NEW LIFE (JOSH.5)
The Amorite kings west of the Jordan River and the Canaanite kings along the Mediterranean Sea lost all their courage and their will to fight when they heard how Yahusha had dried up the Jordan River to let Yisharal go across. YAHUSHA HAD ESTABLISHED IN THE MINDS OF THE CANAANITES AND AMORITES THAT IT WAS JUST A MATTER OF TIME BEFORE THEY WERE DEFEATED AND DESTROYED BY YISHARAL’S ARMY; THEREFORE THE CURRENT RESIDENTS OF THE LAND THAT YAHUSHA PROMISED TO ABRAHAM WERE SENT SPIRALING INTO THE DEPTHS OF DEPRESSION.
And while Yisharal was camped at Gilgal, Yahusha said, “Joshua, make some flint knives and circumcise all the Yisharalite men and boys a second time.” So Joshua made the knives, then circumcised those men and boys at Haaraloth Hill (meaning foreskin hill). This had to be done, because none of Yisharal’s baby boys had been circumcised during the forty years that Yisharal had wandered through the desert after leaving Egypt (so technically they weren't in Blood-Covenant relationship with Yahusha as given through Abraham and continued through Moses).
ALTHOUGH YAHUSHA HAS GONE TO GREAT LENGTHS TO ESTABLISH JOSHUA’S DIVINELY APPOINTED AUTHORITY OVER YISHARAL, WE MUST RECOGNISE THAT JOSHUA WAS NOT GIVEN THE SAME STATUS AS MOSES, FOR MOSES WAS YAHUSHA’S MEDIATOR, INFACT HE AND YAHUSHA HIMSELF (WHEN HE CAME IN THE FLESH) ARE THE ONLY 2 MEDIATORS IN HISTORY. SO WHAT DISTINGUISHES YAHUSHA AND MOSES FROM ALL OTHER MEN WHO WERE AT TIMES GIVEN THE TITLE OF MEDIATOR IS THAT THEY WERE APPOINTED TO HAND DOWN THE CREATOR’S DIVINE LAWS AND INSTRUCTIONS TO MANKIND. WE’LL FIND THAT JOSHUA IS AT TIMES CALLED YISHARAL’S MEDIATOR, AND SOME TIMES THE HIGH PRIEST IS CALLED YISHARAL’S MEDIATOR, AND EVEN THE REGULAR PRIESTS ARE ON A COUPLE OF OCCASIONS REFERRED TO AS MEDIATORS. BUT NONE OF THESE SPOKE TO YAHUSHA FACE-TO-FACE, AND NONE OF THESE ESTABLISHED YAHUSHA’S DIVINE LAWS (FROM THE SHAMAYIM) ON EARTH, AS DID MESSIAH YAHUSHA AND MOSES. AT BEST THESE OLDER LEADERS HAD THE AUTHORITY TO TEACH THE INSTRUCTIONS ESTABLISHED BY MOSES AND TO ENFORCE THE COMMANDS GIVEN ON MT. SINAI AND IN MOAB.
EVEN THE GREAT PROPHETS THAT WOULD COME LATER LIKE SAMUEL, ISAIAH, ZECHARIAH, AND DANIEL DID NOT BRING NEW INSTRUCTIONS AND COMMANDS NOR DECLARE ESTABLISHED LAWS VOID. EVERYTHING THEY PRESENTED TO YISHARAL WERE REVELATIONS OF YAHUSHA’S PLANS AND INSTRUCTIONS FOR YISHARAL TO SCRUPULOUSLY FOLLOW HIS ALREADY LONG-ESTABLISHED INSTRUCTIONS; AND OFTEN THOSE DIVINE LAWS INVOLVED THREATS OF WHAT WOULD HAPPEN TO YISHARAL IF THEY KEPT ON THEIR PATH OF DISOBEDIENCE TO HIM.
THEREFORE AS WE MOVE FORWARD THROUGH JOSHUA, JUDGES, AND OTHER ANCIENT TEXTS, KEEP THIS PERSPECTIVE FIRMLY IN THE FRONT OF YOUR MIND: THAT NO NEW LAWS OR INSTRUCTIONS WOULD BE ADDED, AND NO PREVIOUSLY ESTABLISHED INSTRUCTIONS WOULD BE ABOLISHED BECAUSE THE ONLY 2 PEOPLE EVER GIVEN THE AUTHORITY TO DO SUCH A THING WERE MOSES AND YAHUSHA (EVEN THOUGH YAHUSHA NEVER ABOLISHED ANYTHING EITHER, RATHER HE TRANSFORMED THE BEHAVIOURS).
IN FACT EVEN ANGELS OR OTHER DIVINE SPIRIT BEINGS WERE NOT GIVEN THE AUTHORITY TO MODIFY YAHUSHA’S DIVINE LAWS. SINCE THE FIRST MEDIATOR, MOSES, WAS DEAD BEFORE JOSHUA TOOK COMMAND AND IT WOULD BE 1300 YEARS BEFORE YAHUSHA WOULD ESTABLISH THE NEXT MEDIATOR (HIMSELF) WE CAN CONFIDENTLY CLOSE OUR SCRIPTURES AT THE LAST WORDS OF EZRA KNOWING THAT YAHUSHA NEVER AUTHORISED A CHANGE IN HIS INSTRUCTIONS.
SO AS WE ENTER THE LATTER SCRIPTURES, THE SAME INSTRUCTIONS THAT MOSES ESTABLISHED REMAINED INTACT. BUT WHAT ABOUT WHEN THE NEW MEDIATOR, MESSIAH YAHUSHA ARRIVED? INDEED YAHUSHA DID HAVE THE INHERENT AUTHORITY AS OUR MEDIATOR TO ESTABLISH NEW INSTRUCTIONS AND ABOLISH OLD ONES SINCE NOT ONLY WAS HE THE MEDIATOR BETWEEN 2 DIMENSIONS, HE WAS ACTUALLY THE CREATOR HIMSELF (HE SAID HE DID NOT COME TO ABOLISH ANYTHING THOUGH BUT TO FULFILL IT).
