Some time ago, I embarked on a series of studies on the fundamentals of our faith,  concentrating  much on the Hebrew. Christians express their beliefs in different ways, according to their respective denomination. The Jewish faith also has some differences. Nevertheless, there are basic beliefs that are common to all. What I am discovering is that what we often regard as “Jewish” actually has a much bigger bearing on our faith in Christ than we think. We tend to forget that Jesus was and is still a Jew and everything He did on earth was framed by those Jewish ordinances, manners and customs. He drew from those Old Testament scriptures in His ministry. He observed the various Feasts of the Lord and kept Shabbat in accordance with its original design.  If we look deeper, all of the bible was written about Him and for Him and He stated that every word He spoke will never fade away. The Word of God from start to end never changes. Everything it says that has been inspired by the Spirit of the living God is there for our benefit according to passages like 2 Timothy 3:16.

The principles employed in the book can be put to work for us today. Therefore what God told Joshua all those many years ago is the same thing He can tell us today. If it “worked for him” it can “work for us”.

I am confident that this message will be a blessing and speak volumes to you.

You may have a yearning or desire to be useful and productive in some way. It may be in a church, but most of our time is not spent in a church environment. It is spent elsewhere.

Jesus ministered to the people wherever He met them. It may have been on the beach, in a supermarket, at a wedding or a funeral and occasionally in a synagogue. If you attend a church regularly, your real mission field is not really inside that building.
It starts when you exit the front door.

Often times, the opportunity happens suddenly and can be in the most unexpected of places.

We were walking out of a fruit barn recently when a man we had met a few years ago was standing at the entrance and we had an unexpected opportunity to speak with him right there and then. He told us that the church he had regularly attended and had sometimes preached there, no longer attended. Something in his voice and posture indicated he had been greatly hurt. We are coming across more and more people like him today.

I like to encourage people and often reach out and touch someone during a conversation such as a quick friendly pat on their shoulder without it being objectionable. I say something like, “Well, it was nice taking to you”. We need to be wise about doing such things of course for obvious reasons, but what I intend doing is to impart a blessing to them. I am fully aware that God has placed an anointing on me and so I take that opportunity to impart something on them. I am not being “religious” and do not talk “church talk” as that often turns people off, but deliberately attempting to create a link through myself to the Lord.

We purchased a special coffee cup for a woman who works at a coffee shop when she admired ours because the Lord told us to do so. He told us to tell her that our Heavenly Father wanted to bless you with this when we give it to her.  That’s ministry.

Every time we walk into the shop, her face lights up and the other women also respond similarly. The reason is that we “bring Jesus with us”.
He said that we (and this includes you) are the light of the world, so all we really need to do is allow that light to shine. Paul said that we carry an aroma; a fragrance with us and that is of course the fragrance of Christ. Sometimes we may walk into a room and detect a woman’s nice perfume or a man’s aftershave. All that they did was walk past us. Sometimes all we need to do is to walk into a room and carry His fragrance with us. You may have experienced this, but sometimes I have been asked something like , “What’s different about you?” We are!
Have you sometimes become suddenly aware that someone is watching you? They are!  In the spirit dimension, we are known. Angels know us. Evil spirits know us. The account in Acts 19 reveal that. They can tell the difference between a real believer and a fake.
At Passover, God said that He was looking for the blood. If we have applied the blood of Jesus to us by faith, we are “marked”.
She told me that she is a believer and when I asked her what church she attended, she told me that she no longer attends a church, but still talks to Him regularly. The Lord told me that she was deeply hurt by her church, but not why. He wants to heal her.

People need answers that work. Most people seem to dislike “religion”  but need something. It is dark and dangerous out there. We are living in an increasingly hostile environment. In some countries people are being incarcerated simply because they are believers. In other places, including Australia, laws are being gradually introduced that are decidedly anti-Christian. Hate speech laws are being manipulated against us. We are facing abortion laws, gender confusion, woke extremism, antisemitism, widely accepted religious beliefs in churches that are not true and extreme Muslim beliefs are examples. This is why we need to really know God, not about God, to know His word and not readily accept everything that is said from a pulpit no matter who speaks and in summary to possess strong intestinal fortitude.

Therefore if you really believe that you want to “do something for God”, take a close look at it. The  first thing to do is to make sure that God is really calling you.

We cannot really not pick and choose in that sense, because the initiative is God’s.
Jesus told the disciples that they did not choose Him. He chose them and He ordained them.

Everywhere I look, this seems to be the Divine pattern. Somewhere in the bible, a man or a woman is going about everyday life when God steps in. That person responds. Take Paul for example. He was a very devout and highly trained man who thought he was doing God a favor by persecuting the new believers when Jesus suddenly appeared to him. The first thing Paul said was to call Him Lord. That’s the best place to start. The next thing to do is to  ask Him what He wants you to do.

The next thing to do is stop! Do what Paul did and do not confer with flesh and blood. Find out from the Lord what He wants and then do that.
In the process, you can seek “confirmation” from a reputable source and it might not be your pastor. Ask the Lord for a specific word that applies to you. When I first met the Lord in September 1968 after seeing that bright light, I knew then that He had placed His hands on me, but I did not yet know what He wanted. In those days, we really did not know much about all of the five ascension gift ministries seen in Ephesians chapter four

We readily accepted pastors and to a lesser extent, evangelists and teachers, but seemed to ignore apostles and prophets.

I therefore wanted to become a pastor and approached my pastor who encouraged me. He arranged for some documents to be provided to attend the Commonwealth Bible college that was later destroyed by flood and I was ready to place my application form in the letter box when the Lord told me to stop.  It was the wrong college at the wrong time and in the Lord’s own words to me, I would have been stamped out in “their cookie cutter mould”.

It was not until several years later, that I studied formally and later to doctorate level and I am still studying. This time it is based in two institutions in Israel.    

In the years that followed, I planted churches and ”gave them” to other men, conducted conventions and seminars, held crusades and met some of the “big name” preachers (not that I endorse them) such as Benny Hinn and was on his platform several times. Most of this was before I embarked on my formal college studies. I am only sharing this not to boast, but to hopefully illustrate that in many instances, such institutions do not really equip the person for the job. That’s the role of the Holy Spirit.

When God calls someone He is not necessarily looking for natural talents and abilities, education or a state of “perfection” in that person.

He is not seeking ability but availability and chooses that person for a particular purpose. When He does that, He equips that person for the task allocated to him or her. When God commanded Moses to build the Tabernacle for example, He chose two men, Bezaleel and Aholiab who were Anointed by the Spirit for that task. All that they really knew was how to make mud bricks.

God chose ordinary people, many of whom had problems and issues.

• Abraham had certain problems but he became the father of our faith. He lied about his wife to the Egyptians when she was taken.
• Jacob was a schemer, a supplanter.
• Moses had his faults. David was a murderer, but God called him a man after His own heart.
• Jonah tried to run away.
• Jesus chose Judas for a specific task.
• Saul of Tarsus embarked on a plan to eradicate this new sect who kept telling people that Jesus was alive.

