The Question of the Ages
Joshua 5:14-15
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 worshipped and said to him, “What does my lord say to his servant?” 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.
It isn’t clear whether this heavenly stranger is a pre-incarnate form of Christ Himself, or whether he’s an archangel from the highest echelons of heavenly authorities, but his words have that same crimson hue to them. Notice how they turn Joshua’s seemingly pointed question on its head, exposing in a single line the potential flaw in Joshua’s understanding of this pilgrimage. And only God can confound human wisdom with a word like this.
Remember when those Pharisees tried to corner Jesus with an impossible, lose-lose situation in Mark 12:14, by asking, “Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar? Should we pay them, or should we not?”, and our Lord responded, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s”? They should’ve removed their sandals at that instant, recognizing the holiness of the ground in front of them. Further, remember that scene in John 19:10, when Pontious Pilate interrogated Christ with these words, “Do you not know that I have authority to release you and authority to crucify you?”, and our Lord replied, “You would have no authority over me at all unless it were given you from above.” Oh how those words turned Pilate’s pompous, self-sufficient boast into a shiver of finite, human terror, transforming his royal Roman robes into crude fig leaves.
Well, if this heavenly stranger who speaks to Joshua here isn’t Christ, he sure sounds like Him. Listen again: “No; but I am the commander of the army of the LORD.” That’s another way of saying, “Joshua, this isn’t ultimately your battle or your mission or your redemptive act, nor was it Moses’ or Joseph’s or Abraham’s before you; it’s God’s!” Whoa—no wonder Joshua immediately collapses to his knees.
Friend, may we never forget that God doesn’t fundamentally fight on our side—as if we’re somehow the movers and shakers of justification—but we fight on His side.