Why did Israel undergo circumcision at Gilgal before the physical battles in the Promised Land?
Israel underwent circumcision at Gilgal so the nation would first fulfill its covenant relationship with Jehovah, preparing them spiritually before the physical battles ahead. Circumcision had been demanded since Abraham, and that covenant relationship had to be consummated. God prioritized this obedience even while Israel camped at Jericho’s doorstep, leaving them temporarily incapacitated.
Les teaches that God was more concerned with Israel’s covenant relationship with Jehovah than with their military position. Circumcision, which had been demanded from the beginning with Abraham, had to come first. Even at the doorstep of Jericho, God literally placed the whole nation in a useless position, because they had to go through the rite of circumcision to prepare them spiritually for the physical battles that were coming. After all the people were circumcised, they remained in their places until they were whole or healed. Then the Lord told Joshua that He had rolled away the reproach of Egypt from them, so the place was called Gilgal, meaning a rolling. Israel encamped at Gilgal and kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the month at evening in the plains of Jericho—forty years to the day from the Passover in Egypt.