- Nov 9, 2019
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In Joshua chapter five, the Israelites under Joshua have crossed the Jordan and are camped in a place where God had Joshua circumsize the second generation of the freed children of Israel, after 40 years in the wilderness. Chapter five verse nine reads: “Then the Lord said to Joshua, ‘Today I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you.’ So the name of that place is called Gilgal to this day.” (“Gilgal’ is similar to the Hebrew word for “rolled.”) Luke chapter 24 is about the women approaching the tomb of Jesus on Resurrection Sunday. Verse 2 reads: “But they found the stone rolled away from the tomb.”
While I am no expert on the ancient languages of the Bible, there appears to me to be here a relationship between these two verses. Israel’s captivity and wilderness wanderings were in a certain sense akin to death. When God said “Today I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you,” that was the beginning of a new life for the Israelites, as Jesus’ resurrection was a new beginning of new life.
There is a personal matter of mine that relates. Yesterday was, in my view, the first day that I came to full, permanent assurance of salvation. I am now 66. I first heard the gospel in sixth grade. I started doubting my salvation in tenth grade. For fifty years, I have mostly understood that I was not saved. I remember back when I was a teenager and understanding I was not saved. I could not bring myself to come to and trust Christ. I understood I was heading for hell and nothing could be done about it. I was in a conundrum. Sometimes, thinking I was doomed and could never be saved, I just thought, for example, of myself sitting on a dock and watching boats and doing nothing, because there was nothing I could do about my situation. What was I to do? Just sit on a dock and stare out, was a possibility. Back in those days, there was a popular song on the radio by Otis Redding. It is called (Sittin’ On) the Dock of the Bay. One stanza of the song is, “So I’m just gonna sit on the dock of the bay, Watching the tide roll away, I’m sittin’ on the dock of the bay, Wastin’ time.” I periodically imagined myself just sitting on the dock of the bay, in my darkness and doom, and doing nothing. Today is when I discovered the “rolled away” verse in the OT. I was excited about the connection between those two verses, and the fact that I now understand that the stone of my tomb has finally been rolled away.
While I am no expert on the ancient languages of the Bible, there appears to me to be here a relationship between these two verses. Israel’s captivity and wilderness wanderings were in a certain sense akin to death. When God said “Today I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you,” that was the beginning of a new life for the Israelites, as Jesus’ resurrection was a new beginning of new life.
There is a personal matter of mine that relates. Yesterday was, in my view, the first day that I came to full, permanent assurance of salvation. I am now 66. I first heard the gospel in sixth grade. I started doubting my salvation in tenth grade. For fifty years, I have mostly understood that I was not saved. I remember back when I was a teenager and understanding I was not saved. I could not bring myself to come to and trust Christ. I understood I was heading for hell and nothing could be done about it. I was in a conundrum. Sometimes, thinking I was doomed and could never be saved, I just thought, for example, of myself sitting on a dock and watching boats and doing nothing, because there was nothing I could do about my situation. What was I to do? Just sit on a dock and stare out, was a possibility. Back in those days, there was a popular song on the radio by Otis Redding. It is called (Sittin’ On) the Dock of the Bay. One stanza of the song is, “So I’m just gonna sit on the dock of the bay, Watching the tide roll away, I’m sittin’ on the dock of the bay, Wastin’ time.” I periodically imagined myself just sitting on the dock of the bay, in my darkness and doom, and doing nothing. Today is when I discovered the “rolled away” verse in the OT. I was excited about the connection between those two verses, and the fact that I now understand that the stone of my tomb has finally been rolled away.