It's been my habit to ask a little bit of an orienting question. Something to kind of orient us to what's going on in this text. My question to you this morning, if you were to prepare an army for war, if you were to prepare an army for war, what would you have them do? What exercises might you have? Think about that for a moment as you turn to Joshua chapter 5. We're gonna read this chapter in its entirety. There's a lot in it. There's a lot that, this is three sermons in and of itself, especially verses 13 to 15. But as we go through this, we'll see that there is one unifying theme to what's going on. So Joshua chapter five, starting in verse one. As soon as all the kings of the Amorites, who were beyond the Jordan to the west, and all the kings of the Canaanites, who were by the sea, heard that the Lord had dried up the waters of the Jordan for the people of Israel until they had crossed over, their hearts melted, and there was no longer any spirit in them because of the people of Israel. At that time the Lord said to Joshua, make flint knives and circumcise the sons of Israel a second time. So Joshua made flint knives and circumcised the sons of Israel at Gibbeth Harhalath. And this is the reason why Joshua circumcised them. All the males of the people who came out of Egypt, all the men of war, had died in the wilderness on the way after they had come out of Egypt. Though all the people who came out had been circumcised, yet the people who were born on the way in the wilderness after they had come out of Egypt had not been circumcised. For the people of Israel walked 40 years in the wilderness until all the nation the men of war who came out of Egypt perished because they did not obey the voice of the Lord. The Lord who swore to them that he would not let them see the land that the Lord had shown to their fathers, to give to us a land flowing with milk and honey. So it was their children whom he raised up in their place that Joshua circumcised. for they were uncircumcised because they had not been circumcised on the way. When the circumcising of the whole nation was finished, they remained in their places in the camp until they were healed. And the Lord said to Joshua, today I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you. And so the name of that place is called Gilgal to this day. While the people of Israel were encamped at Gilgal, they kept the Passover on the 14th day of the month, in the evening on the plains of Jericho. And the day after the Passover, on that very day, They ate of the produce of the land, unleavened cakes and parched grain. And the manna ceased the day after they ate of the produce of the land. And there was no longer manna for the people of Israel, but they ate the fruit of the land of Canaan that year. When Joshua was by Jericho, he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, a man was standing before him with his sword, with his drawn sword in his hand. And Joshua went to him and said to him, are you for us or for our adversaries? And he said, no, but I am a commander of the army of the Lord. Now I have come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped and said to him, what does my Lord say to his servant? And the commander of the Lord's army said to Joshua, take off your sandals from your feet for the place where you are standing is holy. And Joshua did so. The grass withers and the flowers fade, but the word of the Lord remains forever. Let's go for God in a brief moment of prayer. Heavenly Father, as we reflect upon these truths that you are teaching to us in this word, would you apply them to our hearts? Would you continue to sanctify us and conform us to the image of Christ? And comfort us where we need comfort. And convict us where we need conviction. Father, all these things I pray in Christ's name. Amen. Well, as I asked sort of in the opening question, if you were put in charge of an army of soldiers and you were told in a few days time, go and take that city, go and take that city that's on the hill. How would you have them prepare for battle? How would you have them prepare? Myself, not being a military expert, I turned to the next best source that I could find, which was Google. And so I Googled ways soldiers prepare for battle. And unsurprisingly, a lot of articles popped up, a lot of different opinions popped up. And as I swiftly kind of skimmed through many different articles, I found one that seemed to adequately summarize what these articles were talking about. It listed five things. It said, as you prepare for battle, recommended that you should undergo situational awareness, should undergo situational awareness training. You should learn how to survive, learn how to live off of the land, learn how to live off of nothing. And then thirdly, it said, get fit. Get fit, exercise, get your body ready. And then fourthly, it said, put your matters in order. Make sure that you have a will, make sure you have life insurance. And then finally, it said, practice peaceful mindedness. Peaceful mindedness, so that when you go into battle, you are ready to face anything. Those were the five things that were recommended. for soldiers today. I know there's more that could be said, but this seemed to me like a good, succinct summary of the way we could prepare for battle. And if I were leading an army, that's probably what I would have them do. Probably have them do these five things. It seems like a good start. But here in this chapter, Joshua, we actually see the exact opposite. You see the exact opposite of what these five things recommend. It feels