I'm not going to get political here, in the sense you might expect. So, don't freak out. I do, however, want to start this morning's blog with a recent anecdote about Senator Lindsey Graham, R-SC. Earlier this week, Sen. Graham announced that he is running for POTUS in 2016. Many think that he has little chance of procuring the Republican nomination, although most acknowledge that his experience with foreign policy is his strong suit. Not long after he announced, he was participating in the customary interviews by the talking heads of the media. One of them asked him, "What do you say to those who say that the United States is 'war weary' - - that the people will not support a large campaign to go to the Middle East to extinguish ISIS?" Graham replied, "I'd say, then, that I am not the candidate for those people." I am by no means endorsing Sen. Graham in his run for the White House, but I do admire his clarity of focus and purpose. For him, the battle is clearly defined, the battle lines clearly drawn.
In Joshua 5:13-15, we find Joshua, the appointed judge/battle general of the people of Israel near Jericho, scoping out the situation - - - preparing a SITREP (situation report), if you will. Perhaps he was looking at those big walls and thinking, "What the heck....???!!!" He was well aware that, in the natural realm, the physical weapons possessed by the Israelites were wholly inadequate to tear down those walls. He probably had no idea what he was going to do. (It's a terrible feeling, if you've ever been in that situation, and most of us who have lived long enough have.)
The strategy of the people of Jericho was simple - - - hole up behind those big walls and wait it out (6:1). They put all of their confidence in those walls, and their strategy was not surprising. The walls of Jericho were awe-inspiring - - - I was researching how thick they were when, through Google Chrome, I encountered a nasty virus which delayed my proceeding for at least an hour. So, let me just say that, without giving an exact figure because there is some disagreement, they were anywhere from 6 to 16 feet thick. Plus, they were up to 30 feet high AND the city was built on a hill, which made the situation look even more "impossible".
As he is contemplating this, a Person appeared, a "Man" with his sword drawn. Joshua does not know who this is. So, he asks, "Are you on our side or on their side?" I love the reply! "I am on my side", basically is what He says. Look at the passage (5:13-15 and 6:1-2 NET):
13When Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him holding a drawn sword. Joshua approached him and asked him, “Are you on our side or allied with our enemies?” 14He answered, “Truly I am the commander of the Lord’s army. Now I have arrived!” Joshua bowed down with his face to the ground and asked, “What does my master want to say to his servant?”15The commander of the Lord’s army answered Joshua, “Remove your sandals from your feet, because the place where you stand is holy.” Joshua did so. 1Now Jericho was shut tightly because of the Israelites. No one was allowed to leave or enter. 2The Lord told Joshua, “See, I am about to defeat Jericho for you, along with its king and its warriors.
Notice that when Joshua bows down to this Person in the position of worship he is NOT told to refrain from such behavior. Elsewhere in Scripture, we find men bowing down to angelic beings whereupon they are told to "Get up" - - - basically that their worship is misplaced. That does not happen here. Instead, the Person declares that His presence makes the ground there holy. This reminds me of when God appeared to Moses in the burning bush. God made at that time a similar declaration. "Take off your shoes; you are on holy ground" (See Exodus 3 and 4). Only the presence of a Person of the Triune Godhead makes a place holy.
Many Bible scholars call this appearance of God/Christ a "theophany" or a "Christophany", since Jesus Christ is God-in-the-Flesh. Why do you think that He chose to appear to Joshua in this manner? We do not know, of course, but apparently it was to both inspire and inform Joshua as to how the conquering of Jericho should proceed. Don't miss this very important point, however. The Christ declared that HE would defeat Jericho on behalf of Israel. Astounding!
As Christians, we are likewise engaged in a spiritual battle every moment of every day, whether we want to be or not, whether we know it or not. Furthermore, the closer we walk to the Lord, the hotter the battle. As long as we are not following hard after Jesus Christ, Satan scales down his attacks. But, for those who are giving the Christian life their all - - - the battle is raging. They are in Satan's crosshairs.
The spiritual realm is much more "real" than anything we can perceive with our senses in this natural world. In Joshua 5 and 6, the veil that hangs between the two realities was peeled back to allow him to glimpse the Commander of the Lord's Armies. Our battles are His. He is in control of every circumstance that touches us.
Like the Lord told Joshua in 6:2 - - we must remember that the battle is the Lord's. I was reading online about the famous Dr. Scofield, who edited the Scofield edition of the Bible, which so many people have studied over the years. (When I was a child it was THE premier edition of the KJV translation.) At one point, when he was pastor of a large church in Texas, he became so burdened by the overwhelming cares of the pastorate that he thought he simply could not go on. When he was on his knees seeking God's guidance and provision, he was led to Joshua 5 and 6. His burdens were lifted as he realized anew that "the battle is the Lord's".
When we contemplate our daily battles, we must remember to be submissive to God in the middle of them. If we "go forth to conquer" in our own strength, we will surely fail. The instructions that the Lord gave to Joshua about conquering the city did not make much sense at all. "March around the city wordlessly but blowing trumpets several times. Do this once a day over the course of several days, and then on Day 7 - - the last time around, blow the trumpets really loud and yell." (Joshua 6:1-20) I mean, come on....
Often times, God asks us to do things that do not seem at the time to fit with our idea of how things should go. It is truly an exercise of faith to be submissive, do something counterintuitive in obedience to His will. It's frightening, really. Grace is like that. Grace is frightening because it strips away our illusions of "control". Trying to save ourselves by our own "good works" is much more comfortable and preferable, although we know it is impossible!
Perhaps Joshua was standing there studying Jericho, wondering how he was going to save himself and the Israelite people. He was asking the wrong question, if so. The better question would have been, "How can I bring myself in line with how God wants to bring about victory in this situation?" The Lord's Commander appeared to remind him of that, to "reframe" Joshua's view of the situation. When we are "up against it" in a hot battle, may we remember the same. Hallelujah! The battle, the VICTORY is His!
Father, so often we focus our attention on the height of the walls, the strength of the Enemy, as we prepare to fight a spiritual battle. We forget that we are on the winning side! We also tend to define "victory" in our terms, instead of Yours. Usually, we don't get a physical revelation as did Joshua, to encourage us. That's because we have the Scriptures, so that we can learn from Joshua's example and so that we can walk by faith and not by sight. Help us to see with eyes of the Spirit, Lord, and to submit ourselves to our Heavenly Commander, the Lord of Hosts, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. In Jesus' name, amen.
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