Joshua Part 5 - Signs and Seals of God’s Faithfulness

Gavin Wright continues the series on Joshua in chapter 5 v 1-22. This sermon is from Sunday 12th Oct 2025.

Transcript

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Thank you all for praying for us. I'm going to read from Joshua chapter 5, verses 1 to 12. 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 Gibeath Haralot. 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 they had come out of Egypt had not been circumcised. 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 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 now 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 me. 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 fourteenth 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 manor ceased the day after they ate of the produce of the land, and there was no longer manor for the people of Israel, but they ate the fruits of the land of Canaan that year. Thank God for his good words to us this morning. Just in case you've not been with us over the last few weeks, God's people are in the promised land at last. After all their wanderings, they have arrived, and they have done so in spectacular fashion. With God, who Rahab a couple of chapters ago called the Lord of heaven and earth, heaping up the waters of the river Jordan when it was at its fullest and its fastest and its most dangerous, and providing dry ground for an entire nation to pass from one side to the other. What had happened was a big deal. And all of God's enemies in the land knew it. Verse 1 makes that clear. All these kings, we're told, they had heard of the miraculous crossing and they despaired. Their hearts melted, we're told, there was no spirit in them anymore. And we've heard that language before. Back in chapter 2, Rahab again, she had said that the hearts of all the people melted because of what they had heard about God and his people. How God had saved them from slavery in Egypt, how he'd parted for them the Red Sea for them to miraculously and safely cross. And at that news they had melted away. But there is now more. Because it is now the Jordan, right on the border of their lands, rather than the Red Sea which has been crossed. God is still on the march. And what was previously true of the defeated Amorite kings was surely going to become true of the kings of this side of the Jordan. And so their hearts melted, and there was no longer any spirit in them. Paralyzed with fear, scared, stiff. The judgment of God, they all seem to realise, has come upon them at last. And you can imagine the newspaper headlines, can't you? A miracle army enters Canaan. Hearts melt as Hebrews march. Jericho, brace for impact. And what do you suppose? Whilst we might get what God's enemies are feeling at that moment, what do you suppose the average Israelite camped on the eastern border of Canaan might be thinking to himself or to herself as they scans those headlines? Wouldn't he be saying, you know, now is the time to strike while the iron is hot, while the people are all in a panic? I mean, look at the headlines, they are a mess. This is our moment. Carpe DM Joshua, seize the day. Let's go. Let's march in with our banners flying and our trumpets blaring and the praises of God and our lips. We can take them. That's what they'd be thinking. That's what I'm thinking. That's what verse one seems to indicate, right? All the lights are green, all the signs promise a landslide victory if the Israelites will only seize the opportunity. And so, verse two, at that time the Lord said to Joshua, make flint knives and circumcise the sons of Israel a second time. And that is not the operation that they were expecting. Not the operation that a military strategist would have predicted. Rather than swarming into the land and attacking the enemy when they were at their weakest, they stayed where they were for, well, indefinitely. A while. As every man underwent this intimate and painful operation and then needed to heal from it. Half of the people in the room are wincing. And so not only do they not attack, but instead they celebrate this sign, this sacrament, which in turn actually puts the army out of action completely, leaving the nation now, it would seem, incredibly vulnerable to attack themselves. And so what is going on? What is God doing? I've got three big headings today, by the way. This is the first. Why not attack? Why not attack? And in part, the answer may be that in God making his people weak, he is making certain that they do not believe their own hype. The Canaanites and the Amorites are talking about how scary they were. Miracles have gone ahead of them, opened the Jordan for them, they were awesome. And perhaps God is saying to his people, not so fast. Not so fast. And at least one consequence of what happens here is that he humbles their proud fighting men in a very personal and uncomfortable manner. If they are not going to conquer Canaan, sorry, if they are going to conquer Canaan, it will be by God's might and not by theirs. God's grace really is sufficient for them. His power really is made perfect in weakness. We see that throughout the Bible, don't we? We see it in Paul. But we see it ultimately in Jesus at the cross, in our weakness. We boast in a God stronger than the human imagination. God's people need to know that. The glory is his and