God's People at Gilgal

INTRODUCTION

Many are starting Bible reading plans today. Or at least I hope you are!

If you are not, I hope that is because your Bible reading plan is carrying over from last year.

We sent an email out to the entire church with links to multiple different plans. If you did not get that email, send us an email at [e-mail], and we will make sure to send it to you.

But it is important that we read the Bible every day because we end up engaging with passages that our pastor does not normally teach from, or our Sunday school teacher does not normally teach from, or our devotional book does not cover.

And these passages help us understand who God is, and help us understand our lives And churches

For example, this past fall, I was reading Joshua five, and it jumped off the page to me, that is served as a great metaphor for our church.

So as I start to trek through the Bible again, it is around the fall months that I find myself in Joshua 5.

God’s people were in Egypt—enslaved by Pharaoh

He delivers them and they escape and now they are to return to the land promised to Abram

And in that land, they will be blessed if they keep covenant with God

But when they arrive at the land, everyone but Joshua and Caleb are afraid to go in. They doubt God.

Therefore, God will not allow Moses’ generation to enter the Promised Land.

Joshua’s generation will go in, but Moses’ will not.

Instead, they will wander in the wilderness for forty years and they will learn to depend on God

But as you arrive at Joshua 5, you see Joshua’s generation cross into the Promised Land. In chapter 4, they pass through the Jordan on dry ground, much the same way as they left Egypt.

But what will Joshua do to ensure that the people don’t make the same mistakes as their parents?

What will he do to shepherd the people to continue to depend on God?

It is this exciting time in the history of Israel that they waited on for an entire generation.

In Joshua 5, that time arrives.

What will Israel do to ensure they don’t repeat the mistakes of the past?

So as I read through Joshua 5 a few months ago, I thought—this is the perfect metaphor for Seaford.

After years of wandering in building debt, God has put us in a position to be free.

In many ways, we have been trekking through the wilderness and moving toward the debt-free land of Canaan.

Well, as we enter 2023, we are pretty much here.

We are going to be out of debt in a matter of months, if not weeks.

It is mostly paperwork at this point.

What will we do to ensure we do not repeat the mistakes of the past?

What will we do to ensure that the future generations of Seaford Baptist are in a position to be faithful to Kingdom work until Jesus comes back?

That is what I want to talk to you about this morning.

I am not trying to make it about us. The text is about Israel and their spiritual state as they embark on their mission.

But it isn’t hard to see the connection between Israel and us.

Let’s study the text and apply the principles we see to our own situation, with the hope of starting 2023 with our hearts and minds in the right direction

READ Joshua 5

Joshua 5 ESV

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. At that time the Lord said to Joshua, “Make flint knives and circumcise the sons of Israel a second time.” So Joshua made flint knives and circumcised the sons of Israel at Gibeath-haaraloth. And 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. Though 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. For 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. So 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. When the circumcising of the whole nation was finished, they remained in their places in the camp until they were healed. And 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. While the people of Israel were encamped at Gilgal, they kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the month in the evening on the plains of Jericho. And the day after the Passover, on that very day, they ate of the produce of the land, unleavened cakes and parched grain. And the manna ceased the day after they ate of the produce of the land. And there was no longer manna for the people of Israel, but they ate of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year. When Joshua was by Jericho, he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, a man was standing before him with his drawn sword in his hand. And Joshua went to him and said to him, “Are you for us, or for our adversaries?” And he said, “No; but I am the commander of the army of the Lord. Now I have come.” And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped and said to him, “What does my lord say to his servant?” And the commander of the Lord’s army said to Joshua, “Take off your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so.

ON THE LORD’S MISSION (v. 1)

We start with verse 1, which is a whole paragraph.

When the kings of the Amorites and the Canaanites hear about Israel coming into the Promised Land , they are dispirited and disheartened.

This is the author’s way of telling us that inhabitants of the Promised Land are filled with fear.

Israel has a mission to complete and their enemies are in terror

We get the mission briefing in Joshua 1:1-5

Joshua 1:1–5 ESV

After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ assistant, “Moses my servant is dead. Now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, into the land that I am giving to them, to the people of Israel. Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given to you, just as I promised to Moses. From the wilderness and this Lebanon as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites to the Great Sea toward the going down of the sun shall be your territory. No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you.