When God calls someone, He rarely removes the shortcomings, difficulties and problems we all experience. He takes that person and moulds him or her to become the person he or she already is, but may not yet be aware of it. God changes the person.

Joshua is one such person. His story is not about his conquests, but becoming the kind of person God can use.

He was not born a natural leader. His name at first was hô·šēa that means salvation. He was also known as Jehoshua and Jeshua.

We first see him in Exodus Seventeen when Amalek came against Israel. Moses instructed Joshua to take men to fight them.
The bible does not really explain why Moses chose him. In the film “the Ten Commandments’ He was depicted as a stone cutter, but that may have been Hollywood license. Joshua could have displayed some leadership qualities, or did the Holy Spirit motivate Moses? That is not entirely improbable because the Spirit of God was evident even then.

Today, we should be able to “see something” in a real Spirit filled leader. There is a “witness in the Spirit”. Conversely we should be able to see through pretenders and counterfeiters.

After that victory, God commanded Moses to write about it in a book and “rehearse it in the ears of Joshua”.  Evidently, even then, God had seen something in the man. You may not realize it immediately, but God sees something in you, like raw potential waiting to be perfected before final release. Like Jeremiah perhaps, God may have chosen you before you were born. This is not suggesting any predestination doctrine of course, but illustrating that God sees us ahead of time and has a plan for us. It is up to us to comply.

This all happened before God wrote the Ten Commandments on the tablets of stone. God had already been speaking and Moses had been writing  down His words.
Let’s see it again in another version.

And he said unto Moses, Come up unto the Lord, thou, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel; and worship ye afar off.
And Moses alone shall come near the Lord: but they shall not come nigh; neither shall the people go up with him.
And Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord, and all the judgments: and all the people answered with one voice, and said, All the words which the Lord hath said will we do.
And Moses wrote all the words of the Lord, and rose up early in the morning, and builded an altar under the hill, and twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel.
And he sent young men of the children of Israel, which offered burnt offerings, and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen unto the Lord.
And Moses took half of the blood, and put it in basons; and half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar.
And he took the book of the covenant, and read in the audience of the people: and they said, All that the Lord hath said will we do, and be obedient.
And Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, Behold the blood of the covenant, which the Lord hath made with you concerning all these words.

It was a select few, not the entire congregation, 74 in all. One of them was Joshua. He had heard what God told Moses before and took everything to heart. He believed! That is the starting point for greatness.

Any person today who wishes to serve God, to be useful in His Kingdom, to be known by God and called a friend of Jesus (as He said we can) has to take God’s Word to heart, make it personal and do what He says. Jesus’ mother told others to do that when He started His ministry.

What happened next intrigues me.

Then went up Moses, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel: And they saw the God of Israel: and there was under his feet as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone, and as it were the body of heaven in his clearness. And upon the nobles of the children of Israel he laid not his hand: also they saw God, and did eat and drink. Exodus 24:9-11

There are a range of opinions about this stating that no man can see God (and live), but the Hebrew word rā·ʾā that is used here means that they did see something. It talks about becoming visible, someone revealing himself, to be seen etcetera. They were not dreaming or seeing visions, because they ate and drank.

Abraham saw three men and gave them food in Genesis chapter eighteen. Gideon prepared food for the angel. I’ve picked a piece of fruit off a tree in heaven and eaten it. There’s so much more to God than we realize.

I am convinced that we need to be able to tap into God in a way many of us have not done before. We live in a rapidly changing world that some people think is a prelude to World War 3. I don’t, but we cannot ignore the possibility. The situation in Iran needs to be watched. I have prepared a report on this titled “2600 years ago” and am waiting for a time to publish it with the Lord’s permission. It outlines the seriousness of the situation and the once possible potential for a nuclear holocaust at the hands of am extremely violent and evil dictatorial regime. Many people do not like Donald Trump, but that is not the real issue. I suspect that such dislike comes from ignorant people who do not do their homework and from those with an agenda. He does at least have the backbone to stand up for truth and does something instead of talking and doing nothing. He is trying to root out evil. A stance like his often antagonizes people with agendas or who do not see what is really happening. But other situations are already happening elsewhere.

Timothy, a dear brother in India, sent me one of his regular ministry reports, part of which I quote now.

We humbly ask you to continue praying that this ministry may expand into many more villages, touching countless young lives for Christ. “Let the little children come to Me… for of such is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 19:14). Alongside this, we are actively conducting prayer gatherings in various villages to strengthen local believers. We visit each place personally and work together with fellow servants of God to encourage and build up the congregations. Your prayers are vital in sustaining and advancing this mission, and we are deeply grateful for your faithful intercession. At the same time, we are witnessing increasing challenges. In several parts of India, laws intended to restrict religious conversion are being used as a means to oppose Christians. There have been instances of attacks and even the demolition of church buildings. Yet, in the midst of these trials, we remain steadfast in prayer, believing that God’s truth will prevail and that many will come to repentance and salvation. “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:5).

Another pastor in Pakistan, Kamran, has asked for online chats ( which I cannot do at present for certain reasons, but may be able to set things up in the future) but he too is possibly facing similar issues. Mary Jane and Ernie in the Philippines also come to mind. There are others in other countries who also face a range of issues. The point I want to make is that we are all part of a world wide body and should forget the denominational differences that often separate us. I consider myself to be part of the Body of Christ, not a Baptist, a Lutheran, an Anglican, a Pentecostal etcetera because I believe that there should be no denominations. We are members of Jesus’ Church.

We are the Bride of Christ. Therefore when one member is suffering, we are all involved. This is much more than having church. We need more people like Gideon and Joshua today and we all need those supernatural encounters with God we see in scripture.

God has not changed. His Word has not changed and Jesus has not changed. Therefore the accounts we read of are still relevant today.

A series of events happened leading up to chapter thirty-two when Moses was up on the mount. In his absence the people made the golden calf and started to have a party. This seems to be a human trait. When we stray from Gods pattern, we may easily create our own “golden calves” and that is not being critical but an observation. It is happening in many churches. Joshua heard the commotion and told Moses that it sounded like the noise of war. Moses replied that it was the sound of singing. This means that Joshua was up on the mountain with Moses. He may not have been in the very same spot, but he was up there on the mountain to support Moses. It was for him, a mountain top experience and we all need those. It’s not a matter of getting a “spiritual high”, or an emotional reaction, but an encounter with God that has a lasting effect, even a change.

Joshua did not get involved with any of those activities and there is an object lesson there for us. He was separated, dedicated and committed, not to a movement, a church, a pastor, becoming “Seeker friendly” or following a system, but loyal to the Lord. A pattern was emerging.

Joshua may not have been a born leader but he chose a path to stay close to the man of God and to remain faithful to the Lord and God eventually honored that. God made him a leader.

