GOD’S BATTLE PLAN
Joshua 5:13-15
During World War II the United States and Great Britain achieved a great deal of success in cryptography. The German army and the Luftwaffe were wreaking havoc on allied forces and nations in Europe while the Japanese were doing the same thing in the Pacific. Hitler’s henchmen had developed some powerful and almost irresistible battle plans and they were nearly successful in their plans to dominate the entire world.
The transmitting of their battle plans and messages to all the commanders in the field was a challenge because if the Americans or the British were to intercept those messages, all of their planning would amount to nothing, so they began to think of ways to disguise the messages that were being transmitted.
German researchers created a cipher machine known as Enigma that converted ordinary messages into a code that seemed to be nothing more than gibberish to anyone who intercepted it. Because the interpretation of those messages was vastly important to the war effort and the liberty of free men everywhere, the Allies worked very feverishly to break the code used by their enemies. It was a daunting task and it seemed almost impossible. the need to , a British team of code breakers, including the brilliant mathematician Alan Turing, managed to crack the Enigma code against staggering odds.
The British code breakers, including Alan Turing, one of the greatest mathematicians of all time, worked on the project, code-named Ultra, and were based at Bletchley Park, 65 miles north of London. They not only built a machine to crack the enigma code, they also built Colossus, one of the world’s first computers, to crack the Lorenz coder, which was another German secret code.
On the other side of the globe, the Japanese were doing the same thing. They were trying to hide their battle plans using secret codes as well but it didn’t take the United States long to break their code and that led to a number of Allied victories in the Pacific.
The amazing thing is that the U. S. Marines came up with their own code to transmit our battle plans. The army and navy had codes as well, but the Japanese were often able to break those codes, but not the one that the Marines used.
The reason was that the U.S. Marines used Native Americans Indians speaking in Navajo to communicate between units. Navajo was a dead language that very few people other than Navajos could understand or speak. No Japanese had ever learned that language and so the code was never broken.
Now, as we look as the Book of Joshua, I want us to understand that God has a battle plan too. Israel is across the Jordan now and marching into the Land of Canaan. They have finally reached that land that had been promised to Abraham and his seed so many years before. It had been 40 years, to the day, from the time that the Children of Israel had left Egypt, until they finally crossed over Jordan to take possession of the land. But, the battle was not over for them, it was just beginning.
Many of you have fought the battle of the wilderness and have already crossed over Jordan. You have said goodbye to Egypt, the world of sin, and committed your life to Jesus through repentance and you have been washed in the Blood of the Lamb. You have been through your 40 years in sin. I don’t mean that all of you were 40 years old before you came to Jesus. That term, “40 years”, is shown a number of times in the Bible to mean God’s fullness of time for testing and judgment.
Examples:
The rains fell for 40 days and 40 nights while Noah and his family rested in the ark of safety.
Moses was with God for 40 days on Mount Sinai when God was giving Moses the 10 Commandment.
The 12 spies were sent into Canaan when Moses and Israel first came to the Jordan River and they spied the land for 40 days.
40 stripes were the maximum number of stripes that could be given in a Jewish court for criminals. The Sanhedrin Council always gave 39 just to be safe in case they lost count.
Goliath came forth to taught the Army of Israel under King Saul for 40 days before David came along and killed him.
Jesus was tempted in the wilderness for 40 days, fasted for 40 days and nights, and then was present in the earth bodily for 40 days after his resurrection.
All of these point to the fact that 40 represents a number of the fullness of God’s testing of the faithfulness of his people, and the fullness of God’s judgment poured out upon his enemies.
For many of us, the 40 days in the wilderness have been accomplished and now we are walking with the Lord. Now we have entered a new 40-year time, but this time it’s not the judgment of sin that we face, but the time of testing.
As we walk this life with the Lord we are the living example of Joshua as he is entering into Canaan to take that which the Lord has promised to him.
God has promised us life, and life more abundant. He has promised us salvation, deliverance, healing, power over the enemies of our soul, and eternal life. The Bible is full of promises to God’s people if we will remain faithful.
