CRITICAL NOTES.—
Joshua 5:13. By Jericho] Lit., in Jericho. Ewald gives the meaning, “the immediate neighbourhood, the closest connection with another thing, and, as it were, the act of entering into it.” This should have prevented the remark, “The place may have been near Gilgal.… ‘Near Gilgal’ would be equivalent to ‘by Jericho.’ ” Joshua had evidently gone to investigate the city, and was hear to it when the vision occurred.
Joshua 5:14. And did worship] “The words are not only used in connection with the worship of God, but also to denote the deep reverence which is shewn in the East by a subject to his king; e.g., 2 Samuel 9:6; 2 Samuel 14:33” (Keil). Taken by themselves, therefore, the words do not prove that this was the Divine Being; taken with other expressions, they are nevertheless contributive to this conclusion. Whatever reverence kings may accept, angels seem jealously to regard such homage as the sole prerogative of God (cf. Revelation 19:10; Revelation 22:9).
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.— Joshua 5:13-15
TIMES AND FORMS OF DIVINE MANIFESTATION
The angel who here appears to Joshua was manifestly none other than the Angel of the Covenant—Jesus Christ. Calvin, and many since him, have come to this conclusion. As it was none other than the Lord Himself who wrestled with Jacob at the ford Jabbok, so that Jacob cried, “I have seen God face to face;” as it was none other than He who appeared to Moses in the bush, and gave His name as “I AM,” though He is called an angel; so He who now appears to Joshua is none other than Jesus Christ. There are several things in the narrative which seem to require this interpretation.
1. This armed being calls himself the Captain, or Prince, of the host of the Lord, a phrase which comes near to “the Lord of hosts”—“the Lord of Sabaoth”—by which we are ever wont to recognise Deity.
2. This warrior claims to make the very place holy by his presence God said to Moses at the bush, “Put off thy shoes,” etc.; so, similarly, it is said to Joshua, “Loose thy shoe from off thy foot.”
3. Joshua is said to have worshipped. Referring to the usage of the East, when a subject meets his king, and quoting 2 Samuel 9:6; 2 Samuel 14:33, Keil expresses his opinion that the word does not mean Divine worship. The custom of kings, as has been shewn, is no rule for the conduct of angels, whom we see in the book of Revelation repeatedly refusing even the prostrations of men; to them the very act meant worship.
4. In chap. Joshua 6:2, this armed visitant claims Divine powers: “See, I have given into thine hand Jericho.”
5. In the same verse the speaker is actually called Jehovah. Thus we may unquestioningly take this as one of those Old Testament anticipations of the Incarnation in which the Son of God appears to men. It is what Isaiah calls “the Angel of His presence,” once more drawing near to save His people. As a recent writer has said, “Thus the first and the second Joshua met, the type and the Antitype; he who led Israel to victory over fierce and terrible foes, and He who leads the spiritual Israel to the conquest of the world, the flesh, and the devil; who will finally cause them to triumph over death, the last enemy, and will award to each faithful follower the crown of endless life. [Groser.]
I. The Saviour loves to recognise the spiritual life of His people, and when they seek to come close to Him, He delights to draw near to them. Joshua had followed the Divine will in the circumcision, he had drawn near to God in the passover and the feast of unleavened bread; these are hardly over when Jesus Himself draws near to Joshua. It is like the Divine way in the repeatedly occurring words, “Turn ye unto Me, saith the Lord of hosts, and I will turn unto you, saith the Lord of hosts.”
1. When God graciously reveals Himself to men, it is to men who love Him and walk with Him. When the three angels come, it is to commune with Abraham, not with Lot, albeit they proceed to save the man who dwells in Sodom. The vision of the burning bush was for Moses, not for Pharaoh. When the form of the Son of man is seen in the province of Babylon, it is with the throne Hebrews in the fire, not with Nebuchadnezzar on the throne. It was as they communed together, and reasoned on their Lord’s death, that Jesus Himself drew near, and walked with the two disciples to Emmaus. It would hinder us, and curse us, if God drew near to bless us when we were living far from Him. Fancy the effect of the Divine smile on Pharaoh; it would have made that hard heart harder still. Think of Nero and Judas singing,
“My God, the spring of all my joys;”
of having occasion so to sing, and yet remaining wicked as ever; they would have been even worse than they were, had God given them His presence in their sin. God will not draw nigh to us, any more than to others, if we persist in living in disobedience to Him. It would put a premium on sin for Him to bless us in times like these.
