God is Not on Your Side
In Joshua chapter 5, the commander of God’s people, has a significant encounter before going into Jericho – the first of many cities God would give them on their promised land conquest. Starting in verse 13, we read…
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?” (v.13)
It’s a fair question. After all, this “man” suddenly appears before a battle-ready commander like Joshua, with his sword drawn. And there’s a good chance he was a rather imposing figure. Joshua, urgently and with no time to waste, needed to know how he was to respond. He needed to know if he needed to defend himself and protect God’s people who were under his charge or if he could breathe a sigh of relief that this warrior was on his side. He was performing what our military calls an IFF, which stands for “Identification, Friend or Foe” – a system of communication that prevents friendly fire and helps identify opposing forces. But Joshua receives an unexpected answer…
And he said, “No; but I am the commander of the army of the LORD. Now I have come.” (v.14a)
Your translation might say, “And he said, neither…” This is a good translation, but in the original, the first word of his response is, “No…” The question: Are you for us or are you for our enemy? The answer: No… He refuses to pick sides.
He continues: “…but (or instead/rather) I am the commander of the army of the LORD.” It’s not as much of a non-answer as it is a correction of Joshua’s question. It wasn’t a bad question, it just wasn’t the right one. The mysterious warrior doesn’t reply along the same lines as Joshua’s limited thinking. He was given two options, but then creates a third. Essentially, “I am neither for you or your enemy, instead I am the Commander of the army of the Yahweh.” And there is good reason to believe this mysterious warrior was not merely an angelic messenger, but God Himself - a pre-incarnate visitation of the second person of the Godhead. Notice Joshua’s response…
And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped 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. (vv.14b-15)
Not only do angels consistently refuse being worshipped (Col. 2:18, Rev. 19:10; 22:8-9) but the removal of his sandals on holy ground is reminiscent of his predecessor Moses being told to the same thing in the immediate presence of God (Exodus 3). But even if this man was an angelic commander, the lesson for Joshua – and for you and me – the goal is not to have God on our side, but to be on His side.
Our conquests may look a little different – odds are you’re not systematically ridding your neighborhood or your city of godless idolaters like God used Joshua and His people to do. But we have our own conquests. We call one of those conquests the Great Commission – making disciples of all peoples everywhere. Another conquest we have is the spiritual warfare we face every day as Christians in a fallen world with a powerful spiritual enemy. Another is our pursuit of holiness and cleansing our life of sin (much the same way God’s people cleansed the promised land of the wicked). No doubt, you could think of other conquests in your life – other God-given assignments. And just like Joshua, we are prone to think two-dimensionally about these pursuits, to commit ourselves to them and to sincerely ask for God’s blessing on our efforts. We get busy with the work and invite the Lord to come along and help us out. Well, we might not consciously word it like that, but that can easily become our attitude. Like Joshua’s question – it’s not the wrong attitude to have, but it’s not the right attitude either. The difference is subtle, but significant.
There’s no question Joshua was in charge (See Joshua 1:10, 17). He played a very important role in the leadership and protection of God’s people, but this encounter with the Commander of the army of Yahweh would put Joshua in his place. It would remind him that he is under God’s command and completely dependent on God’s strength to win the battle. This encounter was humbling. While he is a powerful commander in his own right, he finds himself disarmed, prostrate, and bare foot. He was in no position to fight and probably felt utterly expendable – and that was the point. He was never more aware that this conquest to which he was called was God’s battle plan and God alone was the one with all the power to overcome!
Christian, it’s the same with you today! The goal today is not to get God on your side as you attempt to complete your agenda. And it’s not to simply get His help as you evangelize the lost, mortify sin and go toe-to-toe with the Devil. No, the goal is to be on God’s side – to be invited into what He is up to today. The difference is subtle but significant. Yes, we show up, we engage, we work, but we humbly submit our plans to Him (James 4:13-17). Yes, we think and plan, but we humbly bow and acknowledge our need for His wisdom and His strength to execute. After all, He sovereignly calls people to repentance, He gives the power to obey and He has disarmed and defeated the Enemy. We see read about both his responsibility and dependence earlier in his story…
Joshua 1:5b-6 – Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you. Be strong and courageous, for you shall cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give them.
And knowing He has promised to always be with us as well (Matt. 28:20), how exciting to merge our lives with His eternal plan! How humbling to be used to accomplish what God has already promised to do! Our lives are a paragraph (for some, maybe a short chapter) in His multi-volume book-set called The Story of Divine Redemption. This should influence how important we think our to-do lists are and shape how we make disciples – and everything in between! The only thing better than having God on your side, is being on His. And Joshua beautifully models this change in thinking when he bows in worship and says, “What does my lord say to his servant?” (v.14)
That’s a great place to start.