“Back to Gilgal” (Joshua 5:1-9)

Gilgal

Some places in our lives are special to us. If you were born here, Houlton or Hodgdon is a very special place. If you came to Christ here in this place, this church is a very meaningful place. For Israel, Gilgal was a very special place. It was the place that Israel kept coming back to while they were conquering the Promised Land. It was their base camp (ex. “Then Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, to the camp at Gilgal.” Joshua 10:15, 43)

Why is Gilgal so special to the Israelites? It is because there they experienced God personally for the first time. As we know, the Israelites in the Book of Joshua are the second generation. The first generation who had a Red Sea experience all died after forty years in the wilderness. This second generation always heard about it from their parents, but now they themselves cross the Jordan miraculously. As soon as the priests’ feet touch the water, the flow of water is cut off upstream and the river stands up like a wall. After this, God commands them to set up the twelve stones in the middle of the Jordan at the very spot. The purpose is this: “[God] did this so that all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the Lord is powerful and so that you (Israel) might always fear the Lord your God” (Joshua 4:24). Every time the Israelites went to war, they first passed this place and looked at the twelve stones and remembered. After the war, they returned to this place and remembered God. They kept coming back to this place, Gilgal.

 

At Gilgal

At Gilgal, not only does God command his people to set up the twelve stones externally, but also he commands them to be circumcised. What is circumcision? It signifies purity. It signifies the removal of sin and holiness to the Lord. We need to remember that right now the Israelites are in wartime. They already sent spies to Jericho, and anytime now the war may begin. God knows this, but still he commands the Israelites to be circumcised first. That means they are to disarm themselves and completely vulnerable for several days. That means they are to be exposed to the risk of the enemy’s surprise attack. We can learn a very important lesson from this: It teaches us that as we move forward, what we really need is more than just creative ideas and strategies. What we really need is purity and holiness to God. What we really need is an obedient heart.

Under Joshua’s leadership, the Israelites obey God. They are circumcised and consecrate themselves. And they celebrate the Passover and remember God. Then, what happens? God intervenes in the battles and fights for Israel. We say, “The battle belongs to God.” But how many times do we fight the battles with our own strength and wisdom? When the Israelites were circumcised and consecrated themselves, God did intervene and fight for them. It was God who knocked down the wall of Jericho and gave the city. It was God who stopped the sun and the moon for Israel. And it was God who hurled large hailstones and destroyed the enemies. The Israelites didn’t need to fight. God did it for them. Perhaps you might have heard a Haitian proverb, “Mountains beyond mountains.” It means as you solve one problem, another will present itself. So how can we fight “mountains beyond mountains” of challenges in life? We cannot. In fact, we don’t need to fight. Our part is to repent and fully rely on God. When we consecrate ourselves and trust in God, God works for us.

 

Back to Gilgal

The Israelites keep coming back to Gilgal, their spiritual base camp. They keep returning to Gilgal where they encountered “my God” for the first time. They keep returning to Gilgal to remember what the Lord has done for them, how he brought them into the Promised Land with his mighty hand, and how he did save them and fight for them. The word “Gilgal” sounds like the Hebrew for “rolled.” In Joshua 5:9 when the Israelites are circumcised, the Lord says to Joshua, “Today I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you.” So this place is called Gilgal since then. God wants us to come back to our Gilgal. God wants us to remember what he has done for us, how he saved us, how he raised us, how he healed us, how he was extremely patient with us who were ungrateful, and how he has helped us up to this point.

The Apostle Paul always remembered his Gilgal and kept coming back to this place. As he was preaching the gospel, he went through countless hardships. If he wanted, he could persuade people with words of human wisdom. But he said, “I resolved to know nothing (while I was with you) except Jesus Christ and him crucified” (1 Cor 2:2), because he found his source of strength and hope in Christ alone. At the first opportunity he always preached Christ and him crucified. There were two particular occasions when Paul had a great opportunity to speak for himself – before the people of Israel (Acts 22) and before King Agrippa (26). But both times, he didn’t speak for himself to be released. Instead, he did bear witness to Christ whom he met on the way to Damascus. Damascus was Paul’s Gilgal. He revisited this place over and over again and remembered the first hour he believed.

 

Remember Ai

There was one single battle in which Israel was defeated. The battle of Ai was the only defeat of Israel. Why were the Israelites defeated? Achan took some of the things devoted to God. But that was not the only reason. The more significant reason is “pride” among the whole community of Israel. You see, as they were going to war, they said to Joshua, “Not all the people will have to go up against Ai. Send two or three thousand men to take it and do not weary all the people, for only a few men are there” (Joshua 7:3). Somehow they totally forgot how the city of Jericho was captured. They forgot how God did fight for them. And they thought, “I defeated Jericho. And I can do it again for the city of Ai.” They forgot their Gilgal. The moment they forgot, they were completely defeated. There is a power in remembrance.

 

Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish

At 2005 Standford commencement address Steve Jobs said, “Stay Hungary. Stay Foolish. And I have always wished that for myself. And now, as you graduate to begin anew, I wish that for you. Stay hungry. Stay foolish.” For Christians, we may say, “Stay humble. Stay weak. Stay dependent on God. Keep coming back to Gilgal.”

Yesterday my family and I celebrated Lydia’s 14^th birthday. About 14 years ago, it was not long after Joyce and I came to the US. At that time we were strangers and foreigners in this country. We had no family, no money, nothing. We were living on a seminary campus. Every time the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays came, the school was empty. Only a few international students remained. Joyce was pregnant. We were lonely. All we had was God and the church family. Around that time, God put one particular hymn into our hearts. The song goes like this:

 

Since Christ my soul from sin set free,

This world has been a Heaven to me;

And ’mid earth’s sorrows and its woe,

’Tis Heaven my Jesus here to know.

 

O Hallelujah, yes, ’tis Heaven,

’Tis Heaven to know my sins forgiven;

On land or sea, what matters where?

Where Jesus is, ’tis Heaven there.

 

Yesterday we sang this song together. (During the offertory my family and I will sing this song.)

 

Let us go back to our Gilgal. New Year is a perfect time to do this. Now is the time to revisit our Gilgal and reexamine our relationship with Christ. Now is the time to put off our old self and consecrate ourselves. Now is the time to remember what Christ has done for us and restore our first love. May we stay hungry, stay foolish always.