Joshua 5:1-15

One of my favorite hymns is “I Am Thine,” written by Franny Crosby. Its lyrics rang in my ears as I worked on this message: “Consecrate me now to Thy service, Lord, by the power of grace divine. Let my soul look up with a steadfast hope,
and my will be lost in Thine. Draw me nearer, nearer blessed Lord, to the cross where Thou hast died. Draw me nearer, nearer, nearer blessed Lord, to Thy precious, bleeding side.” What can be said as we stand at the very precipice of another year that has not already been said before? We know God’s promises are yes and amen. We know that God always keeps His promises, and we know that this New Year ahead is like the dawn of a new day bringing fresh opportunites to fulfill the plans and purposes of God for our lives.

We also know, however, just how difficult it is to face another year when we are frustrated by delayed and seemingly denied promises. I struggle to help someone make sense out of the potential we have in another year even as I wince from the reality of unfulfilled promises and unrealized potential in my own life. I understand what it is like to wonder what God will do through me and in me, and just how He will do it. It is the most natural thing in the world to question everything, which is why we it is necessary to be people of faith, because while we may have questions we still trust that God knows what we need better than we and that He is working behind the scenes for my good.

Our text emphatically makes this point. When the Israelites were gathered at Gilgal after crossing over the Jordan God was saying “to be victorious against the enemies of the land, you must be a holy people and trust Me to fight your battles; you must trust in My covenant promises and be committed to me as My people, ever keeping in mind your purpose as a nations of priests, My own possession among all the peoples of the earth.” It was not possible for them to simply walk into their promise. They had literally crossed over the Jordan River from one reality to another. What they had experienced in the past could not compare with what they were preparing to experience. If they were going to be victorious they would need a period of preparation, a time of consecration, if you will. We are preparing tonight to cross over the river of time from one reality to another. The experiences of the past cannot compare to that which God has prepared fro us in the future. As we take a closer look at these fifteen verses we can see five (5) specific instructions God gives to His people, each of which is fundamental to their victory. I believe they are just as instructive for us if we desire to be victorious in this New Year.

1. In Christ, all the enemies we will face are already defeated foes (v. 1). The very first verse tells us of the demoralization of the enemy the Israelites were preparing to face.

2. There are some things that need to be surgically removed (vs. 2-9). God called for the Israelites to be circumcised again and explained why it was necessary.

3. Remembering the past is excellent preparation of faith for the tests of the future (v. 10). Israel was to celebrate the Passover, and by so doing relived their deliverance by blood from the hands of the Egyptians. There is a correlation between the Passover and the Lord’s Supper.

4. Enjoy the abundance of what is provided in the new because the manna has ceased (vs. 11-12). The Israelites were told to eat to eat the produce of the land, a land flowing with milk and honey. Doing so “spoke of their new beginning, of their new life as the people of God delivered from judgment and rock solid in the place of blessing.”

5. When in the will God rest in the assurance that the battle belongs to the Lord (vs. 13-15). Joshua encounters the Captain of the Lord’s host, a Christophany, and encounter with the pre-incarnate Christ at Jericho. What the man with the drawn sword for or against Israel? Neither, he was there to take over. Don’t worry about what God is doing Joshua, do what I have called you to do.

If one were to analyze this account along purely militaristic principles there is nothing about it that seems right. The Israelites are in an enviable position. They have crossed over the Jordan River on dry ground. The news of their miraculous crossing added to the stories circulating of the destruction of the Egyptian army forty years before as well as their exploits in the desert have preceded them. Their enemies cower in fear and lose their will to fight. There is no better time to fight than now. From a human perspective there would never be a better time and yet God calls them to a time of consecration. I believe God is calling us to a special time of consecration. The pieces seem to be coming together for us just as they did for Joshua and the Israelites, but God wants to do something truly miraculous, something for which we will not be able to take the credit.

Now is the time for consecration to occur. The days of waiting on the Lord are over. There is no more manna. We have reached our country. We have crossed over into our land, but it does not yet belong to us. We have to take it. We have to possess it. But such possession will not happen with sinful arrogance. God has already made possession for us, so when Joshua asked the Captain of the Lord’s host what message he had for him, the man told him to take off his sandals for the ground on which he was standing was holy ground. “Removing the sandals was a sign of a servant and a sign of respect and submission. The declaration of this place of encounter and revelation as “holy ground” calls attention to the special import of what Joshua had just learned and experienced. God is not only the Holy One in our redemption through the provision of the Suffering Savior, but He is the Holy One in our warfare through the Victorious Savior. We can only enter into the battle so that we experience God’s deliverance when we remove our sandals and submit to His authority and His presence and power.”

“Joshua standing and perhaps walking about the city of Jericho studying what lay before him, weighed down with the burden of his responsibility is so very much like us today! We see the things we believe God has called us to do, but we are so prone to activity and running ahead more than we are to worship and praying for divine guidance. Our need is a lifestyle that sends us out into battle mindful of the Lord and who He is to our every move and mindful of those principles of His Word that must guide our every thought and step and fortify hearts with the comfort of God. May we, then, as we look over the battles or tasks that lie before us, look up and see the Commander of the Lord of Hosts and remove our sandals.”

© 2013 – Dr. James H. Logan, Jr.