not ours. And we'll certainly see that played out as we get to chapter 6 and that first great battle of Canaan in Jericho. But I think there's probably more here than just God's people learning that he is strong in their weakness. I think there is something here to learn, even if it seems like a bit of a long way around. There's something to learn about the importance of sacraments and the life of the believer. Sacraments. So just a quick jog and bust up. If you've absolutely no idea what I'm talking about, sacraments are visible signs that God gives to his people. They remind us and speak to us of his great work of salvation. And they work in us to seal and strengthen our faith in the promises of God. And so today, the New Testament church, that's us, we're talking about baptism and the Lord's Supper. Those are sacraments. And in Joshua's day, the sacraments that we see or here are Passover and circumcision. They both come up in our passage today. And you can't miss this idea of circumcision. He just keeps on talking about it. I'm thinking, I wish you'd stop, please. But he keeps on saying circumcision, circumcision, uncircumcision, they circumcise, they circumcise. Over and over again. A circumcision is this thing that, in some ways, it seems so small a deal. It's just cutting off one little piece of skin that you can live without. But actually, in the Bible, for God's people, God treats it as being really important. That's clear throughout the Old Testament. It is really important. It is a big deal. Such a big deal that Joshua, that God says to Abraham, those who are not circumcised, I will cut off. It is a big deal. It's part of being God's people. And here, as God's people have crossed the River Jordan, they have just entered the promised land. God says, Well, hold your horses. Don't conquer the land yet, because you have an important piece of unfinished business which takes priority. You've got to get circumcised and then celebrate the Passover. And just so with the time we've got left this morning, we're going to think about sacraments. Two things. Here's the first thing: sacraments don't save. And sacraments don't save. So just picking up from the story, verse 2, Joshua has to make flint knives. It's probably obsidian, which at least is nice and sharp. He's told to circumcise all of the men in Israel. And this all takes place at Gibeeth Haraloth, a name that makes the mind boggle if you care to look at the translation in the footnotes. But why does this have to happen now? Or maybe the better question would be: why has this not already happened? And we're given the answer a couple of times, aren't we? All the males who came out of Egypt 40 years ago, God saved them from Egypt, crossed the Red Sea, all the males who came out of Egypt, all the men of war, they have died in the wilderness on the way to this point. They had all been circumcised. And yet all who were born in the wilderness have not yet been circumcised. So a whole generation of God's people has grown up without the covenant sign, without the mark of God's people. Now we know about that first generation who came up out of Egypt. We're told in our passage today, verse 6, we know that they did not obey the voice of the Lord. We know how they did not believe his promises, how they did not love him. And what happened to them? Verse 4, they died in the wilderness. They perished on the way. And yet they had been circumcised. They had the sign. They were marked out as being a people special for God's worship. But somehow a whole generation of their children has grown up without the sign, effectively outside the visible community of the covenant people of God. And that was a statement of how low that first generation had sunk. They had neglected the spiritual welfare even of their children. Presumably in their unbelief, refusing to administer the sign of the covenant. That first generation. Think about it. They had been so blessed. They saw the plagues of Egypt. The angel of death passed over them, and they were saved alive by the blood of the Passover Lamb. They were brought up out of slavery. They came through the Red Sea and dry ground. They followed through the wilderness that great pillar of smoke by day and fire by night. They watched the glory of God fill the tabernacle, fill the most holy place in the tabernacle. They saw Moses' face shining when he came down from meeting with God in the mountain. They ate manna from heaven every day. They drank water from the rock. And they were physically marked out as the people who belonged to the promises of God. And every last one of them, apart from Joshua and Caleb, perished and did not make it to Canaan because they did not care to obey God, because they did not trust God, because they did not love him. Circumcision was not a guarantee of salvation. And there is a warning for us in that. I hope you see. Let me speak for a moment of baptism, which is the New Testament equivalent. It is the visible sign that says this person belongs to God's people, but baptism does not save you. If you've been baptized, good. I'm not trying to play down the brilliance and the beauty of baptism. But I do want to warn anyone here, just because you've been baptized, that doesn't mean you can live a life independent of God and do and love whatever you like, and presume that when Jesus comes back in judgment