What do we have here? We have a Man (capitalized in my Bible), but we know that it is the Lord because we just read the next couple verses and found out that the ground was holy there. But this Man is kitted out like a man of war. He is fully kitted out in soldiers' gear as a warrior of the 15th century BC.
And not only that, not only does He have a sword, but He has got it drawn in His hand, and this shows that He is ready to fight. I mean, normally you do not pull your sword until your enemies are close enough to hit. But He comes upon Joshua, and the impression that you get is that He came on him unexpectedly. Joshua was probably out scouting the area around Jericho. He was probably trying to figure out a plan of attack, trying to work out what he would do, where he would put his men, and suddenly, he is met by this Man who is ready to fight.
And so Joshua, I do not know, maybe he is trying to get a little time to think. He says, Are you for us or against us? But frankly, his question is a little perplexing.
Did the Lord in this occasion look so human that Joshua did not know it was his God that was standing there? And that actually makes the most sense when you think about it. At a glance, looking at Him and how He was dressed as a soldier, His appearance gave nothing away as to His loyalties. He just seemed like a soldier, a warrior who was there to fight.
The Hebrew, which is reflected in the New King James, they translated it quite literally. It reads, "A Man stood opposite him," which could imply that the Man stood opposing him, like He was keeping him from moving forward or would have done something had Joshua made a swift move one way or the other. So the impression then is what Joshua saw was this Man in full armor with His sword drawn, threatening him. It was a threatening stance.
And being in the neighborhood of Jericho, you would think that this might come to pass, that there would be something, somebody there to oppose him. And this might explain the question then, "Are you for us or against us? Who are you?" If Joshua recognized Him as the Lord, on the other hand, the question would imply, "Are You here to deliver us or to punish us?" He is really trying to find out what this Man's intentions are. You know, should I draw my own sword? What is happening here?
However, Joshua had had enough interactions with God throughout his time since leaving Egypt, more than 40 years of experience, to know that he should abase himself in God's presence. So why did he not abase himself immediately when he saw Him rather than ask this question? So I think the weight of the evidence leans toward Joshua being uncertain of the Man's identity at first.
Now, the Lord's answer here—to me, it is funny—He just says, "No." It is a bit perplexing. This word could in Hebrew mean "neither." Are you for us or against us? And He answers, Neither. That may be but that brings up questions too. But I think the flat no answer suggests something like, that is not important right now, Joshua. Or He is shutting down that line of questioning.
His answer could also be implying that as Commander of the Lord's Army, He was above partisanship. He was neutral, He was fair, He was just, and so He was not going to say, "I'm for you and against you" at this point. Maybe. He is sovereign and fulfilling God's will as Commander of the Lord's army was His purpose, and so He was not going to argue or discuss any of the details about who He is for, who He was against. He was going to do the Father's will in this instance.
So His appearance, if nothing else, reminds Joshua that God Himself is Israel's supreme military authority and not him. I mean, he was commander of the armies of Israel, but there was One above him, and that was Commander of the armies of God. And not to mention that this One was also the leader of the heavenly host. So not only was He over Israel, but He was over all the angels. And in this case, He had come … . . .
