Joshua 5:13-15
13Once when Joshua was by Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing before him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went to him and said to him, “Are you one of us, or one of our adversaries?” 14He replied, “Neither; but as commander of the army of the LORD I have now come.” And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped, and he said to him, “What do you command your servant, my lord?” 15The commander of the army of the LORD said to Joshua, “Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place where you stand is holy.” And Joshua did so.
After wandering in the wilderness for forty years, the LORD stops the flow of water and Joshua leads the Israelites across the River Jordan on dry land. Once they all cross over, the river’s flow goes back to normal and manna stops, ensuring that the Israelites have no option of turning back. The LORD commands that all males be circumcised and that the people celebrate the Passover.
Now the next task is to conquer the walled fortress city of Jericho. Although the LORD had assured victory in the promised land, there have been no additional instructions from the LORD on how to proceed.
Joshua is probably wondering if they are supposed to go ahead and plan an attack, and the LORD will help them. He is walking near Jericho, looking at the walled city and wondering what the best tactic is. They really do not have veteran warriors, nor do they have the normal tools to break down the gates or climb over walls – Battering rams and ladders.
Then he encounters a warrior with a drawn sword. Joshua probably thought that if this mighty warrior with the sword was on their side, it would be of great help, but if he were an enemy, it would just add to their difficulties. He was probably hoping that this warrior had been sent by the LORD to help him to defeat Jericho.
So, Joshua asks him, are you for us or against us? The warrior’s answer must have taken Joshua by surprise – “Neither. I am not here to help you – I am the commander of the LORD’s army.”
Joshua must have felt the power of God emanating from the warrior, since Joshua immediately accepts the warrior as his commander and an emissary of God and falls on his face to worship him. Then he immediately asks what the commander’s orders for him are.
Some Christian scholars concluded that the commander of the LORD’s army is Christ in His pre-incarnate form. Otherwise, they think Joshua would not have worshipped him.
As Joshua is leading the Israelites to live in the promised land, this becomes an important example to others and to us. When we accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, we too have entered promised land living. Like Israel, we are surrounded by people who are not believers. Like Israel, we have tasks ahead of us. Like Israel, we live in the era where God’s promises have started to come true, but the fulfillment is still in the future.
So, what can we learn from Joshua on how to live our lives as Christians in this world?
Joshua had a set of abilities that are useful as the people’s leader. But the thing that the Lord required of Joshua was not his intellect, power of persuasion, adaptability, nor strategic thinking – What the LORD required most from Joshua was faith strong enough to be obedient. In other words, a worshipful attitude towards God.
One way to look at worship is that it is comprised of two parts – Adoration and praise. Adoration is love and respect for who God is, and praise is thankfulness for what God does for us. If we are in the correct attitude of worship, then obedience flows from it, as well as the desire to serve Him. We saw this in Joshua.
Another great example of the right attitude towards a king can be found in the story of the Three, found in 1 Chronicles 11. They were Jashobeam, Eleazar and Shammah – The three mightiest of King David’s elite group of warriors. Jashobeam was their leader and was known for killing 300 enemies in one battle with his spear.
The Philistines were occupying Bethlehem, David’s hometown. In a moment of nostalgia, David was reminiscing about his home and the well, and spoke out loud that he would love to drink water from that well. The Three decided to satisfy their king, and without being ordered to do so, they snuck in behind enemy lines and fetched some water from the well and brought it to David. David was horrified that they had risked their lives to do this and would not drink it – Instead, he offered the water to the LORD.
Being sensitive to what the Lord desires and being willing to put themselves at risk is what the Three did, and it is something we can learn from them for our lives.
Joshua might have thought that LORD was going to be his helper in conquering Jericho, but the LORD corrected this thinking by declaring that He is not on Joshua’s side, but He was there to command.
From this, we can learn that it is the same with us. God is not here to be our helper; He is here to command us. And the type of relationship that the Three had with David should give us hints as to how we should regard our Lord, Jesus Christ. We should perpetually be sensitive to what our Lord desires.
Physically, we live in a democracy, which means there are roles for us to play in determining the future of this country, through voting, social action, etc. But spiritually, we are part of the Kingdom of God, with Jesus as our King. It is a monarchy, and as citizens of the Kingdom and subjects of the King, our role is not to determine the future direction of the Kingdom. God decides that and He acts according to His plan. Our role is to determine what God requires of us and be willing to be obedient to His commands.
This is the lesson we can take with us from this morning’s passage.
(the above is a summary of the message shared by Pastor Shun Takano during our worship on February 2, 2025 – via ZOOM.)
Japanese Congregational Church 