Joshua 5:9-15

⁹Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Today I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you.” So the place has been called Gilgal to this day.
¹⁰On the evening of the fourteenth day of the month, while camped at Gilgal on the plains of Jericho, the Israelites celebrated the Passover. ¹¹The day after the Passover, that very day, they ate some of the produce of the land: unleavened bread and roasted grain. ¹²The manna stopped the day after they ate this food from the land; there was no longer any manna for the Israelites, but that year they ate the produce of Canaan.
¹³Now when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went up to him and asked, “Are you for us or for our enemies?”
¹⁴“Neither,” he replied, “but as commander of the army of the Lord I have now come.” Then Joshua fell facedown to the ground in reverence, and asked him, “What message does my Lord have for his servant?”
¹⁵The commander of the Lord’s army replied, “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so.

Introduction

What could be a possible reason you hesitate to obey the Lord’s instruction? When one starts to ask “What if?” that person could still be a slave of doubt. Understanding of the Lord does not precede obedience but obedience helps us understand the Holy Lord.
Many people cannot understand why God allows struggles and challenges. Like many of us, Apostle Paul pleaded with the Lord to free him from all those things.
He said in 2 Corinthians 12:8-10, ⁸Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. ⁹But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. ¹⁰That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

When we decided to follow the Lord, we become more aware of the many obstacle of obedience to the Lord. The Lord promised us life to its fullness but that promise can only be realized when we obey Him. We become victorious by God’s grace.
The Israelites were about to conquer the Promised Land. The first obstacle was the Jordan River at flood stage. Then the Lord commanded Joshua to circumcise the men after they crossed the river without any difficulty.
After the every male was circumcised, the Lord said that He has rolled away, removed and taken away the reproach or stigma of the Egyptian slavery from Israel.

1. Take Away

⁹Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Today I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you.” So the place has been called Gilgal to this day.

The Israelites were slaves in Egypt for more than 400 years. The stigma of their past experience as slaves in Egypt could have affected the Israelites. The word “Gilgal” could mean roll away or take away. The Lord it rolled away, taken away, removed from them the stigma or embarrassment of slavery.
Moses sent 12 men to spy the land. When the spies reported their exploration, 10 spies concluded that they cannot conquer Canaan. Most of the Israelites believed the 10 spies. Slavery mindset prevailed for them to admit that they were not conquerors.
¹⁰On the evening of the fourteenth day of the month, while camped at Gilgal on the plains of Jericho, the Israelites celebrated the Passover. ¹¹The day after the Passover, that very day, they ate some of the produce of the land: unleavened bread and roasted grain. ¹²The manna stopped the day after they ate this food from the land; there was no longer any manna for the Israelites, but that year they ate the produce of Canaan.

Celebration of the Passover should remind their freedom from Egyptian slavery.
When manna stopped falling the next day after they ate the produce of the land it should have made them realized they were no longer in the wilderness. The produce of the land was a practical evidence of being in the land that God has promised.
Where did they get the produce of Canaan? Did they go into to a nearby city and buy food? Did they plant? Did they gather from the Canaanite plants? Those were questions of curiosity that God did not let it be written or mentioned here.
The important point here is God rolled away—He removed the reproach, disgrace or stigma of being a slave. What does that mean to us today?

Tattoo

It has been a discussion among Christian communities about the Lord commands about tattoo. In Leviticus 19:28 28Do not cut your bodies for the dead or put tattoo marks on yourselves. I am the Lord.

Tattoos are rebellion to the Lord, why? It’s a violation to the Lord command. Is it applicable to Christians since the command was originally given to the Israelites?
It says in 1 Corinthians 6:19, ¹⁹Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own.

Tattoos are like graffiti or vandalism to the Lord’s Temple, that is if you consider your body as temple of the Lord. As believers God has given us freedom from slavery to rebellion through faith in Christ. How should we act to prove that we have been freed?
Let’s learn from our passage. After they celebrated the Passover, Joshua went near Jericho to survey the land but an angel told him to take off his sandals.

2. Take Off

¹³Now when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went up to him and asked, “Are you for us or for our enemies?” ¹⁴“Neither,” he replied, “but as commander of the army of the Lord I have now come.” Then Joshua fell facedown to the ground in reverence, and asked him, “What message does my Lord have for his servant?” ¹⁵The commander of the Lord’s army replied, “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so.

Bible scholars suggest that the commander of the Lord’s army was an angel. Some interpreted that the Lord’s army pertains to angels but others suggests that the Lord’s army pertains to the Israelites who were about to conquer the land. Meaning, the angel appear to Joshua and declared that he will be the commander to lead the Israelites.
That was the reason Joshua asked for a message from the commander of the Lord’s army. The angel told him to take off his sandals. What was the significance of removing sandals? It says in Ruth 4:7, ⁷Now in earlier times in Israel, for the redemption and transfer of property to become final, one party took off his sandal and gave it to the other. This was the method of legalizing transactions in Israel.
Taking off the sandals was their method to make an agreement legal, official and valid. That situation in the book of Ruth has been practiced hundred years later after the Israelites have conquered and settled in the land. Before the angel told Joshua to take off his sandals, it also happened to Moses.
Similar to Joshua, the first command that the Lord gave Moses was to take off his sandals. In Exodus 3:3-5, 3So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.” 4When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!” And Moses said, “Here I am.” 5“Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.”

Bible students suggest that taking off sandals is a gesture of humbling one’s self before the Holy Lord. Others say that the Lord wants Moses and Joshua to physically feel the holy ground they were standing on. The Lord wanted His servants to be holy.
Before Moses obeyed the Lord to go back to Egypt, he doubted that the Israelites would listen to him. Like Moses, Joshua might have been scared to lead the Israelites. That was why the Lord reminded him a couple of times to be strong and courageous.
The first instruction that God gave Moses before he went back to Egypt was to remove his sandals. Joshua might have been thinking how they would conquer Jericho but an angel told him to take off his sandals. Both were standing on holy ground.

Similarly, while waiting for the coming of the Lord Jesus, we are expected to witness and make disciples. Many of us are scared to share the gospel, why? Our past experiences and failures may affect us to doubt or no courage to heed for God’s calling.
We need to be holy, set apart for the Lord to have courage, how? We should let the Holy Spirit to prevail over our life, mindset, and decisions.

It says in 1 Peter 1:13-16, ¹³Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming. ¹⁴As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. ¹⁵But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; ¹⁶ for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”

Someone said that the toughest enemy is our selves, our sinful nature.
Let the Lord circumcise our hearts. Let the Spirit of Christ be our guide. Let the fruit of the Holy Spirit be apparent in our life.
As we live our life, amidst struggles and challenges of life for no person alive has not encounter a problem, remember that God’s grace is abundantly sufficient for us all.
Each believer is called to get involved in the ministry, either part time or full time.
Life to its fullness can only be experience when we obey the Lord’s instruction.

Spend extended time with God and seek His enlightenment. Pray that He will give you strength and courage to obey your calling.

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