Barry Metz 02/12/17

Spiritual Preparation for the Battles AheadJoshua 5:1-12

When we were last in the book of Joshua, the people of Israel had crossed the Jordan at flood stage, Joshua 3, and a memorial of twelve stones had been set up on the west side of the Jordan, Joshua 4. As we come to Joshua 5 this morning, God calls the people to a time of spiritual preparation for the battles ahead. Follow along as I read verse 1-12:

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.

These verses, at first glance, seem to be a strange interlude prior to the battle of Jericho in the next chapter.

Wouldn’t it seem more fitting, we would think, to have made the victory walk across the Jordan on dry ground and then with all of that momentum (and with all that terror in every Canaanite heart) to initiate the attack on Jericho? Wouldn’t a kind of blitzkrieg, a lightning warfare of sorts, be the best way to overcome a terrified enemy shaking in their sandals?

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AND…given that the Israelites are encamped within plain sight of the city of Jericho, why circumcise the fighting men now? Wouldn’t it put them out of commission for three or four days? “Why perform a religious rite that would sideline Israel’s soldiers for days of painful recovery?”1

AND…. why postpone the offensive to further celebrate the Passover? Didn’t the Israelites cross the Jordan to fight? Why spend time worshipping when warfare was job one?

There is a famous book on warfare written sometime between the 5th and 3rd centuries, B.C. by one of China’s leading generals and military strategists, Sun Tzu. The book is considered to be one the most influential military texts of all time.

Sun Tzu offers this advice for generals laying plans for battle: “When we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away; when far away, we must make him believe we are near.”2 Now was Israel following Sun Tzu’s advice? Not in the least! The Israelite strategy wouldn’t have made a bit of sense to Sun Tzu: “When we are near—and Israel was camped in plain view of the city of Jericho-- we’re going to pause and worship for several days.”

Sun Tzu offers this advice too: “The highest form of generalship is to thwart3 the enemies’ plans; the next best is to prevent the junction of the enemies’ forces—I suppose that means the coming together of the enemy’s forces; the next in order is to attack the enemy’s army in the field; and the worst policy of all , Sun Tzu writes is to besiege walled cities.”4

“If giving away your position is poor strategy and attacking a walled city is the worst policy a general (could) follow, then Joshua clearly had two strikes against him.”5 But this is God’s battle and his ways are higher than ours.

Let’s pick up in verse 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.

Word traveled quickly that Yahweh, the great God of Israel had dried up the waters of the Jordan for the people of Israel and all the kings of the Amorites west of the Jordan and all the kings of the Canaanites who were by the sea…and because the terms ‘Amorites’ and ‘Canaanites’ are both umbrella terms, the author is basically telling us that all the kings in the

1 Hubbard

2 Sun Tsu on the Art of War, quoted by Rhett Dodson in “The Art of Spiritual Warfare”3 ‘balk’4 Dodson, page 905 Dodson, page 90

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Promised Land had heard about what God had done for Israel. And as a result of these kings hearing what God did for Israel, hearts melted and there was no longer any spirit in them.

Interestingly, Rahab back in chapter two had said the same thing, Joshua 2:11, And as soon as we heard it— but it for Rahab was the drying up the water of the Red Sea— And as soon as we heard (about the drying up of the Red Sea) our hearts melted and there was no spirit left in any man.

“Before Israel had fought a single battle, (it seems that) the entire land was hers for the taking.”6 That’s the way it goes when God is on your side.

So God’s mighty works at the Red Sea and at the Jordan River left the enemy quaking in their sandals. And that might be why it was ok for Israel to pause the war campaign, to camp in plain sight of Jericho, and to worship. The enemy was terrified of Israel. God had once again pulled a psychological warfare coup! “And no doubt the people’s fear kept them inside the city and prevented them from attacking Israel. This in turn allowed God’s people time to worship.”7

Well in verse 2, God himself gives direction to Joshua: At that time Yahweh said to Joshua, “Make flint knives and circumcise the sons of Israel a second time”.

