Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Joshua 5:13

And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, behold, there stood a man over against him with his sword drawn in his hand: and Joshua went unto him, and said unto him, [Art] thou for us, or for our adversaries?

13 15; Jos 6:1-5. Appearance of the Prince of the Host of Jehovah

13. when Joshua was by Jericho ] having as yet received no special instructions as to the mode in which he was to attack Jericho, though the people, whom he led, were altogether untrained for such a work,

he lift up his eyes and looked ] Compare the expression used in Gen 18:2 of Abraham as “he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day” under the terebinth of Mamre, and “he lift up his eyes and looked and lo.”

a man ] Some have supposed He was a created being, others, with far greater reason, that He was none other than HE, Who had already “manifested Himself” to Abraham (Gen 12:7; Gen 18:2), and to Moses in the “Burning Bush” (Exo 3:2; Exo 3:6), “the Word of God,” Who “alone hath ever declared” or revealed the Father (Joh 1:18).

with his sword drawn in his hand ] Compare the appearance of the Cherub at the Gate of Paradise (Gen 3:24), and of the Angel who meets Balaam in the way (Num 22:31).

and Joshua went unto him ] This shews that the appearance was not a mere waking vision. Joshua goes up to the mysterious Warrior and addresses him.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

A man – See Gen 12:7, note; Gen 18:2, note. The appearance was that of God manifested in the Person of His Word. Hence, the command of Jos 5:15. That the appearance was not in a vision merely is clear from the fact that Joshua went unto Him and addressed Him.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Jos 5:13-15

Nay; but as Captain of the host of the Lord.

The warrior Christian

I. The special significance of this vision to Joshua. The Lords host does not primarily allude to those Israelite armies encamped beside the overflowing waters of the Jordan, but to other and invisible hosts encamped all around on those heights, though no ear ever heard the call of the sentries at their posts of duty, or saw the sheen of their swords flashing in the sunlight, or beheld their marshalled ranks. Those troops of harnessed angels were the hosts of which this wondrous Warrior was captain. The story of the conquest of Canaan is not simply the account of battles fought between Israel and the Canaanites, but of the results of a conflict yet more mysterious and far-reaching between the bright squadrons that follow the lead of the captain of the Lords host, and the dark battalions of evil entrenched in the hearts and strongholds of the enemies of God. Is it, therefore, any cause for wonder that the walls of Jericho fell down; or that vast armies were scattered without a blow being struck; or that the land was subdued in a seven years campaign? These achievements were the earthly and visible results of victories won in the heavenly and spiritual sphere by armies which follow the Word of God upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and pure. Those walls fell down because smitten by the impact of celestial hosts. Those armies fled because the dark powers with which they were in league had been put to the rout before the Lord God of Sabaoth.

II. The significance of this vision to the church. Throughout the world of nature there are signs of conflict and collision. There is no pool, however tranquil; no forest-glade, however peaceful; no isle bathed by southern seas, and set gem-like on the breast of ocean, however enchanting; no scene, however fascinating, which is not swept by opposing squadrons contending for victory. The swift pursue their prey, the strong devour the weak, the fittest alone survive in the terrific strife. So it has been in the history of our race. The books that contain the records of the past are largely records of wars and decisive battles. Their pages are wet with tears and blood. The foundations of vast empires have been laid, like those of African palaces, on the writhing bodies of dying men. For the student of Gods ways all this leads up to a more tremendous struggle between darkness and light, evil and good, Satan and our King. And here is the real importance of the ascension, which was the worthy climax of the wonders of the first advent, as it will introduce the glories of the second.

III. The significance of this vision to ourselves. We sometimes feel lonely and discouraged. The hosts with which we are accustomed to co-operate are resting quietly in their tents. No one seems able to enter into our anxieties and plans. Our Jerichos are so formidable–the neglected parish, the empty church, the hardened congregation, the godless household. How can we ever capture these, and hand them over to the Lord, like dismantled castles, for Him to occupy? That problem at first baffles us, and appears insoluble. Then we vow it shall be untied, and summon all our wit and energy to solve it. We study the methods of others and copy them; deliver our best addresses and sermons, put forth herculean exertions. We adopt exciting advertisements and questionable methods, borrowed from the world. Suppose Israel had taken lessons in scaling walls and taking fenced cities from the Canaanites! Or that the people had made an attack on Jericho with might and main, determined to find or make a breach! Finally, in our hours of disappointment, when we have tried our best in vain, and have fallen, as the sea birds who dash themselves against the lighthouse tower fall to the foot with broken wing, it is well to go forth alone, confessing our helplessness, and tarrying for the vision, for we shall then be likeliest to see the Captain of the Lords host. He will undertake our cause, He will marshal His troops and win the day, He will fling the walls of Jericho to the ground. (F. B. Meyer, B. A.)

The armed angel of the covenant appearing to Joshua

I. Joshua went forth to be alone with God. The hour, thought of for forty years, had now arrived; the campaign was about to begin, and everything devolved upon him. No Moses now to direct him. There was the impregnable fortress before him. A long siege or a speedy capture alike impossible. A dilemma. He knelt for guidance.

II. The lord came to be alone with Joshua.

1. To Abram, a wanderer, He appeared as a wayfarer; to Jacob, distressed at the prospect of a conflict with his brother, He appeared as a wrestler who allowed himself to be overcome; and now, to the warrior, He showed Himself as a warrior. This teaches that there is no condition of life in which we shall not find the Lord Jesus in full sympathy with His people.

2. Joshuas doubt; whether He was for or against him was soon set at rest. So will yours, if your heart is right with Him.

3. When Joshua knew who He was, he fell upon his face and worshipped. We have a like assurance that Joshua had. All power is given unto Me. Lo, I am with you alway. But if this be really given to us by the Holy Ghost, our attitude will be like Joshuas.

(1) Deeply reverential (Isa 6:5).

(2) Entirely submissive to the Divine will (Act 9:6).

4. The first thing the Lord required–Loose thy shoe, &c. So now, Leave worldly cares, cut off carnal indulgences, and give yourself up wholly to Me. And Joshua did so . . . And the Lord said unto Joshua, See, I have given into thine hand, Jericho, &c. A similar promise is given to us. Jericho is a type of the world (Joh 16:33; Rom 8:31; 1Jn 4:4). The promise was definite: I have given. That set Joshuas mind at rest. Have we not many a promise us definite? Why should we fear? (see 1Jn 5:4).

5. But faith does not mean sitting still and doing nothing. The land was given to them, but they had to conquer every foot of it. The Christian conflict is no less a conflict because a fight of faith.

In order to conquer in the good fight of faith, we want–

1. The readiness of faith, which is found only in our realised perfect standing in Christ.

2. The prayer of faith.

3. Faiths recognition of the Divine presence.

4. Faiths reverential submission to the Divine will.

5. Faiths energetic obedience to the Divine commands. (W. J. Chapman, M. A.)

The Captain of the Lords host still with us

We see in Joshua an observant man meditating over the plans of the morrow, and turning in upon his own thoughts and reflections, yet quick to note the presence of a danger. Every commander of men must have an eye in his head. He must be quick to note the presence of a foe or to detect danger. He must watch as well as meditate and pray. Joshua was quick to take in his surroundings, while he carefully weighed problems which pressed themselves upon him. What was he to do? It was when face to face with that perplexing question that Joshua looked up and saw an armed man. Could he let that man go unchallenged? Nay, he must have the courage to go up to him. That courage was the necessary condition of the revelation which Joshua was about to receive. The cowards in the Lords army never receive such a vision as this, but the men who have forgotten themselves in their desire to serve their Lord. Now observe what Joshua first received. He received a clear revelation that the One to whom he had spoken was far greater than he had ever imagined Him to be. In other words, that the Captain of the Lords host, who alone could ensure victory, was nearer to him than he had ever dreamed. Again, notice that the character of this revelation was adapted to the nature of the circumstances by which Joshua was surrounded. Now, when God appeared to Moses, He did not reveal Himself in the form of an armed man. He appeared to him in a flame of fire–a flame which lit up the bush, but did not consume it. Then God appeared in the mystery of fire: and that was just the kind of revelation that Moses needed. But now things were different. Joshua had to pass through experiences through which even Moses had not to pass. The religion of God had been now established. The law had been given, even the ceremonial instructions had been supplied; but now the nation had to find their way into the possession of the promised land, God had given them Canaan, it is true, but it was only on condition that they should, in His strength, conquer the inhabitants of Canaan. Thus the revelation which Joshua needed now was that God would fight for them and with them. He therefore appeared before Joshua, not as a flame of fire, but an armed man, with His sword unsheathed. Joshua thus learnt that the result of the conflict was not dependent upon his wisdom in planning, or upon his courage in prosecuting the campaign. This was supremely all Joshua needed to know. It is this that gives courage to all the true servants of the Lord–the assurance that they have merely to obey the command of their King in detail, leaving all the rest with Him. Next observe that the conditions of being permitted to receive any command from the Divine Captain arc reverence and faith. No man can receive from Him orders for battle until he has learned to take the warriors sandal from off his foot and bow in submissiveness before the great Captain of his salvation. It was when Joshua had learned the truest reverence, when he had realised that the very place upon which he stood was holy, that the great secret was given him how to take Jericho. The Lord bade Joshua order the priests first of all take the ark, and then command seven priests to blow the seven trumpets of rams horns before the ark of the Lord, &c. That was an extraordinary command, and an extraordinary assurance, and they required very exceptional faith in God to act upon them. But the possession of that faith was the condition of victory. So is it still; if we have a similar faith, the triumph is ours. Now think for a moment of Joshuas thoughts after all this. He would soliloquise: I have mourned over the loss of Moses: I mourn over it still; but now I see as I never did before that there is One who can make up for that loss. I have not to look to Moses, but to the Master who gave Moses his commission: and if obeying His command is all that is necessary for me, I too can be leader. The Lords cause does not depend upon the life of any hero, however great he may be, and the prosperity of the gospel the wide world over shall not be restrained by any loss, but as long as the Church is faithful to its privileges and ready to obey the Masters command, we as the Lords army shall go on conquering and to conquer, until at last the shout of victory will be heard, and every Jericho of worldliness and iniquity will be laid low. (D. Davies.)

Timely aid; or, a vision of the Captain of the Lords host

I. The time of his appearance.

1. After attending to religious duties, circumcision and the Passover. Joshua knew what kind of beginning was likely to end well; unlike a number of modern Christians.

2. While pursuing his appointed work. By Jericho. Probably alone, yet fearless of danger. By Jericho for some important purpose. God visits the working man. Moses, Gideon, David, Elisha, sons of Zebedee. The covetous and idle are rarely called by God to great work.

II. The manner of his appearance.

1. As supreme in command: Captain of the Lords host. Captain over Joshua. Whatever be our abilities, our titles, or our claims to office, we must yield them all up to the Captain of the Lords host.

2. As the very friend Joshua needed–in the character and dress of a soldier.

3. As justifying the war in which he was about to engage. There are wars in which God will engage–against sin and the devil. The victories of the Church are bloodless.

4. As encouraging him to wage it valiantly. Drawn sword. Ready to take the defensive or the offensive. To Abraham He said, I am thy shield. To the disciple He said, Follow Me.

III. Our duty in relation to such an appearance.

1. To be found evincing an interest in Israel. Joshua was by Jericho.

2. To be ready to lay ourselves at Jesus feet, saying, What saith my Lord unto His servant. Say anything, Lord, and I will do it. Appoint me any work, and I am ready to perform it. (W. H. Matthews.)

The Captain of the Lords host

Art thou for us or for our adversaries? There is a great deal in this bold challenge which commends itself to our admiration. Joshua knew of no neutrality in the warfare of God. The stranger must be friend or enemy. Joshua was not like so many Christian soldiers of to-day, who, before declaring their principles, wait to find out their company, trimming themselves to the breeze, very pious with the pious, indifferent with the indifferent, and openly irreligious with the irreligious. But there is something amiss with the question, for it is rebuked. Joshua made the mistake of thinking of the warfare in which he was engaged as having the two sides–our side and the other side. Whoever approached the host must come to aid us or oppose us. And this view was all wrong. It was just like the Homeric idea of the gods descending to earth as partisans in human strifes, Apollo patronising the diligent offerer of hecatombs, Venus favouring this or that one of her mortal kindred. It was like the Romans expecting Castor and Pollux in their van to spread dismay in the opposing hosts. It was an idea of God which the Jews got in a certain stage of their national history, an idea of God as a patron deity, a national divinity, just as Chemosh was the national divinity of Moab. In due time, when the exclusive national spirit had done its work, this idea was destined to be swept away. The vision rebukes it now. Nay, he says, not for you, nor yet for your adversaries, am I come, but–as Captain of the Lords host am I now come. Not as a partisan, he would say, but as a Prince am I come. Not such as you deem me am I, a welcome ally or a hated foe, come to mingle in the clash and din of earthly warfare, but as captain of an army in which Israel forms but one tiny battalion, I am come to take my place and give my intructions. What a struggle must have taken place in the mind of Joshua! Was not he the captain, divinely chosen by God, and consecrated by the laying on of the hands of Moses? Did not this matter touch the dignity of his office? At any rate, we may be sure–for Joshua was a man–that it touched his pride. Just as he was so full of plans, perhaps had got everything ready for the attack on Jericho, had seen exactly how this wall was to be scaled, how that apparently impregnable tower was to be battered down, how the troops were to be disposed with the certainty of victory–an unknown One comes to him, levels all his plans to the ground with a word, and proclaims Himself the Captain of the host. Longfellow tells the story of the same conflict in King Robert of Sicily, but there is a difference. King Robert requires years of humiliation and discipline to bring him to the confession all must make before the Captain; Joshua wins his battle on the spot–a battle which showed his fitness for leadership more than when he fought with Amalek at Rephidim. And he won it, as many of the great battles in the worlds history–although they have not scarred the fair fields of earth–have been won–on his knees. No longer looking up, he falls with his face to the earth. Oh, what bitter pain and self-abasement were there in that moment when the strong soldier of Israel bowed himself to the dust! Who can say how hard the struggle was? We are only told that the battle was won. What saith my Lord unto His servant? Then the Captain of the Lords host gives His orders, tells of His plan–not at all like the plans of Joshua–how Jericho is to be taken, not by might or Strength of armed men, but by the blast of the Spirit of God toppling down the stupendous walls in which the heathen Canaanites put their trust.

1. Oh, that we imitated Joshua in his vigilance! We, too, are in the promised land. But Canaan, for us, as for Israel, is a battle-field. Enemies prowl around, mighty fortresses of evil frown before us, and it is only our blindness which prevents us from seeing the momentous issues which depend upon our wakefulness. Do we ponder much and often upon the charge laid upon us? Do we often rise from slumber, leave the host of sleepers, and go out alone to survey the field of the approaching battle? Let us not shrink from challenging the unknown influences which at such times touch our lives. Try the spirits, says St. John; good or evil, they must be challenged, for God has made us creatures of choice, and He has willed that by choice (and not by instinct) we must obey Him. This is the mark of our manhood, the mark which distinguishes us from the beasts.

2. But let us avoid Joshuas error. There is no our side in the matter. There is Gods side, and the side against God. The Persian poet, Jellaladeen, tells us that, One knocked at the Beloveds door, and a voice asked from within, Who is there? and he answered, It is I. Then the voice said, This house will not hold me and thee; and the door was not opened. Then went the lover into the desert and fasted and prayed in solitude, and after a year he returned and knocked again at the door; and again the voice asked, Who is there? and he said, It is thyself; and the door opened to him. All true Christian warriors have, with Joshua, learned this utter renunciation of self. The Jehu spirit, Come and see my zeal for the Lord, is banished, and the spirit of Paul takes its place, yet not I, but Christ that dwelleth in me. (H. H. Gowen.)

The heavenly Captain of the Lords host; or, the vision at Jericho

I. The time of the vision.

1. It was immediately after God had been publicly honoured and sought in His ordinances. Christian, wouldst thou see Jesus? Then consecrate thyself anew to the service of thy God, and seek Him in the employment of the means of grace. Especially exercise faith in the Lamb of God, and feed upon the paschal sacrifice in thy heart by faith. Honour thy God by thy devotion, and He shall honour thee by revelations of His glory and His grace.

2. It was immediately before the mighty campaign with the Canaanites. This is often the method of Gods procedure. When a great trial is at hand, great revelations of His glory; transporting experiences of His presence are given in anticipation. It was thus with our Divine Master Himself. Before His temptation, the heavens were opened to His view; the Spirit descended upon Him in bodily shape; the audible voice of the Father declared that Fathers love, relationship, and approval of Him. It was thus, again, that the disciples were strengthened to bear the trial to their faith in the betrayal, suffering, and death of Jesus.

II. The aspect of the vision. Joshuas question is not the utterance of doubt and distrust, but rather of a hope and an expectation that crave a fuller confirmation. It is like the prayer of David, Say unto my soul, I am thy salvation. Oh, it is a solemn thing to see the naked sword in the hand of the destroying angel standing over against us: a petition for a reassuring word from Him who wields that sword is no disgrace to a believer. A humble soul that is taught of God to know what sin is must ofttimes be conscious of sin and guilt enough to justify a prayer for a renewal of assurance, and to prompt the anxious question, Art Thou for us, or for our adversaries?

III. The communication of the vision. Lessons:

1. Let unsaved sinners read here a lesson of terror and alarm, and heed the call to repentance. His sword is in His hand. But still, still His long-suffering mercy defers the stroke of judgment. Wilt thou not repent and believe the gospel?

2. To those who have accepted His offer of grace, and who plead His precious blood as their title to pardon, there is nothing to dread in the person of their Saviour. Do you belong to the Lords host? Then bow your heads and worship, for as Captain of the Lords host is He now come. Say, can you trust this heavenly Guardian? Will you follow this heavenly Guide? He claims these of us all–full confidence, entire obedience.

3. Note that while Gods people are reassured and delivered from the fear that hath torment, there is a reverence and godly fear, from which they are not excused, but with which it is their duty to approach their Saviour. This is the symbolism of the loosing of the shoe. (G. W. Butler, M. A.)

Captain of the Lords host

I. The relation here indicated between Christ and his people. Ruler, Defender, and Leader of the Church on earth.

1. This He is by virtue of the sufferings and conquests of Calvary.

2. By the free choice of His people.

II. The character and office in which jesus here manifests himself. Warrior with drawn sword (Rev 1:16).

III. The position and duty devolving upon Christians in consequence of this relation to Christ, The true ideal of the Christian is not that of the shepherd with crook and pipe on sunny hillside; or even that of the pilgrim slowly toiling on, and leaning on his stall; but rather that of the soldier, with shield and helmet, fighting his way against doubts that agitate his mind, against fears that even disturb the serenity of hope, against fiery passions that threaten to overmaster his patience, against the flesh in all its varied forms of opposition to the Spirit, against the world and its allurements, against invisible enemies, &c. Over and above these single-handed conflicts with our foes, we are called upon as soldiers of the Cross to march forward with the host against envy, and wickedness, and sin; to fight for the overthrow of Satans stronghold, at home and abroad.

IV. Christs relation to the church involves the assurance of all needed grace and power for the warfare. We have His word to direct us, His Spirit to give strength and guidance, His love to inspire us with zeal, His promise to assure us that the conflict shall end in victory. (A London Clergyman.)

Joshuas vision

I. Realise the fact of the divine presence. Jesus Himself comes to this holy war. Joshua saw a man clad in armour, equipped for war. Cannot the eyes of your faith see the same? There He stands, Jesus, God over all, blessed for ever, yet a man. Not carnally, but still in real truth, Jesus is where His people meet together. Joshua saw Him with His sword in His hand. Oh, that Christ might come in our midst with the sword of the Spirit in His hand; come to effect deeds of love but yet deeds of power; come with His two-edged sword to smite our sins, to cut to the heart His adversaries, to slay their unbelief, to lay their iniquities dead before Him. The sword is drawn, not scabbarded, as alas! it has been so long in many Churches, but made bare for present active use. It is in His hand, not in the ministers hand, not even in an angels hand, but the sword drawn is in His hand. Oh, what power there is in the gospel when Jesus holds the hilt, and what gashes it makes into hearts that were hard as adamant when Jesus cuts right and left at the hearts and consciences of men! The glorious man whom Joshua saw was on his side. In the midst of His Church, Christ carries a sword only for the purposes of love to His people. The Divine presence, there, is what we desire, and if we have it faith at once is encouraged. It was enough for the army of Cromwell to know that He was there, the ever victorious, the irresistible, to lead on his Ironsides to the fray. Many a time the presence of an old Roman general was equal to another legion; as soon as the cohorts perceived that he was come whose eagle eye watched every motion of the enemy, and whose practised hand led his battalions upon the most salient points of attack, each mans blood leaped within him, and he grasped his sword and rushed forward secure of success. Our King is in the midst of us, and our faith should be in active exercise. If God be for us, who can be against us? When the King is with His people, then hope is greatly encouraged, for saith she, Who can stand against the Lord of hosts? Where Jesus is, love becomes inflamed, for oh I of all the things in the world that can set the heart burning, there is nothing like the presence of Jesus. A glimpse of Him will overcome us, so that we shall be almost ready to say, Turn away Thine eyes from me, for they have overcome me. Suppose that Christ is here. His presence will be most clearly ascertained by those who are most like Him. Joshua was favoured with this sight because he alone had eyes that could bear it. I would that all of you were Joshuas; but if not, if but some shall perceive Him, we shall still receive a blessing. I am sure this presence of Christ will be needed by us all. Go not to warfare at your own charges, but wait upon your Master, tarrying at Jerusalem until ye be endued with power from on high. But Jesus Christs presence may be had. Do not despond and say that in the olden times the Master revealed Himself, but He will not do so now. He will, He will. His promise is as good as ever.

II. Understand the Lords position in the midst of his people. As Captain of the host of the Lord am I now come. What a relief this must have been for Joshua. Perhaps he thought himself the captain; but now the responsibility was taken from him; he was to be the lieutenant, but the King Himself would marshal His hosts. Wherever Christ is, we must recollect that He is Commander-in-chief to us all. We must never tolerate in the Church any great man to domineer over us: we must have no one to be Lord and Master save Jesus. Down with thee, self, down with thee! Carnal judgment and foolish reason, lie still! Let the Word of God be paramount within the soul, all opposition being hushed. If we do not act with the Captain, disappointment will be sure to follow. One action brought defeat upon Israel.

III. Our third rule is, worship him who is present with us. Joshua, it is said, fell on his face to the earth. Worship is the highest elevation of the spirit, and yet the lowliest prostration of the soul, Worship the Son of God! Then, when you have so done, give up yourself to His command: say to Him, What saith my Lord unto His servant? When you have done this, I want you to imitate Joshua in the third thing, namely, put off your shoes from off your feet. Joshua, perhaps, had not felt what a solemn thing it was to fight for God, to fight as Gods executioner against condemned men. He must put his shoes off, therefore. We never can expect a blessing if we go about Gods work flippantly.

