And it came to pass when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, there stood a man before him with his sword drawn in his hand. And Joshua went to him, and said to him Art thou for us, or for our enemies?
Joshua stands alone outside Jericho when a stranger appears in front of him with a drawn sword. He asks whose side the stranger is on, and the answer turns his question around.
The meeting comes at the end of the chapter, not at the start. One writer treats that order as the point of the whole scene.
They were circumcised — the power of the flesh set aside. They kept the Passover. They ate the old grain of the land. Only after that did the Captain of the Lord's host join them. He never joined them before they were circumcised. Joshua sees a man with a drawn sword in his hand. He goes to him and says — for faith knows no neutrality — "Are you for us, or for our adversaries?" ... Then the result is the victory of Jericho in chapter 6.
The Man Joshua faces had appeared before, at other times and places.
What a courageous man Joshua was! He meets the stranger alone. Most likely he had no sword, while the man had his sword drawn. He soon hears who the stranger is. It is the same One who appeared to Moses in the burning bush, to Abraham at Mamre, to Jacob at Peniel and to others afterward. It is Jehovah in visible form. These appearances were surely not incarnations, yet they pointed forward to the day when the Son of God would become man. Here Jehovah, who at the appointed time became Man, appears as a man of war, as Captain of the host of the Lord.
The instrument in His hand marks a change in how God is dealing with His people.
The drawn sword had now taken the place of the outstretched rod. The rod was the sign of God's guidance and deliverance out of Egypt. The sword was the sign of His guidance and victory in Canaan. No longer were Israel led as a flock; they were from now on the army sent by God to overthrow the iniquity of Canaan. We badly mistake Scripture if we limit our testimony to comfort and peace. It also contains words of judgment and of woe.
Joshua's question offers the Man two sides to choose between.
He assumed that He appeared to act as a helper either for Israel or for Israel's enemies. The mysterious Stranger corrected his thoughts. He had come, not as helper, but as Leader. "And He said, 'No; but I am the commander of the army of the LORD. Now I have come.'"
The reply leaves the servant with a different question to ask.
In heavenly things men are for or against — "for us or for our adversaries." But whatever the conflict, all we have to say is "What does my Lord say to His servant?"
One writer stops on the small word us.
How large that "us" appears at times! How much we are inclined to make of the vessel, the mere instrument which may or may not be used by the hand of God. It is only when the vessel is counted as nothing that "the power of Christ" rests on it.
The Captain's opening instruction says nothing about Jericho. It is about Joshua's feet.
"Loose your shoe from off your foot." I bear all the costs of your battles; but as for you, your business is to walk in holiness. The Lord insists upon the holiness of the camp. God in His church will have holiness so that there may be blessing, as He would have it for redemption (Exodus 3). "Loose your shoes." The shoe may have picked up defilement, but it is no longer on the foot.
The same drawn sword shows up elsewhere in Israel's story, and not always for the same purpose.
Three times in the course of the people's history, the Angel of Jehovah steps in with the drawn sword in His hand. The first time it is to protect them from threatened dangers. Balaam, on his way to curse Israel, meets the messenger who blocks his road (Numbers 22:23). The second time, in our chapter, it is to fight with them and win the victory for them. The third time, sadly, it is to judge the people who had sinned in the person of their king (1 Chronicles 21:16).
- Timing. The Captain appears only after circumcision, the Passover and the grain of the land. The flesh is set aside first; then comes the company of the Leader.
- Identity. The Man with the sword is the Lord Himself in visible form. He is the same One who spoke from the burning bush, and here He comes as a man of war.
- Correction. Joshua asks which side He is on; the answer is neither — He comes not as a helper to an existing army but as its commander.
- Holiness. The first command before Jericho is not a battle plan but a loosened sandal. He carries the cost of the fighting; the soldier's business is a clean walk.
- Outcome. With the Leader known and the servant asking only what his Lord says, Jericho falls in the next chapter.
And he said, No; for [as] captain of the army of Jehovah am I now come. Then Joshua fell upon his face to the earth, and worshipped, and said to him, What saith my lord unto his servant?