What did God mean by “circumcise the sons of Israel a second time?” And even more broadly why was circumcision so important to God? (Notice this is all about God’s initiative)

Well let’s keep reading…. Verse 3…. 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….the author is talking about the fighting men who exited Egypt with Moses in the Exodus. All of them had been circumcised. All of them had the sign of the covenant. And…. all of them died in the wilderness.

They grumbled their way to the Promised Land and when they got up to the edge of the Promised Land at Kadesh Barnea, they sent spies into the Promised Land and then let themselves be persuaded by the majority of spies that the land could not be taken—that the giants and the fortified cities were way too overwhelming…. And because they would not enter the land, God sent them marching around the dessert for forty years until all that generation of men died off.

This ought to lead us to do a little soul searching, a little examination.

One author writes this…. “The men who came out of Egypt had the sign of the covenant, but having the sign was no guarantee of their spiritual faithfulness. They had circumcised bodies but not circumcised hearts. Religion that consists merely of external ceremonies, rites, and 6 Butler, as quoted in Howard. 7 Dodson, page 91

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rules lacks the power to change the heart…..(and in our day) baptism, church membership, and a host of other religious expressions must not be automatically equated with salvation….It’s possible to do the kinds of things that Christians are expected to do and yet remain in spiritual darkness.”8 Are we all in the faith? Paul says in 2 Corinthians, “Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith.”

But there’s a further point we could make. Fathers walking in darkness leave collateral damage. Let me say it again. Fathers walking in darkness leave collateral damage. How did that first generation of men who left Egypt in the exodus leave collateral damage? None of their children, born during the 40 years of wandering in the dessert, were circumcised. The fathers didn’t follow thru with obeying God’s commands.

Verse 5 tells us that….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.

And in case we might not have understood, the author tells us the same tragic story again in verses 6-7.

6 For the people of Israel walked forty years in the wilderness…this was the first generation that exited Egypt in the Exodus…. until all the nation, the men of war who came out of Egypt, perished….make a mental note that the word perished can literally mean finished…we’ll see the word again in verse 8…..they perished, they finished 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.

Don’t miss that double use of the word ‘sworn’ there in verse 6. Yahweh had sworn to their fathers to give the descendants a land. But then because of their disobedience, Yahweh swore to that particular generation of descendants that he would not let them see the land. “Yahweh’s promise of the land still holds, but one generation by its unbelief has forfeited its share in that promise.”9 Under the Mosaic covenant, when you disobeyed the covenant, God in a sense became your enemy. We’ll we talk more about that in a moment.

Verse 7 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…there’s the word we saw in verse 6….., they remained in their places in the camp until they were healed.

So here’s the play on words with the word ‘finished’. Verse 6, The earlier generation finished in the death of disobedience because they didn’t listen to God. Their children, here the present

8 Dodson, page 939 Davis

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generation, the generation of Gilgal, verse 8, however finished the act of obedience.10 The author seems to be communicating a new beginning.

When you and I think of the wilderness generation, we think of how they grumbled repeatedly when they exited Egypt. We think of how they made the golden calf when Moses stayed up on the mountain for 40 days. We think of how they rebelled at Kadesh Barnea and wouldn’t enter the the Promised Land. But this passage says that they also completely disregarded God’s command to circumcise their sons when they were 8 days old. Time and time again, thousands of times, perhaps hundreds of thousands of times, they disregarded God’s requirement for his covenant people that every son be circumcised. And so Joshua was told to circumcise the sons of Israel a “second time”—to circumcise the children born in the wilderness who had not been circumcised by their fathers. Since their fathers had failed, the Lord turned to Joshua to fulfill his will. Fathers walking in darkness leave collateral damage.

As I reflected on all these fathers disregarding God’s command to circumcise their sons, I couldn’t help but think of God’s patience being on display. Our God is so patient throughout the scriptures. The apostle Paul, reflecting on his own life, believed that his own experience gave God an unique opportunity to display his patience. Listen to Paul celebrate God’s patience in 1 Timothy 1:16--- 16 But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life.

Well we still haven’t addressed why circumcision was so important to God. Why did circumcision mean so much to God? It was the sign of the covenant between Him and his chosen people and ‘the symbol of Israel’s unique indentity.’11 Let’s look at Genesis 17 on the screen where circumcision is first discussed….

