Joshua 5 Devotional
By Pastor Lawrence

The events in this chapter signify the end of Israel’s forty years of wandering in the wilderness and the beginning of her call to Holy War. We also find that the miraculous parting of the Jordan River was carried out not merely for Israel’s own encouragement but also for the discouragement of the local inhabitants of Canaan who would dare to stand in opposition to the God who rebukes the wind and the waves. For when the Canaanite kings had heard about the incredible event just east of the Canaanite stronghold in Jericho, their hearts melted in fear.

Upon entering the land of promise, the Lord then told Joshua to circumcise the current generation of Israelites since the previous generation had died in the desert without keeping this important ordinance. Consequently, a massive hill of foreskins lay just inside the border of their new inheritance to show that God’s people had been set apart from the Canaanites, separated from the sin and reproach of Egypt, consecrated to his priestly service and commissioned as his holy instruments to carry out His divine wrath on the long-awaited day of judgment.

Soon after their consecration, the Israelites also celebrated the Passover meal remembering how the angel of the Lord had passed over their own houses on the day of judgment in Egypt. Understanding that it was only through the shedding of blood that any firstborn male was saved, Israel needed to be reminded that it was only through the substitutionary death of the Lamb of God that Israel herself was not destroyed in judgment.

Then, on the same day that they celebrated the Passover meal, the miraculous manna ceased to fall from heaven, and the Israelites began to eat the fruit of the land. After forty years of giving them their daily bread in the mist of a great wasteland, God would no longer spoon-feed his people in a land flowing with milk and honey. But if they were to eat of the land, they would first have to carry out God’s judgment upon its inhabitants, thus they would still have to exhibit faith as they looked to the hand of God.

Finally, when Joshua was spending some time alone, he saw a vision of a man standing before him with a drawn sword in his hand. Heavenly in nature, this man was not an angel, for he allowed Joshua to worship him at the conclusion of their meeting, but he identifies himself as the commander of the Lord’s army when Joshua questions whether the man was on the side of Israel or on the side of her adversaries. This response served to rebuke Joshua’s assumption that Israel was somehow the good guy and that Canaan played the role of the bad guy. The truth of the matter is that this celestial being was not beholden to either side but to accomplishing the Lord’s will in destroying God’s enemies and to set up his kingdom. At that particular moment, one might say that this man was coming to the aid of Israel, but on some future occasion, he might have to take action against the Israelites for failing to keep covenant with the Lord and to expel them from the land.

By telling Joshua to take off his shoes when standing on holy ground, he was reminding Joshua that the Promised Land would serve as God’s abode on earth, as the very precincts of His holy courts; therefore, Joshua should take great care in carrying out his unique calling of conquest. So many times, we take for granted that the Lord is on our side in terms of His providence, whether as nation-states or as individuals, but God’s desire is not to build up our particular country or our own personal wealth and influence but to advance his own kingdom in every generation. If we can accept that, then the Lord can use us mightily in his kingdom, but if we can’t, we are merely fighting futilely and even standing in opposition to the Lord of all the earth.