It took decades to be manifest and this affirms my belief that God is not in a hurry. We tend to want to get things done immediately.

If a real man or woman of God has a call on their life, they should never try to force the issue and “make it happen”. If they stay faithful to what God has called them to do and not try to promote themselves, the very call itself will be the catalyst. A genuine call is genuinely anointed.

One of the hallmarks of such a person is their humility. He does not need to “prove a thing” or demand loyalty and submission but gets on with the job and allows his calling to be revealed. Real believers witness that and choose accordingly.

In Numbers chapter eleven, God took of his spirit and placed it on the seventy elders who started to prophesy, but his anointing did not diminish. I know some pastors and leaders who will not allow anyone to touch them. It is because they fear something or are just plain proud and exclusionist? Two men, Eldad and Medad, were not there with them because they remained in the camp also started to prophesy.

They might not have “been invited” up to the Tabernacle but were open and hungry for God. They had to have been receptive because they too started to prophesy—in the camp—amongst the ordinary people.

A young man heard it and ran to tell Moses. Why was he not also prophesying?

Joshua who was Moses servant was still in training and he tried to stop it. We need to avoid the common attitude that it has to happen in “my church  or in “my ministry” or we don’t want it. Thank God when it does happen.

There is a lesson for us in this. We cannot and should not try to constrain or limit God, but we often do. In many churches when the Holy Spirit wants to minister somehow, the leader often tries to place limits or restrictions on Him. They may only permit any manifestations according to their timetable, if at all, or only permit certain people to function. Obviously there may be  excess or strange behaviour in certain places and that needs to be addressed. Paul did say that everything should be done decently and in order, but that approach is sometimes taken to the extreme. In those instances, only those who meet the pastor’s criteria, that may or may not be biblically accurate, are permitted to do anything. There are places where only a leadership or prayer team who  have had some form of training according to that pastor’s beliefs and program are permitted to do anything. Even then someone may have to ask permission to share beforehand and something like a prophecy or a word of knowledge has to be explained before permission is granted. That is not scriptural at all. It quenches the Spirit. Whilst this might be to avoid issues—it often borders on control. It is quenching the Spirit.

It is like someone trying to tell Moses, “They can’t do that. They are not part of the team. Forbid it”. That’s pride. It is control and if taken to the extreme, such control borders on witchcraft and, yes, it exists in many churches.

The answer Moses gave was that he wished everyone in the camp, all of God’s people, whoever they are and wherever they may be, would be moved by the Spirit.

A genuine leader also has a servant’s heart.

• Joshua served Moses for 40 years.
• Elisha served Elijah for at least 21 years.
• John the baptist had a servants heart and I say that because, despite his supernatural birth, he never built a church, wrote a book, had a social media account, appeared on Daystar etcetera. His ministry was not about himself, but he pointed to the Lord. He even told some of his own disciples to go and follow Jesus. His ministry lasted for  a very brief moment in time, but Jesus regarded him as the greatest prophet to have lived.
• Paul did not immediately “confer with flesh and blood” as we tend to do. It was three years before he met up with Peter and apparently he did not return to Jerusalem for 14 years. See Galatians 1 and 2.

The principle is that he was called and that was it. The first thing he asked the Lord what he was to do and Jesus told him to wait. We do not like waiting. We like to see instant results and to make things happen and in so doing create Ishmael’s.
Paul did not know what else the Lord was doing behind the scenes and this is happening to us today. God could be calling more than one person for a particular purpose for a joint effort.

We could be ready, but others who have to be involved are not yet ready.

Whilst Paul was waiting, the Lord was talking to Ananias, He gave the man specific and precise instructions. We do not need to guess and try something to see if it works. Stop and wait for His instructions even if others seem to be “successful” or attempt to give you “advice”.
Such “advice” may be motivated by human intellect, or things like jealousy.

The Lord told Ananias where to go—to the house of Judas—in Straight Street—where Paul was praying. He was very precise and very specific.
He told him what to do and that was to lay hands on him so that his sight would be restored (Paul’s “thorn” was not a sight issue) and that Paul would receive the Holy Ghost. Hmmm. Saul was saved by then, so he had already received the Spirit, so there must have been some other reason—empowerment.

Ananias had one assignment and one only.  You or I may be given one assignment and only that one assignment, but it could be vital according to His plan. As I said, John the baptist did not build a church or hold services, write a book or appear on TV, but fulfilled his single call. It was to tell God’s people to get ready for something and Jesus said that he was the greatest prophet to ever live. I am convinced that we do not always know what is really happening and can easily push our personal agendas. The way to avoid that is to pause and reflect and learn to listen and then to obey.

If Jesus is building His Church, which He is, we would be wise to ascertain what He is doing, how He is doing it and align ourselves with His timetable. We may not always move immediately into the ministry that the Lord has for us and it could take decades before it is the right time. Usually there is a refining process and more often than not a waiting period for the full manifestation of that call—and a time for that anointing to be received and understood.

Part of my own ministry vision has been decades in the making and I am only now starting to see its real and full potential. I now know that if I had tried to make things happen then, I would have failed. I would have kept one of those churches I pioneered and stayed on as the pastor, holding the usual prayer meetings, men’s fellowships, ladies meetings and youth meetings, all of which although good, are usually a dime in a dozen and think I was achieving something. It is introverted and this is a common occurrence. Allow me to ask you what real impact they are having in the world? You can judge that. The world does.

By waiting as per His command, I now know that I have had a much bigger impact than I could ever have if I had held onto “my” church. I now understand that it is not “my” church or ”my” ministry but the Lord’s although we use that terminology for explanation purposes. I am not boasting, but to illustrate, up to date data reveals that I have impacted 1,715,269 people. Yes, I said 1,715,269 people . I do not promote my church, but the Lord’s Church. I do not try to promote my ministry but the Kingdom of God. It does not matter what other people are doing.
Let them.  God bless them. In John 21, when the Lord was talking to Peter, John asked Him something like “what about him?”. The Lord told him to mind his own business. If you follow the Lord’s instructions—to you, anything is possible.

We are to be Kingdom oriented and motivated in accordance with God’s timetable. That prophecy in the garden took hundreds and hundreds of years to be fulfilled and the bible speaks of things like “in the fullness of time”. That time is fast running out and God is preparing a “new generation of Joshua’s” for something to be manifest soon.

In this “waiting time” we, like Joshua have to be refined and trained and no church or bible college can do that. It is a work of the Spirit and a manifestation of the presence of God that does that. Jesus never told us to build churches and do the things we do and I like them. He told us to make disciples and to do that, we must follow His example.

Moses had already built the Tabernacle and it is one of the most amazing and profound illustrations of the Lord Jesus Christ and God’s plan of salvation we can see. God had commanded its construction that had to follow His pattern without deviation. We also must follow the Lords pattern for His Church and He is being very patient with us.

In Exodus 33, after the incident with that golden calf, God said that He would not go with them. He fully intended keeping His promise, but this time, that open presence would not be the same. Moses took the tent and pitched it outside the camp. Anyone who wished could still go there to worship, but few did.

