I've begun reading the book of Joshua in my time in God's word. The first 5 chapters shows that Moses has died and Joshua has assumed the mantel of leader for the Israelites. At this point, Israel has been wandering for 40 years in the wilderness and they have yet to enter the promised land. So they are preparing to enter their land, their home for the first time and the Jordan river is at flood stage. This is the first obstacle thrown at the Israelites as they prepare to enter their land, their home. A river at flood stage is angry; nothing can stand under the force that moving water brings to bear. Yet God is not deterred, the river is his servant and he stops the water so his people can cross the Jordan on dry land. As the people are crossing they are told to pick up 12 stones from the river bed and set them up on the other side as a reminder of what God did for them so they could cross the river. The point here is for the people to remember what God has done for them. This seems to be a problem. We have difficulty remembering that God is with us and remembering the great things he has done for us. Knowing all about our memory issues God essentially tells the people, take 12 stones that no human eye has ever seen and no human eye would ever see if I did not hold back the waters so you could cross. In the future, return to this spot at times and remember me and my power. Once every person is safely on the home side of the river, the waters return to their angry flood flowing stage.
Israel is now in hostile territory and they cannot turn back. It is not enough that they are on the home side of the river, they must first drive out those who currently reside there in order for the land to be theirs. They must fight. So the first thing God says is the men must be circumcised before they can go into battle. OK, I have an issue with this. My attitude would be why are we doing this? We are backed up against an angry, flood stage river and in front of us are people who have no intention of leaving their homes without a fight and you want to inflict severe pain on myself and all the men at the same time before we fight them? This makes no sense. Should the enemy attack while we are in pain we will be unable to defend ourselves. This battle plan is full of holes!
Maybe God is reminding them, this story, this fight is not about you, it's about me. Maybe God is teaching the Israelites your enemies cannot get to you without coming through me, and they'll never get through me. I believe God is using this story to teach me that I have to trust him in the same vulnerable way. I have to make myself vulnerable and weak and force myself to understand that my survival and my well being are in his hands as they have always been even when I didn't understand that. Maybe that is the point! Trust God to shield me if my heart belongs to him.
