Josue 3-5: Divine Dispensations

My last post was almost exactly one year ago.  I've gone stretches without making much progress with my reading of the Word, sometimes several months at a time, but never a whole year.  To be fair, this last year has been unlike any other.  Our son Nathaniel is now just over a year old, and watching him grow over this past year has been my priority.  It still will be, but I also need to be mindful of my spiritual growth as I journey through Scripture.  I made an effort last March to begin the Book of Josue, but I made it only two chapters in.  It's now March again, and the beginning of Lent, and I must press on.  I must resume my reading, as challenging as it can sometimes be.  I was able yesterday to read the next three chapters of Josue, and here's what I observed:

First off, Josue 3 is a powerful chapter, with the parting of the Jordan River.  This event is often overshadowed by Exodus' account of the parting of the Red Sea.  But I don't believe it's entirely fair to glorify one and forget the other.  The parting of the Jordan is obviously a direct parallel to what happened 40 years before at the Red Sea, and it bookends the Israelites' journey perfectly.  In fact, throughout these early chapters of Josue there are many parallels to the Mosaic events captured in the Torah.  In Josue 5 there is an encounter with God that is very much like Moses and the burning bush.  And I suppose I'll start there.  It is written in Josue 5:13, "And when Josue was in the field of the city of Jericho, he lifted up his eyes, and saw a man standing over-against him, holding a drawn sword."  This "man" is described as a "prince of the host of the Lord" in Josue 5:14.  And Joshua is instructed, just as Moses had been, to remove his shoes, "for the place whereon thou standest is holy" (Josue 5:16).  It's a dramatic moment, especially given that the following chapter will tell of the battle against Jericho and the beginning of the wars against the Canaanites.  I also found it interesting the differing views of who the "man" was in Josue 5:13.  I happen to be reading at the moment Eusebius' The History of the Church, and the great Church historian happens to believe that the man Joshua encounters is none other than the Second Person of the Trinity, Christ Himself!  This is an extremely fascinating idea, and it isn't new or uncommon at all.  There are many instances throughout the Old Testament wherein Christ Himself is often speculated to have appeared in his human shape, to shape events, going all the way back to Genesis' account of the time before the Fall.  But the other common view is that the "prince of the host of the Lord" was in fact St. Michael the Archangel, relaying the words of God.  St. Michael does make perfect sense.  Angels are often described as appearing as men in the Bible, we know they act as messengers for God.  And we know St. Michael is often depicted with sword as the head of God's heavenly army.  On the eve of battle it would seem fitting that Michael, as God's commander-in-chief, would appear to Joshua to inspire him with confidence, to assure him that God was on his side.

One other interesting development in these chapters was the re-institution of circumcision coupled with the ending of the heavenly manna as food.  These were huge developments that signaled loudly the coming change: the ending of the desert wanderings and the beginning of life in the Promised Land.  It also brought up some interesting ideas about the nature of God.  Often in Scripture there appear to be periods of time wherein God dispenses with certain precepts or conditions.  The Sacrament of Marriage comes to mind: God permitted polygamy and divorce, to an extent, in the Old Testament, even though in the very beginning it was clearly laid out that marriage was an indissoluble joining of one man and one woman.  And it wasn't until Christ established the New Law that the original intention was again fully realized.  We see this again with circumcision.  Circumcision was established with Abraham as a clear-cut sign of a person's status as chosen by God.  But it was abandoned beginning in Egypt and throughout the 40 years in the desert.  There are reasons for this, and only God fully knows them, but we can speculate.  The 40 years of wandering represent a period of darkness for the Israelites, a period of sin, separation from God.  It would make sense that a sign such as circumcision, which was supposed to signify a closeness with God, would not be fit for such a time.  And it would also make sense that once the period of wandering ended, and the people were given God's Promised Land, that the pleasing sign would return.  Just as the more perfect form of Marriage returned with Christ and the New Law.  It goes the same for the manna.  If manna was a prefiguring of the Eucharist and the divine sacraments instituted by Christ, then it was intended as a nourishment, a merciful gift from God to get the Israelites through a difficult time of sojourning through a wilderness.  Once the journey ended at the gates of the Promised Land, the nourishment wasn't needed, the manna ceased.  Just as the sacraments will be unnecessary once heaven is attained.