The Tabernacle complex had only one entrance and a worshiper had to enter via that. There was no other way. In so doing the worshiper immediately faced the sin issue at the brazen altar. Even then he was still in the open air—in the natural realm. He then had to wash in the brass laver and as he looked down he could see his own reflection.

This represents the washing of water by the Word, but even then he was still in the realm of the natural. This is where most of the church remains.

Once inside the tent, the only illumination was by means of the golden candlestick. It’s wicks had to be trimmed daily and it had to be continually filled with oil. There is much to say about that, but in essence, it speaks of the illumination that is provided by the Holy Spirit. Unless we are in such a place, we have no revelation.
Because the wicks had to be trimmed daily and the lamps topped up daily with oil, this tells us that the anointing, represented by that oil and the illumination that came by that oil was always fresh. It was “new every day”. We cannot live on yesterday’s manna.

When Israel crossed over Jordan and ate of the produce of the land, the manna ceased. God’s provision for a season, 40 years, had stopped. He was now providing something new, fresh and different. The Word of God is complete, full stop. We cannot add to it or take away from it, but until the Holy Spirit “opens it up to us, providing that “revelation”,  it is mere paper and ink. Allow the Holy Ghost, the giver of inspiration and understanding, to guide us, lead us, teach us and point to Jesus, all we have is a form of Godliness. Such revelation is personal, one on one as we enter into that holy place.
Whenever Moses went out to the tent, the people stood at the entrances of their tents and looked on from a distance. God came down to talk with Moses and the people knew it was happening, but they still did not get closely involved. At one time, they told Moses that they would do what God said, but also said that they did not want to hear God for themselves. It was a “you talk to him for us, but we do not want to get too close” approach. They effectively told God that they did not want to hear or read His Word for themselves, but let another person do that for us instead. In the dark ages, ordinary people were forbidden to read a bible, if they knew how to read, so the priests did that for them and told them what they wanted, not necessarily truth. When some reformers arrived, they were killed. When Gutenberg invented the printing press, anyone could read God’s Word for themselves. We now have modern day technology like the Internet and electronic media. I recall my first computerized bibles that were produced on those old floppy disks and replaced with a set of seven DVD’s. I now use fully computerized media loaded on my computer. 30 different versions load up by my default settings. This does not include those available on the internet itself.
Other people might not have those resources, but many are freely available on the Internet.

We can learn a tremendous amount of the things of God if we all wish. We might not all have the same call of God, but we can all learn and experience the Lord and be equipped for anything and everything. We are a blessed and privileged generation with the latent potential to bring much needed change.

The woman at the well worshiped God and Jesus told her that she did not know what she was doing. He had to reveal Himself to her and we are not that much different. It is true that they worshiped, but from a distance. They stood in their own tent doors to worship, but Moses was inside that tent where God chose to be.

God spoke with Moses face to face as a man speaks with his friend and when it was time for that meeting to draw to a close, Moses departed—but Joshua remained in the tent. I for one am not content with a distant relationship. If it were possible, perhaps I would like to be like Joshua and it seems to me that God would like everyone to be like that.

Adonai would speak to Moshe face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. Then he would return to the camp; but the young man who was his assistant, Y’hoshua the son of Nun, never left the inside of the tent. Exodus 33:11

If Joshua was inside the tent, he must have seen or heard something but the other people only saw the pillar from a distance. OK, some folk are content for a distant relationship I suppose, but I’m not. Think in terms of marriage. Expressions of commitment, endearment and intimacy are not distant. A cuddle, a gentle caress, a nice word to let the other person know that they are loved and wanted are supposed to be up close and personal, not from a distance. God regarded them as His wife. We often speak of ourselves as being the bride of Christ. That’s intimacy and it is a 24/7/365 relationship.

Joshua must have wanted that intimacy, but he was not yet a leader by any means. Moses had not yet specifically anointed him for that position. Joshua remained in that tent after the meeting had closed and I wonder why. If he had heard God’s voice, which I believe he did and witnessed the presence of God it had to have impacted him.

Why not linger for more? I am of the opinion that Joshua, a young and eager man, had to yet learn and had to receive his own personal anointing and revelation of God. He had seen it and wanted it. I am convinced that the Lord is waiting to see who is hungry and “wants it”.

The man who was destined to lead a nation in to the Promised Land lived under the shadow of Moses for 40 years. He was Moses’ servant. Elisha was Elijah’s servant for at least 21 years. Even with those two examples, there seems to be a pattern that God follows and servanthood is part of it.

Joshua had much to learn. He had to do what Paul told Timothy.

I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry. 2 Timothy 4:1-5

We are living in such days, but did you notice that Paul told Timothy that afflictions would come?  We often hear of the good things that are part of our covenant, but that is not the full story. Jesus mentioned tribulation and spoke of enduring to the end. That wonderful faith chapter in Hebrews chapter eleven also mention difficulties, opposition persecution and hardships. I am not being negative and pessimistic. On the contrary, I believe that we are overcomers. We cannot be an overcomer if there is nothing to overcome. We are the head and not the tail, above and not beneath as we faith preachers often speak of, but if there is no testing, how do we know that we are winners? If there are no problems why would God tell us to be strong and vigilant?

How do we know that God’s Word works until we put it to work?

If you do a word study on patience, you may be surprized how often the bible speaks of it. Jesus mentioned it in Luke 21. Paul spoke of it in Romans 5, 8 and 15; 2 Corinthians 6:4, 12:12; Colossians 1:11; 2 Thessalonians 1:4; 1 Timothy 6:11 and 2 Timothy 3:10. See also Hebrews 6:12, 10:36 and 12:11. James told us to let patience have its way.

All that seems difficult and negative perhaps, but as James said, when such things seem to appear, we can know where we stand before God and can apply the principles seen in His Word so that we can indeed be the man or woman of God He knows we can be. If for example, when we bake a cake, the mixture is placed in an oven, heated and removed when we think it is cooked, we take it out and stick a knife in it to “prove it”. When a blacksmith is heat hardening steel, the steel is heated until it reaches a certain temperature, taken out and plunged into oil, removed and inspected. The blacksmith is looking for certain things like a change in the colour.

This may help to explain the kind of process we may have to go through to be the very champion God sees in us. He is refining us like gold and a goldsmith purifies gold by fire. The raw material is heated in a furnace and the scum rises to the top to be skimmed away. The process is repeated until the goldsmith sees what he is looking for—his own reflection. Being refined may not always be pleasant at the time, but the end result is worth it.

We are in the business of saving lives. We are here to win the lost, to heal the sick, to deliver others from the clutches of the enemy, to give sight to the blind and to give leadership to the lost.

How do know if we can do that until we do it? How do we know we can do it unless we are tested? Every believer has that call by God on their life, but needs to know it and put it to work and it is a continual learning process.

