Bible Commentaries
Joshua 5

Verses 13-14

Joshua 5:13-14

I. There is a lesson here, not inappropriate to the present times, in the fact that Christ appeared to Joshua as a "man of war." Would that image have been used, would Christ have assumed that form, if all war were out of the question?

II. It is still more important to remark how strikingly the manifestations of Christ accommodate themselves to the various circumstances of His people. To Abraham, a wanderer and sojourner in Canaan, He manifests Himself as a wayfaring man. To Jacob, on the eve of an expected conflict with his brother, Christ shows Himself as a comforter. To Joshua, a soldier and an officer, Christ, too, is a soldier in command.

III. Joshua stood before the heavenly Captain, with the shoes from off his feet, to receive orders about the conducting of the siege. So let it be with us all. As soon as a providence, a word, a will, of God shows the special presence of Deity, let it have supremacy, and every human authority, however high, stand in the posture of silent obedience.

J. Vaughan, Fifty Sermons, 1874, p. 243.

Consider this narrative

I. As describing an anticipatory appearance of Christ. In reality Christ was not "a man" before He was born in Bethlehem. It was not the body, but only the appearance, of a man that Joshua saw.

II. This narrative foreshadows a peculiar relation that exists between Christ and His followers. (1) They are the Lord's host. The Church is a host on account of its numbers, its unity, its order. (2) Of this host Christ is the Captain. He is Captain by sanction of law and by suffrage of the army, and He is Captain throughout all time.

III. See the consequences of this relation. (1) As Captain of the Lord's host, Christ summons His people to a life of warfare. (2) He requires unquestioning obedience to His authority. (3) He furnishes His soldiers with power for their warfare: the power of His Spirit, His truth, and His love. (4) As Captain of the Lord's host, Christ leads us to an enterprise that must end in glory to His own name and to each individual who is on His side.

C. Stanford, Symbols of Christ, p. 89.

Notice:

I. The agitation of uncertainty in the breast of Joshua. Suddenly, while he brooded, a man stood over against him, with his sword drawn in his hand. He saw a vast armed figure towering above him in fighting attitude. He asked with painful suspense, "Art thou for us or for our adversaries?" wondering anxiously what the apparition meant, and what it portended, whether success or defeat in the coming campaign. And it is with like uncertainty that we front now the new year. We most of us know enough of life to discern, if we lift our eyes, a man with a drawn sword in his hand. We ask in vain as Joshua did when he cried, "Art thou for us or for our adversaries?" The angel says to the wistfully inquiring man, "As captain of the host of the Lord I am now come."

II. Here, then, was what Joshua saw in looking forward to the future. He did not see victory or defeat, but he saw, to his comfort and relief, that the forces which he led were not his host merely, but the host of the Lord, and that they, together with their leader, were in the hands of the Lord.

III. The message that Joshua received was no declaring of things that had been kept hidden, no weighty revealings, only a plain and familiar admonition to cherish within him a right temper of mind, a right spirit, to see to it that he walked reverently and cultivated purity, as one who dwelt in a temple. That was all the heavens told him when they leaned toward him with a word. "Take heed to yourself, to your character and conduct; be dutiful; be loyal to the vision that is yours." And what better, richer gift could we have from above than a deepened sense of duty and a fresh impulse toward reverent and noble living?

S. A. Tipple, Sunday Mornings at Norwood, p. 215.

References: Joshua 5:13-15 . Clergyman's Magazine, vol. viii., p. 285; Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xiv., No. 795. 5 Parker, vol. v., pp. 126, 136. Joshua 6:18 . Expositor, 3rd series, vol. v.,p. 59. Joshua 6:20 . Clergyman's Magazine, vol. xii., p. 285.Joshua 6:26 . Spurgeon, Evening by Evening, p. 150. 6 Parker, vol. v., p. 147; Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xi., No. 629. Joshua 7:3 . Ibid., vol. xxiii., No. 1358. Joshua 7:10 . J. B. Heard, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xviii., p. 40; S. Martin, Westminster Chapel Pulpit, 3rd series, No. 10:7:13. Parker, vol. v., p. 276. Joshua 7:15 . Ibid., Joshua 7:16-26 . Expositor, 2nd series, vol. i., p. 454.Joshua 7:18 Parker, vol. v., p. 172.Joshua 7:19 . C. J. Vaughan, Liturgy and Worship of the Church of England, p. 53; J. Van Oosterzee, Year of Salvation, vol. ii., p. 406. Joshua 7:19 , Joshua 7:20 . J. Keble, Sermons for the Christian Year: Lent to Passiontide, p. 83.Joshua 7:20 . Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. iii., No. 113.Joshua 7:20 , Joshua 7:21 . S. Martin, Westminster Chapel Pulpit, 2nd series, No. 9:7:21. A. Mursell, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xiv., p. 104. 7 Parker, vol. v., pp. 156, 163.Joshua 8:1 . Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxiii., No. 1358. Joshua 8:31 . Parker, vol. v., p. 277. 8 Ibid., p. 179. Joshua 9:2-27 . Ibid., p. 186. Joshua 9:14 . P. Robertson, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xvi., p. 226; Preacher's Monthly, vol. iii., p. 364.Joshua 10:11 . Parker, vol. v., p. 195.Joshua 10:12-15 . Expositor, 1st series, vol. i., p. 1.Joshua 10:12-43 . Parker, vol. v., p. 202.Joshua 10:39 . J. B. Mozley, Ruling Ideas in Early Ages, p. 83.