2. Although the Saviour does not now come to men visibly, we are not to think that His coming is less actual and real than it was of old. We have all the joy of reading the accounts of these visions given to the godly men of former days. The very consideration of such mercy to them helps us also, by faith, to see Him who is invisible. But this is not all:
“We shine not only with the light
Thou didst send down of yore;
The fathers had not all of Thee,
Thy comings are not o’er.”
Was not Christ as much with the apostles at Pentecost as during His ministry? When Peter was sinking, his Lord took him by the hand; when the Saviour drew apart from men into the glory of the transfiguration and into the darkness of Gethsemane, He took with Him Peter; but Peter never stood so near to his Lord as when preaching at Pentecost. Let us learn to feel that Christ is with us indeed when we in life and spirit are found with Him. His very name is Emmanuel. It was one of the sins of this ancient people, that they asked, “Is the Lord among us or not?” “I do set the Lord always before me,” is, to the godly man, not merely a faith, but a life.
3. Our more striking realizations of the Saviour’s presence are not designed to be perpetual. Joshua sees this vision but for a little time, and then it vanishes away. The mercy was transitory, or it would have ceased to be a mercy. The work would have been hindered, had worship been indefinitely prolonged. Moses at the bush, and Saul on the way to Damascus, do but behold the Lord for a brief season. And these transitory blessings of the old days are like our higher visions of Christ—we cannot have them always. Constant rapture would not be good; it would drain and enfeeble the life, rather than give it strength. In his “Scrambles amongst the Alps,” Whymper says, with true perception, “No views create such lasting impressions as those which are seen but for a moment, when a veil of mist is rent in twain, and a single spire or dome is disclosed. The peaks which are seen at these moments are not perhaps the greatest, or the noblest, but the recollections of them outlive the memory of any panoramic view, because the picture photographed by the eye has time to dry, instead of being blurred, while yet wet, by contact with other impressions.” It would not be well that we should always gaze as in our more vivid beholdings of God. Our better strength above may bear this more continuous sight of Him, but here it is otherwise. The vision needs time to dry. It is when we see the Lord for a moment between the riven cloud of some terrible affliction, or in the joy of more rapt communion, that the sight abides with us. When in a moment of ecstacy Peter beheld the glory of the Lord, he wished to prolong the vision, and cried, “Let us make three tabernacles.” It was good to be there, and the servant wished to stay. The Holy Ghost tells us that Peter spake, “not knowing what he said.” Even so, when the glory was so bright, the fleeting vision was its better form. And the fleeting vision was none the less permanent in its hold on the mind and heart. More than thirty years after, Peter could call on his memory, reproduce to himself the scene again, and write to them who had obtained like precious faith, of the way in which “there came such a voice from the excellent glory.” Probably it was more than sixty years after the vision when John wrote, “We beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father.” Brief visions of God may be life-long helps. Joshua would never forget, in all his wars, Him who said, “See, I have given Jericho into thine hand.” He who would always live amidst exciting services, and can speak hopefully of nothing but perpetual raptures, may be earnest, but is not wise.
II. The Saviour beholds the necessities of His people; and where they particularly need Him, there they may look for His special appearance. It is over against Jericho that Jesus reveals Himself to Joshua; it is by the city that is fortified against Joshua, and on the scene of the coming battle.
1. It is where we want Christ that we may look for Him. What a blessed way He has, all through His ministry, of suddenly putting in an appearance by the side of some one in urgent necessity! How He ever seems coming across the path of the blind! How, when the impotent man at Bethesda had been a long time in that sad case of his, the Saviour seems to come that way in the very hour of the despair which feels the hopelessness of waiting there any longer! It is when the man has come to realize that he has no one to put him into the pool, and to know the certainty of some one stepping down before him, that Jesus comes. We look at the funeral procession leaving the city of Nain, and are apt to think of the Saviour’s meeting with it as a happy coincidence. How many similar coincidences that sacred ministry of pity was always having! It is Christ’s sweet mannerism of heavenly compassion to time His meetings to our crises. He loves to meet want, because His love to help the needy is genuine. Men talk about compassion, but too often, like the priest and the Levite of the parable, they “go by on the other side,” lest they should have some opportunity for its exercise. He who is the Good Samaritan comes to the wounded where they are. Jesus has a heavenly way of being a “God nigh at hand” when men are ready to perish. Do we feel our need of Him? Are we thinking on our conflicts, present and to come, and, like Joshua, as he gazed on the fortified city, feeling they may be too hard for us if we are unaided? Let us lift up our eyes, that we may look on His form, who times His visits to our necessities. It is the Divine way to be near men in their hour of want. The Scriptures are full of such instances of His mercy. When we cannot bear to wait any longer as we are, then is the time for prayer; He, whose way often is to come when no word is uttered, will not leave us unanswered then.
