This sermon is from the Rev. Charles G. Dennison sermon archive, part of the “Misc. OT Sermons” series, and was preached at Grace Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Sewickley, PA, during a worship service on Sunday, November 20, 1988.
About this sermon
Four scenes in Joshua 5 all preach Christ crucified, which shows that the cross runs through every text of Scripture. Grace means entering a victory Christ has already won. Circumcision and Passover both point past themselves to that finished work.
Sermon transcript
This seems to be a way for jumping around. So tonight we did that this morning. We’re doing it again tonight. Joshua chapter five. hear the word of the Lord. Now, it came about when all the kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan to the West, all the kings of the Canaanites who were by the sea, heard how the Lord had dried up the waters of the Jordan before the sons of Israel until he had crossed, that their hearts melted and there was no spirit in them any longer. because of the sons of Israel. At that time, the Lord said to Joshua, make for yourselves with knives and circumcise again the sons of Israel the second time. So Joshua made for himself with knives and circumcised the sons of Israel and give the app are low.
And this is the reason why Joshua circumcised them. All the people who came out of Egypt who were males, all the men of war, died in the wilderness along the way after they came out of Egypt. For all the people who came out were circumcised, but all the people who were born in the wilderness along the way as they came out of Egypt had not been circumcised. For the sons of Israel walked forty years in the wilderness until all the nation, that is, the men of war who came out of Egypt, perished Because they did not listen to the voice of the Lord, whom the Lord had sworn that he would not let them see the land which the Lord had sworn to their fathers to give us a land flowing with milk and honey. And their children, whom he raised up in their place, Joshua circumcised. For they were uncircumcised because they had not circumcised them along the way.
Now, it came about when they had finished circumcising all the nation. there that they remained in their places in the camp until the appeal. Then the Lord said to Joshua, Today I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from so the name of the place is called Gilgal to this day.
While the sons of Israel camped at Gilgal, they observed the Passover on the evening of the fourteenth day of the month on the desert plains of Jericho. And on the day after the Passover, on that very day, they ate some of the produce of the land, unleavened cakes, and parched grain. And the manna ceased on the day after they had eaten some of the produce of the land. So the sons of Israel no longer had manna, but they ate some of the yield of the land of Cana during that year.
Now it came about when Joshua was at Jericho. that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, a man was standing opposite him with a sword drawn in his hand, and Joshua went to him and said to him, Are you for us or for our adversaries? And he said, No, rather I indeed come now as captain of the host of the Lord. Joshua fell on his face to the earth and bowed down and said to him, What has my Lord to say to his servant? And the captain of the Lord’s host said to Joshua, Remove your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is full. And Joshua did so. Our Lord, your word has gone out into the earth. Servants have been raised up by you in keeping with the prayers of your people. And as there is to be that harvest throughout the earth, there is also the harvest gathered here. So, Lord, now, by your word, life is imparted. Change comes. for those formerly under the shadow of death and life is granted.
We thank you, our God, for by grace we have been saved. Your word has come to us and we have received it, that because of the workings of your spirit in our hearts. And now our father We are delighted to live before you. And we pray that the new life granted us may be manifest to all. We pray, our Lord, that you will be gracious in forgiving our sins, for they are many. And that our eye may continually, by your word, be directed to the cross of Christ. What through Christ and his sacrifice. Now we have been forgiven. We have been reconciled unto you. With these things in mind, our God, we approach your word now, expecting fully your blessing for Jesus’ sake. Amen.
I’ve been interested in this passage for a couple of months now. I had the opportunity to hear a message preached on this text some time ago by a young man aspiring to the ministry, presenting himself before the presbytery as a candidate for licensure. I was quite distressed by his presentation, even though we did pass him. And the reason for that was because we heard so little about Christ. As we worked our way through the text with him, it became apparent to me that his background, his training with regard to preaching, had not emphasized the fact that we are compelled to proclaim our Savior. from that we find not only in the New Testament, but in the Old Testament as well.
I would hope that that is apparent to you. Those who have been with me for some time now realize that I am pressed to preach Christ and him crucified. I am pressed to preach the gospel from every text that we find in Scripture. And I hope that it is apparent to you as well, that I am not here imposing upon the text a meaning that it did not intend. But rather, to preach the text aright, we must relate that text to our Savior, to Christ.
