Let God Do Something IN You Before He Does Something Through You

Joshua 5:2–3 (ESV) At that time the LORD said to Joshua, “Make flint knives and circumcise the sons of Israel a second time.” 3 So Joshua made flint knives and circumcised the sons of Israel at Gibeath-haaraloth.

If there is one moment in Joshua where we learn that God's ways are most definitely not our ways it is here in Joshua 5. Having freshly crossed the Jordan, the Israelite nation have come armed for battle and ready to do business with the nations their parents were far too intimidated by 40 years earlier. They had also been stuck in the vicious waiting game for 40 years after that previous generation's failure to believe. Now they are here at the cusp of war and occupation. But what does God have them do?

Get circumcised. 

Now, this whole schedule would have reminded them of the story concerning Jacob's sons who had the men of Shechem get circumcised deceitfully so they could overwhelm and kill them in retributive vengeance for the violation of their sister Dinah (see Genesis 34). How could they fight nations larger, stronger and more fortified than themselves if they were incapacitated from this extremely sensitive procedure?

Simple answer? God wants to do something IN His people before He wants to do something through His people. 

The seal of circumcision was for Israel the reminder that they belonged to God and He had favored them with His grace. In the New Testament, we get even further, more beautiful commentary in this regard:

Romans 4:11 (GW) Abraham’s faith was regarded as God’s approval while he was still uncircumcised. The mark of circumcision is the seal of that approval. Therefore, he is the father of every believer who is not circumcised, and their faith, too, is regarded as God’s approval of them.

Think of this. The mark of circumcision was to declare to Israel they were approved of by God Almighty, maker of heaven and earth. What did they need to fear concerning the odds against them if THE God was for them?

Now you think about this in your life. Whoever/whatever you fear more than God is actually your functional savior. It is the thing/person you are looking to that you've convinced will provide, security, opportunity, safety, value, acceptance and all the other things you should find in your Creator. 

Now the previous generation of Israel feared the nations who were larger than they were. They also feared how they looked to those nations all the while forgetting that God had chosen them BECAUSE they were smaller than those nations. Their taking on those larger nations was to be a testimony that all the things those nations served/feared were empty and useless. God was everything they needed.

Don't we do the same? We are convinced we need to look the part of a big-time player in whatever game we've chosen to play alongside others. We try to be the best or at least a better version of ourselves so we can keep up with the "Joneses." We aim for someone who is not really us to impress others who don't really care.

Perhaps what we really need is a somewhat painful procedure of the heart to remind us that we are God's. Maybe we need to stop and reevaluate where our trust really lies. Maybe we need our heart cut deeply (spiritual circumcision) so that we no longer look to vain things around us to provide what God can freely give us. 

Paul unpacks this in Romans 2:

Romans 2:29 (NLT) No, a true Jew is one whose heart is right with God. And true circumcision is not merely obeying the letter of the law; rather, it is a change of heart produced by the Spirit. And a person with a changed heart seeks praise from God, not from people.

It was ultimately important for Israel to get that God was enough before God gave them those lands. For they would still soon forget it and chase after the gods of those former nations. Their story is meant to teach us how to properly orient our lives. Let our hearts be rooted in His love and acceptance and definition of who we are. Then we can truly be free to be what He's made us to be.