Joshua 5 Commentary

Joshua 5 Commentary

The battle of the two city-states, Jericho and Ai, is detailed and communicates key thoughts on Israel’s conquest of the Promised Land. That is the subject of the next four chapters.

But first, we look at Chapter 5, which begins by discussing the reaction of the Amorite peoples as Israel advances. The circumcision at Gilgal and the first-ever Passover event in the Promised Land are also detailed. Manna stops, and importantly, Chapter 5 glances at the appearance of a mystical figure who identifies himself as the Commander of the armies of the LORD.

Miracles are an important armory in our battles. See how the crossing of the Jordan River on dry ground creates fear in the enemy camp! It does make sense to pray for things like this.

Circumcision was a contractual condition in the Abrahamic covenant with the LORD. The nation in transit didn’t have chance to attend to this very important ritual. And the LORD understood.

But now that the community was beginning to settle, the LORD demanded that Israel observe this ritual. By this ritual, the LORD rolled away the reproach of Egypt from Israel. Does this statement from the LORD give us a better understanding of this ritual?

The supply of manna stopped with the first harvest of the land. The weaning process was cut-throat! The LORD doesn’t have such fancy management terms like ‘phased implementation’. Israel needed to fend for herself henceforth. Full stop.

And who is this man with a drawn sword who attracts the attention of Israel’s Commander-in-Chief? An Angel? The LORD Jesus Christ pre-incarnate? For one thing, we know angels never accepted worship!

The instruction to Joshua to take off his sandals draws comparisons with the “Burning bush” experience. The LORD has shown up as the man of war! Let the conquest begin! He, and not Joshua, is the real Commander-in-Chief.

“Are you for us or for our enemies?” Neither. The answer is very interesting. Don’t ask your boss stupid questions! This seems to be a military response to Joshua’s question. You simply answer, “Sir, yes, Sir”. Obedience. Simply obey.

In the next chapter, we shall see very ‘silly’ instructions to overthrow Jericho. Joshua should simply obey. What a word for the saint today!

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