Are You For Us Or For Our
Adversaries?
Joshua 5:13-15
The Commander of the Army of the
LORD
13 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?”
14 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?”
15 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.
This divine encounter of Joshua with the Commander of the LORD’s
army happened before the fall and destruction of Jericho.
Joshua was near Jericho. He looked up and saw a Man standing in
front of him. The Man had a sword in His hand. Joshua went to Him
and asked, “Are you a friend or an enemy?”
The Man answered, “I am neither one. I have come as the Commander
of the LORD’s army.”
Then Joshua bowed faced own on the ground. He asked, “Does my LORD
have a command for me, His servant?”
The Commander of the LORD’s army answered, “Take off your
sandals. The place where you are standing is holy.” So Joshua did as
he was told.
Many people are pro-this and pro-that. Some are fighting for
human rights, some for Israel, and some for her enemies. But I am
pro-God
The rights of the people of the world and even Israel are often
not righteous.
Isaiah 5:20
Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil;
Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness;
Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!
How terrible it will be for people who call good things bad and
bad things good. They declare that darkness is light and light is
darkness. They declare that sour is sweet and sweet is sour.
Even in the days of Jesus 2000 years ago, there was evil kings in
Israel such as Herod. King Herod was appointed by the Romans to rule
over Judea. And the religious leaders and priests in Israel were
also not righteous before God. There were the Pharisees and the
Sadducees. On the other side, the emperors and armies of the Roman Empire were
also not good. Most of them were evil, killing, conquering and destroying
the lands and properties of others.
Then Jesus came. Everything would not be the same again.
Therefore I am pro-Jesus. The acts and deeds of Jesus are not the
same as that of the world.
When Joshua encountered the Commander of the LORD, he knew he was
standing on holy ground. He met God! And God told him what to do.
Joshua could not do things the same way he did before. He had to
remove his shoes! Doing the things of God the way God desired!
In Joshua 6, the walls of Jericho fell. How did God destroy
Jericho?
Joshua 6:1-5
The Destruction of Jericho
1 Now Jericho was securely shut up because of the children of
Israel; none went out, and none came in.
2 And the LORD said to Joshua: “See! I have given Jericho
into your hand, its king, and the mighty men of valor.
3 You shall march around the city, all you men of war; you
shall go all around the city once. This you shall do six days.
4 And seven priests shall bear seven trumpets of rams’ horns
before the ark. But the seventh day you shall march around the city
seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets.
5 It shall come to pass, when they make a long blast with the ram’s
horn, and when you hear the sound of the trumpet, that all
the people shall shout with a great shout; then the wall of
the city will fall down flat. And the people shall go up every man
straight before him.”
Joshua and the people of God did accordingly to what the LORD had told
them to do. They could not use their own human wisdom, knowledge,
tools and weapons to do this warfare! With the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a
two-edged sword in their hand, the people of God got the victory!
James 2:23
And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God,
and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” And he was
called the friend of God.
James 4:4
Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship
with the world is enmity with God? Whoever
therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy
of God.
Are we having true friendship with God? Or are we having
friendship with the world?
What others did and do is their response and business, and
hopefully they are responsible for what they do. What really matters
is what we do. Are we responsible for what we did and do?
Again I am pro-God and I am pro-Jesus!
If interested, please view this song:
LORD God Of Abraham
Written on:
26 October 2023