Within this chapter, 4 significant events occurred. These events would picture the Lord’s sacrifice, much like the NT ordinances of Baptism & The Lord’s Supper.
1. Baptism
•The generation of Israelites born during the wilderness wanderings were circumcised.
•Joshua 5:7-9 “And their children, whom he raised up in their stead, them Joshua circumcised: for they were uncircumcised, because they had not circumcised them by the way. And it came to pass, when they had done circumcising all the people, that they abode in their places in the camp, till they were whole. And the LORD said unto Joshua, This day have I rolled away the reproach of Egypt from off you. Wherefore the name of the place is called Gilgal unto this day.”
2. The Blood of Jesus
•They commemorated The Passover for the first time in the Promised Land.
•V10 “And the children of Israel encamped in Gilgal, and kept the passover on the fourteenth day of the month at even in the plains of Jericho.”
3. The Body of Jesus
•The manna which God had provided to sustain them ceased because the Promised Land could now support them.
•V11-12 “And they did eat of the old corn of the land on the morrow after the passover, unleavened cakes, and parched corn in the selfsame day.
And the manna ceased on the morrow after they had eaten of the old corn of the land; neither had the children of Israel manna any more; but they did eat of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year.”
4. Worship
•Joshua encountered the captain of the host of the LORD prior to victory over Jericho.
•V13-15 “And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, behold, there stood a man over against him with his sword drawn in his hand: and Joshua went unto him, and said unto him, Art thou for us, or for our adversaries? And he said, Nay; but as captain of the host of the LORD am I now come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, and said unto him, What saith my lord unto his servant? And the captain of the LORD's host said unto Joshua, Loose thy shoe from off thy foot; for the place whereon thou standest is holy. And Joshua did so.”
LESSON - The first three events were pictures of Christ. Circumcision to the Jews in the OT was equivalent to the NT ordinance of baptism. It was their outward declaration of public identification with God. In commemorating The Passover, they remembered the blood of the sacrifice in the shape of a cross on their door to save their first borns. The manna (a picture of Jesus come down from heaven) was replaced by “old corn” kernels (a new picture of Jesus) which would have to die in order to produce a harvest for them to eat. These three events encourage Believers to deal honestly with their sin. In doing so, fellowship with the Lord can be restored and He may be worshiped freely as a result. Once fellowship is restored, it enables God to fight on our behalf the battles which we cannot win on our own. Just like Jericho, God stands ready to fight on our behalf with an unseen army at our disposal. To experience victory, all we must do is remain clean. Are you?
~Mike
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