“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.” (Joshua 5:12)
So often, when I have read children’s versions of the battle of Jericho, I have had this mental image in my mind of the children of Israel crossing over the Jordan, setting up camp for the night in the planes of Jericho, and setting out immediately the next day to begin their daily march around the famous city that was to become the first fruit of God’s gift of the land of Canaan to them. But if you read through Joshua 5 carefully, you see that it didn’t quite happen that way. First of all, they stopped and every man in the entire nation was circumcised (Joshua 5:2). Of course, this would have rendered the army totally helpless for a few days, and they remained just where they were until they were healed (Joshua 5:8). After the circumcision, God proclaimed that the “reproach of Egypt” was now “rolled away”. Surely now they will march for Jericho, you say. But no. Next they celebrated the Passover (vs. 10). Then they ate of the fruit of the land and the manna stopped (vs. 11,12). Only after all of this, does Joshua receive the orders to march on Jericho (see Joshua 5:13-15, 6:1-5) Why? Why do all of these things have to happen before the people can receive the first fruit of their rest? I believe that one reason is to give us a clever picture of what happens when a sinner gives their heart to the Lord! Let’s take a look! The people of Israel were sorely oppressed in Egypt, then they wandered in the wilderness for 40 years before they were allowed to enter into their land. Is this not what the unsaved world is doing? Some in severe bondages, and all wandering in a wilderness of sin and oppression? Next, the people are miraculously brought across a flooding Jordan River on dry ground, into the promised land, into their promised rest from sin, oppression, and bondage. Does not God also promise that when we call upon the name of the Lord, we will receive our rest? When we call upon the name of the Lord, we are rescued from our lives of sin and oppression. We are set from from our bondages. We enter into our “rest” in Jesus, our promised land (See Heb. 3,4). But any Christian will tell you that once they’ve given their hearts to Jesus, they still have problems! They are still tormented by various temptations and bondages, to which they are often not strong enough to overcome. Remember that the land of Canaan was also still possessed by wicked nations that Israel was to defeat and cast out! But before they could begin their work, God instructed them to be circumcised. Paul tells us that we, too, are circumcised! Col 2:11-12: “In him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ, having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead.” Friends, before we can begin to take over our promised land, we, too, must be circumcised! And this happens when we are baptized and raised with Him through faith in the Power of God! So just like Israel had to stop and be circumcised, when we accept Jesus into our hearts, our hearts are circumcised! But the story doesn’t stop here. The Bible says that after Israel was circumcised, the “reproach of Egypt” was “rolled away”. What does this mean to us? When we accept Christ into our lives, our hearts become circumcised, and the reproach of our old sinful lives are “rolled away”! Gone! Seen by God as if they never existed! “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.” (Rom 8:1-2)! That’s the good news, my friends! Next, the people then celebrated the Passover. They celebrated because of what God had done for them in leading them out of Egypt, out of the wilderness, over the Jordan and into the promised land! Isn’t this what we should do, too? God has completely freed us from the oppression of sin, circumcised our hearts of our old sinful natures, brought us into our promised rest. Wouldn’t the next appropriate thing for us to do be to celebrate? To praise Him? To let the world know what a wonderful Savior we have? And there isn’t anything that God values more than our time with Him, more than having a friendship/relationship with each of His children! Next, we are told the people “ate some of the produce of the land: unleavened bread and roasted grain.” (Joshua 5:11) My friends, when we have learned to trust God, to have a friendship/relationship with Him, we, too, begin to reap the benefits of our “rest in Jesus”! Then is when we begin to experience just how rich and full a life centered on Christ can be! Only after all of this does the battle of Jericho appear. The people of Israel march around Jericho and the walls of the city fall down. Just like that! And the walls of our old sinful lives, the temptations, the sorrows, the bondages, they, too, will come tumbling down, just like the walls of Jericho. But only after we’ve allowed God to circumcise our hearts, to remove the reproach of our lives of sin, only after we’ve developed a friendship/relationship with God and have learned to eat of the fruit of our lives in Christ. Once these things are in place, then we can begin to understand that the problems we’ve brought with us out of our sinful pasts are as harmless to us as the walls of Jericho were to the people of Israel! Have you “crossed the Jordan” my friends? If not, why not do so today! Click here (http://answers2prayer.org/saviours_call.html) If you have already accepted Jesus into your heart, then start working on that friendship/relationship with Him so that you can start enjoying the blessings of your rest in Jesus! The blessings which include freedom from bondage, deliverance from temptation and evil! Love in Christ,
Lyn
Lyn Chaffart, Moderator, The Nugget, Scriptural Nuggets ( www.scripturalnuggets.org ), Answers2Prayer Ministries, www.Answers2Prayer.org