like we would see all of the fighting men of Israel. As they come up out of the Jordan Valley, the Lord has just stopped the Jordan River from flowing so that they could cross through into this promised land. It feels like we should see the nation of Israel running in a brave heart-like fashion, coming up out of the Jordan Valley up to the city of Jericho and taking the city by surprise. That's what it feels like should be happening in this text. But actually, we see that they stop. They stop and what do they do? They stop and they worship God. And this is the greatest way that they could have prepared for war. This much in the same way, we have also been given similar means as the Israelites to prepare ourselves for war and the wars that we face. And we see in this chapter, we see this main point. We see that through worship, Through worship, the commander of the Lord's army prepares you, his chosen people, for the wars against his enemies and our enemies. We could outline how the commander prepares his people, how the commander of the Lord's army prepares his people. We'll see how first he consecrates his people in verses one to nine. And then we see the commander of the Lord's army provide for his army in verses 10 and 12. And then finally we see the commander of the Lord's army leading his people in the last three verses, verses 15, it's about 13 to 15. And so in the first verse of this chapter, We're given the reaction of the surrounding kings, the reaction of the surrounding region. God has just stopped the mighty Jordan River from flowing. He did so that the nation of Israel could cross over on dry ground. And in this, He displayed His power. to the surrounding kings. The language that we find here in this first verse, it should take us back to chapter 2. Verses 11, when the spies are talking to Rahab, what does Rahab say to the spies? What does Rahab report to the spies? She says, and as soon as we heard it, speaking about God dividing the Red Sea, as soon as we heard of God dividing the Red Sea, our hearts melted. and there was no spirit left in any man because of you. For the Lord your God, He is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath. The people in this land, the Canaanites and the Amorites, they're already fearing God because of what He did in splitting the Red Sea. Can you imagine how terrified they are now that God has just done the same thing with the Jordan River? But here we see Israel stop. We see Israel stop. Joshua chapter four verse 19 tells us that when they came up out of the Jordan on the 10th day of the first month, and they camped at Gilgal on the eastern border of Jericho, the people need to prepare. They need to prepare for the celebration of the Passover. The Passover celebration was on the 14th day of the first month and they just entered into the land on the 10th day of the first month. So the nation of Israel stops and they stop and they worship as they prepare for war. In their preparations, they need to do something important. They need to do something that should have been done a long time ago, but wasn't. And so we're told in verse two, at that time the Lord said to Joshua, make flint knives and circumcise the sons of Israel a second time. Now it doesn't take a medical professional for that to make us kind of stop at this point and for our ears to perk up and ask a second time? A second time to be circumcised? A second time? You can't be circumcised twice. What's going on here? What is being discussed? You see, for the people of Israel, the Passover meal is a meal for God's covenant people, those who have been given the sign of the covenant. But there's a problem. This new generation has not been circumcised. And so when God says that they must be circumcised a second time, what he means is that this new generation of Israel, they must be brought in and collectively circumcised, just as their fathers were in Israel. We can understand that as the first circumcision. So too, now here, this new generation, we understand, and this commands to be the second circumcision. And so this new generation still needs to be grafted into, to be cut into the covenant with God, the covenant community. And so Joshua obeys. He orders flint knives be made and that all the generation be circumcised. And we're told in verses four to seven the reason why they had to do this. We see that all the men who came up out of Egypt, that all the men who were circumcised, that they were, they bore the sign of the covenant, but they had all perished. They had all perished because of their disobedience in the wilderness. They perished because they did not obey the voice of the Lord. They did not trust God when they saw the giants in the land. and in their wilderness wanderings, they also failed to obey God's law, to give this sign, this covenant community, this everlasting covenant sign to this new generation. And so we could think of it this way. This generation that has crossed into the promised land, while they are God's chosen people, They do not bear the mark of being God's chosen people. And if you're going to take the promised land, and if you're going to partake of the covenant meal, you must first bear the sign of the promise. But in all of this, we also see something else going on. As the people are being consecrated, as the people are being set apart, we see something else going on. Something's being removed. More than just a foreskin is being removed here. We see in verse nine, and the Lord said to Joshua, today I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you. The reproach