October 31, 2024

Joshua 5:1-12 (HCSB)
Circumcision of the Israelites
5 When all the Amorite kings across the Jordan to the west and all the Canaanite kings near the sea heard how the Lord had dried up the waters of the Jordan before the Israelites until they had crossed over, they lost heart and their courage failed because of the Israelites. 2 At that time the Lord said to Joshua, “Make flint knives and circumcise the Israelite men again.” 3 So Joshua made flint knives and circumcised the Israelite men at Gibeath-haaraloth. 4 This is the reason Joshua circumcised them: All the people who came out of Egypt who were males—all the men of war—had died in the wilderness along the way after they had come out of Egypt. 5 Though all the people who came out were circumcised, none of the people born in the wilderness along the way were circumcised after they had come out of Egypt.  6 For the Israelites wandered in the wilderness 40 years until all the nation’s men of war who came out of Egypt had died off because they did not obey the Lord. So the Lord vowed never to let them see the land He had sworn to their fathers to give us, a land flowing with milk and honey. 7 Joshua raised up their sons in their place; it was these he circumcised. They were still uncircumcised, since they had not been circumcised along the way. 8 After the entire nation had been circumcised, they stayed where they were in the camp until they recovered. 9 The Lord then said to Joshua, “Today I have rolled away the disgrace of Egypt from you.” Therefore, that place is called Gilgal to this day. Food from the Land 10 While the Israelites camped at Gilgal on the plains of Jericho, they kept the Passover on the evening of the fourteenth day of the month. 11 The day after Passover they ate unleavened bread and roasted grain from the produce of the land. 12 And the day after they ate from the produce of the land, the manna ceased. Since there was no more manna for the Israelites, they ate from the crops of the land of Canaan that year.

Sharon Coppock
There aren’t a lot of instances when I’m thankful to be a woman, but this is one of them. I’m not typically one to subject myself to pain on purpose unless there’s VERY good reason. It seems an odd place and time to carry this out though, doesn’t it? This would have been an opportune time to attack the Israelites, but the Canaanites had just witnessed God’s protection and favor on the Israelites. They were too disheartened to go into battle just now. It’s very curious why none of the Israelite men were already circumcised. Maybe it goes to show how little regard the generation before them held for God’s commands. Either way, it had to be done in order for them to inherit the promised land. Cutting away that flesh is symbolic. It’s a reminder that we are to submit ourselves to God as our ultimate authority.