OF COURSE, JUST AS MOSES ONLY ACTED IN YAHUSHA’S DIRECT WILL SO YAHUSHA DID THE SAME AND MADE IT CLEAR THAT IT WAS THE FATHER’S WILL THAT WAS BEING DONE IN EVERY CASE AND NOT HIS OWN.
JOSHUA WOULD LEAD THE PEOPLE OF YISHARAL BASED ON THE UNDERSTANDING THAT THE DIVINE LAWS GIVEN TO MOSES WERE CHISELED IN STONE AND NEVER TO BE TAMPERED WITH. SOME FUTURE LEADERS OF YISHARAL WOULD GO IN ANOTHER DIRECTION AND BE DECLARED EVIL BY YAHUSHA BECAUSE THEY DECLARED THAT THEIR WORD OVERRODE THE WORD. BUT WE DON’T ACCEPT THAT!
And why had Yisharal wandered in the wilderness for forty years? Because right after they left Egypt and saw all the signs and wonders, they bitched, winged, complained and completely disobeyed Yahusha, Who eventually said (after suffering them long enough), “None of your wicked generation will ever live to see the land that I promised Yisharal . . . except Joshua and Caleb. And WOW you missed out BIG TIME, cause this land is rich with milk and honey, but as for you lot, GO ON turn around and bugger off right back the way you came, and someday your children will live in My Promised Land, but not before you all die here in this giant sandpit.”
YISHARAL IS NOW SAFELY ACROSS THE JORDAN, CAMPED AT GILGAL (JUST NORTH-EAST) OF JERICHO AND THE FIRST THING JOSHUA ORDERS IS THAT ALL MALES BE CIRCUMCISED. THIS CIRCUMCISION CEREMONY WOULD HAVE INVOLVED SOMEWHERE AROUND 1 MILLION OR MORE YISHARALITE MEN AND BOYS. IN FACT A NICKNAME WAS GIVEN TO THE PLACE WHERE THIS BLOODY CEREMONIAL RITUAL MUST HAVE GONE ON FOR A COUPLE OF DAYS: GIV’AT HA’ARALOT, WHICH MEANS “THE HILL OF FORESKINS” (A VERY APT DESCRIPTION DON'T YOU THINK, FOR A HILL COVERED WITH A MILLION FORESKINS - it'd be a tourist destination today !! ).
WE’RE TOLD THAT THE REASON THIS MASS BLOODSHED TOOK PLACE WAS THAT THE FORMER GENERATION OF THE EXODUS WHO HAD DIED IN THE WILDERNESS WAS THE GENERATION WHO'D BEEN CIRCUMCISED, BUT THIS NEW GENERATION (THE ONES ENTERING THE PROMISED LAND) HAD NOT BEEN CIRCUMCISED DURING THE WILDERNESS JOURNEY. FOR WHATEVER REASON MOSES HAD SUSPENDED THE CIRCUMCISIONS DURING THEIR TRAVELS (PERHAPS BECAUSE OF THE PAIN AND INFECTION THAT WAS NORMAL AND CUSTOMARY WITH SUCH AN OPERATION).
SO WHY NOW GET CIRCUMCISED NOW AFTER 40 YEARS? THERE'S A DEEP SPIRITUAL MEANING BEHIND IT AND IT IS A SHADOW AND TYPE FOR SOME SIGNIFICANT HAPPENINGS LATER ON IN THE SCRIPTURES.
FIRST, THE YISHARALITES WERE ABOUT TO CELEBRATE THEIR FIRST PASSOVER IN THE PROMISED LAND AND SO ESPECIALLY NOW, THE MALES HAD TO BE PROPERLY PREPARED FOR SUCH A SET-APART EVENT. IT WAS THE PARENTS OF THIS GENERATION WHO HAD RECEIVED THE DIVINE LAWS AFTER THEY HAD BEEN CIRCUMCISED, FOR CIRCUMCISION HAD BEEN GOING ON AMONG THE HEBREWS SINCE THE TIME OF ABRAHAM, SINCE IT WAS THE SIGN OF ACCEPTANCE OF THE ETERNAL BLOOD-COVENANT OF DELIVERANCE GIVEN TO ABRAHAM. AND SINCE THESE YISHARALITE MALES, WHO HAD JUST CROSSED INTO CANAAN WERE ABOUT TO INHERIT THE PROMISE OF LAND THAT WAS AT THE CORE OF THE BLOOD-COVENANT GIVEN TO ABRAHAM, THEY HAD TO BE CIRCUMCISED OTHERWISE THEY HAD NO RIGHT TO PARTICIPATE IN RECEIVING THE FRUIT OF THAT PROMISE (CIRCUMCISION WAS ALL ABOUT THE PROMISE OF LAND GIVEN TO ABRAHAM AND THE BLOODSHED WAS NECESSARY TO MAKE THE AGREEMENT VALID. .
BUT THERE'S MORE! THESE YISHARALITE MALES WERE TO BE YAHUSHA’S SET-APART WARRIORS FOR HIS SET-APART WAR UPON CANAAN. ONLY THOSE UNDER YAHUSHA’S BLOOD-COVENANT WERE ELIGIBLE TO PARTICIPATE IN YAHUSHA’S SET-APART WAR; NO FOREIGNERS OR MERCENARIES COULD EVER BE INVOLVED.
THE 1ST PART OF THIS CHAPTER EXPLAINS THAT THE CANAANITES ARE ESSENTIALLY HUDDLED TOGETHER SHAKING IN THEIR BOOTS OVER YISHARAL COMING TOWARDS THEM. UNDER MOST OTHER CIRCUMSTANCES ONE WOULD HAVE EXPECTED THE ARMIES OF THE VARIOUS CANAANITE AND AMORITE TRIBES AND CITY-STATES TO FIERCELY ATTACK YISHARAL IMMEDIATELY UPON (EVEN DURING) THEIR CROSSING OF THE JORDAN. BUT JUST AS YAHUSHA PUT A FEAR OF DREAD INTO THE EGYPTIANS THROUGH THE PLAGUES, SO YAHUSHA PUT AN IMMOBILIZING FEAR OF YISHARAL INTO THE CANAANITES.
