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reveals Himself as the Captain of the Lord's host. Joshua falls on his face in worship, and
the Captain of the Lord's host says to him: "Loose thy shoe from off thy foot; for the
place whereon thou standest is holy" (Josh.5: 15).
The Lord had promised that as He had been with Moses, so would He be with Joshua.
Moses saw a burning bush that was not consumed, and was told to take off his shoes
(Exod. 3: 5). Moses' need was not so much a Captain to lead to victory, as a power that
would endure. In Exod. 3: "the Angel of the Lord" appeared; in Joshua we read that
"there stood a Man". There are some who are confident that in both cases we have a
theophany of the Lord Jesus Christ. Others believe that the Angel of the Lord was
Michael (see Dan. 12: 1). The whole of Israel's history is accompanied by angelic
ministry:--
"The Angel of God, which went before the camp of Israel, removed and went behind
them; and the pillar of the cloud went from before their face, and stood behind them"
(Exod. 14: 19).
"Behold, I send an Angel . . . . . to bring thee in the way which I have prepared.
Beware of him, obey his voice, provoke him not; for he will not pardon your
transgressions: for My Name is in him. But if thou shalt indeed obey his voice, and do
all that I speak, then I will be an enemy unto thine enemies, and an adversary unto
thine adversaries. For Mine angel shall go before thee, and bring thee in unto the
Amorites . . . . . and I will cut them off" (Exod. 23: 20-23).
This second quotation is, we trust, explicit enough to settle the matter for us. It so
exactly fits the circumstances of Josh. 5: that we cannot but conclude that Josh. 5: is
the fulfillment of this promise.
Angelic hosts led by Michael shall yet war in heaven (Rev. 12: 7), and there shall be
an overthrow of Satan's power in that day, of which the overthrow of Jericho will prove
to be a type, in all of its essential features. This theme now lies before us. With the
preparation of Josh. 3:-5: now complete, we can go on to consider the victory of faith.