IV. To conclude, let us now advance to action, according to the Masters command. Unconverted men and women, you are our Jericho, we wish to conquer you for Christ. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

The Captain of the Lords host

I. A transient revelation of an eternal truth. You will observe that there run throughout the whole of the Old Testament notices of the occasional manifestation of a mysterious person who is named the Angel, the Angel of the Lord, and who, in a remarkable manner, is distinguished from the created hosts of angel beings, and also is distinguished from, and yet in name, attributes, and worship all but identified with, the Lord Himself. If we turn to the New Testament, we find that there under another image the same strain of thought is presented. The Word of God, who from everlasting was with God, and was God, is represented as being the Agent of Creation, the source of all human illumination, the director of Providence, the Lord of the Universe. By Him were all things, and in Him all things consist. So, surely, these two halves make a whole; and the Angel of the Lord, separate and yet so strangely identified with Jehovah, who at the crises of the nations history, and stages of the development of the process of revelation, is manifested, and the Eternal Word of God, whom the New Testament reveals to us, are one and the same. The eternal order of the universe is before us here. It only remains to say a word in reference to the sweep of the command which our vision assigns to the Angel of the Lord. Captain of the Lords host means a great deal more than the true General of Israels little army. It does mean that, or the words and the vision would cease to have relevance and bearing on the moments circumstances and need. But it includes also, as the usage of Scripture would sufficiently show, if it were needful to adduce instances of it, all the ordered ranks of loftier intelligent beings, and all the powers and forces of the universe. These are conceived of as an embattled host, comparable to an army in the strictness of their discipline and their obedience to a single will. It is the modern thought that the universe is a Cosmos and not a Chaos, an ordered unit, with the addition of the truth beyond the reach and range of science, that its unity is the expression of a personal will. That is the truth which was flashed from the unknown like a vanishing meteor in the midnight before the face of Joshua and which stands like the noonday sun, unsetting and irradiating for us who live under the gospel.

II. The leader of all the warfare against the worlds evil. The Captain of the Lords host. He Himself takes part in the fight. He is not like a general who, on some safe knoll behind the army, sends his soldiers to death, and keeps his own skin whole. But He has fought, and He is fighting. Do you remember that wonderful picture in two halves, at the end of one of the Gospels, The Lord went up into heaven, &c they went forth everywhere preaching the Word? Strange contrast between the repose of the seated Christ and the toils of His peripatetic servants! Yes. Strange contrast; but the next words harmonise the two halves of it: The Lord also working, &c. The leader does not so rest as that he does not fight; and the servants do not need so to fight as that they cannot rest. Thus the old legends of many a land and tongue have a glorious truth in them to the eye of faith, and at the head of all the armies that are charging against any form of the worlds misery and sin there moves the form of the Son of Man, whose aid we have to invoke, even from His crowned repose at the right hand of God. If this, then, be for us, as truly as for Joshua and his host, a revelation of who is our true leader, surely all of us in our various degrees, and especially any of us who have any Quixotic crusade for the worlds good on our consciences and on our hands, may take the lessons and the encouragements that are here. Own your leader. That is one plain duty. And recognise this fact, that by no other power than by His, and with no other weapons than those which He puts into our hands, in His Cross and meekness, can a worlds evils be overcome, and the victory be won for the right and the truth. We may have, we shall have, in all enterprises for God and man that are worth doing, need of patience, just as the army of Israel had to parade for six weary days round Jericho blowing their useless trumpets, whilst the impregnable walls stood firm, and the defenders flouted and jeered their aimless procession. But the seventh day will come, and at the trumpet blast down will go the loftiest ramparts of the cities that are walled up to heaven, with a rush and a crash, and through the dust and over the ruined rubbish Christs soldiers will march and take possession. Do not make Joshuas mistake. Art thou for us? Nay! Thou art for Me. That is a very different thing. There is a great deal that calls itself, after Jehus fashion, my zeal for the Lord, which is nothing better than zeal for my own notions and their preponderance. Therefore we must strip ourselves of all that, and not fancy that the cause is ours, and then graciously admit Christ to help us, but recognise that it is His, and lowly submit ourselves to His direction, and what we do, do, and when we fight, fight, in His name, and for His sake.

III. The ally in all our warfare with ourselves. That is the worst fight. Far worse than all external foes are the foes that each man carries about in his own heart. In that slow hand-to-hand and foot-to-foot struggle I do not believe that there is any conquering power available for a man that can for a moment be compared with the power that comes through submission to Christs command and acceptance of Christs help. He has fought every foot of the ground before us.

IV. The power which it is madness to resist. Think of this vision. Think of the deep truths, partially shadowed and symbolised by it. Think of Christ, what He is, and what resources He has at His back, of what are His claims for our service, and loyal, militant obedience. Think of the certain victory of all who follow Him amongst the armies of heaven, clad in fine linen, clean and white. Think of the crown and the throne for him that overcomes. Remember the destructive powers that sleep in Him; the drawn sword in His hand; the two-edged sword out of His mouth; the wrath of the Lamb. Think of the ultimate certain defeat of all antagonisms; of that last campaign when He goes forth with the name written on His vesture and on His thigh, King of kings, and Lord of lords. Think of how He strikes through kings in the day of His wrath, and fills the place with the bodies of the dead; and how His enemies become His footstool. Ponder His own solemn Word, He that is not with Me is against Me. There is no neutrality in this warfare. Either we are for Him or we are for His adversary. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)

A strengthening vision

(a Sermon to Soldiers):–The vision described in the text was Gods way of teaching Joshua. It revealed to him the important truth, it showed him that the secret source of all splendid achievements was in the strength that comes from the realised union between God and man. When and where did this vision come to Joshua? It was on the eve of an expected battle. At any moment the first blood might be shed. Uncertainty was in every heart. Men recounted to each other as they walked silently about the camp the wonderful doings of Jehovah, their God. These Israelitish soldiers gathered hope from the past for the future, and so stood erect for expected duty. But it was a moment of supreme anxiety, for an untried matter lay before them. It was a moment of supreme anxiety, and heart-sickening suspense to every soldier who stood before that first stronghold they had to attack. What must it be to Joshua the commander-in-chief? Earnest thoughts about his duty, about his responsibility, would surely rise up within him at such a moment, and his heart must well-nigh faint at the difficulties and the dangers. Did ever soldier meet greater encouragement? At that moment, then, when Joshua for the first time was face to face with the difficulties and the dangers of that unexpected campaign, at this place with the grim fortifications frowning round him, this vision of the text appeared. It was an answer to that which was going on within him. It was a striking vision; the appearance of a soldier ready for battle to a soldier. But what did this man with the drawn sword in his hand mean? Joshua knew a conflict was certain, that there was a long and severe campaign before him, but what was it, victory or defeat? What about the issue? The vision leaves Joshua still in uncertainty and doubt, and so with a soldier-like promptness and courage he goes up to the man, and the thought that is in his heart appears at the very abruptness of the question: Art thou for us, or for our adversaries? That was what Joshua wanted to know. But no direct answer was given; instead came the majestic words: Nay, but as Captain of the host of the Lord am I now come. I am thy fellow-soldier, but I belong to another army. I was with Moses as a guiding angel; I will be with thee as a soldier, the commander, the orderer of the battle. Thou needst not fear; to thy army there is a reserve of which thou knowest nothing. The Lord of hosts is with thee, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob is on thy side. He arranges all this battlefield: thou needst not fear; thou art safe under His protection. So God spoke to Joshua, and the watchful soldier understood the message that was given to him, he recognised the reviving vision and bowed before the Divine presence. Faith in God is a great inducement to a good heroic life; the enthusiasm of faith is strength: All things are possible to him that believeth. But what does this vision of the man with the drawn sword in his band reveal to us? Surely, first of all we are able to recognise this truth, that a soldiers life ought to be, must be, may be, looked upon as a vocation from God. The essence of an ideal soldiers life is self-sacrifice. To do your work because you must, to do it as slavery, to do as little of it as possible, to get away from it as soon as you can, and then to find your amusement or your pleasure in some wild form of self-indulgence, that is unsoldierlike and wrong. The Cross of Christ is the true symbol of a soldiers life. Self-sacrifice should mark it; duty to God and duty to man is that which lies hidden in its uniform. And again, surely the vision teaches us this, that in like emergencies English soldiers and English commanders may expect the same Divine revelation, a man with a drawn sword in his hand to appear to them. I never knew, said a cultured Christian officer to me, I never knew the delight of Gods presence, I never realised it so thoroughly, as when in the darkness of the night we were crossing the deserts of Egypt to the unknown dangers of Tel-el-Kebir. And surely in these days of newness, when not only is a new England rising up about us, but a new army with new weapons, and with new modes of warfare and unexplored campaigns in the distance, it behoves us to believe that whenever war comes, if it be undertaken for the good of men and the glory of God, this vision of the man with the drawn sword in his hand will lead our army and inspire our officers and soldiers to noble deeds. This vision came to Joshua, but Joshua had a prepared heart. A man can only see that which he is prepared to see. Such a vision would not come to unprepared souls. Joshua had learned the lessons of fighting successful battles long ago. Years before this the first battle that Israel had ever fought, that at Rephidim, had been gained when Joshua was the leader, the chosen selected leader. An able, young, and capable leader he was then, and the army was made up of picked men. He was brave and enduring, and everything seemed to be on the side of the Israelites, but yet the final force was not with the fighting men, but up on the mountain-side. The final force was in the uplifting of hoary mens hands to God. Moses and Aaron and Hur, old men, stood on the mountain side and supplicated God while the young men fought. How goes the battle, do you want to know? You must watch the hands of Moses. When the hands of Moses are uplifted the children of Israel march grandly on, and when they drop down in their weakness the Amalakites spring forward, and neither good generalship nor hard fighting can keep them back. The secret of all true power is with God. We, men, cannot wipe off evil in our own strength or might, but God will drive it out. Not by a miracle, but He will work through willing men, and do His work thoroughly and well. We know there are difficulties and dangers in a soldiers life, but amid the difficulties and dangers we see deliverance; amid sin we see salvation; with the Cross of Christ before us we will never despair of men. We will never despair, for the Word tells us that Christ came into the world, not to condemn it, but to save it. Then, again, there are surely special times in a soldiers life when he needs special encouragement. There is war with its many horrors, mangled forms, vast heaps of dying and wounded; and at such a moment, in such a crisis, the memory of the Church at home, the hymns sung, the prayers offered, the teaching received, comes back and lightens up the darkest hour of a soldiers life. It tells him of hope in unexplored dangers, and in the last great danger of all, death. I have listened with tearful eyes from all sorts of mens lips of such strength being given them in hours of danger from hymns they have sung. Some thought comes, some stray thought, as it seems, which the Holy Spirit brings into their minds, that in the garrison towns of England prayers are being offered up for them. This thought comes in and gives the man a new gleam of hope, new thoughts of God, new hopes of heaven. There is a touching incident in one of the books which Mrs. Ewing wrote about soldiers. She could enter into their tenderest feelings better than most people. She knew, too, by constant experience with soldiers, what religious associations could do for them, and what a power the Church of Christ, with its hymns, prayers, sacraments, and ministrations, could be to them. Jackanapes lay dying on the battlefield. He had given his life for another, as many a soldier has done. There stood by him his old major. Jackanapes said, Say a prayer for me, a Church prayer. A Church prayer on parade service, you know. But the old major was not used to prayer and praise, and he could only say, Jaconite, God forgive me, I am afraid I am very different to what some of you young fellows are. And there was a moment of silence, deep silence and terrible pain, and then the old major said with that charming simplicity which we so often find, I can only repeat the little one at the end. Impressed with the conviction that what he could do, it was his duty to do, the old major knelt down and unbated his head and said by the dying boy reverently, loudly, and clearly, The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God–and then Jackanapes died, and how could he die better! Gods love came before him at the last supreme moment. Oh, there is many a word heard in the church, heard again and again, falling upon unheeding ears, but which God hears, and which comes up again at Gods appointed time. When an English soldier like Joshua has to face unexplored dangers, such words as the soldier hears in the church speaking of the love of God are so valuable. When the soul needs them most, when the man is about to fall into the hands of God, whose character he longs to know, then to recall thoughts of the love of God, it is to such gracious memories as we trust the services in the church will have that he looks. (J. C. Edgehill, D. D.)

Jesus our Captain

I. Our leader inspires confidence. He has never been defeated. In one of the Napoleonic battles on the Peninsula a corps of British troops were sorely pressed and began to waver. Just then the Duke of Wellington rode in among them. A veteran soldier cried out, Here comes the Duke, God bless him! the sight of him is worth a whole brigade. So to the equipped warrior, under the ensign of the Cross, a sight of Jesus, our Leader, is a new inspiration.

II. Jesus is able to assure the victory to every redeemed soul who is loyal to him. What a bugle-blast that is which sounded from the lips of the heroic apostle (Rom 8:37). To be a conqueror is to vanquish our enemies. But to more than conquer is to reap a positive, spiritual good from the battle itself. If life had no encounters we would acquire no spiritual sinews.

III. Each one of us has a personal conflict to wage. No other human being can fight it for us. Some have to contend with a powerful passion, some with a besetting sin, some with a temptation from without; others with infernal doubts and abominable suggestions by the adversary.

IV. Jesus met and overcame the devil. He is able to destroy his works.

1. Jesus gives us the only armour which can protect us, and with it He gives the strength to wield the weapons.

2. Jesus makes intercession for us when the battle waxes hot.

3. These conflicts bring us into closer, sweeter sympathy with Jesus.

4. He flies to the relief of every redeemed follower who is ready to perish. (T. L. Cuyler, D. D.)

Christ the Captain of salvation

I. It is important to contemplate the Lord Jesus Christ in the source of his authority.

1. The authority of the Saviour is founded upon His essential Divinity.

2. While the authority of the Saviour, as the Captain of all the hosts of the Lord, is founded upon His essential Divinity, it is also to be taken as founded upon His mediatorial office. The special charge which He had of the hosts of the Lord, or the tribes of Israel, in another form of manifestation, must be regarded evidently and distinctly as the symbol of that covenant relationship which He holds, throughout all ages of time, to those who constitute the spiritual Israel and Gods covenant people, out of every nation, tribe, and tongue.

II. The glory of his objects.

1. These objects are glorious on account of their intrinsic importance. The literal object had in view by the Saviour, in the manifestation of Himself to Joshua, was one of much magnitude–the leading of the tribes Of Israel to conquest and to the promised land, so that the promise might be fulfilled to these people, upon which they had been looking now for a long succession of ages. But the Lord Jesus Christ has been revealed as the great Leader of the sacramental hosts of Gods elect; and it should be observed that this possesses an importance far beyond what, by any human being, hath been conceived, and demands all that can be rendered of the adoration and praise of the universe.

2. These objects are glorious by their extended influence. We are all aware of the influence of extent, either in increasing the evil of what is pernicious or in increasing the value of what is beneficial. According to the number of persons affected by a curse, we assign the magnitude of that curse; and according to the number of persons affected by a blessing, we assign the magnitude of that blessing. Let this principle be applied to the theme on which we now are meditating, and new honour will be found to be given to those objects which are proposed by the great Captain and Leader of the hosts of the Lord.

III. The certainty of his triumph.

1. The grounds of this.

(1) His Divinity.

(2) His promises.

2. We must also recollect that the certainty of this triumph must also be connected with the exercise of certain influences over those minds who are interested in it. And if the triumph we anticipate in connection with our own salvation be secure, one influence to be inspired is that of–

(1) Obedience;

(2) fortitude;

(3) gratitude. (J. Parsons.)

The Captain of the Lords host

I. That before undertaking any difficult enterprise, indeed in all our trials and distresses, in all our ways, we should direct our thoughts to heaven. Joshua lifted up his eyes to heaven, from whence he knew that his help would in due time come. So should our eyes not be lowered to the earthly, sensual, devilish, but be lifted up to the noble, holy, pure.

II. That the help of God is not merely to be passively received, but is to be actively sought for. Joshua not only lifted up his eyes: he also looked. God helps those that help themselves. Men should all be, not merely idle waiters on Gods bounty, but really workers together with Him.

III. That Christ is ever ready to help those that look to him for succour. The Captain of the Lords host stood over against Joshua with His sword drawn in His hand–typical of Christ, prepared to afford His omnipotent aid to all who are fighting manfully under His banner, and striving by His grace to continue faithful.

IV. That when faith has made known to us heavenly truths, reason must disclose to us the exact bearing of those truths. Art thou for us or for our adversaries? Bringest thou with thee airs from heaven or blasts from hell? Be thy intents wicked or charitable? Many a noble human soul, like stately galley, has been lured to destruction by phantom ships in the spirit land.

V. That in the light of eternity earthly conflicts are paltry and unimportant. Sectarianism must cease when Christianity reigns.

VI. That honour should be given where honour is due. Joshua fell on his knees, &c.

VII. That obedience is not the least of the christian virtues. When commanded by the Captain of the Lords host to loose his shoes, &c., he at once did so. Obedience is a sign, not of servitude, but of intelligence. (R. Young, M. A.)

The true campaign

I. That in the true campaign God has committed to man a great work.

1. An onerous work. We live in a world of evil. Corrupt principles, the mighty powers of darkness, possess the world. They crowd our sphere of action; and, alas! they are encamped within us. The work to which we are called is their entire extermination, both from within and without.

2. A righteous work. The man who consecrates his energies to the downfall of evil, whose life is one earnest struggle against the principalities and powers of darkness, is acting evermore in accordance with the eternal law of rectitude. He is fighting the good fight of faith, and if he is faithful he shall receive a Crown of glory that fadeth not away.

3. An indispensable work. Never will you possess the Canaan of spiritual harmony, moral approbation, self-control, uplifting thoughts, heavenly affections, ever-brightening hopes, and free and blessed intercourse with the Infinite Father of spirits, without the expulsion of all evil from your soul.

II. That in the true campaign god blesses man with a great leader. The Captain of the Lords host–Jesus Christ, the Captain of our salvation.

1. As a moral commander He is ever present when needed.

2. As a moral commander He is always ready.

3. As a moral commander He is all-sufficient.

III. That in the true campaign God requires a great spirit. Joshua here displays–

1. A spirit of indomitable valour.

2. A spirit of reverent inquiry.

3. A spirit of solemn obedience. (Homilist.)

The Captain of the Lords host

Joshuas question, Art thou for us, or for our adversaries? was a perfectly natural one for him to ask, at the sight of an armed man in an enemys country; we can scarcely say he did wrong to ask it; but it seems as though the Lord met the question with something like a rebuke. He said, Nay. It seemed to Joshua that there were two sides, his own and the enemys, between which the battle was to be fought out: he had to learn that it was not for him nor for Israel to gain the victory, but for the Lord their God. To teach him and all Israel this more plainly, the Lord gave him special commands as to the way the first victory was to be gained, in the taking of Jericho; this was to be done, entirely and plainly, by God and not by man; and for all the war that followed, though more was to depend upon human prudence and courage, they were still to know that they were fighting, not for themselves, but for their Lord; that they were not at liberty to act as they pleased, but were to act in entire obedience to Him. Is not this a lesson which we require to learn in the war we have to fight against the power of sin within and about us? The recognition of this would do something to calm and soothe the bitterness of mens minds about the questions of party that are so fiercely and frequently argued in our days. And as in public and party questions, so the same fault of selfwill comes into mens efforts after goodness in other matters also. Most people sometimes feel it would be easier for them to be good if they were in a different state of life from what they are, if they lived in a different society or neighbourhood, if their family circumstances were different; if they had different business or employment in life, and the like; and they often set down their own faults, as far as they are aware of them, to the blame of their neighbours or of the circumstances that they think are the great hindrances to their curing them. This is nothing but claiming to ourselves the right to command the Lords host, instead of fighting in it as simple soldiers, whose duty only is to obey orders. Are we to expect the Lord to be for us, not only so that He means and wishes us to get the victory, but so that He shall take every means that we choose to secure it, shall serve under our command, and make bridges over all the steep valleys and roads through all the different passes, and give us the chance of fighting the enemy just on our own ground, when we choose and where we choose? There is one source of difficulty in the way of duty of which it is especially wrong to complain or to want to have it altered so as to suit us, though it is perhaps the commonest of all–I mean the difficulties we find to our own right conduct from the conduct of other people. Here, if we ask whether the Lord is for us or for our adversaries, the only possible answer is, For both. He loves both equally. God gave Joshua and the Israelites the victory over the Canaanites only by little and little, for this reason among others–that He desired to spare the Canaanites themselves as much as possible, and to give them time to repent if they would. Much more is it wrong and selfish for us to want any of our fellow-Christians swept out of our way–to think of them as mere spiritual enemies, or expect God to deal with them as mere temptations to ourselves, and hindrances to our own goodness. Patience and sub mission to Gods will are the foundation of all excellence in the Christian character; just as discipline, and ready and unquestioning obedience are the most important of all qualities in an army of this world. It is when things are against you that your mind is tried and trained; you have to make the best of them, but you are not tempted to seek great things for yourself; if you escape disaster you will be satisfied, and that is hard enough. Now it cannot be useless for us to remember in our spiritual war, if we find things are against us, and that the operations in which we are engaged are unsuccessful, that it was under these conditions that the Captain of the Lords host Himself fought out His great battle on earth. Judging it in a natural way, His life was a failure, His ministry a failure. He had fought the world for God, and had lost the battle. But His faith and obedience did not fail–rather it was perfected by His defeat. He still went on fearlessly until He had finished the work God gave Him to do: then He said, It is finished! and bowed His head and gave up the ghost. And then He had conquered. Let us, then, not be discouraged if we find that He gives us work to do that we do not like, or in which we do not see our way to success. It may be only that He means us so to win glory like His own–such as is won by the highest faith in Him, the faith that removes mountains. But whether that be so or not, we have to accept His orders and obey them. Do your duty patiently, and trust God for its having a good event. (W. H. Simcox, M. A.)

