Friday, July 19: “Omnipresent Greatness”

Joshua 5: 13b-15: “A man was standing opposite [Joshua] with his sword drawn in his hand, and Joshua went to him and said to him, ‘Are you for us or for our adversaries?’ He said, ‘No; rather I indeed come now as captain of the host of the Lord.’ And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and bowed down, and said to him, ‘What has my lord to say to his servant?’ The captain of the Lord’s host said to Joshua, ‘Remove your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy.’ And Joshua did so.”

Don’t you hate it when someone answers your multiple-choice question with a yes-or-no reply? Or, when you ask a question, fishing for advice or encouragement or a compliment, and the answer is more of a gruff command? However, this seemingly confrontational captain of the Lord’s host had a distinct message: There was an army present which Joshua knew not of, that served neither Israel nor Jericho, but the Lord; and that even the land east of the Jordan was holy, for “The earth is the Lord’s.” (Psalm 24: 1) The captain’s simple message was, “God is greater than you imagine!”