When I was training to become a sea rescue crewman, I had to train, train, train and be tested, tested tested regularly not once. Part of the initial training was to enter the water fully clothed, including shoes and float without assistance for several minutes. That’s hard. I had to learn how to put on a life preserver when in the water and that is also hard. I had to learn first aid including the use of defibrators. I had to learn fire-fighting and actually extinguished real blazes. There are different kinds of fires and each kind has to be handled appropriately. We do not use water on an electrical fire. We use a different technique for a chemical fire. In some fires we creep up gradually or contrentrat the water on a wall behind the flames. In other kinds we use a “blanket approach” and smother the thing.

To join the squadron I needed a boat drivers license and I got that beforehand by being tested. Even then, I had to learn and be tested in how to drive the rescue boats, learn correct radio transmission techniques, the use of electronics like radar, FLIR and depth sounders and how to find people in the water, including dead people.

There could be a spiritual lesson there in how we deal with people in ministry.

You may never have to do those things, but you are called by God to help others escape going to hell. We are all called to be search and rescue operators. All that is much more than going to church meetings and letting a handful of others do whatever they do, often times to satisfy their own wishes and agendas.

In our closing days of this age, God is preparing us all for a massive change and so the advice Paul gave Timothy is still valid and they may well reflect God’s first words to Joshua. They start with a statement:

Moses My servant is dead. Joshua 1:2

An era had finished. What God had been doing for 40 years had now come to a close. He was about to do “a new thing”. The message to us is the same. We cannot keep doing the same things and expect different results. We live in a totally different world that existed this time last year.
I was born during World War 2 when we had no Internet, no satellites, jet airplanes or computers. Without them, we may never have met. We do not know what might happen tomorrow. In many countries today, being a Christian can be dangerous as some of you already know. Even here in my own country, laws are already introduced that have encroached on our religious freedom. The world experienced lockdowns during COVID and I suspect it was only one strategy that did not work. The powers that be are trying a new strategy.  The current fuel shortages may be one. I am not being pessimistic at all. It reveals to me that the end is near and Jesus will be coming for us soon, not to escape, but to fulfil prophecy.

Once we are gone, “all hell will break loose” and 2 Thessalonians 2:7 may be why, but that is getting onto prophecy now. God is raising up Joshua / Elijah / John the baptist ministries today and that excites me. It excites me because I am seeing the signs of this already and they are not always in churches. Imagine such real prophets of God as the prime minster or president of a country and all the cabinet members Spirit filled believers. Pray for your leaders. God has actually commanded us to do so.

God then told Joshua “arise”. That’s a power word, an action word that means to get up and do something. It means to become powerful and to be in such a position that it opens up to another position or state. He told Joshua that He had already given him the victory. All he had to do was to walk in it. We can do that too.

Joshua did not have the complete bible as we do and he was not filled with the Spirit in the same way we can or should be. Even though I painted a kind of dismal picture a short way back, we are winners and winners are grinners.

In Joshua 1:6 God told him to be strong and courageous. We should take that to heart.

In Hebrew, this phrase is chazak ve’ematz. The word chazak does not simply mean “be strong”, it means to hold fast, to take hold and to strengthen oneself. That’s what we can and should do.

The word ematz means to be firm, resolute and  inwardly anchored and that is what we are to be like. In verse seven, God told him to be strong and very courageous. That suggest to me that we can be strong or we can be very strong. We can be rich or very rich. We can be healed or we can live in divine health. We can have a degree of understanding or receive revelation, we can exercise a degree of wisdom or be very wise. James told us that if we need wisdom we can ask God. Why limit God?

Before anything further happened, God gave him the blueprint for success. This is the key for our own success in whatever venture we engage in.

Be strong, be bold; for you will cause this people to inherit the land I swore to their fathers I would give them. Only be strong and very bold in taking care to follow all the Torah which Moshe my servant ordered you to follow; do not turn from it either to the right or to the left; then you will succeed wherever you go. Yes, keep this book of the Torah on your lips, and meditate on it day and night, so that you will take care to act according to everything written in it. Then your undertakings will prosper, and you will succeed. Haven’t I ordered you, ‘Be strong, be bold’? So don’t be afraid or downhearted, because Adonai your God is with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:6-9

The word Torah is more than the Old Testament or “The Law” in a narrow sense or what is often regarded as a set of legalistic laws.
They contain much practical advice. It speaks about hygiene, food preparation, isolation in the case of certain illnesses and even about going to the toilet. Many of course have a religious content and for the most part are very practical to Jews and Christians alike.
Torah means instruction, guidance and a way of life so God was telling him how to live well and how to succeed.

Joshua’s success was not rooted in military brilliance, but in alignment with God’s words. Before he conquered the land, the Word shaped the man. God’s Word shapes us. God’s Word can give us answers to perplexing problems or issues.

My wife and I find that when we need direction or understanding. A simple question like, “What do you want us to do?”, “What does that mean?” or “what is happening?” is often all that is required. We also ask for chapter and verse if He has not already told us to read a certain portion. It is a way of life that is available to everyone if they want it.

God had already told Joshua that he had the victory and so do we, but we need to be prepared. It is a waste of time asking for revival if we are not capable of handling it.  We cannot ask for the anointing to come if our vessels are not able to contain it. In simple language, we can’t ask for the oil of the Spirit if  “we leak”. Joshua commanded his officers to go throughout the camp and instruct the people to prepare themselves to cross over the Jordan. He also reminded the Re’uḇěnites, the Gaḏites and the half the tribe of Menashsheh, of what Moses had told them, giving them God’s Word. They were to help all of the tribes of Israel to receive their inheritance first. They had to leave their own families behind and be fully armed for war to help their brethren possess the land and then return for their inheritance. Often times our own personal success depends on making sure that the Body of Christ is blessed and fully equipped, perhaps even if we don’t “get anything”. We do of course, but getting “stuff” as in extreme prosperity doctrine teachers say should not be the motivating factor. The risk is making the dollar our god. We do not tithe to get, because the tithe is not about money at all. It is meant to provide for the needs of widows, orphans, strangers and Levites and is food to be consumed as an act of worship in the place God as chosen at that season. Check it out.
Visit the page Tithing on trial.

I often refer to the Body of Christ. It is diverse. It comprises all kinds of groups and many may be different. Paul spoke of the human body to illustrate. We are not all hands or eyes, legs or lungs, but we are supposed to be a single harmonious and healthy body. Part of my own ministry assignment is to help other pastors in their own ministries and I know that they differ. It’s a wonderful thing but it is not easy. It is often met with envy, jealousy or suspicion or totally rejected. To me, a real pastor should welcome all the help he can get, but that, sad to say, is not always the case.

As a result we have an assortment of individual different groups of varying sizes, often not talking with each other whilst the world passes by untouched. Imagine what would happen if we all functioned as one body.

Jesus said that this would happen however and when we are not received, to move on, brush the dust off out feet and keep going.