of Egypt. That's not something we always think about when we think about Israel and their wilderness wanderings. This refers to the public shame that came from being slaves in Egypt for so long. How they are a people who lost all sense of dignity. They bore the shame and the disgrace of being slaves to another nation. But God, through circumcision, he says in verse nine, that you are now cleansed of that shame. You are now cleansed of that disgrace. You are not just free from your old life of slavery, but you are now my people. You have been given the sign. And because of this, they are now recipients of the everlasting covenant, which was made with Abraham and all his descendants. And as a result of all of this, one person said, the most significant outcome of this event was not just that it applied the sign of the covenant to those who had been denied it, but also it prepared them to enter battle ceremonially clean. What a wonderful truth this is, that God would cleanse His people from their shame and their disgrace. The same can be said of us, can it not? The reproach of Egypt paints for us a picture of our sin nature, and how our sins held us in bondage and slavery. We needed someone to come and to bring us out of that slavery. And you have been released. And you have been rescued from that slavery. And you have been given a wonderful sign. You have been baptized. Your guilty stains have been washed away. Your shame and disgrace, they have been removed because of what Christ has done. And this is what your baptism points you to. that you are engrafted into the everlasting covenant of God and that you belong to the covenant community of God. Now the people of Israel, they couldn't just assume that they were gonna be given this land. They couldn't just assume that they were a part of God's covenant people. They needed to receive the sign. They needed to be cut into the covenant. The same is true for us today. we must first receive the sign before we can approach the table. This is the first way in which the commander of the Lord's army, he prepares his people for war. He consecrates them. This new generation, by their circumcision, is now set apart. These are God's holy people, now entering God's holy land. just as you have been set apart by your baptism. You are set apart as God's chosen race, His holy people. And at your baptism, you were made citizens of heaven. This world is no longer your home, but you are now citizens of the kingdom of God, a kingdom we long to see in its fullness. Having been consecrated, God then displays his provision for the people. God provides for his chosen, set-apart holy people. We see this now as we turn to verses 10 through 12, as the people partake of the Passover meal. In these verses, we see a very significant transition. a transition, we see not just that the people are worshiping God through the Passover meal, but we also see how God provides for his people a new Eden-like paradise. This is a new Eden-like paradise. We're told in verse 10 that while the people of Israel were camped at Gilgal, they kept the Passover on the 14th day of the month, in the evening on the plains of Jericho. From the world's perspective, as I've already mentioned, and if I were a military strategist, as I've said, for a number of reasons, this is probably the worst move that the nation of Israel could have made. As we saw in the first nine verses, Israel just weakened all of their fighting men. And they've also killed all momentum of the attack as they stop. As I've already said, the opportune time would have been to come out of the Jordan River and to go and to take Jericho, catching the city of Jericho by surprise. But God's ways are not our ways. God's strategies are not our strategies. In his most holy and wise providence, in his sovereignty, he brings his chosen set-apart race, he brings them to this set-apart land on a very specific time, the 14th day of the first month. Why is this so crucial? Why is this worth spending time on? Don't forget the anticipation. There's this tone of anticipation throughout the whole of Joshua. These people have been waiting for the promised land, a place to have as their own. The place that God had promised to their forefathers. They've been wandering in the desert. They've been bearing the shame of not having a home. They've been bearing the disgrace of having been slaves. But now, Now as they enter into the land that was promised to their forefathers, they stop and they worship God. Remembering what God did for their fathers when he brought them out of Egypt, remembering how God saved them from their slavery, they stop and they worship and they remember how God brought them into the land by stopping the Jordan River. Just as we remember in our partaking, when we partake of the Lord's Supper, we remember how Jesus saved us from our slavery. And we see in verses 11 and 12, how God, he shifts. He shifts to a new way for providing for the needs of Israel. For 40 years, the people of Israel have eaten manna. For 40 years, it's been 40 years of going out day after day, early in the morning, every morning, to go out and to gather manna. 40 years of any leftovers you had left going bad overnight. 