Joshua’s Moses-Like Experience of the Messenger of Yahweh (#10 in Yahweh and the Angel of Yahweh)

A friend of mine from seminary who was pastoring a church in the St. Louis area was ready to retire. He groomed a man on his staff to take over for him. When he was ready my friend resigned as pastor and this younger man became the church pastor. I’ve never been a part of a succession plan, never been groomed to take over from someone else, but Joshua, son of Nun, was. He served as Moses’ right-hand man until Moses’ death, then God installed him as the leader of Israel, who would take the nation into Canaan and dispossess the Canaanites.

When Joshua is preparing to make Israel’s first incursion into Canaan, he has a strange experience:

¹³ Now when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a sword drawn in his hand. Joshua went up to him and asked, “Are you for us or for our enemies?” ¹⁴ “Neither,” he replied, “but as commander of the army of Yahweh I have now come.” Then Joshua fell facedown to the ground in reverence, and asked him, “What message does my Lord have for his servant?” ¹⁵ The commander of Yahweh’s army replied, “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so. (Joshua 5:13-15)

Who is this commander of Yahweh’s army? He appears to Joshua as a man ready for battle. When asked whose side he is on he says he is not on anyone’s side. He isn’t an ally for the Canaanites nor an ally for Israel. He is the leader of Israel’s army, the commander-in-chief, Joshua’s commanding officer. And the ground where he is standing is holy.

This must be the Messenger of Yahweh, who appeared to Moses in the burning bush and made the ground there holy because He is Yahweh, He is God, He is the Holy One. He gives Joshua his marching orders:

² Then Yahweh said to Joshua, “See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king and its fighting men. ³ March around the city once with all the armed men. Do this for six days. ⁴ Have seven priests carry trumpets of rams’ horns in front of the ark. On the seventh day, march around the city seven times, with the priests blowing the trumpets. ⁵ When you hear them sound a long blast on the trumpets, have the whole army give a loud shout; then the wall of the city will collapse and the army will go up, everyone straight in.” (Joshua 5:2-5)

The Messenger of Yahweh, Yahweh-on-earth, does not seem to stay around. We don’t see Him again. Joshua hears from Yahweh again (Joshua 7:10-15) concerning Achan’s sin of taking spoils from Jericho, and this may be the Messenger of Yahweh appearing to him and speaking to him, because He speaks of Yahweh in the third person (“this is what Yahweh, the God of Israel says”), or it may be Yahweh-in-heaven speaking of Himself in the third person. In that case, both Yahwehs are making themselves known to Joshua. The same kind of interaction with Yahweh occurs in chapters 8, 11, 13, 20, and 24. Joshua dies and no successor follows him. Israel will now be led by Judges in various parts of Israel. Will the Messenger of Yahweh still come around?