Get Right with God Before the Battle — Joshua 5 (Session 7)

In this verse-by-verse study of Joshua 5, Reasoning Through the Bible examines the chapter that comes just before Jericho. Instead of rushing straight into battle, Israel must first get right with God. The people are circumcised, they celebrate the Passover, the manna stops, and Joshua encounters a mysterious figure with a drawn sword who identifies himself as the commander of the Lord’s army. 

This session explores why circumcision mattered as a covenant sign, how it pictured cleansing and separation, and why Israel had neglected it during the wilderness years. The discussion also draws New Testament parallels to the heart, baptism, and the Christian life, showing that people are not saved by outward ritual, but that once God saves, He begins to clean up their lives. 

The episode also highlights the Passover as a memorial of God’s redemption, the end of manna once Israel entered the land, and the striking appearance of the man with the drawn sword. Since Joshua worships him and he accepts that worship, the session argues that this is no mere angel, but the pre-incarnate Christ appearing before the battle. 

Topics in this episode include:

•  Joshua 5 study 
•  circumcision in Joshua 
•  getting right with God 
•  Passover in the Promised Land 
•  why the manna stopped 
•  the commander of the Lord’s army 
•  pre-incarnate Christ 
•  cleansing before conquest 
•  preparation before Jericho 

Reasoning Through the Bible is a verse-by-verse Bible teaching ministry committed to careful exposition, biblical context, and faithful application.

Questions in this session:

• Do we get clean before or after salvation?
• When we get right with God, how much use is our flesh? 
• Who is the only person who can rightfully accept worship?
• What are the signs of the covenants in the OT vs the NT? 

Transcript

Introduction to Joshua Chapter 5

Speaker 1 0:19

Welcome back to the Reasoning Through the Bible podcast . We've been working our way through the book of Joshua . We do a verse-by-verse study and we're down to chapter 5 . In chapter 5 , we have three main things that happen here . Israel is going to get right with God in the ceremony that they've been required to do but haven't been . They're going to celebrate the Passover and we're going to talk about that , and then we're going to meet a very special visitor towards the end .

Speaker 2 0:44

That's where we are , so , steve if you could read Joshua , chapter 5 , the first nine verses . As soon as all the kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan to the west and all the kings of the Canaanites who were by the sea heard that the Lord had dried up the waters of the Jordan for the people of Israel until they crossed over , the Lord had dried up the waters of the Jordan for the people of Israel until they crossed over , their hearts melted and there was no longer any spirit in them because of the people of Israel . At that time the Lord said to Joshua make flint knives and circumcise the sons of Israel a second time . So Joshua made flint knives and circumcised the sons of Israel at Gebeth Haraloth . And this is the reason why Joshua circumcised them .

Speaker 2 1:31

All the males of the people who came out of Egypt , all the men of war had died in the wilderness on the way after they had come out of Egypt .

Speaker 2 1:40

Though all the people who came out had been circumcised , yet all the people who were born on the way in the wilderness after they had come out of Egypt had not been circumcised , for the people of Israel walked forty years in the wilderness until all the nation , the men of war who came out of Egypt perished because they did not obey the voice of the Lord . The Lord swore to them that he would not let them see the land that the Lord had sworn to their fathers to give us a land flowing with milk and honey . So , as the children whom he raised up in their place that Joshua was circumcised for , they were uncircumcised because they had not been circumcised on the way . When the circumcising of the whole nation was finished , they remained in their places in the camp until they were healed . And the Lord said to Joshua Today I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you , and the name of that place is called Gilgal to this day .

Speaker 1 2:40

So back in verse 1 , we have all these powerful kings of Canaan , and they've learned that Israel made it across the flooded Jordan River . And how did they react ?

Speaker 2 2:51

Their hearts melted . They feared a God that could stop the water and stop the river and allow hundreds of thousands of people across , scared them to death .

Speaker 1 3:03

Yeah , they were shaking in their boots . They didn't have any spirit left in them to fight . What happens to people who get inspired and motivated towards a goal , compared to people that have lost their heart and are very dejected ?

