Introduction
Gilgal is one of the significant places in Israel’s journey from Egypt into the Promised Land. The name Gilgal is associated with the Hebrew word galal, meaning “to roll”, and is connected with the idea of rolling away.
Gilgal was not simply a geographical location. Throughout Israel’s story, it became associated with several important spiritual experiences: God rolling away reproach, remembering what God has done, consecration and obedience, and the danger of allowing spiritual experiences to become empty religious routines.
There is therefore a powerful spiritual lesson in Gilgal for every believer.
Gilgal teaches us that God can bring us out of our past, but He also expects us to walk with Him into our future.
In today’s article we will consider two of the spiritual implications of Gilgal.
1. Gilgal Is a Place Where God Rolls Away Reproach
After Israel crossed the Jordan River, God instructed Joshua to circumcise the generation that had been born in the wilderness.
Then God said:
“Today I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you.”
Joshua 5:9 NKJV
That is the first major spiritual significance of Gilgal.
Israel had physically left Egypt many years earlier, but in a sense, Egypt had not completely left Israel. Their identity had been shaped by slavery, oppression, fear and years of living under Egyptian domination.
Now they were standing in the Promised Land, and God declared that the reproach of Egypt had been rolled away.
What does this mean for us?
There are seasons when God brings us out of something, but we still carry the identity of what we came out of.
- A person can leave a difficult season but continue thinking like someone who is still trapped in that season.
- A person can receive forgiveness but continue living under condemnation.
- A person can experience restoration but continue defining themselves by their failure.
- A person can enter a new season while still carrying the shame of the old one.
Gilgal reminds us that God does not merely change our location. He wants to transform our identity.
There are things God wants to roll away from our lives: shame, condemnation, destructive patterns, former identities and the labels that previous seasons placed upon us.
Paul captures this reality in 2 Corinthians 5:17:
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” NKJV
The past may explain where you came from, but it does not have to determine where you are going.
Practical application
Do not continually introduce yourself to yourself through your past.
You may have made mistakes, experienced rejection, failed in an area, lost an opportunity or gone through a painful season. But when God brings you into a new season, you must learn to see yourself according to what God says rather than what your past says.
Gilgal is where God says, “That season does not have the final word over you.”
2. Gilgal Is a Place of Remembrance
Before Israel moved forward, God instructed Joshua to take twelve stones from the Jordan and establish them at Gilgal.
Joshua said: “That this may be a sign among you when your children ask in time to come, saying, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’”
Joshua 4:6 NKJV
The stones were a memorial.
God knew something about human nature. “We are amazingly capable of remembering our problems while forgetting God’s faithfulness.”
Israel had just witnessed an extraordinary miracle. The Jordan River had stopped flowing, and the nation crossed over on dry ground.
God wanted future generations to know what He had done.
Gilgal teaches us to remember.
There are moments when you need to deliberately remember God’s faithfulness.
- Remember the door He opened.
- Remember the provision He made.
- Remember the protection you experienced.
- Remember the answer to prayer.
- Remember the season when you thought you would not make it, yet God brought you through.
Remembering is not living in the past. Biblical remembrance strengthens present faith.
David did this when he faced Goliath. He remembered how God had delivered him from the lion and the bear, and that remembrance strengthened his confidence in God for the battle in front of him.
Practical application
Create your own spiritual memorials.
Write down answered prayers. Record significant moments when God intervened. Keep testimonies that your family can revisit. Tell your children what God has done.
When the next difficult season comes, your history with God becomes evidence that God has been faithful before and can be trusted again.
Dear friend, Gilgal says, “Do not forget what God has done.”
Altar call: For anyone reading this article who is not saved and wants to be part of the family of God or you want to re-dedicate your life back to Jesus, please repeat this out loud. “Lord Jesus, I believe You died for my sins and rose again. I turn from my old ways and ask You to forgive me. Come into my heart, be my Lord and Saviour. Fill me with Your Spirit and help me live for You. Thank You for saving me, in Jesus Name. Amen“
Prayer: Father, please open Your book of remembrance over my life and family, and roll away every form of reproach and shame in our lives today, in Jesus Name
Feast of Light Word Ministry
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