My method may become predictable after a while. It might even put you to sleep. But I ask you to consider your Savior and ask yourself the question, can I actually doze off while my Savior is being presented to me? And that’s from the various portions of the Word of God. It is then your love of Christ that focuses your attention as you read various texts. It is your devotion to Him.
And the preacher or various preachers may well wear you out. You might become so used to their style and approach to things that it all becomes quite ordinary after a while. But please, as you think about that you think about various passages portions of Scripture. Be impressed. With your Savior. Hear him see him. And as you were alive to him real. How he is there revealed. For you.
Well here we are in the book of Joshua We actually have four episodes here for segments for divisions for this passage we read this evening. We have, first of all, verse one, which tells us something about the stress of the Amorites and the Canaanites. Then versus two through nine, which tell us about the renewal of the covenant. and the circumcision that takes place there at Gilgal. Thirdly, in verses ten through twelve, we have the renewal of the Passover or the sacramental meal. And then, fourthly, verses thirteen through fifteen, the introduction of this mysterious figure the one who identifies himself as the captain of the post of the Lord.
At each juncture in this passage, we will be confronted with the old as we are face-to-face with the new. Now, if that doesn’t bring before you the consideration of Christ. It certainly should. For all of these segments, each in turn, will present you with that finally to be realized in the ministry of Jesus Christ, your Lord.
First of all, the distress of the Amorites and the Canaanites. We read of how they have heard of the coming of the sons of Israel. We read of how their hearts melted and there was no longer any spirit in them. These Amorites of Canaanites, here spoken of, are those tribes in which evil, if you will, is being perfected. In these tribes, we are seeing evil rising to the heights of remarkable consistency. As if there were never more evil people upon the face of the Earth.
You remember what is said to Abraham in Genesis 15 when God is making covenant with him. He previews for Abraham what is going to take place for him and his children. As he makes mention of the land that is promised to Abraham that land of Canaan, in which Abraham is presently a pilgrim and sojourner.
He tells him that the wickedness, the evil of the Amorites, is not yet complete. So the Amorite tribes, the Canaanite tribes, now have reached that point in which there is, if you will, a perfection of evil. a perfection of evil discernible in them. Well, as I said, each of these segments of this chapter will push us on to further consideration. For as there has been this perfection of evil in these trials, there is then a comparison that is established between them and the demonic forces that stand behind them. We think of the quaking of these tribes as the sons of Israel, or the sons of God, enter into the inheritance promised. But we also think of the shaking, the quaking of demonic forces as the kingdom of God makes its entrance into this land years later. And those demonic forces are given voice. Spare us. We recognize who you are. We tremble before you. The day has not yet arrived. Has it? are completely and utterly overthrown.
Thus it is that these tribes are brought into line with forces and powers which stand behind them. These tribes are speaking of a perfection of evil. and comparable to demonic forces which shudder at the advance of the kingdom of God, Jesus Christ at the head. What about us as we translate these matters into circumstances which we face.
We don’t wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, spiritual wickedness in high places. Ephesians chapter six, verse twelve. The old, the old here preaching to even those who experienced it then, of something yet to be realized, and that coming in the ministry of Jesus Christ for the benefit of the people identified with him. With that one, with his kingdom, an entourage of those united to him by faith, making advance not against bastions in which flesh and blood dwell, but making advance against the heavens themselves, in which now wickedness has been entrenched, but is to be displaced due to the marvelous work of our Savior. We may well find ourselves trembling before forces arrayed against us, flesh and blood. But the message you see of the New Testament is spiritual wickedness has now been discomfited by the advance of our Lord.
And you always reason from the greater to the lesser. If, in fact, the spiritual forces have been discomfited, and we need not fear them, they being the greater, then you need not fear flesh and blood arrayed against you. Why are you afraid of mere men? You need not even fear devils. Alright, the first installment from chapter five, the second being the account of the circumcision at Gilgal, verses two through nine.
Once more, the experience itself, we won’t reiterate the experience, we won’t go over it again, we’ve read it, But you see, that experience presses us on to something else. There’s a marvelous complication within the text. You see, those who have received the sign of the covenant, those who are identified to be identified by it, are here very realistically portrayed for us, and actually truly as the uncircumcised. The circumcised are the uncircumcised. Now, there’s a definite literalness to all of this. They were to be circumcised, they weren’t, and they have become the uncircumcised. There’s a spiritual lesson, of course, being read out to us here. And if those who were the circumcised were in fact the uncircumcised, those who were to be the purified, those who were to be the holy, are the unsanctified, those who are unclean. So we move from the old into the new.