THIS ENABLED YISHARAL TO CROSS THE JORDAN UNOPPOSED, AND IT ALLOWED THE ARMY THE HEALING TIME NECESSARY FROM THE MASS CIRCUMCISION CEREMONY. THE EXAMPLE IN GENESIS OF THE MALES OF SHECHEM BEING CIRCUMCISED AND THEN THE SONS OF JACOB ATTACKING AND KILLING ALL THE MEN OF SHECHEM DUE TO THEIR WEAKENED CONDITION GIVES US SOME IDEA OF THE SERIOUS REPERCUSSIONS OF CIRCUMCISION IN THAT ERA. SO THERE WAS GREAT PRACTICALITY INVOLVED IN GETTING THE CIRCUMCISION OUT OF THE WAY FIRST BEFORE ENTERING INTO COMBAT.
LET’S PEEL THIS ONION BACK YET ONE MORE LAYER; AND SEE THAT IT WAS ESSENTIALLY A 2ND CIRCUMCISION THAT WAS REQUIRED OF YISHARAL IMMEDIATELY AFTER THEY CROSSED-OVER THE JORDAN. THE 1ST CIRCUMCISION HAPPENED LONG AGO AND IT CREATED YISHARAL AS A NATION AND A PEOPLE, AND IT BONDED THEM TO THE BLOOD-COVENANT RAISED UP FIRST WITH ABRAHAM AND THEM MOSES, AS BOTH INDIVIDUALS AND AS A WHOLE CONGREGATION. BUT IN ORDER FOR YISHARAL TO ENTER THE PROMISED LAND AND RECEIVE THEIR INHERITANCE A 2ND CIRCUMCISION WAS NEEDED. WE FIND THIS PRINCIPLE BROUGHT FORWARD INTO THE RENEWED BLOOD-COVENANT WITH YAHUSHA, AND IT IS ILLUSTRATED FOR US BY PAUL IN ROMANS 11 THROUGH THE USE OF THE OLIVE TREE METAPHOR THAT WE’RE ALL FAMILIAR WITH.
YOU SEE EVERY HEBREW BOY WAS CIRCUMCISED ON THE 8TH DAY AFTER HIS BIRTH (REMEMBER YISHARAL CROSSED THE JORDAN ON THE 8TH DAY TOO). THIS CIRCUMCISION CEREMONY SIGNIFIED HIS OFFICIAL INCLUSION INTO THE PEOPLE OF YISHARAL BY MEANS OF BLOOD-SHED (HIS FORESKIN) AND HIS WEARING THE SIGN OF THE BLOOD-COVENANT GIVEN TO ABRAHAM AND MOSES. METAPHORICALLY SPEAKING IT WAS THOSE CIRCUMCISED HEBREWS WHO FORMED THE OLIVE TREE; OR MORE SIMPLY PUT, THE OLIVE TREE IS YISHARAL AND THE REQUIREMENT TO BE PART OF YISHARAL WAS CIRCUMCISION (AND IT HAD BEEN SO SINCE THE TIME OF ABRAHAM). TO BE PART OF PHYSICAL YISHARAL ONE HAD TO BE CIRCUMCISED, IT ALL WORKED TOGETHER.
HOWEVER WHEN YAHUSHA ARRIVED ON THE SCENE, SOMETHING TRANSFORMED. IN ORDER TO BECOME PART OF WHAT PAUL CALLS “TRUE YISHARAL” AN ADDITIONAL ACT HAD TO TAKE PLACE OR ELSE A NATIVE-BORN HEBREW WOULD BE A BRANCH BROKEN OFF OF THAT OLIVE TREE, AND THEREFORE NO LONGER PART OF THE TREE. THAT “OTHER ACT” WAS A 2ND CIRCUMCISION, ONLY NOW IT HAD TO BE A CIRCUMCISION OF THE HEART. A CIRCUMCISION OF THE HEART WAS A METAPHOR FOR BELIEF AND TRUST IN YAHUSHA HIMSELF; IT WAS A SPIRITUAL ACT.
FURTHER JUST AS ALL THOSE OF THE EXODUS GENERATION WHO BORE ONLY THE 1ST CIRCUMCISION DIED IN THE WILDERNESS AND NEVER ENTERED INTO THEIR REST, SO, ALL YISHARALITES WHO WANT TO COME TO YAHUSHA HAVE TO DIE, (SPIRITUALLY SPEAKING) TO THEIR OLD SELF IF THEY WANT TO ENTER THEIR REST. HEBREWS MUST HAVE A 2ND CIRCUMCISION (A CIRCUMCISION OF THE HEART) AS A SIGN OF THEIR BELIEF IN YAHUSHA IN ORDER TO BOTH REMAIN A BRANCH IN THE OLIVE TREE AND TO INHERIT THEIR FINAL REST AS A CITIZEN OF YAHUSHA’S KINGDOM.
Everyone who had been circumcised stayed in camp until their wounds had healed. Then Yahusha told Joshua, “It was a revolting disgrace (a reproach) for My people to be slaves in Egypt, but now I have `rolled away' (LIKE A FORESKIN) that disgrace.” So the Yisharalites named the place Gilgal and it still has that name.