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
And the captain of Jehovah's army said to Joshua, Loose thy sandal from off thy foot for the place whereon thou standest is holy. And Joshua did so.
Israel had just crossed the Jordan, and the walled city of Jericho stood next. Joshua met a man with a drawn sword, asked whose side he was on, and got a command about his sandals — not a battle plan.
Joshua was not facing a soldier of Jericho or of Israel.
It is the same One who appeared to Moses in the burning bush. He appeared to Abraham at Mamre, to Jacob at Peniel and to others afterward. It is Jehovah in visible form. These appearances were not incarnations. Yet they pointed forward to the Son of God becoming man. Here Jehovah, who in the fullness of time became Man, appears as a man of war, as Captain of the host of the Lord. The host is Israel. And He is the Captain of our salvation.
Joshua's response shows who he now believed the stranger to be.
And it is a happy thing to see how quickly the mind of Joshua finds its right place. He worships the Stranger whom just before he had challenged. He is now the Captain of salvation in his eyes, and Joshua trusts Him as the One who would lead the sons of Israel to victory.
Israel's most visible leader was not the one in charge.
Joshua, though the most prominent man in Israel, is not the real Leader. The real Captain of the host is the Lord Himself... And notice: the word of the Captain is not about the order of battle against Jericho. That comes later. First comes a word that reminds Joshua whose presence he is in. "Take off your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy. And Joshua did so."... Bare feet in God's presence are the sign of subjection — the heart, the understanding, and the will surrendered to God.
God had said the same to Moses at the burning bush. Bare feet marked how far a man could come.
Shoes appear as early as Exodus 3:5. God told Moses to take off his shoes, because the ground he stood on was holy, for God was there... God said the same to Joshua. It showed that as yet there was no welcome for man into the presence of God. A standing had not yet been made for him, whatever goodness and kindness God might show towards him. Under grace a standing is found — the shoes were put on the prodigal; he was welcome and at home.
Joshua now stood in a different kind of place.
That place was neither the land of Egypt nor the sand of the desert. It was the Lord's land, and therefore holy ground. So Joshua had to walk with bare feet, in a spirit of dependence and humility. What a preparation he received here for the struggle that lay ahead of him.
The command carries a warning, and Israel later proved it the hard way at Ai.
The One who reveals Himself to Joshua as Lord of hosts also claims His character of holiness. Those who are called to fight under a divine leader cannot stay linked with evil or defilement in their walk. This holds for each of them alone and for all of them together. The people ignored this, and that is part of why they lost at Ai. Unjudged evil kept in the heart exposes us to the judgment of God. It leaves us defenceless in the hands of the enemy... If God is holy in redemption, as He showed Himself to Moses at the bush, let us remember He is no less holy in the fight. And where did He display His holiness more brightly than there? We can only go into that fight after loosening the shoes off our feet.
The work ahead made the warning more urgent, not less.
There was all the more need to insist on this, because the task in Canaan was one of putting down the enemy. This necessarily calls for severe blows, continual watchfulness, unceasing opposition. So much the louder is the call to begin and go on with reverence and godly fear.
The Captain did not appear at random. Three things happened first in Joshua 5.
They were circumcised — the power of the flesh set aside. They kept the Passover, and they ate the old grain of the land. After that the Captain of the Lord's host joined them, for He never joined them before they were circumcised... They worshipped and fed on the picture of the heavenly Christ, and then the result is the victory of Jericho in chapter 6.
- Captain. The man with the drawn sword is the Lord Himself in visible form. Joshua stops challenging Him and worships.
- Challenge. Joshua asked whose side He was on. The answer went higher: the real question is who leads.
- Sandals. Bare feet, as at the burning bush, said there was no welcome yet into God's presence. Grace later puts shoes on the prodigal.
- Holiness. God is as holy in the battle as in redemption. Unjudged evil left the people defenceless, as Ai showed.
- Victory. The Captain came only after circumcision, the Passover and the food of the land. Then Jericho fell.