Joshua 5

The Explanation

Israel has just crossed the Jordan River on dry ground. The kings on the other side hear about it, and their courage melts away like wax near a fire. You would think Joshua marches straight to Jericho to attack. But God says something surprising first: circumcise the people.

Circumcision was the sign of the covenant, the special promise God made with Abraham long before. Every Israelite man was supposed to carry this sign in his body. But here is the strange part: nobody born in the desert during the last forty years had received it. An entire generation grew up without the sign of the promise. Why? Because their parents had disobeyed God at Kadesh Barnea and were told they would die in the wilderness without seeing the promised land. It seems that during those wandering years, something in Israel's obedience simply stalled.

So now, right on the edge of enemy territory, with no army protection because every man is temporarily wounded and healing, Joshua obeys God and does it anyway. God calls this "rolling away the reproach of Egypt." The shame of the past is over. This is why the place gets the name Gilgal, which sounds like the Hebrew word for "rolled."

Then they celebrate Passover, remembering the night God rescued their ancestors from Egypt. The very next day, the manna, the bread from heaven that fed them every single morning for forty years, simply stops. They eat what the land itself produces now. One era ends, another begins.

Finally, Joshua looks up and sees a man with a drawn sword. He is not one of Israel's soldiers. Joshua asks straight out, "Are you for us, or for our enemies?" The answer is unexpected: "No; but I have come now as commander of Yahweh's army." This is no ordinary soldier. Joshua falls to the ground and worships him, and the man tells Joshua to take off his sandals, because he is standing on holy ground.

What Does This Mean?

This chapter is about being ready before the fighting even starts. God does not send Israel into Jericho with swords first. He deals with their identity first. Who are they? A people marked by God's promise, no matter how long they wandered.

It is worth sitting with the honesty here. The text does not hide that a whole generation grew up carelessly, without the sign God had given their fathers. Nobody explains exactly why it slipped for forty years. The text simply tells us it happened, and now it gets fixed before anything else.

And that scene with the commander of Yahweh's army raises a real question the text leaves open. Who exactly is this? He is not called an angel here. He accepts worship from Joshua, and he speaks of holy ground the way God does elsewhere in Scripture. Many readers through history have wondered whether this is God himself appearing in a form Joshua could stand face to face with. The chapter does not spell it out. It leaves us, like Joshua, simply removing our sandals.

The Common Thread

The sign of circumcision pointed back to God's promise to Abraham, that he would have descendants and land and blessing. Generations later, that promise is still alive, still being kept, even after failure and wandering. God does not throw out his covenant when people stumble. He rolls away the shame and moves forward.

The mysterious commander with the sword also points forward. Long after Joshua, Israel would keep meeting God in unexpected, holy moments that made people fall on their faces. The New Testament tells us that God finally came all the way, not just standing before someone with a sword, but living as a person among us in Jesus. Joshua had to take off his sandals because the ground was holy. Later, God himself walked on ordinary ground, among ordinary people, and made it holy just by being there.

For You

Maybe you have things in your life that got put off for a long time, promises or habits or apologies you meant to deal with but never did. Gilgal is a reminder that God is patient, but he also wants us to actually deal with what is unfinished, not forever, but now, before the next big thing happens. What is one thing you have been putting off that you could bring to God honestly this week?

Talk About It

Why do you think an entire generation grew up without being circumcised? Does the text give us the full answer, or does it stay a bit mysterious?

Joshua asked the commander, "Are you for us, or for our enemies?" Why do you think the answer was neither yes nor no?

Praying Together

Lord, thank you that you keep your promises even when we are slow or forgetful. Help us not to put off the things we know we should bring to you. Make us willing, like Joshua, to take off our sandals and recognize when we are standing on holy ground. Amen.