The Commander of the LORD's army and knowing God

Text Joshua 5:13-15 Time 28 06 20 Place Childs Hill Baptist Church (Zoom)

As you probably know, when the Bible was written it was written without chapters and verses. First the chapters then the verses were all added very much later and are there to help us find our way around. Sometimes the way it has been divided up is not helpful and it is easy to miss things if we forget this factor.

A classic example is found here in Joshua 5 and 6. If you were doing a Sunday School lesson on the Battle of Jericho you might be tempted to open your Bible and start with Chapter 6:1, 2

Now the gates of Jericho were securely barred because of the Israelites. No one went out and no one came in. Then the LORD said to Joshua, "See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king and its fighting men. ....

I'm sure you could do a very good lesson doing that but in fact if you want to do it properly you really need to begin back in Chapter 5:13-15. When we take 5:13 -6:5 as a unit, we realise that 6:1 is really a parenthesis and so when it says in 6:2 Then the LORD said to Joshua ... it is referring back to the encounter with the commander of the Lord's army.

Before Jericho then the Israelites needed to be circumcised and it was important that they kept the Passover feast but also it was necessary for Joshua to meet with the commander of the army of the Lord and to bow down before him. So too for us - we need first to be separated to God and aware that it is the cross of Christ that saves us but more than that there must be obedience to Christ and worship of his name - that is what we want to concentrate on today.

What we have in Joshua 5:13-15 is what is often called a Theophany or sometimes a Christophany. There are certain points in the Old Testament where God's servants know more than just dreams or visions or words from God they rather encounter manifestations of God in human form. So, for example, when Jacob wrestles with a man before fording the Jabbok (Genesis 32) or when God first speaks to Gideon and later to Samson's parents or in Daniel when the three friends are in the fiery furnace and one like a son of the gods is seen in there with them - these are all such theophanies.

In Micah 5:2 we read

But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.

This is a clear prophecy that Messiah will be born in Bethlehem, which, of course, he was. The Messiah or Christ is the Saviour of the world. He is God come in the flesh. He is a man. He lived his life as a man. This is why it is so important for us all to know about the Lord Jesus Christ.

But then look at the final part of Micah 5:2 whose origins are from of old, from ancient times. There is some argument about the meaning but I think it points not only to the way that the baby in Bethlehem was also the Ancient of Days, the eternal God but also to the way you get these theophanies at different stages in the Old testament story.

You know that when a painter is going to paint a masterpiece he will often make several preliminary sketches before he starts on the piece itself. We can think of it like that. Before the masterpiece which is the incarnation, the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, there are preliminary sketches like this one. A close examination of this piece then will help us to understand better the masterpiece that is Jesus Christ.

Three things then

1. Consider this Theophany and know that God comes to us as a man

The first thing we read here is (13) Now when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand. So Joshua is standing before the walled city of Jericho no doubt contemplating how he was going to lead the people to victory over this well protected city. There he sees some sort of soldier in front of him. It is a man he sees standing in front of him that is clear, although he is later referred to as the LORD.

This reminds us that Jesus is a man. When that baby was born in Bethlehem, it was a human baby. The child who grew up in Nazareth was a human being. The boy Mary and Joseph lost in Jerusalem was a human being. The young man Joseph took on as his apprentice was a human being. The man who preached and did those miracles and who died on the cross - he was a human being.

At this point too God appears as a man. It is because he is a man that Joshua finds it so easy to speak to him. It is because Jesus is a man that he so fully sympathises with us and understands us. What a comfort to know there is a man in the Godhead.

2. Consider this Theophany and realise that he is Commander of the Lord's Army

When I was a student in Aberystwyth I remember one summer term I met a friend of mine, Mark, who was with some friends of his and he was wearing a new white jacket he had just bought to wear in the sunshine. At that time there was a building near the seafront called Neuadd Y Brenin or The King's Hall. Other students would always tell you that Led Zeppelin had once played there. In the basement of the hall there were pinball machines and table football and pool and such things and I joined my friend and his friends down there. We had only been down there a short while before younger boys began coming up to my friend and saying "Hey mister, the machine's broken" or "It won't take my money", etc. It was the white jacket that threw them. They all thought my friend worked there. He never wore the jacket again. It was a case of mistaken identity. It is too easy to make assumptions about people. White jacket - he must be in charge of the machines. Something similar happens here.

13b, 14a we read next that Joshua went up to him and asked, "Are you for us or for our enemies?" It is an obvious question. Joshua is about to go into battle against Jericho and he sees what is apparently a soldier. In those days soldiers did not yet wear uniforms - that came much, much later. Joshua does not recognise him and so presumably he is a Canaanite, but then may be not, may be he is one of Joshua's own men. Of course, he could be a mercenary - willing to fight for either side. So "Are you for us or for our enemies?" Who goes there, friend or foe?

Now, if this is the LORD come in human form then you might expect him to say he is for Joshua and his army, for the Israelites. But that is not what he says. Rather (14a) "Neither," he replied, "but as commander of the army of the LORD I have now come."

It is observed that when these theophanies occur the second person of the Trinity appears in just the most appropriate way that is needed. Here it is as the commander of the Lord's army. By the LORD's army is meant the angel armies of heaven.

This person is not simply a man enrolled either in the Canaanite or the Israelite army. As one writer puts it, he is more sovereign than partisan. This is the commander of the army of the LORD. He is above the battle and the armies of heaven obey him in such a way that God's will is done.

Joshua was really asking the wrong question then. He wanted to know if this man was going to help him but in fact he had come to tell Joshua what he was to do.

The sword in his hand reminds us of how in Numbers 22 and 1 Chronicles 21 the angel of the LORD is described as having a sword in his hand, a sword of vengeance and judgement.

People often come to Jesus imagining he is simply going to help them. Sometimes he is presented like that by preachers, many of whom should know better. Rather, Jesus is in control of all things and he is calling on you tonight to fall in behind him - to join his army. If you follow him, then there is hope for you. If you don't, there is none.

3. Consider this Theophany and know that God comes to us as God and is worthy of reverence and worship

These words are enough for Joshua to work out who he is dealing with and so we read (14b, 15) Then Joshua fell facedown to the ground in reverence, and asked him, "What message does my Lord have for his servant?" The commander of the LORD's army replied, "Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy." And Joshua did so.

So here is a figure who is very much a man and yet who is clearly God and so is worthy of worship. The phrase my Lord could be a term for a human being in certain circumstances but it is clear that Joshua is in the presence of someone who is more than a man. The commander of the LORD's army tells Joshua to Take off his sandals, for the place where he is standing is holy. This is exactly what Joshua's predecessor Moses was told when God spoke to him from the burning bush, as recorded near the beginning of Exodus.

It is a reminder that when the Lord Jesus came to this earth, the Messiah who came was not only a man but God. Indeed, he is God come in the flesh. This is why the Lord Jesus is to be worshipped. He is not worshipped as a man but as the God man, the one who is both God and man.

This passage speaks a great deal about Joshua. You see here a thoughtful man, a brave man (in the way that he approaches the man with the drawn sword) a humble man. But it is not about Joshua - it is about the Lord Jesus Christ.

So often we are looking for practical help. Joshua 5 helps us to see that first we must simply stop and worship God. That is the way to prepare for battle.

Out tendency is to pray in a rather childish way. God let my team win. God make my country successful. But that is far too superficial. We should be looking up and seeing God and what he is doing and then worshipping him.

Too often we are so taken up with guidance - knowing what to do we forget how important it is for us first to worship. Worship Jesus Christ. Give him the glory. Praise him always.