(Picture - Islam in Africa)
Neither
Joshua 5:13-15
Key Verse 15
"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?"
Happy New Year! I was glad to see Missionary Maria Lee yesterday. She became younger after the surgery!
Once upon a time the British historian Arnold Joseph Toynbee examined 21 civilizations and came up with the conclusion as to why some civilizations are prosperous and still going, some perish and are no more . He reduced the conclusion with two words: challenge and response. He discovered that it is not the challenge but the response that makes the difference.
In African soil we are faced with numerous challenges. Yesterday while seated at a dining hall for an eating fellowship, Missionary James Lee of S. Africa mentioned the challenging condition of the road system in Africa. In many places, the road system is so poor that it is impossible for the interstate commerce to move freely. So I said, "Well, we can pray that one of our UBF members becomes the President of S. Africa, so he can establish a rally among all African Presidents, form a Pan African joint venture, and build a fabulous road system far better than Autobahn throughout the African continent, and then it will be a matter of time that Africa would be the next super power nation." Then, Missionary Daniel Rhee said to me, "Why don't you run for presidency?" I think his response was a little bit cynical, but at least he "responded" in a way that is positive. What do you think?
The title of the New Year’s message is 'neither'. You may find this title rather odd, but I insist on it, for it helps us to know better how we ought to respond to the challenges we have in the Lord. With this in mind let us think about the passage for today in two parts:
I. Jericho (the challenge)
What kind of challenge did Joshua have?
We know the answer - the wall of Jericho with doors tightly shut standing in the way. Let us also read 5:10. Manna stopped. What does ‘stopped’ mean? It means what it says. Notice that the army already crossed the Jordan River. They burned the bridge behind. Their enemies stockpiled their food inside the wall. The Israelites ran short in food supply.The Israelite soldiers could not afford the Jericho battle dragging on and on. The key factor was the duration of the battle: is it going to be a long battle or a quick battle? Joshua needed to come up with the way to take down Jericho 'quickly'. A lot of people say a lot of bad 'habits' Korean people have, and one of them is the habit of saying, "Palli, Palli" (meaning ‘quickly’). But it is not always bad to get things done palli palli. Sometimes you need to get the job done real quickly. And Joshua needed just that. And it was not an easy task. In fact by any human calculation it looked impossible to take down the Jericho wall as quickly as they needed.
Yesterday the Lord did great works among us. I think the Lord blessed the Bible study on II Kings 2:9. Coworkers were filled with the double portion of the Sprit that we were able to make important decisions in a record period of time: we successfully chose the key verse for the upcoming African Three Regional Summer Bible Conferences. The theme also came out quickly, that is, Acts 1:8, "You will be my witnesses". The prayer topics, direction and vision also were decided: raise up disciples as witnesses of our Lord Jesus; and establish missionaries to fully pioneer the 55 African nations! At the regional directors' meetings, the Holy Spirit worked powerfully that directors in the region speedily fixed the three regional conference programs. We also established the frame work and venue for the "2013 UBF Africa New Year Conference." Missionary Timothy Chung gracefully and joyfully hosted the conference in Tanzania at the Beach Side Hotel. Next year, we look forward to having a beautiful beach party just like our Risen Jesus had with his beloved disciples. I have attended a number of business meetings in UBF, but the processes and results were not as quick, efficient, and pleasant as the Lord blessed us to have yesterday. I think it is thanks to the leadership among us, and the spirit of love working among the African coworkers.
But that does not mean that the challenges we have grew way smaller. In fact the exact opposite is true. Dr. John Jun said, "Africa is the mission field of mission fields." [That means the world-mission work in this land is by far most challenging.] Yesterday Dr. Luke Lim pointed out that there are 55 African nations, and we barely reached out to one fourth of them. Now after the Sunday worship, we are ready to go out to meet the challenge. Question: am I really ready??
II. Take off your sandals (the response)
So the question before us is "How are we going to meet the challenge?"
Look at v. 13. Since Joshua could not afford a prolonged battle, and since the doors to the Jericho wall were shut, the only alternative was to attack. But in terms of odds, it is ten times harder for an attacking army to win than the army that defends to win. By all odds they were so handicapped that it was not likely that they will win. Since the Israelites' fighting men were all circumcised, and the healing was yet to be done, it looked impossible for the soldiers to climb the wall and do the fight.
Facing the challenge a lot of thoughts must have crossed the mind of Joshua. Yes, he was the leader, and unless a leader moves the followers do not move. So he had to make a move. But he did not know what to do. He was in a dilemma.
Yet according to an old saying, "When you do not know what to do, do something”, he did something. I think that day he woke up early and went out towards Jericho. Then lo and behold! He looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand. On seeing him, I think Joshua was startled to death. But he quickly put him together. He went up to him and asked, "Are you for us or for our enemies?"
What did the man say? Look at v. 14a. "Neither," he replied, "but as commander of the army of the LORD I have now come." How did Joshua respond? Look at v. 14b. "Then Joshua fell facedown to the ground in reverence, and asked him, "What message does my Lord have for his servant?" What did the Lord say? Let us all rise and read v. 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."