Don’t miss those words in yellow? That’s kind of ominous isn’t it? All the children who were born during the wilderness wanderings and had not been circumcised were considered covenant breakers! And all through those 40 years they were breaking Gods covenant but God’s patience ruled. God had been patient with them over the 40 years of wandering—yes

10 Hess11 Hubbard, Gen 17:10-14; Lev. 12:3

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their fathers were really the guilty ones for not following through with God’s command to circumcise sons on the 8th day—but it was now time to do something about it. The people entering the land were ceremonially and ritually unclean. They were ritually unfit.12

Now it’s not completely clear in Genesis 17 that God intended the physical sign of circumcision to represent a heart reality in the lives of God’s people.13 But that truth shows up soon in the scriptures. Let me show you that in Deuteronomy 10 on the screen…

God intended that there be a correlation between physical circumcision an a changed heart.

All along God intended his people to walk in his ways, to love him, to serve him with all their heart and with all their soul. All along God intended that the outward sign of circumcision be accompanied by heart realities. But the people had a bent toward sinning. They were stubborn. And so Moses challenged them to do the impossible, to address their own stubbornness: Circumcise your heart and be no longer stubborn. Now of course we know that only God could affect the kind of heart change the people needed. And this points forward to Jesus as the only one who can effect heart change,

So what have we said about circumcision? We’ve said it was a physical act that was intended by God to have a spiritual meaning. Those who had the outward sign were meant to have an inner change of heart. It was a religious ritual by which Israel showed her loyalty to Yahweh.14 In a sense then circumcision was an act of dedication or consecration and in that sense it was an act of worship.15 Under the new covenant—and now we’re talking about us-- baptism is our sign of the covenant, right? And don’t we consider baptism worship?

So in one sense getting back to the big picture of the passage we could say that God pulled the nation aside in the plain of the Jordan to worship before they went to war. “Worship comes

12 Hubbard13 Dodson comments: “The removal of the male foreskin became a permanent reminder that God had promised to bless Abraham, make of him a great nation, and bring blessing to all the world through him (cf. Gen. 12:1-3; 17:1-8). The removal of the foreskin also symbolized the removal of the ‘flesh’ and hence it became an emblem of spiritual rebirth. It was important to have both a circumcised body and a circumcised heart or spirit (Deut. 10:16; Jer. 4:4) And in Elwell, Baker Encylopedia of the Bible: “At first it was God’s intention to let the ritual teach its own lesson…Abraham is given little explanation of the significance of the rite itself. By the time of the Exodus it became evident that circumcision had to do with ethical as well as physical considerations.14Butler, Gen. 17; 21:4; Exod 12:43-49; Lev. 12;315 Justin Langley email

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before warfare. Worship prepares us for warfare”16 one author writes. Really? Is that a spiritual principle we can live by? Is it a spiritual principle we should live by? Is worship really job 1? You’re going out to fight some battles—difficult medical prognoses, problems with co-workers, conflict with a spouse. Is worship really job one? I want to explore that idea more at the end of our time.

So we’ve said that the men born during the wilderness wandering had not been circumcised. And according to Genesis 17 they were covenant breakers. What is God’s stance toward covenant breakers, especially covenant breakers who have disregarded the command to circumcise their sons?

______

To answer that question we need to look at an interesting passage in Exodus that drives home the importance of circumcision to God. Keep your finger here in Joshua 5 and turn with me back to Exodus 4. We’ll begin reading in verse 24.

But let me set up the passage first. We know that Moses met Yahweh at the burning bush in Exodus 3. There Yahweh commissioned Moses to lead the people out of Egypt. Moses wrestled with the task that God gave him. And God gave him powerful signs to use with Pharaoh if Pharaoh wasn’t cooperative. Finally Moses started back to Egypt. And we pick up in Exodus 4:24 at a lodging place on the way to Egypt.

