The Camp At Gilgal: Removing the Reproach

And the people came up out of Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and encamped in Gilgal, in the east border of Jericho.(Joshua 4:19 KJV)…..And the Lord said unto Joshua, This day have I rolled away the reproach of Egypt from off you. Wherefore the name of the place is called Gilgal unto this day.
Joshua 5:9 KJV

The word Gilgal means rolled away. Its the place that God rolled away the reproach of Egypt from the children of Israel. After the miraculous crossing of the Jordan, Israel pitched at Gilgal. Gerald Roberts gives this apt description of the place, ” Gilgal is where Circumcision was renewed (Jos 5:2-9). Passover kept at (Jos 5:10-11). Manna ceased at, after the Passover (Jos 5:12)”. Some events also occurred at Gilgal which maybe outside our scope. Roberts hits on our concern today when he says that rolling away the disgrace of Egypt implies that, ” The experience of slavery and humiliation, or the sense that God was slow in bringing relief to the people” had ended. ” Disgrace feels like: Feelings of shame, A burden of guilt from secret sins ”. Gilgal was thus a place of change. From henceforth, their history began to change. God knows how to roll away that reproach. The devil thought it had you. No. The truth is that God has the devil who thinks he has you. Today your reproach is rolled away by the blood of the lamb. Reproach is an expression of disapproval and disappointment. One scholar says, ” The reproach of Egypt had to do with their past and was marked with three things: a history of slavery, oppression and their disobedience. Their past stood between them and their victory, and before God could send them to slay the giants of Canaan and possess the land, he had to deal with their past”. The arrival of Jesus was to deal with this past. Now you’re free to enjoy the covenant. Congratulations.