In our last post, we looked at how God’s timing for the Israelites’ crossing of the Jordan was different than they may have expected. He didn’t just want them to get to the other side – He had lessons for them to learn in the process.

In chapter 5, that lesson immediately is followed up with another one.

At that time the Lord said to Joshua, “Make flint knives for yourself, and circumcise the sons of Israel again the second time.” So Joshua made flint knives for himself, and circumcised the sons of Israel at the hill of the foreskins. And this is the reason why Joshua circumcised them: All the people who came out of Egypt who were males, all the men of war, had died in the wilderness on the way, after they had come out of Egypt. 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. For the children of Israel walked forty years in the wilderness, till all the people who were men of war, who came out of Egypt, were consumed, because they did not obey the voice of the Lord—to whom the Lord swore that He would not show them the land which the Lord had sworn to their fathers that He would give us, “a land flowing with milk and honey.” Then Joshua circumcised their sons whom He raised up in their place; for they were uncircumcised, because they had not been circumcised on the way. So it was, when they had finished circumcising all the people, that they stayed in their places in the camp till they were healed. Then the Lord said to Joshua, “This day I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you.” Therefore the name of the place is called Gilgal to this day.
(Joshua 5:2-9)

Picture the scene. The Israelites have just crossed over the Jordan, which means that not only is the Jordan no longer protecting their enemies from them, the Jordan is no longer protecting them from their enemies! Joshua 5:1 indicates that all the area kings knew that they had crossed.

So, now that they are in enemy territory, God decides that it is the appropriate time for them to fulfill the covenant of circumcision! I am positive that we women cannot fully understand the ramifications of this. But, think back to Genesis 34. We didn’t talk about this specific story, but it is the account of the vengeance of Simeon and Levi against the men of Shechem after their sister Dinah was raped. They tell the men of Shechem that they would love to intermarry with them and do business with them, if only they would be circumcised. The Shechemites agree, and while they are all incapacitated because of their pain, Simeon and Levi go and slaughter the entire town. [It's another lovely story that never made it into your childhood Sunday school curriculum, I'm sure.]

With this backdrop in mind, having the entire army circumcised in enemy territory obviously does not sound like that great of a plan from a human perspective. Why now?

1. They were forced to be completely dependent on God to protect them.
There was no “God helps those who help themselves” here. This was “God helps those who are unable to help themselves and believe in Him.” They had just watched God make water pile up in a heap and had walked across a dry riverbed in the middle of flood season. Now, put that faith in action.

2. The point of circumcision to begin with? A Sign of Faith in the Promises!

Romans 4:11 tells us: And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while still uncircumcised…

Abraham was not considered righteous because he was circumcised: Abraham was considered righteous because of his faith in God’s promises. He demonstrated that faith by circumcising himself and his household. At this point in Joshua, the people are getting ready to watch the walls of Jericho fall and claim the land. If they truly believe that God is giving them the land He promised to Abraham, this is a reasonable response: show your faith by obeying. It would be inappropriate to experience the fulfillment of this covenant without the most basic expression of faith!

For our application today, I would like to look at the connection the Bible makes between baptism in the New Testament and circumcision in the Old:

In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. (Colossians 2:11-12)

Just as Abraham’s faith was outwardly shown in the sign of circumcision, and the rest of Israel also showed their faith by obeying the command to be circumcised, the ordinance of baptism is the outward sign of faith under the New Covenant. Just as the Israelites would have been remiss to claim God’s promises without exhibiting their faith externally and receiving the sign of the covenant, we, as believers, have a responsibility to obey God’s command and be baptised, the outward sign of the New Covenant we have in Christ. How can we seek to claim the good things God has for us as we walk in Him if we refuse to honor Him by publicly professing His lordship over us?

I love that God says after the Israelites were circumcised, “This day I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you.” (Joshua 5:9) In the same way, baptism signifies the death and burial of our old nature, and that we have been raised in newness of life. Baptism is much more than a ritual, just as circumcision was more than a ritual. It is the outward sign of an inward change – the reproach of your old slavery to sin is rolled away, and you have been outwardly proclaimed to be a new creation!

I do want to say that there is debate within Christian circles about infant baptism, since circumcision was done to infant Israelites. If you want to read more about this, I recommend John Piper’s article on the subject. He also does an excellent job of explaining the difference between the Old Covenant with Israel and the New Covenant with the Church, and why the two cannot be interchanged. I highly recommend you read it!

And so, I will end with the well-stated words from Piper:

“I pray that you will be persuaded of these things, and that many who have been holding back will be baptized, not to comply with any church constitution, but by faith and obedience to glorify the great new covenant work of God in your life. Have you been washed by the blood of the Lamb? Are your sins forgiven? Have you died with Christ and risen by faith to walk in newness of life? Does the Spirit of Christ dwell in you? Is the law being written on your heart? Come, then, and signify this in baptism, and glorify God’s great new covenant work in your life.” – John Piper

For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives.
Since we have been united with him in his death, we will also be raised as he was. Our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin. For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin.
(Romans 6:4-7, NLT)