Joshua sent two men ahead to spy out the land and as you may know, they met a woman of ill repute who was the only person to receive them. Sometimes the people who never attend church understand, receive us and help us better than those in churches.  She is listed in the heroes hall of fame in Hebrews 11 and in James 2.

Rahab became an ancestor of Jesus, the mother of Boaz and was the only survivor of the battle of Jericho along with others who joined her.

Joshua chapters three and four reveal a “secret”, or  principle we would do well to learn. God had given His Word to the people and He had fed them supernaturally in the wilderness for forty years, but He was about to stop doing things like that. Moses was dead, indicating that the way God did things before was about to cease and He was going to do something different.

Joshua rose early in the morning. This indicates dedication and preparedness. I find that the times God speaks most to me is early in the morning. Sometimes He wakes me and extends an invitation to spend some time with Him. Such times are precious and we can be tempted to start “praying” or asking for something, but don’t do that.

The King has extended His scepter towards us and we should approach with dignity and respect, with an air of graciousness and courtesy and with a sense of awe. When He says, “Come and sit with Me for while”, as He often does, all I do is just that. Sometimes He talks and yes, it is a conversation, but on other occasions it is simply sitting together enjoying each other’s company. Sometimes I journal. This is not being “religious” or “super-spiritual” or a far off fantasy. It is often seen in scripture. We can and do become like the company we keep, so let’s simply enjoy His company.

God’s instruction to  Joshua was very simple and precise. It was not just “Take My presence with you—but to allow it to go before you”.

The Levites had to carry the Ark in a certain way and Joshua had to follow at a prescribed distance.
Although he was the leader of a nation, he was not authorized by God to carry the ark.

Whilst we may not have the ark as such any longer, the principle remains the same. It s true that Jesus came here and brought in a new covenant but it did not annul the old. It made it more relevant. I often say that God has not changed and His word has not changed, so it is all still very relevant today. A Godly appointed leader is a leader, but he does not necessarily carry the ark. He recognizes those God has chosen and stands aside for them to do those things. His leadership remains. Those other people fulfil their calling and God’s presence is permitted to be revealed. This is how the church should function.

After a three day wait, Joshua’s officers went throughout the camp issuing his instructions and added that they have not been this way before. We may be coming into something we have not seen before. Those three days are also significant in that when Jesus rose from the dead, He ushered in a new era. Perhaps we can now see that those Old Testament accounts have more significance to us today than we realize.

During their travels, the Jews had neglected to keep the practice of circumcision that dated back to Abraham’s day. It was a sign of the covenant he made with God. We have a covenant with God that is better and bigger but the requirements or principles of cutting away the flesh remain the same.

Paul spoke of this in his letters. It is not just a matter of circumcision of the flesh, but a cutting off of the old flesh nature, dealing with the heart and mind. We are to renew our minds. It is easy to think of things we “do” such as denying certain foods or practices and in so doing fall into a religious habit that the Pharisees and religious people today adopt. We may frown on consumption of alcohol, smoking or sex outside of a Godly marriage for example, but not be circumcised in the heart. Jesus chided the religious bigots of His day for their attitudes and may well do likewise today for the same reasons. They quoted the bible saying thou shalt not kill (that really means not to commit murder), but He took it to its real meaning saying that if the heart attitude is out of order they are as good as committing murder. He said that we do not have to literally commit adultery, but the thought processes are as good as committing the act.

Joshua reinstated the practice before he went on any further. Perhaps we may want to have revival, but hold grudges in our hearts. We may say that we want to see God move in our midst, but commit spiritual adultery. Jesus spoke of that also. We may have to analyze our hearts and motives before we embark on certain religious activities.

Without becoming legalistic, we should continue to maintain  a stance against sin. Deal with the sin issue. Don’t gloss over it but confront it. Embarrass the devil. Those old fire and brimstone sermons we rarely hear today may have helped many people avoid falling into traps.
”Feel good” and “hype us up” messages may be good but perhaps we should hear more on dealing with the sin issue and its penalty again.
Both John the baptist and Jesus declared, “Repent”.

After the men were circumcised, God told them on that very same day that He had rolled away the reproach of Egypt from them.

Pause for a moment and think of what had happened.
They had witnessed the plagues that dealt specifically with the false gods of the world system and such falsehood still exists today.
He had instituted Passover and as we know, Jesus is our Passover. He had opened the Red Sea and they had their exodus. 
All these things relate to us today, but the circumcision of the heart was not done.

It has been said that God can take us out of Egypt, but we can take Egypt with us in our hearts.
Our salvation is complete and there is nothing more to be done. Any effort to gain God’s attention or gain His favor comes into the domain of works and God does not accept such things. Scriptures tell us that such things are as filthy rags before God, but we are told to work out our salvation with fear and trembling. How? It is not by the things we do but who we are and what we have become—new creatures in Christ.

The Hebrew word for reproach speaks of shame and disgrace and mention is made of scorn, ridicule, contempt and accusation. I know some people who like talking about prophecy, end time events, the identity of the anti-Christ and so on and mean well, but their lives do not measure up. When trying to talk about God, the people they are talking to can see that they are not living right and are little different to them. They see how they live, how they talk (often cussing), live in defacto relationships and so on.

To believers, when we come to the Lord, our sin is forgiven. I did not say “sins” but sin, the principle. We must then work out our salvation with fear and trembling. We have to renew the mind, start to live as if we have indeed started a brand new existence. Paul told us that we are like an ugly grub that undergoes change known as metermorphoo to become a butterfly—a new creation. See 2 Corinthians 5:17.  There is more to simply reciting a “sinner’s prayer’. It is a totally new way of living.

That place was called Gilgal and it means a wheel or rolling. God has rolled our sin away. A wheel is circular and so has no “beginning”  or “ending”. We are thus meant to keep moving onwards and upwards. They kept the Passover and ate of the old corn in the land and when they did, the manna ceased.

The following day, after they had eaten food produced in the land, the man ended. From then on the people of Isra’el no longer had man; instead, that year, they ate the produce of the land of Kena‘an. Joshua 5:12

Something is happening on the earth today. The things we once treasured no longer seem relevant. The morals and standards we once enjoyed seem to be gone or are fast disappearing. The old fashioned honesty, dignity, respect, common courtesy, standards, dependability and reliability seem to be dissipating. We can buy clothing that seems to be paper thin and wear out prematurely, packaging of food gets smaller whilst prices go higher and the list could go on. We once called our school teachers miss or sir, could leave our houses open and no one came in, or park the car in front of a store and leave the keys inside and no one touched it.

We can’t do that any longer. I am talking about change and change is the only thing that never changes.

The problem in many churches is that we are reluctant to change. I am not talking about trying some new thing, a gimmick, a fad, a seeker friendly approach designed to attract people into our meetings.

