{"id":3495,"date":"2018-07-10T11:12:13","date_gmt":"2018-07-10T01:12:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/goodnewsforisrael.com\/?p=3495"},"modified":"2021-10-22T16:31:00","modified_gmt":"2021-10-22T06:31:00","slug":"32-the-commander-of-the-lords-army","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/goodnewsforisrael.com\/he\/32-the-commander-of-the-lords-army\/","title":{"rendered":"#32 The Commander of the Lord\u2019s Army"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Genesis 12:7 Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, \u201cTo your descendants I will give this land.\u201d And there he built an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him.<\/p>\n

With Jericho, the City of Palm trees standing right before them, just before their very first conquest in the land, Joshua goes for a walk, presumably while all the men are recovering from circumcision and he had walked over from Gilgal to \u2018by Jericho\u2019 (just a few kilometres).<\/p>\n

Joshua had been here in the land before, back when he was 40 years old. That was 40 years ago – when Moses had sent him (and 11 others) to spy out the land. He was probably in prayer and checking out the terrain between Gilgal and Jericho, when he came upon a strange encounter.<\/p>\n

Joshua 5:13 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, \u201cAre You for us or for our adversaries?\u201d
\n14 So He said, \u201cNo, but as Commander of the army of the Lord I have now come.\u201d
\nAnd Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped, and said to Him, \u201cWhat does my Lord say to His servant?\u201d
\n15 Then the Commander of the Lord\u2019s army said to Joshua, \u201cTake your sandal off your foot, for the place where you stand is holy.\u201d And Joshua did so.<\/p>\n

Here over by the City of Palm Trees, we see the commander of Israel\u2019s armies (Joshua) meeting the commander of the Lord\u2019s armies.<\/p>\n

Who was this Commander of the Lord\u2019s armies? A man? An angel? God?<\/p>\n

Well He had a sword. Was He therefore Michael the arch angel? (Daniel 10:13).
\nPerhaps – but Joshua called him \u2018my Lord\u2019 (Adonai) and fell on his face to the earth and worshipped Him – and the Commander did not prevent him.<\/p>\n

When the apostle John bowed before the angel, the angel prevented him.<\/p>\n

Revelation 19:10 And I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, \u201cSee that you do not do that! I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren who have the testimony of Jesus. Worship God!…..\u201d<\/p>\n

So he\u2019s not a man or an angel.<\/p>\n

To give us a clue, did anyone else in the Bible encountered such men as this?
\nWell there was the strange case of Abram when he met Melchizedek (who had no mother or father)
\nGenesis 14:18 Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was the priest of God Most High.
\n19 And he blessed him and said:\u201cBlessed be Abram of God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth;
\n20 And blessed be God Most High, Who has delivered your enemies into your hand.\u201d And he gave him a tithe of all.<\/p>\n

Melchizedek BLESSED ABRAM. Abram gave Him a tithe of all. Does this sound like a mere man?<\/p>\n

Hebrews 7:3 WITHOUT FATHER, WITHOUT MOTHER, WITHOUT GENEALOGY having NEITHER BEGINNING OF DAYS NOR END OF LIFE, but made like the SON OF GOD, remains a priest continually.<\/p>\n

Then there was Jacob who wrestled with a strange Man all night long.<\/p>\n

Genesis 32:24 Then Jacob was left alone; and a Man wrestled with him until the breaking of day. 25 Now when He saw that He did not prevail against him, He touched the socket of his hip; and the socket of Jacob\u2019s hip was out of joint as He wrestled with him.
\n26 And He said, \u201cLet Me go, for the day breaks.\u201d But he said, \u201cI will not let You go unless You bless me!\u201d
\n27 So He said to him, \u201cWhat is your name?\u201d He said, \u201cJacob.\u201d
\n28 And He said, \u201cYour name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for YOU HAVE STRUGGLED WITH GOD AND WITH MEN, and have prevailed.\u201d
\n29 Then Jacob asked, saying, \u201cTell me Your name, I pray.\u201d
\nAnd He said, \u201cWhy is it that you ask about My name?\u201d And He blessed him there.
\n30 So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: \u201cFor I HAVE SEEN GOD FACE TO FACE, and my life is preserved.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jacob recognised afterwards that He had been WRESTLING WITH GOD.<\/p>\n

So who is the Commander of the Lord\u2019s armies God?
\nWell listen to what He said to Joshua next and YOU decide.<\/p>\n

Joshua 5:15 And He said to Joshua, \u201cTAKE YOUR SANDAL OFF YOUR FOOT, for THE PLACE WHERE YOU STAND IS HOLY.\u201d And Joshua did so.<\/p>\n

Ever heard that phrase before?<\/p>\n

Remember Moses when he saw the burning bush, which burned but was not consumed? And the Angel of the Lord from within the bush began to speak to Moses?<\/p>\n

Exodus 3:2 And the ANGEL OF THE LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. So he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed.<\/p>\n

5 Then He said, \u201cDo not draw near this place. TAKE YOUR SANDALS OFF YOUR FEET, for THE PLACE WHERE YOU STAND IS HOLY GROUND.\u201d
\n6 Moreover He said, \u201cI AM THE GOD OF YOUR FATHER \u2014 the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.\u201d And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to LOOK UPON GOD.<\/p>\n

Not only did the voice from the bush identify Himself as God, He then went on to give His name.<\/p>\n

13 Then Moses said to God, \u201cIndeed, when I come to the children of Israel and say to them, \u2018The God of your fathers has sent me to you,\u2019 and they say to me, \u2018What is His name?\u2019 what shall I say to them?\u201d
\n14 And God said to Moses, \u201cI AM WHO I AM.\u201d And He said, \u201cThus you shall say to the children of Israel, I AM has sent me to you.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n

So it seems that the Commander of the Lord\u2019s army is very similar or even the very same person who appeared to Moses – \u201cI AM\u201d.<\/p>\n

What do you think? Same person?
\nIs the Commander of the Lord\u2019s army who appeared to Joshua as he surveyed the land around the City of Palm Trees – Jericho, just prior to the first great battle to possess the Promised land – the Great I AM?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\t\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div> \n<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Watch This Message Genesis 12:7 Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, \u201cTo your descendants I will give this land.\u201d And there he built an altar to the Lord,...","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3437,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_wpcom_ai_launchpad_first_post":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"{title}\n\n{excerpt}\n\n{url}","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[2186,1424],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3495","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-articles","category-posts"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pduNeC-Un","jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"amp_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/goodnewsforisrael.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/36549513_190833235100349_3391628930828992512_n-e1537400624514.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/goodnewsforisrael.com\/he\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3495","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/goodnewsforisrael.com\/he\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/goodnewsforisrael.com\/he\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goodnewsforisrael.com\/he\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goodnewsforisrael.com\/he\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3495"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/goodnewsforisrael.com\/he\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3495\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4120,"href":"https:\/\/goodnewsforisrael.com\/he\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3495\/revisions\/4120"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goodnewsforisrael.com\/he\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3437"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/goodnewsforisrael.com\/he\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3495"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goodnewsforisrael.com\/he\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3495"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goodnewsforisrael.com\/he\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3495"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}