Evening to the book of Joshua and chapter five, Joshua, chapter five. We'll be looking together at verses one to 12 of this portion of God's word. And let us stand together as we read the word of the living God. Joshua, chapter five, verses one to 12. Here now, the word of our God. 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 Gedath Hararalot. 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 all the people who were born on the way in the wilderness, after forty years in the wilderness, until they had come out of Egypt, had not been circumcised. For the people of Israel walked forty 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 swore to them that He would not let them see the land that the Lord had sworn to their fathers to give 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 it was no longer manna for the people of Israel, but they ate of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year. Thus far, the word of our God. Let us pray together. Our Father in heaven, we do come before you and we thank you for your word, which is living and active. sharper than any two edged sword, a word which pierces the heart, dividing soul and spirit and joint and marrow, which judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. And we pray that you would come with your authoritative word and pierce our hearts this evening. We pray that you remind us afresh that your word is powerful. And your word directs us. Grant us, therefore, faith and love to receive your word and to govern our lives by what you say. For we pray it in Christ's name and God's people said, Amen. Brethren, please be seated. Joshua 5 is a chapter that baffles our expectations when we hear of Israel's men crossing the Jordan armed for battle, we recognize that they've finally reached the place where they must drive out their enemies and we expect the battle to commence immediately. Wouldn't conventional wisdom tell us that the adversary should be hit at once? Indeed, one could study the history of war based on speed and maneuver. We could talk about the use of cavalry and chariots or trains and planes as we enter into the 20th century. Tools to be swift. We could reflect on how some of the greatest generals became great because they pushed their armies faster than anyone thought possible. Napoleon, Stonewall Jackson, Erwin Rommel and George S. Patton. But in Joshua 5, Yahweh is in no hurry. Jericho is trembling just a few miles away. Yet the Lord has His people stop and do what is essential before they fight. What is essential? Worship. Covenant renewal. Obedience to His ordinances. God's people must bear the marks of being His people, for they dare not enter into the land having omitted the signs of knowing Him and heeding His voice. So before war comes worship. As we reflect upon this text together, I want you to see five things with me. And the first is this protection. Protection. We see it in verse one. We read, 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 crossed over, their hearts melted and there was no longer any spirit in them because of the people of Israel. Now, this verse stirs in our minds two previous passages. Exodus 15, on the one hand, when Moses said trembling would seize Israel's enemies after the Red Sea miracle because of the greatness of Yahweh. So, he would bring them into the land and plant them. The other is Rahab's confession in Joshua 2. She speaks of paralyzing fear and physical despair of the inhabitants of the land. And those words simply echo our text. The question is, why are we being reminded that the Amorites and Canaanites are quaking in their boots? Well, two reasons. One, it's one more token of the faithfulness of God. The Lord never tires of reminding His weak, prone to wonder people that He keeps His Word. We should bless Him for that. He never tires of telling us He's faithful. He hasn't brought them thus far only to give them over to fierce foes. He promised His power would put the nations on notice. And now those nations are shuddering. Indeed, this fresh display at the Jordan has given new assurance to both Israel and to the Amorites and Canaanites that Yahweh is great. You see, it's not that these nations are scared of Israel. They are terrified of Israel's God. And this affords Israel new confidence that they shall really possess the land because Yahweh is their warrior. He's their protector and he goes before them. But a second reason why we're reminded of these trembling nations is due to the content of this chapter. In the chapter, as we've already mentioned, the Lord pushes pause on the advance. And He has His people worship Him through the Old Testament sacraments of circumcision and Passover. Now, how could they do that if their enemies were breathing down their neck? Can't you imagine an objection coming up? We're going to stop and do what? Stop and circumcise all the males? How will we defend ourselves? Does anybody remember what happened when Simeon and Levi went through the Shechemites after they were circumcised in Genesis 34? They killed them all. You can't defend yourself if you're sore from circumcision. We're in enemy occupied territory here. Yet, Yahweh will command circumcision and Passover. And He is shielding His people from disaster. Now, brethren, I know that this is an extraordinary act of protection. But it should nevertheless show us what kind of God we serve. He guards us. He defends us. He drives the enemy away from us. He's our shield, our strength, our refuge. And without those truths about him, truths that never change, how could we live? How could we function? And his faithful keeping power isn't just for this special moment in Israel's history. It's truth that we daily need, that no weapon formed against us shall prosper. Why not? Because if God is for us, who can be against us? And in the New Covenant, we've seen just how wondrous the faithful protecting mercies of God are in the ransoming work of Jesus Christ on the cross. We've been rescued from the dominion of sin. Our Savior took on the powers of hell that we might be redeemed. Shall we dare doubt that our God shall protect us? And we are kept in Jesus Christ. No one and nothing can snatch us away from Him. This is wondrous protection. But see with me now, not only protection, see second, perish. Perish. Verses 2-6a. In verse 2, the Lord commands Joshua to circumcise the sons of Israel a second time. Now, that's a curious phrase. What does a second time mean? Well, the text seems to answer this question in verses 4 to 5. 