"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?” So He said, “No, but as Commander of the army of the LORD I have now come.” And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped, and said to Him, “What does my Lord say to His servant?” (Joshua 5:13-14, NKJV)

Joshua asked this mysterious figure if he was on their side or the enemy’s side, and the man answered “No.” That reminds me of a scene from It’s a Wonderful Life when a surprised George Bailey asked his newly pregnant wife if it was a boy or a girl, and she nodded her head “yes.” Not much of an answer.

But Joshua didn’t need much of an answer. He recognized this Commander of the Lord’s army as being worthy of his worship. Since angels don’t accept worship (see Rev. 22:8-9) and this man did, we must assume that this was actually the Lord who was appearing to Joshua. What is the point? Well, Joshua was willing to worship this man without regard to what the man would do for him. Remember, when he fell down to worship, Joshua did not yet know whose side this Commander was on. But this didn’t matter to Joshua, because he knew this was the Lord he was speaking to. Instead of asking any more questions about whose side he was on, Joshua simply asked, “What does my Lord say to His servant?” At this point, Joshua was committed. He knew this was the Lord, and he was willing to do whatever the Lord told him to do, no questions asked.

Are we to that point? If we recognize that the Lord is telling us to do something, do we obey without question, or do we hem and haw around? It is so easy to hem and haw, isn’t it? That is because we cannot see where our obedience will lead. We fear it, but we must not. King Saul learned this the hard way. Recall the words of Samuel the Prophet: To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams. (I Sam. 15:22). Let’s make a commitment together: The next time the Lord presents Himself to us, we will not hem and haw around. Instead, we will simply ask “What does my Lord say to His servant?”

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Todd

Good word Todd. Whether we live of whether we die our chief end in this life is to glorify God. Its not about what we want it's about who He is. Gethsemane shows us the great struggle that can take place, yet the answer lies in bowing the knee to the will of God and glorifying Him in it.......bro Frank

For not one of us lives for himself, and not one dies for himself; 8for if we live, we live for the Lord, or if we die, we die for the Lord; therefore whether we live or die, we are the Lord's.…Romans 14:7

Just found this this morning
Blessings

great word.

It reminds me of the text in Revelation, where it says that "cowards will be cast into the lack of fire..." I always figured that it was referring to people who were too frightened to trust and obey God. I guess you could say they "hemmed" and "hawed" the commands of the King.

May we find grace and power to do what you command O LORD.

andy

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andy

Inspiring...

I developed an appreciation for the book of Joshua. It details the growth, the trust Joshua had for the LORD. He made mistakes but he learned from them. One can learn a lot on how one's walk with the LORD looks like where the rubber meets the road.

Appreciate your post, Todd.

Sandra

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Sandra Miller

Perhaps the real issue is not so much whose side the Captain of the Lord's Host is on but whose side is Joshua on? This situation is an example of true unity in the Body of Christ wherein all are rightly connected to the head performing their role rather than fighting for superiority and position. The reason Joshua lead the people to conquer Canaan at that time was because God said the people of the land had had enough time to repent and return to the Lord's side. They had had the legacy and witness of Melchizedek and other God fearing people but had not repented, they were not on the Lord's side.