Joshua 5:2-12
The book of Joshua exists in a time AFTER they wandered in the desert for 40 years. AFTER they were freed from slavery in Egypt. They had now entered the promised land, there were THERE, they just hadn’t settled in yet.
They weren’t circumcised on the way to the promised land, because they were almost always in motion. There wasn’t time to heal. God is so merciful…even in the things He asks of us like this…He’s so merciful! (They also were probably still using Egyptian technology and tools, which is why he also instructed them to make the correct tools, the the smoother, sharper flint knife was an older technology, but a better suited blade for surgery)
We’re called to a higher level of obedience in the promised land.
1 Timothy 3:6 A church leader must not be a new believer, because he might become proud, and the devil would cause him to fall.
Sanctification is a process. We need to allow other people to move through the process without judgment. I didn’t say without correction!! But without judgment. It’s okay to mess up! You DID mess up though. You DO need to repent. We confront each other using the very specific outline laid out in Matthew 18 (see below). When a believer sins against me, I confront it. I don’t go telling everyone else…I talk to THEM. It helps me process forgiveness, but it also holds THEM accountable and helps them move through the sanctification process.
They were reestablishing covenant ceremonies. To be freed from slavery is one thing. To get to the land of milk and honey is one thing. But to LIVE IN the land of milk and honey is another thing.
Obedience rolls away shame.
God chose Israel to be a model nation and an example to the world, teaching other peoples important lessons. God wanted Israel to be a "kingdom of priests and a holy nation" (Exodus 19:6), and to serve as a "covenant for the peoples". Israel was to be a "light to the nations," showing the one true God to those who lived in darkness and drawing them to worship God. God also gave Israel the words of God, and entrusted them to deliver good news to the world for the salvation of all.
Rolling back shame is something else God does, where he reveals to you just HOW MUCH He loves you, and how much He will provide for you, and even when you are sinful, He loves you, and His mercies are new every morning…and you realize, HIS LOVE is what makes you want to leave the slavery behind. It’s His LOVE that makes you WANT to obedient. It’s His LOVE that wipes away shame.
They were entering their “promised land era”. They were eating grains they didn’t sow, and harvesting crops they didn’t plant. God had given it to them…but also, it wasn’t going to just show up tomorrow. They wouldn’t be spoon fed anymore in the promised land. They had been given the land, but now they had to go out and harvest it. They’d have to plant it next year, and the year after that.
God gave us the land, now we have to plant the crops.
God gives trees.
We’re called to be productive in the promised land.
So there’s 3 phases we see here…
Slavery
Wilderness
Promised Land
In slavery, we do what our selfish nature tells us too, almost all of the time. We do what we can get away with. We’re in bondage to our desires.
Once freed, we may enter into a wilderness season for a while. It’s confusing in the wilderness, because you are so used to letting your selfish nature win and be in charge all of the time. So you have to figure out how to discipline yourself.
But then once we’ve learned that…God ushers us into a promised land season. A place where he’s called us to a new level of obedience, because he not only wants to save US, but save others THROUGH us.
