I was moved to teach on the doxology and the benedictions, first of all, because of what they mean to me in my own devotional life. I turned to them in my own private meditations for refocus, for worship, for self-examination, for building up a faith. And then, as a result of that, I've been looking for opportunities to teach them to our church, because I believe they aid the people of God in looking up and seeing the greatness of God in these succinct statements of blessing and or doxology that are memorable and meaningful.
We take them for granted, but they are there for our blessing and benefit. As Joshua is considering the attack upon Jericho, he sees this warrior who obviously appears to Joshua as a formidable figure, and he's standing, as it were, blocking the path of Joshua with his sword drawn. Now, that would be enough to get anyone's attention. And when Joshua wants to know who this warrior is, he proclaims something that causes Joshua to plant his face in the ground.
Today on Renewing Your Mind, Dr. R.C. Sproul takes us to one of the most famous encounters in the Bible that culminates with the question, are you for us or against us? Today as we continue our study of the book of Joshua, we're going to look at a passage that we've already looked at in another series.
Some of you will remember the series that we did called Face to Face with Jesus, wherein we examined various incidents, particularly in the New Testament, where individuals met Christ, and we looked at the way in which Christ interacted with these particular persons. But in that series, I gave a kind of unusual twist to one of those encounters, calling attention to the episode found in the book of Joshua, where Joshua meets up with the captain of the Lord of Hosts, and some of you will recall that as a matter of speculation, some have drawn the conclusion from that text that that encounter that Joshua had was with Christ, who allegedly appeared in Old Testament terms and in an Old Testament situation. So we're going to look at that again, but this time in context with the rest of the book of Joshua. And now we turn to the fifth chapter of Joshua, beginning at verse 13, "'And it came to pass when Joshua was by Jericho that he lifted his eyes and looked, and behold, a man stood opposite him with his sword drawn in his hand. And Joshua went to him and said to him, Are you for us or for our adversaries?'" Now in this incident that is recorded in the book of Joshua, the event is taking place in a transition period between two other significant events.
It is prior to the famous Battle of Jericho that we'll look at separately, and after the crossing of the Jordan River, which we've already examined. Now in between the crossing of the Jordan River and the Battle of Jericho, and before this meeting takes place with this strange warrior, something else had transpired, and that was this, that at Gilgal, after the memorial stones taken from the Jordan had been established, God commanded that the children of Israel who had passed over submit to circumcision. And we see from this that during the period of the wilderness wandering, those who were the original people who left Egypt, who were not able to cross into the Promised Land, they had been circumcised, but their sons had not been circumcised. And only those of the next generation who were able to enter now into the Promised Land were those who would receive the promise of the covenant of the Promised Land. And so before the actual conquest takes place, God commands that the male sons of Israel be circumcised. So we read this passage that involves a massive act of circumcision of the children of Israel.
Now two other things took place in this interim period. Following the circumcision, the Jewish people prior to the conquest celebrated the Passover, and that is significant in that the Passover feast took place with the crossing over the Jordan so fresh in their mind. They were celebrating the Passover that had taken place earlier with the original exodus, and now they have a second Passover, as it were, the crossing over of the Jordan to remind them of God's act of deliverance from the vengeful angel, or the angel of the Lord who came to smite the Egyptians. So now we have the memory refreshed here of the Passover scene from the book of Exodus, where the one who passed over was the angel sent from God as the avenger of the pagans.
I say that for a reason before we go into this story of the captain of the Lord of Hosts. Now the only other thing that I want to mention in terms of this transition period was you will recall that during the wilderness experience, God miraculously provided food for His people in terms of the manna that came from heaven. But as soon as they crossed into the Promised Land, the manna ceased. And all of these things, the celebration of the Passover, the cessation of the giving of the manna, and the circumcision of the male sons of Israel all together call attention to God's fulfilling His promise that He had given centuries earlier to Abraham and to the patriarchs of the covenant, which covenant included land, the Promised Land, the land that would flow with milk and honey. So Israel is on a religious high, as it were, a time of refreshment and of an experience of covenant renewal and the reminder that God would go before them. So now as they're preparing for their first battle with all of this religious action having been completed, suddenly, as we just read in the text, this warrior appears whose identity is unknown to Joshua.
Now let's look back again at chapter 5 and verse 13. For when Joshua was by Jericho, he lifted his eyes and looked, and behold, a man stood opposite him with his sword drawn in his hand. So apparently out of nowhere, as Joshua is considering the attack upon Jericho, he sees this warrior who obviously appears to Joshua as a formidable figure, and he's standing, as it were, blocking the path of Joshua with his sword drawn in his hand, which may be viewed as a hostile act or at least an action of battle readiness. Now, if we can speculate a little bit here, Joshua's rushing through the catalogue in his mind.
