Strength For The Battle

Some of the most devastating defeats in military history are the ones that are unexpected. At Pearl Harbor, the reason we were so devastated is that we did not believe that the Japanese would attack us. As a result, we were unprepared and shocked when they did. Likewise, we set ourselves up to attack from Satan when we refuse to recognize, to believe and to understand that we are at war in the spirit world.

1st Pet. 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant and alert, because your adversary, the enemy, the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. The truth of the matter is that in order to take the land, as Christians, we have to realize that the devil is not going to give in without a fight. He has been holding the land and he don’t want to give it up. As saints of God we will have a fight on our hands. However, the good news is, the bible says that greater is He that is in us, than he that is in the world. We must realize that we are in a spiritual battle, but following Jesus, our captain, we cannot lose.

As Joshua and the people are nearing their conquest, he is surprised to look up and see "a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand."

a. This was a threatening sight to Joshua; one that he did not expect.

b. Imagine that you are a commander of an army, and you come across someone armed for battle that you do not recognize. As you might expect, Joshua was a little alarmed. Naturally, Joshua asked whose side he was on. At first glance, his answer seems a bit odd. He says "Neither," he replied, "but as commander of the army of the LORD I have now come."

Actually, in Hebrew it reads "No." With his no he was stating that his interest was not the same as Joshua’s, which was to know if this man was for him or against him. The point here is that He was not a part of any human army, but He was far greater than anyone Joshua had ever seen before.

The phrase "commander of the army of the LORD," is what scholars call a theophany. Now, I know some of you are saying, "come on Pastor, we are still trying to learn your last name. What in the world is a theophany?

A "theophany refers to an ‘appearance of God’ to man. In other words, this is was none other than Jesus himself.

Now we can see from the text, that Joshua now recognizes, who this is because, he fell facedown to the ground in reverence, and asked him, what message does my Lord have for his servant?

Joshua now knew that he was in the presence of God himself. He knew that they would not be fighting alone, but that the armies of heaven would be fighting for them and with them.

Notice what the commander of the Lord’s army tells him, take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy. And one thing people must learn is that when they come to this Holy place that they must recognize that they are on Holy ground. This shouldn’t be the place where you show up drunk. This shouldn’t be the place where you show up high, we must recognize that this is Holy ground.

Joshua is being taught a lesson about priorities. The battle that he was about to face was a spiritual battle, and needed to be fought with spiritual power.

In other words you should show up to a gun fight with a tree limb, or a switch in your hand because you will be outclassed. It is the same thing when it come to the spirit realm with us, when we try to fight the devil with non-spiritual means.

In fact, 2nd Corinthians 10:3-5 says “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;

Many times we lose our battles with the devil, because we are trying to fight a spiritual battle with physical weapons. In order to fight a spiritual battle, we have to fight with spiritual weapons, and we also need to realize that we are not alone, and we cannot fight our battles alone.

Come Ephesians 6:10, it says finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Notice that it doesn’t say be strong in yourself, it says be strong in the Lord. It doesn’t say be strong in your power, it says be strong in His power. It doesn’t say trust your friends powers, it says be strong in the Lord. We must learn to access to the Lord, and the Lord’s power, so: we need stand strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. How do we do this Pastor? It Will Take Standing In Faith and we find the remedy in verses (1-16).