COMMANDER OF THE ARMY
Joshua 5(13-15) Joshua meets with the Commander of the army of the LORD.
And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted his eyes and looked, and behold, a Man stood opposite him with His sword drawn in His hand. And Joshua went to Him and said to Him, “Are You for us or for our adversaries?”
FIRST VISION OF JOSHUA!
Joshua heard instructions from the Lord, but this was the FIRST VISION Joshua had of the Lord! The Commander of the Army! A new name by which God calls Himself! Wow! I’m thrilled friend, let me put my emotions and feelings in print…..
The appearance of the Commander of the army immediately proceeds verse 12, where we read: 12 The manna ceased on the day after they had eaten some of the produce of the land…well, I went on to read the details of the visit of the ‘Commander’ then I looked for further details, His last words were: "Remove your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy." The Man who came with a ‘His sword drawn in His hand’ identified Himself as “Commander” and nothing more was said, we then go over to chapter 6 where we read about Jericho.
I kept meditating about this awesome visit of God to Joshua that I would share here below, I write this piece during a day of fasting and prayer:
Three sub-headings:
a) TIME OF VISIT
b) PLACE OF VISIT
c) REASON OF VISIT
d) HIS SWORD DRAWN IN HIS HAND
TIME OF VISIT: God watched Joshua obey His instructions and circumcise the Israelites, this was no easy task, because they had just crossed a tough ordeal and now they had to do something more painful. Circumcision! Crucifixion of flesh is essential to go further with God, carnal minded people cannot be with God for long, they would flee. Life is not going to be easy, we need to get that straight into our system, did not Jesus say, “carry my cross and come behind me daily?” (Luke 9:23)
Joshua also obeyed the Lord in keeping the Passover for the Lord, when we diligently obey the Lord and follow His commandments, He would bless us with visions, dreams and supernatural experiences. God made a visit to Abraham’s house to share good and bad news: Genesis 18 – about opening the womb of Sarah and the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. The Lord visited Abraham just to give this news. Amen.
PLACE OF VISIT:
So the action of faith that you take during time of crisis and danger is what touches the heart of God. Obeying God in your comfortable zone, inside air conditioned hall is one thing, but obeying God when you are close to the enemies requires determination, commitment and passion for God. Joshua had it all! They were now in Gilgal, which is a location "on the eastern border of Jericho" where the Israelites encamped immediately after crossing the Jordan River. Circumcising men in the open, close to the enemy camp was great risk, but nevertheless, they did it. They trusted God to protect them. Amen.
In the year 1999, while I was five months pregnant with my second child, I was diagnosed with multiple fibroids which were found on the inner and outer walls of the uterus. The fibroids were rapidly growing along with the baby and the doctors gave a final verdict to terminate the pregnancy and abort the baby because the fibroids were choking my baby. My world came crumbling down and I was shattered. I was working for a multinational bank during that period; however, during that time while I was admitted in the emergency room, I asked my husband to bring my Bible and I started reading it meticulously(some of us like me need to be in the hospital bed to read the Bible – God would go to any extent to make you read His Word) Well, the Bible struck me like thunder, one particular scripture brought volcanic revolution and that was :
Jesus said: “Have faith in God. Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be taken up and thrown into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him” (Mark 11:22–23). I held on to this scripture and told the doctors and my family, “I am not going to abort the baby because I believe I am healed”, that was the gigantic faith I received. Let me repeat what I said earlier, “So the action of faith that you take during time of crisis and danger is what touches the heart of God. “
God would reward your extraordinary faith, He healed me and I delivered a baby boy Joshua (who is a pastor now) miraculously without operation or forceps, I had a normal delivery. (click WEBLINK for photos and more details about my family,
https://worshipjesusministriestrust.org/aboutus.php)
REASON OF VISIT:
God knows where we are at the present moment, what we are going through, anxiety, angst and all the perils that surround us. We don’t have to give Him a narration of what is happening, He knows it all. What happened and what is about to happen too! Hussssssh …..too precious!
The Lord showed up when Joshua ‘was by Jericho’, nothing more is said about what went through in the inside of Joshua; however, God knows it all…… The picture of Jericho walls must have intimidated him, he must have wondered, ’how do I go about it now?’ , well, God showed up to say that He was there for Him. Say Amen. He will never leave you or forsake you!
In the year 2008, November, at a time when I just had my major hernia operation and I was at home recuperating from the operation. During that point of time, I was also going through severe financial problems, on that particular morning I had been praying from the wee hours of 3 am in the morning and at 7 am I was exhausted, my children were getting ready for school, I was alone in the bedroom and I just laid down for a short nap to rest my aching back. Something amazing, wonderful and breath-taking happened at that time! I was awake in my spirit and suddenly I found a tall man walk into my room and ask, “are you Bala?” I said ‘yes’ and then he said, “JESUS CHRIST IS COMING TO SEE YOU!” The messenger was an angel! I was absolutely aware of all that was happening! I was excited, elated and overjoyed to react! ( you can believe or reject this testimony , up to you)
Next, I found a bright, dazzling, gorgeous ‘Light’ - I can never describe or illustrate enter my room. Within few seconds I saw JESUS clothed in impeccable, pure, sparkling, white garments enter my bedroom, I saw only the Light and not the face. The glittering white garment had also dashes of gold in the tassels of His garments. He came hurriedly into my room and started talking to me, till date I regret for not understanding all that He told me that day. He gestured me to ‘GET UP!’ Simultaneously, I saw on a big screen (God was doing a demo presentation) - a man lying down covered with a sheet and Jesus commanded Him to ‘get up’ and immediately he threw away the sheet, leaves the bed and walks away. Jesus points out to this scene and tells me to do the same. He explained everything to me with visuals, with a beautiful presentation and left the way He walked in. He dashed in and dashed out!
I immediately woke up and looked at the place where He stood! Jesus came to see me! I couldn’t believe! I rattled the whole vision to my husband. Later, during the day when I sat for prayer, I asked Him for further revelation of the vision and He led me to 1 King 19:5 “Then as he lay and slept under a broom tree, suddenly an angel touched him, and said to him, "Arise and eat."” The Scripture brought fresh life into my bones! I determined not to mop around anymore. I determined to accept by faith the healing from God and get deeper into God’s work. The next year 2009 February God commanded me to relocate our ministry to Hyderabad where we started all our ministries and He established us. I write this on Saturday, February 13, 2021. Before a great launch, God gives us a great vision and encouragement.
HIS SWORD DRAWN IN HIS HAND : The sword drawn in His hand denoted that God was in this with Joshua, to fight the battle with him. Hallelujah! God knew that there was war awaiting Joshua so He came to encourage Him. He was not going to leave us alone in the hands of the enemies, He will fight for you and fight with you! Say Amen. God is our ‘ever-present Help at times of trouble’!
GUARDIAN AND ALERT LEADER: Leaders should be alert and cautious when the enemy is too close! Joshua did not sleep but he was in prayer, with his eyes lifted up. He was ready for the visitation that God planned. The Lord replied to Joshua,” I have not come for the adversaries but I have come as a ‘Commander’ to help and support you. God bless you!
