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?And the captain of the Lord's host said unto Joshua, Loose thy shoe from off thy foot; for the place whereon thou standest is holy. And Joshua did so.
What is a Captain? Primarily, he
is a military commander but let's read the definition in Websters and
Strong's concordance
Captain
- (W)a head or chief officer; appropriately, the
military officer who commands a company,
(H8269)prince, ruler, leader, chief, chieftain, official, captain -
vassal, noble, official (under king)
If this office is “under
a king” but is a “Chief officer,” - who is the second
person in the Godhead?
God, the Father, God, the
Son...
What is the name of the
Son? Jesus
Who are we looking for in
Joshua? Jesus
Who is the Captain of the
Lord's Host? Jesus
If Moses was a type of
the Lord and Joshua was “under Moses,” would you say Joshua was
a type of “captain?” yes
Let's look at Joshua's life,
the battles he fought and what could be applied to the Lord Jesus.
The book of Joshua opens
this way:
Rest but armed:
The
Lord
your God hath given you rest, and hath given you this land.
1.4 Your
wives, your little ones, and your cattle, shall remain in the land
which Moses gave you on this side Jordan; but ye shall pass before
your brethren armed, all the mighty men of valour, and help
them;
Then,
it's time to go to battle!
About
forty thousand prepared for war passed over before the Lord unto
battle, to the plains of Jericho. 4.14
- Jericho: (6.12-27) 7 times they marched around – on the seventh trip around the great walled city, the priests blew the trumpets, the people shouted and “the walls came tumbling down.” Who teaches obedience? Jesus
- Ai (7.2-6) – this fight was lost because of bad intelligence, he trusted the wrong men. Did the Lord ever give bad information? No, His Word is always right and true (Ps 19...righteous altogether)
- Ai and Bethel (8.1-29) – Ai again with an added city – the Captain, Joshua – made strategic decisions that won this fight. If one follows the Word to the letter, will the battle be won? Yes, of course
- Amorites (10.1-27) – in this battle we find the Captain actually “chasing” the enemy (10.10) away from God's people. Have you every fought for something or someone else? Who fights our battles when we cannot? The Lord Jesus
Many times, the
Captain, Joshua, was told by the Lord (8.1, 10.25) to “fear not.”
This message he passed on to the army. In any fight, it's “okay”
to be afraid. But if one is in the Lord's will while fighting
enemies seen and unseen, then you can rest assured you will previal.
What
a bold, courageous man, this Joshua. A fighting man, a man of war.
Jesus
said: “Think not that I am come to send
peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. “ (Mt
10.34)
Of the 13 Campaigns against
7 Kings that Captain Joshua led, they lost only one and that was
because of bad intelligence from the spies! (7.2-6)
Listen to the words of
modern day leaders to their fighting men.
(Have students take turns
wearing the Captains hat and think of how they would feel and present
the following speeches):
The Captain will carry out the plans
of the General
Who is our Captain? The Lord
Jesus – Who is our General? God
From General Patton of WWII:
Men,
all this stuff you hear about America not wanting to fight, wanting
to stay out of the war, is (just not true). . . .When you were kids,
you all admired the champion marble shooter, the fastest runner, the
big-league ball players and the toughest boxers. ... Battle is the
most significant competition in which a man can indulge. It brings
out all that is best and it removes all that is base.
... Only two percent of you right here today would be killed in a major battle. Every man is scared in his first action. If he says he's not, he's a ... liar. But the real hero is the man who fights even though he's scared. Some men will get over their fright in a minute under fire, some take an hour, and for some it takes days. But the real man never lets his fear of death overpower his honor, his sense of duty to his country, and his innate manhood....
An army is a team. It lives, eats, sleeps, and fights as a team..
All the real heroes are not storybook combat fighters. Every single man in the army plays a vital role. So don't ever let up. Don't ever think that your job is unimportant. What if every truck driver decided that he didn't like the whine of the shells and turned yellow and jumped headlong into a ditch? ...Every man does his job. Every man is important. The ordnance men are needed to supply the guns, the quartermaster is needed to bring up the food and clothes for us ...Every last ... man in the mess hall, even the one who boils the water to keep us from getting (sick) has a job to do.