Speaker 2 3:18

The fight has gone out of them . They really don't want to fight unless they have to .

Speaker 1 3:24

Have we ever been in a situation where I've lost my motivation and lost my goal ? How effective would I be ?

Speaker 2 3:31

Not very effective at all .

Speaker 1 3:32

Military leaders have recognized this for years . It's a big impact on how successful the troops are is whether they believe they can win or whether they believe that they're going to lose . That's what they're facing is that , despite the fact that the people of Canaan are bigger , stronger , more wealthy , they've got all the larger numbers of people .

Speaker 2 3:52

they're afraid because they know they're up against God and being in a defensive position is a lot stronger than being in an offensive position where you're having to go out and attack . If you're defending a place , sometimes it's a lot easier because you can have concentration of your men and other things and defensive walls and everything else like that .

Speaker 1 4:15

Then , starting in verse 2 and going through verse 9 , israel is circumcised . Circumcision

Israel's Circumcision at Gilgal

Speaker 1 4:22

is a process where they remove a piece of flesh from the body . It was a sign in the Old Testament of removing an unclean piece of flesh from the body . It was also a sign of being a member of Israel . Do you remember , steve , where it was first implemented ? Yeah , it was with .

Speaker 2 4:42

Abraham was the very first , and that was Abraham was commanded , and all of his household were commanded to as well . It was a sign of the covenant that God made with Abraham and all of his descendants .

Speaker 1 4:57

And in the timeline of Israel , Abraham lived way before Moses . This is way before the law of Moses . It was way before Abraham had really done anything as far as obeying God . So this sign of the Abrahamic covenant was circumcision . It was given way early , all the way back in Abraham's day , and this was a sign of a couple of things . One , it was a sign of being a member of Israel . You had God's sign in you , you were part of Israel and you were not a part of the pagan nations . And it was also a sign and a symbol to Israel of cleanness . And it was a symbol of being clean and not being one of them out there that was unclean . If you remember , when David came up against Goliath , he says who is this uncircumcised Philistine that thinks they can come up against a living God ? So Israel looked at people that were uncircumcised and viewed them as unclean , physically or spiritually , whatever they viewed it as being unclean .

Speaker 1 6:04

What was Israel supposed to be doing all the way since Abraham's day ? Is this circumcision ? Well , it says here in these passages when they were wandering in the wilderness , what were they doing ? They weren't doing it . They weren't keeping the commandments . So the wilderness again is a sign of unbelief , of disobedience . It's when people of Israel were not following God . Wilderness , again , is a sign of unbelief , of disobedience . It's when people of Israel were not following God , so they were not keeping this commandment . What happens when they move out of the wilderness into God's promised land ? What's the first thing God does ?

Speaker 2 6:37

You need to get back to basics , you need to circumcise all the males .

Speaker 1 6:43

What happens to a person when they become a Christian , when their life is changed ? Do you have to clean up before you become a Christian ?

Speaker 2 6:53

No .

Speaker 1 6:53

You don't have to get everything in my life in perfect order , but then I'm going to get right with God .

Speaker 2 6:58

No .

Speaker 1 6:59

What do you do to move over from the wilderness , across , following the Savior , into salvation ? What do you have to do ?

Speaker 2 7:06

You make that commitment to Christ and to make that commitment to God .

Speaker 1 7:10

Just believe . If we just believe and decide that I'm going to follow the Savior , I cross over into salvation and at that point one of the first things God's going to do is clean up your life . He'll start working on you to clean up your life . He'll start working on all those things that you should have been doing and weren't . I know it happened to me when I was a lost person . I had things in my life that I shouldn't have and when I became a Christian , nobody had to tell me to go throw those things away . I went and started methodically getting rid of those things in my life Some of them I'm still working on . Thank you very much . But nobody had to tell me because I knew those things were wrong and now I had the power of God I could work on them . And this whole story of Joshua a great story of the Christian life , moving from the lost person into salvation .