This passage tells us that before we spring into action, we need to remember two things:
First, we need to be aware that the battle is the Lord’s battle, so the Lord himself fights the battle.
Neither, he replied. As commander of the army of the Lord, I have now come. Joshua thought he was the man in charge. But this passage reveals that there is another commander.
In a physical realm, a number of Israelite soldiers were encamped in the field ready to fight. But the passage says that at that particular moment in a spiritual realm there was another army that came out ready to go and fight. They were ready to take down the wall, finish the job, and open the way to the Promised Land.
This heavenly army was not visible to naked eyes for several reasons. One reason is that it helps Israelites to live by faith. Another reason would be that if they were made visible, it would be distracting to the Israelites. The truth is that the army that is not visible is superior to the army that is visible. And each time his children are called to go out and do the fight, the Lord himself goes out and does the fight. Last night we studied on Elisha. The Prophet Elisha explains this phenomenon. Shepherd Christian, please stand up and read 2Ki 6:17 for us.
And Elisha prayed, "O LORD, open his eyes so he may see." Then the LORD opened the servant's eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.
Why then did the Lord come out? The answer is obvious. The Lord came out to serve His cause. That is why the Lord came out that day with a drawn sword. Just as Joshua was determined to take down the Jericho so also the Lord was determined to take it down. Can Missionary Joshua Surh please read Genesis 15:16? So the wickedness of people of the land reached its full measure. The time for them to repent was up. The judgment time came. So the sword was 'drawn' ready to smite the people of Jericho.
In our own generation in each of our places, the believers are faced with lots of challenges. And we have Jericho walls standing our way in many different forms: Jericho walls inside, Jericho walls outside. But let us remember that they are not just our own Jerichos but the Lord's. This awareness already prompts us to think about what the Lord might think of the challenges we are faced with. This awareness is critical to winning the Lord’s battle.
Second, we need to make it sure that the Lord does not fight 'against' us, but 'with' (not ‘for’ but ‘with) us.
When we examine the battles described in the book of Joshua (and in the history of kings of Israel), unbeknownst to the Israelites, in many of the battles, the Lord fought ‘against’ them.
Then how can we make it sure that the Lord does not fight against us, but with us? We find a clue to the answer to this question in the conversation between the Lord and Joshua.
Joshua fell facedown and asked, "What message does my Lord have for his servant?" Apparently Joshua expected the Lord to share with him a strategy.
What did the Lord say then? Look at v. 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."
When we think about this passage together with vs. 13-14, we can say that the Lord wants Joshua to be on the Lord's side first, and then the Lord can work with him.
When you think about it this order makes complete sense, for if you are God's enemy, doing what God hates to do, then why should God share with you the "insider" information? Insider information such as the strategy to take down the Jericho is only for the "insiders" not outsiders.
So in fighting the Lord's battle, we must be aware that there are only two camps: the Lord's camp and the camp of the enemies of the Lord.
So we need to stand on the Lord’s side. We should not put one foot in this world another in the Lord. We must put both of our feet on Jesus’ side.
Practically then what does it mean to take off our shoes (or sandals)? Does this mean that we go around the campus barefoot?
I think the man in the passage explained the meaning by giving out the reason, that is, 'for the place where you are standing is holy'. The word 'holy' indicates that the man who showed up to Joshua was the Lord himself. The word 'holy' denotes the most important characteristics of the Lord. God is the God of triple holiness. Angelic beings such as the four living creatures constantly sing saying, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty.” Rev 4:8
In many of the epistles we are taught that holiness is the ultimate purpose of salvation: justification is not, sanctification is not, glorification is not, righteousness is not, but holiness is. And the Bible says, "without holiness no one will see the Lord." Heb 12:14
In view of the reason stated, we can now understand why God asked Joshua to take off his shoes. He did so for he wanted Joshua to participate in God's holiness. On a practical level then, at least in my opinion, taking off our shoes can be reduced to Triple O's: O, O, O, that is, Offering Oneself as a living sacrifice daily for God's daily Ointment (in the sense of divivne unction or Ordainment if you will, in the sense of the Lord appointing us to go for the victory). [Read Romans 12:1-2 as well.]
O - Offer
O - Oneself
O - Ointment
When we offer ourselves to the Lord as living sacrifices, the Lord transforms us from a state of brokenness into the state of wholesomeness, from that of imperfection into the state of perfection. As we approach the throne of God's mercy trusting in our Lord Jesus’ blood sacrifice, the Lord gracefully forgives us and cleanses us of our sins. He heals us of all the wounds and scars. He makes broken souls to be strong and sound. He turns otherwise wounded soldiers to be renewed in their strength, so they will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.
In conclusion, on this New Year’s Day, we fall facedown and ask the Lord, "What message does my Lord have for his servant?" The Lord answers: "Take off your sandals for the place where you are standing is holy." Joshua did so. Like Joshua on this New Year's Day, let us take off our sandals.
One word: take off your sandals
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