and to call his people home, that you will be fine. Same thing is true of all of the blessings of being in the church, of being in a Christian family, of studying God's word, of seeing and feeling and enjoying the goodness of his covenant people and with his covenant people. Listen to the New Testament, listen to what 1 Corinthians chapter 10 says. For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea. He's talking about that first generation, saved from Egypt. And all were baptized into Moses in the clouds and in the sea, and all ate the same spiritual food and drank the same spiritual drink, for they drank from the spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ. Nevertheless, with most of them, God was not pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness. And he says, Now these things took place as examples for us that we might not desire evil as they did. Now, you can look at that passage later if you want. And the joys and the experiences of being in a church, spiritual highs, the buzz of singing certain songs and having certain experiences, being around God's people in the past, that doesn't save you either. Baptism is such a blessing, and it is deep and it is important. God allows you to bear his family name, to live in his house and eat at his table and one day inherit all that he promises. But these promises, the promises of baptism, must be grasped by faith. You can't expect to inherit what a father gives to his children if you act like you want nothing to do with him. It is a bad illustration, but it's sort of like Prince Harry. There's no judgment. Prince Harry bears the royal name. And yet he's chosen to live a life outside of and apart from his family. He was born into royalty, but this alone won't afford him all the privileges that come with it, like Secret Service protection, hypothetically. If he acts as if he wants nothing to do with his family. You can't take it lightly. Circumcision and baptism raise the stakes on the believer's life. They grant you incredible privileges and blessings, but they come with great responsibility to walk in the way of the Lord's, to grasp the promises of baptism through faith and to love the Father and the giver of that family name. Now Hebrews 4, verse 1 puts it like this. Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it. For good news came to us just as to them, he's talking about that first generation that perished in the wilderness. Good news came to us just as it did to them. But the message they heard did not benefit them because. And so what do you need to make sure that you make it home? All the way home. What do you need? The message did not benefit them because they were not united by faith. To those who listen. For we who believe have entered that rest. Baptism doesn't save, Christian service doesn't save, spiritual experiences don't save, Bible knowledge does not save. There is only one Savior. The Lord Jesus Christ, obedient, crucified, risen, and reigning. And salvation comes by believing in Him, having faith in Him. Only then can you hope to cross into the land of promise. You follow the Savior. Then you will be saved. Sacraments don't save, but Jesus does. And the sacraments call us to trust and follow Him. I don't want this warning to be a downer, I don't want it to be a discouragement to you. Because those sacraments, grasped by faith, as such precious treasure, I can only start to describe them. And that is a treasure we just see briefly in the second generation. This is our last point. Sacraments are all about a faithful God. Sacraments are all about a faithful God. So, what was circumcision a sign of? Was it mainly a badge of obedience and trusting God? Is that what they're being circumcised here on the banks of the Jordan is all about? Their parents didn't circumcise them, but this generation, they are going to be faithful. They are doing what their parents should have done, and so our lesson could be something like they were faithful, and so we should be faithful too. Is that the message here? Certainly it's true, but that's probably not the main point. The main point is probably not the faithfulness of Israel, but the faithfulness of their God. See verse 7, for example. Let's have a look down there. So it was their children whom he raised up in their place. The children, that is, of the unbelieving first generation who died on the way. It was their children whom he raised up in their place that Joshua circumcised. And it's easy to miss, but it is a very important point. Who raised them up? God did. Despite their covenant-breaking parents, God ensured that his promise would stand and that he would still be God to his people and to their children and to their children's children. And so, what is the message here? Isn't it like in 2 Timothy? When we are faithless, he remains faithful. But he cannot deny himself. He has made a covenant promise and he always keeps his word. And so, parents in the room, here is your hope for your covenant children. If you are anything like me, you look at your own heart, you look at your Christian life, you see all of your inconsistencies, your many failures, and you worry. I worry that my weakness and sin will result in disaster for my children. What a mess I am. What a danger I am to my children. And for sure if the eternal welfare of my boys rested on the quality of my