He's trying to see if he recognizes this fellow. You would think that a formidable warrior like this would be known to the general of the army if there is an outstanding soldier in his midst, because remember that the army that Joshua is commanding here is kind of a grassroots militia. It is not a professional army made up of seasoned veterans of warfare. This army is made up of the rank and file of the people who have just crossed over the Jordan River. And now all of a sudden, Joshua sees one who is clearly, at first glance, a seasoned warrior, one who is an expert and obviously trained in warfare.
And so Joshua addresses him and asks him this question, are you for us or for our adversaries? I don't know about you fellows out there listening who have engaged in sports in your lifetime, but I can remember playing basketball or football when I was in high school and the pregame assessment that took place when the other team's players would come out on the court or out on the field. You would look at them. I can remember baseball games just watching the other team warm up. I would look at the way the players would be throwing the ball back and forth to each other, and you could always tell by the manner and the style that certain fellows had in throwing a baseball that they were accomplished athletes. And you could sort of pick out in advance who was going to be the star on the other team. And we'd watch the other players come out on the football field, and there you're looking at the size of these guys, and somehow the other team always seemed to look bigger than our own team. And also with basketball players, you see the other team's always taller.
But it's a male thing that you're sizing up the strength of your opponent. And then a new kid comes, and you want to know, are you coming to our school or are you going to our opponent's school? You see somebody that's very talented, and you want to know, is he friend or foe? Is he going to be a competitor or is he going to be a comrade in whatever struggle you're in? And that's what's going on in Joshua's mind. He sees this obvious specimen of military strength standing there with the sword drawn in front of him, and the first thing he wants to know is, is he coming to join my army or is he an advanced scout for the armies of Jericho?
And so he asks, are you for us or for our adversaries? And the warrior answered, no. Now, I don't know about you, but that's kind of an evasive answer at first. I think about the times when I fool around with waitresses in the restaurant, when they'll come with a bill and they'll say, is this cash or charge? And I'll say, yes.
And they look at me like, I'm not another one of these guys. Well, I say, well, it is one or the other. And that's kind of what this soldier says to Joshua. Joshua says, are you for us or for our adversaries? And what's he say?
No. That's not the answer that Joshua's looking for. So what's he mean when he says no? What he's saying is, you have presented us with a false dilemma here. There is another alternative, Joshua. It's not a question of whether I've come to fight for you or to fight for your adversaries. I'm doing neither. You can imagine the consternation that Joshua would experience when he gets a response like this.
What do you mean you're doing neither? Well, let's listen to the rest of the reply. When Joshua said, are you for us or for our adversaries? In verse 14, we hear the full answer, and so he said, no. But as commander of the army of the Lord, I have now come. Other translations refer to not just simply the commander of the army of the Lord, but the captain of the Lord of hosts.
Now, what's the irony here? Again, remember what Joshua asked him. Are you for us or for our adversaries? And the commander said, neither. What he's saying to Joshua is, Joshua, I didn't come here to fight for you.
I came here to take charge. It's not that I'm going to fight for you, Joshua, but you are going to fight for me. And so Joshua instantly realizes that he is now face to face, not with an ordinary or even an extraordinary human warrior, but he is dealing with one who has been sent from God from heaven. Now, commander of the army of the Lord or captain of the Lord of hosts can have different references. We know, for example, that the word host in Scripture. We remember in the Christmas story, behold, there was with the angel a heavenly host.
And the word host here is a word that functions as a synonym not just for a great number of people or a huge throng or congregation of persons, but the word host serves as a synonym for the term army. And we are told in the Scriptures that God is attended in His presence in heaven, in His throne daily by myriads of angels who make up what is called the heavenly host. And it's not just a heavenly throng, but it is a heavenly army, which army is always subject to their commander-in-chief, who is God Himself. This reminds us of the episode that took place in Dothan with Elisha and his servant. You remember that occasion where the king and his forces had set out to ambush Elisha, because Elisha kept telling the secret war plans that this enemy king was making against the troops of Israel. Elisha would then inform the king of Israel of the plans of the enemy. And so finally the enemy king said, if the only way we're going to destroy the Israelites is we're going to get rid of this prophet. So he sends out a full army to this little village of Dothan to surround the city just to take one man prisoner.