The vision for the great campaign

See the British fleet lying anchored at Spithead. It is in commission for an important expedition. Every ship has orders to be ready to sail at a moments notice. Accordingly all are ready. Every officer, every man, every boy is aboard. The captains are assured that every preparation is completed; that all stores of every description are laid in; that steam is up, and that in a moment their ships can be under weigh. Why, then, do they not hurry seaward? Is not this delay a waste of precious time? No, for the admiral is not yet on board the flagship. The supreme, responsible, directing mind, on whose energy and ability the whole nation is depending, is not yet at his post. See, here he comes. Every ship acknowledges the little craft that bears his flag; he steps on the quarter-deck of the vessel he commands, the signal for departure is hoisted; all are off. Such an event as that will give some idea of the meaning of this part of the sacred narrative. Israel has received orders to enter on this momentous campaign. All things are ready for a beginning. They have crossed the river; they have been circumcised; they have kept the feast; they have partaken of the corn of the land; why, then, this pause? Because they wait for Him who is their Captain. Here on the plains of Jericho the typical Saviour and the true Joshua and Jesus, stand face to face. Yea, Joshuas work at that time was the work of Jesus; was the work of Jesus so peculiarly and definitely that Joshua must wait on Him for instructions. He who came the lowly Lamb comes here the mighty warrior, with a sword of judgment drawn and gleaming in His awful hand. He who came to save comes to destroy. This vision makes very emphatic what was clearly revealed before, viz., that this campaign is under the Divine sanction and direction. Divine skill plans the work. Divine power carries it forward.

I. Behold our captain. We have a Leader in this great war. We are not left to fight alone; herein lies our comfort. He goeth before. We go not a warfare at our own charges. If Joshua was unfit for that conquest of Canaan by himself, how much more are we unfit for the fight against principalities and powers and spiritual wickedness in high places. For Joshua, Jesus came, The Captain of the Lords host. For us Jesus comes the Captain of salvation. And it is a comfort to think that this Leader of the people is one of the people Himself. In any war, which is the captain whom the soldiers love to follow? He who shares their lot most closely–he who, like Skobeleff in the Turkish war, knows all their hardships and privations. He who sleeps with them in the trenches, eats the same coarse and scanty rations, and leads them into the thickest of the fight. Now, this great Captain of whom we speak acts in this very fashion, tie has shared our lot in every particular, however hard, sin excepted. Also, like the warrior that appeared to Joshua, our Leader is thoroughly equipped for His work. His hand is drawn ready to smite. The word of truth is the royal weapon He wields in this war of grace and salvation; quick, powerful, sharp, effectual. He puts it in the hands of every faithful follower and bids him use it well. Again, Jesus is our Leader in virtue of Divine appointment: The government shall be upon His shoulders. To Him shall the gathering of the people be. Moreover, He is Captain in virtue of His own purchase. Jesus has the right to lead Gods people, because He has died for them. He is made perfect, as the Captain of salvation, through suffering. Also He is our leader because of His own resources. These are infinite. Lastly, we would say, He is Leader because of His qualities. He is an able Leader, thoroughly fit to command Gods army, a true King of men, always present, always ready. He is faithful to His word; wise in His plans; glorious in His achievements; ravishing in His perfections.

II. See here also the faithful follower. We know that Joshua stands prepared to follow this great Captain, because we remember his past obedience. By doing whatever duty comes to hand, under the eye of the great Leader, we prepare for higher achievements. Joshuas heart is also in his work. He is not slothful and indifferent. He is not careless and unconcerned. He is not fearful and oppressed, with no stomach for the fight. Thus the follower of Jesus should be a willing worker, full of energy and watchfulness, ever on the alert to do whatever in him lies to extend the Saviours kingdom. Joshua is also brave. When this warrior started up before him, though he was startled he was not unmanned. Without moral courage there can be no nobility of character, no strength of soul, no effective work. And this brave man is also humble. He fell on his face before this majestic Presence. He was deeply conscious of the superiority of his Leader and of his own nothingness. Therefore his heart is also filled with reverence. He worshipped before Him. He took the shoes off his feet, for the place was holy. Men who have done anything great for God, men who have followed the Lord fully, have been always marked by a spirit of deepest reverence. The gravity, the solemnity of the work in which they are engaged, the consciousness of the Divine presence before which they walk, fills them with awe. Joshua was also docile and obedient. He put the question, What wilt Thou have me to do? And when he got the answer he did as he was commanded. Unquestioning, prompt obedience is due to Him who commands us with such unerring wisdom, who leads us with such invincible might. (A. B. Mackay.)

An inspiring vision

Constantine, with his young, enthusiastic heart, was setting out on his war campaigns, when, they tell us, the appearance of the sky arrested his attention. As the eyes of the conqueror looked up into the heavens, behold, there seemed shaped to his vision a cross of fire, and beneath it, in letters of flame, were inscribed the Latin words, In hoc signo vinces (In this sign thou wilt conquer). It may have been a dream–it very likely was; but oh, there is truth in it! If you can see the Cross, you have got the vision that ennobles and enlivens, and brings conquering power to you in this life. Where there is no vision, the people perish; but when there is a vision–the vision of Calvary, the vision of the Lord Jesus–there is life, there is joy, there is peace, there is blessing. (J. Robertson.)

Joshuas vision

There are moments when we see without seeking, what at other times does not appear to us, and will not appear. An inward eye that had been closed seems to open, and we stand suddenly in the presence of hitherto invisible things. Midnight, solitude, sorrow, a felt crisis in our lives, what revealings they have brought with them; and it was as though a veil had been rent in twain, as though a flash of lightning had illumined the darkness. We all have our occasional transient visions of something higher, grander, or more solemn than we are ordinarily sensible of. Joshua has now to begin afresh, in fresh scenes; another period of toil and endurance is opening before him. So we stand to-day upon the threshold of another year, waiting, after we have finished, to commence again. And, as he waited, gravely meditative, with earnest thoughts stirring in him concerning his duties and responsibilities, there came upon him the vision of the text; for, unless he had been meditative and earnest, he would not have beheld what he beheld, we may be sure. It was the shining answer to what was taking place within him. One sees only that which one is tuned and prepared to see; and, to catch inspiring glimpses, one must be aspiring. All things must be met by us half-way. For none but those whose hearts are kindling, does the bush burn with fire. May ours be the inner temper of mind to-day, to which angels of God shall be able to show themselves. But notice first the agitation of uncertainty in the breast of the son of Nun. Art thou for us, or for our adversaries? wondering anxiously what the apparition meant. You see, this was the form in which the future in the strange country appeared–a mighty man with a drawn sword in his hand. Yes, of course the future would be filled with the clash of war. Nothing but conflict could be expected; conflict perhaps, severe and prolonged; but what of the issue? with whom would the victory lie? with Israel or the enemy? Ah, if he could but tell. Mystic form of the Future, wilt thou reveal it to me? And it is with like uncertainty that we front now the new year. We have most of us lived long enough–we most of us know enough of life to discern, as we lift our eyes, a man with a drawn sword in his hand. That there will be more or less of disagreeable and trying encounter, is sure. We shall have difficulties to grapple with, in the sweat of our face. Temptations will assail us; vexations and annoyances will have to be borne. But will it be, upon the whole, one of our happy and prosperous years? Shall we get through it, however threatened or assaulted, untitled and unharmed, without being sore wounded or overthrown in the way. The character of past years has varied. Some, notwithstanding many little rufflings and unpleasantnesses experienced in them, we have looked back upon with satisfaction and thankfulness, and have called them good years. Ah, we did well in them. They were marked by much sunshine. Our enterprises prospered; our friendships yielded only sweetness. Other years, perhaps, we were glad to have done with. They are remembered as black years, in which the sun shone only at rare intervals, and for a brief space, between ever-returning clouds. The years have varied with us. In some, if we have had to fight, we have conquered. In others, the tide of battle has rolled against us, leaving us broken and mauled. New year coming on apace, what hast thou to give me? Comest thou promising peace and brightness, or big with thunder and gloom? We ask in vain, as Joshua did when he cried, Art thou for us, or for our adversaries? For observe, that question of his was not replied to. Nay, said the armed angel, I am no token, no prophecy of that, one way or the other. But what does he say to the wistfully inquiring man? As the captain of the host of the Lord I am now come. Here, then, was what Joshua saw, presently, in looking forward to the future. Not what was going to happen–not the victory or the defeat to which he was destined in marching against the Canaanites; but, that it would not be himself alone at the head of the Hebrew army; that One would be there, superintending and disposing, ordering and commanding, whom the people beheld not, even the very same angel of Jehovahs presence. He saw himself divinely overlooked and attended; planning, manoeuvring, fighting to the best of his ability, as the chosen general, under the constant eye and control of an unseen Generalissimo, who had His purposes, whose purposes were good and right, and would be always fulfilling themselves in and through all. It was thus that the Future answered his appeal, What hast thou hidden for us in thy thick darkness? It answered, God is here–caring, managing, ruling to the end; the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob. An inspiring vision, to have been borne in upon him as he stood alone in the plain, with the grim fortifications of Jericho frowning down on him, and thought of the work to be done, with its difficulties and dangers. Better, surely, than any glimpse or foreshadowing of coming events would have been. And if we be able to receive it, what can be more inspiring for us in our entrance upon the unknown laud of a new year than the vision, not merely of an existence in the universe over and above all phenomena, and producing and sustaining them; but of a living Being, transcendent in wisdom and goodness, whose purpose is our education and the education of the world, and who is working evermore, in whatever happens, in whatever chances and changes may befall, to forward it; of One who is not only with us in our doings and sufferings, our aspirations and struggles, our mistakes and stumblings, but in them with continuous tuitional intent; under whom we are pursuing our ends, by whom, in all paths, we are led, in whose kingdom we are from morn to eve, let it be with us as it may. Many earnest souls around us are starting afresh to-day, as they have come through the year that is gone, with no such vision. Joshuas angel does not manifest itself to them. Lifting their eyes, they behold nothing but the walls of Jericho and the encampment of Israel, and over all, an empty sky. Nor are they the less ready for the battle, or the less patient and strong, hopeful and brave, in essaying to conquer. And we may be sure too, that guidance and help from above, is theirs; for the presence and energy of the Captain of the Lords host does not depend upon mens seeing Him. He is not absent or inoperative because they are unable to discern Him. Nevertheless, happy are they to whom He is visible. Let us be thankful then, if to-day, as we are girding our loins anew for the work of life, and for whatever life may bring–let us be thankful if we can behold with Joshua the angel of Jehovahs presence, and, in setting out, pause a little to entertain and foster the strengthening vision. But what saith my Lord to His servant? cried the son of Nun when he felt the august Presence about him, and bowed himself to the ground before it. What saith my Lord to His servant? Ah! now that I have Thee here; now that Thou art revealed to me in the way, speak to me; tell me something. Surely, I shall hear some great thing from Thy lips–surely, some great secret will be whispered to me. With the Invisible Power thus consciously nigh me, I may expect wondrous words, important disclosures. We can understand and sympathise with the expectation, can we not? What might not God Almighty tell, we are apt to think, if He were once found speaking. So thought Joshua, waiting in awed anticipation with his face to the earth. And from the mystic Presence overshadowing him, what syllables fell? What was it that he heard to whom it grew vocal? Loose thy shoe from off thy foot, for the place whereon thou standest is holy. Was that all? That was all. No declaring of things that had been kept hidden, no weighty revealings. Only a plain and familiar admonition, to cherish and preserve within him a right temper of mind, a right spirit–to see to it that he walked reverently, and cultivated purity, as one who dwelt in a temple. That was all the heavens told him, when they leaned toward him with a word. Take heed to yourself, to your character and conduct; be dutiful, be loyal to the vision that is yours. Recognise and answer the claim on you to be holy. And should we be disappointed, were the silent sky, in sending on a sound, to drop upon our ear no more than such an admonition as Joshua heard? What, however, do we need so much, for all present and future benediction, as to be taught a truer, finer ordering of ourselves? and what better, richer, more brightly fruitful new years gift could we have from above than a deepened sense of duty and a fresh impulse toward reverent and noble living? Yes, oh yes, Blessed are the lowly in spirit; theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are the pure in heart; they shall see God. (S. A. Tipple.)

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Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell

Verse 13. When Joshua was by Jericho] The sixth chapter should have commenced here, as this is an entirely new relation; or these two chapters should have made but one, as the present division has most unnaturally divided the communication which Joshua had from the angel of the Lord, and which is continued to Jos 6:5. It is very likely that Joshua had gone out privately to reconnoitre the city of Jericho when he had this vision; and while contemplating the strength of the place, and probably reflecting on the extreme difficulty of reducing it, God, to encourage him, granted him this vision, and instructed him in the means by which the city should be taken.

There stood a man over against him] It has been a very general opinion, both among the ancients and moderns, that the person mentioned here was no other than the Lord Jesus in that form which, in the fulness of time, he was actually to assume for the redemption of man. That the appearance was supernatural is agreed on all hands; and as the name Jehovah is given him, (Jos 6:2), and he received from Joshua Divine adoration, we may presume that no created angel is intended.

And Joshua went unto him] This is a very natural relation, and carries with it all the appearances and characteristics of a simple relation of fact. The whole history of Joshua shows him to have been a man of the most undaunted mind and intrepid courage – a genuine HERO. An ordinary person, seeing this man armed, with a drawn sword in his hand, would have endeavoured to have regained the camp, and sought safety in flight; but Joshua, undismayed though probably slightly armed, walks up to this terrible person and immediately questions him, Art thou for us or for our adversaries? probably at first supposing that he might be the Canaanitish general coming to reconnoitre the Israelitish camp, as himself was come out to examine the city of Jericho.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

By Jericho, Heb. in Jericho, i.e. in the country or territory adjoining to Jericho, whither he went to view those parts, and discern the fittest places for his attempt upon Jericho, as generals usually do.

A man; one in the appearance of man.

With his sword drawn, in readiness to fight, not, as Joshua thought, against him, but for him and his people.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

13. when Joshua was by Jerichointhe immediate vicinity of that city, probably engaged in surveyingthe fortifications, and in meditating the best plan of a siege.

there stood a man overagainst him with his sword drawnIt is evident from the strainof the context that this was not a mere vision, but an actualappearance; the suddenness of which surprised, but did not daunt, theintrepid leader.

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho,…. Or “in Jericho” i; not in the city itself, but in the border of it, as Kimchi and Ben Melech; or on the side of it, as Jarchi; on one side of which he was reconnoitring by himself, very probably seeking for a proper place where to make his first attack; or if he could find out some avenue to the city, whereby he could enter more easily; or it may be he was meditating a scheme how to subdue the city; and it is very likely praying to God that he would direct him, and succeed him. Ben Gersom interprets it, his thoughts were in Jericho; and both he, and Abarbinel, suppose, that what follows was in a vision of prophecy, that it seemed to him that he was in Jericho, and saw a person, as after described, and was only a dream or night vision; but, no doubt, whether this was in the day or in the night, which is not certain, it was a real sight that Joshua had, or one really appeared to him as a man, as after related:

that he lifted up his eyes, and looked; his eyes before looked downwards, as the eyes of a person in deep study and meditation usually do:

and, behold, there stood a man over against him; not a mere man, nor a created angel in an human form, but a divine Person in such a form, even the Son of God, who frequently appeared in this manner to the patriarchs; as is clear from the worship paid unto him by Joshua, by his calling him Lord, and owning himself to be his servant; and by the ground on which he stood, being holy through his presence, as well as by his title, the Captain of the Lord’s host. Jarchi says, this is Michael, which, if understood of Michael the uncreated angel, the head of all principality and power, is right, who is always meant by Michael, whenever he is spoken of in Scripture; and so this is interpreted by the ancient Jews k of the Angel the Redeemer:

with his sword drawn in his hand; who sometimes is said to have a twoedged one come out of his mouth, and sometimes one girt on his thigh, and here with one drawn out of the scabbard, to justify the war with the Canaanites, and to encourage Joshua to proceed in it. His sword has been drawn against his enemies, and those of his people from the beginning, ever since the fall of man, when enmity commenced between him and the seed of the serpent; it appeared drawn when here on earth combating with all our spiritual enemies, and will never be put up until all enemies are put under his feet:

and Joshua went unto him; which showed great courage, presence of mind, and magnanimity:

and said unto him, [art] thou for us, or for our adversaries? by his appearing in this warlike posture, he concluded it was to take on one side or the other, either on the side of Israel, or of the Canaanites; and he seemed to suspect that it was on the side of the latter, and that he was one that was come to defy the armies of Israel, as Goliath afterwards did, 1Sa 17:8; and to engage in a single combat with Joshua their general, and so decide the war; in which, had this been the case, Joshua was ready to fight with him.

i , Sept. in Jericho, Pagninus, Montanus. k Bereshit. Rabba, sect. 97. fol. 84. 2. Nachmanides in loc.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

Appearance and Message of the Angel of the Lord. – Jos 5:13-15. When Joshua was by Jericho, , lit., in Jericho ( expressing immediate proximity, the entrance as it were into some other object, vid., Ewald, 217), – that is to say, inside it in thought, meditating upon the conquest of it-he saw, on lifting up his eyes, a man standing before him with a drawn sword in his hand; and on going up to him, and asking, “Dost thou belong to us or to our enemies?” he received this reply: “ Nay ( is not to be altered into , which is the reading adopted in the Sept., Syr., and a few MSS), but I am the prince of the army of Jehovah; now I am come.” The person who had appeared neither belonged to the Israelites nor to their enemies, but was the prince of the army of Jehovah, i.e., of the angels. “The Lord’s host” does not mean “the people of Israel, who were just at the commencement of their warlike enterprise,” as v. Hofmann supposes; for although the host of Israel who came out of Egypt are called “the hosts of the Lord” in Exo 12:41, the Israelites are never called the host or army of Jehovah (in the singular). “The host of Jehovah” is synonymous with “the host of heaven” (1Ki 22:19), and signifies the angels, as in Psa 148:2 and Psa 103:21. With the words “now I am come,” the prince of the angels is about to enter upon an explanation of the object of his coming; but he is interrupted in his address by Joshua, who falls down before him, and says, “What saith my lord to his servant?” so that now he first of all commands Joshua to take off his shoes, as the place on which he stands is holy. It by no means follows that because Joshua fell down upon the ground and ( Eng. Ver. “did worship”), he must have recognised him at once as the angel of the Lord who was equal with God; for the word , which is connected with the falling down, does not always mean divine worship, but very frequently means nothing more than the deep Oriental reverence paid by a dependant to his superior or king (e.g., 2Sa 9:6; 2Sa 14:33), and Joshua did not address the person who appeared to him by the name of God, , but simply as , “My lord.” In any case, however, Joshua regarded him at once as a superior being, i.e., an angel. And he must have recognised him as something more than a created angel of superior rank, that is to say, as the angel of Jehovah who is essentially equal with God, the visible revealer of the invisible God, as soon as he gave him the command to take off his shoes, etc. – a command which would remind him of the appearance of God to Moses in the burning bush, and which implied that the person who now appeared was the very person who had revealed himself to Moses as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. (On the meaning of the command to take off the shoes, see the exposition of Exo 3:5.) The object of the divine appearance was indicated by the drawn sword in the hand (cf. Num 22:31), by which he manifested himself as a heavenly warrior, or, as he describes himself to Joshua, as prince of the army of Jehovah. The drawn sword contained in itself this practical explanation: “I am now come with my heavenly army, to make war upon the Canaanites, and to assist thee and thy people” (Seb. Schmidt). It was not in a vision that this appearance took place, but it was an actual occurrence belonging to the external world; for Joshua saw the man with the drawn sword at a certain distance from himself, and went up to him to address him, – a fact which would be perfectly incompatible with an inward vision.

Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament

The Captain of the Lord’s Host.

B. C. 1451.

      13 And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, behold, there stood a man over against him with his sword drawn in his hand: and Joshua went unto him, and said unto him, Art thou for us, or for our adversaries?   14 And he said, Nay; but as captain of the host of the LORD am I now come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, and said unto him, What saith my lord unto his servant?   15 And the captain of the LORD‘s host said unto Joshua, Loose thy shoe from off thy foot; for the place whereon thou standest is holy. And Joshua did so.

      We have hitherto found God often speaking to Joshua, but we read not till now of any appearance of God’s glory to him; now that his difficulties increased his encouragements were increased in proportion. Observe,

      I. The time when he was favoured with this vision. It was immediately after he had performed the great solemnities of circumcision and the passover; then God made himself known to him. Note, We may then expect the discoveries of the divine grace when we are found in the way of our duty and are diligent and sincere in our attendance on holy ordinances.

      II. The place where he had this vision. It was by Jericho; in Jericho, so the word is; in it by faith and hope, though as yet he had not begun to lay siege to it; in it in thought and expectation; or in the fields of Jericho, hard by the city. There, it should seem, he was all alone, fearless of danger, because sure of the divine protection. There he was (some think) meditating and praying; and to those who are so employed God often graciously manifests himself. Or perhaps there he was to take a view of the city, to observe its fortifications, and contrive how to attack it; and perhaps he was at a loss within himself how to make his approaches, when God came and directed him. Note, God will help those that help themselves. Vigilantibus non dormientibus succurrit lex–The law succours those who watch, not those who sleep. Joshua was in his post as a general, when God came and made himself known as Generalissimo.

      III. The appearance itself. Joshua, as is usual with those that are full of thought and care, was looking downwards, his eyes fixed on the ground, when of a sudden he was surprised with the appearance of a man who stood before him at some little distance, which obliged him to lift up his eyes, and gave a diversion to his musings, v. 13. He appeared to him as a man, but a considerable man, and one fit to be taken notice of. Now, 1. We have reason to think that this man was the Son of God, the eternal Word, who, before he assumed the human nature for a perpetuity, frequently appeared in a human shape. So bishop Patrick thinks, consonant to the judgment of the fathers. Joshua gave him divine honours, and he received them, which a created angel would not have done, and he is called Jehovah, ch. vi. 2. 2. He here appeared as a soldier, with his sword drawn in his hand. To Abraham in his tent he appeared as a traveller; to Joshua in the field as a man of war. Christ will be to his people what their faith expects and desires. Christ had his sword drawn, which served, (1.) To justify the war Joshua was engaging in, and to show him that it was of God, who gave him commission to kill and slay. If the sovereign draw the sword, this proclaims war, and authorizes the subject to do so too. The sword is then well drawn when Christ draws it, and gives the banner to those that fear him, to be displayed because of the truth, Ps. lx. 4. (2.) To encourage him to carry it on with vigour; for Christ’s sword drawn in his hand denotes how ready he is for the defence and salvation of his people, who through him shall do valiantly. His sword turns every way.

      IV. The bold question with which Joshua accosted him; he did not send a servant, but stepped up to him himself, and asked, Art thou for us or for our adversaries? which intimates his readiness to entertain him if he were for them, and to fight him if he were against them. This shows, 1. His great courage and resolution. He was not ruffled by the suddenness of the appearance, nor daunted with the majesty and bravery which no doubt appeared in the countenance of the person he saw; but, with a presence of mind that became so great a general, put this fair question to him. God had bidden Joshua be courageous, and by this it appears that he was so; for what God by his word requires of his people he does by his grace work in them. 2. His great concern for the people and their cause; so heartily has he embarked in the interests of Israel that none shall stand by him with the face of a man but he will know whether he be a friend or a foe. It should seem, he suspected him for an enemy, a Goliath that had come to defy the armies of the living God, and to give him a challenge. Thus apt are we to look upon that as against us which is most for us. The question plainly implies that the cause between the Israelites and the Canaanites, between Christ and Beelzebub, will not admit of a neutrality. He that is not with us is against us.

      V. The account he gave of himself, v. 14. “Nay, not for your adversaries, you may be sure, but as captain of the host of the Lord have I now come, not only for you as a friend, but over you as commander in chief.” Here were now, as of old (Gen. xxxii. 2), Mahanaim, two hosts, a host of Israelites ready to engage the Canaanites and a host of angels to protect them therein, and he, as captain of both, conducts the host of Israel and commands the host of angels to their assistance. Perhaps in allusion to this Christ is called the captain of our salvation (Heb. ii. 10), and a leader and commander to the people, Isa. lv. 4. Those cannot but be victorious that have such a captain. He now came as captain to review the troops, to animate them, and to give the necessary orders for the besieging of Jericho.

      VI. The great respect Joshua paid him when he understood who he was; it is probable that he perceived, not only by what he said but by some other sensible indications, that he was a divine person, and not a man. 1. Joshua paid homage to him: He fell on his face to the earth and did worship. Joshua was himself general of the forces of Israel, and yet he was far from looking with jealousy upon this stranger, who produced a commission as captain of the Lord’s host above him; he did not offer to dispute his claims, but cheerfully submitted to him as his commander. It will become the greatest of men to be humble and reverent in their addresses to God. 2. He begged to receive commands and directions from him: What saith my Lord unto his servant? His former question was not more bold and soldier-like than this was pious and saint-like; nor was it any disparagement to the greatness of Joshua’s spirit thus to humble himself when he had to do with God: even crowned heads cannot bow to low before the throne of the Lord Jesus, who is King of kings,Psa 2:10; Psa 2:11; Psa 72:10; Psa 72:11; Rev 19:16. Observe, (1.) The relation he owns between himself and Christ, that Christ was his Lord and himself his servant and under his command, Christ his Captain and himself a soldier under him, to do as he is bidden, Matt. viii. 9. Note, The foundation of all acceptable obedience is laid in a sincere dedication of ourselves, as servants to Jesus Christ as our Lord, Ps. xvi. 2. (2.) The enquiry he makes pursuant to this relation: What saith my Lord? which implies an earnest desire to know the will of Christ, and a cheerful readiness and resolution to do it. Joshua owns himself an inferior officer, and stands to receive orders. This temper of mind shows him fit for the post he was in; for those know best how to command that know how to obey.

      VII. The further expressions of reverence which this divine captain required from Joshua (v. 15): Loose thy shoe from off thy foot, in token of reverence and respect (which with us are signified by uncovering the head), and as an acknowledgment of a divine presence, which, while it continued there, did in a manner sanctify the place and dignify it. We are accustomed to say of a person for whom we have a great affection that we love the very ground he treads upon; thus Joshua must show his reverence for this divine person, he must not tread the ground he stood on with his dirty shoes, Eccl. v. 1. Outward expressions of inward reverence, and a religious awe of God, well become us, and are required of us, whenever we approach to him in solemn ordinances. Bishop Patrick well observes here that the very same orders that God gave to Moses at the bush, when he was sending him to bring Israel out of Egypt (Exod. iii. 5), he here gives to Joshua, for the confirming of his faith in the promise he had lately given him, that as he had been with Moses so he would be with him, ch. i. 5. Had Moses such a presence of God with him as, when it became sensible, sanctified the ground? So had Joshua.

      And (lastly) Hereby he prepares him to receive the instructions he was about to give him concerning the siege of Jericho, which this captain of the Lord’s host had now come to give Israel possession of.

Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary

Joshua Meets the Captain, vs. 13-15

These three verses properly belong to chapter 6, for the content of that chapter is the continuation of this interview of the Captain of the Lord’s host with Joshua. This should be remembered in study of the next chapter. It is not specifically stated that Joshua was reconnoitering the defenses of Jericho, but that would appear to be the case. As he did so he would doubtless observe the high, massive, impenetrable walls of the city. He must have had faith in the Lord to secure it, but he certainly was not able to see how.

It was at this point that he sees the strange man with the drawn sword opposite him. When Joshua inquired whether he was friend or foe he received an answer which at once made him realize that he was face to face with the Lord in the guise of an armed warrior. Joshua represented the Lord as Israel’s captain, but this was the real Captain of the Lord’s host, the One who would gain the victory through the obedience of the Israelite soldiers.

Joshua fell to the ground before Him and heard the command to loose his shoes from his feet lest they pollute the holy ground on which he stood. This command was first heard by Moses at the burning bush (Exo 3:5). There Moses was ,prepared to return to Egypt and lead the Israelites out. Here Joshua received his instructions to successfully overthrow the initial foe in Canaan. This will be the subject of chapter six.

From chapter five one may learn 1) when the Lord’s people proceed by faith they find that the Lord prepares the way before them; 2) when one sheds the reproach of the world he is prepared to feast on the good things of the Lord; 3) when problems seem insurmountable one may look to the captain who is out before him.

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

13. And it came to pass when Joshua, etc Here we have the narrative of a remarkable vision, by which Joshua was greatly encouraged and emboldened. For though he was strenuously discharging his office, the application of an additional stimulus was not without its use. The angel, however, did not appear solely on his private account, but for the confirmation of the whole people: nay, the Lord looked further forward, that he might furnish posterity with stronger proofs of a kindness which was never duly considered. For although they boasted in lofty terms of having been planted by the hand of God in a holy land, they were scarcely induced by all the miracles to acknowledge in good earnest that they were placed there as God’s vassals. This vision, therefore, must have been beneficial to all ages, by leaving no doubt as to the divine kindness bestowed. Its being said that he lifted his eyes, tends to confirm the certainty of the vision, lest any one might suppose that his eyesight had merely been dazzled by some evanescent phantom.

The spectacle, when first presented, must have inspired fear; for it is probable that Joshua was then alone, whether he had withdrawn from public view to engage in prayer, or for the purpose of reconnoitering the city. I am rather inclined to think it was the latter, and that he had gone aside to examine where the city ought to be attacked, lest the difficulty might deter others. It appears certain that he was without attendants, as he alone perceives the vision; and there can be no doubt that he was prepared to fight had he fallen in with an enemy. But he puts his question as if addressing a man, because it is only from the answer he learns that it is an angel. This doubt gives more credibility to the vision, while he is gradually led from the view of the man whom he addresses to the recognition of an angel. The words, at the same time, imply that it was not an ordinary angel, but one of special excellence. For he calls himself captain of the Lord’s host, a term which may be understood to comprehend not merely his chosen people, but angels also.

The former view, however, is the more correct, as God does not produce anything of an unwonted nature, but constitutes that which we previously read that he performed to Moses. And we know that Moses himself preferred this favor to all others; and justly, for God there manifested his own glory in an open and familiar manner. Accordingly, he is indiscriminately called an angel, and distinguished by the title of the eternal God. Of this fact Paul is a competent witness, who distinctly declares that it was Christ. (1Co 10:4.) And Moses himself embraced God as present in the person of the Mediator. For when God declares, after the making of the calf, (Exo 33:2 (56)) that he would no longer be the Leader of the people, he at the same time promises that he will give one of his angels, but only one, as it were taken out of the general body of the angelic host. (57) This Moses earnestly deprecates, obviously because he could have no hope that God would be propitious if the Mediator were removed. It was thus a special pledge of the divine favor that the Captain and Head of the Church, to whom Moses had been accustomed, was now present to assist. And indeed the divine adoption could not be ratified in any other way than in the hand of the Mediator.

(56) The original text had referenced Exo 32:37, which is invalid. Certainly the passage now referenced makes mention of the angel, and that God will no longer ‘go out before’ the people of Israel, but, if Calvin had only the angel in mind, the reference could have been meant for Exo 32:34. However, it could also be a general reference to events occurring throughout Exo 32:0, (the making of the calf in verses 2-3, God saying He would not be their Leader in verse 10, and the reference to the angel in verse 34). — fj,sg.

(57) French, “ Mais comme le premier qui se rencontrera;” “But as it were the first who may happen to present himself.” — Ed.

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary

CRITICAL NOTES.

Jos. 5:13. By Jericho] Lit., in Jericho. Ewald gives the meaning, the immediate neighbourhood, the closest connection with another thing, and, as it were, the act of entering into it. This should have prevented the remark, The place may have been near Gilgal. Near Gilgal would be equivalent to by Jericho. Joshua had evidently gone to investigate the city, and was hear to it when the vision occurred.

Jos. 5:14. And did worship] The words are not only used in connection with the worship of God, but also to denote the deep reverence which is shewn in the East by a subject to his king; e.g., 2Sa. 9:6; 2Sa. 14:33 (Keil). Taken by themselves, therefore, the words do not prove that this was the Divine Being; taken with other expressions, they are nevertheless contributive to this conclusion. Whatever reverence kings may accept, angels seem jealously to regard such homage as the sole prerogative of God (cf. Rev. 19:10; Rev. 22:9).

MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.Jos. 5:13-15

TIMES AND FORMS OF DIVINE MANIFESTATION

The angel who here appears to Joshua was manifestly none other than the Angel of the CovenantJesus Christ. Calvin, and many since him, have come to this conclusion. As it was none other than the Lord Himself who wrestled with Jacob at the ford Jabbok, so that Jacob cried, I have seen God face to face; as it was none other than He who appeared to Moses in the bush, and gave His name as I AM, though He is called an angel; so He who now appears to Joshua is none other than Jesus Christ. There are several things in the narrative which seem to require this interpretation.

1. This armed being calls himself the Captain, or Prince, of the host of the Lord, a phrase which comes near to the Lord of hoststhe Lord of Sabaothby which we are ever wont to recognise Deity.
2. This warrior claims to make the very place holy by his presence God said to Moses at the bush, Put off thy shoes, etc.; so, similarly, it is said to Joshua, Loose thy shoe from off thy foot.

3. Joshua is said to have worshipped. Referring to the usage of the East, when a subject meets his king, and quoting 2Sa. 9:6; 2Sa. 14:33, Keil expresses his opinion that the word does not mean Divine worship. The custom of kings, as has been shewn, is no rule for the conduct of angels, whom we see in the book of Revelation repeatedly refusing even the prostrations of men; to them the very act meant worship.

4. In chap. Jos. 6:2, this armed visitant claims Divine powers: See, I have given into thine hand Jericho.

5. In the same verse the speaker is actually called Jehovah. Thus we may unquestioningly take this as one of those Old Testament anticipations of the Incarnation in which the Son of God appears to men. It is what Isaiah calls the Angel of His presence, once more drawing near to save His people. As a recent writer has said, Thus the first and the second Joshua met, the type and the Antitype; he who led Israel to victory over fierce and terrible foes, and He who leads the spiritual Israel to the conquest of the world, the flesh, and the devil; who will finally cause them to triumph over death, the last enemy, and will award to each faithful follower the crown of endless life. [Groser.]

I. The Saviour loves to recognise the spiritual life of His people, and when they seek to come close to Him, He delights to draw near to them. Joshua had followed the Divine will in the circumcision, he had drawn near to God in the passover and the feast of unleavened bread; these are hardly over when Jesus Himself draws near to Joshua. It is like the Divine way in the repeatedly occurring words, Turn ye unto Me, saith the Lord of hosts, and I will turn unto you, saith the Lord of hosts.

1. When God graciously reveals Himself to men, it is to men who love Him and walk with Him. When the three angels come, it is to commune with Abraham, not with Lot, albeit they proceed to save the man who dwells in Sodom. The vision of the burning bush was for Moses, not for Pharaoh. When the form of the Son of man is seen in the province of Babylon, it is with the throne Hebrews in the fire, not with Nebuchadnezzar on the throne. It was as they communed together, and reasoned on their Lords death, that Jesus Himself drew near, and walked with the two disciples to Emmaus. It would hinder us, and curse us, if God drew near to bless us when we were living far from Him. Fancy the effect of the Divine smile on Pharaoh; it would have made that hard heart harder still. Think of Nero and Judas singing,

My God, the spring of all my joys;

of having occasion so to sing, and yet remaining wicked as ever; they would have been even worse than they were, had God given them His presence in their sin. God will not draw nigh to us, any more than to others, if we persist in living in disobedience to Him. It would put a premium on sin for Him to bless us in times like these.

2. Although the Saviour does not now come to men visibly, we are not to think that His coming is less actual and real than it was of old. We have all the joy of reading the accounts of these visions given to the godly men of former days. The very consideration of such mercy to them helps us also, by faith, to see Him who is invisible. But this is not all:

We shine not only with the light

Thou didst send down of yore;

The fathers had not all of Thee,

Thy comings are not oer.

Was not Christ as much with the apostles at Pentecost as during His ministry? When Peter was sinking, his Lord took him by the hand; when the Saviour drew apart from men into the glory of the transfiguration and into the darkness of Gethsemane, He took with Him Peter; but Peter never stood so near to his Lord as when preaching at Pentecost. Let us learn to feel that Christ is with us indeed when we in life and spirit are found with Him. His very name is Emmanuel. It was one of the sins of this ancient people, that they asked, Is the Lord among us or not? I do set the Lord always before me, is, to the godly man, not merely a faith, but a life.

3. Our more striking realizations of the Saviours presence are not designed to be perpetual. Joshua sees this vision but for a little time, and then it vanishes away. The mercy was transitory, or it would have ceased to be a mercy. The work would have been hindered, had worship been indefinitely prolonged. Moses at the bush, and Saul on the way to Damascus, do but behold the Lord for a brief season. And these transitory blessings of the old days are like our higher visions of Christwe cannot have them always. Constant rapture would not be good; it would drain and enfeeble the life, rather than give it strength. In his Scrambles amongst the Alps, Whymper says, with true perception, No views create such lasting impressions as those which are seen but for a moment, when a veil of mist is rent in twain, and a single spire or dome is disclosed. The peaks which are seen at these moments are not perhaps the greatest, or the noblest, but the recollections of them outlive the memory of any panoramic view, because the picture photographed by the eye has time to dry, instead of being blurred, while yet wet, by contact with other impressions. It would not be well that we should always gaze as in our more vivid beholdings of God. Our better strength above may bear this more continuous sight of Him, but here it is otherwise. The vision needs time to dry. It is when we see the Lord for a moment between the riven cloud of some terrible affliction, or in the joy of more rapt communion, that the sight abides with us. When in a moment of ecstacy Peter beheld the glory of the Lord, he wished to prolong the vision, and cried, Let us make three tabernacles. It was good to be there, and the servant wished to stay. The Holy Ghost tells us that Peter spake, not knowing what he said. Even so, when the glory was so bright, the fleeting vision was its better form. And the fleeting vision was none the less permanent in its hold on the mind and heart. More than thirty years after, Peter could call on his memory, reproduce to himself the scene again, and write to them who had obtained like precious faith, of the way in which there came such a voice from the excellent glory. Probably it was more than sixty years after the vision when John wrote, We beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father. Brief visions of God may be life-long helps. Joshua would never forget, in all his wars, Him who said, See, I have given Jericho into thine hand. He who would always live amidst exciting services, and can speak hopefully of nothing but perpetual raptures, may be earnest, but is not wise.

II. The Saviour beholds the necessities of His people; and where they particularly need Him, there they may look for His special appearance. It is over against Jericho that Jesus reveals Himself to Joshua; it is by the city that is fortified against Joshua, and on the scene of the coming battle.

1. It is where we want Christ that we may look for Him. What a blessed way He has, all through His ministry, of suddenly putting in an appearance by the side of some one in urgent necessity! How He ever seems coming across the path of the blind! How, when the impotent man at Bethesda had been a long time in that sad case of his, the Saviour seems to come that way in the very hour of the despair which feels the hopelessness of waiting there any longer! It is when the man has come to realize that he has no one to put him into the pool, and to know the certainty of some one stepping down before him, that Jesus comes. We look at the funeral procession leaving the city of Nain, and are apt to think of the Saviours meeting with it as a happy coincidence. How many similar coincidences that sacred ministry of pity was always having! It is Christs sweet mannerism of heavenly compassion to time His meetings to our crises. He loves to meet want, because His love to help the needy is genuine. Men talk about compassion, but too often, like the priest and the Levite of the parable, they go by on the other side, lest they should have some opportunity for its exercise. He who is the Good Samaritan comes to the wounded where they are. Jesus has a heavenly way of being a God nigh at hand when men are ready to perish. Do we feel our need of Him? Are we thinking on our conflicts, present and to come, and, like Joshua, as he gazed on the fortified city, feeling they may be too hard for us if we are unaided? Let us lift up our eyes, that we may look on His form, who times His visits to our necessities. It is the Divine way to be near men in their hour of want. The Scriptures are full of such instances of His mercy. When we cannot bear to wait any longer as we are, then is the time for prayer; He, whose way often is to come when no word is uttered, will not leave us unanswered then.

2. This vision was given to a man who had work to do for God. It is not only when we have anxieties to disturb our peace, and burdens too heavy to be endured, but when we have tasks to perform which are too difficult for us, that we may look for His presence. He who said, Without Me ye can do nothing, will hardly leave us to work alone in duties commanded by Himself.

III. The Saviour has regard to the individuality of His people; and as they need His help in that manner, and in that character, He comes to meet their want. To Joshua, who has battles to fight, Christ comes as an armed warrior. In order to encourage and strengthen His servant, the very Prince of Peace manifests Himself with a drawn sword in His hand.

1. The Lord has regard to our particular work. He appeared to Gideon to encourage him as a mighty man of valour. To the apostles, who were charged to preach the gospel to every creature, the Holy Ghost revealed Himself at Pentecost as a tongue of fire, sitting upon the head of each of them. As our work, so is Gods help.

2. The Lord has regard to the special character of our trials. Moses should see, in the bush, that things which were burned were not consumed when the Lord was in the midst of them. What a help to the man who had to enter himself, and lead his brethren out of, the furnace of Egypt! Jacob the outcast should see the ladder that united heaven with earth, and hear the voice that said, I am with thee in all places whithersoever thou goest. Jacob, whose life was to be one long struggle with adverse providences, should wrestle with Him who was the author of them all, and thus learn that he might have power with God, and prevail, and come to great victory even through seeming defeat. The man of the unclean lips should see the seraph fly with a live coal, as from the altar of sacrifice, and hear a voice that proclaimed all his iniquity to be taken away. As we want Christ, so Christ comes to us. It is said that in twelve niches of a bridge in Austria there are twelve different representations of the Saviour, and that day by day men may be seen praying before the particular representation of Christ suitable to themselves. The mechanic will pray before Christ the carpenter, the sick and wounded before Christ the physician, the keeper of sheep before Christ the Good Shepherd, and similarly all through the various representations. Whatever our personal need may be, the Saviour has revealed Himself in sufficient variety to embrace our wants also; and if our necessities and trials seem peculiar, He shews Himself willing to meet us with appropriate help.

IV. Let the Saviour appear to His people when and how He will, the more graciously He manifests Himself to men, the more devoutly are they to remember that He is none other than their Lord and their God. Christ comes to Joshua seemingly as a man and a fellow-soldier; He will forego none of the reverence due unto His name because of His grace and condescension.

1. The more God blesses us, the more profound should be our humility, and the deeper our adoration.
2. The more God vouchsafes to help us, the more complete should be our sense of dependence. What saith my Lord unto His servant? is meet language in which to confess our allegiance, and declare our readiness to obey.

OUTLINES AND COMMENTS ON THE VERSES

THE COURAGE OF THE FEAR OF GOD.
The courage of God-fearing men will bear examination:

I. In the light of history. The Divine word to Joshua, that he should be of good courage, was not spoken in vain. Walking out by Jericho, he was probably seeking to make himself acquainted with its surroundings. He did not yet know the mind of the Lord concerning the plan of battle; he would see where the city was strong and where it was weak, that his attack might be made with advantage. Suddenly, as Joshua lifted up his eyes, an armed man was seen standing over against him. The very place, and not less the attitude, was suggestive of an enemy. With no hesitation, so far as we can gather from the narrative, Joshua went unto him, and said, Art thou for us, or for our adversaries? Insensibly we are reminded of the similar appearance to Balaam. Balaam went forth on a mission of sin, and he, too, saw the angel of the Lord standing in the way, and having a drawn sword in his hand. How did this man, walking in the ways of sin, bear himself before such an appearance? He bowed his head, and fell flat upon his face. He did this at the very sight of the angel, and in a manner which looks more like the fear so becoming his guilty life, than this reverence of Joshua, who bowed himself to the earth only when he heard the lofty title of Him before whom he stood. All through the history of men, those have been the bravest who have feared God.

1. They have been behind none in martial courage. It was the son of Jesse, who feared the Lord from his youth, that dared to meet Goliath. Not a single warrior of the army seems to have thought of a deed like this. It belonged to the future leader of Israels holy service and ardent song to do what the trained veterans of Saul trembled to think of, and refused to attempt. It was just because David feared the Lord, that he had no fear of the monster who had defied the Lords army. So it has been ever since. Though war is not the chosen sphere of Christian service, and though not a few who have lacked piety have been unquestionably brave, the most pious soldiers have ever been among their countrys staunchest defenders. Cromwells Ironsides and Havelocks Saints found none to despise them in the field, let who would scorn them in the camp. Col. Gardiner and Captain Vicars never tarnished their swords with their religion, though many would have preferred their religion apart from their military prowess.

2. In conflicts on moral and spiritual fields, God-fearing men have ever stood in advance of the courage of others. Many religious professors have been cowards, but not those who have feared the Lord. They have excelled their fellows in courage in standing by the weak and the outcast; in upholding commercial and social integrity; in bearing the trials of life; in meeting the last enemyDeath.

II. In the light of their peculiar subjects of thought. In the estimation of some, it might be supposed that the particular subjects of religious meditation set forth in the Scriptures, are unfavourable to courage.

1. All of Divine revelation lies over in the direction of the unseen. The very name revelation suggests looking into what, without it, belongs to the invisible. To an ordinary mind that is not supposed to be helpful to bravery. Tell a man human imaginings of the unseen world, recapitulate the stories of ghosts, and talk about the invisible spirits that walk the earth, and the usual result is trepidation. How is it that the people who are students of the book which shews them that they are encamped around with angels, and that spirits of evil go about them seeking whom they may devour, are able to sleep with so few disturbing dreams? How is it that the men who meet God in every path are not timid? How is it that this constant gaze into the dark and awful invisible does not destroy the balance of the nervous system? It is precisely because these men have learned to look into the unseen world, that they are as they are. They have seen God; they have seen Him awful in majesty, but more tender than a mother in love; and they have learned to say, If God be for us, who can be against us? Thus do they sing, each to the rest,

Fear Him, ye saints, and you will then

Have nothing else to fear.

2. Much of Divine revelation deals with sentiment and emotion. These things are not usually thought good for courage. Poetry and prayers and visions are not supposed by some to lie in the same direction as manliness and stamina. Reason, men say, think calmly, and wisely, and judicially, and then you will not fear. Christianity, on the other hand, stimulates the strongest feelings, claims the heart for its centre, deals with subjects of pathos and song and ardent emotion; its very key-word is faith; and the Saviour, around whom its adherents rally and move, is invisible, saving in works which declare His hand, and in words the latest of which are eighteen centuries old. And yet no men dare to sing in sorrow, and to be bold everywhere as Christian men do. Why is this? It is because they fear God.

3. Much of Divine revelation is a manifestation of supernatural power. Every mornings ordinary mercies make the God-fearing man say, Thy mercies; but supernatural things especially are only to be accounted for by the presence of God. Prayers are from Him, as well as to Him; comfort and help in the sanctuary are because He is there; any single conversion means that He is present; all the generous ministries of the Church, which come each from a true heart fervently, come of Him. The worldly and the wicked man is like the child with his head beneath the bedclothes, who seeks to shut out at once the terrifying darkness, and the suggestive creaking of the boards, or the moaning of the wind; the only way to his peace is the way of oblivion. God is not in all his thoughts. I will fear no evil, is peculiarly the watchword of those who fear God; sinful men have never made it their own yet, and they never will.

III. In the light of their spirit of humility and obedience. Joshua no sooner knew that he was in this great Presence, than he bowed himself; he fell on his face to the earth, and did worship: he was told to loose his shoe from off his foot, and Joshua did so. Yet this was the man who met his seeming foe with so bold a front. The man who bows lowest before God, ever bears himself most nobly before those whom he ought to count his enemies; and he who knows how to obey the Lord, knows how to resist where he ought not to yield. It is sinful Adam who hides, and guilty Cain who cries, My punishment is greater than I can bear; it is Job who answers the tempter, Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him.

Jos. 5:13.The path of watchfulness and duty is often the place where the Lord is met.

The Lord often seems to be resisting His people, where He does but intend to help them.
They who meet the Lord in the ways of life, having, apparently, His sword drawn against them, do but need to inquire of Him with a right heart, when they will find that the sword is for their protection.
The godly man will pause to inquire of his seeming foes, with gentleness and candour, before he smites them in anger.

Jos. 5:13-14.THE LORD AND THE SERVANT.

I. The Lords claims upon His servants.

1. Absolute authority. As Captain am I come. This authority is claimed in the very moment of revealing Himself. As Captain am I now come. This authority is claimed over all the Church in common. As Captain of the Lords host, etc.

2. Profound reverence and adoration for Himself. The prostration was not enough. Joshua must loose his shoe from off his foot. This act of homage, also, was necessary.

3. Holy awe for the place where He is, and for the things with which He has to do. The place whereon thou standest is holy.

II. The servants response to his Lord. The true servant has:

1. Humility in his Lords presence. Joshua fell on his face to the earth. He himself was revered by all Israel;

But merit lives from man to man,
And not from man, O Lord, to Thee.

2. Worship for his Lords person and character. The very consciousness of the Divine presence filled Joshua with adoring awe: the style and title were great, the Being and the character were far greater.

3. Inquiry concerning his Lords will. He who says not, Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do? can hardly claim to be a servant.

4. Obedience to his Lords command. And Joshua did so.

Jos. 5:13-15. THE TRUE CAMPAIGN.

In Hebrew history the Infinite Artist gives us a picture of the mind in its fallen condition, struggling to deliver itself. The emancipation from Egyptian bondage, the trying pilgrimage in the desert, the special interposition of heaven in the crossing of the Jordan, the fearful battles that were fought, and the settling down at last in the promised land, are all photographs of struggling souls making their way from the thraldom of sin into the inheritance of the saints in light. The war scene of the text suggests three facts concerning mans true campaign.

I. That in the true campaign God has committed to man a great work.

1. It is an onerous work. The work to which God called Joshua on this occasion was the utter extermination of most formidable antagonists. Our work in the moral campaign is still more onerous. We live in a world of evil. Corrupt principles, the mighty powers of darkness, possess the world we live in. They crowd our spheres of action; and, alas, they are encamped within us! The work to which we are called is their entire extermination, both from within and without.

2. It is a righteous work. The man who consecrates his energies to the downfall of evil, whose life is one earnest struggle against the principalities and powers of darkness, is acting evermore in accordance with the eternal law of rectitude. He is fighting the good fight of faith, and if he is faithful, he shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.

8. It is an indispensable work. Never will you possess the Canaan of spiritual harmony, moral approbation, self-control, uplifting thoughts, heavenly affections, ever-brightening hopes, and free and blessed intercourse with the Infinite Father of spirits, without the expulsion of evil from your soul. He only that overcometh shall inherit.

II. That in the true campaign God blesses man with a GREAT LEADER. Taking the description which is here given of Christ as a figurative representation of Him as our moral chieftain, three facts are suggested concerning Him in that capacity:

1. He is ever present when needed. Joshua needed some special manifestation to reassure him of his duty, to inspire his courage, and to nerve his arm for his terrible mission. And here it is. He lifted up his eyes and looked, and, behold, there stood, etc. So it ever is. The Lord stood with me and strengthened me, said Paul.

2. He is always ready. He was not only present in the hour of need, but prepared. He stood before Joshua with His sword drawn in His hand. He stands by our side, and says, All power is given unto Me in heaven and earth. Lo. I am with you alway.

3. He is all-sufficient. He is the Captain of the Lords hosts. He is the controller of all powers. The forces of the material universe are at His command. All the forces of the spiritual universe are at His command. He is Captain of the hosts of heaven. He maketh His angels spirits, and His ministers a flame of fire. Him hath God exalted, etc. With such a chieftain as this, shall we fear our enemies, or can we fail in battle?

III. That in the true campaign God requires a great spirit.

1. Joshua displays a spirit of indomitable valour. Art thou for us, or for our adversaries? This is the courage which we want, which we honour, and which we must have, before we can win one victory in the battle of life.

2. He displays the spirit of reverent enquiry. He fell on his face to the earth, etc. This is the true spirit. Paul had this: Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do? With this spirit, victory is certain; without it, defeat is inevitable.

3. He displays the spirit of solemn obedience Loose thy shoe, And Joshua did so. On whatever place we stand, it is holy ground, because God is present. Did we always feel His presence, we should walk this earth with reverent and solemn step; feel that

Life is real, life is earnest;

and that the great end and blessedness of our being consists in working out the will of the GREAT ALL IN ALL.

Would you be a hero in the strife? Then put yourself under the command of the Captain of the Lords host. He will lead you on from victory to victory. His victories are real. They are not over the body, which is the mere instrument of the man; they are over the soulover the man himself. He who subdues the mind is the only true conqueror. The Lords victories are merciful. It is love that nerves His arm. He strikes not to wound, but to heal; not against life, but against its evils and curses; not to destroy, but to save. Every blow He gives is to crush an evil and to save a soul. [Dr. Thomas, Homilist.]

Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell

The Appearance of the Captain of the Lords Host Jos. 5:13-15

13 And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, behold, there stood a man over against him with his sword drawn in his hand: and Joshua went unto him, and said unto him, Art thou for us, or for our adversaries?
14 And he said, Nay; but as captain of the host of the Lord am I now come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, and said unto him, What saith my lord unto his servant?
15 And the captain of the Lords host said unto Joshua, Loose thy shoe from off thy foot; for the place whereon thou standest is holy. And Joshua did so.

13.

Who was the captain of the host of the Lord? Jos. 5:14

The person who appeared neither belonged to the Israelites nor to their enemies. He was the captain of the army of the Lord, i.e., of the angels. The Lords host does not mean the people of Israel, who were just at the commencement of their warlike enterprise. Although the hosts of Israel who came out of Egypt are called the hosts of the Lord in Exo. 12:41, the Israelites are never called the host or army of the Lord (in the singular). The host of the Lord is synonymous with the host of heaven (1Ki. 22:19; and signified the angels, as in Psa. 148:2; Psa. 103:21). Some students of the Bible believe this captain was the second person of the trinity, the Son of God, who is called the Captain of the salvation of the believers (Heb. 2:10). It seems better, however, to view this captain as the Angel of the Lord, who appeared first to Hagar when she fled from Sarah. This angel was recognized as a manifestation of God in one aspect of His being.

14.

Did Joshua recognize this Angel as God? Jos. 5:14 b

Joshua fell down upon the ground and did worship. He recognized him at once as the Angel of the Lord, who was a special manifestation of God. This is more than the giving of reverence upon the part of a dependent to a superior or king (e.g. 2Sa. 9:6; 2Sa. 14:33). He recognized him as something more than man, a superior being. The angel accepted his adoration, something the angel would not receive from John on Patmos (Rev. 22:9). Such reception of worship would have caused Joshua to know immediately that before him was standing a divine being. Joshua was facing a severe test as the people of Israel were approaching the strongly fortified city of Jericho. He would need to know that they who were for Israel were greater than they who were against them (2Ki. 6:16).

15.

What was the purpose of this appearance? Jos. 5:14 c

The object of the divine appearance was indicated by the drawn sword in the hand (cf. Num. 22:31) by which He manifested himself as a heavenly warrior. The drawn sword contained in itself a practical explanation. God was saying that He had a heavenly army to make war upon the Canaanites and to assist Joshua and his people. Such a theophany would give great encouragement to Joshua.

16.

Was this a vision? Jos. 5:15

It was not in a vision that this appearance took place. It was an actual occurrence belonging to the external world verified by Joshuas senses. He saw the man with the drawn sword at a certain distance from himself. He went up to him to address him, an act that would be perfectly incompatible with an inward vision. He entered into conversation with the man. He heard him reply to his questions.

17.

What are the interesting details of this appearance? Jos. 5:13-15

The following details of this occurrence are worthy of noting:

a.

A manGen. 12:7; Gen. 18:2; cf. Exo. 3:2; Exo. 3:6; Joh. 1:18

b.

A swordcf. Gen. 3:24; Num. 22:31

c.

Prince of the host of the LordJer. 5:14; Jer. 15:16; Isa. 6:3; Psa. 24:10; Psa. 80:7; Psa. 80:19. (see also 1Sa. 1:3; 1Ki. 22:19)

d.

Joshuas attitude was like others:

1.

AbrahamGen. 17:3

2.

MosesExo. 3:6

3.

ManoahJdg. 13:22

We also read later that this Angel of the Lord came up from Gilgal to Bochim with a message for Israel (Jdg. 2:1).

Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series

THE CONQUEST OF CANAAN.

(13) At this point commences the second great division of the book. The Passage of Jordan was the great event of the first portion; and for that Joshua received special directions from Jehovah. A vision now appears to him, to inaugurate his second great enterprise, which was to put the inhabitants of Canaan to the sword. The character of this vision should be carefully noted, as it is of the utmost importance to the interpretation of the book.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

(13) There stood a man over against him with his sword drawn in his hand.This should be compared with the vision which Moses saw at Horeb (Exodus 3), when the angel of Jehovah appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. The equality of the two visions is proved by the use of the same command on both occasions, Loose thy shoe from off thy foot; for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground (Exo. 3:5; Jos. 5:15). But the actual appearances must be contrasted. The bush burning with fire, but not consumed, presents to us the figure of suffering Israel in the furnace; and in all their affliction He was afflicted, and the angel of His presence saved them. The man with the drawn sword is the sign of victory. Jehovah no longer suffers with and in His people, but He stands forth to lead them with the drawn sword. In regard of this and earlier theophanies, see Excursus on Genesis 16.

Art thou for us, or for our adversaries? (14) And he said, Nay; but as captain of the host of the Lord am I now comei.e., Jehovah will take part in this conflict, not as an ally or an adversary, but as commander-in-chief. It is not Israels quarrel, in which they are to ask the Divine assistance. It is the Lords own quarrel, and Israel and Joshua are but a division in His host. The wars of Israel in Canaan are always presented by the Old Testament as the wars of the Lord. It would be well to remember this aspect of the story. The conquest of Canaan is too often treated as an enterprise of the Israelites, carried out with great cruelties, for which they claimed the Divine sanction. The Old Testament presents the matter in an entirely different light. The war is a Divine enterprise, in which human instruments are employed, but so as to be entirely subordinate to the Divine will. Jehovah is not for Israel, nor for Israels foes. He fights for His own right hand, and Israel is but a fragment of His army. The sun stood still. the stars in their courses fought against His foes. The treasures of the hail were opened, which He had reserved against the time of trouble, against the day of battle and war.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

THE CAPTAIN OF THE LORD’S HOST REVEALED, Jos 5:13 to Jos 6:5.

[The chosen people have now by circumcision renewed their covenant with Jehovah; they have eaten the passover within the limits of the Land of Promise; they have tasted the new corn of the land. The time now approaches for them to proceed to the work of conquest, and the angel of Jehovah appears to Joshua, and reveals the divine plan for the destruction of Jericho.] 13. When Joshua was by Jericho He was apparently making a personal and private reconnaissance of the city, which was the key to the whole land of Canaan. See note on Jos 2:1.

A man over against him The subsequent account shows that he was a man only in form.

With his sword drawn The sword is a symbol of high executive power. The drawn sword intimates that that power is to be immediately exercised. Hence Joshua’s anxiety to know in whose behalf the mysterious stranger has drawn his sword.

Joshua went unto him Here is a remarkable display of courage on the part of Joshua. Good men, because of their faith in God, confront danger without fear.

Art thou for us, or for our adversaries? The idea of neutrality in the contest does not occur to Joshua as a possibility. In God’s battles there can be no neutrals. “He that is not with me is against me.”

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

‘ And so it was that when Joshua was by Jericho, he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, behold, there stood a man 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?” ’

Joshua was probably on a surveying expedition to look at the possibilities for attacking and capturing Jericho when he came across an armed man with sword drawn. So he challenged him whether he was a man of Israel or a Canaanite. Possibly he saw him as one who may have come out to challenge an Israelite champion to single combat as Goliath would later (1Sa 17:4).

“With his sword drawn in his hand.” This is central to the thought. Compare Num 22:23; Num 22:31 where it was the Angel of YHWH Himself Who stood with a drawn sword in His hand. Once he learned a little more about the man, this vision would probably spring to Joshua’s mind. In Scripture the drawn sword is an instrument of impending judgment (1Ch 21:16; Eze 21:2-5; also Eze 5:2; Eze 5:12; Eze 12:14; Isa 21:15; . This figure was therefore indicating that YHWH was about to bring His awful judgment on the Canaanites, as represented here by Jericho. YHWH Himself would fight against Jericho, but against Jericho as the first of every city in Canaan (compare 2Sa 24:16-17; 1Ch 21:16). In the words of Eze 21:9, ‘a sword, a sword, it is sharpened and also furbished. It is sharpened that it may make a slaughter, it is furbished that it may be as lightning.’

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

The Captain of the Lord of Hosts Jos 5:13-15 records the meeting between the Lord of Hosts and Joshua.

Jos 5:14  And he said, Nay; but as captain of the host of the LORD am I now come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, and said unto him, What saith my lord unto his servant?

Jos 5:14 Comments – Rick Joyner has some very insightful comments on the story of Joshua meeting the Lord of Hosts. He tells us it was Jesus Christ revealing Himself to Joshua. [26]

[26] Rick Joyner, The Final Quest (Charlotte, North Carolina: Morning Star Publications, 1977), 128.

“And he said, Nay” – Note that this person said that he was for neither side (Note the NAB). He came in order to lead the children of Israel into the Promised Land. God intervenes in man’s lives to bring justice, not to take sides. God is always on the side of propagating righteousness, and because of His divine character, He judges unrighteousness. The fact that the Lord rescued Rahab the harlot (Jos 2:1-24), and spared the Gibeonites (Josh (Jos 9:1-27), testifies to the fact that God was not against the Canaanites. The fact that God brought out a mixed multitude from Egypt with the Israelites reveals that He was not against the Egyptians (Exo 12:38). The fact that God blessed Hagar the Egyptian, and her son Ishmael’s descendents testifies to the fact that God was not against the Egyptians, nor the Arabs (Gen 16:7-10). In fact, God will later judge the nation of Israel in a similar way using Assyria and Babylon and the surrounding nations because of their unrighteousness. This judgment upon the Canaanites from the sword of the Israelites was for the eternal benefit of these inhabitants, not for their eternal harm.

NAB, “He replied, “ Neither . I am the captain of the host of the LORD and I have just arrived.” Then Joshua fell prostrate to the ground in worship, and said to him, “What has my lord to say to his servant?”

“but as captain of the host of the LORD am I now come” Abraham was a stranger in the land of Canaan. Therefore, God revealed Himself to Abraham as a stranger in this land so that Abraham would better understand his office and calling (Gen 18:1-33). God revealed Himself unto Moses as “the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob” (Exo 3:6). He revealed to Moses that his office and ministry was to bring God’s people out of Egyptian bondage. Moses’ name, which means, “drawn out”, indicates his ministry and anointing of bringing out God’s people from bondage. However, unto Joshua the Lord revealed Himself as the “Captain of the Host of the Lord”. This name indicated that Joshua was to walk under this anointing as a warrior and lead God’s people into battle.

Exo 3:6, “Moreover he said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God.”

Jos 5:15  And the captain of the LORD’S host said unto Joshua, Loose thy shoe from off thy foot; for the place whereon thou standest is holy. And Joshua did so.

Jos 5:15 Comments – Note a similar situation for Moses at the burning bush in Exo 5:3. Angels did not speak with such authority and holiness in the Scriptures. This appears to be the pre-incarnate Christ. Or it may possible be Michael, the archangel.

Exo 5:3, “And they said, The God of the Hebrews hath met with us: let us go, we pray thee, three days’ journey into the desert, and sacrifice unto the LORD our God; lest he fall upon us with pestilence, or with the sword.”

Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures

EXPOSITION

Jos 5:13

When Joshua was by Jericho. The preposition , the principal meaning of which is “in” signifies here “in the immediate neighbourhood of,” as in 1Sa 29:1 (where, however, the LXX. read “in Endor”), Eze 10:15. Perhaps Joshua had ascended some hill in the close vicinity of the city to reconnoitre it alone, and here he received the directions which resulted in the miraculous capture of the city (see also Gen 13:18, where cannot mean in the oaks,” nor “in Hebron”). The LXX. translates the first by, . The Vulgate has “juxta” (cf. Gen 14:13). Origen is much hampered in his exposition here by the translation “in.” He asks how Jericho can possibly be holy ground when it is still in the possession of the enemy; and answers ingeniously that wherever the captain of the Lord’s host is must needs be holy ground). He lift up his eyes. Usually, though not always (cf. Gen 13:10), used of an unexpected or marvellous sight (see Gen 18:2; Gen 22:13; Num 24:2; 1Sa 6:13; 1Ch 21:16). A man. This Divine or angelic vision came, as was often the case, in human shape (cf. Gen 18:1, Gen 18:2; Gen 19:1, Gen 19:2, Gen 19:10; Gen 32:24; Jdg 13:3, Jdg 13:6, Jdg 13:11; Dan 10:16, Dan 10:18; Dan 12:6, Dan 12:7. See note on next verse). With his sword drawn in his hand. As in Num 22:31; 1Ch 21:16 (cf. Gen 3:24). And Joshua went unto him and said. It appears from this, says Calvin, that Joshua was alone, and was prepared to fight with the apparition, if it appeared that he had fallen in with an enemy. For at first, unexpected as the appearance was, he recognised nothing supernatural in it.

Jos 5:14

And he said, Nay. Many MSS. which are followed by the LXX. and Syriac versions, have for here. The Chaldee and Vulgate read , and the Masorites do not reckon this among the 15 passages in which is read for (Keil). But when Keil adds that a comparison of this passage with Jos 24:21 decides the point, he is going too far, since often stands, like the Greek , before a quotation, in the place of our inverted commas (see, for instance, Gen 29:33; Exo 3:12, etc). The various reading has no doubt arisen from the ambiguity of the passage, for it appears grammatically doubtful to which part of Joshua’s question the particle of negation applies. Yet it is obvious enough practically that it is in answer to the last portion of it. But as captain of the Lord’s host am I now come. Literally, “for (or but) I, the captain of the Lord’s host, have now come.” As though he would say, “the struggle is now imminent; the conflict is all but begun; and now, at the critical moment when my help is needed, I, the captain of the hosts of the Lord, the leader of all that vast army of unseen confederates, who are destined to marshal the forces of nature, the elements of supernatural terror and dismay, on the side of the Israelites, am come to help you.” That the Lord’s host must mean the angels is clear from such passages as Gen 32:2; 1Ki 22:19; Psa 103:20, Psa 103:21; Psa 148:2; St. Luk 2:13 (aft 2Ki 6:17). Hengstenberg, in his ‘Christology,’ illustrates by Mat 26:53. Two opinions have been held by the early Church concerning this manifestation. The first regards it as the appearance of the Son of God in a visible form; the second supposes it to have been a created beingan angelthrough whom Jehovah was pleased to manifest Himself. The former opinion was general in the earliest ages of the Church. The appearance of the Arian heresy, however, brought this interpretation into discredit. It was felt to be dangerous to admit it, lest it should lead to the notion that the Loges, however great and glorious a being he might be, however superior to all other created beings, was nevertheless removed by an infinite interval from the Supreme God Himself. The Jewish interpreters differ on the point. Maimonides and others (see next note) do not regard the appearance as a real one. The majority seem to have supposed it to have been the Archangel Michael. We will proceed to examine the scriptural and patristic evidence on the subject. That appearances, believed to be manifestations of God Himself in a visible form, are recorded in Scripture, is a fact which cannot be denied. Thus we have the voice of God ( ) walking in the garden (Gen 3:8). Again, in Mat 15:1-39; though first God appears to Abraham in a vision, the nature of the manifestation would seem to have changed in some respects afterwards, for we read” he brought him forth abroad” (Mat 15:5). Again, in Mat 18:1-35; we find that Jehovah “appeared” to Abraham as he dwelt by the oaks of Mature (Mat 18:1), and the narrative would suggest that Jehovah Himself appeared, and two attendant angels. This is further corroborated by the fact that Abraham remains in conference with Jehovah, while the two angels who arrived in the evening at Sodom do not appear to have been spoken of as Jehovah, or to have received Divine honours from Lot. The “man” who (Gen 32:24) wrestled with Jacob is described afterwards (Mat 18:30) as “God.” The “angel of the Lord” who (Exo 3:2) “appeared” unto Moses “in a flame of fire, out of the midst of a bush,” is immediately afterwards described as Jehovah and Elohim (Mat 18:4), and, as in the present passage, Moses is instructed to remove his shoe from his foot in consequence of the holiness of the place in which so great a Being appeared. And here we are led to investigate the nature of that mysterious being who is described as “the angel of the Lord,” the “angel,” or, as the word is sometimes translated, “messenger of the covenant.” He appears to Hagar (Gen 16:7), and she immediately proceeds (Mat 18:13) to express her belief that it is God whom she has seen. The angel who appears to Abraham at the sacrifice of Isaac (Gen 22:11, Gen 22:12, Gen 22:18) speaks of Himself as God. The voice of the angel, again, is regarded by Leah and Rachel as the voice of God (Gen 31:11, Gen 31:16), and He calls Himself so (Mat 18:13). Jacob speaks of the angel as having “redeemed him from all evil” (Gen 48:16), but here the term Goel, though it means a ransomer, is not necessarily connected with moral evil. After His appearance to Hoses in the bush He becomes the special guide of the children of Israel. His divinity is again asserted in Exo 13:21, for the Being there spoken of as Jehovah is described in Jos 14:1-15 :19 as His angel. The solemn terms in which the God of Israel refers to him in Exo 23:20, Exo 23:21 must not be passed over. He is the “Angel of Jehovah.” He is sent to “keep” Israel “in the way.” They were to take heed and not rebel against Him (so LXX); for, adds Jehovah, “My name is in His inward parts” (not but denoting close and intimate union). Cf. verse 93 and Exo 32:34; Exo 33:2. This angel is called the Face, or Faces, of the Lord (Exo 33:14; cf. Isa 63:9), and is thus specially identified with the revelation of Him, like the term in the New Testament. The angel that withstood Balaam assumes a tone of authority in harmony with this view (Num 22:22-35). Whether the angel at Bochim (Jdg 2:1) were a Divine or human messenger does not appear from the narrative, and the word is occasionally, as in Hag 1:13, used of a prophet. But the appearance to Gideon and Manoah has a Divine character (Jdg 6:11-22; Jdg 13:8-22). And the special reference to Jehovah, the angel of the covenant, in Mal 3:1 seems to point in a special manner to the Second Person in the Blessed Trinity. This view, as has been stated, is the view of the earlier Fathers, nor does there seem any reasonable ground for its rejection by those of later date. The idea that the Logos, always the medium of the Father’s revelation and impartation of Himself, in creation as in redemption, frequently took a visible form under the old dispensation in order to communicate the Divine will to mankind, does not in the least militate against the doctrine of His consubstantiality with the Father. On the contrary, it rather emphasises the fact which the New Testament teaches us throughout, that the Logos was ever the manifestation, the (Joh 1:1-51) of the Father, the eternal medium whereby He communicates Himself beyond Himself. This was in the main the view of the earliest Fathers. They might use an incautious expression now and then, but they ever intended to be true to the doctrine of the Consubstantial Son of the Father, who took a visible shape to convey the Father’s mind to man. Thus Justin Martyr (‘Dial. cum Tryphone,’ 56) cites Gen 18:1, Gen 18:2 to prove that, as he says, “there is another God under () the the Creator of all things, who is called an angel because he announces () whatever the Creator of all things desires him to announce.” This being, he adds, “was also God before the creation of the world.” He was another God than the Creator of the world in number (), not in mind (). And from the expression “the Lord rained down fire and brimstone from the Lord out of heaven” (Gen 19:24), he deduces the belief that this Being was “Lord from beside () the Lord who is in heaven.” He proceeds to cite the passages from the Old Testament which have just been mentioned, and to draw from them the conclusion which has just been drawn, that this Being was one who ministered () to God who is above; the word, the whom He begat before all creation (see. 60, 61). Similarly Theophilus (‘Ad Autolycum, 2.22) says that the Word of God held a colloquy with Adam in the person (or representation, ) of God. Irenaeus (‘Adv. Haer.,’ 4.7, 4) speaks of the Being who spake to Abraham at Mamre and Moses in the bush as superior to all created angels, and as, in fact, the Word of God; though afterwards (Jos 20:1-9 :11) he modifies this statement into a manifestation of “claritatem et dispositiones patris,” “secundum dispositionum ejus causas sive efficaciam.” It is to be remembered that we unfortunately chiefly possess Irenaeus in a very unsatisfactory Latin dress. Similar passages may be found in Clem; ‘Alex. Paed.,’ 1.7; and Tertullian, ‘Adv. Prax.,’ 14. The latter says that God was “invisible as the Father, but visible as the Son,” the latter being the means whereby the former was revealed. The passage from Clement is embodied and improved upon in a passage in the ‘Apostolic Constitutions,’ which presents the primitive doctrine on this point in clearer language than any other. “To Him (Christ) did Moses bear witness, and said, ‘The Lord received fire from the Lord, and rained it down.’ Him did Jacob see as a man, and said, ‘I have seen God face to face, and my soul is preserved.’ Him did Abraham entertain, and acknowledge to be the Judge and his Lord. Him did Moses see in the bush. Him did Joshua the son of Nun see, as captain of the Lord’s host, for assistance against Jericho” (‘Apost. Const.,’ 5.20). One passage more will be cited on this point. “Who else,” says Origen, in his Homily on this passage, “is the prince of the host of the virtues of the Lord, save our Lord Jesus Christ? Joshua would not have adored,” he adds, “unless he had recognised God.” The fact that the later Fathers rejected this interpretation would not be sufficient to outweigh primitive testimony at once so explicit and so general, unless it were supported by the strongest arguments. The fact that it was rejected rather from prudential motives, and that such prudence was, in point of fact, entirely unnecessary, robs the later interpretation of much of its weight. Thus much at least is certain, that we may adopt the earlier one without fear of prejudicing thereby the doctrine of the divinity of Christ. Further information on this point will be found in Hengstenberg’s ‘Christology,’ in Liddon’s ‘Bampton Lectures’ (Lect. it), in Bull (‘Defens. Fid. Nicen.,’ Jos 1:1), and in Keil’s Commentaries upon the various passages of the Old Testament, cited above. “He here appeared as a soldier, with His sword drawn in His hand. To Abraham in his tent He appeared as a traveller; to Joshua in the field, as a man of war. Christ will be to His people what their faith expects and desires” (Matthew Henry). And Joshua fell on his face. The apparition had no doubt taken Joshua by surprise. He believed himself to be alone, when suddenly he found himself confronted by a warrior, with his sword drawn. Uncertain, in those days when Divine interposition was more common than it is now, whether what he saw was a proof that he was watched by enemies, who had resolved to cut him off by surprise, or whether God had vouchsafed to appear to him, but evidently quite prepared to expect the latter, he addresses a question to the apparition, which of itself implies at least a half belief that what he saw was something above nature. He needs but the simple reply just recorded to lead him to prostrate himself in simple faith before the Mighty One who now stood before him to be the defence and shield of His people from all their adversaries. Maimonides, in his ‘Moreh Nevochim,’ and others have regarded this as a vision seen by Joshua when he was alone, plunged in deep meditation on the difficult task before him. But without denying that many of the. Divine interpositions recorded in Scripture (as, for instance, that in Gen 22:1) took place through the inner workings of the mind as the medium of their action, yet here, as in Gen 32:1-32; and most probably in Exo 3:1-22; we have visible appearances of God to men in deep anxiety of heart, pondering “great matters” which were “too high for them.” Whether we choose to accept or reject the historical narrative as a whole, there can be no rational ground for doubting that the Hebrew historians wrote under the full persuasion that they and their forefathers lived under a dispensation of continual Divine interpositions, sometimes taking place by secret inward intimations, sometimes through the Urim and Thummim; sometimes, at a crisis in the history of the nation or of an individual, by actual external appearances of God in a visible form, and that we have here an account of one of these. The purport of the appearance is, however, obscured by our present division of chapters. The narrative proceeds without a break as far as Jos 6:5. Jos 6:1 is simply parenthetical and explanatory. Thus we gather that Joshua was meditating the plan of his future campaign, and deliberating on the best mode of capturing the strong walled city close by which (verse 13) he stood, when God appeared to him in the form of a warrior, and solved all his doubts by commanding him to prepare for a miraculous intervention of His Providence, and in the place of warlike expedients to resort to a religious ceremony, which should be the external token to all the surrounding nations that the invading host was under the protection of the Lord of heaven and earth; a fact of which they were more than half convinced by the supernatural passage of the Red Sea and the Jordan (see Jos 2:10; Jos 6:1).

Jos 5:15

Loose thy shoe from off thy feet. Cf. Exo 3:6. We have here a clear proof (see also Jos 6:2) that He who now spoke to Joshua was a Divine Person. The loosing the shoe from the feet is regarded by Origen and other patristic commentators as emblematic of the removal of worldly engagements and pollutions from the soul. Now Jericho was straitly shut up.

HOMILETICS

Verses 13-6:21

The vision and the command.

Three points demand our special attention in this passage. First, the apparition to Joshua; next, the command that was given him; and, lastly, the results of that command, the fall of the walls of Jericho, and the subsequent sack of the city. Each of these points yields important lessons.

I. HE WHO APPEARED WAS THE SON OF GOD. This seems the most probable conclusion from the foregoing notes, as also from the fact that Divine worship was paid to Him by His own command (cf. Rev 19:10; Rev 22:8, Rev 22:9). The Son of God was ever the link of communication between God and the external world. By Him God created it; through Him He has been forever pleased to deal with it; He revealed the final dispensation of God’s will to it; He shall come again to judge it. Under the patriarchs and the law He temporarily assumes a visible shape to communicate God’s purposes to man; under the gospel He eternally retains the visible form of man to save the world. He was the Angel of the Old Covenant; He is no less the Angel or Messenger of the New. And by His Spirit He still reveals God’s will to man, though no longer by means of a visible form. And thus the continuity of God’s dealings with man is preserved. It is “one God who shall justify the circumcision by faith, and the uncircumcision through faith;” one God who has adopted the same means throughout, yet with ever-increasing efficiency, to bring man back to his obedience.

II. HE APPEARED WHEN JOSHUA HAD BEEN CAREFUL TO OBEY GOD‘S COMMANDS. “To him that hath shall be given.” Joshua had been careful to restore the broken covenant between Israel and Jehovah. He had then ordered a general celebration of the great Israelitish national festival. And having thus discharged his religious, he was now intent upon his worldly, duties, both of which he performed with an equal devotion to God’s commands. He was, doubtless, now either reconnoitring the city, or lost in reflection how he should best capture it. Then appears the Captain of the Lord’s host, and gives him full directions for his task. So to the Christian warrior against sin will the Son of God appear, and direct him in his task, when he has duly sought the Lord in the appointed ordinances of religion, and is seriously addressing himself to the task of battling with sin.

III. JOSHUA IS SURPRISED, BUT NOT DISMAYED, BY His APPEARANCE. He was in the way of duty, and he had been biden. (Jos 1:6, Jos 1:9) to “be of good courage.” Therefore he boldly questions the apparition, prepared to welcome him, if he proved to be a friend, to do battle with him if he turned out to be an enemy. God’s dispensations often come to us in such doubtful guise that we are compelled to question with them. But whereas men are generally apt to be terrified when “beneath a frowning Providence” God “hides a smiling face,” the boldness of Joshua should be our example. “The Lord is on my side, I will not fear what man doeth unto me” (Psa 118:6), should be the perpetual attitude of the Christian. Thus the true Joshua set His face as a flint to go up to Jerusalem (Mar 10:32; Luk 9:51), careless of the dangers that awaited Him there. So when opposition or distress come upon us because of our religion, we should not fear. It is the Captain of the Lord’s host come to aid us in our assault on some stronghold of sin. If we boldly go up to Him and question Him, He will tell us who He is.

IV. JOSHUA IS COMMANDED TO DO REVERENCE TO HIM WHO APPEARS TO HIM. The removal of the shoe from the foot, on entering a holy place, was in order that nothing that defiled should be brought in (see Rev 21:27). So when Jesus appears to us to give us instructions concerning any great struggle that is impending over us, we must “lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us,” and devote ourselves with single heart to the work that we have in hand. There must be no secondary motives, no worldly ambitions, no desire of gain or applause, cleaving to us as we buckle to our task. What these bring in their train we see in the case of Ai. In awe of the Divine Presence, and that we may duly receive the Divine commands, we must recognise the fact that we are on holy ground, and that God requires of us an absolute devotion to His will.

HOMILIES BY J. WAITE

Jos 5:13-15

The captain of the host.

As Moses, on entering on his mission, was favoured with a marvellous Divine manifestation (Exo 3:1-6), so with Joshua, now that he is about to make his first onslaught on the strongholds of the Canaanites. The angel of the Lord appeared to Moses in a flame of fire. God spoke to him from the midst of the bush that burned but was not consumed. The supernatural radiance was the vehicle of the Divine Presence. God clothed Himself with light as with a garment. The vision and the voice were alike wonderful. The apparition in Joshua’s case was of a different kind. It was the common semblance of a man prepared for battle. There seems to have been nothing supernatural in his aspect, and nothing in Joshua’s question indicates that he was startled or alarmed by what he saw, or that the Being who appeared before him was other to his view than a veritable flesh-and-blood warrior who was come to take his place on one side or the other of the conflict that was at hand. And yet as he gazed more intently upon the warrior form he must have discovered something in it that told him it was no mere “man”some majesty of mien or look, some grandeur of the Spirit shining through the countenance. The form was that of a man, the eyes were “as a flame of fire.” And it was in the consciousness that he stood in the immediate, though veiled, presence of Jehovah Himself, the Prince and Leader of His own hosts, that Joshua “fell to his face on the earth and did worship.” In each of these cases the form of the manifestation was adapted to the circumstances of the time and the speciality of the Divine purpose. Moses was taught that the light of the Lord’s presence should be with him and his peoplea guide, a glory, a defenceand that through whatever fiery ordeal they might pass they should not be consumed. Joshua, whose heart might well quail and tremble at the prospect before him, was made to know that the Captain of a mightier host than his was with him, the sword of whose strength was drawn and ready for the fight. With such forces on his side victory must everywhere attend his steps. This “Captain of the Lord’s host” we believe to be none other than the Eternal Son of God, whose function it has ever been to be the channel of communication from the infinite Father Spiritsthe “word” of His thought, the arm of His powerand whose appearances in the olden time in human and angelic forms were prophetic of His after manifestation in the flesh. This view makes the scene before us strikingly suggestive of the relation in which lie stands towards His redeemed Church in its grand conflict with the evil powers of the world. Observe

I. CHRIST‘S PRESENCE WITH HIS PEOPLE. These miraculous manifestations give a tone of great solemnity to the history of the olden times, and invest the leading men of those times with an aspect of something like superhuman grandeur. But we greatly err if we fail to link those times with our own and those men with ourselvesif we look on these ancient records as relating to a condition of things altogether exceptional and foreign to our own experience. The remote and occasional miracle bears witness to the abiding, ever present truth. God gave those signs and wonders that we might know Him to be always near in the fulness of His love and power. “The good will of him that dwelt in the bush” is the perpetual inheritance of the Church. The “Captain of the Lord’s host” is ever going forth before His armies, and it is by the sharpness of His sword and the strength of His right arm they win all their victories. Distinguish between the miraculous form of the incident and the truth enshrined in R. The one belonged to that particular age, and was suited to its exigencies; the other belongs to every age, and meets the permanent necessities of all individual and social religious life. In the heightened spirituality and richer grace of our Christian times we have the substance which those mystic visions did but shadow forth. In place of startling signs and symbols we have Divine words of promiseappeals not to sense but to faithawakening the intelligence, kindling the heart; words of assurance to the individual believer, “If any man love me,” etc. (Joh 14:23); to the worshipping Church, “Where two or three are gathered together,” etc. (Mat 18:20); to all faithful heralds of gospel truth, “Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world” (Mat 28:20). No need of miraculous manifestations if our faith can grasp the full meaning of gracious words like these.

II. THE LORDSHIP OF CHRIST OVER THE HEAVENLY POWERS. “Captain of the host of the Lord”i.e; the angelic host. The profoundly interesting, and not altogether profitless, question of the relation of the angelic world to our humanity is opened up to us here. Angelic ministry in human affairs is a fact to which Old and New Testaments alike bear abundant witness. “Are they not all ministering spirits?” etc. (Heb 1:14). Every age has had its “heirs of salvation,” whose history, if we knew all its secrets, would illustrate this truth. Here, too, the supernatural wonders of the past inspire faith in the enduring reality. Why not believe that between us and the Infinite there is a glorious gradation of pure, personal spirit life linked in kindly interest and helpful service with our own? The relation of Christ, however, to the angels is chiefly indicated. In what way these earlier manifestations of the Son of God, and His after assumption of our nature, may hare affected the interests of their being, we know not. But their personal subjection to Him is made evident. “When he bringeth in the first begotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him” (Heb 1:6). The gospel and apostolic histories are full of proof of their subordination to his redeeming purpose. He leads the heavenly hostleads them in the great conflict with the foes of God and man. If our eyes were opened, as were the eyes of Elisha’s servant, we should see that we are not so much alone as we sometimes suppose. The angels that “ascend and descend upon the Son of man” are powers that He sways by the impulse of His sovereign will and makes the instruments of His almighty love. Shall our hearts yield to fear when we know that such forces as these are fighting on our side? Shall we hesitate to follow the leading and obey the behests of the great “Captain of salvation,” who has such armies as these at His command?

III. THE SANCTITY THAT BELONGS TO SCENES OF SPECIAL DIVINE MANIFESTATION. “Loose thy shoe,” etc. The incarnation of Christ has consecrated all the earth and made every part of it hallowed ground. He has withdrawn again behind the veil, only to come more near to us, to fill all places with the energy of His viewless Spirit. But there are times when the veil seems to be uplifted; states of consciousness in which the Divine Presence is intensely real; manifestations that

“Dissolve the soul in ecstasies,
And bring all heaven before our eyes.”

Shall we tread with thoughtless or irreverent feet the spots hallowed even by the memory of seasons such as these?W.

HOMILIES BY S.R. ALDRIDGE

Jos 5:13-15

A soldier’s interview with his captain.

It adds much to the general power of the Bible as an ethical handbook, that great part of its instruction is conveyed in the pleasing form of history, political and individual.

I. JOSHUA‘S ANXIETY. Gilgal, where the ceremonies related in preceding verses were celebrated, was not far from Jericho, the great stronghold which protected the eastern district of Palestine and which it was necessary for the Israelites to capture before they could advance into the country with safety. The opening words of the 18th verse imply that Joshua had gone out alone to view Jericho, to survey its defences, and to form plans of assault. He was deeply concerned for the success of the siege It was his first conflict in the promised land, and the Israelites were inexperienced in attacking fortified cities. We can well believe that this thoughtful leader was deep in meditation, pondering over the past promise of God, and praying that it might be fulfilled in his hour of need. Unworthy are those men of high places in God’s Church who are not concerned for the welfare of the Divine purposes committed to their charge, who do not “watch as they that must give an account.” In some sphere or other we are all masters or captains; let us endeavour to realise the responsibility resting upon us. We axe informed how Joshua’s anxiety was relieved. “He lifted up his eyes and saw,” etc. In the season of exigency Jehovah (Jos 6:9) appeared. He could not violate His word and leave His servant alone. Here is comfort for the careworn and despairing. Said Jesus, “Lo, I am with you always.” Whilst we forget not to use diligently our talents and resources, let our eyes be lifted from the earth that we may see Him who stands by us as He did by Paul in the cell at Jerusalem, saying, “Be of good cheer” (Act 23:11). We go not to the warfare at our own cost. Let us learn to expect His presence. We will think of the future, but not take over anxious thought. Not work but worry saps the strength. Let our councils wait till Christ is present to preside.

II. HIS COURAGE. Not in vain had the admonition, “Be courageous,” been bestowed upon him. Nowise affrighted, Joshua went up to the man with the sword and put the inquiry, “On whose side art thou come to fight?” Ignorant of the stranger’s dignity, his warlike attitude did not daunt our hero. He would know the truth, even if unpleasant and at the hazard of his life. Truly many a trouble would have its gigantic dimensions lessened if we faced it stoutly and investigated its nature. That new theory which wears such hostile aspect may after all confirm the old position. Joshua knew but of two armies. And to our conflict with sin there are but two sides. “He that is not with us is against us.” It is well to put the query to our acquaintance, “Art thou for us?” Notice also that God appears in the form best suited to His servant’s need. He contended as an athlete with Jacob that by wrestling the patriarch’s faith and knowledge might be increased. To Moses, needing to be reminded of the indestructibility of the Church of God, there was shown a burning bush unconsumed. And now, to inspirit Joshua for the campaign, God reveals Himself as a warrior armed and as the “Prince of the Lord’s host,” Captain of the visible and invisible armies, the Israelites and the angels. Analogous to these varied appearances are the titles of God, framed to assure His people that He can “supply all their need.” To the afflicted He is the “God of all comfort,” to the depressed the “God of hope.” In our loneliness He is a Friend, in orphanhood the Father of the fatherless, in the storm our refuge, amid the waves our Rock, and in battle our Captain and Shield. Thankful may we be for the chequered experience of life, if it reveals to us the many sidedness of our God, and the satisfaction to be found in Him of every want.

III. HIS HUMILITY. The words and bearing of the speaker, even if they did not at once render Joshua conscious of His exalted character, were quite enough to indicate the need of reverence. Accordingly he bowed.and worshipped, and, great general though he was, exhibited his readiness to receive commands or advice respecting the management of the siege. This is the spirit in which the approach of Christ to the heart should be met. We must say with Saul, “What writ thou have me to do?” Men who cavil at every utterance of the Saviour are not likely to be favoured with a full disclosure of His glorious person. If the heart has been stirred by some appeal of Scripture or some religious argument, it is only right that we should display a willingness to listen further and to follow the light whither it may lead us. A lowly attitude befits the proudest intellect in the presence of messengers and messages from heaven. Let us, like Joshua, inquire, “What saith my Lord unto his servant?” Humility prepared the way for the reception of a command that clearly revealed a present Jehovah. Not to the disrespectful will such a revelation be granted. Therefore to the doubting we say, Bow at the feet of Christ, and there shall come a mandate which by its own inherent authority shall manifest His dignity and dismiss uncertainty. Often have the very absoluteness of the commands of Christ, and the very thoroughness of the claim He makes to men’s homage, assured them of His being the Son of God. Imposture and falsehood stand not forth in such clear light, they would be instantly detected.

IV. HIS OBEDIENCE. Promptly did Joshua loose the shoes from off his feet, recalling, doubtless, the similar order issued to Moses in the desert. The presence of God is true consecration. He is everywhere; but where He manifests Himself, there the place is holy. As the shoe partook of the defilement of the earth, it was not fit to remain on holy ground. The New Testament does not diminish the awe inspired by the majesty of the Most High, though it brings pre-eminently into view His character of love. Not outward prostration, however, do we want so much as the bowing of the heart and bending of the will. “Rend your hearts and not your garments.” Obedience was rewarded with directions and a promise. By instant compliance with the behest, Joshua displayed a hearty acceptance of his Prince’s will, and a fitness to receive further proofs of Divine favour. For the gifts of God are conditioned by the preparedness of the recipient. And if in answer to our repeated prayers there has come a seemingly strange command, let us immediately obey. No further revelation will he ours till we have thus shown our fitness to participate in heavenly blessings. We shall find that in keeping the commandments we acquire a true knowledge of God, and that therein is eternal life. “If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine.”A.

HOMILIES BY E. DE PRESSENSE

Jos 5:13-15

The Captain of the Church.

At the very time when the battle of Israel against the idolators of the land of Canaan was about to commence, Joshua saw a mysterious warrior stand before him sword in hand. “Art thou for us or for our enemies?” he cried. “I am come,” is the answer, as Captain of the Lord’s host.

I. THIS DIVINE CAPTAIN HAS NEVER LEFT THE ARMY OF THE HOLY, though He may NOT AT ALL TIMES have made Himself VISIBLE. He was with the Church when it entered upon the conflict with the old world. Weak, insignificant, without power, and without prestige as it was, His sword of fire sufficed to ensure it the victory. It was He whom Luther saw in the dawn of the Reformation morning, when he sang: “The Son of God goes forth to war.”

II. This Divine personage is the same with whom Jacob wrestled all the night at the Ford Jahbok. He begins by turning His sword against His own soldiers, and plunges it deep into their hearts to destroy their pride and sin. Blessed wounding, which makes them in the end more than conquerors, and Israelites indeed. We must not, then, marvel if, often in the early stages of its warfare, the Church is humbled, foiled, for a time it might seem almost crushed. Neither should we be surprised if the Christian soul is made victorious only through suffering. Soon the Divine Captain will take command of the host which He has disciplined, and will lead them on to victory. This Captain is the very same whom St. John saw in vision with a flaming sword in His mouth. He is the Word made flesh, the Redeemer (Rev 5:1-14). He Himself was wounded before He triumphed. The conquering Head of the Church is “Jesus, who was crucified.”E. DE P.

Fuente: The Complete Pulpit Commentary

Ver. 13. And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho The solemnities of the passover being ended, and Joshua being come nigh to Jericho to reconnoitre the city, and judge of the dispositions to be made in order to lay siege to it with success, was greatly surprised, after having been but for a moment alone, to see before him all on a sudden something which he took for a man, with a sword in his hand, and all the appearance of a warrior. The general of Israel approached this unknown, and, suspecting he came from the enemy, boldly demanded of him who he was.

Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke

DISCOURSE: 247
CHRIST THE CAPTAIN OF THE LORDS HOST

Jos 5:13-14. It came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, behold, there stood a man over against him with his sword drawn in his hand: and Joshua went unto him, and said unto him, Art thou for us, or for our adversaries? And he said, Nay; but as Captain of the host of the Lord am I now come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, and said unto him, What saith my Lord unto his servant?

MOST seasonable are the mercies which God vouchsafes to his people. His interpositions for them at the Red Sea and the wilderness, and at their entrance into Canaan through the river Jordan, are ample illustrations of this truth, as is also the peculiar fact recorded in my text. Joshua was now surveying Jericho, which was the first fortress that was to he attacked by him. That he had no fears about success, was evident; because, from his first entrance into the land to that hour, he had acted rather like a person at peace with all men, than as one in the midst of enemies whom he was commissioned to destroy. Still, the visible manifestation of Jehovahs presence with him could not but greatly strengthen his faith, and increase his assurance that every enemy, however powerful, should fall before him.
The points for our consideration are,

I.

The character which our blessed Lord assumed on this occasion

The person who now appeared to him as a man, was no other than the Son of God himself
[Many were the occasions on which, at that period of the world, the Son of God assumed either an angelic or human shape, for the purpose of encouraging his believing people. To Abraham [Note: Gen 18:2.], and Jacob [Note: Gen 32:24-30.], and afterwards to Manoah [Note: Jdg 13:6; Jdg 13:22.], were manifestations given similar to that which was here vouchsafed to Joshua. That the person who here appeared to Joshua was more than either man or angel, is clear, I think, from the worship which Joshua, on discovering who he was, paid to him: Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship. Now, I grant that Joshua might have made a mistake; but if he had, it would have been corrected by the person, who, if he had not been God, would not have suffered these divine honours to be paid him [Note: Compare Rev 19:10; Rev 22:8-9 where such a mistake was made indeed, but rectified with holy abhorrence.], But, so far were these honours from being declined, that the bestowment of them was sanctioned by an express command, similar to what had been before given to Moses. Jehovah, when he appeared to Moses in the burning bush, commanded him to put his shoes from off his feet, seeing that the place whereon he stood was holy, being sanctified by the divine presence [Note: ver. 15 compared with Exo 3:2-6.]. But indeed, in the beginning of the next chapter, the very person who thus addressed Joshua is called Jehovah: And the LORD (Jehovah) said unto Joshua [Note: Jos 6:2.]. I think, then, that we are in no danger of mistake, when we say that the person who here appeared to Joshua as a man, was no other than the Son of God himself, the Second Person in the ever-blessed Trinity.]

He, in answer to the question put to him by Joshua, declared himself to be the Captain of the Lords host
[This, in its primary import, signified that all Israel were under his special protection; and that under his command they might be assured of victory. But the same is true of Gods spiritual Israel, in all ages of the world. They are one great army collected under him, and fighting the Lords battles, in order to a full and undisturbed possession of the promised land. Of these the Lord Jesus Christ is the Head and Chief. He has received a commission from his Father to be the Leader and Commander of his people [Note: Isa 55:4.]: and whatsoever a general is, or can be, to his army, that is he to all who fight under his banners. Instruction in the use of armsprovision for their whole campaignencouragement to meet their foessuccour in every difficultyprotection from every dangerand all the rewards of victory, are assured to every one of them, in due season [Note: These several ideas may be somewhat amplified with good effect] ]

Seeing, then, that we have such a Captain, let us contemplate,

II.

Our duty towards him under that character

Doubtless our first duty is to enlist under his banners: for we are not his soldiers by nature: yea rather, we are his enemies, and fight against him in every possible way. But He is held up as an Ensign to the people; and to him must all people seek [Note: Isa 11:10.]. And, as a man entering into the army of an earthly monarch surrenders up himself altogether to the disposal of the general who is placed over him, so must we voluntarily devote ourselves to the service of Christ, before we can be numbered amongst his host over whom he presides. But, supposing this to have been done, then we say that,

1.

We must execute his commands

[Observe the question which Joshua put to him, the very instant he knew the Lord under this character: What saith my Lord unto his servant? A similar question was put by the Apostle Paul, the very instant that the Lord Jesus Christ revealed himself to him: Lord, what wilt thou have me to do [Note: Act 9:6.]? In truth, there is not a soldier in any army who does not look for orders from his commanding-officer from day to day, or who does not feel himself bound to carry them into execution. Now the reading of the Scriptures with diligence will, for the most part, supply the needful information: yet are there many particular occasions whereon we must be peculiarly attentive also to the voice of his providence; and in those instances must we seek, by prayer and supplication, his special guidance, which he has promised to us in answer to our prayers. For instance: in the attack which was to be made on Jericho, nothing was left to the direction of Joshua, but every the most minute particular was given in command from this great Captain. And we also, if we will look unto Him, may expect all needful directions: to which, of course, we must adhere with all fidelity, in order to approve ourselves good soldiers of Jesus Christ.]

2.

We must go forth in an entire dependence upon him

[Soldiers of necessity confide in their commander; and in proportion as is their estimate of his talents, will be, for the most part, their expectation of success. Amongst men, however, this confidence is mutual: for the best general in the universe can effect nothing, if he hare not good soldiers to carry his orders into effect. But, in the Christian camp, the confidence must be altogether in the Captain; without whom the most gallant army in the universe must fail. We must be strong indeed, and of good courage: but we must not lean to our own understanding, or trust in an arm of flesh. In fact, we are really strong only in proportion as we feel ourselves weak, and look to Christ to perfect his strength in our weakness [Note: 2Co 12:9-10.]. We must therefore be strong, not in ourselves, but in the Lord, and in the power of his might [Note: Eph 6:10.].]

3.

To disregard difficulties, and even death itself, in his service

[A soldier necessarily expects to encounter difficulties, and to expose his life to hazard in the service of his king and country. And the greater the difficulties which he has to sustain, the more he rises to the occasion; insomuch that, if a service of peculiar danger is proposed, a whole army will vie with each other in their readiness to undertake it. Now, if this be the case with those who have enlisted under the banners of an earthly monarch, shall it not much more obtain amongst the armies of the living God? St. Paul gloried in distresses and necessities for the Lords sake: and the same spirit should animate us also. Indeed, at our very first admission into the service of our Lord we were forewarned, that he who loved his life, should lose it; and that he only who was willing to lose his life for Christs sake, should save it unto life eternal [Note: Mat 10:39.]. We must be faithful unto death, if ever we would attain a crown of life.]

Address

[Inquire now, I pray you, whether this Saviour he to you a friend or an adversary? He is here in the midst of us, and with his sword drawn, though we see him not. And to every one of us is he either a friend or a foe. There is no neutrality, either on his part or on ours. Our Lord himself has told us, that he who is not with him, is against him; and he who gathereth not with him, scattereth abroad [Note: Mat 12:30.]. Would you, then, ascertain whether he be a Captain unto you? Examine your own hearts; and ask, Whether you have ever enlisted under his banners by a voluntary surrender of yourselves to him; and then, Whether you are habitually regarding his will as your rule, and his arm as your stay, and his glory as the one object of your life? These are points easy to be ascertained: and on them your eternal happiness depends. If these things be true, then will he be a Captain of salvation unto you [Note: Heb 2:10.]: but if this be not the experience of your souls, then you have nothing to expect, but that he will say concerning you, Bring hither those that were mine enemies, who would not that I should reign over them, and slay them before me [Note: Luk 19:27.]. Oppose him, and you have nothing to hope; submit to him, and you have nothing to fear, to all eternity.]

Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)

I bring the whole of these verses into one view because they are connected. And I desire the Reader to attend to the very precious things contained in them. A more interesting portion, perhaps, in reference to the Lord Jesus, cannot be found in the Old Testament. Joshua, we are told, was by Jericho. Perhaps at prayer, or in meditation, seeking suitable grace from the Lord in the critical season now opening before him. He had, at the Lord’s command, observed the feast of the Passover, and of unleavened bread; and was now following up those services in humbly waiting on the Lord. See Hab 2:1-2 . The sweetest seasons for expecting divine manifestations are, when we have waited upon our God, in his appointed way of ordinances. Who was this person to whom Joshua paid such reverence? Was it not the same whom Moses saw at the bush, though there appearing in a different form? Compare. Exo 3:2-6 . If the Reader will look further on to the next chapter (for the close of this is only preparatory to the opening of the next) he will there discover, that this person who appeared to him as a man, is spoken of as Jehovah, see Jos 6:2 . And if the Reader will connect with this appearance to Joshua the several appearances made to the patriarchs and other followers of the Lord, in the first ages of the church, he will not be at a loss to discover, that it must have been one and the same person which appeared to these holy men of old, according to the different accounts given of him: Gen 32:24Gen 32:24 , etc. And who then could it be, that appeared thus to Joshua, but he who is indeed captain of the Lord’s, hosts, and is elsewhere called the Captain of our salvation. Heb 2:10 . Who but thee, thou blessed Jesus! hath ever so manifested thy concern and love for thy people, as to come down to deliver them from all their foes? How sweetly do we behold in this, and all the other instances we meet with in thy word, thy gracious longings, for tabernacling in substance of our flesh, when by becoming man for us and for our salvation, thou hast made us sons of God! Oh! thou dear Redeemer! even now as then, do I not know, that all the gracious words which believers hear from God, and all his gracious manifestations, are delivered through thy person, and by thy mouth? Joh 1:18 . I beg the Reader to remark with me, that as Joshua so readily and so cheerfully surrendered his authority to this person, and fell before him with sacred worship, certainly his faith in Jesus, was strikingly shown by those acts, and his views of salvation by him, was evidently declared. Heb 11:32 , etc.

Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

Jos 5:13 And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, behold, there stood a man over against him with his sword drawn in his hand: and Joshua went unto him, and said unto him, [Art] thou for us, or for our adversaries?

Ver. 13. He lifted up his eyes. ] His vigilancy did equal his valour, as it is said of Caesar.

With his sword drawn. ] This sword the Lord Christ never laid down, since those words, “I will put enmity also,” &c., Gen 3:16 for there beginneth the book of the wars of the Lord, for defence of his Church.

And Joshua went unto him. ] Though armed and of a majestic presence, and though there might have been snares laid for him.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

NASB (UPDATED TEXT): Jos 5:13-15

13Now it came about when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, a man was standing 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? 14He said, No; rather I indeed come now as captain of the host of the LORD. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and bowed down, and said to him, What has my lord to say to his servant? 15The captain of the LORD’s host said to Joshua, Remove your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy.

Jos 5:13 Joshua . . . behold a man was standing opposite him with his sword in his hand We learn from this account that the man was an angel or a physical form of God (theophany, cf. Hard Sayings of the Bible, pp. 191-92). It is significant that the term for man is not the normal term adam (BDB 9), but the term ish (BDB 35), which can refer to a spiritual being (cf. Exo 15:3; Isa 42:13). The same imagery of an angel with a drawn sword is also in Num 22:31 and 1Ch 21:16. Apparently the drawn sword was to reassure Joshua that YHWH would fight for them (cf. Deu 1:30).

Joshua went to him Joshua moved towards this man; what a sign of bravery! He does not know if he is friend or foe. This old warrior was ready to fight any foe!

Jos 5:14 No This is understood in several ways: (1) no (NKJV, JPSOA); (2) neither (NRSV, TEV, NKB); or (3) indeed (grammatically it is possibly the emphatic Hebrew letter lamed).

I indeed come now as the captain of the host of the LORD The term (BDB 978) captain can mean prince (cf. Isa 9:5) This is the only place in the Old Testament where this full title is used. It is used of national angels in Dan 10:13; Dan 10:20-21; Dan 12:1. Jewish sources assert that this is Michael, the national angel (prince, e.g., Dan 12:1) of Israel (Aggadat Bereshit 32.64).

NASBthe host

NKJV, NRSV,

TEV, NJBthe army

The term host (BDB 838) refers to (1) the army of heaven or (2) the heavenly bodies (stars, sun, moon, in past ages about astral worship). Here, in a military passage it would refer to the captain of the armies of YHWH.

Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and bowed down, and said to him, ‘What has my LORD to say to his servant’ Because Joshua is told to remove his sandals in Jos 5:15 this account is very similar to Moses’ meeting with God at the burning bush (cf. Exo 3:5). The dialogue of this encounter is not really given until Jos 6:2 ff.

Remove your sandals This was a command (BDB 675, KB 730, Qal IMPERATIVE). Removing the sandals was a sign of respect, openness, or worship (cf. Exo 3:5). Joshua was well acquainted with this account!

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

This is a study guide commentary, which means that you are responsible for your own interpretation of the Bible. Each of us must walk in the light we have. You, the Bible and the Holy Spirit are priority in interpretation. You must not relinquish this to a commentator.

These discussion questions are provided to help you think through the major issues of this section of the book. They are meant to be thought-provoking, not definitive.

1. Why did the children of Israel not circumcise during the Wilderness Wandering period?

2. What does circumcision symbolize?

3. Why did they not observe the Passover in the wilderness?

4. Why did the manna cease?

5. Who is the person described in Jos 5:13-15?

Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley

when. Between 16th and 21st Abib.

a Man. Hebrew. ‘ish. App-14.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

the Commander and His Plan of Campaign

Jos 5:13-15; Jos 6:1-11

When the heart is perfect with God we may count on His presence and help. It is to the separated and obedient servant that the vision of Christ, as Ally and Captain, is given. Here were three hosts marshaled by Jericho-of the Canaanites, of Israel, and of the heavenly armies, waiting to war against the evil spirits which ruled the darkness of the land, Eph 6:12.

The answer to Joshuas question depended on whether Israel was prepared to accept Gods plan of campaign, which was very humbling to the flesh. The Lord is with us, if we are with Him, Jos 7:11-12; 2Ch 15:2. As Jericho was the key to Canaan, and its fall was to be the earnest of complete victory, the program was carefully planned to give God His rightful position. From first to last its capture was the result of the interposition of Him who dwelled in the bush. Therefore, the Ark was borne around the city, as the symbol of His presence, Num 10:35.

Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary

he lifted: Gen 33:1, Gen 33:5, Dan 8:3, Dan 10:5

a man: Jos 6:2, Gen 18:2, Gen 32:24-30, Exo 23:23, Jdg 13:8, Jdg 13:9, Jdg 13:11, Jdg 13:22, Dan 10:5, Hos 12:3-5, Zec 1:8, Act 1:10, Rev 1:13

his sword: Num 22:23, 1Ch 21:16, 1Ch 21:17, 1Ch 21:27, 1Ch 21:30

Art thou for us: 1Ch 12:17, 1Ch 12:18

Reciprocal: Gen 3:24 – a flaming Exo 23:20 – Angel Exo 32:26 – Who is on Jdg 2:1 – And an angel 2Ch 13:12 – for our captain Eze 1:26 – the appearance of a man Eze 10:1 – as the Eze 34:24 – a prince Zec 1:18 – lifted Zec 12:8 – as the Mat 12:30 – that is Joh 1:18 – he hath Phi 2:6 – thought

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

THE CAPTAIN OF THE LORDS HOST

And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, behold, there stood a man over against him with his sword drawn in his hand.

Jos 5:13

I. There is a lesson here, not inappropriate to the present times, in the fact that Christ appeared to Joshua as a man of war. Would that image have been used, would Christ have assumed that form, if all war were out of the question?

II. It is still more important to remark how strikingly the manifestations of Christ accommodate themselves to the various circumstances of His people.To Abraham, a wanderer and sojourner in Canaan, He manifests Himself as a wayfaring man. To Jacob, on the eve of an expected conflict with his brother, Christ shows Himself as a comforter. To Joshua, a soldier and an officer, Christ, too, is a soldier in command.

III. Joshua stood before the heavenly Captain, with the shoes from off his feet, to receive orders about the conducting of the siege.So let it be with us all. As soon as a providence, a word, a will, of God shows the special presence of Deity, let it have supremacy, and every human authority, however high, stand in the posture of silent obedience.

Rev. Jas. Vaughan.

Illustrations

(1) I believe, as the vast majority of careful students of the course of Old Testament revelation and its relation to the New Testament completion believe, that we have here not a record of the appearance of a created superhuman person, but that of a preliminary manifestation of the Eternal Word of God, who, in the fulness of time, became flesh and dwelt among us.

(2) The angelic hosts are conceived of as an embattled host, comparable to an army in the strictness of their discipline and their obedience to a single will. It is the modern thought that the universe is a Cosmos and not a Chaos, an ordered unit, with the addition of the truth beyond the reach and range of science, that its unity is the expression of a personal will. It is the same thought which the centurion had, to Christs wonder, when he compared his own power as an officer in a legion, where his will was implicitly obeyed, to the power of Christ over diseases and sorrows and miseries and death, and recognised that all these were His servants, to whom, if His autocratic lips chose to say Go, they went, and if He said, Do this, they did it. So the Lord of the universe and its ordered ranks is Jesus Christ. That is the truth which was flashed from the unknown, like a vanishing meteor in the midnight, before the face of Joshua, and which stands like the noonday sun, unsetting and irradiating for us who live under the Gospel.

Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary

Jos 5:13. When Joshua was by Jericho Hebrew, in Jericho; that is, in the territory adjoining to it; whither he went to view those parts, and discern the fittest places for his attempt upon Jericho. A man One in the appearance of a man. With his sword drawn In readiness to fight, not, as Joshua thought, against him, but for him and his people.

Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Jos 5:13 to Jos 6:27. The Capture of Jericho.The narrative begins at Jos 5:13; Jos 6:1 is an insertion (observe that RV places it in brackets), so that Jos 6:2 should immediately follow Jos 5:15. The captain of Yahwehs host is therefore Yahweh Himself. In the rest of the chapter we have a composite narrative, so skilfully compiled that at first sight there is not much fault to find. Closer inspection, however, shows that there are two signals for the fall of the walls(a) a shout after a blast of the trumpets (Jos 6:5), and (b) a shout after Joshuas command (Jos 6:10). Further, the priests and the rearguard also are said to have sounded the trumpets during the circuit of the walls: this is probably a very late addition. Wellhausens suggestion, which has been generally accepted, is that two accounts are combined; in the first the Israelites marched round the walls once a day for seven days, while in the second the Israelites went round the walls seven times in one day These stories were combined by an editor who may have added the statement that the trumpets were sounded during the circuit of the walls. Most scholars are satisfied that this is the best solution as yet offered.

It is, however, possible that the first and simplest narrative is based on a still earlier and simpler account, of which traces remain in the LXX. Here we find that the command at the beginning of the chapter contains no reference at all to marching round the walls of the city. Jos 6:3 f. runs in LXX as follows: And do thou set the men of war round the city, and it shall be when ye blow with the trumpet, let all the people shout together, and when they shout, the walls of the city shall fall down of themselves and all the people shall hasten to enter into the city. Here the command is, Surround the city, give a signal by blowing a trumpet, raise the battle-cry and deliver the assault. That the walls should fall down of themselves, is a vivid statement of the fact that the army would encounter no resistance. The Rahab clan in the city would open the gates, or find some other means of letting the invaders within the walls. The capture of Bethel, as recounted in Jdg 1:24, should be read in connexion with this. [The recent excavations at Jericho do not support the historicity of the statement that the walls collapsed. Handcock says, none of the fortification works at Jericho shows any sign of having been destroyed to the extent that a reader of Joshua VI would naturally suppose (Archology of the Holy Land, p. 101).A. S. P.]