Speaker 1 8:01

Now the New Testament makes some parallels between circumcision and baptism and salvation . Remember what some of those are ? It talks about it in two or three places there's Colossians , chapter two , there's Romans , chapter two and there's Ephesians , chapter two , and in those three places it talks about circumcision and it talks about baptism In Colossians two . It parallels circumcision and baptism . In Colossians 2 , it parallels circumcision and baptism . In Romans 2 , it talks about the true follower of God is someone who circumcised their heart . So circumcision was the sign of the covenant in the Old Testament . What's the sign of the covenant in the New Testament with the new covenant ? It's baptism right , and that's the parallel in Colossians 2 , is he's making a parallel between circumcision in the Old Testament the Old Covenant and baptism is the symbol of the covenant in the New Testament . We don't want to go too far in this parallel , but nevertheless it's there in the scriptures . The outward act of circumcision . Did that automatically make you right with God ?

Speaker 2 9:10

No , because it could be that any male could go and circumcise themselves , but that didn't necessarily make them a part of if they didn't believe in the covenant of God or believe in God himself .

Speaker 1 9:25

There were circumcised members of the nation of Israel that weren't following God . And that's the point that Paul makes in Romans , chapters 2 and 3 , when he talks at length about circumcision . A follower of God is not one that is circumcised outwardly , but it's one who's circumcised inwardly . That your heart's circumcised and set apart for God .

Speaker 2 9:47

And I think that you might have wanted to make the same thing in regards to baptism . Baptism is there as a symbol for the Christian and the new Christian life , but if you don't have the belief behind it , the baptism itself does not do any type of salvation .

Speaker 1 10:03

Correct and the Apostle Paul spends some ink doing this in the book of Romans . It's a methodical explanation of salvation and he makes a point about circumcision . And he brings up Abraham . And Paul in Romans quotes this verse all the way back in Genesis where it says Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness . And Paul says that's the point he was counted righteous at the point of belief . And if you go back to Genesis and read the story , the point where it says Abraham was counted righteous was at the point of belief was before he was circumcised . It was before Abraham had done nothing

Parallels Between Circumcision and Baptism

Speaker 1 10:52

in obedience when God counted him righteous before God . Then God starts cleaning up his life and removing the symbol of filthiness which was circumcision . So circumcision comes after Abraham was made right with God and counted righteous . Baptism comes after we have belief in our counted righteous . That's the main thing here .

Speaker 1 11:17

But again back in the picture of Joshua . We're not saved . We don't go from the wilderness into God's best , god's promised land by getting our life clean first , land by getting our life clean first . And it's not the process of circumcision or baptism that gets us into the promised land . No , all we have to do is follow the Savior . All we have to do is have the faith that the Savior is going to get us there . Once we're in the state of salvation , the first thing God does is start cleaning up your life , and I've found that to be true A couple other places . As long as we're talking about this , acts , chapter 15 , there was a church council . Do you remember what the church council was talking about in that whole chapter ?

Speaker 2 11:59

One of the items that were discussed the main one was Gentile believers in Christ , whether or not they needed to be circumcised as well to show that they were followers of Christ . Correct , and they decided what they decided . No , they don't have to .

Speaker 1 12:15

No , you don't . That was a big church council . What does Paul do with ? I believe it was Timothy , two or three verses later , at the beginning of the next chapter in 16? .

Speaker 2 12:24

Well , yeah , he takes Timothy and has him circumcised .

Speaker 1 12:27

yes , so I always found that interesting is a whole chapter of a council that says no , you don't have to circumcise . And the very next few verses he circumcises Timothy . But I think it's clear he's doing it because of the witness to the Jewish people . They wouldn't have listened to a man . And then there was a whole book , almost in Galatians , where there's a big controversy about circumcision and setting ourselves apart .

