After leading the children of Israel across the river Jordan on dry ground, Joshua, Moses' successor comes upon a man with a drawn sword. The biblical account is found in: Joshua 5:13-15 KJVS
[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. …

Joshua asks if the man be for the children of Israel or for their enemies, the reply he receives drives him to the ground. ' 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? '

I believe Joshua was face to face with the pre-incarnate Christ, Joshua knew he was face to face with deity. The Lord's response to Joshua's question revealed did not answer Joshua's inquiry of who's side the Lord supported but He simply stated that He was the captain of the host of the Lord. Joshua was then commanded to remove his shoes for in the presence of the Lord is holy ground.

Two points on this passage. One, when confronted with Jesus, one should not ask which side the Lord is for but rather seek to be on His side. Our own personal war, agenda,advantage, aspirations or whatever we may seek from a purely fleshly standpoint is not the issue; what is, is God's predetermined will for our life. We present ourselves to Him as a living sacrifice and let Him use the person He created us to be for His glory.

Second point, God is holy. The presence of Jesus is a holy place. All believers have become one with Jesus through the Holy Spirit, therefore, we are in a perpetual holy place. I.E. at all times we should be reverencing the Lord for we are always in His presence.


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