6.2.52 11.24.2019 Thanksgiving Camping at Gilgal Joshua 5

Entice: How many will you have at your table on Thursday? Will one table even be enough? Thanksgiving is the ultimate comfort festival. At home. With Nanny in the kitchen.

Engage: Did you realize that some of the thanksgiving celebrations recounted in the Bible were anything but comfortable, and homey? Today we are going to look at a celebration which was on the edge. Literally, on the edge of Canaan.

Engage: Did you realize that some of the thanksgiving celebrations recounted in the Bible were anything but comfortable, and homey? Today we are going to look at a

Joshua 5 ESV

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. 2 At that time the Lord said to Joshua, “Make flint knives and circumcise the sons of Israel a second time.” 3 So Joshua made flint knives and circumcised the sons of Israel at Gibeath-haaraloth. 4 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. 5 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. 6 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. 7 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. 8 When the circumcising of the whole nation was finished, they remained in their places in the camp until they were healed. 9 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. 10 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. 11 And the day after the Passover, on that very day, they ate of the produce of the land, unleavened cakes and parched grain. 12 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. 13 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?” 14 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?” 15 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.

celebration which was on the edge. Literally, on the edge of Canaan.

Expand: Israel was about as close to the Jordan as we are to the Wabash. They had secured the doorstep to Canaan in conquering the trans-Jordan. And now God had brought them to the land of promise. Ir's risky enough to be there and then God commands this. "Surgery for everyone!" Not just any surgery, circumcise the warriors! and Joshua complied because he knew that they were there in Canaan only because of God's graciousness. Israel understood risk.

Expand: Israel was about as close to the Jordan as we are to the Wabash. They had secured the doorstep to Canaan in conquering the trans-Jordan. And now God had brought

them to the land of promise. Ir's risky enough to be there and then God commands this. "Surgery for everyone!" Not just any surgery, circumcise the warriors! and Joshua complied

Excite: Thanksgiving brings us into the numinous presence of God. It is an act of worship wherein we declare our dependence upon Him. There is risk. Who Dares, Wins. Israel had come by faith from slavery, through the wilderness, into the promised land. When they lived by faith they prospered. When they walked by sight they faltered. Joshua was there the whole time and saw what happened every time faith was overwhelmed by doubt. Here on the brink of success he was not about to change course whatever God commanded he intended to do, even if it seemed foolhardily reckless.

because he knew that they were there in Canaan only because of God's graciousness. Israel understood risk.

Excite: Thanksgiving brings us into the numinous presence of God. It is an act of worship wherein we declare our dependence upon Him. There is risk. Who Dares, Wins. Israel

had come by faith from slavery, through the wilderness, into the promised land. When they lived by faith they prospered. When they walked by sight they faltered. Joshua was

Explore:

there the whole time and saw what happened every time faith was overwhelmed by doubt. Here on the brink of success he was not about to change course whatever God

commanded he intended to do, even if it seemed foolhardily reckless.

Every faith response God expects from us requires us to embrace risk.

Explore: Every faith response God expects from us includes an element of risk which we must embrace.

Explain: It is the defining benchmarks of faith which create the greatest risk…

First there is the...

Body of Sermon:

1 Risk of Obedience.

1.1 Sometimes God requires us to do things that are clearer than we wish they were. v. 2

1.1.1 Mystery gives us time, space, distance...

1.1.2 We get to calculate, cipher and "figure out" what He really wants…

1.1.3 …not here. There is no doubt what obedience requires. Cut the men.

1.2 Clarity of response requires us to depend on God in new ways. v. 3

1.3 Understanding "why" does not always remove the risk. vv. 4-7

1.4 The risk of obedience is worth the results. vv.8-9

Next consider the

2 Risk of Trust.

2.1 Worship is an act of trust in hostile territory. v. 10

2.1.1 It was true there on the edge of Canaan, and it is true today on the edge of our culture.

2.1.2 Worship draws attention to itself, Israel could not hide as it praised God during the passover.

2.1.3 We trust God to bless us as we honor Him with worship in a hostile place.

2.2 Trusting God means that we accept the shifting nature of providence.

2.2.1 They had been fed by Manna.

2.2.2 Now they will have to plant, cultivate, harvest. Each of these require God's blessings for success-but in different ways.

2.3 Trust becomes permanent as when it is a faith partnership…

3 Risk of Holiness.

3.1 Holiness requires a reorientation…It is more important to be on God's side than for Him to be on ours!

3.1.1 The risk is that we begin to confuse what we want with what God wants.

3.1.2 This incarnate appearance of the Word who became flesh, disabuses Joshua of confusing human purposes with God's.

3.2 Holiness requires submission.

Safe only in HIM:

We get comfortable in Canaan. Israel did. Throughout the rest of the OT Godly leaders were raised up to essentially recover that feeling of unity and purpose they experienced camping at Gilgal, responding to God from the heart whilst embracing the risk.

camping at Gilgal, responding to God from the heart whilst embracing the risk.

The local name is Grayville, White/Edwards County, Illinois, USA. But we all know, it's Canaan, Babylon, the Empire. At best we expect benign neglect. At its worst Canaanite culture tries to compromise or corrupt us. If that does not work then we face outright hostility. And we risk it all to stand with the captain of God's host, the captain of our salvation. The Word made flesh.

culture tries to compromise or corrupt us. If that does not work then we face outright hostility. And we risk it all to stand with the captain of God's host, the captain of our salvation.

Later, in this book which bears his name, Joshua will famously challenge Israel

The Word made flesh.

Later, in this book which bears his name, Joshua will famously challenge Israel

Joshua 24:15 ESV

15 And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

The challenge that day in the twilight of his life began right there, camping at Gilgal where God's people gave thanks, celebrated God's goodness, and embraced the radical risk which faith requires. I wonder about us.