Given to us here, as the covenant is renewed, and the nation submits itself afresh to the covenantal right. any later day. There will be a nation of the circumcised. But though they bear that mark of the covenant, the truth of the matter is that they are the uncircumcised in light of the arrival of the final administration of God with regard to his There is not merely then that transaction at the Jordan in the days of Joshua, there is that transaction at the Jordan in the days of John the Baptist, in the times of Christ himself. And in that time, though circumcised, the nation will in fact be, spiritually speaking, uncircumcised. It will be necessary for them to submit to a new ministration. By which, then, their sanctification, their separation unto God, will be declared.
We are told here in Chapter five, that it was at this time that the reproach of Egypt was removed from Israel. But it says, if Egypt itself is able to move from place to place in the considerations of the word, not just that geographical land there to the east and in the southern part of the Mediterranean world. But that land of Egypt able them to move into the territories of Canaan itself. There is a reproach yet of Egypt that is resident within the land of promise. Israelites become Egyptians.
They in need of plenty and we do. Beyond them, that land which itself is corrupt and the administration appropriate to it. We are brought to a greater inheritance, one demanding a final administration through sacramental song. On to our participation in the realities of. As we have moved from the circumcision to circumcision. In the framework of this older administration, so now there is that movement from circumcision. As indicative of that entire older administration to baptism. And what that signifies for us. a cleansing appropriate for entrance into the final inheritance of God. And that effected by one none other than Christ and the spirit of our Christ on our behalf. Installment to circumcision at Gilgal. installment three, the Passover versus ten through twelve.
We are moving from meal to meal. Progressive. In the very best. There was that meal in Egypt as the nation was delivered. But it seems that they did not keep the meal. During the forty years of the wanderings, they move from meal to meal. There is then that celebration of the Passover as they enter into the land of promise. Moving from meal to meal, in the interim there comes that provision for them. the man of supply. All of this typical of the experience which we ourselves have.
Are we not also moving from meal to meal? Has not our Lord told us he will not celebrate the feast again with us until he celebrates it anew in the kingdom of his Father? He will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the realization of that time of the great feast celebrated above. We too move from meal to meal from the Passover experience of Jesus Christ on the eve of his crucifixion, to the day in which the feast will be renewed in the kingdom of God above. And until we come to that time, there will be that meal set for us, or that provision rather, that reminds us of the origin of the blessings meted out for us. testifying as well to our inheritance of God.
So, we move from meal to meal. We move from circumcision to baptism. We move from those physical enemies to the spiritual enemies. All of that being spelled out for us as we work our way through Joshua chapter five, but so as to leave us then. With the impact, the meaning, the significance of all of this, we don’t pass any further along in the story until we are confronted with that one through whom all of these things will be realized. We come to verses thirteen through fifteen, and here so wonderfully, so compellingly, our Lord is portrayed for us. It won’t be just a matter of us moving from enemies in flesh and blood to enemies in the spiritual realm. It won’t be merely a matter of us moving from the right of circumcision, a bloody right at that, to the right of baptism.
Neither a movement from one meal to the other But this Joshua, as wonderful as he is, must, in the end, give way to another. And so there is the confrontation, as the chapter ends, between this Joshua, appropriate to the administration of Israel, appropriate to an administration of types and shadows, he then giving way. to the beauty, the magnificence of this one to whom he points.
It is an apocalyptic scene, if you will. A vision, a vision read out before Joshua as he contemplates the city of Jericho there before him. That city speaking to him of all the force and power, the strength, the might of the enemy. How, in fact, is this nation of Israel to displace those who are in place? By what means will Victory be gained.
The man appears opposite him with sword in hand. Joshua approaches with the question, are you for us or for our adversaries? Then comes the astounding answer. Neither. Here, absolute allegiances are testament. The truth, veracity of perspective is tried. Your understanding, it is scrutinized. We always asking the question, well, Lord, are you on our side or are you not? to which comes the reply. You have a question a little mixed up, don’t you? The question isn’t whether I am on your side, it’s whether you’re on my side.
