Joshua Day 4
Ready Joshua 5:13-15
Right before the Israelites begin to siege the Promised Land and push the other nations out, a really interesting interaction occurs between Joshua and a warrior. As Joshua sees this warrior, he approaches him and asks the burning question on his mind, “Are you on our side or our enemies’ side?”. The warrior simply replies, “Neither”. “But as the commander of the Lord’s army, I have now come”. Fast forward a little bit to the end, and we can speculate that this is more than an angelic warrior, but actually Christ himself. The warrior tells Joshua that the place he is standing is holy ground, this is a direct reference to Exodus 3 when God appeared to Moses in the burning bush with the same words. Thousands of years before Christ’s birth, He is present and alive, accomplishing the mission of God.
Two quick lessons to take away from these three verses in Joshua 5. The first is that we shouldn’t ask ourselves “Is God on my side?”, but rather, “Am I on God’s side?”. It’s easy to lower God down to our level and in our minds, turn Him into a genie that we just want to follow us and bless the things we do (whether they are in line with His will or not). “God bless my relationship, my career path, my friendships, etc”. But this story reminds us that the more important question is, am I on God’s side? Am I aligned with His will for my life? Am I totally surrendered to Him?
I don’t believe it’s a coincidence that this happens right before Joshua is about to lead an army into battle, God is reminding Joshua that life is not about charging forward and asking God to be with you in anything you take on. But rather, it is about following God’s lead, remaining in His will and when you do so, naturally things will always turn out better for us.
The second lesson is that God is always with us. In this moment, Joshua is standing in a pagan nation that practiced some horrific things. They worshipped false gods, sacrificed children, abused their sexuality and so much more. Yet in the midst of a dark and fallen place, God is with Joshua and because He is, even a dark and fallen place turns to holy ground. Consider that when you step foot into the darkness of your school, sports team, maybe even your own home, that because you have the Holy Spirit dwelling within you, you are on holy ground.
Questions to consider.
Take a moment to consider, what things in your life are not surrendered to God? Is there anything that you know is outside of His will for your life? Write down anything you can think of.
How does it encourage you that even in the dark and sin-ridden places you go, God is always with you and he’s turning the normal everyday things in holy experiences as you surrender to Him.
Ask God to help you surrender to His will. Ask Him to show you anything in your life that you need to surrender to Him and trust Him with then take steps to do that!
Right before the Israelites begin to siege the Promised Land and push the other nations out, a really interesting interaction occurs between Joshua and a warrior. As Joshua sees this warrior, he approaches him and asks the burning question on his mind, “Are you on our side or our enemies’ side?”. The warrior simply replies, “Neither”. “But as the commander of the Lord’s army, I have now come”. Fast forward a little bit to the end, and we can speculate that this is more than an angelic warrior, but actually Christ himself. The warrior tells Joshua that the place he is standing is holy ground, this is a direct reference to Exodus 3 when God appeared to Moses in the burning bush with the same words. Thousands of years before Christ’s birth, He is present and alive, accomplishing the mission of God.
Two quick lessons to take away from these three verses in Joshua 5. The first is that we shouldn’t ask ourselves “Is God on my side?”, but rather, “Am I on God’s side?”. It’s easy to lower God down to our level and in our minds, turn Him into a genie that we just want to follow us and bless the things we do (whether they are in line with His will or not). “God bless my relationship, my career path, my friendships, etc”. But this story reminds us that the more important question is, am I on God’s side? Am I aligned with His will for my life? Am I totally surrendered to Him?
I don’t believe it’s a coincidence that this happens right before Joshua is about to lead an army into battle, God is reminding Joshua that life is not about charging forward and asking God to be with you in anything you take on. But rather, it is about following God’s lead, remaining in His will and when you do so, naturally things will always turn out better for us.
The second lesson is that God is always with us. In this moment, Joshua is standing in a pagan nation that practiced some horrific things. They worshipped false gods, sacrificed children, abused their sexuality and so much more. Yet in the midst of a dark and fallen place, God is with Joshua and because He is, even a dark and fallen place turns to holy ground. Consider that when you step foot into the darkness of your school, sports team, maybe even your own home, that because you have the Holy Spirit dwelling within you, you are on holy ground.
Questions to consider.
Take a moment to consider, what things in your life are not surrendered to God? Is there anything that you know is outside of His will for your life? Write down anything you can think of.
How does it encourage you that even in the dark and sin-ridden places you go, God is always with you and he’s turning the normal everyday things in holy experiences as you surrender to Him.
Ask God to help you surrender to His will. Ask Him to show you anything in your life that you need to surrender to Him and trust Him with then take steps to do that!