THE PEOPLE OF YISHARAL WHO BEAR ONLY THE 1ST CIRCUMCISION CONTINUED TO BEAR THE REVOLTING DISGRACE (AND BEHAVIOUR) OF EGYPTIAN SLAVERY IN YAHUSHA’S EYES. THE 2ND CIRCUMCISION AS LED BY JOSHUA ENDED THAT STIGMA. WE'RE OF COURSE REFERRING TO THE DISGUSTING DISOBEDIENCE THAT THE 1ST EXODUS GENERATION (WHO WERE RAISED IN EGYPT) DISPLAYED TOWARDS YAHUSHA. IT WAS THIS STIGMA THAT LED TO THEIR DISOBEDIENCE THAT LED TO THEIR DYING IN THE WILDERNESS, THEREBY BEING PROHIBITED FROM ENTERING THE LAND OF YAHUSHA’S REST. YAHUSHA ESSENTIALLY BLAMES EGYPT AND THEIR PAGAN WAYS FOR HAVING POLLUTED HIS PEOPLE, AND THAT WAS ONE OF THE PRIMARY CAUSES FOR THAT 1ST GENERATION OF THE EXODUS TO BEHAVE IN SUCH A REBELLIOUS MANNER, THEREBY CAUSING YAHUSHA’S JUDGMENT OF DEATH UPON THEM. ALTHOUGH IN THIS CASE EGYPT IS OF COURSE REAL AND LITERAL AS IT PERTAINS TO THIS SITUATION, THE TERM “EGYPT” EVENTUALLY CAME TO BE USED IN SET-APART SCRIPTURE AS A METAPHOR AND AN ILLUSTRATION OF THE WICKED PERVERSION THAT ALL THE WORLD BORE, AND THAT IT HAD TO BE REMOVED IN ORDER FOR ANYONE (HEBREW OR OUTSIDE NATIONS) TO STAND OBEDIENT BEFORE YAHUSHA. IF THE STIGMA OF DISOBEDIENCE WASN’T REMOVED BY MEANS OF THE 2ND CIRCUMCISION, THEN DEATH (ETERNAL DEATH) WAS THE RESULT. THIS IS WHY WE NEED OUR HEARTS (THE PLACE FROM WHICH WE THINK AND BEHAVE FROM) CUT, WOUNDED AND CIRCUMCISED TO MAKE IT NO LONGER HARD AND STONEY, BUT SOFT AND INFUSED WITH YAHUSHA'S LOVE TO FOLLOW AND OBEY HIS LIVING WORDS.
ALSO NOTICE THAT THE NAME GIVEN TO THE PLACE WHERE YISHARAL FIRST CAMPED AND WHERE THE CIRCUMCISION OF OVER A MILLION YISHARALITES HAPPENED WAS GILGAL, WHICH MEANS “ROLLING" OR "ROLLED” IN HEBREW. SO IT WAS THERE AT GILGAL THAT YAHUSHA “ROLLED” THE STIGMA OF EGYPT OFF THE BACKS OF HIS PEOPLE……THE PEOPLE OF THE 2ND CIRCUMCISION.
ONE MORE THING ABOUT THE MASS CIRCUMCISION CEREMONY AS IT COMPARES TO THE SPIRITUAL CIRCUMCISION OF THE HEART. WHO LED PHYSICAL YISHARAL OVER THE JORDAN RIVER AND THEN INTO THIS CIRCUMCISION-OF-FORESKINS CEREMONY? JOSHUA. WHAT IS JOSHUA’S NAME IN HEBREW? YAHUSHA (YAHUAH IS MY DELIVERANCE). AND WHO LED YISHARAL THROUGH THE WATERS (JORDAN) OF IMMERSION AND INTO THE LAND OF YAHUSHA’S REST, AND THEN INTO A CIRCUMCISION-OF-THE-HEART CEREMONY? YAHUSHA HIMSELF (YAHUAH IS MY DELIVERANCE) !!
“Joshua, make some FLINT KNIVES and circumcise all the Yisharalite men and boys a second time.”
NOTICE THE INSTRUCTION THAT KNIVES OF FLINT WERE TO BE USED FOR THE OPERATION OF REMOVING THE MALES’ FORESKINS. BY JOSHUA’S DAY FLINT KNIVES WERE OBSOLETE HAVING GIVEN WAY TO BRONZE, AND EVEN IRON. ARCHEOLOGISTS REFER TO JOSHUA’S TIME AS EITHER THE “LATE BRONZE” OR “EARLY IRON” AGES. THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THOSE TITLES ARE THAT AT THE HEART OF THE BRONZE AGE, BRONZE WAS THE HARDEST METAL IN GENERAL USE AND IT WAS ALWAYS THE HARDEST SUBSTANCES THAT WERE USED TO MAKE KNIVES AND SPEAR HEADS (FOR OBVIOUS REASONS). AS THE TITLE IRON AGE IMPLIES, TECHNOLOGY HAD DEVELOPED TO THE POINT THAT IRON METAL (HARDER THAN BRONZE) WAS NOW BEING USED; IN THE EARLY IRON AGE USE OF IRON WAS SPOTTY AND BRONZE WAS STILL THE PREDOMINANT SUBSTANCE OF CHOICE FOR MAKING CUTTING INSTRUMENTS AND WEAPONS. THE EARLY IRON AGE IS DEFINED AS ABOUT 1200 BC TO 1000 BC.
THE POINT BEING THAT THE DIVINE INSTRUCTION TO USE FLINT KNIVES FOR THE CIRCUMCISION CEREMONY WAS TO TELL YISHARAL TO USE A TYPE OF KNIFE THAT HAD GONE OUT OF USE AT LEAST 2 OR 3 CENTURIES EARLIER. SO WHY WAS FLINT CALLED FOR? SINCE IT IS NOT EXPLICITLY EXPLAINED IN SCRIPTURE THIS HAS BEEN A TOPIC OF INTEREST AMONG HEBREW AND RELIGIOUS SCHOLARS. IN THE END THERE’S BASICALLY TWO REASONS FOR IT: ONE HAS TO DO WITH TRADITIONS THAT DEVELOPED NATURALLY, AND THE OTHER WITH FOLLOWING A LONG ESTABLISHED YAHUSHA-PATTERN. THE TRADITIONAL ASPECT IS THAT JOSHUA’S ANCESTORS ABRAHAM, ISAAC AND JACOB WOULD HAVE USED FLINT KNIVES TO PERFORM CIRCUMCISIONS. THE USE OF A FLINT KNIFE IN THE NEAR-DEATH INCIDENT OF ABRAHAM BEING ASKED TO SACRIFICE ISAAC (BUT THEN STOPPED, OF COURSE, BY YAHUSHA) ALSO INFLUENCED THE USE OF FLINT KNIVES LONG AFTER BETTER CHOICES WERE AVAILABLE. THUS KNIVES MADE OF FLINT WERE PREFERRED BY THE YISHARALITE PRIESTS FOR CENTURIES IN THE RITUAL SACRIFICES MADE AT THE TABERNACLE AND THEN THE TEMPLE.
