith enjoying the benefits of God’s grace. In that simple act, we experience God’s embrace, his reminder of the extent to which He went for us. In those times, we are reminded of in real and tangible ways that God is for us. That we have been raised with Christ and for that reason seek the things that are above. We are called to celebrate, for no matter what conflict we face, Christ is still on the throne and we are seated with him, even now.
On November 14, 1960, the nation watched as six-year-old Ruby Nell Bridges walked into William Frantz Elementary School and into history. A federal court ordered the New Orleans school system to desegregate, making Bridges the first African-American to attend the elementary school. Her walk inspired the 1964 Norman Rockwell painting "The Problem We All Live With," a small black girl escorted by federal marshals walking to school beside a wall bearing a scrawled racial epithet and the letters KKK.
Ruby Bridges Hall recounts that morning she was to face her conflict as her mother told her
"Now, I want you to behave yourself today, Ruby, and don’t be afraid. There might be a lot of people outside this new school, but I’ll be with you."
When she arrived she eyed the raucous crowd and thought it was Marti Gras, but as she got closer she began to realize that they were not celebrating, but protesting her arrival. That first day of conflict was not the last. But there were not always Federal Marshals to escort her and her mother was back at work. But Ruby was always told by her mother: If I’m not with you and you’re afraid, then always say your prayers." Each day, as she left she would pray. One day, as she neared the school an angry mob surrounded her. She stopped in the middle of the mob and prayed … and walked on. She remembered her father’s words to her as he put her to bed at night:
"You are Daddy's brave little girl. Remember, God loves you, Ruby."
In the face of conflict, when all your supports are gone, when it seems the bleakest, to stop and consider God’s never ending presence. We are reminded of that every time we break the bread, every time there is a baptism – we have his sign and seal of the covenant of grace upon us. We have no reason to fear. Remember the words of your heavenly Father when you face conflict – I will never leave you or forsake you.
