And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted his eyes and looked, and behold, a Man stood opposite him with His sword drawn in His hand. And Joshua went to Him and said to Him, “Are You for us or for our adversaries?”
So He said, “No, but as Commander of the army of the LORD I have now come.”
And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped, and said to Him, “What does my Lord say to His servant?”
Then the Commander of the LORD’s army said to Joshua, “Take your sandal off your foot, for the place where you stand is holy.” And Joshua did so.
Joshua 5: 13 – 15
I was very amazed when I re-read this very familiar passage. This was a literal account of someone being “in the presence of God”, so to speak. It’s a term we use frequently, being in “God’s presence”. But what do we do in God’s presence? Well, here are the three thoughts for today:
1. Joshua worshipped. Joshua didn’t know it was the Commander of the Lord’s army until a little later, but upon realizing it his first reaction was to abandon his own question of “Are you for us or for our adversaries?” and simply fell on his face and worshipped. He understood reverence.
2. Joshua asked what God wanted him to do. After worship, Joshua did not revert to his earlier question, which mattered a great deal to him. After all, war looms, and he needed God on his side. But no, in the presence of a Holy God, he first worshipped, then asked God What does my LORD say to His servant?
3. Joshua obeyed. God’s request was simple – to take of his sandals, because Joshua was in a holy place now. It was an affirmative invitation to Joshua to continue to dwell in God’s presence, and what did Joshua do? He did so.
At the end of it, Joshua didn’t make a request to God to take Jericho, or to do this, or that. I’m sure all that came later, and there’s certainly much scriptural evidence that we should come to God with our needs. But here we see an excellent attitude and approach to entering God’s presence – Worship and obedience.
The rest can wait. Really. Joshua did take most of the land after that, for the record. And I believe it began with just worship and obedience.
It’s certainly very scary, but it’s an attitude that we should aspire to have.
God bless.
lutroō 