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. Verse 5. Though all the people who came out of Egypt had been circumcised, yet all the people who were born on the way in the wilderness after they had come out of Egypt had not been circumcised. So the phrase of second time in verse two looks back to the first circumcision in Egypt when the former generation was circumcised. But now a second generation must receive the sign of circumcision. That's the second circumcision that needs to happen. The question is, why hadn't this sign? The very sign which showed you were the special objects of God's care, that you were his, why wasn't it practiced during the wilderness years? Well, our text does not explicitly answer that question, but I think it hints at the answer. When circumcision was given in Genesis 17, it was in direct connection to the promise of the land. God said, Genesis 17 verse 7 and 8, I will be God to you and to your offspring after you, and I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojourning. Yet the failure of the Exodus generation is they didn't believe God's promise. When the spies gave a bad report in Numbers 13, the people rebelled. They said, we wish we had died in Egypt or died in this wilderness. And they hardened their hearts against the word of God. As a result, the Lord said they would never enter the land. They would wander in the wilderness until that generation died. Circumcision seems then not to have been applied to the children because of the unbelief of the Exodus generation. So out of criticism, our text says, verse 6, 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 listen or they did not obey the voice of the Lord. Why did they Perish. Because they didn't obey. They didn't listen. They didn't receive the Word of God with faith. They sang at the Exodus, Yahweh is my strength and my song. He has become my salvation. But they didn't believe any of those things. Those were hollow words. When the spies saw giants in the land, they didn't accept God's promise to fight for them. So they praised Yahweh with their lips, but their hearts were far away. And that first exodus generation, they had the mark of being God's people. Verse five, all the people who came out had been circumcised, but they had no ears to hear God's word. Now, brethren, this is a crucial point in the history of Israel, because a second generation is about to be circumcised and circumcision is necessary. Yahweh commands it so you can celebrate the Passover, Exodus 12, 48. He commands it that you not be cut off from his people, Genesis 17. However, receiving the bear sign is not enough. You must believe. You must trust the God who pledges Himself to you in the covenant. You must rely on His Word and follow Him. But that's precisely what those who came out of Egypt didn't do. They were set apart as God's people. They ate the manna. They drank the water from a rock. They passed through the sea. And they still possessed an evil heart of unbelief. They didn't respond to one act of God's kindnesses. with faith. You see, it's possible, as Ralph Davis says, to hold membership amongst God's flock, but to have no relationship with the shepherd. What about you? Do you know the shepherd? Do you follow the voice of Jesus Christ? Is there more from you? than lip service and an outward sign that you belong to the King. In response to a greater exodus, the work of salvation on the cross and the resurrection of Jesus, does Christ have your allegiance, your determined affection? Because you've got to see here, the signs of membership won't save you. Circumcision didn't save the people of the Exodus. They perished in unbelief. And likewise, baptism in the Lord's Supper, they will not save you. You must know Christ. You must love Christ. You must rest on Christ. You must rely on him to your dying breath. He must be all your hope, all your righteousness. And it's only the one who believes on him who shall not perish. Is that true for you tonight? Do you cling to the Lord Jesus Christ? Those coming out of Egypt didn't believe. They wasted their spiritual privileges and they perished in the wilderness. Let us then take heed, because the Apostle Paul tells you in First Corinthians 10 11. Now, these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction. On whom the end of the ages has come. Learn from their failure. And do not imitate them. Lest you perish because of a lack of faith. But thirdly, see with me promise. Promise versus six B through nine, while the author rightly stresses the necessity of faith and the consequences of failing to obey the Lord, he also directs us to the unfailing promise of God. Verse six, the the Lord swore to them that is the exodus generation, that he would not let them see the land that the Lord had sworn to their fathers to give to us a land flowing with milk and honey. Now, how are we to understand these two occurrences of the Lord swore in verse six, the