I IMAGINE IT WOULD HAVE BEEN QUITE DRAMATIC TO WITNESS RITUALS USING A FLINT KNIFE AS OPPOSED TO THE MORE MODERN BLADES OF BRONZE AND IRON USED BY THE GENERAL POPULATION AND THUS GREATER MEANING AND A SENSE OF THE EVENT BEING SET-APART RATHER THAN ORDINARY WAS IMPARTED.
BUT FROM A SPIRITUAL PERSPECTIVE THE USE OF FLINT TO CUT OFF THE FORESKINS OF YAHUSHA’S PEOPLE REPRESENTED THE CONTINUATION OF A YAHUSHA-PATTERN. AND THAT PATTERN WAS THE COMMAND THAT WE SAW GIVEN TO THE PATRIARCHS THAT THEY WERE TO BUILD ALTARS FOR SACRIFICE TO YAHUSHA, BUT THAT KNIVES OF BRONZE (AND LATER IRON) WERE NOT TO BE USED TO SHAPE THE STONES. HOWEVER IT WAS UNDERSTOOD THAT FLINT KNIVES COULD BE USED TO SHAPE THE ALTAR STONES.
SO WHY WAS FLINT OK AND METAL WAS NOT? BECAUSE FLINT WAS A NATURAL SUBSTANCE USABLE JUST AS IT WAS FOUND; METAL HAD TO BE EXTRACTED, HEATED, PURGED OF IMPURITIES, AND WORKED TO BE USABLE. JUST AS THE ALTAR STONES WERE A 100% PRODUCT OF YAHUSHA AND A 0% PRODUCT OF MEN, SO WAS A FLINT BLADE. METAL REQUIRED MAN’S INTERVENTION AND WHENEVER MAN INTERVENES THE PURITY OF YAHUSHA’S CREATION IS COMPROMISED.
THEREFORE WE SEE A CONNECTION BETWEEN THE STONES USED TO BUILD A SET-APART ALTAR OF SACRIFICE TO YAHUSHA, AND TO THE MEN OF YISHARAL WHO COME FORWARD TO BE CIRCUMCISED AND IN DOING SO BECOME SET-APART MEMBERS OF YAHUSHA’S KINGDOM. THEREFORE NEITHER THE ALTAR OF THE MEN ARE TO HAVE A METAL TOOL USED ON THEM IN AN ACT OF OBEDIENCE THAT ESSENTIALLY MAKES THEM MEMBERS OF A SET-APART BODY.
CONSIDER THIS ALSO: THE STONES USED TO BUILD THE SET-APART ALTAR WERE JUST LIKE ALL THE OTHER STONES SCATTERED ON THE GROUND; THESE WERE NOT SPECIAL STONES, OR DIFFERENT STONES, WHETHER USED FOR THE ALTAR OR NOT THEY WERE ALL NATURAL JUST AS YAHUSHA MADE THEM. NOTICE THE PARALLEL: WE HAVE THE MEN OF YISHARAL WHO, PHYSICALLY, WERE NO DIFFERENT FROM OTHER HUMANS ON THE PLANET EXCEPT THAT THEY WERE ABOUT TO BE SELECTED AND ELECTED TO BECOME A SET-APART PEOPLE FOR YAHUSHA. EVEN GENEALOGICALLY, BY NOW, THE YISHARALITES WERE MIXED. EGYPTIANS FORMED A SUBSTANTIAL PART OF YISHARAL; FOREIGNERS FROM ALL RACES AND CULTURES HAD BEEN ALLOWED TO BECOME HEBREWS SINCE THE DAYS OF ABRAHAM. SO FROM AMONG ALL MEN WHO ARE CREATED BASICALLY PHYSICALLY THE SAME, YAHUSHA SELECTED THOSE FEW WHO HE WOULD CALL YISHARALITES AND ONCE CHOSEN, AND ONCE UNITED TOGETHER FOR THE PURPOSE OF SERVING YAHUSHA, THEY BECAME SET-APART, ANNOINTED STONES AND SO HAD TO BE TREATED DIFFERENTLY THAN ALL OTHER MEN. AS A SYMBOL OF THAT SET-APARTNESS, THE MALE YISHARALITES’ BODIES COULD NOT BE MODIFIED (THEIR FORESKINS REMOVED) BY MEANS OF A MAN-MADE METAL KNIFE ANY MORE THAN USING A MAN-MADE METAL KNIFE COULD MODIFY THE ALTAR STONES.
THE TEXT GOES ON TO EXPLAIN THAT SINCE ALL THE CIRCUMCISED YISHARALITE MEN HAD DIED OUT (DURING THE WILDERNESS JOURNEY) AND NO CIRCUMCISIONS HAD OCCURRED OUT IN THE WILDERNESS, THERE WERE NO CIRCUMCISED MEN AND THEREFORE FROM A SPIRITUAL REALITY (OTHER THAN PERHAPS FOR JOSHUA) THERE WERE NO YISHARALITES!
THEREFORE WE COME FULL CIRCLE TO THE POINT THAT (HERE IN JOSHUA) YAHUSHA IS NOT ABOUT TO TURN HIS PROMISED LAND OVER TO PEOPLE HE SEES AS SPIRITUAL GOYIM (OUTSIDE UNCIRCUMCISED PEOPLE WHO ARE NO LONGER IN FELLOWSHIP WITH HIM EVEN THOUGH AT ONE TIME THEY WERE). THUS THE REASON FOR THE ALL-IMPORTANT MASS CIRCUMCISION CEREMONY AT GILGAL THAT HAS BEEN ORDERED BEFORE YISHARAL WILL BE ALLOWED TO OBSERVE THE FEASTS OF PASSOVER, UNLEAVENED BREAD, AND FIRSTFRUITS.
