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?” 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?” 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. (Joshua 5:13-15 ESV)
This portion of Scripture MUST come to be a valuable lesson to us as Christians for us to try and understand this crazy world we live in, especially in these end times. We MUST stop thinking of the Lord as one that is always taking sides and remember that the Lord is the Lord of all creation:
But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. (Matthew 5:44-45 NKJV)
Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. (1 Timothy 2:1-4 NKJV)
As we read further on into chapters 6 and 7 of the book of Joshua, the Israelites faced two battles, Jericho and Ai. The Lord gave tremendous victory to Israel over Jericho. But when it came to Ai, the Israelites faced defeat the first time around. They took the Lord for granted and assumed that the Lord would always be on their side no matter what. They forgot that they were to be a holy and obedient people, continually asking the question, “What does my Lord say to His servants?”
Many Christians I know get completely bummed out because the results of political elections did not turn out the way they wanted. My simple advice is to stop asking, “Are You for us, or for our adversaries?”
We need to learn what Joshua did once he learned he was in the presence of the Lord (Preincarnate Christ). We are to fall on our faces to the earth and worship and say to Him, “What does our Lord say to His servants?”
Let’s take to heart to what the Lord’s reply to Joshua was, “Take off your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy.”
Notice how the question of whose side the Lord is on is never answered. It simply was the wrong question. But we do know from Scripture that the Lord most certainly does control all victories and defeats. What is also evident and where the emphasis is to be is that the Lord is holy, not the ground. That is why we are commanded to be holy also:
Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord. (Hebrews 12:14 NKJV)
Jesus reminded us in His Sermon on the Mount that it’s not about our will, it’s about God’s will:
“Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven.” (Matthew 6:10 NKJV)
As a lesson learned from Scripture, let’s make sure that we don’t ask the wrong questions of the Lord. His ways are infinitely higher than our ways (Isaiah 55:8-9). Let’s make sure we always ask the right questions and take on His perspective according to His Word!
Annointing 