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“Roll Away the Reproach of Egypt”: Joshua 5:1-9

If you were about to go to war, what would you do to prepare for

battle? Last year, when tensions were high between North Korea
and America, I remember a few of us guys discussing how we
ought to prepare for an imminent attack. Of course, we would want
to be in the best physical condition. Some of us discussed
preparing a “Go bag”, with some important things including, such
as knives, etc. for survival.

But if you were preparing for war, would circumcision be one of

the things that come to mind? Oddly, during WWII, one thing that
the US army used to strongly encourage of its soldiers was
circumcision. Though this may seem like a weird preparation for
soldiers, at the time, it was thought that circumcision made a man
cleaner and prevented the spread of disease, which was an
important consideration in a time of war.

As a strange historical curiosity, the Korean army, and

subsequently, South Korean culture, also picked up the practice
of circumcision, something that is NOT practiced anywhere else in
Asia. In fact, it became so common in South Korea that to be an
uncircumcised male made you a bit of a social outcast. Receiving
circumcision became part of the identity of being a South Korean
man, especially in the military. Therefore, a strange ritual has
existed, called the “Whale hunt” (포경). Unlike in the West, in South
Korea, circumcision is performed, not on babies, but rather on
preteen boys, usually during the wintertime, and with only local
anesthesia. These boys can be seen in pain in the days after the
surgery.

Of course, to foreigners, this seems very odd, because

circumcision is something generally done to babies who can’t
remember it. The Lord commanded the Israelites to circumcise
their male infants on the 8th day after birth, pointing to the
resurrection of Christ, which happened on Sunday, the 8th day of
the week, because it inaugurated a new creation week in
redemptive history. And after the resurrection, the Apostle made
very clear in the book of the Galatians that circumcision was part of
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the old covenant administration that had passed away, and so it is

no longer necessary for Christians.

In today’s text, we read of Israel’s circumcision before they had

begun the conquest of Canaan. This also was a postponed
circumcision performed on young men, who experienced much
pain from it. Perhaps God’s command here seems very strange to
us, as it sometimes does. But why was circumcision necessary,
and how did it prepare them for battle? Rather than having health
benefits, we see that circumcision had great spiritual significance
that prepared Israel for holy war. And as every believer is a solider
in the Lord’s army, called to engage in spiritual warfare against
the enemies of God, Christians today can learn how God prepares
us for battle as well. Particularly, we will see today how this
circumcision of Israel points to both the circumcision of Christ on
the cross and to the spiritual circumcision of the heart.

Main idea: Circumcision is needed, before engaging in holy

war, to separate God’s people: (1) from the WORLD, (2) from
DISOBEDIENCE, and (3) from REPROACH.

I. Firstly, circumcision is needed before engaging in holy war

to separate God’s people from the WORLD:
5 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.

A. This separation of God’s people from the world was

demonstrated in the miraculous work of God to dry up the
waters of the Jordan, so that Israel could enter unhindered
into Canaan, causing heart-melting fear and a loss of spirit
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among the Canaanite kings; thus Israel was able to be

circumcised w/o worry of attack while they were indisposed.

1. These Canaanite kings typify the evil spiritual

authorities in this world, who live in fear of the mighty
power of God that defeat them through the true Israel,
Jesus Christ: James 2:19 You believe that God is one;
you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!

2. And yet, like the Canaanites, demonic powers do NOT

repent of their evil ways, even though they know that
they will surely loose.

B. After Israel crossed the Jordan, in order to signify their

separation as a holy people, the Lord instructed them to make
flint knives for circumcision.

1. Before God’s people engage in spiritual battle with

others, the knives must first be used upon ourselves.

2. The sword of the spirit, which is the word of God,

must first be used to circumcise our hearts before we
can use this sword upon anyone else:

Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is living and active,

sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the
division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow,
and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

C. This ritual cutting off from the world was done at a place

named Gibeath-haaraloth, which literally means, the “hill of
foreskins”: Scholars estimate that around 700,000 male
Israelites were circumcised, so that would have truly left
a hill of foreskins.

II. Secondly, circumcision is needed before engaging in holy

war to separate God’s people from DISOBEDIENCE.

A. Circumcision was absent for 40 years during the

wilderness wanderings due to unrepentant disobedience:
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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;

1. Only after the old generation, who did not obey the
voice of the Lord, had perished, and the people had left
the wilderness, were the children of Israel be circumcised
again.

2. That they perished for disobedience does NOT mean

that the Mosaic covenant was a meritorious covenant
of works, and that the older generation perished in the
wilderness for failing to earn a place in the promised
land by their own good works; otherwise the younger
generation too would have perished in the wilderness.

a. Deut 9:4 “Do not say in your heart, after the Lord
your God has thrust them out before you, ‘It is
because of my righteousness that the Lord has
brought me in to possess this land,’ whereas it is
because of the wickedness of these nations that the
Lord is driving them out before you. 5 Not because
of your righteousness or the uprightness of your
heart are you going in to possess their land, but
because of the wickedness of these nations the
Lord your God is driving them out from before you,
and that he may confirm the word that the Lord
swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to
Jacob.

b. The old generation perished for their

disobedience, because they did NOT repent and
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believe in the Lord as their Savior, as the sacrificial

system in the Mosaic law clearly taught them to:

Hebrews 3:19 So we see that they were unable

to enter because of unbelief.

