Joshua 5:13-15 - Thoughts and questions.

Usually when I write about scripture, I have my own musings to share. Today, however, I want to just point at something and say, “Wow, that’s neat!”

The verse in question.

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, “Are You for us or for our adversaries?”

14 So He said, “No, but as Commander of the army of the Lord I have now come.” And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped, and said to Him, “What does my Lord say to His servant?”

15 Then the Commander of the Lord’s army said to Joshua, “Take your sandal off your foot, for the place where you stand is holy.” And Joshua did so - (Joshua 5:13–15~, NKJV)

See that? The Commander of the Lord’s army accepted worship. Angels do not accept worship. This raises the question as to the identity of the Commander, doesn’t it?

Even the first time I read through the Bible, this passage struck me as odd. Just a couple of verses, where a man tells Joshua to take off his sandals and then leaves. No other comment is made. For such a brief passage, it’s dense with enigmas. And to be clear, I have no insight on this, no comment to make. Our church pastor is currently teaching through Joshua, and this passage came up. This is the point at which I got a bit obsessed and read a bunch of commentaries.

The questions I had when I originally read the Bible were the following:

• Why is this major interaction such a small passage of the book?
• What did this mean?
• Did he have to fight the entire battle without his shoes on?

Now though, as a more seasoned traveller of the Word of God, I have, hopefully, more mature questions instead.

• Why did the Commander accept worship?
• How did this affect Joshua and his role as leader?
• Did he have to fight the entire battle without his shoes on?

As I have said, I have no good answers for you, not really. But, the commentaries I read may be able to glean something for you.

It may be noteworthy that two of my favourite books on the topic of scripture, the Norm Geisler tomes, ‘When Critics Ask,’ and ‘When Skeptics Ask,’ had nothing to say on this topic. Meaning, there is likely no secular objection to the passage. Not sure what that means, but it’s interesting nonetheless.

The comments.

While I read a bunch of things on this topic, these were the ones which, I think, echoed the consensus, or had something unique to say.

This Man was the Son of God, the eternal Word. Joshua gave him Divine honours: he received them, which a created angel would not have done, and he is called Jehovah, chap. 6:2. To Abraham he appeared as a traveller; to Joshua as a man of war. Christ will be to his people what their faith needs. Christ had his sword drawn, which encouraged Joshua to carry on the war with vigour. Christ’s sword drawn in his hand, denotes how ready he is for the defence and salvation of his people. His sword turns every way - Henry, M. and Scott, T. (1997) ~Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary~. Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, p. Jos 5:13.

Mr Henry does not open up to discussion here. He clearly states that, in his opinion, as an accomplished biblical scholar. He believes that this is Christ. Notice he says Christ, not Jesus. I think there’s probably a long and interesting article to write on the topic of the pre-incarnation and how we think about it/Him. I greatly enjoy how this makes a comment of the reason for the visit, to encourage Joshua. The implication is also an endorsement. Something he likely needed as he was trying to fill the shoes of his predecessor.

The real character of this personage was disclosed by His accepting the homage of worship (compare Ac 10:25, 26; Rev 19:10), and still further in the command, “Loose thy shoe from off thy foot” (Ex 3:5). - Jamieson, R., Fausset, A.R. and Brown, D. (1997) ~Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible~. Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., p. 146.

Another agreement here from a well-known source. This also sees little debate in the identity, but fails to actually state it, which is interesting.

If this was only an angel, he would have repelled Joshua’s worshipful response. Joshua is reminded here that he is merely the leader of God’s army for whom God abundantly supplies the most important kind of armor—the armor of God (Ephesians 6:10–18). - Longman, T., III (ed.) (2009) ~Deuteronomy through Ruth~. Barbour Publishing (Layman’s Bible Commentary), p. 115.

This commentary does not see the vision as a supportive comfort only, but also as a reminder that Joshua is ‘merely’ the worldly leader of the army, and the army is God’s. I don’t think this perspective dismisses the visit as an endorsement, but it focuses on the reminder of place for Joshua. Intriguing stuff, to me at least.

Here Joshua met Jesus, Jesus the Captain of the Lord’s host. You see, if it were an angel then He would’ve refused his worship. John several times in the book of Revelation, tried to worship the angel, and he said, “Stand up worship the Lord. - Chuck Smith C-2000

As I have said many times in many posts, I find Chuck Smith’s Commentary to be one of the best I have access to, in no small part because of his style of writing. Chuck not only states that if this were just an angel, then the worship would have been rejected. He also points to the Book of Revelation as an example of this.

Conclusion.

I scoured by physical library, my eSword library and my shiny new Logos library, and I cannot locate a single respectable source which rejects the notion that this Commander is more than an angel. There are a great many sources that make no comment on this passage, which may be a comment in its own right.

Regardless of where you personally fall on this topic, I think at the very least we have to recognise this as a fascinating few passages which perhaps would not benefit from further expansion within the Bible. Take it how you like, but Joshua got confirmation that he was the man for the Job. The results of this confirmation are seen, laid bare, throughout the rest of the book of Joshua, and the legacy he left to the people of Isreal. I can’t help but be humbled by the impact of the short interaction. I think there is something to be said for how much God can do with a single moment in someone’s life.

And no, I do not think he had to finish the battle without his sandals on.

Cross-references

Below are the cross-references as listed in my NKJV Study Bible. I think you may find them interesting if you are looking for some related reading.

• Exodus 3:5 - Then He said, “Do not draw near this place. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground.”
• Genesis 18:1–2 - Then the LORD appeared to him…
• Genesis 32:24 - Then Jacob was left alone; and a Man wrestled with him until the breaking of day.
• Acts 7:33 - ‘Then the LORD said to him, “Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground.

Notes: I do not use AI in my writing. I have, however, recently begun using the Logos software, which gives me easy referencing and linked searching. I constantly try to state sources and link back to original articles where I can. Also, please note, I am not a theologian; I am simply an interested reader of the Bible who enjoys sharing thoughts.