HOLY BEHAVIOR ON HOLY GROUND

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In Christ, Mark

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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 our reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Under the leadership of Joshua, Israel had crossed over the Jordan River and into Canaan. Their first challenge would be a formidable one: conquering the heavily fortified city of Jericho.

Now, you’ll remember that Joshua had sent two spies into Jericho already who narrowly escaped capture thanks to the heroic act of Rahab, the prostitute (Joshua 2). Thanks to her (and of course, the Lord), the spies returned to camp safely and brought with them valuable intelligence information concerning Jericho.

So as Israel moved toward Jericho, we read in passage that Joshua encountered a supernatural figure, “a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand”. Knowing that the enemies within Canaan could be expected to resist the Isrelites at any time, we find Joshua asking the man:

"Are you for us or for our enemies?"

I’m sure he was very surprised at the answer the man gave him. For in response, he simply said, "Neither” before telling Joshua that he was the “commander of the army of the Lord”. Those very words brought immediate distress and fear to Israel’s leader who “fell facedown to the ground in reverence” before asking this:

"What message does my Lord have for his servant?"

 

To which the commander of the Lord’s army replied:

“Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy."

And as chapter 5 ends, we see Joshua complying with the command.

Now, 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 own approach to the Lord. I offer three key takeaways for us to ponder as we look at Joshua and his actions while before a divine representative sent by God.

First, Joshua immediately showed respect and reverence as he fell down before the commander of the army of the Lord. Right away, he recognized that the man before him was no ordinary person but rather a military leader of God’s fighting forces, a leader sent from Heaven to earth for the specific purpose of providing Joshua with special, personalized guidance from God Himself.

We should follow Joshua’s lead and mimic his attitude of reverence within each and every day God blesses us with. For He is ever working in our lives and we are expected to submit to His almighty authority, bowing down to Him in humble adoration and devotion. He and He alone deserves nothing less than our complete admiration.

In speaking with the Lord’s commander, the second thing we see from Joshua that he asks what God expects of him. Falling facedown in full submission, we find Joshua making himself available for whatever the Lord would have him do and through his actions, we see how he understands that God has a purpose for him and wants to fully know what that purpose is.

As for us today, we are purposed as well and we, like Joshua, should be inquiring of the Lord for Him to reveal to us what He wants us to do. When we do this, coming before Him in humble submission to His will, we can know and trust that He will put us where He wants us to be in order to carry out His plans…just as He did with Israel’s new leader.

Finally, Joshua displayed complete obedience to God. When told by the Commander of the Lord’s army to remove his sandals because he was standing on holy ground, Joshua did exactly what he was told and he did so 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 holy military officers.

Friends, each and every day, we are living in the Lord’s presence and this should impel us toward reverent behavior. We should treat any place where we feel Him with us as holy ground because it is. Like Joshua, we need to express complete submission and honor toward our God.

Through our scripture passage today, we find Joshua modeling for us 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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