24 At a lodging place on the way the LORD met him and sought to put him to death.

Admittedly if we had been reading along in Exodus 4, this would feel a little bit like a drive-by shooting, don’t you think? Hadn’t Yahweh hand-picked Moses to go back to Egypt? Wasn’t Moses to be Yahweh’s key instrument to lead the people out of Egypt? And here Yahweh meets Moses and seeks to put him to death. Had Yahweh changed his mind about Moses? Yahweh seems to be acting like Moses’ enemy, wouldn’t you agree? (Remember that thought--when does God act like Israel’s enemy? )

25 Then Zipporah took a flint and cut off her son’s foreskin and touched Moses’ feet with it and said, “Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me!” 26 So he let him alone. It was then that she said, “A bridegroom of blood,” because of the circumcision.

What’s going on here? Apparently Moses had failed to obey God in circumcising one of his sons. And as we’ve seen circumcision is really, really important to God. To be uncircumcised is to be a covenant breaker.

Perhaps Zipporah saw Moses suffering a seizure or some other illness.17 (At least that’s what some students of scripture suggest.) For a few moments Moses was under divine wrath. And 16 Dodson, page 9217 Motyer, page 92

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somehow Zipporah discerned the spiritual side of it; somehow she had insight into what was going on. Somehow she knew that one of her sons had not been circumcised by Moses. So she quickly saved Moses’ life by circumcising his son and throwing the residue of her work at his feet.

Zipporah’s words to Moses seem disrespectful… “Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me!”

But one student of scripture interprets her remarks this way…“As Moses, now plainly better, opened his eyes and looked at his wife, she greeted him with a loving cry as though to say, “Moses, you’re back with me. You’re my bridegroom and husband all over again. Instead of taking you from me, God has given you back to me because of the blood of circumcision. My bridegroom of blood!”18

Now one of the clear messages from this little vignette is that if Moses is to do God’s will as his devoted servant in Egypt before Pharaoh, he must be in a position of obedience within his own household.19 The other clear message from this short little drive-by vignette is that under the old covenant, when you broke the covenant, God became your enemy.

Doesn’t Deuteronomy 28 teach us this? Deuteronomy 28 lists the curses that come from disobeying the covenant. Listen to Deuteronomy 28:15 15 “But if you will not obey the voice of the LORD your God or be careful to do all his commandments and his statutes that I command you today, then all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you.

And then verses 25-29….25 “The LORD will cause you to be defeated before your enemies. You shall go out one way against them and flee seven ways before them. And you shall be a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth. 26 And your dead body shall be food for all birds of the air and for the beasts of the earth, and there shall be no one to frighten them away. 27 The LORD will strike you with the boils of Egypt, and with tumors and scabs and itch, of which you cannot be healed. 28 The LORD will strike you with madness and blindness and confusion of mind, 29 and you shall grope at noonday, as the blind grope in darkness, and you shall not prosper in your ways. And you shall be only oppressed and robbed continually, and there shall be no one to help you.

To break the Mosaic covenant was to become God’s enemy. Leviticus 26 lists similar curses for disobeying the covenant. And we find these words repeated three times…. If you walk contrary to me, God says, I will also walk contrary to you.20

So God’s emphasis here in Joshua 5 that ‘the people need to be circumcised’ is spot on. The men need to be circumcised to become ritually fit before they go to battle alongside God.

18 Motyer, page 9319 Jackman20 Lev. 26:23, 27, 40-41

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Well verse 9 tells us that when all the men had been circumcised, God gives his interpretation of what has happened…..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.

Today, God says, I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you. First of all what does the word reproach mean? We don’t use it very much do we?

Reproach used as a verb means to ‘address someone in such a way as to express disapproval or disappointment. Used as a noun reproach is the expression of disapproval or disappointment.Reproach is a verbal attack which uses an insult “You’re a failure! I’m really disappointed with you”—that’s reproach. “You’re worthless”….that’s reproach

[Stepping into the 21st century a moment—some of you heard lines like that growing up. Take note that God can roll that away. Reproach leads to the emotion of shame. I suppose we could say we all need our own personal Gilgal. The name Gilgal is a play on the Hebrew word ‘galal’ which means ‘to roll’. ]

What was the reproach of Egypt that God rolled away?

Some suggest it was the ‘disobedience of the previous generation (the generation of Egypt) which brought about the period of wandering and death in the desert’21 So it’s all the fallout of disobeying God.

