ARE YOU FOR US OR AGAINST US?
This is an age-old question that arises when man squares off against his perceived opponents. When the battle lines are drawn, distinguishing from friend and foe is crucial for victory. As the fledgling nation of Israel, fresh off the exodus from Egypt, awaits its first battle with Jericho, Joshua their leader encounters a soldier,
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?”
“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?” Joshua 5:13,14
The man Joshua mistook for a soldier was no human soldier, rather the commander of the angelic armies of God. The drawn sword signaled the intent of this angelic army to be fully involved in the physical battle that was to follow. It is incredible and alarming at the same time to know that an unseen battle rages every time there is a physical battle. Or for that matter, when a struggle or endeavor of any sort unfolds in this world! And this army that fights in the unseen realm is far more powerful than the physical forces that wage battle. Joshua recognizes that fact and quickly moves from the swagger and arrogance of the question that he posed to one of reverence and awe as he prostrates himself before the angelic commander and adopts the nature of a servant.
Perhaps that quick about-turn was brought about by the curt reply of the angelic commander who did not pledge allegiance to the cause of Joshua. We might think that as Joshua was embarked on a war that God had commanded, the angelic host would automatically help him out. Not so! The Lord’s armies are beholden to no man. Far too many times, we see people who know God abuse their knowledge and familiarity with God to try to get God to do their bidding, as man prays passionately for God to help him carry out his plans rather than seek God’s will and plan. The angelic commander was going to set out the rules for engagement and to any solder these instructions would have sounded crazy! The Israelite army was to march around the city of Jericho for 7 days. Surely there would have been many who would have murmured and scoffed at Joshua for even suggesting something as ‘stupid’ as that. Because that is not how cities fall. Yet, Joshua understood clearly that unless he did what was commanded, God could not help him out.
And so Joshua moves on from swagger in self to servitude to God, as evidenced by his readiness to receive and carry out the message of God. For it is not in doing your own thing, but in being a willing servant to God’s will that one finds success. And so the real question is not asking God or others, “are you for us or against us?” rather of asking oneself, “ am I standing with God?”