Lord swore to their fathers to give us the land And he swore that the unbelieving exodus generation wouldn't see the land. Isn't that a contradiction? Doesn't Yahweh's oath confining the exodus generation to death in the wilderness violate his promise to give the land? Well, no, because the promise of the land doesn't perish. Verse seven, so it was their children whom He raised up in their place that Joshua circumcised. The children of the Exodus. They have been raised up in the place of an unbelieving, disobedient bunch. And to them, the land will be given. So, the Lord's Word doesn't fail. It's just the people without faith never receive the benefits of the promise. But what's vital to see here is that Yahweh's word, His oath is not negated. He swore to the fathers to give us a land flowing with milk and honey. And that's precisely what He will do. The sin of the wilderness generation cannot undo the promise of God. It can't take the land away. It can't make God's everlasting covenant null and void. Our God is not powerless before the rebellion of these faithless folks. His promise endures. Sin cannot destroy God's promise. It can't annul God's promise. It can't undo God's promise. It is true that your sin can cause you to be cut off because you fail to believe if you fail to repent. And trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. You have no individual share in the blessings of God's promise. You have no rest. You will have no salvation. But God's promise can't be thwarted by the power of sin. What a comfort that is to the people of God, his grace, his power, his promise is greater than all of our sin. If that weren't the case, the story of redemption would have stopped in the wilderness and it would all be over. God would have been thwarted by a belligerent people and we would just have to close the book. Nothing else could be done. Our God, however, is not rendered helpless by their disobedience. Indeed, if that were true, we would all be doomed. For we were all dead. and our trespasses and sins. And every one of us here who believe, we were once enemies of God, but our sin did not thwart the promise of God. What did He do in accordance with His promise? Romans 5.8, God demonstrates His own love toward us in this, that while we were yet sinners, Did you hear that? While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. We must believe in Him who laid down His life, but it wasn't our fidelity that secured God's faithfulness. It wasn't our goodness. It wasn't our faith that caused God to be faithful. God is faithful because he can't deny himself. He's simply a promise keeping God. That's who he is. And that should stir your faith. That should provoke your devotion. He won't fail. Because that's just how great He is. That's how loving He is. That's how awesome your God is. And He should cause you to serve Him. Do you? Do you adore this God who won't quit on His promises? He's not like you. A liar. of people who violate their promises all the time. He's not like that. He keeps His promises. And that should provoke your worship, your reverence, your adoration. Does it? Does it stir your affections to give God your all? That's what it should do for you. So, this new generation, a whole nation is now circumcised, marked as God's people. And when it was finished, the Lord said, verse 9 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. And Gilgal means roll. Now, what is meant by rolling away Egypt's reproach? Well, most likely it means the scorn of Egypt towards the Lord Himself, that He wasn't strong enough to bring a people into the land, that it's gone. Moses had prayed over this concern in the wilderness several times, interceding for the stubborn hearted Israelites in the wilderness. Lord, the nations are going to say that you're not able to bring a people into the land because you've put the wilderness generation to death. But now that the Lord has raised up the next generation and he's ushered into into the land, that reproach is empty. The nations, they can't sling their slander at Yahweh's weakness anymore. The Lord has done exactly what He promised to do. So now the mouths of the Egyptians are stopped. The Lord vindicates His own name and the reproach is rolled away. Oh, to the enemies of God, it may have looked like in those 40 years, the Lord wasn't able to save. He's a weak God. Surely, it must have looked like that. on dark Golgotha Hill when those enemies were approaching the Lord Jesus. Well, come down from there and we'll worship you. He saved others. Can't He save Himself? But the Lord vindicated His name when our King rose from the dead. And to all glory and honor of our Lord Jesus Christ, He triumphed over every enemy. He crushed the power of the curse, and our reproach is taken away. So no accusation of an enemy, an evil one, can be hurled at us and stick. We are in the King who crushed the power of sin. All glory and honor be to our God. Fourth, we see with me Passover, verse 10. While the people of Israel were encamped at Gilgal, they kept the Passover on the 14th day of the month and the evening on the plains of Jericho. As with circumcision, the Passover celebration shows us the people, unlike their fathers, care about being obedient to God's word. Passover hasn't been celebrated in 39 years. But this younger generation follows the instructions to a T. God required that the lambs be slaughtered at twilight, literally at evening. And our text uses the same word to indicate the timing of the Passover. We've already been prepared for this event by the timestamp placed on the day that people came up from the Jordan to Gilgal in chapter four, verse 19, the 10th day of the first month. That was the an intentional link to the