So this is a battle in which a nation is being established in a particular part of the world, which it set its eye upon, as if it was just one more marauding band taking up residence in some place it hadn’t before, as if it’s something that we can consider along the lines of how nomadic tribes eventually settled down, found a place for themselves in the world and society progressed, civilization was advanced. The one who is operative here is the Lord. The one who is operative here is the Christ. For his purposes, his plan, his intention, all of these things are working themselves out.
The question is, are you on his side? Have you in fact surrendered yourself before him? Will you surrender after the manner of Joshua here? Who do you think you are? You actually consider yourself to be one, even as men would assess it. You actually consider yourself to be one as great as Joshua. Joshua is confronted with this one, and he falls down prostrate before him. What is your attitude towards him? How do you react when the Lord Jesus Christ is revealed to you?
I keep my seat. I’m not moved at all. I’ve heard it all before. If Joshua falls down, As if one as great as Joshua falls down. Have there been times in prayer for you when you felt, look I can’t get low enough? Maybe you said, I don’t need it. But even that didn’t seem to happen. And before you were done with your prayers, you found yourself stretched out literally on the floor, prostrated before your Savior.
The one who confronts Joshua here identifies himself as the captain of the hosts of the Lord. Now, Joshua could have said, Well, I’m sorry, you’re mistaken. I happen to be the captain. I happen to be the captain of the host of the Lord. But Joshua, even at this point in redemptive history, understand the real life.
What about the battle that is coming? Will it be won by the armies of Israel? No. Even that is subjected to its own convolution. The battle will not be won by Israel. In fact, they don’t do anything. All they do is march around the walls. All they do is shout and blow trumpets, as if they were attended to some other army, an army not seen, and that’s precisely the point.
The victory will be won, will be accomplished by this one who has identified himself to Joshua as the captain of the host of the Lord. And Israel and Joshua, this Joshua, will merely enter into that victory. And that is what then, for the experience of Israel and for the experience of the Church, spells grace.
What about the church’s struggles? What about your struggles? Take it on the grandest scale of the church. The church makes too much of herself if she fails to understand that it is merely a matter of her entering into the triumph that is already affected in Christ.
That is how the Apostle Paul is able to say In Colossians 1.23, that the gospel has already been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, as if it was an accomplished fact. All he is doing is entering into the accomplishment already taken.
You in your own personal life, why do you strain? Why do you struggle? Why do you battle so? to the point where you give up five years ago, you surrender to make any difference. I’m going to keep going to church. I’m going to keep playing this role out. I believe Christ is, in fact, the son of God. I will hold on to that.
But as far as this battle with sin is concerned, forget it. I’m not going to do it anymore. For you on a personal level, it’s no different than it is for the church at that level of the church. The victories and found in your personal struggling and your personal agonizing and all of the plans that you come up with renovating your life and turning over new leaves here and there. It simply isn’t going to. It simply isn’t going to happen. You’re not going to be able to do anything. The victory is already won.
The testimony to your humility is that you enter into the triumph that is already accomplished for you, and that’s how you give Christ glory. That’s what he wants from you. No amount of your strivings or planning is of any value against fleshly indulgence. That’s the conclusion of Colossians 2.
The only thing of value is for you to enter into the victory and triumph of Christ, so that you in all humility may affirm that it is all of grace. Now if you want, I don’t want to become a champion of the victorious life syndrome, If you are sensitive to a lack of power in your life with regard to temptation, if you are having difficulties, this is the message, and it’s gospel. It’s all of grace. Let me tell you, it’s good news. It’s good news. prefigured for us here in Joshua chapter five.
It’s spelled out for us episodically, if you will, as we move from the beginning of that chapter to its conclusion and the end, focusing upon this mysterious figure. And in the fullness of God’s revelation, we know who he is. Jesus Christ, the son of God, the captain of the hosts aboard. whose victory for us is efficacious, and we praise him for this. Let’s pray.
How we thank you, our God, for the revelation given us through your servants of old, and your servant who gave to us this record of the times of Joshua. How wonderfully, marvelously your spirit is at work to open our eyes so that these stories are opened up to us and we are able to perceive in them the pattern of the passage of the old or the passing of the old and the dawning of the new. How wonderfully, then, the gospel, the New Age, Jesus Christ, our Savior, are portrayed for us. May we, Lord, in keeping with the power found with you, live in the fullness of that revelation that has been given to us, so that despite the struggles, we will realize that victory is won. And by grace we have been invited to participate in that triumph. We thank you our God. Build our faith
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