Speaker 1 12:53

So first thing God does to Israel when they get over into the promised land is ask the men to start obeying again . And that's what happens with us in salvation . We're not saved by acts of obedience in circumcision or baptism or anything else , but we're saved when we truly put our trust and faith in Jesus . After we do that , God will start working on you and start cleaning stuff up . You won't want to be out of fellowship with God . You'll do it because you want to and not because you have to or some religious ritual . Here in chapter 5 , Israel had not been doing this . They come into God's promised land . They need to start obeying again . So the New Testament what does it talk about when it uses the word flesh ? Circumcision is a removing of what is considered an unclean piece of flesh from the body , and in the New Testament it talks a lot about the flesh . What does the New Testament say about the flesh ?

Speaker 2 13:50

The flesh is the enemy . The flesh is something that you're constantly fighting and because the flesh is attached to the worldly things , it's something that's there that can be a hindrance between you and between Christ and your spiritual life and your relationship with Christ , because you're experiencing those fleshly things that are in the world today .

Speaker 1 14:14

Right . The flesh in the New Testament is representative of weak , sinful human nature . Several verses , just as an example Mark 14 , verse 38 , the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak . In Romans , chapter 7 , he says I serve the law of God with my mind , but with my flesh I serve the law of sin . Romans , chapter 8, . Those who are in the flesh cannot please God . So when we go into a state of salvation , how much good does the unclean flesh do us ?

Speaker 2 14:42

It's absolutely zero . It's going to be working against us , so it's something that we should resist in order to stay true to Christ .

Speaker 1 14:52

There's another verse in Galatians where it says and those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires . If we live by the Spirit , let us also keep in step with the Spirit . That's in Galatians , chapter 5 . So it's very clear that Israel did not have to obey God's commandments first to get into the promised land , but rather just have faith and trust to enter . But once they enter , god has to clean them up and God will command them to clean up and they'll want to . Same thing with salvation . We don't clean ourselves up . We don't get rid of all the dirt in our life . Before we become a Christian , all we have to do is trust the Savior and once we do , he'll start taking all these unclean things out of our life .

Speaker 2 15:38

Another thing is that God is consistent in relation to some of the things that he says that we're to do . This isn't something that he had told the previous generations to do , and now that they haven't done it , he doesn't just overlook it and say , okay , well , you don't have to do it anymore . It's something that he had instructed them to do as far as for a purpose , for their lives . So , as he goes and cleans us up and what you've said before we can have peace in knowing and assurance that God is going to do that for us . In regards to wanting us to clean up our lives , he's very consistent . He doesn't want to have inconsistency , and so he'll be consistent in helping us to clean up our lives and get us on the right track , because it's good for us .

Speaker 1 16:25

And you can be sure that he will do that . God is holy and pure and he wants his people to be holy and pure . So , moving on in Joshua , chapter 5 , let me start

The Passover and Ceasing of Manna

Speaker 1 16:35

at verse 10 . It says here While the sons of Israel camped at Gilgal , they observed the Passover on the evening of the 14th day of the month in the desert plains of Jericho . On the day after the Passover , on that very day , they ate some of the produce of the land unleavened cakes and parched grain . The manna ceased on the day after they had eaten some of the produce of the land , so that the sons of Israel no longer had manna . But they ate some of the yield of the land of Canaan during that year . What is this Passover thing and why is it important ?

Speaker 2 17:09

It's a remembrance of what God did for them in Egypt to bring them out of Egypt and the power that he has . It was the final plague that caused Pharaoh to let them finally go out of the land , but it was also something that was a remembrance for what he did . But how it happened and we had explained before that the blood of the lamb was put over the doorpost and the lentils and they were to stay inside . It was again something that showed , when God saw the blood , that he looked over their sin and it was something that they were to remember . Part of this , too .

Speaker 2 17:48

While this talks about the produce and the land and everything else , the main part of the Passover was a lamb . So they had all the livestock that were with them and bringing them over and , of course , the lambs had to be without blemish . They had to take the lambs in for three days and make sure that they were without blemish . They had to take the lambs in for three days and make sure that they were without blemish . So all of this is the behind the scenes in regards to the Passover and activity that's taken place those three days .

