19 The people came up out of the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and they encamped at Gilgal on the east border of Jericho. ~ Joshua 4:19
On the 10th day of the 1st month of the Israelite year, they crossed over the Jordan into Gilgal. That would be the day they were to select either the lamb or the goat for the Passover sacrifice, which would be slaughtered on the 14th day of the month.
The 10th day of the 1st month can be thought of as the DAY of CHOOSING. Spiritually, what was happening was that God was choosing these people that day.
Remember that their fathers were all rejected because of unbelief and disobedience. So now God was selecting or choosing these people to enter the Promise that He had given to them and their forefathers several hundred years before. From the time of Abraham.
Then Paul likened the passing through the water to baptism into Moses (1 Corinthians 10:1-5). Those who were baptized, coming through the Red Sea, were now all dead, so these new Promise-Receivers had to be baptized.
Now, after they cross over and are symbolically baptized into Moses, they are circumcised on a mountain (Joshua 5:2-3). In prophecy, a hill or a mountain always represents places of worship. This act of circumcision was an act of worship to the LORD. An act of submission and acceptance of the covenant of God.
Therefore, consecrate yourself for the LORD. Turn your eyes away from evil and your feet away from the world. Seek the LORD and all of His righteousness. Don’t be conformed by the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
When we decide to follow God, we have to make sure to never turn away. We have to be on guard defending our faith and our relationship with Christ, lest we lose it as the first generation of Israelites to leave Egypt did. They didn’t make it into the promised land. They never experienced the blessings of the LORD and the victories the second generation did. Therefore, cling to Christ. Don’t allow yourself to fall into a spiritual rut, lest you spiritually fall asleep and spiritually die.
Peace. Love. Go Forth and Keep Going In Christ.
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