Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com In Christ, Mark
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
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. Joshua went up to him and asked, "Are you for us or for our enemies?"
"Neither," he replied, "but as commander of the army of the Lord I have now come." 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.
Joshua 5:13-15
This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
Under the leadership of Joshua, Israel had crossed over into Canaan and prepared for their first challenge: conquering the heavily fortified city of Jericho. You’ll remember that Joshua had sent two spies into Jericho already who narrowly escaped capture thanks to the heroic act of Rahab. Thanks to her (and of course, the Lord), the spies returned to camp safely and brought with them valuable intelligence information about Jericho.
As Israel moved toward Jericho, we see in our passage that Joshua along the way encountered “a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand”. Knowing that the enemy could expect to resist them at any time, Joshua asked the man, "Are you for us or for our enemies?" He had to be very surprised at the answer he received.
For the man replied, "Neither”, telling Joshua that he was the “commander of the army of the Lord”. At those very words, scripture tells us that “Joshua fell facedown to the ground in reverence” and asked, "What message does my Lord have for his servant?" To which the commander replied, “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy." As Chapter 5 ends, Joshua complies.
There is more to come regarding what the commander of the army of the Lord will instruct Joshua and Israel to do regarding Jericho but I want to focus in on Joshua and his actions in this passage…for they are actions that we should embody in our approach to the Lord as well. Let’s focus in on three key takeaways as we examine Joshua before a representative of God:
First, Joshua immediately fell down before the commander of the army of the Lord. He recognized right away that this was no ordinary man before him but a leader of God’s army, sent from heaven to earth to bring special, personalized guidance from God Himself. Given this, Joshua responded with the proper reverence out of deep respect and honor toward His God.
We should mimic Joshua’s attitude of reverence each and every day because God is ever working in our lives. We are expected to submit to His almighty authority and bow before Him in humble adoration. For He is God and deserves nothing less than our complete admiration.
The second thing we see from Joshua that he asks what the commander of the Lord expects from him. Joshua, falling facedown in full submission, makes himself available for whatever the Lord would have him do. He understands that God has a purpose for him and he wants to know what that purpose is.
The Lord has a purpose for all of us as well and we, like Joshua, should be seeking the Lord to find what it is that He wants us to do. When we come before Him humbly seeking His will, know and trust that He will reveal it to you…just as He would reveal it to Joshua.
Finally, Joshua displayed complete obedience. When told by the commander to remove his sandals because he was standing on holy ground, Joshua did as the commander said. He did do because he grasped and respected the awesome magnitude of the moment…a moment of incredible holiness…a moment where he was in the presence of one of God’s soldiers.
Friends, being in the Lord’s presence should impel us toward reverent action. We should treat any place where we feel His presence as holy ground because it is. For any place we find God is a holy place and we should treat it as such out of homage to Him.
Through our scripture today, Joshua teaches us some important lessons on holy behavior in holy places. We would be well served to model his actions as we encounter the Lord in our own special ways each and every day. Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
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