Joshua 5:1 (KJV) And it came to pass, when all the kings of the Amorites, which were on the side of Jordan westward, and all the kings of the Canaanites, which were by the sea, heard that the LORD had dried up the waters of Jordan from before the children of Israel, until we were passed over, that their heart melted, neither was there spirit in them any more, because of the children of Israel.
Joshua 5:5 (KJV) Now all the people that came out were circumcised: but all the people that were born in the wilderness by the way as they came forth out of Egypt, them they had not circumcised.
Joshua 5:10 (KJV) And the children of Israel encamped in Gilgal, and kept the passover on the fourteenth day of the month at even in the plains of Jericho.
The old testament circumcision is a picture of what Paul would refer to us as circumcision of heart.
So Israel crossed over the Jordan. They then give the men a surgery that would temporarily weaken them, and then observe the Passover trading.
From a tactical standpoint, this doesn’t make sense. Go back and look at the first verse when the people of Jericho realized the Jordan was dried up, their hearts melted and there wasn’t any fight left in the people. This is also harvest season. So while Israel is going through Passover, the citizens of Jericho are out harvesting the fields. It makes no sense to let a city stock up supplies before a battle.
Sometimes the things of God don’t make sense, but when we honor God first things work out in the end.
Joshua 5:15 (KJV) And the captain of the LORD’S host said unto Joshua, Loose thy shoe from off thy foot; for the place whereon thou standest is holy. And Joshua did so.
The captain is Jesus making a visit to Joshua to give direct instructions.