So the people are to drive the idolatrous nations out of the land

And they will not do this in their own strength, but in the Lord’s

It is the Lord who gives the land and ensures that Israel’s enemies will fall

The previous generation of Israel did not trust in God’s strength, even though it was promised to them.

This generation must avoid that—which is why the Lord told Joshua:

Joshua 1:6–7 ESV

Be strong and courageous, for you shall cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give them. Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go.

Like God’s people at Gilgal, Seaford Baptist is on mission with God.

We are not on a mission to clear out the Promised Land by blood.

We are on a mission to get people to the Promised Land by blood.

We are on a mission to make disciples and see God’s name honored in every people group.

Matthew 28:18–20 ESV

And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

The victory in this mission doesn’t belong to us. We are faithful to do the work of telling, but God is faithful to do the work of saving—therefore, salvation and victory belong to the Lord.

But as His servants, we should be doing everything we can to fulfill the Great Commission.

And everything we do as a church is ultimately about fulfilling the task that Jesus gave us.

We say we are the Workmanship of Christ.

Ephesians 2:10 ESV

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Well at the end of the day, the good works boil down to glorifying God through the fulfillment of the Great Commission.

This is our purpose.

In light of that, one of the things we have longed to do at Seaford is to be able to commit more money to the mission field.

In a new era of debt-free ministry we can be more generous.

We have career missionaries that we support with your tithes and offerings, and we will continue to support them as God leads.

But we also have the opportunity to cooperate with other Southern Baptists in our denomination through the Cooperative Program.

We can do for more the Kingdom by cooperating with other churches than we could ever do on our own.

Last year, Southern Baptists planted 22,744 new churches around the world with CP money

107,701 new believers were baptized

Over 590,000 people heard the Gospel preached

93 new people groups heard the Gospel that did not before

This is why we should leverage our debt-free status to invest more in Cooperative Program work

Currently, 1.59% of our budget goes to the Cooperative Program

This is a percentage we should seek to greatly increase in the new budget year, and then seek to increase by one percentage point every year after

We also have a Mission Leadership Team at the church and we are working on communicating with you all better and making sure every church member knows when and where and how we are investing mission money.

We know that will help you as you pray and give. It will help our missionaries and church planters because they will have a more unified support from our church body.

Beyond that, we are also a church that is on mission in our own context.

We are evangelists for the Lord every time we leave our homes.

Everyday in all of the interactions that God has specifically brought into your life.

We are evangelists through our community outreach here at the church.

Outreach that we only get to be more generous and gracious with as we have more funds

DEDICATED TO WORSHIP (v. 2-11)

But there was another element of importance besides the fearfulness of the enemies and Israel’s trust in God—it is Israel’s obedience.

Careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you

Do not turn from it

That you may have success wherever you go

And for that reason, Israel cannot go on the offensive just yet.

Before they go on their mission, they must consecrate themselves and renew their commitment to obeying God’s law.

So for the rest of the chapter, we see them stopping to solidify their commitment to three crucial areas of obedience:

Circumcision

Observing the Passover

And surrounding to God’s leadership

Let’s deal with the first two together because we are talking about them dedicating themselves to identifying with the Lord’s name and remembering the Lord’s great acts

In other words, we are talking about their worship

Joshua addresses circumcision first.

In Genesis 17, Abraham is commanded to circumcise his sons and to have the practice handed down throughout the generations of Israel

Genesis 17:9–14 ESV

And God said to Abraham, “As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations. This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised. You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you. He who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised. Every male throughout your generations, whether born in your house or bought with your money from any foreigner who is not of your offspring, both he who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money, shall surely be circumcised. So shall my covenant be in your flesh an everlasting covenant. Any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin shall be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.”

Why would God command this?

Well He said—it is a sign of the covenant.

Physical circumcision could not justify a person before God, but it was supposed to be a sign that a man and his household were justified, covenant-keeping worshippers

Physical circumcision was supposed to be an outward sign that the heart of the man belonged to God

Jeremiah 4:4 ESV

Circumcise yourselves to the Lord; remove the foreskin of your hearts, O men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem; lest my wrath go forth like fire, and burn with none to quench it, because of the evil of your deeds.”

This is why we can call baptism the circumcision of the New Testament.

It is the outward sign that we are New Covenant worshippers with hearts that have been sealed for salvation by God’s Spirit

Colossians 2:11–12 ESV

In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead.

But what the author tells us in verses 4-7 is that the generation who came out of Egypt failed to circumcise their sons.

