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.” — Joshua 5:13-14

It has been a trying month, at the end of a trying summer.  Two politically-motivated assassinations, multiple attacks on churches, several shootings at schools and workplaces, and an awful lot of finger pointing has us all in a state of constant anxiety and tension.  It seems as if every word spoken, every statement made on social media, every speech (or sermon) given is parsed to try and determine who is with us and who is against us.  We know (well, presume actually) that God is on our side and want to know whether the people we read or talk to are our friends or our enemies.  Perhaps God doesn’t pick sides the same way we do.

The verses above come in the middle of a very tense moment for Joshua and the people of Israel.  Moses has died and Joshua was appointed to take his place.  Chapter 1 of the book of Joshua recounts God’s commissioning of Joshua (God tells Joshua to “be strong and courageous” no less than three times in the first nine verses) and how he took command of the people.  Chapter 2 is the famous story of Rahab and the spies in Jericho.  In chapters 3 and 4, Israel crosses into the Promised Land through the River Jordan, in a scene reminiscent of the crossing of the Red Sea during the Exodus.  At the beginning of chapter 5, as they prepare to begin the conquest of the Promised Land, the people of God are re-consecrated to the Lord.  Just after the verses above, in chapter 6 we have the fall of Jericho.  Squeezed in at the end of chapter 5 we have this very short scene with Joshua and and angel, the Commander of the Army of the Lord.

Joshua, pacing in the desert with anxiety and worry about what lies ahead (the impenetrable and impassable walls of Jericho), comes across a stranger with a sword.  It’s a perfectly reasonable question to ask: “Are you friend or foe? Are you for us or our adversaries?”  What stands out most about this is how the angel answers Joshua’s question.  Of course the answer is, “I am for you.”  Everything up to this point has shown just how thoroughly God is “for them.”  They are the people of Israel, God’s chosen ones.  God, himself, commissioned Joshua and directed his steps to this point.  God, himself, stopped the waters of Jericho so the people could cross.  God, himself, directed their re-consecration to Him.  But the answer wasn’t, “I am for you.”  The answer is as blunt as it is curt: “No.”

God is only ever on one side: His own.  This is made most clear in Isaiah 48:9-11: “For my name’s sake I defer my anger; for the sake of my praise I restrain it for you, that I may not cut you off. Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tried you in the furnace of affliction. For my own sake, for my own sake, I do it, for how should my name be profaned? My glory I will not give to another.” (Is. 48:9-11)  What God does, or does not, is based solely on what furthers His plans and increases His own glory.  We get so wrapped up in presuming that God is on our side that we rarely stop to ask whether we are on His.

Almost a thousand years later, the disciples wanted to know the same thing Joshua did.  After three years of following Jesus, facing the depths of despair as He was crucified and died, and then the heights of exaltation when He rose from the grave, they still thought He was on their side.  Just before Jesus ascended to heaven, they asked, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” (Acts 1:6-8)  Once again, Jesus doesn’t give the expected answer.  Jesus basically says, “You’re asking the wrong question.  But I’m going to empower and enable you to be on my side, to be my hands and feet, to carry the good news of the coming of God’s Kingdom to all corners of your neighborhoods and the globe.”

It took a long time for Israel to take possession of the Promised Land.  At the end of the book of Joshua, he gathers all the people together.  He reminds them of all that God has done for them from the time they left Egypt up to that moment because they were on God’s side.  Joshua then issues a challenge, one that echoes through to our day.  Fear the Lord, Joshua says, and put away the petty “gods” and divisions that this world tells you matter.  Choose for yourself whose side you will be on: God’s, or not God’s.  With Joshua I declare, as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.  What say you?

Now therefore fear the LORD and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the LORD, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD. — Joshua 24:14-15

Blessings,

Rev. David Garrison