Scripture: Joshua 5:9
The children of Israel came out of Egypt, and they were rebellious. They built an idol while Moses was on the mountain speaking with God; they complained and rose up against Moses and Aaron, challenging their authority; ten of the spies disheartened their countrymen when they returned from Canaan; then, when the Lord instructed them not to go up in battle, they went up anyway. In Joshua 5, we learn one more way they did not obey God–they failed to have their children circumcised, which had been the sign of the covenant since Abraham.
When all of that rebellious generation had died, Joshua led those children, now grown, into the promised land. But when they crossed the Jordan, God pointed out to Joshua a problem: the people did not have the sign of the covenant. They then took the time and made the effort to do so. The Scripture does not dwell on this event, but surely it was an unforgettable one for the men of Israel simply because of the dread and pain involved. Once this was accomplished, the Lord told Joshua, “Today I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you.” Interesting choice of words, beautiful in its imagery. More on that shortly. The Scripture goes on to say that the Israelites celebrated the Passover, then ate of the produce of the land of Canaan the following day, after which the manna–their fare for the last 40 years–ceased. This was a great moment for Israel! The Lord had long ago promised Abraham that his descendants would inhabit the land of Canaan–now they were here; 40 years earlier, the children of Israel had been trapped in a state of bondage that had gone on for generations–now they were free; for the last 40 years, the children of Israel had been eating the same bread day after day after day–now they fared on the yield of Canaan. It must have seemed to the Israelites that the curse of Egypt would never end–but here in this moment, on the west side of the Jordan, with bodies marked by the covenant of their God, eating fresh food that had grown in a land that would soon be theirs to work and inhabit, perhaps the nightmare that was Egypt finally began to lose some of its grip on them.
It’s interesting that God chose to say that He had “rolled away” the reproach of Egypt. There may be more than one other place in Scripture where that phrase is used, but there’s one that immediately comes to my mind, and should to any follower of Jesus Christ. When Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to look at the grave of Jesus one Sunday morning, an angel of the Lord “rolled away” the stone that they supposed held the Lord’s body inside. That stone, in a couple of ways, was intended to be a barrier.
First, it was supposed to keep God’s Son from getting out. The devil and all of his thought that stone represented the accomplishment of their designs–it was their crown of victory over the One they rejected. As long as that body stayed behind that stone, they had achieved their desire–the condemnation of all of mankind, and the ceasing of all the works the Son of God was accomplishing in His human form. But when the stoned was rolled away, their trophy was gone.
Second, it was supposed to keep the disciples from getting in. The soldiers, of course, thought the disciples would steal the body, so their primary purpose for the stone was to prevent that from happening. But as long as the stone remained sealed, the disciples’ hope was cut off. If the Messiah was going to restore the kingdom to Israel as they had hoped, that hope was gone. And even though that was a misunderstanding of what Jesus actually intended to accomplish, it seemed to them that the past three years may have been a waste, since He had been eliminated. But the stone was rolled away, and they found nothing–which meant everything!
Satan gets a grip on us through the sin we commit. We fall into his trap, and we are enslaved, much the way the Israelites were in Egypt, with no way to escape. But God heard our cries for help long before we even uttered them, and He does some “rolling away” in our own lives. When we are immersed in the blood of Jesus, He “rolls away” our sins, freeing us from bondage to slavery. We then enter the Wilderness that is the remainder of our life here on this earth, where we daily feed on the manna that is His Word. Unless Christ returns beforehand, we will die a natural death; but God will “roll away” the stones from our own tombs when Jesus comes again. Slowly but surely, that stone representing all the evil consequences of our sin is being rolled away. If we are living in Christ, we are growing closer to Him, sin is losing its grip on us, and hope is growing as we near our own promised land. One day we will cross our own Jordan, no longer needing the manna of the written word of God, for we will speak to Him face to face; no longer weighed down by bondage, but enjoying the fruit of our new inhabitance; no longer suffering the reproach of Egypt, for all things will be new, and the tears will be wiped from our eyes.
what is truth? 