Even though we have so many great and wonderful promises, we are reminded daily that obtaining those promises requires that we remain true in our commitment to serve the Lord. Every day there is a new battle to fight. Every day there is a new temptation to overcome. Every day there is a new challenge that arises before us, and once again we must make the decision to either overcome those things or fall by the wayside.
Have you ever faced a battle in your life when you just didn’t know how you were going to win? The devil knows how to bring things before you that seem insurmountable. You can look ahead and see that the promises of God are true but how can you ever receive those promises if the devil keeps throwing walls in your path?
Joshua was looking ahead, trying to get a battle plan that would allow the Children of Israel to defeat all of the enemies that blocked their way into Canaan. The very first obstacle they faced was a great fortified city with a powerful army called Jericho.
Israel had no might weapons of war, or siege engines that could throw rocks or flames into or over the walls of Jericho. All they had was an Ark, some trumpets, and a few bows and arrows and maybe some spears. What good would any of those weapons do against a wall that was so great?
Archaeological digs have discovered that Jericho’s wall was actually a double wall that ran parallel to each other. The first wall was their first line of defense and it was 6 feet thick, then inside of that was a second wall that was 12 feet thick. Estimates have put these walls as high as 25 feet.
It is no wonder that Joshua was out taking a walk alone, contemplating the battle ahead, and trying to formulate a battle plan. As the commander of the armies of Israel, the lives of all the people of Israel were his responsibility.
He knew that it was God’s will for Israel to inhabit the Promised Land. He had faith that, somehow, God would help them to overcome their enemies. Joshua had seen these enemies 40 years before, but they seemed so much stronger now that he was the one who was having to face them and not Moses. It’s always so much easier to believe God for the victory when the battle is someone else’s responsibility.
We can believe for someone else to be healed. We can believe for other people’s children to be saved. We can believe for God to meet the needs of other people, but when it’s us that needs healing, or deliverance, then faith is a little harder to find.
I can imagine that Joshua was wondering just how he was going to defeat Jericho now. It seemed such an impossible task. Yet, if he didn’t defeat Jericho, the Children of Israel would either be destroyed where they were, or they would have to retreat back into the wilderness across Jordan again.
I have to admire Joshua for his character and integrity. He had decided that there was no going back now. It was either do or die. The dying would be the easy part. That would happen without even trying if they couldn’t defeat the enemy ahead. The “doing” was the hard part. He wanted to defeat Jericho but how was the question.
There are a lot of people who give their lives to Jesus who need to develop the kind of character and integrity that Joshua had. Too many people give their lives to Jesus but they don’t burn their bridges back to the wilderness of sin either. They seem to always leave themselves a way to go back to their old life. It’s as though they put most of their body into the “Land of Canaan” in Christ, but keep one foot on the other side of Jordan, in the world of sin, just in case the battle ahead gets too hard.
I want you to know that the battle will always be too hard for you. You will never defeat Satan on your own terms. You will never knock down a single wall of temptation and sin in your life by your own power. You will never see the miracles of God’s deliverance and God’s salvation unless you fully commit your ways to the Lord and decide right here and now to never cross back over into that world of sin in the wilderness ever again.
Perhaps God was waiting to see if Joshua would turn tail and run again. This was testing time and God was waiting to see if Israel would trust in him or trust in its own weak military power.
Read with me now what happens next.
Joshua 5:13-14, "And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, behold, there stood a man over against him with his sword drawn in his hand: and Joshua went unto him, and said unto him, Art thou for us, or for our adversaries? And he said, Nay; but as captain of the host of the LORD am I now come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, and said unto him, what saith my lord unto his servant?"
As Joshua was walking along with his head hanging down, thinking hard, and worried about what he would do next, something caught his attention.
Maybe it was the sound of a sword being drawn from its sheath, or maybe it was the light of the sun as it was reflected off the mirror finish of the armor of the man who stood before him, or maybe it was the Spirit of the Lord that just reached down and lifted his head and caused him to see something more than the ground that he had been staring at for so long.