YISHARAL WAS ONLY YISHARAL WHEN THEY WERE ACCEPTED BY YAHUSHA AS MEMBERS OF HIS BLOOD-COVENANT COMMUNITY; AND THIS WAS ACCOMPLISHED BY MEANS OF THE SIGN OF CIRCUMCISION IN THE BODIES OF THE MALES. AFTER THEIR CIRCUMCISION IN EGYPT, THEN YAHUSHA REDEEMED HIS PEOPLE FROM EGYPT, AND AFTER THEY WERE A CIRCUMCISED PEOPLE, YAHUSHA REFERRED TO THEM, AS HIS SPECIAL PEOPLE.
NOW CIRCUMCISED AND SPIRITUALLY READIED FOR THE TASK AHEAD, YISHARAL WAS GIVEN THE GO-AHEAD TO OBSERVE THE SPRING FESTIVALS. I REALIZE THAT THE ONLY SCRIPTURE FEAST MENTIONED IN THESE VERSES IS PASSOVER. BUT THAT IS BECAUSE IT WAS SUCH COMMON KNOWLEDGE AMONG THE HEBREWS THAT PASSOVER, UNLEAVENED BREAD, AND FIRSTFRUITS CAME AS A BUNDLE OF FEASTS.
LOOK: THE CELEBRATION OF THESE 3 FEASTS AND THE ENDING OF MANNA REPRESENT A TRANSITION OF LIFESTYLE FOR YISHARAL. RATHER THAN EATING MANNA OF THE DESERT THEY CAN EAT PRODUCE FROM THEIR OWN LAND, THE LAND YAHUSHA GAVE TO THEM. OBVIOUSLY THE PRODUCE THEY ATE THIS FIRST TIME HAD BEEN GROWN BY THE CANAANITES; AND UNTIL YISHARAL CONQUERED ALL THE LAND THEY WOULD CELEBRATE MANY FEASTS USING GRAINS AND FRUITS AND VEGETABLES PRODUCED BY THEIR ENEMIES. THE KEY WAS THAT IT WAS GROWN ON THE PROMISED LAND AND THEY WERE THE CONSUMERS.
ANOTHER POINT WE MUST ACKNOWLEDGE IS THAT NOW THAT YISHARAL IS MORE MATURE THEY ARE EXPECTED TO LIVE OFF WHAT THE LAND PRODUCES RATHER THAN WHAT YAHUSHA SIMPLY RAINED FROM THE SKY. THIS IS A STEP THAT ALL WHO TRUST IN YAHUSHA NEEDS TO TAKE, BUT WE TEND TO RESIST IT WITH THE GREATEST EFFORT. HOW DESPERATELY WE TRY TO JUST KEEP LOOKING UP AND BEGGING YAHUSHA TO RAIN BLESSINGS UPON US, WHEN WHAT HE WANTS IS FOR US TO GO FORWARD AS HIS ARMY AND CLAIM THE ALREADY PLENTIFUL BOUNTY OF HIS CREATION. BUT TO DO SO TAKES BOLDNESS, EFFORT, COURAGE AND MUCH GREATER BELIEF AND TRUST. WHO WOULDN’T RATHER SIT IN THEIR CHAIR AND ASK FOR YAHUSHA’S BLESSING, RATHER THAN GET TO THEIR FEET AND DO WHAT HE COMMANDS? BUT THERE LIES THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE BABE AND THE MATURE BELIEVER.
Yisharal continued to camp at Gilgal in the desert near Jericho, and on the fourteenth day of the same month, they celebrated Passover. The next day, Yahusha stopped sending the Yisharalites manna to eat each morning, and they started eating food grown in the land of Canaan. They ate roasted grain and thin bread made of the barley they had gathered from nearby fields.
THE DIVINE LAWS OF EATING CLEAN STILL APPLY TO US, BECAUSE AFTER WANDERING IN THE WILDERNESS FOR WHATEVER PORTION OF OUR LIVES, AND THEN OUR RECEIVING THE 2ND CIRCUMCISION (OF OUR HEART THAT WE CALL DELIVERANCE), WE DON’T JUST GO RIGHT ON EATING THE FOOD OF OUR WANDERING, OR JUST AS WE DID WHEN WE WERE IN SLAVERY TO OUR EVIL TASKMASTER IN EGYPT. NO, AFTER THE 2ND CIRCUMCISION, THE FOOD OF WANDERING (MANNA) STOPPED AND IT WAS ONLY AFTER THE PASSOVER IN CANAAN THAT THE HEBREWS BEGAN TO EAT THE SCRIPTURALLY CLEAN DIET PRESCRIBED IN THE DIVINE LAWS. THE SCRIPTURE MAKES DIET AN IMPORTANT PART OF UNDERSTANDING YAHUSHA’S SPIRITUAL PRINCIPLES. AFTER PASSOVER IN EGYPT EVERYTHING CHANGED FOR YISHARAL AND THAT CHANGE INVOLVED EATING MANNA. AFTER PASSOVER IN CANAAN EVERYTHING CHANGED AGAIN FOR YISHARAL, AND CENTRAL TO THIS CHANGE WAS A DRAMATIC CHANGE IN THEIR DIET FROM MANNA TO EATING CLEAN (KOSHER AS MANY SAY).
One day, Joshua was near Jericho when he saw a man standing some distance in front of him. The man was holding a sword, so Joshua walked up to him and asked, “Are you with us or with our enemies?”
"No, I'm here because I’m the commander of Yahuah’s army.” And Joshua fell to his knees and bowed down to the ground. “I'm your servant, please tell me what my master wants me to do.”
“Take off your sandals,” the commander answered. “For the spot you're standing on is now set-apart ground.” So Joshua took off his sandals.
NOTICE THAT THIS IS NOT A VISION OR A DREAM; JOSHUA WAS NOT ASLEEP NOR IN AN ECSTATIC STATE AND THIS IS QUITE REAL. THERE WAS AN ACTUAL MAN STANDING IN FRONT OF JOSHUA EVEN IF IT WAS ONLY AN APPARITION (A SUPERNATURAL OR SPIRITUAL MANIFESTATION).
