Israel’s first camp in the land
After Israel crossed the Jordan, they camped at Gilgal near Jericho. Joshua placed twelve stones there, one for each tribe, taken from the riverbed. When children later asked about them, their families were to tell the story of how the Lord brought Israel through the Jordan on dry ground (Joshua 4:20-24).
Gilgal was more than a convenient campsite. It marked the end of Israel’s wilderness journey and the beginning of life in the land God had promised. The stones gave future generations something solid to see and a story worth passing on.
And those twelve stones, which they took out of Jordan, did Joshua pitch in Gilgal. And he spake unto the children of Israel, saying, When your children shall ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean these stones? Then ye shall let your children know, saying, Israel came over this Jordan on dry land. For the Lord your God dried up the waters of Jordan from before you, until ye were passed over, as the Lord your God did to the Red sea, which he dried up from before us, until we were gone over: That all the people of the earth might know the hand of the Lord, that it is mighty: that ye might fear the Lord your God for ever.
Covenant renewal and Passover
At Gilgal, Joshua circumcised the Israelite men. Joshua explains that those born during the wilderness journey had not been circumcised, while the generation that left Egypt had died in the wilderness (Joshua 5:4-5). Circumcision was the covenant sign God had given Abraham, so this was a public renewal of Israel’s identity as God’s people.
The name Gilgal is connected with a Hebrew word meaning to roll. In Joshua’s account, the Lord says that Israel’s reproach associated with Egypt had been rolled away there (Joshua 5:9). The people then kept Passover at Gilgal, looking back to God’s deliverance from Egypt before moving forward into Canaan (Joshua 5:10). Their new beginning rested on God’s old faithfulness.
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.
A place for Israel’s king
Gilgal later became a national gathering place. After Saul rescued Jabesh-gilead from the Ammonites, Samuel called Israel to Gilgal, where Saul’s kingship was renewed before the Lord (1 Samuel 11:14-15). It was a moment of shared joy and a fresh start for the nation.
But Gilgal also became the setting for Saul’s painful disobedience. Saul met Samuel there after failing to carry out God’s command concerning Amalek. Samuel’s response goes to the heart of the story: sacrifices and religious gestures cannot take the place of listening to God (1 Samuel 15:22-23).
And Samuel said, Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, he hath also rejected thee from being king.
A warning about empty worship
Gilgal appears in the story of Elijah and Elisha too. It was one of the places from which they travelled before Elijah was taken up, linking the place with Israel’s prophetic history (2 Kings 2:1-2).
Yet the prophets later warned about Gilgal. Amos rebuked people who eagerly brought offerings while living against God’s ways, and Hosea told Judah not to join Israel in going there (Amos 4:4; Hosea 4:15). A holy memory, a familiar place, or a busy religious routine cannot make a person faithful by itself.
So Gilgal holds both promise and caution. It invites us to remember God’s rescue and respond with real trust, obedience, and gratitude.
Come to Beth–el, and transgress; at Gilgal multiply transgression; and bring your sacrifices every morning, and your tithes after three years: