Joshua 5:13-15 - Now
when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man
standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua
went up to him and asked, "Are you for us or for our enemies?" "Neither," he replied, "but as
commander of the army of the LORD I have now come." Then Joshua fell
facedown to the ground in reverence, and asked
him, "What message does my Lord have for his servant?" The commander of the LORD's army replied,
"Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is
holy." And Joshua did so.
Joshua…excited from the memory of their walk across a dry
river…freshly dedicated to God’s service through his compliance to the law of
circumcision…is met with a stranger. He
meets a stranger…a man with drawn sword… on his way to Jericho. Naturally…he asks him who he is fighting for…and
he hears the words that Moses heard when God appeared to him in the burning bush. The man tells him he is standing on holy ground…and
to take of his shoes. And Joshua
complies…because he knows he is in the presence of the mighty God himself.
Joshua had already been told that the land would need to be
claimed for the Israelites…because the
people that lived there were not followers of God…and they would have to be
destroyed before they could live there. They had to purge this new land of the
sinful practices and evil…so that God could be supremely worshiped alone. So
God appeared to Joshua…as a mighty man…sword drawn for battle…to give Joshua
his directions for taking Jericho.
It reminded me at once of the way God appeared to Moses from
the burning bush…telling Moses to take off his shoes….on the holy ground where
he would be given his directions for leading the Israelites out of Egypt.
Moses was directed to look at the staff he held in his hands…and to use
it to be God’s voice to the people. The rod became everything he needed it to
be as he followed God’s will throughout the 80 years he dedicated his life to
God’s service.
I also thought of many years before….when Abraham too saw a
stranger. This stranger pronounced the
child they wanted so badly…and fulfilled the one piece of the puzzle Abraham
needed to be assured God’s promise to him of a great new land to live in…and of
descendants so numerous they could not be counted. This stranger brought hope
and miracles in their old age…and joy unable to put into words as they accepted
God’s great gift to them.
God still appears to us in different forms. He appears to
each of us in the exact form we need…exactly when we need him. He probably won’t
tell us to take off our shoes…but he will ask us what we hold in our hands….and
he will tell us how to use it to help him spread the gospel. ..if we stop and
acknowledge his presence. We need to do
what Joshua did…as he recognized him immediately….and bowed low in reverence…and
prepared his heart to listen.
Father…forgive me for not noticing you when you come to
speak with me. Give me ears to hear...and
eyes to see you clearly when you come to give me directions. Give me some time
to reflect today on the things you have already given me to do…so I can make
sure that I have included you in all of them.
Show me how to be more effective in the tasks I have been given to do… and
realize what I need to leave behind …because the task was not a job you gave me
to do. Amen.
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