Originally posted: 08/22/2019
God had led His people on dry land through the Jordan; and a great victory occurred before the first sword was drawn.
Now it came about when 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 how the Lord had dried up the waters of the Jordan before the sons of Israel until they had crossed, that their hearts melted, and there was no spirit in them any longer because of the sons of Israel, (5:1).
And now, with the surrounding kings incapacitated by fear, it seems a perfect time to go in and easily conquer the land.
But with a strategy for His warriors resembling no other, rather than giving the charge to pick up their swords, the men of war are instructed to turn the knife on themselves.
At that time the Lord said to Joshua, “Make for yourself flint knives and circumcise again the sons of Israel the second time,” (5:2).
Consider His Military Might
- His Military Might is realized in Consecrating themselves through Circumcision, the distinguishing mark of God’s people
- So Joshua made himself flint knives and circumcised the sons of Israel at Gibeath-haaraloth. 4 This is the reason why Joshua circumcised them: all the people who came out of Egypt who were males, all the men of war, died in the wilderness along the way after they came out of Egypt… 7 Their children whom He raised up in their place, Joshua circumcised; for they were uncircumcised, because they had not circumcised them along the way, (5:3-4,7).
- His Military Might is realized in Apprehending His Appraisal
- Now when they had finished circumcising all the nation, they remained in their places in the camp until they were healed. 9 Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Today I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you.” So the name of that place is called Gilgal to this day, (5:8).
- His Military Might is realized in Remembering His Redemption
- While the sons of Israel camped at Gilgal they observed the Passover on the evening of the fourteenth day of the month on the desert plains of Jericho, (5:10).
- His Military Might is realized in Submitting to His Supremacy
- “Are you for us or for our adversaries?” 14 He said, “No; rather I indeed come now as captain of the host of the Lord.” And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and bowed down, and said to him, “What has my lord to say to his servant?” (5:13-14).
- His Military Might is realized in Worshiping Him Who His Worthy
- The captain of the Lord’s host said to Joshua, “Remove your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so, (5:15).
How do we respond to His Military Might?
His Military Might often seems to go against the natural way of thinking. And truth be told, the majority of our warfare begins in our thinking, in our decisions and choices, and must be fought by faith, with His weapons, in His Military Might.
“‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the Lord of hosts,” (Zechariah 4:6).
For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh,4 for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. 5 We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, (2 Corinthians 10:3-5).
It is His Military Might… not our own!
Our thinking must be realigned to this truth. As we daily seek Him in His Holy Word, His Holy Spirit enables and empowers us to take hold of His divinely powerful promises.
- Let us Consecrate ourselves through Circumcision, that we would be distinguished as His own.
- Moreover the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, so that you may live, (Deuteronomy 30:6).
- …and circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter; and his praise is not from men, but from God, (Romans 2:29).
- “By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another,” (John 13:35).
- Let us Apprehend His Appraisal.
- And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, 22 yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach— (Colossians 1:21-22).
- Let us Remember His Redemption.
- And when He had taken some bread and given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” 20 And in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood,” (Luke 22:19-20).
- Let us Submit to His Supremacy.
- He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him. 17 He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. 18 He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything. 19 For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, 20 and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, (Colossians 1:15-20).
- Let us Worship Him Who His Worthy.
- Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship, (Romans 12:1).
- …so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father, (Philippians 2:10-11).
It is as we grow in our faith to trust, not in our own abilities but in His alone, that we too come to realize and experience His Military Might miraculously at work in our lives.