And you should have seen the trucks on the road to Gabès. Those drivers were magnificent. All day and all night they crawled along those ...roads, never stopping, never deviating from their course with shells bursting all around them. Many of the men drove over 40 consecutive hours. We got through on good old American guts. These were not combat men. But they were soldiers with a job to do. They were part of a team. Without them the fight would have been lost.
Sure, we all want to go home. We want to get this war over with. But you can't win a war lying down.
... Only two percent of you right here today would be killed in a major battle. Every man is scared in his first action. If he says he's not, he's a ... liar. But the real hero is the man who fights even though he's scared. Some men will get over their fright in a minute under fire, some take an hour, and for some it takes days. But the real man never lets his fear of death overpower his honor, his sense of duty to his country, and his innate manhood....
An army is a team. It lives, eats, sleeps, and fights as a team..
All the real heroes are not storybook combat fighters. Every single man in the army plays a vital role. So don't ever let up. Don't ever think that your job is unimportant. What if every truck driver decided that he didn't like the whine of the shells and turned yellow and jumped headlong into a ditch? ...Every man does his job. Every man is important. The ordnance men are needed to supply the guns, the quartermaster is needed to bring up the food and clothes for us ...Every last ... man in the mess hall, even the one who boils the water to keep us from getting (sick) has a job to do.
And you should have seen the trucks on the road to Gabès. Those drivers were magnificent. All day and all night they crawled along those ...roads, never stopping, never deviating from their course with shells bursting all around them. Many of the men drove over 40 consecutive hours. We got through on good old American guts. These were not combat men. But they were soldiers with a job to do. They were part of a team. Without them the fight would have been lost.
Sure, we all want to go home. We want to get this war over with. But you can't win a war lying down.
Some
of you men are wondering whether or not you'll chicken out under
fire. Don't worry about it. I can assure you that you'll all do your
duty. War is a bloody business, ...
I don't want any messages saying 'I'm holding my position.'.... We're advancing constantly ...
There will be some complaints that we're pushing our people too hard. ..Pushing harder means fewer casualties. I want you all to remember that... Even if you are hit, you can still fight. …
I don't want any messages saying 'I'm holding my position.'.... We're advancing constantly ...
There will be some complaints that we're pushing our people too hard. ..Pushing harder means fewer casualties. I want you all to remember that... Even if you are hit, you can still fight. …
General
McArthur of WWII
To the Philippine People: I Have Returned
I have returned. By
the grace of Almighty God our forces stand again on Philippine soil —
soil consecrated in the blood of our two peoples. We have come,
dedicated and committed, to the task of destroying every vestige of
enemy control over your daily lives, and of restoring, upon a
foundation of indestructible, strength, the liberties of your people.To the Philippine People: I Have Returned
Japanese Surrender Ceremony
Today the guns are silent. A great tragedy has ended. A great victory has been won. The skies no longer rain death — the seas bear only commerce men everywhere walk upright in the sunlight. The entire world is quietly at peace. The holy mission has been completed.“Old Soldiers Never Die:” Farewell Address to Congress
I still remember the refrain of one of the most popular barracks ballads of that day which proclaimed most proudly that old soldiers never die; they just fade away. And like the old soldier of that ballad, I now close my military career and just fade away, an old soldier who tried to do his duty as God gave him the light to see that duty.Speech to West Point Cadets: Duty -Honor – Country
Duty – Honor – Country. Those three hallowed words reverently dictate what you ought to be, what you can be, what you will be. They are your rallying points: to build courage when courage seems to fail; to regain faith when there seems to be little cause for faith; to create hope when hope becomes forlorn.
How
many battles did Joshua lose? one
Is
Joshua a type of the Lord Jesus?
yes
What
is Jesus' name in the book of Joshua?
Captain of the Lord's Host
Did,
has or will Jesus lose ANY battles?
No
Who
is your Captain? Jesus
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