TUESDAY
This week we are beginning our first of two conference weeks in the devotionals. For these two weeks, I figured we would look at some stories of people’s encounters with the presence of God to give us some perspective on the various ways we can experience the presence of God. We will look at some biblical characters this week, and next week we will explore the stories of some believers’ encounters with God in the history of the church. In the campaign we saw Moses experience God in various ways: daily in the tabernacle, his glory on Mt. Sinai, the 10 plagues, etc. These experiences we will add to that list.
Joshua 5:13–6:5 (NIV)
13 Now when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went up to him and asked, “Are you for us or for our enemies?”
14 “Neither,” he replied, “but as commander of the army of the Lord I have now come.” Then Joshua fell facedown to the ground in reverence, and asked him, “What message does my Lord have for his servant?”
15 The commander of the Lord’s army replied, “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so.
6 Now the gates of Jericho were securely barred because of the Israelites. No one went out and no one came in.
2 Then the Lord said to Joshua, “See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king and its fighting men. 3 March around the city once with all the armed men. Do this for six days. 4 Have seven priests carry trumpets of rams’ horns in front of the ark. On the seventh day, march around the city seven times, with the priests blowing the trumpets. 5 When you hear them sound a long blast on the trumpets, have the whole army give a loud shout; then the wall of the city will collapse and the army will go up, everyone straight in.”
Here, the angel of the Lord (again, likely the pre-incarnate Christ), appears to Joshua as a warrior with a sword in his hand. Joshua was chosen by God to lead the people of Israel into the promised land and defeat the current inhabitants in battle. The man was a warrior, the commander of Israel’s armies. It’s interesting that God chooses to meet with him as a commander, warrior as well. The marching orders the angel of the Lord gives him are a little unconventional, to say the least. In fact, they seem outright ridiculous. As the rude peas tell the gourd in the Veggie Tales song, “Perhaps their brains are very small, to think walking will be knocking down our walls.”
Although the command seemed ridiculous, I’m sure the angel of the Lord didn’t look ridiculous. God met with Joshua in a way that Joshua readily obeyed.
The main point that I want us to see this week is that we encounter God in unique ways. We should not put God into a box and define the ways in which God must encounter us or only look for certain ways in which we may encounter God. God has a personality, as we do, and he can encounter us in unique ways and even in different ways at different times, depending on our life situations.
Reflection
Perhaps God is calling you to do something a little unconventional and you’re unsure about it. Ask him to confirm his will and his calling.