2. This vision was given to a man who had work to do for God. It is not only when we have anxieties to disturb our peace, and burdens too heavy to be endured, but when we have tasks to perform which are too difficult for us, that we may look for His presence. He who said, “Without Me ye can do nothing,” will hardly leave us to work alone in duties commanded by Himself.
III. The Saviour has regard to the individuality of His people; and as they need His help in that manner, and in that character, He comes to meet their want. To Joshua, who has battles to fight, Christ comes as an armed warrior. In order to encourage and strengthen His servant, the very “Prince of Peace” manifests Himself with a drawn sword in His hand.
1. The Lord has regard to our particular work. He appeared to Gideon to encourage him as “a mighty man of valour.” To the apostles, who were charged to preach the gospel to every creature, the Holy Ghost revealed Himself at Pentecost as a tongue of fire, sitting upon the head of each of them. As our work, so is God’s help.
2. The Lord has regard to the special character of our trials. Moses should see, in the bush, that things which were burned were not consumed when the Lord was in the midst of them. What a help to the man who had to enter himself, and lead his brethren out of, the furnace of Egypt! Jacob the outcast should see the ladder that united heaven with earth, and hear the voice that said, “I am with thee in all places whithersoever thou goest.” Jacob, whose life was to be one long struggle with adverse providences, should wrestle with Him who was the author of them all, and thus learn that he might have power with God, and prevail, and come to great victory even through seeming defeat. The man of the unclean lips should see the seraph fly with a live coal, as from the altar of sacrifice, and hear a voice that proclaimed all his iniquity to be taken away. As we want Christ, so Christ comes to us. It is said that in twelve niches of a bridge in Austria there are twelve different representations of the Saviour, and that day by day men may be seen praying before the particular representation of Christ suitable to themselves. The mechanic will pray before Christ the carpenter, the sick and wounded before Christ the physician, the keeper of sheep before Christ the Good Shepherd, and similarly all through the various representations. Whatever our personal need may be, the Saviour has revealed Himself in sufficient variety to embrace our wants also; and if our necessities and trials seem peculiar, He shews Himself willing to meet us with appropriate help.
IV. Let the Saviour appear to His people when and how He will, the more graciously He manifests Himself to men, the more devoutly are they to remember that He is none other than their Lord and their God. Christ comes to Joshua seemingly as a man and a fellow-soldier; He will forego none of the reverence due unto His name because of His grace and condescension.
1. The more God blesses us, the more profound should be our humility, and the deeper our adoration.
2. The more God vouchsafes to help us, the more complete should be our sense of dependence. “What saith my Lord unto His servant?” is meet language in which to confess our allegiance, and declare our readiness to obey.
OUTLINES AND COMMENTS ON THE VERSES
THE COURAGE OF THE FEAR OF GOD.
The courage of God-fearing men will bear examination:—
I. In the light of history. The Divine word to Joshua, that he should “be of good courage,” was not spoken in vain. Walking out by Jericho, he was probably seeking to make himself acquainted with its surroundings. He did not yet know the mind of the Lord concerning the plan of battle; he would see where the city was strong and where it was weak, that his attack might be made with advantage. Suddenly, as Joshua lifted up his eyes, an armed man was seen standing over against him. The very place, and not less the attitude, was suggestive of an enemy. With no hesitation, so far as we can gather from the narrative, Joshua went unto him, and said, “Art thou for us, or for our adversaries?” Insensibly we are reminded of the similar appearance to Balaam. Balaam went forth on a mission of sin, and he, too, saw the angel of the Lord standing in the way, and having a drawn sword in his hand. How did this man, walking in the ways of sin, bear himself before such an appearance? He bowed his head, and fell flat upon his face. He did this at the very sight of the angel, and in a manner which looks more like the fear so becoming his guilty life, than this reverence of Joshua, who bowed himself to the earth only when he heard the lofty title of Him before whom he stood. All through the history of men, those have been the bravest who have feared God.
1. They have been behind none in martial courage. It was the son of Jesse, who feared the Lord from his youth, that dared to meet Goliath. Not a single warrior of the army seems to have thought of a deed like this. It belonged to the future leader of Israel’s holy service and ardent song to do what the trained veterans of Saul trembled to think of, and refused to attempt. It was just because David feared the Lord, that he had no fear of the monster who had defied the Lord’s army. So it has been ever since. Though war is not the chosen sphere of Christian service, and though not a few who have lacked piety have been unquestionably brave, the most pious soldiers have ever been among their country’s staunchest defenders. “Cromwell’s Ironsides” and “Havelock’s Saints” found none to despise them in the field, let who would scorn them in the camp. Col. Gardiner and Captain Vicars never tarnished their swords with their religion, though many would have preferred their religion apart from their military prowess.
