Joshua 4:1-5:12- God's Battle Plan

Recap:

Joshua 1- “Be Strong and Courageous”

Courage is not the absence of fear- in fact fear must be present for courage to be demonstrated

What is courage? It’s not fearlessness but it is taking action in-spite of the fear we feel.

Courage is External and is the result of a “Greater Fear”

Joshua 2-

God’s Kingdom Mission gets accomplished. In the overall view of God’s Kingdom Mission, none of our experiences in life are wasted. God uses each of them to accomplish his Kingdom Mission in us and through us.

What Kingdom mission is God accomplishing through my present experiences?

Joshua 3-

What flooded, impassable river are you staring at?

Are you waiting on God to lead you?

Remember...

Courage moves us to follow, to pursue that which God has promised

What do we do when God fulfills his promise?

We “remember”

Remembering :

Bolsters our faith

We have a tendency to forget from one time to the next how God showed up. So when we arrive at the next “Jordan River” we freak out

Keeps us in right perspective

When we arrive on the other side of the “Jordan” after some time we can begin to forget who did what....we did not get ourselves across that river- God did

Remembering gives us right perspective of who we are and who God is

What are we remembering:

We can set up stones of remembrance in unhealthy places, places where we experienced hurt or trauma and in times of difficulty instead of looking to the stones at Gilgal

Joshua 4:21–24 ESV

And he said to the people of Israel, “When your children ask their fathers in times to come, ‘What do these stones mean?’ then you shall let your children know, ‘Israel passed over this Jordan on dry ground.’ For the Lord your God dried up the waters of the Jordan for you until you passed over, as the Lord your God did to the Red Sea, which he dried up for us until we passed over, so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the Lord is mighty, that you may fear the Lord your God forever.”

Remember- “that the hand of the Lord is mighty, that you may fear the Lord your God forever”

Where does courage come from? Sometimes times it comes from a greater fear- the fear of the Lord is greater than the fear of man

What are my stones of remembrance?

Camp K., Ben Zook’s river lot, Belarus, Southeastern University Fire Fall, Graveyard Hill, 388 and 449 Hickory Lane

The Circumcision...

The peoples of the land are fleeing, a good military strategy in my mind would be to pursue them but instead God commands them to be circumcised

This in and of itself is a miracle, that afforded the Israelites the time of peace and safety that would have been necessary to do this

They have just crossed over into enemy territory, yes its territory the God has promised to give them but its a land that is already inhabited by other nations and people groups and those peoples aren’t just going to give it up

We know that its probably not the best time to circumcise all your fighting men when you are in the midst of a military crusade

Remember Genesis 34:25

Genesis 34:25 ESV

On the third day, when they were sore, two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers, took their swords and came against the city while it felt secure and killed all the males.

The Purpose of the Circumcision

The reproach of Egypt is removed, the covenant renewed, from Genesis 17:7-13

Genesis 17:7–13 ESV

And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you. And I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God.” 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.

This place would be remember as the place where the Israelites were really set free from Egypt

Circumcision is circumcision of the heart- maybe there are some things that need to be cut-off before I can step into, enjoy the promised land of God.

That cutting off allows them to participate in, celebrate, the Passover and to enjoy from there on the fruits of this promised land

The Passover...

They eat the Passover meal there in the promised land, as God’s covenant people (circumcised)

The first time in 40 years they had celebrated

The Passover serves as another moment of remembrance

The passover meal was made from the fruits of the promised land, after that the manna stopped

That year they ate the produce of the land.

They were in the promised land and they were enjoying the fruits of it but they were going to have to work now to live off of the land that God had given them.

God does provide miraculously but he also expects us to use the talents and resources he has given us to provide for ourselves.

Maybe that thing that you have been waiting on God for is within your reach you just need to do your part. In this case we need to pray for discernment to see if this is the case and for wisdom to see what our part is.

Conclusion

Review the three questions

1. What are my stones of remembrance?

“that the hand of the Lord is mighty, that you may fear the Lord your God forever”

2. Circumcision is circumcision of the heart- is there something that needs to be cut-off before I can step into and enjoy the promised land of God?

“Today I have rolled away the the reproach of Egypt from you”

3. Maybe that thing that you have been waiting on God for is within your reach you just need to do your part. In this case we need to pray for discernment to see if this is the case and for wisdom to see what our part is.

What question to you need to answer the most?