Speaker 1 18:13

So the very first Passover back in Egypt . As you rightly said , that was the last of the 10 plagues . What was being passed over ? What was the plague ? What happened to the people who didn't have the blood on the door ?

Speaker 2 18:25

The firstborn , their firstborn and even of their animals were killed .

Speaker 1 18:30

So the death angel would come and take the firstborn child , unless you had the blood on the door . And if the blood on the door was there , the angel would pass over , hence the name Passover . And then at that point , when they were still in Egypt , God said do this every year as a remembrance . And the Jewish people have been doing Passover every year all these years and still do today , and it's a remembrance of what God has done for them . There's a part of the Passover ceremony where they remind them of the great things God had done with bringing them out of Egypt . So they were supposed to observe the Passover every year as a remembrance . When we become Christians , should we remember how far God has brought us from ? Should we remember that on a regular basis ? I know times that I kind of get used to this Christian life and sometimes I forget . So sometimes I think it would be good to just stop and say how far God has brought me .

Speaker 1 19:29

How far has God brought you ? How far has God brought all of us ? Sometimes we need to stop and remember those things .

Speaker 2 19:35

Absolutely .

Speaker 1 19:36

So is there a parallel between the Jewish Passover ceremony and the Lord's Supper , the communion ?

Speaker 2 19:44

Yes , because the Lord's Supper was actually begun as the Passover meal before Christ's death and crucifixion . So it was the Passover meal and Christ said I'll no longer take of this fruit or bread until we see each other again . So it's also supposed to be a remembrance . As he said , do this in remembrance of me . So it's a remembrance , just like the original Passover .

Speaker 1 20:11

Isn't it going to be great when we get to sit down and have a meal with Jesus Christ ?

Speaker 2 20:16

Yes , and it also brings to when John the Baptist also saw him coming . He said behold the lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world . So , jesus , that's the reference in that he is that Passover lamb .

Speaker 1 20:27

So it says in verse 12 , the manna ceased the day after they'd eaten the produce of the land . So remind me again what was manna and what purpose did it serve ?

Speaker 2 20:38

So when they were out wandering in the wilderness the wilderness itself means a desolate place there wasn't farms and produce and things that were out there . People weren't living out there they were out there on their own . Yeah , it's the wilderness . They complained to God and they said we don't have anything to eat . So he provided to them every day this bread-like substance that was called manna , and he also , every day when they went out , it was there in the morning they would gather up what they needed for that day and even , talking about consistency , to retain the day of rest that they were supposed to do on the sixth day , they were supposed to collect two days worth of manna so that they would have that , because it wasn't provided for them on that seventh day . And then the next day , the beginning of the week , it would start again . And God , he did that for 40 years as they were out there in the wilderness .

Speaker 1 21:35

I wonder how many recipes for manna they had Leftovers , yeah , yeah , manna leftovers and Manna casserole , manna casserole , manna desserts , manna salad . The manna was to sustain them as they went through the wilderness , the wilderness of unbelief . God sustained them . Does God sustain us even when we're far away from him ?

Speaker 2 22:02

Absolutely .

Speaker 1 22:03

How many times have we heard testimonies , and even yours and mine ? Here's the point where I really got right with God . But when I look back , god's been with me all this time and he's been getting me through this .

Speaker 1 22:14

That's kind of the spiritual application of the manna is that even when we're far away from God , god's providing blessings for us and he's getting us through this . So they get to the promised land and it stops . And I would submit it's that way because now you're in the state of God's best and you're in the land flowing with milk and honey which he has given you , so he's still sustaining you . It's just you don't need the same thing . Over in John , chapter 6 , starting in verse 49 , jesus makes an application to himself . He says I am the bread from heaven . Remember he had done the miracle of feeding the people and they kept following him around asking for more food , more food . And he said I'm the bread from heaven . Eat of my flesh , drink of my blood and I'll sustain you . So he was the one who came down out of heaven to nourish us .

Speaker 2 23:04

And I think , glenn , this brings up a point understanding the Old Testament in order to understand some of the things that statement in the New Testament , because he's directly equating himself with that and saying I am the bread from heaven . So it's a direct correlation to the manna that he provided to them in the world and the people would understand that at the time .

