At that time the LORD said to Joshua, "Make flint knives and circumcise the Israelites again." Joshua5:2
It's important to understand circumcision as it was practised by the Israelites. The surrounding nations practised circumcision at puberty as a rite of passage to manhood. When God asks Abraham to circumcise boys at eight days old it marks a significant shift in the meaning and purpose of circumcision: It was no longer a rite of passage to manhood, but a mark of belonging to the covenant people of God.
Imagine a group of young boys (Hittites, Perizites and Israelites) all swimming in a local waterhole (no swimming costumes) the boys from the other nations ask "Why have you already been cut?" The Israelite boys would answer "Because we belong to God!!"
During the Exodus through the desert, they had not performed any circumcisions. There was a whole generation of boys who were now men who weren't marked as belonging to God.
God re-establishes the practice of circumcision - a reminder that we belong to God. A reminder that tiny infants are included in the people of God long before they can reach out to Him. A reminder that even if we neglect this truth (as the Israelites did in the desert), the truth remains the same - we belong to Him!
Strategically this was not a good move. Circumcision is easier for eight-day-old infants than for grown men. Joshua effectively incapacitated his army for a couple days. It required courage and humility from the men to undergo the flint-knife snip snip.
But what a powerful statement of grace! What an incredible gesture of love! God says "You may have neglected the practice but for me the truth has remained the same." Just before the battle for the land begins the army is given a tangible reminder: "They belong to God."
==>Sometimes we forget who we are. We forget that we are children of the King and that we belong to Him. We have to come back to that core truth and sometimes coming back to that truth means that we have to humble ourselves and let something go. But God is there and waiting for us!!!
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Theo Groeneveld theo@emmanuel.org.za
You can see past EmmDevs at http://emmdev.blogspot.com/