Others suggest it could refer to the disgrace of being uncircumcised. 22

Still others suggest it was the reproach heaped on Israel by Egypt as they wandered aimlessly in the desert—“Your god is not able to bring you into the land. Your god hates you—that’s why he has you wandering!”23

Another author suggested that the ‘reproach of Egypt’ was a ‘broad expression that includes everything involved in the shame and disgrace of having been slaves in Egypt.’24 At Gilgal, the people of Israel were identified once again as God’s chosen people. The reproach of Egypt was rolled away. More on the rolling away of reproach in our lives at the end of the message.

Well having submitted to the ritual of circumcision, the men could rightfully celebrate the Passover. Look at verses 10-12

21 Hess22 Dodson lists this as one of several interpretations. A parallel use of the term reproach occurs in Genesis 34. Jacobs sons told Shechem that it would be a disgrace to give their sister to an uncircumcised man23 Exodus 32:12; Num 14:13-16; Deut 9:2824 Dodson

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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. That it was the evening of the fourteenth day of the first month when the people of Israel kept the Passover, shows once again that the people were scrupulously following God’s instructions.25 11 And the day after the Passover, on that very day, they ate of the produce of the land, unleavened cakes and parched grain.

The reference to unleavened cakes on the day after Passover, could recall the seven day Feast of Unleavened Bread, which began on the 15th day of the month. But we can’t be sure that Israel paused for the full seven days for that feast.

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.

So the chronology went like this….

On the 14 th day of the month they celebrated the Passover in the evening. So the Passover celebration here in the book of Joshua marked Israel’s entrance into Canaan just as it had earlier marked Israel’s exodus from Egypt. God’s great deliverance brought them out of Egypt and into Canaan.

The next day they ate the produce of the land—something the writer drives home three different times in verses 11-12. A new era has arrived!

And the day after that the manna ceased. For 40 years God had provided his people with manna. How faithful God had been!

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I’d like to close by asking and answering three questions.

1. Can God and the gospel really roll away the ‘reproach’ I’ve experienced and the feelings of shame that I live with?

Again reproach is the expression of words of disapproval or disappointment. Reproach can come from those we love or just about anyone. Reproach from someone very close to us can be more damaging than reproach from someone we don’t know. But reproach can be damaging no matter what.

The pain from reproach goes so deep in our lives because the one expressing reproach—the one expressing disapproval or disappointment—makes no distinction between ‘who we are’ and ‘what we do’. They make no distinction between our identity and our actions, mistakes, sin, and failures. Reproach strikes indiscriminately at our identity and our actions and mistakes. We are useless. We are failures.

25 Howard

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Reproach leaves feelings of shame or disgrace. We feel useless. We feel that we can’t do anything right.

But the gospel can roll that away. Because Jesus Christ died on the cross for my sins, was buried and resurrected from the dead, by faith we are given new life, we have a completely new identity The gospel reminds us that we are loved by God, that we are his children, that we have value because he saved us. The gospel reminds us that we are justified—declared innocent by God—and God sees us as righteous as his only son. The gospel reminds us that we have a new identity, a new life. And our new life in Christ can roll away the reproach we’ve experienced.

One author writes this: “If you labor under a weight of shame, guilt, and disgrace, let the place where you are become your Gilgal. Turn your heart to Christ and say, “Lord, let me see myself in you. Roll away the shame I feel and no longer let sin and failure be the defining features of the way I see my life or the way anyone else sees it. Since I am in Christ, let my life reflect the glory of your grace, and let my heart rejoice in the assurance of sins forgiven.”26

2. When it comes to warfare, is worship really job 1?

Early in the message I quoted an author who said ‘Worship comes before war. In order for us to serve God, we must first honor him. Worship prepares us for warfare.’27 Is that really true? It makes sense to me. I’d just never thought about it. Why would it be true? Well when we worship we see God more clearly. When we worship we remind ourselves of who God really is.

As I thought about it I was reminded of a couple of stories in the bible. I was reminded of Paul and Silas imprisoned in Philippi. What were they doing? They were praying and singing hymns to God. And suddenly there was a great earthquake and they were delivered.

