1. Ready To Conquer Joshua 5:1-15 08/05/1007 Dr. Dane Boyles

2. Ready To Conquer
1 Now when all the Amorite kings west of the Jordan and all the Canaanite kings along the coast heard how the LORD had dried up the Jordan before the Israelites until we had crossed over, their hearts melted and they no longer had the courage to face the Israelites. (Joshua 5:1, NIV)

3. Ready To Conquer
8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD. (Isa 55:8, NIV)

4. Ready To Conquer
3 For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does.
4 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. (2 Cor 10:3-4, NIV)

5. Ready To Conquer
We all have battles to fight, and if we expect to overcome and achieve the victory, then we must learn to make the right kind of spiritual preparations.
That is what this passage is all about.
The lessons taught here can help prepare us for victory in our walk with Jesus.

6. Ready To Conquer Renewing their Covenant with the Lord.
2 At that time the LORD said to Joshua, “Make flint knives and circumcise the Israelites again.”
3 So Joshua made flint knives and circumcised the Israelites at Gibeath Haaraloth. (Joshua 5:2-3, NIV)

7. Ready To Conquer
4 Now this is why he did so: All those who came out of Egypt-all the men of military age-died in the desert on the way after leaving Egypt.
5 All the people that came out had been circumcised, but all the people born in the desert during the journey from Egypt had not. (Joshua 5:4-5, NIV)

8. Ready To Conquer
6 The Israelites had moved about in the desert forty years until all the men who were of military age when they left Egypt had died, since they had not obeyed the LORD. For the LORD had sworn to them that they would not see the land that he had solemnly promised their fathers to give us, a land flowing with milk and honey. (Joshua 5:6, NIV)

9. Ready To Conquer
7 So he raised up their sons in their place, and these were the ones Joshua circumcised. They were still uncircumcised because they had not been circumcised on the way. (Joshua 5:7, NIV)

10. Ready To Conquer
8 And after the whole nation had been circumcised, they remained where they were in camp until they were healed. (Joshua 5:8, NIV)

11. Ready To Conquer
The first command the Lord gives to Israel is that the man are to be circumcised.
The lesson for us is simply this, we must remove from our lives anything that stands between us and total surrender to the Lord.

12. Ready To Conquer
11 In him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ, (Col 3:11, NIV)

13. Ready To Conquer
12 having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead. (Col 3:12, NIV)

14. Ready To Conquer
17 “Therefore come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.” (2 Cor 6:17, NIV)

15. Ready To Conquer
To the Jew, circumcision was a reminder that they were a “marked people.”
16 Circumcise your hearts, therefore, and do not be stiff-necked any longer. (Deut 10:16-17, NIV)

16. Ready To Conquer Reaffirming their Confidence in the Lord.
8 And after the whole nation had been circumcised, they remained where they were in camp until they were healed. (Josh 5:8, NIV)

17. Ready To Conquer
At this point, Israel is camped in the heart of enemy territory.
This spiritual truth is taught over and over again in the Word of God.

18. Ready To Conquer Removing their Condemnation by the Lord.
9 Then the LORD said to Joshua, “Today I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you.” So the place has been called Gilgal to this day. (Joshua 5:9, NIV)
The term “reproach of Egypt” has reference to 2 events during Israel’s wilderness wanderings.

19. Ready To Conquer
In a sense, many of God’s children are still living under the “reproach of Egypt.”
When we obey the gospel, our past is not an issue any longer.
19 You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea. (Micah 7:19, NIV)

20. Ready To Conquer Remembering the Commitment of the Lord.
10 On the evening of the fourteenth day of the month, while camped at Gilgal on the plains of Jericho, the Israelites celebrated the Passover.
In these verses, we find Israel once again keeping the feast of the Passover (v. 10).

21. Ready To Conquer What a lesson for the redeemed of the Lord!
Just as Israel needed to remember the Lord’s commitment to them, they also needed to remember their commitment to Him!

22. Ready To Conquer
11 The day after the Passover, that very day, they ate some of the produce of the land: unleavened bread and roasted grain. (Joshua 5:11, NIV)

23. Ready To Conquer
12 The manna stopped the day after they ate this food from the land; there was no longer any manna for the Israelites, but that year they ate of the produce of Canaan. (Joshua 5:12, NIV)

24. Ready To Conquer Recognizing the Control of the Lord.
13 Now when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went up to him and asked, “Are you for us or for our enemies?” (Joshua 5:13, NIV)

25. Ready To Conquer
14 “Neither,” he replied, “but as commander of the army of the LORD I have now come.” Then Joshua fell facedown to the ground in reverence, and asked him, “What message does my Lord have for his servant?” (Joshua 5:14, NIV)

26. Ready To Conquer
15 The commander of the LORD’s army replied, “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so. (Josh 5:15, NIV)

27. Ready To Conquer Who is in control? This is the way to victory!
The blessing of His presence.
The same is still true as we face the battles of life!

28. Ready To Conquer Conclusion Are we ready for victory?
Not before we make certain preparations.

29. Ready To Conquer Joshua 5:1-15 08/05/1007 Dr. Dane Boyles