And you remember the story. It's a delightful story how in the morning when Elisha's servant wakes up, and he looks out the front door and he sees all these chariots of the enemy army in front of him. He runs to the back door, and they're there. He goes to the side window, both sides, and he sees that he's surrounded by chariots. And he runs in his panic, and he rouses Elisha from his sleep, and he said, my Lord, Elisha, wake up. We're surrounded by the enemy. And what did Elisha say to his servant?
He said, don't worry about it. Those that are with us are more than those who are against us. And now the servant thinks Elisha's lost his mind. You don't understand, Elisha.
There's thousands of soldiers out there. We're surrounded. Whereupon Elisha prayed, O God, open his eyes that he may see what I see. And the Scriptures tell us, behold, the eyes of the servant were opened, and behold, multitudes of angels round about Elisha. And this heavenly host, this heavenly army put the enemy to flight in destroying them, preserving the life of Elisha.
Now that incident that we read in the Old Testament speaks of the invisible realm that human beings cannot see, that it's not like that there's a guardian angel, singular, out there for each individual, but that there is this multitude of the heavenly host, an army of these ministering spirits under the command of God, who are prepared to minister to God's people in times of crises. And now we see the commander of this heavenly host, the captain of the Lord of hosts, saying to Joshua, now you are going to fight for me because I'm taking over. Now that's Joshua's response to this. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped and said to him, what does my Lord say to his servant? Then the commander of the Lord's army said to Joshua, take your sandal off your foot, for the place where you stand is holy.
And Joshua did so. Now in the earlier series that we did on face to face with Jesus, I mentioned that there is an ongoing debate about the identity of this captain of the Lord of hosts. I would say most Old Testament scholars would say that what we have here is the appearance of an angel, perhaps the archangel Gabriel, the chief angel that is in charge of the whole angelic community in heaven, and that we don't need to look beyond that to speculate that what we have is a Christophany, an Old Testament manifestation of the presence of Christ Himself. But there is precedent in the Old Testament for Old Testament manifestations of Christ. Most clearly is in Isaiah chapter 6 when Isaiah sees the Lord high and lifted up on the throne.
The New Testament in John's Gospel, that is claimed to have been a vision of Christ. So we do have precedence for the manifestation of Christ in the Old Testament. The thing that inclines me to think that perhaps this is a Christophany, the manifestation of Christ to Joshua, is Joshua's response of worship. Now I know there are times in the Scripture where people do fall down and worship angels, and they're not supposed to do that.
Angels are not to be venerated in the sense of being given worship. But Joshua worships this one who speaks to him. And secondly, the words of this messenger are so reminiscent of the encounter that Moses had with God in the Midianite wilderness when he said to Moses, take off your shoes from off your feet, for the ground whereon thou standest is holy ground. One thing is clear, whether through an angelic appearance or through a pre-incarnate manifestation of Christ, we have here Joshua meeting the presence of God, and it is a moment that is holy. Joshua's leadership of the nation has just begun. He hasn't fought the battle of Jericho yet.
He hasn't brought the people into the Promised Land. But this encounter sets the stage for what's to come—the warrior of the Lord fighting for God's glory. You're listening to Renewing Your Mind. I'm Lee Webb, and if you'd like to continue your study, we'd like to send you all ten messages from Dr. Sproul's teaching series on the book of Joshua. We'll send it to you on MP3 CD when you give a donation of any amount to Ligonier Ministries.
You'll find us online at renewingyourmind.org, or you can call us with your gift at 800-435-4343. When you give to this ministry, you not only make this program available online, on the air, and on our free app, but you also provide the funds for ongoing translation efforts to make these materials accessible to people around the world. Your gifts matter, and we thank you. I think the application of this narrative that we've looked at today really is quite simple—that God mobilizes heaven and earth to accomplish His purposes for His people. I really think that we have radically underestimated the important reality of the angels of God in many, many ways, not only in the New Testament teaching that we are to be careful of how we deal with strangers because we may be entertaining angels unaware, but also the biblical injunctions of the care we are to give in worship, realizing that when we enter into worship, when we come into the presence of God, we are in the presence of the whole host of heaven. And here on this day on the outskirts of Jericho, the hosts of heaven became visible in this one who spoke to Joshua to encourage him that God had mobilized the armies of heaven to go before him to the Promised Land. And I hope you'll make plans to join us next Saturday. We will discover how the Israelites employ a rather bizarre military strategy. They march around the city of Jericho, stomping their feet and blasting trumpets. We'll be reminded of how, with God, all things are possible. That's next week, here on Renewing Your Mind. .
Whisper: medium.en / 2023-11-02 13:11:14 / 2023-11-02 13:19:01 / 8