What attracted people to Jesus and to the early church was the undeniable presence of God doing things that pure religion can never do. Whenever the news got out that Jesus was in town, a crowd gathered. Yes, some were spectators, some were mockers and unbelievers, but we cannot deny the fact that things happened. Cessationists tell us that those things are gone now, but Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever and His Word abideth forever, so what has happened? It seems that we now worship a totally different God to the God of the bible, but in His wisdom the Lord knew this would happen. This is why He told us in many places to maintain our relationship and to keep the fire burning and to keep alert at all times, ready for anything.

Moses appointed men to look for the presence of God in the cloud and that was basically all that they did.

When that cloud started to move, they sounded a special alarm and the entire camp had to move with Him. When He stopped, they stopped. When He moved, they moved.

We are to do likewise. Look for examples in scripture where it refers to being moved by the Spirit, or being led by the Spirit. Philip in Acts 8 is a good example. Paul wanted to go to Asia to preach the gospel but the Holy Spirit forbade him. Jesus sent Ananias to Paul. The list could go on. It seems now however that we no longer live that way and to be frank, I really do not understand why. I don’t want any freaky behaviour of course, but if we are the sons of God, we should be led by the Spirit as per Paul’s teachings. Romans 8 is a good example.

Isaiah revealed part of the heart of God saying:

I am Adonai, your Holy One, the Creator of Isra’el, your King.” }
Here is what Adonai says, who made a way in the sea, a path through the raging waves; who led out chariot and horse, the army in its strength— they lay down, never to rise again, snuffed out and quenched like a wick:
“Stop dwelling on past events and brooding over times gone by;
I am doing something new; it’s springing up—can’t you see it?  I am making a road in the desert, rivers in the wasteland. Isaiah 43:15-19

God does not want us to dwell in the past. We can remember the past of course, but not remain there. That is like putting our hands to the plow and looking back. In that sense, our past never sees our future and God has a bright future for us. He told us that in Jeremiah 29:11 and elsewhere.

The church was designed to bring light into the darkness and be the salt of the earth and to change the local environment. As the world changes, we too have to change, not to become like them and not to maintain the status quo, but to be change agents ourselves. If the world grows darker we should shine brighter and this does not mean acting like them such as in entertainment churches. I am painting a picture of moving with God as He moves.

When Moses was leading the people in the wilderness, they encountered a den of poisonous snakes and people started dying when bitten. God told Moses to make a brass serpent and erect it on a pole. If someone was bitten, they had to go there and gaze upon it and they were healed.

God moved on and they had to follow and in so doing left those snakes behind. Unfortunately, they took it with them and hundreds of years later in the reign of Hezekiah, God’s people had turned a tool that God used once into an idol and started to worship it. He destroyed that idol and called it Neshushtan in 2 Kings 18:4.

God’s people had turned a tool that God only used once into a false god and worshiped it.

Human nature has not really changed that much. We can and do worship our own “Nesushtan’s” in our churches. Yes, I am being blunt, but its true and that can be easily tested for yourself.

God does not want that and is raising up a new breed of champion, just like Joshua, to lead His people into their Promised Land.

This is where Joshua’s story starts to make sense and how it applies to us today.

God gave him specific instructions as to what to do, how to do it and when. For us it may be a case of  “go here today”, “do not go to that place”, “go and talk to that person”, “avoid that person” and so on. For us only a few days ago, He told us to buy a special coffee cup and give it to one women. I do not know why, but she was overcome. She told me that she was a believer but no longer attends. I believe that she has been hurt by a church. The entire staff in that coffee shop has been impacted. I wish you could have seen their faces and the response they gave my wife and I. We were doing what the religious folk spat out at Jesus saying that He associated with publicans and sinners. He invited Himself to Zacchaeus’ house and the religious people called him a sinner!

Perhaps the change or part of the change that is coming is bringing us back into realignment. Most of us haven’t been there before.

To get to that position, we may need to be realigned and to allow that to happen we need to follow instructions.

Y’hoshua got up early in the morning, and they left Sheetim and came to the Yarden, he with all the people of Isra’el; they camped there before crossing. After three days, the officials circulated through the camp and gave the people these orders:
“When you see the ark for the covenant of Adonai your God and the cohanim, who are L’vi’im, carrying it, you are to leave your position and follow it. But keep a distance between yourelves and it of about a thousand yards—don’t come any closer, so that you will understand which way to go, because you haven’t gone this way before.” Joshua 3:1-4

I often mention intimacy of relationship with the Lord and this is evident in the command given them. The people were to watch and observe. They had to then follow the cloud, but they had to do so in a set manner. Only those ordained by God could carry the ark.
No one other than those men could carry the ark, but every person was to observe closely, with a prescribed distance between them for a specific purpose. It was so that they could see where God was going.

God wants everyone involved, but everyone has their own special place. If not in that place, they might not see where God was going.
The significance to The Church is revealed in the various gifts given to The Church and in particular, the five ascension gift ministries.
As I often say, no one can choose to occupy any office because they want to be a pastor or some other ministry position.
Jesus chooses who He wishes and in so doing equips and ordains those chosen. It is self evident that many people are not called and are not ordained by the Lord to do what they are doing. Many are like the blind leading the blind.

• Moses did not carry the ark.
• Joshua did not carry the ark.
• The few men selected from the group of priests to do so carried it, but not every priest carried it.
• A leader of a church, such as a pastor, may be called by God and is thus a leader, but he does not necessarily have to do all the ministering. He might not even have to preach! That’s radical!
  He may be more like a supervisor, or a manager of a business that someone else owns. I was the National Administrator in Telstra of part of the project that computerized our nation’s communications network, but I never actually did that all myself! Others were involved. I had coordinators in every major city who worked in conjunction with others who did the hands on work. I still have some of my old business cards and treasure them, but that season is gone.

Jesus said that He was about His Father’s business and He never did anything of His own volition. The time came when He needed help and sent others out on ministry assignments. He started with 12, then 82, then120, then 500 that the Bible records and now we are here. There is a pattern in scripture that we should follow.

Jesus spoke of His sheep, His Church, so it is not “ours”. We should look to Him for His guidance and direction and follow that ark.

This is where the interesting part really starts.

Joshua was getting close to fulfil his call, close to fulfilling prophecy.

We can be in the place when we know that God has a plan for us and are excited about it. We can dream about it, make plans about it, get excited about it and want to tell everyone about our vision, but don’t do that. We may not have yet seen the full picture.
We might inadvertently sink our own boat by telegraphing our moves to the enemy.
We may even share it with other Christians thinking that they will be pleased for us and even want to be part of it, but God did not call them—He called you. Unfortunately other believers, even those in our own church, may in fact hinder us. They may be envious or jealous or simply do not understand. Remember that we are not all at the same level of maturity in Christ.

