Commander of the Lord’s Army

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.                          –Joshua 5:13-15

Who is this Commander of the Lord’s Army?

I believe this is none other than Jesus Christ pre-incarnate. In other passages when angels appear, they always instruct men not to bow down before them. Here, Joshua bows down and is not instructed not to. In fact, he is instructed to remove his sandals because he is on Holy ground. Does this sound familiar?

   ⁴ So when the LORD saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, “Moses, Moses!”
And he said, “Here I am.”
⁵ Then He said, “Do not draw near this place. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground.” ⁶ Moreover He said, “I am the God of your father—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God. –Exodus 3:4-6

Joshua’s task (taking the land) was monumental. Remember after the death of Moses God kept telling Joshua to be strong and of good courage.

This Commander was letting Joshua know that the battles he faced would be the Lord’s battles; he would not have to rely on his own abilities.

Immediately following this passage is the account of the battle of Jericho. The men of Israel only had to march around the city and the Lord did the rest.

I get chills thinking about this.

Today, we fight a spiritual war. Have we any cause to believe that this same Commander of the Lord’s Army will not lead us in the battle? We can have the same confidence that Joshua had. We should be strong and courageous as well.