Josh. v. 13, 14. It came to pass, when Joshua ivas 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 ?
MOST seasonable are the mercies which God vouchsafes to his people. His interpositions for them at the Red Sea and the wilderness, and at their entrance into Canaan through the river Jordan, are ample illustrations of this truth, as is also the peculiar fact recorded in my text. Joshua was now surveying- Jericho, which was the first fortress that was to be attacked by him. That he had no fears about success, was evident ; because, from his first entrance into the land to that hour, he had acted rather like a person at peace with all men, than as one in the midst of enemies whom he was commissioned to destroy. Still, the visible manifestation of Jehovah's presence with him could not but greatly strengthen his faith, and increase his assurance that every enemy, however powerful, should fall before him.
The points for our consideration are,
I. The character which our blessed Lord assumed on this occasion —
The person who now appeared to him as " a man," was no other than the Son of God himself —
[Many were the occasions on which, at that period of the world, the Son of God assumed either an angelic or human shape, for the purpose of encouraging his believing people. To Abraham3, and Jacob b, and afterwards to Manoahc, were manifestations given similar to that which was here vouchsafed to Joshua. That the person who here appeared to Joshua was more than either man or angel, is clear, I think, from the worship which Joshua, on discovering who he was, paid to him: " Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship." Now, I grant that Joshua might have made a mistake ; but if
a Gen. xviii. 2. b Gen. xxxii. 24—30. c Judg. xiii. 6, 22. VOL. II. o o