
Episode 61 - Circumcision: Trusting God when He asks you to be weak
Do you know why in biblical days they did circumcisions on day 8?
Welcome back to the Sojo Show! Today‘s episode we are diving right into Joshua chapter 5!
If you've been listening to us, we've been going through the first six chapters of the book of Joshua and today we’re discussing chapter 5. There is so much in this one little chapter!
As review, last week we talked about stones of remembrance. The Israelites set up stones so that their children and future generations would always remember the miracle of crossing the Jordan.
Immediately after crossing into enemy territory- remember, they were there to go into battle- God told them, “Circumcise all of your adult men.''
Imagine yourself in this situation. You've entered enemy territory and God asks you to do this, to become weak. For adult men to go through this, the entire lot of them, meant all their males were incapacitated. They had no one able to fight.
If anybody came at them, they wouldn’t be able to fight. And what a sign and symbol of trust.
An entire nation submitted and weak in order to rely on their God. That is not the only, but certainly is one of the explanations for circumcision. It is a symbol of our trust and dependence on God.
In the New Testament, we recognize that circumcision pictures our separation from sin and death because of Christ. We are not separated because of this small piece of flesh that has been removed, but because of the “circumcision” of our hearts.
Circumcision in the Old Testament (Joshua chapter 5) is marked by the physical and spiritual obedience to God's command. It was a symbol of the covenant that God himself had made with the nation of Israel, this distinguished them from everybody else.
It also signified to them a new beginning or a new phase in their relationship with God.
The transformation that happened physically for them is the spiritual transformation that happens for us. When we are made right before God, it's all by grace. When he does it, HE regenerates our heart, and we can now stand before Him holy and clean because of the righteousness of Christ.
We want to remind you that it is okay to be vulnerable before God. We see as these people are crossing over the river, they become extremely weak. Extremely vulnerable and dependent upon the character of their God. And we can do the same thing. God asks us to bring all of those fears, all of those insecurities, all of that self-doubt, and be okay with it in front of him, to let ourselves be in that place of weakness and vulnerability.
He is not going to reject us.
Sojo Academy
If you're not part of Sojo, please consider joining us. Especially in 2023, our goal is to take bits from God's word and implement them into our lives. Learn more at www.sojoacademy.com.
QUOTES
“When he does it and he regenerates our heart, we can now stand before Him holy and clean because of the righteousness of Christ. “
“It's okay for us to expose our innermost being before the Lord. He is not going to reject us. When we allow ourselves to be that vulnerable and that open and exposed, He will show up and show out. That is beautifully exemplified in the Israelites as they cross the Jordan.”
RESOURCES
- Become a Sojo Academy member: a community for Christian women that encourages Bible Study, fellowship, and creative worship. CHECK IT OUT HERE.
- Full Bible Study on Joshua's chapters 1-6 HERE.
- Explore God's Word Collection: The Ultimate Collection of Unique and Creative Ways to Study the Bible: www.sojohub.com/explore

Free Book of Joshua Coloring Pages
HOW TO RATE, REVIEW & SUBSCRIBE
You can find The Sojo Show Podcast on all the major podcast apps, as well as here on The Sojo Hub website.
Subscribe on your favorite podcast player using the links below.
Spotify | Apple | Google | Amazon
And don’t forget to leave a rating and review after you’ve listened. We really appreciate it and truly want to hear what you think!
CONNECT WITH JEN & AJ
Sojo Academy
Also, If you have a question for us, it could be super silly, it can be a little bit deeper. It doesn’t matter, email us at hello@sojoacademy.com... you may just hear the answer on an upcoming podcast episode!