BUT WHO OR WHAT WAS THIS BEING? WHOEVER IT WAS SPOKE WITH YAHUSHA’S AUTHORITY, BECAISE WHENEVER A REGULAR ANGEL (MESSENGER) CAME TO PEOPLE IN THE SCRIPTURE AND THE AWESTRUCK HUMAN FIRST SAW HIM, THE USUAL REACTION WAS TO FALL FLAT ON HIS FACE AND WORSHIP THE ANGEL. IN RESPONSE THE ANGEL WOULD (WITHOUT FAIL) TELL THE PERSON TO STAND UP AND NOT WORSHIP HIM BECAUSE HE IS NOT YAHUSHA, RATHER HE IS A CREATED BEING.
HOWEVER IN THIS CASE THE MAN EXPECTS AND ACCEPTS JOSHUA’S WORSHIP AND DECLARES THAT BECAUSE OF HIS PRESENCE, THE PLACE IS SET-APART. WOW!!! LET’S DISSECT THIS FOR A MOMENT BECAUSE WE RUN INTO THIS KIND OF TROUBLING DILEMMA OFTEN IN THE SCRIPTURE.
WHO WAS IN THE BURNING BUSH THAT DREW MOSES TO IT? THE USUAL ANSWER IS YAHUSHA. HOWEVER THE SCRIPTURE DOESN’T SAY IT WAS YAHUSHA. RATHER IT SAYS IN EXODUS 3 THAT THE “MESSENGER OF YAHUSHA” APPEARED IN THE BURNING BUSH. HOWEVER THIS MESSENGER IDENTIFIED HIMSELF AS THE ETERNAL CREATOR YAHUAH, AND AS A RESULT OF BEING IN THE PRESENCE OF YAHUSHA (THEY'RE THE SAME BEING) MOSES WAS TO REMOVE HIS SANDALS BECAUSE YAHUSHA’S PRESENCE MADE THE VERY DIRT SURROUNDING THE AREA SET-APART (DIVINELY RADIOACTIVE).
WE FIND THE EXPRESSION “THE ANGEL OF YAHUSHA” IN A NUMBER OF PLACES IN THE SCRIPTURE AND IT ALWAYS HAS YAHUSHA SPEAKING IN THE FIRST PERSON (I, ME). SO THE LINE BETWEEN THE NATURE OF THE MESSENGER OF YAHUSHA AND YAHUSHA HIMSELF BLURS. WE FIND THIS SAME PHRASE AS USED HERE IN JOSHUA 5 (I AM THE COMMANDER OF YAHUSHA’S ARMY) USED IN ONLY ONE OTHER PLACE IN THE EARLY TEXTS, AND THIS IS IN DANIEL 8 REGARDING A VISION DANIEL WAS HAVING WHILE IN EXILE IN BABYLON. AND THIS PHRASE IN DANIEL IS SPEAKING ABOUT YAHUSHA BUT IN A MORE OFF-HAND WAY.
WE ALSO FIND THAT THE SHEKINAH IS ALSO USED AS A PHYSICAL BUT NON-HUMAN APPARITION THAT IS DIRECTLY ASSOCIATED WITH YAHUSHA, AND YAHUSHA SPEAKS AS THE SHEKINAH WITH AUTHORITY AND ALSO IN THE 1ST PERSON. HERE’S THE THING: THIS PARTICULAR BEING SAYS HE IS THE CAPTAIN, PRINCE, LEADER, OR COMMANDER OF YAHUSHA’S WARRIOR ANGELS. AND THE DRAWN SWORD IS SYMBOLIC OF BATTLE. WHILE THIS BEING IS A PHYSICAL APPARITION, IT IS BY DEFINITION THE PHYSICAL APPARITION OF A SPIRITUAL BEING. IT IS CLEAR FROM THIS COMMANDER OF YAHUSHA’S HOSTS THAT HE HAS NOT COME TO DO EARTHLY BATTLE; HE HAS NOT COME TO BATTLE AGAINST JOSHUA NOR HAS HE COME TO ADD TO JOSHUA’S ARMY AS AN EARTHLY ALLY.
HIS MESSAGE TO JOSHUA IS IN TWO PARTS: ONE PART IS SPOKEN (TAKE OFF YOUR SANDALS, YOU’RE ON SET-APART GROUND), AND THE OTHER PART IS THE VISUAL SYMBOLISM OF THE DRAWN SWORD AS OF A WARRIOR ABOUT TO ENTER BATTLE AND THE APPARITION IDENTIFYING HIMSELF AS THE WARRIOR LEADER OF YAHUSHA’S SPIRITUAL ARMY. SO IT LOOKS LIKE YAHUSHA IS REVEALING TO JOSHUA THAT WHILE JOSHUA IS DOING BATTLE ON EARTH YAHUSHA IS DOING PARALLEL BATTLE IN THE SHAMAYIM.
YAHUSHA IS SHOWING JOSHUA THAT WHAT GOES ON IN HIS DIMENSION AND WHAT HAPPENS IN THIS DIMENSION ARE CONNECTED. THIS IS THE CLASSIC CASE OF THE REALITY OF DUALITY; THAT THERE IS A SPIRITUAL REALITY OCCURRING SIMULTANEOUSLY WITH A PHYSICAL REALITY AND THEY OPERATE LIKE A PAIR OF RAILROAD TRACKS, BUT ONLY ONE SIDE IS SEEN. ON THE OTHER HAND WE CAN KNOW WHERE THE INVISIBLE TRACK IS GOING, BECAUSE ITS CONNECTED TO THE SIDE WE CAN SEE.
DANIEL MAKES VIVID MENTION OF SPIRITUAL PRINCES DOING BATTLE THAT HAS SOME CONNECTION WITH HAPPENINGS ON EARTH, BUT YET WE DON’T HAVE DANIEL’S PRINCES FIGHTING HUMANS. THERE IS A LOT WE JUST DON’T KNOW ABOUT THE SPIRITUAL REALM AND ITS DEFINITE BUT MYSTERIOUS CONNECTION WITH THE PHYSICAL REALM.