40 years of the same meal. But now, now that they are in the promised land, We're told in these verses, verses 11 and 12, that they ate of the produce of the land, unleavened cakes and parched grain, and the manna ceased the day after they ate of the produce of the land. The manna has stopped. This is a land flowing with milk and honey. This is a lush and a fertile land. For the Israelites, this feels like they're being brought into paradise. This is an Eden-like paradise, if you will. They will no longer live on manna. They will cultivate their own crops. They will eat their own fruit from the trees, and God will bless their harvests. Don't miss this comparison to Eden. The Israelites are being led into a land where they will dwell with God. In Eden, God walked with Adam. Eden, in many ways, is God's dwelling place on earth in the first opening chapters of Genesis. And we see here God establishing something similar with the nation of Israel, a place where he would dwell, a place where the people can worship freely, a place where they can eat the covenant meal with God. We see something similar in the Lord's Supper as well. But there have been times, I'm sure in your own life as well as mine, when you've You've come to that part in the service where the minister is administering the Lord's Supper, and he says something. He says something that sticks with you. There was one particular time several months ago when we got to that point in the service to partake of the supper, and the minister reminded us that when we partake of the Lord's Supper, we should remember three things. We should remember three things. He said, when we come before the Lord, We should be happy, we should be humble, and we should be hopeful. He was a master of alliteration. Happy, humble, and hopeful. Happy because Christ has paid for our sins. Humble because we are not worthy to partake of this meal. But also hopeful. Hopeful because we have been promised to partake of this meal in heaven. We don't just look back to the cross, we do look back to the cross and we remember what Christ has done for us. We also look forward. We look forward to the marriage supper of the Lamb, remembering what Christ has promised to us. In many ways, it feels like we are wilderness wanderers. We have been set apart, yes. Our baptism reminds us of that. We have been washed by the blood of Christ and we have been engrafted into the covenant community of God. But this world is not our home. This world is not our home. When we come to the Lord's Supper, we partake anticipating what the Israelites are currently experiencing in this text. They are in the promised land. They are in the paradise that God is giving to them, and God has promised to dwell with them. Just as we long for the paradise of the new heavens and the new earth, where there is a river flowing from the throne, and on both sides of that river are two trees, and those trees are full of fruit. and the leaves of those trees for the healing of the nations. We will dwell with God and we will eat of this meal with Christ. That's what we have to look forward to. Joshua reminds us that we have been consecrated, we have been set apart. Joshua also tells us that we have been provided for, that we have been given space to take of the Lord's Supper. and that we eat and partake of Christ. He provides for our spiritual needs. In the Lord's Supper, we truly and really, while by faith, receive and apply unto ourselves Christ crucified and all the benefits of his death. That's the larger catechism's language for what's going on. We are provided for. And this is the second way that the commander of the Lord's army prepares his people for war. He gives us these means of grace and they strengthen our faith. But who is this commander? Who's this commander? Who is it that is going to lead us? It's been hard for me not to already allude to him, and indeed I already have, but the answer lies clearly in the last three verses of our text in this chapter. In these three verses, we see the commander of the Lord's army come, and he comes and he is ready to lead his people. In the conclusion of this chapter, something happens that sort of ties everything that's been going on in this chapter together. In verse 13, we see Joshua is personally scouting out the walls of Jericho. He's observing the height of the walls. He's observing the battlements. He's observing the troop movements. He might even see Rahab's corpse sticking out of the window. As he's scouting the city, we're told that he lifted his eyes and looked, and behold, a man was standing before him with his drawn sword in his hand. Probably a little startled, maybe he's even grasping for his own sword, Joshua asks, are you for us or for our adversaries? Are you for us or for our adversaries? To which this profound reply is given, no. But I am the commander of the army of the Lord. Now I have come. Not yesterday, not the day before, not before they crossed the Jordan River, now. Now the commander of the Lord comes. Here we have the meeting of commanders. What is it that Joshua does? He immediately falls down and worships. Why does he do this? Why does Joshua worship a commander? Why does Joshua worship a commander? Because Joshua remembers what Moses told him. In Exodus 23, 20, God told Moses what was going to happen in the conquest of Canaan, he said, behold, I will send an angel before you to guard you on the way and to bring you to the place that I have prepared. Pay careful attention to him and obey his voice. Do not rebel against him, for he will not pardon your transgressions, for my name is in him. That's what God said to Moses. Someone would come and lead the people into the land. And Joshua knows that this is the fulfillment of that promise. Whether or not Joshua realizes it, or has a full sense of it, standing before him is not just the commander of the Lord's army. Standing before him is the pre-incarnate Son of God. Jesus is standing