Understanding: The Israelites were a slave people in Egypt for about 280 years. Generations of increasingly grinding slavery had seeped into the way they thought and how they saw themselves. Even when Moses came and led them out of Egypt immediately after the Passover their thinking did not change much. The period between the deliverance out of Egypt until they stood on the border of the Promised Land was filled with the miraculous leading and provision of God on a daily basis - they had seen more of God's activity and heard more about His character than any other people on the earth. So when they rebelled and refused to go in to the Promised Land out of fear and a lack of trust in God ... God said that He would not work with that generation. You can take the slaves out of slavery ... but it is another matter to take the slave mentality out of an ex-slave.
Forty years later, now with Joshua leading, the people of Israel crossed over (on dry land) the river Jordan in the flood season.
God is Mighty. Miracle enough you would think, but what happened next was breathtaking. Joshua's leadership confirmed by God miraculous provision he commands the army to be circumcised.
God is Faithful. He renews the covenant He had made with their forefathers [v2-3], He says that they are included, welcomed, that they are the people of God. They in turn, they choose to trust God and the first act of this army in enemy territory is to incapacitate themselves and to rely on the protection of God.
God is Forgiving. Next He 'rolled away the reproach of Egypt' [v9]. Slave mentality is poisonous to spiritual and mental health. He says that there heritage of slavery is superseded by the inheritance He has promised them. They are given a fresh start, a clean slate, a second chance. They are forgiven.
God is Deliverer. Keeping the Passover (this is only the second time it has been celebrated since the actual event in Egypt), or eating the Passover [v10] reminded them that God had rescued them from Egypt, delivered them from slavery and become their Saviour.
God is Provider. The next day the manna stopped [v12]. This daily miracle had become routine, taken for granted, monotonous even. God changes the way He provides for His people underlining again that He is the one who meets all their needs.
In twelve short verses of simple narrative an enormous payload of spiritual dynamite is delivered!
Application: Before we became Christians the Bible says that we were slaves to sin. It is normal for new believers to bring their 'slave mentality' into the Kingdom with them. The trouble is, if the various sorts of wrong thinking are not addressed, they simply persist into later life. Sometimes people who have been Christians for many years are still left struggling with thought patterns and beliefs that were part of the original mental 'baggage' they imported into the Kingdom of God when they arrived.
Q. Can you relate to this? Are there still areas of 'wrong thinking' from the past you are struggling with? What is the Holy Spirit highlighting to you that is His priority for addressing now?
In their early years in the Promised Land, the Israelites kept returning to Gigal (meaning roll/rolling). Here they were reminded of the miraculous crossing of the Jordan river (the 12 stones), their rededication to the Covenant (near the Hill of Foreskins), the rolling away of their past reproach (it was the place where that happened), their first celebration of the Passover and God's continual and miraculous provision. This was a good place for them!
Q. Where is a good 'place' for you? This may be a literal place of answered prayer, or certain friends who are simply good for you or even a spiritual journal that reminds you of God's provision and faithfulness ... it may even be something else ... but where/who/what is it for you?
Finally, please pray for us as a church that God has called to move forward together. We need to be good at protecting one another, watching each others backs, thinking the best of each other and watching out for the schemes of the enemy that will tend to isolate individuals and rob them of trust. God has called us to be family, that is a high calling and a major commitment and is only possible if we repeatedly choose to love one another :)
