Joshua 5 13-15

Today, I read from the book of Joshua, part of the Old Testament in the Bible, and this is what I learned.

¹³ When Joshua was by Jericho, he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, a man was standing before him with his drawn sword in his hand. And Joshua went to him and said to him, “Are you for us, or for our adversaries?” ¹⁴ And he said, “No; but I am the commander of the army of the Lord. Now I have 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 And the commander of the Lord's army said to Joshua, “Take off your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so.

In this text, Joshua is at Jericho, a very large obstacle in the path of the Israelites, when he sees a man standing nearby with a sword out. Joshua then asks the man if he is on their side or on their enemies' side.

He replies that he is not on their side or on their enemies' side, but he is the commander of the army of the Lord. We need to be on God's side, not the other way around.

Then Joshua fell down on his face and worshiped him. Falling down on your face was a sign of humility. The commander of the army of the Lord received his worship instead of rebuking him for it.

If an angel had talked to Joshua, he would have told him to stop because he was just a messenger, and not God himself. This means that Joshua was to Jesus.

Next, the commander of the army of the Lord told him to take off his sandals because the place he was standing on was holy ground.

Taking off your sandals showed that you were a servant because the servants wouldn't own shoes, but Joshua did it anyway. This shows that we need to act like servants of the Lord, not only say that we are.