Sermon October 6, 2020

Introduction

It was the best of times and the worst of times. Joshua had seen more miracles in the last week than a lifetime of following God. Every man in the nation had made the painful sacrifice of circumcision to follow God. The entire nation just sat down to celebrate God’s provision in the Passover feast. Now men were resting (and healing), children were playing and families were cleaning up from the Passover meal. Now was time for the leader Joshua to clear his head and consider the next stage.

So Joshua went out from the camp to take a walk. Wanting to plan the future he walked to take a look at the closed up city of Jericho. Lost in thought he was completely surprised to see an armed man seem to appear out of nowhere. Why didn’t Joshua notice him before?

And so begins this short, but powerful encounter we read about today.

Joshua 5:13–15 ESV

13 When Joshua was by Jericho, he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, a man was standing before him with his drawn sword in his hand. And Joshua went to him and said to him, “Are you for us, or for our adversaries?” 14 And he said, “No; but I am the commander of the army of the Lord. Now I have come.” And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped and said to him, “What does my lord say to his servant?” 15 And the commander of the Lord’s army said to Joshua, “Take off your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so.

Joshua was busy likely doing all he could to plan and prepare for a successful attack on the land. And now He is interrupted and surprised.

Obviously Joshua demands the man identify himself. Joshua is in enemy territory after all. Joshua wants to know if this armed man is for Israel or her enemies. Joshua wants to know if the man plans to help or hinder the plans Joshua is making. This man, has a different answer.

Theophany

A “Theophany” is a temporary appearance of God in human flesh. Many commentators and scholars believe this was a pre-incarnate appearance of Christ. This was a time when Jesus showed up before that moment in Bethlehem we remember every Christmas.

A “Theophany” was a temporary appearance of God in human flesh. Jesus’ coming was an incarnation. Theophanies were momentary. The incarnation is permanent. The salvation Jesus worked through the incarnation is eternal.

So this man was a physical representation of God. Joshua picked up on this pretty quickly and proceeded to worship. What’s really telling in this encounter is not so much that Joshua reacted with worship, it is that the man did not stop him.

In fact, the man challenged him to do even more.

Joshua 5:15 ESV

15 And the commander of the Lord’s army said to Joshua, “Take off your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so.

The very presence of the man before Joshua made the ground holy. Therefore Joshua had to take off his sandals so he wouldn’t contaminate holy ground.

Remember back to Moses’ encounter with God?

Exodus 3:5 ESV

5 Then he said, “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.”

God wanted Moses to know as fast as possible that he was standing in the presence of God. The way you react to the presence of God is first of all to obey God. And secondly throughout the scripture there is also this physical reaction. There is this sense that where God is, is holy. You don’t contaminate that which is holy. God accepted worship from Joshua and demanded right worship from him.

What can we learn from Joshua’s encounter here?

Joshua was busy obeying God when God met and blessed Him.

Joshua was casing Jericho, likely considering how to take the city when God showed up. It was after the men had circumcised themselves, and after Passover. God showed up.

Now when read the passage we might be tempted to miss the blessing there. God blessed Joshua with an encounter with the God of the universe and the captain of the armies of Heaven.

Joshua asked God to speak and the only thing God spoke was to tell Joshua to act in reverence towards God. But we must also realize God showed up prepared to fight on Joshua’s behalf. Joshua simply needed to recognize the most important thing he could do was rightly relate himself to God.

When we get busy obeying God it is often then we are best positioned to for Him to bless us.

Where in your life do you need to get busy obeying God? What has He called you to do that you need to reengage in?

How is your discipline of spending time daily with Him in prayer and reading His word?

Are you obeying God by regularly gathering with the the community of believers?

Are you doing what God commands to raise your children in fear and training in the Lord? Are you teaching your kids about God?

At work are you fully engaged serving and working hard when you are there?

In your marriage are you putting in the work to be the husband or wife you need to be or become?

We may long for God to bless us or at least show up with some specific directions about how we should live our lives. Sometimes He is waiting for us to get busy acting in obedience and then He’ll show up to bless our work.

The people of Israel faced an ongoing war.

Joshua and the nation of Israel looked forward to years of warfare ahead. Many battles needed to be faced and won. Enemies stood strong on all sides.

We still face an ongoing war.

Remember what Paul taught in Ephesians 6

Ephesians 6:10–12 ESV

10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

We face an ongoing spiritual battle against the spiritual forces of evil. Our foes are not people who support Trump or Biden. Our foes are not those who look or act different from us. We as Christians face spiritual forces that want to see us destroyed and directed away from trust in God.

God calls us to a lifetime of discipline and dependance on Him. We must discipline ourselves to study and understand God’s Word. We must take time in prayer. We must take care of our bodies. We must depend on our savior.

We must live with self-control because we are fighting a battle.

We have the same commander

The same One who met Joshua still commands His people, us, in spiritual warfare. He is “Captain (or founder) of our salvation.”

Hebrews 2:10 ESV

10 For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering.

God is the one who leads us. He is the one who commands us. The question is not nearly as much what our plans are as what His plans are. The future of the church is not nearly as much of a matter of what we can dream as much as what He’s already planning.

Our commander’s sword is still drawn

The Christian life isn’t nearly as much of a matter of us fighting for God as it is God fighting through us.

Ephesians 6:17 ESV

17 and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God,

Hebrews 4:12 ESV

12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

God’s word is living and active. It is a sword against the lies of the devil.

When you take time to know God’s Word, God gives you tools to fight with. God equips you to walk with Him through His Word.

One day the Bible also talks of Jesus returning with a sword coming “out of His mouth.”

Revelation 19:15 ESV

15 From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty.

When he comes like this Satan is defeated.

Revelation 20:1–3 ESV

1 Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain. 2 And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, 3 and threw him into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he might not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were ended. After that he must be released for a little while.

After Jesus returns we see all who remain recognize the Lordship of Jesus.

Revelation 19:16 ESV

16 On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.

Jesus is fighting for us and through us.

Jesus will win in the end.

Wisdom is turning to Him early while we can still chose to live in submission to Him.

Conclusion

Just like Joshua and Israel we walk into an unknown future. We walk into a future with many enemies of the Gospel of Jesus. We walk into a culture which either has no use for Christianity or opposes it. We must commit ourselves to obeying and following our commander wherever He leads us.