Sometimes we focus so much on the problems and obstacles that we can’t see the solution. Have you ever heard that old saying, “I can’t see the forest because of the trees?” That’s how we get when we are confronted with times of testing. We can’t see the way out, or the answer, because we are too busy looking at the problem. We can’t seem to believe God because all we think about is what kind of trouble may lie ahead, or what every negative possibility might be, instead of focusing on what God’s power can do and the possibilities that he can bring into every circumstance of life.
When Joshua lifted his eyes he saw a man standing there will a drawn sword. I’m sure this was a startling discovery for him because he thought that he was alone.
Was this man an enemy from Jericho, a commander of the army of his enemies who had come out to do battle with him and decide the fate of Israel in a one-on-one confrontation? Was this a man from his own army? That wasn’t likely since the armies of Israel didn’t have the type of armor that this man wore? Was he sent from a friendly nation in the area to aid them in their coming battle? Who could this be?
It’s not always easy to know what God is doing to help us through our times of testing or trials. Sometimes that help comes in disguises that we don’t quickly recognize.
I know a lot of people who are in financial difficulties who don’t recognize that God sends them an opportunity to do some extra work to overcome their difficulties.
I know a lot of people who are going through relationship problems who don’t realize that God has placed before them counselors who can help, a the Word of God that has all the help they need to overcome those problems.
I know a lot of people who are facing walls of adversity and battles with the devil, who don’t realize that God has given them all the power and faith they need to be over comers, if they will only remain faithful and committed.
Sometimes it’s hard to see how God is moving and what God has already provided. Living for God is still a walk by faith and not by sight and that will never change.
I must give credit to Joshua. He didn’t turn tail and run back to the camp to get help in case this was going to be a fight. He went straight toward the man with the sword as though he had already decided that if this was going to be a fight, then let’s get it on.
I can’t stand to be around wimpy people, especially Christians, who cry, moan and complain about everything that they don’t like. God is looking for a real man or a real woman that will stand up and be counted when the going gets tough. God’s people need to develop the same attitude as the U. S. Marines who say, “when the going gets tough, the tough get going”. God is looking for people who stand in place, clothed in the whole armor of God, and face down the devil instead of running in fear every time the devil comes against them.
The Bible says to resist the devil and he will flee from you. That means that he is a coward and that he will run from you just as fast as he can go because he knows that if you call upon the name of the Lord and depend upon the Blood of Jesus, he has no power against you, no weapon that he has formed against you shall prosper, and that you can send him back to the pits of hell where he came from because of the power of God that you have at your disposal. The problem with most Christians is that they don’t have enough of that power to send a flea packing, much less a fallen angel or the devil.
Joshua was bold enough to ask, are you with us, or are you with our enemies? I think it’s important to note that Jesus says that we don’t have a lot of the blessings and power of God in our lives simply because we don’t seek after them or ask for them.
Joshua could have ignored the man with sword and went back to camp but he wanted to know whom he was, so he asked. Can you imagine what Joshua must have felt when he was answered?
Here was the “Captain of the Hosts of the Lord”, the commander in chief of all the Armies of Heaven, the King of all Kings, and the Lord of all Lords! Here was the most powerful man in all the universe and he was there speaking to Joshua!
Do you know who that man was? It was Jesus! It was the pre-incarnate Jesus, the same Jesus who died on the cross for you and I.
No angel would have allowed Joshua to fall down and worship him. No angel could claim to be commander in chief of the armies of Heaven. This was Jesus standing there in his righteousness, with the sword drawn, ready to fight his enemies and to defend his chosen people if they would trust him.
The thing that the Lord answered to Joshua kind of troubles me though. Joshua asked, “Art thou for us, or for our adversaries?”
I would have expected the Lord to answer, “well, what do you think? Of course I’m on your side, after all you are my anointed leader of my people and Israel is my chosen people, and you are coming into the Promised Land under my direction and according to my covenant.”
But that wasn’t how the Lord answered him. The Lord said, Nay; but as captain of the host of the LORD am I now come”!