right there before Joshua. Now, why am I so confident? Why am I confident that this is Christ pre-incarnate? Look at what happens. As Joshua falls down on his face and worships, we're told two things. One implicitly, one explicitly. Implicitly, the worship is received. And then explicitly, we're told that Joshua is is told to remove his sandals, for this is holy ground. That removing of the sandals, that brings our minds back to Exodus 3, when Moses is at the burning bush, speaking with God. And also, Think of the other instances in the Bible where an angel is worshiped. My mind goes to John in the book of Revelation. In Revelation 19.10, the apostle John, he seeks to worship the angel that's been guiding him through these visions. And what does the angel say? You remember? He says, you must not do that, for I am a fellow servant. Angels know to reject worship and that they are not worthy of worship. So this is no angel that is before Joshua. This is the pre-incarnate Christ. But what does he say? What does he tell Joshua? He says, now I have come. God's timing is not our timing. He didn't come yesterday. He didn't come the day before. He didn't come to give Joshua his original call that he would be leading the people into Israel. No, now, only after they have come into the land, does he come with his sword drawn, only after the people are prepared, only after the people have been consecrated, only after the people have worshipped through the Passover, now Christ, the commander of the Lord's army, appears. How does he appear? Does he appear with a pair of binoculars, he shows up, he's ready to scout the walls with Joshua, maybe giving him advice, like this would be the best gate to go into, or this would be the weakest point of the wall, does he give that advice to Joshua? No. He appears, his sword drawn, ready to lead his people into battle, ready to defeat his and our enemies. God has promised to Joshua that he would go before Israel. God promised that he would go in, that he would take the land and give it to the people, and here he is fulfilling that promise. Here he is with his sword drawn, ready to guard, to protect, to purify this new Eden-like paradise. Only Jesus could have done this. Here Christ is signaling to his people, he's saying, I will give you access to the land, I will give you access to the land in which God has promised to dwell with you. Only through Jesus do we have access to the Father. Only through Jesus do we have access to the throne room of God, the dwelling place of God. Not only that, but Jesus has also given to us the Holy Spirit who dwells in you. God dwells with you. He will until we dwell with Him for all eternity. All of this Jesus gave to you when he died for you on the cross. These are the blessings and the benefits that Jesus gave to you. But if you're here, you do not trust in Christ. You do not see Jesus as Lord. Know that Christ is the only way to the Father. You must come to him, you must repent and believe. Only through him can you receive these blessings to be with God. Because of what Christ has done, he leads his people, even now, leading his people from heaven, ruling supreme over all things. Brothers and sisters, on the cross, Jesus led us. He led us as he consecrated us. He gave to you your baptism to strengthen you, assuring you of your salvation, that you are united to Him, you can draw strength from Him as you battle against sin and temptation, the war that we fight. Your baptism reminds you to live by faith. Your baptism reminds you, walk in brotherly love towards your brothers and sisters for you all have been baptized into the same spirit, the same body. On the cross, Jesus also led us as he provided for us. He provided for us, and this we remember in the Lord's Supper, as his body and his blood were spilled and shed for us. And by faith, we feed and sustain by him. We are fed and sustained by him. On the cross, Jesus also leads us in the war. He puts on the cross our enemies to shame. He is the commander who has not just won the battle on the cross. On the cross, he won the war. He won the war. The people of Israel needed him in order to conquer the land. Without the commander of the Lord's army, there was no hope for them to conquer the land. Just as we too need Christ, our leader and our king, our commander. Without him and what he has done, there is no hope. And so as we see through these means of worship that this text is highlighting for us, these means of grace, We see how the commander of the Lord's army prepares you for battle. He strengthens you for the battles that you face in your daily lives. He has also, he has consecrated you. He has set you apart. You are his and there is nothing that can come between you and him. And you are also provided for. You have been, you have Christ who has won the victory. In these things we follow Christ, our commander. You can only follow, now you can follow him with confidence because on the cross, he won the war and he has promised to return to destroy his enemies and to lead us home to live with him. Amen. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you again for Christ. and what He has done, that He has won the battle, He has won the war. He is our commander, leading us day by day through the Spirit, giving us the strength to stand against sin and temptation. Father, we thank you for saving us from our slavery through Christ. Would you continue to apply this word to our hearts? Would you give us strength as we go out into the world throughout this week? All these things we pray in Christ's name, amen.