Rather, I have come.

There are so many great stories in the Old Testament it’s impossible to pick the best one. That said, let me pick one: my personal favorite is the day Joshua met Jesus outside Jericho.  That story has so many sides and so many meanings we could talk all day, so let’s just discuss one.  At a time.  😉

First, a little background.  God had rescued Israel from centuries of grinding slavery in Egypt some 40 years earlier. Getting Israel out of Egypt was just part one; God also wanted Israel to live in a special land God had set aside specifically for them, a land they could call their own.  It was the same land that God had promised to Abraham, the first real Israelite, way back when.  However, when Israel got a look at this promised land they refused it.  They turned it down even though they saw grapes so big it took two men to carry one cluster.

Why refuse?  Because the entire country was full of men the size of trees and most of Israel wanted no part of that.  Because Israel didn’t believe God could deliver on His promise to give them their own land, Israel got a 40-year timeout in a desert.  That’s a long time in the desert, just long enough for everyone that didn’t believe God to die.  Only Joshua and his friend, Caleb, didn’t die in the desert because they believed God could, and would, give the land to them.

After the last of the unbelievers died, God brought Israel back to the border of their own land and gave them a second chance with their new leader, newly promoted Joshua.  Although the land of giants had not changed in 40 years, Israel had.  The problem was the same, it was the people that were different.

This new generation had learned in the desert to believe God no matter what it might look like, so Joshua brought everyone across the river and made camp outside Jericho.  Once the nation was safely across the river, Joshua and his generals began making final preparations for the battle to take Jericho.    Which brings us to my favorite story.

It’s the day before Israel attacks and Joshua is out on the future battlefield going over the battle plan with his senior staff.  Out of nowhere, a soldier appears 50 yards away on a little ridge with His sword drawn.  Joshua knew something was different, that something was going on, because he went over himself to assess the threat.  And I’m sure he got the surprise of his life.

In your mind, picture Joshua, a battle-hardened vet of several wars, pointing his sword at this unknown operator and asking ‘Are you for us or against us?’ And getting this answer:

No; rather I have come as Captain of the host of the LORD.

Breathtaking.  Joshua immediately fell face down flat on the ground and was given some important additional information:

Remove your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy.

There are so many universe-bending ideas in this exchange, but there is one that I want to remind myself of every hour. God didn’t get Israel out of Egypt just to have the entire nation annihilated at Jericho. And God didn’t save us just to watch us get buried by the problems, big and small, that are part of every life.

God has a dream for you, a unique life that He is creating just for you, a life of the all the best things everyone deep down wants: love and peace, satisfaction and contentment, family and friends.  But often it seems like a long way between the life God so wants us to have and the life we’re actually living.  And sometimes it seems so far away and is taking so long, we kind of give it up and settle.  And just go to church, because that’s what Christians do.

But don’t, don’t just settle for grinding out your life on autopilot.  What God did at Jericho for Israel, He wants to do for you in Kentucky. Or Greensboro.  Even in California.  Wherever we are.  No question, Jericho was a huge problem for Israel.  Giant walls, giant men, giant obstacle. But Jesus was about to make Jericho into a giant gravel pit without any help from Joshua or Israel’s army.

You, me, we all have problems, obstacles, big ones.  But God loves you so much, so much that it’s more like affection, the affection you felt when you held your first child, or your first grandchild.  Or when you held your mom in hospice.  Overwhelming love that takes you to another world.

God didn’t just wish Joshua good luck or hand him a syllabus, He brought all of heaven to open up a can of fire-breathing destruction on Israel’s problem.  And, He wants to bring the host of the LORD for you and me for our problems.  He — will — bring the host of the LORD for you and me.

Just look up. He’s right over there, waiting.  Waiting for you to ask.