None of the kids born in the wilderness were circumcised

So Joshua takes it upon himself to right the wrong with flint knives at Gibeath-haaraloth

And let me be clear—when I say none of the kids born in the wilderness were circumcised, I am talking about men who are now adults in Joshua 5.

They aren’t kids anymore. They are young men who grew up with no physical identification with God’s covenant.

And now they will be circumcised at an age where you are much more aware and understanding of pain, than you would have been at eight days old.

Practically, this sidelines the men from being able to fight for a bit (v. 8)

But that is fine in Joshua’s eyes. He has no interest in trying to go about clearing out the Promised Land apart from obeying God’s laws.

This commitment to keeping covenant with God leads the Lord to say, “Today I have tolled away the reproach of Egypt from you.”

Its been a whole generation since they left Egypt

This repentance and obedience in the area of circumcision finally puts that chapter of Israel’s history to rest.

The stink of slavery and the folly of the faithless generation that came out of it are all being cut away with with foreskins of the men of Israel.

The Hebrew word for “roll” is galal which sounds like Gilgal.

Gilgal was probably already named at this point, but here Joshua’s generation are packing new meaning into it

And it becomes an important place for Israel during the conquest of the Promised Land.

It is almost like a home base for them.

Then we see that the people celebrate their first Passover in Canaan.

Exodus 12:14 ESV

“This day shall be for you a memorial day, and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord; throughout your generations, as a statute forever, you shall keep it as a feast.

Just like circumcision was this sign that was important to the whole nation because it connected them to their beginning in their father Abraham and it was a physical symbol that they belonged to God, Passover was also important to the whole nation.

It was a feast meant to draw the nation’s attention back to God’s redeeming and saving acts.

Defeating Pharaoh and his army

Bringing them out of slavery in Egypt

Leading them by the cloud and flame

The observance of the Passover before a sword is swung in conquest shows us again how intent Joshua is on honoring God at this crucial moment in Israel’s history.

The meal was put in place by God so that the people would not forget.

As they are about to go about the work of driving out the inhabitants of the land and their false gods and idols, they have to go remembering that the same God who delivered them from the hand of Pharaoh will deliver them from the Amalekites and Hittites and Jebusites and anyone else that comes up against them.

In both circumcision and Passover, Joshua is determined that Israel will be worshippers.

Before they go on mission, they must worship.

Like God’s people at Gilgal, Seaford Baptist is dedicated to the Lord’s worship.

Similarly, we cannot approach this new year and new time at SBC and think that we will do any good if our hearts are far from the Lord.

The work of God’s people will go as far as their worship.

Because that is what makes Christian service special—it isn’t just good, but it is good attached to the ultimate good—to worship God and enjoy Him forever.

We have been in a process to really try and be intentional in not just valuing worship, but having depth in worship.

And we will continue that.

And this is not just about what we do in the building. It is much bigger than that.

That is why heading into 2023, we created The Daily Worship Book.

We want our people to have depth in their worship each and every day

To have intimacy with God

I know it seems redundant for a pastor of a church to say that we have to make God our priority, but at the end of the day, that is what a worshipper does.

They do not lose sight of the fact that God is their priority in everything that they do.

So whether we are gathered or we are back at the daily grind during the week, we must be a worshipping people

After all, you didn’t get us out of debt.

I didn’t get us out of debt.

God is getting us out of debt. He is the Provider.

So give Him the thanksgiving He is due

TASTING THE LORD’S REWARD (v. 12)

Coming back to the text, all the reward of the Promised Land is not just in the future here in Joshua 5. They are already tasting the fruit of it.

You see this in verse 12.

When Israel wandered in the wilderness, God provided manna for them to eat. This was what kept them going. They had to rely on God for their daily bread.

Exodus 16:4–5 ESV

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I am about to rain bread from heaven for you, and the people shall go out and gather a day’s portion every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in my law or not. On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather daily.”

But now, as the people enter the Promised Land in Joshua’s generation, they no longer need the manna because they can finally begin to eat of the fruit of the land that God promised to them.

Like God’s people at Gilgal, Seaford Baptist is tasting the Lord’s reward.

I think verse 12 is really important and it would be easy to breeze past it to get to the Commander and the Christophany and all that.

But the fact that the people are finally eating the fruit of the land again is huge.

When Jacob and his family leave Canaan and go to Egypt at the end of Genesis, it is because they do not have enough food.

