The Joshua Generation - Emerging from the Jordan
Joshua 5:1 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.
The moment the priests of Israel who were in the river Jordan emerged from it, the waters of the Jordan which were momentarily stemmed for the people’s crossing resumed its flow and an entire generation led by a new leader had emerged from its past, as symbolised by the wilderness.
The Scriptural texts make reference to the generation that Moses led as the generation that had sinned against God in the wilderness, and God had deliberately led them in circles as they would not be the ones to inherit the promised land because of their unbelief, but their descendants would (Numbers 32:11-13) .
Hebrews 3:16-19 For who were those who heard and yet rebelled? Was it not all those who left Egypt led by Moses? And with whom was he provoked for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? And to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest, but to those who were disobedient? So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief.
It was this entire generation led by Joshua, the Joshua Generation, that would inherit the promises of God. After this entire generation emerged from the river Jordan, we are told in Joshua 5:1 that the kings in that land were trembling in fear because they had heard of the miracle that had taken place with the Jordan river.
Congruence - Coming into agreement with His promises
As much as it was with the Israelites, so will it be with us who belong to this generation that has emerged from our Jordan. We are the Joshua generation - the ones who will inherit the promised land. The enemy and all who seek to prevent us from stepping into our destiny symbolise obstacles and hindrances and although we are aware of the presence of hindrances and obstacles, their presence is temporary because the very fact that He has brought us all across the Jordan safely is testament to the fact that He will also accomplish His word and without a shadow of doubt, we will inherit His promises. It is imperative that we are congruent (come into agreement) with His promises.
The greatest hindrance/obstacle to a church being congruent with God’s promises is usually internal rather than external. When it is an external enemy, a church is usually able to unite itself fairly well to collectively come against the problem. However, this is not so when the enemy comes from within; where offences and selfish agendas divide. Remember the Israelites who were left out of the promised land because they murmured against God and Moses? They ganged up in a pity party and lamented about the fish, cucumbers, leeks, onions and garlic that they had back in Egypt (Numbers 11:5). In other words, instead of moving forward and looking towards the bright future in the promised land, they kept thinking about good in the past life characterised by the land of bondage. After a while of constant complaining and murmuring, it was clear that this group of Israelites was not prepared to move on and God cut them off from entering the promised land altogether.
As much as it was with the Israelites, so it is with us - we have to collectively look forward to inheriting our promised land having crossed the Jordan. We cannot afford to cling onto the “back in those days in Egypt” mentality but have to embrace a “give-me-my-inheritance” Caleb-mentality (Joshua 14:12). The pattern shown in Scripture is clear - there will be those who will embrace the future and others who will be cut off along with the past.
Circumcision - Liberation to fulfil our destiny
Joshua 5:2 At that time the LORD said to Joshua, “Make flint knives and circumcise the sons of Israel a second time.”
3So Joshua made flint knives and circumcised the sons of Israel at Gibeath-haaraloth.
4And 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.
5Though 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.
6For 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.
7So it was their children, whom he raised up in their place, that Joshua circumcised. For they were uncircumcised, because they had not been circumcised on the way.
8When the circumcising of the whole nation was finished, they remained in their places in the camp until they were healed.
9And the LORD said to Joshua, “Today I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you.” And so the name of that place is called Gilgal to this day.
Circumcision is the act of cutting away the foreskin of the penis. Its spiritual significance is in the cutting away of the flesh and be set apart for God. Through circumcision, the Israelites expressed the removal of the fleshly nature and their being set apart and given wholly to God. The first generation that did not make it into the promised land were circumcised physically but failed to follow through the setting of themselves apart spiritually and kept looking back to the past in Egypt.
Having crossed our Jordan, God wants us to now take action in circumcising ourselves, not physically but spiritually. It was only after the circumcision of the entire nation of Israel that God said to Israel, “I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you.”
The word “reproach” also comes to mean disgrace and shame in the original language. Prior to the circumcision, the nation of Israel carried the shame of their past as slaves to bondage, but after the circumcision, they were now liberated to move forward. Likewise, God wants to us to cut off (be separated from) our fleshly nature and from the bondage of our past / slavery mentality, and be liberated to move forward to fulfil our destiny.
Conquest - Claiming our inheritance in His name
The first task set for the Israelites to do was to conquer Jericho, but notice the preceding activities that they had to carry out - they had to be congruent with God’s promises. Then, they had to consecrate themselves through circumcision. It was only after congruence and consecration that they could set out on conquest.
The most beautiful thing about this first conquest was that it set the precedence for successive conquests that would follow. All they had to do was to march around Jericho which was a heavily fortified city with thick walls; God would do the rest. In other words, the battle is always the Lord’s not theirs. They may have to be the ones to take up arms and fight, but the battle was ultimately still the Lord’s to fight and victory would be secured through Him.
In the same manner, God will grant us victory as we enter into every battle that stands in the way between us and our inheritance. There will be those battles like Jericho where all we have to do is to obey and do the seemingly most illogical act of going round the walls and there will be those that we will have to enter into the thick of the fray and engage. All we have to do is put our ears towards heaven and our hands on deck, readying our sails to sail our ship towards the shores of destiny.
Jason
