FAITH TO ENTER GOD’S PROMISES
Everyone Should be Dedicated to God
Joshua 5
Jerry A Collins
SCC
What is
the significance of circumcision?
What
reproach was rolled away when
Who is the
Captain of the Lord of Hosts?
Last nite
we went through a daily ritual—the
same one you go thru—we washed our
dirty dishes. Almost everyday we end up with a loaded dishwasher that we use to
clean the dishes of the day. It also usually includes several larger dishes
that we wash by hand in the sink. We do this because we want to have clean
dishes to use the next time. We would never consider using the same dirty
dishes again until they were cleaned. Just like our dishes
there are regular intervals in our lives when we too need cleansing.
Where we understand the need to consecrate ourselves and clean up an area or
two of our lives and renew our commitment to walk in the Spirit. To set aside a sin or to remember a promise or to confess and
change course in our lives. Under Joshua’s
leadership, with miraculous intervention, a beachhead was established at Gilgal (
1. RENEWED COMMITMENT TO GOD THRU CIRCUMCISION 1-9
This rite was to be renewed amongst the people.
Enemy fears God’s people 1 When
the news spread of
2. CELEBRATING THE PASSOVER 10 The nation
arrived at
3. DEPENDING UPON FRUIT OF THE LAND 11-12
That day they ate from the produce of the land and the manna ceased. It was time to depend on the land not on God’s miraculous intervention. Both were God providing for their needs. But now it would come from harvest of land and they will have to fite the enemy. In the spiritual life God may remove a temptation for a baby xian. But that is not way it will always be. Removing all temptations is never way to become spiritually mature. There comes time when the manna ends and you need to deal with the land, the life situation you are in. Most of your temptations will never go away.
4. GOD IS IN CHARGE
13-15
Seeing man with sword Josh asks
and man answers. Josh bowing and removing sandals indicates holy person.
Throughout biblical history a person appears who is not God the Father (because
one cannot see Him without dying Ex 33:20). Neither is
this person an angel because he is called Lord and is worshipped and good
angels do not receive worship (
(1) Expect God to prepare the hearts of the people to respond to His messengers (5:1). That does not mean it will go smoothly or easily or without conflict as seen in Paul’s teaching and rejections in synagogue in Acts 18 & 28.
(2) Obey God no matter how vulnerable it makes you or untimely it seems to you (5:2-3). When God has clearly spoken in His Word then following God may sometimes seem irrational or illogical but Jesus said those who love Him obey Him.
(3) God does not forget His Word
just because we forget it. Circumcision was ignored for 430 yrs but God
remembered. The gospel, literal following of Bible ignored by eastern &
western church for over 1000 yrs before Reformation began to look at it again.
But God did not forget (5:4-8).
(4)
Worship places change from time to time but is carried
out according to guidelines specified for age we live in (5:9-10). For church age, defined by presenting out bodies as living holy
sacrifice. It has to do with what we physically do all day long during
this life here on earth and confessing sin.
(5)
God may provide an unusual deliverance from your sinful habits, practices or
the consequences of them but the normal xian life is
not manna in the wilderness (miraculous deliverance) but eating the fruit of
the life situation you are in—like taking up your cross (your
life situation) daily and following Him. Don’t let a day go by.
Sometimes God may deliver us from our situation like he did with Noah and often
will deliver us thru it like Job. We must live thru and in our situation in a
godly way, not look for escape from it (
(6)
Understand it is God who is in charge of His forces. We just work here and
follow Him (