2. In conflicts on moral and spiritual fields, God-fearing men have ever stood in advance of the courage of others. Many religious professors have been cowards, but not those who have feared the Lord. They have excelled their fellows in courage in standing by the weak and the outcast; in upholding commercial and social integrity; in bearing the trials of life; in meeting the last enemy—Death.
II. In the light of their peculiar subjects of thought. In the estimation of some, it might be supposed that the particular subjects of religious meditation set forth in the Scriptures, are unfavourable to courage.
1. All of Divine revelation lies over in the direction of the unseen. The very name “revelation” suggests looking into what, without it, belongs to the invisible. To an ordinary mind that is not supposed to be helpful to bravery. Tell a man human imaginings of the unseen world, recapitulate the stories of “ghosts,” and talk about “the invisible spirits that walk the earth,” and the usual result is trepidation. How is it that the people who are students of the book which shews them that they are encamped around with angels, and that spirits of evil go about them seeking whom they may devour, are able to sleep with so few disturbing dreams? How is it that the men who meet God in every path are not timid? How is it that this constant gaze into the dark and awful invisible does not destroy the balance of the nervous system? It is precisely because these men have learned to look into the unseen world, that they are as they are. They have seen God; they have seen Him awful in majesty, but more tender than a mother in love; and they have learned to say, “If God be for us, who can be against us?” Thus do they sing, each to the rest,
“Fear Him, ye saints, and you will then
Have nothing else to fear.”
2. Much of Divine revelation deals with sentiment and emotion. These things are not usually thought good for courage. Poetry and prayers and visions are not supposed by some to lie in the same direction as manliness and stamina. “Reason,” men say, “think calmly, and wisely, and judicially, and then you will not fear.” Christianity, on the other hand, stimulates the strongest feelings, claims the heart for its centre, deals with subjects of pathos and song and ardent emotion; its very key-word is “faith;” and the Saviour, around whom its adherents rally and move, is invisible, saving in works which declare His hand, and in words the latest of which are eighteen centuries old. And yet no men dare to sing in sorrow, and to be bold everywhere as Christian men do. Why is this? It is because they fear God.
3. Much of Divine revelation is a manifestation of supernatural power. Every morning’s ordinary mercies make the God-fearing man say, “Thy mercies;” but supernatural things especially are only to be accounted for by the presence of God. Prayers are from Him, as well as to Him; comfort and help in the sanctuary are because He is there; any single conversion means that He is present; all the generous ministries of the Church, which come each from a true heart fervently, come of Him. The worldly and the wicked man is like the child with his head beneath the bedclothes, who seeks to shut out at once the terrifying darkness, and the suggestive creaking of the boards, or the moaning of the wind; the only way to his peace is the way of oblivion. “God is not in all his thoughts.” “I will fear no evil,” is peculiarly the watchword of those who fear God; sinful men have never made it their own yet, and they never will.
III. In the light of their spirit of humility and obedience. Joshua no sooner knew that he was in this great Presence, than he bowed himself; “he fell on his face to the earth, and did worship:” he was told to loose his shoe from off his foot, “and Joshua did so.” Yet this was the man who met his seeming foe with so bold a front. The man who bows lowest before God, ever bears himself most nobly before those whom he ought to count his enemies; and he who knows how to obey the Lord, knows how to resist where he ought not to yield. It is sinful Adam who hides, and guilty Cain who cries, “My punishment is greater than I can bear;” it is Job who answers the tempter, “Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him.”
Joshua 5:13.—The path of watchfulness and duty is often the place where the Lord is met.
The Lord often seems to be resisting His people, where He does but intend to help them.
They who meet the Lord in the ways of life, having, apparently, His sword drawn against them, do but need to inquire of Him with a right heart, when they will find that the sword is for their protection.
The godly man will pause to inquire of his seeming foes, with gentleness and candour, before he smites them in anger.
Joshua 5:13-14.—THE LORD AND THE SERVANT.
I. The Lord’s claims upon His servants.
1. Absolute authority. “As Captain am I come.” This authority is claimed in the very moment of revealing Himself. “As Captain am I now come.” This authority is claimed over all the Church in common. “As Captain of the Lord’s host,” etc.
2. Profound reverence and adoration for Himself. The prostration was not enough. Joshua must “loose his shoe from off his foot.” This act of homage, also, was necessary.
3. Holy awe for the place where He is, and for the things with which He has to do. “The place whereon thou standest is holy.
