Gilgal – What’s in a Name 1

The cost of Gilgal (Joshua 5:2-8)

Gilgal is not only the place of memorial and remembrance but a place that also has a cost. When we have followed Jehovah and have been brought through Jordan and we have placed down our marker so that everyone can see, we have to acknowledge that there will also be a cost to this following. Here in Joshua the cost was circumcision which gives us an illustration of how God wants to define us as those who are followers of Him. This is not about a physical act but all about a spiritual undertaking. It was something that God had instigated back in Deuteronomy 30:6 where it is recorded “circumcise the heart” (AV) or “change your heart” (NLT). The word circumcise literally means to cut off or cut around. What God is saying is I want to set you apart. The miracle of salvation will inevitably involve a cost and will certainly involve a process whereby we are required to place ourselves in a position that God can perform the act of circumcision, a cost that some may find too great but for those who capitulate the reward is great. There is no gain without pain. For God to be able to reign supreme and for Him to be able to work out His salvation in and through us we have to be willing to allow Him to wound us, for Him to bring us low and then for Him to sustain us in that desperate place so that in His time He can raise us up so that we can be a witness to His salvation.

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