Understanding Our Character. Journey By The Way of Gilgal, Character Check Part 3

We are walking in today:  Understanding Our Character. Journey By The Way of Gilgal, Character Check Part 3

Witness lean throughout the Bible:  H1869 darak spelled dalet, resh, khaf--to tread, bend, lead, march, bend a bow, archer, bow-benders, to cause to go

Isaiah 48:17
Thus saith the LORD, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; I am the LORD thy God which teacheth thee to profit, which leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldest go.

Torah:  Numbers 24:17; Deuteronomy 1:36, 11:24-25, 33:29

Prophets:  Nehemiah 13:15; Isaiah 16:10, 59:8; Jeremiah 9:3, 25:30, 50:14, 50:29; Amos 4:13; Micah 1:3

Writings:  Joshua 1:3; Judges 20:43; 1 Chronicles 5:18; 2 Chronicles 14:8; Job 22:15; Psalms 25:5, 25:9, 37:14, 64:3, 107:7, 119:35; Proverbs 4:11

Isaiah 42:16 And I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known: I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them.

Joshua 5:9  Adonai said to Y’hoshua, “Today I have rolled off from you the stigma of Egypt.” This is why the place has been called Gilgal [rolling] ever since. CJB

Gilgal is not a town name at all--instead, it is likely a word for a particular type of human-made site. As the Israelites’ point of entry into the Holy Land and their base of operations for the initial conquest of the land, the site called “Gilgal” signifies the simple, basic religious beliefs and teachings that first introduce us to a spiritual life, and that we return to again and again as we fight our early battles to reform ourselves and get our life into order.

One subtle hint of this is that almost everywhere “Gilgal” appears in the original Paleo Hebrew, it is preceded by a definite article—Hebrew’s equivalent of our word “the.”

Consider these examples in English:

People often refer to the nearest major city as simply, “the city,” rather than saying its name.
People who live in suburban areas go to “the mall” to do much of their shopping. They may not even know the official name of their nearest shopping mall.
People who live near a large natural waterway commonly refer to it as “the river,” even though they usually do know its name.
Of course, there are many different cities, malls, and rivers. Each has a specific name. But as a type of place, we refer to them as “the city,” “the mall,” and “the river.”

The meaning of “gilgal” as suggested in the original Hebrew of Joshua 5:9 (quoted above), the word gilgal in Hebrew is related to the word galal, which means “to roll.” Galal is often used to refer to rolling heavy objects such as stones. So in Hebrew the related word gilgal means a wheel or circle, or something that rolls. In particular, it seems to refer to a circle of stones, or to a circular altar.

At Gilgal The Most High Himself rolled the reproach away, and Israel stood before Him in the blessing wherewith He had blessed them. Pharaoh had said that, if they did get out of Egypt, they would be shut in the wilderness; and verily it had seemed as if they would wander and die there. In the camp in Canaan they were before His army, His nation on the earth, according to His accomplished purpose, His purchased people seated in His promised land, and marked off by Him for Himself from the nations surrounding them and He declared them to be His indeed.

The wise one knows well enough that though he has showed up and participated in the feast days of The Most High, also the character must match your conduct and the rolling away of coming out of our own Egypt so to speak is the wilderness process. The journey we embark as we are chosen to see the truths in the Torah as The Most High reveals. Our path hidden in Gilgal, without this application there is no practical power for our daily lives.  Shema Selah let us pause and consider this teaching!