When they are in the wilderness after leaving Egypt, they must depend on manna because they do not have food

But now, finally, after all of those years, God’s people are finally back home, with fruit in their hands

There is SO MUCH work for them to do in the Promised Land, but God is letting them taste the fruit now

Getting out of debt is a massive blessing, but now that we are out, we have so much work that we have to do.

But before we even get to that work, there is fruit that we will get to eat right away.

For example, we are going to take almost a quarter of a million dollars off of our books.

That is a big piece of fruit!

And that will free us up to do some things we have so badly needed to do.

Immediate Fruit:

We can care for our campus in a more strategic manner.

When you are in debt, it can be hard to plan because so much effort goes into just sustaining things.

But getting out of debt, we can do less sustaining and more careful improving.

We have folks serving on a Long-Range Planning Team who have come up with a plan to keep our facility up and running for years of faithful ministry

They have prioritized where we need to renovate, where we need to demolish, where we need to replace

And we do all of that so that this building can be our Gilgal—our home base

And so it can be a central place of light and joy to our community

I know that many of you have given to Debt Retirement faithfully, above and beyond your tithe

Some have asked—can I now give to help us care for this building and keep it equipped for Kingdom work?

Yes—you can give to the Campus Improvement Fund and that money will be earmarked to the care of the facility

Missions and Campus Improvement are the best places to designate gifts above your tithe

There are church plants all over the country scrambling for a meeting place

We cannot take this building for granted

It can’t be the most important thing, but it is AN important thing that makes it so much easier for us to do the MOST important thing, which is proclaiming Jesus’ Gospel

We can build and care for our staff.

Connecting staff and campus, one thing we will consider this year is the hiring of a full-time Maintenance person

For years, our volunteers have kept this place up and running—sometimes with bubble gum and duct tape

And while they love that work, those are hours that can’t be spent evangelizing, discipling someone or at home with their families

A full-time Maintenance position will free up those volunteers to serve the church in other ways, including moving from maintenance and upkeep to forward thinking plans for the building that keep it viable for ministry in the future

Beyond the potential of that new position, we currently have positions filled by highly valuable people and we would like to keep them around.

Without debt, our Personal Committee can research industry standards for pay and make sure we are compensating those people we value at the proper level

So when it comes to these areas of campus and staff, there are things we have wanted to do for some time that we can now pursue.

That is a good feeling. That is a little bit of that fruit of the land, right off the bat.

That being said, we must be patient and recognize that there is indeed work to do and that work will continue until Jesus comes back.

So even though we taste some fruit, we can’t go crazy and try to eat the whole vineyard

We have to make spiritual and financial decisions in the next few years that set this church up for years and years of faithfulness at 1311 Seaford Rd.

SURRENDERED TO THE LORD’S AUTHORITY (v. 13-15)

And then in verses 13-15, just before Israel’s first big battle, Joshua looks up and he sees a man with a sword in his hand.

Joshua asks him if he is a friend or a foe.

The man does not answer the question. Instead He says, “No; but I am the command of the army of the Lord. Now I have come.”

Who is this man doing the talking? Who is the Commander of the Lord’s army?

Joshua’s response gives us an idea of who this is.

Joshua falls down on his face and worships. He goes prostrate and ascribes the sort of reverence to this Commander that would only be given to God.

And that has led many to believe that this is actually Christ Himself making an appearance in the Old Testament.

We call that a Christophany—a pre-incarnate appearance of Christ.

I think sometimes people can be too quick to want to point out Christophanies and claim that certain figures are Old Testament appearances of Christ when we aren’t really sure, but I have to say—I think this is Jesus.

Who else is the Commander of the Lord’s army but the One who will one day return on a white horse to make war against His enemies and restore His Kingdom once and for all?

Joshua is falling down before the pre-incarnate Son of God. The Commander of the angels and the church.

And that is why the Commander tells him that he needs to take his sandals off because he is on holy ground.

The Holy, Holy, Holy God of the Universe is standing before him wielding a sword.

And Joshua takes his sandals off because he recognizes that he is not the one in charge

Side Note: This is why I have made peace with my beloved Washington professional football team opting to not re-name the team any of the names the fans actually wanted them to be named

Even though Commanders sounds like a USFL team, at least it reminds me of Jesus

But seriously—what we are seeing here is that Joshua, as he so often was in his life, is surrendered to the authority of God—the true leader of God’s army.

And the people behind him are going to follow that.

