The Law of Moses — Joshua 5

The passage is short, but it requires a lot of context.

Keep in mind that the Conquest of Canaan Land was not a standard military invasion. It was purely a religious war aimed at destroying the major pagan temples in the Promised Land, those that were known to influence the broad religious habits of the people. The intent was to reduce resistance to the observance of the Covenant once Israel occupied the land. Every time this occupation went well or went bad, the underlying issue was whether Israel had destroyed a major pagan influence. While there were a few nations condemned to extermination, a significant population was allowed to stay under the terms they would accept feudal domination by Israel and would keep their idolatrous practices out of sight.

The Land of Canaan had a very wild mixture of tribes and nations, and the majority were known for ritual practices that were downright disturbing. Even the Greek and Roman empires of later times regarded them as debased and repugnant — including brutal child sacrifice and sexual rituals hard to imagine. The call to Israel was to “cleanse the land” of the worst of these demonic influences.

While the text of Joshua could be interpreted to put a lot of weight on ritual purity, anyone with a passing knowledge of the Ancient Near East would know that this was mere symbolism for something much deeper. It was commonly understood that the people of Israel were held to a high moral standard, and accountable for a very personal loyalty to Jehovah.

In the first few chapters, we have Joshua succeeding Moses as ritual head of the nation. Up to this point, leadership was simply chosen by God. Moses had been a Levite prior to Aaron’s anointing as the first High Priest (there were no priests before that time). However, Moses had been trained as a son of Pharaoh, which included military expertise, among other things. In theory, Jehovah was Israel’s King, but His proxy was more like a simple warlord in effect. Joshua was from the Tribe of Ephraim, which was already a major source of military might in the nation.

But the point of this conquest was religious. This was to be the conquest of Mosaic Law, but the foundation of that Covenant was the much older Covenant of Abraham, a covenant of personal loyalty between two people. This was why we keep seeing references to the “land promised to Abraham.” Also, keep in mind that this was hardly the only military activity in this region. Pharaoh had only just recently marched through to crush a rebellion of sorts, and had taken a multitude of troops as captives back to Egypt, mostly to slave away at the same work Israel used to do some forty years previously. This weakened the military readiness of the land just as Israel was about to move.

A primary miracle here was timing. Israel crossed the Jordan River during the barley harvest. That meant food for plunder was widely available, lots of unleavened grain. It also meant that the Jordan was at flood stage, which offered the perfect opportunity to hold a demonstration of divine power. There were plenty of observers already on hand in the highlands above the Jordan River to watch this ritual stuff. They had been tracking Israel for quite some time. The priests carrying their nation’s divine throne (Ark of the Covenant) touched the water and all the flow from above stopped, while the water in front of them drained away downstream. This was shocking to the spies watching. None of their myths and legends even came close to this.

As the chapter begins, we are told that everyone on Israel’s hit-list was shaken by this miracle. Their one natural defense during barley harvest meant nothing to these nomad invaders of Jehovah. Quite literally, the demon spirits that provoked them to fight had deserted them. God made the initial investment; it was time for Israel to ante up and make their own sacrifices to remain pure enough for God to keep fighting on their behalf.

This was the Middle Bronze Age in that part of the world, but God demanded Israel use more ancient flint knives for the ritual of circumcision. It was actually the better tool; flint was mined in this area for small blades well into the Iron Age. More importantly, it was to show Israel that this was from the Covenant of Abraham, who himself would have used a flint knife for this ritual. And since no one had the nerve to attack them, they could afford the time to rest up and heal.

The nation had not been permitted to perform this ritual after their failure to obey forty years prior. So the reference to “a second time” was likely recalling something that took place at the foot of Mount Sinai back when it become mandatory instead of merely typical. So this was the second catch-up to ritual purity that God demanded during the Exodus.

Now they were fit to observe Passover, the celebration of their identity. The reference to the “reproach of Egypt” symbolized several things. It was not about the Egyptians, as they practiced circumcision, too. It referred to Israel still having their hearts trapped in Goshen. As long as Israel was wandering in the wilderness, they were still nothing more than escaped slaves. They weren’t allowed to celebrate any of the important rituals that gave them a covenant identity during that whole forty years. Now they were about to inherit their Promised Land, and the privileges of the Covenant were restored. Crossing the Jordan was an echo of the Reed Sea Crossing. Camping in Gilgal (Heb. wheel or circle) was an echo of Mount Sinai. They were coming full circle and under a great burden to keep their end of the deal. They were certainly able to obey, and God expected it.

The text notes that directly following Passover, they were able to observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread by virtue of plundering grain from the undefended land outside cities that had begun to close up for siege.

To verify that God considered them provisionally pure enough to represent Him, Joshua met with his counterpart from God’s personal bodyguard, the angels. The symbolism of taking off sandals in this context is rather like someone entering the carpeted tent of the ruling sheikh. It betokens voluntary exposure of oneself to the will of the ruler. One of the first things a captive surrenders is his footwear so he can’t run away; he can only wander as far as the carpets of his master. Further, the very ground is His personal domain, so you are not permitted to soil it with your dirty shoes. Today’s Arabs still recognize this symbolism where intentionally touching or slapping something/someone with the sole of the shoe is the ultimate insult. It’s connected with ritual welcome by washing feet, shaking dust off the sandals, etc.