BY THE WAY, DOES ANYONE HERE THINK THAT JOSHUA FULLY UNDERSTOOD THE NATURE OF WHAT STOOD BEFORE HIM WITH THAT DRAWN SWORD? SOMEHOW, INSTINCTIVELY, JOSHUA KNEW TO BELIEVE WHAT YAHUSHA SAID TO HIM.
I SUSPECT THAT JOSHUA INSTANTLY RECALLED THE MANY TIMES MOSES MUST HAVE RECOUNTED THE STORY OF THAT INCREDIBLE MOMENT WHEN HE FOUND HIMSELF LYING FACE DOWN BEFORE THE BURNING BUSH AS YAHUSHA OF CREATION SPOKE TO HIM. SOMETHING WAS DIFFERENT ENOUGH OF THIS BEING, AND BORE SUFFICIENT AUTHORITY, THAT THE LAST WORDS OF THIS CHAPTER HAVE JOSHUA RESPONDING TO THE COMMANDER OF YAHUSHA’S ARMY IN THIS WAY: “AND JOSHUA DID SO”. THAT IS A VERY SIMPLE WAY TO ILLUSTRATE ACTING ON BELIEF WHEN IT IS HUMANLY IMPOSSIBLE TO UNDERSTAND YOUR CIRCUMSTANCES.
SO SINCE THIS IS A MANIFESTATION OR APPARATION OF YAHUSHA, JUST LIKE THE BURNING BUSH, OR THE PHYSICAL BEING WHO WRESTLED WITH JACOB, OR WHO REVEALED HIMSELF TO JOHN IN REVELATION AS THE LIVING SWORD, ALEF/TAU . . . OUR CONCLUSION IS THAT THIS WAS INFACT YAHUSHA, APPEARING ONCE AGAIN (BECAUSE HE CAN DO ANYTHING) EVEN BEFORE HE HAD OFFICIALLY PUT ON FLESH AND BECOME A MAN FOR OUR DELIVERANCE. HENCE HE RECEIVES ALL THE WORSHIP DUE HIM AS THE CREATOR. HOW PHENOMENAL !!!
So now that Yisharal has arrived in the Promised Land, entered back into Blood-Covenant relationship with Yahusha through circumcision and observed their first Passover as a set-apart, chosen and free nation, Yahusha appears to Joshua in person to inform him that there is indeed a war going on in the higher dimension, just as they were preparing to battle here on earth for Yisharal's inheritance.
SO LET'S FINISH BY LOOKING AT THIS NEW LIFE THAT EVERY IMMERSED, CIRCUMCISED BRIDAL-MEMBER IS TO EXPERIENCE AND WHAT IT TRULY MEANS TODAY HERE IN THE 21st CENTURY ...
WHAT IS LIFE?
HEBREW 1870 DARAK - a road, a course of life or mode of action, conversation, custom, journey, manner, passenger, through, toward, to glide swiftly; life (as a fleeting portion of time); the world (as transient):--age, short time, world. A road trodden, a course of life or a mode of action.
TURAH UNDERSTANDING :
John 12:25. He who loves his life shall lose it, and he who hates his life in this world shall preserve it for everlasting life.
Matt 16:26. For what is a man profited if he gains all the world, and loses his own life ? or what shall a man give in exchange for his life ?
1 Peter 3:10. For he who wishes to love life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil, and his lips from speaking deceit.
James 4:14. When you do not know of tomorrow. For what is your life ? For it is a mist that appears for a little, and then disappears.
I John 1:1. What was from the beginning, what we have heard, and what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the word of life.
1 Tim 4:8. For bodily exercise is profitable for a little, but reverence is profitable for all, having promise for the present life, and of that which is to come.
Heb 13:5. Let your way of life be without the love of money, and be satisfied with what you have. For He Himself has said, "I shall never leave you or forsake you."
1 John 5:12. He who possesses the Son possesses life, He who does not possess the Son of Yahuah does not possess life.
ANYONE WHO POSSESSES THE SON POSSESSES "LIFE" AND ANYONE WHO DOESN'T POSSESS THE SON OF YAHUAH DOES NOT POSSESS "LIFE."
Obviously the ultimate experience of life is to be filled with the Ruach of Yahusha and posses Him within your being. We need to present the behaviour which manifests the fact that Yahusha's Spirit is habituating within our vessel. Just as Yahuah manifested Himself within the Tabernacle in the wilderness and the Temple of Yerushalayim before He left it (because of worship mixtures - impure and unclean), Yahusha manifested Himself in the flesh and preached that our bodies were now to become the temple place of His habitation, but with instructions of how to experience His life within our flesh.
This life is not dead as all men are who refuse liberation and deliverance are dead in their trespasses and wickedness. Yahusha calls them "THE WALKING DEAD.'' Our lives, How we choose to live (if in rebellion to Yahusha's instruction) will render us in this state of non-progression to life, but to destruction, if we refuse to acknowledge Yahusha's sacrifice for our love, "GREATER LOVE HAS NO MAN THAN TO LAY DOWN HIS "LIFE" FOR HIS. BROTHER."
Above we have the Hebrew explanation that "LIFE" is a road trodden, a course of life or a mode of action, because of conversation and custom through a pathway. It also shows us that "LIFE" guides swiftly as a fleeting portion of time and our short time of "LIFE" on this world is transient. There are also some guiding Scriptures from the "BOOK OF LIFE."
SERIOUSLY BROTHERS AND SISTERS, APPLYING THE 3 RULES TO YOUR SITUATIONS WILL PROPEL YOU TO THE PLACE OF HIS PRESENCE MUCH QUICKER THAN YOUR OWN EFFORTS. WHAT IS MORE IMPORTANT TO US THAN HAVING REAL LIFE WITHIN OUR VESSELS, FULFILLING THE PURPOSE OF OUR INDIVIDUALLY CREATED EXISTENCE, OR TO SACRIFICE THAT OPPORTUNITY FOR THE LUST AND DESIRE OF THE FLESH WHERE NOTHING IS PERMANENT ...