Like God’s people at Gilgal, Seaford Baptist is surrendered to the Lord’s authority.

The commander of the people of God in Joshua 5 is the same Commander of the people of God in 2023.

His name is Jesus.

Colossians 1:18 ESV

And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.

Christ is the Head of the Church.

The head determines where the body goes.

Christ is our authority.

So as we are trying to determine what to do, and how to do it, and when to do it, as a debt-free church, we must return again and again to this idea that we are not our own.

We do not operate in our own authority.

We are members of the body—He is the Head. What He says goes.

So whether we are dealing with missions or church membership or discipleship or anything, the question is “What saith the Lord?”

If God has spoken clearly on a subject, it is not hard. We do what He says.

If He has not been clear on a subject, we use the wisdom from His Word to try and make a decision that will honor Him.

There are a host of issues that we need to look at in the coming years. Some of them I have mentioned:

Developing a more robust ministry of mission work

Being good stewards of the building we have paid for

Caring for the staff that we have

And there are other issues I haven’t mentioned, but they very much represent business that must be dealt with:

Correcting our church roll to reflect our active membership

A more well-defined discipleship process

Finding new ways to evangelize in this post-Christian culture

All that needs to be dealt with

But the issues on the table can only be properly handled in the Lord’s wisdom

If we were a business, we would turn to consultants and experts and market trends as our authority

If we were selling something, the customer’s demands and desires might be our authority

If we were just a non-profit charity, our bylaws and guiding principles might be our authority

But we are the Church.

And our Leader, the Commander of the Lord’s Army, has spoken.

You hold His Word in your hand.

And that Word is your final authority

As we launch from Gilgal on our mission, we might be accused of:

Not being trendy enough

Not having the coolest music

Not having the most state of the art building

Not having the most electric atmosphere

Not having enough numbers

I have to tell you the truth. I don’t care.

Are we faithful enough? I care about that.

Is the music Christ-honoring and edifying to the church? Would an unbeliever know what we believe if they walked in and heard us singing about our God? I care about that.

Is the building hospitable and designed to flourish the Lord’s work? Is it filled with people who are serious about the mission of the local church to reach the world? I care about that.

Is the atmosphere filled with love for God and one another and lost world? I care about that.

Are we growing in a healthy way? Spiritually and numerically—in God’s time and by His power? I care about that.

Because at the end of the day we could be the trendiest, coolest, state of the art, electric church with the biggest numbers.

That comes and goes. It is one church today. It will be another five years from now.

But you could be the IT CHURCH—if it is all a centimeter deep because it is not rooted in God’s Word, it’s just a religious business that is probably getting most of its customers from the rolls of other churches—not from Satan’s domain

You want a real work of God—be surrendered to the Word of the Commander

And yet—in a real work of God, there will be external growth.

We will baptize and disciple. And Lord help us, we will do it well.

But we will be patient and follow the Commander

JERICHO FALLING

So what happens after this?

They are on God’s mission.

They are dedicated to God’s worship.

They are tasting God’s rewards.

They are surrendered to God’s authority.

And then they march around Jericho and take one of the biggest, baddest bullies in land out of the equation

Joshua 6:20 ESV

So the people shouted, and the trumpets were blown. As soon as the people heard the sound of the trumpet, the people shouted a great shout, and the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they captured the city.

Clearly the posture of their hearts and their commitment to keeping covenant with God put Israel in a place to be faithful to the mission God called them to, at a crucial time in their history

And it is that thought that had me connecting Joshua 5 to our church body.

Much like Israel, we are entering into a very exciting time in the history of our church.

We have spent the better part of the last twenty years with millions of dollars in debt. Just over a decade ago, it was over $4 million.

And now we are about to be out of it

For so long we would say things like, “When we get out of debt we can...”

Well the time is here. We are getting out of it.

On God’s mission. Dedicated to God’s worship. Tasting the Lord’s reward. Surrendered to God’s authority.

Let’s go into 2023.

Let’s burn a note and tell some people that God is good.

Let’s baptize some lost souls and teach them what Jesus taught us.

Let’s show Seaford what the love of Jesus looks like flowing through the merciful hands of His people

Let’s be His Workmanship.

In the end that is what Jericho falling IS for us.

Stacking up days and months and years and generations of faithfulness as the Workmanship of Christ until He returns.

Hearing, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

And seeing God changes lives along the way for the glory of His name.

Let’s pray.