parenting, that would be done for me. But praise God. Because this salvation is the gift of our covenant-keeping God. And here we see Him raising up a new generation in accordance with His promise, despite the faithlessness of their parents. And so, mums and dads, do not forget how God keeps his promises. And you can and you must entrust your children to his care. Circumcision was, and baptism is a good sign, a good sacrament, not to our hard work and our commitment to God's, but of God's brilliant, sovereign, saving grace which he has committed to us. Praise God that it is that way round. The same notes there again in verse 9. Do you see it? What happens in the wake of the circumcision on the plains of Jericho? The Lord said to Joshua, Today I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you. That first generation. They never could quite shake Egypt, could they? They couldn't get out Egypt out of their hearts, out of their bones, out of their bloods. Even while God was busy rescuing them from Egyptian slavery all the way through the wilderness, they were constantly wondering whether they ought not to go back and live as slaves once again rather than follow where the Lord was leading them. And so the reproach of Egypt, the shame of Egypt, God's displeasure at his people hung about them even after they had long escaped from the country. But now, God says that's all over. Today, your burden is lifted. Your reproach is gone. Your past is past forever. And wouldn't you like to hear God say that to you? Your burden, your reproach, your shame. It is gone. Your burden is lifted. Your sin is forgiven. In Jesus, I am pleased with you. You are clean. And your past is in the past forever. Wouldn't you like to hear God say that to you? And you can. It is possible, but not by anything that you do. After the circumcision was complete, what did God say? Today I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you. It is the gift of his grace. And their circumcision was merely a reminder, an a pointer, and a pledge that God is a God of grace and he is their God, and he is their deliverer and their savior. He rolls your reproach away by the blood of his son, who bears your reproach in your place, Christian brother and sister. And as you trust in him to whom your baptism points, to whom the Lord's supper points, he says over you, your burden is gone, your sin is forgiven, your reproach is removed. Today you are clean. Through faith in Jesus, I am pleased with you. Your baptism is important. And God commands it. And it's not just an optional extra in the Christian life. It's not a nice thing to do if you get around to it. It's not something you wait for the perfect moment for. If you are Christ's, get baptized. Receive the sign of the covenant. Be strengthened in your trust in the grace of God and all the promises He makes his people. And look, lastly, very quickly at those last few verses where they finally celebrate the Passover in the plains of Jericho. As part of the Passover meal, they eat unleavened bread. And where do they get the grain to make the bread? This is so important. This is the first time that they ate Canaanite grain. This is the fruit of the promised land, the fruit of the land flowing with milk and honey. And the next day, manna from heaven, this miraculous provision of God, ceases forever because they now have something perfect, something better. Manna was the bread of promises made. The bread of Canaan was the bread of promises kept. What was the meaning, the sign, the symbolism? What was the message preached in that first Passover in the promised land? And presumably the first Passover for most of them, having not been the bearers of God's covenant, sign up to this point. What does the sacrament teach? That God keeps his word, that God fulfills his promises, that God delivers. So when we share the Lord's Supper, when he says to you, God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, so that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life. That is a promise that you can take to the bank. It is a promise that cannot be undone. Whoever it is, even you, if you will trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, if you have faith in him and what he has done, you will cross the Jordan and eat the sweet bread of promises kept. And while you wait to cross one day into the promised land, our promised forever home with the Lord, please make the most of the sacraments. These gifts that God has given us. Enjoy them, be nourished by them, be strengthened by them for the spiritual battle of the journey to the promised land, and trust and follow the Jesus to whom they point. For he alone saves us. Let's pray. Father God, please teach us again this morning of how little we contribute to our salvation. But teach us again in the words of Joshua 5, and in those valuable, precious sacraments of baptism and the Lord's Supper, how much you have done that we might pass safely into eternal rest with you. Thank you that you. You are the one who carries us safely across the water. Thank you that you are the one who through the blood of Jesus rolls away the shame of sin and gives us clean new hearts, new lives. Thank you that it is you who makes us a people who belong to you. Would we bear that mark with joy, with gladness, with hope, waiting for the day that Jesus calls us home. Amen.