ON THE VANGUARD

CHAMETZ AND GILGAL
“At that time the LORD said to Joshua, ‘Make flint knives and circumcise the Israelites again.’ So Joshua made flint knives and circumcised the Israelites at Gibeath Haaraloth.”
Joshua 5:2-3

I thought for awhile on how to start today’s devotional, and honestly knowing what I want to say and trying to ease into it, I just couldn’t find an avenue. So allow me to be blunt and risk sounding scattered as I share with you what I know for a fact God is currently telling me. Currently we are in the days of the Feast of Unleavened Bread on the Jewish calendar. It is for seven days following Passover that many observers find themselves eating matzah as opposed to products containing wheat, oats, spelt, barley, and rye. These five grains are known also as chametz in Hebrew. The basic definition for chametz is any type of leavening product. For any who have cooked breads or cakes before, they will know that ingredients such as baking soda, baking powder, flour, or yeast all cause things to rise, therefore making them a form of chametz. In memory of the children of Israel leaving Egypt so quickly, we forsake for this timeframe the leaved items and eat the unleavened bread.
Move with me away from the Exodus out of Egypt and go to the entering of the Promise Land in Joshua 5. Already the people had crossed the Jordan and were about to attack Jericho. Yet before doing so, a command was given to Joshua while in Gilgal to circumcise the men again. Again? Yes again, because while traveling in the desert for forty years the older circumcised generation had died off and the new younger generation had not yet been circumcised. According to Jewish law, circumcision was the proof that the person was God’s. So in following the command given to him, Joshua made flint knives and circumcised the men of Israel, rolling away the reproach of Egypt.
Now with the background hopefully set, I want to share with you the challenge God placed in my lap while visiting family in Texas for Passover, and continues to challenge me with as I partake of the matzah this week. The chametz needs to be removed. The foreskin needs to be cut. Allow me to explain. Physical chametz is the five grains listed above. However, even though I have removed these grains from my home during this time, I also need to remove them from my life. I think of self-rising flour. It is self-rising. This chametz is easy to see. But what about the self-rising chametz in my life? Pride, selfishness, arrogance, these are the chametz in my life that also need to be removed. Yet it is the same as the foreskins. There are health issues that are related to not being circumcised, which may be one reason why God required this of His people. So then there are spiritual health issues related to me not being circumcised. The sins of pride, selfishness, arrogance, and so many other spiritual ‘diseases’ is a real thing.
God is not asking us to refrain from chametz, nor is He asking us to be circumcised. He is commanding us. He is commanding His people to remove the pride of life, to remove the selfish attitude of ‘me’, and to remove the arrogant manner we so easily slip into when concerned only with ourselves. We need to leave the reproach of Egypt behind. We need to stop serving the idols of ‘us’ and find ourselves embracing the humility that in essence is found in the chametz. We need to cut away the foreskin which holds the disease of sin, and allow ourselves to be cleansed.
Oh God, I pray that you would take me to Gilgal, circumcise my heart, and reduce my pride until it no longer exists.