3. Hence, despite what some of my dear Baptist brothers

teach, the wilderness wanderings show us that being
merely a physical descendent of Abraham did NOT
grant one the inheritance of the promised land.

a. In the old covenant, physical descent did NOT

guarantee physical blessing any more than physical
descent guarantees spiritual blessing in the new.

b. Rather a true and obedient faith has always

been needed to possess the blessings of the
covenant.

B. But human disobedience did not make void God’s

covenant promises: 6b 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.

1. At first glance, it seems as if God had sworn two oaths

that conflicted with each other: the Lord had sworn to
their fathers to give Israel a land flowing with milk and
honey, but he also swore to this disobedient generation
that he would not let them see that land.

2. Lest we misunderstand, let us remember that God

always keeps his covenant promises, and the covenant
of grace, that was first established with Abraham, cannot
be destroyed by man’s disobedience.

3. When one generation is disobedient, and does not

repent of their sins and listen to his voice, the Lord raises
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up another in their place: As God raised up a new Israel

in the place of the old Israel here in Joshua, so in the
new covenant, when the old Israel refused to believe in
Jesus as the Messiah, the Lord raised up a new Israel,
through the circumcision of Christ on the cross, the
Gentle church was raised up in the place of the old,
unbelieving physical Israel.

III. Thirdly, circumcision is needed before engaging in holy war

to separate God’s people from REPROACH.

A. As this separation from reproach was signified by painful

separating cuts on the most intimate part of their bodies, it
required time and space to heal: 8 When the circumcising of
the whole nation was finished, they remained in their places in
the camp until they were healed.

1. In this way, as they were about to begin holy war,

counterintuitively, God weakened his people: We call
this is the theology of the cross, that God conquers not
through fleshly human power, but rather through
weakness, and through this weakness, the power of God
is seen more clearly.

2. Through this hurt and weakness of circumcision, the

people were taught, before the conquest of Canaan
began, that they needed to depend on God for victory in
this spiritual battle, and not on their own strength or
power.

3. Likewise, we as believers, who are also called to

engage in spiritual warfare, are often weakened by God
in order to remind us that we cannot win the battle by our
own strength, but must trust wholly in God’s power for
victory over the world, the flesh, and the Devil: Indeed,
paradoxically, this weakening actually serves to make us
better soldiers in the Lord’s army than we were before.

B. Further, we are told that circumcision rolls away the

reproach of Egypt: 9 And the Lord said to Joshua, “Today I
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have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you.” And so

the name of that place is called Gilgal to this day.

1. This “reproach of Egypt” is a reference to the

accusations that God had saved them from Egypt only to
abandon them in the wilderness and not bring them into
the promised land, as they had said.

2. Likewise, we who are grafted into Israel by faith in

Christ also bear the reproach of the world: Like the
Egyptians, the world says that our faith in Christ is for
nought, and that we have left the pleasures and pursuits
of the world to die in the wilderness of a pointless
existence.

3. But as believers in Christ, we can claim that truth of

God, that he has rolled away the reproach which the
world has given us.

a. Through the circumcision of Christ on the cross,

and as we are united to him in that circumcision, the
reproach of the world is rolled away: (Col. 2)

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, 12 having been buried with him in baptism,
in which you were also raised with him through faith
in the powerful working of God, who raised him
from the dead. 13 And you, who were dead in your
trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh,
God made alive together with him, having forgiven
us all our trespasses, 14 by canceling the record of
debt that stood against us with its legal demands.
This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.

b. If you believe in Christ, you no longer need to be

ashamed: We no longer need to wallow in the
reproach of the world or the accusations of the
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Devil; therefore, we can now enter confidently in

spiritual battle.

Conclusion: Covenant Church, as we have seen, before entering in

battle, the people of God need to be circumcised in order to
separated from the world, disobedience, and reproach. So I ask
you today: Are you ready for battle? There is a great battle
between the forces of good and evil that no one can be neutral or
a mere bystander in. Are you prepared for this great spiritual war?
Have you been separated from the unbelieving world and guilt of
your sin? If not, like the Canaanites, you will only battle against
God, and this is a war you cannot win. Repent and trust in Christ,
and you too will be saved and made part of his holy and victorious
people.

But there is also a call here, in Joshua’s circumcision, for those

who already saved. For we too are called to take the circumcision
knife to ourselves and cut off sin in our lives by daily repentance.
So, Christians, are you preparing for battle? Are you cutting off
sin in your heart? Let us each examine our hearts. Are you cutting
off the lust, sloth, greed, wrath, envy, gluttony, and pride? This
is a painful process, but it is also empowered by the Holy Spirit.
And you can take courage that, through this painful and weakening
act, God is making you into his holy people who will take
possession of the heavenly Promised Land. In closing, hear this
exhortation from Deuteronomy 10:

12 “Now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of

you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to
love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and
with all your soul, 13 and to keep the commandments and
statutes of the Lord, which I am commanding you today for
your good? 14 Behold, to the Lord your God belong heaven
and the heaven of heavens, the earth with all that is in it. 15 Yet
the Lord set his heart in love on your fathers and chose their
offspring after them, you above all peoples, as you are this
day. 16 Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and
be no longer stubborn. 17 For the Lord your God is God of
gods and Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the
awesome God…