II. The servant’s response to his Lord. The true servant has:—
1. Humility in his Lord’s presence. “Joshua fell on his face to the earth.” He himself was revered by all Israel;
“But merit lives from man to man,
And not from man, O Lord, to Thee.”
2. Worship for his Lord’s person and character. The very consciousness of the Divine presence filled Joshua with adoring awe: the style and title were great, the Being and the character were far greater.
3. Inquiry concerning his Lord’s will. He who says not, “Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?” can hardly claim to be a servant.
4. Obedience to his Lord’s command. “And Joshua did so.”
Joshua 5:13-15. THE TRUE CAMPAIGN.
“In Hebrew history the Infinite Artist gives us a picture of the mind in its fallen condition, struggling to deliver itself. The emancipation from Egyptian bondage, the trying pilgrimage in the desert, the special interposition of heaven in the crossing of the Jordan, the fearful battles that were fought, and the settling down at last in the promised land, are all photographs of struggling souls making their way from the thraldom of sin into ‘the inheritance of the saints in light.’ … The war scene of the text suggests three facts concerning man’s true campaign.
I. That in the true campaign God has committed to man a great work.
1. It is an onerous work. The work to which God called Joshua on this occasion was the utter extermination of most formidable antagonists.… Our work in the moral campaign is still more onerous. We live in a world of evil. Corrupt principles, the mighty ‘powers of darkness,’ possess the world we live in. They crowd our spheres of action; and, alas, they are encamped within us! The work to which we are called is their entire extermination, both from within and without.
2. It is a righteous work.… The man who consecrates his energies to the downfall of evil, whose life is one earnest struggle against the principalities and powers of darkness, is acting evermore in accordance with the eternal law of rectitude. He is fighting ‘the good fight of faith,’ and if he is faithful, he shall receive ‘a crown of glory that fadeth not away.’
8. It is an indispensable work. Never will you possess the Canaan of spiritual harmony, moral approbation, self-control, uplifting thoughts, heavenly affections, ever-brightening hopes, and free and blessed intercourse with the Infinite Father of spirits, without the expulsion of evil from your soul. He only that overcometh shall inherit.
II. That in the true campaign God blesses man with a GREAT LEADER. Taking the description which is here given of Christ as a figurative representation of Him as our moral chieftain, three facts are suggested concerning Him in that capacity:
1. He is ever present when needed. Joshua needed some special manifestation to reassure him of his duty, to inspire his courage, and to nerve his arm for his terrible mission. And here it is. ‘He lifted up his eyes and looked, and, behold, there stood,’ etc. So it ever is. ‘The Lord stood with me and strengthened me,’ said Paul.
2. He is always ready. He was not only present in the hour of need, but prepared. He stood before Joshua ‘with His sword drawn in His hand.’ He stands by our side, and says, ‘All power is given unto Me in heaven and earth.’ ‘Lo. I am with you alway.’
3. He is all-sufficient. He is ‘the Captain of the Lord’s hosts.’ He is the controller of all powers. The forces of the material universe are at His command.… All the forces of the spiritual universe are at His command. He is Captain of the hosts of heaven. ‘He maketh His angels spirits, and His ministers a flame of fire.’ ‘Him hath God exalted,’ etc. With such a chieftain as this, shall we fear our enemies, or can we fail in battle?
III. That in the true campaign God requires a great spirit.
1. Joshua displays a spirit of indomitable valour. ‘Art thou for us, or for our adversaries?’ This is the courage which we want, which we honour, and which we must have, before we can win one victory in the battle of life.
2. He displays the spirit of reverent enquiry. ‘He fell on his face to the earth,’ etc. This is the true spirit. Paul had this: ‘Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?’ With this spirit, victory is certain; without it, defeat is inevitable.
3. He displays the spirit of solemn obedience ‘Loose thy shoe,’ … ‘And Joshua did so.’ On whatever place we stand, it is holy ground, because God is present.… Did we always feel His presence, we should walk this earth with reverent and solemn step; feel that
‘Life is real, life is earnest;’
and that the great end and blessedness of our being consists in working out the will of the GREAT ALL IN ALL.…
“Would you be a hero in the strife? Then put yourself under the command of the Captain of the Lord’s host. He will lead you on from victory to victory. His victories are real. They are not over the body, which is the mere instrument of the man; they are over the soul—over the man himself. He who subdues the mind is the only true conqueror. The Lord’s victories are merciful. It is love that nerves His arm. He strikes not to wound, but to heal; not against life, but against its evils and curses; not to destroy, but to save. Every blow He gives is to crush an evil and to save a soul.” [Dr. Thomas, Homilist.]