O Captain, My Captain

Joshua 5:13-15

NOT

Isaiah 6:1-7

3 Essentials in Worship

1.Knowing God

2.Knowing Yourself

3.Total Submission

4.Glory to God Alone

Joshua 5:13-15

13 Now it came about when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, a man was standing 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 He said, “No; rather I indeed come now as captain of the host of the Lord.” And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and bowed down, and said to him, “What has my lord to say to his servant?” 15 The captain of the Lord’s host said to Joshua, “Remove your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so.

An Interesting Sight

“Now it came about when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked,

and behold, a man was standing opposite him with

his sword drawn in his hand”

“with his sword drawn in his hand”

• Numbers 22:23 – “When the donkey saw the

angel of the Lord standing in the way with his drawn sword in his hand, the donkey turned off from the way and went into the field…”

• 1 Chronicles 21:16 – “Then David lifted up his eyes and saw the angel of the Lord

standing between earth and heaven, with his drawn sword in his hand stretched out over Jerusalem”

Joshua’s Reaction

•He does NOT recognize the man as a divine messenger.

•We might paraphrase here by saying:

“He looked, and what do you know! A man was standing

opposite him.”

Joshua’s Question

“and Joshua went to him and said to him, ‘Are you for us or for our

adversaries?’”

Joshua is concerned with the upcoming battle and he wants to know if this impressive-looking

warrior is friend or foe.

The Lesson for Us

God is sovereign.

It is never a question whether God is on our

side but whether we are on God’s side.

The Man Reveals Himself

14 He said, “No; rather I indeed come now as captain of the host of

the Lord.”

He does not answer Joshua’s question, and his “No” confirms that his interests are not the same

as Joshua’s.

“the host of the Lord”

Two possibilities:

1. The army of Israel fighting on behalf of God

2.A celestial army fighting for Israel

“the Lord of hosts”

Yahweh Sabaoth

Occurs 250 times in the Old Testament

This can include the stars, as in Genesis 2:1 and Isaiah 40:26.

It can also mean angels, as in 1 Kings 22:19 or Psalm 103:19-21.

2 Kings 6:8-17

Ephesians 6:12

12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.

Yahweh’s Heavenly Army

• There is no indication that the man Joshua met was taking personal command of Israel’s army, displacing Joshua

• Even the syntax of v. 14 highlights the commander: a literal translation of his response is “No. For I, I am the commander of the army of the LORD.”

• The focus on himself points to a divine being with a divine mission.

Joshua’s Realization

And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and bowed down, and said to him,

“What has my lord to say to his servant?”

Joshua falls prostrate

And

He calls the man, “my lord” and refers to himself as “his servant.”

One Commentary says:

“Whether this was an act of true worship of God or a more general

gesture of respect for a superior (since both can be signified by the verb used

here) has been debated. However, Joshua called him “my lord,” using the

generic term ʾădōnî rather than “my Lord,” using God’s name ʾădōnāy,

which suggests that he may still have been unclear as to whether or not he

was speaking with God himself.”

Spot the Difference?

י אדנ

ʾădōnî

י אדנ

ʾădōnāy

And so, I think Joshua knows

exactly Whom he is speaking

to, and he reacts accordingly.

G. Campbell Morgan

“The supreme thing is worship. The attitude of worship is the attitude

of a subject bent before the King…The

fundamental thought is that of prostration, of

bowing down.”

A Supernatural Encounter

•Theological Word of the Day:

Theophany

“Manifestation of God that is tangible to the human

senses…a visible appearance of God”

Genesis 32:22-30

Joshua’s Question:

“What has my lord to say to his servant?”

Joshua is Humble, Expectant, and Obedient

Joshua Knows his Place

Joshua is Ready to Serve

Joshua 5:15

The captain of the Lord’s host said to Joshua,

“Remove your sandals from your feet, for the place

where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so.

Exodus 3:1-6

A Few Details:

• “The angel of the Lord appeared to him in a blazing fire from the midst of a bush”

• “God called to him from the midst of the bush”

• “Do not come near here; remove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground”

• “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.”

Who is “the angel of the Lord?”

•The term appears 67 times in the OT

•Use of definite nouns

•Can also be translated “the angel that is Yahweh” or “Angel Yahweh”

Exodus 23:20-23

20 “Behold, I am going to send an angel before you to guard you along the way and to bring you into the place which I have prepared. 21 Be on your guard before him and obey his voice; do not be rebellious toward him, for he will not pardon your transgression, since My name is in him. 22 But if you truly obey his voice and do all that I say, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries. 23 For My angel will go before you and bring you in to the land of the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hivites and the Jebusites; and I will completely destroy them.

I Will Argue That:

The Angel of the Lord in Exodus 3:2 is the same Person as the angel in Exodus

20:21 and is the Captain of the Lord’s Host in Joshua 5:14.

And in all three cases, we are witnessing a preincarnate appearance of the 2nd Person of the Godhead, the

Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

How Do We Know?

1. Just as God appeared to Moses at the burning bush, God appeared to Joshua outside Jericho.

2. He accepts (and encourages) Joshua’s worship.

3. “Remove your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy.”

Eugene Merrill:

“The whole sequence—circumcision, Passover, and theophany—emphatically declared that the Israel of conquest was the Israel of

exodus. The God who had saved his people out of Egypt would

now save them in Canaan.”

Furthermore:

What is missing from this

interaction?

Joshua’s Instructions

Are found in 6:2-5.

And who gives those instructions?

“The LORD”

Just as it was God Himself speaking in the burning bush, it is God Himself speaking as the captain of the Lord’s

host.

Tozer Once Again:

“The beautiful part of worship is that it prepares

you and enables you to zero in on the important things that must be done

for God.”

3 Essentials in Worship

1.Knowing God

2.Knowing Yourself

3.Total Submission

4.Glory to God Alone

Westminster Catechism:

What is the Chief End of

Man?

Ephesians 3:11-12

11 This was in accordance with the eternal purpose which He carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord, 12 in whom we have boldness and confident access through faith in Him.

Hebrews 4:16

16 Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.