Joshua 5:13-15 - The Most Important Thing

Before we look at these last three verses of Joshua 5, we need to review what the Lord is doing to prepare His people Israel to be victorious in conquering the Jericho’s and fighting the giants in the land of Canaan. The first thing He required was that the men be circumcised that had been born in the wilderness over the past forty years. God commanded that they submit to this painful surgery in order to restore their covenant relationship (Joshua 5:2-9).   God gave circumcision as the sign of the covenant to Abraham and his descendants (Genesis 17:9-14, 23-27). Through this ritual the Jews became a "marked people" because they belonged to the true and living God. This meant that they were under obligation to obey Him. The mark of the covenant reminded them that their bodies belonged to the Lord and were not to be used for sinful purposes.   If we are to be victorious as believers, we must always remember that we belong to the Lord! We are His people and the sheep of His pasture. This means that we should have full assurance or our salvation. The whole book of 1 John was written for this purpose. We can know that we are truly His children because of the truth of His Word. “These things I have written to you who believe on the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life…” (1 John 5:11-13). We also know that we are saved because of our love for God and one another (1 John 3:16-23). We have this wonderful assurance of our salvation because we are obedient and we keep His commandments (1 John 3:24), and His Spirit bear witness to this in our hearts.   Before Israel was ready for battle, they also needed to be reminded of God’s goodness and mercy to them! They did this by observing the Passover! The Passover was a regular reminder of how God in His mercy and goodness provided a sacrifice of an innocent lamb’s blood to deliver them from the death angel. Whenever we begin to engage in spiritual warfare as new believers, the devil attacks us with his lies. He jumps on our shoulders and whispers in our ears, “If God really loved you and was good, He wouldn’t allow all these bad things to happen to you.” The devil wants you to question God’s love and His goodness.   My friend, God proved His love and goodness to us with the cross of His Son Jesus Christ (John 3:16; Romans 5:8). That is why we regularly observe the LORD’s Supper in our worship services at church! We can so easily get overwhelmed with problems and become discouraged and need this reminder of God’s goodness and love for us!   Now in Joshua 5:13-15, we find another very important and crucial affirmation that will give us confidence in facing the challenges in our spiritual warfare! The LORD reaffirmed His presence to Joshua! Joshua had read in the Book of the Law what Moses had said to the Lord after Israel had made the golden calf: "If Your Presence does not go with us, do not bring us up from here" (Ex. 33:15). The Lord had promised to be with Joshua just as He had been with Moses (Josh. 1:5), and now He reaffirmed that promise in a personal way. Like his predecessor, Joshua refused to move until he was sure the Lord's presence was with him.   This paragraph records one of the preincarnation appearances of the Lord Jesus Christ recorded in the Old Testament. To Abraham the pilgrim, the Lord came as a traveler to share in a friendly meal (Gen. 18:1-8). To Jacob the schemer, He came as a wrestler to bring him to the place of submission (32:24-32). The three Hebrew men met Him as their companion in the furnace of fire (Dan. 3:25), and Joshua met Him as the Captain of the Lord's armies.   Our Lord always comes to us when we need Him and in the way we need Him. Jesus promised that He would never leave us or forsake us. And when we are assured that His presence is with us, we have nothing to fear or worry about! His presence in our lives and in our churches is the most important thing!!!!   God bless!