The original and simple narrative that the city was surrounded and taken by assault, aided by the cooperation of some of the inhabitants, was gradually enlarged. The additions would probably begin with the introduction of the Ark. When it was felt that the Ark ought to have some place of honour in the taking of Jericho, as it had in the crossing of the Jordan, the command to surround the city would become a command to march round the city, with the Ark in a position of honour. Naturally the priests would have to accompany the Ark. Hence a simple historical fact has been altered out of all recognition. (Cf. the transformation which the earlier narrative in Judges 5 has suffered in Judges 4 and the similar alterations in Ch.; especially the narrative of the bringing of the Ark to Jerusalem; cf. 2 Samuel 6 with 1 Chronicles 13, 15.)

Jos 6:17. devoted: i.e. placed under the ban (herem), devoted to utter destruction. To save anything alive or appropriate anything thus devoted, as Achan did, was counted a grievous sin (cf. Deu 2:34*, 1 Samuel 15. pp. 99, 114).A. S. P.]

Jos 6:26 b. The exact meaning of these words is difficult to determine (1Ki 16:34*). The simplest solution is to believe that the builder offered his firstborn as a foundation sacrifice and his youngest son as a final sacrifice on the completion of the rebuilding, and that the religious feeling of later times (cf. Mic 6:7) transformed the sacrifices into a punishment. It was a well-known custom in primitive times for the foundation of a house to be inaugurated with a human sacrifice. We feel reluctant to admit that this custom obtained in Israel, but after the excavations at Gezer it is impossible to deny the existence of human foundation sacrifices as late as the latter half of the Jewish monarchy (pp. 83, 99, Exo 13:2*). See Driver, Schweich Lectures, pp. 6972, where a photograph is given, and objections to the theory that a foundation sacrifice is here referred to are stated. The actual rebuilding of the Canaanitish city of Jericho appears not to have been attempted. Archaeological evidence seems to show that another city was built not far from the old site (see Driver, p. 92).

Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible

1. The conquest of Jericho 5:13-6:27

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

C. Possession of the land 5:13-12:24

Before Israel entered the land of Canaan, God had been preparing for His people to take possession of it by sovereignly directing the political affairs of Egypt. Egypt had maintained control over Canaan for many years. However, shortly before and during the ascension of Pharaoh Amenhotep II (1417-1379 B.C.) to the throne, Egyptian interest in Canaanite affairs began to decline. Consequently some of the Canaanite kings asserted their independence from Egyptian control and began to increase their influence and to dominate their neighbors. In addition, foreigners besides the Israelites invaded portions of Canaan. Some of the victims of oppression wrote letters to Pharaoh asking for Egyptian assistance. They sent these letters to Amarna, the capital of Egypt at this time, and they are known today as the Amarna Letters. They wrote these documents in cuneiform script. Archaeologists discovered them at Amarna in A.D. 1887. They provide much valuable information on the political and military climate in Canaan during the period of Israel’s conquests. [Note: See Charles Pfeiffer, Tell El Amarna and the Bible; and Davis and Whitcomb, pp. 18-21.]

"While Akhenaten [Amenhotep III, 1379-1361 B.C., the son and successor of Amenhotep II] spent his life preoccupied with religious reform, Egyptian prestige in Asia sank to a low ebb. As the Amarna Letters abundantly show, no effort was made by the court to answer the frantic appeals for help made by some princes who still professed loyalty to Egypt. The most common complaint in these letters is that unless Egypt would send troops urgently the land would fall into the hands of the Khapiru. Some historians are inclined to see in these Khapiru the Hebrews of the Bible who at this time were overrunning Palestine." [Note: Siegfried Schwantes, A Short History of the Ancient Near East, p. 90. See also Nadav Na’aman, "Habiru and Hebrews: The Transfer of a Social Term to the Literary Sphere," Journal of Near Eastern Studies 45:4 (October 1986):271-88; and Douglas Waterhouse, "Who Are the Habiru of the Amarna Letters?" Journal of the Adventist Theological Society 12:1 (Spring 2001):31-42.]

When the Israelites began their conquest, the Canaanite city-states did not have the protection of Egypt or any other strong world power that they had enjoyed in the past.

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

"Despite Joshua’s long military experience he had never led an attack on a fortified city that was prepared for a long siege. In fact, of all the walled cities in Palestine, Jericho was probably the most invincible. There was also the question of armaments. Israel’s army had no siege engines, no battering rams, no catapults, and no moving towers. Their only weapons were slings, arrows, and spears-which were like straws against the walls of Jericho." [Note: Campbell, "Joshua," p. 339.]

As Joshua contemplated attacking Jericho, the Angel of the Lord appeared to him and assured him of victory. [Note: Maps 54 (p. 43), 56 (p. 44), 58 (p. 45), and 62 (p. 47) in The Macmillan Bible Atlas illustrate the battles of Jericho and Ai, Gibeon, Southern Canaan, and Northern Canaan respectively.]

"The Canaanite spectre [sic] had hatched in Noah’s tent (Gen 9:20-27), had evolved for generations, and now in Joshua’s day would be tolerated by God no longer." [Note: Constable, p. 105.]

Evidently Joshua was reconnoitering near Jericho, which was only about two miles from Gilgal. He was planning his strategy when he met the Man who identified Himself as the Captain (Prince) of the Lord’s host (angelic army; cf. 1Ki 22:19; 2Ki 6:8-17; Psa 148:2; Mat 26:53; Heb 1:14). It is obvious that Joshua perceived this Man as a mighty warrior standing before him with sword drawn ready for battle (cf. Num 22:23; 1Ch 21:16). As soon as the Stranger identified Himself, Joshua bowed before Him acknowledging His superiority.

"The stranger’s response put everything in proper perspective. God is sovereign. It is never a question whether God is on our side but whether we are on God’s side. . . . The purpose of this encounter was not to impart commands but to inspire Joshua with humility and reverence and to instill in him the confidence that God was with him and was in control (cf. Jos 1:9)." [Note: Madvig, p. 276.]

The command to remove his sandals (Jos 5:15) would have convinced Joshua that this was the same God who appeared to Moses at the burning bush (Exo 3:5).

"As Moses went to investigate the bush (Exo 3:3), so Joshua goes to investigate the mysterious figure confronting him (Jos 5:13 b)." [Note: Butler, p. 57.]

 

"The strange confrontation of Jos 5:13-15 resembles that between Jacob and the man of God at Peniel (Gen 32:22-32) and that between Moses and the burning bush (Exo 3:1 to Exo 4:17). In each case, the human protagonist encounters a divine messenger before facing a life-and-death conflict . . ." [Note: Hess, p. 126.]

One could also cite God’s visit to Abraham at the oaks of Mamre (Genesis 18) and Jesus’ self-revelation to the two disciples on the way to Emmaus (Luk 24:13-35), though these were not life threatening encounters. Joshua would hardly have submitted as he did if he had not believed that this Man was the Angel of the Lord (cf. Exo 3:5; Num 22:31).

"The scene thus pictures Joshua as the totally obedient servant doing precisely what the divine messenger requires." [Note: Butler, p. 61.]

God not only instructed Joshua concerning what he should do in the battle ahead, but this theophany assured Joshua that Yahweh would also personally lead His people in battle. We need not conclude, however, that this divine Leader continued to be visible after this. There is no reference to Him in the record of the battle that follows. His appearance on this occasion simply impressed Joshua with the fact that God would be leading Israel.

"The whole sequence-circumcision, Passover, and theophany-emphatically declared that the Israel of conquest was the Israel of exodus. The God who had saved his people out of Egypt would now save them in Canaan." [Note: Eugene H. Merrill, Kingdom of Priests, p. 109.]

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

CHAPTER XI.

THE CAPTAIN OF THE LORD’S HOST.

Jos 5:13-15; Jos 6:1.

THE process of circumcision is over, and the men are well; the feast of unleavened bread has come to an end; all honour has been paid to these sacred ordinances according to the appointment of God; the manna has ceased, and the people are now depending on the corn of the land, of which, in all probability, they have but a limited supply. Everything points to the necessity of further action, but it is hard to say what the next step is to be. Naturally it would be the capture of Jericho. But this appears a Quixotic enterprise. The city is surrounded by a wall, and its gates are ”straitly shut up,” barred, and closely guarded to prevent the entrance of a single Israelite. Joshua himself is at a loss. No Divine communication has yet come to him, like that which came as to the crossing of the Jordan. See him walking all alone “by Jericho,” as near the city as it is safe for him to go. With mind absorbed in thought and eyes fixed on the ground, he is pondering the situation, but unable to get light upon it, when something comes athwart his sphere of vision. He lifts his eyes, and right against him perceives a soldier, brandishing his sword.

A less courageous man would have been startled, perhaps frightened. His first thought is, that it is an enemy. None of his own soldiers would have ventured there without his orders, or would have dared to take up such an attitude towards his commander-in-chief. With a soldier’s presence of mind, instead of moving off, he assumes an aggressive attitude, challenges this warrior, and demands whether he is friend or foe. If friend, he must explain his presence; if foe, prepare for battle. Joshua is himself a thorough soldier, and will allow no one to occupy an ambiguous position. “And Joshua went unto him, and said unto him. Art thou for us, or for our adversaries?”

If the appearance of the soldier was a surprise, his answer to the question must have been a greater. ”Nay; but as Captain of the host of the Lord am I now come.” The “nay” deprecates his being either friend or foe in the common sense, but especially his being foe. His position and his office are far more exalted. As Captain of the host of the Lord, he is at the head, not of human armies, but of all the principalities and powers of heavenly places, –

“The mighty regencies Of seraphim, and potentates and thrones.”

And now the real situation flashes on Joshua. This soldier is no other than the Angel of the Covenant, the same who came to Abraham under the oak at Mamre, and that wrestled with Jacob on the banks of this very Jordan at Peniel. Joshua could not but remember, when God threatened to withdraw from Israel after the sin of the golden calf, and send some created angel to guide them through the wilderness, how earnestly Moses remonstrated, and how his whole soul was thrown into the pleading – “If Thy presence go not with us, carry me not up hence.” He could not but remember the intense joy of Moses when this pleading proved successful – “My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest.” There could be little doubt in his mind who this “Captain of the host of Jehovah” was, and no hesitation on his part in yielding to Him the Divine honour due to the Most High. And then he must have felt warmly how very kind and seasonable this appearance was, just at the very moment when he was in so great perplexity, and when his path was utterly dark. It was a new proof that man’s extremity is God’s opportunity. It was just like what used to happen afterwards, when “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us,” and was so promptly at hand for His disciples in all times of their tribulation. It was an anticipation of the scene when the ship was tossed so violently on the waves, and Jesus appeared with His “Peace, be still.” Or, on that dreary morning, soon after the crucifixion, after they had spent the whole night on the lake and caught nothing, when Jesus came and brought the miraculous draught of fishes to their nets. It is the truth with which all His suffering and stricken children have been made so familiar in all ages of the Church’s history: – that, however He may seem to hide Himself and stand afar off in times of trouble, He is in reality ever near, and can never forget that last assurance to His faithful people – ”Lo, I am with you alway, even to the end of the world.”

It is not likely that Joshua found any cause to discuss the question that modern criticism has so earnestly handled, whether this being that now appeared in human form really was Jehovah. And as little does it seem necessary for us to discuss it. There seems no good reason to reject the view that these theophanies, though not incarnations, were yet foreshadows of the incarnation, – hints of the mystery afterwards to be realized when Jesus was born of Mary. If these appearances looked like incarnations, it was incarnation after the pagan, not the Christian type; momentary alliances of the Divine being with the human form or appearance, assumed merely for the occasion, and capable of being thrown aside as rapidly as they were assumed. This might do very well to foreshadow the incarnation, but it fell a long way short of the incarnation itself. The Christian incarnation was after a type never dreamt of by the pagan mind. That the Son of God should be born of a woman, His body formed in the womb by the slow but wonderful process which “fashioned all His members in continuance, when as yet there was none of them” (Psa 139:16), and that He should thus stand in relations to His fellow-men that could not be obliterated, was very wonderful; but most wonderful of all that the manhood once assumed could never be thrown off, but that the Son of God must continue to be the Son of man, in two distinct natures and one person for ever. The fact that all this has taken place is well fitted to give us unshaken confidence in the love and sympathy of our Elder Brother. For He is as really our Brother as He ever was in the days of His flesh, and as full of the care and thoughtful interest that the kindest of elder brothers takes in the sorrows and struggles of his younger brethren.

It has often been remarked as an instructive circumstance, that now, as on other occasions, the Angel of the Lord appeared in the character most adapted to the circumstances of His people. He appeared as a soldier with a drawn sword in His hand. A long course of fighting lay before the Israelites ere they could get possession of their land, and the sword in the hand of the Angel was an assurance that He would fight with them and for them. It was also a clear intimation that in the judgment of God, it was necessary to use the sword. But it was not the sword of the ambitious warrior who falls upon men simply because they are in his way, or because he covets their territories for his country. It was the judicial sword, demanding the death of men who had been tried for their sins, long warned, and at last judicially condemned. The iniquity of the Amorites was now full. We know what kind the people were who dwelt near Jericho four or five hundred years before, while the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah stood in the plain, cities that even then were reeking with the foulest corruption. It is true the judgment of God came down on these cities, but bare judgments have never reformed the world. The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah removed the foulest stain-spot for the time, but it did not change the hearts nor the habits of the nations. It has seemed good to the Spirit of God to give us one glimpse of the foulness that had been reached at that early period, but not to multiply the filthy details at a future time, – after the long interval between Abraham and Joshua. But we know that if Sodom was bad, Jericho was no better. The country as a whole, which had now filled up its cup of iniquity, was no better. No wonder that the Angel bore a drawn sword in His hand. The longsuffering of the righteous God was exhausted, and Joshua and his people were the instruments by whom the judicial punishment was to be inflicted. The Captain of the Lord’s host had drawn His sword from its scabbard to show that the judgment of that wicked people was to slumber no more.

It was not in this spirit nor in this attitude that the Angel of the Covenant had met with Jacob, centuries before, a little higher up the river, at the confluence of the Jabbok. Yet there was not a little that was similar in the two meetings. Like Joshua now, Jacob was then about to enter the land of promise. Like him, he was confronted by an enemy in possession, who, in Jacob’s case, was bent on avenging the wrong of his youth. How that enemy was to be overcome Jacob knew not, just as Joshua knew not how Jericho was to be taken. But there was this difference between the two, that in Jacob’s case the Angel dealt with him as an opponent; in Joshua’s He avowed Himself a friend. The difference was no doubt due to the different dispositions of the two men. Jacob does not seem to have felt that it was only in God’s name, and in God’s strength, and under God’s protection that he could enter Canaan; he appears to have been trusting too much to his own devices, – especially to the munificent present which he had forwarded to his brother. He must be taught the lesson ”Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, saith the Lord.” At first Jacob dealt with his opponent simply as an obstructionist; then he discovered His Divine rank, and immediately he became the aggressor, and, spite of his dislocated thigh, held on to his opponent, declaring that he would not let Him go except He blessed him. It is otherwise with Joshua. He has no personal matter to settle with God before he is ready to advance into the land. He is in perplexity, and the Angel comes to relieve him. It is neither for reproof nor correction but simply for blessing that He is there.

The appearance of the Angel denoted a special method of communication with Joshua. We have already remarked that we do not know in what manner God’s communications to His servant were made before. This incident shows that the ordinary method was not that of personal intercourse, – probably it was that of impressions made supernaturally on Joshua’s mind. Why, then, is the method changed now? Why does this Warrior-angel present Himself in person? Probably because the way in which Jericho was to be taken was so extraordinary that, to encourage the faith of Joshua and the people, a special mode of announcement had to be used. One might have thought this unnecessary after the display of Divine power at the crossing of the Jordan. But steadiness of faith was no characteristic of the Israelites, and such as it was it was as liable to fail after crossing the Jordan as it had been after crossing the sea. Special means were taken to invigorate it and fit it for the coming strain. It was one of those rare occasions when a personal visit from the Angel of the Covenant was desirable. Something visible and tangible was needed, something which might be spoken of and readily understood by the people, and which could not possibly be gainsaid.

The moment that Joshua understood with whom he was conversing, he fell on his face, and offered to his visitor not only obeisance but worship, which the visitor did not decline. And then came a question indicating profound regard for his Lord’s will, and readiness to do whatsoever he might be told – “What saith my Lord unto His servant?” It cannot but remind us of the question put by Saul to the Lord while yet lying on the ground on the way to Damascus – ”Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?” Joshua compares favourably with Moses at the burning bush, not only now, but throughout the whole interview. No word of remonstrance does he utter, no token of unwillingness or unbelief does he show. And it cannot be said that the instructions which the Angel gave him respecting the taking of Jericho were of a kind to be easily accepted. The course to be followed seemed to human wisdom the very essence of silliness. To all appearance there was not a vestige of adaptation of means to the end. Yet so admirable is the temper of Joshua, that he receives all with absolute and perfect submission. The question “What saith my Lord unto His servant?” is very far from mere matter of courtesy. It is a first principle with Joshua that when the mind of God is once indicated there is nothing for him but to obey. What is he that he should dare to criticise the plans of omnipotence? that he should propose to correct and improve the methods of Divine wisdom? Anything of the kind was alike preposterous and irreverent. “Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him. For He spake, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast.” “Thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, and whose name is Holy: I dwell in the high and holy place, and with him also who is of a humble and contrite spirit, and who trembleth at My word.”

The first answer to the question “What saith my Lord unto His servant?” is somewhat remarkable. ”Put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy.” Rationalists have explained this as meaning that this was an ancient shrine of the Canaanites, and therefore a place holy in the eyes of Israel; but such an idea needs no refutation. Others conceive it to mean that Joshua, having crossed the Jordan, had now set foot on the land promised to the fathers, and that the soil for that reason was called holy. But if that was the reason for his putting off his shoes, it is difficult to see how he could ever have been justified in again putting them on. And when God called to Moses out of the bush and bade him do the very same thing, it surely was not because the peninsula of Sinai was holy; it was because Moses stood in the immediate presence of the holy God. And it is simply to remind Joshua of the Divine presence that this command is given; and being given it is no sooner uttered than obeyed.

And then follow God’s instructions for the taking of Jericho. Never was such a method propounded to reasonable man, or one more open to the objections and exceptions of worldly wisdom. No arrangement of his forces could have been more open to objection than that which God required of him. He was to march round Jericho once a day for six successive days, and seven times on the seventh day, the priests carrying the ark and blowing with trumpets, the men of war going before, and others following the ark, making a long narrow line round the place. We know that the city was provided with gates, like other fortified cities. What was there to prevent the men of Jericho from sallying out at each of the gates, breaking up the line of Israel into sections, separating them from each other, and inflicting dreadful slaughter on each? Such a march round the city seems to be the very way to invite a murderous attack. But it is the Divine command. And this process of surrounding the city is to be carried on in absolute silence on the part of the people, with no noise save the sounding of trumpets until a signal is given; then a great shout is to be raised, and the walls of Jericho are to fall down flat on the ground. Who would have thought it strange if Joshua had been somewhat staggered by so singular directions, and if, like Moses at the bush, he had suggested all manner of objections, and shown the greatest unwillingness to undertake the operation? The noble quality of his faith is shown in his raising no objection at all. After God has thus answered his question, “What saith my Lord unto His servant?” he is just as docile and submissive as he was before. True faith is blind to everything except the Divine command. When God has given him his orders, he simply communicates them to the priests and to the people. He leaves the further development of the plan in God’s hands, assured that He will not leave His purpose unfulfilled.

Nor do the priests or the people appear to have made any objection on their part. The plan no doubt exposed them to two things which men do not like, ridicule and danger. Possibly the ridicule was as hard to bear as the danger. God would protect them from the danger, but who would shield them from the ridicule? Even if at the end of the seven days, the promised result should take place, would it not be hard to make themselves for a whole week the sport of the men of Jericho, who would ask all that time whether they had lost their senses, whether they imagined that they would terrify them into surrender by the sound of their rams’ horns? How often, especially in the case of young persons, do we find this dread of ridicule the greatest obstacle to Christian loyalty? And even where they have the strongest conviction that ere long the laugh, if laughter may be spoken of in the case, will be turned against their tormentors, and that it will be clearly seen who the men are whom the King delighteth to honour, what misery is caused for the time by ridicule, and how often do the young prove traitors to Christ rather than endure it? All the more remarkable is the steadiness of the priests and people on this occasion. We cannot think that this was due simply and solely to their loyalty to the leader to whom they had recently sworn allegiance. We cannot but believe that personal faith animated many of them, the same faith as that of Joshua himself. Their wilderness training and trials had not been in vain; the manifest interposition of God in the defeat of Sihon and Og had sunk into their hearts; the miraculous passage of the river had brought God very near to them; and it was doubtless in a large measure their conviction that He who had begun the work of conquest for them would carry it on to the end, that procured for Joshua’s announcement the unanimous acquiescence and hearty support alike of priests and people.

And hence, too, the reason why, in the eleventh chapter of Hebrews, the falling down of the walls of Jericho is specially accounted for as the result of faith: ”By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they were compassed about seven days” (Heb 11:30). The act of faith lay in the conviction that God, who had prescribed the method of attack, foolish though it seemed, would infallibly bring it to a successful issue. It was not merely Joshua’s faith, but the priests’ faith, and the people’s faith, that shone in the transaction. Faith repelled the idea that the enemy would sally forth and break their ranks; it triumphed over the scorn and ridicule which would certainly be poured on them; it knew that God had given the directions, and it was convinced that He would bring all to a triumphant issue. Never had the spiritual thermometer risen so high in Israel, and seldom did it rise so high at any future period of their history. That singular week spent in marching round Jericho again and again and again, was one of the most remarkable ever known; the people were near heaven, and the grace and peace of heaven seem to have rested on their hearts.

We sometimes speak of “ages of faith.” There have been times when the disposition to believe in the unseen, in the presence and power of God, and in the certain success at last of all that is done in obedience to His will, has dominated whole communities, and led to a wonderful measure of holy obedience. Such a period was this age of Joshua. We cannot say, thinking of ourselves, that the present is an age of faith. Rather, on the part of the masses, it is an age when the secular, the visible, the present lords it over men’s minds. Yet we are not left without splendid examples of faith. The missionary enterprise that contemplates the conquest of the whole world for Christ, because God has given to His Messiah the heathen for His inheritance and the uttermost part of the earth for His possession, and that looks forward to the day when this promise shall be fulfilled to the letter, is a fruit of faith. And the ready surrender of so many young lives for the world’s evangelization, as missionaries, and teachers, and medical men and women, is a crowning proof that faith is not dead among us. Would only it were a faith that pervaded the whole community, – princes, priests, and people alike; and that there were a harmony among us in the attack on the strongholds of sin and Satan as great as there was in the host of Israel when the people, one in heart and one in hope, marched out, day after day, round the walls of Jericho!

Fuente: Expositors Bible Commentary