Speaker 1 23:37

Oh yeah , they very well knew . So Steve read Joshua 5 .

Joshua Meets the Commander

Speaker 2 23:41

And 13 through 15 . When Joshua was by Jericho , he lifted up his eyes and looked and behold , a man was standing before him with his drawn sword in his hand . And Joshua went to him and said to him are you for us or for our adversaries ? And he said no , but I am the commander of the army of the Lord . Now I have come . And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped and said to him what does my Lord say to his servant ? And the commander of the Lord's army said to Joshua Take off your sandals from your feet , where the place where you are standing is holy . And Joshua did so .

Speaker 1 24:25

Verse 13 , where does it say Joshua was ?

Speaker 2 24:28

He was by Jericho outside Jericho .

Speaker 1 24:32

I just sort of asked myself the question why is he there and why is he not taking action yet ? And I think he was waiting on the Lord . I think he's . I'm here , we've done this , we've had Passover . I think he's waiting on the Lord for direction . If I knew Joshua , that's what he's doing . So he meets this person and what does it say about this person ? What's this person doing ? When we first see him ?

Speaker 2 24:56

He's standing before him and he has his sword out . It's drawn , it's in a position that's ready to be used .

Speaker 1 25:05

So what do you think is going through Joshua's mind at this point ? He sees a stranger . He's got his weapon in his hand . What do you think Joshua's thinking it ?

Speaker 2 25:12

tells us , because he comes up to him and says are you for us or are you against us ? Are you part of the adversary ? So it's pretty clear what's going through his mind . Is this somebody that I'm going to have to fight with , or is this somebody that's going to be on our side ?

Speaker 1 25:27

Joshua asked him are you on our side or the other side ? And the man says you don't understand . I didn't come to take sides , I came to take over . The question's not whether God's on our side or the other side . The question is am I on God's side ? God's got his agenda and sometimes it doesn't line up with mine . And the question is am I on God's side ? God's got his agenda and sometimes it doesn't line up with mine . And the question is am I going to change my agenda to meet his ? That's the question . What does Joshua , in verse 14 , immediately do in front of this man ?

Speaker 2 25:56

Immediately . He fell to the earth . He lays his face down to the earth and worshiped him . So it's a sign that he realizes and understands who he is . And there's one thing that whenever I see this and read about it on one of my travels over to Europe , I was in Prague and as we were walking by , there was a beggar that was there , but he wasn't just sitting there with the sign in front for people to give him something . He was completely down and bent over and his face was touching the ground over and his hands were out in front of him . And that was the posture that he had , and it was to me it was a way of him saying this is how destitute I am . And so whenever I read this where it says that Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped him , that's the picture that comes in my mind completely down , head down , facing it , with the arms out as low as possibly can get , because it's realization that this is God that I'm standing in front of .

Speaker 1 27:05

And when ? Just militarily . If you're laying in that position in front of someone who has a sword in their hand , what does that ?

Speaker 2 27:12

communicate . I'm at your mercy . You can do whatever you want to with me , because I'm not going to attack you . I'm yielding myself to you .

Speaker 1 27:21

So Joshua falls down and worships this person . Does the man accept the worship ? Yeah , who is the only person that can rightfully accept worship ? God , god alone , god alone is the only one who can rightfully accept worship . Remember John , at the end of the book of Revelation , fell down in front of an angel . What did the angel say ?

Speaker 2 27:45

Rise , get up , because only you should do this in front of God , don't do this in front of an angel . What did the angel say ?

Speaker 1 27:48

Rise get up , because only you should do this in front of God . Yeah , don't do this in front of me , get up . I'm a fellow worker , like you Remember . In Acts I think it was chapter 14 , paul and Barnabas were at Lystra and they did a miracle and the people of Lystra said wow , these are gods . What did Paul do ? He said no , no , no , I'm not a god , don't worship me . They were bringing sacrifices out to him . He said no , I'm just a man like you . So the true follower of God does not accept worship , because we are not God . Who is the only one that can rightfully accept worship God , god Almighty , the only one that can rightfully ? Who , in the New Testament , accepts worship Jesus ? Jesus does . I think I counted eight or nine times where people fall down and worship to Jesus and he accepts worship every single time . What does that tell you about Jesus ?