Joshua was standing there looking over at Jericho. Sometimes we should stand still and observe. Count the cost. Do a feasibility study. Find out where you stand and also where others stand. Jesus told us to do such things. I am often asked to visit someone for ministry and the very first thing I do is stop. I ask a simple question of the Lord, “Do You want me to do that?”. If He says no, I do not go, even if the invitation has been to a large church, or to a big crusade event. Sometimes He says wait. If so that is what we do. We all want to win the lost I hope, but that is not always on His agenda. He told Paul not to go to Asia. The need was there. The opportunity presented itself, but the Lord did not grant permission. Going ahead under such conditions is being disobedient. It is rebellion.

Assuming we are to go ahead, the next thing to so is determine if we can and how to go about it. To visit Nairobi in Kenya for example my wife and I would have to spend more than 24 hours in travel time at a cost  of around $14,000 AU. This does not include hotels, food or getting to and from airports. When we visited Monrovia in Liberia West Africa, we flew from Sydney to Abu Dhabi,  to Brussels and then to Monrovia, some two days travel in all. To visit some pastors in India, I went from Brisbane to Sydney in Australia, to Singapore, to Chennai, to Visakhatnam, to Tuni as a base and then out to the different villages in the region. As you can see, anyone wanting to do such things must make plans. We also need to factor in the time differences between each country. London in the UK is 8 ¹/₂ hours behind me. Vancouver Canada is 16 ¹/₂ hours behind.

Joshua had to have had some plans in mind and as he was standing there saw those city walls that were too high to scale. They were so wide, chariots could run along on top of the wall.

I imagine him thinking, “how are we going to go about this” when he suddenly saw a man standing there.

One day, when Y’hoshua was there by Yericho, he raised his eyes and looked; and in front of him stood a man with his drawn sword in his hand. Joshua 5:13

Joshua asked him whose side he was on. It is not always whose side we are on, who is better, or which church is best, but who is in charge. The angel told him that he had come to take over, to assume control.

One day, when Y’hoshua was there by Yericho, he raised his eyes and looked; and in front of him stood a man with his drawn sword in his hand. Y’hoshua went over to him and asked him, “Are you on our side or on the side of our enemies?” “No,” he replied, “but I am the commander of Adonai’s army; I have come just now.” Y’hoshua fell down with his face to the ground and worshipped him, then asked, “What does my lord have to say to his servant?” The commander of Adonai’s army answered Y’hoshua, “Take your sandals off your feet, because the place where you are standing is holy.” And Y’hoshua did so. Joshua 5:13-15

The angel did not tell him his identity, but Joshua fell on his face before him. On other occasions in the bible, an angel does not permit a man to do that and we should not revere them as is the custom of some people. Respect them. Treat them well, but do not bow to them like that.

Joshua immediately did as we should all do and as he bowed to him, called him Lord.

And Yehoshua fell on his face to the earth and did obeisance, and said to Him, “What is my Master saying to His servant?” Joshua 5:14.

He did what we should do and that is to ask Him what He wants. Don’t decide to do something and then ask God for His blessing. Find out what God wants and when we do that, it is blessed.

The angel did not tell him to do anything other than take his sandals off.

Doing that is a symbol of submission, of respect and in some instances as in establishing a covenant, it is a sign that we have entered into covenant. The symbolism of the sandal on the feet is one of our walk with and before God.

The ground is still ground. There is nothing “special” about that really, but it speaks of our positional status with and before a holy God.

At that point, Joshua yielded his control and authority to Jesus and I believe that this angel was indeed the Lord Jesus, what we call a Christophene, a pre-incarnate revelation of the Lord.

It was after that, when the Lord gave him the right strategy for that occasion. We can make all kinds of plans, but not all plans we make give us God’s strategy.  What the angel told him was totally impractical. The idea was contradictory to all natural concepts of warfare.
Our warfare is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers.

You might face a Jericho wall today, but have to face a river in flood the next time. Jesus spat on the ground and made clay to restore a man’s sight, but He never did it like that every time. On another occasion, He laid His hands on the man’s eyes. Bartemaus called out to Jesus who stopped and asked him what he wanted. He spoke the word to heal that man. Rather than operating out of habit or because we did something once that worked and think it will happen that way every time, we would do well to stop first and ask the Lord His take on the matter.

The angel gave Joshua clear and precise instructions; step by step direction. God had already promised success. He had already spoken and given His Word and now, He told Joshua how to go about it. Let’s see.

• Tell the priests to march around the city once, carrying the ark in the appropriate manner.
• Tell seven priests were to go before them carrying their shofars. There is no mention of blowing them.
• Tell the army to march around the city once with them.
• They were to do nothing else and say nothing.
• Do that for six days.
• On the seventh day they were to all march around again as before, but now the priests were to blow their shofars.
• The priests were to then make a loud and long blast together and then the people were to shout loudly.

There may be spiritual connotations to all this, but I shall not talk of them. My concentration is on the call of God; on the making of a man, of listening to the Lord’s voice and receiving His instruction.

When Joshua finally faced Jericho, the strategy made no sense. There were no weapons, no tactics, no formula to follow. All they had to do was to follow the instructions that were relevant for that occasion. They never it again.

In later events, God told them to dig ditches and fill them with water or to wait until they heard the sound of the wind in the trees.

This is where understanding of the Hebrew makes sense. The bible introduces a pattern we see again and again where God is less concerned with programs and systems and efficiency and more with trust and obedience.

Joshua’s story is not isolated. It is one example of progression. We have:

• Exodus: Where God brings His people out.
• Wilderness: Where God forms us from within.
• Possession: Where God appoints a leader to take the people forward.

The Hebrew word for Egypt is Mitzrayim and it refers to narrowness and confinement. The lesson for us is that leaving Egypt is not just geographic—it is leaving a state of limitation, but freedom is not enough, because it must be put to use. It has to form something.

We can be free, but not take possession of our Promised Land. We must bring down our Jericho walls.

• Courage is formed, not felt: In Scripture, courage (chazak ve’ematz) is not the absence of fear, but the decision to stand firm even when fear is present.
• God goes before you: Before Joshua ever faced Jericho, God assured him: “I am with you wherever you go.” The battle is never entered alone. God’s presence precedes every step.
• Obedience unlocks the impossible: At Jericho, victory did not come through strategy, but through trust. When Joshua aligned himself with God’s Word, even the impossible began to yield.
• Your calling is bigger than you: Joshua did not step forward because he felt ready, but because he was called. And through his obedience, an entire nation stepped into its inheritance.
• Your calling may need others to help facilitate the plan of God. We cannot do it alone. A pastor may receive a legitimate vision for his location, but he may not be the one to do it. David had a legitimate desire to build the Temple, but God did not allow him to build it. David made preparations like gathering the raw materials, but Solomon was to build it. If he had been a pastor, David would have been disobedient if he had gone ahead and built his church.

Fear is not the barrier, Hesitation is, but when fear leads us to trust and trust leads us to act, it becomes the beginning of transformation.

Be strong and courageous… for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. Joshua 1:9

Whatever stands before you, remember that God is already present in the place you are called to enter and what feels impossible may simply be waiting for your step forward. You don’t need to feel ready. You simply need the courage to move when God calls.

Robert