NO! NO, I’m not with you, nor against you, at least not yet. There’s some things we have to get straight before I choose who will be on my side Joshua!
I’m here to defend righteousness and carry out my plan. The question is Joshua, are you on MY side or the side of MY ENEMIES?
Wow, what an answer! It was like answering a question with a question.
God’s will is going to be done. His plans are going to be completed. The question is, will we be a part of God’s will and God’s plan or not?
Joshua was quick to fall down and worship the Lord when he recognized whom he was. He knew that worshipping and serving the Lord in faithfulness and surrendering his will to God’s will was the only way to have this man with the sword on his side and Joshua needed all the help he could get.
Joshua 5:15, "And the captain of the LORD’S host said unto Joshua, Loose thy shoe from off thy foot; for the place whereon thou standest is holy. And Joshua did so."
Now we get down to the crux of the matter. Joshua, if you want my help in defeating Jericho and obtaining the Promised Land, here is the requirement – TAKE OFF YOUR SHOES BECAUSE THIS IS HOLY GROUND!
What does that mean to you?
I’ve heard it said many times that wherever the Lord is standing is holy ground and that’s certainly true because the Lord is holy and everything he touches must be holy.
I’ve also heard some say that anytime they stand in the office of ministry where God has called them is “holy ground”, and that’s fine too, because the position of ministry where God has placed you is “holy ground” and must require your commitment, respect and fear of the Lord before your work can be accomplished.
But I think it goes even deeper than that!
When the Lord told Joshua to take off his shoes I believe it meant that Joshua must surrender all power and desires of the flesh, and all the power of the arm of the flesh, quit standing upon his own ability, and learn to stand only upon the Lord and his promises.
That’s what the walk by faith is really all about isn’t it? We must learn to surrender our will to God’s will, our ways to God’s way, our ability to God’s ability, and we cannot continue lean upon our own understanding. The battles that you face must be fought according to God’s battle plan and not ours. Our plans seem to fail all too often, but God’s plans never fail.
God will share his glory with no man, not even Joshua, and not even you or I. The miracles that God will bring to pass to give us deliverance and victory are “holy ground”.
Zechariah 4:6 says, "...Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts."
If God is moving, it’s on holy ground and we need to be surrendered vessels unto his will and not our own.
Joshua’s plans would have failed at Jericho. He didn’t have the power to defeat such a powerful enemy with the army of Israel.
I’m sure that he heard God’s battle plan and thought for moment that this had to be the dumbest battle plan that I’ve ever heard for defeating a walled city.
You mean we are just going to walk around, following the ministry as it carries the covenant before us, just being quiet until the time comes to shout, listening for the trumpet to sound and then we are going to be conquerors?
YES – THAT’S EXACTLY WHAT WE ARE GOING TO DO CHURCH!
God’s battle plan hasn’t changed. We are still going to the Promised Land the same way!
We are going to keep occupying the land, marching on as the Lord leads, keeping silent and reverent before the Lord, allowing the gospel to be carried forth on the shoulders of ministry, listening for the last trumpet sound, and then there is going to be a shout that goes forth that this world has never heard before as God’s people break down that last wall that stands between us and Heaven and we enter Heaven without even drawing a sword because the Lord has fought our battle for us.
What about you this morning? Are you still in your 40 years in the wilderness of sin, living in the world? Perhaps you haven’t even crossed over Jordan and given your life to Jesus and allowed him to live in your heart! Today your wandering can end and Jesus can give you a new life if you will just surrender your heart and life to him.
Maybe you have given your heart to Jesus, but you are still trying to fight your own battles without the Lord’s help.
Remember, the battle can be yours or you can give it to God. You can fight it all alone, and probably lose if you depend only on your own understanding and your own desires to be independent, or you can take off those shoes of flesh, put your faith in God, stand on holy ground and let God fight the battle for you.
If we are going to be over comers in this life, we must learn to stand on holy ground. We must commit our ways and our will unto the Lord and let him fight for us.
Search your heart and know that Jesus really is in control of your life.