Speaker 2 28:39

That he is God and he claimed to be God .

Speaker 1 28:41

He is God Almighty . He's not God with a little g . He's God Almighty because he accepts worship . Any being that accepts worship is either the true God the one true God Almighty or it's a demon from the pit of hell or some sort of false God , simply because the only one who is worthy enough to accept worship is God alone . We have this person here that shows up and it says he accepts worship . What does that tell us about this man in Joshua , chapter five ?

Speaker 2 29:15

It tells us that he is God .

Speaker 1 29:18

Tells us that he's God . There's going to be some more evidence here in just a minute that we'll use to support that . But it says here that Joshua in verse 15 , excuse me takes off his sandals . Where else do we see that we ?

Speaker 2 29:31

see it in the second part there where he talks about holy ground . It's when Moses approached the burning bush and saw the burning bush and he was told to take off the sandals and because he's standing on holy ground . It's when Moses approached the burning bush and saw the burning bush and he was told to take off the sandals and because he's standing on holy ground .

Speaker 1 29:45

Here we have this description of this person where he just shows up one day , in verse 13 , it calls him a man , and so here we have a distinction that needs to be made Whenever we see the words the angel of God as opposed to an angel of God . There's a difference In that story . In Exodus , chapter three , with the burning bush , it says the angel of God appeared to Moses in a burning bush and rightfully says when Moses talks to the burning bush , he says take off your sandals , for you're standing on holy ground because he's in the very presence of God . At one point Moses asked the burning bush who should I say , sent me ? And he says I am sent you . Who said I am over ? In the New Testament , jesus did Jesus did .

Speaker 2 30:41

He used it several times .

Speaker 1 30:43

John 8 , 58 is the one that comes to mind . So we have here , whenever it says the angel of God in the Old Testament , it's talking about the Lord , god . And in verse 13 here , joshua 5 , it says there's a man . So we have here what most theologians would hold to be the pre-incarnate Jesus Christ . We have a man who has materialized in

Understanding the Pre-Incarnate Christ

Speaker 1 31:07

front of Joshua . Yet he is God . He accepts worship , he makes the same claims as God . And the chapter divisions are not in the original .

Speaker 1 31:17

Chapter 6 just follows with the same verses . So the beginning of chapter 6 starts talking about verse 2 , the LORD . In all caps , this is Yahweh talking . The LORD said to Joshua see , I have given Jericho into your hands , with its king and valiant warriors , and he talks about what I have done for you and I have delivered . Well , who delivered Jericho into their hands ? It was God . So here we have a being that shows up . That's a man . He's holding a sword , but yet he accepts worship and he claims to be the Lord . God Almighty uses the very name of God In the Old Testament . It's talking about the pre-incarnate Jesus Christ .

Speaker 2 32:02

Yeah , and also in 14 , as you mentioned , that Yahweh is his name . He says I am the commander of the army of Yahweh where , again , as we mentioned , every time you see L-O-R-D in all caps , the name behind that is Yahweh .

Speaker 1 32:22

It uses that same phrasing in Exodus 3 , judges , chapter 2 , the angel of the Lord says I brought you out of Egypt . I think this is a pretty solid support for the doctrine of the Trinity . We have here the pre-incarnate Lord God Almighty showing up as a man and accepting worship and claiming to be the same name as the Lord God Almighty , and so I think the Trinity is supported very clearly in the Old Testament .

Speaker 2 32:51

And we also see him . He shows up in front of Gideon and judges , which we'll get to later on .

Speaker 1 32:58

I think that'll wrap up for this time , joshua , chapter 5 . And next time we'll get to later on . I think that'll wrap up for this time , joshua , chapter five , and next time we'll be in chapter six .