‘Today!’
- Jul 18, 2025
- 6 min read
When you read the account in Hebrews 11:29-30 about the Red Sea crossing, the next example of faith mentioned is 40 years on. No comment on faith in the wilderness. The time was not lived by faith but by fear and failure.
Joshua and the children of Israel could not expect God to do the impossible when they have failed to do the necessary. (Same for us!)
It must be noted, a wilderness spirit cannot align with God’s Promises.
Before going any further, the children of Israel needed a renewed calling, a renewed commitment, and a renewed vision. They had broken God’s covenant, and that needed to be reaffirmed.
Joshua 5 is a continuation from chapters 3 and 4 where there was the call for consecration, which means an end to the wilderness spirit!
D. L. Moody said, “There are thousands of men [and women] who would become more useful in God’s kingdom if they would wake up to this fact: it isn’t brains God wants — it is the heart.”
Joshua now calls the Israelites to re-identify themselves through circumcision. For the children of Israel to move forward they would have to find their true identity again, which would mean losing the wilderness identity. I wonder where we are as individuals?
Galatians 2:20 says, “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
Is this true for us?
The importance of our identity as followers of Christ is rooted in the holiness of God. The number one attribute of God referred to in the Bible is holiness. Because holiness is the essence of God's character, it becomes our calling as His children.
I Peter 1:14-16 makes it clear: "As obedient children, do not be conformed to the desires of your former ignorance but, as the One who called you is holy, you also are to be holy in all your conduct; for it is written, Be holy, because I am holy."
Holiness is something we don’t talk a lot about! Holiness is the ‘state of being holy – living a life of total devotion to God and being set apart.’
The holiness of God sets the standard for our conduct; it must become a matter of the heart! Did you know it is a clear mark of being a Christian? We are “created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness” (Eph 4:24).
The truth is, this means there is unfinished business for each of us.
R.T. Kendall says, “Through His people — like you and me — holiness enters and inhabits the marketplace. So imagine it: holiness invading, inhabiting and infecting every place, every process, every relationship and every person; holiness, as a contagion, adhering to and penetrating everything and everyone it touches.”
Now it was circumcision! Circumcision is a sign of the end of self-rule. It's Israel’s mark of covenant faithfulness, and it had been forgotten in their desert wanderings. God is preparing them again for faithfulness.
Is that something we need? Not circumcision as such, but renewed faithfulness to a Covenant God! Imagine, having done with wanderings and waverings we get back in tune with Father God!
You don’t need to be a genius to understand the effect that circumcision would have on an army! Actually, it renders them useless!
But for Israel to step forward into God’s will and all He had in store for them, they needed to let go of Egypt, of a wilderness mentality! They needed to release their past to God, letting go of their identity as slaves and stand up in their true identity as VICTORS!
Overcoming our past is the most difficult part of a new beginning. Going forward with God will always mean giving up all hope of a better past!!
When we start reading Joshua 5 we see an irony: the residents of Canaan were afraid of the Israelites, while all the while the Israelites had been afraid of them! The Israelites had become locked inside their own fortified walls, not letting anyone in or out. How many people are like this?
Each of us needs to come face to face with God again and know His amazing grace and love so we can move on! This is what Joshua 5 is about.
Yes, the people of Israel would have been motivated knowing the enemy was demoralised, so surely now was the time to strike, but God had other plans.
Before claiming the Promised Land, the Lord reclaimed them.
Circumcision before conquest! And of all the places to do it, in enemy territory! It didn’t make sense. But God had to realign their hearts to His before battle. The covenant needs to be renewed. The purpose of circumcision for Israel is a sign of belonging to God (see Gen 17:10–14), and a sign of being right with Him (see Deut 30:5–6). Circumcision was an outward sign of inward obedience. It marked their identity as the people of God.
Mark Buchanan says, “God waited until this moment, when the stakes were precariously high. Why? Because the whole enterprise was about trust … circumcision is about trust …”
Of course, for us in a new covenant in Christ, there’s no longer physical circumcision because we have a circumcision of the heart: “in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love” (Gal 5:6).
This is Paul’s explanation of God’s distinguishing mark: that we be different, that we are set apart for Him, and that we become identified with the covenant promises of God.
Many view baptism as the symbolic replacement for circumcision in the New Covenant, representing a cleansing from sin and a new life in Christ.
Throughout Scripture, circumcision is a metaphor for holiness. It was the sign of the covenant renewed and a mark of belonging to Him.
Note, radical change is always needed to get back to a holy position!
Stop and ponder!
Colossians 2:11 says, "In him you were also circumcised with a circumcision not performed by human hands. Your whole self-ruled by the flesh was put off when you were circumcised by Christ."
James MacDonald said, “Revival begins here: with a profound awareness of God’s absolute holiness, our absolute sinfulness, and our complete inability to bridge the divide that separates us. Revival always begins with God reaching down to us, not in a trickle of blessing, but in a deluge of Himself that covers our past and welcomes us to begin again.”
Now notice God’s response in verse 9: "Today I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you."
There is nothing like the feeling of getting right with God. We have all made mistakes. We have all blown it: as a parent, a spouse, a church member, a pastor, etc. We have all done and said things we should not have done and said. We all need, or have needed, a fresh start.
For Israel, it was forty years of reproach of the past. The failure, defeat, desert experience were all rolled away. What a moment!
It’s stepping out in faithful obedience to God and identifying yourself as one of the LORD’s people. It’s dying to self and living to God. No more self-rule!!
When was the last time this happened?
Notice what 1 John 1:9 states: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Isn't this amazing?
Overcoming the past can be the most difficult part of a new beginning. Just imagine the reproach being rolled away, the shame of past mistakes, disgrace from personal struggles, or those unfulfilled promises rolled away TODAY!
Read verse 9 again - Is there a ‘TODAY’ in your testimony?
Why don’t we simply stop and listen to our Father’s confirmation that 'TODAY' the slate is now wiped clean. There is nothing like that confirmation from Father God.
'Today' please hear this: “You are free from shame. You are free from fear.”
Or as the hymnist wrote -
At the cross, at the cross. Where I first saw the light, and the burden of my heart rolled away, It was there by faith I received my sight and now I am happy all the day!
C.H. Spurgeon shared, "If I had my choice of all the blessings I can conceive of, I would choose perfect conformity to the Lord Jesus, or, in one word, holiness."
Let you and I make the same choice, then praise God for ‘TODAY’!
The question of the wilderness has been something that comes into my mind reasonably often, when I fear my heart wants God for me not the other way round. I do bring these feelings in prayer then they go away but reappear. But I do know where Gods is in my life as I have seen that very clearly. Even as I was reading this (sat in the airport lounge) I have retraced God with me. Thank your for thr reminder of 1 John 1:9 such an encouraging verse..