I was reminded of Jehoshaphat’s war with the nations of Ammon, Moab, and Edom in 2 Chronicles 20. Jehoshaphat was told that a great multitude was coming against him and he went before Yahweh and sought his help.

2 Chronicles 20:5–9 5 And Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the LORD, before the new court, 6 and said, “O LORD, God of our fathers, are you not God in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. In your hand are power and might, so that none is able to withstand you. 7 Did you not, our God, drive out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel, and give it forever to the descendants of Abraham your friend? …..that’s our story in Joshua right?... 8 And they have lived in it and have built for you in it a sanctuary for your name, saying, 9 ‘If disaster comes upon us, the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we will stand before this house and before you—for your name is in this house—and cry out to you in our affliction, and you will hear and save.’

26 Dodson, page 9627 Dodson, page 90

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Yahweh responded through a prophet who told King Jehoshaphat and his frightened subjects that they would not have to fight in the battle but needed only go out against the enemy the following day and watch the Lord give them victory. Jehoshaphat put the army in array, and appointed singers to go ahead of the fighting men to praise the Lord for his covenant love: “Give thanks to Yahweh for his steadfast love endures forever.”28

And when they began to sing and praise, Yahweh set an ambush against the men of Ammon, Moab, an Edom…so they were routed.29

And one final reflection from a guy named Rhett Dodson….

“The Lord stresses this principle of worship first in the very way he has designed our week. When Jesus rose from the dead, (the church began worshipping on the first day of the week). Have you ever thought about the implications of that change? By placing his day at the first of the week, God calls us to worship him…to prepare us for what lies ahead in the following six days. The Christian life calls us to many activities, but where does the source of our energy lie? Wait on the Lord, and then do his work. That is the divine order…. To say that worship is the key to spiritual warfare and service is not by any means an excuse for passivity but rather a plea to consider the proper activities.”30

And a final question… 3. How is Jesus prefigured in this Old Testament passage?

■The work of Jesus is prefigured in the ritual of circumcision

Colossians 2:9–11 (ESV) 9 For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, 10 and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority. 11 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,

Physical circumcision served as a metaphor for a spiritual action which Christ accomplished in our lives when we put our faith in him. There was a putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ. That means that we no longer live in the sphere of the flesh and its influence. With this circumcision performed by Christ, we are no longer ‘in Adam’ but we are ‘in Christ’ and we can live for him.31

■ The work of Jesus is prefigured in the Feast of Passover

The Passover was the Old Testament parallel to the Lord’s Supper. And 1 Corinthians 5:7 (ESV) tells us that…Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.

28

29 2 Chronicles 20:2230 Dodson, page 10031 ESV Study Bible notes

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Instead of slaying a lamb, at the Lord’s Supper we remember the Lamb who was slain for our sins. At the Lord’s Supper we feast on Christ. As we eat the bread and drink the cup, we receive by faith the benefits of the Savior’s life and death.

“Israel’s celebration of the Passover was also an expression of faith and a means of assurance. When the people of Israel kept the Passover on the plains of Jericho, having just crossed the Jordan on dry ground, the Passover reminded the people that the same God who brought them out of Egypt would certainly bring them into their inheritance.

The Lord’s Supper should work the same way for us. As we use the element’s to remind us of Jesus’s life and death, we should cling to the promise that he who died and rose for our salvation will bring us safely to heaven.

Finally… ■Jesus is prefigured in the manna

In John 6, the Lord Jesus told the people with him that the bread from heaven was really an object lesson about him. After Jesus fed the 5000, large crowds followed him and said, “Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform? 31 Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’ ”

Jesus replied , “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” 34 They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.” 35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.

Just as food gives us physical energy and strength, so too Christ gives us the spiritual energy we need to believe and pursue holiness and to make our way home to him.

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The God who brought Israel out of Egypt with a great deliverance and who sustained them with manna their entire journey to the Promised Land and who brought them into their inheritance in the Promised Land is the same God who brought us out of the slavery of sin with a great deliverance and who sustains us with Christ every day and who will assuredly bring us into our inheritance in heaven.

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