What is the meaning of Joshua 5:9? Then the LORD said to Joshua Joshua hears the divine voice after leading Israel through circumcision and the first Passover in Canaan (Joshua 5:2-8). Just as God spoke to Moses at pivotal moments (Exodus 3:7; Deuteronomy 31:23), He now addresses Joshua personally, underscoring that leadership success flows from listening obedience (Joshua 1:7-9). The same Lord who split the Jordan (Joshua 3:13-17) keeps guiding His people step-by-step. Today I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt “Reproach” points to the shame of slavery, wilderness failures, and uncircumcision that left Israel looking little different from the nations (Exodus 12:48; Numbers 14:11). • Circumcision renewed the covenant promise first given to Abraham (Genesis 17:10-14). • Passover remembered deliverance from Egypt’s bondage (Exodus 12:13-14). • Both rites marked a fresh start—no longer defined by what Pharaoh did to them, but by what God had done for them. Paul later echoes the same liberation in Christ: “We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death…” (Romans 6:4). from you. The removal is personal as well as national. Each man who submitted to the knife experienced God’s restoring grace (Colossians 2:11). • The generation that doubted died in the wilderness (Numbers 14:29-30); this new generation bears no lingering stigma. • Identity shifts from “former slaves” to “covenant sons” (2 Corinthians 5:17; 1 Peter 2:10). So that place has been called Gilgal “Gilgal” sounds like “to roll,” turning geography into testimony. Memorial names keep truth alive (Genesis 28:19; Joshua 4:20). Gilgal becomes Israel’s launch point for conquest (Joshua 10:7) and renewal (1 Samuel 11:14-15), reminding them every time they camped there that God had already removed their shame. Bullet-points of Gilgal’s role: • Base of operations throughout Joshua’s campaigns (Joshua 14:6). • Site of corporate worship and leadership gatherings. • Constant visual of God’s completed work—encouraging future obedience. to this day. The phrase anchors the event in Israel’s collective memory, affirming its historical reality for succeeding generations (Deuteronomy 34:10; 2 Kings 17:34). Just as parents told children about the Jordan’s stones (Joshua 4:6-7), they could now point to Gilgal as proof that divine redemption is permanent and tangible. summary God’s word to Joshua announces a decisive break with the past: the shame of Egypt is literally “rolled away.” Through covenant obedience—circumcision and Passover—Israel steps into Canaan with a cleansed identity and a fresh mission. Gilgal’s very name embodies that freedom, standing as a perpetual reminder that when the Lord removes reproach, it stays gone. |
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