Whose Side Are You On?

Joshua 5:13-14 “And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, behold, there stood a man over against him with his sword drawn in his hand: and Joshua went unto him, and said unto him, Art thou for us, or for our adversaries? And he said, Nay; but as captain of the host of the LORD am I now come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, and said unto him, What saith my lord unto his servant?”

Not long ago, one of my kids came to me whining about something a sibling had done to them. I jokingly asked if this child would like me to hold down the offending sibling so he could punch him in the face before we tied him up and threw him in the river (I suppose you can guess which two kids these are!). I said it all “tongue-in-cheek” to make a point-I did not want the whining. He was concerned whether I was on his side or the sibling’s side.

We learn more about this person in verse 14. We know he is a warrior by his sword, and we learn that he is “captain of the host of the LORD.” That is, he was the captain of God’s host (army), including His people, all nature, and the heavenly army of angels. Joshua realized who this Person was and fell on the ground and worshipped him. He calls himself “his [my lord’s] servant.”

The important question for us to consider today is this: Whose side are you on? Are you “General” of your own plans, or are you a servant of God’s? God was with Israel in the very next chapter when they conquered Jericho. The question was not about His side; the question was about whose side Israel was on. For you and I, the question is not, “Does God bolster my position?” but rather, “Am I on God’s side?”

In our lives, we ought to make it a passion of ours to know what God has said. By knowing what He has said, we can put our work into being on God’s side. That will assure that God is on your side today.