What a disappointment! The army of Israel has made its way through the Jordan in a never previously manifested manner. The kings of the peoples in Canaan are paralyzed with fear (Joshua 5:1). So now is the moment to attack. The victory and the possession of the promised land lies ready to grasp—but Joshua pauses. First, he ensures that all men under the age of forty get circumcised. For adult men that was a painful operation. It made them very sick (see Genesis 34:25). Until they have recovered, Joshua's soldiers do not come from their tents (Joshua 5:8). Instead of conquering the land, Israel’s army is non-functional. What a disappointment.

The LORD sees it exactly the other way around. While Israel’s soldiers lie powerless in bed, he says to Joshua: “Today I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you.” The memory of this is preserved in the place name Gilgal: Transfer place.

When Israel crossed the Jordan, the mocking talk of other peoples was done. They could no longer say that the LORD was not able to bring his people to the promised land. But with that “the shame of Egypt” was not gone. It only disappeared now that Israel’s soldiers lay in their tents recovering from their circumcision.

The shame of Egypt was that no one could see that Israel was God’s own people. God’s firstborn son (see Exodus 3:22-23) in Egypt led the existence of a slave. During the trek through the wilderness, no circumcision was performed. Apparently, under those circumstances, that was not possible. As a result of Israel’s unbelief and disobedience, that lasted no less than forty years. As a result, the majority of the men arrived at the promised land uncircumcised. The shame that you could not see that Israel was God’s firstborn remained upon the people.  Now the shame is being rolled away—not by means of a brilliant victory, but by an operation that deprived the army of all strength for a few days.

Jesus Christ underwent circumcision when he was eight days old. The pain of that operation was one of the first steps on his journey of suffering. He even had to leave his country and seek asylum in Egypt. His suffering continued until life flowed out of him on the cross. That was how the road led to his resurrection, by which he was declared to be the Son of God (Romans 1:4).

If you belong to him by faith, you must cut—no longer your body, but your heart. That often does not hurt less. You still receive the honour of being a son or daughter of God through the elimination of your own power.