Take Off One Sandal-- The Place Your (Two) Feet Touch Is Holy (Joshua 5:13-6:27) Series

Last week, AJ (Author of Joshua) began chapter 5 by messing with us. He reminded us that all the kings of the land were terrified by the Israelites, and their hearts had melted. It was then, at that time, that Yahweh commanded Joshua to make swords.

We were all excited, thinking, NOW. NOW they will take Jericho. But the book of Joshua is about something bigger than the conquest and settlement of the land. Yahweh's bigger concern is that his people will live rightly in covenant relationship with him.

They will be circumcised rightly, as the sign of the covenant between Yahweh and Israel.

And they will observe the Passover, out of gratitude for what Yahweh did in freeing them from Egypt.

What does Yahweh want? He's never wanted people who legalistically obey him. That's a crude caricature of the OT. Yahweh wants people who live faithfully toward him, keeping the covenant they've made with him. He wanted the same thing then, that he wants now.

It's at this point, once Israel has done this, that Israel is now ready to take the land. And it's at this point, that we read this, in verse 13:

(13) And then , when Joshua was in/at Jericho, he lifted up his eyes

and he saw,

and LOOK! A man standing before him,

with his sword being drawn in his hand,

Let's stop here. This is a complicated little story. And if we get this wrong, we will get chapter 6 wrong as well. Where is Joshua? My translation says Joshua was "at" Jericho. Normally, this preposition is translated "in." He's in, or at, Jericho. Technically, we'd say he's at the outskirts. But this is very important for the story. Don't miss this detail. Joshua is "in" Jericho.

Joshua lifts his eyes, and he sees, and LOOK! A man. There's no warning. He didn't see him approach from far off. He's just there. And his sword is drawn.

No one walks around with their sword drawn. Swords are heavy; they tie up a hand (or two?). You draw your sword when you think you're going to need it. It's like a gun. Police only draw their guns when they think they will need them.

So who is this man? Why is he approaching Joshua, sword drawn?

Let's read a little further:

and Joshua went to him,

and he said to him,

"Is it for us that you are, or for our enemy?",

Joshua shows no fear here. Why should he be afraid of some dude with a sword, when Joshua knows Yahweh is with him, and has promised to protect him? Why be afraid, when you saw what Yahweh just did to the Jordan River? (#swagger). So Joshua personally goes out to him, with a simple question-- are you for us, or for our foes? Because everyone in the promised land is one or the other; this is very straightforward. And the dude is either dead meat, or he's a new ally.

Verse 14:

(14) And he said,

"No.

For I am commander of the army of Yahweh. Now I have come,"

And Joshua fell on his face toward the earth,

and he bowed down/worshipped,

and he said to him,

"What does my Lord say to his servant?,

This man, is not a man. He's the commander of the army of Yahweh. And he's coming, prepared to fight with Joshua. There's something he wants from Joshua, and he's not sure Joshua is going to give this willingly. So his sword is drawn, ready for trouble.

Joshua, though, shows total submission. He bows down, worshipping. This word, worshipped, is used almost exclusively for worship to Yahweh in the OT, or to describe Israelites worshipping other gods. The exception to this, is that a few times, it's used to describe people's response to the angel of Yahweh. And here, it's used for the commander of Yahweh's army. I would love to rabbit trail down this. I think there's a pretty decent chance that the commander of Yahweh's army is Jesus. But I haven't studied this with as much detail as I'd like, so I'm going to be kind of mean, and just drop it like that. Maybe it's Jesus. Maybe it's not. And maybe it's worship, and maybe it's just a posture of total submission, without the idea of worship here. I don't know.

However we answer that question, one thing is clear. Since Joshua has shown total submission to the commander, we know the sword isn't going to be needed. But what is it that the commander wants? We find ourselves expecting something big. Something costly.

Verse 15:

(15) And the commander of the army of Yahweh said to Joshua,

"Take off your sandal from on your foot,

For the place where you are standing on it, holy/consecrated it is,