Skip to main content

Jordan

             …and as those who bore the ark came to the Jordan, and, and the feet of the priests who bore the ark dipped in the edge of the water (for the Jordan overflows all its banks during the whole time of the harvest), that the waters which came down from upstream stood still, and rose in a  heap very far away at Adam, the city that is beside Zaretan.  So the waters that went down to the Sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, failed, and were cut off, and the people crossed over opposite Jericho. (Joshua 3:15-16)

            At that time, the Lord said to Joshua, “Make flint knives for yourself, and circumcise the sons of Israel again the second time…For all the people who came out had been circumcised, but all the people born in the wilderness, on the way as they came out of Egypt, had not been circumcised… So it was, when they had finished circumcising all the people, that they stayed in their place in the camp till they were healed.”    (Joshua 5:2, 5, 8)

             But it came to pass on the seventh day that when they rose early, about the dawning of the day, and marched around the city seven times in the same manner. On that day only they marched around the city seven times. And the seventh time it happened, when the priests blew the trumpets, that Joshua said to the people, “Shout, for the Lord has given you the city!” (Joshua 6:16)

 

            …and the walls came a-tumbling down.

 

            I’m sure I’ve written about at least part of this before. First, the Israelites who first set foot back in the promised land were uncircumcised. God had Joshua circumcise them after they crossed the Jordan, on the tenth day of the first month.[1] Joshua didn’t perform this task personally. If he had, it would have taken months.

            Looking back to Genesis 34:25, two of Jacob’s sons killed all the men of a city ruled by Hamor while they were in pain from having been circumcised three days earlier. While the men were recovering for three days, their families were also preparing to celebrate the Passover, including the observation and slaughtering of the lambs. This took place on the fourteenth day of the month. On the fifteenth day, there was no manna.

            The text doesn’t make it clear (at least on a quick reading) whether Joshua met the commander of the army of the Lord on Passover on Passover or sometime after that. After the meeting, he returned to the camp and issued instructions about marching around Jericho. It makes sense that the marching would have commenced no earlier than the day after Passover, which means five days after they were circumcised. For six days, they dressed for battle, lined up, circled the city, and returned to camp in silence.

            They got into formation and walked, as they’d been lining up and walking all their lives because all the warriors except Joshua and Caleb were under forty. They formed up and walked, and when the battle took place, it was around ten days after they’d been circumcised. And they had six days of easy training.

            What does all that mean? There are lots of things it could mean. Perfection (circumcision) is not required to enter the promised land, but it is necessary to take and to possess it. God brings painful and difficult times into our lives at the “wrong” moment because that’s when we tend to trust Him. Delays may be a time of preparation, or a time of healing, or even a time in which your enemies discover that God is with you.

                Considering this passage wasn’t so much about the applications of it. It was just the facts and timing of the situation. We tend to deal with these incidents as separate things, but they’re not. Just like situations in our lives might not be as separate as we think they are.



[1] Joshua 4:19

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Think About These Things

                 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. (Philippians 4:8) This passage is a major challenge for me. Like everyone else, I struggle to keep my thoughts from wandering off into the weeds, then wondering what possible benefits those weeds might have… Sigh. But as a writer, I have to delve at least a little into the ignoble, wrong, impure, unlovely, and debased. After all, there’s no story if everything’s just as it should be and everyone’s happy. As Christians, there are times when we need to deal with all the negatives, but that makes it even more important that we practice turning our minds by force of attention to what is noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy. It’s just too easy to get stuck in a swamp. With my...

Higher Thoughts

  “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the  Lord . “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:8-9)           The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments,   for, “Who has known the mind of the Lord      so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ. (I Corinthians 2:15-16) If you read about the ancient gods of the various peoples, you’ll find that they think just like people. In fact, they think just like the sort of people we really wouldn’t want to be around. They think like the most corrupt Hollywood producer or, like hormone overloaded teens with no upbringing.   It’s embarrassing to read. I have a friend who argues that because God is not just like us, He is so vastly dif...

Pure...

            The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. (I Timothy 1:5)   I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. (Revelation 3:15-16) I’m probably cheating - or mishandling the Bible, but earlier I was thinking about love being pure and purifying. And hatred being pure and purifying. And anger…joy…patience… fear… jealousy… courage…lust… and other strongly felt feelings, attitudes, and beliefs. Today’s verse brings purity and love together, so it’s the verse of the day, but it’s not really the focus. That means my motive for sharing it with you probably isn’t pure. As you read through my list, you   probably thought, “Yeah” about some, and “What’s she on?” about others. But consider how much hatred, a...