June 1957                                         “Walking With God”                               Late Mr. N. Daniel

 

Zechariah 4:6

"Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit" saith the Lord of Hosts. .Joshua saw great victory in his spiritual life and in his service to the nation. Individually, and in his family, he saw victory. Like Joseph and Daniel, he led a blameless life. He had been trained under' the great leader Moses. He obeyed this man of God and learnt many spiritual mysteries, and their practical outworking. After Moses, he entered into the holy and very responsible leadership of the nation. He had just crossed Jordan which was flooded. He had led the nation into experiencing this great miracle. Now, he was going forward, to face new battles and gain new victories. At that time, God tested him once again, lest he should think he had won with his wisdom and power.

“Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit” saith the Lord of Hosts.

He who understands this principle and deeply digests it, and applies it in practice, is the man who endures to the end. The angel of the Lord stood before Joshua with the drawn sword. Joshua went up to him and said, "Art thou for Us? or for our adversaries?" What holy boldness Joshua had! When Baalam saw an angel with the drawn sword, he trembled. When Daniel saw the vision, his strength left him. When Manoah and his wife saw the angel of the Lord rise up to heaven, in the flame of the altar, they feared and thought they would die. The priest Zechariah became a dumb man. Mary, the mother of our Lord was troubled and full of fear when the angel of the Lord met her. But Joshua was speaking straight to the angel.

Having lived with Moses, he was accustomed to the presence of God. Even though this was a new revelation to him, his body and spirit reacted like one who was quite accustomed to the presence of God. Not everyone can react this way, to such a vision. Some people can die, in such a situation. Ananias and Sapphira who had no experience of repentance came to such an end. Many who want to see God, can die, if He appeared to them. Moses saw the back parts of God. Joshua reacted like a man mature in spiritual experience. Satan can also give visions. For this reason also, Joshua wanted to verify on whose side, this captain was! The angel of the Lord was not offended by this question. God, had promised Moses "Behold, I send an angel before you, to show you the way, and if you will diligently hearken to His voice and obey Him I will be an enemy to your enemies. Now, the angel said he had come down as the captain of the Lord's hosts. It meant that Joshua was not the captain. The angel of the Lord who had been sent down was the captain. Now that the angel had come down with the drawn sword, could he not fight the battle himself? Did not an angel destroy 185,000 captains of the army of Sennacherib? God will not fight our battles in that way. Sennacherib in his pride greatly blasphemed the God of Israel, and brought punishment upon himself. The powers of darkness try to make man disobedient to God, and fill him with pride to bring him to die in his sin.

Those who love and serve Satan are really loving a person like a snake which hides in the dark, to sting the unguarded with its poisonous pangs. They appear to prosper. But, are suddenly destroyed. "Surely thou has placed them in a slippery place that they may fall and perish." The work of Satan is to make you, miss your way and all the while you feel confident that you are on the right path. He deceives you to destroy you. But the Lord shows errors, and brings you into the right path. He teaches you His eternal and Holy principles. He makes you relish and accept them in your mind and heart. Through His death and resurrection, we become heirs of God and partakers of His divine nature. He teaches us this precious truth, so that, we may reign with Him, enjoying His freedom, and His authority. “I will come as the captain of the hosts of the Lord.” As soon as Joshua heard these words, he fell down to the ground and worshipped him. “What saith the Lord my God?” he asked. This falling prostrate shows that Joshua acknowledged all the victories he had gained so far were give by the Lord and that he acknowledged fully that he was under the authority of the Lord. “You are my Lord and I am your servant I am here to obey what you say. Give the commandment and it shall be done.” As soon as he said this, the angel of the Lord said, “You are standing on the holy ground; remove your shoes.” Joshua obeyed. Joshua was in a high spiritual level. We understand this, because he immediately obeyed what God said. He had no counter questions like “Why should I remove my shoes, …” and so on. It shows his humble spirit of obedience.

How did this become a holy place? Is it because the angel touched the ground? Or Joshua stood there in total obedience? If a disobedient man stood on the same ground, would it be a holy place? Can the angel of the Lord give a vision to such a man there? When a man becomes holy, the holy angels of God can come to him; the angels stand in the holy presence of God. They cannot come into the midst of sinful people. Those who hallow the name of God, by their, lives, receive such visions. “Blessed are the pure in spirit, for they shall see God.” In other words, they will see heaven on earth.

They will have fellowship with holy ones. How good it would be if we were men like Joshua! How the kingdom of God would increase! If deep in our hearts it was “Not I, the Lord did it, this victory is of the Lord I was but an instrument in His hand,” how good it would be, if our hearts would speak that way. God tested Joshua and found him fit. God strengthened him to throw dawn the walls of Jericho by faith. God was with him till he won the whole land for Israel. May God grant us all such Grace !!!