preparations for Passover 40 years ago. And now four days later, They have this incredible event which looks back to the original Passover. But why do that? Why is the Lord intentionally linking the first Passover with the crossing of the Jordan? Well, obviously, it's commanded. It's time to do it. But more particularly, the word has brought them into the land across the Jordan at the very moment of Passover in order to remind them afresh that every blessing they have, the reason they are at this moment is because of His grace. He saved them from Egypt. He judged their enemies when they ought to be condemned. They were passed over. They're not righteous. Nevertheless, he brought them out with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. And now they are here 40 years later to start anew. He's prepared a table before them in the presence of their enemies. He's been their shepherd. He's never failed them. And can there be any doubt among them as they look back that he will be with them, that he will save them, that he will deliver them? Though it's certainly not because they're a righteous people. Just scan back over the last 40 years and see what kind of folks they really are. Oh, he's the living God who will prevail. So this Passover presses the people to see the grace of God and His attending presence. It reminds them they are dependent on the Lord and by His strength they shall prevail. It causes them to trust the Lord. Brethren, does not our new covenant parallel to Passover, a superior sacrament? The word supper. Does it not do the same thing for us? It compels us to look. at the faithfulness and the love of our shepherd, who by his grace alone has saved us. He rescued us not on the basis of our merits. He saved us in Christ. The lamb was struck and we were spared. Our enemies have been overwhelmed and we are set free. Therefore, we must trust our God. We must love Him and serve Him. We must turn from sin and give our lives to Him. Indeed, that love must produce obedience. And is it doing so in your life? Are you drawn to this God who would give His Son for you, you who don't deserve anything? Finally, see with me. Provision. Provision. We see it in verses 11 and 12 of our passage. 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 of the fruit of the land that year. During the entire wilderness period, the Lord had provided an extraordinary gift, manna. Though we know the Israelites often grumbled about it because they were sick of the monotony. It's easy to criticize them. You would have been sick of it, too. However, it was a wonderful gift from the Lord because they had no means of cultivating food. But now it's ceased. It was a temporary gift. They were heading into a land flowing with milk and honey, a land rich in resources, where food grows abundantly. So when they arrived, they didn't need the manna anymore. The manna stops, but the Lord's provision doesn't. The extraordinary gift simply became ordinary. It became ordinary. Three times in the text, God stresses to us that the people ate of the produce or the fruit of the land. And this is a signal to us that a new era has begun. For the Lord had said that he would bring them into a land, Deuteronomy 6, with houses full of all good things that you did not fill and cisterns that you did not dig and vineyards and olive trees that you did not plant. And he told them to eat and be satisfied. And the first day of eating of this land is a glimpse of the good word of God coming to pass. It's a taste of the provision of the Lord. It's as if God is saying, taste and see that I am good. Yes, the miraculous manna has stopped, but the good gifts from above have not. And such good gifts from God should lead their heart to see His kindness and therefore turn. They should turn from their sin. They should bless God in thankfulness. They should be loyal to Him. It should make them ready to heed every precise instruction that shall come in the days ahead. Should we not trust this God and obey Him with great carefulness? And there shall be some really weird instructions coming up about marching around Jericho. But should we not be willing? Because here's a God who takes care of us, and who will do everything that we need. But the issue here is evident. Yahweh cares for His people. We don't need to be astounded with extraordinary displays of His care. His ordinary care should compel our things. It should draw out our hearts, because it's not every good and perfect gift from above. We should be mindful of God's good gifts in the daily care of our soul, from food to health, safety to finances. Our God cares for His people. And that beckons us to persevere by faith. It calls us to see the goodness and grace of God. It asks us Are we eagerly serving this God with a heart of faith and thankfulness? Israel's being pressed to see the grace and glory of the Lord that they might serve Him. We're being pressed to see the same thing. And how much more is that the case in view of God's indescribable gift in His own Son? May we then serve our God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength. Let's pray together. Our Father in heaven, we thank you that your word does search us, that your word calls us to repentance and faith. Indeed, your kindness is a word leading us to repentance. And we pray, Father, that we would honor you with all of our heart. We pray, Father, that we would Be moved to faith, love and obedience. And we thank you that you are a God who is faithful even when we are faithless. But we pray for our hearts that are prone to wonder that we will be drawn to deep seated service to you in view of your care, which never fails. And we do ask it in Christ's name and all of God's people said, Amen. you